The recent launch of Dua Lipa’s Service95 is another reminder of the way in which stars are increasingly using internet lifestyle platforms to build their brands and and connect with their followers.
Service95 is a weekly newsletter/podcast that will feature Dua’s personal recommendations for everything from fashion and beauty to food and hotels. The newsletter will also feature many creatives and A-list celebrity friends of the star.
The caption on the Insta post that broke the news read: “Service95 will serve up a considered curation of lists, recommendations, stories, information, thoughts, perspectives, and conversations you won’t hear, see, or read anywhere else.”
The 26-year-old singer explains the name Service 95 by telling us that (1) that being “of service” is her mission, and (2) that she was born in 19 er… 95.
This is not the first time Dua Lipa has “given back”, with one example being the Sunny Hill Foundation that she founded along with her father Dukagjin Lipa when she was only 20. Based in Kosovo, the foundation has amongst other things helped earthquake victims and supported young creatives.
Dua is not the first celebrity to mix business with setting a good example. Gwyneth Paltrow, the actress who has starred in many blockbuster films such as Iron Man, Seven and The Royal Tenenbaums, launched her company Goop back in 2008.
Though Goop started as a weekly newsletter it is now a wellness and lifestyle brand, with fancy website and blog. Although Paltrow has drawn criticism for selling or recommending things that some think are dodgy, such as Bee Venom Therapy, the brand has a cult following and Netflix has even released a new Goop-related series: Sex, Love and Goop, about intimacy. Last year’s series The Goop Lab with Gwyneth Paltrow looked into alternative wellness treatments such as psychedelics.
Kourtney Kardashian, like all her sisters, has some entrepreneurial blood in her veins. The oldest Kardashian sister founded the Poosh website in 2019. She describes it as a platform for a community of wellness-minded individuals who want to “live their best lives” from “the inside out”. Similar to Goop but not as unconventional, Poosh allows Kourtney to share her favourite products and holidays etc.
There ere lots of other examples. Model Rosie Huntigton-Whiteley created Rose Inc; Actress Zoey Deschanel is the founder of Hello Giggles and TV personality Lauren Conrad has her own namesake brand and website. And so on.
A cynic could argue that this is all about stars extending their brand into areas that allow them to make more money.
But there are upsides too. For example, Dua Lipa has promised her fans that she will feature a lot of lesser-known places and products – which will be very beneficial for the young creatives involved.
