Vogue USA - May 2023

MAY
KARL
LAGERFELD
A CELEBRATION
SCAN TO DISCOVER
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MODEL SHALOM HARLOW CLIMBS TO NEW HEIGHTS IN THOM BROWNE’S HOMAGE TO KARL LAGERFELD
FASH I ON ED I TO R: A L EX HA RR I NGTO N . HA I R , JAWA RA ;
ON THE GRAND STAIRCASE OF THE GRAND PALAIS IN PARIS. PHOTOGRAPHED BY ANNIE LEIBOVITZ.
MA K EU P, FA RA HOM I D I . S ET D ESI G N : MA RY HOWA RD
48 to confront artist Hayal into the spotlight. sumptuous skin 118

ST U D I O. D E TA I LS, SE E I N T HI S ISSU E .
Editor’s Letter some hard Pozanti created By Jen Wang might be lying In His Image
truths in her new a language all in a tube of Ten designers
54 memoir. By her own. By 108 petroleum jelly. inspired by
Contributors André-Naquian Dodie Kazanjian Crossing Her T’s By Leslie Camhi Karl Lagerfeld
Wheeler Lauren Santo interpret his
86 98 Domingo sets the 112 iconic work in
Story of Her Life 94 Center of table at Tiffany & Co. Riviera, Relax, new creations
Brother Vellies Shape Shifter Attention Repeat worn by the
founder Aurora To combat the In the film Past 110 Dior debuts the models he loved
James sidesteps oppressive force Lives, actor Lay It On Thick ultimate
the glamour of the internet, Greta Lee steps The secret to destination spa CONTINUED>40
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May 2023
140 among the

The Line of Hamptons elite,
Time looking for
Sixteen looks an escape
from the new
Costume Institute 162
exhibition at The Short Cuts
Met showcase six A new wave of
decades of Karl micromini
Lagerfeld—while silhouettes proves
Amanda Harlech that a little
recalls working goes a long way
at the right hand
of the maestro 168
Just One
154 Thing
Making Her The latest in our
Mark series of one-
Texas’s 32- piece wardrobe
year-old Judge must-haves?
Lina Hidalgo A wondrously
could be the versatile Ralph
most powerful Lauren button-up
Democrat
you’ve never 174
heard of. Emma The Get
Specter travels As “Karl
to Houston to Lagerfeld: A
FASH I ON ED I TO R: A M A NDA HA RLECH . HA I R, EUG E N E SOULE I M A NI ; MA K EUP, A N A TA KAH ASH I.

meet the party’s Line of Beauty”
rising star opens at The
Met, conjure
158 the captivating
P RO DUC ED BY P RO D N. SE T D ESI G N : IB BY NJOYA . D E TA I LS, SE E I N T HI S ISSU E .

The Plunge glamour of his
In an excerpt from vision wherever
Emma Cline’s you happen to be
new novel, The
Guest, a young 184
woman drifts Last Look
Cover Look French Connection

From top to bottom, left to right: Anok Yai, Gigi
Hadid, Devon Aoki, and Adut Akech all wear
Chanel haute couture. Naomi Campbell wears
Fendi couture. Kendall Jenner wears Chanel
haute couture. Natalia Vodianova wears Fendi
couture. Liu Wen wears Chanel haute couture.
Shalom Harlow and Amber Valletta both wear
Fendi couture. Hair, Jawara; makeup, Fara
Homidi. Makeup for Naomi Campbell, Angloma.
Special thanks to the Réunion des musées
nationaux–Grand Palais. The restoration of the
Grand Palais was made possible by the generous
THE UNDISPUTED CHAMPION support of Chanel. Details, see In This Issue.
MODEL ANOK YAI WEARS A JACKET, DRESS, BELT, AND JEWELRY FROM CHANEL’S Photographer: Annie Leibovitz.
FALL 1991 COLLECTION. PHOTOGRAPHED BY RAFAEL PAVAROTTI. Fashion Editor: Alex Harrington.
armanibeauty.com
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Letter From the Editor
TAKE THE WHEEL

WITH KARL AT THE
DRIVE-IN THEATER
CHANEL STAGED
IN DALLAS, 2013.
Life Itself
Amanda Harlech by his side as fashion editor. Amanda
has also written a magical remembrance of Karl that
returns him to me in vivid detail—an act of memory for
which I couldn’t be more grateful.
Backwards and forwards at once: That was Karl’s restless
KARL LAGERFELD WAS MANY THINGS: a friend, a way. And so a second celebratory portfolio casts his
consummate artist, a paradox. He was a designer who legacy into the future. This was quite a project, one with a
thrived on attention but also led an intensely private life. complexity and ambition that Karl would have approved
He was a well-read intellectual who adored the heady of. We asked 10 designers to create looks inspired by him,
lights of popular culture. His desk heaved with books and and then we brought their incredible creations to the
paper, but he always had the latest technology at his Grand Palais in Paris—a site where Karl showed his Chanel
fingertips. And he, of course, declared that fashion didn’t collections time and again, but one that happens to be
belong in a museum—it should look ahead, not be under significant renovation. Nevertheless, Annie Leibovitz,
consigned to history. But here he is with a retrospective at along with fashion editor Alex Harrington, and models
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. such as Shalom Harlow, Naomi Campbell, Kendall Jenner,
I’m at peace with the small role I’ve played in this last and more came together—hard hats required!—to be
contradiction because I know he would have loved being surrounded by scaffolding and Beaux Arts splendor. In
recognized—and there’s simply no one more deserving. these images Annie captured something so very Karl:
All credit goes to Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s unforgettable fashion, high drama, a sense of the past and
brilliant curator who has titled the new exhibition “Karl the future colliding. Her pictures have cinematic scale
Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” an allusion to the painter but also an intimacy that I can’t help but be moved by. For
William Hogarth, who believed that an ever-turning, these are models and designers (and one very famous cat)
ever-changing line captures more energy and life than who knew Karl, many as well as anyone did, who benefited
a straight one. I can’t imagine a better metaphor for the from his friendship, his mentorship, his joy and curiosity,
COU RT ESY O F DA N I E L MA RTE N SE N .
revolutionary effect Karl had on fashion. his impatient interest in the world around him. A tribute
A life lived as Karl’s was—gloriously, restlessly, always to Karl feels like a tribute to life itself, a celebration in its
in public, and full of fascinating twists, turns, and purest form. We all miss him so very much.
transformations—warrants a celebration, and that is what
we’ve organized here. Our issue looks back at Karl’s
history, at his work for Chanel, Chloé, Fendi, and his own
label. Rafael Pavarotti took the stunning photographs
of these designs, with Karl’s friend, muse, and collaborator
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This Charming Man
“My impression was of an emperor at the height of his
powers, possessed of an electrifying force that could scan
the potential in everyone he encountered.” So writes
Amanda Harlech of first meeting Karl Lagerfeld in “Karl
& Me” (page 142), a vivid remembrance of her trusted
friend. (At left, the two share a moment at the Librairie 7L,
the elegant bookshop Lagerfeld established at 7 Rue de
Lille in Paris.) Harlech goes on to describe her heady
early days with Lagerfeld at Chanel, where her role was
to provide “an outside pair of eyes” as new collections
came together; consulting at his “wild, exuberant” fittings
for Fendi; and the many other ways that they shared
space and exchanged ideas—over dinner in Rome, Paris,
and Saint-Tropez; through the boxes of biographies and
art books that he sent to her home in rural England;
and in discussions about poetry and music. It’s a touching
ode to a remarkable bond.
QUICK ON THE DRAW
BELOW: LOOKS BY 1) JOHN GALLIANO
FOR MAISON MARGIELA ARTISANAL,
2) DONATELLA VERSACE, 3) PIERPAOLO
PICCIOLI FOR VALENTINO.
3 S KETC HES : A LL COU RTESY OF T HE BRA NDS.
2
TO P : COU RT ESY O F A M A NDA H A RLECH .
Greatest Inspiration
This issue’s cover story (“In His Image,” page 118), styled of Beauty,” opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
by contributing fashion editor Alex Harrington and shot on May 5, Maison Margiela, Versace, Valentino, Thom
at the Grand Palais in Paris by Annie Leibovitz, is a love Browne, Simone Rocha, Gucci, Sacai, Undercover,
letter to Karl Lagerfeld—10 of them, in fact. Inspired Balmain, and Christopher John Rogers created custom
by the spectacular tribute that is “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line looks in conversation with Lagerfeld’s visionary >60
AVA I L A B L E AT D I O R . C O M
MAC Y ’ S
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THE NEW FRAGRANCE
LIFT TO DISCOVER
J’ADORE EAU DE PARFUM

The most riveting stories in fashion, culture,
and politics from around the globe.
HOSTED BY CHIOMA NNADI AND CHLOE MALLE.

LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE TO THE RUN-THROUGH WHEREVER
YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS.
Contributors
“My look is in,
of course, black-and-
white tweed. That’s
what I always think
of when I think
of Karl and Chanel”
—THOM BROWNE
SOURCE MATERIAL
1) A SKETCH AND
SWATCHES FROM THOM
BROWNE. 2) SIMONE
ROCHA’S LOOK.
work. These pages are animated by the sketches and

S KETC HES : A LL COU RTESY OF T HE BRA NDS.
fabric samples that their creative directors prepared in

advance—touching odes to Lagerfeld’s restless eye
(and artist’s hand) in their own right. “The power of
Karl’s work, whether it was Chanel or Chloé, was
so much about the textiles, with so much research and PEARL JAM
3) A SKETCH
narrative in every collection,” Rocha says. Adds Rogers, AND SWATCHES
on the subject of Lagerfeld’s utter singularity: “Karl’s FROM GUCCI.
work was really expansive, but at the same time you can
always go back and say, ‘That’s a Karl piece.’ And
there are not many designers you can say that about.”
* The alchemy of senses
FROM
CHANEL
Sketch by Karl lagerfeld, 2003

©2023 CHANEL®, INC.
THE DESIGNER’S DESIGNER
Armani and Lagerfeld celebrating the opening of Armani Casa in Paris, 2001. “I’ve always considered Karl to be extraordinary in his talent
for both work and life,” Armani remembers, “which he fused and turned into an art form: his unique and unmistakable self.”
Dear Karl...
“Karl took me under his wing,” writes
P H OTOG RA P HED BY BE RT RA ND RI N D O FF P ET RO FF/G E TT Y IM AG ES.
Giorgio Armani, “with a kindness

I still remember to this day.” Legendary
for his notes, faxes, and congratulatory
bouquets, Karl Lagerfeld was the
consummate communicator. In this issue,
a few fashion friends return the favor.
63
“EMBRACE THE PRESENT
AND INVENT THE FUTURE”
- KARL LAGERFELD
“THANK YOU, KARL.
YOUR UNMATCHED
VISION, CREATIVITY
AND PASSION
ARE ENDLESS
INSPIRATIONS.
WE ARE IMMENSELY
PROUD AND HONORED
TO CONTINUE YOUR
LEGACY AND INVENT
THE FUTURE.”
DIOR PAYS TRIBUTE TO OUR FRIEND OF THE HOUSE, K ARL LAGERFELD
TRIBUTE TO KARL LAGERFELD’S
UNIQUE LEGACY AND TALENT
Karl Lagerfeld was a dear friend to our founder, René Lacoste. Both of them were visionaries
who left their mark on their time and forever on fashion, elevating some of their designs to
iconic status. Karl and René shared many common values, putting their high standards at
the service of creativity. Karl had a special gift for staying true to the heritage while
modernizing wardrobes. This drawing of René through Karl’s eyes is a sacred meeting of two
icons.This very special edition of the iconic polo signed by Karl Lagerfeld will be forever
cherished and carefully protected within our House. It is our way of ensuring that Karl
Lagerfeld’s legacy and the indelible mark he leaves on fashion live on.
The Book Lounge, interior
of “THE KARL LAGERFELD”
hotel tower at Grand Lisboa
Palace Resort Macau,
designed entirely by
Karl Lagerfeld.
MACAU
KARL, YOUR CREATIVITY AND MAGIC HAVE

MADE MACAU SHINE EVEN BRIGHTER.
THANK YOU FOR BRINGING US YOUR

INCREDIBLE VISION AND TALENT.
Story of
Her Life
Brother Vellies
founder Aurora James
sidesteps the glamour
to confront hard truths
in her powerful
new memoir. By André-
Naquian Wheeler.
STANDING TALL
James wears
Brother Vellies
shoes and
Christopher John
Rogers dress.
Photographed by
Tyler Mitchell.
MA K EU P, MEGH A N N GUY. D E TA I LS, SE E I N T HI S ISSU E .
HA I R , M I D EYA H PA RKE R USI NG PATT E RN B EAU T Y;
O
n an unseasonably warm, sun-soaked Febru- industry-changing nonprofit Fifteen Percent Pledge—a
ary afternoon, Aurora James is taking a break drive to push retailers toward committing at least 15
from the whirlwind of New York Fashion percent (the size of America’s Black population) of their
Week at the Italian restaurant Gemma. In the shelf space to Black-owned brands—while continuing
past week she has thrown a gala for her nonprofit, attended to run her successful, CFDA-winning label of mindfully
shows by Brandon Maxwell and Rodarte, and, presently, is made shoes and accessories, Brother Vellies. “I felt like it
sitting down to discuss her memoir, Wildflower. could only ever help to be fully honest and transparent,”
If this all sounds like a feat of multitasking, it should James, wearing a knit Brandon Maxwell dress, says of her
come as no surprise from James. Over the last three years, decision to publish a memoir at the age of 38. “When I
aside from writing her first book, she also launched the meet young girls, they always ask, ‘How did you get > 8 8
86 M AY 2 0 2 3 VO G U E .C O M
Elegance is an attitude
Jennifer Lawrence
THE LONGINES MASTER COLLECTION

