GRAZIA Quarterly Fall 2021

FALL 2021

RESURGENCE ALEK WEK CHANGES THE WORLD

$ 1 4 .9 9 U S / C A N

About Love

About Love

Tiffany.com | © 2021 T&CO. © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

Flying Spur V8.

This is modern alchemy.

Start your extraordinary journey at BentleyMotors.com/FlyingSpur The name ‘Bentley’ and the ‘B’ in wings device are registered trademarks. © 2021 Bentley Motors, Inc. Model shown: Flying Spur V8.

JEWELS JEWELSTHAT THATTELL TELLTIME TIME JEWELS THAT TELL TIME

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redefining modern uniforms

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FALL 2021

USA

FALL 2021

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LET TER FROM THE EDITOR

36 40 45 352

MEET THE TEAM GUEST LIST GAME CHANGERS ONE MORE THING

ON THE COVER AND LEFT Allyson Felix, photographed by Olivia Malone. Styled by Rebecca Ramsey. Marc Jacobs dress, $8,800, bergdorfgoodman.com.

Tiffany & Co. HardWear earrings, $2,500, Tiffany T T1 ring in yellow gold, $2,100, Tiffany T T1 ring in yellow gold with diamonds, $5,700, tiffany.com.

ON THE COVER Alek Wek, photographed by Columbine Goldsmith. Styled by Emily Mazur. JW Anderson dress, price upon request, jwanderson.com; Tiffany & Co. Knot earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, $2,800, Elsa Peretti small Bone cuff in 18k gold, $13,500, tiffany.com.

ON THE COVER Jordan Alexander, photographed by Dana Scruggs. Styled by AlexanderJulian Gibbson. Givenchy dress, $2.450, shoes, $1,250, shop similar at givenchy.com; Tiffany & Co. Elsa Peretti mesh necklace, $30,000, tiffany.com.

GRAZIA USA

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FALL 2021

MOST WANTED

LOOKING FORWARD

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108 G O T H A M R E B O R N

By Mia Uzzell Photography by Apple

120 A TA L E O F T W O C I T I E S

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By Aaron Rasmussen Illustrations by Peter Oumanski

MAISON D’ÊTRE

Merging sophistication with savoir-faire and innovation with legacy, Cartier consistently redefines the meaning of modernity.

Photography by Tayo Kuku Junior Styling by David Thielebeule

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G R E AT E S T S H O W O N E A R T H

Bold colors. Brilliant sparkle. Bizarre proportions.

Right now, we want beauty that goes its own way.

Photography by Anna Konieczna Styling and Makeup by Kalina Kocemba

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H AT S I N C R E D I B L E

Whether navigating the close crop of a Zoom call or making your triumphant return to Sunday brunch, you’ve never had more reason to try a bold topper.

Photography by Greg Adamski Styling by Nour Bou Ezz

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LA VIE EN ROUGE

Chanel Rouge Coco Bloom takes it up a notch.

Photography by Steven popovich Styling by Aileen Marr

THINK DIFFERENT

Apple’s Alisha Johnson steers the course of the company’s $100 million Racial Equality & Justice Initiative. Will her new Impact Accelerator create an entire generation of rising innovators?

SECURE THE BAG

The limited-edition Artycapucines Collection by Louis Vuitton is a blank canvas for the frustrations, fears, hopes, and dreams of our current milieu.

The spark of this city has not been extinguished.

A photo essay by Phil Penman.

It was the worst of times, but some made them better by seeking new scenery.

By Kevin Sessums Photography by Saheer Umar Asya Gorbacheva

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T I M E LY T R E A S U R E S

Sotheby’s presents “Brillant & Black: A Jewelry Renaissance,” a selling exhibition celebrating the extraordinary skill, imagination and craftsmanship of Black jewelry designers across the African diaspora.

By Shelton Boyd-Griffith Photography by Saheer Umar & Asya Gorbacheva

104 I N G U C C I W E L U S T

The Italian icon celebrates 100 years with a stunning unveiling of its archival collections.

By Casey Brennan

THIS PAGE CELINE hat, price upon request, celine.com.

GRAZIA USA

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FALL 2021

FALL FASHION

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RUN THE WORLD

Total dominance on the track and a place in world history is just the beginning for Allyson Felix.

By Melissa Cronnin Photography by Olivia Malone Styling by Rebecca Ramsey

136 T H E G O L D E N A G E

The breakout star of Gossip Girl on HBO Max, Jordan Alexander is proving she’s so much more than a pretty face.

By John Russell Photography by Dana Scruggs Styling by Alexander-Julian Gibbson

150 M O D E L C I T I Z E N

The supermodel and artist finds hope, inspiration, and–yes—a way to keep smiling 25 years after her first breakthrough.

By Maggie Kim Photography by Columbine Goldsmith Styling by Emily Mazur

162 E A U D E L AV E N D E

Structured tailoring and vibrant color meet at the heady lavender plateau in Provence.

Photography by Paul Morel Styling by Anna Castan

188 O N E N I G H T I N PA R I S

Far from home and full of wine, the rules of normal life do not apply.

Photography by Paul Morel Styling by Anna Castan

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J ’ A D O R E B R O O K LY N

The Brooklyn Museum pens a love letter to Dior with a breathtaking new exhibit.

By Kevin Sessums

220 T H E G R E AT C O M P R E S S I O N

Bold new pieces that will shatter the boundaries of your current wardrobe.

Photography by Paul Morel

248 D E F I N I N G T H E F U T U R E Fashion superstars have united like never before in support of America’s fashion industry.

By Taylor Harris Photography by Menelik Puryear Styling by David Thielebeule

262 B I G L I G H T S W I L L INSPIRE YOU

A new multi-year deal between NYFW and Afterpay revolutionizes the consumer journey.

By Jessica Bailey

268 TURN ON, TUNE IN ROCK OUT

In 1984, MTV decided to throw itself a party, solidifying its place in music and pop culture.

Now, 40 years after the network launched, the annual Video Music Awards rock on.

By John Russel

228 A M AT T E R O F TA S T E

Fellini’s dolce vita makes a return in this delicious display of style in Saint Tropez.

Photography by Phillip Vogelenzang Styling by Anna Castan

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THIS PAGE Prada glove, price upon request, prada.com.

Piaget Sunlight Pendant, $19,600, piaget.com.

GRAZIA USA

Your smile is your number 1 accessory

FALL 2021

FALL FASHION

272 J U S T D O I T A L L

With fresh collaborations and a forwardlooking perspective, Nike constantly redefines the boundaries of athletic wear.

Photography by Thomas Slack Styling by Emily Mazur

282 A MATERIAL MASTERPIECE

There’s a transcendent quality to this amorphous accessory.

Photography by Greg Adamsk Styling by Nour Bou Ezz.

300 B R I G H T H O R I Z O N S

Turn up the Technicolor. We’re craving all things bold, beautiful, and bright.

Photography by Francesco Scotti Styling by Anna Castan

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D O Y O U S E E W H AT I S E E

Shifting perspectives. Blurred boundaries.

This new world demands fresh eyes and an open mind.

Photography by Paul Morel Styling by Anna Castan

336 B E Y O N D B O R D E R S

A trip on the Belmond Venice SimplonOrient-Express is like taking a trip back to another era.

By Casey Brennan Photos courtesy of Belmond

348 G R A Z I E , G R A Z I A

A moment of reflection and gratitude for nearly a century of excellence.

THIS PAGE The Row shirt, $2,250, jacket, $3,590, therow.com; Tiffany & Co. Knot earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, $2,800, Tiffany Knot Double Row ring in yellow gold with diamonds, $5,200, Tiffany Knot ring in yellow gold with diamonds, $1,700, tiffany.com.

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A calming palette of mineral blue, dusty mink and pale ivory differentiates the André Fumink Suiteand from the restdifferentiates of The Upper the House. Combining the refined experience A calming palette of mineral blue, dusty pale ivory of a Upper luxury House. hotel with the privacy comfort of a contemporary residence, the André Fu Suite from the rest of The Combining the and refined experience intimate and inviting space enables hosts to embrace their personal expression of of a luxury hotel with the privacy and comfort of a contemporary residence, the living and is designed for relaxation and socialising in equal measure. intimate and inviting space enables hosts to embrace their personal expression of living and is designed for relaxation and socialising in equal measure.

Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Hong Kong | +852 2918 1838 | thehousecollective.com Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Hong Kong | +852 2918 1838 | thehousecollective.com

FALL 2021

EV·O·LU·TION ‘THE PANDEMIC HAS GIVEN US A ONCEIN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY FOR EVOLUTION. LET’S NOT WASTE IT.’

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razia might have been born in Italy but it is a global citizen. With editions in 23 countries, we are proud—at last, and nearly 85 years after our founding (see p. 350) to introduce the brands uniquely cosmopolitan mix of sophistication, wit, and glamour to the worlds largest luxury audience, here in the United States.

We arrive at a rare moment in our history and in an age of extraordinary flux.

Politically, culturally, socially—the last few years have seen America thrown into a turmoil unprecedented in living memory.

We sail in uncharted waters.

Twenty months ago, COVID-19 reached our shores and not one individual’s life has been spared impact. It’s shifted our reality, and continues to do so.

But now, as life begins to return to normal, the hardships of the past have also left us with an opportunity. We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to emerge from this better, stronger, wiser, fairer, more compassionate and more understanding of each other, and of the world at large.

For this historic first print edition of Grazia USA, we want to embrace and celebrate what is our next evolution. We’ve profiled the bold new establishment already shaping the future of our country; plus, we’re

highlighting icons of fashion, entertainment, sport, and those set to define the cultural and artistic landscape for years to come.

Finally, September 2021 can’t pass without marking the anniversary of another terrible challenge America faced and overcame. We profile how New York City—a beacon of strength around the globe and a city from which these pages were created—built back from the devastation of September 11, 2001, bigger, stronger, more vibrant, and more defiant, and how the city remains an inspiration for the world.

These might be uncharted waters… but we sail in them together. This is our moment. Let’s embrace it.

BRENDAN MONAGHAN EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT / GLOBAL CHIEF BRANDS OFFICER

GRAZIA USA

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FALL 2021

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reeting strangers is always tinged with a bit of timidity, and never more so than in this past year. (Do you shake hands or bump elbows? Is a hug ever appropriate? And forget about kissing each cheek.) It has been a year for nesting with old friends, not one for meeting new people, and although we are slowly getting back to normal it will take a moment for even the most social among us to feel completely at ease in a crowd again.

That moment of meeting is always suffused with a sense of risk as you open yourself up to the worrying prospect of being seen, of being known. (And now, yes, of getting sick.)

Still, it’s the taking of that risk that leads to the connection and inspiration that make life worth living. Its absence, as we’ve learned, makes for a very dim world, indeed.

And so, pleased to meet you. To the readers, partners, and colleagues who have made our welcome here in the U.S. a warm one, thank you. And to those perhaps encountering Grazia for the first time, welcome.

This premiere issue of Grazia USA is truly unique in that we carry the legacy of a vaunted brand while also bringing forth the energy of an entirely new creation.

It’s nearly a century of heritage mixed with the bold exuberance of change.

We hope you’ll enjoy the breathtaking fashion photography, incisive journalism, and editorial care that we have brought together for this, our inaugural issue, as we examine the other seismic changes that have occurred in the last year—and how a new spirit of diversity and inclusion is changing the world around us.

Three people I have been especially honored to meet recently are our cover stars: Allyson Felix, Alek Wek, and Jordan Alexander. These three women share a fierce independence and a dedication to their individual visions that I find so inspiring.

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‘WE ARE THRILLED TO BRING YOU SOMETHING BOLDLY EMPOWERING.’ I had the opportunity to meet Alek and Jordan on the same sunny Saturday as we shot them in two studios at Pier 59 in New York just down the hall from one another. I ran quite a bit that day, but I am sure it is still fewer steps than Allyson gets in before breakfast. All three of these innovative women are rising to the moment with determination, creativity and passion—an ambition we share at Grazia USA. To wit, we are thrilled to bring you something boldly empowering: a fashion, cultural and entertainment moment that we hope inspires, educates, and celebrates the individuality, beauty, and the elevated style of women everywhere.

I couldn’t think of a better time to meet some new friends, so please join me as we celebrate the latest incarnation of this storied brand. I look forward to an exciting future full of fabulous fashion, stunning photography, and enlightening stories—nothing dim about it.

DAVID THIELEBEULE EDITOR IN CHIEF / CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER

GRAZIA USA

FALL 2021

DAVID THIELEBEULE

EDITOR IN CHIEF, CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER

BRIAN CAMPION

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR

CASEY BRENNAN

EXECUTIVE EDITOR AT L ARGE EDITOR AT L ARGE Kevin Sessums MARKET DIRECTOR Gabrielle Prescod ST YLE EDITOR Ty Gaskins SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Shelton Boyd-Griffith DIGITAL DIRECTOR, USA Lily Chen SOCIAL MEDIA & AUDIENCE DIRECTOR Raven Baker PUBLISHING OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Deborah Dragon EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Kathleen Burns COPY EDITORS Diane Hodges, Vanessa Weiman CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Catherine De Orio Taylor Harris Aaron Rasmussen Justin Rose John Russell Mia Uzzell CONTRIBUTING ART DIRECTOR Mary Mohr, BuzzFactory JUNIOR DESIGNER Alexandra Sexton

DIGITAL INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Jessica Bailey FASHION DIRECTOR Charlotte Stokes FASHION WRITER Grace O’Neill FEATURES WRITER Rebekah Clark BEAUT Y EDITOR Emily Algar MULTIMEDIA PRODUCER Josh Sokol CONTRIBUTING BEAUT Y EDITOR Kate Lancaster CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Isabelle Truman

HEADQUARTERS 100 BROADWAY, 11TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10005 • PHONE (917) 231-8680 • EMAIL CONTACT@GRAZIAUSA.COM Printing: Freeport Press. Grazia USA, 100 Broadway, 11th Floor, NY, NY 10005 (graziamagazine.com; UPC 0-74820-40390-7) is published quarterly by Pantheon Media Group LLC, a company registered in the U.S. Audit pending by BPA Worldwide.

For subscriptions or to purchase, please email contact@graziausa.com. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by Freeport Press 2127 Reiser Avenue SE, New Philadelphia, OH 44663. © 2021 Mondadori Media S.p.a. All rights reserved. Published by Pantheon Media Group, LLC, with the permission of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.a. and Mondadori Media S.p.a. Reproduction in any manner in any language in whole or in part without prior written permission is prohibited.

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Advertising inquiries: sales@graziausa.com. Press inquiries: press@graziausa.com. General inquiries: contact@graziausa.com. For syndication, email contact@graziausa.com.

GRAZIA USA

joesjeans.com

FALL 2021

MELISSA CRONIN

PRESIDENT, CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

BRENDAN MONAGHAN

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL CHIEF BRANDS OFFICER VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL MANAGER Tanya Amini EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Brian Campion CHIEF INNOVATIONS OFFICER, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Paul Dousset EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL EVENTS & MARKETING Sara Shenasky CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Jennifer Yousem HEAD OF REVENUE, USA Jillian Maxwell HEAD OF INTEGRATED MARKETING & NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Betsy Jones VICE PRESIDENT SALES, CONSUMER BRAND PARTNERSHIPS Aimee Marett DIRECTOR OF SALES, WEST COAST, USA Nancy Cooper DIRECTOR OF SALES, FRANCE & SWIZERL AND Guglielmo Bava CREATIVE DIRECTOR, EDITORIAL & INTEGRATED MARKETING Ilaria Svitic SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Gabriella Zurrow EXECUTIVE EDITOR AT L ARGE Casey Brennan CHIEF WRITER, DEVELOPMENT OFFICER Dominic Utton CHIEF OF STAFF Melissa Melendez Reale

DYLAN HOWARD

CHAIRMAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & PUBLISHER

HEADQUARTERS 100 BROADWAY, 11TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10005 • PHONE (917) 231-8680 • EMAIL CONTACT@GRAZIAUSA.COM

SUBSCRIPTIONS • PHONE (917) 231-8680 • EMAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS@GRAZIAUSA.COM WWW.GRAZIAMAGAZINE.COM/SUBSCRIBE

Grazia is a trademark registered and owned by Mondadori Media S.p.a. MONDADORI MEDIA S.p.a.

Chief Executive Officer Carlo Mandelli; Vice President & Artistic Director Carla Vanni; Managing Director International Business Daniela Sola; Head of International Platforms Marne Schwartz; International Marketing Manager Fashion & Design Francesca Brambilla; International Advertising Manager Daniella Angheben; Photos & Rights Manager Melania Landini. For further details, please write to graziainternational@mondadori.com © 2021 Mondadori Media S.p.a. All rights reserved. Published by Pantheon Media Group LLC with the permission of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.a. and Mondadori Media S.p.a. Reproduction in any manner in any language in whole or in part without prior written permission is prohibited

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FALL 2021

GUEST LIST

It’s always a little nerve-wracking being the new kid on the block. Despite our rich heritage as a brand, Grazia USA was a whole new concept when we launched digitally in Fall 2020. Yet almost from the moment of our arrival, we’ve been overwhelmed by the welcome and support we’ve received from our users, colleagues, and partners around the country. As we prepared for this first-ever print issue, we were grateful to call upon old friends and new muses who brought their creative talents to our ambitious project, with—we think, at least— incredible results. Enjoy the issue and know that it wouldn’t have been possible without these contributors and more. Above, our Editor In Chief David Thielebeule with Alec Wek, photographer Columbine Goldsmith, and the amazing crew from our cover shoot with the iconic model.

KATE BUCKWALD

The founder of Science & Silhouettes, Kate always adds a touch of California cool-girl zen to shoot production.

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COLUMBINE GOLDSMITH The bicoastal fashion photographer and director brought her fresh perspective and a touch of irreverence to our Alek Wek shoot.

MAGGIE KIM

Maggie’s a rock star. Literally. In between her stints on stage, she’s penned pieces for Bon, People, Glamour, InStyle, and Grazia USA.

OLIVIA MALONE

Appropriately enough, Olivia was carrying her baby-to-be as she photographed another badass icon and mother, Allyson Felix.

GRAZIA USA

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FALL 2021

GUEST LIST

Go behind the scenes of Grazia USA with one quick scan of your phone.

PETER OUMANSKI

After studying fine arts in St. Petersburg, our illustrator came to the U.S., where he’s illustrated for the Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, among others.

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PHIL PENMAN

The Leica ambassador and photographer understands NYC as a “kind of living thing in itself”-a creature of unrelenting motion and metamorphosis.

DANA SCRUGGS

The first Black female to shoot for ESPN’s Body Issue, Dana lends her boundary-breaking aesthetic to our Jordan Alexander cover.

DANÉ STOJANOVIC

The Creative Director of Grazia in Australia, Dané is the tour de force and dedicated partner whose indelible eye for beauty is suffused through this edition..

GRAZIA USA

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FALL 2021

GAME CHANGERS

GRAZIA USA AIMS TO BE A CULTURAL AUTHORITY THAT INSPIRES, EDUCATES, AND CELEBRATES INDIVIDUALITY, BEAUTY, AND STYLE. WE HAVE IDENTIFIED 13 CHANGE AGENTS, BLAZING PATHS TO A NEW AND BETTER FUTURE. ILLUSTRATIONS BY PETER OUMANSKI

Anya Dillard

An activist, content creator, and aspiring filmmaker, she’s leading the way into a new era through her organization, The Next Gen Come Up.

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rom the point where I started The Next Gen Come Up to organizing my first climate strike, getting involved in so many other leadership programs, and speaking at huge protests, I have been able to meet so many other young change makers and young revolutionaries. I always tell people that no matter what you want to be, you can be an activist within that.

Whether you want to be a doctor who completely dismantles the distrust that the communities of color have in Big Pharma, or whether you want to be the first Black astronaut to come out of a certain university, or whether you want to be a straight-up Al Sharpton-level activist, whatever you want to do, if you want to make change, you can do it through any avenue you choose.

The world is so vast and there’s no shortage of problems in our country. But one of the major issues that we as a human race need to work on is the problem of making everything political. So many people have adopted the mindset of not getting involved because something’s “political.” Even though politics is such a huge part of how we live our everyday

GRAZIA USA

lives, so many of the issues that people label “political” are human issues. Regardless of your party, regardless of your affiliation, they’re human rights issues. They’re humanity issues.

People need to stop associating fighting for human rights and fighting for equality with fighting for a political party or a political agenda. Ultimately, we’re all just fighting to live and fighting for the freedom to live freely and to succeed and to be happy.

Hate is not something that we just have to cope with along the way; it’s a weapon.

Of course everyone has biases. But when you recognize that you have hate towards something or someone, you really have to treat that as an illness. That has nothing to do with politics.

It’s as simple as “I should not be wishing bad things upon this person simply because of what I was raised to believe, or because I don’t look like that.”

This is such a time of re-education, of unity building, of community uprising. So many different things that can bring so much life and so much connection are happening right now.

People need to start being more open about remedying their own biases and remedying their own hatred in order for progress to happen.

That’s what makes Gen Z really unique. We are a generation of people that are very up front and we’ll call you on your BS. We’re always trying to invoke the conversation, regardless of whether or not people agree with us. We understand that even just starting that dialogue is making progress. So much comes out of those conversations.

Whether it’s performative or whether it’s hardcore boots on the ground, I think all activism is important to make progress. The more you see something, the more you believe it. So, regardless of whether a corporation wants to put a Pride flag up for just 30 days or whether a company wants to donate money to an HBCU or Black business for 28 days a year, it’s still pushing the envelope. It’s still encouraging people to normalize the existence of groups of people that were not accepted 100 years ago. I recognize the importance of all activism, all levels of representation.

Still, you have to be someone that’s dedicated to constant conversation or constant education.

How dedicated are you really to progress, to pushing the envelope, and to encouraging change? Because that’s what really makes an activist.

-As told to Melissa Cronin.

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FALL 2021

Kristin Ess

With reported sales topping $100 million, Kristin Ess has become the queen of hair care in just a few short years. And she’s only getting started.

I

got into the game specifically for the trade and the art and the creative side of doing hair. If I’m being completely transparent, I wasn’t really sure what was on the other side of that. I just sort of followed my nose as far as what was interesting to me.

I got my feet wet with Fashion Week and celebrity hair and doing all different types of things in the hair world. And then, starting my own brand was very much a melting pot of all of those things. That’s what really has made this process interesting to me, because I’m not just thinking in one way. I’m thinking 360 as far as: What is consumer perception? What is a hairstylist’s perception? How sustainable can we get?

It’s not just about putting your name on something anymore. It’s now about what you bring to the table from your craft and your trade to make something meaningful.

Every founder’s very different. I have founder friends who love to speak; they’re almost a built-in spokesperson for their brand. If it were up to me, I would be hiding in the shadows,

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just wheedling away, making products, writing copy, doing tutorials, and things like that. If no one ever saw my face, I would be so thrilled. But I leaned into it and put my name on the front because I thought, People barely know me at all, but the people who do know me know that I’m not going to just put something out there and not show them how to use it.

We had a beauty website prior to me launching the brand called The Beauty Department and it was all beauty tutorials.

People would come to me and say, “I never knew how to braid my hair. I never knew how to do an updo. I never knew how to curl my hair, but you taught me how to do it.” I saw the impact of those teachings, and I knew that I could bring that as long as there was room on the bottle to educate about the product. So, that was one thing that I was super passionate about when we started, was making sure that we’re not only putting out a product, but really, truly teaching people how to use it.

The highest priority for me right now is

sustainability because the clock is ticking and I feel a responsibility to reduce our footprint in a significant way. That’s been a focus for a little while now, and we’re working on a lot of ways to implement that—and not just little by little, but in a big, more impactful way. That’s something I’m super committed to and excited about.

There’s not a lot of things in hair care that I find super challenging, but sustainability and looking out for the planet is not easy. It’s actually very difficult to make sense of a brand and also look out for the planet. It’s a hard balance, but we have no option at this point but to get there.

The people that I’m most inspired by right now are people who are really embracing what’s special about them and amplifying that and seeing how they can be useful and helpful in this world. It’s a little wizardy-woo-woo, but at the end of the day, it really is true. It’s not about founders. It’s not about a stay-at-home mom.

It’s not about anybody in particular. You can be doing this in any capacity. It can be anything.

-As told to Melissa Cronin.

GRAZIA USA

FALL 2021

Aliza Kelly

The astrologer and author of This Is Your Destiny says the path to a better future is written in the stars.

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omething that is very surprising, especially for astrology “skeptics,” is that it really is a practice in telling the truth. It’s another language set, and it’s another way to start having really honest conversations.

Astrology and practices like astrology can really be a very gentle introduction to transforming the world and to creating a society that is more comfortable recognizing its mistakes. The humiliation, the atrocities that have happened, instead of continuing to sweep them under the rug, we can start to pull them out and talk about them with a bit more humility.

Different generations with different planetary signatures process things really differently. It seems to me that some of the older generations feel like when you talk about the hard thing, the hard thing is the problem.

But through my practice, what I have learned is that the hard thing--whatever that may be on a personal or societal level-was hard, always. It’s been hard the whole time. So acknowledging it, bringing it into the light, allowing it to really exist is the most healing thing that one can do. Because without learning how to confront the challenge, we’re just going to keep sweeping it under the rug or circling around it, not acknowledging the pain that it’s already

GRAZIA USA

causing. But when we use the astrological language to acknowledge it allows us to then say, “OK, if we accept this as true, then what does the path forward look like?”

Pluto is the outer planet that really corresponds with 20-year generations. A lot of millennials have Pluto in Scorpio, so it’s no surprise that a lot of people who are born in the ’80s to ’90s really feel like it’s our responsibility to do Scorpio things, to unearth things, to figure out what’s going on.

Gen Z are Pluto in Sagittarius. They grew up on the internet and they are processing information at such a rapid speed. The Plutos in Scorpio pulled up all of it, and now Pluto in Sagittarius is going through it. All of this information is filtering through them right now.

I’m really intrigued to see what happens when our Pluto in Capricorn babies start to grow up, because this is going to be the COVID generation. Capricorn does not mess around. It is a serious sign. It’s so intense and so stoic, that that this generation is going to have a lot to say.

On the other side of this moment, our understanding of the United States is going to be really different. We’re going to be asking for a lot more accountability and we’re going to be asking for a lot more truth telling. For us to apply that on an individual level is the

best work that we could be doing right now.

Sometimes thinking so macro can get really overwhelming and really paralyzing. It can actually prevent us from showing up and taking action and supporting our community in the best way, because it feels daunting. So my recommendation is that each person gets brave and faces their own truth and finds their own internal courage.

And then, most importantly, that each person starts to help others in their immediate community. That is really going to put everyone in the best position possible for whatever changes continue to come as a result of this unbelievable astrology that we have this opportunity to live through.

There are no coincidences. If you’re alive right now, from an astrological perspective you’re alive during one of the most monumental and meaningful moments, at least in the United States’s history. No doubt about it. And that’s incredible. It’s an extraordinary blessing to be able to witness the transformation that’s taking place and to move with it. Even when things get overwhelming, it’s so important to remember that if you’re conscious right now, if you’re here, you’re here for a reason; you’re here because you can handle it and you can show up and you can do the work.

-As told to Melissa Cronin.

