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The Insider
STYLE
For the past year, LAWREN HOWELL , contributing freelance editor for Vogue, has claimed the everevolving small town of Ojai—a community she finds captivating and full of surprises—as home for herself and her family (husband Kristopher Moller and kids Louisa and Peter). “Ojai has a great beauty that is inspiring on a daily basis,” she says. “It also seems to attract a lot of people with independent and adventurous spirits, and we love that!”
day dressing has changed since moving to Ojai. Part of good style is being appropriate, so I’m not wearing here what I would wear in Paris. I like to juxtapose masculine with feminine, old and new, rough and soft in the way I dress, and I’m really aware of balancing textures and proportions. For example, if I wear a bohemian top, I will balance it with a tailored pant or skirt.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT WEST COAST FASHION? I think that people often
mistake California style for being just a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, but in recent years that has been proven not to be the case. The West Coast is full of
Lawren’s
OJAI FAVES Visiting MEDITATION MOUNT , 805-646-5508, meditationmount.org. Eating at NOCCIOLA , 805-640-1648, nocciolaojai.com. Shopping at IN THE FIELD , 310-403-4292, inthefieldojai.com. Working out at ARROW HEART YOGA ,
805-669-8143, arrowheartyoga.com.
Style
Taking in some art at PORCH GALLERY , 805-620-7589,
porchgalleryojai.com.
Having a night out at CHIEF’S PEAK bar located at the Rancho Inn,
805-646-1434, ojairanchoinn.com/ chiefspeak.
Top to bottom: Howell with Louisa and Peter at HiHo! burger; Howell in Albertus Swanepoel hat, HOPE shirt, AG jeans from WENDY FOSTER , and KENDALL CONRAD bag.
interesting designers. I especially love Co, Rodarte, DOEN, Sacai, the punkish brand Libertine, and The Elder Statesman for that California-luxe surf-culture look. West Coast fashion feels like a creative frontier; most of the companies are independently owned and more free to do what they want. They are complete originals and not afraid to crosspollinate into other art forms. I find them to be really inspiring. A M E L I A F L E E T W O O D FALL MUST HAVES From top: Silk robe by Lawren’s sister, Stevie Howell, $395, steviehowell .com; sailor pants, $395, jessekamm.bigcartel.com; Bo Ceppo ankle boots, $1,130, monamoore.com.
S A N TA B A R B A R A
PHOTOGRAPHS: NICOLE LAMOTTE
HOW HAS A MOVE TO THE COUNTRY INFORMED YOUR STYLE? I definitely have to say that my day-to-