I love a meeting of the minds!!! No, I’m kidding, kind of, but Tanatswa got an immediate follow from me the first time I ever saw one of her videos, because people who critically think are my kind of people. As you all know, I love thinking about fashion more than anyone ever needs to, and a lot of that requires understanding that you also must learn more about everything else other than fashion in order to do so effectively.

Her content is such an incredible source of fashion information, particularly if you find yourself not knowing much about African fashion and wanting to learn more. Getting to chat with her was truly like just talking to a friend, and I’m sure you’ll have a fabulous time taking a moment to read our conversation.

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Caroline: What is your personal relationship with fashion?

Tanatswa: That’s an interesting question. I would say my personal relationship with fashion is the tagline I use on my TikTok, which is that fashion is a social science. I love being able to link fashion to everything. I would say how I started loving fashion was by seeing the women around me and having grown up in South Africa. I’m originally from Zimbabwe, but I grew up in South Africa. When I was a child living in Zimbabwe, my relationship with fashion was very different, because I started seeing fashion through my grandmother, and she was the type of person who got everything made by her tailor. She was extravagant in the way that she dressed. She was the type of person who would wear monochromatic outfits to church— an umbrella that’s pink, a suit that’s pink, everything. When I started learning more about fashion, I was into all the major designers, and when I started growing up, I had a love/hate relationship with the industry, because I didn’t see the experience of myself and fellow African people being represented much in fashion media. I sort of shifted in my view of fashion. I started to think of geopolitics and how Africa ties into all of that. It really informed how I then looked at fashion, so, I would say I’m a loving critic of fashion.

I love what you said about relating fashion to everything else, because I feel the same way. When I write about fashion, I’m often relating it to things that have nothing to do with fashion. I think it was Lynn Yaeger, one time somebody asked her what books people should read if they want to learn about fashion and she said, read books that have nothing to do with fashion. I was like, exactly.

Yes! I agree with that, because a lot of the ideas I get to talk about fashion don’t come from fashion itself. A lot of people always ask me, oh, what’s your favorite fashion media? I’m like, I actually read very little fashion media. I read things that are so far outside of fashion and then I think about how that relates to fashion. Then I find fashion media that relates to the topic I’m talking about, just to be properly informed about how this could possibly link to fashion, but I think politics is a big part of what informs my views on fashion, because you see the same sort of struggles of power that happen in the greater political system happen in fashion.

Exactly. You also mentioned how your grandmother would get things tailored and custom made. That’s a really big part of African fashion, right? Tailors and getting custom clothing made? I have friends who are from different parts of Africa and they all always come back with so much custom clothing. Can you talk about that a little bit in relation to the culture?

Mhm! I think it’s two things. Firstly, the way people appreciate different types of fabrics and quality, just because of the climate. In different parts of Africa, you’ll see different types of materials that are appreciated. The more north of the equator you go, you see things like linens, you see a lot of blacks and whites, because they are repellent colors of heat, you see a lot of loose flowing clothing, like kaftans and boubous and things like that. Then south of the equator— I live in South Africa and South Africa is a very unique case study to the rest of Africa, because it’s seen as this great place for international companies to establish their presence, so South Africa is very similar in its fashion culture to anywhere else in the West, because you have all the major retailers here— you have Zara, you have Mango— and that really informs how people see fashion, Like, I don’t think people have the same appreciation for quality and craft in South Africa as they do in other parts of Africa, and I think that links the second part of it, which is that, because Africa is so sidelined from the rest of the greater global fashion system, people just have to be crafty in how they clothe themselves. So, naturally, having a tailor, having people who make your clothing for you, is just a normal part of life here. Something that’s maybe seen like a luxury somewhere in the U.S. or in Europe is just what it is here. You have people of varying scales of affordability that you can go to and it’s even crazier, because the convenience of being able to go to a Zara, for example, is seen as a luxury experience in some parts of Africa, where that’s typically seen as fast fashion, but having things made for you is just the standard. I’ll talk with my relatives and they’ll be like, I wanna come to South Africa so I can shop at Zara and all these places, I can clear my SHEIN cart, because that’s what they see online, but the experience of having people make your clothing is the true luxury. So, it’s very different everywhere you go, but I really think there’s a huge tailor culture here, and there’s also a huge culture around celebrations and celebrating life, and that is also very closely linked to fashion. There’s a huge culture around bespokeness. Especially for events, or in most African cultures, you don’t have one wedding, you have like, three weddings, because there’s different traditional weddings and all of that, so you’ll see in different countries, you need to get a special type of cloth sourced to get a special type of dress for a special type of wedding occasion. That part of life also links to the fashion culture.

I think that’s beautiful. There’s also certain colors that mean certain things and are used in certain celebrations right?

Mhm, yes.

Whereas in the West, there is this, like, subdued, flattening of culture. People talk and joke about it all the time, how everything is becoming gray, black, and white, and everything is just a straight angle. Everything is just so boring, and it’s this homogenization of culture that is a way to control people, honestly, but it is this Westernized, colonized way of thinking.

Yes!!

It ruins so much. I think it’s so beautiful to see people not let any of that dim their light, you know? Like you said, tailoring is such a special and bespoke thing, and people almost never use it here. I would die without my tailor, he’s everything to me. I’m also like two feet tall, so I need him to fix most things, but yeah. You obviously bring a lot of attention to African fashion in your content, which is incredible, because there’s so much innovation there and people doing things you don’t see anywhere else. Yet, when people think of luxury or exotic leathers, the first thing that comes to their mind is a French or Italian brand. What do you think the Western fashion industry is missing when it comes to that and not considering Africa as part of the conversation?

I’m glad that you brought up the exotic leathers thing, because I think for me, especially the way European designers, like, Western European designers, have been made the pinnacle of craft and quality in fashion is so interesting, because, again, being in South Africa, I have access to all of these major European brands and you see the quality of that, and having that connection to Zimbabwe, I’ll go back home, and Africa is a continent that has every single animal under the sun, so you will see exotic leathers sold for a fraction of what you would see them sold at any other place. My family and I have always loved going to Victoria Falls, and it’s on the water between Zambia and Zimbabwe and there’s so many crocodiles there. There’s this beautiful crocodile farm and they have this whole process of making crocodile leather, because when the crocodile passes away or there’s a sick crocodile— there’s a whole process to it, but you see pure crocodile leather, not like in the latest Chanel collection, how everything was crocodile embossed, not true crocodile leather. I’m like, what I see here is just so different. You mentioned the relationship that we have with different types of colors and the subduedness that you see in the West, I remember a very long time ago I made a video in defense of logomania, because everyone hates logomania and sees it as this tacky thing, but I see it everywhere here. When people make money, because the idea of a wealthy class, post colonialism, is so new here, the way in which people relate to wealth is seen as very tacky and nouveau riche anywhere else. But I made that video, because the ridiculousness of logomania is so deeply connected to the ostentatiousness of the way people dress here in celebration. So, I’m in this interesting spot, where I hear all these interesting opinions from people that I love in other parts of the world, and I’m like, I can understand why that makes sense in your society, but here, I just feel like there’s a completely different way of thinking about fashion that I don’t see enough people bringing attention to. Also, another part of it is, I think when people speak about African fashion, there’s this tendency to revere it and just fantasize about it for being so interesting, and I’m like, there’s also a part of it that I’m really critical of and I speak about it on my page. There are people who value Western designers more than local designers and that’s a big problem. I’m constantly arguing with people on my own TikTok, where they’re like, oh my god Thebe Magugu should make his clothes more affordable, and I’m like, Thebe Magugu is a luxury designer! You don’t argue with Chanel about why their bags cost $7,000, why should Thebe Magugu decrease the price of his things so they are more affordable, and already his things are better quality than a lot Western designers, but the prices are still a lot more affordable than what you see a lot of these major Western designers doing. Even the psychology of the African consumer, I think, has a lot to do with the recent acquisition of wealth. People think about shopping and clothes so differently and I try to challenge people to think a little harder about why they think the way they think about African fashion in the global system.

We touched on this a little just now, but you feel like fashion is missing that global perspective? Are people too in their own bubble?

Yeah, I think so. I think from both sides. Both from African people and people in the West. Nigerian designers have been having a major moment for a while now and I see a lot of people in the U.S. discovering a lot of Nigerian designers. I remember seeing this TikTok from these girls in New York, who had these fabulous wardrobes, being like, oh, this is my favorite African brand, and you had people in the comments being like, this is a Nigerian brand, please say Nigerian, not just African brand. A lot of people wouldn’t understand why there’s an importance in separating the fact that it’s Nigerian from African, because you don’t want to lump Africa into one place, because it’s all so different.

It’s a whole continent!

Yeah! 54 countries. Very different cultures around clothes. I could even speak about West Africa alone and how I feel how it has such a different fashion culture from the rest of the continent, because of its history with textiles. Even from the African perspective, with the rise of fast fashion in South Africa and other more developed parts of Africa, you have people who have a very warped sense of quality clothing and who are so in defense of companies like SHEIN and Temu, and I’m trying to challenge people’s opinions on clothes. It’s not normal for clothes to cost that little and you should also be able to live a dignified life, and part of that is being able to dress yourself in a dignified way and I don’t think SHEIN is the best representation of that, in my opinion. I got a lot of backlash about that, and I hear where people are coming from, because a lot of them are saying that this is a very privileged perspective. Especially in the context of Africa and all of that, but on the other end, if you think of the least privileged person in the African context, they’re not someone who even knows what SHEIN is. There is privilege on both sides. There are many things I get backlash on from different groups of people, and I try to be pretty convicted in my opinions, because I want to challenge people’s thoughts, but at the end of the day people will think what they want to think.

You’re right, it is nuanced. The people who are buying SHEIN are buying $100 worth of these clothes, so, it’s like, you could afford the more expensive, more ethical, better quality thing, you’re just choosing not to, because that’s the consumerism of it all. You get more things, and then they disintegrate in the wash two seconds later and you do it all over again. You also think about thrifting clothes and how people have made it such a big hobby. That’s fine and that’s great, there’s a lot of clothes in the world, but I will find things at the thrift shop from fast fashion brands for over $100. People actually need to be able to afford these clothes.

Exactly. It’s become such a terrible thing and I’m glad that you mentioned thrifting, because this is something I’ve tried to talk about on my page and I know a lot of cool, creative people in Johannesburg and Cape Town who are big into vintage and thrifted fashion, but the culture around second hand clothing here is just so taboo. In Africa in general, like, even my parents. I remember one time I went to a vintage— it wasn’t even a thrift store, it was a vintage designer store, like, pretty nice, expensive store, and my parents were like, why would you buy someone else’s, second hand clothing?

My mom is the same!

Yeah, because you’re Eastern European! I feel like people from the Global South or outside the West, there is this very, like, oooh, ew, why would you buy second hand clothing thing. I get it on one hand, you know, on a macro level. When I think about fashion dumping, a lot of wasted fast fashion clothing is dumped in West Africa, for example. I made a video a while ago about this podcast of this South African billionaire who owns one of the big retail companies here. His company is called Pepkor, and it’s cheaper clothing that is made locally, that appeals to the middle and lower class, and he was saying that he saw the impact that his company had in giving people a dignified sense of self when they dress themselves, because for someone who had the means to buy new clothing, you don’t understand the sort of pride it gives someone to not be dressed in hand me downs. I think a lot of African people whose parents grew up in poverty, I know with my dad, they always talk about how the new clothes you would get were, like, your older cousins or your older brothers, so I think that also has to do with why people have such a taboo view on thrifted clothing, because to them, it takes away from their dignity, to wear second hand clothing. But there also needs to be a middle ground when we talk about sustainability and quality, because I’ve seen some pretty great quality things at the thrift store and things that have held up pretty well, especially in South Africa, a place that has a history with having different types of designers. You’ll find vintage DKNY, vintage Dolce & Gabbana, but on the other end, the access to affordable thrifted clothing is something that is actively being sidelined by the government. There was a whole secondhand market here in South Africa called Dunusa that was shut down, because they said it promoted illegal street trading, and I heard hundreds of stories from people in my DMs and comments section telling me that this was the only place they could afford to get clothing and now it’s shut down.

It’s all so crazy. Sometimes you really are just like, what am I supposed to say right now? I need to say all the things, but.

Exactly.

Well, one of the reasons I started following you is because I feel like we both think about fashion in more of a theoretical way, and I love just listening to people’s thoughts and points of view. Obviously there’s some subjectivity in that, you know, I’ll mention— and I’m sure you do too— an opinion I have on something, but I think a lot of the time what we’re saying has very little to do with something being good or bad. That’s not really what’s important.

Yeah.

I think backlash I get a lot is of people hating a collection, for example, and disagreeing with everything I say about it, even though I never even mentioned if I liked it or not. Does it ever frustrate you when it feels like people are almost trying to misunderstand you on purpose?

Yes! Yes. It’s something that I think I’ve only learned to come to terms with, honestly, in the last two weeks.

Real.

It just started bothering me so much, and it was my mom who said, you actually just don’t have to respond, and I was like yeah, fair. But, I think, especially when you make long form content, you make so many points, and I want people to listen to the full video before they comment. I can tell that people often stick to one specific point that you make, and then they use that to argue back and forth with you, and like, if you just listened for a bit longer, you would have heard where I further elaborated on what I meant about that point. I see that with many videos that I’ve made. I’m sure you’ve seen my Dictators in Designer series.

Yeah, yeah, I was gonna bring it up!

I remember I got a flood of comments from people saying, why am I only talking about politicians and first ladies from Africa, there’s corrupt people everywhere. I’m like, yes, there’s corrupt people everywhere, but I’m African, I focus on African fashion, so that’s why I chose to speak about these people. I also don’t get how that’s a valid argument in this specific context, because these were objectively bad people and people who did bad things to their countries, so they’re not people who really deserve any defense. I’m very careful in my research on who I choose to talk about. I don’t want to talk about someone who in the Western lens was bad, but in the African lens may have been a good person. So, I recently opened it up and started talking about the Marcos family from the Philippines, I talked about the Duvalier’s from Haiti. I’m trying to open it up to stray away from this line of criticism, but also, there’s the type of people who support and who are adjacent to this world and who benefit from it, so they also come in and have their opinions and thoughts. Especially when you talk about things like fast fashion, for example, I made a video about SHEIN and how it’s actively taking away opportunity from the local fashion ecosystem in South Africa and I had a lot of people say, SHEIN has given them a lot of access in terms of, like, plus size ranges. I’m like, this is a very valid point to bring up, that there’s a lack of access in the local market for plus sized women and for plus sized people, and I’ve spoken in the past about how certain retailers are sidelining a lot of their core audience by limiting their ranges, but that doesn’t make SHEIN a good company either. I definitely do get a lot of that, and I’m self aware enough to take real critique and internalize it and do better, but some of it, I’m just like, I actually just can’t deal with this.

Do you feel like people almost confuse understanding something with agreeing with it? They’re like what you’re saying is bad, so you’re wrong, but something being bad does not make it wrong.

Exactly, yup.

It’s that nuance.

Yes, and not to say that I’m the smartest person in the room, but there is so much lack of multidimensional thinking online. Everything has to be either black or white. No one really understands the gray area, especially when you talk about fashion as a social science, fashion theoretically. I think a lot of people’s thinking just stops at a certain point.

Yeah, I totally see that happen. But back to the dictator series, though. What made you want to start that?

I don’t know if you were ever on that side of TikTok, but there was an era early last year where there was an entire section of TikTok that was different edits about corrupt politicians. It was a big thing in Africa because we have plenty of those, and it would be more like memes. The one where they’re like, corruption is only bad if I’m not involved in it! So, I was like, I find this very interesting, and the first ever Dictators in Designer series I made was on Mobutu Sese Seko, the former leader of the DRC. Why I chose to speak about him was because I had learned about the history of the DRC and the Greater Congo when I was in high school, and I remember in school there was so much talk about his fashion choices. It was such a core part of his history. I was like, I have all of this information about his guy, why don’t I make a video that’s aligned with #CorruptTok, but I also don’t want to start a series that makes it seem like I’m glorifying corruption, because I’m definitely not, but I want to use fashion as a lens to go into political critique. I started with that video and it did pretty well, and then people just started suggesting different leaders across the continent. The next one I did was Grace and Robert Mugabe, the former president of Zimbabwe. I’m like, this is perfect, because I know a lot about them because I’m from Zimbabwe! I knew that she was nicknamed Gucci Grace, because she just spent so much money, and that video, to this day, I think is the most viewed video of the series. From then on people just kept requesting more and more people. I would get DMs from people being like, there’s this person in my country, but I can’t speak about them because in my country we have certain laws, and I was like, I can take advantage of the fact that I live in South Africa, a country where we have such freedom around political speech. We can speak about anything. We literally call our president cupcake here, and in a lot of African countries you can’t. I was like, I can use this as a jumping off point to educate, not just people outside of Africa, but people within Africa who don’t know what’s going on in other African countries, but also speak about fashion! I’ve had so many people tell me that after they saw my video they started researching more about the political history of those countries, and I’m like, that’s what I want! I want people to be informed and fashion is a great way to get people’s intrigue, because I think there’s so much scandal around corruption in fashion and glamor, and it’s sort of a ragebaity way to get people more informed.

It’s great. Like you said, it got people thinking, it got people wanting to research more, and there’s so many parts of the world where, for example, in America, we’re not taught that history. It’s very focused. If you’re not somebody who’s going out of their way to educate themselves about different things, seeing a video like that might spark you to get interested, because otherwise, how would you know?

Yes!

And fashion is this scandalous thing that gets people talking, even if it’s because they don’t think it’s that serious. I remember one time I made a video on why the rise in tradwife fashion made Donald Trump’s win unsurprising, and that definitely did not stay on the right side of the internet, but it did get people thinking. When it comes to things like authoritarian leaders, do you think they’re particularly conscious of fashion as a tool in image making?

Yes.

I also agree.

I definitely do think so. I’m actually glad that you asked that question, because I’m a big believer in pattern recognition and how it tells you a lot about certain things, and I kept seeing the same pattern with different leaders that I researched. They had these wives who were very glamorous, who dressed a certain way, but their husbands, on the other hand, were very muted in their fashion, and when you researched who dressed them it would be some expensive Saville Row tailor or an Armani suit only, so it seems like they don’t care about fashion or anything of the sort, but then you also had leaders who were very extreme in their authoritarianism who had a very specific style of dress. It was with Mobutu Sese Seko that I noticed that first. He had these leopard print hats that he always wore all the time. In school we learned about this state mandate he had called Authenticité, which was that people of the Congo need to start dressing in more Africanized fashion to go back to their African roots, and this was something that you saw a lot with these dictators in Africa. They had this huge focus on Pan-Africanism, but it didn’t fully translate into real Pan-Africanism, because you’re also stealing from your country and taking away from the rights of your people, and I noticed that trend with every single leader that I researched. I remember researching other leaders like Mussolini or Stalin, and they all wore specific military regalia. It was Idi Amin who I saw also adopted that same style of dress to exude a sense of power and authority over his people, and he was more brutal than a lot of the other leaders that I researched. Even though it varied on how they presented themselves, they were all very strict in how they chose to present themselves, to convey a particular message, and that message was often aligned with their politics.

Do you feel like the ones that had more of a relaxed or bold way of dressing were almost trying to get people to think of them as not as bad, whereas the ones that were dressed more military and were more brutal in their style of leadership were like, I don’t care what you think, I am this brutal person.

Yeah, I think so. For example, someone like Robert Mugabe. I learned the history of Robert Mugabe, because my parents only ever knew him as their president when they were living in Zimbabwe, and he dressed very plainly, in a suit, like the average president anywhere in the world. He did a few great things for Zimbabwe, like education wise and he was very big on decolonialism, but I remember reading Frantz Fanon— and this also links to the fact that you should be reading media outside of fashion to tell you about fashion— but Frantz Fanon’s book, The Wretched of the Earth, was written in 1961 and sort of very accurately predicts what was going to happen to Africa post colonial times. He spoke about how you’ll have a lot of these leaders, who in the the beginning care very deeply about liberating African people, but once they’ve reached power, you realize that the power goes to their head and they more care about keeping power consolidated with them and the people around them, and I think that’s what happened with Robert Mugabe, but he was very muted in the way that he dressed. He dressed like any other leader, but he also didn’t really care about public opinion over time, because he just used the law and the army to his advantage to repress people. No one would say anything bad about him, because you just can’t say anything bad about him in the country. Whereas somewhere like South Africa, we have corrupt politicians and some people speak very openly about corruption, but they’ll use pop culture to win the hearts and minds of people. There’s a video that’s currently trending of the president of South Africa going, “clock it!!” Everyone is clapping for it, but, okay, are we really going to praise him for being in touch with a trend when unemployment is at its highest, corruption is high, we’re seeing so many bad things going on in the country? Then the leaders who were very strict in the way they dressed, like Idi Amin, and those were leaders who I think had control issues. It reminded me of leaders like Hitler and Mussolini, where everything about them needed to be very maniacally controlled, and they cared a lot about propaganda. When I was researching Idi Amin there was so much talk about how he always found a way to blame a specific ethnic group for the issues in the country and that diverted people’s attention away from what he was doing, so he could continue running a dictatorship, but people still loved him. I was like, this is so crazy that he could run a dictatorship, dress this way, act this way, and run a government this way that’s so similar to the things you hear with other leaders who’ve been very famous in history for running similar types of regimes. You see it manifest in very different types of ways, but the pattern is there. I think fashion is very deeply embedded in the way that these people ran their countries.

And you studied law right?

I did.

Is that world something that you want to combine with fashion?

I think a lot of the theory that I speak about I learned in law school. I don’t think policy itself or the law itself is something I’m interested in doing. There was a point where I did intellectual property laws as an elective, because I thought maybe I could do that in fashion, but especially in this country, it’s a hard space to get into, especially in the fashion field. But a lot of the theories I speak about on my TikTok I learned from law school and reading journal articles. I think it was subjects like ethics and jurisprudence and critical legal studies and social justice and human rights, where we read so much theory, that I think deeply informed how I think about fashion on my page.

What sparked your interest in fashion?

I think it was just always there! Growing up I watched a lot of media that was fashion obsessed. I loved shows like That’s So Raven. I was always attracted to characters who were fashion designers or in the fashion industry, like, my favorite movie was The Devil Wears Prada. I loved shows like Ugly Betty and How Do I Look? and all of that. I was also a big FashionTV kid. I don’t know if many kids were watching FashionTV, but I loved watching all the runway shows. I think I was always very conscious about the way that I dressed, so I naturally just had an eye for style growing up. My parents were always very supportive of me having creative pursuits, so they gave me free reign to make fashion a hobby, and I sort of became known as the fashion girl in school. I remember when I was in high school, a friend of a friend had started a culture magazine and they were looking for a fashion writer, and my friend was like, I have this friend who’s really into fashion, she should be your fashion writer, and I became the fashion writer and editor. I really enjoyed doing that so I then started i observe fashion as an Instagram page during COVID after they shut down that magazine, and then everyone was on TikTok and I took a while to get on TikTok because I was like, ugh, this is weird. I wasn’t into it at all, because I was so loyal to fashion YouTube, but I just found YouTube to be too much effort, to be honest. Just the whole process of editing videos and stuff, so one day I was like, why not, and started posting videos on TikTok. Posting forced me to read further and learn further about fashion and think a lot harder about it, because obviously you have all these people who are watching you. I think with social media, people just sort of put you on a pedestal and make you a thought leader and then you feel accountable to them to actually be a thought leader on a topic.

Is there anything that’s changed your view on fashion since making TikToks?

I feel like my view changes every month. The biggest view that I’ve had shift in my thinking on fashion is that I can never have a static opinion. I think I’ve learned to be a lot more fluid on my thoughts on fashion, because there’s always going to be something that makes me think a little bit. A big thing that’s shifted is the understanding that a lot more people care about African fashion than I thought, because when I started fashion TikTok I was just talking about anything else that anyone else was talking about in fashion, because I was like, this is just the thing to do, this is the thing that’s popular. Then I made my first ever video that was kind of about African fashion, about whether or not Africa needs a Vogue magazine of its own, and that was my first video that went semi viral. I was like, oh my god, there are so many people who are actually interested in it! I started making more and more content, and most of my platform is built on my videos on African fashion, so I think I sort of liberalized myself. I set myself free in that thinking that there’s only so many people that care about African fashion.

You really do find your audience, even if it is harder to not follow the trends. Is there anything in the online fashion space that you don’t love?

Yes. There’s quite a few things that I don’t love. I’m not into the creators who seem to have a niche and when they become very successful off of TikTok, they just buy expensive brand slop, and they just push that further into the mainstream. Like, okay, it’s their money, they’re more than welcome to do with their money what they will, but it sort of tricks people’s psyche into believing that this stuff is actually good. I’m very subjective in my thoughts and opinions on what is good and what is not, and I’ll never tell anyone that this stuff is good or bad, but objectively, no one should be spending $4,000 on a Miu Miu slip dress if we’re being so for real. So that type of content. Just like, consumerist fashion content really bothers me. It’s also why I avoided doing things like outfit of the days and unboxings for a very long time, but people just request them from me, so I try and do them, but I don’t want people to think I’m pushing what I have on to them. Another thing I really hate is people who snark for no reason. There’s a lot of accounts that are, like, takedown accounts. Just people that are like, oh that’s ugly, that’s a not for me. It just attracts the worst kind of fashion thinkers. To be honest, I don’t see a lot of that content, because I think my FYP is a lot of people who think like me and I have a lot of mutuals who think like me, so I don’t see a lot of content that I don’t like.

What’s a trend you’ve observed in fashion recently that has nothing to do with clothes?

Interesting. The presence of tech is a big one. I’ve seen a lot of tech companies sort of co-opting fashion, and it’s been happening for a while. We’ve seen brands like Amazon and Meta buying tables at the Met Gala, so I think that’s how it started, and now tech being incorporated into fashion with things like AI fashion companies and the Meta glasses of it all. I’m not completely against it, but there’s a part of it that I really don’t like, because it’s like, you’re taking something so sacred and something that already for a long time has been co-opted by different types of people, like the finance industry. Finance has been in fashion for so long. We see it with the LVMH-ification of the fashion industry with every company being bought up, so many private equity companies in fashion. Now tech is also entering the space and I’m like, this is supposed to be my sacred safe space and here are all of you people just clambering into it. You don’t really care about it in the way that fashion people do. There’s also been a lot of conversation about money in fashion and I think because of the hyper presence of tech, the only way to make money is to accept money from tech and finance.

I definitely agree. I wrote about the Meta glasses and Kylie Jenner’s collaboration with them, and you’ve probably seen the conversation round tech billionaires basically trying to commodify taste. They’re trying to figure out taste as if it’s a singular thing you can do and sell people. So you have people like Mark Zuckerberg partnering with Kylie Jenner to make these glasses, because Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are not the leading people in this AI tech, but now they’re tapping into an audience, the female audience, that isn’t usually centered in this world, to get into the fashion space.

Yup!

It feels sinister, because these glasses have been used to put women’s lives at risk and now you’re selling this “cute” thing where people are going to be like, oh my god Kylie Jenner is talking to me in my ear! They’re not thinking, oh my god AI is recording and stealing my words.

Exactly! And another thing, I feel like none of these companies get it. They’re trying to commodify taste, but they don’t understand what it is about taste as a concept that draws people to fashion. It makes me think about Virgil Abloh. Very different conversation, but his death and him having been at Louis Vuitton. There was a podcast with Recho Omondi of The Cutting Room Floor and she was talking about how corporate companies in fashion don’t understand the culture around fashion and she used Virgil as an example. She said when Virgil passed away and they were looking for a new successor at Louis Vuitton, there were conversations around whether Kanye West would take over since he was in that world and such a huge pioneer, but Kanye West is obviously a very controversial character and he would have just caused more trouble than good, and they ended up settling for Pharrell. I remember the words she used were like, he’s Black, he’s kind of streetwear, he’s kind of music, he’s kind of fashion, he’s the perfect replacement for Virgil. To Bernard Arnault and the LVMH stakeholders that’s what they care about, but they don’t get what it is about that specific culture that is so appealing to people. I’m like, who’s interested in this?! I don’t know a single fashion person who’s keen to get into this. You just don’t get it, and I don’t know if it’s on purpose, or if you just genuinely are out of the loop in that way.

It’s funny you bring up Virgil, though, because, first of all, like you said, he’s not a direct line to Pharrell. Their mindset in design alone is so completely different, but it’s funny, because, I don’t know if you saw how OpenAI dropped merch and it was so ugly, but one of the people they said they were inspired by was Virgil. They also mentioned Aimé Leon Dore, and it was straight up Aimé Leon Dore slop. It’s just so funny that the whole point of OpenAI is to kind make everything accessible and not have much of a defining culture, and yet their merch is pulling inspiration from people who understand the power of culture and community and have a very specific audience. Like, just missing the point entirely. At least stand on business and make merch that aligns with your goals.

Make Patagonia vests or something!

Yeah! They’re so stupid all the time.

It reminds me of a tweet years ago about how Elon Musk got rejected from Berghain and ever since he’s been trying his hardest to cozy up to cool artsy people who could get him into Berghain. Like, that’s why he dated Grimes, and there’s this whole conspiracy theory around that. I feel like what’s consistently happening in tech is that you have these guys who have a chip on their shoulder that they’re these outcast, nerdy, uninteresting people, and they have this big brain and ability to make big machines, and when they then want to enter these spaces, they just do it by basically culturally colonizing and buying stuff. They’re like, we have the money, you’re gonna accept us regardless, but when they’re in these spaces they just stand out. Like the Bezos’ at the Met Gala this year. I’m like, you just stand out like a sore thumb! There is a way to integrate yourself, but because you are such a sinister character, you just repel the energy of what most fashion people care about.

Do you think that fashion is ultimately a reflection of society or does it sometimes actively create the society that it claims to reflect?

It’s the Devil Wears Prada conversation.

Or both!

Exactly, or both. The cerulean blue shirt comes from them and they’re the ones who brought it to the department stores. I would say it’s both, because even referencing that quote, it suggest that the ones at the top are creating culture and it filters down to everyone at the bottom. I made a video a while ago on a collection by Thebe Magugu where he subverted that idea and said, actually, it all comes from the bottom. It was focused on Dunusa, the market that I told you about that got shut down, and he took things from there and used them to make the collection and was like, this is where culture starts and it goes to the top. I think it is both, but I think it’s at its purest form when fashion comes from culture. I mean fashion as an institution. I don’t think the institution of Vogue is really at the cutting edge of culture, but maybe a place like Dazed, for example, understands culture better, but I don’t think Dazed is the architect of culture, they are just better at spotting people who are on the ground creating culture. I think fashion should be a platform for culture, but I don’t know that I fully agree that it creates culture. I think it brings in people who do, and you get talent that’s once in a generation. Like a McQueen, for example. He’s someone who, I think, is one of the greatest, if not the greatest designers of our generation, but he spoke so much about how he was against fashion as a system, and he just never felt like he fit into the overall fashion system.

