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In Ralph Lauren’s latest campaign, Black men, women, and children wear the brand’s traditionally preppy clothes against idyllic coastal backdrops. The collection isn’t just some sort of woke fantasy of a post-racial America. It’s grounded in a very specific history that many Americans aren’t familiar with. The setting of this campaign is Oak Bluffs, a section of Martha’s Vineyard that has been home to Black communities for more than a hundred years. Oak Bluffs was a haven for educated, middle-class Black families looking for respite in a racist, segregated country. And in this place of relative peace and safety, Black people were able to nurture excellence. Key figures of the Harlem Renaissance and Civil Rights Movement, from Langston Hughes to Martin Luther King Jr., spent time there. President Barack Obama vacationed there with his family and now owns a house in a neighboring town. Ralph Lauren delves into this history in a gorgeous short film full of archival footage created in partnership with Morehouse and Spelman colleges. Directed by Cole Brown, A Portrait of the American Dream is a radical statement in our current cultural climate, when the notions of diversity, equity, and inclusion are under attack. Here is an American brand that understands how to meet the needs of Black consumers, who are expected to spend as much as $70 billion on fashion by 2030, according to McKinsey. Many pieces in this collection are already sold out. Rather than making a superficial effort to get these consumers to spend money, Ralph Lauren is doing the work. The company began partnering with the historically Black Morehouse and Spelman colleges in 2022, working closely with Black academics and cultural critics to understand how students there helped influence preppy fashion as we know it. The Oak Bluff collection goes deeper, reflecting how members of the Black middle class enjoyed their leisure time. [Photo: Nadine Ijewere/courtesy Ralph Lauren] A tale of two fashion ads Ralph Lauren’s new collection offers a contrast to American Eagle, which has been mired in controversy because of its recent campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney. As my colleague Jeff Beer explains, American Eagle’s campaign hinged on the double entendre that Sweeney has great jeans and great genes. In a video, the actress provides a scientific explanation of genetics, describing how genes pass physical traits from parents to offspring. Given that Sweeney is a blond-haired, blue-eyed woman, many people thought this ad reeked of eugenics, the idea that some people have better genes than others and that society should prevent the reproduction of those considered unfit. The outcry about the American Eagle campaign featuring Sweeney has everything to do with the political and cultural climate we’re living in. The extreme rightwhich includes white supremacists and neo-Nazisis on the rise, while the Trump administration attacks organizations that invest in DEI programs. In this context, it’s no surprise that a campaign about how a white woman has good genes evokes the most horrific aspects of racist history. The fact that American Eagle could not foresee how this campaign could go wrong suggests that it did not receive enough feedback from diverse people as it created its ad. Either the company did not have people in the room willing to point out how troubling it was, or the company didnt listen to those who did speak up. [Photo: Nadine Ijewere/courtesy Ralph Lauren] Ralph Lauren has taken a very different approach with its design process and marketing in recent years. It doesn’t just create clothes that celebrate the diverse strains of American history; it works closely with diverse designers, creatives, and thought leaders. To create the Oak Bluff collection, in addition to historians and cultural experts at the two HBCUs, it partnered closely with the Marthas Vineyard African American Heritage Trail, the Marthas Vineyard Museum, and the Smithsonians National Museum of African American History and Culture. [Photo: Nadine Ijewere/courtesy Ralph Lauren] It also tapped Black creatives to produce the campaign. In addition to film director Brown, who spent summers on Marthas Vineyard for decades, the campaign features photography by Nadine Ijewere and video footage by Azariah Bjrvig. Consider its 2023 collection, which celebrated Native American style. Ralph Lauren brought in Naiomi Glasses, a seventh-generation Navajo textile artist and designer, to create garments inspired by her culture, and also empowered Glasses to select Native Americans as models, photographers, and creative directors. The company now has an ongoing artist-in-residence program where it brings other artisans preserving heritage crafts to collaborate with Ralph Lauren’s creative teams. [Photo: Nadine Ijewere/courtesy Ralph Lauren] Good for business To be clear, Ralph Lauren hasn’t always been this inclusive. For its classic American style, from preppy fashion to Native American iconograpy, in the past the 60-year-old brand appropriated aesthetics from Black and Indigenous communities, rather than collaborating with them. And the company was slow to bring in models of color for its campaigns. The company is now willing to acknowledge its missteps and blind spots, and is trying to do things right. Its designers have learned that the way to be more inclusive is to partner with diverse creatives, listen closely to their points of view, and give them creative freedom. [Photo: Nadine Ijewere/courtesy Ralph Lauren] With all of these collections, Ralph Lauren also gives proceeds back to these communities. This