017. Delegated discernment in the influencer economy
how influence (and influence-based business) is built and sustained <3
With retail sales up 9% in the nine months ended 30 September 2025, Prada Group’s fantastical-lady-gone-geeky label1, Miu Miu, attributed its endlessly upward slope to “high desirability, sharp identity, and captivating aesthetics.” I think the ~six months ended 30 November 2025 marked the start my multi-year growth journey of a similar making.
I am, however, not quite ready to write a soul-baring essay on how desirability, identity, and aesthetics have pushed me upward and to the right. And, per the (self-imposed) bounds of this newsletter, I don’t have to.
Instead, I propose we look outward because, if Prada Group is to be believed, establishing a set of strategic, repeatable cues that tell people what to want, what to be, and what to see is good business!