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FALL 2021

Jess King

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The Peloton instructor is emerging as the leader of the pack when it comes to merging fitness, fashion, inspiration, and a well-timed hair toss or two.

’ve always been a performer. I have always loved the spotlight and I’ve always loved depth and connecting with people beyond the surface level, beyond what you see. So when I came to Peloton, learning how to ride the bike was new for me, but the performance element was something that was very intuitive.

I don’t see us as any different than a Netflix in that we’re providing a source of entertainment. Yes, the medium by which we are moving and connecting is fitness, but the general consensus around fitness is that it’s a drag. I want to take your mind off of that and heighten the entertainment factor, the production value of what we’re delivering.

So it feels more like an immersive show, something that you are participating in.

I quickly realized that I wanted to have a bigger impact: not just in the way of entertainment or fitness, but really a transformative impact on our members.

So, I became a certified life coach, and it gave me the vocabulary to be able to create a safe container for members—and myself included—to be able to explore discomfort, find new perspectives, and really process the thoughts that we have when we work out,

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which can be quite a vulnerable place.

Transformation is messy—and bless the mess! There’s a lot of falling down, getting back up, trying something new. It’s really not about the destination. I know you hear that all the time, but especially in fitness, what you don’t necessarily realize is how deeply transformative the experience is beyond just that goal of hitting your marathon, or hitting your PR, or getting to feel healthy in your body.

Everything in your life changes when you decide to get on the path of transformation.

The hardest thing is to stay on the path. We have all started over so many times, right?

Be curious about who you are and who you become when you stay on the path, because you already know who you are when you quit and have to start over.

Such a key piece of being able to do that or finding the courage to do that comes from the community right there with you.

There’s something magical that happens when we move in sync with the music and you start to trust that rhythm moving through you, and then your mind kind of stops and settles, and you allow your physical intelligence to just lead the way. For me, that

happens in my body in every class. So, what I try and do in the moment is to really feel into what’s happening for me and express that to the members ... really just offering it up.

Because we are connecting to that same beat with that same movement, this resonance starts to build, this vibration between me and thousands of people at the same time. That is such a powerful place for human beings. It’s such a sacred place. We’re always distracted looking at different things, answering things, checking Instagram, doing all the things. It’s very rare that you have a moment in your day to just breathe and be in your body.

It definitely is a moving meditation. I’m asking people to do hard things: running, intervals on a bike, climbing for six, seven, ten minutes. That is hard to do, but it’s a very vulnerable place. And if you allow yourself to be in that discomfort and keep going, something will shift. It feels like you don’t know what you’re doing (Ohmigod, ohmigod) but you stay with it. And all of a sudden your body starts to shift. And then you’re like, Wow, I’m doing this.

I’m breaking through instead of breaking down. What else might be possible for me?

-As told to Melissa Cronin.

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FALL 2021

Phillip Lim

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The designer is rethinking his approach to fashion while using his platform to advocate for the AAPI community.

t’s been such a blurry year and a half.

We’re presenting Spring 2022 after taking a pause during the pandemic, and the chaos of it all is insane right now! As an independent design house, it didn’t feel right for our brand to do a show last season. So many bad things happened—lives and livelihoods were threatened—but having the whole world stop gave us time to relook at everything. It’s very existential, obviously. Why were we doing all this?

How did we start? Where are we now? What got so far away from us and why?

I was already having personal issues with the fashion system. It’s too fast. There’s a loss of control. It’s driven by numbers instead of desire.

You reach a breaking point because fashion still starts with a desire to create and ends with something desirable. But we couldn’t understand what we were making anymore. The pandemic forced us to make what we could within our means. To reevaluate our resources, reuse, recycle, and be more mindful of the process as a whole.

For 3.1 Phillip Lim, we spent the time to reinvent and transition ourselves to have a sustainable balance. How do we offset our output? Fashion has a very polluting footprint,

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but I always fear saying “sustainability” because it’s a marketing term now and it’s almost impossible to achieve. Still, if we can say to ourselves that we’re part of the problem, we can also be part of the solution.

We set our intention to rebuild our collection by converting more than 70 percent of it into second-generation fibers. Instead of using virgin wool or virgin polyester, it’s all recycled.

When you start with the intention to not be so wasteful, you activate creativity. Something beautiful comes out of the will to make from what you have. Nothing had to be sacrificed or compromised to make a kinder, gentler, and more thoughtful collection.

This is all about reconnecting to people and our community and it’s the reason I moved my studio to Chinatown. The AAPI community was being targeted and it needed representation and creative energy. People needed to see that beautiful things come out of Chinatown. It’s part of the process of reclaiming a value system. It’s not only about design. How are we a fabric or a thread in the community and what do we stand for?

The targeting of our AAPI community, [and the fact that it was] being used as a scapegoat by

the past administration, was such a terrible thing.

Our community is targeted because of the model minority myth.

Violence doesn’t end until silence does. I’m so hopeful for the next generation. I see them now and there’s no way they’ll sit in silence. Our generation is the bridge between the past and the future, so it’s important that we’re role models.

My friends, my colleagues, we all came together to stand up against this hate and we were joined by so many leaders—actors, activists, government officials—to promote #StopAsianHate. I got together with friends from GoFundMe and we created GoFundMe. com/AAPI, which is the largest centralized community fund that gives resources to grassroots AAPI organizations across the country. So much has changed and so much progress has been made, but we also need to stand with other communities, not just our own. This is a fight against all hate and we can’t let ourselves be pitted against each other.

I’m not an activist. I’m someone who has been activated. If we don’t use our platforms to stand up for communities—all our communities that are targeted—then what is the point?

-As told to Maggie Kim.

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FALL 2021

Julia Michaels

After releasing her first album, Not in Chronological Order, the singer-songwriter takes a look at fame, fans, and music in the era of TikTok.

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started in the background. I started writing songs for other people when I was 16 and then really working with other artists when I was 19. And then I decided when I was about 23 to put out my own song. As a songwriter, the only experience you have with artists is being in the room with them and being vulnerable with them and talking to them. You don’t see all the little in-betweens that they have to deal with every day. I remember I would hear managers complain about the artists that they were working with, like, “Yeah, they don’t want to do this today.” I’m like, What’s the problem? They just have to, like, make music! But becoming an artist yourself is so different. There’s just so many things that you don’t realize go into it: the makeup, the hair, the styling, the interviews, the promo, the not sleeping, the touring. … At first I was horrified. I was just like, This is not me at all.

I hate attention. This is why I’m a songwriter! It was really scary. You’re like, in front of 15,000 people and you’e like Please, God, like me.

But then you find your fans and your crew

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and your group of like-minded people. And it’s just so different. It’s so supportive and loving; it feels very unconditional and safe. That’s sort of the place that I’m in now, which is very different from where I was five years ago.

As a songwriter, we’re very emotionally open and emotionally vulnerable at all times.

Our brains are trained to hear songs no matter where we go and hear lyrics, no matter where we go. I’ll be talking to somebody and someone will say something and I’m, like, That’s a song. Or, you know, I’ll go through something and I’ll be sitting in the bathroom just, like, self-reflecting and and going through all my thoughts and think, Hey, you know, I haven’t written about that. Or, That’s an interesting way of putting this thing that I’m feeling.

Obviously I would love for songwriters to get paid easier and better. That’s been a really big issue within the songwriting community.

But my biggest fear, truly, is that TikTok has become so huge. It’s such an amazing platform for artists all over the world, but I get nervous for the people that are a little bit more like me:

the people that are a little bit more internal and don’t have these really wide personalities.

Sometimes artists just aren’t like that. Some of them are some of the most incredible songwriters you’ll ever meet, and I get nervous for them in a time where you have to have a big personality to succeed. I hope there’s some sort of balance that happens with that, because I would hate to see the Fiona Apples of the world fall to the wayside because they don’t have these big TikTok personalities.

Still, I don’t feel pressure when I write songs. Because when I write songs, I just write whatever I feel. But I definitely feel pressure afterwards. Like, we do the song, we make it, we put it out and then I’m like OK. Now what ?

For me, the next goal really is to be successful enough to have an arena tour. I’ve opened for so many people in different arenas.

I’ve played all of the arenas, and then to finally be able to go out there and it’d be my show with my fans would be the most magical thing in the world. It’s on the vision board.

-As told to Melissa Cronin.

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FALL 2021

Margherita Missoni

Daughter of a fashion dynasty, the global traveler and style icon forges her own path with a new scarf for the Luxury Collection and a capsule collection for Max & Co.

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rowing up, it was quite difficult to find who I was as a person.

I’m sure it is a bit difficult for everyone, but it was especially difficult for me because it was a very tight-knit family and the company and the family were kind of blended into each other— and still are. So, I was seeking my own separate space and life. I studied philosophy and then I left university to study acting. I was in New York at the time, for five years, and I thought acting was what I wanted to do. But looking back, I realize it was a moment when I really wanted to swell in myself and my mind.

Then, I decided to go back to Italy. I realized that my passion was actually fashion and I was ready to admit it. So, I went back to the company and I was assisting my mother.

She handed responsibilities to me one after the other, and at the end, I was managing all the accessories and licenses of the women’s collection. I started with beachwear, shoes, bags, the eyewear collection—all of that. After a few years, I realized it was a strain on our relationship to be working together so closely and I was also a mother by then. I had just had my second baby and I thought I wanted to work

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on my terms and my time, so I decided to leave and try out the entrepreneurial life.

I started working on multiple collaborations of different sorts: I did Pottery Barn Kids, Away luggage, swimsuits with Mott 50. I did Splendid twice: winter and summer. I was only developing the creative side of it and working on the communications while they were producing and distributing, which really allowed me the lightness and freedom that I wanted at that time.

I’ve been working with the Luxury Collection for quite some time. When people ask what my passion and hobbies are, what my source of inspiration is, travel is always the first thing that comes to mind. When people ask “What did you miss the most during COVID?” “Traveling” is always the answer. Traveling has always been an important part of my life. They used to call me “the Baby with the Luggage” because I would always carry my bag around.

It’s about taking a trip, living the experience, and then getting inspired and creating an item that references the place. This is my favorite product that I ever did for the Luxury Collection: It’s a scarf, sarong, shawl—whatever you want to call it, it’s definitely the item I can’t go without whenever I pack. So, it’s exciting to

finally see it coming out.

I also have a new capsule collection I designed for one of the brands of the Max Mara Group, Max & Co. It’s a very cute project. I’m very familiar with Italian companies, so it was a great fit. It’s a take on starting from “What’s Max & Co.?” and “What are their best sellers?” but also taking it back to what I used to wear from Max & Co. in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

The fashion industry has been such a wealthy business for such a long time that we did not feel the urge to change. But then COVID hit.

Priorities have changed and points of view have changed. They need to change, and they finally are changing.

Some huge companies that have been thriving and are still thriving will have the same system. It works for them, so why would they change? But all of the other ones that have tried to compete without the same means, they understand that they need to compete using their own strengths and in a sustainable way. You need to do a show?

No, if you don’t have the money to do the show, you won’t do the show; you will find another way. It’s not mandatory that you have a press office. It’s not mandatory that you have anything.

-As told to Casey Brennan.

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FALL 2021

Lauren Santo Domingo

The style icon and Moda Operandi founder sees connection and intentional consumption as the future of glamour. (And oh yeah: crystals, crop tops, and neon, too.)

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n my journey through fashion, my business choices have always reflected what my needs are as a consumer, a shopper, and as a lover of fashion. How I approach business decisions is: How would I want to see these problems solved? Or, what type of access as a customer do I want to have?

When I was a young editor at Vogue, I would attend fashion shows, and when I would go to designer studios, I would have access to the entire fashion collection. I could make a personal order straight from the designers’ showrooms. But I realized as I went about my life that most women didn’t have this access. All they were seeing was whatever would be on the shop rails in front of them. To me, they weren’t seeing the best that was out there.

At the same time, I saw that these young designers also wanted to have a direct line of communication with customers. They wanted to know: What is a woman buying? What’s resonating with her as it goes down the runway?

When we set out with Moda Operandi, it was really about giving access to women to discover fashion; and then, giving designers a platform to reach their customers. That ecosystem was really healthy.

What occurred to me later on is that the preorder part of our business really allows designers to see what customers are responding to, and it allows them to tailor their collections. At the end

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of the season, there’s a lot less marked down, and there’s a lot less waste. It creates a much healthier ecosystem. In 2010, that environmental impact was not something that I was even thinking of.

Now more than ever, I’m happy that I’m able to focus on those young designers and to help keep their businesses going strong. I’ve come of age in the fashion industry, and what really stuck out to me in the last several months was the sense of community that we all have, from designers to models, to production assistants and everyone else in this world of fashion. We all came together to support one another, to be there for one another, and to advocate for one another. I was really touched by that sense of community that we all have and share. It’s a really special industry full of really special people.

In addition, the movement for social justice—and how seriously this industry is taking that—has made me really proud of our industry.

There’s an expectation of all business leaders in all industries to have a new sense of awareness and priorities. It’s something that not only am I really passionate about, but it’s something that’s expected. Our customers expect that. Our employees expect that. Our designer community expects that. I’m really proud to be a part of an industry that values that and is taking this moment seriously—not hiding from it—and really doing whatever we can. For example, we signed the 15 percent pledge (to stock 15 percent

products by Black designers).

It’s just where my values are. I think that’s part of what also makes Moda special: that we’re made up of associates and designers and this community, but as a founder, I’m still involved in the business. We aren’t just sort of a headless machine spitting out fashion algorithms of, you know, “what’s most liked near you.” We really try to keep it personal and we’re able to keep it really high-touch. I want the experience on Moda to always be that way, where you feel part of this fashion community.

What we do for these designers is important.

We’re all really connected to one another, and shopping in that way is not transactional. I think that’s what really dawned on me during COVID-19, is that these relationships were really, really real, and really valuable. It was brutal, but it’s behind us. We’re more aware of how connected we are.

If you had asked me in the beginning of COVID, I would have said that we were going to emerge from quarantine as a much more casual species. And while we are never going to give up our loose clothing, now at the end of it, I have a completely different perspective. Some of our best-selling items are crystal shoes and crystal bags, nonexistent crop tops and minis, crystalencrusted and bright pink neon. Everyone’s really ready to party. I’m definitely seeing a lot of glamour.

-As told to Melissa Cronin.

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FALL 2021

Bri Scalesse

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The model, writer, and advocate for persons with disabilities is changing perceptions—one gorgeous shoot and show at a time.

’ve been a wheelchair user since I was in a car accident at six years old. I was always into fashion and when I was 11, I fell in love with the idea of modeling because I was watching Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model. I saw women being empowered in their own bodies and representing their communities, but I didn’t see anybody in a wheelchair on TV, in movies, and definitely not in fashion. I didn’t see anyone who looked like me and I wanted to feel seen, important, and beautiful.

My family didn’t know how to encourage my modeling dreams because they had never seen it, either. My grandmother raised me and she’s very tough and practical. Her dream was always for her granddaughters to go to college because she didn’t have the opportunity. Modeling wasn’t something practical or realistic, but writing was.

I find writing similar to modeling, in that I can represent my experience as a woman in a wheelchair. I can advocate for my community.

I applied to the MFA program in nonfiction writing at Columbia University and was so excited to be accepted and to move to New York City.

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A year into living in New York, I was contacted by the designer for Ffora, a wheelchair accessory and bag company. She asked me to model for the launch of her company and it was the most incredible experience to be on set with other disabled people like Jillian Mercado, who’s the matriarch of wheelchair models. Khrystyana, a contestant on ANTM and a body-positive activist, was also there.

From the connections I made that day, I started getting more modeling jobs. My first runway show was for the brand THEIA for the New York Bridal Show. Then I did the final collection for a designer on Project Runway!

People underestimate how important it is to see a version of yourself on screen. It is important that I exist. The beginning of my advocacy was about validating the existence of disabled people.

We are a meaningful part of society and we deserve to be a part of fashion and have beauty standards. We are valuable consumers with money to spend.

I’ve since stretched into love and sex advocacy for women with disabilities. As a young person, I didn’t know if I could ever find someone

to love me in the body I’m in. There are no representations of love relationships of people like me on television, showing me that I deserve to be loved and that I can find love.

I’m also working on the issue of airlines damaging wheelchairs. It happened to one of my best friends and six weeks later, it happened to me! I’ve learned that airlines lose or damage about 29 wheelchairs a day. Our wheelchairs are an extension of our bodies; they are custommade for our bodies. They’re our freedom and our partners in movement and to have them treated like luggage… it’s like our legs have been broken on a flight.

Something that is so important is for people to know that disabled people live full, important lives. Disability doesn’t take away from our lives and our experiences. We are so full of love and joy, and my community is absolutely incredible.

I am tired of hearing, “It’s so sad to see a beautiful woman in a wheelchair.” I am beautiful with my wheelchair. I don’t want to be extricated from my disability. It’s a part of me and I want it to be celebrated.

-As told to Maggie Kim.

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FALL 2021

Georgia Stitt

A composer, conductor, and jill-of-all-trades opens doors for underrepresented groups on Broadway with the organizations Maestra and Get to Work.

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’ve been in the business for 20 years or so.

And very often, I am the only woman on the music team. In recent years, I started to feel that I was being hired to solve a problem, like, “We need more women!

We need to solve this problem that everyone who works in the department is a white man.” At first I felt a little bit like, I don’t want to show up to just be the person who fills your quota. But then I started to think, No, I’ll get in the room. I’ll do the job. I’ll do it well, and then you’ll want to hire me again.

Five years ago, I was working on an Off-OffBroadway show, and our director asked us to hire an all-female band. We were surprised how hard it was to do it! Both because we had to acknowledge our own biases and then because our first-call lists of the people that we like? They were all men. When we started looking for the women that do this, not only did we not know them, but our regular players didn’t know them either.

So, we started pulling together a database of women who would be available. I thought, This should not just be a database that lives on my computer. This should be a resource that’s readily available. More and more people started saying, “I want to hire more women. How do I find them?” So, I hired a web designer and built what has become the website for my nonprofit organization, Maestra (maestramusic.org).

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Now we have over 1,000 women and nonbinary people in the directory, and we have all sorts of programs and resources and initiatives to make sure that these musicians are visible to the world that’s looking to hire them, and visible to each other so that they can build community and start to know each other and recommend each other.

The Broadway shutdown was on March 13, and by the end of March, every job I had lined up for the rest of the year canceled. My husband is also a composer and musician and the same thing was happening for him; our lives were going away. It started to affect what I write, because I was wondering, What is performing going to be in the future?

Because in addition to what’s happened with the pandemic, there’s also been a social justice awakening. As Broadway reopens, I’m not feeling a sense that the industry is saying, “Here’s how the industry is going to be different.” What I feel is, like, “Hey, we’re open! Please buy tickets!”

Let’s take this moment to reflect on who we were and who we want to be; to make amends.

We can be different. We can be more equitable.

There can be more social justice. There can be more racial and gender equity. There can be more accommodation of disabilities. There can be all of the things that we certainly wish the industry and the world were. Can we build them now?

The Get to Work website (gettowork.org) is

the gathering of 19 community partners that are not-for-profits on the ground doing that work.

We are shining visibility on who they are and what are they are doing that you can incorporate.

For example, if you want to set up a lactation room in your theater so that more moms can work, here’s how you do that.

Our hope is that if you are a person with some sort of power in theater and you’re, like, “Boy, I really would like to respond to the call for social justice and implement some change at my theater but I don’t have any idea where to start,” this website can say, “Here are some things you can do.” If you do one of these things, you’re making the theatrical space a little bit better.

If you’re a theatergoer wanting to effect change, just be an informed audience member.

Buy the tickets to support the people doing it right. Support it with your dollars.

It can be really daunting to think, Well, I can’t solve racism. Or even, I’m not racist. This doesn’t affect me. There are so many ways that you can distance yourself from it. But if you identify one thing and say, No, this is actually a problem. I’m going to hold myself accountable. I’m going to raise the bar for myself and my own behavior. And I’m also going to donate some money to support the work that people are doing to draw awareness or to call out bias in that space. We can do a lot with that. If everybody did it, it would add up.

-As told to Melissa Cronin.

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FALL 2021

LaKendra Tookes

From SNL to the Wild West of the World Wide Web, the comedian has spent years delivering laughs. Now, she has advice for a world ready to smile again.

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ut of all the art forms, creative outlets, and mediums, comedy is the roughest and the toughest of them all. In that way, it’s never been more vital in our country than it is today. It is not for the faint of heart, the weak, or any clinically sane, normal person. You’ve got to have just the right amount of kooky, quirky, and crazy running in your veins to even think you’re funny. And then, you have to have the guts to share your kooky, quirky, and crazy thoughts with a judgmental audience that’s usually chock-full of drunk men. Online, it takes boobs of steel and honey badger levels of courage to create comedic content, post it, and leave that comments section open. (“Nice boobs, more jumping please” is NOT the feedback I was looking for, sir.)

By no means is this any shade to the painters, sculptors, musicians, and singers who work so

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hard to bring beauty and meaning to the mess that is modern life. If you’re out there sharing your unique and special creative talents with this undeserving world, I tip my wig to you.

But, what makes comedy unique is that it’s the only art form that requires an immediate response—in the form of laughter.

If I can make you think about something you never thought about before, or feel a feeling you’ve never felt before, that’s a bonus; but, it means nothing if I haven’t made you laugh.

Are you going to heckle a violinist who’s slightly flat? Probably not. And a painter can just call his work abstract and some eccentric billionaire will buy it. Comedians don’t have these luxuries. All we have is the sound of your laughter. It’s what fuels us. Hopefully, at the same time, that laughter fuels you.

You can imagine, then, that the last two years have been tough out here for a comedian. We

lost live performance venues, hangouts with friends, and even the opportunity to test out new material on an unsuspecting cashier or two. (I’m sorry. Literally nothing over Zoom is funny. Except for that guy who turned himself into a cat.) We’ve missed the laughs: both getting them and giving them.

How can we all learn to laugh again after a tough couple of years, and with still more challenges facing us every day?

I got a note from a comic I admire once.

He said, just keep the funny stuff. Now more than ever, why not give it away? If your Ring camera catches the mailman slippin’ and slidin’ up your driveway or your baby makes a funny face or you’d like to share a photo of your dog dressed up in business attire, do it! Keep the funny stuff flowing and post it, share it, support it. It’s scary but you’re strong enough.

And we all need the laughs.

-As told to Melissa Cronin.

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FALL 2021

Jackie Trebilcock

The New York Fashion Tech Lab managing director pushes the boundaries of fashion, innovation, and entrepreneurship to create new solutions for modern consumers.

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have worked in fashion for the last 20 years in various capacities. In addition, I have been an entrepreneur, founding several small companies in the fashion and digital media space.

This experience specifically applies to what I currently do with New York Fashion Tech Lab, which helps to connect leading retailers and brands with early- to growthstage startups developing solutions for the industry. Understanding how the fashion industry functions—as well as knowing the pain points and challenges of being an entrepreneur—provides a well-rounded perspective.

The companies and women in our program are looking for exposure and connections to key retailers and brands, investors, and industry experts as well as support from a group of peer founders. To date (since 2014), the lab has worked with more than 64 emerging tech companies.

Certainly, 2020 brought a lot of change.

For the Lab we shifted our mostly in-person experience, 12-week program, and opening

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and closing events to digital and virtual.

This has its benefits and barriers. Ease of connection is wonderful and can allow for more exposure. The ability to meet and see a demo in person is still valuable, though, and we are working on ways to do that safely.

There has been a spotlight on needed disruption. The last 18 months has accelerated this for all; specifically for fashion — and retail in general. Most of the needs brought to light in the last year or so were already top of mind across the industry. This includes a long list of technology solutions that ultimately take out any friction for the consumer via the retailer and brand, which can include things like fit solutions, visual search, delivery, augmented and virtual reality, customization, personalization, NFTs and so much more. Each of these solutions ultimately helps the consumer have a more personalized experience, which includes reducing any friction via the user experience, and creating an environment and process that is in line with how purchases are made today.

As far as changes to the fashion industry,

it is actually happening currently. That is the exciting part! There is no denying that how we engage, consume, and shop has drastically changed and continues to do so.

This is not only a 2020 outcome; it was already happening. Those leading the charge at these retailers and brands need to continue to keep their finger on the pulse as to the new and emerging technology solutions that are being created to be forward-thinking and to improve the customer journey.

If I could wave a magic wand and see real progress, aside from health and safety for all, it would be the adoption of more technology solutions for this actual sector.

The connection with and to these early innovators is a key way to learn, test, iterate, and potentially adopt solutions that can make a difference. This adoption will allow consumers to make better decisions and choices, and—with many of the technologies we are seeing—also help the planet and our future via solutions we are tracking around sustainability and the circular economy.

-As told to Casey Brennan.

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Chef Erick Williams

I

The James Beard-nominated chef celebrates his culture while leading by example.

f I could snap my fingers and make one sweeping change for our country, it would be to implore people to make change and stop making scapegoats.

I grew up as a kid in Chicago’s inner city, where neighborhoods don’t always feel so neighborly. The biggest question to any kid in this country is, “What is their chance of success beyond what they see?” People achieve what they can see. And if I don’t see anyone who looks like me in any of these positions, I’m not as inclined to go after it.

It’s unfortunate that we have people growing up in our cities that know violence as an option. But it’s a reality. We need to give people something else to see—and that doesn’t mean a handout. We have to promote the things that are worthy of promoting. We have to talk about them, redefine what excellence looks like, what the standard is. I am a person of faith—hence the reason the name of my restaurant, Virtue— and we have a saying: “Be the change you seek.”

I started at MK in 1998 as the only AfricanAmerican in the kitchen and it wasn’t because of any kind of discrimination; I was the only person who applied that looked like me. I didn’t know who Michael Kornick was because I didn’t follow his reputation, and there are a lot of folks in our community that don’t really follow the industry.

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I started as a salad cook and worked my way up to being Michael’s business partner. I was determined not to be recognized as “the Black guy” versus being recognized as a peer, colleague, and team member for what I was able to produce versus what my skin color looked like. I had a lot to prove—to myself, to the community, to the chefs that were coming in every day and making investments in me.

It was a long journey, but it was a worthwhile one. It was a huge investment on their part in me, and part of what I am very intentional about is continuing that investment. That is an important part of how I got here and my belief in paying it back and paying it forward.

Virtue means “of high moral standard.” So that is part of our practice. We define what it is, what it means to our community, to our families. To us—as people of color. We work really hard to tell a different narrative—different than we would have been talking about at MK. There are clear parallels, however the context is different. At MK, the focus was on technique.

At Virtue, the focus is on technique. At MK the focus was farm-to-table. At Virtue, that is the same. The focus at MK was French and Italian roots. The focus here is Southern roots.

The beautiful thing about Southern cookery is we have all these amazing chefs around the country who happen to be Black. Chefs who

are representing the diaspora. Folks who are now taking the deeper dive as it relates to the ingredient bases in Africa. Every single culture that came to this country brought their wares, their techniques, their ingredient bases, everything they understood about food, and then they gave it to us and they said, “We need you to produce it.”

As a result of that production, you get Southern food. So Southern food ends up being a bracket of its own, and I would argue that Southern food is on par with—if not better than— some of the cooking we have celebrated in this country. There’s this resurgence, this renaissance of these ingredients and these techniques and this culture that are being launched forward.

