fashion media awards september 5, 2019
fashion
today
edward enniNful and kate moss
& Zendaya, Emily Ratajkowski,
Michael Mente, Halima Aden, Zoey Grossman, FrÉdÉric Fekkai, Nina Garcia, Indya Moore, Tomo Koizumi, Sasha Siem plus! Who is This Year’s
Top Influencer?
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testingTesting…
“Fashion, c’est toi?!”
READY FOR CHIC? Do you know your Tomo from your Tommy? Take the quiz!
interested in buying W? A. Les Moonves B. Wendi Deng C. Jay Penske D. Troy Young
2. ofWhotheareCFDA? the newest board members A. Lauren Santo Domingo, Dasha Zhukova, Karlie Kloss, and Derek Blasberg B. Kerby Jean-Raymond, Maria Cornejo, Carly Cushnie, and Virgil Abloh C. Lena Dunham, Zosia Mamet, Adam Driver, and Allison Williams D. Bee Shaffer, Selby Drummond, Molly Howard, and Tracy Dubb
3.cashmere Katie Holmes’ now-infamous bra by Khaite retails for… A. $190 B. $75 C. $520 D. $999
4. September Adut Akech appears on the ’19 covers of… A. Five international editions of Vogue B. Elle U.K and the J.Crew catalog C. The Hollywood Reporter and WWD D. WSJ. and T: The New York Times Magazine
5. ofWhoKateis Spade? penning a biography A. Cathy Horyn B. Vanessa Friedman C. Amy Odell D. Anne Slowey
6.New Which designer is showing at York Law School? A. Tomo Koizumi B. Tibi C. Batsheva D. Prabal Gurung
7. What is the name of Jim Moore’s new book? A. Hunks & Heroes B. Gentry Ltd. C. Man of Mode D. More Moore
8.followers Which editrix has the most on Instagram? A. Nina Garcia B. Michelle Lee C. Samantha Berry D. Radhika Jones
9.CEO Roger Lynch, the new global of Condé Nast, recently served in which role?
A. President and CEO of Pandora B. Estate manager to Kris Jenner C. Chief marketing officer of Gap Inc. D. Personal assistant to Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard
10.GigiC’estHadid? qui, the new boyfriend of A. Timothée Chalamet B. Tyler Cameron C. Harry Styles D. Robert Pattinson
0–3 CORRECT ANSWERS
YOU ARE…TOMMY LEE JONES Talented, certainly, but woefully underinformed of the latest goings-on in the fashion sphere. Memorize the latest stories on fashionweekdaily.com each and every day, and you’ll be golden! 4–6 CORRECT ANSWERS
YOU ARE…TOMMY TON You’ve got the basics down pat, but are you fully up to speed on the latest industry goss? If not, don’t fret—browse our back issues on issuu.com and you’ll be caught up in no time. 7–10 CORRECT ANSWERS
YOU ARE…TOMMY HILFIGER So chic and informed, it practically hurts. See you at the shows!
getty images (6); all others courtesy
1. mavericks Which of the following media is rumored to have been
answers: 1. A; 2. B; 3. C; 4. A; 5. B; 6. C; 7. A; 8. A; 9. A; 10. B FA S H I O N W E E K D A I LY. C O M
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The Daily Wonders… What’s the first thing you bought for Fall? in
Chief Content Officer Eddie Roche
wR oom
YOUR DAILY DOSE PREDICTED
PARTY RANKINGS! 1 2
3
The Daily’s Fashion Media Awards, of course! Kate Moss and Zendaya alert! DKNY’s 30thanniversary party on Monday night in Brooklyn Halsey alert!
And we’re off! Another September, another season of your dear Daily in print. Haven’t you missed us? We’re especially thrilled to welcome you to this special issue celebrating the honorees of our Fashion Media Awards. From Zendaya and Kate to Edward and Tomo, the fashion cognoscenti abound, and we can’t wait to see you tonight for the big occasion at the Rainbow Room!
Alexander Wang’s Saturday night rager on Fifth Avenue, toasting his collab with Bulgari
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Bazaar Icons bash at The Plaza on Friday
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Lily Aldridge’s fragrance launch at the Bowery Hotel terrace on Sunday
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Elle’s Women in Music party, with performances by Lizzo and Camila Cabello
The Daily Wonders... Which ultra-high-profile media moguls (of a certain age) have found l’amour? One is still coupled, at least according to the press, but the other is recently separated from her spouse…
CHIC CHAT!
With RJ King What’s your latest project? It’s a series called Cocktails and Closets that takes place inside people’s closets, on Instagram TV and maybe on
scene
YouTube. I interview them about what drives their fashion choices. Why do they wear the things they wear? What have they gone through in life that’s shaped who they are today? Guest list, please. We’re starting with model/ DJ Leigh Lezark; then, Miles Chamley-Watson, the world champion fencer and two-time Olympian. You’re one of very few out models. Why don’t more male models come out? It’s still the culture and society that
TV WATCH! With Christian Siriano
How do you like to wind down at the end of a long day? I’m watching Good Girls, which is so good. My friend Christina Hendricks is in it. I watch it all for her. I’m also watching the final season of Orange Is the New Black because those are all my friends. I’ve been working with them since the show’s first season. I’m really into a lot of action movies. It’s my escape. Like the new John Wick movie? It was amazing. [Keanu Reeves] is a really good actor. He’s amazing, he’s sexy—all of the above. Do you ever see yourself doing more menswear? Someday! It’s so hard because men are so boring with what they wear. Even me. Men who will take a risk are fun. Hopefully more men will try. You’ve done maternitywear for the red carpet. Are you going to be doing anything for Ashley Graham? I should! I was just texting with her. I wanted to leave her alone for Fashion Week. I thought I should let her live her life.
we’re in. I’ve been in it now long enough where people aren’t telling me that I shouldn’t [be out.] A lot of people running the industry are gay; you’d think that would be reflected in the models, but it’s not. You’ve been around for a while. Do you feel like the old guy now? My lifestyle is so different. It’s a more serious, focused time. It’s exciting.
PANELS 411!
Executive Editor Ashley Baker
Managing Editor Tangie Silva
“Kate Spade Fallyn leopard flats. What can I say? The Chic Spree on pages 76 and 77 inspired me!”
Creative Director Dean Quigley Senior Editor Alexandra Ilyashov
“A new couch. That’s where you’ll find me 24/7, post-NYFW.”
Digital Director Charles Manning Fashion News Editor Aria Darcella Editors-at-Large Charlotte and Sophie Bickley West Coast Editor-at-Large Jordan Duffy Contributing Art Director Teresa Platt Contributing Photographer Giorgio Niro
“Fresh white sneakers and Tom Ford Research Creme Concentrate.”
Contributing Photo Editor Hannah Turner-Harts Contributing Copy Editor Joseph Manghise Imaging Specialists George Maier, Nola Romano Interns Julie Calmes, Melissa Florio, Innara Gazizova, Nell Greer, Caroline Lane
Senior Director, Brand Partnerships Betsy Jones Executive Sales Director Carrie Brudner
“A Nicole Miller button-down dress.”
Fashion Publishing Director Monica Forman “Xanax!”
Event Director Alex Dickerson
Publishing & Market Research Nandini Vaid Digital Operations Daniel Chivu Manufacturing Operations Michael Esposito Amy Taylor
To advertise, call (646) 768-8101 Or e-mail: advertising@dailyfrontrow.com The Daily Front Row is a Daily Front Row Inc. publication. Copyright © 2019. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Requests for reprints must be submitted in writing to: The Daily, Attn: Tangie Silva, 810 Seventh Avenue, Ste. 400A, New York, NY 10019.
Once again, NYFW: The Shows is hosting The Talks, a series of intriguing convos on all sorts of topics. On Friday at 1 p.m., Breaking Tradition in Streetwear, presented by The Glenlivet, will focus on breaking boundaries in streetwear, and feature photographer and designer CHRISTELLE DE CASTRO, designer, DJ, and director VA$HTIE, and Chinatown Market CCO MIKE CHERMAN.
On the cover
Edward Enninful and Kate Moss, photographed by Alec Maxwell.
shutterstock (7); getty images (6); patrickmcmullan.com (4); all others courtesy
Ra bo
Brandusa Niro Editor in Chief, CEO
FA S H I O N W E E K D A I LY. C O M
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Pier59 hosted a slew of summer bashes, like this rollicking white party. • The Trinity (aka Naomi, Linda, Christy) is honoring beloved coif legend Oribe at Lincoln Center on Tuesday. • STYLE360 toasts 15 years of celeb brands by stars like Serena Williams, at NYFW.
pIEr59’s white hot party
orIBe tribute
KA-CHING!
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
Alexander Wang—who is not showing this week, for those of vous who are living underneath rocks—is toasting his new Bulgari collaboration on Saturday night (during his usual show time, sob) with a party at “A.W. x BULGARI” at 712 Fifth Avenue (yes, that’s the former home of Henri Bendel). Prepare yourselves for “special performances!”
to Make a A. How Stripper Look
B. C. D.
Subtle Does Shockwave Therapy Work for Erectile Dysfunction? Shopping With a Scientist: Gerda’s Period-Support Essentials Improve Your Relationship With Money by Looking at Your Past
THREE LAUNCHES TO DISCUSS!
Answer: They’re all real!
WANG NEWS YOU SHOULD USE!
THE DAILY WONDERS... WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING HEADLINES DID NOT RECENTLY APPEAR ON GOOP.COM?
Stop by NYFW: The Shows to check out Visa’s retail space, which will showcase exclusive products for women, by women, and benefitting women. Plus, 100 percent of the purchase price of products sold there will benefit Women’s World Banking, a nonprofit providing female entrepreneurs around the world with financial tools and resources they need to pursue their dreams. We dare you to resist Cassandra Thurswell’s rhinestone bobby pins, Lingua Franca’s eye masks, exclusive new Baggu tote designs, and more!
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Nick Jonas and John Varvatos are rolling out a tequila brand!? Bottoms up!
2
Uniqlo is starting its own print magazine, titled LifeWear
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Sophie Roche Conti has struck out on her own with Conti Communications
Amy Fine Collins, longtime Vanity Fair contributor and a gatekeeper of its best-dressed list, has authored many fashion and art tomes. Next up? The International Best-Dressed List: The Official Story, out in October. How did you first meet the Best-Dressed List’s founder, Eleanor Lambert? I’d done a story about [photographer] Horst P. Horst and became friendly with him and his boyfriend, Valentine Lawford. [When Lawford] declined to do this book [about interior design firm Parish-Hadley], he recommended me. Eleanor was representing Hadley. I ended up not doing the book, but the fruit of that meeting was a friendship with Eleanor. She became a mentor. She left her archives to a few people, including you. How did the contents inspire a book? The files start in the 1930s. It’s fantastic material, like a treasure, a gift. I opened the lid earlier to do an assignment for Vanity Fair, and had sifted through, working with an assistant to organize everything into binders. It was clear, once we had organized everything, that I had the makings of a book. You still work on the Best-Dressed List today. What do you look at when assessing someone’s style? Everything. The worst is when you see someone looking impeccable on the red carpet and then you see 92 other photos of them looking like a complete unkempt mess without any interest in their appearance whatsoever. That’s when you realize these people have no taste at all! They’ve just been dressed up like little paper dolls for the night. Have stylists killed individuality on the red carpet? Individual style, period, has been killed. Eleanor hated the arrival of the stylist. That was a phenomenon of the late ’90s. I don’t think they’ve been doing the industry or the stars a great service. Now, [celebrities] feel insecure without the stylist. Everything is turned around. Instead of a movie star buying clothes, it went to designers lending and then paying celebrities to wear clothes. It’s really hard to find authentic style. Any celebrities that break the mold? What Elle Fanning has been doing, even though she’s working with a stylist, is so different than what you’re seeing on anyone else. The Olsen twins. Nicole Kidman always got it. Janelle Monáe has extraordinary style; she works with designers for sure, but, boy, does she dominate the clothes. She’s nobody’s paper doll.
getty images (4); patrickmcmullan.com (4); all others courtesy
The Style Historian
FA S H I O N W E E K D A I LY. C O M
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Photograph by Richard Avedon, © The Richard Avedon Foundation
Hearst Magazines. The world’s leading data-driven fashion media company. We know what the future holds—it’s performance and style together. That’s how we built the world’s biggest and best portfolio of fashion and luxury media brands. Smart. Stylish. Trusted. Global.
©2019 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc.
fashion force
dazzling
zendaya
Zendaya is a true triple threat, with a stylish twist—the 23-year-old actress and singer was already making waves for a few years with her creative, surprising, boundary-pushing red carpet looks whipped up with her longtime stylist/“image architect” Law Roach. Then, she added fashion designer to her résumé, first with her Daya by Zendaya line a few years ago, followed by this year‘s hotly anticipated launch of Tommy x Zendaya, a collection with Tommy Hilfiger that‘s now in its second season. Plus, she serves as women‘s global brand ambassador for Hilfiger’s iconic American brand, following in the footsteps of Gigi Hadid and Hailey Baldwin. While celebrity fashion pair-ups have become ubiquitous over the years, Tommy x Zendaya is riddled with thoughtful, personal touches from the star. To wit, the debut collection for Spring 2019, which was unveiled at Paris Fashion Week in March, was inspired by 1973‘s historic Battle of Versailles fashion show, and featured an all-black cast of 59 models ranging from ages 18 to 70, spanning an array of skin shades, shapes, and sizes—all zipping around on roller skates! The sophomore collection of Tommy x Zendaya will take place at Harlem‘s legendary Apollo Theater during NYFW—and, as we‘ve come to expect and appreciate from any Hilfiger production, probably feature some surprises that make the designer‘s shows truly transportive spectacles.
Model Moment Zoey Grossman shot EmRata this summer in Inamorata.
all images courtesy
On-screen, Zendaya is currently captivating audiences as precocious, troubled teen Rue on the HBO series Euphoria, and has hit the silver screen in flicks like The Greatest Showman and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Further proof that the impressive young star is exceptionally busy? When she isn‘t slaying red carpets, whipping up fashion collections, and honing her acting chops, Zendaya is incredibly philanthropic, supporting a variety of charities since the start of her career. It‘s quite apropos, then, that her unique single name is a spin on the Shona word (Zimbabwean dialect) meaning “to give thanks.” And, thankfully, the versatile talent‘s career and sizable fashion influence have only just begun.
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CHIC DUO (From top) Zendaya and Hilfiger; looks from Tommy x Zendaya Fall ’19.
“zendaya stands for the same values i founded my brand on— individuality, empowerment, and being inclusive. she’s such an inspiration for today’s generation.”
all images courtesy
—TOMMY HILFIGER
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style icon
Kate forever The incomparable Kate Moss has been in a league of her own since appearing in The Face as a teenager. She’s since graced countless magazine covers and fronted unforgettable campaigns for Calvin Klein, Chanel, Bulgari, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Longchamp, and most recently, Zadig & Voltaire. Needless to say, she’s a genuine fashion legend.
getty images (4); all others courtesy
BY EDDIE ROCHE
GOLDEN GIRL At an after-party hosted by pal Marc Jacobs for the publication of Kate: The Kate Moss Book, in 2012.
FA S H I O N W E E K D A I LY. C O M
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The
Ultimate Style Muse’s Musings Next month, look out for the debut of Musings on Fashion & Style: Museo de la Moda, edited by Kate Moss. The Rizzoli title features 240 photographs, along with thoughts from the supermodel on her favorite eras in fashion history. Ahead, a sneak peek from the chic tome, in which Moss ruminates on a topic she’s indisputably an expert on—sartorial gems from decades past, in an excerpt titled “My Love of Vintage.”
SUBLIME SUPER (Clockwise from left) Chanel Fall ’94; YSL Fall ’94; Versus Fall ’97; Moss with Mark Wahlberg in a 1992 cK Jeans ad; a 2000 cK Jeans campaign.
getty images (4); all others courtesy
“My love of vintage started at an early age. I wasn’t inspired by the clothes on the high street, preferring one-offs, so I went to jumble sales to find pieces from the ’60s and ’70s. Back then I couldn’t afford designer prices, so I was a regular in the local Oxfams and then later discovered Portobello and Camden markets. Steve from Rellik had a stall at that time, and I bought my first Vivienne Westwood pirate boots from him. After I wore them in a Vogue story, there was such a demand that Vivienne had to put them back into production. Who taught you about style? No one really taught me; I have always picked clothes that appeal to me rather than follow trends. Who is your style icon? Anita Pallenberg has always been such an inspiration. She has the most amazing style, and when we became friends she was really generous about giving me pieces to wear. How would you describe your personal style? It’s quite eclectic, as I like to mix up lots of different looks—vintage, bohemian, rock with more classic, chic pieces—and see what works together. How did you get involved with the Museo de la Moda project? Why did it appeal to you? I was invited to the Museo by the owner Jorge Yarur Bascuñán and was amazed to find what an incredible collection he has. There’s fashion from every era you can imagine, and lots of pieces similar to those I have owned and worn over the years. The exhibition and book is a celebration of fashion history. What are some of your all-time favorite dresses that you’ve donned throughout the decades? Probably bias-cut dresses—they’re so flattering, and a style I have worn many times.
The book is organized by fashion themes. Which era speaks to you the most? I would have loved to have lived in the ’20s. The decadence of the time was definitely translated into the clothes and jewelry they wore. Edward Enninful is being honored alongside you. What’s kept you two so close after all these years? Edward and I have grown up together in the industry, becoming great friends over the years. Working together is just like hanging out and having fun. You have a collection of Kate bags coming out with Zadig & Voltaire in September. What was important to you in creating the perfect bag? It’s important that a bag works on a practical level, as well as looking good. I’m happy with the collection. What essentials do you always keep in your bag? Keys, phone, and lipstick.
I started traveling a lot for work and would always try and visit the thrift stores wherever I was. Once, on a trip to Florida, I bought a dress that Errol Flynn’s wife owned, a beautiful silver fringed slip. When I wear vintage I like to mix it up–a Victorian cape with latex trousers, or back in the ’90s I’d wear a ’30s dress with trainers…that’s what this book is about, showing how these historical pieces work today. At our first meeting, it was obvious that Jorge [Yarur Bascuñán, Museo de la Moda’s owner] and I share the same passion for clothes and especially vintage pieces; he has the most amazing collection. When he suggested working together on this project I was so excited to go into the vaults at the museum to see his archive. There are treasures from all periods, and we had a great time curating the edit to include in this book, although it was difficult deciding what made the cut as there’s so much to choose from.”
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man in charge Enninful has taken British Vogue from “strength to strength.”
