What happens when ‘cool’ is stripped of its manufactured glossiness and people are asked what actually matters? That was the question at the heart of Dazed Studio’s first-ever US Brand Summit, a three-day gathering of creatives, strategists and tastemakers in New York. Instead of a trend forecast, the summit was an excavation of relevance and resonance and redefining value in an era where trust is low and lifestyles – digital and IRL – move at infinite speed.
The summit kicked off on Tuesday, August 5, with a closed-door roundtable, where industry leaders from Nike, Equinox, Google, Lenovo, Hinge, YouTube, Diageo (Smirnoff) and more discussed what it meant to be culturally relevant, and how it can be applied as a brand strategy without feeling inauthentic. The next day, on Wednesday, August 6, six Gen-Z creatives unpacked what cultural connections feel like to a generation that has grown up in a loneliness epidemic in a live ‘SenseMaker’ panel. Their insights were grounded in feelings – a hunger for sincerity, community and intention.
Finally, Thursday’s closing panel, featuring ‘culture shapers’, brought together the writer of Feed ME, Emily Sundberg, editor Whitney Mallett, editor Fran Tirado and Dazed Studio’s Bunny Kinney. They discussed how various forces, from emotions to ethics to algorithms, are reshaping influence today.
Dazed’s group strategy director, Izzy Farmiloe, hosted the conversations across all three days, and a throughline of themes surfaced and resurfaced: belonging, intention and the meaning of ‘clout’. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the week.
Photography Han Alexander
In a culture obsessed with speed and optimisation, holding something tangible like a book, zine or an iPod feels rebellious. Several panellists spoke about returning to analogue objects not for their aesthetic value, but for the feeling and functionality. “I recently bought a refurbished iPod classic,” said graphic designer and recent Parsons grad Basem Tash. “It’s just me wanting to listen to music without having to use my phone.” For dancer and writer Yilin Ye, buying physical zines was a way to support the creators directly. “It’s not like I couldn’t find the same information online,” she said. “It’s because I wanted to support those who made these zines. They take a lot of creativity and work to create.”
Editor Whitney Mallett, who publishes the print-only The Whitney Review, connected this impulse to a broader shift at the closing panel: “The internet moves fast, but you can slow the cycle. Make an impact, fill a void, and know exactly who you want to speak to.” She pointed to the enduring prestige of print and the discovery that can happen in small bookstores as proof that tactile culture still matters.
Photography Han Alexander
Gen Z’s nostalgia obsession has been well documented. But what came up again and again during the week was that it’s not about throwback visuals or internet irony – it’s about emotional anchoring. “I’m always listening to old [music],” said music artist and Global Crisis founder Simone Ruth on Wednesday morning. ”It is a testament to where I got started as a creative, because it’s where I’m very comfortable, where I run home to when it comes to just my work and my output in the world.” Writer and Columbia student Yawen Yuan echoed that sentiment. “I originally read a book on Kindle, but it moved me so deeply that I bought the hardcover. Not because I needed it, but because I wanted a reminder of how I felt.”
On Thursday night, ‘culture shaper’ Emily Sundberg drew a parallel in New York’s lingering romanticism for its old magazine era – the editors, the parties, the cultural personalities. “All of New York is attached to the idea of old magazines [due to recently published books and memoirs by Keith Mcnally, Grayson Carter and Michael Grynbaum].” However, Sundberg questions what it is that these admirers are holding up on the pedestal.
Photography Han Alexander
At the ‘SenseMaker’, artist and activist, Laiyonelth, brought his carriel – a traditional Colombian leather bag once used by farmers to carry seeds.” It was nice to reconnect with a part of my heritage… I think that’s the coolest thing for me – preserving those ideas of the value that there is in heritage altogether.” It was a sharp contrast to the endless churn of online micro-trends and never-ending capitalistic ventures. What’s ‘cool’ now is specificity, lineage and appreciation, not performative outreach or cultural appropriation.
Editor-in-chief of Them Fran Tirado linked this to a broader cultural pattern: “The monoculture has fractured,” pointing out that what’s interesting for now are intercommunal ideas and spaces.
Photography Han Alexander
Influencers have normalised overconsumption and the constant desire for newness, yet Gen Z is so plainly aware of its environmental impacts. The mindless cycle of buying, posting, tossing – whether in fashion, tech, or wellness – feels exhausting, not aspirational. “My biggest uncool is overconsumption,” said designer and founder of Nostylguh, Gwendolyn Boykins, on Wednesday. “When you’re intentional with your purchases, you stay with them longer.” Brands like Santos by Mónica were highlighted by Laiyonelth, under sustainable fashion that can also be “luxurious and fun”. In this way, it’s not about not buying anything or mindless consumption, but choosing who or what you’re investing in.
To close the brand summit, Dazed Studio’s Bunny Kinney argued that cool isn’t something you can engineer: it’s a byproduct of doing something that matters. Chasing novelty for its own sake, he suggested, is the opposite of building cultural longevity.