to do what you do?’ And it’s hard to answer that without Gala. That outfit—a white gown emblazoned with the
people understanding where I came from and how I was slogan—sparked a thousand think pieces and provoked
socialized in the world.” the ire of conservative commentators. In her memoir,
That’s exactly what she wrote about. There are barely though, James paints a more earnest and compassion-
any scenes of fashion, or glamour, in the opening third ate portrait of both the dress and people’s reactions to
of Wildflower. Instead, James provides powerful vignettes it. When Ocasio-Cortez and James walked through
of her experience growing up as a biracial child raised by the hallways of The Met, waitstaff delighted in AOC’s
her white grandmother and mother with whom she has presence. A more unfortunate consequence: In the after-
had a rocky relationship. James math, right-wing publications
and her mother ping-ponged started digging for information
between Canada and Jamaica about everything from James’s
for a significant period, and tax records to her childhood
the thorny parts of James’s life and past abortions. (The House
during this time are starkly Ethics Committee is currently
presented: the casual racism investigating if the congress-
she encountered, the physical woman violated House rules or
and emotional abuse she expe- broke federal law by accepting
rienced, disordered eating, the gifts associated with the Gala—
sticky residue of trauma. and whether to subpoena James
“So many people told me, for testimony.)
‘You know, you don’t have to I ask James if, knowing what
write this stuff,’” James says. But she knows now, she would have
a book brimming with honesty still designed that dress. “Yeah,”
and vulnerability was the only she answers, without hesitation.
book James was interested in “I just might’ve had a little bit
writing. She has long advocated more time to do it, so that the
for greater transparency in fash- construction could have been a
ion, f rom brands being more little bit better!” She laughs large,
up-front about their production and brightly. “That was a really
practices to companies disclos- FLOWER difficult 36 hours.” (That’s exactly
ing the racial makeup of their CHILD how much time she had to make
employees. Wildflower seems James, age the dress after finally learning that
four, in
to stem from a similar inclina- Florida. AOC—another person with an
tion toward openness. “I think understandably busy schedule—
the expectation of perfection is could make it to the Gala.)
what is holding so many of us A few days later, James and I
back and down,” she says. “When I meet young speak again via Zoom, the bi-
So James decided to peel back girls, they ask, ‘How did you coastal designer back in her Los
the curtain even further. She Angeles home. I ask her what her
documents the suffocating finan- get to do what you do?’ relationship with her mother is
cial strains Brother Vellies faced It’s hard to answer that like now—is she nervous about
in 2016, right when—from the her reaction to the book?
outside—the brand was at the
without them understanding “My mom just landed here
apex of its success and fame. A where I came from” this morning, and she’s going to
loan of $70,000 from someone read it tonight,” James answers,
in the fashion industry who had gained her trust ballooned, rubbing her temples. “I am nervous about it, because
over the years, into a massive debt, primarily due to crush- everyone remembers things differently. I know I’ve only
ing fees and interest. (She recently paid off the loan.) been able to become who I am because of who she was.”
“I wanted to be able to tell this story,” James says, To answer my other question, James reads aloud a line
“because I think it’s important for people to understand from her memoir’s afterword: “Simply put, my brilliant,
what can happen when there’s not access to capital— beautiful, intelligent mother and I remain very close from
where people end up getting money from. As a founder, afar, but far from close.”
I’ve obviously not wanted to talk about this for so long— Of the book’s title, James explains: “My mom and I used
but it’s such an integral part of my journey,” she contin- to throw these seed bombs out of the car windows—they
COU RT ESY O F AU RORA JA MES.
ues, “that not being able to talk about it was just going to were wildflower seeds that we would [smash] together
perpetuate the problem.” with clay and dirt. Anytime we saw an abandoned lot
While James is bracing herself for potential backlash or any patch or area that looked like it could be more
for telling this specific slice of her story, it’s certainly beautiful, we’d just throw one out the window. It’s really
not the first time she has spoken truth to power. Case in about that,” she continues. “How can you really, abun-
point: designing the “Tax the Rich” dress worn by Con- dantly try to bloom in places where you are not expected
gresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to the 2021 Met to be blooming?” @
88 M AY 2 0 2 3 VO G U E .C O M
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Shape Shifter
To combat the oppressive force of the internet, Hayal Pozanti created an
original language. In her new show, she moves beyond it. By Dodie Kazanjian.
微信公众号：全球⾸发刊王
A
s a graduate student at the Yale School of Art, or trees or fictional creatures that exist within a landscape.
Hayal Pozanti vowed that she would invent That’s when it all came alive.” The new paintings are on
nothing less than a new visual language. She view this month at the gallery that London dealer Timothy
had arrived in 2009, directly from Istanbul, Taylor has just opened in downtown Manhattan.
where she was born, and had been caught up in post- A striking young woman whose long black hair reaches
internet art—art that uses the internet as its medium. almost to her waist, Pozanti manages to look both exotic
“I was feeling overwhelmed and bombarded by images and mischievous. She’s open, confident, and endlessly
COU RT ESY O F TI M OT HY TAYLO R, N EW YO RK/ LO ND O N.
and information online,” she tells me. “I made a radical inquisitive. Two and a half years ago, she and her husband,
decision to not get the internet installed at my house. I Nelson Harmon, moved from Los Angeles to Manchester,
needed to wean myself off the computer so that I could go Vermont, and this prompted another shift in her work. “All
back to the hand and make something new.” of a sudden, I was taking hikes in a forest every day,” she
The visual language that she developed over the next says, when I visit her spacious studio in Vermont for the
decade, called “Instant Paradise,” came from 31 invented, first time. Three finished 10-foot-long canvases for her
hieroglyphic-like characters, which correspond to numbers upcoming show lean against the wall. “My interaction
and letters in the English alphabet. Her mastery of this with nature—my feelings and perceptions—intensified
language has recently matured from a rigid system of ab- after moving here, and I had this compulsion to just > 9 6
stract shapes into a joyous world of color and movement. “I
started imagining the shapes not as things that are floating PORTRAIT OF A MAPLE
around on an empty canvas,” she explains, “but as plants Hayal Pozanti’s A Vessel For My Heart, 2023.
94 M AY 2 0 2 3 VO G U E .C O M
paint what I’m looking at. I’ve always
really wanted to paint en plein air.”
Pozanti and Harmon make an
odd couple. She’s five foot two,
he’s six foot five. She’s Turkish, he’s
American—he grew up in Manches-
ter, she was a big-city girl. They both
turn 40 this year, Harmon in April,
Pozanti in October. She’s an art-
ist and he’s a private art dealer. (He
cofounded Los Angeles’s cool Châ-
teau Shatto gallery.) “I never thought
I’d move back to Manchester,” Har-
mon tells me. “During the pandemic,
we started looking in the Hudson
Valley and, over our second bottle
of wine one night, we decided to try
Vermont.” They love having friends
for dinner—Harmon is the cook— BLUE MOON
and they thoroughly enjoy their life abbve: Veil Between Worlds, 2023. belbw: Pozanti in her Vermont studio.
together. “I look forward to every
Friday night,” Harmon adds, “because we end up having Her focus was shifting toward ecological matters and
a little two-person dance party in our living room.” (She climate-related effects of technological progress. “Once
loves dancing alone in her studio every day, and doing a lot I moved to LA, I found myself in a city that was in very
of reading—science fiction, Greek and Indian mythology, close proximity to the natural environment,” she says. “I
poetry, and books on ecology.) was taking road trips up the coast and seeing incredible
They met in 2016 at the Brussels art fair—she was hav- manifestations of nature—whales off the coast and red-
ing a gallery show in town, and she went to the fair with wood trees that were hundreds of years old.” In 2019, she
a friend. “I saw him, and there was an instant attraction,” and Harmon eloped—a nondenominational priestess
she says. Harmon calls it “love at first sight.” After a year of married them in a circle of redwoods in Big Sur. (Two
long-distance commuting between Los Angeles and New months later, they had a big Turkish wedding in Istanbul.)
York, where she was living at the time, Harmon invited her She began thinking about “what it means to be
to come to LA, and they’ve been together ever since. “He human,” and about experiencing the world through her
had a beautiful house in Highland Park,” she says, “with a body, through memories and dreams, and forming intui-
garden and palm trees and birds, and coyotes and skunks.” tive responses to the world around her. This is when she
stopped using acrylic (plastic) paint and started using
TO P : COU RT ESY O F T I MOTH Y TAYLO R, N EW YO RK/ LO N DO N . BOTTOM : P HOTO G RA P HED BY D ID EM CIVGINOGLU.

oil sticks (pigment mixed with walnut or linseed oil).
“I wanted to experience what it feels like to just paint,
from my mind to my hand,” she explains. “The oil stick
allows you to do that.” Pozanti shows me how she mixes
the colors, not on a palette, but directly on the canvas,
using her fingers. “There’s something very primal about
it. I’m like a cave painter. There’s nothing between me and
my mind and the thing that I’m making.”
he name Hayal means “Daydream” in Turkish.
T “Many Turkish names are also names of things,”

Pozanti says. “I have friends who are called ‘Love’
and ‘The Sea.’ ” Born in 1983, Pozanti is the only
child of Suheyl (“Northern Star”), a medical doctor with
a PhD in hospital administration, and Sengul (“Hap-
py Rose”), a career-oriented computer scientist mother.
When Pozanti was nine, they moved to Houston, where
her father completed his PhD at the Methodist Hospital.
He asked if his wife could also have an internship there,
and “when they saw on her CV that she could program
in seven languages, they said, ‘Oh, my God. Can she start
tomorrow?’ ” Pozanti remembers. They stayed for three
years, so Pozanti could finish elementary school.
Back in Istanbul, Pozanti was enrolled at Robert
College—considered the best C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 7 8
96 M AY 2 0 2 3 VO G U E .C O M
HER TIME
“Nora’s the most normal human
being I’ve ever played,” says Lee,
40, of the character at the center
of Past Lives. Givenchy dress.
Photographed by Tess Ayano.
set drink.’ Then I came back and told them it’s

this energy seltzer water,” she recalls. “They
bought me, like, 30 cases of this water that I
never want to see again. It’s so activating, it
changes your personality.”
Lee is telling me this story over noodles in LA’s
Koreatown, at an unassuming strip mall eatery
with laminated menus and plastic-covered chairs
that she’s been coming to for years. It’s not the
sort of place where you’d regularly find Holly-
wood actors at the top of the call sheet, but it
feels like home to the native Angeleno, precisely
because of its modesty, as well as its proximity
to her father’s medical clinic across the street,
and the church she attended as a child. It’s
about a week before her 40th birthday, a mile-
stone for which Lee’s been ready for the last
three and a half years.
Why three and a half? “I did an interview
with The New York Times years ago that mis-
quoted my birthday. Because of that it was
impossible to reset my Wikipedia. It was a
mess. So I’ve been 40 for the last three and a
half years.” About her actual big day, Lee says,
“I feel good. I want to not seem so young to
people. I find it tiring.”
A plate of tteok-bokki, or spicy rice cakes,
arrives at our table—on the house. In fluent
Korean, Lee orders the rest of our meal: knife-
cut noodles, beef bulgogi, and doenjang jjigae, a fermented
soybean paste soup. (The tubular rice cakes in a bright red
Center of sauce are a “palate cleanser” that cleanses, she remarks
gleefully, “by blowing your palate out.”) Though K-Town
Attention served as one of the principal backdrops of Lee’s youth—
FASH I ON ED I TO R: STE LLA GR E EN SPA N. HA I R , NI KK I P ROV I D EN CE ; MA KEUP, K A RO KA NGAS.

between church, singing with the Opera California Youth
Choir, and loitering with would-be Korean gangsters at
In a luminous new film, Past Lives, the local malls—she now lives a world away in eastside El
P RO DUC ED BY PAU L P R EI SS AT P RE I SS CR E AT I V E. D ETA ILS, S EE I N TH IS I SSU E.