Yeah, people talk about it all the time, but would someone like McQueen be able to survive in the industry today? Would he ever have become who he was today, because of how outspoken he was? I don’t know, actually. Maybe, yeah, there would for sure be an audience, but would people “tolerate” him? I don’t know. Some people actually do terrible shit and need to be held accountable, but now it’s almost like people go out of their way to turn someone into a terrible human being. They create something out of nothing, when there are actually people doing worse things.

Yup! There’s so many different thoughts on the cultural group of the moment, but I’m like, so many people are just so puritanical.

Yeah.

Also, precious about things that are so incredibly subjective. I think McQueen set the ground for so many parts of alternative fashion to be able to exist. The fact that we had Lady Gaga with her entire fashion and music era when people were calling her a satanist and saying that she was part of the occult. A lot of that references McQueen’s work. Or brands like Fecal Matter and a lot of these more new age, fringe brands. They’re able to exist in the way that they do, because you had people like McQueen. I can’t imagine if none of that existed and McQueen just came now? Oh my goodness! I bet you would have so many precious, one track minded people, being like, he’s promoting the devil!

Literally Satanic Panic!

Yeah, Satanic Panic all over again! People are so purist about things where I’m like… okay? None of this actually takes away anything from the fact that there are religious systems that exist. When people get precious about things like that, I’m like, art is allowed to criticize that, the same way it’s allowed to criticize politics and all these other systems. I don’t know if McQueen could have survived today’s culture. Beyond just the cultural part, I don’t know if he could have survived just the state of fashion today. It’s also the chicken and the egg situation. Did McQueen have to exist at the time that he did for fashion to have become what it is now, or could we have had fashion without McQueen or Galliano, because so much of our fashion today is so referential to that era that they were in.

Exactly. Well, I’m happy he did exist, I don’t know who I would be if he didn’t. What do you hope people take away from the content that you make?

That fashion is a social science! I hope people learn to think about fashion as much more than one dimensional, and I hope people also interrogate their own relationships with fashion. Not just fashion, but everything that exists around fashion. Lately, I’ve also been trying to include a lot more names of scholars and books and things like that, because I want people to read more. I want people to exercise their intellectual autonomy a lot more by watching my content, because I don’t want to be the type of creator who just spoon feeds people everything, and I think I was that for a long time. I would make these very long videos and I would try to be very careful about everything that I say, but I’ve learned to leave certain things open ended and just allow people to fill in the gaps themselves, because we should all be thinking ourselves. I just hope people are a little more intellectual and intentional and autonomous in how they craft their relationship with fashion.

What’s a song that you think Alexander McQueen would have loved?

What’s the best song to listen to when you’re out dancing with friends?

What’s a song by a South African artist that you think everyone should listen to?

If your life was a movie, what song would play when you walk on screen?

What song do you want life to feel like all the time?

When all is said and done, what song is playing in the background of your perfect life?

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Anyway, let’s get into it.

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- Harry Styles for W; 30 page spread is crazy. I like Harry Lambert’s work— I know not everyone does— but I wouldn’t say that Harry Styles’ fashion is at the front of our minds anymore. It’s not like we’re getting all those pieces about what fans are wearing to his shows either. I like the creative direction and styling of his show looks this time around, personally, but I’m not sure he requires 30 pages of barely there fashion. I’m not really moved by much of this and I’d even say some of it feels out of place. I think the Hermès suit with silly sunglasses is most effective. There’s something there that should have been tapped into more. He’s really leaned into suiting on this tour and that bit of unseriousness plays with the serious showman of it all nicely. Styled by Harry Lambert.

- Olivia Dean for WSJ; Apologies for putting these two right after one another. A coincidence, I swear. Anyway, we love Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and Olivia Dean in this house. Just really gorgeous and really understanding of Olivia’s style. Styled by Gabriella Karefa-Johnson.

- Slayyyter for i-D; A true show girl. I love the performance of this. The glamour that’s a little rough. Styled by Imaan Sayed.

- Kylie for Who What Wear; What the hell is she ever reinventing. This could have been more voyeuristic. I also like all the shots that aren’t technically her, but are a car window or a tablecloth. Aidan Zamiri shot this, who I love, but it’s this is in fact a Charli shoot. Styled by Alexandra & Mackenzie Grandquist.

- Prada’s in a little bit of trouble.

- Givenchy FW2026 campaign was shot by Juergen Teller. Very cool and good for them. Srry, love him.

- I love being seduced by Haider Ackermann’s Tom Ford. This FW2026 campaign is steamy. Here’s what I wrote about the collection.

- Well, Demna is nothing if not consistent. Here’s the Primavera campaign.

- Celine FW2026 campaign. Very fabulous.

- Teyana Taylor for Alaïa is very smart. The brand is about movement and the body, and I can’t imagine a more perfect fit.

- I really like how the coordination of this. Not that I think they coordinated in any way, but I think that light blue looks really nice against the leopard print. Leopard print is a neutral in my world, so I’m into that and I also really like the structure of the skirt. The show, however, leaves much to be desired. The same person that owns that dress would not own that shoe. As for Nicole’s Chanel, I’m very into the crystal and pearl work that Matthieu has been doing, that is actually beading, so I like that that idea is carried over here. I’m also always here for a wet sequin. It’s not a dress I’ll be thinking too hard about tomorrow, but it is pretty.

- I love this. It’s so cute and witchy and sexy and dreamy and very Miu Miu. I do a little bit wish those undies didn’t have the Miu Miu logo, but I’m not too mad at it. She looks like she’s ready to cast some kind of sacrificial spell.

I’m going with this photo, because I actually thought this was a dress, and it is not! Either way, love. You know I was all for that apron collection, and I also like that the hem of this top just follows the natural line of the lace, I think it’s what helps the waistband to blend so well. I’ve always thought Joey was a bit of a fashion girl, tbh.

- I think it’s cute that Maisie has been referencing Sandra Bullock’s old red carpet looks, especially since Sandra plays her mother in Practical Magic 2. I do feel that the draping in the skirt and the darts in the top could have felt more intentional. Whether that be being sharper or leaning more into the messiness, something needed to be more. Especially when the original look was… much better, I fear.

This one actually is a dress Sandra wore to the 2006 premiere of Infamous. I like the way Maisie accessorized it with the broaches and necklaces and that itty bitty ring purse (!!!). It makes it feel like something completely new, and honestly, a little more exciting.

So that was this week! I just saw Coyote vs. Acme, and I highly recommend. So crazy that an evil corporation didn’t want a movie about an evil corporation to see the light of day, can you believe? Anyway, I love when bullying works and that movie rocked. I did cry.

TTYL!!!

xx

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I knew I had to write something about Dolly and her sartorial choices, but I’ve been struggling to streamline it into one coherent thought, so I’m just gonna let it all out and hopefully by the end of it we’ll get somewhere. Dolly would want me to express myself in whatever way feels best anyway.

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I remember always being starry eyed about women who, to me, felt like they never shied away from being seen and heard and noticed. People like Britney Spears, Lil Kim, Cher, Tina Turner, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Rihanna, Missy Elliot, and Dolly Parton (I’m a Leo and my dad loves a pop girl, what can I say?). I feel like I’ve been able to quote, “it costs a lot of money to look this cheap” for as long as I’ve been alive, and I think I’ve always been, in some way or another, interested in the performance of femininity. A lot of the women I admired and wanted to be like seemed to be very aware of their femininity and sexuality, and used it to their advantage. I loved that all these women were quite different from one another, that there wasn’t only one way to be feminine. Dolly might perhaps have put on the most overt performance of femininity out of them all, but she didn’t treat the performance as fake.

As she once told Vogue, “I always laugh when I get called a fashion icon. I’m more of an eyesore! Only because I overdo it.” Her tight and sparkly outfits were excessive, conspicuous, artificial, and, crucially, associated with women who are perceived as having too much desire to be seen. Women are constantly expected to perform the ever changing definition of femininity, but they’re also punished for performing it “too much.” There’s an imaginary line between being feminine enough to be attractive and being so feminine that you become vulgar and unserious. Dolly just walked over that line and kept going.

There was no such thing as being too femme in her world and there was also power in the way she subverted femininity. Even if just by proving that who you are and how you treat people matters more and has very little to do with what you look like and the clothes you wear. I’m not saying that Dolly escaped objectification, but more so that she became the author of her own objectification. There was no way for her to determine what every person looking at her would see, and she certainly couldn’t dismantle the cultural meanings attached the clothes she wore, but she could, however, decide how those signs and symbols would be arranged and exaggerated. The audience could— and would— look, but Dolly decided what they were looking at.

A palatable performance of femininity is often one where the labor is invisible. The disciplined female body is “respectable” because it appears naturally beautiful, naturally sexy, naturally feminine. But there was nothing natural about Dolly, and no matter how many times people told her that she’d never be taken seriously if she dressed the way she did, she just kept being exactly who she was.

The girl from Tennessee who saw the town tramp, with her tight skirt, peroxide blonde hair, and red nails, and thought, that’s who I want to be when I grow up, That beautiful woman. The girl whose first dresses were made out of flour and feed sacks, and who was too poor to buy makeup, so she’d redden her lips with pokeberry juice and do her eyebrows with the burnt end of a matchstick— even if it meant getting whipped by her father. Despite her limitations, she still used her body as a site where she could exercise at least some form of control, and she allowed fashion to become transformation. Maybe what Dolly realized was that women were being asked to make themselves desirable while simultaneously pretending they had no desire to be desired.

Dolly wore what she felt good in, which is kind of utilitarian, if you think about it. Utilitarianism, traditionally, makes us think of workwear and garments designed to perform a practical function, and while her hyperfeminine, tight, busty, shiny, rhinestoned outfits might have represented the exact opposite, they did perform one extremely important function, and that was making her legible as herself. She created a visual system so recognizable that her silhouette alone could communicate Dolly Parton. The clothes and wigs worked.

Susan Sontag’s Notes on “Camp” emphasizes exaggeration, theatricality, artifice, and the love of things being “too much,” all of which were obviously present in Dolly. Yet she complicated camp, because she didn’t require us to laugh at the thing in order to appreciate it. Instead, she participated in the joke while simultaneously taking herself completely seriously. “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap” is funny because she understood exactly how absurd the image was, but she wasn’t embarrassed by it at all. The “cheapness” was not a failure of taste, but a performance of taste on her own terms.

In her book, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones, she wrote being “under the lights, you want to feel important.” That the stage “makes me want to try to live up to my shiny clothes. It’s like, okay, you got on this outfit. You’re going to have to rise to the occasion.” It’s interesting to consider how women’s clothing, often considered decorative and superfluous, is what made Dolly feel like she had to be the best version of herself. She owed it to the rhinestones!

Dolly was obviously not a sex worker, but think about the visual history of the courtesan, the burlesque performer, the showgirl, the pin-up, the stripper. All their clothing becomes deliberately communicative in a similar way: cleavage, tightness, shine, high heels, dramatic makeup, elaborate hair. Their objective isn’t modesty or neutrality either, it’s also visibility, but it’s a kind of visibility we shame, even in the most respected of sex workers. But, if the patriarchy has already sexualized the female body, can a woman meaningfully sexualize herself, or can she only negotiate the terms under which she will be sexualized?

If a woman dresses sexually, she is either empowered because she chose it, or oppressed because patriarchy taught her to desire it, but that’s far too simple of a way to look at it, isn’t it? If we consider Judith Butler’s understanding of gender as performance, it helps us get somewhere a little more interesting. Gender is constructed through repeated acts, but that doesn’t mean individuals have no agency within those acts. We might inherit the vocabulary, but we can also manipulate it. The sexualized appearance of a sex worker becomes labor, explicitly. The worker isn’t unaware of the gaze. Instead, the gaze is part of the economic exchange. That makes visible something that is often hidden in conventional femininity, reminding us that looking “desirable” does require labor. Looking cheap and tacky can be deliberate. Masculinity also requires performance and posturing and yet it gets to masquerade as nothing more than an essence.

Dolly rejected “respectability dress” and convention in a way that makes it feel like living life with a bursting fullness is the only option there ever was. Her Dollyness is an everlasting reminder to only be yourself, and then some. That whatever it is someone thinks about you has a lot more to do with what you represent to them and very little to do with who you actually are. So if we’re going to perform, we might as well make it as loud and ridiculous and beautiful and so undeniably us, that eventually the performance and the person become inseparable.

We owe it to Dolly to never dim our sparkle.

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We talked a little bit about the idea that it might not be possible for anything to be unique or original anymore, and how that might not feel very good when you’d like to consider yourself a unique and original person. As I’ve continued to have these conversations, one thing that stands out to me more than anything, is how similar a lot of us actually are. Although, I don’t find that disheartening at all. If anything, I find it comforting. It’s incredible that there are so many different people in the world with so many different lived experiences, so many different likes, so many different dislikes, and I think being open to seeing something from someone else’s point of view can teach you a lot. However, at our core, we really are all the same. We want and need all the same things, and maybe knowing that can help us all be nicer to each other.

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Caroline: What is your personal relationship with fashion?

Connor: I would say, in the simplest way possible, it’s just something I enjoy. I think that I’ve always been a really creatively oriented person, and so I think fashion is just one of those things that’s a natural outpouring of that. I wouldn’t say it’s something I specifically looked to get into or do. When you are creatively minded, it’s hard not to express yourself through clothing, you know? It’s natural.

Do you find that you can express yourself easily through every creative medium? Because, sometimes people will be like, oh, I’m really good at interior design, but when it comes to my own clothes, I can’t figure it out.

Yeah, for me, personally, I think I have a very strong sense of who I am. I know when I see something if I like it or I don’t like it, even though I don’t know the “why,” so because of that, I do find it… I don’t if easy, but I find it comfortable to express myself in a lot of different mediums, because I know instinctually if this is what I like. Obviously there’s times when you don’t know 100%, but it’s just part of the creative process. More often than not, if I’m not super confident about something, I know myself well enough to know that I will get there, even if it takes me a couple tries. So, easy is tough, but comfortable, I would say, is more accurate.

Do you have an earliest memory of caring about fashion or style?

I actually went to private schools my whole life, so I had a uniform all up until high school. To some degree, I’ve always cared about the clothes I put on my body, even if it was a uniform, I wanted it to fit me well. The earliest thing I remember is probably in middle school, I became really obsessed with collecting Stance socks. I actually probably still have most of them. I had like 60 pairs. I would get them for my birthday, Christmas, I was just obsessed with them. Around middle school is probably when I cared about the clothes I put on, because I started going to a youth group and it was the first time I was in the context of other people my age that wasn’t at school with a uniform, and it was like, oh shoot, it kind of matters what I’m wearing.

I have to be a person now!

Exactly, exactly! I can’t just wake up and put on what I’m supposed to put on. I kind of cared, because I felt like I had to.

Do you still like socks a lot?

Not in the way that I did in middle school, but I do love socks, yes. I find socks to be very fun, and I have a lot, probably another collection now. My palette is a little more pulled back than when I was in middle school, a little more refined, I’d say, but yes, I do love socks.

Does that idea of uniforms still apply to the way you get dressed anyway? Maybe not a school uniform, but a personal uniform?

No. I had a strict uniform all the way through middle school, and then in high school I had a dress code, basically, and in high school, I really liked to see how much I could get away with. I always loved toeing that line, especially because I was a really good student, the teachers loved me, I was really personable, my friends loved me, so I kind of had a little more leeway to push the boundaries, more than I should have been able to. That’s kind of when my desire to wear a uniform broke. The journey of fashion is obviously a long one and so at that point, because I was a teenager, I was really insecure, so fashion became, how can I get people’s attention, how can I make people look at me, because I’m loud and annoying and funny and exciting and terrible all at the same time. From then on I stopped looking at fashion as a uniform and more of just whatever I wanted to wear.

Yeah, like trying to communicate something?

Exactly.

When you wanted people to look at you, was it more about them seeing you as a person or using it as a distraction?

I think I always wanted to be noticed. I always wanted people to look at me, so I think it was more, how can I draw more eyeballs. Less, don’t look too close and more please look at me.

When you get dressed, is there a way you always begin an outfit or is it different everyday?

It’s different everyday. Sometimes I have an outfit spawn in my head the night before, sometimes I wake up and go, damn, I really don’t know what to wear today, and so I’ll just start throwing stuff on until I’m like, oh, this looks good! I really think getting dressed, at this point in my life, starts more with what I buy, because everything in my closet works pretty well together. I wouldn’t call it a capsule wardrobe by any means, but it’s not that much of a stretch for me to pull any random pair of pants and any random top and be like, these work together. There isn’t really a lot of process behind it.

Where are you from originally?

I’m from Gardena, but I always say Los Angeles, because people know Los Angeles.

Do you feel like that influences your style in any way?

I think it used to. Obviously back when I was in high school and in the area, where there’s a lot of beachy attire, but when I got to college, especially once TikTok started showing me stuff around the world, I was like, oh man, there’s more options here! Maybe it’s a part of my style in some ways, but I wouldn’t call it, like, a driving factor in any way.

When you think of what you wore in high school, is there anything that makes you go, I’d still wear that.

Ooh, in high school, oh god.

Personally, I still wear things I owned in high school.

Really?

Yeah.

Wow. I mean, good on you, that’s amazing.

I mean, I might not style it the same way, but.

Yeah, of course. I would be hard pressed to name anything that I still own that was from high school. I think I have the headband I used to play sports in, but I don’t think I’ve ever worn that outside of playing sports. I don’t really remember what I used to wear when I was in high school, to be honest. I think the first visceral memories I have of trying with clothes is, like, college. In high school I maybe cared a little bit, but I don’t think I really tried. It was kind of just like, I want to not look terrible, and in college it was like, I want to put on something interesting. So, probably not, I don’t think high school really has a place in my current fashion journey.

I sometimes try to think about why I like things now and where that comes from. I like incorporating a lot of sportswear, and dressing things up that shouldn’t be dressed up or dressing down things that shouldn’t be dressed down, and I was an athlete growing up so I guess the sportswear stuck with me. Or, growing up on Tumblr, that girl is still part of me. All those little bits of me still exist in some way.

That’s interesting. In that sense, like I said, I didn’t really pay attention to fashion much until I was college age, but my little sister, who for sure has a big influence on my journey in fashion, she has always been very bold in what she wears and very eclectic. She was thrifting stuff in middle school and always knew what she wanted, and I think that, more than anything, definitely influenced me. It definitely influenced me to have a more eclectic style, because she would just pair the craziest things together. So, growing up and seeing that as normal and possible and she loved it, I’m like, oh, that just makes sense to me. So if anything, I’m still influenced by the way that my sister dressed then and dresses now.

Love that, and you moved to New York recently, right?

Yeah, like two months ago, maybe?

Has that influenced how you get dressed?

Yeah, I feel a lot more freedom, because where I lived before, there was a little bit less room to “stand out,” so, again, I loved pushing the boundaries, so I did probably as much as I could for the area, but it wasn’t what I can get away with in New York. In New York I can get away with wearing anything, so it’s been great to wear things and be like, oh man, I probably wouldn’t have worn this in Southern California, but I feel totally comfortable wearing it now.

I get what you mean. There’s that joke that’s like, when you’re wearing a New York outfit in the middle of nowhere. You’ve made a video saying you’re not a fashion guy, and I feel like a lot of people would probably beg to differ…

I would agree, yes.

But why do you think you’re not a fashion guy, what does that mean to you?

I think the first step would be defining terms. I think it depends what you label a fashion guy, which is a very broad thing. To me a fashion guy is somebody who puts a lot of intentional effort into. I don’t want this to come across like I’m stuck up and don’t put in effort, I do, in the way that I get dressed, obviously, but it’s somebody who cares about the clothes, they care about the story, they care about the designers, the history, where it comes from. There’s just a lot more intention on their part. It’s hard to phrase this, but it’s more of a deep love for fashion. For me, kind of like what I said earlier, I do like fashion, but it’s more of a creative outpouring. I kind of have no choice but to express myself through clothing.

It’s just who you are as a person.

Yes, exactly, because I’m very expressive, I’m very creative, so if I didn’t express myself through clothes, I wouldn’t be who I am. It’s not so much that I care about the history of fashion or all of it. I like clothes because they’re expressive for me and they just allow me to be creative. I care about the clothes I put on my body and I care about getting dressed and I do put effort into what I wear. If you define that as a fashion guy, then yes, I would be a fashion guy, but I would separate myself from some of my other peers in that way.

I thought I got what you meant. I would say liking clothes and liking fashion are two different things.

100%. Absolutely, yes.

And I don’t think either is good or bad. They’re just different things, so in that sense, I was like, no I get it.

Yeah, that is actually the way better, more concise way to put what I put into a really long, overly worded blurb.

No! It’s what you had to say. Do you think being a good dresser, let’s say, is a different skill set than being a good fashion creator?

There’s obviously a lot of overlap, but they’re two different things. Content creation is its own skill set, getting dressed is its own skill set. There’s plenty of creators who are huge, who do just have a huge following because they put on cool outfits. They put on a cool outfit, they back up, they spin around, they walk forward, and that’s great. I love those people, I think that’s very fun, and I make videos like that too. I think that content creation, making videos, especially on fashion, is definitely a different thing. They can obviously contribute to each other.

Yeah, I was thinking about when Chloe Malle became the editor of Vogue and people were saying she’d be terrible at her job because they thought she couldn’t dress, so I think it’s always interesting to see who is “allowed” to be an authority on fashion.

Well, I mean, to be fair, if you saw the September cover…

No, it was fucking awful.

You know! I’m inclined to agree with that, and then the September cover came out and I was like… ooh maybe they were right.

I know. And she’s going in good directions in other ways, but that Target campaign of a a Vogue cover…

It’s such a step back.

I was like, not you making me miss the one from last year where Timothée Chalamet was floating in space! There were also more interesting photos that could have been chosen for the cover, like even the black and white one where Kaia is in Dior.

Yeah, way better. I mean, you’re not really gonna do anything with a gray backdrop.

No, and it’s American Vogue’s go-to.

It’s crazy to me, because… wow, this is so funny, because I just said I’m not a fashion guy, but less of a fashion thing, more of a creativity thing, because I’m also a photographer, so one of my dreams in life is to take the cover of Vogue, so I pay attention from that lens, no pun intended, but it’s interesting to me how many boring covers for American Vogue there are recently, and there’s so much online discourse about, hey we don’t want this, it’s lame, it’s boring, but they still continue to do that, so I’m like maybe it’s working in some way, maybe it’s a louder vocal minority online. Maybe the American people are boring right now, because they’re still doing it, and you’d think if it was really hurting them that bad… I mean, for the September issue— unless Chloe really is just abysmal at her job, which I don’t think she’s abysmal at her job, I feel like you would change something at this point, unless it was working.

I mean, she’s technically still under Anna Wintour’s thumb and also the money controls a lot. But anyway, you also see designers wearing, like, jeans and a t-shirt and they’re designing the craziest shit, so are they also not good authorities on fashion? Jonathan Anderson is wearing jeans all the time.

I think the world is a very nuanced place and people just want it to be black and white, so they force a lot of black and white labels on things that are nuanced. To be completely honest, there’re people who can’t dress well, who can be great authorities on fashion and there’re people who can dress well, who shouldn’t be authorities on fashion. Some people just know how to put things on. I put myself in that category. I think I dress well, but I wouldn’t call myself an authority on fashion. I haven’t worked for something like that. I don’t have the background or the knowledge. I think there’s a broad spectrum of a lot of different things. Unfortunately, a lame answer, but it depends.

It does depend, though! A lot of things are nuanced. I think that’s why there’s so many extremes in opinions, because people don’t want to find the nuance in any situation.

It’s harder. It forces you to think.

Yeah, exactly. To sit with the fact that two things can be true. You mentioned you’re a photographer. Is fashion photography your focus?

Fashion, editorial, yeah. It kind of depends.

How’d you get into that?

That was probably one of the first creative outlets that I ever really delved into. When I was in high school, my best friend grew up wanting to be a director/videographer, so by the time he got to high school, he was like, I’m bored of this, I wanna try photography. You know, just a different medium. A lot of creatives often get bored and bounce between different mediums, and so he started doing that and we started hanging out, so it was like, well, if he’s gonna take photos, my mom has an old camera, I might as well. Then another one of our close friends was also into cameras, so we were like, might as well go take photos. Then I basically ended up spending the rest of my high school career driving around with my best friend just taking photos every weekend. It was kind of fun to just create, see what we could do, see what kind of photos we could take.

Has photography changed the way you observe clothes or think about clothes in your everyday life?

If it has, I’d say it’s more subconscious. I don’t think I think about clothes differently. For me, they’re different creative mediums, different creative outlets, and I guess I kind of compartmentalize them a little bit, so on the surface, not that I know.

Has posting on social media ever had you thinking about an outfit differently?

I think I’d still wear outfits that nobody’d care about, I just don’t think I’d post them. Like today, I really like this outfit, maybe I’ll post something, maybe I won’t. To me, it doesn’t feel like anything document worthy, but I don’t know. I feel like my bar for what I post has gotten pushed towards the extremes, when in reality, I for sure would have been spamming this outfit on TikTok or Instagram a few years ago.

So you feel like you’re more intentional with what you post now?

Maybe more lazy. It’s more like, this outfit’s cool, but I really don’t want to take the time to set up a video and edit it. Even though it’s really not work, it is technically a job, so my mind thinks of it as work.

Are there any brands or designers you really like? Now or always.

I really loved Jonathan Anderson at Loewe. I like him at Dior a lot too, but I feel like it’s a little less fun. I like really fun and exciting stuff– and Dior is fun and exciting too, Jonathan Anderson’s probably designer of the decade right now, but something about Loewe just felt very fun, because it was the first time I’d seen people get excited about a designer online, too, so it was fun to see the hype around that, and his stuff was just exciting to look at. Above all, I just love exciting things to look at, which, a catch-22, if everything becomes exciting to look at, then nothing’s exciting anymore, you know? So, it’s an unfortunate push and pull. I wish more people were doing Jonathan Anderson at Loewe, but then…

There wouldn’t be Jonathan Anderson at Loewe.

Exactly. Then it would just be another guy. But him I really like. Matthieu Blazy when he was at Bottega was very, very fun. Those were the two people I think I cared about the most, because I found them to be exciting and it helped that they were in the public discourse a lot, too. Miuccia at Miu Miu and Prada. The first time I ever looked at something designer or cared at all was probably only in the last few years anyway, and those are the most talked about online, so it’s the most I got exposed to. But yeah, Miu Miu, I find to be very fun, too. It was a quick little designer phase. It was fun to look at, but now I don’t really care that much anymore.

Just about designer in general?

I don’t think it’s that I don’t care, let me rephrase, it’s more that it’s lost that amazing newness to me, like, oh, this is a whole new world I don’t know about. Now I know a little about it, so it’s still exciting and fun to look at, but it’s not as at the forefront of my mind as it used to be. But it’s still fun to see what’s happening and check in every now and then.

You like womenswear quite a bit, right?

Love womenswear, it’s my favorite.

Do you feel like designer brands, like a Chanel, for example, should make menswear collections or should they just expand sizing and exist beyond gender categories?

I think a lot of the time when a brand makes menswear, it’s just boring. I’m hard pressed to find anything that’s exciting in menswear…

Do you like Simone Rocha?

I’m familiar with the name, I’m not super familiar with the work.

So, Simone Rocha was just a womenswear designer for a long time and has started doing menswear quite recently, and I really love her menswear. I’ve always been a big fan of her womenswear, but I feel like I almost look forward to the menswear more now. I recommend it, I think you’d like it.

Interesting, why?

I mean, I like menswear a lot, just generally.

Isn’t that funny.

Right, I wear it a lot. But she’s always had a very clear point of view and so her menswear has a very clear point of view and fits into her world seamlessly. It’s definitely for a niche customer, but even then it’s not trying to force anything onto you, it just is. I think the Simone Rocha man is just wearing what he wants to wear without trying to prove anything.

I will absolutely check that out. I like what you said, it doesn’t force itself upon you, it is what it is. That’s what I really like. I think part of the draw of womenswear for me, as a guy, is that it isn’t trying to force the feminine into the masculine, it just is feminine. It’s just womenswear. It’s not trying to force an idea, it just is what it is, like you said, so it’s fun for me to be able to grab that and apply it to myself. Just being able to enjoy it for what it is. When a lot of brands do menswear, I always feel like they’re holding back in some way or trying to push what they think men are going to like, which makes sense, it’s a business, I understand that, but it kind of feels like it’s in a box. There’s so many designers who want to do things with menswear, but they know it won’t sell, because it doesn’t project the idea of masculinity that men feel the need to project. In my experience, in knowing a lot of men, I don’t think men necessarily always want to project this hyper masculine thing, but they feel like they need to, because of other men. Menswear in general is just so often confined to that idea and it’s unfortunate to me and because of that I just find it to be boring. Whereas womenswear is allowed to be as expressive as it wants— it’s allowed to be anything that it wants! I feel like menswear has to be a thing and it’s lame.

Is there anything in the menswear influencing space that makes you roll your eyes?

Probably, yeah. How I was saying about menswear in general, it just feels like a box. To me, it feels like a lot of men perpetuating this box, which I get, but the only thing that really makes me roll my eyes is people who treat things as a one way only kind of thing. Where it’s like, you have to do this thing, or else. Because realistically, I think the majority of the human experience is subjective and that also applies to clothes. So, I think people who don’t account for subjectivity. People who are just very rigid. I understand it, I understand where it comes from, but I’m like, alright man, I really don’t care. But that doesn’t apply to just men, it applies to everyone, obviously, but I think you see that a lot more in the men’s sphere than the women’s sphere.

Also not menswear specific, but especially now, taste has become the new personal style discussion, so there’s so many people telling you what it means to have taste. You can’t listicle your way into having taste. I also just hate the idea of a singular taste, but either way it’s not something you can teach or sell someone.

100% agree. Taste is innate. It’s who you are. It’s probably a little bit of nature and nurture. I don’t think it’s something you can learn from people. I think it’s something you can learn by just observing things that exist and how they are. Maybe some people like your taste, maybe some people don’t, it’s all subjective. You have to experience things instead of just taking somebody’s word as gospel. That doesn’t refine your taste at all.

