Photo: Vulture; Photos: Gilbert Flores/Patrick Pleul/Getty Images
Not since the festival release of Wicker has basketweaving been this hot a topic. Influencers are beefing with Nantucket’s Four Winds Craft Guild because it hung a “No Influencers” sign in its establishment then posted said sign on Instagram. The store specializes in “lightship baskets” or “Nantucket friendship baskets,” which cost around $1,000, per People. It’s one thing to have the sign; it’s another to bring the sign to influencers’ native biome, e.g., IG. Influencers like Paige Paul (née Lorenze) have been sounding off in Four Winds Craft Guild’s comments, trying to frame the argument as a feminist one. “If you call yourself a feminist but proudly put up a ‘No Influencers’ sign, it’s worth asking who you are attempting to delegitimize, and why,” Paul wrote on a now-deleted Four Winds Craft Guild post. “Mocking women when they become powerful in a new industry isn’t new. It’s just a strange message coming from a store that celebrates a craft with such a rich history of women shaping the island and its economy.”
On the other hand, permanent residents in Nantucket framed the issue as one of class — meaning both privilege and decorum. “Let the historical archives show, this island has never had a problem welcoming great spheres of influence,” a post from Nantucket Forever reads. “What we do not condone is a ring light on Main Street ignoring the flow of commerce, and asking for a freebie from a local business that’s just trying to keep payroll running through season on an island where demand drastically outweighs supply.”
Other blue checks chimed in on Four Winds’ new IG post (the original was deleted by Instagram, the store’s social-media handler told the New York Times). Décor influencer Stephanie Hanna wrote that she fell in love with Nantucket visiting the island this summer, but then “walked into your store and saw that sign and immediately felt uncomfortable. I thought to myself why would they have that sign on such a beautiful island where I felt magic around every corner. Made me feel bad for being me for a minute but I realized that anyone that would make anyone feel unwelcome is not where I should be.” While Dave Portnoy asked whether or not he is considered an influencer.
Shop owner John Sylvia is sticking to his guns, or antique whaling-harpoon cannons. “A lot of people are tired of feeling like extras in someone else’s video,” he told The Cut. “Like, fucking talk to me. Talk to anyone in my store.”
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