Hi, friends. Or should I say, close friends. Today is the day Coveteur launches on Substack, which I hope excites you as much as it does me. I feel like a kid unwrapping a mystery Labubu on Christmas morning—giddy, full of anticipation, a little feral. I’m excited to expand the Coveteur universe to the platform that keeps me hopeful about the future of writing, and one that I personally consume daily (my current Substack diet: Hillary Kerr’s Hi Everyone, Sable Yong’s Hard Feelings, Delia Cai’s Deez Links, Ochuko Akpovbovbo’s As Seen On and Haley Nahman’s Maybe Baby—though there are many more).
But first, if you’ve stumbled upon us and have no idea what Coveteur is or how to pronounce it (it’s “Cuv-uh-tour”): Welcome!
A little about us: founded in 2011 by three friends in Toronto, Coveteur started as a blog that gained a cult following for bringing people into the closets and homes of celebrities and cool people. It was boundary breaking for showcasing these intimate, previously never-before-seen spaces, and for spotlighting the people who make the fashion industry tick—editors, publicists, artists, creatives, founders, stylists and more. In a time when legacy fashion pubs were sticking their nose up at digital (remember those days?) and doing over-the-top photoshoots, Coveteur was shooting people in their closets with their most prized possessions: worn-down YSL boots, MAC lipsticks used to the nub, vintage tees collected at Melrose Flea. It was voyeurism, it was fashion, and it was the first of its kind.
Coveteur shuttered last year, much to everyone in media’s chagrin, but earlier this May, I was tapped as the new editor-in-chief to help bring it back. We’ve been rebuilding and rethinking what fashion and beauty storytelling can look like in 2025 with a brand-new team, but same up-close-and-intimate feel. You can peruse our site and Instagram to get a feel for the type of content we’re putting out—I hope it leaves you feeling inspired. Maybe you even find yourself wanting more? Because…
We’re on Substack now. But why?
We chose our name, Close Friends, not just because we love an alliteration at Coveteur, but because it sums up our approach to the content I want us to publish here. On Instagram, my close friends are a tightly-curated list of around 30-ish people. They’re people I don’t mind seeing the real me, or at least glimpses of her via the occasional blurry Story of me at late-night karaoke scream-singing Don’t Speak by No Doubt. Think of our on-site content as our public-facing Stories, and our Substack content as close-friends-only. It’s the side chat to the group chat: behind-the-scenes, voicey, fun to read, personal and insider-y. We’re treating it as a peek behind the curtain into how we work, what we’re Slacking about (right now: Romy Mars and skinny brows) and what really goes on behind-the-scenes at Coveteur HQ. If our homepage is our debut album, our Substack is the B-side, full of experimental deep cuts. (One thing about me: I love a metaphor. And also, an em dash—don’t come for me, ChatGPT.)
What to expect from us here
Every week or so, you’ll get a dispatch from me, or someone on the Coveteur team. Next week, you’ll be hearing from me (again—like I said, I’m giddy) and I’ll be sharing some life-changing (not hyperbolic) recs from my decade-long career as an ex-beauty editor and some updates on what we’re working on in the fall. Some examples of the types of stories we’ve been brainstorming:
The juiciest press trip stories from editors and publicists (anonymous, of course)
How fashion people are actually using chatGPT
Former EICs on what they’re doing now (and what they miss/don’t miss from the Golden Years Of Magazines)
The one thing we’d spend our paychecks on if PR mailings didn’t exist
What planning a cover and digital issue really entails
Interviews with cool people about what they’re actually buying, reading, watching and obsessing over
And more…
My hope is that our Substack will bring you closer into the Coveteur fold, whether you’re a new reader or longtime follower. Also, not to get too "media girl reflecting on media,” but we all know that the editorial landscape is shaky right now. The magazines and websites we grew up reading and loving are trying to stay afloat amidst the churn of algorithms, AI and robots writing slop in the speed of light. But here’s the thing: being an editor is still a pretty damn cool job. We get to tell stories, be creative, learn new things every day, and shine a light on the things we care about—no matter how niche, weird, or overlooked. So, part of my hope is that this Substack reveals all these fun and creatively-stimulating things we still get to do, so that the next generation of budding writers will actually want to work in editorial, just like how I used to pore over magazines and dream of one day seeing my name in the masthead.
I also want to hear from you! What do you want to see in Close Friends? What are you missing from fashion and beauty media right now? Who should we feature in our next Closet Tour?
Leave a comment, slide in my DMs—just don’t text me because I probably won’t respond.
See you next week.
-Faith Xue, editor-in-chief
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LOVE IT! Can’t wait to see what you have coming!
Exciting ✨ love this platform for Coveteur