Yeah, it’s like every time you get dressed, you just open Pinterest and copy and paste an outfit.

There’s a difference between copy and pasting and learning from that and asking yourself if you like something or not. You can copy an outfit with a denim button up and you wear that a couple of times and eventually one day you realize you really love this denim shirt and how it works on you. As long as you make that realization in your own head, I’d say, hey, you’ve developed your taste.

I also think sometimes when you wear something, you’re gonna hate your outfit, you know?

Oh my god, all the time!

Yeah, I’ll put something on that I know I like and I’ll style it a different way, then as soon as I leave the house, immediate regret. But then you learn what you don’t like!

Can you be a true creative if you don’t make things that you don’t like? I would argue probably not. I would say you become more refined and you tend to make things that you like the further you go, but part of the fun is making things that you don’t like. It’s much like life, you experience good things a lot more because you experience the bad things next to them. When you experience the things that you fail at, it allows you to appreciate the things that you did really well at. Another fun catch-22. It’s the same thing with fashion. It’s fun to be like, god this sucks, I really hate this. So much of creativity and fashion is about finding out what you don’t like as much as what you like. I think you revisit things you don’t like. I’ve tried to wear the same shade of red 100 times in my life. Every time I wear it, I’m like, this is so terrible, it’s god awful, on me. Specifically, it’s bright red, scarlet shoes. I love them, I love the look, I love the way people style them, and without fail, I try them once a year, and I think, maybe this time, because I love the way it looks on people, and I try it on me, and it’s just not me. I don’t know what it is. I wish that I could get my brain to like it on me and what I’m wearing.

Maybe one day it will.

I don’t know who I’ll be as a person when that event comes, but who knows! Fingers crossed, here’s hoping.

So funny, literally just yesterday I was talking to my friend about how red stresses me out, but I literally just bought a red dress, but it’s still my least favorite color. I do this thing where I buy something ironically and then I wear it and then I like it unironically. Like, not that I never wore belts, but I didn’t love them, so I bought an obnoxious, rhinestone, glittery, western belt, and I loved it, and now I wear belts all the time.

I think a lot of my style came from irony. A lot of it was like, what can I be ironically funny with.

Going back to those shoes, though, maybe not in exactly the same way, but do you ever wear things that maybe aren’t considered “flattering?”

All the time, yeah. I like creativity from a more intuitive perspective, I don’t like boiling it down to a science, but sometimes I do figure out why things are flattering or not flattering on me. One of those things is ballet flats. Very thin, low profile shoes. I never thought they looked flattering on me, but I always really liked them. I eventually just tried them so many times that I was like, oh my god, of course! It’s because for my stature. I just proportionally have smaller feet, so when I wear a smaller shoe it just kind of emphasizes that I have smaller feet for my body. There’s something off about it proportionally for me, even though it’s such a non issue, but I still wear them, because I just love them. There’s something about them where I’m like, god, I know I’m not gonna look that great right now— in my own head— but I just love them.

A lot of people lose a lot of information in discovering their tastes and personal style because they’re more focused on, I don’t know, the optimization of hotness. You forgo learning about yourself to appeal to other people, instead of just being like, I like this thing.

Yeah, that’s why I don’t like it being boiled down to a science. I’m a really big advocate for trying every day when you leave the house. Even within your house, to put on something that you like as an outfit. To be intentional, at least. It doesn’t have to be the greatest outfit, but at least be intentional about what you wear, because, for me, too, there are days when I leave the house and I want to wear something more flattering. I don’t know what it is about the day, maybe I’m feeling a little less confident, but there’s days where I know which clothes I objectively look best in so I want to leave the house in them, but there’s other days where I’m like, I really don’t care.

*brief intermission as we watch a big wasp kill an even bigger beetle and drag its lifeless body away*

In a perfect world everyone is so secure in themselves that they don’t care at all, but unfortunately it’s not a perfect world. It’s a part of the human condition.

So you put on a full outfit even when you’re not leaving the house?

Yeah! I regularly lounge around my house in jeans or a pair of pants and a button up. Any time I’m in my house, if somebody walked into my house, they would never think, that’s a terrible outfit. I don’t think they’d think, that’s an amazing outfit, but they’d be like oh, he’s well dressed. Any time of day. I think it’s important to do stuff like that, because it sets your baseline as dressing well. Dressing well, so subjective, but putting on what you consider a good outfit should be a normal occurrence, in my opinion. It shouldn’t be a standout, like, I’m going out for the weekend, I should look nice. You should look nice all the time. It’s not that hard to do. It just takes effort and changing your mind a little bit, and it really does improve your outlook on life, your outlook on clothes, your ability to dress well.

Yeah… I don’t do that.

I mean, which is fine! To each their own. I would encourage you to try, because you never know, you might like it.

Maybe. At home, I’m just wearing something random and comfortable, but I will say, when I go workout or teach a class or give a private, I think I put on my workout clothes the same way I put together an outfit. Like, it is so rare to see me in a matching set.

But that’s awesome, and the great part about this world is that there’s so many people and you don’t have to be on it everyday. There can be days where you wanna pull back a little, but you walk out and can be inspired by what other people are wearing. The human experience is so funny. There are people who would prefer if everyone was just wearing a uniform, and I get it, that’s totally fine. Everyone should just live their life the way they want to. I’m advocating for people to dress more exciting, and that’s an equally valid opinion to hold. You’re allowed to desire the world to be a specific way as long as you can acknowledge the world isn’t that way.

I do think everyone should wear what they want. When it comes to the homogenization of fashion or architecture or whatever, in that very Western way of thinking, making everyone look the same and think the same and have less opinions on things, so it’s easier to control them, that I’m not into.

Yeah, I also don’t like homogeny. I think it’s totally fair for a person to want things to be boring, but the world isn’t like that, and I’m glad it’s not. If someone is just very routine oriented, I can understand why they’d want to see the world in a cookie cutter way, and you’re allowed to have that view on the world, as long as it doesn’t infringe on other people’s ability to live their life.

Do you feel like it’s harder to have a unique or original point of view now?

Unique is such a stupid word. It really is one of those ones where I’m like, what is unique, what is original? You know? Is that even possible anymore.

Very much, you did not fall out of a coconut tree.

Exactly. Like yeah, it’s possible, but who’s to say there’s not a person in Indonesia who has the exact same thought as me and is doing it at a smaller scale there, or somebody who back in the 1500s had an idea for this, but they literally couldn’t execute it because of the technology of the time. I love perceiving myself as unique. I love trying to be unique. At the end of the day, there’s a part of me that knows, I’m really not unique. There’s a guy that’s probably wearing exactly what I’m wearing today, he’s probably gonna wear exactly what I’m gonna wear tomorrow, and that’s okay. It kind of stings a little sometimes.

Does it?

Yeah, because I do like to stand out. That is something that I find to be enjoyable, but that’s just not reality. It’s hard to be unique, because realistically, what is unique? Nothing’s really unique, if you think about it.

Are you ever aware of your own authority or responsibility when you’re giving your opinion online about something or recommending a product?

Yeah, all the time, actually. It’s pretty unfortunate, in a good way. It’s a gray area. It’s hard, because there’s brands that I know without a shadow of a doubt that I would never work with, like SHEIN, Zara, H&M. But then there’s others where I’m not so sure, where I hear conflicting opinions. It’s hard, because everyone’s so sure that what they know is correct, and until evidence is presented, where it’s like, this is terrible, I’m kind of like, well, a lot of things are just people’s opinions. I’ve seen one creator say they’re good and another say they’re bad, so maybe they’re good and bad, and it’s like what’s the line that you draw, because nobody’s perfect. For me it comes down to the intention. Are they intentionally trying to do good things and some bad things happen? That’s also a hard line to approach, because you can’t judge the heart of a person. I find it a very delicate rope to walk, for sure, because on one hand, I get paid through this and on the other hand, I feel very strong in my morals and things that I believe. There are things I could do where I don’t find any fault with a brand and feel indifferent, but I understand why somebody would say, hey this is terrible, why are you working with them? In a selfish way, I don’t want things to reflect poorly on me, but I’m also like, at the end of the day, is everyone’s opinion of me the most important thing in the world, or is who I am and what my intention behind what I do more important? It’s such a complex entanglement. There’s just so many factors that go into it and I feel like I’m still learning. All of this is a roundabout way to say that yes, I do feel the weight of the platform that I carry and the fact that I do have the chance to influence people towards something. It’s hard, I really want it to not be my job so I can just fully, honestly be me. Again, life’s just nuanced. It’s hard to give a black and white, concrete answer, unfortunately.

You have your own brand, too. What made you want to start that?

Like I said, I’m a very creative person, and I had the opportunity to express myself through clothing and I always had ideas for things I wanted. I’d be like, I wish I could wear this, or I’d see a girl wear something and be like, I wish this existed for men or in my size, but it doesn’t. So, it was a cool opportunity for me to be able to create things I want to see in the world. And I had the platform and I had people asking me to do stuff, because I would adapt a lot of womenswear to myself. It was good timing, the stars kind of aligned for me, and I was like, I have a shot to pursue something that I find exciting, that I really want to do. Why not do it? Why not try my hand at it and just see what happens? Maybe it’ll stay a hobby forever, maybe it’ll turn into a business, I don’t really know. That’s the exciting thing about trying something new.

I feel like a lot of the time— well, do you consider yourself an influencer?

I mean, technically yes, that word applies, but I hate that word. I’m not trying to influence anybody, I’m just trying to share stuff that I love, and honestly just express my opinions. If that does influence people, I understand that, but not into it. Maybe it’s just because the connotations of it are just so awful, where I don’t really want to associate with that, but like.

So just for lack of a better word, I feel like a lot of the time influencers will make brands, and regardless of what those brands sell, it’s really not more than just glorified merch. Not merch in the traditional sense, but it just doesn’t have to be the best quality, because they know people will buy anything since they’re the ones selling it. What do you think makes your brand different?

I mean, again, when it comes to things being unique, I’m sure there’s a kid in the middle of Wyoming doing exactly what I’m doing. I just maybe have more of a platform than he does. I can say that I’m very intentional and I care. I care so deeply. Especially if my name’s attached to it, the quality of things matters to me. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m gonna have perfect quality, I’m gonna be the best, but I’m actively trying to make that happen. There are things that I can’t do right now because I literally can’t afford it, but I’ll do the best of what’s available to me. And there’s things that I can’t do because I just don’t know it. I don’t have a background in it, so every day is a learning process for me, so there’s stuff that I’ll make where in hindsight I’m like, oh, I could have made this better, but at the time, this was the best possible thing that I could do. I want people to just always know, when it comes to my brand, I am doing the absolute best that I can. I’m always going to be intentional and I’m always going to care. You know that’s behind it.

Right, so people could discover the brand and like it without ever knowing who you were?

Yeah. I mean obviously right now I have to use my face for it, because I’m only really doing organic marketing, so that’s the only way for people to know, but the goal eventually is that I don’t have to be any kind of face. I don’t have to be associated with the brand. I’m still gonna be running it, it’s gonna be mine, but I really want to get to a place where I don’t have to be a factor. I want people to love it and love the clothes. If they love me, then I’m not gonna turn them down, but I don’t want it to be the sole factor, I want to disappear and still have it work out.

Do you only design clothes you want to wear or do you have a different person in mind too?

I basically only design clothes I want to wear. Sometimes it doesn’t turn out exactly how I want, but it’s all things that I’m like, I wish I owned this. I try everything on myself, I try the samples. I have to like walking around in it, because if I don’t, it’s wrong.

That makes sense. I always think you can tell when someone is designing things they love.

Yeah, and maybe it’s not just stuff for me, but maybe it’s more just designing stuff I love and things I want to see in the world. Because I’m sure I’ll design things that I love, where I’m like, I actually don’t know if I’d wear this, but I want to see somebody in this. That’s the beautiful thing about style. You can be like, wow, I’d never wear that outfit in a million years, but god, it’s so exciting to look at!

*Connor would like me to let you know that this was the hardest part of this whole thing*

What’s the best song to listen to while sitting on the subway and pretending you’re in a movie?

What’s the best song to listen to while getting ready?

What song reminds you of growing up in California?

If your life was a movie, what song would play when you walk on screen?

What song do you want life to feel like all the time?

When all is said and done, what song is playing in the background of your perfect life?

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- Troye Sivan for Perfect; Good, fun fashion. I really like the commitment to belt purely for accessory not utility. Styled by Katie Grand.

- Marc Jacobs for Vanity Fair; I love Marc so much and I love how honest and open he is. It’s incredibly refreshing.

- Céline Dion for Harper’s Bazaar; Oh I love a diva. I think it’s good that a lot of the photos with a gray background let the shapes and silhouettes shine, but the photos that are actually somewhere definitely stand out more, and I wish that’s how all of them were shot. Styled by Malina Joseph Gilchrist.

- Loli Bahia for Harper’s Bazaar Arabia; This is incredible. I love how she’s embodying different iconic figures through each look and that photo of her as the Mona Lisa is truly living in my head rent free. Loli is a such a supermodel. Styled by Sissy Vian.

- This just felt relevant to include. A lot of good fashion on Troye, but also on everyone. Diva in the Prada SS2003 coat!!!

- Everyone is losing their shit over this. When I reviewed this collection, about the shoeless shoes I wrote, “Which brings us to the heels, and by heels I mean HEELS. As in, that’s all they were! A talaria after Hermes’ own heart, with Achilles rolling in his grave asking Blazy where he was when he needed him. I might disappoint you, dear reader, but I love them. I’m obsessed! What a superfluous little shoe– or lack thereof. Perfect for rocking back onto your heels when sun drenched sidewalks and sand get a little too hot to stand on. Maybe not practical for New York City streets or a hike through the mountains, but that’s not what they’re for, and besides, why are we acting shocked about levels of practicality on a runway? The rejection of utility in favor of play creates a fictionalization of functionality and creates a consciousness of the body that is not experiencing its usual comforts.” I followed it up by talking about the importance of play in getting dressed and how in an era of optimization, inefficiency and dressing to experience more instead of to perform better can be freeing. I still stand by all of that and I still love those silly little heels. With that being said, I can understand how it feels like the fashion industry is playing in your face with a luxury scrap of material that is glamorizing something that might have someone turning their nose up with judgment if placed in a different context, in a different tax bracket, etc. Also, in terms of this look being worn by Margaret specifically, I’m going to assume that perhaps we were playing into the dystopian nature of the movie? Anyway, dress is fab. So much texture but still so much shape.

So that was this week! I went rollerskating for the first time and did you know that that is actually the exact same thing as going to therapy and meditating and also probably doing drugs? I felt like I was Percy Jackson in that casino not at all realizing the passing of time.

TTYL!!!

xx

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If you’ve been a reader for some time, you’ll know that I will pick up anything Luca Guadagnino puts down, and I always find myself rewatching his movies in the summer. It doesn’t even really have anything to do with what’s actually happening in the movie, but more so with the fact that I feel the most human in the summer, and Luca’s movies feel incredibly human to me. Or perhaps I should say that I love how he captures the human experience. There’s an intimacy to his work that really resonates with me, and what better time to revisit it all than when I feel the most human.

The garden scene in I Am Love encapsulates all of this perfectly, but I was also really taken by the clothes that Emma, played by Tilda Swinton, wears throughout the movie this time around, and how they change as she does. I don’t think my endless talks of sensuality make this a surprise to anyone, but.

Anyway, it feels silly to warn you about spoilers for a movie that came out years ago, but still, be warned.

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I Am Love follows Emma, who left Russia years ago to be with her husband, Tancredi Recchi, in Italy. Tancredi is part of a very powerful industrial Milanese family, and although Emma is very respected, she is even more unfulfilled. One day she meets Antonio, a chef who is her son Edoardo’s friend, and she falls in love with him and they have an affair. When Edoardo realizes this is happening, him and Emma have a fight that leads to tragedy, and a complete unraveling of a woman that can no longer live her claustrophobic existence.

Costumes were done by Antonella Cannarozzi, who worked with Raf Simons during his Jil Sander era for the movie. He provided all of Emma’s looks, most of which were custom, while others were pulled from FW2008, but in different colorways. While we’ll only be focusing on Emma’s looks for the sake of this analysis, I thought I’d let you know that Fendi and Silvia Venturini Fendi provided the menswear, just in case you were wondering why they also looked fab.

When talking about Emma in conversation with Refinery29, Swinton said, “She’s not suppressed or oppressed in any way, but she’s just not fully alive when you first meet her.” This might be true, but her problem is something more insidious, and it’s that she’s become incredibly good at performing herself. She performs her role as the perfect mother, the perfect wife, the perfect wealthy Milanese women, with ease. Her Birkin never feels out of place, and that’s important, because it’s not just about showing you have wealth, it’s about showing it the right way. Pierre Bourdieu argued that taste is never simply about personal preference. Often, what looks “natural” or “refined” is learned through socialization— habitus— and functions as a way to distinguish one class from another. Therefore, Emma’s clothes aren’t just valuable because they’re expensive, but because they demonstrate that she knows how to be expensive. Anyone can theoretically get a Birkin or drape a cashmere sweater over their shoulders, but knowing when to carry it, what to wear it with, how much jewelry is appropriate, how structured a silhouette should be, how little effort the entire thing should appear to require is a form of embodied knowledge.

Emma’s color palette is quite neutral at the start of the movie, even the red dress she wears to her father in law’s birthday dinner is a subdued burgundy. Her silhouettes are sleek and she blends into the Recchi home instead of competing with it. When Tancredi helps her put a bangle on her wrist and it snaps like a cuff, it’s impossible not to feel your stomach drop at the sound of her being a prisoner to this seemingly perfect life.

Then she meets Antonio for the first time, and suddenly her clothes start to change just as much as she does. At first meet, she’s wearing a dress that is her normal sleek style, but it seems a bit looser, and even more notably, it’s a bright blue. It’s like her wardrobe has begun to loosen before she consciously does, and then there’s the striking red dress she wears when she becomes aroused by the meal Antonio prepares for her (should have been more food in this movie, me thinks). For the first time, she’s impossible to ignore, and everything else is muted in comparison. If she’d been wearing bright colors the whole time, it just wouldn’t have hit the same, but suddenly there’s new found sensation added to her world.

Later in the movie, Emma goes to visit her daughter Elisabetta in Nice and stops in San Remo, where she see’s Antonio and follows him, trying hard not to be caught, with the same energy as someone unsure how to handle their first love. Eventually they bump into each other and he invites her back to his place. During this whole exchange, she’s wearing a bright coral dress, made of a jersey material that gently hugs her body, with a cream cardigan over top. When they get to Antonio’s house, she removes the cardigan and then her sunglasses, allowing herself to be at ease, to be comfortable.

Emma is always accessorized properly, as we know, but when she meets with Antonio to discuss the menu for an upcoming dinner he’ll be catering, she seems to be wearing more pieces than we’ve ever seen before. Her light blue shirt is tucked into orange pants, the color of the juiciest tangerine you’ve ever seen, and she’s wearing a lot rings and a big necklace and a belt and sunglasses and a cardigan over her shoulders. Beginning their affair, Antonio undresses her, layer by layer. He takes off her shoes, her necklace, her rings, her belt, her pants, her bra, her underwear; it’s all very sensual. Fashion normally constructs the social self by adding layers, but here, desire reveals the self by taking them away.

There’s a freedom in the nudity and in the way they she lies in the grass allowing it to stick to her wet skin, as the sun shines on her rosy face and shots of flowers and insects interrupt their having sex. Emma’s body goes from being perfectly groomed and contained to literally accumulating pieces of the natural world, which feels so opposite to the industrial family she has spent years a part of. In Seeing Through Clothes, Anne Hollander argues that our understanding of nakedness is shaped by the ways we have learned to see bodies through clothes. Emma’s nudity feels so liberating here, because we have spent the entire movie watching her body be so carefully dressed and socially coded. She’s not liberated because she has no clothes, she’s liberated because the meaning attached to her body has changed. Afterwards we see her wearing Antonio’s pants and singlet, which feels like the next closest thing to nudity, and we only ever see her wear pants and more casual clothes in his company.

Once we’ve made it to the dinner celebrating the sale of the Recchi firm, Emma is wearing an ashen dress with a geometric stole that feels like it contains all her fragments, and can easily be shed. This is the dress she’s wearing when she fights with Edoardo, when he falls and hits his head on the edge of the pool, when he has a brain hemorrhage, when he dies in the hospital, when she sleeps in his bed with his stuffed animal, and it doesn’t come off until Ida, her housekeeper, wakes her in the morning and takes it off, only to put on her black funeral dress. After the funeral, she runs, distressed, into the mausoleum, where Tancredi tries to comfort her by putting his suit jacket over her arms. She tells him that he doesn’t know her anymore and that she’s in love with Antonio. He promptly rips off the jacket and tells her that she doesn’t exist, because, who would she be if not his wife?

That question is answered when she runs home and puts on Antonio’s clothes that she’s hidden away. She doesn’t talk to anyone, she just puts on his clothes as Ida packs her bag full of more clothes so she can leave and be with him. This is also an interesting moment, because Ida sobs when Emma leaves. Obviously knowing she might never see her again, but also perhaps realizing that she is one of the people who participated in the maintenance of Emma’s identity. Her funeral dress lies on the floor, and while it is similar in silhouette to others we’ve seen her in before, there’s something more jagged about it in that moment, almost like shards of her last, final, shattered veneer.

At the beginning of the movie, Emma wears clothes that are supplied to her by the Recchi world in order to be someone that belongs there. At the end, she chooses clothes associated with the man and life that have awakened her. And while I don’t love the indirect defense of infidelity, I do think it’s interesting to think about what happens when the person you have learned to perform becomes incompatible with the person you actually are. Is it worth it to have everything anyone could ever want if it prevents you from experiencing yourself?

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Anyway, let’s get into it.

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Collina Strada presented a capsule collection in collaboration with The Climate Pledge for Spring 2027 at Copenhagen Fashion Week, and it was entirely made of fabrics left over from past collections. About it, Hillary Taymour said, “The crazy thing about Collina is that everything that’s shown is available for sale, so I don’t really get to make stuff that’s completely absurd like this that you can’t ever make again– or you could, but it wouldn’t be a Collina price point.”

There’s something to be said about the sustainability of a one-off collection made only of already existing scraps. One that can’t sell the same dress to multiple people and that kind of already existed before it actually did. Yet there’s also something quite sobering about how fleeting it all is. The collection was hazy and evanescent, and appropriately called Delirium in Bloom. Blooming typically implies growth and abundance, but delirium suggests some instability, and the “bloom” here comes out of waste. It spoke to the delicateness of the fashion ecosystem, not just when it comes to craft, but also in relation to the lasting power of clothes, and how as time goes on there seems to be so much more of them, yet most of us can afford less.

This is Collina Strada’s most materially responsible collection, and probably its least commercially reproducible. Creativity is, still, often restricted by commerce, even for a smaller, sustainability conscious brand like Taymour’s. This capsule collection can’t be reproduced the same way others can, and its exclusivity isn’t artificially manufactured through things like luxury pricing; it’s materially enforced by the finite amount of fabric that exists. The garments are unique, because there simply isn’t enough fabric to make more of them. Taymour mentioned that sustainability is something we’re still all learning about and trying to figure out, and this collection makes sustainability feel kind of precarious. Fabric begins somewhere, becomes something, sometimes becomes something else, and eventually becomes waste. This collection moves that cycle forward instead of pretending that it doesn’t exist, and gives fashion’s leftovers another chance at being desired, but reminds us that even desire has its limits.

Is fashion’s future fantasy impermanence, rather than abundance?

- Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere for Vogue; This is Vogue’s September issue. So inspiring! So creative! Do you remember when this issue used to mean something? There’s literally a documentary all about it. There is nothing here that tells me what direction we’re going in at all and it makes me feel nothing. It’s like I’m looking at a target ad instead of Vogue’s most influential issue. Also! I love Chanel and Matthieu Blazy, but that is nowhere near the best cover photo we could have went with. It’s a shame, because the looks are styled really well and Kaia is a great model. The Balenciaga with the petite jump? Insane. Yet, it’s all wasted on a gray studio background. Someone get Grace Coddington STAT. Unfortunately I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that there is often one person doing the job of ten, but. Styled by Spencer Singer.

- Adéla for Teen Vogue; Now this is something worthy of a September issue. Which is insane, because compared to Vogue, Teen Vogue’s budget is, like, a dollar, but they still came to WORK. And by the way, also a very plain background, but at least they put actually put it to good use. I really love Jaša Müller’s work and how there’s something that feels so arts and crafts about the way the photos are edited. It just feels like it’s been made with an actual human’s touch, which I think we’re seeing a lot in the most successful editorials. I love that they featured a lot of small independent designers, and I love that when we do see a luxury piece, it’s styled in a new and exciting way. Styled by Dena Giannini.

- Jeremy Strong for GQ; If you’re new here, I am quite partial to a GQ editorial, but I am also quite partial to Jeremy Strong. The choices he makes, both sartorially and professionally, tickle me. Like, I simply can’t look through these photos without my smile growing bigger and bigger. Styled by Tobias Frericks.

- Rihanna For Elle; Again, very stripped back in creative direction but still so much better than Vogue. Rihanna really is that girl and just knows how to command a space, but she’s also the ultimate Dior girl, and I love the overlap of the Dior headband over the magazine title. Styled by Jahleel Weaver.

- Nicole Kidman for British Vogue; British Vogue has been kind of hit or miss over the last few months and I don’t love the whiplash, but this is good. Nicole Kidman scares me a little, in a good way, and I think this editorial really fits her vibe, I don’t know, it just feels right in my spirit. Just, like, an eccentric lady getting dressed up to float around her big house. Styled by Poppy Kain.

- Kylie Jenner is launching shoes for her brand KHY in collaboration with Gia Borghini. Wasn’t she done collaborating with brands? Like, wasn’t the whole point of the “rebrand” she announced. Girl, whatever. A basic thong sandal.

- There was a rumor that JW Anderson was collaborating with Zara and Jonathan Anderson was like, I do not wish to be part of this narrative, bitch. Literally so funny of him to debunk the rumor on Instagram.

- New Saint Laurent campaign. It’s stressing me out that whatever song they had Connor dancing to does not have the same BPM as the song they chose to use in this video.

@dazed#connorstorrie, #rose and #LiuWen star in Saint Laurent’s newest campaign - WDYT? 💭 #ysl #dazedfashion

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- You know I have to acknowledge Dario Vitale’s Versace every time I see it, legally. God, I’ll be mourning it forever.

- I love this collection and this show and I only gasped so hard I choked a little when I saw Sadie in this dress. I will say, compared to the runway, it is looking a little flaccid.

- More incredible Chanel on Harry. The tweed is gorg, but that shirt?! Those embroidered flowers looked even more insane after he got rained on and the shirt was wet.

- I leave you with the Björk in Robert Wun. This is how I want to feel all the time.

So that was this week! I feel like I have been so tired forever.

TTYL!!!

xx

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As Kylee herself notes here, her designs are for a niche individual, but still, they’re very mindful of their possible wearers. These are clothes for someone that’s on the go, for someone who wants to feel comfortable, for someone who doesn’t believe that practicality has to sacrifice sexiness. They subvert expectation and they deserve your attention. Not only will you look super cool in her clothes but you’ll also be super cool for supporting a small, independent brand!!!

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Caroline: What is your personal relationship with fashion?

Kylee: I’ve always liked clothes, I’ve always liked style. I’m from Charlotte, North Carolina and fashion and art weren’t huge things— one, in North Carolina and two, in my house. It was just a very traditional Southern household, but I always knew that I liked style and I was always kind of weird and quirky. My earliest way of expressing myself was through my clothes, before I even knew what I was doing. I would always have something on that no one would wear. I would just show up looking crazy in middle school, high school, just wearing whatever worked or wearing whatever kind of fit my style. I’m always casual and comfortable— comfort is definitely the main thing for me— and I grew up playing sports. I just love loose fitting things that I can move around in, so even as a kid I would always look for things that were comfortable, but also fit my quirky personality. I never liked looking like other people. Then I moved to New York and I was able to tap more into my already existing creative spirit, and fashion is just what made sense to me. It’s crazy how you go back to what your inner child liked the most, because in adolescence and college I kind of lost that sense of self, just through trying to be more practical and trying to live the way that the world conditioned me to believe I should. Just going to college, getting a regular job. I got a marketing degree and that didn’t really hold any weight for me, so in New York I got way more into art and fashion. I was just exposed to more.

What’s your earliest memory of caring about fashion or style?

When I was in middle school I was really into Sillybandz.

Oh my god, YES.

That was my thing. I had so many. Sillybandz up my arm, like crazy, cutting off my circulation! Those were very important to me. That’s the first thing I think about when I think of accessorizing. Then I was really into shoes. Shoes that nobody had. Still, to this day, I’m more of a shoe person. I like clothes, but the clothes I buy are kind of cheap and thrifted. Shoes, I’ll spend a good amount of money on. Since childhood I’ve always loved quirky, weird shoes that nobody had.

It’s like your clothes being the vehicle for the accessories.

Exactly. Other people don’t view it that way. It’s like, clothes first and then you pick out your shoes, but no, I would frame entire outfits that I wore around the shoes, for sure.

You said you’re from North Carolina and how there wasn’t really a focus on fashion that much there. Do you feel like, even though maybe not directly, that influenced your personal style? Even if it’s rebelling against your environment or trying to find ways to stand out?

Yeah, I think that’s exactly what it was. I was a very rebellious person. I have always been very against the grain and off beat. I definitely carry all of that into how I design today, because I design from a perspective of making things that should not work, or navigating the industry in ways that you should not. Just because somebody told me that I couldn’t do this, now I’m obviously gonna do it, because you told me that I couldn’t. Also, the further south you go, the more traditional and close minded the communities can be, and I was always a very non-traditional person. I never believed in the rules that were imposed upon me, because some of them were just stupid and misogynistic, you know? Just southern stuff. Rebellion is a big key word for me, for sure.

Love that. How did you get into design? What sparked that journey?