actor Greta Lee steps into Sereno with her husband, comedy writer Russ Armstrong,
and their two children, ages three and six. The hilltop
the spotlight. By Jen Wang. property they’ve called home since leaving Brooklyn in
2020 after Lee was cast on The Morning Show was once
O
n the first day of shooting Past Lives—the a goat farm; now the family of four raises three chick-
film-festival breakout about a woman torn ens who are given free range unless hawks or coyotes are
between the two loves of her life—its star circling nearby. Lee’s Fair Isle sweater, mom jeans, and
Greta Lee was caught unprepared when a chunky boots, a uniform disrupted only by the red-tipped
production assistant asked if she had a “set drink.” Lee manicure left over from her recent Berlinale appear-
had never heard of such a thing. “I’m like, ‘Do you mean ance, is more a reflection of her daily life—mulching this
over there?’ ” she remembers asking, and pointing in the morning!—than her nascent status as a movie star.
direction of a craft services table. “I could feel my own pan- Past Lives made its triumphant debut at Sundance in
ic, like, I’m not playing this part correctly. We’d just started January, garnering predictions that first-time director
filming, and I felt I had so much to prove.” Celine Song’s romantic drama would rank as one of the
So Lee, a 20-year veteran of film, television, and the best films of the year. It’s a stirring tale of love, fate, and
stage, did what any resourceful person would when what-might-have-been, with Lee anchoring the story
struck by the bolt of impostor syndrome. “I went to my as Nora, an ambitious New York playwright reconciling
trailer, shut the door, and googled ‘Brie Larson, Marvel, her feelings for her Korean childhood sweetheart, >1 0 2
LIFT HERE TO EXPERIENCE
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Hae Sung, with the commitment she has to Arthur, her the US base [in Busan] during the war. My grandfather,
American novelist husband. Audiences familiar with Lee’s Yang Ki Lee, couldn’t serve because he had polio and a
most memorable characters—Marnie’s art world frenemy bad leg, but he was a painter, so he painted billboards for
Soojin from Girls, Russian Doll ’s free spirit Maxine, and the movies they showed to the soldiers, like Gone With the
shrewd wunderkind Stella Bak in The Morning Show— Wind,” she says, ladling our kalguksu noodles into individ-
may be shocked by who they encounter in this film. ual bowls. “I got the name Greta because of Greta Garbo.
“Nora’s the fullest sketch of a person that I’ve gotten He introduced me to all the greats: Katharine Hepburn,
to play,” says Lee, whose career ideal when she graduated Gary Cooper, Liz Taylor, Montgomery Clift.” (Later, her
Northwestern was Vanessa Redgrave, because that’s who mother, Jane Min Ja Lee, née Kim, a classically trained
she thought a “serious actor” should look up to. “I’ve loved pianist, will contradict this story to Lee via text, maintain-
and am so proud of the people I’ve played in the past, but ing the name Greta was her idea.)
I’ve been hiding in plain sight, using language, costume, Lee’s grandparents and parents picked up stakes in the
and makeup choices to reflect certain things.” To her point, 1970s, immigrating to Los Angeles and settling in La
Russian Doll ’s star and creator Natasha Lyonne describes Cañada Flintridge, an affluent LA suburb. Greta’s father,
Lee’s Maxine as a “throwback Buñuel or Fellini surreal- Peter Chong Kol Lee, established his pain clinic further
ist figure brought to life because of the utter originality south in Koreatown because of his medical school connec-
in Greta’s presence and delivery.” Lee’s cultivated a fan tions there. Meanwhile Lee, along with her younger sister
base for such highly stylized and brother, were enrolled
supporting roles, but “Past in private schools known
Lives is completely free of for their academic rigor on
that,” she says. “And that’s the Westside, which guaran-
what felt scary. It required a teed a daily commute of two
vulnerability that was so ex- hours, round trip. The con-
cruciatingly uncomfortable.” stant travel between siloed
She credits Song, along communities scattered across
with costars Teo Yoo and LA’s sprawl was a perpetual
John Magaro, with guiding unrooting—“The only place
her away from what she had where I felt like I could just
been conditioned to think be myself was the car,” she
of as acting. “Coming from recalls—but it also gave Lee,
comedy, I had my reflexes of who was singing and danc-
filling space, because we’re ing competitively from an
always writing on our feet,” early age, the foundation for
explains Lee, who’s shown her future.
she can hold her own along- OLD FLAME “Immigrants live this life of
side the likes of Tina Fey, Lee with her costar Teo Yoo in Past Lives. The movie garnered studying behavior and their
Amy Poehler, and Jennifer raves at Sundance and will be released in June. surroundings. It’s a matter of
Aniston. “I remember Celine survival,” she says. “Like when
telling me, ‘What are you doing? Don’t talk.’ And I’m like, you go to a friend’s house, in Sherman Oaks”—a well-to-do
‘Well, wouldn’t they talk in this scene?’ And she’d say, ‘No. “family neighborhood,” as real estate agents would say, in
Just sit there.’ We had these days shooting where I was just the San Fernando Valley—“and you’re having dinner. And
looking out the window.” you think, Oh, so now we all sit down together, and your
Song, a Korean Canadian playwright who received her mother’s going to speak to your father like this. And you
MFA from Columbia and drew from her own experi- guys are now going to talk about a topic and it’s going to
ence to write Past Lives—though she hesitates to call the go like this. Down to how everyone’s eating their food and
film autobiographical—laughs gustily when I relay Lee’s existing together. Acting is just that. It’s living amongst peo-
account of her direction. “I don’t think I ever said ‘Don’t ple. And using the truth you’ve witnessed to tell whatever’s
talk!’ But she had to be the center of gravity, and we had a necessary for the story.”
constant conversation about how to represent that. Like, Fashion was often the balm for Lee’s feelings of alien-
how do you become this character that is so—” Song ation growing up. “I remember starting a day off wearing
P HOTOG RA P H Y: JO N PAC K/COU RTESY A 24 FI LMS.
pauses. “Steady. Steady’s the right word.” my baggy UFO cargos, these scratch-and-sniff pants, to
Greta Jiehan Lee was born in Los Angeles in 1983, meet friends at Koreatown Plaza,” she says. “Then chang-
the same year the Korean War ended in American living ing in the car to get dressed up for the b’nai mitzvah of
rooms when the last episode of MASH , a special two- the Katzenberg twins at the Beverly Hills Hotel. With my
and-a-half-hour event, aired to over 120 million viewers. mom witnessing all of this thinking, You are a psychopath.
Although the war dramedy about a surgical unit stationed But that was just normal to me.” Normal until Lee began
in Uijeongbu, South Korea, featured several Asian char- to shed her desire to fit in.
acters across its 11-season, 256-episode run, less than a “In eighth or ninth grade,” she recounts, referring to
handful were of Korean descent. her years at the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School, “I
The real Korean War had a much greater impact on the didn’t want to conform to the Westside look, with every-
Lees. “My dad’s family were ranchers who fled down to one in their Fred Segal and Uggs. C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 7 9
Crossing
Her T’s
Lauren Santo
at Tiffany & Co.
A
long line of extraordinary through her debut collection, fin- proportions to this line, as well, exag-
women have left their mark gering a whisper-thin drinking glass gerating her chargers to appeal to
on Tiffany & Co. In the crafted by the storied Austrian house American households and sizing down
1970s, Elsa Peretti reener- of Lobmeyr. “Rumor is that you can her drinkware. The US has a penchant
gized the house with her sumptuously squeeze it as hard as you want, and it for outsize vessels, she claims, while
simplistic silver, while Paloma Picas- won’t shatter,” she says, revealing the Europeans tend to offer too-small
so’s heart-shaped jewelry in the 1980s spark she brings to her famous dinner drinkware. “We split the difference,”
introduced a whole new generation parties. (“Not only do I like to enter- she says of a set of stemmed water
to the century-plus-year-old estab- tain and set a nice table, I also, quite and wine crystals. In addition to these
lishment. The latest? Lauren Santo luckily, am invited out a lot.”) perfect-pour vessels, there are colorful
Domingo, who was just announced Since becoming a contributing Murano tumblers and goblets; linen
artistic director of Tiffany Home. editor at Vogue in 2005, the LSD (as napkins and placemats in a variety
At Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue head- she’s known to her friends and 432K+ of shapes and sizes (Santo Domingo
quarters, just off Manhattan’s Cen- followers on Instagram) went on to subscribes to the belief that a round
tral Park, Santo Domingo walks me cofound the e-commerce site Moda table must be set with round place-
Operandi, where she eventually intro- mats, an oval with oval, etc.). She will
duced Moda’s own home line, Moda turn to silverware eventually, but in
TO P : COU RT ESY O F T I FFA NY & CO. BOT TO M : A N D REA SWA RZ/ MO DA O P E RA ND I .

Domus. She now brings this insight the meantime, a new line of china
to Tiffany: “There’s something beau- features a toile composed of New
tiful in tradition, but there was defi- York vignettes—Washington Square
nitely a huge opportunity to speak to Park’s arch, Rockefeller Center’s Atlas
a woman who entertains formally but statue. Though the pattern was first
still wants something modern.” released in 1994, Santo Domingo has
To that end, Santo Domingo reset it against powdery hues inspired by
interpreted a couple of house favor- the semiprecious stones made popu-
ites, paying close attention to scale. lar by Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of
Santo Domingo—who splits her time founder Charles Lewis Tiffany. The
between New York, Paris, and her hus- new collection arrives in concert with
band’s native Colombia—has extended the LVMH-led renovation of Tiffa-
her worldly understanding of tabletop ny’s historic Fifth Avenue flagship,
set to reopen in late April. There vis-
itors can dine at the Daniel Boulud–
GARDEN PARTY
helmed Blue Box Café—breakfast
left: Santo Domingo at home.
top: The new line features plates (or lunch or dinner) at Tiffany’s, with
with scenes from New York. a whole new look.— 
MY THREE
FAVORITE ICE CREAMS
ARE THE SAME ONE
MOREIS
MORE
ice cream
CLEAR IT UP
Applying a jellylike protective layer at
night may help condition the skin.
Photographed by Norman Jean Roy.
benefits, including increased hydra-

tion, a replenished and protected skin
barrier, and (for that rare mature fol-
lower of TikTok trends) a reduction
in wrinkles. In other words, it’s meant
to mimic or intensify the restorative
work that a good night’s sleep has on
one’s complexion.
It was a younger colleague who in-
troduced dermatologist Rosemarie
Ingleton, MD, to the term. “I gave her
a quizzical look, and then I realized it
was something people had been doing
for a long time,” she says. Ingleton, who
grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, recalls
seeing her grandmother apply Vaseline
to her face at night. “In her heart, she
was a country woman, and she would
do the cheapest thing she could to
preserve her skin,” says Ingleton, who,
when she moved to the US, heard of
older Southern Black women doing
the same thing. Particularly in winter,
“if you’re sleeping in a room that has a
heater going, sucking everything out of
your skin at night, this will prevent that
transdermal water loss,” she explains.
Slugging is not a cure-all, however.
Both Ingleton and Ellen Gendler,
MD, a dermatologist and associate
professor at NYU Langone Medi-
cal Center, caution against the potentially pore-blocking
Lay It On Thick effects for people with oily skin or those who are prone
to acne. “It’s not something I ever tell my patients to do,
The latest influencer-fueled craze unless they are at an altitude of 7,000 feet in Colorado
and their faces are really chapped and dry,” Gendler says.
holds that the secret to sumptuous Slugging is “almost like treating your face as if it has diaper
LOV E CRA FT BE AUT Y. P RODUCE D BY TH E CA NVAS AG EN CY. D E TA I LS, SE E I N T HI S I SSUE.

skin might be lying in a tube of rash,” she adds.
FASH I ON ED I TO R: M A X O RT EGA . H A I R, I LKE R A KYO L; MA KEUP, F RA N CE LL E DA LY FOR

In fact, she speculates that slugging might have originated
petroleum jelly. By Leslie Camhi. with infant care. (A friend’s response when I explained the
trend: “I do that to my baby!”) A long-held belief instructs
s it because you’re lazy?” a friend queried, only half- that smearing a baby’s skin all over with petroleum jelly
I jokingly, when I told her I was investigating the

TikTok-propelled skin care trend known as slugging.
But her comment left me wondering why a slow-
moving mollusk, often encountered in garden lanes after
a rainfall, has suddenly become the spirit animal of con-
would make them less susceptible to eczema later in life.
(Besides creating a very slippery baby, this strategy has been
disproved in a recent long-term clinical trial.) “Maybe some-
body did that to their kid, and thought it would be a good
idea to try it on their own face,” Gendler says.
temporary skin care. Of course, we’ve all been through a lot: My own baby is closer to college than the crib, but what
the pandemic, natural and climate change–related disasters, mother can ever forget the unadulterated softness of infant
wars and the gradual erosion of democracy. Who hasn’t skin? And so, I slugged—or rather, I tried. Though Aqua-
been feeling a little “sluggish” recently? phor and CeraVe Healing Ointments—effective classics
This new mode, however, involves applying an occlusive, of both infant and wound care—are popular with sluggers
i.e., water-resistant, layer of a petroleum-jellylike substance on social media, I was looking for a product that might lie
to the face as the final step (after cleansing and moistur- a little lighter on the skin. One night, I gamely layered my
izing) in your evening skin care routine and leaving it on face with Futurewise’s full slugging system—a hydrating
as you sleep. Slugging’s proponents claim that going to mist, a barrier-repair moisturizer, and a moisture-locking
bed looking like a glazed donut carries with it a host of occlusive balm—and went to bed wearing a headband >1 1 2
to keep my hair from sticking to my thickly coated cheeks. bed. A pleasant, cooling sensation ensued. I left it on for
(Capitalizing on the recent trend, the brand uses a gas- 10 minutes as instructed, and once removed, the residue
tropod as its mascot.) But I’m naturally a side sleeper, and didn’t feel overly thick. It was something I could sleep in,
after a couple of hours of worrying about staining my pil- and come morning, I imagined a sunspot had faded from
lowcase, I got up and washed it all off. my right cheek.
Another evening, I was tempted by the beautiful mauve Why has slugging taken off as a trend now? Does it have
hue and seductive rose-tinged scent of Ranavat’s Restor- something to do with the fact that, at least according to
ing Moonseed Treatment, an occlusive and nourishing The New York Times, young people in particular are having
product. Michelle Ranavat, the founder of the line, men- less sex than ever before? (Tastes differ, of course, but the
tions three key Ayurvedic principles that contributed to look and feel of slugging is no aphrodisiac to me.) Do we
the product’s design: dinacharya, the creation of a daily rit- all just want a little babying? Perhaps it’s the reset needed
ual; rasayana, a focus on vitality of the mind and body; and after all the poking and prodding that took place during
vayasthapana, the use of herbs to ward off and repair the the pandemic. “When we were on lockdown, people were
signs of aging. “We use many of those herbs in our Moon- doing everything they could to their skin,” Ingleton says.
seed Treatment,” she says, including bala and shatavari. “They were creating these concoctions, and burning and
Alas, my usual night cream contains retinol, which Ingle- irritating their skin. This is the antidote to that.” Gendler
ton had counseled might be irritating under an occlusive. concurs, going on to emphasize the value of good old-
I did enjoy Loops—a Korean hydrogel “slugging mask” fashioned rest. “We are self-preserving organisms, and if
that boasts antioxidant, plant-based oils, including jojoba, you stop bothering the body, it usually does a pretty good
grape seed, and evening primrose—when I finally managed job of repairing itself,” she adds. That’s enough to send any-
to apply the slippery thing to my face one night before one back to bed, with or without a face coated in creams. @
Riviera, HYDROTHERAPY
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overlooking the sea.
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here are myriad reasons to
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In His Image
Ten designers inspired by Karl Lagerfeld