time around, it has partnered with a nonprofit comprised of 100 Black female homeowners on Martha’s Vineyard to support historic building restoration on the island. It has devoted $2 million to support scholarships for students at 10 historically Black colleges and universities. [Photo: Nadine Ijewere/courtesy Ralph Lauren] Many companies, including Target and Amazon, have backed away from their DEI initiatives in response to Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in both the public and private sectors. So Ralph Lauren deserves credit for having the bravery to continue investing in programs that bring more diversity to its brand. But make no mistake, this isn’t just a moral imperative. It’s good for business. America is becoming increasingly diverse. The U.S. census projects that white people will be a minority by 2045. Black and brown Americans will use their purchasing power to support brands that make an effort to understand them and respond to their needs. And they have long memories. They will hold American Eagles Sweeney campaign as a mark against the brand for years to come. And they’ll remember Ralph Lauren’s Oak Bluff campaign the next time they shop for a sweater or dress.
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E-Commerce
Sometimes, the simplest photo feats are the most satisfying of all. Me? Ive lost count of the number of times Ive needed to remove the background from an image for one reason or another. Maybe its a perfect portrait of my kids or a moderately acceptable photo of my own plus-sized potato headbut then whatevers in the background falls somewhere between messy and just plain meh. Whatever the case may be, removing the background of an image is one of the simplest and most effective ways to edit a photo and take total control of how it looks. But it isnt always easy to figure out how to make that happenquickly, cleanly, and without all sorts of time-wasting hassles. The tool Ive found for you today changes that once and for all. Unearth all sorts of little-known tech treasures with my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. A spiffy new discovery in your inbox every Wednesday! Buh-bye, background Ive tried all sorts of image background removers over the years. Some of em are actually quite decent, but almost all of em have some sort of asteriska limit in how often you can use em without paying, a restriction in how large of a file you can download when youre done, or some other sort of constraint that keeps em from being completely ideal. Todays tool is a rare exception. Its a simple stand-alone image background remover thats completely free, entirely web-based, andas far as I can tell as of this moment, at leastwithout any meaningful restrictions around how and how often you use it. The service is a relatively new (and certainly new to me!) element of the online Adobe Express service for image editing. It takes literally 10 seconds to get going and pull off your first image transformation. You just pull up this page in any browser, on any device youre using, and either click or tap the photo uploading box or just drag and drop an image from your device into that area. All it takes is a single clickor a drag and dropto get going with Adobe’s web-based background remover. [Screengrab: Adobe Express] In 10 seconds or less, the site will spit back a perfectly crisp version of your photo with the background completely erasedno rough edges, no awkward remnants, and no effort whatsoever from you to make it happen. A handful of seconds, and bam: Adobe’s web tool has the background stripped out of your image and the file ready to be saved. [Screengrab: Adobe Express] Heres the before and after of my sample image, for a closer comparison. Whats especially impressivethough slightly tough to see at this sizeis that in the original image, the edges of the Android figure were actually slightly blurry. But the tool still got it exactly right, on the first try, and made it look pixel-perfect without the background present. My original image, at left, and the background-free version, at right. [Screengrab: Adobe Express] The only catch Ive found with the tool so far is that after your first time using it, the site will prompt you to sign in for any subsequent requests. Thats because its goal seems to be to get you in the habit of using Adobes broader Adobe Express image editing suitewhich actually is free and can be quite useful in its base form but also includes an optional $10-a-month premium plan that the company ultimately wants you to embrace. But you definitely dont have to do that to keep using the background remover for free as often as you like. Youll just have to sign in onceusing any email address, Google account, or existing Adobe IDand then you can keep on erasing image backgrounds quickly, easily, and effectively whenever the need arises. Keep that link handy, my fellow image-infatuated iguana. If youre anything like me, your future self will thank you. The Adobe image background remover runs entirely on the web. You can opt to download the Adobe Express Android or iOS app to find a similar function, but the real beauty of this tool is its simplicity and the lack of any required installations. The tool is completely free to use. And it follows Adobes standard privacy policy, which doesnt contain anything especially unusual or eyebrow-raising (and doesnt claim any rights to save, share, or do anything shady with your stuff). Keep the discoveries coming with my free Cool Tools newsletter. You’ll get an instant introduction to an incredible audio tool and a new off-the-beaten-path treasure in your inbox every Wednesday!