So if I boil this down, MK was a celebration of technique and a celebration of cookery.

Here, at Virtue, it’s a celebration of culture. We highlight Black culture in a way that feels really good to us. We provide an experience that is rich and that’s very real. We take a very practical approach to affecting and infecting people with both delicious food and hospitality. Cooking happens to be the backdrop and the catalyst for how we convey that culture.

Now, how does it affect the community?

They’ve celebrated it.

-As told to Catherine De Orio.

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Maison d’être Merging sophistication with savoirfaire and innovation with legacy, Cartier consistently redefines the meaning of modernity.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TAYO KOKU STYLING BY DAVID THIELEBEULE

GRAZIA USA

Loro Piana shirt, $1,710, us.loropiana.com; Dior bra, price upon request, Dior boutiques nationwide; Cartier Clash [Un]Limited High Jewelry bracelet, price upon request, select Cartier boutiques.

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GUCCI bra, $188, gucci.com; Daily Sleeper pajama set, $290, the-sleeper.com; Clash de Cartier necklace, $3,700, Clash de Cartier ring, $2,240, cartier.com.

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Khaite sweater, $1,180, khaite.com; Dior jeans, $1,300, available at Dior boutiques nationwide; Superga sneakers, $65, superga-usa.com; Cartier Clash [Un]Limited High Jewelry bracelet, price upon request, Cartier Clash [Un] Limited High Jewelry ring, price upon request, select Cartier boutiques.

CELINE by Hedi Slimane blazer, $2,850, hoodie, $740, celine.com; Clash de Cartier ring, $3,250, cartier.com.

FALL 2021

Fendi top, $950, fendi.com; Khaite jeans, $380, khaite.com; Hermès bag, $5,700, Hermès boutiques nationwide; Clash de Cartier bracelet, $9,250, Clash de Cartier ring, $2,240, cartier.com.

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GUCCI bra, $188, bustier, $870, skirt, $513, gucci.com; Jimmy Choo bag, $995, jimmychoo.com; Clash de Cartier necklace, $19,100, Clash de Cartier ring, $9,500, Clash de Cartier bracelet, $13,200, cartier.com.

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CELINE by Hedi Slimane bodysuit, $1,250, celine.com; LOEWE pants, price upon request, loewe.com; GUCCI pumps, $277, gucci.com; Clash de Cartier ring, $3,450, Clash de Cartier ring, $2,400, Clash de Cartier bracelet, $9,850, cartier.com.

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Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello jumpsuit, $2,900, tights, $210, ysl.com; Clash de Cartier bracelet, $9,850, Clash de Cartier ring, $2,400, Clash de Cartier ring, $3,450, Clash de Cartier bracelet, $9,250, cartier.com.

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Miu Miu dress, price upon request, miumiu.com; Cartier Clash [Un]Limited High Jewelery bracelet, price upon request, Cartier Clash [Un] Limited High Jewelry ring, price upon request, select Cartier boutiques. Hair and makeup by Marco Castro.

Manicure by Rita Remark.

Model, Marsha Larose.

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GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH Bold colors. Brilliant sparkle. Bizarre proportions. Right now, we want beauty that goes its own way.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNA KONIECZNA STYLING AND MAKEUP BY KALINA KOCEMBA

FALL 2021

Marc Jacobs Beauty eyeshadow, $49.50, Enamored Hi-Shine Lip Lacquer Lipgloss in Silver Surf, $29, marcjacobsbeauty.com.

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Tom Ford Lip Lacquer Luxe in Knockout, $57, tomford.com.

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Armani Beauty Eye Tint Liquid Eyeshadow, giorgioarmanibeauty-usa.com.

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Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Eyeshadow Palette, $57, charlottetilbury.com.

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Armani Beauty Eye Tint Liquid Eyeshadow in Ice Grey, $30, giorgioarmanibeauty-usa.com.

Hair by Patryk Nadolny. Model, Nordi for EC Management.

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HATS Incredible

Whether navigating the close crop of a Zoom call or making your triumphant return to Sunday brunch, you’ve never had more reason to try a bold topper.

Berluti felt hat, price upon request, berluti.com; Nanushka hood, $245, nanushka.com.

Ruslan Baginskiy straw hat, $380, ruslanbaginskiy.com; Nanushka hood, $245, nanushka.com.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG ADAMSKI STYLING BY NOUR BOU EZZ

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GUCCI sequined bonnet, $590, beret, $620, gucci.com.

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Ruslan Baginskiy straw hat, $300, ruslanbaginskiy.com; Mary Jane Claverol bonnet, shop similar at maryjaneclaverol.com.

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Balenciaga cap, $395, balenciaga.com.

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Pillbox Hat, DIOR

Yosuzi straw hat, $295, yosuzi.com; Acne Studios hat, shop similar at acnestudios.com.

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GUCCI beanie, $350, gucci.com; Yosuzi straw hat, $270, yosuzi.com.

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Dior beret, $1,200, available at Dior boutiques nationwide.

Creative Direction, Marne Schwartz.

Hair, Sisters Beauty Lounge. Makeup, Manuel Losada. Digital Assistant, Tony Abou.

Model, Marina Streb for Signature Element.

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CHANEL Rouge Coco Bloom in 138 Vitalité, $40.

LA VIE EN ROUGE Chanel is a house well-versed in the power of a bold lip, but Chanel Rouge Coco Bloom has taken it up a notch. The rich, luminous, lip-plumping formula has all the pigment in the world and a glassy shine to match. Here, Chanel makeup artist Victoria Baron shows us how to wear her favorite shades.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVEN POPOVICH STYLING BY AILEEN MARR

CHANEL vest, $5,300, Coco Crush Two Finger ring in white & yellow gold with diamonds, $7,500, Coco Crush earrings in white & beige gold, $3,250, Coco Crush ear cuff in beige gold & white gold with diamonds, $4,800, Coco Crush earrings in white & yellow gold with diamonds, $6,750.

CHANEL Rouge Coco Bloom in 126 Season, $40, top, $1,600, hair accessory, price upon request, Coco Crush Mini ring in yellow gold, $1,300, Coco Crush Mini ring in white gold with diamonds, $3,650, Coco Crush Ring in white gold with diamonds, $4,950

CHANEL Rouge Coco Bloom in 138 Vitalité, $40.

Chanel Rouge Coco Bloom in 122 Zenith, $40.

CHANEL Rouge Coco Bloom in 122 Zenith, $40, Coco Crush earrings in white & beige gold, $3,250, Coco Crush ear cuff in beige gold & white gold with diamonds, $4,800.

CHANEL Rouge Coco Bloom in 148 Surprise, $40, jacket, $12,200, Coco Crush Mini ring in white gold with diamonds, $3,650, all available in select CHANEL boutiques and chanel.com. Hair, Taylor James Redman. Makeup, Victoria Baron for CHANEL. Model, VI Lath for Kult.

Knowledge, Unfiltered

www.knewz.com

LOOKING FORWARD

THINK DIFFERENT

Apple’s Alisha Johnson is creating a new kind of corporate culture.

BY MIA UZELL PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF APPLE

A

ddressing the corporate sector’s complicity in sociopolitical issues— from structural racism to climate change—has never been more vital than in recent years. At Apple, Alisha Johnson is a part of the burgeoning activism movement toward intersectional environmental justice, racial equity, and sustainability in the corporate arena and beyond.

While she had previously worked in the private sector, Johnson first experienced the nexus between the community and the environment during her time under the Obama administration at the Environmental Protection Agency. During a period largely contextualized by the grave aftermath of the BP oil spill, community naturally became a focus of environmental policy.

“I didn’t really have a broader insight into the connection between the environment and people’s health, so when I joined EPA that was the focus of the work,” Johnson admits. “It focused on how we can create policies to ensure

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that people have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, safe places to live, and safe communities to work in. That was eye-opening for me.”

Moreover, Johnson’s time at the EPA focused on how marginalized populations have borne the weight of both environmental crises and the consequences of environmental negligence. “The revelations that came through a lot of the work is that negative [environmental] impacts too often disproportionately affect poor communities.

So if you’re doing environmental policies right, you’re going to place specific focus on those communities that are most impacted.”

Now, Johnson leads external engagement for Apple’s Environment, Policy, and Social

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Initiatives. The shift from the federal to the corporate realm is ostensibly a stark contrast in operation, but for Johnson, the work still hinges on this framework of intersectional environmentalism. In essence, community inclusion when it comes to resolutions is just as important as shaping federal policy.

While government leadership wrestles with the natural ebb and flow of policy perspective, Johnson says businesses are now arising as major stalwarts in mobilizing the execution of policy initiatives. “You need businesses that are proactive, that are continuing to push forward, and really view it as a priority—not just as a PR statement but in the execution of their work,”

she explains. Johnson’s transition from the federal and private sector to Apple was more than a longitudinal move for her career. For her, the tech giant’s nonperformative commitment to equity cemented the shift.

Last summer, the nation faced a flashpoint in history, reckoning with the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and the relics of structural racism.

Yearning to align themselves with the public consensus, companies vowed to center equity and inclusion in their infrastructure. Among a raft of new commitments, Apple launched a $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative that focuses on dismantling systemic barriers through education, economic opportunity, and

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criminal justice reform.

“We started the initiative last June and like a lot of companies, we recognized that there was increased public awareness around these issues,” Johnson says. The comprehensive initiative involved the creation of the Propel Center, a global innovation and learning hub in Atlanta for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), an Apple Developer Academy geared toward coding and tech education for Detroit students; and venture capital funding for entrepreneurs of color.

However, for Apple, this commitment wasn’t a novel one. “This wasn’t new work at Apple. It was already so much work that was happening that

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was focused on advancing equity and addressing than 110 suppliers are on board and nearly eight systemic racism,” Johnson says. A year later, gigawatts of planned clean energy are slated to Apple has sustained its community promise. come online. With this grand commitment, Most recently, REJI expanded the breadth more than 15 million metric tons of CO2e will of its solutions with the creation of a Global be avoided annually, which is equivalent to more Hispanic-Serving Institution Equity Innovation than 3.4 million cars off the road.

Hub, a new cohort of the Apple Entrepreneur “As we are looking at this goal, we recognized Camp immersive tech lab for Hispanic/Latinx that we have a road map to get there but it founders and developers, and a fund for activists involves technology that is being developed working to advance criminal justice reform and outside of Apple by companies in regions around environmental justice. Johnson continues, “This the world where we operate,” Johnson explains. effort helped us to really first identify work that To ensure its corporate path remains centered was happening within the company, put us under at the intersection between environmentalism some key priority areas, and then to grow that and equality, the Impact Accelerator was work.” created to invest in Black and Brown leaders in As climate change looms with pressing environmentally focused innovations for green environmental demands, Apple is structuring its technology and clean power. behemoth operation toward sustainability. “You “It is the idea that we can help to scale some can look at any region in the world and see the of these Black- and Brown-led businesses that are devastating impacts of climate change and it’s doing really interesting work in the environmental not coming down the line. It’s happening now,” space with a focus on climate change, but also on Johnson says, emphasizing the imminence of an conserving resources and removing talcum from irreversible moment. products,” Johnson says.

“There is absolutely an “We are ensuring that we “We want other companies to impact on communities are looking across our full that have been underenvironmental priorities follow our example. ... We are resourced. We have to shining a light on what’s possible.’ and bringing in businesses ensure that when we are that share those goals.” looking at this urgent Leveraging its access to issue that we are centering those communities.” cutting-edge technology, the company recently In a first-of-its-kind carbon removal initiative, onboarded its first cohort of diverse leaders who will Apple started the Restore Fund to address the also be considered as future Apple suppliers. teeming crisis of exponentially increasing carbon “Through this goal, we are bringing along emissions in the atmosphere. The $200 million our supply chain and manufacturing partners. fund, launched in tandem with Conservation What’s exciting is that companies are coming to International and Goldman Sachs, aims to us voluntarily, reading the writing on the wall, and remove at least one million metric tons of carbon recognizing, ‘If I want to continue working with dioxide annually. While the environmental model Apple, I want to make sure that I am aligning with involves investments in forestry restoration to their environmental goals,’” Johnson says. These generate a financial return for its investors, the environmental expectations are also catalyzing a resolution revolves around community discourse seismic shift in the industry. “Our suppliers are within the designated regions. “We are investing often not just suppliers for Apple. They work with in the restoration of these areas. To do that, we other companies in our industry and the broader have to talk to the community about the ground sector. If they are meeting the goal for their Apple in these regions to make sure that as we restore production, what we are actually seeing to be true is and invest in these areas we are considering their that they are also going to continue it in other parts livelihood,” Johnson says. of their business so they make a broader impact.”

Combatting carbon emissions is a Through holding itself accountable in its own multipronged plan within the corporation. With corporate sphere, Apple is setting the tone for an already more than a decade of work steering its entire industry through its progressive efforts: “We climate focus, Apple transitioned to a carbonwant other companies to follow our example and neutral corporate footprint in 2020. Now, it is we know that because we have a pretty big platform pledging to be carbon neutral across its sprawling if we do something, we are shining a light on manufacturing and supply chain by 2030. More what’s possible.”

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Louis Vuitton Capucines by Huang Yuxing, $8,850, Capucines by Gregor Hildebrandt, $8,850, Capucines by Vik Muniz, $8,850, louisvuitton.com.

FALL 2021

Secure The Bag

The limited-edition Artycapucines Collection, by Louis Vuitton is a blank canvas for the frustrations, fears, hopes, and dreams of our current milieu.

BY KEVIN SESSUMS PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAHEER UMAR AND ASYA GORBACHEVA

I

always thought that Louis Vuitton’s Capucines bag was named after the French actress Capucine, since she too was known for her structured silhouette. But no. It is named after Louis Vuitton’s very first store, which opened in 1854 on Rue Neuve-desCapucines in Paris. Most recently, it has served as the blank canvas for an array of artists in Delphine Arnault’s inspired series known as Artycapucines, which has been carefully curated for a select number of Vuitton customers; each bag in the third Artycapucines Collection will be available in a limited edition of 200 and released in stores worldwide at the end of October. The first two iterations included bags created by— among others—artists Henry Taylor, Beatriz Milhazes, Urs Fischer, Zhao Zhao, Jean-Michel Othoniel, and Tschabalala Self. This latest iteration will include six international artists: Gregor Hildebrandt, Donna Huanca, Huang Yuxing, Vik Muniz, Paola Pivi, and Zeng Fanzhi.

Delphine Arnault (yes, the daughter of LVMH Moët Hennessy CEO Bernard Arnault) got her start as a consultant at McKinsey before rising through the fashion ranks over the last 20 years. She had a leading role at Dior before landing at Vuitton, where she is now executive vice president. But this Artycapucines series

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proves that she herself has an artistic streak structured around that curatorial eye. The Artycapucines Collection combines her business acumen with the keenness of a gallerist. Maybe it is that earlier Christian Dior influence, since he too was a gallerist before becoming a fashion designer.

“I have a passion for modern and contemporary art,” Arnault has said. “I spend a lot of time in museums. I particularly like the Guggenheim and MoMA in New York or LACMA and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.”

“I think an art collection is a lot like a diary,” she continued, turning her attention to her own art-filled walls. “Your tastes evolve with time.

I try never to sell anything because it’s part of my journey.” But selling is also a part of her journey, of course, so she has found a way with Artycapucines to combine her love of art with her talent for commerce.

“Fashion is not art,” Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo once claimed. “The aims of fashion and art are different and there is no need to compare them.” But Delphine Arnault and Vuitton are not comparing. They are pairing, and it is in that juxtaposition of fashion and art—a kind of tautology of which-is-which when they are layered (yes) tautly together with a romantic’s notion of innateness—that can

result in a resounding aesthetic success and thus a commercial one.

There have been many such combinations.

1949’s “Miss Dior” dress and the floral patterns of Monet. Yves Saint Laurent’s 1965 Mondrian collection. Gianni Versace’s 1991 “Warhol Marilyn” gown. Valentino’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection, for which designer Pierpaolo Piccioli welcomed guest designer Zandra Rhodes to his runway, and together they elicited inspirations from the images of Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Garden of Earthly Delights.

Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dalí formed the most famous designer/artist layering: whether it be the “Tear-Illusion Dress” within her Circus collection of 1938, or the infamous “Lobster Dress” in 1937, for which the lobster art was printed onto the silk organza dress by master silk designer Sache, or the 1935 “Telephone Compact,” or when their collaboration reached a crowning moment of Surrealist absurdity in the “High-Heeled Hat” from Schiap’s Winter 1937-1938 collection, which was inspired by a photograph by Dali’s wife, Gala, of him wearing a shoe on his head.

According to the Metropolitan Museum’s description, the hat “was made to wear with a black dress and jacket embroidered with red lips, which were suggestive of those belonging to the voluptuous actress Mae West ([or whom

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Schiaparelli was designing movie costumes at the time].”

The first person at Vuitton who started working with artists and layering their work into the company’s luxurious needs was Gaston-Louis, the grandson of the company’s founder and eldest son of George, Louis’ heir.

Gaston-Louis was the last of the Vuitton men to run the company, helming it from 1920 until his death in 1970. At the turn of the 20th century, Gaston-Louis Vuitton, staking his own early innately romantic influence within the company, commissioned different artists to design perfume bottles, advertising campaigns, and window displays. An avid collector with a childlike enthusiasm for discovery and acquisition, he was known for his refined tastes and was often described in writings of the time as an aesthete. In 1922, he commissioned the artist Camille Cless-Brothier to design an enameled crystal perfume bottle he named “L’Arbre pleureur.” He was also a member of the Société des Artistes Indépendants, which led to collaborations with lesser-known artists. André Ballet, who configured book plates, designed other crystal bottles. Africaninspired ivory knobs for the company’s walking sticks were designed by Roger Foy, brother of the illustrator André Foy, and Gaston Le Bourgeois, best known as an Art Deco sculptor, painted panels for the London store on Oxford Street.

In 1925, Gaston-Louis wrote an essay for a publication called Vendre about his love of window display, which he considered in many ways his own brand-new art form. “The art of creating a window display falls both within a sharp sense of architecture and the skills of a stage director,” he wrote. “The picturesque streets of the older days with their curious boutiques are now gone forever. While the 19th century street was quite dull, a wind of change seems to be blowing in this new century: the shopkeeper transforms his front window into a magnificent and modern façade. Let’s turn the street into a cheerful space. By our daily renewed efforts let’s draw the passer-by, let’s give him a reason to dawdle, to stroll!”

A reason to dawdle cheerfully and with intent could be the mission statement of any curator with a sense of commerce. Ultimately, a designer brand commissions an artist because to dawdle over unexpected, juxtaposed beauty—to concentrate on its subtle craftsmanship and the profound care put into its creation with the finest of materials—is what leads to covetous desire.

There is certainly a cheerfulness to the Artycapucines Collection that mirrors Gaston-Louis’ childlike enthusiasm for art and collecting. Delphine Arnault, in fact, told the art journal Gagosian Quarterly that her 4-year-old son’s favorite bag from the first Artycapucines series was by artist Alex Israel and that he loved the one by Jean-Michel Othoniel from the second iteration, since each sparked his own innocent wonder for beauty and art.

As carefully constructed as art and fashion can be, they each often leave their seams of cynicism showing. But that is the loveliest aspect of the three Artycapucines series so far: their seeming (seaming?) lack of cynicism. These artful miniatures are little manifestations of joy—and that is justification enough for their creation.

Art doesn’t haven’t to be so serious. (And neither does design.)

Or, as Robert Smith of the Cure said, “You don’t always have to sing dark things to be thoughtful.” I thought of Smith’s proclamation when speaking with one of the artists in the third installment of the Artycapucines series.

Gregor Hildebrandt harkened back to his own childhood when divulging what inspires him. “My other great love is music,” he told Grazia USA. That was no surprise, actually, based on his use of deconstructed music cassettes and vinyl records and compact discs— the visual aspects of sound recording—for his own “latently romantic” layering of different elements in his process (to use the descriptive terminology of the Perrotin Gallery’s New York branch, where his work is shown here in the States).

“Initially as a kid, I listened to my uncle’s record collection: Peter Gabriel, Neil Young, Jacques Brel,” Hildebrandt continued. “And Louis Vuitton Capucines by Zeng Fanzhi, $8,850, Capucines by Donna Huanca, $8,850, Capucines by Vik Muniz, $8,850, louisvuitton.com.

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Louis Vuitton Capucines by Paola Pivi, $8,850, Capucines by Gregor Hildebrandt, $8,850, Capucines

by Huang Yuxing, $8,850, louisvuitton.com.

then in my youth, I discovered the Sex Pistols, and later the Cure.”

Based in Berlin, Hildebrandt appropriates technological conduits of aural forms of art to create a kind of invisible painting. It hovers in the air between his work and his viewers by virtue of his playful approach, which is cerebral but not brainy, bristling as it is with tactility. There is a teasing aspect of the work that even borders on being taunted. Still, it is all done in a good-natured way, which results in the denatured art that seems to be his goal.

Playing with perception—rending silence from materials made to render sound—is, to me, his most important impetus. There is a German term, Gesamtkunstwerk, which keeps coming up when I think of him; it roughly translates as a “total work of art” and describes a creative process in which different art forms are combined to create a single cohesive whole.

Hildebrandt himself explains: “Having studied art in Mainz, I moved to Berlin in the mid-1990s and around this time I started thinking about how to integrate music physically into my painting work.

The Einstürzende Neubauten song called “Falschgeld” [“Fake Money”] perfectly encapsulated what I wanted to say, so I took the physical audio cassette tape of the song and glued it into my drawing book. This metamorphosis of bringing music into painting

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led me to start working with different types of analog audio and visual materials, such as vinyl and VHS tape, which I incorporate into paintings and installation works.”

Another of the artists in the third iteration of Artycapucines, Huang Yuxing, coincidentally invoked his childhood as well when speaking to Grazia USA about his involvement with Vuitton: “I was born and raised in Beijing. I have been studying Chinese painting and have trained in its skills and techniques ever since kindergarten,” he said.

There is a punctiliousness to his paintings, a meticulousness to each of his brushstrokes, and an intensity to his colors. All of this is grounded in “Gongbai Zhongcai,” the traditional Chinese realist technique. Again, a layering is highlighted as his canvasses carefully preserve the process of their own creation.

Not only colors and his brushstrokes, but also the outlines of the artist’s own hand live on within his canvases after being overlaid over and over and over. Again, he recalls the wonder and awe of his own youth: “I happened upon Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso in a primary-school art book and during my high school years and, later at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, I also systematically studied Western painting and art history.” A resultant homage to Expressionism can be discerned in Huang Yuxing’s singular vision,

which is evidenced in the play of color on his Artycapucines bag.

Vik Muniz, another of the artists in this third iteration of the series, sums up much of what the series itself is getting at with its interfacing of art and fashion. “As a student,” says Muniz, “I was interested in experimental psychology: How do we see perspective and color? How do we apprehend the space around us? For me, art is the evolution of the interface between mind and matter, between consciousness and phenomenon.” Muniz was born in São Paulo, Brazil, but lives and works now in both New York City and Rio de Janeiro. He is known for the complexity—the, yes, layering again—of his photographic works. He utilizes an array of found materials—chocolate, jelly, toys, and many diverse and quite dirtied-up elements of detritus—to recreate iconic works of art and scenes from popular culture, which he then photographs.

There is a high—even highfalutin’—irony to Muniz’s now being featured on such a luxuriously designed object as a Capucines bag.

But maybe that is what the layering of fashion and art finally is: the highest form of irony, which in itself is artful. It took the inspired curatorial eye of Delphine Arnault with the artistic heritage of Louis Vuitton behind her to realize that a plinth could not only be accessed for art, but it could also be accessorized.

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TIMELY TREASURES Sotheby’s presents “Brillant & Black: A Jewelry Renaissance,’ a selling exhibition celebrating the extraordinary skill, imagination and craftsmanship of Black jewelry designers across the African diaspora.

BY SHELTON BOYD-GRIFFITH PHOTOGRAPHY SAHEER UMAR AND ASYA GORBACHEVA

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o be young, gifted and black, oh what a lovely precious dream,” croons the high priestess of soul, Nina Simone on her 1970 record, “Young, Gifted and Black.” On that song, Nina was speaking to the beauty of the then “Black is beautiful,” “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud” cultural movement—a cultural renaissance, you might say. Throughout history, Black creative communities have been banding together to collectively express themselves through the arts. See: the Harlem Renaissance, the ’60s/’70s Black counterculture movement, the emergence of hip-hop, and so on. According to some, today, we’re currently in the midst of yet another renaissance as it pertains to Black creative prowess.

“In Harlem [New York], there was a massive Renaissance, with Black artisans, singers, dancers, writers, poets, just creatives in general and I think we’re having the same thing now with Black talent on a global scale. I think we’re

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on the precipice of something extraordinary,” luxury-commerce journalist Melanie Grant tells Grazia USA. That something extraordinary well might be a wonderful new exhibition and accompanying auction showcasing the brilliance and beauty of jewelry by Black jewelers. This fall, Sotheby’s presents “Brillant & Black: A Jewelry Renaissance,” a display of more than 60 dazzling pieces, featuring the work of 21 of the world’s leading Black jewelry artisans. This selling exhibition, co-curated by Grant—an acclaimed author and authority on jewelry (who literally wrote the book on high-end jewelry, Coveted: Art and Innovation in High Jewelry)—marks the first of its kind.

“The whole concept about the title and the history really talks about a Renaissance,” says Grant. “The ‘brilliant’ is a reference to brilliance in diamonds while also referencing the brilliance that is Black talent.”

Black artistry is having a—very long overdue—moment of shine, so this show is

right on time. From Nia DaCosta’s smash hit Candyman breaking box office records in August to Deana Lawson’s historic Hugo Boss Prize show at the Guggenheim to Kerby Jean Raymond presenting on the official Haute Couture calendar this past season, the time for Black brilliance is now and Sotheby’s Director of Jewelry Frank Everett couldn’t agree more.

“This is the time,” Everett tells Grazia USA. “I guess Sotheby’s is really a little bit ahead, even though we shouldn’t be considered ahead of the curve, because it’s long overdue, but we’re happy to be the first.”

He continues, “Someone should have done it a long time ago, but we’re glad that we’re finally doing it now.”

Everett’s co-curator, Grant, crafted the idea for this monumental show as her way to contribute to the collective unrest, protest, and social awakening in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.

“When everything happened with George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement,

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Lola Fenhirst Mother Africa Malachite pendant, $20,000; Ten Thousand Things Emerald Waterfall necklace, $17,185; Sheryl Jones, The Heroine’s Peridot and Pink necklace, $187,579; Shola Branson, Pink Tourmaline Oval Mélange ring, $6,000; Castro NYC Money Emerald brooch, $50,000; Available for immediate purchase at Sotheby’s NY from September 17 to 26, or through Sotheby’s Buy Now marketplace.

Clockwise from left: Jacqueline Rabun Black Love Torque necklace, $39,750; Maggi Simpkins In Bloom ring, $1,000,000; Art Smith Brass necklace, $7,500; Thelma West Asscher 8 earrings, $150,000; ALMASIKA Universum bangle, $24,000; Winifred Mason Chenet cuff, $1,500; Rashid Johnson x LIZWORKS Gold Signet ring from “Anxious Men,” $10,000; MATTURI Fine Jewelry Nomoli Obelisk earrings, $47,562; VANLELES Out of Africa Stiletto earrings, $116,905; Lola Fenhirst Sybi lring, $8,904; Available for immediate purchase at Sotheby’s NY from 17 – 26 September, or through Sotheby’s Buy Now marketplace.