I’ve always known how to hand sew, but you can’t do much with hand sewing, so I would kind of just upcycle and stitch things together here and there. Then once I moved to New York, my mom bought me a sewing machine, because I was telling her about how I was really into fashion and about all the things I was exposed to. When I first came to New York, I didn’t even really know what a stylist was or did, what all these different moving parts in the industry are. I just knew fashion designer, and that’s it. I started upcycling clothes more, because I was inspired by how everyone was dressing and how everyone was so expressive, and I also started reaching out to stylists and assisting them on set. Then I realized I didn’t really like styling that much. It was cool, but it’s not as creative as you would think. It’s just a lot of finding the puzzle pieces and putting them together, and I just always really liked making the puzzle pieces. Making the things that people would put together, rather than having to source other people’s stuff. That’s just not how my brain works. I went on YouTube and taught myself literally everything I know about sewing. Well, not everything, because then eventually I landed a job at a fashion house after all that time teaching myself. Somehow I finessed myself a job where now I’m working on runways and doing crazy, celebrity customs, and a lot of intense fashion work. I completely changed my career from being the, straight from college, tech, UX designer, graphic designer, 9-5, on the computer all day to now working full time, 9-5, Monday-Friday, at a fashion house. When I made that transition, I was like, yeah, I think I’m ready for that, I think I can do that. I’m more of a hands on person anyway and just sitting behind a computer didn’t work for how my brain is engineered. It was still hard work, working at the brand, but even through it all, I learned everything exponentially faster. I learned beyond just design. I learned how an entire fashion business is run and the ecosystem, which I never knew anything about before. That led me to where I am now, doing my own thing and learning, learning…

Yeah, I saw that you were self taught and I was so impressed with your clothes! There was the whole Undone by Kate drama with the wedding dresses recently, who I’m sure has some basic sewing skills, but her “self taught” is a very different experience, and honestly, nothing I’ve seen made by her looks even a little good. I also don’t think she’s actually the one putting most of those things together. I think there’s a big gap in communication between her, the people actually making her clothes, and the people buying them. There’s a big reliance there on selling shit to influencers and then being able to do whatever to anyone else and not really having to focus on it being good. I feel like your attention to detail is so evident. You can tell you’ve taken your time to hone your craft and that’s so important. Especially as a small, independent designer, you really want the clothes to speak for themselves instead of relying on the fact that someone famous wore them one time.

I definitely agree. That’s also how some of my rebellious spirit plays into everything, because whether this has helped me or not, I definitely spent the first four or five years of me teaching myself how to sew just making good product, studying, researching, seeing what people do wrong, what people do right, and just being intentional about the things that I make and the things that I show. Teaching myself from the ground up, I’ve made some really ugly shit, but I’m intentional about what gets shown and about the product that I make. I did all the research and I’m like, okay, now I can sell to someone, to an influencer. I actually don’t even care about influencers. I try to be a subversion to how the industry is usually run, you know, through celebrity, elitism, getting it on the most popular person. I’m very opposed to that. I want you to buy it just because it’s really good, and I don’t have to prove anything through some random famous person buying it. It’s just good and you heard it through word of mouth from other regular people. I do everything for regular people. Accessibility. I consider myself a very regular girl. I don’t like to spend too much on clothes but I like good clothes, so it’s all about accessibility for me.

Having had hands-on experience at the fashion house is also great. Getting an education straight from an atelier is the best kind of learning. Think of someone like Alexander McQueen who started working on Saville Row before becoming this icon. It’s not a bad thing necessarily, but a lot of creative directors now don’t actually have design experience. Then what you mentioned about being rebellious and growing up somewhere more conservative, a lot of the time in the fashion industry, or in culture just generally, we see Black fashion, Black art, Black culture really celebrated, particularly by people who aren’t part of the culture, and then when it comes to actual Black creatives, the structural support for their work is provided a lot less.

Yeah, definitely.

Have you felt that contradiction in your own experience?

I think so. I also think sometimes I’m maybe overly independent and I don’t seek out the resources, but if I did seek out the resources, or in the times that I have sought out the resources, I wonder if I’ve been met with a different level of help and assistance compared to my peers. I don’t know yet. I still need to experience a lot. One of my biggest inspirations is Telfar and he talks about that a lot. It took him so long to get up off the ground, but he’d been making things forever. He also tries not to rely too heavily on being a Black designer, like, he’s just a designer, but people started paying more attention during the Black Lives Matter movement, during COVID. Sometimes you just want people to pay attention just because it’s good. He did talk a lot about the barriers to entry, though, and just certain things with the CFDA. I’m still in very small start-up stages, but we’ll see. Check back, because I’m sure I’ll be met with a lot of bullshit in the coming years, but that’s just the way of fashion.

Unfortunately. It pretends to be inclusive sometimes and then backpedals. Were there any other designers you were inspired by?

Like I said, since moving to New York I’ve gotten more into fashion and art. I always had the instincts, but when I started researching more, Telfar is the designer I definitely most closely align with— just his whole ethos and his vibe too. He’s quirky and funny and sporty and American. I really like Margiela. I just like the consistency of the motifs that carry through. I like when a brand has things that they started with that they carry on through their entire legacy. Like using white as a base for showing how things are worn in and textured. I think Margiela is really cool. I really like Grace Wales Bonner. I like a lot of the sporty designers. That’s always where my eye goes. I’m also inspired by a lot of my friends. I have a lot of friends that are small designers and have great style. I’m also just inspired by a lot of movies and architecture and things that I see in real life. I like designers, for sure, but a lot of my stuff is based off of things that have nothing to do with fashion. I’m a Libra, I’m a social butterfly. I get a lot of energy from seeing people and seeing everybody’s quirks and personalities.

A lot of style is so much more than just clothes, so I feel you. Margiela really focuses on upcycling and putting pieces together, and not only did you start by upcycling, but your work is also very versatile and adaptable. The detachable sleeves and hoods, the skirts that can be worn different ways— was that an intentional choice you made from the beginning?

It wasn’t intentional, but I think I quickly realized that that was what I was doing on accident. I think it also ties into sustainability. The more uses you get out of a garment, the better bang you get for your buck. I’m not gonna ask you to spend an insane amount of money on just a hoodie. It’s gonna be a polo, too. The more you can mix and match, and maximize the amount of wear, that creates a very sustainable piece that will last you longer than just a regular hoodie. Also, back to the Libra thing, I’m kind of indecisive, so when I’m designing something, I’ll be like, hmmmm, do I wanna make this or this? Do I want to make long sleeves or do I want them to be rolled up? I can never decide, so I’m like, I’ll just do both!

On your website you wrote that you work with a lot of local, NYC artisans. How important is that for you?

It’s very important. I’m only one designer and I still work out of my home studio, so I don’t have all the proper machinery. I’ll make my samples— sometimes they’ll be good samples and sometimes I’ll just bring it to a seamstress and be like, alright, do this, but with all the proper stitching and finishes. I’ve worked very closely with some people in the Garment District. One lady, her name is Claudia, she was very helpful on a lot of the most recent things I’ve dropped, like all the hoodie looking things. Those are very complicated designs. I used to make them all on my own and sell a lot through Depop, but it was very time consuming and I just knew I wasn’t properly finishing things how they deserve to be finished. So, I brought it to her and she was very intentional and showed me a lot of new techniques. I’ll also work with one-off tailors in the Garment District to sew things, because a lot of things I still do make myself, but it’s nice to have seamstresses that can help me make multiple of something. They’re very, very, very important. The Garment District in New York City is a very important place, and it doesn’t get enough credit for me. Not even just the seamstresses, but the people that install zippers or buttons or grommets, the people that work at the fabric stores. They are very important resources that do not get enough respect or pay or any of that, so I try to work with them as much as I can and give them their 10s.

There’s so many little parts that go into making a garment that people don’t even think twice about.

Truly. The Garment District is like a living organism. Things you wouldn’t even think about that people do.

I know! A whole store dedicated to a single thing.

Exactly, one single thing.

Are you mindful about maintaining a balance between craftsmanship and sustainability while still growing your brand?

Yeah, it’s hard. Sometimes I sacrifice profit or time, but the way I look at it… it’s just a labor of love. Some people are probably way more profitable in the beginning because they don’t view sustainability in the way that I do, and they’re just making things and selling them. It definitely has been an uphill battle, but I don’t mind it. I don’t mind sacrificing some profit to keep things more sustainable or so that more people can access it. My prices could be a lot higher, just based on me working locally, me making things myself. That is very valuable, but from the beginning, I wanted to carry on my practices and my prices. Over time it’ll pay off and hopefully people will see that, and that’ll just help me keep building a community and an audience and advocating for better practices across fashion in general. Even beyond just sustainability of materials, but also sustainability of people. It’s a lot, but that’s what I signed up for.

Yeah, but it reflects that you’re doing something you actually love and stand by and believe in, and I think people can feel that. You can feel when someone is doing something that is genuine to them, instead of just, like, printing graphics on a blank and charging millions for it, without at all considering their customer or the people making their clothes.

Exactly, that’s such a good point.

Do you have a dance background? I feel like I notice elements of that in some of your clothes.

No, but I have an athlete background. Just really active and running around. I was very hyper as a kid. I played soccer and volleyball as a kid. Right now I play tennis, but soccer was a big thing for me. Yeah, you’ll see a lot of athletic references or just athleisure— hoodies, polos, ballerina flats, the mesh.

And you describe ar*ky*ved as “sexy tomboy.” Is that tension and opposition something that appeals to you?

Definitely. That’s me, you know? I’m unorthodox, I’m a rebel, I make things work that aren’t supposed to work. There’s so many influences that come to me on a day to day, I would be remiss to not bring them all together. The contradiction is the name of the game for me. I contradict a lot of things in fashion and in society.

You also describe it as “an evolving record of ideas, observations, and personal memories,” and I really love the idea of clothing as memory. How do you feel that manifests for you?

Well, the origin of ar*ky*ved and the Instagram was just me showing myself learning how to sew and upcycle. It just started as an Instagram that I didn’t promote. I just posted inspiration and things I was making, almost kind of like a Pinterest board, so I called it ar*ky*ved, and it’s a play on my name with the “ky.” It was an archive of all my ideas and all my learnings, and now I kind of play around with the concept of me being a scientist, of me being in the lab and case studies, and you’ll see a lot of handwritten motifs and paper and physical media. It all kind of speaks to this branding of me teaching myself, me being a learner, me documenting characters and case studies on each of these things. All the clothes that I make are representative of my childhood and things that I’ve seen and people that I’ve met, so that all kind of speaks to memory. Some of the pieces I make and sell are direct references to things that I’ve upcycled. The pieces hold a lot of sentimental value.

For sure. I’m a huge fashion history nerd and I feel like a lot of the time fashion is overlooked by historians as a way to give us insight into what was happening at a specific point in time, so that note about it being observational really resonates with me. What do you think your design’s observe about the time we’re living in right now?

I would say that it represents how people’s personal style is becoming less trendy and more in tune with themselves. I design for a very specific, niche person in New York. Things that aren’t just birthday attire. It’s for everyday activities. I live in a walkable city. You want to wear things that are comfortable and that you can move in. I don’t even know if it’s just the times or specifically where I’m at right now, which I guess is also part of the times and part of my own history and that of the millions of people in New York or in the Tristate area, that live in walkable cities. It speaks to that and this resurgence of people just being true to who they are. My clothes aren’t very mainstream and are designed in ways that don’t appeal to many people. Finding community. There’s a big desire for finding community nowadays and finding your community. That’s not just a buzzword for me. There’s different ways of finding your people, and I hope my brand helps people do that.

I agree. I think community is so important. We all just wanna express ourselves and be understood.

Yeah, and people are outside and active and excited about life again. We’re all just being weird and ourselves.

You talked about your clothes being practical. The belt bag! Those are great. How did those come about?

That is an example of something that I referenced from a pair of pants I upcycled. I was thinking, I want to make this again, but I don’t want it to be pants, because I’m also thinking about being a small designer and the materials I can afford, and making pants is a lot of fabric. I was like, what if I just made it so you could just take that top part off and put it on anything, so obviously a belt! Then I started making the belt, and utility belts were really big at the time. I started by using canvas and denim, but I didn’t really like how it looked. It was really flimsy and didn’t have the rigidity of a utility belt that I could wear, that could withstand a lot of things. I didn’t want to use regular leather either, because I wanted more texture to it, so I use suede now. First I was using faux suede, but it was flimsy like the denim and canvas, and then I used real suede and it was really nice. Sewing with suede also feels really nice. It feels like butter! I named it after my mom, because I was just thinking about being a woman and all the things we have to carry in our purses. That’s kind of how I designed each compartment— there are a couple of different pockets, things you can hang things off of. So, you know, all the things we carry. Even being a little deeper about it, not just physically, but emotionally. Being a mom, thinking about my mom, how utility becomes your main function when you become a mom. I try to name things after characters in my life or people that I’ve met that inspired the piece, or even characters in shows, or maybe I’ll just hear a name that sounds like a physical manifestation of something that I’ve made. Love the belts. I wear them to concerts when I don’t want to carry a bag.

That was literally my first thought.

Yeah, I have my keys on there, I have my lip gloss, my phone. Minimal things. Almost replacing the function of what a fanny pack would be.

Naming it after your mom or people in your life is so special. It continues that idea of an archive. It’s also kind of like, when you take a photo of something, it holds a memory, yeah, but it’s this very perfect moment frozen in time. Whereas with clothes, they retain memory in different ways. They hold onto smell, they get creased, they fade a little, and you get to see that history throughout your life. I know some people like to keep their things very pristine, but there’s something more special about letting them live that life.

Definitely. That’s another reason why I love Margiela and how much they use white, because you can see how things are worn in. Another reason I chose suede for the belts is because suede ages, but it ages really nice. As it ages it doesn’t look dirty, and even if it does look dirty, it just looks like how suede should look. It still has that texture and as it ages it looks a little more mature. A lot of fabrics that I use kind of bounce back and have a lot of stretch or are easy to wash. Clothes are meant to be worn.

Absolutely. And the Belle tanks, they have these little grommets on them, and I noticed there’s charms hanging off them. I feel like that’s so fun, because people can attach their own things to it.

Exactly, yeah.

Does that kind of tie back into upcycling? And is that personalization something that you thought of? Like, the person wearing it finishing the design process?

It is. It’s about encouraging creativity from everybody. Everybody is creative. I used to attach a lot of things to my necklace. Like, I used to attach a tamagotchi, or I have an Aquaphor keychain I like to attach to things. I, myself, like to attach, detach, based on how I’m feeling. It’s just all accessory. Accessory doesn’t have to stop at what’s on your body, what’s on your wrist. It can be on your shirt. At first I made the tanks to match the boleros. They were blank tanks at first, but I was like, I could add something to this, because I never just want to make something that anybody can make. Then one day I was like, oh, I could fit a charm in here. It’s like having a charm bracelet on your chest. Whatever manifestation you want! I think creativity from all people will create a better world, will create more curious people, more open mindedness to others.

For sure. There’s this button down motif that I notice quite a bit, like, a lot of things have a collar. The belts, the ballet flats. How’d that become part of your visual language?

I’ve always been preppy. Growing up, if I had to think of a uniform for myself, it would be a pair of slacks, a button down, and loafers. Being a tomboy, but feeling sophisticated. Prep also ties into sport and that varsity aesthetic, so I think those two kind of work together. I always try to infuse some preppiness and sportiness and sometimes both!

Preppiness, academia, varsity culture, all create a very specific visual image in someone’s head, so then when you think about your love of going against the status quo, that totally makes sense. Subverting things and taking them out of their usual context. It makes things a little more interesting.

That is exactly how I feel. Prep and academia traditionally make you think of elitism or certain spaces that only certain types of people are allowed to exist in, but I make it accessible and weird and not something the traditional preppy person would wear, because that’s not only reserved for you. I can wear it however I want! Like I was talking about earlier, I just put things together in middle school and high school, and rules never existed to me.

Where do you see the future of your brand going?

I definitely want to keep staying true to myself. I don’t want to take shortcuts just to quickly get anywhere. A slow and steady pace is how I want to achieve the things that I want to achieve. I want to build more of a community, talk more about my process, teach people things. I eventually want to get to, people not only leaving with clothes, but something that I can teach them or talk to them about. I’m really happy to have this interview and more moments like this where I can really talk about how I got from point A to point B and not gatekeep. There’s room for everybody. I don’t view it as being a standalone fashion brand that just sells clothes, I want it to be an experience for people. I didn’t come from a formal fashion background, so I want people to know that you can do whatever you want in this life. Rules don’t have to exist to you either. I mean, you know, some of them, of course, follow the law, but I want to encourage out of the box thinking through the art that I make. Not even just stopping at fashion. Soon I hope to get into other types of art. We’ll see. Definitely growing, though, because obviously you need money to be able achieve all the dreams you have, unfortunately, in this world. I want to be intentional about dropping collections, I don’t want to follow a fashion schedule. I want to create things that make sense for where I am or where people are at, and what will make people feel good in the moment that they’re in. But yeah, taking it day by day, living in the moment, having fun along the way, being the free spirited, airy headed Libra girl that just makes stuff. But my Capricorn moon comes in and is like, alright now you have to do something with his stuff, you can’t just make it.

Literally. My Capricorn rising keeping my Leo sun in check. How do you want people to feel when they wear your clothes?

Comfortable. Comfort is the main thing. And like they don’t have to sacrifice feeling sexy. I don’t want girls to feel like the only way they can feel sexy is with low cut dresses or whatever. Not that that can’t be true to you, but a lot of people were inundated with the messaging of being an appealing, sexy woman, doing all that you can to attract the male gaze, but it’s sexy to be confident and comfortable. Hopefully the comfort encourages you to feel confident in this world and radiate good energy.

What song helps you reach a flow state when designing?

What song should every sexy tomboy have on their playlist?

What song reminds you of growing up in North Carolina?

If your life was a movie, what song would play when you walk on screen?

What song do you want life to feel like all the time?

When all is said and done, what song is playing in the background of your perfect life?

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Anyway, let’s get int it.

- Chloe King is Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue’s new fashion director.

- Steff Yotka is the new editor in chief of i-D.

- Vogue World 2027 is happening in San Francisco. I still can’t tell you wtf that is. I don’t think anyone can, but San Fran is interesting given the fact that the tech bros are all trying to get into fashion and do taste.

- Them all wearing the same Chanel jacket to celebrate Anna Sui’s birthday is everything to me. Friend goals or whatever.

- You already know this collection had me sweating, but I love. I will say, a little too polished, no? That sheer vinyl needs something a little undone to match its nastiness.

- Very pretty! This is based on Resort 2027, but essentially just made longer. It’s simple, but the drape is really nice and I like the drippy flower. Also, has anyone seen this movie yet? I really don’t want to, but I’ll probably go tomorrow so I can be annoyed with all the proper information.

- Again, simple, but nice. I love when Prada tailors to the millimeter. The dart situation in the bust area is a little bit hectic and I wish the straps felt a little less, here damn, in terms of how they’re attached, but, I don’t hate it.

- You know I hate a bag on a carpet, even if kitschy and on them or whatever, and that necklace makes no sense, but Juno is a more is more girl and that dress is fab, so. Also! Did you know that she wears a lot of her own designer in Ted Lasso?!

- Harry in custom Chanel is perfect. Love the texture of the flowers and that silk moiré shirt is yummmmy. This also reads very HS1 to me.

- Finally I leave you with Lola Tung looking the most beautiful anyone has ever looked. Can you believe?! I would give up a kidney for this dress, I think. Anyone got $3,115, it’s important.

So that was this week! I am the most tired a girl has ever been.

TTYL!!!

xx

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I think one of my favorite parts of Ryan’s and my conversation was where we talk about the importance of letting people feel sexy, and how sexiness has very little to do with the way you look or what you wear. You already know I’m sensuality’s number one disciple, so I very much agree. Sure, we all have insecurities, we’re human! But being an insecure person is an entirely different thing that will rob you of so much. I promise you that getting out of your head and into your body, taking the risk to figure out what actually makes you feel good, will only ever be worth it. So, let me know, what makes you feel sexy?

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Caroline: What is your personal relationship to fashion?

Ryan: I think it’s always been subcultural and utilitarian. To talk about subculture in an internet era feels weird, because it doesn’t feel the same? But I’m at least old enough and was removed from the world enough at the time where subculture still felt like you had to work to get into it. There were things about that that spoke to me and I wanted to reflect that back into the world. It always comes from subculture first.

Back then, the internet was still part of subculture…

For sure.

But it was so much more about the search. You had to work for it, like you said, and learn more about it. Now people are just like, tell me what I need to like and how I need to like. They want you to tell them the exact formulas to be like you.

To have “good taste” or the right opinion or whatever, yeah. Also, the internet back then was not monetized in the same way that it is now. Like, yes, you ran ads, and advertisements paid for the service, but they hadn’t commodified every corner of it yet. They hadn’t gamified it, so the internet back then felt like it was about connecting with people you knew in real life, and the internet now is performing for people you’ll never meet, and that’s a totally different internet and serves a totally different function. Before it used to be about connecting with other people and now it’s about broadcasting to strangers.

We see so much of everybody now, and it’s so easy to want to impress someone you don’t even know you’re trying to impress. It just keeps going and it’s this endless cycle, because there’s an endless amount of people in the world. Do you have an earliest memory of caring about fashion or style?

I have an older brother and I was always a really big little kid, and so I think there was a time when I was really young and we could wear some of the same clothes. Maybe they were a little oversized on me, or maybe they weren’t, but I remember we had this shirt— and maybe I’m misremembering it, maybe we both just had the same shirt— but the way I remember it is that, we’re sharing this shirt and it was the coolest shirt. I loved it, I thought it was so cool, and it got put through the washer and dryer with some gum in the pocket and got ruined and I remember being bummed about that. I was in pre-school or kindergarten at the time, and I think that’s the first time I remember caring about wearing something and being like, I wanna wear this because I think it’s kinda sick.

Is it because you thought your brother was really cool?

No, I don’t think I had that relationship with my brother. We’re closer now, but at that age I was the annoying little brother. I don’t know if I was ever that interested, and maybe I was— I wanted him to like me— but more than anything I think I liked getting a rise out of him. Or I don’t know if I wanted him to like me, but I definitely wanted him to notice me, but also maybe I haven’t changed. I realize that as I’m saying it out loud. Maybe I’ve often wanted to be noticed more than liked.

I guess that’s not a bad thing. It’s not seeking approval…

Yeah. In fact, I think there’s an embracing of the disapproval. The disapproval is part of the thing I like, which I think also goes back to my interest in subculture, because I was like, I don’t want to be like everyone else. I want to be different, I don’t like you guys, so I’m gonna do this thing that, to me, seems like it upsets you, and because it upsets you, I like it.

It’s funny, my first memory is also about a shirt getting ruined. I broke my arm and after they put the cast on, the only way to take off my shirt was to cut it off.

Do you remember what the shirt looked like?

Yeah, it was a short sleeve raglan t-shirt and it was butter yellow. The sleeves and the trim of the collar were light blue, and then it had a print, also light blue, of three cats wearing costume jewelry. I also named them. Their names were Britney and Lindsay– after Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, of course.

Obviously.

And Tiffany. I don’t know who the fuck that is, but I think I just wanted the names to all end in the same sound. And yeah, I had to cut it off.

Heartbreaking.

Yeah, I was devastated.

So long Tiff!

Yeah. RIP. Where are you from originally?

Minnesota.

Do you feel like that influences your style in any way?

100%, yeah. Minnesota has this really amazing labor history. In Minnesota, it’s not the Democratic Party, it’s the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, because the Farmer-Labor Party had to join with the Democratic Party to win, and the Farmer-Labor Party was more to the left, more pro labor— I think that probably has to do with some of the Scandinavian heritage there. Minnesota was housing a lot of communists during the Red Scare, and there’s just this very pro worker ethos in the state. They make a lot of beautiful things there, too. I think the brand in my head that feels like it represents something that I aspire to, or something that I resonate with the most, would be, like, a Red Wing Shoes. This heritage company making shit in Minnesota, made in the USA, will last you the rest of your life. My grandpa laid terrazzo for a living, was this union construction dude, always had his Red Wings. It’s just this Midwestern right of passage, and I think it influences how I see clothing. It should be high quality and functional and utilitarian, and I think I find that millennial ethos of buy better and buy less. I don’t always live it, none of us always do, we see a bajillion ads a day, but my north star is that, always. Like, how much of my wardrobe can I give away and still like what I’m wearing. My goal is always to be shedding constantly, because that is a constant refining process.

When you buy new things, do you always get rid of something?

No, but I used to go through my closet every year and get rid of anything that I hadn’t worn within a year. If it’s been a year, I obviously don’t like it that much. Okay, yeah, you have your suit for formal occasions, but everything else is just bullshit you should be wearing every day. If it’s been a year, you obviously don’t like this thing as much as you think you do. Or you might like it, but it’s not your style, and your style, to me, is defined by the things you actually wear, not the things you have. I don’t need to be a museum. I’m a person living my life.

Has fashion ever felt like a comfort blanket, or an armor?

Yeah. Absolutely. I think going back to wanting to be seen but not necessarily liked— this is going to sound so stupid, but I saw this video of a guy talking about a tweet. Which is an insane…

String of words.

Yeah, it’s 2026. That’s certainly a sentence, but he was talking about this tweet that I think about all the time, where like, your 20s are a piece of long form performance art that culminates in you becoming a regular guy, and I’m like, yes. I’m in this weird transformative chapter of my own life, where whoever I used to be is no longer who I am and whoever I’m becoming isn’t exactly here yet, and so I’m existing in this weird, sort of transient space. So it’s like, what was that long form performance doing or communicating? What did I need that to do? I didn’t know how to relate to people, necessarily, and I was like, okay, well, if I can’t have intimacy I can have attention. I can figure that part out, that’s easier. I think fashion can be that. I can get attention through dressing well or if it’s some hella aggressive, screamy band tee from some band or whatever, that will also be armor to push people away in some capacity. It’s like, this thing that I like is jarring to you, and I know you’re not like me, and that is armor for me for some world that feels hard or complicated or it doesn’t work how I was told it was supposed to work, and I feel resentful towards that and angry about it and I’m angry that the world isn’t kinder. So I need to put this armor up to protect myself from it.

I think I did that too, and in different ways. I remember first getting to that point in life in middle school, and especially as a girl, where you’re like, oh I’m very aware of being perceived suddenly, and I hate myself, and I don’t even want to think about getting dressed. Then I remember having this moment where I learned about designers like Alexander McQueen or Zac Posen, which are two totally different ends of a spectrum, but the way they both dressed women, I was like, holy shit. At least the way I perceived it, the way the women felt in their clothes. That’s the first time I realized clothes could communicate something so much more than just, oh, these are clothes. Something clicked in my brain where I was like, well I’m not that pretty and my hair is curly and frizzy and I can’t do anything about the way I look, but I can choose the clothes I wear, and maybe if people are talking about my clothes, they won’t be talking about me. And it kind of worked.

Where do you think those beliefs about yourself came from?

I was always friends with the girl who everyone wanted to date, and I was just, like, there. Especially growing up, you’re so impressionable and you’re kind of taught that your worth is based on the attention you get from men, and I had none of it. And kids are mean.

Kids are so mean!

They are so mean.

Oh my god, and middle school kids?! Truly the worst time in your life.

No, I’m a grown woman. I walk past a group of teenage boys, I crumble.

No, truly. I think about so many of my own traumas in life and it’s like, unfortunately, middle school.

It all starts there. But yeah, then it become more of a form of communication of how I felt. I didn’t care about what other people thought anymore. It was just more about whatever the fuck I wanted to do, but I still liked that separation. Like, don’t look at me, just look at my clothes, regardless of what your reaction to them is, good or bad. Are you— okay well, I just realized this is going to sound like a read and I don’t mean it that way. It’s a genuine question, pure of heart. Are you ever aware of any stereotypes you might play into when getting dressed?

Yeah! For better or worse, you know what I mean? Less so now, because I truly just go to work. I think also, and maybe this is my own being so hyper online, but the stereotype of some type of guy is so specific and niched down and memeified into something that resembles reality, but that guy never exists. It’s this weird hyper reality, but yeah of course. This is going to go in a weird direction, but it’s gonna come around.

It’s fine, I’m locked in.

Okay, as homo sapiens took over the earth, we went through an evolutionary bottleneck where the total number of homo sapiens got really, really low for a while. So the actual genetic diversity of humans is so small. Every human is more closely related to each other genetically than an orangutan, because of that bottleneck, so of course people are going to be stereotypes or move in certain ways or respond to systems similarly, because all of us have the same goddamn brain. We’re all kind of the same. Like, there’s probably four types of guys.

Right. They’re wearing different colored t-shirts.

Yeah, yeah, yeah! The fashion nerd is the same guy as the music nerd is the same guy as the politics nerd is the same guy as the whatever nerd. So any subcultural space you enter, you’re like, oh! This is just the same guy, but the course of his life got him into this instead of whatever the fuck I’m into, because of life, geography, trauma, and whatever, but that’s like the same brain operating, just in a different system. You probably unintentionally dress into stereotypes because you are existing in the same cultural milieu as a bunch of other people.

We’re all so much more similar than we think we are. We’re all craving community. I’ve been writing so much about that and sensuality in fashion and feeling something. I wrote a piece called, We’re All Wet, because so much of the campaigns for Spring 2026 were literally wet and humid and it kind of reflected what was presented on the runways and in real life, and I was like, oh this is interesting. Fashion has become a lot less sterile and more intimate and more focused on the body. It was so cold and minimal before and that’s not cutting it anymore.

Which is also an interesting rebuttal to the Demna era right before it, but it makes sense. It’s like, okay we just had that, everything moves quick, so we’re gonna respond to that with the opposite, and then a retaliation to that is this, like, we’re wet now. We’re wet and we’re sexy.

Exactly! It’s about feeling something, literally and metaphorically. Then when the Knicks watch parties were happening, I just kept thinking about community and wondering when it became lame to literally wear your heart on your sleeve. We just all want to be together, that’s all we want to do.

Oh my god, yeah. We have gotten so deep into this individualist, capitalist ideology, and it’s impacted us in so many ways, but… we actually want to hang out with each other. More than we think we do.

Even with taste. Think about all the things people say about these being the things you need to like to be a cool, niche individual. There’s certain things you have to wear so people know you’re not like anyone else, but everyone buys those same things, and so you’re still in community with all those people who are “niche.”

But then the weird niche thing is that you hate the people that are too much like you. That’s the concept of the narcissism of small differences, right? The guy I hate the most is not the fucking wall street guy. The guy I hate the most is the guy who’s coming too close to me, because then suddenly I’m not special or unique anymore, because then this motherfucker is just like me.

And is that a bad thing?

No! I should like people who are like me. Yeah, no, why do I hate this motherfucker because he’s like me?

Exactly.

