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The story about Kelly Clarkson's spat with Brooklyn toy and magic store Art of Play, where you can buy a $520 Bauhaus travel chess set (admittedly, kind of fab), and a $155 folding ruler (come on), has gone unexpectedly viral. And the reasons go beyond our collective morbid fascination with an aggrieved celebrity or a store that’s more “gentrified Brooklyn” than an overpriced Williamsburg pickle shop circa 2009.

Many related to Clarkson’s experience due to their own regular dissatisfaction with shopping. It’s not that people won’t sell us $15,000 automaton birds, it’s that shopping is so often an exercise in disappointment due to a shifting power dynamic between buyers and sellers. I hear more and more about how sellers seem intent on choosing their buyers instead of the other way around. (This is not a judgment on Art of Play specifically, since the events are in dispute and, I suspect, both sides are “right.”) It’s good old-fashioned snobbery, only said snobbery is supposed to come from the customers instead of the retailers themselves.

In case you managed to miss this story, here’s what we know: Clarkson entered Art of Play, inquired about a mechanical bird named Molly mounted on the wall, left, and tweeted the following:

The store responded on Instagram, saying Molly “plays an important role in the magic shows we host here” and wasn’t available to purchase. The post added, “Imagine our surprise when our small local business was suddenly attacked by 8 million people who have never visited our store.” Clarkson then responded, on Twitter again for some reason, “...so the whole conversation we had when I asked you if it was for sale whilst pointing to the price tag hanging on the wall with the title Singing Bird didn’t happen as you elevator eyed me saying in a condescending tone ‘Yes, it’s for sale but it costs 15,000 dollars so if you’d like me to find something comparable for you I can.’ That all never happened and now it’s not for sale. Okay, cool. So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar.”

The story got so much attention that co-owner Adam Rubin received reporters on the sidewalk to answer questions, calling it “an insane misunderstanding,” and saying that they had to turn off their phones: “There’s so much hate speech, so many threats of violence. If an actual customer tries to get in touch with us right now, they will never be able to.”

I feel for both Clarkson and Art of Play. She felt disrespected enough to comment publicly about it. The store also shouldn’t receive violent threats for whatever went down. But people are tired of feeling like their money isn’t good enough, and that there’s some code for how you have to dress or behave when you shop.

Emilia Petrarca, who writes the Shop Rat newsletter, recently published a story in The Cut about how shopping has become “a humiliation ritual.” She described being turned away from Prada in Milan in the rain due to the store being "full," despite wearing head-to-toe Prada. She had planned to buy a green silk pouch for $1,320. “This wasn’t my first unsavory interaction with the store,” she wrote, adding she also felt disillusioned by the brand’s greedflated prices and hosting Mark Zuckerberg at its fashion show.

Last year, Neelam Ahooja “broke up” with The Row in a viral Substack post, detailing how the brand didn’t appreciate her fandom and, in fact, tried to prevent her from speaking about it in the Wall Street Journal and chastised her for publicizing the sample sale. I hear regularly from VICs about their lousy experiences trying to shop with Chanel, where they can’t buy specific pieces they want because — they can only guess — they’re not a high enough tier or didn’t get to a presale event. Three Chanel VICs told me earlier this year that the brand took issue with their social media posts about the brand. And just this week, I heard from VICs who couldn’t buy what they wanted unless they ran to several Chanel retailers in New York City. One tried to ensure she fulfilled her wishlist by bringing her sales associate her favorite coffee on the weekend. Another said she struggled to just establish a relationship with a salesperson.

And then there’s Hermès, where people believe they have to act and dress a certain way (let alone spend thousands) for the mere possibility of buying a Birkin. Sales associates sometimes get drunk on their allocation powers. Many clients spend extravagantly in hopes of one day being offered a Birkin or Kelly, even though so much more goes into who gets sold what.

What’s crazy about all of this is that retailers are essentially in the hospitality business! They are supposed to provide exceptional service with the aim of making a sale. And yet, some expect their customers to perform a song and dance. In order to do what, exactly? Spend enormous amounts of money? 