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E-Commerce
The Apple TV is probably my favorite device that Apple makes. While the Apple TV app is in dire need of some basic improvements, the hardware box itself is a standoutespecially compared to competitors like Amazons Fire TV and Rokus streaming devices. This is largely thanks to the stellar Siri Remote, which makes navigating the device with your fingers or voice a cinch, and the powerful Apple silicon chip inside that makes the Apple TVs operating system, tvOS, run buttery smooth. However, when it comes to being a device meant to sit at the center of your living room as an all-encompassing entertainment hub, the Apple TV is lacking in one big department: gaming. The Apple TV is technically a gaming console, since it can play rudimentary games and supports third-party console controllers. But no one is likely to replace their PlayStation or Xbox with one any time soon, because the current Apple TV lacks the processing power to run console-quality games. Yet perhaps that could be changing. Recently, Ive noticed that Apple has been making moves that suggest the company may be on the cusp of turning the Apple TV into a full-blown PlayStation and Xbox competitor. Doing so would open up another potential billion-dollar revenue stream for the company. The new Apple Games app is currently MIA from tvOS 26 At Apples Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this year, the company unveiled a new cross-device app called Apple Games. The app acts as a central hub and launcher for all the games youve ever bought on Apples App Store or have access to via the companys Apple Arcade subscription service. The Apple Games app also gives you quick access to game events and challenges, and helps you discover new games to play and see what games your friends are playing. In other words, the new Apple Games app is similar to the PlayStation 5 Game Hub and the Xbox Dashboardthe interfaces on the consoles that significantly differentiate the living room gaming experience from PCs. Apple announced that Apple Games is coming to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26 this fall. But the new app is conspicuously absent from the Apple TVs next operating system, tvOS 26, which also ships this fall. This is a notable omission, especially considering that Apple markets its Apple Arcade gaming service as a core feature of the Apple TV experience. It also offers thousands of mobile-level games through the tvOS App Store. The more I think about the Apple Games omission from tvOS 26, the more it makes senseif Apple is set to turn the Apple TV into a true gaming console but doesn’t want anyone to know it yet. [Photo: Apple] The next Apple TV is rumored to have two key hardware improvements essential to top-line gaming consoles Apple doesnt update the Apple TV as often as it does iPhones or even its iPads. Typically, years pass between Apple TV updates. The most recent Apple TV, the Apple TV 4K, was last updated in November 2022, nearly three years ago. That means it’s ripe for an update this year. Rumors suggest that a new Apple TV is indeed coming later this year and that it will feature two significant hardware upgradesones that would enable it to become a true gaming console. The first is an updated chipset. The current Apple TV 4K features the Apple A15 Bionic chip, the same one found in the iPhone 13 from 2021. Most people expect the next Apple TV to get a significant upgradeperhaps to the A18 or A18 Pro, found in the current iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro series, or perhaps even the unreleased A19 chip, which will go into this years iPhone 17 series. Its also possible Apple could put the M1 or M2 chip, previously found in Macs and iPads, into the new Apple TV. This jump from the A15 to the A18, A19, M1, or M2 would give the Apple TV the performance boost it needs to run AAA console games, such as the Resident Evil series from Capcom, which are currently capable of running (with controller support, no less) on the iPhone 15 Pro, thanks to its A17 Pro chip. Another upgrade the next Apple TV is expected to get is a new Apple-designed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chipset that will support the Wi-Fi 7 standard (via MacRumors). This standard offers lower latency and faster Wi-Fi speeds than the current Wi-Fi 6 standardsomething critical for gaming consoles and the bandwidth-hungry games that stream to them. The leading games console, the PlayStation 5 Pro, currently offers Wi-Fi 7 support. In other words, the hardware components Apple needs to turn the next Apple TV into a PlayStation and Xbox competitor are all in the pipeline. And, increasingly, so is something else the Apple TV would need to become a true gaming console: increasing commitment to Apple’s platforms from major games studios. More AAA games are hitting the Macand iPhonethan ever before