But that’s the individualist logic. Your individualism is defined by your consumption. But, like, it’s not. We’ve been told it is, because we’ve been growing up in this system our whole lives. As capitalism reaches its end point we’re all sort of like, wait, the cool actualized version of myself I was promised is not here and I’m lonely.

And I did it all for nothing, and now what?

Right. I consumed all the right things, I had all the right opinions, and now I’m still lonely, so, what?

You’re a model. Has that changed the way you view the fashion industry?

I was never interested in high fashion, and I was also never the guy who was doing that. I was the ecom model, maybe the campaign model, but I was shooting for big box stores and mall brands. I was never the couture runway guy. I wasn’t a 6’3, 17 year old. I started at 6’ after college as a Midwestern guy and that’s just a different guy, and that’s fine. I think I felt pressure, like I needed to be that guy, that it would give me some kind of financial security, but really the thing I did maybe made more money. I was never super interested in the fashion part of what I did for work, which is gonna sound bad, and all my clients are great, the people are amazing, but going back to being from the Midwest, my idea of what made something good was, this needs to be the highest quality version of it at the best price possible. So, again, it’s the raw selvedge denim, heritage boot, can I buy this one thing and have it for the rest of my life mentality. When I’m working for any number of mall brands, they’re churning out stuff every season, and it’s like, what if you just had a couple of things that were really good, that you just made all the time? I get it, every brand is doing it, but that relationship to fashion wasn’t something that spoke to me by the time I was modeling, because I was older. I started at like 22 or 23, so I was already relating to fashion in a different way than the types of people that were going to pay me to model in a way that I could make a living off of it. Which is even further removed from fashion, fashion. So I was into this weird little corner of fashion, but not fashion.

Has modeling affected the way you present yourself?

Probably in ways I can’t articulate. There were a couple years where I was doing all the Calvin Klein underwear packaging globally. I was the guy on the website, I was the guy on the underwear packaging. My bread and butter was Calvin Klein, and I probably have never hated my body more than that time in my life. Again, your 20s are a piece of long form performance art that culminates in you becoming a regular guy. I’m in my 30s and I’m just a regular guy, and also I have a bunch of tattoos and I think they’re sick, but it’s interesting. Not that I don’t look good, I look good for a fucking 33 year old guy, but I’m certainly in the worst shape I’ve ever been in my life, which is whatever, but I’ve never liked my body more. So, I think being a model probably impacted how I presented, but I don’t know that I… I was spending most of my time constantly critiquing myself. The presentation was maybe more of a subconscious insecurity, because I’m walking around with this deep self loathing that no longer exists inside me. Something there. I was never thinking, oh I can wear this size, because this is my body, or I’m a model and I’m sample size. It was never that, I was never thinking about it.

Are you someone who cares about wearing things that are “flattering” for your body?

Sometimes, yeah! I think I didn’t always know what that meant, or how to search for that, so I think finding my own style was finding things that felt good on me, which is not necessarily exciting stuff. There’s certain things that I reach for constantly. I love short shorts and I love an oversized button down. Those are the two things that are trend agnostic for me. I don’t care what’s happening, these things feel the most me. I don’t know that it’s flattering, but it’s more of a feeling of, when I put this on, do I feel like myself, or like a version of me that I like? Also, comfort and function are a big part of it too.

I ask, because I’ve had conversations with people recently, both for this and just personally, where it’s come up. Someone I know got a body analysis and color analysis to tell her all the silhouettes and colors that look good on her, because she noted how she’s really good at interior design but when it comes to her own sense of style, she doesn’t know how to figure it out. I guess in that way, maybe it gives you a starting point, but I thought it was interesting, because I never think about that and will wear anything if I like it. There’s shades of blue that don’t look great on me, but I love them and I’m gonna wear them anyway. Someone else I was talking to mentioned how sometimes you want to wear a crop top but you don’t look good in crop tops so you can’t and you have to figure out something else, and I was like, I can’t?

You can do whatever you want.

Exactly. The idea of something being flattering is so filtered through a Westernized, Eurocentric lens. Like that one time someone called Issey Miyake’s Pleats Please line unflattering on TikTok, even though his whole philosophy was that the wearer completes the garment, so what are you talking about?

Right, like you totally misunderstood what the goal was here.

Yes, and the difference between Eastern and Western thought when it comes to “flattering” fashion. I think a lot of the time people look for things that make them look skinny and you forgo so much self discovery, because you’re not letting yourself wear the things you want to wear.

Yeah, things need to feel good, and I guess work for your body, because we all have different bodies, but I don’t know, for me, something I think of is, I only like high rise pants. I don’t care that low rise is cool or trendy right now, I don’t like when I bend over and my nuts get split in half. That’s an uncomfortable thing and I don’t care what the trend is. It’s just bad design for men’s anatomy. It’s just bad and uncomfortable. Other people, live how you want, do what you want, but I don’t need to wear something just because it’s trendy, I can just wear it because it works for me. I don’t really care and I think more people need to do that. They need to have a firmer sense of self.

Has making TikTok content ever made you be like, shit, maybe I should wear something else because I’m posting it on TikTok.

Yeah. I am currently in this space of wanting to shed everything and not own stuff. I have so many clothes after having been an influencer. You’re gifted so much. I’ve always struggled with, am I dressing how I want to dress or how they want me to dress? There was also a point where I was getting so much that I never had a desire to buy anything, because I couldn’t even handle the amount of shit coming into my home. When I was really crushing it online I didn’t have a roommate and I lived alone in a three bedroom apartment, and one room was the dining room, one room was the guest room, and the guest room was just storage for the PR packages. I would bring it in for my team, I would give it to my neighbors, I would leave it on the street. It was more stuff than anyone could ever have and it kind of robbed me of my joy around these things, because I think the discovery was part of the joy. The finding, the feeling of getting something new that I love, that can become a piece of my life where I put it on and go. I really feel like myself in this thing, and it tells that story. I had this identity crisis of, people expect me to have taste, but my taste was defined by the novelty and scarcity of, well, I want to go on a hunt and find cool shit and understand why things are cool and talk to people at vintage stores. Why is this thing sick? Why is this so expensive? I’m just curious about all of these things. Why does certain vintage go for so much and others don’t? What is a single stitch t-shirt? What do all these things mean? I thought of the cliche of, why do rich people have bad taste, and it’s because they never have to choose. They never have scarcity. They can just get stuff, and when you can do that, things stop being special. The scarcity acts as a refining process and as a definition process. Suddenly I found myself in this position, making more money than I ever had, so I could just afford stuff I never could, and being given more than I ever wanted or could handle in my life, before I could even decide if something was for me or not. People look to you as an influencer as some sort of outfit inspiration, I guess? But at a certain point it’s like, I don’t even know if I feel inspired? I also started my business around then, and I don’t think about anything other than my business currently. I haven’t really shopped in like four years, and that, I’ve loved, because again, it’s that thing of, what do I actually wear, what are the 15 things that day in, day out, I put on. That’s my personal style, not the “cool” shit. It’s the shit that I actually wear. There were certainly days when I was first starting out where I was like, I don’t have anything to post. I’m working on the computer all day and staying home, but I felt like I needed to, so I was like, okay, here’s my video, but it’s me in a pair of pants and a fucking tank top with a button down over it, and I’m just at home. Then ironically that video did well, and it’s just this sort of weird treadmill. I loved making content until it became monetized and then it robbed a lot of the joy from it for me, but I couldn’t say no to the money. I wasn’t in a position to turn brand deals down, but extracting monetary value from it destroyed the joy.

For sure. And having that time to not shop, to not just go and get anything, would make finding something now feel more special.

Yeah, these last two or three weekends I’ve purchased a couple of things and it’s all I’ve worn.

I do that too. I buy something and wear it in all the ways. I also never buy anything unless I can think of at least three ways to wear it first.

That’s a good rule.

Yeah, and a lot of people will also find out I write about fashion or they like my outfits and be like, you need to go shopping with me!!! And I’m like… I hate shopping, actually. Even thrifting sucks now. I saw a faux fur coat from Forever 21 in the vintage section for $150!

What is happening?

And forget the people who are just looking for cool shit. There’s people that actually need these clothes to be affordable.

It’s capitalism affecting every last corner of our society. But, the number gotta go up.

No.

Number gotta go up!

It’s so awful. And you have a background in environmental science?

I do, yeah.

Has that affected the choices you make when choosing what brands you work with or shop from? Or sometimes do you just have to kind of…

Both, all of it, it’s messy and complicated. One time I did a brand deal with a brand that I never agreed to, but my agent had for me, and I was like I don’t want to do this, this shit’s fucking wack, but they also wanted to book me as a model for ecom, so I was like, alright fine, I’ll suck it up, because there’s a way in which modeling didn’t make me feel like I was selling my soul, but influencing did. I think when I’m on set as a model, I’m there for the day to be a vessel for the brand and it feels hands off.

Yeah, more like a blank canvas for somebody else.

Exactly. I’m on set, people are nice, I’m gonna like everyone on set. I’m just gonna have a good time socializing with a bunch of people and everyone’s doing their part. I go home, I’m not responsible. Where the influencing felt like people followed me for me, whatever it is that made them want to follow me, and so it felt more like I wanted to be a good steward of that trust, and my platform feels much more like a representation of me than me when I’m at work all day as a model. To put that brand on my social media felt bad. It felt like more of an overt cosign by me, not just, hey I like getting paid sometimes, because, who don’t like getting paid sometimes? Everybody likes getting paid sometimes. Then there were brand deals when the cafe first opened and I was like, the brand deals gotta dry up eventually, and they kind of kept not, but I kind of just kept saying yes, because I was like, I think I got like, three to six months before I never do a brand deal again. I was so burnt out and I was trying to pay to solve all of my problems, and again, going back to we want community, but I lived alone, I did everything alone. I’ve also never had a boss, I never had a coworker. I did before I moved to New York, but post college, I’ve never had a W-2 job. I’ve only been a model and independent contractor. Everything else I’ver ever done is, like, I just grind. I don’t know how to delegate. I don’t know how to have conflict resolution, because I don’t have coworkers to have conflict to resolve. When there’s a problem, I do it, and that’s how my life moves. So it was so deeply this individualist, self optimizing thing, and I figured that that skill set would translate to running a business and it really doesn’t. So, sometimes I was taking brand deals that I didn’t rock with, because I was just like, I can’t live off the business yet and I don’t know when this bread is gonna dry up. Like, I don’t have a safety cushion and I’m so tired and my house looks like shit and I’m working all the time. I lost like 15 pounds because I was forgetting to eat and not working out and just grinding. I go home and my house gives me anxiety and I had a cleaning lady for a couple of months and I was like, this isn’t really helping, spending money is not solving my problems or making me happy. I’m still miserable. I was trying to fix myself through consumption differently, and I didn’t know it at the time, so I just said yes to shit. I also wasn’t thinking clearly at the time, I was in such a haze. Also, certain things in the business, it’s very capital intensive, so sometimes I would need to front load stuff and pay for it myself. The shop needs to run, and it’s like, okay, the company credit card is maxed out, but tough shit, I need to sell pastries today, so I’m paying for the pastries. Or we need this equipment and we’re a new business and our credit limit isn’t high enough, so I’m like, okay, I just need to put this on my own personal credit card, so I was moving a lot of money around that didn’t exist to keep the doors open.

I think a lot of people want to consume ethically, but we just live in a system that’s fundamentally built on consumption so we’re all doing our best. I think, well I guess some people don’t give a shit, but with anything, the more knowledge you have, the harder it becomes to ignore certain things, but in this case, talking about fashion, a lot of people have to ethically compartmentalize things in order to move through it, in a variety of different ways. Also, you just have to ethically compartmentalize when it comes to consumption under capitalism.

Classic Marx, no ethical consumption under capitalism.

Yes, I’m sure you’ve heard the quote, “it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.”

Exactly. We could just choose to not, and yet we just seem to…

Keep doing it.

Yeah. I was listening to this podcast where they were talking about this author who wrote a book on the end of the Soviet Union and what that was like. It’s like, everyone knows it’s gonna fail soon, but no one knows when or how exactly, but they’re like, we know this can’t go on, but in the meantime, I have to feed my kids, so I’m gonna go to work. It works enough, and until it implodes, there’s maybe not the break, and I don’t know when the implosion is gonna happen, but within our lifetime, probably.

I just start crying thinking about it.

If you don’t laugh you might cry. After 9/11, Bush was like, go out and spend money, it’s your patriotic duty. That was our response to a terrorist attack in our country. It was like, they hate our freedom, go buy things to piss off the terrorists. What? When you’re a kid you’re like, yeah sure, I guess! Now I’m 33 and I’m like what the fuck?! How were there adults in any room that could look at that and go, that makes sense.

You really grow up and think about all the things you were taught and just go, sorry?!

Yeah, when were the adults so dumb?

Literally. That’s not me, I don’t know what happened to you guys! I think it’s also a lot harder now to defend ignorance, because we have access to so much information.

It’s interesting thinking about the war on terror time too, like, the Dixie Chicks got canceled for criticizing Bush and they weren’t saying anything that crazy. Like hey, maybe endless wars in the Middle East and America as an imperial power, not that chill.

Just an idea!

But today that seems so normal.

It’s also never anyone saying anything that crazy, and then you look at the people that are actually saying something that crazy, and it’s the people trying to stop other people from just trying to live life and make life livable for everybody.

In Harold and Maude, Maude has this quote, like, how the world still so desperately loves a cage. Some people fight tooth and nail to stay in their fucking cage. It’s like, bro, you can come out here, it’s okay, you can come hang out with us, it’s chill!

We don’t bite.

Unless you want.

I was just about to say that.

With consent!

It can be a conversation. At Sweetbee, you sell merch. How do you decide what to sell, or to sell anything at all?

My goal always was, with anything I sell, for things to be worth it. I never wanna sell you bullshit, and I will sell you the best thing that I can to the best of my ability. It won’t even necessarily be the best thing, but then it won’t be the highest price. I never want to gouge anyone. I always had enough free time in my life, in my 20s, which, like, such a blessing, to just sit and think about stuff or to develop a sense of taste and perspective. I liked stuff that fit into my life nicely that made small moments feel special or romantic. That just made the nice little moments of life feel nicer. So I always wanted anything I sold to do that for someone. It’s more just like, is this something that I would love? Would this fit into my life nice and make me feel like I love to use this every time I use it? And if yes, then it’s something to sell, and that’s it. It’s probably gotten a little bit away from that, and I think I’m in this place of maybe going back to that, but I also think I’ve been so busy for so many years, I don’t actually have time to think if something is good or bad. I just have shit to do and I gotta get from point A to point B, and whatever fucking works, I don’t care. So, I’m in this place of, okay, I need to put a little romance back into my life. I need to find ways to slow down and find ways to not white knuckle my whole existence from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. Figuring that out again has been interesting. We sell these hoodies and without a doubt, my favorite hoodie I’ve ever had. It’s 100% cotton, heavy weight fleece, made in the USA, got a sick shape on it, the hood is so huge and thick. When I wear hoodies I used to think were good, I put them on and I’m like, what is this chintzy piece of bullshit? It’s set a standard for quality for me. Or we have these candles that are made in this amazing factory down here in Red Hook that make candles for some really cool brands, and I have it here in a larger vessel for less. I was at a store with my business partner, sniffing candles, got some candles for myself, and I lit one in my living room and I was like, woah, I’ve never had a candle for my living room like this before, this is so good, and she was like, great, let’s go to the same manufacturer. I had this aha moment again, this holy shit moment, where even in the midst of whatever I’d been doing for the last few years, where I don’t know anything or think deeply about anything, I’m just going, I still had this moment of, this is a really beautiful thing that makes my home feel good, and I like that. So yeah, it just needs to be worth it. It could even be the cheapest thing, it just needs to be worth it for the price. I want you to feel like you’re getting a little extra value than whatever I’m charging you.

What you said about making smaller moments more romantic and slowing down. It can feel so silly sometimes to be like, how am I going to romanticize sweeping a floor or finding special moments in everyday things, but it is about care, right? Caring for a place or thing or a person, the clothes you’re selling. And then it’s also about being present. Was building a visual identity around Sweetbee a conscious choice from the beginning?

Yeah, absolutely. It was a mix of a lot of stuff that was happening in my life and my business partner’s life at that time. I think a lot of guys in 2020 were doing this— playing into the stereotypes, right? Of like, sort of deconstructing masculinity and what that means in your life. I think I’ve always probably been someone who thinks the way masculinity has been portrayed culturally feels uncomfortable, and I could never really articulate that. Anyway, I just wanted something cute and my business partner wanted something cute, too. So, Sweetbee was cute. It was very intentionally not punk rock, skateboarding, hardcore. Around that time, in the menswear space, TikTok was beginning to take off, the Wrangler dress jean was kind of a thing, and the resurgence of the cowboy. A reclamation of it by cool people and not by weird stodgy conservative dudes, and I was sort of taken away by that and I thought it was cool. I always liked mid century design, so going from the 50s/60s into the 70s felt like, oh I can understand this. I wanted this 70s thing, but an elevated version of it. I didn’t necessarily want it to feel like I was trying to be a dive bar. I wanted it to be inspired by, but still decidedly modern. We have the walnut stain everywhere, we have the certain color choices with the yellow that are very of that era, but done in a way that feels current. I wanted the references to be there without it being like larping. The font choices we used were kind of groovy, we have some disco ball shit everywhere. There were certain choices that were made that are like, here’s the reference, but it’s not…

Too on the nose.

Yeah.

I guess there’s always been trending food or places, but it’s way more apparent now with social media, and line culture.

It’s crazy.

Do you notice that a lot more as a business owner? Certain foods trending or maybe even people coming here and asking if you have a certain thing?

Yeah, of course. Certain flavors are super trendy right now. The amount of cardamom syrup I go through, like, cardamom buns, cardamom lattes. It’s the flavor du jour right now, so that’s really interesting.

In the summer is interesting, too, no?

Yeah. Well, I think it was like two summers ago we had a rose cardamom chai drink that was really good, and our other location is across from these high rise buildings and there’s a lot of families and moms, and I guess we wound up in the mom group chat in those buildings and they were calling our drink the cardamommy.

Cute!

It is cute, yeah. I don’t know, I need to probably be targeting marketing more directly at the moms and kids over there, but I’m also not a mom or a kid, so.

Well, do you ever play into any trends?

I try not to. I am working on this, in myself. I think I’m reflexively contrarian, and so if something feels trendy I hate it, even if it’s good. I don’t wanna like it because it’s trendy, but again, that’s that, I need to make myself special… but I don’t need to make myself special.

Yeah, and sometimes things are popular because they’re good.

And that’s okay, sometimes. Sometimes people are right. But anyway, I try not to. I also think what’s happening in coffee now is like, there’s the speciality coffee person who’s the purist and they want single origins and tasting notes from the coffee, just as the coffee, and I align more with that. That’s more me and I think that’s something that’s more interesting. Treating coffee more like wine. Then there’s the people who love a fun beverage, and the best coffee shops do both. The cool matcha and the really good coffee can come out of the same place, and I don’t know how to do that, I’m figuring it out, but I am always fighting putting sugar in my drinks. I don’t put a lot of syrup in my drinks even if you get syrup here, and that’s by design. I’ll always put more, but I always veer on the side of less is more. My lattes are two ounces smaller than a normal latte, because I think there should be more coffee in it, because I like coffee, and this is my business. So you’re gonna get a 10 ounce latte not a 12 ounce latte here, because the coffee is really good and I want you to taste it. I’ve always tried to balance delivering something worth a premium, but also fitting comfortably into our work flow, so I’ve also tried to avoid prep. Like, what can I take off the shelf, with the things around me, with the stuff I have, and put something together that’s cool and good. We are weekly squeezing fresh lemons and making in house syrups and doing all of these things, but even there I’m still not putting a lot in each drink, because I want it to be coffee. I always just want it to be coffee, and I know that I need to just accept that people like sugar.

A lot of luxury fashion brands have been leaning into food and beverage right now, especially over the past few years, whether it be an activation or something to promote a new line, and— well, okay, I have thoughts, but why do you think that is?

Marshall McLuhan is the one that came up with the idea that the medium is the message. Then Neil Postman wrote Amusing Ourselves to Death. It’s really good, still totally a worthwhile read, but he’s lamenting the rise of television and the turn away from books and radio, which he thinks are fundamentally different, and it’s like oh Neil, that’s so cute, you don’t know Twitter’s about to happen! I’ve been thinking about how we are entering a post-literate society, and how most of our history as a species was pre-literate, and this literary moment was actually a very short blip in human history, from the dawn of the printing press until now, so being literate as a species is actually a very modern phenomena and a historical aberration, which is interesting. We’re now entering this hyper visual era, an algorithmic era where your taste is defined not by the things you encounter in the real world, but by the things you encounter in a digital space, so you’re gonna scroll from a designer handbag to a restaurant to whatever, so your perception of your own ability to have taste is changed, but I think also, again, identity through consumption, you can signal not just, I’m wearing Chanel, but I’m at this Chanel event and they have their logo embossed on a cake or it’s an ice cube, and all of that is using consumption to convey group identity. Going back to the medium is the message, why does everything mean everything? Why is everything political? It’s because our entire medium intake happens through one device and so we’re shaped by that device and everything feels related because you’re consuming it on the same device on the same app. Also network effects. They work for social media networks, but they maybe also work in an economic sense of like— well I don’t know if I really mean this, I’m spitballing, but it’s like, okay, now you reach a certain size, now you reach a certain cultural cache, now you have a certain amount of revenue, now you can dictate taste, because you have that size and that cultural cache and those pockets, where you and I don’t get to do that.

You said you don’t know if you mean it, but Pierre Bourdieu writes about his idea of cultural capital and the wealthy having cultural capital and being the arbiters of taste because they have that cultural capital. This idea of trends trickling down, which we know is not usually ever the case, because a lot of trends actually start within subcultures or minority groups and are interpreted by the wealthy and luxury brands.

Once it gets fucking white washed.

Right. So yeah, that makes sense. Also, the richer you are, yeah a lot of the time they have shitty taste, but then also, the idea is that you have so much time for leisure, so you have so much more time to learn about art and read books and watch movies to develop your taste, so why would you not know what’s cool? Then everybody is wearing Golden Goose sneakers that are already dirty without actually dirtying them with a lived experience.

I think about this a lot, because to me, at least— and obviously everything exists within a culture— but I just think all the cool culture is bottom up. Anything that matters is bottom up. Skateboarding? Bottom up. Punk Rock? Bottom up. Hip-hop? Bottom up. These things always start in working class communities making do with what they already have, and again, maybe going back to that idea of taste happening through scarcity. As technology has made making music cheaper and easier, more people do it. So you look at an orchestra that became a rock band, that became making beats on a laptop, and through that access amazing culture gets made. Obviously it reaches cultural heights and goes places, but it’s weird now though, because before anything can mature it’s already everywhere, so subculture doesn’t get to exist as a small thing for a group of people for long enough to develop its own taste and essence and world view before everybody gets it, and subcultures that used to require effort to get into… now you just go read some Reddit post and know everything that used to usually take you years to learn. Before you had to go to a record store and talk to someone and be involved in the local scene and do all this shit, and now it’s just on my phone. I can learn about it over lunch.

It’s not even the image of the thing anymore, it’s the image of the image. I think subcultures still exist, though. I think taste means something different within a subculture than it does to the general public. There is no singular taste, and you also can’t teach taste and tell people how to have it.

Just live your fucking life, dude. You’re going to gravitate towards things you like, that’s your taste.

Right, which is why in subcultures it means something else, because it’s more, if you know you know. I talked about this recently with Jacek Gleba, but, for example, the queer community taking something very mainstream and subverting it in a way that is only distinguishable to them.

Or look at the queer community running with Western wear, right? We grew up with a cowboy being the fucking Marlboro Man and now its Cowboy Carter. Your identity is so inherently subversive.

Then circling back to fashion being so into food and beverage, obviously people are so obsessed with conspicuous consumption right now and letting people know their tastes and whatever, and I think there’s definitely world building that happens for a brand when you have this extra thing, but people also aren’t thinking about getting married and buying houses. They can’t afford to own things. But they can buy a $10 latte every once in a while and maybe they can drink it in the mint green Prada cafe and post about it so people know they know shit about luxury. I also think there’s the more human side of it. Food is such a social thing, and when fashion brands lean into it, they’re creating this really intimate experience that makes their relationship with the customer feel more personal. And food is messy and requires emotional proximity and it isn’t this perfect, synthetic thing that fashion is often associated with. I think it makes it more appealing to some people, and makes it something you want to aspire to, because it isn’t this entirely exclusive thing, even though it still has to have that balance of exclusivity.

To be able to luxuriate in eating is a status that… do you know, the last two months I’ve been on grind mode, the amount of bodega sandwiches I’ve had on the go, because I’ve been doing nothing but working? I don’t get to luxuriate at the Prada cafe. I have to eat my bodega sandwich and make sure my dog is taken care of and my employees are paid. So, I don’t have the luxury of doing that. I got shit to do. That’s just not what my life is, and it’s so sick for you that it is, I miss when that was my life, I truly miss it everyday, I’m so tired, but like…

What do you want me to do?

Right, the time between now and my life when I get to do that again is a while. So until then it’s me and my bodega dude, locked in.

I guess that connection is a luxury too, having community.

Yeah, community. I go to the bodega, I go to the coffee shop around the corner from my house, because sometimes I just need to see the inside of a cafe that’s not my own, it’s the dude that fixes my shoes, the lady that tailors my pants, it’s the girls at the checkout line at the grocery store, those are the people I see everyday. Them and my roommate. It is its own luxury. It is nice to know everyone in the neighborhood. It’s fun to have a cafe in the neighborhood, because I see regulars everywhere, and it’s really nice. Also going back to being social, when I look back at my 20s, I feel sad about how much friendship I gave up to try and maintain a body, and I maintained a body that I was miserable in, why? That’s stupid, that’s a really dumb use of your time, and I did it. That’s how I know it’s dumb. I will never be on my death bed and be like, wow, you know what? I wish I had a slightly lower body fat percentage, I wish I was a little more jacked or a little more lean. I will look back on my life and remember that time I shared whatever with someone I love. That’s gonna be the thing I remember. It’s never gonna be how I looked that day. It was just hard because my income was inextricably linked to my body, so I was like, maybe if I make myself into something, I’ll finally know the financial security I’ve dreamt of… no. I was just miserable. Even recently I was looking at old photos, probably from during COVID. I saw myself in these photos and thought, I didn’t know I looked like that! My conception of myself was never that. I didn’t know I looked that good. It’s crazy! Because I didn’t see myself like that at all, so now I’m like, who knows what the fuck I look like, but whatever. Looking back, I was like, if I can make myself perfect, I’ll be chosen. If I can be nice enough, smart enough, kind enough, well read enough, hot enough, enough, enough, enough, enough, eventually I won’t be so alone, but I was trying to be not alone through all of these external things, and to be not alone you have to make yourself someone capable of being in community with other people, and that’s an inside thing, it’s not an outside thing. But, if it’s an outside thing, they can sell it to you. They can’t sell you being okay with your heart, they haven’t figured that out yet. So, as critical of capitalism as I was, I’m still constantly deconstructing the ways in which it’s shaped my psyche.

Yeah, and they make bodies trends all the time, and we all want the latest trend.

And going back to sensuality, it’s so beautiful to be a human, to be sensual. I was listening to this dude talk about his husband and how his husband was a big dude, and he was like, it’s so important to me to let him be sexy. I’m like, yeah, that’s sick, that’s so cool. Recently I went to this freak show out at Coney Island, and it was incredible. My conception of what a body is, or is supposed to look like, I know it so skewed, because all I’ve ever done my whole life is model, and then I’m online and I’m a fucking shirtless get ready with me MF, and I like working out, I genuinely do, it’s amazing, it feels good, so I do engage in fitness content, and those dudes are on fucking juice and they’re jacked, and I go, that’s what a body looks like! All of these spaces I exist in that are about the body are the times when I pay attention to bodies the most and so I think that’s what they look like. It’s not. You go out on the street anywhere, that’s not what your average guy looks like, but we exist in this hyper real, hyper visual world so often on these little fucking screens in front of our face. So, I’m at this freak show and all these people just have regular ass bodies doing fire breathing, sword swallowing, doing the whole nine yards. Just mostly weird people doing some bullshit. It was amazing. I had this moment… all of these people are in some fucking BDSM whatever while they’re blowing fire and I was like, wow, I love that all of these people get to feel sexy right now, that don’t have bodies that look how the fashion industry would say you’re “supposed to look.” These are just normal people who live their lives, who don’t spend every day thinking about their body and they’re out here doing crazy shit and they get to be sexy right now. There’s so many ways to be sexy, and to be attractive in this weird narrow way is so bizarre and so far removed from what it is to be human. It goes so far that it actually makes you anti-social and it pulls you away from people instead of bringing you towards them. It’s this weird internal thing and it robs life of its sensuality. It’s such an unsexy way to live.

I know. It’s terrible, I reject it.

Yeah, life can be sexy and romantic, and then what do we do? Fucking count macros?!

What’s the best song to listen to while drinking a drip coffee in the morning at home?

What’s a song people would be surprised to know you love?

If someone’s just getting into hardcore, what song should they start with?

If life was a movie, what song would play when you walk on screen?

What song do you want life to feel like all the time?

When all is said and done, what song is playing in the background of your perfect life?

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The 2027 Met Gala theme will be “John Galliano: Horizons” and will obviously focus on the work of John Galliano.

No one is shocked. At least they shouldn’t be. This was bound to happen eventually— Anna’s been trying to make it happen for years. Like, if John Galliano has zero backers, Anna Wintour is dead, babe. That woman is at the root of everything when it comes to his career and the rehabbing of his image.

Listen, I know many of us have a messy and complicated relationship with John Galliano and his work, but he is such a singular designer. Quite literally no one does it like him and so we can safely bet that this will be a stunning exhibit. However, the exhibit is not shying away from his controversial past. It will be separated into three parts, the first of which being “Bearings,” addressing his antisemitism, racism, alcoholism, etc. The second section, “Horizons,” will focus on his sources of inspiration and the third, “Acts of Transformation” will be more about craft and design process.

Also interesting that this is happening after he’s been announced as the new creative director of Zara, where he’s continuing to cement his legacy in the minds of new generations. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re sponsoring the exhibit.

- Vittoria Ceretti for Vogue Italia; Hot, hot, hot. Honestly, I don’t have anything else to say. This is so delicious and so very me and I luv Carlos. Styled by Carlos Nazario.