interpret his iconic work in new
creations worn by the models he loved.
Photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
VIEW FINDERS
Natalia Vodianova, Gigi Hadid, and Naomi Campbell in Paris. Vodianova and Campbell both wear Fendi couture; Hadid wears
a Chanel haute couture tunic, blouse, and skirt. Special thanks to the Réunion des musées nationaux–Grand Palais.
(The restoration of the Grand Palais, where this story was photographed, was made possible by the generous support of Chanel.)
Fashion Editor: Alex Harrington.
Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino
Karl and I met in the early ’90s at Fendi—it was
like a star coming to the office. In a way, he
brought the news from the world—talking to us
about things like how the new beauty is ugliness.
These manifestos were absolutely sharp, and
delivered without any doubts. I also learned from
Karl not to take anything for granted. You can
work with everything. You can create with
everything. I was always very impressed by Karl’s
research into modernity. He was obsessed with
modernity—this idea of depicting what was
contemporary. He was never nostalgic. The look
I created is a melting pot of his words,
the modernity, and the sharpness of his look.
Worn by Anok Yai on the roof of the Grand Palais.
121
122
Thom Browne
Karl loved [the iconic Paris boutique] Colette, and
my label was sold there. He bought a gray suit, crystal
briefcase, blanket, and shirt and tie, and he took
a picture of himself in them and sent it to me. I have it
in my office—it’s very special to me. Over the years
Karl became a personality, but it’s because of the work he
did, the decades of creating. His work was the
perfect combination of beautiful design and beautiful
craftsmanship; the quality matched the conceptual
ideas. His genius came from knowing who he was
designing for. I loved his use of shape: molded shoulders,
and proportions that were unique, maybe avant-garde
for a lot of people—so I wanted to play with that idea,
and with the fabrications of the house of Chanel.
Worn by Shalom Harlow on the grand staircase of the Grand Palais.
124
Donatella Versace
Karl was a very good friend of Gianni’s—
they really liked each other, and respected
each other. Gianni wasn’t the kind of
person with many friends, and Karl not so
much either, but they connected. I kept
saying to Gianni, “Please—I want to meet
him.” So he took me to Karl’s house one
night, and I was mesmerized. He means a
lot to designers today—especially me.
We like his rebellious spirit. He would put
things together that really didn’t make
sense, just to show you they could make
sense. He didn’t take himself so seriously,
but then geniuses never do. It was like
every show he did was his first. He also
liked to have women around him, to
give him strength. Their presence was very
important—he wanted to know what
women thought of what he was doing.
Worn by Kendall Jenner.
Jun Takahashi, Undercover
It’s wonderful how Karl managed to achieve
so much for so long. When he started
reworking Chanel, changing the look bit by
bit over the years, it was really fresh—he
captured the atmosphere of each passing era
and wove it into Chanel’s designs, making
them evolve. I’ve tried to reinterpret what
Karl did around the time he took charge of
Chanel—I wondered what would happen if
I attempted what both Karl and Coco had
been doing. It’s a quintessential Chanel suit,
but there’s something you can’t quite put
your finger on—dark pop and punk accents,
with the seams exposed or cut into tatters.
Worn by Liu Wen.
127
Christopher John Rogers
I looked at his work for Fendi, which, although
very expansive, was always about technique—
and I thought about all of the behind-the-scenes
construction that went into the house’s couture
pieces. That’s at the forefront of what I designed here.
It was labor-intensive: There are over 250 pieces
of organza, there’s silk faille, there’s an underskirt,
a boned corset. One of my favorite collections of
Karl’s is Chanel’s fall 2006 haute couture. There was
denim, and thigh-high boots, and I think at the
time a lot of people were wondering, What is this?!
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve appreciated his work in the
way that it feels like even if it’s not for everyone,
it’s always for the customer, and for him. He stands for
longevity, authenticity, craft—and having a sense of
humor in fashion, regardless of whatever else is going
on in the world. He really crafted his own language.
Worn by Adut Akech.
129
John Galliano, Maison Margiela
[My first] Chanel show was
overwhelming—the adventure, the mischief,
the encyclopedic knowledge about fashion
of any period, any century. Karl was like an
oak tree, by which I mean there was
enormous wisdom. And I loved the way he
ended each statement with a “non?”—as a
question mark, to engage you, to see what
your point of view was. You had to be ready
for that “non?”! I focused on his obsession
with the line during his tenure at Patou. The
polka dots are cutouts, ellipses—we projected
them onto the look, and they ended up
[cut out] wherever the projection hit the
surface of the dress. The sequins were a new
way of doing embroidery: cutting them
out, then dipping them in hot water to make
them pliable, then into freezing water so
they held their shape. They’re really fun but
with—I hope—all the rigors of couture.
Worn by Natalia Vodianova.
132
Olivier Rousteing, Balmain
I first met Karl in 2011. “You’re the new Balmain boy?”
he asked me. I said yes. “I used to be the Balmain
boy—welcome to fashion.” A couple of months later,
we sat together at a dinner and chatted. I didn’t want
to speak with him about his job, so I asked, “How is life
outside work, Karl—you know, outside of Chanel?”
And he said: “We don’t ask that question, because work
is my life, work is my love.” He has always been my
biggest inspiration in life. He didn’t follow fashion—he
created fashion, and connected fashion to pop culture.
Karl was the pioneer—the king—of all that we’re trying
to do today. And he never stopped being curious about
life. The look I’ve created is a tribute to him—I looked
at what he was doing at Balmain: emphasizing a
tiny waist, bigger shoulders, playing with the buttons.
Worn by Naomi Campbell, who carries Lagerfeld’s beloved
Choupette. Makeup for Naomi Campbell, Angloma.
Chitose Abe, Sacai
Karl used to say, “Fashion isn’t art—it’s
business.” I’ve always thought about that as
I’ve run Sacai. These days a designer’s job
isn’t just about designing clothes, and that’s
something Karl saw way back when—he
was like a fashion cyborg. He was a great
designer from the start, but he was also
good at fashioning his own image. When
you think about Karl, it’s the white shirt, a
tie sometimes, and some hard-edged
jewelry. I’ve tried to capture that—not to
reproduce it, but to hybridize it in the
Sacai style and turn it into an elegant dress.
Worn by Amber Valletta.
135
136
Gucci
“My first Chanel show was the women’s march show,”
says Gigi Hadid, seen here in Gucci’s tweed jacket
embroidered with pearls, jet, and crystals, and a very Karl
white collar and black gloves. “The streets of Paris had
been built in the Grand Palais, and I was just wide-eyed at
the spectacle, the magnitude of the production—I’d never
seen anything like that in my life before. Later, I loved the
rocket ship show and the Titanic show—the audience
saw the runway and the façade of the boat, but not that the
entire inside of the boat was set for a party. Karl inspired
me by his storytelling—his ability to communicate worlds
and bring them to life. He was an icon because he had
this genius focus on what was important to him and what
he was interested in, and his uniform was part of
that intent. It was his armor, his way of becoming Karl
Lagerfeld. Even 10 feet away, he looked like how
Karl Lagerfeld was meant to look. He was awesome.”
Worn by Gigi Hadid.
Simone Rocha
He was the first designer to do an H&M
collaboration. For me, as a teenager at
that time, that was so iconic. For someone
from luxury to be working with the
high street—that was taboo. But Karl was
always unapologetic, and that’s quite
rare. He stood behind every decision he
made; there was no self-doubt as to
whether he was right or wrong. My starting
point was to look at his Chloé era, which
I was really interested in, because it
is a house very known for flou, for being
very female-forward. A few pieces in
the archive jumped out at me: One was a
washed silk dress, very fluid, with lace.
I was thinking, How can I bring lace into
my world? I brought in some harnessing,
a bit of hardness, for some juxtaposition,
because that runs through Karl’s work
in general. The harness is a bit twisted,
but it brings what he did to today.
Worn by Devon Aoki. In this story: hair, Jawara;

makeup, Fara Homidi. Details, see In This Issue.
SE T D ESI G N : M A RY H OWA RD ST U DI O.
139
TIERS OF JOY
Karl Lagerfeld was
nearly as famous for his
look and his devotion
to the arts and letters
of the 18th century
as for his talent as a
draftsman. (Among
his favorite tools for
sketching? Eye makeup
from Shu Uemura.)
Model Anok Yai looks a
bit like a work of art
herself in a mohair
Fendi haute fourrure
cape from spring 2016.
Fashion Editor:
Amanda Harlech.
RAG I D H OL A K IA PRO DUCT I O N S. S E T DESI G N: I B BY N JOYA.

I N T HI S I MAG E : HA IR , SO IC HI IN AGA K I. PRO DUC E D BY
CLASSIC,
FANTASTIC
The little tweed skirt
suit—a mainstay of
the house of Chanel
since the 1920s—
veered a touch
sleeker with a bit of
gold piping and
a sinuous silhouette
in Lagerfeld’s
spring 1995 haute
couture collection.
The Line of Time

Sixteen looks from the new Costume Institute exhibition at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art showcase six decades of Karl Lagerfeld’s
fashion mastery—while Amanda Harlech remembers working
at the right hand of the maestro. Photographed by Rafael Pavarotti.
Karl & Me
By Amanda Harlech
微信公众号：全球⾸发刊王
ime passes, revealing details like the receding the construction of a garment (or a particular porcelain
T
tide. I can see Karl so clearly—the fastidious flower). Karl worked at speed, prodigiously and on many
way he held his glass of Coca Light, or rip- collections simultaneously. His knowledge of fashion—of
pled his fingers through the air as if he were the skills involved, of what fabrics would work, and, most
playing the piano when he “love, love, loved ” importantly, what it was he was proposing through a collec-
a piece of music or a book I had read that tion, meant he could make decisions like a Formula 1 driver.
he had given me. We do not change, even if age etches us Watching him pounce on fabric swatches or an embroidery
differently, and the first time I met Karl feels like yesterday. technique, I was wide-eyed and a bit stunned: There was no
It was in the mid-’90s, at one of his notorious parties hesitation. As Karl often said, there was “no second option.”
thrown during Fashion Week for everyone who inter- My first day at the Chanel studio beginning work on
ested him, any rising star entering the galaxy of his vision. the fall 1997 ready-to-wear collection was pretty daunting.
John Galliano had been invited along with some of his Everybody had their role in the court—even Madame Pou-
team, including me [Harlech worked with Galliano as a zieux, who created the braids for the tailleurs on her horse
stylist and collaborator]. We felt like naughty children in farm far from Paris. There was a girl who just worked on
the gilded splendor of his tapestried rooms at 51 Rue de the buttons, and another on the season’s camellia. Victoire
l’Université—l’hôtel Pozzo di Borgo. I was wearing a bias- de Castellane designed the jewelry with Karl, and Gilles
cut skirt of paneled diamonds of mousseline that looked Dufour was head of the studio. Everything was ritualistic,
like stained glass, and was conscious that I was being elegant, and, to my eye, formal—I didn’t really know pre-
looked at from across the room—Karl had a penetrating, cisely what I was supposed to do. Instinctively, I just did
fixed gaze from behind a pair of large dark glasses and what I would have done for John—sending Karl a 1920s
was seated at a round table in one of his elegant Louis wedding dress, for example, or making him a scrapbook
XV chairs. The party thronged around him—moths to of images that might inspire him. Karl never told me to
the flame, scattering and regrouping at the flick of his stop, but gradually I worked out that Karl already had all
fan, dancing across Aubusson carpets thick as moss below his ideas in his head. My role, as he eventually put it, was
candle-lit chandeliers. to be “an outside pair of eyes” that, by virtue of not looking
Were we summoned—or did we just gravitate toward closely at a collection until the weeks before a show, could
Karl through the dancers holding glasses of Champagne therefore come in and see whether the dynamic, balance,
aloft? My impression was of an emperor at the height of his and proportion really sang.
powers, possessed of an electrifying force that could scan It wasn’t easy to adapt to Karl’s unspoken expectations.
the potential in everyone he encountered. Some time later, I came from a place where your outside didn’t matter as
when he knew I was struggling with divorce and a difficult much as your inside—where self-consciousness can cut
contract, he was both courteous as velvet and intelligently across an exchange of ideas. With John, we would all lean
generous. “I want to help you,” he said. across a table of sketches and photographs, swatches, or a
By 1996, I had signed with Chanel and begun working twisted garland of lily of the valley. At Chanel, I crossed all
on the January couture collection for spring 1997. The sorts of lines when I got up to demonstrate how a jacket
first thing Karl asked me to do was to send him, by fax, might be worn differently—such as across my body or
the names of the nine Olympian muses—Calliope (epic turned upside down. I will never forget the look of horror
poetry), Clio (history), Euterpe (music), Thalia (comedy on the première’s face. (Nobody but the premières or their
and pastoral poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Terpsichore secondes were allowed to touch the clothes that were being
(dance), Erato (love poetry and lyric poetry), Polyhymnia worked on the fitting model.) But I think that’s exactly why
(sacred poetry), and Urania (astronomy)—it struck me Karl wanted me there: He wanted to ease up on the ritual
that this was a secret message contained within his exqui- and free up creative possibilities.
sitely evoked collection, later shown at the Ritz, which Once, when the room was almost airless, heavily
included three Muse dresses—looks 33, 34, and 35— freighted with No. 5 and with a row of Chanel tailleurs
terra-cotta tulle-embroidered, with black sequins and lace, alongside him at his long table and another row of onlook-
like ancient pottery. ers standing behind, he got up from his chair and walked
The difference between working for John and working out of the door marked “Mademoiselle,” calling me to fol-
for Karl was literally the difference between two faiths: One low him. “I want you to go back inside and tell everyone
was emotional, driven by narrative and a sensuous explora- who is not directly involved with the creation of this col-
tion of volume and cloth; the other, a brilliant evolution of lection to leave immediately…or I will,” he hissed. I walked
the architecture of design and the technical innovation of back in and faced what seemed to me a firing squad. How
workmanship pitched against an orchestration of histori- could I ask anyone to leave? I was the newcomer, the out-
cal and cultural references often embedded invisibly into sider. But I did as he instructed, in C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 7 9
142
WELL SUITED
Model Sora Choi
looks sharp as
a tack in a tailored
coat, white shirt,
and jolly double
bows from the fall
2008 collection
of Karl Lagerfeld’s
eponymous label.
GOLD
STANDARD
Yai shimmers and
glimmers in a
body-skimming
lace piece and
shoes from
Lagerfeld’s spring
1996 haute
couture collection
for Chanel.
GODDESS
DRESSING
To mark the 1990
FIFA World Cup,
held in Italy,
Lagerfeld paid
tribute to Fendi’s
birthplace with a
special collection
inspired by the
distant past. Yai
wears a Fendi dress.
145
GRAPHIC CONTENT
Choi is statuesque in
the trompe l’oeil Crétoise
dress from Chloé’s
spring 1984 collection—
one laden with clever
riffs on Greek and Italian
antiquity. (Once upon a
time, as she flitted down
the runway, Inès de la
Fressange topped off
the look with a silver-gilt
laurel leaf crown.)
146
TWIST AND SHOUT
Some 2,000 hours
of handiwork by the
Chanel atelier and
embroiderers from
the maisons Lemarié
and Lesage went into
this organza and gazar
haute couture dress
for spring 2013, its
skirt bristling with lace,
tulle, feathers, and
bits of pleated muslin.
148
in Yai’s fetching Fendi
Big, bold color meets
an eye-popping print
MADE YOU LOOK
dress from fall 2000.