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I think all of us felt a bit powerless,” says Grant.

“I thought, What can I do with my tiny bit of power? What can I do to make a difference? I’ve got to do something; I can’t just sit here and watch this.” And so, she pitched the idea of a selling exhibition centering the past, present, and future of Black jewelry artisans to Everett. His answer was a resounding “yes.”

“We said yes, honestly, within about 10 seconds—I mean, there was no thought to it,” says Everett. The result is a powerful comprehensive account of the history of Black artisans in the jewelry industry, a spotlight on major forces as well as emerging voices, and a marketplace for these brands to sell their work. This is a curatorial show, but at the same time it’s an auction. “We [at Sotheby’s] want these designers to sell jewelry,” says Everett. “We want to really promote their brands and to promote their business.”

When choosing the featured designers, Grant set off to curate an eclectic group, ranging from different time periods and embodying various stylistic approaches: from gothic pieces to minimal abstractionist and brutalist. She chose designers who were at different levels in their respective careers, and jewelers with different connections and backgrounds within artisanal jewelry making.

“Everyone’s so different in this, everyone’s got such a different sort of style,” she explains.

“We’re really keen to show the individuality of people, to show there isn’t one place that Black artistic endeavor stems from: It’s multifaceted.”

Indeed, as a culture we don’t tend to define and box in what “white talent” looks like. It’s not monolithic. It’s French, Italian, American; it’s complex. Black talent should be granted the same richness of understanding.

“I suppose in a sense, this exhibition, is showing the complexity that Black culture has. It’s not simply one note, it’s incredibly nuanced,” she says.

The result of Grant’s selection is an Avengers-level, all-star cast of Black talent both of yesterday, with the work of titans Art

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Smith and Winifred Mason Chenet, alongside contemporary designers: CASTRO NYC, ALMASIKA, Jacqueline Rabun, Lola Fenhirst, Rashid Johnson, Sheryl Jones Jewels, Ten Thousand Things, Thelma West, VANLELES, Winifred Mason, Harwell Godfrey, Johnny Nelson, Lorraine West, Melanie Eddy, Shola Branson, Jariet Oloyé, Maggi Simpkins, Marei Fine Jewellery, MATEO New York, and Matturi Fine Jewellery.

“I think the title of the exhibition says it all,” Lola Oladunjoye, founder of small-batch jewelry company Lola Fenhirst, tells Grazia USA. “How often do you see these adjectives used together? ‘Brilliant and Black’ is about taking up space, having a voice, and being recognized for what we bring to the table.”

Born and raised in London, Oladunjoye draws on her West African Yoruba heritage to craft striking, architectural pieces rooted in sustainably. Her Nigerian heritage takes form in the brand’s captivating ring on display in the exhibition, the Sybil Ring. The hybrid, 18k yellow gold/white gold ring, complete with brilliant-cut diamonds, takes inspiration from an ancient Greek tale while also nodding to her West African lineage through the integration of the bead—a traditional West African tribal motif—represented by the rounded scalloped forms.

For Oladunjoye, like many of her “Brilliant & Black” contemporaries, this exhibit is a chance to expand her platforms, take a crack at the proverbial glass ceiling within the luxury sector, and contribute to something far greater than themselves. Much like Grant’s initial spark for spearheading this show, Oladunjoye feels a sense of purpose in her participation.

“In my opinion, nothing happens in a vacuum. There’s a continuum of social awareness at play and this show is a part of it,” she says.

Aside from the gorgeous gems and brilliant diamonds on display, this exhibition is about visibility and equity at large. “Black jewelers are a force to be reckoned with and are here to stay,” London-based artisan Jariet Oloyé tells

Grazia USA. “Brilliant & Black” not only highlights the stories and craftmanship of contemporary Black jewelers, but also tells the history of jewelry design in America itself. The show calls attention to the work of two prolific pioneers of American jewlery design whose pieces anchor the show: Art Smith and his mentor, Winifred Mason Chenet.

Mason Chenet and her mentee Smith are often left out of the conversation as it pertains to American contemporary jewelry— something this exhibition aims to correct. Both came to prominence in the ’40s and ’50s, a time in which they were never given their just due. Speaking on Smith in particular, Grant says, “I think he was one of the founding fathers of American contemporary jewelry design.” She then goes on to say that Winifred Mason Chenet “was probably the first Black contemporary jewelry designer in America that we know about, who isn’t talked about remotely enough.”

Although the designers in the show come from different walks of life, different eras, and pull from various cultural points of reference, one commonality they all share is the influence their Black experience has on their work. “I am a Black woman and based on that alone I see the world through my own distinct lens,” designer Maggi Simpkins tells Grazia USA. “I believe that my lived experience innately influences my aesthetic, the stories I tell and what I create.”

Her In Bloom ring, designed exclusively for the exhibition, is a rich 18k gold, pink diamond ring adorned with sapphires and rubies, which tells the story of “my sort of ‘coming of age’ as a designer, and allowing myself the permission to realize my greatness,” she says. “A permission to be unapologetically bold, a permission to bloom, blossom, expand, take up space, to step into my light.”

Designer Johnny Nelson, who’s designed custom pieces for Pyer Moss’s Collection 3, has three rings featured that all tell the story of Black America: a yellow-gold, red garnet ring

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adorned with the All The Power Fist; the LET FREEDOM RING, a gold Mount Rushmorestyle four-finger ring; and (a personal fave) Her Freedom Ring, in the same four-finger style, which features the likenesses of civil rights leaders Harriet Tubman, Shirley Chisholm, Sojourner Truth, and Ida B. Wells.

“We live in a diverse world, and we should have as many voices, styles, designs, and stories as possible that are told through jewelry design,” Satta Matturi, founder of Matturi Fine Jewellery, tells Grazia USA. The “Brillant & Black” cohorts’ works represent a rich plethora of aesthetics: from the more classical, sculptural bespoke pieces of Ten Thousand Things to the powerful femininity of Thelma West’s work and the more conceptual work of Castro NYC, who often takes his vivid dreams and twists them into fantastical creations using exotic materiality.

That’s not to overlook the geometrically focused works of Bermudian designer Melanie Eddy and the signature aesthetic of abstract lines and organic curves of Paris-based atelier ALMASIKA. With this exhibition, both the curators—as well as the artists—are collectively starting a dialogue.

“I hope this show brings more awareness of jewelry designers of color,” designer Jacqueline Rabun tells Grazia USA. “Brillant & Black” is game-changing. It rightfully places Black designers in the canon and highlights their brands on a major, global auction stage.

“Sotheby’s is a very important art and cultural institution, and we have a responsibility in the world, to advance underserved communities and to really think about the future, and we want to be part of that inclusive, equitable future,” says Everett.

Grant adds, “I just hope that everyone either comes to see it, stops by, or looks at it on social and actually feels the beauty and the meaning in these pieces.”

“Ultimately, our gift, as a show, is to make you [the viewer] a part of our moment,” she passionately continues. “That moment is

now, with this moment in history as Black creatives, and we want other people to also be part of that. It’s not just for us; it’s for everyone!

And so, I hope that everyone can kind of get on the Soul Train and come with us.”

Grazia USA asked each designer participating in the show to share their definitive thoughts by asking, “Black jewelry is … Fill in the blank.” Their answers collectively showed the impact, significance, and importance of this show: Angie Marei: “Black jewelry is no longer being kept in the shadows.”

ALMASIKA: “Black jewelry has always been here.”

Melanie Eddy: “Black jewelers are Vital.”

Thelma West: “Black jewelry is adding even

more spectacular colors to the world, on its way to reclaim its rightful place.”

Jacqueline Rabun: “Black jewelry is Beautiful.”

Lola Fenhirst: “Black jewelry is as diverse as the Black experience itself.”

Maggi Simpkins: “Black jewelry is essential; it is our ancestral birthright.”

Johnny Nelson: “Black Jewelry is legendary.”

“Brillant & Black: A Jewlery Renaissance” is on view and open to the public at Sotheby’s New York galleries at 1334 York Avenue from September 17 to 26. All pieces in the show will be available for purchase, either in person, or directly through Sotheby’s Buy Now online marketplace from September 17 to October 10, 2021.

Art Smith 4 Ball cuff, $7,500; VANLELES Enchanted Garden Ruby earrings, $108,524; Ten Thousand Things Mother of Pearl earrings, $4,600; Jacqueline Rabun Black Love ring, $8,520; Available for immediate purchase at Sotheby’s NY from September 17 to 26, or through Sotheby’s Buy Now marketplace.

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IN GUCCI WE LUST

The Italian icon celebrates 100 years with a stunning unveiling of its archival collections.

BY CASEY BRENNAN

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he Oltrarno district in Florence has a long and storied relationship with Italian fashion: It is here that in the 16th century the powerful Medici family took up residence, and artisans followed, setting up shops to cater to the opulent needs of the dynastic family.

The city of Florence also happens to be the ancestral home of Gucci, which was founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci and celebrates its spectacular centennial this year. Acquired by Gucci in 1953, Palazzo Settimanni in Oltrarno has a long history with the iconic Italian label, having served as the first Florentine factory, a workshop, and a showroom. Under the direction of Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele, the Palazzo has now been restored to its original grandeur, complete with trompe l’oeil frescoes and intricate murals created in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

“Palazzo Settimanni, now free of earlier additions, is transformed into a magical place to which I have restored a sense of porousness: You pass through it, air gets in, you can walk through it as if it were a journey,” Michele said in a statement.

The five-story archives, which are divided into creatively themed rooms named with words from Michele’s personal lexicon, are just as stunning as the collections, which date back to the 1920s. “My task was to bring many objects back home, virtually helping them return to the family,” Michele shared.

The first floor, for example, is divided into areas known as “Orto di Giove,” “the Alchemist’s Garden,” and “Aveugle Par Amour,” and houses ready-towear, footwear, and textile accessories, including scarves, twills, and ties. These unforgettable Gucci masterpieces—many worn by celebrities on red carpets throughout the years—are here on display in the archive’s “Serapis” room.

Lucky visitors can get up close and personal with gowns worn by Lady Gaga, or Dakota Johnson, for example.

“The archive is a memory palace,” Valerie Steele, director and curator of the museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, who collaborated on the layout and curation of the public spaces, explained in a press release. “Far from being a dusty attic, it is a dynamic system of knowledge production and inspiration. ” Such is the mandate of a heritage brand like Gucci: honor and respecting the traditions and achievements of the past while constantly pushing forward to create new ones. The Palazzo is Gucci’s living workshop for that effort, ushering in another vibrant era of fashion and creativity in Florence.

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GOTHAM NEW YORK IS A CITY THAT OVERWHELMS THE SENSES WITH ITS VIBRANCE. THE RUSH OF TRAFFIC MERGES WITH THE SMELL OF ROASTING NUTS AS YOU FEEL A CRISP FALL BREEZE RUSH DOWN THE AVENUES AND THE HEAT OF THE SUBWAY EMERGES FROM THE DEPTHS. IT’S A SENSORY IMMERSION NOT UNLIKE AN EMBRACE FROM A BELOVED FRIEND. AND SO, WHEN THE SOUNDS, THE SMELLS, THE VERY LIFEBLOOD OF THE CITY DWINDLED DOWN TO NOTHING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, IT WAS LIKE A DEATH—OR, AT THE VERY LEAST, A COMA. NEARLY TWO YEARS LATER, FINALLY, THERE ARE SIGNS OF LIFE ONCE MORE. SHUTTERED SHOP WINDOWS AND A NEW GLUT OF ANONYMOUS CORPORATE TESTING CENTERS ARE THE SCARS BEARING WITNESS TO THE STRUGGLE WE’VE ENDURED. SMILES ON THE FACES OF THE (SAFELY) UNMASKED, THE SMELLS OF RESTAURANTS FIRING UP THE KITCHEN AGAIN, THE SOUND OF MUSIC IN THE PARK, AND MORE LET US KNOW THAT THE SPARK OF THE CITY HAS NOT BEEN EXTINGUISHED, AND MAY YET BURN BRIGHT AGAIN. PHOTOGRAPHER PHIL PENMAN CAPTURED THIS MOMENT OF REAWAKENING IN A NEW PHOTO ESSAY SHARED WITH GRAZIA USA.

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A TALE OF TWO CITIES

It was the worst of times, but some made them better by seeking new scenery.

BY AARON RASMUSSEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY PETER OUMANSKI

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few months after graduating college, I packed a suitcase and moved to Bratislava, Slovakia, for six months.

It was a place I’d never heard of— let alone visited—but I’d landed a temporary job at an international advertising agency, and that was reason enough. Looking back now, decades later, the adventure set my life on a completely different course than what I had planned.

From Slovakia, I traveled to Italy until I ran out of money. Instead of going next to Los Angeles, as I had been planning to do, I packed my bags and flew to New York City to crash on a friend’s floor while I looked for another temporary job. I’ve now lived in New York my entire adult life, but I’ve always wondered what my world would be like today if a different decision—or fate—had sent me somewhere else. Apparently, others have too.

During the first few months of the pandemic, I watched as two themes played out among my friends and follows on social media: The majority locked down as the world seemingly descended into chaos; then, there were the outliers, those who for individual reasons made a move—often to a very unexpected place—out of want, or need, or sometimes both.

This past spring, as coronavirus vaccines rolled out and travel loosened up a bit, I fled to Mexico City, desperate to shake off what had been a dark year for NYC by renting an apartment there for a few months. My own “move” turned out to be temporary, but not everyone’s was. For those who made the choice, did a snap decision to change a living situation in uncertain times lead to regret? Was life better now for those who relocated, or did they want to return and resume the life they left? Would they do it all over again if given a choice or chance?

And did they learn the truth of that old saying?

“Wherever you go, there you are.”

Alessandro Bellini was born in Florence and spent much of his childhood there. Several years ago, Bellini—who by spring 2020 had been living

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in Chicago for well over two decades—and his wife, Sarah Borland Bellini, purchased a home in his Italian hometown with, he says, “a vague plan in mind to possibly move sometime in the future.”

Then the coronavirus crisis hit and sent the United States and the rest of the world reeling. “The pandemic had us think, ‘Well, truly we don’t know how much time any of us have so let’s make our plans and just do it now,’” he tells Grazia USA. The couple understood a sped-up timetable meant that their 9-year-old daughter, Elena, would have an easier time transitioning to a new school and country because she would still be young. The move, he says, became a teachable moment: “We explained to her how life is full of changes and how people are often coming and going in life.”

In fall 2020, the family sold their home and began a new life. The hardest part about leaving their old life in Chicago behind, Bellini says, was saying goodbye to loved ones. Day-to-day issues in their new home country included learning Italy’s system for dealing with the pandemic, from regional lockdowns and curfews to grocery shopping and overcoming bureaucratic hurdles—a potentially confounding issue even in non-pandemic times.

“My wife and daughter also have the challenge of learning another language,” Bellini says, observing that Elena is learning Italian quickly and already sometimes steps in to act as translator for her mother.

Not so much of a challenge for the three: Florence’s slower pace means they have a less hectic lifestyle than in Chicago. “We take longer walks and spend more time together as a family,” Bellini explains. Indeed, priorities have shifted for many post-COVID, even if our surroundings haven’t changed so drastically.

Bellini and his wife plan to return to Chicago for summers with their daughter, and the couple now wishes they had made the hop across the Atlantic even sooner. “It was often in our conversations about the possibility to move to Florence, and we would do it over again in a heartbeat,” he says.

Another couple, Eduardo Polo and his husband, Erik Savoie, also found a way to turn the crisis to their advantage. When in spring 2020 it became obvious the pandemic was spreading unchecked across North America, the couple was living in Toronto and initially planned to wait out the crisis in the Canadian city.

“We then thought that since we did not have an office to go to because all work had gone remote, it would be great if we tried to make this pandemic work in our favor and explore the United States,” says Polo, who grew up in Spain. (His husband is originally from Pennsylvania.) “My spouse and I are huge fans of the U.S.A.—we met in New York City when we were both working there—so we thought we should embrace the more rural lifestyle and explore some areas we had not been to, this time for longer periods than just a vacation.”

So, the couple embarked on an itinerary of sixweek rentals in Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico before finally winding up last February in Johnson City, a college town tucked in northeast Tennessee’s Blue Ridge Mountains. “The funny thing is that before the pandemic, we had not even heard of Johnson City, and thanks to all the road trips we had to do when we were driving from one short-term accommodation to the next, we happened to stop in Johnson City for lunch,” Polo says. “We promised ourselves that we would return because we wanted to explore the area further.”

The two arranged in Johnson City what was meant to be another new temporary home on their list of destinations. One day during breakfast, Polo says, he was browsing a real estate website. “I realized that there were very cute homes in the area, and I thought the [affordable] prices were a mistake,” he explains. “Something told me it was time to invest, especially after falling in love with the area.”

He and his husband talked it over and decided to contact a real estate agent. One morning, they

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spotted a new property that had just come onto the market and agreed they liked it, at least on paper.

“We did not want to get too excited, but we went to see it that afternoon,” Polo says. “Erik and I looked at each other and said, ‘This is it.’ It was a very rainy day and we loved it, and they say that if you love a house on a rainy day, it means you will always love it, and, so far, it is true.”

Now, instead of Toronto’s traffic, says Polo, “we have miles and miles of trails, mountains, and lakes all around us. We have not been bored for a second, although you must love nature and outdoor experiences if you want to live here.”

Like others who moved during the pandemic, Polo and Savoie did have to face new issues, ones they likely wouldn’t have confronted if they had stayed put in their Canadian comfort zone. “The most challenging part is being in a same-sex relationship in the South,” Polo reveals. “However, we like to think that we can expose people to diversity and that we can try to do our part to turn this into a positive situation.”

Johnson City, for example, had a Pride parade the year before the pandemic started, and Polo and Savoie heard it was a huge success. They will likely be around to experience the next parade in person, since they eventually plan to live between Tennessee and Canada as the pandemic eases. “We do love the idea of being able to split our time between city living and rural living,” Polo says, noting that he now realizes just how much he loves a home surrounded by mountains.

The decision to go between the two extremes was a longtime dream that was “always just talk and not much action” for the pair, Polo says. “We probably would not have our place in Tennessee if it wasn’t for the fact that the pandemic pushed us out of the city.”

Buying a home during a global crisis was “stressful at times,” says Polo, but they would definitely travel the same route all over again—literally. “We have realized that we should have never worried so much about doing something like this.”

It’s a sentiment that Los Angeleno Kilee Hughes shares since she’s made her second home base in Colorado off and on since the first summer after the pandemic struck. “It has really reminded me that when I want to do something, I shouldn’t put it off and wait for a ‘better time,’” she says. “We really don’t know what’s in store for us in this world and when you’re considering a lifestyle change, whether it’s moving, dating, work, school or really, anything, if it’s replaying constantly in your head, listen to that voice and run with it.”

So run, in a sense, Hughes did. The founder and CEO of the beauty, wellness, and lifestyle

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public relations outfit Six One Agency was living alone in LA and found that not having constant companionship—not even a pet—was all “a bit mentally draining. I felt much more confined and cooped up than I had expected.”

Hughes—who says that spontaneity could be her middle name—began to think about her next move.

“I thought getting back into nature and operating out of a slower, more down-to-earth city would fuel and satisfy me more,” she says.

Like Polo and his husband, Hughes wanted to explore her options but didn’t have a definitive destination firmly in mind.

“I’ve always been very much a ‘this feels right for now so let’s run with it’ type of person,” she explains.

With family in California, Hughes wanted to be able to return to the state easily, including by car if necessary, but surrounding states like Texas, Utah, Arizona, and Oregon didn’t hold much appeal for her. She decided Colorado was where she wanted to be, packed her bags, and headed to Boulder— without any preconceptions of how the move would play out. “My thought process was to travel freely: no plans, no road map,” Hughes says.

She ended up staying at the Embassy Suites in Boulder for her first three months in Colorado, and it turned out to be exactly what she needed. “An empty hotel with amenities, top-floor views of the skyline, and a pool were fuel for my soul,” she says.

When it came to her heart and dating, Hughes also found the nourishment she craved, especially after she moved on to Denver. “I tried to be as social as possible without putting myself or others at risk of COVID-19,” she says, joking that the Mile High City “is not known as Men-ver for nothing!”

Despite coronavirus, meeting people was “pretty easy and effortless” as vaccines became more plentiful and restrictions eased up, and Hughes found others “just wanted to connect,” she says. “The downside to the pandemic is that it has caused us all to be socially isolated and awkward, but we work through it.”

As a Black small business owner, she’s also working on expanding her LA-based agency into a new market, which has been an unexpected but welcome boon. “Colorado affords me the opportunity to transition from small fish in an overactive pond in the beauty, lifestyle, and wellness brand consulting space to potentially dominating an entirely untapped landscape,” she says.

In her personal life, Hughes takes a more philosophical approach when thinking about her pandemic experience in Colorado: “I fully believe that every action out in the universe outside of your control helps guide you to where you’re supposed to be.”

Sabina Hitchen and her husband, Alexander, would agree. In March 2020, the two were working in New York City and living with their now-2-1/2year-old daughter, Juliette, across the Hudson River in Englewood, New Jersey. The family’s home was on the tenth floor of a condo building, and using a shared elevator with other tenants—some of whom were becoming sick with coronavirus—was becoming, as Hitchen says, “an impossible situation.”

The parents were aware their options were becoming more and more limited each day. “One night I just knew in my gut we had to go. We had to get out of the city,” she explains. “At the time, I thought it’d be just for a few weeks. I packed up our car with essentials that night, and the next morning we drove to Maine. It really was a casual thought that became serious action pretty quickly, but times were intense. We were just thinking about our family and expecting we’d return within a month.”

As they drove north toward the state where her parents and sister live, Hitchen says they whispered their goodbye to New York City under their breaths, and her thoughts kept returning to a line from an E.B. White poem her sibling had just shared with her: “I would really rather feel bad in Maine than feel good anywhere else.” Leaving, she thought, “just felt like the right choice” at the time.

Well over a year later, it still does. The family found an Airbnb and kept extending their stay since Hitchen, the founder of PressforSuccess.com, was able to work from anywhere running her company, which creates online education and publicity resources for small business owners. Her husband easily continued his job as a media consultant working from home. They decided to put down permanent roots in Portland.

Leaving during the beginning of the pandemic did prove to be difficult in many ways, but the most challenging aspect of the move for Hitchen is that she has yet to return to the New York area since going to Maine. “It happened so suddenly and I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye—to friends, to my favorite coffee shop people, to the spots that hold special memories, to the expectations of the future I’d have on the East Coast, to so many parts of our life that came before the pandemic,” she says.

At the same time, her family has gained just as much as they’ve lost, including a “soothing” newfound connection to nature and loved ones. “At the end of the day, your family and your health are all that matter, and the people you love are what makes a home—and you can recreate that anywhere,” Hitchen says. “So though this has been one hell of an 18 months, someday we’ll look back on it and think, ‘This is where our story began, again.’”

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No Rest DAYS ALLYSON FELIX

OLYMPIAN, ACTIVIST, MOTHER

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RUN THE WORLD

Total dominance on the track and a place in world history is just the beginning for Allyson Felix.

BY MELISSA CRONIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY OLIVIA MALONE STYLING BY REBECCA RAMSEY

M

ommy, you have makeup on your eyes!”

“Yes, I have makeup on my eyes. Do you like it?

It’s 8:00 p.m. on a Wednesday night in a warehouse deep in downtown L.A. Just over one week ago, runner Allyson Felix was in Tokyo, winning the gold medal that would make her the most-decorated American track and field star of all time. Tonight, she’s wrapped in a robe and balancing a container of ceviche in one hand while FaceTiming with her daughter, Camryn (“Cammy”), 2, as the business of a high-fashion photo shoot whirs around her.

(Yes, she’s wearing gorgeous eye makeup by makeup artist Autumn Moultrie.)

Felix, 35, is a pillar of calm and focus as she multitasks, shifting between roles and embodying multitudes even on a stage that isn’t her typical arena (or stadium, for that matter). She’s a superwoman and an everywoman; at the same time, an icon and a mom. A hero, either way.

Watching her, effortless, in front of the camera, someone on set shouts out, “Goddess!” No word seems more apt as she stands, regal in a teal Marc Jacobs gown. (More than one person literally bows down at the sight, only in half-jest.) But part of Felix’s supernatural power is how, in transcending limitations and breaking boundaries, she reminds all women of our own strength. Her achieving the previously impossible makes everything seem more possible to the rest of us—a mantle that at

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times lays heavy, and has come with a lot of pain and sacrifice along the way to joy and freedom.

“One of my first memories was in elementary school,” Felix recalls in a Zoom conversation with Grazia USA days after the shoot. She was in Paris for the Diamond League races there. (No days off, or nearly none.)

“In P.E., the boys and girls would run together,” she continues. “We would do this lap around the asphalt of our parking lot. I always remember that when we would do that, I would be up with the boys. I wasn’t in any type of organized sport or anything, but I do come from a pretty competitive family, and it was just always so much fun to think, I’m beating the boys.”

Even then, for Felix success was defined within the framework of what was possible for a female—a paradigm that shifted a bit in 1996, when the Magnificent Seven dominated the gymnastics field at the Olympic Games and Dominique Dawes, then 19, became the first Black woman to win gymnastics gold.

Felix was 10 years old and not yet participating in sports of any kind, but the occasion was an epiphany. “I just thought, like, Wow, here’s a young girl who looks like me and she’s amazing and phenomenal and doing something really cool,” Felix remembers. The power of representation, of seeing another young girl redefine the boundaries of possibility, inspired her to excel—even if it was somewhat misdirected at first.

“I tried to, like, order a balance beam, and I had no experience, nothing,” Felix laughs. “This was back in the days of the phone book and looking things up. My mom was like, ‘What are you doing?!’ But I was way too tall and not flexible. So I knew that wasn’t going to be my thing.”

Soon enough, though, she found it. Just weeks into her first-ever track season as a freshman at Los Angeles Baptist High School, Felix placed seventh in the 200 meters at the highly competitive California Interscholastic Federation State Meet. By the time she left as a senior, she would run the same distance in 22.11 seconds during a race in Mexico City—then the fastestever time clocked by a high school female.

From there, things moved quickly—literally.

Technically still a “junior” runner, Felix attended her first Olympics at Athens in 2004, walking away with her first medal (a silver, in the 200 meters). Shattered records, medals, and the weight that they carried would follow.

“Definitely toward the end of high school it was just really about making sacrifices,” she admits.

“Knowing that I had the potential and then really dedicating myself. Less of the hanging out and more of a structured program and all of that. That continued on through college, and definitely, once I was a professional it was a whole other level.”

“I didn’t have the traditional college experience because I was going to Europe to compete, for example, and I was living this different lifestyle,

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which definitely started to take place around 16, 17 years old,” she says.

Too young to truly consider or question the path that was unfolding in front of her, all she could do was to run down it as fast as she could.

In running, a moment of hesitation—especially at the start—can destroy your chances before you’ve even started.

