8 minute read
IVY COCO MAURICE
SERVING LOOKS AND HER COMMUNITY: HOW IVY COCO MAURICE '12 IS MAKING AN IMPACT THROUGH FASHION AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
Words by: Sarah Rafiqi
Photographys by: Tracy Nguyen
Ivy Coco Maurice ’12 steps into the Historic Courtyard for our cover photo shoot, accompanied by her hair and makeup team. It’s my first time meeting the Archer alum in person, and she carries herself with effortless elegance, standing a statuesque 5’10”. Even without her height, her presence alone would be striking. Maurice has such an enigmatic star quality that it’s surprising to think she’s usually behind the scenes as a stylist.
In some ways, the Maurice I interviewed two days earlier felt different from the one I saw on set at the Archer campus. The first time we met, she had joined me on a Zoom call from the front seat of her car, fresh-faced and dressed in practical clothes, ready for a busy day of projects. The sight was charmingly relatable.
In most ways, however, both Maurices are exactly the same. I quickly came to learn that although she has many outward expressions, her sense of self doesn’t change. “I’m not the same woman every day, but [I’m always] rooted in the same beliefs,” she said. Maurice carries herself with easy-going confidence and authenticity without hesitation. It’s hard to imagine that she was ever unsure of herself, even before she attended The Archer School for Girls.
Maurice grew up very shy. She describes herself as “a chubby kid with acne” who struggled to find her footing. “Having a parent in the [entertainment] industry was frightening; I didn’t want to put myself out there,” she said.
A Los Angeles native, Maurice spent the first handful of years of her life and most of her summers in Jamaica. There, she spent lots of time with her namesake, her maternal grandmother Ivy Ralph, a fashion designer and the creator of the Kariba suit—a Caribbean alternative to the traditional European suit, that became a staple for how political leaders represent Jamaica post-British colonial rule. Maurice would go on to revive her grandmother’s Atelier in 2022. Through making custom pieces in the “House of Ivy,” she continues her family legacy. From a young age, Maurice was enamored with her grandmother’s work. She found it so powerful how her grandmother could see her audience, connect with them, and give them what they needed through clothes.
Although she learned how to form connections with others through fashion, Maurice was still looking for a way to connect with and express herself. It wasn’t until she came to Archer that she came out of her shell. She says, “Archer has this incredible of way of being able to have young women find their light and hone in on that at such an early age.” Maurice found power in her dialogue with other women and freedom in the girl-centric environment where she did not feel as if she had to conform for validation from men. Maurice recalls, “There was some sort of understanding of self that you get being at Archer and being completely okay with who you are, that I never felt like I needed to try and impress anybody else but myself.” Instead, she focused on letting her light shine. Maurice credits Archer with becoming a well-rounded individual, saying the school “really showed me that I have so many different talents and gifts and I was able to exercise and try those things at Archer.” She became one of those rare three-sport athletes, a dance troupe member, and discovered yoga at the advice of many Archer teachers. She also put herself out there, creating relationships and networks.
During the photo shoot, one of these “Archer relationships” materializes before our eyes. Kristin Taylor, English teacher and Head of Scholastic Journalism, walks by with her dog and immediately locks eyes with Maurice. “Is that Coco?” While the two women excitedly embrace, Maurice turns to us and proclaims, “This was my favorite teacher!” The enthusiasm is mutual. Taylor was Maurice’s English teacher during her junior and senior years. During that time, Taylor says she was “always impressed by [Maurice’s] maturity, good humor, and curiosity about the world.” Although it’s been more than a decade since Maurice graduated in 2012, the two have stayed in touch, and despite being her teacher, Taylor admits it is Maurice who inspires her.
“It's been a joy to watch her become the woman she is today—mindful, empathetic, passionate, and wholly herself,” said Taylor.
Maurice tells me matter-of-factly that if she had not attended Archer, she wouldn’t have become that woman. “[When I stepped onto Archer’s campus] I transformed 360 and became a whole new being… I came here and could see what I wanted to be.” That vision has become a guiding light for Maurice, who says she takes time to show up to spaces as the dream girl she would have wanted to see when she was younger. “I think that’s what Archer is… the school that creates the women of the future, the leaders. It’s because… they don’t let women shy away from their gifts, they allow women to embrace their gifts. You exercise that being at Archer.”
When I ask her who her “dream girl” is, she tells me it’s someone who feels good while looking good. Maurice starts her day with self-conversation and being honest with herself through mirror affirmations. Then she dresses for how she’s feeling and how she outwardly wants to be perceived. “Working in fashion is all about how you carry yourself… People see you, and they have three seconds to feel if they can get to know you, that can be based on how you look… I want to look like the boss,” she said.
Maurice believes that style is at the intersection of the internal and the external, and she carries this philosophy with her in her work as a Hollywood stylist. She takes her job of helping people look and feel good very seriously. She begins each one of her sessions by asking her clients how they want to feel and then dresses them around that. Her meditation and breathwork certifications—inspired by her introduction to yoga while at Archer—tie into this work. She uses breathwork to help people feel good before walking on the red carpet.
For Maurice, fashion is all about service.
In 2020, Maurice was inspired to do a different kind of service. That year, her brother, Etienne Maurice, founded the Black and Brown-led community wellness organization WalkGood LA after the death of Ahmaud Arbery. Maurice joined on as Vice President in what she saw as an extension of her community advocacy work. “We were able to cultivate community and peace and we did that through a love of family and understanding that we were at the time saying ‘we can’t breathe’ but we were also trying to find ways in the community of how do we all breathe together.” The project started as a run that then expanded into a creative wellness studio, The WalkGood Yard, inspired by Maurice’s passion for yoga. Maurice’s long-time friend from Archer, Austin Maddox ’12, who participated in dance and yoga with her at school, is now a yoga instructor at the studio.
Maddox is not the only friend that Maurice has kept in touch with over the years. She tells me she has such a great foundation with some of her friends from Archer that they consistently reach out to and check in with each other. Maurice says it’s “the ultimate blessing because people have seen me grow through my Archer journey, and now they’re growing with me.”
As Maurice grows, she continues to nurture many different passions, just as she did as an Archer student. A self-defined “Jane of all trades,” to an outside observer, Maurice’s resume may seem all over the place, but she has the uncommon ability to balance the various parts of her life so that they become connected instead of disparate. Whether on set at a photo shoot or taking an interview from her car, Maurice is not a chameleon, changing outfits to become different people, but rather a tree branching out in different directions while firmly rooted in her sense of self.
The trunk of this tree—and the grounding principle of Maurice’s life—is community, from her childhood in Jamaica to her time at Archer. She reminisces fondly about everyone at Archer who inspired her. The list is expansive, including the people who taught her and the people who sat with her at lunch. Archer’s community gave Maurice the confidence to become her truest self. “I was a star at Archer,” she says unapologetically. “I knew I was capable because I was surrounded by other stars.” This blessing in her life of gaining strength from others is something that Maurice diligently pays forward through her work as a stylist and running a creative wellness studio. She doesn’t seek the spotlight, but rather emanates a glow that illuminates her and everyone around her. In her wake, Archer has become brighter than ever.