- Zendaya is the new face of Prada Beauty. Love that her and Tom run a Prada household.

- There’s gonna be a Burberry exhibit at the V&A focusing on the icon trench.

- The Dilara Findikoglu bridal capsule is so very good. Making bridal wear for a bride that looks like she fucks could have gotten corny real fast, but the clothes and campaign are both sososo good.

- Okay. I like the shades of red together and the no lapel on the jacket, but the fit is questionable. The arms especially are making me twitch a little.

- I love when people come to work and show that you don’t need a waist seam to have a fitted waist. So. Good. I like the bugle beads and how they look like stitching. I almost wonder what it would look like had they lined the neckline so that middle row would have matched the ones on the side in length. Also, it’s not necessarily ruining it for me, but Prada is usually so good at making a dress float, so I wish this was like a millimeter shorter.

- Just Haider Ackermann keeping everyone sexy. Very nice suit. It’s simple, but it first well (maybe the arms could be a touch looser) and I like the polkadot with the stripe.

- Gorginaaaa. Love the structure and the volume of this. She looks like a black widow.

This one is also stunning. Fit to perfection and also good use of spider again. This time it was on her butt, and kind of made the beading feel like webbing.

This is actually crazy and amazing and the type of research and work I love to see be put into a look. Law referenced a look Willi Smith created for MJ in 1987 for the Spider-Man comics, and then asked LaQuan Smith to recreate it.

- Hunter Schafer in this Prada coat at Comic Con, that is actually her own, is everything to me. Also obsessed with the nasty light gray tights. She wore a dress from Jil Sander SS2011 too, which, like, taste.

- Feeling totally normal about this. No, but, he looks really good. Love a vintage tee and those pants are fab. They’re tailored well, love the pleating and love the buttoned fly— so sensual!

- You already know how I feel like Kristen Stewart<3 She makes everything look so cool even when it shouldn’t.

- Olivia wearing one of my favorite pieces from one of my favorite collections by one of my favorite designers.

- I leave you with Greta Lee and Danielle Goldberg continuing to be on another level of cool.

So that was this week! Have we caught up on Take It Personal? Did we read about board shorts? What did we think?

TTYL!!!

xx

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Everywhere I look, there is a board short, and as someone who has been wearing them ever since Blue Crush caused a seismic shift in my life, I felt it was only right that I thought too much about why board shorts have been trending for the past couple of years, and then shared it all with you now.

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I assume you’re at least a little bit of a fashion history nerd if you’ve found yourself here, so let’s start from the beginning, when Hawaiians used to actually surf naked before missionaries had to ruin their fun. Nudity turned into one piece, knitted, woolen tank suits, and then eventually the nip was freed sometime in the 1930s. In the 1950s, Oahu tailor Moru Nii (M.Nii), designed twill shorts that could withstand the waves, although they unfortunately became known as Drowners. Hang Ten started making trunks in the 1960s, becoming California’s first major surf brand, and even sponsored the first group of riders (Greg Noll being one of them!!). Hang Ten’s new nylon material was much more quick drying than its cotton counterparts, although at the same time Alan Green was making “more technical” shorts over at Quicksilver in Australia. His prototypes introduced velcro flies and snap studs, as well as scalloped hems that helped prevent the shorts from snagging on your legs during turns, which led to board shorts becoming more surf specific. The 80s see surf culture and board shorts lean a bit more into fashion identity with tons of colors, patterns, and styles introduced, while the 90s and early 2000s dabbled in some fun hem lengths and rises flirted with showing some crack. Hurley eventually set the scene for the board short we know and love today, and that’s what you missed on Glee!

You already know the fashion industry loves a subculture and turning to nostalgia during times of uncertainty. This much is obvious. When I wrote about Dries Van Noten’s surf inspired SS2026 collection, I talked about the collection’s mid 2000s flare and how “we can compare that time and its financial crisis to the sociopolitical climate now. Around economic anxiety, surf brands didn’t stop at just selling clothing, they sold a lifestyle. When the real future feels foreclosed, something like surf nostalgia becomes a way of dressing against structural uncertainty.” The same thing happened in the 50s and 60s when white collar workers were looking for an escape from suburban conformity and strict schedules, so they turned to surfing as refuge.

Similarly to skate culture, surfing has long been associated with freedom and community; ways to rebel against the rigidity of modern life. In Subculture: The Meaning of Style, Dick Hebdige notes that subcultural aesthetics “express forbidden contents” by subverting mainstream trends and cultural codes. It’s ironic that now those subversions are being subverted. The same way wearing ballet flats doesn’t mean you’re on your way to becoming a prima ballerina or buying cowboy boots does not come with a ranch full of cattle, wearing board shorts doesn’t imply you’re training for the next WSL Championship Tour. People might not be surfing, but they’re buying into what surf culture represents.

There’s an optimism that surrounds the culture, and in a world so worried about optimization, it’s become aspirational to be carefree. People want more pleasure less productivity. Beaches kind of suspend a lot of everyday rules and everyone is reduced to a variation of swimwear and sunscreen. Hebdige also writes that, “one cannot verify an existential option scientifically— you either see it or you don’t,” so you can’t measure subcultural identity through data points. There is no measurable “point” to riding a wave. You can’t optimize it or permanently have it, because every wave disappears almost as soon as it is experienced, and you also can’t schedule the perfect wave into your calendar. It requires your time and patience, and who doesn’t want to have the time to just be a chill, cool guy experiencing their own endless summer?

Yet surfing is actually, like, really hard. It’s a sport that takes a lot of work and can’t be learned or done through a phone screen. In Phenomenology of Perception, Maurice Merleau-Ponty argued that “the body is our general medium for having a world.” Surfing exemplifies this by the body not being able to separate from its environment, constantly negotiating with waves and gravity to produce movement. Maybe that’s part of its appeal. There’s no fun in living a frictionless life. Sometimes you want a wave to smack the shit out of you a couple of times before you can stand up on a board for longer than two seconds, even if metaphorically. In Distinction, Pierre Bourdieu reminds us that taste often disguises labor. What appears natural is usually the product of extensive cultivation, and board shorts have that symbolic capital. We also kind of can’t afford to have things right now, so we might as well look like we have time. A lot of time. Fashion’s always been better at selling fantasy than facts anyway.

They’re also just kind of sick, right? If you know me, you know my love for tension in all its forms. Yeah, sure, I wear my board shorts to the beach sometimes or around Wildwood when I’m there for the week, but put those fuckers on the streets of NYC or in a garden for brunch and I get goosebumps. They’re a little awkward and not necessarily just clothes that photograph well. They’re also incredibly functional— especially during hot and sticky summer days. Also, if you, too, are a fitness instructor, might I recommend them for teaching class? Or taking!

So, yeah, maybe it’s the possibility that board shorts promise. Of a day that doesn’t have you running down the hill away from a boulder of responsibilities the second you wake up. A day where you and your pleasures become more important than your calendar. We might not be paddling out any time soon, but we can still dress like we’re about to experience the best summer of our lives, and maybe some of that embodiment will bleed into reality. But also, if anyone’s tryna give me surf lessons, hit my line.

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We spoke a bit about this idea of gesture and queerness and how the way you move can reveal so much about you. Jacek’s designs really beautifully become extensions of the body, highlighting and emphasizing its natural way of being, instead of making it feel like it needs to hide and make its gestures smaller. There’s obvious care and attention to detail that makes the clothes feel special, and they’re just begging to be lived in so that you can douse them in your own memories and stories.

If this is your first introduction to Jacek and his work, his is a journey you’ll definitely want to stick around for, because I can’t imagine anything other than great things coming his way.

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Caroline: What is your personal relationship with fashion?

Jacek: I would say fashion to me is the most personal relationship you can have with the clothes you wear. I think the clothes that I wear have been such an instrumental part of me growing up and building the person that I am. We talk a lot about fashion being a tool for expression, but I think more than being a tool of expression towards others, it’s a tool for us to define ourselves within ourselves. To me, the clothes I have been collecting and wearing for the past few years are a tool for me to understand who I am.

Yeah, definitely. Sometimes it can be hard to voice what you want to say, and when you use clothing to do that instead, it can be so helpful. What is your earliest memory of caring about fashion or style?

It would be when I was like three or four years old. I was really obsessed with fairytales and princess dresses. I was drawing a lot of princesses. I think I was really drawn to the glamour of that image, and I remember when I was four, my parents got me a costume, a princess dress. I was actually just back home and I saw a picture of it.

I love that. This idea of costume feels relevant. I feel like a lot of your work draws on dance, performance, art, and things of that nature. Is there a connection there? Were you a dancer growing up?

Yeah, I was a dancer growing up, definitely. When you think costume, it’s quite interesting, because it sort of has this freedom for you to try things that you wouldn’t normally do. For my next collection, I’m thinking a lot about holidays— in part because I’m really craving a holiday— but also, that’s a period of time where I can play. It’s quite free in terms of how you dress. You care more or care less about what you wear, and I think costume, or costume parties, are a singular moment where maybe there’s something you’ve been dying to wear for a really long time and that sort of gives you the opportunity to dive into that, and maybe you bring some of that into your everyday.

Yeah! Also, when you go somewhere on holiday, nobody really knows who you are, so there’s that freedom again in being whoever you want to be.

Exactly.

What made you want to become a designer?

I knew I wanted to be a designer for a long time. I think since that time, when I was three or four years old, obsessed with fairytales. I had a period of time as a child and early teenager where I didn’t think that I would be good enough, so I kind of parked the dream for a little bit and focused on other things, but then I grew up and realized that if I didn’t feel ready to be a designer, I had to make myself ready!

Right, and it would have become that thing of wondering what could have been. Were there any designers you were really inspired by growing up?

I have a lot of designers I’m really inspired by now, that’s very clear to me. But I think growing up as a child, I’d say I obviously wouldn’t know fashion designers, but I was thinking of fashion in things like cartoons or storybooks— things like that. Over time I feel like people that I really like would be Westwood, I really love. A lot of Ghesquière as well.

Love Ghesquière.

Yeah, especially Balenciaga Ghesquière. Yeah, I would say those.

Do you remember a moment in life or a collection where you realized that fashion could communicate something more, like emotion or philosophy, rather than just being clothing?

This may be a really basic answer, I wish I could say, like, yeah, McQueen or something, but I was 18 and I saw that Jacquemus show that was in the lavender field, and I was floored by that. I wouldn’t say Jacquemus is like a direct influence for me, but when I was first diving into fashion, learning more and reading more about fashion, I was just like, oh wow, there’s so many things you can do.

I can be messy, I’ll say I like your work more than Jacquemus, but I get what you’re talking about. They’re really good at world building. The campaigns, the runway sets— they’re all really good at communicating and making you feel something, but then… the clothes don’t really match. A lot of your work feels very romantic and intimate. I feel like sensuality is something a lot of us are craving right now, I’ve been talking about it ad nauseam, but where does that come from for you.

I think it comes from a very natural way of just wearing clothes. Everything that I make, to a degree, is a more fantastical or more real idea of something I would like to wear in the world. Sometimes it’s quite speculative, it’s something I wish I could wear at some point, but don’t necessarily see myself doing. Sometimes it’s really directly something I would like to wear. Sensuality is a really interesting thing. When I was at uni, we had this really interesting lecture by our critical thinking tutor, who introduced us to Audre Lorde and this text that compared the erotic and the pornographic. It doesn’t necessarily tie to sex, right? How sex is portrayed in fashion or in media. It’s more about that something being erotic is something that is very fulfilling emotionally and really inspiring, but something pornographic impacts you really quickly, but it’s kind of empty. The example she did was really good, it was like, if you cook a meal with your friends and then you have it together, that’s erotic, but if you go to McDonald’s, that’s pornographic. It’s very quick. So happiness hits, but it also leaves very quickly. Since that lecture, we were all so obsessed with trying to make erotic fashion.

There’s a Roland Barthes quote where he says, “the most erotic portion of a body is where the garment gapes.” I feel like that suggestion of something, without revealing too much, is part of the idea there. Do you feel like you approach desire in a similar way? Not giving too much away and making the viewer wonder.

For sure. I also think sexuality or flirtation in fashion can come through so many things. Not just how you reveal the body, but also through fabric, how fabric moves. I think that’s what makes a garment sexy, at the end of the day. But yeah, you can think of it as almost a game of revealing and unrevealing. I think what I like is that you sort of need to experience a person in real life to see that game, where the garment moves around you, and it reveals and covers things as you walk around the space, which is not something you would necessarily see in a picture.

Yeah, more important for the clothes to participate in life, rather than just being something you look at.

Yeah, exactly.

My introduction to you was your M.A. collection, and I thought it was incredible. I know some of your inspirations included Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun, the pagan festival of Kupala Night, and filtering it all through a queer lens. I feel like altogether there was this focus on community. That ballet was also very controversial and rejected in the same way that the queer community is sometimes rejected by people who don’t understand and refuse to understand, even though queerness has existed forever, regardless of what certain narratives tell us. Do you feel like the collection was kind of your own exploration and reclamation of that?

Yeah, I feel like the way queerness comes through the work is really organic. It’s like, this is my own personal approach to queerness. It’s sort of opening it up to people to try it on and experience it if they want to. Obviously there’s something political about existing as a queer person. You don’t necessarily need to say anything, just being in the space is a political act. A lot of the time I don’t necessarily think about these things when I’m doing the work. It’s happened to me where, especially the last show, we had some reviews in fashion magazines go to the wrong side of the internet, so a middle aged Italian sees it and comments something bad about it, because they’re like, oh my god, the world is ending, because these men are wearing heels, or whatever. Then all the other people that are of the same demographic see it and then there’s a bunch of homophobic comments on a video. It’s crazy. I remember being shocked by it, because I never thought my work was that controversial, because it comes so naturally to me. I don’t necessarily try to provoke or anything, it’s just the most honest approach to fashion that I can do, and it turns out that it can be a bit controversial sometimes. But that’s fine, that’s not gonna stop us from doing what we’re doing!

Exactly, and you’ve talked about how queerness is something you act out, not something you wear, which I think you really see through the fluidity of your clothes, and how they can adapt and adjust. It refuses to look at queerness as just these specific social signifiers that we’ve all agreed on. Does it ever make you laugh or roll your eyes at how mainstream culture still tries to package queerness into this singular thing?

Yeah! It’s very funny. Queerness is definitely packaged into tight little packages in culture, no it’s true. Something that’s very important to me, and I remember talking about this with my tutor a long time ago, is that you can be dressed however, but if you move your hips a specific way, you will know that person is queer. I think it’s something that is not tied to consumption, it’s not tied to your background. It’s just sort of in your soul. So capturing that hand gesture or that movement of the hip when you walk is what I try to do with the clothes. Try to amplify that with the garment.

Right, the garments are an extension of the self, and you’re emphasizing those gestures instead of hiding them away. It’s also kind of a, if you know, you know, thing when it comes to that. Queer culture will often take things from the mainstream that, to someone who isn’t part of the culture, wouldn’t be noticeable as anything out of the ordinary, because there are those little details you’d only notice if you’re in the know.

Yeah, exactly!

You work with a lot of color, too. What is your approach to that?

Color is probably the most instinctual part of the process. There is a big period of research, but that’s usually more about things like finishes, shapes, and silhouettes, but with color it’s very, very instinctual. This season we’re working on now, I really wanted something that felt very, almost like stereotypically summery. I kind of wanted to lean into the cheesiness of summer and we’re doing a lot of very humid tones, like aquamarine and mint, but also a lot of very citrusy colors, like yellow, blood orange, lime. So a very refreshing palette. We sort of see how a collection feels and look at everything together and see if we need to add anything else, or subtract. I’ll admit, sometimes I think about all these colors for the garment and then I see everything together and I’m like, maybe one color less. With this season I’m trying to do less and see if we need anything later. Trying to be a bit more economical with color.

Right, it’s like when you’re getting a haircut. You can always cut a little more, but you can’t attach it back. Do you feel like your Spanish or Polish culture ever influences your work in any way?

Definitely! I think Spain comes into the tone of the work. I think there’s a lightness that is very natural to Spain, and I think that comes through my work. It’s about the feeling and the ambiance— it’s more the heart. With Poland, it’s more the research. There’s a lot of research into Polish figures and culture, because I don’t know much about it since I didn’t grow up there. It’s sort of an excuse, in a way, to learn more about it and connect more with those roots.

We touched on it a little bit, but do you put yourself into your designs? Are you designing clothes you want to wear usually, or is it a separate thing.

No, for sure. I think that’s sort of the only way. At the end of the day, I’m pretty new to this, so that’s the only way I know something works. I haven’t sold that many collections, so I don’t really know if something is going to be desirable or wearable unless I sort of put myself in it.

That totally makes sense. Especially when you have clothing like yours that’s so focused on the body. It makes sense that you’d want to relate to it, at least a little bit. What do you think is still misunderstood in fashion when it comes to unisex fashion or menswear that is a little more feminine and vice versa?

It’s quite a complex sphere. Now that I’ve done a couple of collections and have been doing sales as well, buyers don’t really buy that kind of fashion. I also think if you saw my collection on a rack in a store you’d assume it’s womenswear, because of the finishes and colors it has. But then it’s usually shown and modeled by male presenting people— often, not always, but usually. So it creates a bit of a confusion that I’m trying to learn to bridge. A lot of it is quite adaptable to the body, I think, so it works really well. It’s been worn by men and women for shoots, and both men and women have bought the garments. I think it’s an equal number. On a practical level, it’s quite a complex thing to do as a business. It’s not the easiest, because if someone wants to buy something, they need to see themselves in it, so it’s a niche market. But, yeah, trying to figure it out.

So you mainly feel the issue is coming from the business side being more binary in thinking? Not being able to place something that’s a little more ambiguous.

Yeah, exactly.

How important is sustainability to your process?

It’s quite important. It’s not necessarily something I use a lot in my discourse, but it’s sort of silently there. I mostly work with natural fibers. It’s usually cotton, viscose, which comes from trees, or silk, and then some wool. I try to make everything biodegradable, so that once the garment’s no longer useful, it doesn’t last longer than we will, which is quite scary. I think that’s my approach to sustainability. I think everyone has their own, whether it’s upcycling, or using leftover fabrics. In my case it’s about prioritizing natural fibers and prioritizing biodegradability. When I describe clothes on social media or on my website, I always put what kind of fabric it is, but I also don’t want to be like, this is a sustainable collection! Because sustainability is such a complex thing, and I don’t know if I should be giving myself that title.

For sure, just being honest about it. There’s a lot of brands that throw around the sustainability label for a lot less. How has it been working with Fashion East?! So many incredible designers have come through there.

It’s been really good, genuinely! It’s definitely hard, but I mean, I don’t think I would be able to do what I do now if it wasn’t for them. I have one more show with them in September. It’s also really great, because you get to meet those designers as well, because they have events throughout the year and they bring everyone together, and I’ve met so many of my heroes! I’m really happy that I’ve been able to do it.

Are you working on the collection now? How far out do you usually prepare?

Yeah. Each garment has its own process, so I have a few denim garments that we’re actually washing sustainability with this company in Spain that does ozone wash, and they’re finished. Then there’s some clothes that are prototypes and we have to make the final ones, and then there’s also some garments that I still need to think of, so it’s at different stages. It’s starting to take shape now, and we’re doing a fitting towards the end of the month to see where we are, but yeah, it’s not a linear process. It kind of goes back and forth between different things.

Well, I’m excited to see it! How do you hope people feel when they wear your clothes?

I hope they feel light, approachable, sexy… present?

Beautiful. If someone encountered your work 50 years from now, without any context, what would you hope they understood about this moment in fashion and about the people you design for?

If there’s one thing I hope people take away from the clothes it’s that they see they’re made with heart. The heart being in the center of the clothes, I think, is the most important. I hope people see a soul in them.

What’s a song you’d love to design a collection around?

What song always makes you want to dance?

What song makes you want to fall in love?

If your life was a movie, what song would play when you walk on screen?

What song do you want life to feel like all the time?

When all is said and done, what song is playing in the background of your perfect life?

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Anyway, let’s get into it.

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- Hannah Einbinder for The Cut; It’s simeple, but there’s some really lovely looks here. Being that it is simple, I do like that the styling and setting feel cohesive. Styled by Jessica Willis.

- Jonathan Saunders is the new creative director of Kate Spade. Although the brand was never my thing, it used to be really great and wonderful and creative and good quality, so I hope he brings that bag, because it’s been iffy over there. I do, of course, wish it was a woman.

- Vettese collabed with SKIMS.

- Dior will show PF2027 at Trinity College in Dublin.

- There’s going to be an Azzeddine Alaïa retrospective in San Francisco!!!!!

- Gentle Monster made pervy cop glasses. Booooooooo.

- Hailey Bieber is in Miu Miu’s latest campaign and that pairing just doesn’t hit the same way it used to anymore. I don’t think she’s a Miu Miu girl anymore. It feels too obvious of a choice for Miu Miu, and doesn’t really scratch that quirky, weird itch they’re usually good at scratching. On the other hand, Hailey’s personal style is quite approachable and a good blank slate for people to imagine themselves projected onto, so, maybe there’s that. Miuccia (and Raf for that matter) seems to be very bare bones, stripped down, you figure it out recently.

- Gabriette’s wedding looks are actually all I’ve been thinking about this week, actually. They were designed by Matières Fécales, and all three feel so special and so honest. I’m so tireddddddd of every wedding look being a take on the same three styles of dress. I’m sick of everyone’s obsession with timelessness and I love seeing a celebrity bridal moment with some character and personality. I think the last I was this sparkly eyed about a celeb wedding look was Chloë Sevigny. I still think about that all the time. Anyway, the black dress Gabreitte wore was a Margiela dress she already owned—her “something old,” if you will— and they slashed the back open and let tulle pour out. Love it and love that something she already wore with memories was allowed to make more memories. The main dress was a gorgeous Victorian fantasy with insane pleating, bustles, and distressing. I love when something looks like a ghost that just waded out of the water. My favorite had to be the pant suit with the little top hat, though. How FUN!!!!!! It’s all perfect.

- I liked Shakira’s Roberto Cavalli look during that fever dream of a halftime show at the World Cup final. It reminded me of these cotton candy swirl popsicles I used to get from the ice cream truck.

- Zendaya has begun her next press tour and we have shifted gears in method dressing. People did not fuck with this look but I was into it. The earring I could have done without, but the rest of it is kind of yum! Mr. Negative was the reference here, which leads me to wonder if we can expect his introduction into the MCU soon or if Law was just looking for chic Marvel characters to pull from.

Hot. A little Elvira lite, and I’m into. Ashi studios does nottttt get enough attention. I do have to be a little annoying, though. I know she has to move, obviously, but I wish the bodice creased less, and I feel like the arms could be a little less loose. I like how long they are, but the satin arm just feels a little wonky in fit.

I like this! It’s not my favorite Versace look in the world, but the draping is yummy. I really like the addition of the spider broach on the hip, because it looks like it’s kind of weaving the dress. I know I just said I didn’t like the spiderweb earrings two looks ago, but those just kind of feel like, okay, we get it, it’s a Spider-Man movie, but here it feels more purposeful.

Another good use of spiderweb!!! This 1940s vintage dream.

- Very pretty. It’s simple, but I love how easy and effortless it feels and I’m always gonna be here for those tabi heels. Also, love the way her hair looks against this purple.

- Hunter and Dara literally never miss. I’m OBSESSED. This Marc Jacobs collection is already getting so much love and use, and rightfully so! It was so good and wearable, so imagine that, people are wearing it. I also love this, because we see these kind of see through rainwear looks in past Blade Runner movies, so given Hunter is there to promote the new show, this look feels very fitting.

Speaking of that Marc Jacobs collection! Tracee already wore one of the looks and now we’ve been blessed with another. No pants, no problem, fr.

I also love when she was wearing this Loewe look and someone was like, Tracee your bag is open! And she was like, it’s supposed to be, it’s fashion!!!!

And here are some more fabulous things she wore this week.

So that was this week. I think I’m going to write a piece on one of my wardrobe staples: board shorts.

TTYL!!!

xx

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I loved getting to chat with Bri, and honestly could have talked to her forever and asked a million more questions, but what might have stuck with me the most from our conversation was how open she is with her creativity. I think a lot of the time, as creatives, we can go into something with a specific outcome in mind and then be disappointed when it doesn’t go exactly the way we imagined it. Bri inspired me to be a little more open, to follow whatever idea might come to me, whenever it comes. My OCD is about to be so mad at me. No, but actually, why limit yourself to one possibility when there are so many? We also touched on how open children are, and how helpful tapping into your childhood can be. I think that sense of play and imagination that we often lose as adults is one of the best things to fall back into when you might be feeling a little lost (or really just for no reason at all), and I encourage everyone to give it a try.

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Caroline: What is your personal relationship to fashion?

Bri: It goes back to my earliest memories of childhood. I started dancing at a young age and then eventually got into musical theater, so I always wanted to express myself outside of my body. I just kind of naturally gravitated towards that. My mother sewed all my clothes growing up, my grandma was a painter and a doll maker, and inspired me to express myself. She had– we called it the tickle trunk– full of costumes that I could wear, and my aunt’s old clothing. I remember being four or five years old, piling clothes on and pinning it all up in different ways to try and look like one of the antique dolls from a catalogue. Then when I was in Grade 7, there was a shift and I was like, okay, I want to be cool, and I remember just being very aware of what people were wearing, but also what made sense to me, and finding ways to express myself through clothing. Finding my identity in it from that age. After I graduated from high school, I did a fine arts degree and there was a girl that I’d grown up with who was like, I’m quitting fine arts and I’m going to school for fashion. I was like, oh man, I wish I could do that. Too bad I chose to be a teacher! I guess in my mind I was like, that’s what you do. You go to university, you make your decision, and then you stick with it. I just wasn’t thinking outside of the box, so I finished my fine arts degree, got into teacher’s college, and I was a high school art teacher for a couple years. I think I was too young and it wasn’t for me at the time, and I thought about that girl, and I was like, she went to school for fashion, I would like to do that. At the same time, I was also selling clothes on Etsy, styling for photo shoots, going back to the theatrical thing, making costume pieces for these shoots. So, the whole time I was teaching, I was kind of involved in fashion projects. Then I got into school for fashion, and went from there. I worked in corporate fashion for a few years, definitely not my thing, I’m not cut out for an office job, so after that I got into working in cinema, in costume, and also not cut out for me. I started different businesses along the way, and I was like, I really need to land on something, something needs to come out of me. I was just having a really hard time finding out what that was. Then the pandemic hit, I had a break from cinema, a break from corporate, and I finally had the time I needed to sit down and just be with myself for a little while and ended up going back to my childhood. The memories of my childhood, how I used to play around with clothes, painting with my grandma, and then something just clicked. I started just making dolls in my spare time. I told myself, this is the time I’ve always wanted to have off from working, why don’t I just complete this doll project that I have been casually doing for six months, and it just kind of made sense. It felt like the perfect project, because I have so many interests and that’s maybe what part of the issue was for me. Every time I would land on something, it just felt like I would get tired of it, or it would get to a certain place where I wouldn’t want to deal with the pain of what that next step involves, and it was always because it was at the expense of something I wanted to express. The dolls were this thing that I could put everything into– fashion, photography, storytelling, painting.

You mentioned going back to your childhood, do you have an earliest memory about caring about fashion and dolls?

I guess it’s kind of what I said earlier, that it was this expression of my internal world, outside of my body. I was really drawn to dresses as a child, I just wanted to live in dresses, layers of dresses, and none of this made sense to the people around me. I was a special child, a unique child, I think, but to me that’s fashion, and it really is one of my earliest memories.

It’s also funny that you say the dress thing was misunderstood, because a lot of the time with girls, I feel like putting them in a dress is the go-to. Or something really feminine. When I was a baby, I had really short hair for a long time, and my mom would get so mad when someone was like, he’s so cute! So she started always putting me in dresses.

It’s funny, because that’s her idea of who you were, right? Times have changed!

I know!

Like oh, you think it’s a boy? It doesn’t really matter what you think it is. They are a person.

Right! What does the process of making the dolls look like?

There’s so many different steps. It starts with ideas that have kind of been stewing for a really long time. Sometimes my ideas will be something I’ve had in mind for three years, and then sometimes they come in a weird dream I had the night before and I’ll just get to it. It’s strange, but usually, in terms of my inspiration, it’s kind of a stew of hundreds of little tiny ideas. When I have a shape in mind, I’ll be like, okay, well, what colors do I love that make sense with that? What’s the story that I’ve been thinking of? Which one fits these elements? I usually play around physically with pinning things and fabrics. I collect way too much weird stuff that I find, like fruit and vegetable packaging, bubblegum wrappers, and I put them all in boxes and when I’m feeling really creative I’ll open them up and just play around for hours. I also do a lot of drawing with crayon. It’s the medium that I love very much, so sometimes I just draw for fun, and after a certain point I’m like, okay, I really like this one. It’s very graphic as well. I use Illustrator, because my small dolls are printed on fabric so those have to be made with vector images. Sometimes I’ll scan in my drawings and just turn them into a vector and have them printed and sew them together. But sewing them together is also a process, because it usually takes many iterations to figure out which proportions work, because you’re taking something flat and making it three dimensional. Then sometimes certain shapes just don’t work at all, because the dolls are one continuous seam down the side. It’s like, well, what’s possible? I can’t do dolls with long hair, I’m trying to figure it out. The bigger dolls are more involved. They’re almost kind of like mannequins for me. I’ll make a basic doll and I’ll finish it and I’ll start adding things onto it. I do custom dolls that way. Usually those are one off ideas. And it doesn’t just stop there, because it’s also, who is this doll? What world does she live in? What does she eat? What’s her soup flavor? Everything! I have folders of thousands of images of inspiration that I’ve collected over 20 years, probably, so it’s going through that.

Oh, I love that! Do you feel like the dolls are ever little archetypes or personalities of yourself that you’re getting out, or are they separate?

Yeah, I think they are bits of me. When I was growing up I kind of struggled to feel like I had an identity that was mine. Just being a girl in this world, it’s tough sometimes to feel like you have a sense of agency, so for me there were many years where I just felt very frustrated, and I think teenagers often do. I was a very angry teenager. There was this punk rock thing in me, and I find that the dolls are a way that I can combine the different parts of my internal world and things that are contradictory to each other, that fight with each other inside, and make them really beautiful on the outside, because in the end it’s just me and so I feel good about myself. They’re little representations of things that I’m inspired by, that I care about. That’s really what fashion is in the end, right? I think that’s that concept of externalizing and expressing the things that are happening on the inside.