ON YOUR
MARKS
Choi has no GARDEN
trouble standing VARIETY
out in a striking Yai wears a richly
(and rather slinky) embroidered
number from organza dress
Chanel Métiers from Chanel haute
d’Art, 2002. couture, fall 2006.
ELEGANT
VARIATION
The dramatic
silhouettes of the
rococo helped
inform the length
and volume
of this splendid
Chanel haute
couture dress
from spring 2005.
THE BELL CURVE

A sculptural,
two-toned haute
couture look from
Chanel, fall 1991.
SCREEN TIME
For a flock of
coruscating jackets
in Chanel’s fall
1996 haute couture
collection, Lagerfeld
called on Lesage to
re-create the elaborate
Coromandel screens
so beloved by the
house’s founder.
150
GOING,
GOING…GONE
On Choi’s Fendi shift
from spring 2014,
a geometric pattern
bolts down the front
like a racing stripe.
FALLING WATER
At a glance, the Brise

dress from Chloé’s
fall 1983 collection

presents a dazzling
spectacle: cascading
layers of tubular
pearls, sequins, and
silver rhinestones
against dark blue silk
crepe. But peer a
little closer, and the
embroidered motif
reveals itself to be…an
open shower head?
“I was tired of the
usual decorations,”
Lagerfeld explained to
Vogue Paris that year.
152
PRO DUC E D BY PRO D N . S E T D ES I G N: I B BY N JOYA .
MAY FLOWERS
This silk muslin and
pink organza dress
comes alive with a
cape of geometric
mikado blooms, both
from Chanel haute
couture, spring 2010.
In this story: hair,
Eugene Souleiman;
makeup, Ana
Takahashi. Details,
see In This Issue.
GAVEL TIME
As Harris County
judge, Lina
Hidalgo oversees
a multibillion-
dollar budget in
the resiliently red
state of Texas.
Sittings Editor:
Stella Greenspan.
Making
Her Texas’s 32-year-old Judge
Lina Hidalgo could be
the most powerful Democrat
you’ve never heard of.
Emma Specter travels to Houston to meet
the party’s rising star. Photographed
by Annie Leibovitz.
Mark
ina Hidalgo had just touched down in Van- Commissioners Court, which is the governing body of
L
couver when she got the call from one of her the county. That’s where she can be found, listening to
staffers; the National Weather Service had the feedback, concerns, and Parks and Recreation–town–
issued a warning about a “large, extremely hall–reminiscent complaints of ordinary Texans—or sim-
dangerous and potentially deadly” tornado ply doing her best to get her Republican counterparts in
heading toward Houston. The damage was Houston government to see her side of things. “What I
expected to be severe. As soon as Hidalgo’s connection to admire about Lina is that she focuses on the best possible
Houston landed, could she head straight to the affected public policy. The politics are secondary,” notes former
area? She could and did, surveying the downed power Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, himself no
lines and near-devastated homes—roofs ripped clean stranger to the at-times-Herculean effort to build political
off, debris choking grassy yards and untended corners. influence as a Democrat in the resiliently Republican state.
She signed a disaster declaration and coordinated with “When [Hidalgo] was elected, people kept saying,
local nonprofits to offer insurance aid to those affected, ‘Maybe she’ll run for governor,’ and I kept saying, ‘Harris
including undocumented families—“I was briefed during County has 4.6 million people in it, and if it were a state,
my layover, and I was immediately like, ‘I need to talk to it would be the 25th largest in the country. She already is
the community,’ ” she says. the governor of Harris County,’ ” says the journalist and
Two of the towns hit hardest by the tornado happened Texas Tribune cofounder Evan Smith. “Especially during
to have Republican mayors, and Hidalgo reached out to the pandemic, the opportunity to lead such a large popu-
both so that they could comfort constituents together. “We lation in such a strategically important location gave her
agreed to meet in one of our most affected areas,” says Jeff opportunity to show what she was made of, and also to
Wagner, the Republican mayor of Pasadena, a municipal- pick fights with people above her when necessary, which
ity just southeast of Houston. “As we walked through the she seems unafraid of doing.”
neighborhood, crews were already hard at work picking When Hidalgo got the call about the tornado, she was
up the debris in front of people’s homes. I expressed to heading back from her first real vacation in four years—a
her how important a quick trip to Thailand, where she’d
response was and she agreed, briefly worked as a press free-
and offered to send county Hidalgo is intent on setting a dom advocate for Internews.
cleanup crews to assist.” precedent for other Democrats. She was 22 then, freshly grad-
Bipartisan cooperation has uated from Stanford with a
become the stuff of legend in “I’m an immigrant who was degree in political science and
Washington, DC, but it’s par elected five years after becoming only a few years from her entry
for the course for Hidalgo, to public service. Serving as
who, at 32, has been serving a US citizen,” she says Harris County judge doesn’t
as Harris County judge—one allow for vacations, she tells
of the most important elected roles in Texas politics—since me, or much out-of-office activity at all. She did slip away
January 2019. She could be the most powerful Democrat in January to visit her ailing grandfather in Colombia, the
you’ve never heard of: a young, recently reelected leader country where Hidalgo was born and which she associ-
overseeing a multibillion-dollar county budget in the coun- ates closely with her grandfather’s stories about “what it
try’s second-most populous state. And she doesn’t have the was like during the toughest times in Colombia, when you
luxury of cold-shouldering her GOP colleagues. “My focus could get killed for being part of the opposition party.” She
is on standing up for areas that are never going to vote for maintains close ties to her grandparents—so much so that
me, because I may not be able to change their minds, but I her grandmother made a cameo appearance in a campaign
do represent them,” Hidalgo tells me over a hastily pulled- video. She and her brother left Colombia when she was
together midafternoon meal of vegan breakfast tacos. (She’s five, when her father’s training as an engineer took the fam-
a regular at the city’s immigrant-run food trucks and indie ily of four to Peru, then Mexico, before landing them in the
coffee shops, and, despite what you might think, being a Houston suburb of Cypress, when Hidalgo was 14. “It was
vegan isn’t a problem in Houston’s food scene—“except my parents’ dream—like everyone, and certainly in devel-
when somebody invites me to be the judge at a barbecue oping countries—for their kids to study in the US,” she says.
contest,” she says.) Hidalgo reminds me that long before Hidalgo maintains a tight circle of friends from growing
she held any type of sway over Texas politics, she was sim- up in Houston, and her boyfriend, David James, is a civil
ply a resident of the nearby suburb of Katy, where homes rights and personal injury attorney at a local firm. James
would regularly flood in heavy rain. “Everybody has known couldn’t take the time off work to come to Thailand, so
for a really long time that Houston and Harris County are Hidalgo went with a friend instead. She admits that a
vulnerable to flooding, but my question is, why are people week of massages and open-water swimming was exactly
building in these places when they know they shouldn’t?” what she needed. When I spend a day watching Hidalgo
What to do in the face of ever more extreme weather— in court, I can see why. I’m reminded of how relentless and
an especially acute problem here in Texas that is seeing fine-grained local governance can be. Her job combines
deadly ice storms and record-breaking heat with dis- aspects of administrative, legislative, and judicial work, and
tressing regularity—is the kind of question that fuels though she jokes freely with her fellow four commissioners
Hidalgo. Her role requires her to coordinate emergency (three Democrats and one Republican) and banters with
response and preside over the five-member Harris County her security detail, she’s visibly attuned to the impassioned
156
EYES ON THE STORM
Hidalgo, who manages disaster response in Houston, at Harris County’s hub for emergency operations.
requests of the community members addressing the room She completed her first full-length Ironman in Cozumel,
on everything from the goal of making jail calls free in Mexico, in November, finishing in just over 15 hours. ( James
Harris County to the need for increased legal counsel for did accompany her on that particular trip.) She tells me that
local tenants facing eviction. the intense training may have actually helped her weather a
And it’s not just work that necessitated the vacation: divisive reelection season in which three of her staffers were
Hidalgo admits that the experience of being a young, hit with a grand jury indictment (on charges that they inap-
highly visible Democratic woman of color in the mael- propriately rewarded a consulting firm with a contract for
strom of Texas politics can get to her. “When I read the COVID vaccine outreach). Hidalgo calls the indictments
articles about Jacinda Ardern resigning and she said her politically motivated, dismissing the original accusations as
tank was empty, I really understood that.” “complete bullshit” and expressing regret for the toll they
But self-discipline is one of her traits. It’s what got her took on the staffers in question. “I started taking swimming
to Stanford after a kindly high school counselor read over lessons in January, and I would have nightmares about it
her transcripts from the schools she’d attended in Latin because it was so hard to breathe the right way,” she tells
America and placed her in AP classes. It also earned her a me. The sensation was like drowning, but she overcame it.
razor-thin victory in 2018, when she launched a challenge “I told my trainer that it was good, because if I’m worry-
to the Republican, Ed Emmett, who had held the position ing about swimming, I’m probably not worrying about the
of Harris County judge for 11 years. “I think a lot of peo- political nonsense they were trying to throw at me.”
ple didn’t give her a chance of winning, in part because she Her reelection to a second term in November cemented
was so young and in part because her opponent was well her status as a young star in the party, earning her the admi-
thought-of,” notes Smith, adding: “Over the years that she’s ration of powerful Democrats around the country. It also
been in office, she’s turned out to be quite good at this job; earned her an invitation to a state dinner at the White
she’s competent, smart, personable, and serious.” House in early December honoring French president
Hidalgo has a wide smile, penchant for occasional nerdery Emmanuel Macron. While Hidalgo admires President
(her cat is named Meiloorun, after a fruit from Star Wars), Joe Biden for his optimism, it was the first lady, Dr. Jill
and a habit of using the adjective neat to describe things Biden—who had stumped for Hidalgo on the campaign
she likes. It all adds up to an impression of the kind of ear- trail back in November—that she was particularly star-
nest, approachable politician that cynics have long ceased to struck by. “I gave her this huge hug, because I was just so
believe in—but she is competitive too. She recently took up grateful,” says Hidalgo. The feeling is mutual. “Lina is an
endurance sports and does her best to train every morning. inspiring leader who is defining the C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 8 1
157
FRO M T HE BO O K M A RCE LO K RASI LC IC : 19 9 0 s, 20 13. / TRU N K A RC HI V E.
THE
PLUNGE In an excerpt from
Emma Cline’s new novel, The Guest, a young woman drifts
among the Hamptons elite, looking for an escape.
hey stopped at a metal gate pulled tight in a bun at her neck. always vigilant. But a quick glance
T
flanked on both sides by a How old was she? Alex couldn’t quite around and no one looked familiar,
high wooden fence, a voice tell—her skin had been profession- no man staring at Alex with a worried
glitching over the inter- ally blasted into the face of a bland question in his face.
com. Simon repeated his 30-year-old. Her dark eyes wobbled Most of the women wore boxy shift
name twice before the gate until they finally focused on Simon dresses that showed off their slim
swung open and they drove in on the and Alex. legs. How many units of energy, how
pale gravel. Directly ahead, a semicir- “Simon,” Helen said, stepping many hours of exercise did those legs
cle of cars was parked in front of the toward him, opening her arms. “I require? Their wrists were weighted
main house. Alex could see a tennis wasn’t sure if you were coming.” with gold bracelets, the same over-
court, a pool behind a smaller gate. They kissed on both cheeks. Helen large scale as their earrings. The
Alex kept her face blank and mild, turned to Alex. women had a funny, girlish air—their
though she felt a jolt at the obvious “And who,” she said, “is this?” tiny steps and uncertain smiles, satin
nearness of the sea. She poked her Alex made herself cheerful, a Girl bows in their ponytails—though most
tongue along her top teeth, feeling Scout cheer. Who would be threat- of them were probably over 60, raised
for anything errant. ened by a Girl Scout? Deferential, in a time when childishness was a
Simon cut the ignition. “Shall we?” scrubbed clean, this was the pose she lifetime female affect.
The door of the main house opened had learned to take with older women. On the terrace, two gray-haired
and a pug came trotting toward them. Still, Helen looked Alex up and down, men in rubber waders and overalls
A man in a black polo and black pants lingering on each area of note. Alex had set up a raw bar and were expertly
followed, but the pug got there first, watched her take in the information dispatching rocky oysters with sharp
clamoring around Alex’s ankles. of the dress, the purse from Simon. knives. Alex had seen these men
“Welcome,” the man said. “This Probably someone like Helen knew before: They’d been at more than
way.” exactly what each item had cost. one party she and Simon had gone
There were candles flickering “Thank you so much for having to in the last few weeks, tending to
inside the house in big hurricane me,” Alex said. Better, always, not to their bed of crushed ice, passing out
vases. Even so, the entryway was too compliment the house, not to indicate the oysters in their little cups of brine.
dark, disorienting after the sunshine. unfamiliarity with these places. The host never failed to point out
Alex turned to make sure Simon was “Oh, sure,” Helen said, her attention their grizzled presence, to remark how
behind her. falling away. they had caught everything that day.
“Onward and upward,” Simon said, Helen had a touch of the daffy Alex felt some camaraderie with the
his voice echoing strangely, the pug’s about her, but maybe it was just the men—here, like she was, to perform.
nails clicking along the marble. effect of her cape streaming down her Helen was staring at Alex’s dress.
back, twisting in the breeze. Alex let Helen asked if her dress was by a spe-
The big room that led to the patio Simon take her arm, let him lead her cific designer.
seemed partially filled with mist, toward the tables set up on the terrace. “No,” Alex said. It was.
a dampness from the fog that had The guests were looking out on Something was off in Alex’s tone,
breached the windows. Beyond the the ocean, or huddling under a fab- enough that Helen gave a little frown.
patio was the spread of the ocean. The ric tent, full glasses held with both Hopefully, Simon hadn’t noticed.
sun would set soon, the light already hands. Alex scanned the guests, Rein herself in—Alex forced a smile.
faltering.
The patio door was open. There, A BIGGER SPLASH Alex thought that the man who
framed in the doorway, was Helen. “I’ll go in if you go in,” Alex said. brought them each a glass of wine
She was all in black, a sleeveless A bad idea had its own relentless logic, a was the same man who had let them
momentum that was queasy but also
dress with a kind of cape hanging correct. Photograph by Marcelo Krasilcic, in, but it was just someone dressed in
down the back. Her blond hair was Neca Splashing, São Paulo, 1999. the same black polo.
159
“Nice view,” Alex said—and it was. man began to dismantle the umbrella By the time the first course
From where she and Simon were and efficiently fold the chairs. appeared, the Austrian was telling
standing, the sand was invisible. There the table about some terrible crime
was only water, flat and silvered, The sun had set, the staff scrambling in Munich, something that happened
appearing to stretch from the edge to adjust for the new darkness. They earlier in the summer. A woman had
of the terrace to the hot pink line of turned on the outdoor lamps and lit killed five babies.
the horizon. What would it be like the citronella candles. Alex’s name “Her own?” Helen said. She was
to live here, to occupy this unfettered had been scribbled on a place card, flitting from table to table, dropping
beauty every day? Could you become an obvious last-minute addition. into conversations. She seemed to
used to the shock of water? The envy Simon was sitting at another table. consider herself the host of a grand
acted like adrenaline in Alex’s body, He waved at Alex with comic exag- salon.
a swift and enlivening rush to the geration. Alex blew him a kiss. An “Yes, I think so. And the other
head. It was better, sometimes, to Austrian man was seated to Alex’s daughter, you see, she found the
never know certain things existed. left. His forehead was smooth as an babies in a freezer.”
“Come look at the sunset,” Helen egg. His family ran a department “Five?”
said, clutching Simon’s arm. Helen store that had many locations across The Austrian nodded.
didn’t quite include Alex in the invi- Austria, some department store that “The freezer must have been very
tation but Alex followed anyway. was a hundred years old. He came big,” Helen said. “What brand?”
here every August. The Austrian didn’t know.
They stood at the edge of the ter- “Nothing like it,” he said. “Our “Shocking,” Helen said, her voice
race, at the top of the wooden steps friends all come, too.” getting louder, “isn’t it? We haven’t
that led to the water. The sand was “It’s beautiful here,” Alex said, dully. seen anything like this in nature. A
tinted purple in the last of the light. “It is.” The man sighed. “So mother killing her own children. That
Farther down the beach, a dog ran beautiful.” woman last week in Los Angeles,
silently in and out of the leaving her infant to go
line of waves. shoot people. It’s unprec-
Helen sur veyed her
stretch of beach. Some-
Alex made herself cheerful, a Girl Scout edented. Science,” she
said, “is confounded.”
thing made her stiffen, let cheer. Who would be threatened Alex was barely
out an aggrieved exhale. by a Girl Scout? Deferential, scrubbed listening—nature, sci-
“Well,” she said, “look ence, morality. Sounded
at that. I hope they’re clean, this was the pose she had about right for these peo-
enjoying themselves.” learned to take with older women ple on a Monday evening
Alex followed Helen’s in August. She made a
stare to a pair of beach half-hearted attempt on
chairs set up under a large umbrella. Everyone said it was beautiful out the blended green soup in a shallow
Alex could make out a couple sit- here. How many times could this sen- porcelain bowl in front of her.
ting there, chatting. They were in timent be repeated? It was the polite Helen’s second husband was at the
jeans, one was in a plaid shirt— consensus to return to, the bookend next table over—Simon had pointed
obviously not Helen’s guests, no one to every conversation—a slogan that him out before dinner. He was much
Helen knew. united everyone in their shared luck. younger than Helen, 35 or so, the
“I should bring them a glass of And who could ever disagree? The youngest person here besides Alex.
lemonade,” Helen said. Her laugh place was so beautiful that people How would he and Helen even have
startled Alex. “People must just feel didn’t need to do anything. And no met? Alex imagined one of these
so lucky, coming across these empty one did, judging by the table con- pseudo-foundations, a pseudo-board
chairs. Just for them!” versation. Nobody seemed to busy of which the man might have been an
Helen turned to search for help. themselves beyond the expected ways: advisory member. His hair was long—
When a staff member came over, working on their backhand, cooking he was smart to keep it that length,
she murmured instructions, her fin- outdoors, going on a walk before the a style that emphasized his youth. In
gers waving in the direction of the day got too hot. combination with the suit and his
beach chairs. The only other reliable conversa- white shirt, loose at the throat, he was
The three of them watched the tion, besides the weather or the tem- an appealing presence. Alex watched
uniformed man make his way across perature fluctuations of the ocean, him talk to the woman on his right,
the sand. When he leaned down to was the discussion of exactly what grabbing her hand for inspection then
talk to the couple, they burst out time people were planning to leave holding up his own to compare—
laughing, not at all chastened. The this beautiful place, how exactly they some joke, the woman obviously flat-
couple took their time getting to their were planning to avoid traffic. From tered by the attention.
feet. Exaggerating their exit. The uni- the moment they’d arrived, Alex had A member of the staff hovered at
formed man stood sentry, and when heard people invoking their depar- Alex’s side to pour more water. When
he was satisfied that the interlopers tures, considering in detail the precise Alex leaned back to let the woman
were continuing down the beach, the logistics of their exits. refill her glass, her face was suddenly
160
near enough that they made acciden- hierarchy, and every man could have The sight of Simon across the patio
tal eye contact. Alex looked quickly at multiple wives? Didn’t Alex think that should have been more comfort-
her plate, to be polite. level of clarity was beautiful, that abil- ing. Alex excused herself and got to
ity to meet desires without shame? her feet.
Midway through the black cod, a boy “This,” the Austrian said, rapping “I’ll be right back,” she said, though
came loping down the steps from the his knuckles on the table, “is a very no one was listening to her.
house in big, youthful bounds. His shame-based country.”
hair was wet and dark, his sweatshirt Didn’t she think so? The staff was busy, in and out of the
zipped up, and he veered straight Alex nodded. She felt loopy, unable kitchen and the patio. The rest of the
to Helen, bending down to kiss her to exert her usual control. Alex made house was quiet. There were framed
cheek. He grabbed a piece of fish off herself stop thinking. She searched sketches all along the hallway, plans
her plate with his fingers. out Simon at his table. When Simon for something—probably the left-
“Jesus,” Helen said, swatting him, waved at Alex, Alex kissed the air in overs of someone important. People
but beaming around the table. “My his direction and smiled. like Helen loved to display the arti-
son,” she announced. “Theo.” facts of creativity as if that implicated
The boy smiled. His features were As the night wore on, Alex kept her in the process.
mushy and adolescent—Alex couldn’t catching sight of Helen’s young hus- Alex followed the hallway, opening
guess whether he would end up being band with different older women, a door on an empty room. Shelves
handsome. But he had the gift of always touching them in some innoc- lined the walls. A lamp cast a circle of
seeming very polite even as he chewed uous way, the drift of his fingertips light on a leather armchair. There was
with his mouth open. coming to rest on a woman’s tanned, a white flower in a vase and a Dura-
“And what are we up to?” Helen bony arm, or his hand lingering by the flame in the immaculate fireplace. It
said, pulsing the boy’s hand. small of a woman’s back. He was good was a non-room, dead and unused.
“Bonfire,” the boy said. “Just a few at it—and it was fun to watch him, The things on the shelves were
people. We’ll come back and say hi, to see whether he could keep this up. ugly—a poky brass paperweight,
don’t worry.” Where was Simon? On the other side an ornate teak ball that smelled like
of the terrace, talking to a sunburned amber. She paused to study a small
O
ver the next course, block of a man: a retired general, piece of stone, carved to smoothness. It
Alex watched them his arms crossed and a sweater tied fit perfectly in Alex’s fist. It was matte
trickle in, Theo’s around his neck. black, marked by a few air holes, some
f riends: boys in Alex’s unease was taking shape, a striations of green and blue, and the
swim trunks and desire for the night to sharpen into weight was nice, heavier than expected.
sweatshirts, a girl in action. The Austrian was regaling the Maybe it was supposed to be an ani-
cutoffs that yawned up her ass crack. table, now, with how wonderful Hel- mal, a few little knobs that could be
Another kid, clean, angelically blond, en’s breakfasts were. He had started legs. She closed her fingers around it.
his track pants low on his hips. The to list the foods that were available “Can I get you anything?” a voice
teenagers huddled on the patio, drink- at her famous breakfasts, the grains asked.
ing beer. They left their empty bottles and the juices. Alex only realized she It was a man in a black polo. Just
for the servers to silently clear away. was smiling when her cheeks started one of the staff.
Later, when Alex looked over, she to ache. Helen was going on about “I’m looking for the restroom.”
saw the girl taking photos of the boys some app she had invested in. The Alex turned easily, dropping the
on her phone, all of them fluent in the app, if Helen was to be believed, was stone into her bag. “If you could just
language of posing. There was only a perfecting a technology that diag- point the way?”
second where the glint of braces was nosed illness f rom a Breathalyzer
apparent on the angelic blond boy’s you plugged into your phone. Helen There was no cabinet to look through,
bottom teeth—he’d learned how to said certain phrases with emphasis: no pills to skim—it was a guest bath-
hide them, Alex figured, smiling with SDKs. Daily granularity. Someone room. A tube of lipstick on a high
his mouth closed. must have just taught her what these ledge—obviously Helen’s, stashed
W hen she turned back to the terms meant. away for party touch-ups. Alex was
table, the Austrian was staring at her “Our art needs more technology about to take it, but the lipstick was a
expectantly. and our technology needs more art,” stubby burgundy. Not very flattering.
“Mmm,” Alex offered, a neutral Helen bleated, looking into the mid- A lit candle made jumping shadows
enough stopgap, and this seemed dle distance. on the baseboard. Alex’s forehead was
perfectly acceptable. Amazing how Alex drained her wine glass, then shiny. Sweating, she was sweating. She
little you had to give, really. People her water glass. The ocean looked pressed toilet paper to blot the shine.
just wanted to hear their own voices, calm, a black darker than the sky. A Nothing in her teeth. Tense, this feel-
your response a comma punctuating ripple of anxiety made her palms go ing of urgency rising with nothing to
their monologue. damp. It seemed suddenly very ten- come up against.
Did Alex know, the Austrian said, uous to believe that anything would Alex sat on the lid of the toilet, slip-
that in certain island countries, women stay hidden, that she could success- ping off her shoes and pressing her
dressed in clothes that denoted their fully pass from one world to another. bare feet onto C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 8 1
161
SMOKE SIGNALS
No shirt, no shoes,
no problem. Model
Adwoa Aboah
shrugs a luminous
Lanvin jacket (lanvin
.com) over jaunty
striped shorts from
Dior; Dior boutiques.
Fashion Editor:
Camilla Nickerson.
TOP MARKS
On model Devyn
Garcia, an Alexander
McQueen top
(alexandermcqueen
.com) embraces the
finer points of Savile
Row tailoring—
while leaving plenty
of room for fun (and
sun-kissed skin).
Short Cuts A new wave of