King Edward What makes a magazine successful in 2019? It seems like everyone has an opinion. But most agree that Edward Enninful has brought British Vogue to a new level of glory since he assumed the editor-in-chief role in 2017. The Daily rang up the uniquely talented editor to discuss his transformation of the title, his latest discoveries, and, of course, his recent collab with the Duchess of Sussex. BY EDDIE ROCHE PHOTOGRAPHY BY MERT & MARCUS
Of your many accomplishments at British Vogue, which have been the most important to you? I’m really proud that the magazine is so inclusive now. It’s about diversity of the sexes. We touch on women of all races, different religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, and body shapes. I’m glad we’re a part of the conversation the world is having today. When did you feel that the magazine truly reflected your vision? From the first issue, which I dedicated to Great Britain. We featured the creative people who have come out of Britain over the years. Even the cover with Adwoa [Aboah], who is biracial, is Britain today. Right from the beginning, we had an idea of a new Britain we wanted to show the world. What’s been the most surprising part of the gig? Fifteen years ago, an editor in chief just edited a
magazine. Now, it’s like running an industry. It’s exciting! The industry has really loved what you’re doing. What are the ingredients to make a magazine successful these days? British Vogue has a point of view. It was something I really believed in. I’m so happy the industry and the public has embraced it. You have cultivated a dream team at the magazine. Who are some of the talents you’ve enlisted? When I got the job, I knew I wanted to work with Steven Meisel; he shoots for us a lot. Of course, Mert & Marcus, who I've worked with for many years. Juergen Teller, Craig McDean, David Sims, Nick Knight, Alasdair McLellan—it’s almost like a homecoming of people I’ve worked with over 30 years. I also work with new photographers, like Jamie Hawkesworth, Nadine Ijewere, and Campbell Addy. Of course, I wanted to work with British editors I’ve loved over the years, like Venetia Scott, Kate Phelan, Grace Coddington, and Joe McKenna. I also called up Salman Rushdie and Zadie Smith. The best of the best! For me, it was so important to keep the level [of talent] so high.
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courtesy
magazine of the year
courtesy
A sampling of Enninful’s covers for British Vogue.
How is the magazine doing? Spectacular. Our September issue sold out completely in less than two weeks on the newsstands. Circulation is up, and we’ve attracted over 140 new advertisers since I joined. We continue to go from strength to strength. You lived and worked in New York for quite some time, and now, you’re back in the U.K. What’s the difference between the two working environments? I wouldn’t say there’s that big of a difference. I’ve been lucky enough to work at American Vogue, where I was brought in to bring an edge, and at W, I was working almost as an independent magazine within Condé Nast. At British Vogue, we’re creating something that’s cultural, and at the same time, we’re pushing things. Great magazines are great magazines. Great content is great content. Where’s the better place to get lunch? [Laughs] You’re going to get me in trouble. England! I better say that. What do you still want to do with British Vogue? I want people to pay attention to the viewpoint. I want to tackle the subjects we’ve been tackling, like abortion, miscarriages…subjects that women care about, and go deeper. Not just the surface. Personal viewpoints from women of today. Magazines get a lot of bad press these days. Why do you think magazines are still special? There’s still the idea of wanting something in your hands, seeing that double-page spread, putting it down and coming back to it. People underestimate the power of having a magazine in your hands. When the Kindle came out, it was supposed to kill books, right? The transformative nature of magazines will never go away. How did the collaboration with the Duchess of Sussex come about? She sent me a message in early January about working together on a charity that she works on, Smart Works. We met and got on like old friends. She sent me a message about co-editing the issue, and I thought it was a really good idea. I feel like Meghan [Markle] stands for so much. A biracial member of the royal family is a really incredible thing to see in my lifetime. She’s an activist, and our causes, such as women’s empowerment, were aligned. I went
to Kensington Palace a lot. We met when she was pregnant, and we worked back and forth through her pregnancy. We worked when she had Archie [Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor] and we still carried on working. It was eight months in the making! Were you intimidated by the Palace? It was just going to visit someone you know. Did you suspect that the “Forces for Change” issue Meghan co-edited would do as well as it’s done? When we were working on the issue, it was really about women we believed in. Women who were changing the world was the conversation. It wasn’t about whether they were going to sell or not. It was important who we choose and what we stood for. Everything that’s come after has been incredible. It was about creating the conversation. Let’s talk about the Kate Moss cover. What’s your relationship like? We met when we were baby models—I was 16 and she was 14—at a casting for Camilla Lowther in the late ’80s. I remember from the second I saw her the energy she had and the beauty. She hasn’t changed one bit. It was a casting for Pepe Jeans, which unfortunately I didn’t get and she got. I was a little bitter about that. We still laugh about it today. I love her innate sense of who she is. The cover we did this year blew my mind. I thought, Let’s celebrate Kate. Kate, the glam rock star; Kate, the ’70s baby doll; and the Kate who I know on holiday who is really calm and natural. No makeup. It was like the three sides of Kate. It was successful. How did you put it all together? With Kate, we don’t even need to communicate through words. It’s easy. We don’t need to talk everything to death. There’s an element of trust between us. You’re savvy about social media. How has it changed your job? I joined Instagram when it first started. I was very behind-the-scenes, and Instagram kind of opened up my view of the world. It showed me the skateboarding kid in the deep South one minute, and the girl who is singing something in Russia the next. For me, it leveled the field of access. Now, strangers ask to take photos with you at
“people underestimate the power of having a magazine in your hands. when the kindle came out, it was supposed to kill books, right?” fashion shows. Are you comfortable with that? I find it funny. You can’t take it seriously. When kids come up and they’re inspired, it’s great. I keep thinking if I can do it from my background and from where I came from in London, then you certainly can. I treasure those moments. Who is interesting to you in fashion right now? I like ALYX, and there are some really great kids in London, such as Charles Jeffrey, Grace Wales Bonner, A-Cold-Wall*, and Matty Bovan. I also love Nigerian LVMH Prize finalist Kenneth Ize; Telfar from New York and Marine Serre from Paris are exciting, too. There’s a whole new generation I’m loving right now. Which models have recently caught your eye? I knew you were going to ask me this! I’m loving Adut Akech, Ugbad Abdi, Fran Summers…and Tess McMillan, the curvy redheaded girl. I’m loving girls who have stories to tell more than who are just beautiful for the sake of it. What models do you miss on the runway? Kate Moss! Linda Evangelista! Christy Turlington! Naomi Campbell is still around, so I don’t need to say Naomi. Shalom Harlow! Amber Valletta! Now I’m really going for it. All those incredible ’90s icons who had personalized walks and really embodied that idea of a supermodel. How did you spend your summer holiday? I was in Italy, doing normal things with friends. I slept! I hiked every day. Hiking up mountains is my new thing.
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fashion entrepreneur
big
business Don’t let that body fool you— Emily Ratajkowski is here to work. The model/actress/entrepreneur is taking the fashion world by storm with her hugely successful line, Inamorata. Thanks to her almost 24 million Instagram followers, the swimsuit and body line has been selling out—and this is just the start. BY eddie roche photography by zoey grossman
Model Moment Zoey Grossman shot EmRata this summer in Inamorata.
and creative director and all that other good stuff. Zac Posen is a friend of yours. Did you talk to him about the business? Zac and I come from similar positions, where we didn’t have a dad who built and sold companies or someone who was really there to be like, “Okay, this is what you do on the business front.” We come from a creative background; both of our dads are painters. He told me about his own experience and about having so much excitement around your brand or identity and needing to be able to understand and balance that out and maintain as much control as possible. Zac and I talked about how if you want your business to last a long time, you need to have control and ownership. What’s in your background that makes you able to do all this so naturally? I went to UCLA for art, so I have always been a pretty
good craftsman. I design everything. Everything for me is taken from inspiration. Then I literally just have a notebook where I sketch out [the looks] and work with the factories to build the samples. Then we really just go from there. Tell us about the name Inamorata. Why did you decide to call it that? I definitely didn’t want to name it EmRata because I want the brand to exist without me and sort of be its own thing. As much as I’m so grateful for all my fans who have come over to Inamorata, I definitely want it to grow into its own company separately from my own identity. But I liked the idea of having something that alluded to EmRata and my name. When I was thinking of things I loved, I thought “Inamorata” because it means female muse or siren, and I like the idea that a woman is her own muse and her own siren.
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from top right: kat mendenhall; tom newton
Have you always been the type of person who is able to juggle so many projects? I was the kid who was in ballet class, acting class, soccer, all that stuff, theater, everything. It was just always in my nature to spread myself somewhat thin. My worry used to be that I was a jack of all trades and master of none, but I’ve kind of erased that and I really embrace the fact that I’m able to do multiple things. How did the idea of Inamorata come about? It really started with me doing a lot of licensing deals. I grew up in Southern California. I love bikinis, that’s important to say. I grew up on a beach. I’ve always had a giant collection of suits. I’ve also always been interested in fashion. I was in third grade drawing my teacher’s wedding dress when I found out she was getting married. But as an adult, it really came to me through doing all these licensing deals, and also targeted ads through Instagram or with campaigns and realizing, “Oh, wow, I’m being hired to collaborate with these brands for my creative direction. I feel like I could do this just as well if not better than what they’re doing. I want to give it a shot!” Who did you turn to for advice? I talked to a lot of my friends who have their own brands. I’m between L.A. and New York. A lot of my friends work in the industry and have smaller brands, and then I just worked super hard to find a factory. Our factory is in L.A., almost all our stuff is in L.A. I brought on my best friend [Kat Mendenhall], who worked in luxury manufacturing for 10 years. She has come on to handle the back end, and I continue to be the designer
from top right: kat mendenhall; tom newton
“My worry used to be that I was a jack of all trades and master of none, but I’ve kind of erased that and I really embrace the fact that I’m able to do multiple things.” What have been the biggest challenges in getting this company going? What we have had to work the hardest on is production, because we have such an amazing customer acquisition cost and rate. We have all these new customers coming all the time who want new products. Our goal is to have lots of new products, whether it be body, which is the lingerie, ready-to-wear category, or swim, which is released every two and a half weeks. Having this sort of infrastructure for a company that’s really in its infancy helps us meet the demands of our consumers. That has been the toughest part; basically, finding a factory that could keep up with us. Who are some of the people you look up to who have made the leap from modeling to something else? Kathy Ireland is amazing. She’s so smart. In some ways, I’ve modeled my business after her, which is to start with something really simple, earn your customers’ trust, fill your customer base, and use your name to do so. She started with socks, which was really brilliant. Everyone thought she was crazy, but she actually was so amazingly smart because it was a basic thing. She knew once she could sell socks, she could sell anything. Our first year, we had only six styles of swim, so in some ways I feel like we have modeled ourselves a little bit after what she did.
How do you want to see the business grow? I think we’ll continue to expand into lingerie and ready-to-wear; right now, we call that category body. Our bike shorts are one of our best-selling products, even over swim. It’s a great staple, and people know that we make good ones and you can wear them all the time. For us, it’s really about continuing to build our customers. One thing that makes our business special is that we have this amazing ability to acquire customers with such low prices and at such a high rate. It’s really what they want, and that’s the key thing for us. As much as we love swim and we want to continue to do that, there are just so many other things that people want. They want ready-to-wear, they want accessories, and we plan to take on all that. How many people are working for you now? It’s me and my best friend. Then we have a full-time employee and a couple of interns. In our office, it’s about four people, so we’re really, really small. How involved are you in the day-to-day? My friend Kat [Mendenhall] deals with making sure everything is coming from the factory on time, and we have the pick and pack and all that, but when you have a company this small, all hands are on deck. So I’m kind of doing everything. Your shoot with photographer Zoey Grossman is beautiful. That was my first time working with her. She is super, super amazing. We like working with female photographers, and we try to do that as much as possible. What’s really fun about Inamorata is every two and a half weeks we are dropping a new collection, whether it’s swim or body, so we have a lot of opportunity. Everything is about our content. We get to go to photographers and be like, “Listen, this is what we need to do, this is the general idea, what do you think?” We actually pulled up these fun, sort of ’70s and ’80s images that I had saved on my mood board, so it kind of worked out perfectly. A lot of that ’80s inspiration has been floating around, but nobody has really done it well. Do you think you’ll sell in stores? I really don’t see a reason at this point for us to move
Strike A Pose (From top) The DNA model in her own line; with actress Judith Light.
to wholesale. For us, [the direct-to-consumer model] has been incredible and successful, so there just isn’t a reason, but eventually we would like to do something. What’s the best part of this project? It’s so creative and fun. I am an actress and a model, so I’m used to being hired and brought along in the later stages of a project. This is an experience where I get to control everything from start to finish.
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fashion visionary
REVOLVE DOMINATION
Michael Mente, visionary co-founder of REVOLVE, explains how a winning combination of emerging designers, a prescient approach to marketing, and deep technology expertise have created one of the biggest success stories in fashion. At the time of REVOLVE's initial public offering in June, it was valued at over $1.23 billion. BY ASHLEY BAKER
Let’s start at the top: What was the initial vision for REVOLVE? When we started the company in 2003, we knew that people were searching for clothes, but we also knew there wasn’t a lot available for sale online. So it was in the very, very early days. Initially, it was an experiment with a broad range of clothes to see what would work.
You initially funded the project with only $50,000, and you recently raised $212 million in your IPO. Were you ever concerned that you weren’t going to make it? It was a complete experiment. It wasn’t that we invested all $50,000 from day one—it was a cautious, deliberate investment. Most of it was really our time,
months on end, and then we opened with just a little bit of inventory. We were never in a position where it was all bets on the table and rolling the dice. It was always a little bit more deliberate. In the beginning, we had no clue how things would go, but it worked out great for us. What do you consider to be REVOLVE’s first success? When we first started selling clothes online we didn’t have a specific kind of customer in mind. It was in the early, early days when a lot of clothes just weren’t sold online or a lot of brands weren’t sold online. But the first major success was selling designer denim. This was when 7 For All Mankind just came out—in the early 2000s, that kind of premium denim, which was very L.A.-centric, really hit the market. So we chose the product that did best for us, and it was important for us to identify that opportunity early on, which ultimately gave us our initial roots for what would become the REVOLVE brand. Who were some of the brand’s earliest ambassadors? One the biggest people that we worked with early on was actually Rachel Zoe. This was in a different era, pre-social media, where the celebrity style influence was really impactful with a global consumer. We were
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bfa.com (2); all others courtesy
MICHAEL’S WORLD Mente has been instrumental in creating some of REVOLVE's most memorable activations around the globe.
bfa.com (2); all others courtesy
trying to help educate our customer in the pre-social media days. What were your initial thoughts on the influencer profession? The initial thought was that it was all over the place. It was really interesting, but everyone was experimenting with a lot of different things. There has been a lot of subtle ways of evolution of influencer culture; it was interesting to see it develop at the time. Now, we’ve all grown and adapted together, and it’s been a fun, beautiful thing to watch happen. Which brands have you supported since the beginning that REVOLVE is still working with today? We really focus on emerging designers. Part of our success is finding the hottest, latest, most exciting designers, and introducing them to a consumer. There has been so much evolution that we’re at a point where we’re bringing brands we initially launched here that have made a comeback 16 years later and such. So it’s fun to hear that they’ve been doing this for so long. What inspired the creation of your on-the-road events, like REVOLVE in the Hamptons? It’s clear that a lot of our core DNA comes from Los Angeles, and American culture and style. But I think it’s also important that it’s not specific to just Los Angeles, which has really taken the forefront position in global pop culture. This lifestyle we have here can be done completely globally. Summertime in L.A. of course is incredible, but summertime on the East Coast and the Hamptons is great as well. Ultimately, the long-term vision for the brand is to deepen our global roots, and I think REVOLVE Around the World is a perfect medium for that. And on top of that, it’s super fun to travel the world and get to know our customers as well. Do you have any memories from those trips? I was recently talking to a friend, and we counted that we’ve been to 15 countries together, which is incredible. We have deep relationships with the people we’ve traveled with for many, many years. We’ve grown up together and supported each other and learned from each other’s growth. I think that’s probably my favorite thing out of all of it.
Give us a sense of the scale of the business today. We started the business in pretty much the neighborhood I grew up in, and our corporate headquarters are about two miles away. Now, I think we have more than 1,100 employees. Loosely speaking, if you look at a company like Nordstrom, which has been an epic, legendary business that we have the deepest respect for—they’re valued about loosely three times our size, we’re about a third of their value in the marketplace. That’s another interesting reference point for scale as well. How do you ensure that REVOLVE stays on top in an era where there’s so much competition? We have a really special balance of strong creative energy—ultimately, our company is comprised of our consumer. We have highly engaged consumers working in our office every day, to constantly lead us, to constantly teach us, to constantly inspire us. You combine that with great operations and ultimately really strong technical, financial, and data-driven roots, and that, combined together, has been the secret of continued success. We’ve stayed successful for a long period of time. How do you and [co-founder] Mike [Karanikolas] divide responsibilities? Ultimately, it evolves over time, but of course Mike is the technologist with a deep scientific background, and some areas naturally gravitate toward him. I naturally gravitate toward other areas, like the product side, design, and branding. But we do cross over quite a bit, and there’s a big, broad area in the middle. It’s deeply, deeply collaborative. In an ideal world, we would both be in every single meeting together because we know that together, we’re better. We also have to identify that balance of when the time comes to divide and conquer. Everything’s deeply strategic, and we have complete trust in each other. How did REVOLVE get into the manufacturing game? Years ago, we realized, with our data-driven merchandising, that there was a lot of opportunity. We have a vast selection of more than 40,000 products available for sale at any given moment, so we realized
this would allow some opportunity for us to be able to understand what our consumer wants with the data and ultimately provide them with some great products. What’s your favorite part of your job? The constant challenge and the constant opportunity of knowing that the company can always get better, and pursuing that challenge and opportunity with my team, who I love working with. It’s the best in the world; it really feels like fun and games at very, very, very high stakes. And what is your least favorite part of your job? Going on live TV! Hopefully it will get easier over time. Do you see the influencer movement receding any time soon? I think it’s going to be constantly evolving, but it’s a long-term trend.
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positive forces
influencer of the year
draya michele @drayamichele followers: 7.5 M
These 14 talents are vying for the firstever Influencer of the Year Award, presented by The Daily in partnership with REVOLVE, at the seventh-annual FMAs. ICYMI, influencers are officially everywhere in media and fashion circa 2019. From peppering our Instagram feeds with serious #OOTD inspo to starring in major ad campaigns to collaborating with retailers on their very own collections, influencers have become an integral part of the fashion business. Same goes for the media world; social media–savvy entrepreneurs with follower counts in the millions are just as closely chronicled and sartorially recognized as more traditional celebs. That’s why The Daily Front Row is celebrating the style set’s top influencers at the seventh-annual Fashion Media Awards (aka FMAs) via the first-ever Influencer of the Year Award, in partnership with REVOLVE, the nextgen fashion retailer with scores of millennial and Gen-Z devotees and a pioneering approach to the intersection of retail and influencer marketing.
cindy kimberly @wolfiecindy followers: 5.7 M
olivia culpo
@oliviaculpo followers: 4.3 M
all images courtesy
Ahead, meet the 14 individuals nominated by The Daily and REVOLVE for the inaugural Influencer of the Year Award. Social clout isn’t the only selling point for these names—the multitalented crop has endeavors far beyond Insta Stories skills and racking up hundreds of thousands of likes, from fashion design to modeling to beauty-product development. The lucky winner, selected by The Daily and REVOLVE, will be revealed at the FMAs on Thursday, September 5th, at the iconic Rainbow Room in NYC. Can’t make it IRL? Be sure to find out which haute handle nabs the title via Instagram. If you’re not already following these social media mavens (highly probable), expect their epic red carpet looks, behind-the-scenes shots, and envy-inducing travels to dominate your feed.
elsa hosk
@hoskelsa followers: 5.6 M
camila coelho @camilacoelho followers: 8.2 m
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Aimee Song
@aimeesong followers: 5.3 m
danielle bernstein @weworewhat followers: 2.1 M
romee strijd
negin mirsalehi
@romeestrijd followers: 5.7 M
@negin_mirsalehi followers: 5.5 M
jasmine sanders @golden_barbie followers: 3.5 M
yovanna ventura @yoventura followers: 5.4 M
lily maymac
@lilymaymac followers: 4 M
julie sariÑana
all images courtesy
@sincerelyjules followers: 5.3 M
leonie hanne @leoniehanne followers: 2 M
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IN FOCUS Zoey Grossman
(Clockwise from top) Hailey Bieber; Christina Aguilera; Julianne Moore
photographer of the year
Zoey 101 Everyone from Bella Hadid to Zendaya is clamoring to work with photographer Zoey Grossman, so we’ve clearly found ourselves a bona fide star in the media world. The humble California native tells The Daily how her passion for people made her the new go-to talent shooting the next gen.