“It can be easy to kind of lose yourself in it a bit, because everything is so structured and everything is so competitive,” she reveals. “You are on a very regimented diet and training program and when you’re going through it, it can feel pretty lonely. It’s pretty isolating because running is an individual sport.”

Felix missed out on birthdays, parties, and the milestones in friends’ and family members’ lives as she was training and traveling the world to compete. It would have been easy, looking back, to get chewed up in that machine and to be spit back out a drained, defeated shadow self (as happens, tragically, to so many athletes. Especially to female ones. Even more especially to female ones of color.).

What kept Felix centered and sane? “I do feel like it was family,” she says. “It was a support system that really helped me to see what my value was and what my worth was and that all the outside noise didn’t matter. You know, to stay true to myself.”

Key in that inner circle was her longtime boyfriend, fellow sprinter Kenneth Ferguson, who she married in 2018. She would give birth

to Camryn later that same year. After decades of devoting herself to her sport, Felix had finally found the confidence and strength to build a life on her own terms. For any woman, that is still a radical act.

Whether an Olympian or office drone, this inner dialogue will sound familiar to you.

“I felt like starting a family couldn’t even be an option for me until I had accomplished everything that I had set out to do,” she explains. “It was like, OK, once you’re in this place where you’ve done enough, then you can start to explore that. But also, You’ve got to be OK with the possibility of not accomplishing anything else after; to be good with where you ended up. I just hated that.”

It’s a conundrum that any woman can relate to—even those of us who aren’t the GOAT— but one that was compounded by the pressures of her sport. “Just this idea that if you did have kids, it was on to the next chapter for you,” Felix says, referencing what fellow runner Phoebe Wright has called “the kiss of death” in the sport.

Too often, our culture consigns women to the suffocating confines of one particular defining role. You can be a career woman, or you can be a mom. You can be a powerful athlete, or you can be a deeply feminine woman who loves jewelry, fashion, and makeup. You can be driven to succeed on your own, or you can give yourself to someone else. It’s arbitrary and it’s maddening; and yet, it’s so pervasive that many of us don’t

even stop to question it.

Indeed, Felix had been fully prepared to close the “runner” chapter of her life in favor of a new one when she realized she could write her own story.

“I got to a point where I was like, OK, I’ve done a lot of what I wanted to do, so this is a good point [to start a family],” she explains. “And then I think it was probably around that same time that I realized that I didn’t have to reach that point.

Like, This is kind of a made-up thing, the feeling that you have to get to a certain point” to do it.

“I wish I could have understood that earlier, because it took a long time to get to that space,” she continues. It was once she got there, though, that the battle truly began.

By now, it’s a story that nearly every Felix fan knows, and one that’s reached truly mythic proportions. She has said that Nike tried to offer her a 70 percent pay cut when she became pregnant and failed to offer her the maternity protections she requested. She fought back with an exposé in the New York Times and a campaign for increased protections for pregnant athletes and all moms. The impact was immediate.

“I didn’t know how it was going to be received,” she admits, “but it was pretty soon after that it was just like a flood of women who were like, ‘I’ve been through something similar;’ or, ‘I haven’t, but in my industry, it looks like this.’ It was just this feeling of like, I am so not alone in this. To be able to share my truth and to be met with this encouragement, to be seen by so many other

“I want women to feel like they can make their decisions based on their own desires.’

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women, it just was an amazing feeling.”

Women know that we can and do contain multitudes. And that is why we can connect with, relate to, and admire someone like Felix even if we’ve never strapped on a pair of racing spikes in our lives. It’s not just her athletic feats that inspire us—it’s her ability to proudly and publicly be so many things at once. Her refusal to stay within the confines of one proscriptive identity.

Her nascent role as a public advocate expanded, for example, even after the Nike showdown when she experienced dangerous complications following Cammy’s birth. “I spoke out about the Black maternal mortality crisis, and that’s something I never would have shared about previously,” she explains. “I think just knowing how it could help other people, and knowing that there’s so many other women who are probably in the same situation, I felt more comfortable to speak out.”

More recently, she’s tried on yet another role as the founder and face of her new athletic company, Saysh. The company’s first product, a lifestyle sneaker called the Saysh One, sold out quickly on her site saysh.com as well as through Athleta. Additional products will follow.

“I had always wanted to have something of my own. I had talked to [my brother] Wes about it for a long time, and then it kind of just naturally, authentically happened,” she explains.

“I had the partnership with Athleta, which was this eye-opening learning experience. I was like, Wow, here’s this company that’s like 97 percent women. I felt like I really had a seat at the table, and I took a lot from just seeing how

they conducted their business. I was completely inspired and empowered. And then I was looking for a footwear sponsor and I was like, Well, I want the same exact feeling that I have with this partnership. And I couldn’t find it.”

Conversations with her brother Wes quickly turned into reality as he took on the responsibility of becoming CEO. Eighteen months later, a growing team is in place and the company is already thriving. Felix won her Tokyo medals wearing shoes from her own line.

“I look at it as a legacy piece,” Felix says. “I would love for women to see that this is for them, it’s designed by them, and we’re going to continue to listen to them. Obviously the Saysh One is a lifestyle sneaker, but we’re so excited about future products as we continue to hear from women.”

As a group, women have been overlooked for so long—and you might not even know it.

“We’ve been wearing men’s shoes,” Felix says.

Indeed, many, if not most, women’s athletic shoes are based on the fit and form of shoes created for a man’s foot.

“The little differences are there and they do matter,” Felix insists. “The forefoot is one of the major differences. We’re a bit more narrow.

And then the heel: Because of women wearing heels, our Achilles actually shortens. Also, our cushioning: We want it to be very specific to the differences in men’s and women’s weight, and we address that in our cushioning as well.”

“We don’t often see or even realize that a product has not been for us,” she continues. “It was really important to just focus in on women and make things specifically for us. It’s also

important to see a female founder of color. To be able to have that representation was also a big motivation.”

Felix, at this stage of her life and career, represents so much to so many. An athletic phenom. A mom. A Black female founder. A champion for other women. Even if you aren’t one of those, you can see yourself in Felix because of how she proudly, publicly dares to be a woman in full: with weaknesses and strengths, vulnerabilities and possibilities. Living in authenticity is the most radical act for a woman and one that creates the kind of representation necessary for the next generation—including Felix’s own daughter—to live a life in full themselves.

“I want women to feel like they can make their decisions based on their own desires,” she says. Choosing a family, choosing to remain single, or whatever “doesn’t have to end your career,” she says. “When I was growing up, I never really saw examples— prominent examples—in my sport of women who did both. Not that it didn’t happen, but I guess they weren’t really celebrated. I would love for that narrative to be changed.”

We all have the opportunity to help do that. Simply by living authentically, speaking honestly, and looking for ways to support and connect with other women—following Felix’s example—we can harness our own power to effect phenomenal change, for our society at large and for ourselves. While records may fall and new talents may rise in the years and decades to come, it is that kind of excellence that will be Felix’s enduring legacy.

“To be able to share my truth and to be met with this encouragement, to be seen by so many other women, it just was an amazing feeling.

Mom or model? Watch Allyson Felix captivate the camera in our exclusive behind-the-scenes video-with one quick scan of your phone.

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by Kimmie Kyees.

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THE GOLDEN AGE

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The breakout star of ‘Gossip Girl’ on HBO Max, Jordan Alexander is proving she’s so much more than a pretty face.

BY JOHN RUSSELL

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANA SCRUGGS

STYLING BY ALEXANDER-JULIAN GIBBSON

A

lot of ink has been spilled over Jordan Alexander’s hair. Or, you know, the current lack thereof.

Just about everyone who has interviewed the 28-year-old star of HBO Max’s Gossip Girl over the past few months has asked about her signature shorn look. And here I am, the latest hack to bring it up. Except, I’m trying to get at something else; namely, what it’s like to have this very personal choice about her appearance constantly questioned, commented upon, and made into some kind of avatar for her entire personality.

For generations, women—and especially Black women—have labored under the heavy weight of critiques, expectations for, and literal manipulations of their hairstyles. Alexander shrugs it off. “That was happening before people were interviewing me,” she says over Zoom from her Brooklyn apartment.

“I would literally be working in a shop and people would be like, ‘Oh my god, you cut all your hair off!

What did you look like with hair?’ I got asked that last night: ‘What did you look like when you had hair?’”

(Slightly depressing fact: If you type “Jordan Alexander” into Google, the second autofill is “…

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with hair.” As if that were nearly the most interesting thing about her.)

“Since I’ve done it, it has been a topic of conversation, kind of no matter where I am. Which I find so fascinating because I feel like it’s not that uncommon?” she continues. “It’s quite common for Black women, and I think women in general are feeling freer to do it. But yeah, all types of people ask me about it. Most of the time what happens is: ‘Oh my god, you cut your hair! I’ve always wanted to cut my hair!’”

To Alexander, these conversations just show how pervasive—and restrictive—beauty norms can be. With so many avenues of creative expression to explore, it’s something she decided not to make time for.

“I was like, This is a lot of work! It’s a lot of work to have hair!” she explains. “And feeling pressured like you have to. I mean, it’s one thing if you enjoy it. Some people just enjoy that experience. It’s a connection to yourself, potentially a connection to your heritage, you know? But it’s a lot of work. It can be a lot of money as well. Like, I don’t even buy shampoo.”

She pauses, smiles mischievously: “I’m gonna take back what I just said.” And then we have a good

laugh about all the celebrities who have inexplicably come out as non-bathers recently. “I think bathing is important!” she insists, laughing.

This is Jordan Alexander in early September 2021: relaxed, unguarded, quick to laugh, excited about life, eager to just chat. I happen to have caught her on a randomly auspicious day: She’d just wrapped the very first season of the Gossip Girl reboot the night before. There was a party afterward outside of Brooklyn’s Steiner Studio, where the show is filmed.

“They just put food trucks in the parking lot, set up karaoke, there were balloons. It was so amazing,” she says. “We took a massive group picture.”

Today—the day she and I are speaking—also marks one year since Alexander arrived in New York to quarantine before filming began on the revival of the soapy teen drama. It goes without saying that a lot has changed since then. Apart from moving to a new city in a different country (Alexander is Canadian) she’s lived on her own for the first time.

She’s filmed a highly anticipated television series during a global pandemic, and in the months since Gossip Girl premiered in July, her public profile has increased exponentially. She’s gone from relative obscurity to It Girl in a matter of months.

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Hey, Upper East Siders: Join us on set as we spend the day with Jordan in our exclusive behind-the-scenes video-with one quick scan of your phone. XOXO.

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“It’s funny how time works,” she muses.

“Depending on what happens, it’s either like a very eventful moment or, you know, just another couple of months. My life, last year and this year, has changed more than it has in my entire life. So this period of time, in terms of change, can account for maybe five years of change [compared to] what I was used to previously, when things were changing at a very slow rate.”

On Gossip Girl, Alexander plays Julien Calloway, a wealthy teen influencer for whom life moves incredibly fast: sponcon, fashion shows, gala benefits, scandals galore. But prior to being cast in the role, life could not have been more different for the actress. Alexander grew up in and around Vancouver, the second of three daughters. She and her family moved around a lot, which meant that she changed schools frequently. Whereas Julien has her clique of loyal friends and hangers-on, Alexander had to get good at walking into unfamiliar situations. “I feel like it kind of prepared me to be an artist,” she says. “Like a nomadic artist. You’ve got to be ready to pick up your entire life in a week and move to New York, you know?”

Instead of DUMBO Hall—the show’s stand-in for Brooklyn’s exclusive, membersonly DUMBO House—Alexander and her friends frequented pubs and hung out outdoors.

Her first job, which she loved, was at a taco restaurant. She waxes poetic remembering the view from Vancouver’s SkyTrain. There was the usual teen drama—she unwittingly kissed a friend’s secret crush in the 11th grade, and the next day everyone in her class had conspicuously moved their desks away from hers—but there was nothing that even remotely compares to Gossip Girl’s baroque scheming and tabloid intrigues. As for performing, Alexander just thinks it suited her personality.

“I’m pretty outgoing. I don’t get shy,” she says.

She’s also never been afraid to try something new. She began playing guitar after seeing a friend playing and writing songs and thinking, I wanna do that! “I’d sign myself up for little singing competitions and things like that,” she recalls.

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One such competition earned her a spot playing Toronto Pride. She and her thengirlfriend had moved to the city and Alexander was focused on music. She and her sisters had appeared in commercials here and there as kids, and for a while she’d pursued acting as a young adult. But she was over it. “I just kinda switched lanes,” she explains. “That’s kinda how I like to do things. If I feel like doing something, I’m gonna do it.”

Her older sister was not over it. She insisted that Alexander needed to get back into acting and began sending her Instagram photos to agents in Toronto. “Which definitely probably isn’t what you’re supposed to do,” Alexander says with a laugh. “I don’t know that I’d recommend that.”

Except it worked out. She landed a role opposite Juliette Lewis and her future Gossip Girl co-star Emily Alyn Lind on Facebook Watch’s Sacred Lies. Then came Gossip Girl, and New York City, and photo shoots, and people recognizing her on the street. “Sometimes people are confused,” she says. “They’re like, ‘Are you…’ And I’m like, ‘Possibly? It depends on what you’re talking about. Did we meet in real life or is it something I did?’”

She says the newer, browner, queerer show is reflected in the fans she meets, which is gratifying because representation, diversity, and social consciousness are all incredibly important to Alexander. She’s part of a new generation of performers, many of whom have never even considered staying closeted for the sake of their careers. If anything, she insists, being queer has given her opportunities she may not have had otherwise—playing Pride for instance. It’s a hopeful, optimistic perspective in the context of a world that’s more dangerous than ever for queer people, and especially Black ones.

Still, she admits she’s felt pressure to “keep her private life private” and not make her work “all about being queer.” She bridles thinking about it. “What the hell? What the hell! I think people just don’t understand how steeped in heterosexuality our society is. So they literally feel like any time somebody deviates from that, they’re like, Oh it’s all about that! No no no no.

This society is all about heteronormativity.”

“It’s just so funny,” she continues, “when people are like, ‘Keep your private life private.’

I’m like, ‘Straight people don’t!’”

Jordan Alexander in September 2021: unafraid, unapologetic, and stirringly certain in her convictions and her identity. Unlike her influencer character, Alexander is less interested in projecting a perfectly curated version of herself than she is with connecting with people—authentically. “I know who I am. And if people don’t understand that, or if they get a different version of me, I think that’s OK,” she explains. “I don’t really worry too much about that.”

By the time the final six episodes of Gossip Girl’s first season premiere in November, Alexander will have left New York. She’s heading back to Canada, eager to reconnect with family and friends after navigating the past whirlwind year more–or-less on her own.

She plans to spend time with her grandparents, to go camping with her girlfriend, model Shane Homan, and to go see movies with her sister. She’s got an album’s worth of new demos she needs to figure out what to do with. She mentions a recent audition, so it’s possible there will be more acting roles on the horizon. (There certainly will be more Gossip Girl. HBO Max has announced they’ve signed the show to a second season.)

Good things are out there. Alexander knows from personal experience. She’s spoken before about “manifesting” her breakthrough role on Gossip Girl, by which she simply means that she stopped beating herself up over small failures. She made herself aware of toxic selfdoubt and made an effort to recalibrate. It’s a process she recommends for anyone.

“I want other people, if they’re interested or if it’s something that resonates, to do this,” she says. She started telling herself that she could do things, she does deserve good fortune. Call it affirmations. Call it improved self-esteem.

“It wasn’t like I was specifically like, I want this acting role. I moreso felt like, I am open to goodness, whether that be a kind stranger on the street or whatever. I’m believing in that. I believe in goodness for my life. So it must have been that!”

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Hair by Dana Boyer. Makeup

by Ernest Robinson. Manicure

by Rita Remark.

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MODEL CITIZEN

The supermodel and artist finds hope, inspiration, and-yes-a way to keep smiling 25 years after her first breakthrough and adds designer to her resume with a new collection for Weekend MaxMara.

BY MAGGIE KIM PHOTOGRAPHY BY COLUMBINE GOLDSMITH STYLING BY EMILY MAZUR

A

lek Wek is celebrating. In Los Angeles for Labor Day weekend for a “top secret project” and to talk about her signature capsule collection with Weekend Max Mara—A.W.orld by Alek Wek—the South Sudan-born, New York-based supermodel brims with the unexpected joy of having a luxurious few days all to herself.

“Before this trip, I said I’m going to take care of myself, go to LA for the weekend,” Wek trills over the phone to me from her West Hollywood hotel. Her British-meets-Brooklyn accent is posh and party in equal measure, lifting into laughter more often than not throughout our conversation. “Usually, I’m here for a day for a job and I’m out. Tonight, I’m wearing the belt I designed from the collection and I’m meeting my friends.”

She takes a breath and jokes, “Maybe I’m not supposed to wear it out yet? I hope they don’t sue me!”

Of course they won’t. In fact, I later spy her jubilant sortie in her Instagram stories, said belt tied around a bright yellow floral dress, her smile wide and winsome. (Best #ad ever.)

Wek’s joie de vivre is palpable, an exuberance that’s permeated her revolutionary career that spans a remarkable quarter of a century. She was the first Black bride for Chanel haute couture, and that irresistible smile has illuminated countless magazine covers when Black models, especially ones with skin as dark as hers, weren’t considered sellable. Yet for all of Wek’s unassailable beauty and vivacity—bare necessities for success in her industry—the icon has an unexpected confession: “People don’t understand that I’m quite shy. Don’t touch me. Don’t stand next to me.”

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“I’m an artist at heart before I was a supermodel,” she notes.

That artistry was first explored at the London College of Fashion, where Wek was studying fashion business and technology before she was scouted.

Her first model booking was for Tina Turner’s 1995 GoldenEye music video, her arresting features in nascent form, still a teenager with apple cheeks and colt-like legs that would soon grace every important designer runway for the next two decades: Ralph Lauren, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen. While Wek aptly chose modeling over art (“I had a teacher who told me I could do whatever I want. To have people like this in your life!”), painting became her hobby as her career took off. The art she created has now been used as prints for A.W.orld.

“My new motto is: Art is a language for everything,” Wek tells me. “This collection with Weekend Max Mara is so personal on so many levels.

The prints are the actual lifeline from the palm of my hand. The earth colors were inspired from a movie I did in Morocco [The Four Feathers with Heath Ledger].”

Striped knits from the collection mirror the South Sudanese flag: red for the bloodshed of the civil war, black for the people, green for the land, yellow for the sun, blue for the Nile, and white for peace. “I don’t even have to explain,” Wek says almost defiantly.

“This is my story. And I’m glad it’s happening at this time.”

“This time” could mean post-lockdown or it could mean 2021’s intersection of dissension, representation, and affirmation. Then again, Wek was fracturing the diversity frontlines long before it became an inexorable movement and moment.

It seems absurd to talk about representation with a woman whose very existence—and appearance on Elle magazine’s 1997 cover as its first African model—instantly changed perceptions of beauty, selflove, and self-acceptance for everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Lupita Nyong’o. Wek has lived the shift over the past 25 years: from being just a face and a body—an outlier one, at that—to being recognized for the entirety of who she is.

“I was at a job once and I overheard the editors and other models saying about me, ‘Oh she’s just rice and peas,’” she recounts with a mixture of humor and irritation. Microagressions spare no one, not even supermodels, but the nonchalant racism remains stunningly cruel. “Fashion celebrated the way I looked and not how I felt, so I always felt like something was missing. Hollywood was the same way. There are really mean people out there. But with this collection, people I never thought would celebrate me are celebrating me and how I feel. It’s not just rice and peas!”

(Later, Wek and I discuss how much we love rice and peas and our mutual addiction to New York Times Cooking: “It’s absolutely brilliant!”)

More than anything, the A.W.orld collection represents coming full circle—a coming home, even—for Wek. She worked on the designs over Zoom during the lockdown in New York while reflecting on what it means to be human, the universal experience that connects us all. “Humanity is so essential. It’s good to be human. It’s good to be present,” she says. “We need to celebrate that and if you couldn’t learn that from the pandemic, then you missed the point. You’re just fighting a war you can’t win.”

GRAZIA USA

The Row shirt, $2,250, jacket, $3,590, pants, $2,450, therow.com; CELINE by Hedi Slimane belt, $380, celine.com; Tiffany & Co. Knot earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, $2,800, Tiffany Knot Double Row ring in yellow gold with diamonds, $5,200, Tiffany Knot ring in yellow gold with diamonds, $1,700, tiffany.com.

Weekend FALL 2021Max Mara cape, $945, us.weekendmaxmara. com; Proenza Schouler top, $990, skirt, $890, proenzaschouler.com; Tiffany & Co. Knot earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, $2,800, Elsa Peretti cuff in 18k gold, $13,500, tiffany.com.

For Wek—who fled the Sudanese civil war for London when she was 14 years old after watching her beloved father die from an infected hip injury on their journey—sharing experiences and holding space for one another in grief, tragedy, and happiness is what moves her now. She’s certainly had her fair share of all three.

“I’ve never shared this before, but when my brother committed suicide in 2008, it completely changed the way I thought about things,” she reveals, describing for the first time the death of one of her eight siblings. “No one should have to feel isolated that way. We need to help and embrace each other.

We can make each other stronger.”

Wek arcs toward joy, even in the aftermath of unimaginable loss. “I was daddy’s little girl and because of that, I never have to look at another man because I was so loved by my father,” she admits. “He 152

She’s a pro for a reason. Alek Wek strikes a pose behind the scenes in our exclusive behindthe-scenes videowith one quick scan of your phone.

is my angel.” Somehow, this reveals more about Wek than anything else. The solidity and safety of a father’s encompassing love…how it must have primed her for a heroine’s journey.

Wek’s father instilled confidence and a strong work ethic in his daughter. “He told me, ‘When you go in there, just do your job. Don’t let them come after your eggs because then they’ll come after your chickens,’” laughs Wek. She is adamant about personal accountability, especially in the midst of COVID-19: “This is the time where you have to do the work: wash your hands, wear your mask. Take responsibility for your place in the world.”

As a refugee who grew up without running water and who reached the rarified stratosphere of supermodels, Wek takes her place in the world seriously. She serves as a Good Will Ambassador to

the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, but says she prefers to play a role in the arts rather than politics, which lends another layer of meaning to her clothing collection. “I went back to Sudan two times after the peace agreement and now we’re independent,” Wek explains. “I want every young person to know it’s all possible. My little nieces I used to babysit and who are now taller than me, this collection is for them. We can all share it and we can all wear it. The people deserve it.”

That generosity and compassion extend to a young homeless woman Wek crossed paths with on this trip that has brought her to LA. “The night before, I saw her sprawled out on the sidewalk. Los Angeles is not like New York. Seeing the homeless here is humbling,” she tells me. “Today I saw her walking by and I was so happy to see her in a different state that I had to speak to her. She was a beautiful girl in her early 20s from Haiti, just gorgeous. It’s the morning and I’m having my chai latte and taking my iron pills, the hotel security is telling me I’m fabulous, but I know that I could be that person on the street. To me, that’s where humanity comes in.”

Wek’s personal history means she has a profound understanding of the razored line that separates the favored from the forlorn. “In New York, it’s crazy,” she says. “Nobody appreciates how fortunate we are.

It’s just about competition and I can’t take it. I just want to nest and cook!”

Nesting has to wait as New York Fashion Week looms and A.W.orld by Alek Wek gets dropped into the public consciousness. The supermodelturned-designer has been showing her latest clothing sketches to Sharon Stone while still trying to impress her mother. “For her, I’m not really that successful.

She’s had nine children so her life is very different,” says a bemused Wek. “My mother’s the one who taught me to knit and she always reminds me that I can’t speak Dinka [the language of Wek’s ethnic group]. But I’m in a good place. I’m so humbled and touched by all of this. I’m not the smartest cookie, but there’s still excitement about my work.”

This weekend, though, is all about relishing her time in Los Angeles, and she’s grateful when I tell her she deserves to let loose and enjoy herself. “Thank you,” she says with sincere grace. “I want to embrace people, embrace humanity, embrace art. I want to embrace you! This is cloud nine for me.”

GRAZIA USA

Marc Jacobs dress, $2,400, platforms, price upon request, bergdorfgoodman.com; Tiffany & Co. Knot earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, $2,800, tiffany.com.

CELINE by Hedi Slimane sweater, $1,050, celine.com; Max Mara skirt, $555, us.weekendmaxmara.com; Tiffany & Co. Knot earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, $2,800, Elsa Peretti cuff in 18k gold, $13,500, tiffany.com.

The Row dress, $5,750, therow.com; Tiffany & Co. Knot earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, $2,800, Tiffany Knot Double Row ring in yellow gold with diamonds, $5,200, Tiffany Knot ring in yellow gold with diamonds, $1,700, Elsa Peretti cuff in 18k gold, $13,500, tiffany.com.

Louis Vuitton pullover, price upon request, louisvuitton.com; Proenza Schouler slippers, $750, proenzaschouler.com; Tiffany & Co. Elsa Peretti cuff in 18k gold, $13,500, tiffany.com.

Weekend Max Mara top, $395, us.weekendmaxmara.com; The Row pants, $2,450, therow.com; CELINE by Hedi Slimane belt, $380, celine.com; Tiffany & Co. Knot earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, $2,800, tiffany.com.

JW Anderson dress, price upon request, jwanderson.com; LOEWE loafers, $950, loewe.com; Tiffany & Co. Knot earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, $2,800, tiffany.com.

Marni sweater, $1,050, relish.com; skirt, $850, bergdorfgoodman.com.

Kwaidan Editions top, $855, ssense.com; Tiffany & Co. Tiffany Knot Double Row necklace in yellow gold with diamonds, $29,000, tiffany.com.

Peter Do sweater, $1,300, pants and belt, $1,100, luisaviaroma.com; scarf, price upon request, nolmau. com; LOEWE loafers, $950, loewe.com; Tiffany & Co. Knot earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, $2,800, tiffany.com.

Hair by Ro Morgan.

Makeup by Olivia Barad. Manicure by Rita Remark.

Eau de

Structured tailoring and vibrant color meet at the heady lavender plateau in Provence.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL MOREL STYLING BY ANNA CASTAN

Alexander McQueen dress, $4,990, alexandermcqueen.com; Tory Burch jacket, $398, toryburch.com.

Lavende

Alexander McQueen dress, $4,990, alexandermcqueen.com.

Thebe Magugu dress, $2,040, pants, $1,195, apron, $475, hat, price upon request, bergdorfgoodman.com.

Alaïa bra, $3,990, skirt, $2,708, available at select Alaïa boutiques.

Louis Vuitton pullover, price upon request, skirt, $5,200, louisvuitton.com.

Motoguo jacket, shorts, and top, prices upon request.

Hermès dress, $1,1700, necklace, price upon request, available at select Hermès boutiques and hermes.com; Opposite: Salvatore Ferragamo heels, $6,500, ferragamo. com; Tights, stylist’s own.

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Nadya Dzyak, price upon request, nadyadzyak.com.

Givenchy shirt, $890, pants, $1,090, givenchy.com; GUCCI hat, $850, gucci. com; Ann Demeulemeester dress, price upon request, anndemeulemeester.com; Jakub Jasinski Hat, price upon request.

Dior shirt, price upon request, coat, $5,500, top, $2,600, pants, $1,750, available at Dior boutiques nationwide.

