I Tripped Over a Crouching Influencer
Plus: A Soulcycle Founder starts over in Montauk, Ken Auletta on his big media talks with Tina Brown and Maureen Dowd this week
Walking through the Hamptons villages in high summer can feel like the “laser dance” scene in “Ocean’s Twelve.” But instead of dodging lasers, you’re ducking influencers getting the shot. They’re positioning their matchas just so; they’re pausing mid-bite of a breakfast sandwich; they’re disrupting the flow of traffic. Influencers can be lethal: At one point the photoshoot traffic at Lavender By The Bay farm in the North Fork got so bad it was described as a “life-or-death situation.”
This weekend, I stumbled over a young woman in Sag Harbor who was, for some reason, crouched on the ground balancing an iced coffee and a ludicrously tiny Jacquemus purse. Her friend/photographer was dressed in an identical baby-blue minishorts outfit.
Speaking of performative social media, the New York Times wrote about the Hamptons Chicken Finger Boom. I’m not sure this trend is specific to the Hamptons. Adults who spend a lot of time at the gym love eating off the kids’ menu on cheat days wherever they are, from Miami to L.A. But I understand the urge to story-ize the $150 Popeyes chicken-finger tower at Surf Lodge. Elsewhere in tender content, is anything cuter than this tween-friendly Babe’s nugget served at the Olive & June and Katie J event in Sag Harbor a few weeks ago?
This weekend gala season hit its peak, with David Burtka and Neil Patrick Harris hosting a God’s Love We Deliver party at their home complete with synchronized swimmers at their pool. New York City Hamptonites come east to relax, but that often dovetails with their businesses: In today’s newsletter for paid subscribers, Soulcycle co-founder Elizabeth Cutler talks about her latest venture, and the New Yorker’s Ken Auletta previews his doubleheader of media events with Tina Brown, Tom Freston, and Maureen Dowd.
