If you were looking for proof that Substack is design media’s next hot spot, look no further: Kelly Wearstler has entered the building. Today, the celebrated designer and entrepreneur debuted her new weekly Substack newsletter, Wearstlerworld.
The newsletter, set to publish every Wednesday, will provide “irreverent and personal notes on style and living,” according to a release. Each issue will be centered around a theme, exploring connective tissue “across design, travel, fashion, [and Wearstler’s] influences and rationales.” The titles of the early editions—“Foot Fetish,” “Itty Bitty,” “Night Vision,” “Hard Ass”—suggest a cheekily Wearstlerian mix of high style, grit, provocation and fun.
“The foot is it, it’s the thing,” reads the opening sentence of the debut issue. “I’m going to talk about socks and shoes, and flooring, and one exceptional candlestick with a fantastic base—but, I want this to be a PSA that design is really also a lot about feet. Even though we talk so much about what we see with our eyes, what we feel with our fingertips, or even the needs of the ass (the comfort of sitting), the foot is so important.”
For the earliest editions, the newsletter will be available to subscribers for free, but starting in 2025 Wearstler will introduce a paid option.
Though it may seem strange that a busy celebrity designer would take the time to invest in a newsletter, the debut of Wearstlerworld fits neatly into Wearstler’s MO. In an industry that is usually quick to reject new technology in all its forms, she’s the rare high-profile early adopter—last summer she was among the first big names to hop on Meta’s Twitter competitor, Threads, and in a profile in The New York Times last fall she sang the praises of AI as a brainstorming tool.
Playing with media is also a signature Wearstler move. Though she has an array of licensed product collections, she appears to be just as comfortable making content: She was the first designer to launch a MasterClass series; she’s a contributor to Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar Netherlands; she has a robust presence on TikTok; and perhaps more than any other designer’s, her Instagram feed is a never-ending digital runway, a venue for her to not only show off her design work but to flex a consistently eye-catching approach to fashion.
The move also comes at a fertile time for design media on Substack. Though the platform—a publishing tool launched in 2017 that allows users to send newsletters and charge subscription fees—took a minute to reach the home industry, it appears to be gathering steam. In recent months alone, the Financial Times covered the platform’s nascent design-writing stars; popular fashion Substacker Laura Reilly debuted a home column; and Domino announced it will be moving its Home Front newsletter to Substack.
Wearstler’s entry into the fray will likely accelerate this momentum. Expect more design Substacks—soon.