Absolutely, and we’re not singular beings. One of the things that appeals the most to me in art, and your dolls, is that there is that tension in them. Things coming together that shouldn’t belong, but somehow do. I think that’s really appealing to a lot of people when it comes to a lot of different mediums. I’m also now thinking, if you were a doll, what would your permanent outfit be?

Probably a jumpsuit. Just full on jumpsuit. One color, one pattern, that’s it. Just basic!

It’s so funny, every time I ask someone what they’d wear if they could only wear one outfit for the rest of their life, no matter how eccentric their style is, the one outfit always boils down to something more simple.

The practical answer. Like, if I was on a desert island, it would have to be something that I could just live in.

Yeah, something comfortable to function in, so you can focus on everything else.

Well, it’s interesting you ask, because I kind of had that feeling when I started making the dolls. I started with naked dolls, because I didn’t want to just say what this doll wears. I don’t want that to be the thing. Especially because all dolls have so many clothes and dresses and all these piles of things on them, that I was like, no, I just want to make dolls that have nothing on, and the only thing they’re wearing is a piece of tulle. It’s funny. Then the next iteration of dolls were just jumpsuits. What’s the next most basic thing I can do to not make it that it’s wearing some specific thing, and if I think about it, they’re pretty much all just jumpsuits. I never really connected it, but maybe that’s just the practicality thing.

I also feel like there’s something a little folksy about the dolls? Is there anything specific that inspires that?

Yes! One of my first dolls as a child was this Ukrainian doll. I was like one or two and my grandma took me to a Ukrainian church basement sale and there was this woman selling these handmade dolls, and this doll had a very flat face, kind of like my dolls, where it’s just 2D and then stuffed, but she had painted the whole face with acrylic paint so it was hard and it had these flower eyes, and I’ve had it my whole life. There’s something about the aesthetic of it that I loved very much and when I started making the dolls I was also really big into Northern and Eastern European folk costumes. I’m part Ukrainian so maybe there’s a connection there, but yeah, I was just obsessed with it at the time. I’d also seen Midsommar and become completely obsessed. I also just love folk horror, it’s one of my favorite genres of film, and folk music, oh my god! Chanting, like, wow. Also Russian stacking dolls kind of have this look to them. So, it came from a mishmash of these different things.

That’s great. I love that connection. We touched on this, but on your website you talk about inner child work. I feel like there’s this argument that comes up almost every fashion season, where somebody like Sandy Liang will present her collection and it creates very polarizing views and interpretations of girlhood and how we’re allowed to reclaim it in adulthood. Where do you fall on that spectrum?

I’m sure you know, because I make dolls that look like children’s toys, but I specifically make them for that. I make the dolls to remind people of something nostalgic from childhood that they probably haven’t interacted with since that time. Everything is kind of designed to remind you of that time in your life when you were young and maybe not even aware of what you were picking up. So I’m very much a big fan of bringing childhood back, because I think that we are our truest selves as kids. Not just girlhood, but really just childhood, in general. I think that kids are so open and free. I mean, if you are able to live that life. I know not everybody is privileged to have that, but so many people are in their 30s or 50s and they’re like, I still haven’t figured out what I want to do. I don’t have a passion project or I’m bored at work, and I’m always asking everybody, what did you love as a child? What did you do as a kid when no one was looking? That’s what you should be doing now. Find a way, if you can, to tap back into that. That’s what I did with the dolls during the pandemic. It was actually just going back to my childhood, because I was in a place of being like, why have I worked for 20 years and still not created anything for myself, and when was I the most creative? It was taking steps backwards that way.

Children are so much more open to play and we lose that playfulness when we get older. Especially now with this emphasis on optimization culture and everything measuring something. Like, I don’t ever want to see another Oura ring. Everything is focused on doing this one thing for a specific outcome, and if you don’t follow all the right steps you’re doing it wrong or wasting time. Like that podcaster that was freaking out over drinking three glasses of wine or something, because it ruined everything about his schedule.

Oh my god, people have so much freedom these days, that they have to find something to make complicated.

Exactly!

He’s so privileged. It’s such bullshit.

Literally. Get off the microphone. But anyway, back to the dolls. I feel like hyper-feminine aesthetics provoke such intense reactions, and things that girls like are always seen as unserious or not important. I mean, obviously, we live in a patriarchy, so naturally that’s why the things that women like are always seen as unserious, but in the reclamation of it all, why do you think people feel so strongly about the right or wrong way to represent girlhood or womanhood. People are on such extreme spectrums.

Well, it’s funny, because they’re kind of just doing the same thing then.

RIGHT!

It has nothing to do with you, just keep your mouth shut. You can decide what to do for your own life and your own world, but to me it’s just kind of doing the same thing. Making an argument out of somebody wanting to express themselves the way they want, because you think they should express themselves in another way or enjoy something else. Sandy Liang, for instance, or Ashley Williams, who are both leaning into nursery or teenage girl. If they didn’t have those influences as children, would they be doing that? Is it because it’s an expression of childhood memory or is it truly just because they think this aesthetic is amazing? I don’t know. Either way, it’s working well, I love it, I have zero issue with it. I’m really bad at answering that question, I’m not sure.

It’s not a question that has a straightforward answer, and I think that’s why there’s so much argument around it, because people don’t want to acknowledge the nuance and the gray area. I love Sandy’s collections, and for one season the “I’m just a girl” of it all was being used as an argument against it, but to me it wasn’t Sandy preaching this defenselessness, but instead the audience taking it that way, and one person tweeted it and then everyone just ran with it, which is how those things usually happen.

Yeah, I don’t know. I see the connection between when somebody wants to wear something because it makes them feel comfortable, and when someone identifies a certain way and wants to present themselves on the outside in whatever means makes them feel most like themselves.

So much is out of our control, so feeling empowerment in the choices we are allowed to make is so freeing for so many people. With fashion right now, I also feel like there’s been this return to earnestness and openness, and people just wanting to feel something. Your dolls are very confident in their scantily clad little looks, and I love the vagina hearts. Was that bareness a mindful choice?

Honestly, for practically, I was like, I don’t know what she’s going to wear, so maybe nothing and it just felt right. But for sure, especially in the beginning, people were like, she’s naked! Wow… I love it? They didn’t really know what to do with it, but they liked it, so I was like, okay cool. Not that I start with the intention of being like, I’m doing this for other people to consume. It was just really a project for myself, but people love them. Provoking people has always kind of been at the center of it all, and I think it comes from that childhood angst of feeling trapped, feeling like I couldn’t express myself, feeling like the person inside of me wasn’t displayed on the outside. Especially in my teenage years, I felt like there were so many rules, and I’ve kind of always played with that.

I think provocation is interesting, in the sense that a lot of the time when something makes someone uncomfortable, they often assume, oh, this is bad, because it makes me uncomfortable, but I don’t think those two things are the same. I think it’s really interesting to explore why something makes you feel uncomfortable. Then in terms of sensuality, how important is the tactile experience of the dolls to you? Craft and handiwork feel so important, to me and I’m sure a lot of people, especially now in the age of AI.

It’s everything. I’ve been sewing since I was a child, so my whole world was based around textiles, really. My grandma, my mom. My aunt even had a fabric store and supplied fabric for her Mennonite community in Manitoba. I almost take it for granted sometimes, because when people feel the doll for the first time, they have a different experience with it than just seeing it, because people always say it feels different than they thought it would. It’s more solid and you almost need to touch to understand why it’s not a cheap product. There’s something about having a physical object with you, that you can bring with you places, that is comforting to people, that the digital just can’t provide.

I also saw you started making bags!

Yes!

What sparked that?

I always wanted to. One of my projects when trying to start a brand was handbags, but I didn’t want to deal with the pain of continuously coming up with seasonal products. With fashion, especially if you’re wholesaling, if a department store or boutique is going to carry your things, they want to see freshness and newness. I do think we’re changing a little bit there. I think it’s okay to have an “it” product that kind of continues on and you can just iterate on, but I was like, I don’t know if I have enough ideas for this specific project. I have other ideas, I want to make other things, I want to make clothes. So I put that to rest, but I’m always collecting inspiration images of products that I love, things that you wouldn’t expect, and always trying to inject the dolls into cool and interesting things. A handbag was a simple way of doing it, because I don’t have to explain it to anybody. You see it, you know what it is, and it perfectly fits the doll, so it was a nice starting point, but I would like to push that a bit more. I also want to do clothing, but that’s what’s good about the dolls! I don’t have to just be like, I make clothing or I make handbags. It’s more like, what can we put dolls on. Like, I would love to put dolls on hammers. A line of construction tools with dolls all over them would be hilarious.

That would be amazing, can you imagine?! So it always starts with the doll first, and how can the doll be incorporated into whatever else?

Yeah, at this point! And it’s nice, it feels good, because I’ve always had way too many ideas, it didn’t make sense. Like, so many ideas that I wouldn’t be able to start any of them, and if I started one it would just get canceled by the next one. That’s why I figured, instead of working with a product, let’s just work with the imagery.

The bags are also perfect, because a lot of people put the dolls on their bags anyway, right?

Mhm!

I also love the eyes on them!

Yeah! I feel like I’m always making stuff for myself and then I’m like, if you like it, great.

Well, I think that’s the best thing, though! When someone can tell you’re making something you really love or are really interested in, instead of what is going to appeal to the most people.

It’s funny though, because in school they always tell you never to design for yourself and I always remember thinking, why? Why not? Why is that a thing? Other advice is always, find a problem and then solve it. Why? Why does it have to be a problem? Why can’t you just make something nice? But I guess it depends on what it is that you’re making. Maybe, like an app, I’d understand.

I could also understand a stylist. You don’t want to style everyone like yourself, obviously.

That’s true too! You have to be open to working with someone who you don’t agree with at all, when it comes to styling yourself versus them.

Do you feel like fashion is art, or are they separate things that coexist?

I think they can be both, but I think they’re separate as well. I think there’s designers that work like artists– and artists that work like designers, actually. I think what separates art from fashion, for me, is just the fact that there is an end use for fashion, whereas with art, it’s making people feel that emotional connection and it doesn’t have to be useful, but they definitely cross over. I think what frustrates me sometimes about having a physical product is that sometimes I just don’t want to put all the work into making it again and again and again. Sometimes I just want to make the doll one time and then that’s it, move on to the next thing. That’s why as I grow I want to find people to help make these, because it is a lot of work to make them all myself while creating at the same time. And I do have people help me when I have big pushes, but yeah, not sure where I land. Maybe somewhere in between!

Are there any designers you’re inspired by right now, or always?

Oh yeah. Always, I love Chopova Lowena. The way they mix the edge with the beautiful sweetness and fairytale storytelling. They also have so much intention when they make things. Their carabiner skirts are so smart, I need to own one one day, and they can fit so many people, because they expand into different sizes. Exactly what we need when it comes to clothing. Something that is versatile across the board just creates less waste. I love Simone Rocha, of course. Also Taylor Dorry, who is this designer from Florida. She makes these really cool babydoll dresses from vintage bedsheets. She’s so cool and very much bridging heavy metal, punk, rock and roll with baby sleeves and nursery motifs, and it’s all sustainability done. She makes them all by hand, it’s crazy. It’s really hard to pinpoint a specific brand at this point, because I change my mind too much.

I know some of your dolls have been collabs with fashion people, like Lynn Yaeger or Simone Rocha. Very cool. How does that collaboration come about?

I followed Lynn Yaeger and I knew who she was, but I didn’t know that she was a doll collector, and a couple of people I’d met through Instagram were like, you should really make a doll for Lynn Yaeger, and I was like that’s so strange, I’ve had two people tell me that now. First I was like, well, how am I gonna get in touch with Lynn Yaeger, and she was doing these Friday night lives with Mickey Boardman and I was watching them, and at one point they were like, if anyone has any questions for us, just let us know, we’d love to answer them, and I was like, oh my god, I have a doll for you Lynn, even though I didn’t have a doll yet.

But I CAN have a doll!

Right, I was gonna make it the next day. Mickey was like, Bri Foster Dolls wants to make a doll for you Lynn, do you know who she is? And Lynn was like, I don’t know who she is, but all dolls are welcome, DM me! So I DM’d her, made her the doll, sent her the doll. It was really cool. From the very beginning of making dolls, I always had it in the back of my mind that I hoped Simone Rocha would one day see them, just a quiet thought I tucked away. Then the Lynn opportunity came about, and as a result of that doll going out into the world, Simone found me. I texted her being like, uhm, I have a doll for you as well! I sent it to her and she gifted me one of her beautiful pieces in exchange. Actually, that doll will be in the new exhibit at FIT opening in September called Doll Dressing. I’m remaking the Simone Rocha doll for that show and it’s going to sit beside the Simone dress that the doll is wearing.

Oh, that’s amazing!

It’s really cool, because it all kind of comes back around. When I was making that doll I had to start a corporate job again. The pandemic was petering out and we could go back to work, but I was making that doll on weekends and evenings, and it was the last big project before I had to put the dolls on hold for a couple of years. Not fully on hold, like I was still making dolls, posting content, shipping dolls to people, but it wasn’t what it really was during the pandemic, and I would just always think about that doll and feel sad about it. I would always think, oh I wish I could be back there. I had this jealousy of my former self, which is a very strange emotion, I don’t know if you’ve ever felt it (I have). It’s probably just called aging! But that’s the beauty of working in cinema. You work really, really, really hard and then you take time off, and you get paid employment insurance while you’re off. I was like, okay, amazing, because I had like three phases of that, where I was slowly getting back into the dolls and thinking, how can I make this a real business and then working on a movie for three months and again, how can I make this a real business. That’s how I was able to get to where I am now, and a year and a half ago I made it a full time business. When Colleen Hill spoke to me about this exhibit last year, it started by her telling me that the show would be accompanied by a book, and they’d asked me if they could use the images for that. Then one thing led to another and they eventually invited me to present the Simone doll, alongside the original Simone dress, in the show as well. It’s just interesting, because I was always thinking about that doll and that time, and now here I am, making it again. Now I’m in such a different place, but I think about how things from years ago can come back into your life and be important again.

Maybe even give a different perspective the second time around, too.

Yes.

You don’t even think about it sometimes, and like with the doll, it becomes this big thing! Sometimes, I think we don’t give ourselves enough credit in the moment, and then in hindsight, it’s like, oh, that was such an amazing thing.

Yeah, and you discuss with people and the idea grows over time. When you create something, it grows after you let it out into the world. It really becomes part of culture, from smallest to biggest ways. With dolls, that’s kind of what I learned to trust. There’s a few times in life where I let down some pretty big opportunities and felt really stupid and bad about it, and I’d heard this great interview with somebody once saying, throughout life, when he was younger, he wasn’t able to sometimes see when an opportunity was right in front of of him, and there was a turning point where he had disappointed himself enough to where he started to force himself to see the doorways, and when you know there’s a door, you can go towards the door, and the next step is open up the handle, the next step is walk through, and it’s a process of learning to trust yourself and to paint the door yourself. See the opportunity as something that you could achieve. I thought that was really great advice and it made me feel better about stupid mistakes I’d made. It was great timing, because the dolls have really brought me to places, where it’s not me. Sure, I created it, but they go on and communicate their little message to the next person, and then the next person’s inspired and they buy a doll and that doll goes to communicate to someone else.

What kind of emotional response do you hope people have when they see or receive your dolls?

Comfort! Comfort and nostalgia. It’s so simple, and something that I thought for a long time was, what is it that people care about with these, why does anyone want to buy it? I felt like I had to define it, but no, I think it’s just simple. I think people feel comfortable with them. Maybe people don’t want to say it, but the way you sleep with a teddy bear. It just makes you feel comforted, but it’s cool and it looks cool and you can carry it on your bag and it’s a devil! But it really is just a friend. And for some it's simply a little accessory to carry with them, and that's enough too.

What song reminds you of your childhood?

What song makes you feel in touch with your femininity?

What song do the devil dolls have on repeat?

If your life was a movie, what song would play when you walk on screen?

What song do you want life to feel like all the time?

When all is said and done, what song is playing in the background of your perfect life?

BONUS! The dolls do in fact have their own playlist, so you obviously need it in your life.

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Anyway, let’s get into it.

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Olivier Rousteing has been announced as the new creative director of Rabanne (that I still struggle not to call Paco Rabanne).

If you’re a reader of this newsletter, you’ll know that this has been unconfirmed news for months now, so it might not feel very groundbreaking, but still, I’m not mad at this appointment. I loved Julien Dossena’s Rabanne, however, there’s no denying that it was quite niched. Rabanne is obviously trying to expand in beauty and fragrance, so someone like Olivier, who has a history of making a brand very relevant in pop culture, seems like a good choice for them.

- Tems for British Vogue; Real gorgeous. Jessica always gets it. Styled by Jessica Willis.

- Dominic Sessa for GQ Hype; The COLORS!!! You know I’m partial to a GQ editorial, but one of the things I love the most about them is that they actually style instead of just pulling full looks. Styled by Martin Metcalf.

- Brandon Tan is GW’s new global fashion director!!

- Hailey Bieber did a collab with Gap. This girl is everywhere, which is interesting, given the model/influencer/business owner of it all. Over saturation, do we think? Regardless, I think the jeans should have come a long time ago, when everyone was actually talking about her Gap jeans….

- Nothing specific is happening at Helsa, I’m just always gob smacked at how blatantly she’s just “designing” things that we just saw on the runway. Also, those prices, for that quality, girl.

- Romain Spitzer is Bottega Veneta’s new CEO.

- Ebony is Suing Mowalowla. Well…

- OpenAI dropped ALD slop merch.

- This stressed me out bad when I first saw it, but so cute and smart.

- Loewe is still wet and I love it.

- Also, love this cheeky Saint Laurent campaign.

- I mean, absolutely. I luvvv Anthony Vaccarello.

- Danielle Goldberg!!!!!!!!!!! Truly a stylist after my own heart. Loved this collection, love this look, and I love something utilitarian paired with something very ladylike.

- There’s really nothing that could get me to be pro gladiator sandal, I don’t think— not even Zendaya. However… I understand the reason, and I do love this dress.

I meannnnnnnn, you’re joking. Zendaya plays Athena in The Odyssey and appears to Odysseus throughout his journey, acting like a guardian (angel), so this is a very fitting gown. It’s also just objectively stunning. Law Roach mentioned in an interview how the brand basically held this dress for them for three years without letting anyone borrow or buy it. A crazy gamble to take and to hope will pay off, but it sure as hell did! I also understand their commitment to the So Kate, but it’s nice to see a different shoe every once in a while.

This little number was also very chic. The gold is ver Grecian, but the circular motifs also feel like Greek columns.

This is, like, fine. I think Zendaya is doing the heavy lifting.

- Really liked this Fear of God suit on Tom. I’m not sure if it’s the lighting here, or if it’s actually a really dark brown, because it looks different in every photo I look at, but regardless, I’m into the fold over of the jacket and I like the boot.

- This is hot. Very classic Ralph Lauren and that jacket fits sooooo good.

- SO good. A fashion girl forever. I love the layering of all the sheers.

So that was this week. Really excited to share this week’s Take It Personal with you.

TTYL!!!

xx

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Caroline: What is your personal relationship to fashion?

Larissa: I feel like it’s my entire life, honestly. My main focus is fashion, because I went to school for it, I went to FIT, I’m a fashion stylist, so it’s my job, but it’s also my main interest outside of work, too. Completely. My mom, who I’m super close to, is really into fashion, and all my friends are also from FIT. So, it’s basically my entire world. Like, I’m literally sitting here, right now, in my closet room. It’s one of the main things that makes me happy. Obviously purchasing something makes me happy, but I don’t even look at it that way. I get a certain feeling inside from visual stimulation.

What’s your first memory of caring about fashion or style?

At a young age, I was always really immersed in it, because my mom really had her own sense of style and really cared about fashion and wearing unique and different outfits, but I don’t think that necessarily made me interested in fashion. I feel like I was kind of rebellious when I was younger and wanted to wear whatever I wanted to wear. Not even saying they were the most fashionable choices of the time, but I remember I was always very attracted to accessories. Like, when we would go on vacation when I was younger, I remember going to the Bahamas or some island, and they had all of that handmade jewelry on the beach and I remember feeling that feeling inside of, like, I don’t know, just excitement for something different. When I was younger I just remember wanting interesting accessories and being interested in accessorizing myself, and then I think it just went from there.

Starting from the small details and expanding from there.

Exactly, yeah. Or finding something interesting, and now I’m really interested in smaller designers or vintage, so I feel like it kind of makes sense, you know? It’s a mix between my mom and kind of finding my own way in fashion and accessories. Now accessories are like the main thing I purchase at age 28, so it’s kind of funny how it stuck with me.

You mentioned your mom a few times, do you feel like she influenced your eye growing up, or was there anyone else that did?

Well, when I was younger, yes, probably my mom. Her motto was kind of like, I don’t really care what people think about me, wear whatever you want, and I feel like that’s kind of how I dress now. But I was definitely an internet girl. I had a MySpace, a Tumblr, I was an American Apparel girl, and when Urban Outfitters was hot shit. All of that back then definitely inspired me. I was definitely on Tumblr copying all of the Tumblr girls. No one in my high school or middle school was into fashion, so, the internet.

I totally agree. That era was so pivotal to me.

Yeah, or even movies. Like Aquamarine, She’s The Man. I remember watching those movies and the outfits are iconic.

Before we talked about both being Jersey girls and you being from South Jersey, do you feel like any of that comes out in your style?

That’s funny. Probably not! I don’t know what South Jersey style is, so probably not. The most New Jersey thing I do is probably that I’ve recently been into self tanning, but that’s about it. Maybe I wear some animal print? I used to hate animal print when I was younger, because I feel like everyone wore it in New Jersey and the Philly area, and now I like it. I love a pop of animal print.

Oh my god, no, I’ve always been obsessed with a leopard print.

Yeah, a leopard ballet flat or a bag or something.

So, wait, South Jersey, like closer to Philly, not the Jersey Shore?

Mhm!

Philly has their own fashion history!

Yeah, especially South Philly and Italians. They love their animal print. You know, I do love some gaudy, gold vintage jewelry, so I think thats also from my South Jersey roots. I love some vintage gold jewelry and I wear this ‘Larissa’ necklace everyday. It was from my Italian grandfather, and he definitely got it in South Philly.

Yeah, I also think that has a lot of connection to hip hop culture.

For sure.

Being a stylist, do you feel like it’s obvious when you style something or do you kind of try and chameleon into whatever the brief, designer, brand, person, etc. is asking for?

It depends. If it’s my own personal project, yes. When I first started styling I definitely would always have a touch of myself in it. Then I realized, through growing as a stylist, that what makes a good stylist is not doing that, to be honest. Especially if you’re a brand stylist, like me, and you’re styling for a specific brand and customer, for an editorial or a lookbook. It should be more about the brand and the customer, and not about yourself. I think that’s the most challenging part of being a stylist. Letting go. Because it still is your taste, right? But letting go of your own personal taste and getting into the mind of the customer and how they would view the editorial or a lookbook, almost from a business perspective. I’m like, these people don’t have the same taste as me, and I think it’s really interesting, because I’m not always styling for someone my age, so it’s challenging, too. But it makes my job feel very creative.

Yeah, being aware that you can be like, okay, I don’t like this, but it’s good.

Right. It’s kind of funny, because sometimes I will style something that I would never wear in a million years, but I can picture it on someone else. I think that’s part of being a good stylist. Being able to style something that you can appreciate, but knowing that it’s not for you.

When you style individual people, do you ever have to remind yourself, okay, my personal style doesn’t work for this person.

Definitely. I actually don’t do a lot of personal styling. It’s more just friends, I guess. A lot of it is my sister, because I do more lookbooks and editorials. I would love to eventually do that, later down the line, I just don’t really have time for it, but yeah, you kind of have to put yourself in their shoes and do a lot of research. Especially if I’m styling real people, you have to do your research. You have to go on their Instagram and see their personal style, if they wear a lot of color, if they wear a lot of print, what silhouettes they like to wear, and pay attention to what’s going to make them feel comfortable.

Totally. I remember I used to assist a stylist a while ago and she would always show me her lookbooks and I don’t think she actually cared about the people, but more so just imagined her own world and fit them into it. Which, I suppose if a publication has a very specific thing they go for, that makes sense, but sometimes it would be such an ask.

Yeah, some stylists definitely stay in their own world and will only style people to their particular tastes, because I think a lot of styling is also very ego driven. Like, oh, this is my taste, this is my style. I know a lot of stylists like that.

I don’t really keep up with her and I feel like she’s not really in the conversation so much anymore, but I feel like Maeve Reilly was like that. I always hated her styling so much.

A lot of those stylists, they all kind of style the same. It’s sad, because in general, our society lacks so much individual style. Like, everyone dresses the same.

It’s more of, like, a collective individualism. So people wear the same things, because they signal “individuality.” When you prep for a shoot, is your prep process always the same, or does it depend on the project?

It depends, but usually it’s always the same.

Does it start with a moodboard?

Yeah, usually a moodboard, a creative brief, and then I’ll usually style on grids and I’ll have a bunch of clothes and I’ll go from there. Then I’ll bring a fit model in and try clothes on the fit model and take photos of the fit model and then upload them to a document. It just depends what exactly it is I’m styling for.

When everyone has the same access to the same references, especially now through Pinterest and Instagram, how do you feel you cultivate an original point of view?

For styling work I definitely just focus more on the brands and what they’re expressing, because I am a brand stylist, so it’s not personal styling, where it can go more what everyone else is doing. I care more about what the designer thinks and what the marketing team thinks and I’m more focused solely on the brand itself. Obviously I look for inspiration on runways and stuff, but I more look at the silhouettes and layering, what’s going on, but I always relate it back to the brand. I try not to do something that the brand wouldn’t do. For my own personal style, like I was saying, I feel like everyone is doing the same thing and dressing the exact same way, and I kind of stick to what I’m attracted to. I love Pinterest, and I use it a lot, so it creates a dashboard that if you scrolled on you’d be like, oh, this is very Larissa. I have a very strong sense of style, while also liking trends. I think I’m attracted to different color combination, interesting accessories, and I think I stick to that while also appreciating trends, but not focusing on them so much. Just, like, sprinkling them into my style. Some girls don’t ever ask themselves, what am I actually attracted to in fashion, and they just base their whole style on Zara new arrivals or on some popular influencer.

Yeah, and it’s not a problem to like trends, but having that distinct point of view helps you know, this one’s for me, this one’s not, and that’s fine.

Exactly, and I know I like strange accessories and weird color combos, so that’s what I’m gonna do.

Are there any visual clichés you’d be okay with never seeing again in styling? Like, when a rock band does a photoshoot and they’ll pose them in front of a chain link fence or something.

I feel like I’m a little over just how minimal everything is, generally. I like The Row, for example, but I think a lot of stylists have taken it too far. Or Khaite, I mean, I love Khaite, but that’s a big thing that I’ve seen influence fashion and styling. I would never consider myself a maximalist, but I am a little over it. I think it’s taken over a lot of styling and fashion. The extreme minimalism of it all. I think we’ll all look back and laugh a little at how it’s just a simple outfit and a tassel around her neck and people are, like, freaking out.

Yeah, I’ve been writing a lot recently about how I think we’re craving a sense of intimacy and sensuality through fashion, because everything has been so minimal and emotionally removed.

I agree. I’m curious where fashion is going to turn. I feel like people are a little over it, but I still see so many stylists styling so minimally. I’m like, what is this really saying? It’s not really saying anything.

I think Jessica Willis is really good at minimalism, or more so knowing how much to reduce an image. She’s the fashion director of The Cut, and I always describe her work as a fresh ocean breeze. It’s always really refreshing and never boring. When you’re working, how do you know an image is finished or feels successful?

I get a certain feeling inside. It’s a lot of intuition, I think, with styling. A lot of it is about balance, too. Yeah… it’s a certain feeling I get inside, where I know the look is finished and I like the look.

Do you have that thing a lot of artists and creatives do, where you’re like, there’s always something I could do more or better, but there comes a point where you just have to let it go?

Yeah, you kind of have to stop at a certain point, for sure. Especially if you’re making a ton of outfits, you can get burnt out. I’ve been doing this for a while now, so I feel like I don’t do that, but it’s really easy to keep on playing with something. When I’m doing still life styling, something that’s not on a model and it’s more art and I’m collaborating with art directors, I think it’s so easy to just play with something forever. But I’m also a really impatient person, so I think it works in my favor.

You’re just like, I need this to be done!

Yeah, I’m like, no! Gotta move on!

Do you feel like, by nature, you almost curate your own life?

Yes, definitely. I’m just a very visual person. I feel like that’s my main thing. My apartment is decorated, my closet– everything is very curated. I’ve always been like that, from a young age, and I think it’s because my mom was like that. And it’s just because I like to do it, not because I want to be perceived in a certain way. It’s just the stuff that makes me happy.

It’s always nice to have a space to come back to full of your favorite things.

Oh my god, yes. I recently moved into an apartment post breakup, and my main thing was, I need to make it feel like me. It’s true, you feel so much happier when it’s a curated home and space.

We touched on separating your style from people you’re styling, but kind of on the opposite end, do you feel like styling other people has taught you anything about the way you dress yourself?

Yeah, sometimes I’ll definitely take inspo from shoots into my personal style. Especially in the winter with layering and accessories and different belts. Obviously you’re going to be more intentional with layering and silhouettes on an editorial than just on a person, so yeah, I’ll definitely use those styling tricks. Or I’ll be like, ooh, I want this for myself or I would style this a little bit differently on myself. It gets your brain going.

Are there any brands or designers that are inspiring you right now?

Well, I love Chanel right now.

So good.

I think Chanel is looking really great. Also, Celine right now, and I love vintage, anything vintage. I’m addicted to vintage– no specific brands. There are specific colors I’m attracted to right now. I definitely go on color sprees, but I’m not really someone who focuses on a specific designer for my own personal style. For work, I’m really attracted to Chanel and Celine– old Celine and new Celine.

Is there anything inspiring you now that’s not related to fashion?

In the summer I always get inspired by the ocean and sea life and shells. Before I wanted to go into fashion, I wanted to be a marine biologist, and I feel like in another life I lived at the beach. I was super into the ocean when I was younger, wanted to be Aquamarine, watched the movie a thousand times. So, in the summer, I definitely bring out that side of me, the beach girl.

Maybe the beach thing is a New Jersey thing, with spending summers down the shore and everything. I feel like I’m the same and so many people I know are like that too. I was like, I wanna learn how to surf, I’m a mermaid, I need to be at the beach all the time.