How did you first become interested in photography? I went to an arts high school in L.A. We had academics in the morning and art in the afternoon. Then, I painted and did photography as a hobby, and went to the University of Pennsylvania and majored in fine art and minored in photography. I always had an obsession with fashion. I was so into Linda [Evangelista], Claudia [Schiffer], Naomi [Campbell], all the ’90s supermodels but never knew it was possible for me to be a part of it. Did you assist any big photographers early on? No. There was no one in L.A. to assist, and I was too nervous to move to New York to take that chance. I thought I’d come back to Los Angeles, work hard, and see what happened. I moved back in with my parents— they were really supportive of me pursuing a life in
art. A lot of parents are scared of that, but mine are both artists. So how did you get into the industry? I had the worst portfolio, so I went to modeling agencies about doing test [shoots] with their models to rebuild my portfolio. I established a good relationship and reputation with model agents, who eventually recommended me for jobs. It started very slowly. When did you realize this passion was taking off ? I still don’t know if I think that way; there’s so much more I want to do. I just focus on showing up, being present, and doing a good job. I was really excited to work with Adriana Lima and Bella Hadid. There hasn’t been a job where I’m like, “This is it!” I was really proud of shooting Christina Aguilera for the cover of Paper, because it showed her in such a unique way. I respect and admire photographers who capture people
differently than you usually see them. I’ve always been sensitive, and loved how complicated people are. You’re shy. How do you do your job given that trait? For a long time, I thought this job was a painful, interesting way for me to navigate who I am. A lot of times, I just want to run and hide, and you cannot do that with this job. I’m pretty emotionally aware; I’m good with people one-on-one. It’s easy for me to find a way to connect with whoever I’m working with, whether it’s a publicist, makeup artist, hairstylist, or talent that I’m working with, and have an emotional conversation about how we want to get to where we want to get—that’s where I feel confident. The creativity behind the image is my comfort zone. I’ve had to get used to 50 or 100 people on set watching me, or a publicist wanting something from me. I’m still navigating and struggling with that.
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all images courtesy
BY EDDIE ROCHE
“i’ve always been sensitive, and loved how complicated people are.”
(From left) Lindsey Wixson in Vogue Hong Kong; Candice Swanepoel in Numero Tokyo
all images courtesy
(From top) Bella Hadid; Hadid; Zoë Kravitz; Hailey Bieber; the Big Little Lies cast
You and Bella Hadid have worked together often. What’s that dynamic like? I have a love affair with her. I was so genuinely excited to work with her because she has this je ne sais quoi about her, which is so captivating. Sometimes you can read a person without working with them. And the energy she was giving me in her pictures, I felt like she cared about what she was doing. Before I photograph everyone I work with, I usually try to research them, or find an interview with them, to see what their energy is like. When I did that with Bella, I was like, “Wow, she seems really normal, down to earth, and fun.” When did you first work together? A Michael Kors shoot. I was so nervous. I’d never worked with the brand, and I wanted to do a good job, and I’d never worked with her. The first thing she did was run over to me with her arms outstretched, and gave me a giant hug. She was screaming about how excited she was to work with me. I was like, “Are you sure?” It made me feel really comfortable. I don’t think people realize that the photographer is also uncomfortable sometimes. She made me feel comfortable, and that’s when I can do my best job. We just click. Tell us about your amazing Indya Moore Elle cover! Nina Garcia [Elle’s editor in chief] and Alix Campbell [Hearst’s chief visual content director] are two people I’ll forever be grateful for, because they gave me my first chance to shoot a U.S. Elle cover. Nina approached me and said, “We’d love for you to shoot this cover with Indya.” I was slightly familiar with Indya. The more research I did, the more I realized how incredible Indya is. It was a really collaborative, fun experience. I felt really inspired after. It sounds cheesy and trite, but I feel like it’s a big step for America, in a way. You shot the Big Little Lies cast promo pic. Discuss! That was a fun day. That was also a day where I almost wanted to s**t my pants, I was so nervous. That was a big job for me. I’m a feminist, but I’m more of a humanist, so I don’t really go into a job thinking I’m a female photographer. That’s not my approach. I just think I’m a photographer, and I want to do a good job. I’ve been told there’s not a lot of women shooting these big entertainment jobs, so I felt a bit more pressured. I’m also such a big fan of the show, and I think everyone in the cast is so talented. At the
shoot, everyone was so respectful and present. There were publicists, the head of HBO, and everyone’s hair and makeup teams; a huge set, with 100 people. We rented almost every studio at Milk Studios in L.A. The experience was really intense, but everyone was so incredible. I almost can’t believe it happened. I think I blacked out that day, but it was f**king great. Who’s on your bucket list to shoot? I would love, love to work with some of the major ’90s icons, like Kate Moss and Gisele [Bündchen]. Why do you think your work is resonating now? I really don’t know. Sometimes I’m like, is it even resonating? Do I suck? I think part of what drives me is thinking I’m never doing a good enough job. There’s so many photographers I admire for how they can really stay true to their vision, and bring art and darkness to the commercial world as well. I feel like I’m still finding my voice. What I’m good at is connecting with people. It’s easy for me to find beauty in everyone. Beauty is subjective. I want to make the person I’m photographing feel good, whatever that means—maybe they don’t want to feel beautiful, or they want to feel tough or cool or whatever. And I also love making the women who want to feel beautiful, feel beautiful. I think I’m good at finding that voice for a person in front of the camera, and making them feel comfortable. I love the beauty of women. That’s something that might resonate with people. What’s next for you? I’m a workhorse, so 23 hours a day are spent focusing on work and my obsession and passion for it. I really just eat, sleep, breathe photography. Vogue Paris is the ultimate dream for me, and to shoot for big fashion brands, too. I’d also love to have a show at some point, and make an art book. I love animals and would love to open some kind of animal sanctuary or healing center. I’m just at the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much more to do. I have just scraped the surface.
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BEAUTY INNOVATOR
MANE
MAESTRO
After hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai sold his namesake label in 2008, the brand lost a bit of its spark. But in 2018, Fekkai bought it back—and fans couldn’t be more thrilled. With a new product line out and more on the way, he’s ready to take the world of hair to new heights. The Daily caught up with him at his new Madison Avenue salon to discuss his career highlights, and what he’s working on next. BY ARIA DARCELLA photography by HANNAH TURNER-HARTS
fekkai: Peter lindbergh (2); all others courtesy
You moved to New York in your early twenties. What was the city like at that time? Coming here in the ’80s was a blessing. New York was economically not in good shape but was artistically effervescent and vibrant! You could meet great artists or people in business anywhere. It was an amazing mix. Today, because the city is too expensive, artists are moving out. But in the ’80s, it was so great to see this amazing inspiration. Did you work more in the fashion world, or with tony socialite clients? Both. I was what we call a studio stylist. I was doing a lot of fashion shows, shoots, and red carpet. And because I was also associated with a salon, I was doing the commercial part of the job, which helped me a great deal. I had a keen eye for innovation and creativity, and then applied it to the real world, and how to give a customer a great look that is still relevant and—I don’t want to use the word “trendy”— but modern enough for them. How did you land a salon inside Bergdorf Goodman in 1989? I was working in a small salon at East 65th and Madison Avenue. Bergdorf Goodman’s president at the time, Dawn Mello, asked designers like Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren for a stylist who could take over the salon at
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fekkai: Peter lindbergh (2); all others courtesy
MODEL MUSE Carolyn Murphy, whom Fekkai has known for years, stars in his new campaign.
Bergdorf. Both of them gave my name. Dawn came incognito to get a haircut. A couple of hours later, she called me and asked for a meeting. The rest is history! What did your Bergdorf salon look like? My inspiration was a mix between a photo studio, an atelier, and a salon. I redesigned it with a white marble floor. The stations were all white, with a light studio. It was interesting, because there were different departments—color department, a styling department, a lounge area, and a beauty bar—while other salons always had only one room. It was the first time that all the services were together in one place. Plus, a restaurant as well! You were among the first coif pros to launch your own product line. How did that happen? My clients were ladies with a sense of style, and disposable income. I realized what was available out there in haircare was mostly a commodity. And skincare was so high up—always innovative, chic, and more expensive. I decided to develop the line based on skincare innovations and formulas, and elevate that, creating a luxury haircare collection. Otherwise, hair is always an afterthought. As we know, hair has behavior— it changes color and texture, and the weather, water, and sun affect it. So, how can we fix all that? You recently bought back your brand and renamed it Atelier Fekkai. What has that been like? It was tough for me to see my name was on the bottle and on the salons when I was not satisfied with the level of services and the image. I wanted to make sure I was bringing back innovation, newness, modernity, and having a great dialogue with my customers that’s relevant to what their lives are about today. My life’s changed. I’m much more aware of what I’m eating, and what I wear. I’m trying to figure out how to be more sustainable. I’m much more sensitive to my health, and to the planet. I want to apply that to the product. How did you develop the new Pure Collection? I think we’re the first ones to have a professional formula with no silicone, no sulfate, no parabens. It’s free of nasties. Even the fragrance is 100 percent
“I WANTED TO MAKE SURE i WAS BRINGING BACK INNOVATION, newness, MODERNITY, AND HAVING A GREAT DIALOGUE WITH MY CUSTOMERS.” natural. It’s rare. It’s the first time we’ve done that. Again, I want to be the first one to do things, and I hope this one is absolutely going to be a hit, because it does the job and it’s really fantastic for the environment. Why is environmentalism so important to you now? It’s alarming how much plastic is in the world. It’s all over the place—in the ocean, the planet. It’s a problem. [I ask myself] How can we fix that? How can we take every measure, whether it’s recyclable plastic or finding other ways to minimize or eliminate plastic? It’s a mission. How did you choose Carolyn Murphy to star in the Pure One campaign? I’ve known Carolyn for a long time—I would say for at least 15, 20 years. We’ve worked together in the past. She’s always been, for me, an iconic American model. I like to have her representing our brand. What other notable names have you worked with? Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, Salma Hayek, Jessica Lange, Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio. I’ve worked with a lot of models—and, of course, Hillary Clinton. She’s great. Working with all the celebrities, it’s amazing how even they [just] want to feel great, feel confident. And beauty is about that—confidence. Tell us about your new salon location! We’ve been here for six months. The location, on Madison between East 57th and 58th streets, is great. You can get a quick touch-up and run, because it’s
Pure One Shampoo, $32, and Conditioner, $32, both available at fekkai.com on September 16.
in Midtown. Plus, I love the terrace. Also, the size is manageable; it’s not about a big salon anymore. What’s it like working with your wife? Shirin [von Wulffen] is more involved with Bastide [a clean beauty/lifestyle brand], and she’s a great ambassador for that. She’s involved with development of products and skincare, definitely the branding, social media, packaging, and so on. She has a great aesthetic. How do you two balance your work life with your personal life? It’s a tough one. We try to not talk too much after business hours, and to spend time with the kids. Do you think your kids will get into the family business? You know, it’s interesting, my daughter loves to do braids. She goes on YouTube and learns all these braids. I’m so impressed; she does better than I do because of YouTube. You should see the braids she does. It’s amazing! Wait, she goes on YouTube for hair tutorials instead of asking you? No! She knows better than that.
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cover of the year
Give Us
Moore
Pose star Indya Moore made history this year when they were the first trans person on the cover of Elle. The 24-year-old has already caught the fashion industry’s attention as the new face of Louis Vuitton, and audiences have fallen in love with Moore as Angel on the hit FX show. The Daily caught up with the rising star to talk about the historic cover, and how they want the world to look at trans people in the future.
on point Two of Moore’s memorable, directional red carpet looks.
What was your reaction when you heard you’d booked a cover for Elle, and how did you find out? I kind of gagged! I was really surprised! My agent called to tell me. I was really tripped out and excited. I didn’t believe that it would happen. Elle is a pretty major fashion magazine, so I never thought or expected that anybody would find relevance in putting my face on the cover so soon. I’m trans and everyone [secondguesses] featuring trans people anywhere, so it meant a lot to me. I am really grateful to Nina [Garcia]. What was the concept for the shoot? I thought about my other shoots—what worked and what didn’t. I told [photographer] Zoey [Grossman] my prime lighting is a warmer light, in a natural light spectrum. She said, “Great! We’ll shoot on the roof!” Zoey did an incredible job in making me feel beautiful. You made history being on that cover! I was nervous to read the feature at first, because I knew how vulnerable I was. So much of my story is chaotic. I spoke extensively to the writer [Jada Yuan] about my life. I was nervous that my story would be focused on the past, and I wanted it to be shared when I didn’t have some experiences that were so dark to talk about. I was excited about booking the cover, but also, there is no honor in being first—I think deeply about why it took so long. Why was I chosen? Why is there so much celebration about me being the first of so many things? In a way, it makes me feel like it won’t happen again; like this is a rare thing. I don’t want it to be a rare thing. What made you decide to finally read the article? I asked my professional team how they felt about it. They were really adamant that I should read it, and
patrickmcmullan.com (3); getty images (2); all others courtesy
BY eddie roche
innately indya Moore’s stunning shoot for Elle, lensed by Zoey Grossman.
I saw how many people were inspired by my story, which made me want to read it, too. All too often, trans stories are centered in violence, chaos, and despair, especially when we were younger. I want to inspire mothers, fathers, and siblings to take care of their trans family, to love and support them. I also wanted to inspire trans people to see more for themselves and to stay strong and committed to defeating everything the world around us throws at us.
How do you want to use your voice? Right now, they are literally debating in the Supreme Court whether trans people are federally protected under gender- and sex-discrimination laws. They’re arguing whether trans people can be fired under the
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cover
chat!
patrickmcmullan.com (3); getty images (2); all others courtesy
With Nina Garcia, Elle editor in chief
Religious Freedom [Restoration] Act. I need people to show up in ways that actually protect us. Our lives are at the mercy of the world around us. It’s a scary time. I also want to honor those who don’t have the privilege to be on a TV show, and can’t be on the cover of Elle. If I’m stressed out about whether or not I’m going to have rights tomorrow, if I can legally be fired by a job or network because I’m trans…many trans people can’t get jobs because they don’t have access to resources. I was just on Good Morning America; they asked about the family on Pose and how much we carry it into our personal lives. Of course we love and support one another, but we’re a marginalized group facing a lot of violence, harm, and scary statistics. How can those outside the trans community help? Hold people accountable for having harmful views. A lot of times, doing panels, I’m speaking to queer and trans people, and I feel like I’m just preaching to the choir. There’s nothing I’m saying that queer and trans people don’t agree with or haven’t already tried. The audience I want to target is hetero parents who don’t want their kids to be in proximity to queerness or transness, or even queer or trans content, because they’re afraid their kids will be queer or trans. Your kids are going to be queer, trans, or gay no matter what. The existence of trans people is harmless and natural. Trans and queer people have always existed. More people need to [investigate] why people want to cause harm or block people from expressing themselves. People need to educate themselves on the history of trans people—not just modern history, but 30, 40, 50 years back. What did indigenous societies look like that honored more than one identity? And I want people to be more politically active when it’s time to vote. When people vote for certain candidates, they should make more informed decisions. What are some other issues we need to know about? My friend was my house sister. She was in jail for mad long and nobody knew she was on a $400 bail. It was a petty offense. The [prison] doctor cleared her to be placed in solitary confinement, knowing she had epilepsy, knowing she had preexisting conditions
fierce factor (From top) Louis Vuitton campaign; at the Golden Globes; Pose Season 2.
that make it dangerous for someone like her to be in solitary. They kept her there anyway. Right now, there’s a crisis around black trans people in jail. They’re undervalued by correctional officers and other inmates inflict sexual and physical violence [upon them]. Trans people are often jailed for walking while trans. They are incarcerated for sex work, regardless of if they’re even sex working. I’m working with National Bail Out, which raises money to bail people out of the trans jail system and help them get resources, shelter, and jobs and stay out of jail. A trans person was just bailed out for $40,000, after three years in jail without a conviction. Pose is so good. What has that experience been like? It’s really affirming. Before acting I wanted to be a healer, and go to school for nutrition. Acting seemed like an unrealistic occupation for me. I didn’t think there would be a way in, and celebrity can be dehumanizing in many ways. But depending on how you manage and utilize it, it can be good. I thought I could be a healer through being a performer, using my experiences bringing life to characters that make people feel. People can connect and befriend the kinds of people they’ve never met before, like Angel. It’s important for media to exist responsibly; being a part of a show like Pose affirms all those values. Pose is reaffirming that trans people deserve to be loved in safe relationships. They deserve families. They deserve communities.
How did you come up with the idea to put Indya on the cover? We’re always looking for rising stars, fresh faces, change makers; personalities who fully embody the Elle DNA. With the success of Pose, Indya’s name had come up in previous discussions as someone to profile for an inside feature. When we started the conversations about our June cover, we knew we wanted to celebrate Pride, the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, and transvisibility. That’s when it hit me: I knew immediately Indya was our cover. Not only is Indya talented and gorgeous but is also a passionate activist spreading awareness, acceptance, and love; the kind of person I aspire to be. As a brand, we have the power to bring visibility to people, topics, and causes we believe will inspire our readers. Indya is not only a successful actor but has an incredible personal story that we felt had to be shared. Indya was a joy to photograph, and honestly, my heart skipped a beat this season on Pose, Episode 2, when Indya’s character, Angel, was invited to participate at an Elle casting. It was one of these moments when fiction met reality. Let me tell you, Indya loves fashion, and designers adore them! What was the creative concept for the cover? We wanted to see Indya in a different way than we’ve seen, while still embodying the true Indya— stripped down, strong, beautiful. They have a really moving life story; we wanted to portray that and represent them as the strong person they are in the article, and to keep the creative direction simple and shoot them against white to really emphasize the focus on them. We wanted it to feel sensual and sexy, while of course showing off fabulous fashion. Why did you ask Zoey Grossman to shoot it? Zoey is an incredibly talented photographer and has amazing energy on set. Everyone around her feels comfortable; talent delivers in front of her camera. What kind of response did you get to the cover? The response has been incredible and overwhelmingly positive from designers, luxury brands, other magazine editors, as well as readers. We weren’t surprised but are so thankful to see it. The other day I was talking with Laverne Cox and she congratulated our Elle team on this cover– what an amazing feeling. The story itself is heartbreakingly honest. Indya shared their personal story with us; trusted us with their experiences with foster care, sex trafficking, and addiction. Hearing the struggles they went through to be their authentic self resonated much more with our readers than the polished perfection they’re used to reading about cover stars. It was real, impactful, and brave. Will we see more trans people on Elle’s cover in the future? Absolutely. Magazines have the social responsibility to highlight communities and stories that have been silenced. As Indya reminded us, there’s a lot to be done to help the trans community. Indya’s story inspired our readers—I’m so proud of that.