In the video game industry, the top games are known as AAA (triple-A) titles. These are the games with the most advanced graphics and the biggest budgets, and are frequently the highlights of the console gaming experience. Historically, AAA game developers have shied away from releasing their major titles on the Mac (the Apple device with the hardware power most comparable to professional gaming consoles). But in the past year, thats changed a lot, thanks to Apple’s move to make game development on the Mac easier and more cost-effective than ever, thanks to tools like the company’s Game Porting Toolkit 3 and the hardware-accelerated graphics API, Metal 4, which makes graphics-intensive games look better on Mac and iPhone. Considering Apple devices are more popular than ever, game studios stand to financially benefit by bringing their biggest titles to Apple’s platforms and their millions of users. In July alone, two major AAA titles made their debut on the Mac: CD Projekt Reds Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate and Deep Silvers Dead Island 2. Other major AAA titles have also been released on the Mac over the past few years, including Ubisofts Assassin’s Creed: Shadows and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Remedys Control Ultimate Edition, Kojima Productions Death Stranding Director’s Cut, Round 8 Studios Lies of P, 11 Bit Studios Frostpunk 2, and Capcoms Resident Evil series remastered editions. Additionally, more AAA titles are coming to the Mac this year, including IO Interactives Hitman World of Assassination, InZOI Studios InZOI, and Pearl Abyss Crimson Desert. Most of these games require an M1 series chip or later, found in the companys Apple Silicon Macs released since 2020. Some, like the Resident Evil series, can even run on the A17 Pro and later, first introduced in 2023. Apples current A18 Pro is roughly equivalent to the M1 in terms of performance, and if Apple puts it, the M1 or M2, or the upcoming A19 Pro, inside the next Apple TV, as expected, there is no reason these AAA games that currently run on the Mac couldnt run on the new Apple TV. And if that happens, the Apple TV becomes a professional-level gaming console. Turning the Apple TV into a gaming console makes sense for Apples ecosystem and the companys bottom line When Apple announced the upcoming Apple Games app for all its devices except the Apple TV, it stood out as a glaring hole in the companys lineup, especially since Apple Games is a natural fit for the Apple TV. But when you take in the odd omission, along with recent rumors that the next Apple TV is set to get powerful new CPU and wireless chipsets, and the flood of new AAA titles hitting the Mac and iPhone this year, things start to look a lot clearer. Yet something else leads me to believe that Apple could be turning the Apple TV into a gaming console this year: the companys history of being unwilling to let software announcements spoil new hardware features. In the past, Apple has withheld software announcements at WWDC to avoid revealing upcoming hardware improvements to its devices. The AAA titles available on the Mac appear in Apple Games on the macOS 26 beta. If Apple had previewed Apple Games on the tvOS 26 beta, Mac games that run on the new unreleased Apple TV, including these AAA titles, might have also shown there. That would spoil a major, as-yet-unannounced feature for the as-yet-unannounced Apple TV. Of course, all this is just conjecture on my part. Still, all the signs seem to be pointing to Apple TV becoming a true gaming console. This would make a lot of business sense for Apple. At price points of $129 or $149, depending on whether you want more storage and an ethernet connection, the current Apple TV 4K is much more expensive than such competitors as the Roku Streaming Stick 4K ($49), the Roku Ultra ($99), and the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K ($49). However, if Apple gives the new Apple TV gaming console capabilities, the current $129/$149 price suddenly looks like a bargain. A triple-A gaming experience on the Apple TV would be a unique selling point that Roku or Amazon couldnt compete with. It could also give Apple a major new revenue stream in the form of 30% App Store commissions on AAA titles sold through the tvOS App Store. As of 2024, the global AAA gaming market is valued at approximately $75 billion annually, according to a July 2025 Business Research Insights report. Its expected to grow to nearly $108 billion by 2033. But most of all, a new Apple TV with console gaming capabilities would further solidify the device as the digital heart of the living room and smart home, giving users another reason to stay within Apples ecosystem, both inside and outside the housean ancillary benefit Apple likely finds invaluable.
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E-Commerce
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