micromini silhouettes proves
that a little goes a
long way. Photographed
by Zoë Ghertner.
TYING THE KNOT
Monochromatic
separates in cozy
textiles put a
refreshing twist on
transitional dressing.
Michael Kors
Collection sweater,
shorts, and scarf;
michaelkors.com.
OPEN SEASON
Aboah does the
undone thing
in a Maison
Margiela jacket;
maisonmargiela
.com. Shirt and
airy white shorts
from The Row;
therow.com.
165
BEHIND HER BACK
A fetching little white
dress from Dolce &
Gabbana (select
Dolce & Gabbana
boutiques) is a
treat all its own, but
for a touch of extra:
layer upon layer
of glorious brass and
pearls courtesy of
this Alaïa necklace.
SHORT CHANGE
How’s this for a spring
reset? Garcia tries
her Bottega Veneta
knit tank top as a
skirt—and knit skirt as
a top; bottegaveneta
.com. In this story: hair,
Tamara McNaughton;
braids for Aboah,
Jeelan Nadirah Aleem;
makeup, Homa
Safar. Details, see
In This Issue.
P RO DUCE D BY A P ST U D IO.
167
SEA CHANGE
White shirting is
often worn as a beach
cover-up, but here
Quannah Chasinghorse
does just the opposite,
layering her Ralph
Lauren Collection shirt
(worn throughout;
ralphlauren.com)
beneath her look—a
shimmering, sequined
top and skirt by
Dior (Dior boutiques).
Fashion Editor:
Tonne Goodman.
IT TAKES TWO
The touch and the feel
of these coordinating
shirts—Chasinghorse wears
Ralph Lauren Collection
while her boyfriend
Woon-A-Tai wears Ralph
Lauren Purple Label—
proves they’re better in
pairs; ralphlauren.com.
Just One Thing

The latest in our series of one-piece wardrobe must-haves?
A wondrously versatile Ralph Lauren button-up. Model Quannah
Chasinghorse (opposite actor D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) wears
it six ways—from sultry to sporty-chic, with stops in between.
Photographed by Blair Getz Mezibov.
PATTERN PLAY
She pairs her shirt
with polka-dot Saint
Laurent by Anthony
Vaccarello pants (ysl
.com) and Jill Platner
necklaces; he wears
a shirt from The Row
(therow.com) with
Jil Sander by Lucie
and Luke Meier
pants (jilsander.com)
and Omega watch.
170
WHEEL AND DEAL
The only thing cooler
than riding a vintage
bike? Chasinghorse’s
Polo Ralph Lauren
jumpsuit (ralphlauren
.com), undone as
elegantly as her shirt.
Birkenstock sandals
complete the easeful
off-duty look. David
Yurman chain necklace.
Chasinghorse
while a tie-dyed
(altuzarra.com)
W.Kleinberg belt.
Sophie Buhai and
Agmes pendants.
Altuzarra scarf top
pairs perfectly with