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design debut
THE
TOMO PHENOMENON He was discovered on Instagram, and before long, became the toast of New York Fashion Week. Meet Tokyo’s own Tomo Koizumi, the costume designer whose fantastic creations have charmed the fashion world and the masses with equal enthusiasm. BY CHARLES MANNING
MAN AT WORK Koizumi’s aesthetic is heavily influenced by whimsy.
But you never made it to fashion college, did you? I started working as a costume designer when I was still at university. I was always making clothes for my girlfriends to wear to the clubs. One night, someone saw one of my friends wearing a dress I made and took a picture of her. Soon, buyers in Tokyo started contacting me. Then the buyers introduced me to stylists and I started working as a costume designer. I’ve always worked for myself, for more than eight years now. I just made a few things—body-con dresses. Very eye-catching and colorful. How did you go from body-con club dresses to the incredible topiary pieces you showed in New York? Well, eight years ago, I didn’t really have the knowledge and the skills to create dresses like I do today. I made dresses based on the techniques I knew. Now, I’m older and I’ve been working a long time, so I know more. Where do you find your inspiration these days? I go to this vintage bookstore area in Tokyo, Jimbocho. It’s close to Tokyo Station. I go there sometimes when
I need to do research. Lately, I’m really interested in the more traditional aspects of Japanese culture, like Kabuki. I watch a lot of that on YouTube. The stories are hard to follow, but I love the costumes. What’s your work process like? I listen to music—mostly techno, like club music. I’ve also been watching Netflix. Well, sort of half watching while I’m doing something easy. I’m really into Terrace House on Netflix. It’s sort of like Jersey Shore, but more conservative. You work out of your home in Tokyo. You also have two cats. Do you ever worry about them ripping up your work? Cats and organza seem like a bad combination. No. They just disturb my sewing sometimes, but I’m used to it. They haven’t ruined any of my things…so far. Besides your cats, do you live alone? I live with my sister, Yuka, right now. We’ve been living together for, like, three years. I like it because sometimes I feel nervous about my work and I need
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koizumi: tim walker; getty images (4)
What inspired you to become a designer? I grew up in the countryside in Japan. As a teenager, I didn’t have the Internet—we didn’t have a PC—but I was always reading fashion magazines. I only looked at menswear magazines at first, but when I was 14, I saw a picture of a John Galliano Dior flamenco look from his fall 2003 couture collection and I thought, “This is fashion.” It was the moment I decided to be a designer, and I’ve followed that kind of style ever since. What did your parents do for work at the time? I only had my mother and she was working for a funeral company—preparing for the ceremonies and helping people. Did you spend much time around the funeral home when you were growing up? It was my uncle’s company and it was close to my home, so I would always go there after school. The decorations there also influenced me—it was so colorful, a bit tacky, even. Did your mother appreciate fashion, too? She loved fashion. She loved to wear designer clothes, and she was always trying to make me wear something different from the other kids—something weird. Of course, we lived in the countryside, but she was always buying clothes from Tokyo. She would order them from catalogs by phone. It was so different than it is now. You decided against attending fashion college… I went to a normal university and majored in art education. In Japan, it’s important to have a degree from a university if you want to get a job. When I was 18, I really wanted to be a fashion designer, but I also wanted to have options. I figured if I needed to, I could go to fashion college after I graduated from university.
koizumi: tim walker; getty images (4)
“the idea of selling really stresses me out. i’ll get used to it, though.” someone to talk to. She’s also my best friend. What does your mother think of your work? I don’t know if she understands the things I make, but she loves my work and is happy for me and my career. Do you talk to her a lot about your career? Not really, but she always supports me, especially when I am feeling nervous or maybe working too much. We don’t really talk about design, though. Who do you talk to about design? I don’t have many designer friends, but I have Yuka, and I always talk about my work with her. She doesn’t work in fashion, though. She works in IT. But she came to New York with me last time to help with the show. What about Katie Grand? She sort of “discovered” you last season and put together your first show. Do you talk to her about your work? Yeah. We talk all the time now. I actually met her five years ago, long before she texted me about my designs, at a shoot in Tokyo. She was styling the Bottega Veneta campaign. I knew who she was—I’ve always loved her styling work for LOVE and Pop—but I didn’t talk to her at the time. I was just the alterations person. Does she know now? Yeah. I told her. She remembers the shoot, but, of course, she doesn’t remember me. But now, we chat all the time and I go to London for LOVE magazine sometimes. In fact, I just shot 15 pages with [photographer] Tim Walker for the new issue. It was one of my dreams come true. How has your life changed since your show? I’m getting a lot more attention from people in other
Koizumi’s Fall ’19 collection was shown at the Marc Jacobs boutique on Madison Avenue.
countries. I’m getting more jobs in Japan, too. And lending my clothes to celebrities. Is there a downside to all this fame and success? It’s really stressful, honestly. I’m not good at e-mailing, so I don’t reply to every e-mail and I feel a bit sorry for that. I still don’t have a publicist for my brand, but I should have one soon, which I think will help. Do you have any plans to create a ready-to-wear line or build some kind of wholesale business? I think about that all the time, but I’m not ready yet. Maybe next year I will try something small. Without anything to sell, how do you make money? I make custom pieces and clients pay me for those. I’ve been doing that for eight years. I don’t make anything for free. I can’t afford to. Sometimes I want to, but it’s not possible right now.
Are you looking for investors? I don’t think I need investors right now, but I would like to work with a big commercial company—maybe a collaboration or some consulting. I’d like to be the creative director of a brand. At the same time, the commercial stuff is really difficult for me. The idea of selling really stresses me out. I’ll get used to it, though. What about your show this season? What do you have planned for that? I’m using the same technique but making it more theatrical. And I will have the same team as last time for the show—Katie, [hairstylist] Guido Palau, KCD [PR]. I’m so happy. They all support me for free, which is the biggest thing, because I don’t have money for this. I couldn’t afford it if I had to hire all of them. Because of that, it feels like we’re making something together.
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breakthrough model
American
Dream
Halima Aden went from leaving a refugee camp in Kenya for America to become homecoming queen and Miss Minnesota, then swiftly captured the attention of Carine Roitfeld. Now a fashion darling, the 21-year-old credits her mother, childhood teachers, and Ashley Graham with changing her life. Prepare to fall in love! BY EDDIE ROCHE
You left Kenya at age 6. What do you remember from that time? I remember so much. I remember my childhood friends and the camp I was born in. Despite the circumstances of being a child refugee, it was still a beautiful and hopeful childhood. Growing up, I thought we were wealthy, in our way, because we moved around the camp so much. If it rained one day and our house was slumped [down], everything was no problem and nonchalant. My mom would just be like, “Okay!” and our neighbors would get together and build a new house. I remember a lot of happy moments like that. I also remember more challenging, difficult moments, like not having access to food and not having a good education system in the camp. I was young, so I didn’t understand anything about refugees or legal status. I could tell my mom was stressed because our future was in limbo, but she would always force me to have hope and not see ourselves as victims. Despite what life throws at you, you are so much more than your circumstances. What was it like when your family moved to America? When we left all that behind and moved to America, we didn’t have a say where we would live—it’s actually one of the biggest misconceptions [about refugees].
You don’t get a say in where you’re going. It’s so random and determined for you. We ended up in Missouri. When we landed in the States, in a lot of ways, the struggle had just begun, believe it or not. We left behind an area we could navigate, a world we were familiar with. I grew up in the camp—it was all I’d ever known. I didn’t know what we were missing. I was content. To leave that behind and move to Missouri was hard. That was the first time I ever heard gunshots at night. We were placed in a poor, violent neighborhood. The school I went to didn’t have an ESL program, so every day I’d sit and not learn anything. I thought that was normal. My mom escaped the Somali Civil War, walked 12 miles on foot, raised my brother and me in a camp. Then we won the million-dollar lottery to come to America; she wasn’t going to let us miss an opportunity.
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getty images (4); fadil berisha (1); patrickmcmullan.com (1); all others courtesy
MODEL CITIZEN (Clockwise from left) A shoot with Fadil Berisha; Aden’s CR Fashion Book cover; making history in the 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
(From left) MaxMara’s Spring ’19 show; on the red carpet, with Montana Cox.
getty images (4); fadil berisha (1); patrickmcmullan.com (1); all others courtesy
“i got to become successful. that’s ultimately what i want for every single refugee child. i want them to never lose hope.” Your family moved to Minnesota soon after… People there did so much for my family. I’m so grateful. Immediately I met teachers who would study with me after school. My mom came to school every day, and even though she didn’t speak English, she wanted the teachers to know she was present and believed in us. My teacher saw that if they sent us home with homework, nobody could help us. They took it upon themselves to be the second parents. I could go on and on about Minnesota and what it’s done for my family. I’m never moving. People always ask why I haven’t relocated to a fashion capital. I’m so loyal to the state that gave my family so much. I refuse to let go of it. You were homecoming queen in high school. I think if you’re open to people, people will remember you for how you made them feel. A lot of people were drawn to me as the only black person who was nominated, and I was wearing the hijab! I think the entire school was kind of pumped to make it happen, because it had never happened in our school history. That’s awesome! I realized with homecoming that I could still do things like everyone else, but it looks different because of who I am, and there’s nothing wrong with that. That mentality led me into college. I was the Muslim Hijabi student senator. That representation led me into having the guts to enter pageantry. Pageantry is not in Somali culture. It’s not a Muslim tradition, but it’s definitely big in Minnesota. I wanted to participate. My life literally changed the next day after being in the Miss Minnesota pageant. There was so much attention because it was the first time the Miss Universe [Organization] allowed a woman to wear a burkini. I was just as confident and beautiful, and had the same experiences as the other girls on-stage, but I looked a
bit different. Carine Roitfeld called the next day. What was that like? In 24 hours, it was zero to 100. The thing is, I always kept my housekeeping job due to my refugee background. It was critical to me that I was a hard worker. At one point in high school, I worked three jobs—two full-time jobs, one doing housekeeping and another doing PCA [Patient Care Assistance]. Even seven months after modeling, I still kept my housekeeping job. People didn’t believe me. I came from Milan Fashion Week, and the next day I clocked in at St. Cloud Hospital. What do housekeeping and fashion have in common? You need a lot of patience. I’m kidding. Housekeeping was structured: 3:30 p.m. you clock in, 11 p.m. you clock out. Modeling is spontaneous. You meet so many people every single day in housekeeping, and gain a new understanding of life. You see people at their most vulnerable, like the elderly, or when a patient passes. It reminds you that life goes in a blink. It was always a constant motivator. What happened when Carine tapped you for CR? I googled her! I didn’t know anything about fashion. Before my first shoot, I watched America’s Next Top Model, so I was fully prepared for a snake to be draped around my shoulders. I didn’t know who Mario Sorrenti was, so I wasn’t nervous. It wasn’t stressful because I wasn’t trying to impress anyone. Afterward, I found out he’s one of the big photographers. I had no idea I would end up on the cover! I was supposed to be on a page inside, and it turned into the cover. It was hard for me because my mom didn’t understand. Does she understand now what you do? A little bit better. She doesn’t get the concept. She doesn’t get that a lot of days [on set] are 14 hours. The
combination of fashion and activism is what’s big for her. I come home with a cover and she reminds me to wash the dishes! When I brought home [a copy of] CR Fashion Book, where I wore a UNICEF shirt and the full story was dedicated to the work UNICEF is doing, she was so proud. She wanted to hang up the story. She brought it to neighbors! She loves the fact that I’m not just modeling but am really trying to use this platform to speak about UNICEF. I was a UNICEF baby in the camp. Sometimes it doesn’t connect for people that not only do I love the organization, but it’s so deeply personal for me. What was it like returning to your camp? It was probably one of the craziest trips. I was going back home for the first time, so that was a whirlwind of emotions—good, bad, excitement, sadness. There are still workers in the camp who knew me and my family. I was also preparing for my first-ever TED Talk, which was happening for the first time ever in a refugee camp. I thought it was no big deal, but it kind of was a big deal. Tell us more about your UNICEF ambassador role. For a lot of people it’s hard to see beyond the scars and pain. I want to show what happens when we invest and believe in our children; when we give them help and nurture their needs. I want there to be millions and millions of Halimas. I got to become successful. That’s ultimately what I want for every single refugee child. I want them to never lose hope. How are you so confident and wise at 21? It’s funny you say that, because I’m so nervous. I speak from the heart. I never prepare my speeches. It comes out naturally. I think if you’re speaking from the heart, it will resonate. You have to share your story. We all have something to say, and it needs to be heard. Who’s your role model? My mom. She’s an incredible woman, but she’s also a big pain. She is my biggest critic, only because she believes in me. She always pushes me to be better. It’s not the material stuff; I think that’s in part due to the life she lived. Money and success aren’t important. How you make people feel and the lasting impression and mark you leave on people is what matters. In the industry, are there any models you look up to? Ashley Graham. She’s a big role model, mentor, and friend. She’s using her platform not just to be a model and fashion icon; she’s also a businesswoman. She’s thinking about ways to make women not only feel accepted but beautiful in their own skin. She walks the walk and talks the talk. I want to be somebody like her, using my platform to make people feel empowered. You prefer to work with women. Why? There’s something so powerful about sisterhood. Just inviting every woman from every walk of life to the table. I always tell girls, “If you don’t see yourself represented in any given space, don’t wait for the invite, pull up a seat.” It was important to me that everybody on my team was women. Not just Muslim women. Women from all different backgrounds; powerful women! What do you hope to do beyond modeling? I definitely want to continue doing more field visits and more collaborations with brands who are giving back. Fashion is fun, don’t get me wrong.… I love getting my nails and makeup done, but it’s so much more fulfilling to see the work being done in the camp. Especially now that the refugee migration topic is so relevant to us. I want to go back to my camp one day and see changes happen. I’ll do whatever I can do.
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9/3/19 8:34 PM
Sasha’s Song
Many talents flaunt lengthy multihyphenates, but Sasha Siem is especially impressive. The British musician’s bona fides include a soulful sound via voice and numerous instruments, three albums (the latest, Holy, drops this fall), being a skilled composer—oh, and a PhD from Harvard. Ahead, Siem describes her unique craft. BY ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV What are your earliest musical memories? I started playing piano when I was 5 or so, and had a lot of fun playing at the keys. I remember finding practicing quite boring, so I’d start making my own
little creations, putting sounds together in ways that made me feel good in my body. By the time I was 11, I wrote my first song I can really remember—a setting of Maya Angelou’s poem “The Caged Bird.” In some ways, I was the caged bird and song set me free. It gave me wings to express myself freely in a way that I didn’t feel completely safe to do in my school environment, which was very strict; we had to behave in a certain way. How did your passion for music progress from there? I did lots of performances of classical repertoire. But my songs were a sacred place for me, where I went for joy, pleasure, and resolution of things I didn’t feel like talking about. We all go through big transitions in teenhood, and song was my guide, friend, and oracle. At a certain point somebody, maybe my mom, said, “You should share your songs,” so I shared with some of my music teachers and they encouraged me to study composition, which I did. Bit by bit over the years, my songs fell away and I started a cerebral, intellectually fascinating journey into the history of music, psychology of sound, and philosophy of music—the academic and skillful sides of the composer learning how to write for hundreds of different instruments playing at the same time in an orchestra. My musical life was really enriched, but my songs, which were a life force, an umbilical cord
plugging me into this divine existence, was severed. It wasn’t until my twenties that, having reached the peak of supposed success from the outside with my compositions and many awards, I realized there was an emptiness inside. I had to return to song. I said to my publisher, “Leave me alone for a year.” I bought myself a ukulele and wrote my first album. Ever since then, I’ve felt in alignment with what I’m meant to be doing. Does your eclectic background inform your work? My mom was born in South Africa but grew up mostly in England. I think of myself as a universal being, but having grown up in London, I think of myself as a Londoner. From my Scandinavian background, the folk tunes influence me, and the land itself sings— when I land in Norway, there is an angulation to the landscape and a kind of mysticism. Then, at university, my mom’s roots in South Africa led to my interest in music from other cultures. I did a lot of ethnomusicology, studying music of the Middle East, Africa, and China, and found the differences and common threads that run through musical practice around the world. I also think of the use of music for marking the journey through life, to celebrate certain events, be it birth, a lullaby, music at weddings, music at funerals— music that brings people together and transitions from one phase to another.
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carlotta manaigo (2); sophie harris-taylor (1); chris lopez (1); simone steenberg (1)
new wave
carlotta manaigo (2); sophie harris-taylor (1); chris lopez (1); simone steenberg (1)
How have your musical tastes evolved over time? We played a few cassettes on repeat in my mom’s little car growing up; James Taylor, Carole King, Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan were the staples in our daily life. Françoise Hardy, as well. My grandparents lived in France, which was influential. As I grew and developed my own taste as a teenager, I became equally interested by left-field artists like Björk, who created whole universes, and mainstream pop ballads from Céline Dion, really “heart on sleeve” expressions. At university, I got into ska and drum and bass, the whole culture of using music for rebellion. My taste now is eclectic—R & B, hip-hop, rap, drum and bass, classical, medieval, and healing music. How were your Cambridge and Harvard stints? Cambridge was mainly an experience of being able to do it all. I was a party girl. I was almost every night playing in an opera or concert of some kind. Then, I got into studying and I found the thing I was passionate about, so I devoured the library and took risks. I didn’t really care so much about doing well; I just wanted to nourish myself really deeply on everything I possibly could in terms of what had been created musically. That was very freeing. I still look back at that time as a reminder every time I want to pierce through a threshold of what I think is possible. If we can just relax and embrace, we can do a lot more than we think we can. My time at Harvard was mainly influential in terms of the work I did in the poetry department there. I did a joint PhD in music and poetry. I had some fantastic, phenomenal guides there, like Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Jorie Graham. She was such an inspiration, and also had this shamanic presence and embodied the divine feminine. She opened me up to a whole world of possibility. By the end of that time at Harvard, it was a logical conclusion to bring my music and poetry together, which culminated in me taking time out to work on my album. Did your poetry PhD inform your work? The alphabet is really just a code for sound-making. Through my studies, I got wrapped up in the word on the page; working with Jorie, I rediscovered the power of poetry spoken aloud and its musicality. It was a natural extension to take that into song writing. I’m as much fascinated by the sound of words as by their meaning. My song-writing process now is very undeliberate. A word or phrase will flash into my mind and I’ll make a note of it in little notebooks; every few months, I’ll go through these notebooks. It’s like I’m asleep but my hands are working as I put the pieces of the puzzle together, and it’s staggering and awe-inspiring to see how fragments fit together with precision. I’m always really surprised by the meaning of my songs. I don’t set out to convey a particular message; the message comes from the subconscious or a divine source. They definitely have an intelligence of their own. Your brother, Charlie Siem, is also a musician. Did you anticipate you’d both go into the industry? I wish we’d known—it would have made us a lot more relaxed. We definitely knew it was our passion, but I took a winding path to get there, whereas he really knew from the age of 5 that this was really what he wanted to do. He had a lot of different interests, but he focused on this one pathway. There was always a sense of, “Oh, that’s just a dream. Wow, it can’t be possible.” I suppose it’s pretty cool that we’ve both
“my songs were a sacred place for me, where i went for joy, pleasure, and resolution of things i didn’t feel like talking aBout.” managed to realize our dreams in some way. Recently, we did a little collaboration. Did your parents encourage this shared passion? They were not pushy, and that was important. We were surrounded as kids in our music schools by people whose interests were pushed by their parents, and that killed their fire. Our parents respected what we were doing; if we wanted to go away for a week of musicmaking, they would drive us there. They put in that effort, and there’s a lot to be grateful for. But I think they were also a little surprised. At a certain point, they got a bit worried, especially with my brother; they were like, you’ve got to focus on your studies, but he just kept pushing through and doing his thing. Tell us about the “show-ups” you’ve done in surprising spaces globally for your new album, Holy? It’s been so much fun. There’s more of a participatory element than a seated concert hall. You really get to be up close with the audience, and it feels like we’re all together creating this moment. There’s a sense of interconnectedness with the world at large, especially with nature—I love the outdoor ones, because the time of day, temperature, and light all matter. The intimacy of a small concert is, in some ways, more exciting than a large concert—it’s a sacred, special thing with a small audience. I’ve been in the music world for years
and have gone to so many concerts, and of course a concert will always transport you to somewhere deep within. But I was just bored of traditional concert halls— though at the end of this stint I think I’ll be happy to go back and play in them. Recently, we’ve done a series in hidden chapels that look like nothing outside, and inside are incredible, gilded miniature spaces. There’s really a relationship between sound and space. Sound creates space, and space also imprints upon sound. It flies in the face of wannabe perfection. I used to be a real perfectionist, and I think it’s embracing life in all its fullness to do those show-ups. You’ve talked about “unlearning” your formal music training as your career has evolved. How so? I’d become overly analytical and believed I knew so much, and when we think we know so much we close off the possibility for the joy of discovery and revelation. I had to go back to being a complete beginner, to the feeling of not knowing, to rediscover sound in this bodily, pleasurable way. Now, I can simply hear a C-major chord on the piano and just melt and die inside about how beautiful it is, whereas in my head, after so much training, I’d think, “Yeah, that’s a C chord.” By dropping the labels and know-how, I started using instruments I didn’t know how to play, which freed me. The joy of experience was allowed back.
