CATCHING FIRE: Jordyn Woods, Iranian footballers and Kool-Aid pineapples
Do keep up!
Hello gang, In today’s letter we’re taking the temperature of:
The teen clothes brand making millions by copying Hailey Bieber’s style
Summer’s new sugar-packed snack
The Knicks WAG who’s ca$hing in
The internet’s new boyfriends
A World Cup social media star
The Gen Z actress taking on a superhero
Social media bans for teens
Paid subscribers get the lot, free subscribers get a taste. Let’s jump in…
So hot right now
Jordyn Woods… One of the biggest winners of the Knicksmania that’s gripped New York and beyond is the fiancée of star player Karl-Anthony Towns.
Jordyn Woods, 28, became the story when her (now iconic) orange ostrich clutch bag was credited with bringing the Knicks luck after they lost a game when she was barred from bringing it into the arena.
It’s been a boon for her, with Google searches of her name reaching an all time high, and for her brand, Woods by Jordyn, who makes the $96/£72 now-sold-out bag.
Before the clutch blew up, Woods was a well known WAG, with over 11 million Instagram followers, in part because of the custom looks she puts together for her court side appearances.
Woods also has previous fame because of her one-time friendship with Kylie Jenner that resulted in appearances on Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Life of Kylie. The pair were besties until a 2019 cheating scandal over Tristan Thompson, who has two kids with Kylie’s half sister, Khloe Kardashian, wrecked their relationship.
Milly Alcock… The 26-year-old Australian actress is about to be everywhere as she promotes her starring role in the new Supergirl movie.
Alcock is playing what’s been trailed as a hard-drinking punk rock version of the girl with the red cape, and film bosses are hoping she can be a “Supergirl for the next generation”. The film drops on June 26…
Going viral
World Cup mania… The hill I will die on is that monoculture is not dead. Yes it is diminished but claims of its demise have been greatly exaggerated — just ask the Coldplay couple.
The latest phenomenon to fit the monoculture mould is the World Cup which kicked off in America, Canada and Mexico last week. There are so many stories dominating feeds that we’re going to need some bullets:
Boston’s love affair with the Tartan Army
The biggest World Cup winners so far have been the 40,000 plus Scottish fans who have descended on America to support their team. Their first match was in Boston and the Tartan Army managed to drink bars dry, put traffic cones on every statue in the city, took over a baseball game at Fenway Park and thrilled locals with their kilts, bagpipes and immaculate vibes. Bostonians don’t ever want them to leave…
Everyone’s obsessed with the Norwegian and Dutch fans too
They’re football daft, love a drink and seem to have a knack for creating videos that go mega viral.
This clip of the Norwegians doing the ‘Viking Row’ at the Gillette Stadium has had at least 12 million views…
The same fans were also seen doing the move on an escalator at Boston’s South Station and that video was picked up by what seems like every news outlet in the world.
The Dutch have turned Texas orange with their commitment to their team’s colours and everyone is transfixed by their synchronised moves to the party anthem Links Rechts.
The year of the underdog
The 2026 tournament is bigger than ever with 16 more teams than in 2022. Ahead of kick off some worried that it would diminish the quality of the matches but instead it’s served up shock results where David teams have held their own, or beat, Goliaths.
Cape Verde, ranked 67th, held Spain, ranked 2nd, to a 0-0 draw
New Zealand, the lowest-ranked team, tied 2-2 with Iran, ranked 20th
Ivory Coast, ranked 33rd, beat Ecuador, ranked 23rd
Cape Verde’s heroic goalkeeper Vozinha is a massive social media star now
One of the most wholesome stories to come out of the Cape Verde v Spain match centres on their 40-year-old goalkeeper after he made seven incredible saves. Before the game he had around 50,000 Instagram followers, he now has over 13 million…
Everyone has thirst for the Iran team
The internet has decided that their new boyfriend is every single member of the Iran team. There are even fan edits.
Emma Hayes knows more about football than everyone else
Apologies if this is a deeply British reference but one of the big broadcasters here has hired the USA women’s head coach to give tactical explanations during live matches and Hayes is so good at it she’s become a breakout star.
RELATED If you missed my letter on how World Cup joy is reshaping how America sees itself its right here…
Need to know
The Hailey Bieber effect… If you have a tween or teen girl in your life then you’ll know what a chokehold edikted has on them.
The fast fashion brand, which raked in $460/£348 million in sales last year, uses a proprietary system to monitor teen trends so that they can quickly get the hottest designs into stores.
Another part of their secret sauce is that edikted closely tracks what Hailey Bieber is wearing and then copies it.