CROSS PURPOSES
exemplifies the white

shirt as blank canvas—
Scan to
this story.
see more from
A L L PRO DUCTS F E AT U RE D IN VOGU E A R E I ND EPE N D E NT LY SE L ECT E D
BY OUR E D I TO RS. HOWEV E R, W HE N YOU BUY SO ME T HI N G T HROUG H
OUR R E TA I L LI N KS, VOGU E MAY E A RN A N AF F IL I AT E CO MM I SSI O N .
PRO DUC E D BY PAU L PRE I SS AT PR EI SS C R EATI V E . SE T D ES I G N : B RI A N PRI ME AUX .
SIDEWALKING
In a word: effortless.
Chasinghorse couples a
Michael Kors Collection
blazer and fringed
skirt (michaelkors.com).
Woon-A-Tai wears an
Officine Générale blazer
and pants (officinegenerale
.com) and The Row’s
ribbed collared top (therow
.com). In this story: hair
and makeup, Homa Safar.
Photographed at Santa
Monica Proper Hotel.
Details, see In This Issue.
173
The Get
1
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World
As “Karl Lagerfeld:
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SHAPE SHIFTER store windows for a high-end depart- She titled it “Relentless Tenderness,”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 96 ment store. After work, she made in homage to the Twin Towers tragedy.
private high school in Turkey. (Orhan art—figurative, mostly black-and- Pozanti became an American citizen
Pamuk and many other notables went white images taken from the inter- last year. “I’m very proud that I did it
there.) The classes were mostly in net, collaged, and then silkscreened by myself, not through my marriage,”
English. “From day one, she knew so or painted onto paper. “I was very she says.
much about the US and how to behave fluent in making things on the com- The largest and most spectacular
around American teachers,” says her puter,” she says. They had a magical, use of Pozanti’s 31 glyphs can now be
classmate Gökçe Günel, now a profes- cartoony quality, a sense of odd things seen on the 85-foot-long ceiling of
sor of anthropology at Rice University. happening in dark places. Her work the New York Public Library’s larg-
Hayal and Gökçe (“Sky Blue”) became started to appear in group shows in est circulating branch. The indepen-
best friends at Robert, and they still Istanbul and Stockholm. In 2009, at dent curator Nancy Rosen, who had
speak to each other every day. (Günel the age of 26, she entered Yale with a seen Pozanti’s show at the Aldrich
officiated at Pozanti and Harmon’s full scholarship. Museum, felt that “her meta language
Istanbul wedding, and Pozanti did There she dove into research and personal alphabet all reinforced
the same at Günel’s wedding the year about how different civilizations my hunch that she could be a serious
before.) “She’s a very imaginative and had come up with their written candidate,” and she was chosen over
playful and curious person, who could communication—all the way back to two other artists. This permanent
make herself cry whenever she wanted runes and ancient Sanskrit. “I came work at the Stavros Niarchos Foun-
to by keeping her eyes open as long as across a system where you put a cir- dation Library commemorates 12
possible,” Günel says. Pozanti was a cle inside a square and start making crucial innovations in the history of
day student, but she stayed late after indentations, fill in the indent, and the written word, f rom Mesopota-
school so that she and Günel, who was you get a new shape from the nega- mian clay tablets and papyrus edicts
a boarder, could hang out. tive.” Eventually she winnowed hun- to electronic screens. “This is a work
There were dark spots in her young dreds of shapes down to 31 glyphs, about the global history of writing,”
adulthood, however. The internet was creating a visual alphabet that she says Pozanti. “One of the things that
making its way into daily life, and a used, in different combinations, to unites us as a species.” Her title for it is
lot of what she saw on it—wounded make her paintings. the same one she gave to her invented
war veterans, natural disasters—was On her last day at Yale, a collec- language a dozen years ago—Instant
very disturbing. “I had access to all tor knocked on her studio door. He Paradise. The work is a culmination
kinds of things I’d never seen before bought three of her paintings on the and also a farewell. As Pozanti says,
and maybe shouldn’t have been see- spot, and called Jessica Silverman, a “It’s the big bow before the curtain
ing,” she says. “The horror of human San Francisco gallerist, who became closes on a chapter.”
experience—I was very drawn to that her primary dealer. Pozanti moved to The 10-foot-long, “body-scale-
for whatever reason.” While she was New York a few weeks later and got size” paintings that Pozanti has been
in high school, Pozanti lived through a job working as a studio assistant for working on for her New York show
the 7.4 magnitude 1999 earthquake, the artist Glenn Ligon. (Ligon ranks are the largest she has ever done. “I
which took more than 17,000 lives. her a four out of five on the assistant want the viewer to have a feeling of
The Twin Towers fell the year after scale: “The fours have sense enough to being able to walk into the world that
she graduated from Robert. She and reserve something for their own work,” I’m creating,” she says. The world
her parents were lying on a beach in he says.) She had her first solo show here is her lush garden, the greenness
Torba, a seaside village on what is with Jessica Silverman in 2012, and she sees on her daily hikes, and the
known as the Turkish Riviera, when sold enough to quit her day job and river that rushes by her studio door.
“somebody came running toward us, eventually rent a tiny apartment of her Everything has become smoother, less
shouting, ‘They attacked America!’ In own in Chinatown. abstract, and more free-flowing—less
Turkey, you’re always in the middle of Riding her bicycle to and from her drawing-like and more painterly.
everything. That’s why this country Bushwick studio, she continued to One of the smaller paintings (80 by
can’t really be stable. Forces are push- develop her system. “I didn’t think of 60 inches), A Vessel For My Heart, is
ing and pulling you.” it as an alphabet in the beginning,” she based on the ancient maple tree in her
Throughout her time at Robert, says. “I thought of them more as num- front yard—one of the oldest trees in
Pozanti had taken art classes, and bers.” An encryption system made its Manchester. Pozanti has imagined it
after she graduated, she enrolled in way into her paintings—data that often as a vibrant, looping dark blue shape,
Sabancı University, Turkey’s first lib- revealed the painting’s title: For exam- surrounded by pink, yellow, lavender,
eral arts college, where she majored in ple, 18 (number of variations in smiles orange, and white flowerlike forms, a
visual arts and communication design. that human beings possess) or 1/10 (pro- combination of colors that you don’t
The school was an hour from Istan- portion of people who check their phones normally see. It’s a portrait of a maple
bul, and every weekend, she and her during sex). dreaming of itself as a young tree.
boyfriend (a jazz drummer) and their In 2015, she had her first museum Pozanti uses painting as a way to
pals would travel to the city and go show, “Deep Learning,” at the Aldrich express her fantasy of what she’d like
clubbing, dancing to techno music. Contemporary Art Museum in Ridge- the world to be. “When I’m in my
“At the clubs, there’d be cigarette girls field, Connecticut, for which she made studio, I’m creating a new world for
handing out cigarettes and condoms. a video of her glyphs in motion. Two myself,” she says. “I really do believe in
I smoked two packs a day.” years later, this led to an invitation celebrating what unites us as a species.
After graduation, Pozanti spent from the Public Art Fund to make an I always liked daydreaming, making
five years in Istanbul. For much of animation for the just-opened World up fairy tales, reading science fiction.”
that time, she designed and produced Trade Center’s Transportation Hub. She adds, “I’m still daydreaming.” @
CENTER OF ATTENTION didn’t necessarily yield a sense of designed the Zen collection, drop-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 102 belonging within them—Lee has a ping the hemlines to the ankle with
I started wearing huge platform high lifetime of experience occupying the flat sandals and a new Chanel chain
heels with really skinny trousers that in-between. While she’s fielding new by the designer Ibu Poilâne.
covered the shoe, because that was scripts, she’s also developing her own Significantly, he began to concen-
how the Koreatown girls were dressing. projects. The first is a New York Times trate on a show’s set as a trigger for the
And the lipstick with a brown liner. I Magazine stor y that Lee and her design of a collection. Giant chains,
had a history teacher—she was actually husband optioned about the follow- an emblematic lion, symbolic gardens,
Korean—who really wanted to put me ers of Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the Eiffel Tower shrouded in mist,
in my place. So she took out a ruler one also known as the Moonies, and their and a space rocket all played a part in
day and measured my shoes. She was little-known but significant impact on memorable shows that Karl imagined
like, ‘What are you doing? You’re wear- American sushi. The other project is in dreams and then brought to life
ing four-inch heels to this…place of an adaptation-to-series of poet Cathy at the Grand Palais. He understood
academia?’” (Although Harvard-West- Park Hong’s award-winning memoir, that with so many collections, editors
lake has a history of producing famous Minor Feelings: An Asian American and journalists working interminable
acting alumni, from Jamie Lee Curtis Reckoning, a brutally honest explora- hours for weeks on end needed to
to the Gyllenhaals, Lee was never cast tion of identity. have something impact them in a way
in a single play during her tenure.) “My daily struggle, creatively, that would be instantly and forever
Lee’s refusal, in her words, to “make when I write about a woman who is remembered. (This same notion also
sense” within her environment, sar- Asian American is being told, ‘I don’t fueled his idea to take the cruise col-
torially and otherwise, persists to this understand. There’s not enough here. lections and his extraordinary Métiers
day. When she’s not home mulching So she’s just—living her life?’ ” Lee d’Art collections—which brilliantly
or herding chickens, she favors labels laments. “And then every time I turn showcased the artisan houses that
like Loewe, Sandy Liang, Kwaidan on the TV, it’s another man living Chanel had rescued and supported—
Editions, and Khaite—cerebral, with his life. There’s a full show about it. to different parts of the world.)
a little bit of kook. “I like to dress in a There’s a full movie about it.” These shows galvanized the whole
way that feels like some sort of rebel- With the dominance of Everything studio in a collaged cultural clash
lion,” she says. “For my first Emmys, Everywhere All at Once this awards sea- between history and the future, with
I wore this iridescent green, two-piece son, Lee is cautiously optimistic that lexicons of references woven into fab-
Christopher John Rogers. It was this there’s still room in Hollywood for rics and accessories. None of us can
big fluffy taffeta thing, but it was all narratives centered around Asian and ever forget Paris-Edinburgh, with
about the pockets. Even if the silhou- Asian American characters. The crit- the snow beginning to fall as the girls
ette is feminine, it needs to feel sporty. ical reception to Past Lives, which has walked through the cloisters of Lin-
It’s important how my body feels in largely treated the film as a universal lithgow Palace, where Mary, Queen
it.” A modern dancer in high school, story rather than an “Asian story,” is a of Scots was born, brooding romance
Lee still attends weekly classes with promising start. “I’ve always wanted meeting the boyish charm of mascu-
the same self-deprecating daring she connection. To make a connection line tweeds—or the emotional Paris-
brings to her work. “It’s pretty humili- across differences,” she says. Hamburg show, where Karl evoked
ating. I was so serious about it growing Before we leave, she has the restau- everything he loved about a home-
up, and now, with my nonprofessional rant pack up our leftovers for her par- town he would never return to.
body, it’s, like, a humiliating act that I ents. “They would be furious at me if One of the most unforgettable col-
find I get a lot out of. I just put myself I just left this here,” she says, and I lections was the spring 2009 paper
out there.” She’s also learning how to laugh knowingly. Wasting food is a collection couture show, held after
arrange flowers, and will venture now cardinal sin among Asian parents of the financial crash. In defiance of fear
and then to the downtown Flower Dis- a certain generation. After a quick and doubt, as house after house cut
trict with her mother, who is trained stop across the street at her father’s back on their shows, Karl pushed in
in ikebana, the Japanese art of flower clinic to see them, Lee will get back in the opposite direction, supported by
arranging that contemplates flora in the car, where she felt most at home as [Chanel fashion president] Bruno
sculptural terms. a child, and head into another world— Pavlovsky’s total faith in him. In a
The Morning Show executive pro- the Loewe boutique on Rodeo Drive white room decorated with giant
ducer and director Mimi Leder has to get fitted for Paris Fashion Week— paper flowers, cutout roses, and camel-
seen firsthand the dividends of Lee’s holding steady as she goes. @ lias, the girls walked down the stairs,
willingness to keep learning and push their heads decorated with exquisite
forward. “Our show has a lot of dia- KARL & ME paper tiaras. “It all started with a clean
logue,” says Leder, referencing the CONTINUED FROM PAGE 142 sheet of paper,” Karl said, describing
Apple TV+ drama’s talky, Sorkin-esque my best French—and, to my surprise, his process as a simple creative art—
DNA, which just wrapped filming its the room cleared. the sketch—that costs nothing but is
third season. “The most fascinating This was the beginning of Karl’s priceless. Extravagant in detail and
thing about Greta, with her character plan to kick-start the house into a workmanship, but as fresh as the rite
Stella Bak, is what she manages to dis- new century. He was recalibrating of spring after the darkness of winter,
cover between the words. She can do Chanel, redefining it. Karl didn’t Karl showed that skill and innovation
so much with words, but for me, it’s want to be constrained by what had can rise above any misfortune.
about what’s in-between.” been a success; he wanted to explore
As a child of immigrants and a what a jacket could be—from the new “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,”
woman of color—an outsider whose curving shoulder to the double jacket, the exhibition at The Metropolitan
mastery of languages and cultures or the jacket that was also a dress. He Museum of Art’s Costume Institute,
179
examines and celebrates Karl’s out- first bite he asked me, in rapid-gunfire want to be “the cloud that crossed the
pouring of design over decades at succession, “Why do you think Rilke sun of a perfect summer,” as Karl put it.
Chanel, Fendi, Chloé, Balmain, Patou, is untranslatable from the German? He loved that I lived in the middle
and his eponymous label, Karl Lager- What is your favorite Emily Dickinson of nowhere in Shropshire—maybe
feld. In a set designed by Tadao Ando, poem?” His mind rolled like mercury. it reminded him of his childhood far
curator Andrew Bolton explores Wil- The Fendi sisters understood Karl’s from Hamburg in the pine forests—
liam Hogarth’s aesthetic theory that in inexhaustible appetite for the new, to and he would send me boxes of books:
an analysis of beauty, the curved lines which he could bring his own coun- books about women writers in the
of the serpentine signify life, while tercultural or historic references. He 18th century, biographies of Madame
straight lines signify stasis. Andrew, would often wonder out loud to me, as de Staël and Bess of Hardwick and
by opening up Karl’s creative psyche, the jet landed back in Paris after a fit- Elizabeth Stuart, the Winter Queen,
reveals that his myriad emotional and ting in Rome or a show in Milan, how and wonderful books of great painters,
creative currents pulse with energy, he could divide his creative thought particularly Manet, Monet, Picasso,
whether they be uniform, modernist, processes so completely. There were Nolde, and the German Expression-
masculine—or romantic, historical, no overlaps, no repetitions between ists. He wanted to give “Wuthering
or ornamental. The genius of Karl, the houses: Just as Karl could sense Heights” (which is what he called my
though, clearly runs in the fluency the quality of light in Rome reflected little farm) a library. Every year or so, he
of his sketches, which are a focus in ancient stones and wide skies, or would threaten to visit me—“Where’s
throughout: Andrew includes a reveal- the refined and elegantly propor- the nearest airport with a long runway
ing video of Karl’s trusted premières at tioned grays and charcoals of Paris, so for the private jet to land? You know
Chanel, Fendi, Chloé, and Karl Lager- too could he extract the distinct ener- Sébastien [Karl’s bodyguard and assis-
feld explaining how they could decode gies of each house. The Fendi sisters tant, Sébastien Jondeau] and I are com-
his precise sketches to the millimeter. would pile his tables with extraordi- ing.” My mind would scramble, and I’d
Karl was very precise—a true Virgo. nary artisanal workmanship—having industrially clean the house—Karl was
Virginie Viard, his brilliant right hand transformed mohair into fur, or turned very critical of anyone’s home—dress
at Chanel and now the creative direc- leather into a totally new texture, like up all my friends in long white aprons
