Unlike Taylor Swift, Leandra Medine Cohen is NOT a real celebrity, so her brand could never be what Gwenyth Paltrow’s Goop is, and with the shuttering of Man Repeller, she’s right back to being regular, albeit monied and partnered. I’m curious what y’all think about MP, its short-lived rebrand, and the fact that it’s going to live in our minds rent-free forever. Sorry if this is too late, but it’s still on my mind!!! Leave a comment below.
I ended up wondering if she would have been considered nearly as fashionable or stylish if she wasn’t skinnier than a model and already rich? I found her blog hilarious when it was still a blog and she lived at home and remixed her already-owned wardrobe. Back when pairing a plaid flannel and a sequin skirt was revolutionary (I was 19). But once it became her in the latest Gucci and just buy-buy-buy, I said bye-bye-bye. Plus her faux-intellectual tone was meandering to the point of exhaustion. I always wanted to like it again, but I just couldn’t do it.
Schaudenfraude; that's the feeling. I have have a love-hate relationships with fashion blogs, because they are about aesthetics, (which I have infinite interest in), but a lot of the most popular fashion blogs are – or eventually become – about the aesthetics of whiteness, capitalism, and heteronormative whatever. I didn't engage with Man Repeller past, say, 2012, but my memory is that it was kind of the Platonic ideal of the white-capitalist-hetero fashion blog. I don't know if Man Repeller specifically deserves to be singled out for destruction (it does sound like there were internal culture issues, which isn't surprising, right?), but it feels like high time that someone acknowledge that aesthetics that cater to "my own personal taste" and not what other people prefer still express that bloggers' internalized understanding of the culture they're in, and if that's not examined, then it's probably going to perpetuate some bad stuff – which hey, we all do sometimes, because we're all in the terrible culture soup together. But it bothers me when something cleaves so close to certain types of cultural values but then gets called some kind of radical.
I actually don't think you need to be a celebrity, per se. Emily Weiss has done well with Into the Gloss/Glossier, despite early criticism and scrutiny. And has done a relatively good job at listening to criticism and making changes that are at least satisfactory to her core audience. I also always thought Man Repeller was an overly self-conscious name, and that vibe ended up permeating the entire brand to the point of its demise.
I really disliked man repeller until she hired other writers. There was a brief time when they were publishing some interesting pieces, but the best & most thoughtful articles were never by LM. They were always by her underlings. But MR fashion always struck me as sort of dumb. Too preppy for me, too effortfully quirky, too SATC. Too 2000s
I was such an early fan of MR. Stopped visiting the site a while back because I really felt like it was not for me. The blog was very white, and never discussed things I really enjoyed. Plus I questioned her taste, lol. I found other spaces online to discuss fashion. Not surprised to see the site go. It never would have made it that far if she was rich. I think she’ll be fine though. She’ll probably get a book deal or something of that nature.
I DM'ed Leandra Medine one time about their Negative Underwear collab not being size inclusive and she acknowledged it seemed vaguely apologetic! I am, to put it simply, an influencer!
oooo! So, when I was in high school I remember learning about Man Repeller from Nylon magazine and I was an early, early fan. When the site got bigger and as the years went on I kind of drifted away. I did still enjoy reading it occasionally. I think the criticism of MR and Leandra was warranted, but it was kind of shocking to me when she stepped back pronto and didn't seem to stick around to help its new life...
You said it: MR will *inevitably* live in my head rent-free, specifically as a hub that attracted incredible writers and creatives with style like Crystal Anderson, Emma Bracy, Haley Nahman, etc. Others here have spoken to it better, but as commercialization eclipsed irony, irreverence, innovation —and whiteness eclipsed and pushed out incredible Black, queer contributors— the shift was palpable. Yet I still found myself returning to MR weekly for a dose of ineffable styling, however dwindling the supply, hoping for a hit of the core ethos that attracted me in the first place: PERSONAL style and the joys of overthinking personal style.
In these (maybe illusory) halcyon days, I felt the message was: a Man Repeller asserted their values, their thoughts, their humor, and their style in the face of a society and luxury industry once exclusively invested in rich, white, skinny women. Unfortunately, it's clear that the embodiment of a Man Repeller remained rich, white, and skinny, as long as it was inextricable from Medine Cohen herself.
I loved the original MR from the start. As I was working in fashion, I constantly submitted ideas that I never even got a formal rejection for. The rebrand looked like a step in a diversified direction. Clearly, not. It'll be on my mind but not forever. Also, I helped her blog partner pick out button downs and not only was she a dream customer, but her hair was absolutely glorious.
