Week #43: Is Supreme too slow with its China move? 🛹 Ethics over bringing the dead back to life with AI, 🤨 315 gala for consumer rights 🎉 | Following the yuan

Changes are coming to this newsletter. :D

Happy Thursday, folks! This week, I’m buzzing around Chengdu for China Food & Drinks Fair, the biggest gig of its kind in the country. For someone who gets her kicks roaming the aisles of large supermarkets, this is pretty much my version of Disneyland. (I don't like Disneyland.)

And it gets better—I’m catching up with my old drawing teacher, a Chengdu local who taught me for about 5-6 years when I could barely write 🥺. I will have more about that next week.

A premature announcement maybe — but I've made the decision to delegate more reporting duties to freelance reporters as I delve deeper into opinion writing and my business. This decision is twofold: firstly, due to the increased potential for conflicts of interest as I engage in more business research projects, and secondly, I aim to earnestly elevate this platform and, hopefully, create more opportunities for native Chinese writers who aspire to report and/or express themselves in English. There will be an official announcement on this soon.

I'm thrilled at the prospect of supporting more native Chinese writers in finding their voices. Upcoming stories we are working on include an exploration of whether the Hainan duty-free scene will fulfill its official promises and the ascent of Heytea from a third-tier city in China. 🔥

Heytea's first store in Jiangmen (left), Heytea's London franchise (right)

In other news, it’s unusual for us to do predictions rather than post-mortems (although I somewhat foresaw Messi’s recent PR predicament), but here’s one that I feel strongly about…

Is Supreme too slow with its China move? 🛹

What will happen: Supreme is set to make its long-awaited standalone debut in Shanghai this Saturday, four years after winning the trademark war from its copycats that previously thwarted its entry into China's streetwear scene. This begs the question: do people still recall the brand with the same fervor?

Founded by James Jebbia in 1994 as a skateboarding label, Supreme, hailing from New York, evolved into a global streetwear phenomenon. Its range, from apparel and footwear to unconventional items like a $515 bolt cutter, has consistently been hot commodities in the resale market.