Right?! I feel like it is, because we only get the beach in the summer so we crave it more, versus someone in California who gets it all the time.

Maybe that’s it. I feel like your outfits are very color forward. Do you start planning an outfit by thinking of a color story?

I’ll be attracted to a color. Like, right now I’m really attracted to aqua and purple. Then, from there, I’ll just grab another piece and see if the colors work well together. I’ve been doing aqua and a citron color, and pink. I kind of just experiment on the spot, unless I see an image. Sometimes I’ll scroll on Pinterest and see an interesting color story, but for the most part it’s in the moment. I style pretty quickly, just because my job is styling, I feel like I don’t spend a lot of time styling my own outfits, because I’m burnt out.

Mhm. Almost like how you see a designer wearing the simplest outfits but their designs are the most insane thing you’ve ever seen.

Right, right!

Is color more emotional or compositional for you?

I would say color is emotional. It can make me feel a certain way. When I’m wearing an all black outfit, which, I do actually wear all black. Not in the summer, but I do wear all black sometimes, and I feel like you feel different. It kind of gives you a different personality, and when I’m wearing a super fun color combination it can make me super happy.

Are there any colors you hate working with?

I hate working with the color teal, it’s really hard to style. Or a bright purple, even though I do love purple for my own personal style. It’s just really hard to style, unless it’s monochrome. For my personal style, I would say orange. I don’t wear a lot of orange at all.

For me, I feel like red stresses me out, so I don’t wear a lot of it, but it’s also my favorite color to wear with other colors.

That’s so funny.

Purple too, I’m really particular about purple. It has to be a very specific shade.

Everyone has those colors!

If pink had a favorite song, what would it be?

What song feels like summer?

What song would be a great starting point for a moodboard?

If your life was a movie, what song would play when you walk on screen?

What song do you want life to feel like all the time?

When all is said and done, what song is playing in the background of your perfect life?

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Anyway, let’s get into it.

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Olivier Theyskens’ first collection for his new label Boloria debuted this weekend ahead of couture, and it’s as romantic as ever.

The show started as if waking up from a dream. It was vast and dark before breaking into the light, with models that appeared to still have their sheets wrapped around their bodies, before chronology has yet to reassemble itself as they enter the real world.

Theyskens wanted to explore this idea of something that seems as if it has existed for years, and perhaps it has, in a way. The rules of tailoring and garment construction have, in fact, been around for decades. That part isn’t new, but Theyskens knows how to take the rules and break them in a way that makes garments feel fresh, without stripping them of their roots. About the collection he said, “I always figured that these looks were like they were about to leave their apartment, but that it will be very unsure; are they in the ’30s, the ’20s, the ’40s, the ’70s?”

In The Empire of Fashion, Giles Lipovetsky writes about how fashion is one of modernity’s greatest temporal machines, because it institutionalizes constant renewal. Fashion tells us what belongs to the now, but Spring 2027 gently rejects that premise. Theyskens’ garments have origins that can’t be located, and they parallel the way that the past always flashes into contemporary life rather than being completely left behind. It’s a history left beautifully unfinished.

Ties were long, shirts were short, pants were tucked into socks, and bias cuts just kept getting more delicious as they came down the runway, one after another. Practicality and symbolism danced with each other, in the sense that we all get dressed every single day, but clothing can also be a medium in which we imagine ourselves differently. I like the idea of taking a quiet moment to yourself to shape your identity, before stepping out of your apartment and into the world.

In the end, all I could think about was Clarice Lispector’s Água Viva, where she writes, “I am before, I am almost, I am never.”

- Daisy Edgar-Jones for British Vogue; Szilveszter Makó strikes again! Holy shit this is good. It’s also perfect for the promotion of Sense and Sensibility. The composition of the photos paired with styling choices that somehow are made to feel part of a period piece even though they’re modern, is so yummmm. Styled by Tabitha Simmons.

- Lupita Nyong’o for Who What Wear; Honestly, not WWW’s best work, but I do love how regal Lupita looks. Styled by Jan-Michael Quammie.

- Rich ass daddy and still acting silly as hell.

- Hermès Couture is set for January!!!!!!!!

- Unzipped, one of my favorite fashion documentaries, was bought by Janus and is having a theatrical re-release. I will be SAT in that theater.

- Kylie Jenner did a Dunkin’ campaign while wearing Matières Fécales, lmfao.

- The cooooolest. Very into this neck brace chic and pointy talon nipples.

- Yes, that is fresh off the runway Schiaparelli Fall 2026 Couture. Law was literally there to snatch it as soon is it came down the runway so Zendaya could wear it later in London. I mean, insane, obviously. I’ve touched on this before, but I like method dressing more when I believe that the person wearing the look would wear it anyway— unless they’re like really going for a moment— you know? But anyway, this is stunning. Zendaya is playing Athena in The Odyssey, so the skirt glowing a goddess glow, if you will, is fitting. The bust doesn’t fit spectacularly because it was made for the model wearing it, but I guess you make do with straight off the runway couture.

- Very pretty! I love the draping of this, and leaf motif is giving laurels.

- Well, if there was one collection they were going to pull from, I was hoping it was going to be this one. This was Alexander McQueen’s first collection for Givenchy and this look was worn by Debra Shaw (she also wore it to her wedding). McQueen didn’t love this collection, really, nor did the public, and yet!! There were a lot more looks they could have chosen that would have been more on the nose, so I’m happy with this one. I do love a headpiece and I do love this headpiece, but it in front of the Eiffel Tower is a little cheesy for MEEEEEE.

- This was my personal favorite look of hers from this week. SO, so good. I think it’s perfect for The Odyssey press, because it’s done in a very classic, old world lace, but has that bit of futuristic quirk that Nicola is so good at and so known for, and The Odyssey is a reference in so much of media! Also reminds me of Balenciaga SS2006, which is a fave Nicola collection of mine.

- This is so gorg. I love how the flower on the bust feels so part of the dress instead of an additional embellishment. This color is everythinggg.

- Too good. The very subtle pleating is so scrumptious and adds a nice bit of texture to a simple, all black look.

- HOTTTT. Body as sculpture, etc.

- Incredible. Like?? So simple, so chic. The little silk short and blazer, as if you just rolled out of a lover’s bed and went to work.

- More effortless chic.

So that was this week! How did we like this week’s Take It Personal with Emily North?! Such a good one right. But I also think all of them are good. BUT I also don’t think I’m being biased!

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1. Iris Van Herpen really is magical. I saw her exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum when it opened and I highly recommend making your way over if you can!

2. Rahul Mishra is a really incredible story teller.

3. Standing Ground was insane. One of my favorite collections of the season for sure. Michael Stewart should be so, so proud of this debut. The finale look took 4,000 hours to make and is full made of Irish lace, covered in designs drawn by Steweart. The prototype corset goes crazy, although a zipper in it is a little confusing.

4. Armani Privé was stunning, duh. So glam.

5. Ashi Studio always goes so crazy. So weird, so delicious.

6. I think Pierpaolo is strongest when it comes to couture, and I thought his couture debut at Balenciaga was the best thing he’s done for the brand so far, but I’m not entirely there for his Balenciaga yet. The corsetless dresses are actually mad, though— they fit incredibly. True couture, fr.

7. Robert Wun was inspired by childhood and fairytales, but his approach was more Brother’s Grimm. I mean, listen, Robert Wun is insanely talented and those looks are gorgeous. I do miss his ready to wear, though.

8. Viktor & Rolf’s musing on decadence and restraint was great. I love their collections. They know how to do spectacale while still making fantastic clothes.

9. I’m just never going to be a Maria Grazia Chiuri girl, and it just is what it is. However, I’ll giver her the fact that there were a lot of really nice clothes here. No fuss. Well, for the most part. Some of the looks were still kind of scary, but I did love all the different manipulations of fur and leather— super smart to lean into that since Fendi is a fur house. I really wish she would give more color a chance.

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Schiaparelli Fall 2026 Couture

Schiaparelli got a little freak nasty this season and I think we’re all the better for it. After the last couture season, Daniel Roseberry talked about feeling like he’d cracked a code. Like he’d figured out the perfect formula for constructing a successful collection, and so he tried to follow that same formula, again. Except that it didn’t work. For Fall 2026 Couture he had to embrace the unknown, and only then could this collection, called The Call Of The Void, be born.

“Naming things, defining things, is comforting. But in doing so, you’re stripping something of its infinite power and magic– you’re making it less terrifying, but also less exhilarating,” said Roseberry. Giving something a label can be helpful and clarifying in some instances, but as noted here, it can also create limitations. If we know exactly what something is, if it has reached its final form, then where else is there to go? Diving into the abyss allows creativity to become endless.

The collection also explored the unknown parts of the deep sea. The same way we look at the ocean and can’t see what’s happening below the surface, the human experience is also more than just what meets the eye. We do not possess bodies; we inhabit them.

It was abstractly animalistic with its kinky tentacles, hand applied feathers, and prosthetic bellybutton and ear gills. Silicone and latex were used to create corsets that were cut to perfection, and lights were placed underneath bodices and skirts. As Roseberry said, “We’re all just light beams having a human experience.” Tiny little flowers, real flowers that were preserved with sugar water and freeze dried, embroidered some pieces, and elsewhere the draping of fabrics was enough to start a conversation. Roseberry also talked about the iconic Schiaparelli jacket being used as more of an accessory to complete the look here, which was an interesting way to reconsider a classic piece.

In Eroticism Georges Bataille argues that desire always exists at the threshold between attraction and annihilation. For Bataille it wasn’t simply about sex, but about temptation to dissolve boundaries and to enter experiences that exceed rational understanding. Roseberry embraces that same logic by rejecting clothing as mere decoration and instead turning into an encounter with the unknowable. It’s erotic because of all that it withholds. The collection ultimately argues that mystery is not a failure of understanding but one of life’s greatest pleasures. The garments invite curiosity rather than certainty, and refuse complete explanation.

Christian Dior Fall 2026 Couture

Jonathan Anderson’s garden continues to grow at Dior– as does his collection of artists. Fall 2026 Couture was largely inspired by the work of Lynda Benglis, who is known for blurring the boundaries between art forms, the same way Anderson blurs boundaries between labels and rules in fashion.

Benglis’ work with sculpture and knotting was very evidently seen throughout the collection, with garments that really relied on gesture. Garments that featured large fan shapes were also a direct reference to her Peacock series, and all the painterly textiles felt similar to her love of pouring latex onto the floor and allowing it to organically flow. Then there were her homes, in places like India and New Mexico, that had Anderson thinking about plants that grow in extreme conditions. It all felt kind of fibrous with its pleating and fraying, as if you were looking at the veins of a leaf. Even the bar jacket saw a softer, draped treatment, however not all things felt super light. While some looks with a more is more mentality were delightful for the senses, others still suffered from that stuffiness that I think Anderson has to work on. There were the looks that felt very effortless and leisurely, while others felt like they’d wrapped themselves in one blanket too many and had succumbed to bed rot.

Regardless, Anderson dismantles this idea that couture should exist as a closed ecosystem. He treats it as a living organism that is capable of mutation, adaption, and unexpected growth. Rhizomes grow horizontally underground. They have no end, no beginning, and every point connects to one another. Anderson constructs Dior in the same way by each discipline feeding into one another. Benglis is sculpture, sculpture is draping, draping is tailoring, tailoring is botanical growth.

The garments rarely seem complete in the traditional couture sense. Tailoring is quite fixed and precise, however here, the collection seems to parallel the way plants respond to their environment and are in a constant state of growth. They take their time while being nurtured and cared for. But growth is rarely elegant. Plants produce dead leaves alongside new ones and ecosystems flourish through excess as much as restraint. Anderson seems willing to allow couture that same complexity. None of it feels rushed and is quite leisurely in its garden wandering.

In Leisure: The Basis of Culture Josef Pieper writes that “leisure is a form of that stillness which is the necessary preparation for accepting reality.” In other words, leisure is productive precisely because it refuses productivity. It creates the mental and emotional space necessary for genuine creativity and cultural life. Anderson not only demonstrates this philosophy through the richness of his reference points, but also in the way the garments sustained attention for true appreciation. Just like a plant whose value cannot be calculated through efficiency alone, the wearer becomes less an efficient modern subject and more a participant in a landscape of continual becoming.

Chanel Fall 2026 Couture

Who said fairytales can’t come true? Everything about Matthieu Blazy’s appointment at Chanel has felt like a fairytale. He was the prince that swooped in and saved us all from any future eyesores we might have been subject to had he not. Every next collection is his best and the Blazymania doesn’t seem to be dying down any time soon– nor should it.

Titled Gaby and the Beanstalk, Fall 2026 Couture was inspired by a book of classic fairytales that Blazy stumbled upon in Gabrielle Chanel’s library. The 1995 film Jumanji was also a part of the source material, with Blazy imagining “toxic flowers” invading Coco’s apartment. Yet, the stories that seemed to make their way onto the runway never felt too far removed from reality.

“Chanel couture is not about the big wow,” said Blazy. Which might sound funny, as you find yourself loudly gasping and saying, “wow” as each look comes down the runway, but he’s talking about a different kind of wow. The Chanel atelier is doing magic when it comes to attention to detail and impeccable craftsmanship; this we know. However, Blazy is aware that Chanel couture has to appeal to the Chanel customer, to her everyday life, and why shouldn’t her everyday life feel like a fairytale? Everyone might not be buying Chanel, but Blazy somehow prevents it all from feeling too untouchable.

He’s designing incredibly wearable clothes, but in that very Blazy way, they never take themselves too seriously. So we get a chic scarecrow and vines snaking up heels and Jack climbing up a dress like a beanstalk and birds adorning a dress with jewels they picked up along the way and bags that look like sweet little critters and cracked eggshells ready to deliver an ugly duckling, but we also get beautiful trompe l’oeil tweed and deliciously textured skirt suits and easy flowing silks and statement making outerwear. Then there was the Chanel bride, stunning and covered in lace, but she didn’t close the show. Instead a simple back dress, with a shiny, feathered off the shoulder neckline said goodnight after telling us our bedtime story– a revenge dress, as Blazy called it. A reminder that Coco never got married and that the story belongs to Gaby, not Jack.

In the Western world, everything feels sterilized– shoutout capitalism. Optimization is more important than pleasure and self expression. Blazy’s playful approach to design rejects this notion for something that makes you want to care about and believe in the power of fashion. He never asks you to suspend disbelief, but instead asks the viewer to reconsider assumptions that typically organize perception. Fairytales endure, because they are infinitely adaptable, and every generation rewrites them according to its own anxieties, desires, and political realities. In order to survive, a fashion brand has to do the same thing. It has to understand the context in which it currently exists and then has to offer something worth paying attention to when everything else is already fighting for your attention. Chanel couture isn’t about transporting its wearer into another world. It’s about convincing her that her own world is already enchanted.

Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2026 Couture

Duran Lantink’s ready to wear debut for Jean Paul Gaultier might have been the first collection to piss me off in a long time, but last season made me more hopeful for his couture debut, and I was right to be hopeful.

Lantink was given a book on Régine Chopinot by Gaultier, that highlighted the costumes Gaultier designed for the choreographer. From there, he started to think about different ways in which tulle could be manipulated. His answer was quite explosive– literally and figuratively– and something between traditional court dress and sci-fi futurism. A dress looked quite unassuming from the front, until the model turned to the side, showing off its large s-shape. Similarly, other pieces jutted out in every which direction and sometimes felt like looking at a glitch. There were tubular pieces, 3D printed scales, and sfogliatella layers. It was all really exciting and felt like a nice blend of Lantink’s sensibilities with Gaultier’s archive– both personal and for the brand.

Couture is made for its wearer. It’s mindful of the body and makes sure every measurement is perfected. Yet here, although tailoring was strong, it still challenged the ways in which the body is allowed to take up space. Everything (and everyone) seems to be focused on reduction. Garments are made to be lighter, cleaner, quieter, more minimal, and more refined, but how much can we take away before it all becomes boring or disappears altogether? Lantink takes the opposite approach and refuses anatomical obedience.

In Rabelais and His World, Mikhail Bakhtin talks about the grotesque body and how Western ideals of beauty have long privileged what he calls the “classical body”– a body that is self-contained, symmetrical, smooth, and disciplined. It is a fixed object with clear boundaries and has no room for overflow. He writes that “the grotesque body is not separated from the rest of the world. It is unfinished, outgrows itself, transgresses its own limits.” It is always becoming something else and emphasizes instability. Lantink seems to embrace that same theory here, with garments that appear less like clothing placed onto a body and more like bodies actively mutating beneath clothing. He rejects the notion that there is one “correct” way for the body to exist, and embraces a more democratic approach that celebrates multiplicity instead of uniformity.

Lantink spoke about wanting to stay curious without seeing things as weird, which is important at a brand that is so open to playfulness and experimentation. He noted how he was exploring the relationship between the old world craft of haute couture and technology, asking if it could still be romantic. Fall 2026 might not be the answer to that question, but it’s definitely a strong starting point.

So that was couture! What’d you think?

TTYL!!!

xx

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Caroline: What is your personal relationship with fashion?

Emily: It sounds so insanely cheesy to say, but one of the greatest joys of my life is getting dressed. I love the feeling of creating an outfit from my closet that I never knew existed, I love discovering a new way to carry myself based on what I am wearing, I love evolving with my clothes and regaining an appreciation for new parts of myself. Fashion has always been an art form I bow down to with deep reverence, one that I try not to let seep into overconsumption. I started watching runway shows on my family desktop computer as soon as I knew that was even an option. I have seen virtually every fashion documentary ever made and am in awe of the creative forces that allow culture to formulate their personality around art. It is so beautiful!

I don’t think that’s cheesy at all! Fashion is such a huge part of all of our lives. Even someone who doesn’t pay attention to capital F fashion still has to get dressed every single day. Is it closely tied to the way you feel?

What I wear is directly tied to how I feel. No matter what I am wearing it needs to be intentional and like myself. If I am in a slump, the easiest way to get myself out of it is by challenging myself to wear an amazing outfit that reminds me who I am. I wrote a piece a few months ago about how I bought a green ostrich brooch that I wore on my plain winter long wool coat, and it completely changed my attitude towards the winter. Getting dressed is sooooo powerful. I’m sure it feels superficial to many, but how you dress is a direct reflection of how you feel and the way in which you treat your life… and to be clear I am not someone who believes that you have to look “put together” and perfect everyday, I am an advocate for having wrinkles and stains in your clothes because they should feel as alive as you are.

I love, love, love that, and I agree. I really feel like my clothes change the way I move through the world, and I also don’t at all mind a wrinkle or stain. I buy vintage things that aren’t in perfect condition all the time and I almost never iron anything, unless I really do have to. I think getting dressed is such a great way to make you feel more like yourself, especially because it’s something you can control when other things in your life might be out of your control. What is your earliest memory of caring about fashion or style?

I never really remembered when I started to “fall in love” with fashion. It was a really innate desire for me to express myself wordlessly. Everyone in my family jokes that I rarely spoke as a kid, and I think I used my clothing as a way to introduce myself without even opening my mouth. My mother can attest that I would not leave the house even for an errand without a giant bow in my hair that matched my outfit. I still get stopped in the grocery store in my hometown and asked if I was the little girl who always wore bows.

Wait, that’s incredible, where are you from?

The suburbs of Philadelphia!

Do you feel like that influenced your sense of style at all?

I wouldn’t say the area where I grew up influenced my style per se… I would argue that it actually had more of the opposite effect. As many suburbs are, everyone dressed very homogeneously, and I have never been one to crave “fitting in.” My grandmother was my biggest style inspiration. She had a very glamorous way of presenting herself that still felt joyful and approachable and bursting with charm. She worked at the Chanel makeup counter at our local Bloomingdale’s and always wore little lady jackets that I still attempt to emulate to this day. I think it wasn’t even that I was so enamored by her style, it was that I was enamored in the way she held herself, with such warmth, that everyone felt at ease in her presence. Good personal taste, in my opinion, has nothing to do with your clothes, but the way you shift a room the second you enter it.

Amazing. My grandmother was similar, in that she was always so put together no matter where she was going. She had an accessory to match every outfit, and I always felt like her complimenting my outfits was such a seal of approval. She loved a leopard print, and I wonder if that’s why it’s a neutral for me now. But I agree, the actual clothes you wear are such a small part of the formula. It’s you that really completes the look. Do you adjust your style to where you are? Are you wearing the same things in your hometown that you would in New York?

Out of principle– and stubbornness(?)– I really really really try not to adjust my personal style to better fit in a certain place. Obviously I take into account vibe, but the way in which I dress is so integral to who I am. I feel so out of my body when I wear something I wouldn’t normally wear. This probably means that I end up looking a bit out of place, I am sure, but that has never really bothered me in the first place. I will always do and wear whatever I want, at all times. It is my recipe for happiness.

As you should! And you can really feel it right? On the rare instance where, for whatever reason, you have to wear something you might not have otherwise, there’s a feeling of immediate regret when you walk out the door. I also definitely become that joke, where it’s like, they don’t understand my NYC outfit in a farm town in NJ, or something. What part of your younger self is still most consistent in the way you get dressed now?

I dress exactlyyyy how I did when I was a toddler. I love exaggerated babydoll dress silhouettes and dramatic hair bows and cheeky graphic t-shirts. I like to balance very overt femininity with an unexpected detail. If I wear a babydoll dress, I will usually pair it with a sneaker or chunky shoe. If I wear a t-shirt, I like to pair it with a dainty ballet flat. My love for looking girly has remained, but it has been fused with my philosophy of never looking or taking myself too seriously.

Oh my god, you should recreate old outfits you wore in photos as a toddler with things in your wardrobe now. I was just talking about this with someone, but that would be so fun! Maybe an Angel Cake post! But I feel like that bit of fun and pairing an outfit with one thing that doesn’t belong is something I’ve noticed a lot of people love to do– me included! It makes things feel more personal, I think. Do you feel like you’ve gotten to a place with your personal style where you can buy something on impulse and not regret it later?

This is a great question, and I would LOVE to say yes. I think what I can say is that I know and trust my sartorial gut a lot more than I did. I still get a little flutter in my chest when I see a trend I am into, but I have been trying to sit with that desire longer than it will eventually stay. A lot of my closet consists of items i have had for 10+ years. I always get a bit confused when people tell me they are constantly overhauling their closet. I think there is something really beautiful about watching your clothes mold into new chapters of your life. No matter what happens, the memories in the threads of my outfit will always comfort me.

Absolutely, until not too long ago I used to still sleep in a pair of shorts from The Children’s Place. I also don’t get the new wardrobe every season thing. I could never do that. I am still all the parts of me I’ve ever been! It’s also really freeing to be able to look at a trend and just know if it’s for you or not. Have you ever seen a trend and been like, I’ve been doing this for YEARS, and now everyone is going to think I’m following this trend. Or do you not care?

Yes, but it doesn’t bother me at all. Trends cycle in and out– that is the name of the game. There has been a lot of talk about how “bad” trends are for cultivating personal style/taste, which I do agree with, however trends are also a reflection of culture in a way that solidifies the importance of fashion as a barometer for our collective existence, and I do find that beautiful! Even the most stylish people I know are at least slightly influenced by trends while still having a firm grip on their own convictions.

100% agree. Trends are so important and fashion history is too often overlooked when it comes to history in general. Have you ever had a moment where you look in your closet and think, none of this is me, I need a new wardrobe? If so, how do you get out of that? Is it by actually buying new things and figuring out what’s maybe changed about you, or is it about shopping your own closet in new ways?

This is maybe an annoying answer but… never.

Not annoying at all, are you kidding! That’s fab.

I definitely have moments where I feel bored by my closet and I crave a bit of newness, but for the most part I love all the clothes that are shoved in my tiny little closet that is in my living room. I am trying to “shop my closet” more. The beauty of going to an office is that you are really challenged by what to wear. This can be overwhelming and annoying if you let it, or it can be a great excuse to shop your closet.

Oh for sure, because you kind of have to wear a uniform without it actually being a uniform. But I think limitations are kind of incredible for creativity sometimes. What is it about an outfit that makes it feel like you, unquestionably?

I would say it is less about what I am actually wearing and more if it follows my formula of wearing something girly paired with something a bit masculine or unexpected. I never want to look like somebody else, so I always need to make sure I have some detail on that feels ownable to me. Whether that is the red socks I always wear or my gold cherub necklace my friend Valerie bought me as a housewarming present.

Right, like something that you’d be shocked to see someone else wearing, at all or at least in the same way. I hate a fashion “rule,” what’s one that you can’t stand?

I wouldn’t say this is a rule per se, but I definitely get a bit miffed when I hear people vacuuming up trends just to feel “trendy” and a part of a zeitgeist again. It feels great to be a part of something, but there are so many other ways to cultivate belonging that will leave you feeling like you are valued for you.

You mean like giving everything some kind of label so that it becomes a trend even though it was always a thing?

Yes! Girls have been wearing thong flip flops for decades, not everything needs to be labeled as a trend, it can just be good!

My nail girl and I always laugh about all the different names they give, like, a pearl nail polish. It’s so silly and unnecessary. On the flip side, are there any personal fashion rules you have?

Literally do whatever you want, wear what you want. Life is so short and no one cares about you that much, have fun! Oh, and stop looking at what everyone else is wearing and start following your own instincts.

Period. Literally, no one cares. We need to just trust our intuitions more. I feel like you post a lot of movie screenshots– does film influence your style?

YES!!! I fell in love with film because I used it as a vehicle for my own fashion exploration. My favorite activity on a Sunday or Monday night is to put my phone in a different room, light a million white pillar candles in my living room and watch a film. Expert costume design and styling is one of my favorite ways to view a film through. For example, in The Virgin Suicides, Sofia Coppola described how she wanted all of the girls to roll around in a field in their pretty dresses because she wanted them to feel played in. The idea of taking a quality of youth and distilling the dregs of it into everything, including how you style something, is so brilliant to me, and I am extremely inspired by it!!!

Oh, I love The Virgin Suicides. I write costume analysis of movies and shows on my Substack sometimes, so obviously I’m a huge nerd about costume design. It’s such an important tool in telling stories. Wait, what movie would you recommend for me to do one on. I’ve only ever done them on new releases, but I’ve been dabbling with the idea of doing some of my favorites.

Ahhh! There are so many good ones! The first ones that come to mind are In The Mood for Love or Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. A bit random, but they have truly fantastic costuming.

Oh, such good answers, and some of my favorite movies! Those will be added to the analysis list immediately. If there was one fictional character’s wardrobe you could have, whose would it be?

This is sooooooooo hard for me.

A mean question, I know.

I honestly do not know if I have an answer! My gut is saying literally any role that Catherine Deneuve is in, or Zoë Kravitz in High Fidelity… and I think that answer says a lot about my personal style.

Oooh, love those answers though. And I totally think it does– especially how you talked about the masculine and feminine of it all! You have range!!! Naturally, I did some light, tasteful stalking to prepare, and so I noticed you had pink hair at one point. I was wondering if you think about your hair when putting together an outfit? When you had pink hair, did you avoid wearing certain things, or now do you ever put something on and think, ugh I wish my hair was pink! I have naturally curly hair, and I definitely consider if I’m wearing it natural, styled, or up when planning an outfit.

I am lucky because while I admittedly do spend a lot of time, and money, maintaining my blonde, it allows me to go through month long periods of pink hair very seamlessly. I have a tube of pink hair dye in my cabinet at all times that I break open whenever I am feeling particularly restless. I have found that when I am itching for change in my life, that I am unable to control, I lean on physical changes such as tattoos or pink hair to try to shake up my life. As it pertains to my dressing, I think that my pink might subconsciously have an effect on what I choose to wear, but for the most part I dress the same. The only issue I run into is that my two favorite colors are pink and red, however I do not particularly like them together, so I usually refrain from wearing any red while I am in a pink phase.

Yes! Hair, tattoos, clothes, are so freeing when other things are out of your control. And that’s so funny about the pink and red! That’s actually one of my favorite color combinations. I think it’s one of the reasons I love Valentine’s Day so much. Your newsletter, that I love to read because it feels like a friend sent me a really long text and I just wanna reply, no exactlyyyyy to, dips into dating a little. Do you have a go-to outfit when you’re getting dressed for a first date?

I have a bit of a barrier of entry when deciding what I want to wear on a first date. Whatever I wear is really for me as opposed to for them, and if they don’t like the outfit I am wearing, realistically they won’t like me. One of my go-to outfit formulas is an oversized graphic t-shirt of some sort paired with a mini skirt and ballet flats with a little heel. To me, this is perfect because it isn’t too sexy– again, barrier to entry, but I love dressing sexy on subsequent dates, let’s be clearrr– and is a perfect example of who I am as a person. I really try not to take myself too seriously, and I let my clothes embody that philosophy. One that I hope some extremely lucky man appreciates. Everything is romantic, wear whatever YOU want on a date and the right person will be entranced by your essence.

Yeah, I’m the same way. Sometimes I almost dip a little more masculine, I don’t know, maybe as a litmus test. Do you ever do, like, a lite version of your personal style when first meeting someone, or is it, this is real, this is me, right from the jump?

Oh I go into it fully right from the jump. Again, if someone is going to like me, I want them to like the most pure version of myself! I honestly don’t even think about what I am wearing through the lens of someone else. I take into account the occasion I am dressing for, but not the gaze of others. It is too exhausting to think about what I look like in someone else’s brain, and it is simply none of my business. I am the only self!

Love it. Sometimes I go out with my friends and they like to tell me when other people keep looking at me and I’m like, oh? Okay, and what? Are you ever consciously aware of what your outfit might be communicating about you to someone?

I would definitely be lying if I said no, because of course there are spaces where I feel insecure or over/under dressed. The only time I get a bit self-conscious is if I am around a more conservative crowd and my earnest passion for mini-shirts is on full display. But again, if someone does not like what my style communicates, that is totallyyy fine!

Right, we obviously live in a society, as they say. I think being in New York also does make you more comfortable to be really expressive, so it makes it more obvious when you’re in spaces that aren’t, but at the end of the day, there’s always gonna be somebody that is gonna roll their eyes, but there’s also always gonna be somebody that gets it!

What has to be on the playlist at the next angel party you throw?

What song should someone turn on and dance to if they want to take themselves a little less seriously?

What song would Simone Rocha for sure fuck with?

If your life was a movie, what song would play when you walk on screen?

What song do you want life to feel like all the time?

When all is said and done, what song is playing in the background of your perfect life?

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