How to make a cult comeback
Gap’s denim revival, the Miu Miu girl defined, and Taylor Swift’s one-of-a-kind engagement ring
August 29, 2025 | Edinburgh, UK
Welcome back! Every week, The Brandsider brings you an insider’s perspective on the making of luxury cult brands. This newsletter is a roundup of the stories I can’t get out of my head.
I can’t quite believe how much this platform - and my life - have changed since my last newsletter on April 11. They say one season of deep work is all it takes, and now I finally believe it. Looking back, I have no idea how I ran on so little sleep for so long - sheer motivation and survival instincts, I guess??
This series of life changes culminated most recently in our move to Edinburgh last week. It was chaos. It was time-consuming. And boy am I glad to be back to my routine - now sans full-time corporate role.
The Brandsider continues to operate, of course, but as part of a bigger bet that my husband and I are working on together (more on that soon). In the meantime, I’m focused on building back my content muscle after a slight reprieve (aka burnout lol), relaunching this newsletter (hello!) and taking on ad-hoc brand strategy consulting projects.
If you’re interested in working with me, please reach out at →
tamara@thebrandsider.com
For now, I’m excited to be back here, writing about the thing I love most: cult-worthy brands. Keen to hear your thoughts on the evolved format, and your own perspective on the stories we cover here.
Tamara
Brands featured in this week’s newsletter: Gap, Miu Miu, Taylor Swift, Artifex Fine Jewelry, Topshop
Gap might just be back
Gap has been quietly staging a turnaround under Zac Posen since his February 2024 appointment: launching GapStudio, showing up on red carpets, even debuting a Spring ‘25 campaign with White Lotus’ Parker Posey. But the perception shift has been slow - until last week.
While most of us were still reeling from Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ‘Great Jeans’ campaign, Gap’s marketing team were teeing up their own take on denim.
Sitting at nearly 10m views, the spot features the girl group KATSEYE flawlessly executing a choreography to the 2000s classic ‘Milkshake’ - all clad in low-rise jeans. And comments under the video are positive for a reason…
“The only ad I intentionally searched”
”The only ad no one is skipping”
”It's a requirement to watch this once a day”
”Never wore GAP jeans in my life and now I lowkey want to lol”
The ad weaves together the perfect mix of Y2K aesthetic, TikTok-worthy virality, and the diverse casting we expect from brands in 2025. But more importantly, it hits right at the heart of Gap’s cult DNA.
Because Gap’s magic was never just about affordable fashion: it was about turning basics into pop culture. White tees as the uniform of the 90s. Denim as the ultimate equalizer. Gap made the ordinary feel iconic.
So while a full brand turnaround will take time - this ad reminds us why the brand mattered in the first place. And that’s where every cult revival begins.
Watch → ‘Better in Denim’ Gap ad
Defining the Miu Miu girl
The ‘Miu Miu girl’ has always had a certain quality about her, and now we finally have the word for it. On August 19, Miu Miu unveiled its new fragrance to the world: aptly named ‘Miutine’ - a play on the word ‘mutine’ (aka rebel, mutiny).
This goes beyond clever naming. It’s the brand finally putting words to one of fashion’s most fascinating (and elusive) archetypes: the Miu Miu girl. And there’s no better face for it than Emma Corrin, who embodies the tension at the heart of Miu Miu: feminine but never in the expected way - softly subversive, yet unconventionally bold.
Cult-worthy brands don’t sell you product. They invite you into a lifestyle, an identity. Better yet, one you already see yourself in.
Miutine speaks to the rebellious, slightly irreverent side within all of us. A word we might secretly want to be described as. And the scent as private validation - worn “entirely for oneself away from any gaze” (Dominique Ropion, Master Perfumer).
“Miutine, adjective. Used to describe an individual whose spirit is unyielding. Unconstrained. They know the rules, but behave as if they do not exist.”
Watch → Miu Miu cult dossier (The Brandsider)
The new Eras of engagement rings
When Taylor Swift announced her engagement to Travis Kelce this week, the jewelry industry held its breath. Not because of the carats or the price tag (though experts estimate £500k–£4m), but because of who designed it: not Cartier, not Tiffany, not De Beers - but Kindred Lubeck of small label Artifex Fine Jewelry.
The ring - a custom old mine cut, bezel-set diamond - is telling. This vintage style is known for its imperfections and subtler sparkle, each stone completely one of a kind. In contrast to the rising trend of lab-grown diamonds (flawless and uniform by definition) Taylor validated the opposite: singularity. And the market reacted instantly: searches for “old mine cut” spiked ~10,000%.
The shift (back) toward one-of-a-kind stones has been building for years, but Taylor’s engagement thrust it into mainstream conversation. With standardized stones becoming more accessible, true luxury will increasingly lie in rarity - whether in the cut, the provenance, the jeweler, or the story behind it.
This further market polarization opens space for new cult-worthy players - indie labels, standalone craftspeople, or houses releasing genuinely one-off pieces. Because in 2025, luxury is no longer contained in a little blue box… and that might be a good thing.
Watch → How De Beers misread lab-grown diamonds (The Brandsider)
Catching up
This week on Instagram, I explored Topshop’s recent return to the high street, and hypothesized what could make the brand successful in this new age of fast fashion and TikTok trend cycles.
Spoiler: it’s not competing on price or speed. But instead tapping into what once made the brand so cult: editorial authority, as defined by the brand’s tastemakers.
I might not have grown up in the UK, but our collective obsession with Topshop was alive and well in Canada. The biggest fashion purchase of my teens was a pink trench coat I wore every day of my eighteenth year. So it’s fair to say their comeback is near and dear to my heart - and it was a pleasure diving deep into the archives of Topshop to tell this story.
Links below:
As always, thank you for your support. I’m so grateful to be stepping into this next chapter with a vision and clarity that I’m on the right path. Excited to share more soon.
xo,
The Brandsider
The Brandsider is the editorial arm of Brandside
Such a nice read! Excited for what’s to come!