What signaled status in 2016, what matters now

Plus: Hibernation reading for those staring down a snowstorm, from Davos after dark to a penthouse sex dungeon.

Welcome to the first Friday edition of Rich People Shit. Consider this a brief recalibration before the weekend sets in. For those on the East Coast staring down a snowstorm, think of it as curated reading for enforced hibernation. A few observations, a little context, and some things worth clocking before everyone disappears until Monday. Let’s take a look at what’s been going on lately, shall we?

Today’s letter includes: Howard Rubin, penthouse sex dungeons, Hermes, Venn & Now, London real estate, Jess Graves, Phoebe Philo, Lydia Moynihan, World Economic Forum, Belle Burden, Strangers, Nikki Beach, Miami Beach, New York Magazine, Rachel Seville Tashjian, and much more…

• The New York Times capitalized on a trend you’ve probably been seeing all over your social media feeds: a quiet drift back to 2016, when things felt lighter and optimism still felt intact. I did a RPS version for you (a riff on a series I developed earlier in my career called Venn & Now) looking at status symbols and which ones actually endured. Big thanks to everyone who weighed in on this one. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

• Who else caught the totally unhinged WSJ story about a Wall Street billionaire and an alleged penthouse sex dungeon hiding in plain sight in Manhattan? Mandatory reading!

• Davos after dark, ladies and gentlemen. Lydia Moynihan reports in the New York Post that the World Economic Forum now feels less like a policy summit and more like Miami Art Basel in snow boots, including a roaming circuit of invite-only dinners, branded chalets, and people chasing wristbands. (Is it bad that this sounds sort of fun to me?). There are fake VIP passes circulating, politicians getting quietly iced out of the hottest rooms, Big Tech hosts flexing harder than the panels, and longtime Davos regulars muttering that the real deals and real drama are happening after midnight, not onstage. I believe it. I was supposed to interview a founder who was there last Tuesday, and his assistant emailed to say “too many things came up” and asked to push to next week — which I’m fairly sure is Davos code for party, party, party.

• Hermès is being accused of taking the Birkin gatekeeping a step too far. Uh-oh. A new report says sales associates allegedly look up clients’ home addresses, social media, and resale behavior to decide who’s “worthy” of being offered a Birkin, raising questions about how much surveillance is baked into luxury scarcity.

• If you’re looking for a book to get you through the weekend (or the snowstorm), I’d recommend Strangers by Belle Burden, which shot straight to the top of the New York Times nonfiction list. Burden, the granddaughter of socialite Babe Paley, writes about the sudden collapse of her marriage to a hedge fund executive after his affair, a story you can read more about here, here, or here, or, if you have nerves of steel, by going down the Reddit rabbit hole (reader beware!).

• London real estate is finally wobbling. If you’ve had your eye on something in Belgravia or Notting Hill, now may be your time to pounce. According to the Financial Times, inner London house prices are falling at their fastest pace since the financial crisis, challenging the idea that prime post-codes only move in one direction.

• Vintage fur and shearling are everywhere again. This is a really good take by Rachel Seville Tashjian, one of my favorite fashion writers: for CNN Style, she reports that searches for “vintage fur coat” have exploded and shoppers are leaning into second-hand furs as a way to look indulgent while feeling a bit more ethical about it (even as traditional fur remains controversial and many luxury houses still avoid it). This hits home, as I’ve got a vintage fur guy that I am clearly going to gatekeep till I go to my grave.

• The world now officially has 3,000 billionaires. And apparently that number is going to keep getting higher. (About 30 of those people are celebrities, in case you were wondering, including Lebron James, Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey, and Beyonce. I would have guessed more?)

• Jess Graves wrote about “Rich Dogs,” an ode to Phoebe Philo using them in her recent drop.

• Miami Beach is eating itself. Just in time for high season, too. Air Mail details how the fight over the former Nikki Beach site has devolved into lawsuits, leaked texts, and allegations of backroom dealing, turning this coveted stretch of sand into a public spectacle about power, access, and who gets to control the city’s most valuable real estate. I went to an incredible Salvador Dalí–themed birthday party there just a few years ago, which I’m fairly certain was the last event ever held on the site before everything imploded.

• Rich People Shit landed its first press mention at just five days old. Thank you to New York Magazine for the nod in the Eating New York newsletter, and to the readers who flagged it for me. If you missed it, it’s up on RPS’s Instagram at @readrps (which you should be following if you do that type of thing). If you see RPS mentioned in the wild, don’t be shy. Send it.