I want your anti-It bag recommendations! There’s been much discussion about the end of bags since the New York Times waded into the conversation (Back Row has been promoting this discourse since at least 2023 so I guess no one has brought It bags back since). I’ve been hearing from people on Instagram that bags aren’t over, it’s just the obvious designer ones that are (Chanel, Dior, etc.). Please reply to this email with your recommendations for anti-It bags and any bag thoughts you want to share, and I’ll send out the reader-sourced list soon. You can submit your pick anonymously here, too, or leave a comment. I’d love recs under $1,000.
🎙️New on the Back Row podcast: A free episode with one of my favorite sustainable fashion experts and the former COO of Timberland Ken Pucker, who explains what Shein’s acquisition of Everlane means for both companies and sustainable fashion more broadly. Pucker makes the compelling case that Everlane was never as “sustainable” as it let on. Watch/listen in YouTube, Apple, or Spotify.
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Behind the paywall today:
How influencers use line sitters.
Glamour’s sad semi-end that will surely have to actually end at some point (probably soon).
Fashion things to replace with arugula.
LOOSE THREADS
Mass outlets have caught onto the idea that those $1,100 Valentino shoes with the peep toe and clear strap give you "pig feet" after a social media user tried them on in a video and went viral. In fairness, though, lots of people love these shoes! The black are low stock on Net-a-Porter and the Valentino site seems to be sold out in the black several sizes.
@olynyc_ I swore I loved these in pics and then I tried them on and I hated them #heels #blackheels #shoecollection
Teachers and healthcare providers get one month off at clothing rental site Nuuly through June 22. Nuuly rents occasion wear (like these wedding guest dresses) and items more for every day (like this top I would have worn in my twenties that I can only describe as "yacht girl").
Independent media win: A Tiny Apt has been doing really great home tours, like this with the Brownstone Boys, Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum, and this with Marshall Neve, who has such a fantastic 400-square-foot-apartment. If you love interior content, they will fill the void celebrity home tours we see too often have left in your soul.
A nice bit of news: Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society) is participating in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund as the “Design Challenge partner.” Finalists will work on the “Material Innovation Challenge” involving “bio-based textiles that help steer the fashion industry toward a sustainable and cruelty-free future.” Check out the finalists here.
And now, today’s big story…
Line Sitters Are Already Booking Up for The Row's Next Sample Sale
When Robert Samuel called me this week, he had just left a line for Dot Cakes in New York City. As a professional line sitter, that’s an easy job compared to his fashion work. “Obviously the Dot Cake — we're not going to wait overnight,” he said. But that’s what he’s been doing for The Row’s sample sale, which takes place annually in October and went more viral in 2025 than any of the brand's previous sales.
Robert started his business waiting in lines for cronuts in New York City around 2013, when customers had to show up early and could only buy two at a time. His business has grown exponentially in the 13 years since, and he credits a lot of that growth to the sorts of haul videos that made The Row sample sale a phenom. “Those tend to make lines worse than in years previous. People want to see — ‘Oh my God, they got this, they got that, I was looking for that skirt,’” he said. “TikTok is to blame. Not even Instagram. TikTok is causing all the lines in the United States.”
People who hire him for all sorts of jobs range from the billionaire who asked him to sign an NDA to tourists to busy moms to theater fans.
Robert has had a unique vantage point into how shopping has changed since short form video ate the internet. He told me about the chaotic recent Audemars Piguet Swatch drop, what he’s planning for The Row in the fall, and more.
If you want to outsource your line waiting, you can hire Robert and his line dudes here and follow them on Instagram and TikTok.
You've been doing The Row sample sale for a while now. When did it become a big thing?
The Row, we did '25, '24, '23. Our first Row we did in 2014 and we only had one customer. Then we didn't have another one until 2022 when we had two customers on the first day. But '23 is when it really took off — at least 18 customers. Some customers booked for their sisters and daughters. And then every year it grew exponentially from there. In 2025 we probably had about 65 on the first day alone.
That’s a lot of line sitters.
Yes. And we kept going back every single day.
How far in advance do people need to book you for The Row?
People are already inquiring and the dates haven't even dropped. Because we’ve done it so many years, I believe it might be the third Tuesday or Wednesday of October, so we kind of have an idea — we're just waiting for the official announcement. And there are people we couldn't accommodate in 2025 because that was the total chaotic one. I have a special carve out for them because we couldn't help them. I was like, "Listen, for next year, I'm going to reach out to you." So I have about 10 or so of those people — they're already going to get line sitters before we take everybody else.
Do influencers hire you?
We have influencers that hire us. And sometimes…
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