Emily Mariko is the “Marie Kondo” of influencers: she wins millions of followers by chopping vegetables

In her TikTok videos, Emily Mariko never speaks. She doesn’t respond to comments, she doesn’t write anything in the captions. She doesn’t explain her recipes, her looks, her skincare routine. She doesn’t have a wardrobe overflowing with expensive brands, despite her comfortable life: like many American peers, she prefers leggings and sweatshirts not only when she goes to the farmer’s market to buy vegetables. She then cleans and cuts them meticulously, keeping them in identical glass jars. She eats meals on the peninsula in her kitchen, very small and very linear, using very simple Japanese tableware. Emily Mariko is Japanese-American, she is 32 years old, with a degree in Neuroscience set aside for a career as a content creator, a husband and a child on the way. And thanks only to the monetization of her videos on TikTok, not counting deals and sponsorships, in January she earned around 108 thousand dollars. His posts average 6 million views. To make an estimate – Emily doesn’t even speak to the media – the figure will at least triple, given that for two and a half years he has been one of the most constant and followed digital presences, well beyond his 12 million and 700 thousand followers. Her wedding last summer was defined as a triumph of quiet luxury with minimal wedding dresses (but three), few guests and wild flowers. A sign of her success is how the highest fashion did not take long to involve her: Emily is now a constant presence at Dior events, from Paris to Mexico. And if such a giant notices her, it is because her communicative potential is remarkable.

And yes, Emily doesn’t do anything special, technically. Even the video that made her a star in mid-2021 is basic: in a sweatshirt, without make-up as always, she chops up a slice of salmon with a fork, pours in some white rice, adds an ice cube and covers everything with a sheet of baking paper before putting it in the microwave; then she adds sriracha sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, half an avocado and eats it accompanied by seaweed chips. Nothing else. The apotheosis: her recipe is remade, reposted and copied by anyone, in a few days she becomes the goddess of the hearth 4.0, users go crazy for the serene and phlegmatic videos, they adore her daily life that is so precise and at the same time reachable. About her Her bungalow on the San Francisco Bay Area, the Dyson for carpet, her order at In-N-Out’s favorite drive-thru. «The era of influencers with perfect lives in which everything is polished, refined and fake is over», confirms Paolo Stella, author and digital creative among the pioneers of social media in Italy. «Now sincerity, uncertainty, even mistakes work. The truth, in short, even if less desirable than perfection. The few influencers who are still relevant are those who have managed to maintain relative authenticity.” The same strategy as Emily, careful to create a precise aesthetic, in line with her contents, between neutral colors and simple furnishings.

Precisely the difference between what it narrates and what it “sells” was at the center of the controversy that erupted in recent weeks, when on the site emilymariko.com, has put its first product on sale: a shopping tote bag in sage green or pink. Price, $120. For days on TikTok, those who said they were outraged by the amount compared to those that cost a few dollars in any supermarket held the spotlight. Meanwhile, Emily’s have sold out. As noted, at the basis of that indignation there was a fundamental error: confusing minimalism with saving. If Emily’s aesthetic seems within everyone’s reach, that doesn’t mean she is. As usual, she remained silent, letting the controversy die down by itself. And she has already gone further, signing an agreement with Green Chef, a food delivery company, which brings her recipes to your home (from $26 per menu). As with the bags, it’s not a modest sum, but this time there’s 60% off your first order. The response from social media? Enthusiastic, for now.