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Kolor coat, price upon request, kolor.jp; Ronald van der Kemp coat, price upon request, ronaldvanderkemp.com.

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Hermès sweater, $1,400, available at select Hermès boutiques and hermes.com; Abel El Tayeb hats, prices upon request; Opposite: Ann Demeulemeester dress, price upon request, anndemeulemeester.com; Jakub Jasinski Hat, price upon request.

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Hermès dress, $8,000, available at select Hermès boutiques and hermes.com.

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Tory Burch shirt, price upon request, toryburch.com.

Nina Ricci jacket, price upon request, pants, $620, hat, $220, farfetch.com; Opposite: Givenchy ring, $350, givenchy.com.

CHANEL jacket, price upon request, pumps, $1,200, available at select CHANEL boutiques.

Salvatore Ferragamo coat, $6,500, ferragamo.com; Abel El Tayeb hat, price upon request.

Salvatore Ferragamo dress, $2,400, ferragamo. com. Hair by Jean-LUC Amarin. Makeup by Alisonn Fenouk. Digital Assistant, Julien Devaullier. Fashion Assistant, Sarah Gaouar.

Models, Carol, Calista, and Lu for W360management.

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T IN PARIS Far from home with Champagne in hand, the rules of normal life do not apply.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL MOREL STYLING BY ANNA CASTAN

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Mugler dress, $1,990, glove, price upon request, mugler. fr; Opposite: Kimhekim blazer and pants, price upon request, kimhekim.com; Ann Demeulemeester shoes, $981, anndemeulemeester.com.

Tom Ford dress, $2,450, tomford.com.

David Koma dress, $2,450, davidkoma. com; Opposite: Givenchy jumpsuit, $1,030, givenchy.com.

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Givenchy jumpsuit, $1,030, shoes, $1,095, givenchy.com.

Ferragamo catsuit, $2,800, ferragamo.com.

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CHANEL top, $1,050, shirt, price upon request, boots, $2,125, available at select CHANEL boutiques.

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Tom Ford dress, $2,450, tomford.com; Opposite: Laruicci dress, price upon request; Zara pumps, price upon request, zara.com.

Mugler dress, $1,990, glove, price upon request, mugler.fr.

Balenciaga dress and boots, price upon request, balenciaga.com.

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Laruicci bodysuit, price upon request; Zara boots, price upon request, zara.com. Creative Direction by Dané Stojanovic.

Hair by Jean-LUC Amarin.

Makeup by Ossiel Ramos.

Model, Mathilda Gvarliani for Next Management.

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J’ADORE

BROOKLYN

The Brooklyn Museum in New York pens a love letter to Dior with a breathtaking new exhibit.

BY KEVIN SESSUMS

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C

hristian Dior possessed a smooth face, where only the brown eyes mused,” claimed Françoise Giroud, who was the editor of Elle in France from 1946 until 1953, when she and Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber founded the newsmagazine L’Express. “Dior didn’t undress you with his eyes; he dressed you.”

Another iconic lady of France is the aristocratic designer Jacqueline de Ribes, who has been on the International Best Dressed List since 1962, when she was inducted into its Hall of Fame. One of Dior’s most devoted clients, she told Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni for her 2014 book, Monsieur Dior: Once Upon a Time, “The first thing we tried on was the inner structure, because at Dior, the inner structure was more important than anything … They were made of double thickness tulle and had whale bones. At the back, there were only hooks so you really needed a lady’s maid or a nimble-fingered husband.”

The critical gaze and a thoughtful inner structure are also the two buttresses of artful beauty on which a museum show is built. Its visual narrative leads you forward in subtle, studious, and even at times elegant ways—as it is now at the Brooklyn Museum, with the exhibit Dior: Designer of Dreams. In such shows, an accrued grace often grapples with academic rigor in a dance that turns into an internal dialogue with the viewer. One sees the beauty presented in a museum, but if the design of the exhibition is successful, it disappears into it—much like the fabric of a garment was disappeared into its structural beauty when it was first being folded and draped and transformed by the harboring hands of Dior, where Paris came to anchor itself once more with some self-respect and pride in the first years following World War II and the occupation by German forces.

Too much to ask of a fashion designer? Not Dior, whose careful demureness disguised just as carefully a determined, keenly constructed ambition. Indeed, his ambition was as structural and designed—take a look at his detailed, expansive 1952 business plan—as the garments that served to garner it.

A large part of his demanding respect for France in the wider world is captured in the Brooklyn Museum’s latest iteration of the Dior retrospectives that have already been seen in London, Paris, and Shanghai. This version focuses on Dior’s presence in America and how he conquered our country with a combination of talent and tenacity—and a lot of purposeful French charm. Dior was, in fact, the first fashion designer to appear on the cover of Time, the most American of magazines. It was for its March 4, 1957, issue—he would die seven months later—and the cover story was both a paean and snide bit of snob-bashing that was itself snobbish in its overly ironic tone—one that limned even its lede—as it pointedly included an array of Americans and their slavish love of the designer: “The swank Ritz cocktail lounge and the grave Plaza Athénée bar were shrill with the sound of American females emitting the ritual

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‘IN DIOR’S STYLE, THERE IS A LOT ABOUT THE THEATRICAL AND THE FACT THAT YOU CAN REINVENT YOUR LIFE. YOU REINVENT YOURSELF ON AN EVERYDAY BASIS.’

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cries of greeting as they hailed each other from divan to divan. In the lush Victorian plush of Maxim’s, stumpy men from Manhattan’s Seventh Avenue sat heavily, resting weary feet.”

Dior famously favored grays and pinks in his collections because of how pleasingly they complimented his feminine ideal but the use of the latter hue to describe him in the story that millions of Americans at the time read was not meant as a compliment, one presumes, as the writer toward the end of the lede described him as “a plump, pink, innocent-looking son of a fertilizer manufacturer.”

One thing about America: We love to build you up so we can bring you back down to size. Then, with our love of narratives about redemption, we build you back up once again—as the Brooklyn show heralding the American aspects of Dior’s rise after WWII attests. We assembled this country on aspiration but have always thought of longing—which Dior innately understood and translated into his designs—as a kind of weakness and have looked suspiciously, even woefully, at anyone who considered it a strength.

Architecture has been used to describe Dior’s talent for structuring a garment, but he also understood the female body much as a dancer or choreographer does; he knew how to elongate longing along the lines of a woman’s figure and give it motion. He translated the abstract concepts of longing and beauty—even happiness—into the actualities of his “New Look” hemlines, cinched waists, blossoming skirts, a bit more bosom, softer shoulders, and the very feel of his fabrics. His vaunted shyness was really just a cover for his refusal to shudder at his knowledge of his own artistic power. “Ballet is woman,” Balanchine famously declared. Dior was Balanchine with a bolt of fabric and a balance sheet.

“Dior was, yes, very modest. But what I find interesting about his character is that he was on one hand an artist and then on the other hand a businessman—which is quite rare still—and he took each of those two sides as seriously as the other,” Florence Müller tells Grazia USA. Müller, the Avenir Foundation Curator of Textile Art and Fashion at the Denver GRAZIA USA

‘HE WAS ON ONE HAND AN ARTIST AND THEN ON THE OTHER HAND A BUSINESSMAN—WHICH IS QUITE RARE STILL—AND HE TOOK EACH OF THOSE TWO SIDES AS SERIOUSLY AS THE OTHER.’ 215

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Art Museum, which hosted an earlier version of the Dior exhibition, has been considered a leading Dior scholar since 1987, when she mounted a show about him at the Louvre (where she was then director and curator of Union Francaise des Arts du Costume at the Musée des Arts de la Mode). She has curated this latest exhibition along with the Brooklyn Museum’s Director of Exhibition Design, Matthew Yokobosky.

“When you read his memoir, it is very touching how he describes when he arrived in New York and suddenly he is onstage and unprepared and doesn’t speak English,” she continues. “Suddenly he remembers his early years in the theatre and making costumes and he says to himself, ‘OK, I will play the fashionable couturier.’ In Dior’s style, there is a lot about the theatrical and the fact that you can reinvent your life. You reinvent yourself on an everyday basis. And you create effects with a costume and presence …

“The first section of the Brooklyn exhibition is celebrating Dior in New York,” Müller says, describing the show that has other differences with the earlier retrospectives, including a room filled with the work of American fashion photographers and the Brooklyn Museum’s central atrium of the Beaux-Arts Court being redesigned as an enchanted garden to highlight Dior’s love of gardening and the inspiration of flowers in his work.

“A very important element of the show is that New York was the fashion heart of the conquest of the world, which was very new back then,” Müller continues. “There were many couturiers who did attempt to explore America, but on the scale of Christian Dior there was no other example. It was through the house he opened in New York. It was set in tune with Paris, but also with this idea that American women had their own style, their own lifestyle. He really studied the country and his customers,” she says, mentioning as well the importance of Neiman Marcus in introducing him to America.

Some American women, however, did not welcome him and his luxuriously confining “New Look” after their experiencing a semblance of equality by working in “male” jobs during WWII and dressing in ways that freed them to do so. These newly empowered feminists pushed back against Dior and those who championed him—which was ironic for a man who depended so much on the talents and guidance of a coterie of close female colleagues in his company, including his muse, Mizza Bricard, whose love of leopard was paid homage in the Bar Suit’s jacket for the Fall/Winter 2021 collection. There was even a group in America—back in 1947 when the “New Look” arrived—that called itself “The Little Below the Knee Club,” with chapters across the country that rounded up the outrage in meetings and demonstrations and signed petitions against the designer.

“In terms of Dior and women and feminism, I think it is very interesting to look to today and Maria Grazia Chiuri,” the Brooklyn Museum’s Yokobosky tells me, mentioning the first female creative director at Dior, one who succeeded a lineup of men—Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, and Raf Simons—all of whom are highlighted in this latest exhibition.

“In Maria Grazia’s Spring 2020 collection, she collaborated with Judy Chicago, who did the iconic ‘Dinner Party,’ which is a feature of the Brooklyn Museum show,” he continued. “So, looking at the work of Maria Grazia we see how she brought the feminist narrative forward, especially with her first collection in which she included T-shirts that said ‘We Should All Be Feminist,’ quoting the writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. So, while Dior might not have been a feminist, he definitely was promoting the ideals of women as part of his practice.”

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‘THERE WERE MANY COUTURIERS WHO DID ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE AMERICA, BUT ON THE SCALE OF CHRISTIAN DIOR THERE WAS NO OTHER EXAMPLE.’

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Each time there is an iteration of this type of major fashion retrospective, about two-thirds of the dresses have not been exhibited before.

“This is the main difference with the Victoria & Albert exhibit and the one in Paris,” says Müller. “This is connected with the fragility of fabric. You can’t display for too long the fabric. Perhaps the stories are similar, but you have to change the way they are displayed. For example, the Marc Bohan section is expressed with dresses that have never been displayed before except for the dress that is an homage to Jackson Pollock.

This is a great thing about the Brooklyn show.”

The pristine state of so many of the garments displayed is because of the care of the Dior preservationists back in Paris—including Director of Dior Heritage Soizic Pfaff, who oversees a dozen archivists on her staff.

“The archive only really began when Mr. Arnault bought Christian Dior in the early 1980s, so it wasn’t until 40 years after the beginning of the company that it was started,” Pfaff has said. “What we are trying to do is work with museums and collectors and clients to create a complete inventory of every single garment around the world.”

Inside the archive—which was the project of Olivier Bialobos, Dior’s Vice President of Worldwide Communications—mannequins have been designed to fit the shape of each garment encasing them. There is a Dior library. Documents and original sketches by Dior and the fabulous ephemera of a fashion house are stored in boxes labeled carefully with calligraphy, each box the “trianon gris” color that Dior reinvented from the pearlized gray of the 19th century. It is the shade of gray that recurs within his collections and continues to be highlighted by the house today. “‘Dior brought that grey back and it was the best,’” Fraser-Cavasonni wrote in her book, using an archived quote from Grace Lady Dudley about Dior. “‘Both modest and luxurious, it set the tone of the house and actually summed up Dior’s character. … Humble and charming, he was totally unlike others in the fashion world.’” (A fashionable literary aside: Fraser-Cavasonni’s mother, Lady Antonia Fraser, was the English translator for Dior’s memoir.)

Dior, sounding like an archivist himself, wrote about care as the key to elegance in another of his books, The Little Dictionary of Fashion: “I will only say now that elegance must be the right combination of distinction, naturalness, care and simplicity. Outside of this, believe me, there is no elegance. Only pretension. Elegance is not dependent on money. Of the four things I have mentioned above, the most important of all is care.

Care in choosing your clothes. Care in wearing them. Care in keeping them.”

Ultimately, the arc of Dior’s life from young gallerist showing avant-garde art in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s—he didn’t become a designer until he was in his forties—to his being the subject of museum exhibitions around the world is as sumptuous in its symmetry as a Dior dress itself.

“One of the quotes that was important to me from Dior was that while fashion was an ephemeral art, he said for himself it was a means of self-expression that was equivalent to architecture or painting,” says Yokobosky. “When Florence and I were working on the 1950s New York section, I started thinking of other artists in our collection in Brooklyn who were active at the same time and perhaps thinking about shapes and silhouettes and color. So, in the 1950s section we’ve included a painting

by Ad Reinhardt, a black sculpture by Louise Nevelson, and a folding screen by Ray and Charles Eames. I think if you look at the artists who were working contemporaneously with Dior at the time, you really do feel that fashion isn’t necessarily an ephemeral art. It’s an art that can stand in conversation with other kinds of art from that time.”

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THE GREAT COMPRESSION

Not content with inventing democracy and the foundation of modern medicine, the Greeks have also bequeathed us the word for diamond, derived from adamas meaning “invincible,” both for its strength and purported powers of protection. Centuries later as the Greek statues crumbled, the aura around diamonds endured, bestowing the wearer with its qualities of purity and magnificence, leading monarchs to incorporate them not only into regalia and jewelry; but also, to pass them to heirs and between enemies and allies as symbols of sovereignty and offerings of peace. Herewith, an offering of beauty.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL MOREL

Tiffany & Co. Tiffany Jewel Box necklace in Yellow Gold with Aquamarines, $60,000, tiffany.com.

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Piaget Sunlight ring, $5,700, piaget.com.

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Tiffany & Co. Tiffany Jewel Box ring in Yellow Gold with a Tanzanite, $12,000, tiffany.com.

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Messika Rose Gold Diamond bracelet, $12,600, messika.com.

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Giorgio Visconti Pink Gold and Diamond ring, shop similar at giorgiovisconti.it.

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Bvlgari High Jewelry Serpenti bracelet in White Gold with Round Brilliant Cut Diamonds and 2 two Pear- Shaped Diamonds, price upon request, 1-800-BVLGARI. Creative Direction by Marne Schwartz and Dané Stojanovic.

Versace dress, $3,595, earrings, $595, headscarf, price upon request, versace.com.

A MATTER OF TASTE

Fellini’s dolce vita makes a return in this tasteful display of style in Saint Tropez.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PHILLIP VOGELENZANG STYLING BY ANNA CASTAN

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Valentino dress, $4,900, boots, $980, available at Valentino boutiques.

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Valentino dress, price upon request, boots, $980, available at Valentino boutiques.

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Alberta Ferretti jumpsuit, $1,295, hat, price upon request, gloves, price upon request, earrings, $625, bracelet, $750, shoes, price upon request, saksfifthavenue.com.

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Ermanno Scervino dress, price upon request, ermannoscervino. com; GUCCI necklace, $2,150, nose ring worn as earring, $580, gucci.com.

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Moschino blouse, $795, top, $1,595, pants, $795, jacket, $1,160, saksfifthavenue.com.

Alberta Ferretti gown, $11,925, earrings, price upon request, bracelet, price upon request, headscarf, price upon request, saksfifthavenue.com.

Dolce & Gabbana jacket, $3, 495, available at select Dolce & Gabbana boutiques

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Ermanno Scervino dress and boots, price upon request, ermannoscervino. com; GUCCI necklace, $2,150, gucci.com.

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GUCCI dress, $3,800, feather muffs, $1,913, available in select GUCCI boutiques.

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Missoni dress, $2,560, missoni.com.

Roberto Cavalli bodysuit, $589, skirt, $4,752, robertocavalli.com.

Marni coat, $2,450, pants, $690, leg warmers, $230, marni.com, scarf, $240, dpto.la, shoes, $750, saksfifthavenue.com.

Emporio Armani dress, $1,795, pants, $925, boots, price upon request, armani.com.

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Dolce & Gabbana jacket, $3,495, shorts, $695, available at select Dolce & Gabbana boutiques; Opposite: Ermanno Scervino dress, price upon request, ermannoscervino.com.

GUCCI nose ring worn as earring, $580, necklace, $2,150, gucci.com.

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Dolce & Gabbana jacket, $2,545, available at select Dolce & Gabbana boutiques.

Luisa Spagnoli jumpsuit, $990, luisaspagnoli.it.

Blumarine dress, $923, blumarine.com.

Creative Direction by Marne Schwartz & Dané Stojanovic. Digital Tech, Guus Schoth. Assistant, Giovanni DI Palma.

Hair by Nicholas James. Makeup

by Letizia Carnevale. Model, Neus Bermejo for View Management.

FALL 2021

F U T U R E

DEFINING THE

Fashion superstars have united like never before in support of America’s fashion industry.

BY TAYLOR HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY BY MENELIK PURYEAR STYLING BY DAVID THIELEBEULE

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Jason Wu Collection dress, $1,695, jasonwustudio.com; Shoes, her own.

T

he shows will go on.

It’s the decree of the IMG Alliance, an initiative banding together 11 American designers in a collective pledge to show at New York Fashion Week for the next three seasons. “We’re rebuilding the bedrock of New York Fashion Week,” Noah Kozlowski, director of designer relations for IMG, tells Grazia USA.

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“In partnering with these designers through 2022, we’re safely demonstrating the resilience and artistry of American fashion on a global stage.”

Pre-pandemic, there were countless conversations of a different nature: regarding the relevance and ROI of the shows, the breakneck pace of the fashion calendar, the implications—environmental and otherwise— of a six-collections-per-year output, the sheer

volume of stuff created in the name of newness.

Then, the pandemic hit and an industry often pushed into hyperspeed was stopped dead in its tracks.

Nearly two years later, we’re picking up speed, but how it resumes in earnest remains to be seen. For insight, we spoke with those who have their eyes on the horizon: six designers taking part in fashion’s great Reconstruction.

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Sasha Pivovarova wearing Jason Wu Collection dress, $5,295, available at Saks Fifth Avenue; Jason Wu. Hair by Tsuki. Makeup by Karan Franjola. Prop styling by Carrie Ashley Hill.

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JASON

WU

A new home and a new pace provide new inspiration, while forever muse Sasha Pivovarova continues to shine bright.

G

razia USA: What was the experience of the pandemic like for you?

JASON: In the past year, I’ve had to go back to my roots. I had to be much more hands-on. It was really nice, actually. It reminded me of when I started in fashion in 2007. It was like, just me.

I’m lucky now to have a team around me now, but I think this past year has really taught us to do more with less. And for me, it was very therapeutic. I really enjoyed getting scrappy again and just getting my hands dirty.

In some ways, I would say 2020 and 2021, I felt like I was in startup mode again.

G: You showed last September, again in February, and this September. Why did you feel it was important to have live, inperson shows?

JASON: We all felt like it was very important for New York Fashion Week to continue to exist. And even though there were very few people showing the last two seasons, it was really important for us to keep the excitement of American fashion alive.

G: How did you stimulate yourself creatively when we were in lockdown?

JASON: I started finding inspiration in other things. I started cooking a lot. I actually cooked every single day for a

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period of time. And I’ve always loved it, but I almost never have three or four hours at night to make something. But it was definitely a creative outlet. And I would just do Houseparty every night when I was cooking.

I remember Ivan Bart from IMG was calling me on it and then I invited Carolyn Murphy to join and I just leave the phone on and cook. It was like a 2020 dinner party.

I also found myself on social media more. I’m collaborating with this artist Cara Marie Piazza this season after I found her work on Instagram. She dyes fabric using natural dyes and flowers. And I found her work to be amazing. So, it’s funny how many untraditional ways we can find inspiration when you can’t travel or go to museums, or even go to the Strand. I just moved and the Strand is around the corner from my house and I just love it. But for a period of time it was closed, so it goes to show that there’s inspiration to be had anywhere if you can think outside the box.

G: Have you noticed women dressing differently now than they did pre-pandemic? Do you think there’s a greater appreciation for getting dressed up?

JASON: I think people appreciate quality versus quantity more than ever. In the

beginning of the pandemic, we were all doing the same thing. A lot of people did home improvement, a lot of people cleaned out their closet and really reevaluated what they need and what they don’t.

And at a time when we were living in a world where there was a shortage of toilet paper and hand sanitizer, it really does make you appreciate living with less. And so I think going forward it’s about more thoughtful dressing and buying things that mean more to the customer than something that’s just a novelty for a season. I think it’s going to be a value that’s being renewed now more than ever.

G: Do you think the fast pace of fashion is a thing of the past?

JASON: I’ve never really been a designer who made trenddriven clothes, clothes of the season. My ethos has always been about timelessness and having something that could stand the test of time. And to me, sometimes fashion goes too quickly, especially now when there’s a new trend almost every day. It’s not like the way it was, where there’s like one trend a season. Now it’s a much more noisy world today through social media. And I think being able to do things on your own terms and at your own speed and having integrity is more important than ever before.

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Dasha Denisenko wearing Altuzarra jacket, $2,495, pants, $1,595, sandals, $695, altuzarra.com; Joseph Altuzarra. Hair by Tsuki. Makeup

by Walter Obal. Prop styling by Carrie Ashley Hill.

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JOSEPH

ALTUZARRA

The beloved line is back in New York after a sojourn in Paris—but it’s hardly back to business as usual.

G

razia: How has this imposed break affected your creative process over the last two

years?

JOSEPH: I wanted to approach it as a break from how we used to do things and think very intentionally and purposefully about the production and the experience and the emotion we were trying to convey. So a lot of the production elements are much more thoughtful—even for music, where we’re working with an original composer as opposed to kind of using existing music, and the invitation, we worked with an artist to create something meaningful. So it’s taken more time and we started a lot earlier than we normally would.

G: Has that slower, more intentional approach translated to your design process?

JOSEPH: Definitely. I think the hard thing about being a designer is that you need to be creative, but on a very strict timeline.

There’s not a lot of professions with those parameters, where you have to be incredibly creative in very little time, and have to deliver by a certain date and then you’re reviewed on it and you gauge the financial success of it and then start it all over again.

I think because we’d never had a break, we never really took the time to look back or take

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a moment to pause and think about the trajectory and where we want to go. So taking this time to think about our goals has really affected the design process—what I design and how I design and how I think about the collection.

It’s definitely had an impact.

G: Much has been made about an anticipated revival of glamour and this idea that women want to dress up again. Your thoughts?

JOSEPH: Totally. We have less contact with people now, so when we do, we really want to make an impression. You really want to make those sartorial decisions or sartorial moments count and be really purposeful.

I also really think that there’s going to be much more kind of fracturing as well. There are going to be people who probably will never go into an office again, and whose habits of dress are really going to change a lot. What’s really happened during the pandemic is that the optionalities have sort of multiplied. The ways of living your life and how you express it though dress have multiplied exponentially. And as a designer, I don’t think that I’m ever going to be able to speak to everyone and everyone’s way of dressing. I think successful designers going forward are really going to have to have a niche, specific vision.

G: You showed in Paris last

season, and you returned for Fashion Week in New York this fall. Tell me about that decision.

JOSEPH: I decided pretty early on during our time in the pandemic that I wanted to come back to New York. Partially, it was a personal decision. It’s where I live. It’s where my team is. I’m very attached to New York. Especially during this time, everyone was so down on New York that I just felt like, “No, actually New York is going to buck up and I want to be a small part of the reinvention of New York and NYFW.” G: What do you make of New York now, in its current state?

JOSEPH: When I first moved to New York, what was so magical about it was this raw, unfiltered, unapologetic energy that permeated the city. That’s something that I really felt again over the summer, this banding together and this feeling that there are no rules.

Altuzarra jacket, $2,195, pants, $1,195, altuzarra.com.

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Sergio Hudson; Aurora James wearing Sergio Hudson dress, $895, Sergio Hudson x Brother Vellies boots, $1,200, sergiohudson.com; Hair by Michael David Warren. Makeup by Tami El Sombati. Prop styling by Enoch Choi.

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SERGIO

HUDSON

After dressing JLo, Rihanna, Kamala, and Michelle (yes, Obama), the LA-based designer is finally writing his own story, with friend Aurora James by his side.

G

razia USA: How are you?

SERGIO: Tired!

G: I appreciate your honesty.

SERGIO: You know what? I told my boyfriend last night, I said, “I’ve been complaining mentally because I don’t allow myself to complain out of my mouth.”

But then I sat back and thought, “You know what? You need to stop complaining because two years ago you would’ve been dying to have the problems that you have now.”

G: How has the pandemic shifted your perspective?

SERGIO: I think the pandemic offered to fashion an opportunity for us to write our own story and to allow our business to run how we want our business to run—how you deliver, how you produce your collections, when you produce your collections. I think that’s opened the door for people to be more allowed to do that.

G: In some ways, fashion is a very traditional business, but it’s filled with forward-thinkers.

SERGIO: Right, and it’s never a perfect science. We talked during COVID and said, “Oh, we’re not going to push for six collections a year anymore.” Now we’re right back at pushing for six collections again. But at least we feel we’re more empowered now

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to write our own stories going forward.

G: Was it difficult to get inspired during the pandemic?

SERGIO: No, I think for me it didn’t stifle my creativity. It actually evoked it. I feel like when you’re a creative person, solitude invokes creativity. At least for me it does. And the crazy things I that I had on inspiration for the collection that kind of shifted after we did Michelle Obama [attending the 2021 inauguration]. We had a great response, so it was like, OK, this is what people want from me. So I had to kind of infuse a lot more dressy pieces into the collection than I originally had.

G: Are you feeling that women want to get dressed up again?

SERGIO: I feel like women are tired of wearing pajamas. Even if they’re going to sit at home, they’re going to get dressed because they’re tired of looking sloppy. And I think women are craving some type of experience. I have friends who dress up exceptionally well to go to a basic dinner.

G: Why was showing in person at NYFW important?

SERGIO: I think the live show experience is

so different because... it’s like the difference between going to church and watching church on TV. You can’t feel the experience as well as you do when you’re there and you’re feeling the energy and the excitement.

And I mean, I remember coming up in design school in the early 2000s; it was like the golden age of fashion. There was so much money in fashion and the shows were over the top. You could tell when you watched them. Every model at every show was like a supermodel. It was an era of decadence and that was when I was studying in school.

So when I watched shows, it inspired me like, “God, I can’t wait to do a show like that one day.”

Sergio Hudson bodysuit, $425, available at Bergdorf Goodman, and coat, $2,695, available at Neiman Marcus; Earrings, her own.

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Fernando Garcia; Laura Kim wears MONSE dress, $990, monse. com. Shoes and accessories, her own. Prop styling by Enoch Choi.

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LAURA KIM & FERNANDO GARCIA Running their own upstart line & the iconic Oscar de la Renta, Monse’s dynamic duo are tasting the fruits of success.