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9/3/19 5:42 PM
MODELMind-set STAR PARTNER Icon Kate Moss not only stars in the new campaign, she also co-designed the Kate Bag collection.
In the early ’90s, Cecilia Bönström, artistic director of Zadig & Voltaire, made her fashion industry foray—as a model. Concurrently, Kate Moss was kicking off her career, too. Despite being contemporaries, the duo didn’t cross paths—until now. The designer recently tapped Moss to co-design a new handbag collection for Zadig. THE DAILY rang up Bönström in Paris to chat about how the two chic minds came together, the new Kate Bag collection, and her early catwalk years. BY ARIA DARCELLA What are your favorite moments from your modeling days? There was a club called Les Bains-Douches [in Paris]. It was so iconic. Those moments you can never get back—the freedom, the youth where you don’t think about the next day. I would shoot with Tyen, one of the biggest beauty photographers at the time, the next day, and it didn’t stop me from dancing at Les BainsDouches until 6 a.m. Everything was possible, and very pure. That was one of my best moments, to have
access to a professional life, but also the beauty of going out to parties. What was the industry like back then? I was lucky to be a model starting in 1990. There were less models then. I hear from younger models that the industry has become faster today with social media. But I had a healthy experience. All the girls got along. There was always a great feeling during the castings. Very good money. It was a great way to learn languages, travel around, and grow. You had the time to grow by doing something instead of having to choose a school, and make a decision when you’re 19 and just graduated. For me, it was purely positive. It’s become harder today. Financially, you don’t have the same access unless you’re a top model. Any memorable first runway experiences? Enrico Coveri. [He] was a cool Italian designer. He
wanted me and my twin sister to hit the catwalk at the same time in mini dresses and extremely high heels. I’d never trembled so much in my life as when I went out there and the lights hit my face. I had to walk all the way down the catwalk—it felt like forever! Now I look back on it like, I was so lucky to live that. That energy and adrenaline is so amazing. But when I see young girls today coming to castings for my Zadig & Voltaire shows in New York, I’m so impressed. They look like babies. Then they put on their high heels and they’re so sure of themselves. They make it look like nothing. I was a baby at that time. The girls are much stronger today. What’s the most important factor of your casting process? That the girls not be too skinny. It’s important that all the models I shoot with are healthy, that they look happy. And then also, I’m a Swedish designer working
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bÖnstrÖm: Gaëtan Bernard; Fred Meylan (4); All others courtesy
THE NEW IT BAG
bÖnstrÖm: Gaëtan Bernard; Fred Meylan (4); All others courtesy
“I KNEW WE WERE MEANT TO GET ALONG AND WOULD WORK TOGETHER ONE DAY. BUT TO HAVE THE SAME ENERGY AND CHOOSING THE SAME IDEAS… IT WAS AMAZING.” for a French company, and it’s important to me that we represent the world—all colors, all nations. Zadig is a global brand, and it’s important that we have different nationalities represented. You started modeling around the same time as Kate Moss. We were definitely from the same generation. But I was always with Naomi [Campbell], Karen Mulder, all those girls. Kate and I never met in those years. We met much later when I was already working with Zadig & Voltaire as a designer. Her daughter was a customer, and so was Kate. We still have friends in common. I was mixing with her at different parties and occasions, but like I tell everybody, she’s a superstar…you don’t get easily in contact with her. But now you have. She just co-designed a bag collection with you! It’s funny how you can admire someone for so long, and also share the same aesthetic. Kate is actually one of the few models who’s [imparted] her style on generations of women. She’s a style maker. I think we have the same aesthetics—a very nonchalant, chic attitude. I felt it was the moment for Zadig & Voltaire to do something with her. I’ve admired her for years, but in life it’s all a question of timing. What was the design process like? I took the train from Paris to [her home in] London and we talked about what she’s dreaming of now. She talked about a vintage ’70s bag with a half-moon shape she had years ago that was still on her mind. I couldn’t believe my ears because it was exactly what I lacked in the Zadig & Voltaire wardrobe. We had all the shapes, [and they were] doing well. But we didn’t have a ’70s half-moon. I was like, Wow! I knew we were meant to get along and would work together one day. But to have the same energy and choosing the same ideas without speaking before…it was amazing. It was a very easy process. What’s Kate like to work with? Everything was important to her. She wanted that precise beige—a fake python leather print. Working with her those three sessions, I can confirm that you don’t become a star without effort. She doesn’t give up on any ideas. We were almost done and she was like, “We have to make a silver one! I need one for the evening also. It’s going to be my favorite.” She also wanted a certain heritage mood; a bag that looks like it’s had some life before, that’s not too rigid—and not too soft, either, because you want it to be modern. What’s her house like? It’s a big villa in an area [of London] that’s very residential and chic, with a lot of trees. The house was totally in her image—beautiful and chic, but at the
(From top) kate shopper in Blue/Desert, $658; kATE bag in Arty Water Snake, $838
same time, very welcoming, with a warm feeling. Tell us about the campaign with Kate! It was shot in London, in black and white, very iconic, white background. All I wanted to show was the product and the logo, which is in red this season. How did you roll it out on social media? We worked with a young design team, PlayLab. My CEO in America, Chris Tate, and I thought it was fun to let these young eyes have a look at what Zadig & Voltaire is about. We went through different destinations in America called Paris—like Paris, Texas—and placed different sizes and close-ups of the campaign with Kate in the middle of Texas. On a wall, on a station… just to have fun, and to show we are a French brand but America is important to us, too. Zadig is showing in Paris this season! What can we expect to see? Kate Moss’s second home is The Ritz in Paris. I wanted something really natural; a powerful but friendly event, in the evening. I rebuilt the iconic Bar Hemingway of The Ritz, but in a bigger size in the garden. There will only be 200 seats. Then we’ll open the garden for more guests. Kate will be there, and we’re all going to have good margaritas. Lou Doillon is singing. I just wanted to do something fun and different—and really, truly Kate Moss’s universe. What was the highlight for you of showing at NYFW last season? Everything! The way the American press welcomed us was amazing. And the cool, chic, sporty energy. Never forget that you [Americans] wore sneakers with your suits before everybody else. That energy is so similar to my energy when I design. That can never be taken away. Next February, I will be back.
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9/3/19 6:13 PM
ARTISTICKicks
heeled
Fine artist-turned-model-turnedshoe designer Chloe Gosselin has managed to carve out a niche for herself in the highly competitive designer shoe market, thanks to her keen eye and the exceptional quality of her product. BY CHARLES MANNING
What inspired you to get into shoe design? Since I was little, I’ve had this obsession with shoes. I always knew how to draw, and that was kind of my way to expressing myself. In fact, my mom still has sketches of shoes that I did when I was little. But I didn’t think about designing shoes until way later, after I went into fine art and studied to be a painter in Belgium. I kind of thought fashion was out of reach for me. Why did you think that? I’m from a middle-class background in France. My mom never wore heels or designer clothes, but I always loved it. I remember growing up and being inspired by fashion. This was at the time when John Galliano had just started at Dior, and you would actually see his shows on TV. Or Jean Paul Gaultier. People like that. Then, when I was studying fine art at La Cambre in
product? Do you have a strong enough point of view? I asked myself those same questions, but I’ve learned a lot on the job since then that could have helped me define my brand identity sooner. What is that brand identity? I’m trying to make a product that will stand the test of time. That’s always important to me. And quality. That’s the most important thing to me. There’s a lot of fast fashion right now, but I really want to have these beautiful, handmade shoes. Those craftsmen in Italy, what they do is art. What are your best-selling styles? We have our signature ruched strap that we do in a couple of styles. The Delphinium is popular, as is the Maud, which has the ruching at the top. Also, the Lily pump with the bow in front. I think the ruching idea came from some old reference images of shoes, where
Gosselin: Erican Dedeoglu; All others courtesy Lalo+Eva
well
Belgium, all my friends were studying fashion design— the school is well known for its fashion program—and I started modeling for them. I loved seeing them work, and everything they put into those collections. From there, I started modeling professionally and it wasn’t until much later that I decided I wanted to design shoes and went to New York to study at FIT. I had my daughter, who was a baby at a time, so I didn’t have time to do a full master’s degree in accessories, but I took as many classes as I could to learn what I needed to know. Then, I packed my bag and went to Italy to look for factories. It was kind of this very bold thing. One day I just decided, I’m going to have my own shoe brand— which sounds insane right now, years after I started. It’s very bold. How did you fund all of this? In the beginning, I financed everything with the money I made from modeling. I had been saving it for something special, and I was fortunate that I had help with my daughter and was able to take evening classes. That’s a lot to tackle when you have a young child to take care of as well. I know this isn’t the case for everybody, but for me, becoming a mother really pushed me to do things I would only dare to dream of before. I had only, like, eight styles in my first collection; there was not much to it. But I had a vision, I learned on the job over the years, and surrounded myself with a great team. It’s been almost six years now. Is there anything you know now that you wish you had known when you started? As we all know, the fashion industry is really shifting right now. It’s a difficult time. It’s a saturated market, and I think what you have to ask yourself before launching a brand is, Do people really need your
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9/3/19 6:18 PM
Resort Wear Shoes from Chloe Gosselin’s Resort 2020 collection.
Gosselin: Erican Dedeoglu; All others courtesy Lalo+Eva
“It’s a saturated market, and I think what you have to ask yourself before launching a brand is, do people really need your product? Do you have a stronG enough point of view?” it was a much smaller element, just the elastic in the back, and we just blew it up, basically. Everything is kind of like that, like the bamboo buckles we did for Resort 2020. They were inspired by these big bamboo glasses I saw at New York Vintage. You just find those elements and make them your own. You choose some really lovely colors, too. Well, my background is in painting, so when I started the brand, my brain was always going back to color and texture. Once I started working with a bigger team, they taught me how you can take colors and change them to make them feel like a neutral so that they go with everything. Who are some of your favorite painters? I love Anselm Kiefer and Robert Rauschenberg, the big, messy textures. I love when you see a Kiefer painting up close and it’s just a big blob, and then you go far away and it’s this amazing landscape. I grew up in Normandy and my mom lives right by Claude Monet’s house, so I used to go there when I was little. That’s kind of how I started to paint. I especially like the paintings he did late in his life, when he could barely see, but the emotion is still there in the colors and textures. It’s funny because I left the art world a while ago now, but it’s always in the back of my mind that I want to find the time to paint again. Maybe in the next few years. Will you have time? Your business seems to really be taking off. Thank you. We’ve been doing a lot of shopping events and pop-ups. We just did a pop-up in New York at the DVF store. Diane [von Furstenberg] is a good friend of mine, and it was really amazing to be able to be in that space and unite forces. That’s what she does for
people. She supports designers supporting each other. We also just did a big shopping event in Dallas, and we’re planning a pop-up in Paris in September. I just want to get closer to my customer, meet our girls, and really interact with people, so we’re going to do a lot of that this year. We are also doing a collaboration with the London-based Chinese designer, Huishan Zhang. It’s our first real collaboration for a runway show; I’m super excited. We’ve had opportunities with other designers before, but it’s always a budget thing, and I really wanted the right person. I am absolutely in love with his work. It’s all about details. It’s incredible. What’s next for your brand? Any plans to expand into bags or jewelry? Not right now. We just did a bathing suit collaboration with my friend Morgan Lane. We were in the [CFDA] Fashion Incubator program together and became good friends. We love each other and connect creatively. I hope I can do more projects like that, but in today’s market I think it’s important to find your niche. Doing just one thing and doing it really well takes time, so I don’t want to rush into other things too soon. Who else would you like to collaborate with? Rosie Assoulin. I keep buying her stuff. Her clothes have such beautiful structure. It’s something you don’t find in a lot of American designers. It’s more French to build around the body. That’s what I love about her clothes—all the work around the waist. Are there any up-and-coming shoe designers you admire? There aren’t so many new high-end brands right now, but there are a couple of cool contemporary brands I like. Cult Gaia does shoes really well. Also, Kodiak is really different than me, but I would totally wear them.
How do you feel about sneakers? We notice you don’t have any in your line. I love sneakers! I would love to do that one day. Maybe a collaboration with another brand. I don’t wear a lot of sneakers myself, but I know it’s a big thing. You can’t ignore it. It’s just a very different thing—the factories and all; it’s not even the same technology. Your mother never wore high heels when you were growing up, but does she wear your high heels now? No. She wears my flats, but I tried giving her the small, chunky heels, and she wouldn’t even wear those. Do you remember your first pair of high heels? I remember my first pair of designer high heels. I still have them. They’re that big wooden platform wedge Chloé did. They’re crazy high and kind of impossible to walk in, but back then, I loved them. It’s funny because I don’t do wedges for my own collection!
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9/3/19 6:19 PM
talkingShop ELEVATED ESSENTIALS L’Agence’s signature blazers and jeans, looking strong for fall.
THE
L’AGENCE effect
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jacopo moschin (7); all others courtesy
You’re a retail savant. What does it take to make a successful brick-and-mortar store in 2019? Product comes first. The clothing must be desirable and compelling. Service and having the sales staff [tend to] clientele are also imperative. The Soho boutique will be the second L’Agence store in New York. How did you choose that neighborhood? We set our eyes on Soho as the second location in New York City because that’s where business is thriving for premium brands. What should we expect from the space? How would you describe its design? The new boutique is very French. It gives you the feeling of being in an apartment in Paris, and has a soft, feminine feel. How will it differ from the Madison Avenue store? It’s twice the size. Being that we have the space for new product, categories including shoes and bags will launch Resort ’19. What is your global retail plan for L’Agence? Any plans to open up even more freestanding stores this year and in 2020? The global approach is to expand in Europe and Asia and continue to grow the brand globally. Miami and San Francisco are the next two stores for 2020.
GUTTER CREDITS tk
Retail maverick Jeff Rudes knows the secrets of success in the fashion space. With L’Agence, Rudes is bringing the high-quality, high-style look he is known for to discerning shoppers all over the globe. And now, he’s opening his second boutique in New York City. Take notes!
jacopo moschin (7); all others courtesy
GUTTER CREDITS tk
“the new boutique is very french. it gives you the feeling of being in an apartment in paris, and has a soft, feminine FEEL.” How many countries is L’Agence sold in these days, and how do you plan to grow the brand further in the short- and long-term? L’Agence is being sold in 22 countries. Our short-term goal is to build L’Agence in new stores as a destination for the brand. Long term, our plans are to expand into new product categories, as well as continuing to grow our retail footprint. What’s the story behind your latest Fall ’19 collection? Inspired by the L’Agence woman, Fall 2019 is driven by rich colors and luxe fabrics. With a retro hint, the collection is unfussy and modern, emphasizing impeccable tailoring with decadent tweeds and plaids. Femininity is presented with sumptuous silks and figure-flattering silhouettes. Vintage tie print and abstract leopard print give the collection both a smart and sexy attitude. We know that you make some of the best blazers and jeans in the business. How long have you spent developing your product lines? Developing new product can take anywhere from fourto-six months depending on raw material available and the design process. Why do your jeans fit so well? It’s all about fit. Every jean fits consistently and makes women feel and look beautiful. And how did you perfect the fit and fabrications on
your amazing jackets? It’s the same as fitting a jean. Each detail and measurement is calculated to perfection. Which other categories are performing especially well for L’Agence as we head into fall? Blazers and jeans, of course, as well as denim jackets, dresses, shirts, and blouses. What are your favorites from the Fall ’19 collection? Our Jodie spaghetti-strap cowl-neck slip dresses cut on the bias, and tweed blazers. How do you explain L’Agence’s success? Product comes first, and is the most important part of L’Agence’s success. Being in the finest stores is part of our distribution strategy. Who gives you the most valuable feedback about the collection? The press, and, of course, our customers. What is your approach to social media? How important are influencers in terms of brand awareness and driving sales? Our approach to social media is to build brand awareness and create a two-way conversation with customers. Influencers are an important part of our strategy, especially in building product awareness around critical editorial messages and events; Influencers also help to drive traffic and sales to the site on a seasonal basis.
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JEWELFocus
Pieces from Lagos’s Smart Caviar collection.
SHINE ON
FAMILY TIME Steven with Kate Lagos, the brand’s stylist.
How did you first become interested in jewelry? From a young age, I knew I wanted to live a creative life. I grew up in the ’70s when there was a focus on craft, and it had a huge influence on me. I started with a small trade shop and was able to gain a lot of experience working with the more seasoned jewelers in town. They became my mentors, and I learned the techniques and skills to become a master jeweler. I began selling to a high-end department store in Philadelphia. Then one day, I cold-called Neiman Marcus, and a year later they were creating a new category of bridge jewelry and asked me to be involved.
Launching the brand, what was your initial vision? I founded LAGOS based on the idea that jewelry is the most personal form of art you can own. I wanted to create jewelry that women would cherish and feel confident wearing. I saw that there was a gap in the marketplace for wearable fine jewelry, and I liked the idea of creating a product with a distinct point of view. I saw how Calvin Klein was building a brand with jeans, and I wanted to do that with jewelry. How do you describe your aesthetic? My approach to everything is form follows function. It’s easy to make things that look great, but it’s how things
fill a physical or emotional need that make women cherish them. How has that approach evolved over the years? We’re always looking for ways to innovate our Caviar designs. I travel all the time and get inspiration from all over the world. I consider myself a treasure hunter because I’m out in the world, always looking for new materials to use. I go to dozens of shows each year searching for the next thing. For me, it’s really about taking old-world craftsmanship and enhancing it with technology, without changing what makes it special.
