Welcome back to your weekly guide through the wonderfully weird edges of art, pop culture and whatever the cosmos is plotting. Let’s get into the dramas, drops and delightful surprises of the week.
Charli’s Literary Era
Mother has entered Substack. Charli xcx (or rather itscharlibb) has dropped a 1,500-word debut unpacking Brat, Wuthering Heights, and the green-tinted world between them. It’s the long-form spiral we hoped she’d deliver. But it also has us wondering: as Substack shifts from a haven for independent voices to something closer to a social platform, has it truly fulfilled its promise to writers or are we watching it morph into the very thing it set out to disrupt? 💚
Polly Pocket, But Make It 18k
Childhood nostalgia is officially luxury. Mattel × Nadine Ghosn mark Mattel’s 80th anniversary with a fine-jewellery capsule inspired by Polly Pocket, think compact-shaped holders, teeny charm dolls, and the sort of pieces that make your inner eight-year-old gasp.
Planetary Mayhem Incoming
2025 brings 12 planetary retrogrades, because apparently the universe thinks we’ve not been tested enough. From earlier this week on 12 November, five planets (Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury and Uranus) will be retrograding simultaneously. If everything feels backwards… it is.
MoMA Meets Mattel
Elsewhere at Mattel Creations, the team has unveiled another standout moment, this time in the form of a collaboration with MoMA. The capsule merges art-world legends with pop-culture icons, reimagining Barbie, Hot Wheels, UNO, the Magic 8 Ball and more through the eyes of van Gogh, Monet, Dalí, Matisse, Alma Thomas, and friends.