I ended up wondering if she would have been considered nearly as fashionable or stylish if she wasn’t skinnier than a model and already rich? I found her blog hilarious when it was still a blog and she lived at home and remixed her already-owned wardrobe. Back when pairing a plaid flannel and a sequin skirt was revolutionary (I was 19). But once it became her in the latest Gucci and just buy-buy-buy, I said bye-bye-bye. Plus her faux-intellectual tone was meandering to the point of exhaustion. I always wanted to like it again, but I just couldn’t do it.
Schaudenfraude; that's the feeling. I have have a love-hate relationships with fashion blogs, because they are about aesthetics, (which I have infinite interest in), but a lot of the most popular fashion blogs are – or eventually become – about the aesthetics of whiteness, capitalism, and heteronormative whatever. I didn't engage with Man Repeller past, say, 2012, but my memory is that it was kind of the Platonic ideal of the white-capitalist-hetero fashion blog. I don't know if Man Repeller specifically deserves to be singled out for destruction (it does sound like there were internal culture issues, which isn't surprising, right?), but it feels like high time that someone acknowledge that aesthetics that cater to "my own personal taste" and not what other people prefer still express that bloggers' internalized understanding of the culture they're in, and if that's not examined, then it's probably going to perpetuate some bad stuff – which hey, we all do sometimes, because we're all in the terrible culture soup together. But it bothers me when something cleaves so close to certain types of cultural values but then gets called some kind of radical.
Absolutely. But Is normal really normal when you have that level of wealth? She’s normal. But she’s not nooooormal.
I've been soooooo curious about the shut down and desperately need to know more info about the internal drama.
I actually don't think you need to be a celebrity, per se. Emily Weiss has done well with Into the Gloss/Glossier, despite early criticism and scrutiny. And has done a relatively good job at listening to criticism and making changes that are at least satisfactory to her core audience. I also always thought Man Repeller was an overly self-conscious name, and that vibe ended up permeating the entire brand to the point of its demise.
I really disliked man repeller until she hired other writers. There was a brief time when they were publishing some interesting pieces, but the best & most thoughtful articles were never by LM. They were always by her underlings. But MR fashion always struck me as sort of dumb. Too preppy for me, too effortfully quirky, too SATC. Too 2000s
I was such an early fan of MR. Stopped visiting the site a while back because I really felt like it was not for me. The blog was very white, and never discussed things I really enjoyed. Plus I questioned her taste, lol. I found other spaces online to discuss fashion. Not surprised to see the site go. It never would have made it that far if she was rich. I think she’ll be fine though. She’ll probably get a book deal or something of that nature.
I DM'ed Leandra Medine one time about their Negative Underwear collab not being size inclusive and she acknowledged it seemed vaguely apologetic! I am, to put it simply, an influencer!
I honestly had to look up "man repeller"
oooo! So, when I was in high school I remember learning about Man Repeller from Nylon magazine and I was an early, early fan. When the site got bigger and as the years went on I kind of drifted away. I did still enjoy reading it occasionally. I think the criticism of MR and Leandra was warranted, but it was kind of shocking to me when she stepped back pronto and didn't seem to stick around to help its new life...
damn i have never heard of this person nor this Man Repeller, uh blog?
I've long suspected typing her site name three times helps her rationalize the need to rebrand as a "regular" influencer... again.
You said it: MR will *inevitably* live in my head rent-free, specifically as a hub that attracted incredible writers and creatives with style like Crystal Anderson, Emma Bracy, Haley Nahman, etc. Others here have spoken to it better, but as commercialization eclipsed irony, irreverence, innovation —and whiteness eclipsed and pushed out incredible Black, queer contributors— the shift was palpable. Yet I still found myself returning to MR weekly for a dose of ineffable styling, however dwindling the supply, hoping for a hit of the core ethos that attracted me in the first place: PERSONAL style and the joys of overthinking personal style.
In these (maybe illusory) halcyon days, I felt the message was: a Man Repeller asserted their values, their thoughts, their humor, and their style in the face of a society and luxury industry once exclusively invested in rich, white, skinny women. Unfortunately, it's clear that the embodiment of a Man Repeller remained rich, white, and skinny, as long as it was inextricable from Medine Cohen herself.
I loved the original MR from the start. As I was working in fashion, I constantly submitted ideas that I never even got a formal rejection for. The rebrand looked like a step in a diversified direction. Clearly, not. It'll be on my mind but not forever. Also, I helped her blog partner pick out button downs and not only was she a dream customer, but her hair was absolutely glorious.