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all images courtesy
Steven Lagos, the founder and designer of LAGOS jewelry, is known for outfitting some of the most stylish types around town. Meet the maverick behind the beautiful baubles!
all images courtesy
“it’s easy to make things that look great, but it’s how things fill a physical or emotional need that make women cherish them.” What do you consider to be your first major success? Everyone measures success differently. I felt successful when I was running my trade shop. I felt successful when I first got into Neiman Marcus, and when we hit certain business milestones over the years. There hasn’t been one major moment; I continue to celebrate the successes as they come. How was the Caviar collection born? Caviar is the signature design of LAGOS, featuring handcrafted beading that’s present in every piece in every collection. It was born in the 1980s when I was working on a hematite necklace that reminded me of caviar, which universally represents luxury. It felt like the perfect fit for the growing brand I was building, and customers have really responded well to it. How do you achieve that Caviar effect in the manufacturing process? Our process is proprietary, but I can tell you that the Caviar beading is crafted in ateliers by artisan jewelers, and it takes hundreds of steps to complete a single Caviar creation. The unique texture is really a feat of expert craftsmanship and engineering. It’s the nesting of the beads that make the jewelry move with the body and feel like a second skin. What’s the story behind the “Smart Caviar” piece? How does that work with the Apple Watch or another smart device? I developed Smart Caviar because I’m a big fan of the Apple Watch design and functionality, but I felt it was missing a fine jewelry element. As with all our collections, I just wanted to offer options. So we introduced Smart Caviar, a fine jewelry bracelet for the Apple Watch. It’s perfect for the modern woman who doesn’t want to sacrifice style in order to stay connected. Where is LAGOS currently sold and distributed? The brand is available at lagos.com, as well as luxury retailers such as Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, and more than 250 independent jewelers around the country. We also have a flagship store in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square. In terms of scale, we currently sell over 250,000 pieces per year. Why is LAGOS so popular in the Hamptons? Our signature Caviar design is comfortable, wearable, and easily transitions from day to night. It works for the Hamptons lifestyle because it has a look that can take you from the beach to dinner. What are your most popular pieces at the moment? Smart Caviar is one of those rare collections that has been both commercially and editorially successful. It was a huge hit when we launched and continues to sell. Our classic Caviar rope bracelets in 18K gold, sterling silver, and black ceramic are also customer favorites.
Smart Caviar is one of the brand’s topperforming lines.
How has the advent of social media changed your business? I’ve always been an early adopter of technology, so we were quick to offer online access to our brand. It’s a great opportunity to connect directly with consumers in real time versus the old way, where we were only having one-sided conversations through advertising. Now, we can communicate with our loyal brand fans and introduce LAGOS to a new generation at the same time.
If you were to host a dream dinner party, who would the guests be? I like spending time with interesting people who inspire me. The strong, bold women in my life would be first on my list—my daughter, my fiancé. Then probably some of the artists I follow and collect. In fact, I recently hosted a dinner party where we mixed journalists with politicians, artists, professionals in film and hospitality. It’s fun to see so many different personalities come together and inspire one another.
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TAKINGFlight
Bon
Voyage
Sophie Delafontaine, artistic director at Longchamp, has channeled the joys and realities of travel—whether across town or multiple time zones—for the familyrun French accessories house’s chic new collection, La Voyageuse. All aboard!
How did you come up with the concept and aesthetic for La Voyageuse, which translates to “The Traveler”? I was thinking of how we’re living today, and it’s really that woman who’s always on the road. A very active woman, who has several days in the same day, is always in my mind because it’s the woman I want to speak to. The inspiration for La Voyageuse was the style and attitude of a woman who is traveling. I like the idea of a journey. That can mean flying to New York [from Paris], but it can also mean going to work, when you have several things to do during the same day. I was inspired by older women in the ’70s, where traveling was less arduous than now, and women were traveling with style and attitude, more than [dressing] just to be comfortable and easy today. I was thinking of when you’re traveling and you arrive in a hotel with your luggage, and the attitude. I like the idea of having pieces that can be tweaked for many different occasions. The look of the bag is nearly like a vanity case, which I think is super cool. The small one can go from vanity case to day bag; the medium size can be
sarah aubel/agent mel represents (4); fRed Meylan (1); all others courtesy
BY ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV
ON THE GO Kendall Jenner in the brand’s Fall ’19 campaign.
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jet-set ready
Longchamp’s La Voyageuse collection, available now in stores and at longchamp.com.
La Voyageuse small tote bag in Burnt Red, $995
sarah aubel/agent mel represents (4); fRed Meylan (1); all others courtesy
SITES TO SEE Jenner visits Longchamp’s atelier in Segré, France.
the carry-on you keep on the plane, but it can also be your computer bag when you arrive in the city and you have a business appointment. I have really worked on the proportions. How long has La Voyageuse been in the works? Usually for a new collection, it’s nearly one year working on it, because everything is new. I worked on the materials first, figuring out what kind of leather I wanted to use, which was important for me. And I worked a lot on the way to balance the proportions— the scale of the print and the leather. It’s always a lot of details you have to adjust. Even though I’m not a model, I like to try things on myself, because I understand better the product—the proportions, to see if it’s useful or not, to see how it looks when it’s put on a table. It’s important to give life to the product, not just to look at it on a shelf. How do you know when you’re finished designing a new bag, that it’s time to step away and stop tinkering with it? It’s a long process. Sometimes it can be short, but sometimes it can be longer; sometimes, we need several prototypes before the right one, and other times, we know after two or three prototypes. And I’m not alone; I work with a team, and I like to exchange a lot. We are a family business, so I like to exchange also with my brother, Jean [Cassegrain], our CEO. He has a totally different point of view; a much more masculine point of view, a much more business-focused point of view. It’s cool to see his reactions. Tell us about your latest campaign. The concept was to give this Mad Men effect. I wanted to keep the idea of this active, energetic woman who is on the go. Also, it’s a [subtle] detail, but we used the pattern of the carpet that was in the Concorde plane, designed by [Andrée Putman, French interior and product designer]. It’s very graphic and dynamic. How do you juggle your many responsibilities overseeing a global brand’s creative direction? I do my job with a lot of spontaneity. I think it’s true that every day is different—working on a bag, going to the tanneries to develop a new leather, or going to the workshop to take care of the development of a new bag, working on the proportion, detail, and color, or doing a campaign shoot with Kendall [Jenner,
Longchamp brand ambassador], for example. It’s totally different all the time. But it’s all about my product, and it’s all about creativity. It’s like I’m starting a story, and I go to the end of the story because when I’m thinking of the bag, I’m already thinking of the story [that will shape] the ad campaign, the window display. It’s really writing the whole story around the product. How and why has Longchamp ramped up business in NYC in recent seasons? We’ve been present in New York for a long time, because my father [Philippe Cassegrain] opened our first store on Madison Avenue more than 20 years ago. It’s true that we are strong in Europe, but the U.S. market is a pillar, a large part of our business. In Paris, we really understood the impact that a strong flagship on a huge avenue like Champs-Élysées can have; we were present for a long time on Rue Saint-Honoré, and when we opened the Champs-Élysées location, which is very different, it highlights the brand in a strong way. I think in New York it’s nearly the same. Madison is nearly like Saint-Honoré, and Fifth Avenue is more like Champs-Élysées. Madison is a nice avenue, but Fifth Avenue—it’s Fifth Avenue. It’s really a window to the world, a way also to show and to say very strongly who Longchamp is today, to show the whole collection, to give more space to ready-to wear, shoes, and men’s, which are all categories we have developed more recently. It’s exactly what we wanted to express in our flagship in New York. It was also interesting for me to show during New York Fashion Week. We’re a very Parisian brand, of course. We’re a French company, a French family, so it’s clear that we’re coming from France. But showing in New York also let us show the brand’s more international experience. Travel is clearly a major inspiration for your work. How does jet-setting factor into your personal life? I really love to travel; it’s something my parents were always pushing me to do, so I started very early, even on my own, when I was quite young. It’s a way to meet new people and to discover new things. My father is very open-minded and curious, and he taught me to always have large, open eyes—to see, discover, learn, and mix.
La Voyageuse tote bag in Natural, $1,275
La Voyageuse tote bag in Navy, $1,275
La Voyageuse small tote bag in Black, $1,095
What’s the most memorable trip you’ve taken? My first trip to Japan, 25 years ago; it’s a wonderful country with great culture, and a totally different spirit. As a young French girl arriving 25 years ago in Japan and discovering this culture, it was a great experience. Each time I go to Japan, I discover something new. What will we never catch you wearing on a plane? Sweatpants. I’m fighting with my kids, because I don’t want them to wear them, either. [Laughs] Best of luck winning that battle. What are your indispensable travel essentials and habits? I think when you’re traveling you’re a little bit in an insecure mood; you don’t really know where you go or what’s going to happen with your flight. It’s a very specific mood. So I think you need to have a few things that make you feel confident and comfortable. I always fly with a cashmere sweater that I love; it’s warm, nice, and sweet. I also always wear a sort of scarf because I’m afraid of the air-conditioning on the plane. And I try to always to have a window seat, because I don’t want to have someone passing across me; I love to feel like I have my own little area. And I like to see the landscape. I always travel with a Le Pliage bag in my suitcase, because I know when I come back home, I’ll have some more stuff…always!
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MAINMan
Gigi Hadid
Race Imboden RJ King
Alannah Walton
Ivan The Great
Industry powerhouse Ivan Bart has shaped myriad supermodels’ careers. These days, in his role as president of IMG Models and fashion properties, he continues to lead NYFW’s evolution. Here’s how. BY EDDIE ROCHE photography by hannah turner-harts
It’s your third season in your current NYFW gig. What’s your approach this time around? Our goal is to service designers, amplify their conversations, make connections, and convey their messages to consumers. There are so many different opportunities for designers to do runway shows, and create what that is, whether a traditional catwalk or something more intimate, like a presentation. Our production company works with a lot of designers, to create the space; our lighting package is great. But we’re also helping people who are not showing just at our venues, with sponsorship connections and streaming opportunities. Overall, it’s a work in
progress. As we navigate the 21st century, consumers are so distracted. How do we actually get their attention? We want to work with designers on actually focusing on that. It’s about drawing in the consumer, having them appreciate your brand, and want to buy. How did you decide to work with new designers like AREA, Aliétte, Christopher John Rogers, Deveaux New York, and No Sesso? Fashion is ever-evolving. There’s always new players on the field. Look at somebody like Virgil [Abloh] and where he took his career. He started at New York Fashion Week. We’re always looking for the next brand to take off. We just really want to wrap our arms around the design community, taking in new designers and being there for them in the beginning, watching their careers grow. It’s like what I did with models. Many models start out really young, and then become a Gigi Hadid or a Karlie Kloss or a Joan Smalls; we were there along the way. That’s what our company wants to do with designers—be there, champion their cause, connect them to our many capabilities, and help them grow their business. What else do you have going on this season? I lead with intentions—fashion as a cultural conversation, and as part of the human experience. We wake up every morning and ask ourselves, “What am I going to wear? How are we going to promote ourselves?” Some days we want to dress up, some days we want to dress down. Everyone is interested in sustainability these days; we’re having conversations with Amber Valletta and Phillip Lim about the sourcing and disposal of products. We’ve also led with femaleempowerment conversations. I love that we’re having a “Breakfast of Champions” with Serena Williams and Endeavor CMO Bozoma Saint John about being aspirational to the world and making it a better place— and also about being a badass career woman. Mary Ann Reilly [Visa’s SVP and head of North America marketing] is another fascinating career woman, who’s connecting the message that women have great spending power to a brand where women are in charge
and have the money. She’s having a conversation with Teen Vogue’s Lindsay Peoples Wagner, Chromat’s Becca McCharen-Tran, and model/activist Lauren Wasser. We’re also doing a panel “Breaking Tradition in Streetwear,” presented by The Glenlivet. Let’s talk about IMG Models. RJ King recently joined the board. I’m really excited about him. When we relaunched our men’s business in 2011, our intention was to find a millennial, superhero model. I wanted to find a Ryan Seacrest or a Ryan Gosling. I would put RJ into both categories. He has the ability to become like Seacrest. Who are some of the other new faces at IMG Models you’re psyched about? Race Imboden, the young fencer who took a knee. It was brave of this young man to actually speak about being white and privileged and how he has an advantage over other people to help the world. We get excited by talent that has something to say. On the women’s board, I’ve got my eye on Alannah Walton. She knows herself, she knows her angles, she’s ready. I’m also excited about Kerolyn Soares, Shiwei, Shayna McNeill, Thylane Blondeau, Candice Huffine, and Meghan Roche. How would you describe your role today? Connecter. It’s actually not very dissimilar to what my job has been. I like being able to have deeper conversations, beyond just connecting talent. I’ve had wonderful sit-downs with so many designers— emerging, established, marquee names—and really gotten to know where we are in the industry, from technology to sustainability to inclusion. Bozoma Saint John uses a quote from [author] Verna Myers, “Diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance.” That’s important to me. Having started a conversation in the industry, and really pushing forward diverse talent—in age, race, size, and gender. We want to keep that dream alive, where there’s inclusion in every show and conversation. I believe the fashion industry should be reflecting what we see. If we’re trying to sell clothes, don’t we want everybody to feel a part of it? I think exclusivity is something that’s not fashionable anymore.
getty images (2); patrickmcmullan.com (2)
FEARLESS LEADER Bart on the terrace of IMG Models’ New York City office.
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execIntel
THE
LAW OF LEWIS Hearst’s Kate Lewis reveals her strategy for navigating the publishing world in a period of unprecedented change.
You’re a year into your chief content officer position. How’s it been so far? One of the things I delighted in when I was in the digital role [as Hearst Magazines Digital Media’s SVP and editorial director] was the collaboration and communication across the brands. There are too many editorial leadership people to get everyone in a room and think it will be productive; you’re not going to be honest and open. So we’ve broken out a bunch of smaller groups who meet for course curriculums that tackle everything from sponsored content to “What should the front of book look like?” to “How do we work with celebrities?” Many print EICs already have relationships with one another, but getting people who aren’t—or are—on the same kind of brand to talk was a personal goal for me. Another goal for the company was having brand teams begin to coalesce. My thinking is that it isn’t so much about “integration,” which is the word people use, but more that content teams should think of themselves as platform agnostic. You’re not a print editor, video creator, web editor, or social editor. You’re a person who makes great content and delivers it across whatever platform that content is appropriate for. That’s why all our teams now co-mingle, to a degree; some are fully integrated. What are you in the weeds working on now? Video. It hadn’t been a priority for a long time, and obviously having a greater mandate, it’s been easier and harder at the same time to execute. A couple months ago, we hired Zuri Rice, a new SVP of video [head of video development and content strategy for Hearst Originals], and we bought Clevver, which is a YouTube channel, and it helps us understand how to accelerate our own growth on YouTube. How do you prevent burnout among staffers, when multiple jobs fall on one person? This is a conundrum, actually, that we go through all the time. Can you dig in deeper if you’re on a
single brand? Probably, but could you burn out faster because you’re in a certain place? That may be, too. Because we now have a much more transparent and fluid conversation around content creation, from brand to brand, it means that people will move around. We have a star player on Delish who came from Cosmopolitan. We have a star player on House Beautiful who came from Delish. We do try to take people and give them opportunities in other places here because I think you’re right—you don’t want to do the same thing over and over, year after year. I mean, one thing that’s nice about right now is that everything that we hold sacred today will be irrelevant tomorrow. You could be a writer on Esquire and that job over the course of a year might change a lot. Does it help with retention by not having staffers as pigeonholed? The DNA of Hearst—not just the magazine division, the whole company—is one of loyalty. I want the people we have grown and raised and taught to stay with us, not to walk away with all these valuable skills. We want to make sure that people feel like they can develop here. [Hearst Magazines president] Troy [Young] says that we’re in the transition from hierarchy to hive. There’s a lot less upper management structure. My management team is very small. Has this hive-instead-of-hierarchy approach changed Hearst’s hiring strategy? Our new head of HR [Hearst Magazines SVP, chief talent officer], Keesha Jean-Baptiste, is my favorite person. She came from advertising, so she wasn’t a person who had been finding magazine people to work on magazines. We make sure to find a mix of people, including those who maybe don’t have the right experience at all, but come from a different place and bring a different perspective. How are you feeling about the media landscape in
2019, beyond Hearst Tower—the good, the bad, the sad, the ugly… The state of the industry makes me hopeful because never in all our days has there been more consumption of this content. I’m a little bit obsessed with Tina Brown’s The Vanity Fair Diaries, which is a phenomenal, wonderful read. If you have the time, listen to it; she reads it herself and she’s just such a raconteur. In her big heyday of Vanity Fair, the circulation was in the hundreds of thousands, and it was a huge, huge win. Right now, Cosmo’s total brand footprint is 81 million people. Never before have we seen such an appetite for content broadly. That
hearst magazines/allie holloway; all others courtesy
BY ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV
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execIntel A few of Hearst’s September 2019 covers.
means we’re on to something, right? Sometimes, you’re quite overwhelmed and you think, “Well, I haven’t hit the jackpot yet,” and sometimes you’re like, “My day is full of twists and turns that make it super stimulating.” How do you react when yet another mag title bites the dust? When brands shutter now, I’m in such a space that I really look at it clinically, and we do that even when brands don’t shutter. How do you measure quality of readership, not just quantity? For us now, the idea is and has been for some time: What’s the retention rate? What’s the habit-forming relationship cap with readers? Our editors have been very focused on the amount of people we have every month and also on the content that creates that deeper engagement. So either they’re sent down a rabbit hole, like with [our coverage of] the MTV Video Music Awards, but sometimes, we have a story on Cosmo that went up last month, or even the Woody Harrelson cover story on Esquire, which had, like, nine minutes of reading time as an average. Hearst was a pioneer of syndicated digital content across brands. How has that approach helped traffic, without losing or diluting a publication’s integrity? If there’s a piece of e-commerce content that’s doing really well on one site, then by all means, clone it and make some money. If something is deeply commoditized, like “Meghan Markle wore this,” having four people write that story is a complete waste of time. If you’re able to pull some of that commoditized content from other brands, it gives you the room to do the deeper things. I think we say now that no more than 20 percent of [a Hearst publication’s] content can be syndicated. If 80 percent of your content is original, it’s still going to feel like you.
