Ablation: is Qloo load-bearing?
The same screen, four ways: the full model; the same LLM ranking the same universe from general knowledge alone; Qloo without the cross-domain metric; and Qloo with one-way affinity only. If Simpatico worked the same without Qloo, it would be the wrong product.
Last run 2026-10-27 13:14 UTC · LLM: claude-opus-5-5
Shortlist rankings, four ways
| Variant | Kendall τ vs Full | Top-5 overlap | Verdict flips | Fame bias ρ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Full (Qloo, six metrics) Mitchell & Ness › Nike › New Era Cap › 47 › Vans | 1.00 | 5/5 | none | -0.24 |
No Qloo (LLM-only ranking) Ranked by audience and taste overlap with the Dodgers fanbase, plus licensing precedent. Core MLB licensees with existing Dodgers programs come first: New Era, '47, Nike (MLB uniform partner) and Mitchell & Ness. Next are LA-rooted streetwear labels with strong Dodgers cultural resonance or prior collaborations: Fear Of God, Stüssy, Kith, Vans, Rhude, Supreme, Golf Wang and Online Ceramics. Broader streetwear and workwear brands with sports-collab history follow. Outdoor and performance brands sit last, since their audience overlaps least with LA baseball culture. Adidas ranks lower because of Nike's league exclusivity. New Era Cap › 47 › Nike › Mitchell & Ness › Vans | 0.64 | 5/5 | none | -0.38 |
Qloo minus cross-domain (m3) m3 weight set to 0; the others renormalise. Mitchell & Ness › New Era Cap › Nike › 47 › Vans | 0.93 | 5/5 | Mitchell & Ness: ADVANCE→WATCH; Nike: WATCH→PASS; New Era Cap: WATCH→PASS; 47: WATCH→PASS; Vans: WATCH→PASS; Supreme: WATCH→PASS | -0.36 |
Qloo minus two-way (forward affinity only) m1 = forward affinity a; AUDIENCE_ONE_SIDED cannot fire. Mitchell & Ness › Nike › New Era Cap › 47 › Vans | 1.00 | 5/5 | none | -0.24 |
Fame bias = Spearman correlation between a ranking and Qloo popularity (1 = ranked purely by how famous the brand is). The LLM-only variant uses the same model with no Qloo data; it can’t give white space, demographics or momentum and can’t check its own claims.
Whole universe (25 brands): Qloo vs LLM-only
Kendall τ 0.46 · top-5 overlap 4/5 · fame bias: Qloo 0.48, LLM-only 0.01
Qloo forward affinity
- 47
- New Era Cap
- Nike
- Mitchell & Ness
- Adidas
- Supreme
- Vans
- Lululemon
- Fear Of God
- Stüssy
LLM-only (general knowledge)
- New Era Cap(Qloo #2)
- 47(Qloo #1)
- Nike(Qloo #3)
- Mitchell & Ness(Qloo #4)
- Fear Of God(Qloo #9)
- Stüssy(Qloo #10)
- Kith(Qloo #12)
- Vans(Qloo #7)
- R H U D E(Qloo #21)
- Supreme(Qloo #6)