G

razia USA: Tell me about the mechanics of putting together a collection in a

pandemic.

LAURA: Fernando and I traveled a lot pre-pandemic, so we kind of already know how to work apart from each other.

And our team is very used to working overseas without physically meeting.

G: How did the pandemic hinder or help your inspiration?

FERNANDO: One silver lining for us was the ability to breathe after a very travel-crazed and hectic five years doing both brands. LAURA: It was some very much-needed time. It allowed me to actually fall in love with what I do again, to fall in love with fashion like I did when I was 16. I also really loved having some time to myself. I’ve been working nonstop for the last 20 years!

FERNANDO: Same. Luckily, I invested in this Robert Stilin couch right before the pandemic hit. It is truly my favorite thing in the world. I have been basically living on it, entertaining my close friends and working from home.

G: You were among the few designers who showed your Fall collection in person. Why? LAURA: It’s the experience, the music, the environment created by the guests, the movement of

GRAZIA USA

the clothes….

FERNANDO: The moment feels more real. Retouching and perfect lighting can sometimes take you away from reality. With a show, the music, the sound of the fabric moving… you belong to that moment and you form a stronger connection with the clothes.

G: From what you’ve noticed on the street, are people dressing differently than they did prepandemic? Are you?

LAURA: Speaking for myself, I am dying to dress up.

FERNANDO: Laura has never been more excited to wear clothes than in the past six months. LAURA: It’s true!

FERNANDO: I think there’s a real need to feel and look good after the year we’ve all experienced.

LAURA: I will say, I do go to the gym in bike shorts and a sports bra. And I will throw on a jacket and go to the office after. I would have never done that pre-pandemic.

G: What was the piece of clothing or footwear you found yourself wearing again and again in lockdown?

LAURA: APL sneakers.

FERNANDO: James Perse T-shirts.

G: How has the pandemic shifted your perspective in terms of your work?

LAURA: We’re more careful about what we spend, since the

future is so uncertain. We’re also really paying attention to the change in our client needs.

FERNANDO: Designing the same thing we used to two years ago feels like ten years ago now. Adapting to what people are connecting to today is very important. It’s constantly changing, and we need to keep up. As Oscar [de la Renta] would say, “You rest, you rust!”

G: Certainly, cadence and output are something everyone in the industry has rethought during this time. Is the breakneck pace of fashion a relic of the past?

LAURA: We’ve reduced the size of the collection—and I think we’ll keep it that way—but having multiple collections is so important. The clients want fresh products often. What we really need to address going forward is the markdown system.

G: Complete this sentence: the future of American fashion is…

FERNANDO: Evolving at a faster rate than ever before.

LAURA: Anything anyone can dream of. This country stands for freedom of expression.

G: Do you have any exciting plans for this fall? A holiday perhaps?

LAURA: No, we’re all work, work, work until Christmas.

FERNANDO: I guess that means I have to cancel my plans. No Disney World for me!

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Alexandra O’Neill wears Markarian dress, $1,495, markarian.com; Shoes, her own; Ama Elsesser holds Markarian dress, $1,975, markarian.com; Shoes, her own. Hair by Dhairius Thomas. Makeup by Christyna Kay. Prop Styling by Shane Klein.

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ALEXANDRA

O’NEILL

The Markarian designer is ready for a return to glamour—and rising star Ama Elsesser is helping her celebrate.

G

razia USA: Why did this fall feel like the right time to do your first show?

ALEXANDRA: We partnered with IMG this season, and having their support behind us has been crucial. It also felt like a natural trajectory to take. It’s been a very exciting year.

G: Producing a collection during a pandemic presents some unique challenges. What has been the most difficult aspect in that regard?

ALEXANDRA: It’s definitely difficult, but it’s a bit easier this year than obviously it was last [year]. We’ve learned how to do things differently. We did a lot of remote fittings. I was actually fitting looks on myself and Zooming with our pattern maker. Really a group effort here!

G: Have you found it difficult to find inspiration or incite creativity?

ALEXANDRA: Not really.

I mean, I do draw a lot of inspiration from traveling and obviously that hasn’t happened but I’ve always been inspired by the arts, books.... I love a good period piece. My grandmother was living with me, actually, when I started designing this collection and we were watching a lot of old movies together, so I was able to draw from that.

G: What is it that makes a live show special?

ALEXANDRA: I mean, purely

from a buying perspective, there’s definitely challenges in terms of really seeing what the clothing looks like: seeing how things fit on the body, how the fabric moves, what the print looks like in real life, how much something really sparkles, the texture of all the fabrics…. And a show gives you a sense of the mood of the season, too, that I don’t think you can capture in a photograph or a Zoom call.

G: Now, are you finding your customers ready for a return to glamour?

ALEXANDRA: We are. We’re very much so an occasionwear company, so during the pandemic when there were no occasions happening, we weren’t seeing a desire for this beautiful event-wear. But I would say over the past couple of months, there’s been a huge shift and people have been coming to us more and more for those special dresses. Women are looking forward to dressing up again and that’s definitely been reflected in our business.

G: Have you found that with yourself personally?

ALEXANDRA: I’ve always been like an all-ornothing girl. I’m either in jeans and a T-shirt, or I’m going all out in sequins.

When the pandemic first started, I made an effort

to put real clothing on every day and then I got a little bit lazy. My favorite thing to wear were these cute little Doen nightgowns. I love a flowy nightgown. The more grandma, the better.

G: Complete the sentence: The future of American fashion is...

ALEXANDRA: That’s hard but I really think it’s a slower and more intentional approach. We’re very much so a slow fashion brand, the opposite of fast fashion. We make beautifully crafted pieces that are meant to last and are made to order, and that works for us. But I really try to be thoughtful about what we’re putting out there and I think that this slower approach is really important to the future of fashion.

Ama Elsesser wears Markarian dress, shop similar at markarian.com; Belt, her own.

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Symone Lu wearing LaQuan Smith corset top, $425, skirt, $895, revolve.com; Gianvito Rossi pumps, shop similar at gianvitorossi.com; LaQuan Smith. Hair

by Mark Alan. Makeup by Walter Obal. Prop Styling by Shane Klein.

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LAQUAN

SMITH

The quintessentially “New York” designer reaches new heights —literally—with a show on the Empire State Building.

G

razia USA: Your showing at the Empire State Building was one of the highlights of NYFW. Tell me a little bit about that decision.

LAQUAN: As a native New Yorker, it’s always been a dream of mine to show at a historic New York landmark. The Empire State Building is so inspiring to me.

When you enter the lobby, you are met with incredible Art Deco design, from the tiling on the floor to the elevator doors to the moldings. It heavily inspired the direction of this collection. It’s a celebration of New York and New York fashion.

G: Tell me about the mechanics of putting together a collection in a pandemic.

LAQUAN: I’m very lucky that all of my manufacturing is based in New York, so when other brands couldn’t maintain production my team and I were still cranking out orders. The first few months of the pandemic were definitely a learning curve for us, with our team working from home and communicating over Zoom. It’s difficult. This is a very hands-on industry and I like to work very closely with my team, working side by side with them and ensuring every piece is made exactly how I would like it to be.

That being said, the health and safety of my team has always been my top priority and luckily, we

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were able to make it work.

G: How did solitude affect your design process?

LAQUAN: Initially when the pandemic hit, I found it hard to get into a creative state. I’m very visual and I find myself most inspired when I’m out in New York City, so being in isolation was definitely an obstacle.

G: You haven’t shown on a runway in a few seasons. Why did this fall feel like the right time to do a show?

LAQUAN: Once the pandemic hit, I knew I wanted SS22 to be the next live runway collection. I would consider myself somewhat of a perfectionist and I knew I wanted the show to have the same energy and impact that my shows in the past have had. The only way of ensuring that was to wait until I could have a live audience again and a full model cast.

G: Why do you think live, inperson shows are so important?

LAQUAN: In-person shows are

so important because a lot more goes into the collection than just the garments themselves. I like to think of the entire experience.

From when you step foot in the space, I like to create a tone or mood. And I use so many different fabrics in my collections with textures and details, seeing them in a flat image is no comparison to seeing them live in person.

G: Early on in lockdown, most of us reached for sweatpants and slippers. What was the comfort item you found yourself reaching for again and again?

LAQUAN: I purchased so many pairs of designer slides it was getting out of hand. Slides through the pandemic were my go-to shoe between the design studio, the factory, the grocery store, and the bodega. I was living my entire life in slides.

G: What are you wearing now?

LAQUAN: A LaQuan Smith T-shirt, Prada shorts, and slides, of course.

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BIG LIGHTS WILL INSPIRE YOU Afterpay Co-Founder and Co-CEO Nick Molnar reveals how the Australian-born buynow-pay-later platform turned the lights back on at New York Fashion Week and reignited the NYC retail economy.

BY JESSICA BAILEY

FALL 2021

N

ick Molnar’s favorite New York City pastime is the evening taxi ride from JFK international airport to Manhattan, a journey best experienced by foreigners via the Williamsburg Bridge; a 2227-metre-long gateway to an uproarious metropolis. Like an old movie reel, its maze of steel supports intermittently intersect the taxi rider’s view of those iconic NYC skyscrapers ahead, a cluster of lights puncturing holes in the curtain of navy-blue sky.

“You drive over [the bridge] and you see the city, and then your blood just goes,” says Molnar over a Zoom call on a Friday afternoon. “My Afterpay co-founder Anthony [Eisen] and I talk about it all the time. That, to me, is very special.”

It’s a moment that announces the ambition of the city. In 2019, Con Edison, the utility company who provides power to New York, estimated that 5,200 megawatthours of electricity kept Manhattan lit overnight. Zombie workers trade at all hours of the evening because it’s New York and there’s money to be made. Other lights are kept on to light emergency stairwells or to keep aircrafts from crashing into buildings higher than 20 stories.

But come the arrival of the pandemic in March of 2020, the lights dulled both figuratively and literally as the city that never sleeps slipped into an indefinite slumber. Restaurants closed. Cinemas fell dark. Broadway shuttered. Times Square echoed. At the time of publication, nearly 34,000 NYC residents lost their lives to the coronavirus. A report in May of 2021 cites 900,000 New Yorkers lost their jobs

GRAZIA USA

during this time leaving the economy-and livelihoods-shattered.

Now, 18 months later, and after two seasons of ersatz fashion films and lonely livestreams, New York Fashion Weekpresented by Australian fintech brand Afterpay-heralded the return of a robust schedule of in-person shows. Yes, Collina Strada and Proenza Schouler sent their heartthumping creations down the SS22 runways in front of roaring real-life human beings in New York. The sartorial baton was then passed to the likes of Rejina Pyo and her flirty, floaty skirts at London Fashion Week (of which Afterpay, known as Clearpay in the UK and Europe, also sponsored), before handing off to Daniel Lee and his distinctive Bottega Veneta fringing in Milan, and Virginie Viard with a plethora of iridescent Chanel tweeds in Paris.

The multi-year deal between NYFW and Afterpay will see the buy-now-paylater platform tip fashion week’s traditional top-down approach on its head. Usually a trade event aimed at fashion editors and buyers alike, Molnar, Eisen and their team piloted 2021’s NYFW to better appeal to the cohort who matter the most: the consumers.

This season, fashion lovers were able to shop select looks from the Altuzarra, LaQuan Smith and Maison Kitsune runways digitally from across the US via the Afterpay hub.

In addition, a series of events and activations came to life across the island over the course of fashion week including an immersive drop culture-style shop which popped up in Times Square where consumers nabbed exclusive, limited edition Crocs x Bretman Rock JibbitzTM and JD Sports x Glassface NFTs. The corner

of 14th and 875 Washington Street in the Meatpacking district transformed into the ‘House of Afterpay’; a strip of pop-up stores, styling sessions, and was an opportunity for consumers to meet cool, cult brands who don’t usually show at NYFW. On September 10, more than 20 stores from Soho to the Meatpacking district participated in a 24hour shop-a-thon.

“We gave small businesses exposure in a block-style shopping activation that they wouldn’t have been able to have in a traditional NYFW schedule,” says Molnar.

“We’re really thinking about the whole gamete and all ends of the retail spectrum.”

The consumer-led flip aimed to jumpstart a fresh future for New York retail, a space finding its balance again after a year of international visitor foot traffic being virtually non-existent.

“You think about the impact that NYFW has on the New York economy: it contributes about $US900 million in jobs, in tourism, in trade etc.,” explains Molnar.

“It’s been devastating times. But to be able to bring a consumer base to New York-a consumer that is so excited to meet brands and shop and start to get their lives back on track – is a real privilege.”

“The ability to do this at this time was principally-and from a values perspective -really important to Anthony and myself, and our whole organization,” he continues.

“NYFW and LFW are such moments of hope where we could literally turn the lights back on.”

On this note, you may have noticed Molnar and Eisen lit up the Empire State Building “Afterpay Bondi Mint”, a bespoke green hue patented by the globally renowned

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color institute Pantone.

The building which is usually lit in its signature white, has been known to turn blue and orange for the New York Knicks, or a dynamic red to honor the heart of NYC’s fight to beat COVID-19. But “Bondi Mint” for an Australian company? Locals would say it sounds as likely as the F train arriving on time, but somehow these guys did it-and that minty tint was visible to a new crop of dreamers journeying across the Williamsburg Bridge on evening this past September.

Yes, at just 31 years old, Molnar is making his mark on the world. The story of how he got here is one of smarts, game, and a fateful relationship with a next-door neighbor. Keep reading…

“In high school I was always kind of wheeling and dealing, whether it was selling chocolates for charity, or helping my business teacher sell his motorbike on eBay,” recalls Molnar of his days at Moriah College in Sydney’s Queens Park in Australia.

“I was good at mathematics, I was good at computers, and I’d say I really applied myself in year 12,” he says laughing, noting that he was also playing a lot of rugby league and made the teams for the Sydney Roosters under 17s and under 18s.

During his time at Sydney University where he studied a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in finance and international business, Molnar started selling excess stock from his parent’s jewelry company on eBay. Within 12 months, he was the site’s highestselling Australian jewelry retailer.

But it was the late nights spent packing inventory for buyers that sparked curiosity from his former next-door neighbor (and now Afterpay co-founder), Anthony Eisen, who was the chief investment officer at an investment holding company at the time, and is 18 years Molnar’s senior. “[Anthony] legitimately approached my father one day when he was taking the rubbish out and he said, ‘I don’t mean to pry

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but I see your light on upstairs every night, what do you do?’,” says Molnar. “My dad, being an entrepreneur, just latched onto this because Anthony had a chance at getting me a job.”

The pair struck up a unique friendship.

“I think [Anthony] was incredibly kind and thoughtful in the way he’d be consciously guiding me through a job interview or a business model I was building.

He gave me an internship at his company just to teach me,” says Molnar dressed in a nondescript white tee, toying with a pen as he reflects back on his idol. “Seeing Anthony in the boardroom and how much respect he got from the moment he walked into the room, and how articulate he was-I was a 20-year-old kid at university looking up to this guy as a stereotype for what I should become.”

“Fortunately the investment banks didn’t hire me despite all of Anthony’s help!

[Laughs],” he adds. “And then one thing led to another. I was an entrepreneur, he was the stereotype of what I should become, and he ended up being an entrepreneur with me.

It was amazing how it all did a full circle. It was fate.”

Molnar presented two ideas to Eisen, one of them was Afterpay: a company who would cover the cost of a product upfront and ask the customer to pay back the amount in four interest-free instalments over a six-week period. In turn, merchants would pay a 4% fee per transaction (four times more than credit companies) to see a crop of new customers willing to pay full price, and, most importantly, putting more in their shopping carts.

Eisen liked “this Afterpay thing”, a name coined by Molnar’s aunt.

“The idea was really born from the functions of two things; one was selling jewelry online out of my bedroom. I just had this deep respect for retail,” says Molnar.

“Jewelry is a very hard product to sell online.

Basically, out of 100 consumers that come to your website, only one makes a transaction.

You can pay for marketing, you can build a whole lot of these engagement mechanisms, but 99.5/100 people leave.”

“Then growing up during the 2008 financial crisis, I saw this shift away from credit to debit in this Millennial cohort,” he continues. “It was the alignment between these two components where I thought, ‘What if we engaged this next-generation consumer in a different way?’ And that was what led to the ‘A Ha!’ moment.”

The post-financial crisis period saw an increase in credit card ownership and spending. Yet, quietly in the background Millennials (like Molnar) and some older members of the Gen-Z cohort were busy saving their money. Today, as the world comes out of a second crisis in the coronavirus pandemic, data is showing the two groups are more debt-averse to credit than ever before.

“If you look back to the middle of the pandemic in May 2020, credit cards had -21% YOY growth, and debit had +12% YOY growth,” says Molnar. “There’s meaningful savings in the economy right now, the spend of debit is growing at a rate that hasn’t been seen since the 2008 financial crisis.”

But Molnar says there’s a really important component to this: Generationally, there’s a distinct difference in how people spend their money with two out of three Millennials in Australia, the US and the UK not owning a credit card anymore.

“In five, six or seven years time, they are going to earn half of all income in the economy,” he says. “All of a sudden, this trend is compounding each year as the Millennial group’s income grows, and their percentage of discretionary spend is so meaningful that it’s becoming the trend.

If you look back at 2008, this trend was present but it wasn’t showing up in anyone’s

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data because the group wasn’t earning enough income to make a difference.”

Interestingly, Molnar says the largest shift away from credit during the pandemic was Gen X and older. “We’ve always had this belief that Millennial and Gen-Z consumers influence the masses and you’re seeing that happen now in this world.”

In a poll conducted by Afterpay in September of 2020, 56% of American adults surveyed (and 55% in the UK and 60% in Australia] say budgeting has become more important to them compared to before the pandemic. Further to this, 47% of American adults surveyed (and 47% in both the UK and 53% in Australia) say avoiding credit products with interest has become more important to them during this time.

But when Molnar landed in the US to meet with investors about Afterpay, the feedback was, “It isn’t going to work, America is a credit-driven society”. As he puts it, the reality of that is true, but only for a particular generation outside of the Millennials and Gen-Z cohorts. The investors knew this. They just didn’t have an alternative.

“It was really interesting because you have these incredible direct-to-consumer brands or retailers that built their businesses with relationships on this next-generation consumer and when I spoke to them about our value proposition, they said, ‘Oh yeah, I get it, I know there’s debit card demand, I see it in my own numbers,’” says Molnar. “They were so ahead of the curb in understanding the shift, they just didn’t have a solution that helped them engage with this consumer that aligned with their preference for debit over credit.”

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“The size of that market is so significant,” he continues. “We went from zero to one billion a month in volume in less than twoand-a-half years in North America and it was led by this next-generation of retail that understood the trend better than anyone else and lent into it. Our adoption curve of the US has been far faster than what we were ever going to achieve in Australia.”

When it comes to competitors, Afterpay have no shortage. The lion share of the market monetizes primarily from the consumer, whereas Afterpay make their money from the retailer.

“It translates to a very different relationship that you’re able to build with that customer and the brand, and it means that we can send a million leads a day to our retail partners and act as one of their most meaningful customer acquisition channels,” explains Molnar. “Yes, we’re a payment product but we’re also driving marketing value to those partners, and that is actually the core value proposition of Afterpay. We can do that without ever charging interest, without ever doing a credit check. You have these players in the space that are still tapping into the credit file, but this consumer uses a debit card and the consequences of that is that they have a really light credit file, even though they’re very worthy of credit. They just are spending differently and are not building credit overtime.”

This sweet spot won over those U.S. investors. On August 2 of 2021, six years after its arrival in the market, Afterpay merged with US payment giant Square (cofounded by Twitter’s co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey) in a deal worth $29 billion, making it Australia’s biggest ever buyout.

Molnar admits he had never actually attended Fashion Week in New York prior to September.

“I would go to New York when I was selling jewelry. I was this young entrepreneur trying to find cheap hotels in the city for my meetings and it would be like, ‘There’s no availability,’” he recalls. “Whenever I found the hotels were booked out, I knew NYFW had arrived. The buzz of the city turned on. So that’s my entrée to the event. To get behind the doors now is really exciting.”

He’s right. During NYFW, an extreme degree of energy exists in the streets; hotels are booked out. The shows on Spring street are loud. Heels clop on the uneven pavements as paparazzi clusters yell for the attention of seemingly very important individuals. Celebrity sightings are aplenty.

Taxi horns battle one another. The fashion is inordinate and fabulous. The dinners are fancy and fun. The lines to get into the thumping parties inside Public Hotel on Chrystie are long but worth it. And no matter how many times a magazine editor has flown into the fashion capital to cover the shows, the big lights on those skyscrapers still inspire.

As the New York Times writer Roger Cohen wrote in a now very famous column published in April of 2020, “When, when will New York come back? It’s a city of energy. Energy defines New York. And how will that energy reconstitute itself?

“Just come back New York, just return, please,” writes Cohen in his column. “I know we can make a deal.”

Molnar has made many deals to get to where he is. But the one he made with New York might just be one of his brightest yet.

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In 1984, MTV decided to throw itself a party, solidifying its place in music and pop culture. Now, 40 years after the network launched, the annual Video Music Awards are the last remaining vestige of the MTV’s original ethos.

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TURN ON, TUNE IN, ROCK OUT

BY JOHN RUSSELL

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hen someone says “MTV,” what comes to mind? For years, the tableau that surfaces for me has been this completely random moment that happened on live TV after the 1995 Video Music Awards. The show was over and Kurt Loder—stiff, grumpy, elderly Kurt Loder—was trying to interview Madonna on this platform that MTV News had set up outside of Radio City Music Hall.

Madonna is about to say something when an object comes flying over the top of her head and clatters to the floor in front of her.

“Hi, Courtney,” Loder chirps.

Apparently, Courtney Love is on the street below throwing the contents of her purse—Chanel compacts, etc.—at Madonna.

“Should we let her up?” Madonna asks.

“Yeah!” Loder says, clearly loving this moment of ’90s television gold that has literally fallen into his lap.

“Whatcha doin’?,” Love asks when she finally joins them. “Am I fully interrupting?”

The conversation that follows is the opposite of whatever cultivated, controlled, agenda-driven interview Madonna’s publicists agreed to. It’s entertaining. They compare shoes, talk about dating rock stars, and actually, Madonna seems like she might be enjoying herself? Maybe a little?

The whole thing is unhinged, spontaneous, iconic: Madonna, the provocateur, upstaged by someone whose very presence breeds chaos. Courtney just wants

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to talk, and good god, what more did the MTV viewing public want, in 1995, than to be a fly on the wall while Madonna and Courtney Love had a chat?

There are, of course, plenty of VMAs moments that are more iconic than this one—and most of them occurred during the actual show: Madonna performing “Like a Virgin” in 1984; Madonna performing that song with Britney (and Christina and Missy Elliott) again in 2003; Kanye and Taylor Swift in 2009! But to me, Madonna and Courtney and Kurt (Loder) is peak VMAs. That moment epitomizes the truly thrilling pop culture chaos that the show has always promised —which, of course, has been the promise of MTV from the beginning.

By 1984, MTV was a legitimate cultural phenomenon. What started in the wee hours of August 1, 1981, as a low-budget cable operation that few saw outside of New Jersey had, in the span of a few short years, become a generation-defining force.

The slogan “I want my MTV”—which featured in early ads encouraging kids to call their local cable companies and demand they carry the fledgling network—itself became iconic.

Then came Michael Jackson and Madonna, artists who wholeheartedly embraced the image-making potential of music videos. Jackson’s Thriller in particular not only forced MTV to rethink their exclusion of Black

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artists from their rotation, but also showed the world that videos could be more than just half-hearted commercials for a single. They could be epic. They could be cinematic. Record companies now viewed music videos as a worthwhile investment, and were willing to pour money into making them.

Consequently, MTV no longer had to scrounge for content.

And people were watching. “For kids growing up in the ’80s, particularly if you were suburban and white, this was your window onto popular culture,” Amanda Ann Klein, author of Millennials Killed the Video Star: MTV’s Transition to Reality Programming tells Grazia USA. “And not just music, but all popular culture.”

By 1984, “We’re really in the MTV era,” author and Rolling Stone Senior Writer Andy Greene tells Grazia USA. “It was the year of the mega-album. It was Born in the USA. It was Purple Rain. It was Cyndi Lauper. It was ‘Like a Virgin.’”

Music was bigger than ever, and so was MTV. So, the network decided to throw itself a party. When the first-ever MTV Video Music Awards aired in 1984, the show was the network’s way of proving their credibility.

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They could get actual movie stars like Dan Aykroyd and Bette Middler to host, and actual rock stars like ZZ Top and Rod Stewart to show up and perform.

(Remember, this was 1984.) They could fill Radio City Music Hall with the biggest names in the music industry, along with the record label execs who signed their checks.

“An awards show—even the most chaotic of awards shows—still connotes a certain amount of class, of organizational ability, of just puttogetherness,” Billboard Deputy Editor Andrew Unterberger tells Grazia USA. “It was

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kind of MTV’s way of saying that they had arrived as a cultural institution.”

At the same time, the Video Music Awards filled a crucial gap in the market. By the early ’80s, the Grammys, the most obvious precursor to the VMAs, had become notorious for honoring legacy acts instead of what was new and fresh.

“The biggest consumers of music were teenagers and young people, and they weren’t being catered to by the Grammys or the American Music Awards, really,” explains Greene. “When the VMAs started in ’84, it was just finally honoring the music that kids were listening to. And that was a real innovation.”

But even more than the awards, people remember the performances. The bar was set high from the start: Madonna’s performance of “Like a Virgin” at the inaugural VMAs, in which she rolled around onstage, hiking her white wedding dress up to reveal her garter belt, shocked everyone. “She was still new at that point,” Klein recalls. “People weren’t sure—Who is this person? Has she just destroyed her career? And of course, it was exactly the opposite. It was what launched her.”

Nineteen years later, Madonna created headlines again when she joined Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera onstage at the 2003 VMAs for a medley of “Like a Virgin” and “Hollywood.” This time, Spears and Aguilera were the writhing brides, Madonna the black-clad groom. When she kissed both younger singers—though only the smooch with Spears was given its due on camera, as MTV’s producers, eager to stoke scandal, cut immediately to ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake’s

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reaction—the media once again, and somewhat provincially, lost their collective effing minds.

For Sidney Madden, co-host of NPR Music’s Louder Than a Riot podcast, no performance tops Beyoncé’s at the 2011 VMAs. That year, the singer performed “Love on Top” from her fourth solo album, 4. At the end of the number, she unbuttoned her purple sequined tuxedo jacket to reveal her an obvious baby bump. “I remember her opening up that tuxedo jacket and her face just being so aglow!” Madden tells Grazia USA. For an artist as notoriously private as Beyoncé to use the show as a launchpad not just for a new album, but for a totally new phase of her life, shows the significance of the VMAs, even as late at 2011.

“It always had that essence of, anything can happen!”

Madden says.

Of course, that chaotic energy has also made for some supremely uncomfortable moments. The media narrative of Fiona Apple as an unstable basket case took root in large part thanks to her 1997 acceptance speech for Best New Artist, in which she called MTV’s whole dog-and-pony show “bullsh*t.” And when Kanye West rushed the stage to interrupt Taylor Swift’s 2009 acceptance speech for Best Female Video, it ignited one of the most cringe-worthy and exhausting celebrity rivalries ever.