But we also lose something when everybody’s covering everything… I’m with you. I think that there’s a risk. It’s hard to be a generalist brand in digital, especially men’s brands. So much of what defines brands is a sense of brand fidelity that the Internet doesn’t necessarily reward. That is what makes it essential for brands to have daily newsy content of some kind, whatever it is. What is your management style like? As you’ve probably gleaned, I am inherently optimistic. I also love a conversation. I’m a listener, and everyone says good management is about listening—I think the piece that has to come with that is also hearing. Many of my best ideas are not my own. They’re from the people that I work with who are constantly thinking about their slice of the pie or the overall picture, or something that isn’t their slice of the pie but just has their mind buzzing. But at the end of the day, someone has to make decisions, and I really like decisiveness. It’s not that my decisions are always the right ones, but there’s so much potential to do a billion things on any given thing you just, at a certain point, have to say, “This is where we’re going.” Any advice for less decisive folks in the industry? There’s a “tiresome trigger.” If a topic is tiresome, you’re done. We’ll talk about things and there comes a moment when the conversation just ceases to be productive for anybody. I’m known for summing up every meeting at the end. I’m like, “Here’s what we said, here’s what we need, and here’s who’s doing that.” I just don’t have time for that s**t. You don’t want to stop conversation when it’s still productive, but I often come into meetings or scenarios where I’m thinking, “What is the outcome I want to get?”, and if we’re not getting there, I end it. The gig economy and freelancers are an increasingly bigger part of our industry. Thoughts? My husband is a consultant, so he works on his own clock; I cannot believe how efficient he is. He gets so many things done in way less time than I do. I have an appreciation for that. I think I wouldn’t survive because I would be distracted. I would do the laundry or organize my sock drawer. In media, as a whole, we produce a product that requires a team, so this may be extraordinarily old school of me, but I do still feel like
the core group needs to be together in an environment. It would be hard to do this remotely. Before I got this job in this nice, big fancy office, I sat in the pen, eight of us in a little pen and no walls or anything. I miss that, and I think to some degree that has hurt the team. All the editors were smooshed together too. I’m just a sucker for people, so I do miss that contact piece of it. Are you able to read magazines without it feeling like work? Yes. I read all our competition. I still consume media like a media lover. The things I absolutely read every day are The New York Times and a newsletter called Media Star. And Instagram, which I wouldn’t call reading; that’s my addiction. Although now I have it screen time locked, so I can spend only half an hour a day. How’s that going? Terribly!
FA S H I O N W E E K D A I LY. C O M
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MagicMaker
People Person
If you love your weeklies as much as we do, you can probably thank Dan Wakeford, who’s been serving you the scoop for 20 years. He’s now taken the reins as editor in chief of People, where he’s managed to unearth the secret to keeping print alive. Thank you, Meghan Markle. BY EDDIE ROCHE PHOTOGRAPHY BY HANNAH TURNER-HARTS
How did you get started? I came out of college, and I was an intern like everybody else. I was trying to decide what kind of storytelling I wanted to get into, so I worked in television first. I was at a comedy company basically doing an entertaining version of the news that happened that week. I felt that everyone was playing off what print media were producing. I got very excited about being on the front lines of storytelling, so I went back to college to study journalism. Where did you end up? Within a year, I was contacted by a big national paper in the U.K. I ended up going there and working on
a gossip column, this was the time of Spice Girls, Oasis, and Robbie Williams. I was invited to the backstage parties and premieres. It was real scrapbook[worthy] memories, going to get the story, to get the first interview in the world. But after a couple of years and being fed up with champagne and the long arduous hours, I was approached to work at Heat. My role was to make a magazine that was entertainmentfocused and make it more celebrityfocused. We basically came up with the idea to focus on celebrities as real people, and it went very far. I was there for two and a half, three years, and it was a fantastic experience. At that time in America, there was only People and Us, which was only monthly at the time. They heard and saw what was going on in the magazine industry in the U.K., so I got phone calls from Us and Bauer Publishing, which was setting up In Touch. Eventually I ended up as editor in chief of both In Touch and Life & Style. I thought I was going to be in America for one or two years; 17 years later, I’m still here. How did you wind up at People? I came to People five years ago as deputy editor. I wanted to work for the No. 1 magazine, but I also wanted to diversify a little bit first. What was interesting to me about People is that it’s 15 brands in one. We cover so much in so many different fields. Jess [Cagle] brought me over to focus on the other areas of the magazine that weren’t celebrity for a while. I focused on crime and human interest, the royals, and service content, and on different types of storytelling. Within that time, I helped develop the royals as a signature part of People’s DNA. Americans care more about the royals than the Brits do! What are your favorite kinds of stories to cover in People? For print to thrive, stories are the most important thing. It’s in our DNA. We crave good storytelling. I love a story with tension and surprise. I really believe in adding depth to stories that excite and surprise you, whether it’s getting inside the fact that there’s a rift between Princes William and Harry. I just love joyful positive covers as well, something like Hoda [Kotb] having a baby. This is a really difficult world, so having some joy and positivity on the newsstand really
resonates with our audience. Who sells well? With cover sales, the best sellers in America are probably Meghan Markle—you can project your fantasies of being an American princess onto Meghan, the fact that it could happen to you—and Chip and Joanna Gaines. Forgive us…but who are Chip and Joanna Gaines? They’re HGTV stars. They’re very aspirational and positive. Chip and Joanna have this perfect, beautiful life. The idea is that you can achieve what they have achieved as hugely successful millionaires. Is People still No. 1? It depends on what metrics you use. It’s certainly the most profitable magazine in the country, and it’s definitely one of the biggest. The number of people we reach as a brand is incredible. The success of People is really about the trust between the reader and the brand, and the brand and the subjects of our stories. Our subjects know that we’re going to tell their story in a fair way. We are The New York Times of celebrity. There is some real heart to the magazine. It’s also showing that readers still want print. I believe that People and print will last forever. It may change the way it’s distributed, but it will last forever. Print is still the centerpiece of our brand. People still love print. Celebrities love the prestige of being on the cover of People magazine. That means so much. That means you are, or will be, the most talked-about person in America that week. It’s a sign of prestige and relevance. Why doesn’t a fashion influencer with millions of followers resonate with your readers? We tried to tell their stories, but they just don’t resonate in the same way. With People, there is a recognizability. They either want a story or a star that they know. Sometimes with influencer content, they don’t feel like they know the person, or that there is a huge story. They don’t fit into our mantra, which is: ordinary people doing extraordinary things or extraordinary people doing ordinary things. Influencers’ everyday lives don’t fit into that. How do you unwind from this role? You’d have to ask my husband that. [Laughs] He gives me space when I need it, and I’m not always focused on my phone—the weekend is the weekend. To be honest with you, People is powered by great people. You can’t be a control freak to run a brand as great and as big as this. We have the best in the business working at People.
courtesy
Meghan Markle and Jennifer Garner cover People.
FA S H I O N W E E K D A I LY. C O M
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Tonchi’s
New
Chapter After three decades in media, nine years of which were spent helming W, you’d think Stefano Tonchi would chill out this summer. Think again. He’s been busy doing his homework to launch his own consulting business.
How was your summer as a free agent? I’ve been working a little too much. I was in Europe all of July, for couture in Paris, and meeting with a lot of people, like fashion executives in Milan and Paris, then I came back again in August. When I was in New York and the Hamptons, I thought it would be quiet, but actually I ended up having tons of meetings. I really wanted to use these months to research and understand what people care about, what’s needed now, and what I can do—the white space. What have you learned? There’s a great need for a brand direction. I want to set up a consulting business to help companies in transition, to navigate these times of change and growth. My 30 years of experience in the media industry and my connections in the art and fashion world, my insider’s intelligence into our industry—I can give some help, you know? We live in a time with so much information, confusion, and uncertainty. The world is full of questions, and simplistic answers. It sounds like everybody is a Trump, somehow. Print or digital? Retail or e-commerce? Short-form video or long-form narrative? Is it about celebrities, or are celebrity done? Technology is trying to answer lots of questions, but great companies are made also by instinct, invention—and what people feel. What sorts of clients are you courting? Global companies in entertainment and media. The China phenomenon is where the future is happening, and I’m interested in the future. It’s what every luxury company is thinking about, whether food, fashion, or lifestyle. In three years, 50 percent of all luxury consumer consumption will be concentrated in China. Most executives in Europe, their first question is, “What would you do in China? Which celebrities? How can we communicate with the new generation of Chinese?” That’s very much at the center of my thinking. Also, I did a little study on the behavior of young people, where they spend their time—the answer is…online. Where in particular? On video games. There are lots of female video game players now, too. I forecast a much stronger integration of video games and virtual reality, with fashion and celebrities. You
should expect a video game with a Serena Williams look-alike wearing Chanel, or a superhero Gwyneth Paltrow who will save your body. Will you have a team or an office for your new venture? It’s not about hiring 20 people, putting them in an office, and making them execute projects. You cannot operate like that anymore. I’m trying to work like an editor of a magazine—bringing in talent for specific reasons, on specific projects, for specific issues. Right now I use a lot of my home for working; I have the luxury of enough space. We all live on our laptops and phones, and can do business everywhere. I’m planning to rent space in a new building. I have a couple offers. How can companies benefit from your intel? There’s not one successful company today that doesn’t have a social and cultural message. When the message is wrong, you get in trouble. Making nice clothes was never enough. But for a new generation, it’s just ethically wrong; “why produce more goods?” is a state of mind. The success of companies recycling, renting, and reselling clothes proves this. For me and a different generation, renting a tuxedo was stigmatized. Now, it’s about, “I didn’t need to buy it. I looked great anyway and I rented it.” For many young people, it’s ethically unacceptable to spend $5,000 on a dress you wear only twice. It doesn’t mean fashion is over. People actually love fashion even more but think about it in a different way. It’s not that people won’t spend $1,000 on sneakers; they will, and then will resell them.
What’s on your docket for fall? I want to go to China for one of the new [retail] fairs in October. I’ll see some shows in New York, especially my good friends’, like Tory [Burch]. I want to absolutely see Emily Bode’s show. Then, I’ll be in London. Tim Walker is my great friend, and a photographer I brought to W— there’s a big retrospective on him at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a lot of work I did with him is in the exhibition. I’m going to Milan [Fashion Week], some of the designers I admire and count as close friends, like Miuccia [Prada], Donatella [Versace], are there. I’m also working on two exhibitions in Italy—at Milan’s Camera Della Moda and MAXXI in Rome. You seem pretty optimistic about fashion’s future. Are you as hopeful about the media industry? I don’t look back at my days in the media. But there’s a lesson about online and offline experiences. To survive, a media brand today needs to have e-commerce, or a strong entertainment production company or presence. That’s something I’ve believed in the past year. Is it odd not to have a next issue on the horizon? I have so many deadlines already, I actually have to multitask much more than before. It’s fun working on projects with different teams. It pushes you to learn more, and get less attached. I’ve relied so much for many years on certain people, thinking they were irreplaceable. Habits make you do that. Now, I see there are so many great, talented people. You go to the right person for the right project. I benefit from this freedom. I feel very positive.
steven klein (1)
BY ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV
FA S H I O N W E E K D A I LY. C O M
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eyeContact
Positively
Brilliant Jewelry designer Nigora Tabayer never expected to end up in the bling industry. But a lifelong love of fine gems—combined with her parents’ creative talents and a business education—unwittingly paved the way for her eponymous label, which launched at Paris Fashion Week in March with a chic presentation of her eye motif collection. With fans like Bella Hadid and Halima Aden donning her sparkly creations, expect to see more of Tabayer’s designs.
SHINING STAR Jewelry designer Nigora Tabayer
How and when did you first become interested in jewelry design? I’ve always been drawn to jewelry, ever since childhood. Both my mother and grandmother had beautiful jewelry collections from which they would let me borrow—once in a while! In terms of designs, I know I’ve always appreciated jewelry, but I began to pursue it seriously about two years ago, when I made my first sketches. Those sketches ended up resulting in the Eye Collection. Did your parents’ careers in architecture and fashion design inform your own passions and professional interests? Yes, definitely! My mother designed children’s clothing, and my father was an architect. Ultimately, I think I was more drawn to the type of creativity that goes into architecture—the linearity, the logic of breathing life into a beautiful design. That sense of appreciation must have stuck with me, because originally I was not planning on being a jewelry designer. You studied business management prior to going into jewelry design. Has that education been helpful while building your own brand? I think it has, yes. Having that education has helped me on both the pragmatic side, with financial
management, budgeting, and accounting, and on the expectations side. In business, there’s a methodology in place. You can’t just dream something up and have everything materialize instantly. I think having this experience has led me to be a bit more patient. What’s your earliest childhood memory of jewelry? Perhaps there’s a bauble you recall loving and feeling a connection with? As it happens, my earliest childhood memory with jewelry has to do with the eye amulet. My mother would always find a way to dress me with one, whether it be a necklace, a bracelet, or whatever, when I was leaving the house. The eye is a protective talisman. She believed in that, and so do I. My grandmother even gifted me a bracelet of hers—it too had the eye symbol. How did your mother’s jewelry collection serve as a key influence for your first Tabayer designs? In many ways, I think; my mother’s jewelry collection will always be influential because it’s what I grew up knowing and being able to touch and to hold up close. She believes deeply in protection and family values; I carried that through with the eye motif in my first collection. Actually, I made the eye as part of my logo; safeguarding and protection will always be part of the Tabayer brand.
How would you describe your brand’s aesthetic, and how did you want to distinguish your designs from what was already on the fine jewelry market? I think the aesthetic is a combination of elegance and statement-making impact, but also somewhat more casual than other fine jewelry labels. I would love to see one of our customers wearing a pendant over a simple white T-shirt. Some, actually, are already doing this. I don’t believe that fine jewelry should be reserved solely for special events or occasions. It can be layered into and around day-to-day outfits—and this will be a core part of my design approach going forward. What’s your creative process like when designing? How do you conceptualize a cohesive collection? I start by sketching. Just pencil to paper. Then, as ideas develop and move along, we see what works and doesn’t work from a technical and production standpoint. I love this part—it must be the architect gene in me! Then, once we go to the final stages, I make sure that everything looks cohesive as a whole. I look at all of the prototypes together, and if anything feels amiss, we get rid of it or we correct it to be more in line with the greater collection. How do you find inspiration for your designs? My biggest inspiration is travel, followed by nature
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bfa.com (1); all others courtesy
BY ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV
bfa.com (1); all others courtesy
“i don’t believe that fine jewelry should be reserved solely for special events or occasions. it can be layered into and around day-to-day outfits.” and cultural engagement. Another huge part of what inspires me has more to do with personality traits—family values, my individual strength, and uncompromising character. I want to design pieces that embody and complement these ideas. Are there particular jewelry pieces you always travel with? An eye, of course! Whether from the Eye Collection or from my previously collected pieces. It will always be a part of me. What was it like working with British jeweler Graff on your inaugural collection? I’m so lucky to have worked with Graff in the past on manufacturing the first limited-edition collection. Working with Graff and having a great experience has helped inspire me to create my own brand. Why did you choose to show in Paris? And how did you get such a fashionable group of attendees? Paris is the center of the haute couture and haute joaillerie worlds. I wanted to introduce the brand properly on the world stage, so it had to be Paris. We chose the Hôtel de Crillon, which is such a beautiful hotel, and we invited friends! Many of them go to Paris during couture season. It came together naturally. Which celebrities have worn your pieces and are fans of the brand? We’ve had great representation and visibility so far. Bella Hadid, Halima Aden, Rebel Wilson, Elsa Hosk, and others have all worn pieces from the Eye Collection. I especially loved when Halima wore her pendant over a white turtleneck. She’s so chic! What’s in store for your next collection? Without giving away too much, I can say we are going to be launching a few more evening pieces, as well as earrings. But until those debut, I’m keeping the details under wraps! What’s your personal philosophy on styling jewelry? Are you a fan of layering pieces? And how do you approach your jewelry choices, in context of clothing and other accessories—like shoes and bags—when composing an outfit? My personal philosophy combines both freedom of expression, and conviction in that expression. I believe that jewelry, foremost, should be meaningful, and people should purchase jewelry because they truly love it and connect with it. Not just as a showy, look-at-me piece. And yes, fine jewelry can be large, noticeable, and grand, but I think it has to embody the personality of the wearer. I absolutely think that fine jewelry can be worn outside of the gala setting. As far as what to wear it with, anything goes! In short, wear the jewelry, don’t let the jewelry wear you.
Some of Tabayer’s statement necklaces.
(From left) Caroline Daur, Nigora Tabayer, and Caroline Vreeland at the brand’s launch party in Paris.
FA S H I O N W E E K D A I LY. C O M
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INNOVATIONStation
FASHION FOR ALL! Afterpay, the payment product that is making fashion more accessible than ever, has revolutionized customers’ relationships with e-commerce. Melissa Davis, Afterpay’s chief revenue officer, explains its inception.
just over a year ago, and has had huge success. Today, there are more than 2 million active U.S. customers and more than 6,500 retailers who have partnered with, or onboarded with, Afterpay, representing more than 10 percent of the U.S. online fashion and beauty industry. The company expanded to the U.K. this summer and is growing at a faster pace than the U.S. market at the same stage. Globally, Afterpay partners with more than 35,000 retailers. How did it respond to a need in the marketplace? Afterpay pioneered the market for interest-free “buy now, pay later” installment payment solutions. It allows retailers to offer consumers an easy and transparent way to shop for their favorite fashion and beauty brands. Unlike other payment services that make significant profits from interest and late fees, Afterpay doesn’t require customers to take out a traditional loan, or pay upfront fees or interest. The company’s business model is based on revenues paid to Afterpay by retailers. In fact, Afterpay earns more money when customers pay on time. How has that vision evolved? It will always be core to our vision to put our customers first and offer a transparent way to pay that benefits both retailers and consumers. As a business, we will evolve our platform through innovation that continues to deliver value for our customers around the world. Why has Afterpay been so thoroughly embraced by fashion consumers? We see younger shoppers, both millennials and Gen Z,
CLICK IT! Afterpay allows consumers to pay in four easy installments with no interest.
selecting Afterpay because it gives them access to the best fashion and beauty brands with a payment option that allows responsible spending and control. Fashion retailers benefit from the opportunity to engage with a new, younger and highly valuable shopper who typically converts at a higher rate, buys multiple items at a time, and has a higher AOV [average order value]. In fact, retailers offering Afterpay see a conversion of approximately 20 to 30 percent higher than other payment methods. How do you see consumers’ shopping habits evolving in the short and long term? Technology is critical when engaging young shoppers, with the majority of millenial and Gen Z consumers buying from their mobile device. It’s critical that retailers offer a seamless, convenient, and secure shopping and buying experience. Because of Instagram shopping, YouTube, brand ambassadors, celebrity brands, new video marketing technology, and growing loyalty and referral programs, social will continue to be a highly valuable and important shopping channel.
shutterstock (3)
What is your professional background? I started my career at IBM in the Global Services division after earning a BBA in management information systems at the University of Texas at Austin. From there, I brought my skills to The Knot, working in business development building the registry business. Then I joined CNNMoney to manage strategic partnerships and new technology integrations. I then moved over to ShopStyle, where I helped build the business into one of the leading fashion search websites in the U.S., working closely with many of the largest fashion retailers. How did you end up at Afterpay? I met Nick Molnar, the co-founder and U.S. CEO of Afterpay, and was immediately inspired by his vision. It was incredible to see a product that was so successful in driving incremental sales and new customers for retailers at a time when they needed it most. I was also struck by the fast adoption and love customers felt toward the company, which is so rare to see with a payment product. How was the brand started? Co-founders Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen launched Afterpay in Australia in 2014, with a mission to create a way to pay that both consumers and retailers love. Understanding that millennials have an aversion to debt after the 2008 financial crisis, they created a payment service that allows consumers to pay in four easy installments, without incurring revolving debt, or paying interest or fees. Afterpay launched in the U.S.
