You might call it the roaring ’20s for some Angelenos, but maybe not in the way you’re thinking. Not everyone spent the last year stuck inside, eating frozen pizzas or making maple syrup or baking bread or catching up on the latest shows on Netflix. Although the pandemic may have hurt retail sectors, sales figures for niche goods, particularly sex toys and fetish fashion, helped tell another pandemic story.

This story is available exclusively to Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. If you're a new founder hoping to raise funding for your startup, it's crucial to cultivate a network of prospective investors without starting out by asking for favors. Case in point: Investor Namrata Banerjee has been getting dozens of strangers messaging her every week on social media since the pandemic started.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) offer new ways for consumers to collect, wear and trade fashion online, and now that most fashion shows have scaled back or gone virtual, they may become an important tool for the industry. Because some of the most profitable NF

It might seem like everyone and their mom is selling a non-fungible token (NFT) these days, but Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova is one of the few strategizing beyond the hype cycle. “I’ve been using cryptocurrency before this,” Tolokonnikova tol

The Covid-19 retail market was actually a boon for small- to medium-size lingerie businesses.

In the pandemic, lots of people are working and socializing from home. Insider spoke with a range of sex workers, who are on camera frequently for their jobs, to see what works best. All said that big-time lashes and focusing on glowing skin, plus buying a ring light, are your best bets. If you want to look good on a Zoom call, you're going to want to invest in some fake eyelashes.

Even as the world around them slows to a halt, young gamers are ushering in a new era of fashion media — one in which virtual fashion matters just as much, if not more than, style in real life. Fashion and beauty brands are eager to find advertising avenues that resonate with consumers, particularly as some luxury fashion companies reportedly cut their magazine ad budgets by up to 80% this summer, according to the digital-marketing agency Digital Luxury Group.

Millions of horny people, locked inside with nothing to do but swipe. Here’s how COVID fast-tracked the rise of dating app scams. Alex, a single software developer in his 20s, was browsing Tinder last October when a cute brunette popped up on his feed. He swiped right and so did she — a fine start to what he was sure would be a romantic digital exchange.

UK-based lingerie seller Annabelle Mu'azu's line. Katrina Lilwall. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. If you want to sell finery during a pandemic, you might want to double down on silky underthings. That's according to UK-based lingerie seller Annabelle Mu'azu, founder of the seven-year-old online boutique Beautifully Undressed, who said that silk lingerie is selling better than other fabrics these days because it's comfortable for working from home.

On the tree-lined streets of Ben Yehuda and Dizengoff in Tel Aviv-Yafo, rows of posh cafés, beauty parlors, bridal boutiques, and fashion studios stretch as far as the eye can see. The plethora of bridal salons continues south into the stone promenades of Yafo, one of the world’s oldest port markets.

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here. Parisian entrepreneur Moojan Asghari noticed something unusual about the Tehran startup weekend she contributed to in December 2016: the prevalence of stylish hijabs and lipstick.

“I kind of view bitcoin as similar to YouTube, which was part of the decentralization of content."

To most people, the following tweet might look like a simple string of emojis: Some witches on Tumblr, however, would see the above as a mystical witch's spell, replete with magical powers. The full meaning of each image is only truly known to the witch herself. Many young witches on websites like Tumblr are using emojis to cast spells, The practice's roots are more ancient than one might expect: Mystics, for example, have long used handmade symbols to invoke protection or supernatural influence through a sacred image.

"Recently, I have been catching feelings for one of my good friend's (recently) ex-boyfriend," an anonymous teen wrote on Tumblr. "I think something could happen but I don't know if I should go through with it." Jasmin, another Tumblr user, wished the original poster good luck with the potential new romance, while simultaneously warning her to exercise caution.

Last week, Visa and Mastercard cut ties with Pornhub, one of the world’s most popular discovery and advertising platforms for adult content. The move was spurred by reporting that showed the platform hosts illegal, stolen, and non-consensual porn, but it also disadvantages sex workers around the world who rely on Pornhub for income.

What the president lacks in experience he compensates for with macho, moneyed posturing — and he often uses fashion to those ends. n January 20, 2017, Melania Trump approached the White House with an iconic Tiffany & Co. blue box in her gloved hands, just hours before her husband Donald’s inauguration as the 45th president of the United States.