Indeed, not every memorable performance is remembered fondly. Madden cites Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke’s 2013 performance of “Blurred Lines,” as a prime example of the VMAs as a showcase for appropriation. “The mass media really ran with the fact that she ‘twerked’ on Robin,” she explains. “They acted as if she invented the move, when truly it’s Black women in the South who invented it.”

The performances may be what inevitably

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becomes legendary to the public, but there are even more tall tales of the fights and debauchery that’s taken place backstage over the years. “What happened on stage was interesting too, but it wasn’t the whole sum of the even,” according to Unterberger. “It was only a small part of it, really.”

Authors Rob Tannenbaum and Craig Marks devoted an entire chapter of their book I Want My MTV to behind-the-scenes VMAs gossip alone: Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil punching Guns N’ Roses’ Izzy Stradlin; Bobby Brown allegedly dropping a bag of cocaine onstage; Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers trying to lick Cindy Crawford’s armpit.

“Having all these major presences in the same building has a kind of really uncomfortable tension to it,” says Unterberger. “It ends up resulting in some of these explosive moments. And that’s great. The VMAs have kind of their own mythology to them.”

It’s almost a cliché at this point to say that MTV no longer plays music videos. The shift toward original programming, and ultimately reality TV, that began in the mid-’80s has fully metastasized.

This summer, on the network’s 40th anniversary, the internet had a field day with the fact that rather than recognize the milestone, MTV aired its now-standard 24-hour block of reruns of its viral video-clip show Ridiculousness.

Klein, whose book tracks this evolution, suggests that the VMAs were, in some ways, MTV’s first step toward the mega-network it would become. The show was,

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after all, one of the first that MTV produced. “It’s not too long after that that MTV starts to go from kind of being amorphous, music videos all the time to having a schedule, having these shows happen at the same time each day,” she explains. “It represents this idea that MTV is not just the radio. It’s going to have content that isn’t just music videos.”

Video-centric shows like Dial MTV, Headbangers Ball, and Yo! MTV Raps made way for magazinestyle shows like The Week in Rock and House of Style.

Then came The Real World and Road Rules and The Osbournes and Laguna Beach and The Challenge. The rest—along with music videos, really—is history.

Yet, the VMAs persist. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they had every reason not to, MTV managed to pull off a remote, largely pre-taped show. And the stars continue to show up.

This year’s host, Doja Cat, presided over a night at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center that featured performances

by Camila Cabello, Olivia Rodrigo, Shawn Mendes, and Machine Gun Kelly, among others. Justin Bieber returned to the VMAs stage for the first time since 2015. And if viral moments are the measure of awards show success, let’s talk about Lil Nas X’s VMAs debut. …

Meanwhile, the impact of the

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VMAs can be seen in the many niche awards shows that have cropped up in the decades since they debuted. Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards, Fox’s Teen Choice Awards, and the BET Awards all owe something to the VMAs. “I think it showed a lot of networks that you should do your own awards show; that it’s a really smart way to have a grand event, to bring in big ratings, to bring big stars on,” Greene says. “Before the VMAs, the Grammys and the AMAs were the only things that honored music on TV. And now there’s so much more.”

Despite awards show ratings continuing to plummet across the board, no one I spoke to thinks the VMAs are going anywhere any time soon.

“It’s the one night a year that people are guaranteed to talk about MTV,” Unterberger explains. “It’s tough to give that up.”

“If nothing else, it feels like this is what MTV has to say for the year,” Madden insists. “Whoever they put in that Breakout Artist category, whoever they put in that [icon] category, whoever they present to be the fan-voted choice—that’s when MTV as a network can still assert their influence.”

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JUST DO IT ALL With fresh collaborations and a forward-looking perspective, Nike constantly redefines the boundaries of athletic wear.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY THOMAS SLACK STYLING BY EMILY MAZUR

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Tank top, stylist’s own; Nike shorts, $45, sneakers, $90, socks, $18, bucket hat, $32, shop similar at nike.com; Necklace, model’s own.

Nike sweatshirt, $65, pants, $100, sneakers, $90, nike.com; Opposite: Nike x Naomi Osaka bodysuit, $90, nike.com.

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Nike bodysuit, $100, nike.com; Opposite: Nike sweatshirt, $90, hoodie, $60, shorts, $60, hip pack, $30, sneakers, $90, socks, $18, nike.com; Nike sweatshirt, $90, hoodie, $60, shorts, $60, nike.com.

Nike turtleneck, $55, shorts, $55, sweatshirt, $90, backpack, $75, bucket hat, $28, nike. com; Opposite: Nike hoodie, $100, pants, $100, nike.com; Nike backpack, $75, shorts, $45, nike.com.

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Nike x Naomi Osaka bodysuit, $90, sweatshirt, $90, sneakers, $90, socks, $18, nike.com. Opposite: Nike x Naomi Osaka bodysuit, $90, jacket, $90, sneakers, $90, socks, $18, nike.com. Model, Sasha Knysh. Hair, Lizzie Anderson. Makeup, Ingeborg.

A MATERIAL MASTERPIECE

Oscillating between the invincible and the invisible, with the power to reveal or conceal, to surprise or disguise, there’s a transcendent quality to this amporphous accessory that appears to offer us a portal to another persona, or so it seems...

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG ADAMSKI STYLING BY NOUR BOU EZZ

Emporio Armani pants, $825, boots, $325, jacket, $1,025, pants, $875, armani.com; Opposite: Emporio Armani dress, $575, pants, price upon request, earrings, price upon request, armani.com.

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Emporio Armani jacket, $1,025, armani.com; Opposite: Emporio Armani pants, $825, boots, $325, armani.com.

Emporio Armani coat, $2,195, armani.com.

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Emporio Armani jacket, $1,495, pants, $825, armani.com.

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Emporio Armani shirt, $575, armani.com.

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Emporio Armani jacket, $595, pants, $725, armani.com.

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Emporio Armani shirt, $595, pants, $525, loafers, $495, armani.com.

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Emporio Armani coat, $2,095, pants, $445, boots, $375, jacket, $695, pants, $575, beret, $495, loafers, $495, armani.com.

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Emporio Armani pants, $825, sneakers, $495, beret, $175, armani.com; Oppisite: Emporio Armani coat, $2,095, beret, $175, shirt, $345, pants, $825, sneakers, $495, jacket, $695, pants, $575, beret, $495, armani.com.

Emporio Armani jacket, $845, pants, $825, boots, $325, hat, price upon request, armani.com.

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Emporio Armani jacket, $595, pants, $625, earrings, price upon request, armani.com.

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Emporio Armani jacket, $695, pants, $575, beret, $495, armani.com.

Emporio Armani jacket, $1,025, pants, $875, loafers, $495, jacket, $845, pants, $825, sneakers, $495, armani.com. Creative Direction

by Marne Schwartz. Hair by Ana Rodriguez. Makeup by Manuel Losada. Digital Assistant, Tony Abou.

Models, Jhona Burjack for IMG and Marianne Fonseca for Ford Models.

Salvatore Ferragamo jumpsuit, $6,700, ferragamo.com.

Loose Tailored Leather Jumpsuit, SALVATORE FERRAGAMO

BRIGHT HORIZONS Turn up the Technicolor. We’re craving all things bold, beautiful, and bright.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY FRANCESCO SCOTTI STYLING BY ANNA CASTAN

Genny coat, price upon request, genny. com; Opposite: John Richmond blazer, price upon request, johnrichmond.com.

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Max Mara sweater, $1,295, pants, $1,150, shoes, $895, maxmara.com.

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Salvatore Ferragamo jacket, $3,800, shorts, $2,560, boots, price upon request, ferragamo.com; Opposite: Miu Miu jacket, $2,750, pants, $1,430, boots, $1,090, miumiu.com.

Chiara Boni jacket, shirt, pants, price upon request, us.chiaraboni.com.

Laura Biagiotti dress, price upon request, laurabiagiotti.it; Shoes, stylist’s own; Opposite: Bottega Veneta boots, $650, bottegaveneta.com.

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Fay coat, $1,499, farfetch.com; Opposite: Simonetta Ravizza cap, $530, jacket, $3,165, shorts, $295, simonettaravizza.com.

Dsquared2 dress, $1,290, dsquared2.com; Rings, stylist’s own. Creative Direction by Marne Schwartz & Dané Stojanovic.

Makeup by Chiara Guizetti.

Hair by Ana Rodriguez. Model, Gabriella Rodrigues for Elite.

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DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? Shifting perspectives. Blurred boundaries. This new world demands fresh eyes and an open mind.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL MOREL STYLING BY ANNA CASTAN

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Moschino dress, $9,795, available at Moschino boutiques.

Benchallal dress, price upon request.

Alberta Ferretti hat and dress, prices upon request, saksfifthavenue.com.

Marsico dress, price upon request; Pasquale Bonfilio hat, price upon request, pasqualebonfilio.com; Giuseppe Zanotti boots, $1,050, giuseppezanotti.com.

Del Core dress, price upon request, delcore. com; Samuele Failli shoes, price upon request, samuelefailli.com.

Del Core dress, price upon request, delcore.com.

Sara Wong cape, price upon request, maxrieny.com.

Gemy Maalouf dress, price upon request, gemymaalouf.com; Benoit Missolin hat, price upon request, benoitmissolin.com.

Alexander McQueen dress, $3,690, belt, $650, boots, $990, alexandermcqueen.com.

Valentino gown, $26,000, available at Valentino boutiques.

Off-The-Shoulder Maxi Dress, MOSCHINO

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Pleated Dress With Cape Sleeves, ILLUSTRELLA this page Knitted Dress With Slits, SARA WONG that page Long Sleeve Lace Sara Wong dress, priceVALENTINO upon Maxi Dress, request, maxrieny.com.

Illustrella dress, price upon request.

Creative Direction by Marne Schwartz and Dané Stojanovic. Hair

by Peter Beckett.

Makeup by Claire Thomson. Model, Shahed.

BEYOND BORDERS A trip on the Belmond Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is like taking a trip back to another era.

BY CASEY BRENNAN

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here is something romantic about the idea of traveling by rail, a nostalgia that hearkens back to the times before planes, evoking the golden age of travel. There is an undeniable glamour in arriving to a new destination in a train cabin, while the landscape outside passes by and the rumble of the tracks becomes pleasant background noise—and all at a pace much more suited to luxuriant contemplation.

An added bonus for the PC era (post-COVID-19): Train travel is also a way to see the world while still maintaining some degree of social distance.

It’s no surprise that one of the most understatedly elegant journeys by carriage is still the vaunted Belmond Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.

Part of the Belmond family, the Belmond Venice Simplon-OrientExpress is a timeless experience—and one that will be remembered for a lifetime.

The history of the train goes back to 1977, when late American businessman and Belmond founder James B. Sherwood purchased two Art Deco train carriages from an auction in Monte Carlo, with plans to create a route connecting riders across Europe. He continued to purchase additional cars—many of which were part of famous routes from the 1920s and 1930s, including Rome Express and Le Train Bleu—which were restored to their Art Deco glory. Sherwood’s dream of a train that would crisscross multiple countries was finally realized in 1982, with the inaugural trip from London to Venice.

Today, the completely refurbished Belmond Venice Simplon-OrientExpress comprises 17 classic midnight-blue carriages, including sleeping cars, dining cars, and a tasteful bar car complete with a grand piano and accompanying pianist. In another nod to a past era, the dress code is decidedly formal. The attention to detail is unparalleled: Guests are first welcomed on board by stewards dressed in blue and gold (the crisp white gloves are a nice touch) and welcomed into private cabins adorned with rich fabrics, dark wood finishes, and intricate marquetry patterns; two tons of brass lettering and crests adorn the exterior of the carriages. In other words: the very best of the best, with absolutely no expense spared or detail overlooked.

“There is no feeling like stepping on board the Venice SimplonOrient-Express,” Pascal Deyrolle, general manager of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express who has worked on the train for over two

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decades, tells Grazia USA. “From the second you see the 1920s and 1930s carriages pulling into the station you can feel the excitement in the air. The moment guests step on board, they are transported back to the golden age of travel and it’s amazing to see their dreams coming true as they explore their cabins and begin their journeys.”

The train’s stunning Grand Suites offer the most decadent experience, with Baroque furniture, hand-woven fabrics, hand-carved headboards, and delicate glass fixtures. The original top-tier suites include the Venice, Paris, and Istanbul and are adorned with delicate silks, woven fabrics, embossed leather, and Baroque furniture. Chic and elegant, each evokes the spirit and the traits of the cities for which they are named: The Venice draws inspiration from Italian indulgence, for example, while the Paris emanates French haute couture vibes.

The Istanbul offers guests a chance to experience the best in Turkish opulence, with fabrics and wares from the city’s famed Grand Bazaar.

Three new quarters—the Vienna, Prague, and Budapest—have been added for the 2021 season and named for European cities visited by the train, from which designer Wimberly Interiors took inspiration. The Vienna has a decor that is ornate yet classic, adorned in rich hues of emerald and gold, a nod to the grand palaces and landmarks found in the Austrian country. Nicknamed the City of a Hundred Spires thanks to stunning displays of Baroque and medieval architecture, Prague and all of its richness is the inspiration for a suite decorated in gold and maroon tones with hand-embroidered cushions and Cubist-inspired mosaic patterns. Finally, the Budapest evokes the romantic spirit from both sides of the Danube—Buda and Pest—with Gothic and Ottoman furnishings and detailed marquetry.

These premier accommodations also feature private bathrooms with a shower, a personal 24-hour cabin steward, free-flowing champagne, in-suite dining, and private transfers to and from the train. The Cabin Suites, Twin, and Single Cabins are also equipped with the finest amenities, including luxe bedding, plush banquettes, cozy bathrobes and slippers, and thoughtful reading lights, perfect for cuddling up with a book as the world outside passes by.

“Over the last few years, rail travel is seeing a huge resurgence and we really wanted to give passengers all over the Europe the chance to travel,” Deyrolle continues. “The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express offers an excellent solution for guests wishing to travel between countries

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without having to fly. Our team is also on hand to ensure the process is effortless: from booking to navigating country travel requirements to departing for their next destination.”

Dining on the Belmond Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is an experience like none other. The train’s three dining cars—Cote D’Azur, Etoile du Nord, and L’Oriental—offer unique experiences and ambiance. Cote D’Azur was built in 1929 as a first-class Pullman, complete with Lalique glass, while Etoile du Nord, from 1926, was originally used in Paris and later switched to the Amsterdam-based Edelweiss line before again moving to the Lusitania Express from Lisbon to Madrid. The L’Oriental was created as a Pullman dining car in Birmingham in 1926, running on the Etoile du Nord line and, later, the Lusitania Express. Upon purchase for the Belmond Venice Simplon-OrientExpress, the carriage was revamped and refitted with spectacular black lacquer panels.

And then there’s the food. The day starts with an impressive continental breakfast spread served in the cabin, including everything from fresh bread and smoked salmon to eggs, truffles, and even caviar. During the train’s season, more than 12,000 flaky and delicious croissants are served.

Lunch and dinner are highlights of the trip and are served in the decorous dining cars with fine crystal glassware, fine china, and service that is second to none. Afternoon tea aboard the train can also be enjoyed, as well as an assortment of petits fours. Dinner is prepared by the train’s French chefs and served in two seatings, featuring a four-course set menu meal (a la carte options are available and dietary restrictions are accommodated). Diners can expect upscale fare using seasonal, locally sourced ingredients brought on board at stops along the way, including lobsters from Brittany and salt marsh lamb from

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Mont St-Michel.

Guests donning formal black-tie attire—think jackets and gowns— can then head to the lively bar car for a nightcap and to hear the piano music and live jazz from the train’s very own baby grand. When it comes to tipples, there are endless options: More than 1,700 bottles of champagne are served in a season but the Guilty 12 cocktail, made with cognac, Cointreau, bitters, and champagne, remains a favorite. (The bar staff make and serve more than 1,000 glasses of this specialty drink throughout the season.)

When it’s time to retire for the evening, a majordome (that’s butler, in more common parlance) helps prepare the stateroom into comfortable and relaxing sleeping quarters with cozy bedding (monogrammed linens feature prominently), as well as top-notch toiletries from Temple Spa. The craftsmanship of the train itself is rivaled only by the service provided by the staff on board, in their quest to give guests on the train a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Belmond Venice Simplon-Orient-Express offers a flawless, “bucket list” experience for discerning travelers, so it’s no surprise that many opt to use the train as the backdrop for life’s most precious moments: Not only can carriages be reserved for charters and groups, but also each year more than 30 romantic marriage proposals take place aboard the various routes.

“We have a very varied clientele. The train is about celebration and stepping into the mystery of a legend, so we see couples celebrating their big milestone anniversaries, friends seeking new destinations and wanting to experience the journey as part of the destination, and travelers who want to party throughout the night whilst traveling across Europe,” Deyrolle tells Grazia USA.

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Today, the Belmond Venice Simplon-Orient-Express travels to many destinations, including the original one-night route from London to Venice, the gateway to Asia. A single-night journey from Verona to Paris is another favorite, featuring a leisurely ride through the scenic Italian countryside. There also are trips that take guests through verdant French farmland and picturesque Swiss Alpine valleys.

“I love the Verona-to-Innsbruck section of the journey. It is extremely dramatic with the Dolomites on one side and the river flowing at the bottom of the valley,” Deyrolle recounts. “The Alpine scenery on the Brenner Pass is incomparable and a true highlight.”

For something a bit more adventurous, there are a handful of four-night expeditions available, including the once-per-year Paristo-Istanbul journey, with overnight stays in Budapest and Bucharest and daytime jaunts in Sinaia, Romania, and Varna, Bulgaria.

Another trip departs from Venice with a two-night stay in Budapest before disembarking in London.

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Paradoxically, much of what makes the Belmond Venice SimplonOrient-Express memorable is what happens outside its walls. “I love it when it snows and there is no moment that compares to seeing the snow on the Alps as we pass by on the train,” Deyrolle gushes. “I will always remember being a cabin steward and sipping tea in the final carriage as I watched the sun set over the snowy Alps. Magical!”

In the pursuit to provide the very best to their sophisticated and worldly clients, the Belmond Venice Simplon-Orient-Express has added additional route and boarding points ahead of the 2021 season: The slow travel experience can now begin at stations in Rome, Florence, Geneva, Brussels, and Amsterdam. Passengers can opt for one-night sojourns from Florence or Rome to Paris, passing

by Italian lakes and snowcapped Swiss mountains along the way.

A new route from Geneva to Rome winds through the Brenner Pass in the Alps, while a grand three-night voyage from Venice to Amsterdam makes stops in Paris and Brussels before concluding in the vibrant Dutch city.

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Centuries of culture, distilled to perfection.

Discover Los Magos, the award-winning, triple distilled sotol perfected over six generations by Master Sotoleros.

cocktails

PLEASE ENJOY RESPONSIBLY. Los Magos Blanco 100% Pure Organic Sotol. 38% Alc./Vol. ©2021 Los Magos Spirits International Inc., Los Angeles, CA.

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PHOTOGRAPHY

LINDSEY BECKER

Patience IS A VIRTUE This cocktail created by Grazia Game Changer Chef Erick Williams’s Chicago restaurant, Virtue, is an homage to patience-one of the most important virtues, but perhaps the one that is most difficult to practice. The sultry blend of rich, red fruits with a sophisticated hint of botanical is proof positive that good things come to those who wait. -As told to Catherine De Orio.

INGREDIENTS: 2 1/2 parts vodka 1/2 part Crème Yvette 1/2 part fresh lime juice 1/2 part simple syrup 2 dashes rhubarb bitters 2 dashes orange bitters DIRECTIONS: Combine ingredients in an ice-filled mixing glass. Stir. Fine strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

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GRAZIE, GRAZIA

A moment of reflection and gratitude for nearly a century of excellence

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BY MELISSA CRONIN

M

ade in Italy. For decades, those three words have come to embody a multitude of admirable qualities: Artisanship.

Creativity. Sophistication. Wit. For almost as long, those same words could have been used to describe the magazine Grazia, first launched in Italy on October 1, 1938.

Born out of the dynamism of the 1930s and on the eve of World War II, Grazia has always been necessarily of the moment. Not just a sophisticated fashion and beauty magazine, Grazia is a boldly empowered cultural touchstone, engaging in the most relevant conversations of the day while offering incisive critique, powerful inspiration, and unwavering support for women leading the way toward change.

For example, in 1968, Grazia made headlines— literally—with an interview with Italian author Camilla Cederna. Credited with introducing investigative journalism to the Italian news media, she was unsparing in her takedown of the scandalridden Italian government in her books and in the pages of Grazia.

Throughout the decades to follow, Grazia continued to lead the way in championing progressive causes—and especially those impacting the lives of women around the world. In the 1970s, the magazine gave its support to women’s abortion rights—a bold stance in the largely Catholic nation.

Feminism was proudly celebrated in many issues, and regular political cartoons offered a witty take on the topics mattering most to readers.

Grazia has always been a cultural leader, taking decisive steps toward evolution and transformation

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years before others would follow suit. In 1988, for example, the magazine made the surprising and agenda-setting move to go officially fur-free within its pages. Ten years later, in 1998, more than 250,000 Grazia readers endorsed the magazine’s “A Flower for Kabul” campaign protesting against human rights violations against women in Afghanistan. The issue was brought to the U.N. in Geneva by Italian politician Emma Bonino and Grazia Editor Carla Vanni. (How heartbreaking that nearly 30 years later, yet another campaign could again be called for soon.)

While championing and protecting the rights and voices of women around the world, Grazia also has defined itself by celebrating the singularity, beauty, and style of individual women everywhere.

In 1966, for instance, the magazine celebrated 100,000 subscribers by delivering a bouquet of flowers to 1,000 women worldwide. Then, in 1989, Grazia honored Margaret Thatcher’s ten-year career with an exclusive portrait series of a woman at the peak of her power. International icons like Isabella Rossellini and Eva Herzigová gained worldwide acclaim through their features in Grazia.

The cultural influence of the magazine has always known no borders. Made in Italy but a global citizen, Grazia was launched internationally in 2005. Twenty-one international editions followed, including the U.K. (2005), the Balkans (2006), the Netherlands (2007), Russia (2007), India (2008), China (2009), France (2009), and, of course, our title here in the U.S. (2020).

Through it all, there has been a wealth of truly breathtaking fashion (and, naturally, some sartorial choices that now appear somewhat cringeworthy).

Intimately linked to Italian designers—such as one-time Guest Editor Giorgio Armani and perennial favorite Versace—Grazia also has lent a share of the spotlight to emerging designers who would later become iconic. In the 1970s, for example, Courrèges jumpsuits brought mass appeal to the high-fashion market. In the 1980s, Krizia’s new and dynamic silhouettes were first highlighted and celebrated by Grazia. Even the return to minimalism in the ‘90s was predicted and impeccably chronicled by Grazia.

Where to next? Here in the U.S. we’re proud to pick up the mantle that’s been so expertly woven by generations of Grazia teams before us, and look forward to adding our own threads to the tapestry that is the brand’s history. Effortlessly chic and boldly empowered, Grazia is a cultural touchstone that inspires, educates, and celebrates the individuality, beauty, and style of women everywhere. As a global brand and as a publication here in the U.S., we’re just getting started.

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‘Grazia has always been a cultural leader, taking decisive steps toward evolution and transformation years before others would follow suit.’

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ONE MORE THING...

The lessons of the past and the inspirations of the future are nothing without gratitude for the present. Fashion luminaries share with Grazia USA what’s making them the most thankful, joyful, and grateful to be alive.

JENNIFER FISHER JEWELRY DESIGNER

THE ABILITY TO BE A FOUNDER AND GROW MY BUSINESS WHILE ALSO BEING A PARENT AT HOME COOKING FOR MY FAMILY EVERY DAY HAS ALWAYS PUT A SMILE ON MY FACE. HAVING MY TEENAGERS AT HOME THIS PAST YEAR WAS A GIFT. I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITIES WE HAVE HAD TO GROW THE BUSINESS AND OPEN MORE RETAIL LOCATIONS—NOT WITHOUT ITS CHALLENGES, BUT IT MAKES IT THAT MUCH SWEETER TO LEARN, ENDURE, AND GROW FROM IT. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR NEW, GROWING TEAMS ACROSS THE U.S., NEW PRODUCTS, AND EXCITING BRAND PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS IN THE COMING YEAR.

VICTOR GLEMAUD DESIGNER

Refreshing my personal look and dreaming up new clothes to design are two things I always look forward to at the start of fall.

I want to bring joy into my designs and contribute to making shopping desirable, as written recently by Rachel Seville Tashjian in her inspiring article “Desire Is Fashion.”

AURORA JAMES FOUNDER, FIFTEEN PERCENT PLEDGE; CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER, BROTHER VELLIES

I’VE BEEN REALLY FOCUSED ON FINDING JOY THROUGH A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT AVENUES OVER THIS PAST YEAR. WHETHER IT’S HOSTING INTIMATE DINNER PARTIES SO I CAN SPOIL MY FRIENDS WITH HOME COOKING, CUDDLING WITH MY DOG, MR. CHOW, OR INVESTING MORE IN “ME” TIME—PLAYING OLD RECORDS OR ARRANGING FRESH-CUT FLOWERS —I ALWAYS STRIVE TO GIVE MYSELF A BREAK EVEN DURING THE MOST HECTIC OF DAYS.

BATSHEVA HAY DESIGNER

I am really enjoying walking around New York City right now. New York is such a naturally expressive, creative, exciting place, and people have had so much energy recently, so much style that is on display in the streets. I like sitting on a park bench in Central Park and just watching people walk by.

GIGI BURRIS MILLINER

I’M GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO COLLABORATE ONCE MORE WITH DESIGNERS IN BRINGING THEIR MILLINERY VISIONS TO LIFE FOR NEW COLLECTIONS. IT’S ALSO AN INCREDIBLE INJECTION OF WORK FOR OUR TALENTED POOL OF LOCAL ARTISANS AND SEWERS. CARLY CUSHNIE CREATIVE DIRECTOR & CEO, CUSHNIE

This past year has been so challenging in so many ways, but I have been so grateful for the opportunity to slow down and to indulge in so much quality time with my kids. Now that New York has started to wake up, I’m so looking forward to dressing up and going to some events and parties this fall: getting together with friends, making new connections, putting on something that makes me feel fabulous, and drinking some bubbly.

ROOPAL PATEL SVP & FASHION DIRECTOR AT SAKS FIFTH AVENUE

What brings me the most joy is spending time with my family and friends. After not seeing my nearest and dearest for so long due to the pandemic, the time I have with my family and friends fills my heart and I am grateful for every precious moment we have together. From weekends with my family to attending my dear friend’s wedding in Italy to being on holiday with a group of my besties to dinners at home ... quality time with loved ones is what I look forward to most these days.

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BRETT HEYMAN FOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR, EDIE PARKER I am pleased that cannabis legalization is starting to sweep the nation, with a special shout-out to my home states of New York and Connecticut. We can no longer ignore the benefits of the plant and how helpful it is for people who are suffering in various ways, or for people who just want to relax and have a good time. I am also completely delighted by—cue the eye roll—my children. While the early days together in the pandemic were challenging, we have established a new routine and are in a good groove. Many, many smiles have been put on my face because of them. —As told to Gabrielle Prescod.

GRAZIA USA

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