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gameOn
ARCADE HEAVEN What is your professional background? I’ve been in the toy licensing and manufacturing business for the better part of 30 years. I’m from California, 51 years old, and I moved out to New York in my early twenties. I went to work for a small toy manufacturer, and in 1996, I started a business. We were lucky to be in the right place at the right time, and we started manufacturing the first toys from the TV show South Park. And then we kind of became known quickly in the trend business, from South Park to Teletubbies to Ozzy Osbourne to everything in between. In fact, a lot of the team that has worked with me over the past 20 years is still with us today. About two and a half years ago, we made a conscious decision to pivot and leverage what we do best outside of the toy category. That led us into looking at the gaming space. The toy trade was down 2 percent, but the gaming space is going to be a $150 billion industry in the next two years. It became an easy decision for us to focus our efforts on the gaming space. We looked at it and realized that some of our core competencies were around leveraging other people’s brands. That led us down the path to looking at some of the retro gaming spaces. Are retro games a particular passion of yours? The short answer is no. [Laughs] When I say the word “gamer,” the first thing that comes to mind for me is a hard-core gamer sitting in a room. That is not me, but I was a 13-year-old kid who loved to play Pac-Man. I would call that the original gamer, before
there were multifaceted, multiplayer games. In typical arcade fashion, those games were quick to learn, highly addictive in a good sense, and a lot of fun. I’m intimidated by things like Fortnite. But put me on a Pac-Man machine, and I’m pretty good. When my son was 16 and we were making this, we played Galaga together for an hour and a half. In that game, we found a common interest. The second you play it, even if you were a casual gamer who’s played Pac-Man once in your life, you’ll enjoy it. It’s a time machine! What kinds of games do you offer in Arcade1Up? We like to say that Arcade1Up is the first true at-home arcade experience that’s affordable. There are places for the classic arcade machines that are $2,000 to $3,000, and places for others that have hundreds of games in them, but ours is a little bit different. It’s five feet tall and 60 pounds, so it’s highly portable and easy to manipulate and move around. There are three to five games on each machine, and each game’s artwork is featured throughout the cabinet. We started with six different cabinets, and each cabinet has between three and four games. By the end of 2019, there will be about 12 different cabinets in the marketplace, for a total of 50 or 60 games. People are collecting them and creating their own arcades! Where are your biggest markets? North America, certainly, is our largest market. We try to make this affordable and for the masses, and it’s sold from Walmart to Target, from Best Buy to GameStop, and a lot of places in between. It will be
Some of Arcade1Up’s game cabinets.
available in Canada in the fourth quarter of this year. Have you met any superfans of the product? We get so much feedback from our customers, and that’s what drives us. One article, in particular, was about a guy who hadn’t spoken to his father in 20 years. They had a falling out many years ago, and someone gave him a Pac-Man machine for his birthday. He started playing Pac-Man, thinking about the times he spent with his father. And out of the blue, his father picked up the phone and called him. It was a crazy story about how this took him back to a simpler time in life. We get a lot of comments like that—“This took me back to when I used to hang out at the pizza parlor, or the arcade.” It brings back fond memories, and that’s a pretty cool thing. How do you hope to grow the brand? We have 12 machines coming out this year—Marvel and Turtles games—and we’ll be making some big announcements at CES in Las Vegas in January. The short answer is we’re expanding our game offerings, we’re making our machines better every day, and we put customer feedback into our product. We have about 15 people on our product development team in both New York and New Jersey, and affiliate development offices in California and Hong Kong. We take our development cycle and customer service seriously. At the core of it, we’re trying to deliver a true arcade experience in your house for under $500.
all images courtesy
When you need a break from the madness of Fashion Week (or simply modern life), Scott Bachrach has a modest proposition. Arcade1Up, his line of game cabinets, will transport you to a simpler time in life—for less than a pair of designer loafers.
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DESIGN
SAVVY
Mattec Interiors, which brings the Fashion Media Awards to life by manufacturing the honorees statuettes, has emerged as a major player in the design space. Leah S. Blank, the firm’s director of business development, USA, explains. How did Mattec end up focusing largely on retail design? Each retail store is unique to that brand. All our product is high-end Italian-made furnishings with competitive pricing, which is the perfect fit for store designs. The materials we have access to in Northern Italy, paired with our craftsmanship and drive for excellence, garnered trust from major retail brands. It’s important to note that our factories, unlike others, handle all aspects of a project. We complete millwork, metal work, upholstery, painting, and more. This allows for a seamless project from beginning to end, so the client can feel confident about the final product. Are there any particular design signatures that Mattec utilizes for retail/fashion projects? We don’t have a design signature because each project is custom. We work with architects, designers, developers, and owners to help them realize their specific dream. You also design The Daily’s Fashion Media Awards. Eleonora Turco, Mattec Interiors project manager, designed the first award four years ago with direction from the publication. The Daily required that the award be shaped like the letter “D,” preferably from a material that was see-through. Eleonora proposed four options with different materials, sizes, and proportions. The current version, made from plexiglass, was the winner! How does designing an award statuette differ from Mattec’s typical work? Designing an award is a lot like designing an accessory for an interior project. Awards should be a piece of art that lives for years on a bookshelf. We love the opportunity to design something that will enhance someone’s interior space. We also love the symbolism of an award; it’s the one physical item that a winner can take with them to remember their accomplishment.
hannah turner-harts (1); john woodcock (1); all others courtesy
Tell us about the company. Mattec Interiors works alongside architects, interior designers, developers, and owners to realize, manufacture, and install custom-made projects and furnishings for high-end retail stores, hospitality projects, private homes, and commercial spaces. What do you focus on in your position? Since 2014, Mattec Interiors has dominated the retail world; designing, manufacturing, and installing interiors for stores across the globe. These past two years, Mattec has taken this knowledge and grown into the hospitality industry, completing more than a dozen projects for well-known brands, such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and others. As director of business development, I maintain those relationships and grow our business in the United States. How do Mattec founders Astrid Von Liechtenstein and Cristian Matteazzi complement each other in terms of design experience and aesthetics? Astrid and Cristian are the perfect match! Their background, experience, and aspirations complement each other; this is the reason that Mattec Interiors has grown so quickly. Astrid’s passion for luxury interiors and her strong network of contacts, alongside Cristian’s love for interior design and manufacturing experience create a strong backbone for the company. How have their backgrounds in other fields been translated to the designs? Mattec was born from Astrid’s strong passion for luxury furnishings and years of design experience. Partnering with Vicenza native Cristian, the two quickly began to enrich the retail industry with beautiful high-quality interiors. Cristian’s family has owned and operated two millwork factories in the hills of Verona since 1950, alongside Astrid’s family’s factories. Mattec is the story of two families producing Italian-made interiors embodied with both history and love.
HAUTE PROPERTIES (From top) The AC Hotel by Marriott in Dallas; Christian Louboutin and Vivienne Westwood stores in Milan; and John Varvatos Westfield World Trade Center store in New York
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STYLISHSips Meghan Hanna (left) and Linda Dow Cash
“i wanted to create a brand that said it was okay to be you, because that is where we connect.” —Meghan hanna, co-founder, two chicks
Two of a Kind
Meghan Hanna and Linda Dow Cash are on a mission to help women connect… over cocktails! Canned cocktails from the duo’s company, Two Chicks, to be exact. BY CHARLES MANNING
What made this goal of connecting and empowering women so meaningful to your personal lives? Hanna: I was raised by two moms in a time when that wasn’t something that was spoken about on the level that it is today. So I was raised in a home that was obviously very women-centric with my moms’ friends and people in the LGBT+ community. It was an environment of connection, love, empowerment, and inclusivity, where being happy and authentic
were really important. When I became an adult and a mom, I began to see that isn’t always what resonates across lines with women. Often, it’s the opposite—a competition—and I didn’t love that, so I wanted to create a brand that said it was okay to be you, because that is where we connect with one another. Are cocktails a means to letting down your guard, in order to bond and support? Hanna: Our cocktails actually have a pretty low alcohol content, so it’s not really about the mind-altering effects that alcohol can have on somebody. It’s more that when you’re breaking bread with somebody, or, in this case, having a cocktail with somebody, you feel more open, more casual, and that helps you let down your guard. Linda, how did you become involved? Linda Dow Cash: Meghan and I connected through a mutual friend who knew I was looking for a new
business venture. I just loved the story of Meghan and her two moms. And her two daughters. I love two’s. Did you two hit it off right away? Cash: Yeah! It was almost like I’d known her forever. She walked into my house and it was like she belonged there. Maybe we knew each other in a past life. Hanna: Absolutely. I believe that nothing is coincidental, and Linda coming into my life through a mutual friend was also a testament to the “why” behind the brand. It’s all about those connections. What were you each doing professionally before you started working on Two Chicks? Cash: My husband and I owned a craft and toy company, but we retired from that. I also like to design and build houses. Hanna: I started my career as a school counselor, working with kids from kindergarten through 12th grade.
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unsplash (8); shutterstock (1); all others courtesy
Where did the idea for Two Chicks come from? Meghan Hanna: Two Chicks was born out of my passion for encouraging women to embrace one another and connect, rather than compete. I just felt like there wasn’t anything in the market that really embraced qualities of empowerment, inclusivity, and connection. And I decided to focus on cocktails, because women tend to connect over cocktails.
THE CHICKS’
FALL PICKS! LINDA
Soft sweaters for walks on the beach or in Central Park The Hamptons Film Festival
I did that for about six years, and then transitioned over to commercial real estate. So neither one of you had a background in the spirits industry at the beginning. Was that daunting? Cash: The challenge for me has been working through all the different regulations from state to state. Hanna: Yeah, there’s a definite learning curve when it comes to the actual intricacies of the industry. Tell us about the R&D process. How did you develop these cocktails while remaining sober enough to make smart decisions about the product? Cash: We have a great team of seasoned veterans, including our mixologist, who have been in the industry for years, but I did have to learn that when you’re tasting cocktails, you have to spit it out or you will be wasted all day! How long have you two worked together? Cash: Since July 2018. Hanna: The other thing that Linda and I connected over was our efficiency and need for speed in life in general. We are both very much Energizer Bunnies.
unsplash (8); shutterstock (1); all others courtesy
You live on opposite sides of the country. [Meghan lives in Orange County, CA, and Linda is in Amagansett.] Was the distance an issue when you were first launching the brand? Cash: I’m closer in the winters. I’m in Las Vegas for six months of the year, and then I come out to the Hamptons in the summers. The remote work works for us. We could fit our whole staff in one office, but we know that this is the wave of the future. Two Chicks’ drinks have a substantially lower alcohol content than most mixed drinks—around 5 percent [alcohol by volume], versus the usual range of 12 to 14 percent. What inspired that decision? Cash: It’s a trend that started in Europe but has come to the U.S. People don’t want to lose control. The younger generations are more mindful and active. They have a lot to do in the day and can’t risk being hungover. You’ve come up with some interesting flavors—vodka with pear and elderflower, or tequila and grapefruit. Why did you decide to offer creative combos right off the bat, as opposed to classic libations, like cosmopolitans or screwdrivers? Cash: Tequila is a huge growing trend, because it’s lower in calories than whiskey, vodka, or gin. Even
Oprah [Winfrey] was saying that she loves her tequila when she comes home. So that’s why we have two flavors of tequila, and then we branched out into vodka with the flowers, because of the aroma and the taste—for the person who doesn’t like tequila. The crazy thing is I don’t care for tequila myself, but I like our tequila drinks. Hanna: Same! Cash: Because they’re balanced. There are so many canned alcoholic beverages these days. Why do you think that’s the case? Hanna: Convenience! Cash: It’s the fast food of alcohol. You don’t have to think about getting cranberry juice or fresh lemons or limes to make a drink when you get home. How do you ensure that your drinks taste fresh? What’s the shelf life? Cash: All the cans are lined, so you don’t get that metal-y taste, and they last about a year. Megan: The cocktails are canned right after they’re made and the lining is BPA-free, so they keep tasting fresh. The cans really do look lovely. Cash: We went through a lot of designs and really wanted to push the botanical. From my old job, I knew that you have to catch people’s eye. They’ll buy it once because it’s beautiful and buy it again because it tastes good. You just launched this summer. What has the response been so far? Cash: I see a lot of it resonate through the photos people are sending us. I love looking at our Instagram stories, because all of a sudden, there will be two girls with their two cans taking pictures. I love seeing that. Hanna: I would echo that. It brings tears to my eyes to see someone who maybe I’m not super close with, like a friend of a friend, go out and buy Two Chicks as soon as it hits the shelves. Then they’re posting and it’s always in pairs; it’s a testament to the brand and to this idea of us all supporting one another. It’s something that we’ve really put our hearts and souls into and for people to connect with that is everything. How do you see Two Chicks evolving as a brand? Cash: We’ve talked about having a Two Chicks boutique hotel where people could come and connect through yoga, which would be amazing, but that’s not happening yet. I think we need to sell a couple more cans!
Apple crumb pie on my birthday— so much better than cake! Welcoming our first granddaughter. We’ve already got five grandsons, so this will be our first chick of the bunch. Watching football and tailgating with Two Chicks
MEGHAN Early morning Laguna Beach hikes Pumpkin everything Being No. 1 on the leaderboard in my fave Cody Rigsby Peloton class Over-the-knee boots and fitted coats Decorating my new home Hanging out in front of a blazing fire with a good book Empty beaches for morning meditation and evening sunsets Apple cider doughnuts and coffee with my favorite chicks
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EXPERTEye
Artistic
License BY AUSTEN TOSONE Were you always interested in art? In my family, there was a big emphasis put on connecting with art and going to museums. Collecting was something I was always surrounded by, but I didn’t really know it was a career; much later, I connected to art in that way. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense. It led me to open my gallery. It’s been an adventure. Even though it’s a traditional industry, I believe there’s a lot of room to stand out, find an edge, represent really exciting artists, and do things differently. You have an upcoming show with artist Louis Carreon. How did you two connect? I first met Louis at an event we did at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019. I was excited to meet him. He’s ambitious and loyal to his artistic craft. He’s developed so much over the years, so I found a true interest in his work. I’m especially excited about the main body of work he’s dedicating himself to, which is religious iconography. He approaches it with his own voice and a street-art flair. It was exciting to see how he translated these traditional images in his own style. We did a show together at the Madrid location of HG Contemporary last July, and then we collaborated on selecting pieces for the next show. What challenges do art galleries face today? Finding a healthy balance between what you want to
THE WARRIOR (Right) “Goliath,” a mixed-media piece, is part of Louis Carreon’s “Find Your Halo” show, which opens September 12, at HG Contemporary in New York.
express creatively as a gallery owner, and what the output of every show is. As a gallery owner, you feel a responsibility to support artists if you believe in them, and a lot of times, it’s a longer-term investment. It’s a beautiful challenge to keep your integrity and make sure the gallery platform stays strong. How do you balance business and creative needs as a gallery owner? It’s something you learn the hard way. Both are extremely important. It doesn’t help anyone if you’re just out there collecting artwork. What comes first is the future of the gallery, keeping it strong and flourishing. How do you find new talent? There’s no lack of artists in the world. We’re honored to be in a position of getting a lot of submissions by artists, and we go through every single one. It’s about finding the voice you want to express as a gallery owner. Competition has changed because of social media—there are various ways to get in touch with an artist now. But it’s also still about building relationships; it may be an old-school approach, but I really believe in that. You collect art, too. What’s your strategy? The work has to speak for itself. When you look at it, it needs to have an impact and move you in some way. You also have to consider the relationship with the artist. It’s especially emotional to purchase art, because you’re bringing it into your home.
talent
alert
Louis Carreon turns his dark past experiences into stirring artwork. What are these powerful pieces about? There was a time I couldn’t even stay sober. I ruined relationships and was deep in the shadows. Trials and tribulations led me to… take personal responsibility and find the wins in the losses. That’s the message I want to send. I want people to look at my work, wake up a bit, and face their God. We are all sinners. I fail daily. What inspires you? My past—the dark times, dingy hotel rooms full of smoke and drugs, and all my friends who died from addiction. If you don’t know where you’ve been, you will never know where you’re going. I’m only going to keep shining.
hoerle-guggenheim: kevin abosch; all others courtesy
Private collections and posh events give the art world cachet, but at its core, art is all about emotion. Philippe Hoerle-Guggenheim of HG Contemporary shares how galleries have evolved, his talent scouting approach, and more.
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dan and corina lecca (2); shutterstock (1); all others courtesy
chiCSpree
KATE SPADE FALL ’19
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Romy croc-embossed mini flap top-handle bag, $328 Floral leopard jacquard blazer, $498
Nicola snake-embossed twistlock small top-handle bag in Cherrywood, $428
KATE SPADE
Lake lace-up boots, $648
Candid metallic leopard medium camera bag, $298
Panthera clip dot dress, $598
For Fall ’19, designer Nicola Glass dreamed up a leopard-rific collection full of inventive takes on the print du moment. All available at katespade.com.
Brushed leopard overcoat, $998
dan and corina lecca (2); shutterstock (1); all others courtesy
Panthera canvas skirt, $228
Panther Intarsia sweater vest, $198
Perry platform pumps, $348
SHOPPING PROMOTION FA S H I O N W E E K D A I LY. C O M
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chicSpree
CHANEL CC tassel full flap bag, $2,275
BOTTEGA VENETA Lido patchwork fringe tote, $635
GUCCI Sylvie tophandle bag in floral jacquard, $1,975
HERMÈS Birkin Tressage bag, $22,100
GUCCI Sylvie tophandle bag in embroidered leather, $1,650
FENDI studded leather wallet on chain, $555
LOUIS VUITTON NeoNoe bag in limited-edition jungle monogram, $2,990
The hautest bags from seasons past (and occasionally present!) abound on rebag.com—and in the brand’s three NYC boutiques. SHOPPING PROMOTION
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GUTTER CREDITS tk
IN BAGS
FENDI 2Jours Monster bag, $915
all images courtesy
BALENCIAGA triangle duffle bag, $835
BEST
LOEWE Amazona bag, $460
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10
FUNNYBusiness
10 things
you Don’t Know About Graham Norton Graham Norton is considered a TV legend across the pond in the U.K., but he’s not quite as well known in our neck of the woods. That’s about to change. On the heels of the U.S. release of his latest book, A Keeper, the funny man tells us a bit more about himself!
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BY EDDIE ROCHE
A Keeper, is currently in all good bookstores. If you find an unsigned copy, buy it— it might be worth something.
I have a river walk named after me in Bandon, County Cork, in Ireland. As you step over used condoms, you can think of me.
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Mark Wahlberg sat on my lap and pinched my nipples. My 20-year-old self would have been wildly excited; 50-year-old me was just annoyed.
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I have been in a film with Saoirse Ronan. You haven’t seen it.
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I SPENT 9/11 at DOLLYWOOD.
I’m not Graham Norton. It was a union thing.
In 2013, I broke the Guinness World Record for the most questions asked on a TV chat show. I have since lost the record. Sometimes it’s hard to sleep.
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Sophia Loren once slapped me across the face. In fairness, I asked her to.
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I have abnormally large calves. I’m referring to a part of my legs. I’m not just a woefully uninformed farmer.
getty images (4); patrickmcmullan.com (2); shutterstock (1); all others courtesy
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My new novel,
At the age of 52, I became a debut novelist.
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Find your perfect fit at LIMcollege.edu/NYC
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