New clients — like Clarkson at Art of Play — often lose out as a result. Many sales associates I’ve interviewed for “Retail Confessions” talked about how they can tell who is a big spender and who isn’t. “Oh, if they came in with a Birkin or a Chanel bag, they wouldn’t buy,” said someone who had worked at Dolce & Gabbana, adding that the best customers wore sweatpants. (I heard this again and again.) Since many work on commission, they're incentivized to size people up and figure out who will waste their time and who will make their day.

Additionally, many of the rules stores adopted during the pandemic are due for an update. Stores understandably aimed to reduce shopper density during Covid. However, they also seemed to respond to dissatisfied customers, who can go online and say whatever they want about their shopping experience, by assigning sales associates to babysit everyone who comes in. This has had the opposite of the desired effect: lines regularly snake down sidewalks and people ready to buy hear that the store is at capacity. This doesn't engender loyalty or good feelings. (The Prada incident prompted Petrarca to wonder if she, too, should break up with the brand, though she ultimately does not, concluding, “A brand is not a crappy boyfriend who wronged me personally.”)

It used to be that the money was enough. Now, as Clarkson pointed out, it seems like there’s a new normal where it’s just… not. The saying used to go, "the customer is always right." But are we, anymore?

In my annual list of fashion predictions, I wrote that Veronica Leoni would not last through 2026 at Calvin Klein — and now, the brand has parted ways with her. Global brand president David Savman said in a statement that Leoni "helped build meaningful momentum for Collection. Collection remains an important part of our brand; we are excited by the progress to date and look forward to its continued evolution."

Alexander McQueen also parted ways with Seán McGirr. Kering CEO Luca de Meo said, "Our ambition is to establish a bold new direction for the house, building on its unique heritage of exceptional tailoring, uncompromising creativity and rebellion to reaffirm its position as one of the most innovative and culturally relevant voices in luxury." (Leoni got a much better corporate statement, wow.)

As Eugene Rabkin, a friend of Back Row, and Philippe Pourhashemi recently said on the StyleZeitgeist podcast, a lot of these designers just seem to be at the wrong brands. Was Matthieu Blazy not better at Bottega Veneta than Chanel? Was Jonathan Anderson not better at Loewe than Dior? Was Pierpaolo Piccioli not better at Valentino than Balenciaga? And on and on.

As luxury struggles to navigate the current downturn, more exits are surely coming. 

Remember The Row sample sale, which became a viral spectacle involving line porn videos (some spent all day waiting), and parodies of haul videos of people flaunting $162 flip-flops and $1,300 coats? Looks like it was all too much of a scene because it's not happening this year. Madison Avenue Spy confirmed the news.

However, if you want an even better deal on The Row, try the secondhand market where you can get quality pieces for 90 percent off.

Rebecca Voight reports from Paris that the latest printing of Virginie Viard's book Un Regard. Une Vie chez Chanel, detailing her firing from Chanel, no longer contains "Chanel" in the title. It’s now Un Regard: Une Vie dans la Mode. It's possible Chanel sent a sternly worded letter and the publisher, who surely has far fewer legal resources, capitulated. (The Wertheimer brothers, who own Chanel, are each worth around $40 billion, per Forbes.) However, meddling with her book is just another way to draw attention to it and… we all know what it’s about.

Why would Instagram let AI content proliferate on the platform? Maybe because people like it — but they like it because they don't know it's AI.  (According to the Garbage Day newsletter, that horrific influencer "Jean Phil," which is actually just marketing for a meme coin, has seen a 50 percent drop in Instagram engagement now that people know it's AI.) 

Mia Goth's reps are taking a stand after an AI likeness of her went viral. Goth is divorcing Shia LaBeouf, and the account "@miagoth_" — which had a blue verified checkmark — posted a photo of what looked very much like her wearing a shirt that said "MY EX IS MY BIGGEST FAN" set to "Single Ladies" by Beyoncé. Celeb news outlets like People blogged about it, which is understandable given the image has all the hallmarks of being real.

However, Goth is not even on social media, her rep told The Verge. She said they filed "multiple complaints" with Instagram to remove the account that posted the AI image, and that "it is incomprehensible that Instagram evidently prioritizes the dissemination of forged and manipulated images over the protection and integrity of a public figure’s likeness."

Instagram removed the account, reported The Verge, for impersonating a public figure. So it's not clear that AI was really the concern. 

Remember when we thought misinformation was bad? This is a terrifying new form of it and it's only going to get worse before — and if — it gets better. 

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