Hello!
Welcome to The Spread, a more personal peek into what I’m reading, doing, loving, and more, alongside the pop culture content / critique you know and love from The Composite.
As I’m writing this, it happens to be the one year anniversary of The Composite ❤️
One year ago, I published my first newsletter. As it stands today, The Composite is read in 47 states and 74 countries. I am so proud of what I accomplished in the last year, and I can’t wait to show you what’s up my sleeve. If you want to check out my first ever post, which I still love very much, here she is:
PIGLET: Food and female appetite in fiction
I saw Piglet described as the stylish “it book” of the year so many times before reading, but I needed very little convincing to pick this one up. This book checks so many of my “should I read this?” boxes - food in fiction, a woman working in publishing (
Last Spread I was heading into my weeklong OOO to celebrate my birthday and I am happy to report that it was a fabulous time. Perhaps one of my best birthdays yet. I mentioned the backyard makeover I was in the middle of executing, which turned out so wonderfully. Operation Weenies & Tinis party was an absolute success.
The last couple of days of my time off were during a heat wave (the literal hottest day in NYC in 13 years) so a pool day was calling my name. I’ve been to dinner at The Rockaway hotel a few times, but this was my first time getting a day pass to their pool. If you do it, go early enough to stop in next door at Boardwalk Bagel and Deli for a sandwich and some of the best iced coffee I’ve ever had.
Going Bananas
For me, it all started with this Food & Wine article asserting that banana is the snack flavor of the summer. Since I read it, I haven’t been able to stop seeing them. Bananas are everywhere.
Prada Beauty has been building up to the release of their Prada Balm in banana yellow, which is inspired by a banana fabric print from their SS 2011 collection. I really love this whole thing. Also - note the vending machine for none other than banana JELLIES! This will make sense in a moment.
This comes on the heels of Jacquemus’s spring campaign featuring White Lotus’s John Gries and, of course, bananas.
Yesterday, July 1st, I made this (very academic, groundbreaking) observation in my notes app as I was theorizing about the reasoning behind the banana boom.
It only makes sense that we’d see a natural progression into a slightly different yellow shade, still inspired by a culinary item. With the rapid trend cycle and obsession with cores, giving the hue a shiny new name and aesthetic personality allows us to ostensibly “move on” without any actual traction or notable innovation.
Exhibit A: This Meshki post which includes not only butter and bananas side by side with tonally coordinating shoes inside a fridge, but also some lemons.
And alas, today, July 2nd, Rhode drops this.
According to Hailey, the answer to butter yellow is *not* bananas, but lemons. So while it may be the wrong yellow fruit, I think it can still be entered as evidence to prove my point. Also - note the similarities in color palette between the below images and the ones from Prada above.
Side note RE: Rhode’s lemon campaign: the belly chain lip tint holder? The girls are gonna go feral for this one.
And to close us out of the banana portion of today’s program, I leave you with Chiquita Banana’s take on a Labubu and the related Doublet SS26 collection from this week - the latter of which I saw in
’s fabulous newsletter, .
Let’s Jiggle
In December I published one of my favorite pieces to date - a deep dive into why I thought Jell-O Molds would be this year’s hottest aesthetic pursuit.
I’d love if you read it, but the TLDR is this:
I was noticing a slow uptick of gelatinous moments in marketing, and I was interested to learn why that was and how it might continue to come to life.
In the age of weight loss medications and increased control and surveillance of our bodies - not only by ourselves but also by our government - food will increasingly serve aesthetic purposes rather than actual consumption. After all, with many families in America unable to afford even basic groceries, the use of food purely for aestheticism is the ultimate status signal - except for, maybe, thinness
SO why am I bringing this up now?
I ended that piece with a snapshot of how I thought this might seep into fashion and beauty culture, and my predictions have started to come true.
This week, Gucci released this campaign featuring jello molded GG Marmont bags. Taglines from the campaign read “dessert isn’t just for the table”, “a perfect recipe every time”, and “the kind of indulgence you dream of”.
Huda Beauty partnered with a food stylist who specializes in jello projects on some gelatin creations for their Faux Filler campaign. Also - highly recommend checking out the food stylist, NÜNCHI, who has a fashion background and does some really incredible brand work via food styling. They also recently worked on these cutie jelly bites for Tory Burch as well as these jiggly guys for AWAY.
And we got very close to my prediction of a Rhode beauty product atop molded jello with this recent Lemme post.
My eyes are peeled for all things jelly!!
Here’s everything I’ve read since we last spoke…
📖 Good Morning Midnight | Lily Brooks-Dalton | Science Fiction | Really liked it | Simultaneous stories about a space crew and a man in Antarctica who just might be the only humans left alive
📖 Park Avenue | Renée Ahdieh | Contemporary Fiction | Really liked it | Described as Succession meets Crazy Rich Asians
📖 The Relentless Moon | Mary Robinette Kowal | Science / Historical fiction | This series is my equivalent of mindless TV. I can’t say you should read them, but I can’t stop
📖 Kindred | Octavia Butler | Science / Historical Fiction | Loved it | Perhaps my favorite of Butler’s so far. A Black woman in 1976 California keeps getting unwittingly transported back to a plantation in the 1800s
📖 Daddy Issues | Kate Goldbeck | Contemporary Romance | Advanced Reader Copy, expected on 11/13/25 | Liked it | Young woman who failed to launch due to the pandemic falls for older single dad next door neighbor. Great cover
📖 Notes on Infinity | Austin Taylor | Literary / Contemporary Fiction | Really Liked It | Two Harvard students strike gold with a startup based on their scientific biotech discovery - or do they?
….and some of the books I’m most excited to dive into soon.
📖 The Merge | Grace Walker | Speculative Fiction | Earth’s resources are depleted, leading to a revolutionary advancement that allows two peoples’ consciousness to be combined into one body
📖 These Heathens | Mia Mckenzie | Historical Fiction | A young woman in 1960s Georgia seeks an abortion and discovers how a single weekend can change your life forever. Described as sharp and funny.
📖 Moderation | Elaine Castillo | Literary Fiction | A tech-industry satire that turns into a modern romance. For fans of both Ling Ma’s Severance AND AppleTv’s Severance. Again, great cover
📖 The Tiny Things Are Heavier | Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo | A captivating portrait that explores the hardships of migration, the subtleties of Nigeria's class system, and how far we'll go to protect those we love
Some recent song saves:
See you in The Digest soon! xo
Don't forget about the original jelly icons, Bompas & Parr who made the cakes for the Gucci campaign!