tor of the house, would place each satin, for instance. Fittings at Fendi as staff, set-dress the house for a week
sketch, along with its fabric swatches were wild, exuberant, and full of beforehand, and organize a perfor-
and Karl’s notes, in front of him as laughter, his collections rebellious and mance, like jumping my horse over
the model came before him for the breathtaking. Karl loved Rome in a the table outside laid for tea. He never
fitting. He would rarely get up, but visceral, sensual way—I remember him came to stay in the end, which was sad,
the model would be close enough for eating a tomato at his favorite restau- because he loved the Bloomsbury chaos
him to see every detail yet far enough rant, Dal Bolognese: He threw back his that he divined from the iPhone pho-
away for him to check the proportions. head, holding half the tomato in the tographs I would send him in response
His eye would dart from his sketch air, declaring that this was the sweetest to his pictures of a château he had
to the toile as the premières held their tomato he had ever tasted. bought in Champagne—or his beloved
breath—Karl would see in an instant If Karl’s turbocharged energy could Villa Louveciennes outside Paris, in
if one fraction of his sketch had not almost make a room spin, boredom which he never spent a single night.
been transposed exactly into cloth. “I was something he couldn’t tolerate— Karl would love to outrun time,
am very sorry, my dear,” he would say his radar could pick up disengagement stretching days into nights. Yet in the
to the première overseeing that particu- at 100 yards. One summer in Saint- end, time outran him, as it will for all of
lar piece, tapping the part of the sketch Tropez, he wanted to have dinner with us. He didn’t tell people that he was ill—
that hadn’t been perfectly scaled up the boys and me at the VIP Room. This only Sébastien. Of course we all knew,
and reproduced in three dimensions: meant driving into Saint-Tropez just but we couldn’t prick the bubble of the
“The pocket needs to move just a mil- before midnight—roof down in the lie—we couldn’t confront him, because
limeter.” The pocket was ripped off, Bentley, hurtling down the switchback mysteriously believing he could get
pinned correctly. “You see? I am sorry, lanes, umbrella pines outlined beneath better seemed to work. His resistance
but I am right: A millimeter changes canopied stars, “Bohemian Rhapsody” to weakness was so courageous, it was
everything.” Karl never lost his tem- at full volume. I always thought he heartbreaking. Looking back, I see he
per, never raised his voice, but he was was trying to capture the Jacques de did lay out truths, like white pebbles in
exacting when it came to translating his Bascher and Antonio Lopez years as the darkness, as a path to follow. His last
sketches, which carried the essence of a we walked along the port, Karl in white couture—spring 2019—was a collection
collection in every pen stroke. jeans and diamonds. The VIP Room of all his favorite things in an idealized
Karl was a lightning conductor—he was noisy, even at a long table outside; summer garden with a pool in front of
fed voraciously off positive energy. One all the boys were on their phones, and an Italianate villa with curving steps like
of the reasons he could divide himself Karl was up the far end of the table, the ones at Villa Louveciennes, or his
between collections, photo shoots, chatting to [model] Baptiste Giabiconi. childhood home in Bissenmoor. Filled
architectural projects, moviemaking, I just stared into space, the thud of the with decorative charm, it was an ode to
and exhibitions was because he gath- music pounding through the night. couture and to luxury—from Madame
ered gifted and engaged teams around The following morning—I was staying de Pompadour’s porcelain flowers to
him. He could switch from house to at Karl’s villa—I saw that an envelope the delicacy of tiered and pleated silk
house and from book to book like a had been slipped under my door. Inside, chiffon dresses that sang of his genius
blade of light. I remember him asking there was a photograph Karl had taken at Chloé in the 1970s, from the distilled
me once, at the Café Flore, if I had of me the previous evening, with “You tailoring that spoke of his eponymous
ever tasted a frankfurter. I hadn’t, so he look bored” written across the bottom. label to the more extreme feathered and
ordered me one, and just as I took my I learned not to do that again—I didn’t architectural shapes that recalled Fendi.
The night before the show, we fin- Castro, say, or Wendy Davis (who ran his knee. She’d say Dom was an ex. Eke
ished accessorizing each model—it for governor in 2014), or O’Rourke him- out a few tears, and she’d be drunk so
must have been quite late—and he self. And Hidalgo is already a historic they’d come easily, and even just imag-
looked at me and asked what music figure—the first woman and first Latina ining this future conversation, Alex’s
I would have. It was more a question to serve as Harris County judge—but eyes got watery—maybe she was more
about what the collection meant to me, she firmly rebuts the idea that Texas afraid of Dom than she’d realized.
and I remembered my most romantic needs someone to come along and How would she twist it into a pal-
moment with my first-ever boyfriend, save it. She’s quick to draw attention atable story?
traveling around Europe looking at to the vast area she represents, pointing She’d figure it out in the car. And
Byzantine churches. We were in Verona out that Houston is one of the largest Simon would know exactly what to do.
and heard the Tchaikovsky Violin Con- and most diverse cities in the country. Exactly how to fix the problem.
certo being played by a violinist on a “We’re a beacon of light, not just for She typed out the text to Dom.
rooftop—so I replied, “the Tchaikovsky Texans but also for people around the
Srry i’ll call you tomorrow. Promise.
Violin Concerto in D Major.” country who believe that change can
Everythings gonna be fine
“No no no—that’s too obvious, too come and not all hope is lost,” she says.
romantic,” he replied. “What I am Nor is she interested in speculat- A blue bar appeared, her text slowly
thinking of is Das Lied von der Erde.” ing about her political future. She’s winging its way to Dom’s phone, but it
I didn’t know the piece, by Mahler. As focused on the present—and in Har- never loaded fully, a red alert popping
we left the studio, I could see that Karl ris County, that means fighting every up instead.
was exhausted—he slumped in the lift, political battle that comes across her Not delivered.
and had taken off his dark glasses. It desk. Her priorities track with those of No cell service.
was as if he were looking at me from the progressive left, including expand- No service in Helen’s hallway, either.
a distant shore, a place far away. He ing access to early childhood education, Or in the big living room. One of the
couldn’t get to the Grand Palais for the ending the use of misdemeanor cash staff saw Alex tilting her phone back
show—the first he had ever missed. He bail, protecting her community from and forth.
blamed it on the snow. the environmental impact of proposed “There’s better service on the beach.”
When I got home that night, I interstate expansion, and safeguarding
immediately downloaded Das Lied von abortion rights (to the extent possible in Alex walked down to the dark sand. Out
der Erde [“The Song of the Earth”], post-Roe Texas). These concerns don’t of sight of the house, a bonfire was going
sung by Kathleen Ferrier and Julius dovetail with the agenda of the Repub- on the shore, larger than she would have
Patzak. Mahler composed the song lican-controlled statehouse in Texas, of expected. A Jeep had been driven right
cycle after the death of his daughter, course, but Hidalgo is intent on setting onto the beach. Around the flicker of
and after being diagnosed with a con- a precedent for Democrats who might the bonfire, Alex saw the kids from ear-
genital and serious heart condition him- come after her. “I’m an immigrant who lier, Theo and the others. The group
self. The lyrics, from classical Chinese was elected five years after becoming had tripled in size. Someone’s phone
poems, captivated Mahler with their a US citizen,” she says. “I’m a woman was playing music, amplified in an
vision of earthly beauty and transcen- who’s five two on a good day, and I don’t empty metal bowl. Girls sat shivering on
dence. It was as if Karl were showing me straighten my hair, and I was elected boys’ laps, their bare shoulders cloaked
that everything he loved would some- at 27. All that means someone else— by beach towels. The fire was going
how last forever—as if his soul would someone from whatever background— strong, the size almost frightening—
become one with the everlasting earth. can do whatever it is they want to do.” @ but what could burn, here on the sand?
Alex kept walking, her phone held
My heart is quiet and awaits its THE PLUNGE out in front of her. When a few bars
hour! CONTINUED FROM PAGE 161 jumped in and out of visibility, she
The dear earth everywhere the chilly marble floor. She played squatted in the sand, trying to refresh
Blooms in spring and grows green absently with the little stone animal. her messages, but then the darkness
Again. Everywhere and forever Maybe it was valuable. Or maybe it nearby clicked into focus and there
The far horizons are radiant was worthless. was a couple writhing on a towel. It
with blue. It was inevitable, a few glasses in— took Alex a moment to recognize the
Forever… Forever... @ she took out her phone and opened her boy from earlier, Theo’s blond, pretty
messages. friend, whose hand was down a girl’s
MAKING HER MARK Dom. She would finally respond. unbuttoned cutoffs, working franti-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 157 She was drunk, yes, but she blamed cally. They didn’t notice Alex.
next generation of public servants,” the house, too—certain places made “God,” the girl said, her voice drunk
Dr. Biden wrote me over email. “She you feel that all problems had solutions. and wet, “do whatever you want.”
is already making her mark by shaping Like she could defuse this Dom thing. Alex made a face.
the future of Texas, and is a role model And why couldn’t she? Her phone dinged—the text had
for young women everywhere.” Alex would talk to Simon. Tonight. sent.
Of course, the future of Texas is a Lay out the situation in heavily redacted A l m o s t i n s t a n t l y, t h re e d o t s
subject of endless debate that reaches form. He’d be in a good mood, tipsy and appeared. Dom was typing.
much further back than the start of generous. They’d have sex when they
u say ur gonna call and u never do
Hidalgo’s tenure. Will this state ever got home. But in her experience, men
I heard ur out east
turn blue for good? The question didn’t get more magnanimous after
tends to get asked whenever a com- sex—they retreated into themselves, How had Dom possibly figured out
pelling Texas Democrat comes onto became closed off. So better to talk to where she was? Alex cycled through the
the national scene—Julián and Joaquin Simon on the drive back. Her hand on possibilities. Did one of her roommates
181
know? Had Alex told someone? It “I’ll be right here waiting,” Helen’s The pool was a clean hollow of
didn’t make sense. She had the sick husband said. He had an accent but it light, and it was bigger than Simon’s,
feeling that Dom would never let this seemed forced, something that required bounded by a brick patio. Alex could
drop. That she would never be able to work. Alex still hadn’t seen him and imagine how nice it would be to swim
get away from him, not really. Helen interact. its length, a few easy pulls of water. Alex
She typed out a message. “You’re very patient,” Alex said, when slipped off her shoes and grazed a foot
the woman had gone. “Doing your in the pool. It was warmer than the air.
We can talk tomorrow.
public service.” Victor stood behind her, hesitating,
His response was immediate. A look passed between them—and but when Alex sat down to put her legs
there it was, the barest shift of energy, in the water, Victor sat next to her.
Now. Call me.
of recognition. The husband’s face “I almost drowned today,” Alex
She stared at the screen. Another recalibrated, dropping one layer of found herself saying. “In the ocean.”
message from Dom. falseness. “Oh, man.” His concern appeared
“I’m Alex,” she said. “You’re Helen’s real.
Alex?
husband, right?” “I don’t know. I’m a pretty good
The phone started to ring, the screen “Victor,” he said. “Do you know swimmer. I think maybe it was a
flashing. She turned it off. Helen?” riptide.”
“My boyfriend does. Simon.” She “Those things are scary,” he said.
By the time Alex returned to the party, took a sip of her drink. “Fun party.” “No joke.”
the dinner dishes had been cleared, “It is.” The silence between them wasn’t
the tables now cluttered with cheese “Helen seems great,” Alex said, keep- uncomfortable.
plates and silver trays of dry-looking ing her voice bland. “She’s an interest- Alex smoothed her dress. “Simon
cookies. ing lady,” Victor said. He was being got this for me,” she said. “This dress.”
Could everyone see how jittery Alex careful. Alex could admire his dedica- “It’s nice.”
was? tion. What would it take to get Victor Alex shrugged. “A little severe.
But no one noticed her: They picked to crack, to break character? Right? He likes everything a little
at the cheese, or stood bunched by the “Have you guys been married long?” severe.”
outdoor heaters. The party had gone “Five years.” She pulled her phone from her bag.
a touch sloppy. Visible sweat stains, a Alex raised her eyebrows but didn’t It was still turned off.
few of the women’s ponytails losing say anything. At least Simon was a “Service isn’t great,” Victor said. “It’s
steam. Simon and the retired general real person. Easy to tell yourself he the one thing about this place.”
had been joined by the general’s wife, a was pleasant, desirable. She couldn’t “Is that how she keeps you locked
sturdy woman with a dress that was too imagine someone choosing Helen. in here? Your calls for help don’t go
formal, the hemline grazing the floor. And this wasn’t temporary—Victor through?”
Simon caught Alex’s eyes and widened had fully committed, made a life out “Hey now,” Victor said. He smiled,
his own. Alex knew that meant Simon of this, or at the least, decided to call but Alex could tell talking this way
wanted her to join him. Normally, Alex what he had a life. made him nervous.
would go instantly to Simon’s side, her “You’re out here all summer?” “Sorry.” You couldn’t press too hard,
obedience cheerful and frictionless. “Sure, another few days or so,” Victor Alex knew, couldn’t say certain things
Tonight Alex smiled back at Simon said. “Till Labor Day.” out loud.
but didn’t go over. “Us too. Simon’s having this party. “She’s great,” Victor said. “A great
Simon’s expression flickered with This Labor Day party.” lady.”
displeasure. “Mmm.” Alex was too drunk. She could feel
Tense. Alex was tense. She didn’t Alex made a gesture at the water. that she was grinning insanely. She
want to see Simon when she was riled “Do you just wake up every morn- tightened her grip on the phone and
up like this, off her game. Making bad ing and jump in the ocean? That’s what moved her feet in the water. “Too bad I
choices. Dom knew she was out here. I’d do.” don’t have a swimsuit,” Alex said. “The
This whole thing would be tricky. She’d “Sometimes,” Victor said. “Helen water’s perfect.”
talk to Simon later. On the drive home. prefers the pool.” “Oh, just go in.”
No more stalling: She’d tell Simon Victor seemed amused by Alex, but “I don’t really think it’s that kind of
everything, or a version of everything. wary. Alex tried to hold his gaze, not party.” Alex took another drink. “Or do
They’d figure it out together. let it drop. She was unsure herself of you all jump in together after dessert,
While Alex had been gone, some- what exactly she was doing. What the am I misreading the vibe?”
one had refilled her wine. Alex flagged game was here. “She really isn’t so bad,” Victor said.
down a server and got a vodka tonic “Can I see it?” “Helen.”
instead. Helen was petting her pug “The pool?” Victor shrugged. “I “I didn’t say that.”
with clawed fingers, seemingly unaware guess.” It was dangerous, talking this way—
of her husband across the terrace with Leaving the house, leaving the party the information out in the open, some-
yet another woman. behind—the air felt better, immedi- thing they were naming.
Alex was now drunk enough to drift ately, as if they’d been suddenly cut free. “You go in first,” Alex said. “It’s your
into the husband’s orbit. The path was lit by bulbs recessed into house, isn’t it?”
“Hi,” Alex said, raising her drink. the ground that cast the foliage above “Oh, yes,” Victor said. “All this. As
The woman he’d been talking with into cutout shapes, like wallpaper. The far as the eye can see.”
looked annoyed at Alex’s intrusion. gate to the pool stuck—Victor had to “Where did you live before?”
“I’m going to get my sweater,” she said, pull hard before it opened. “London,” he said. “Then Brussels.
ignoring Alex. “I’ll be right back.” “After you.” Now here.” He held eye contact.
Alex had the idiot thought that a brief second before he shifted his The voice came from beyond the
somehow Victor would be able to help weight and they both hit the water. gate.
her. With this Dom thing. If she just Alex came up laughing. Her drink There, in the strange light, was
explained the situation. Alex and Vic- had fallen in the pool, the lime wedge Simon, his hands in his pockets. He
tor weren’t so different. He seemed like adrift, the glass sinking to the bottom watched them, unsmiling.
he might understand how easily things in slow motion. Ha ha, Alex thought. That man is my
got complicated. Her phone, she’d been holding her boyfriend, she thought. His daughter
She smiled at him. The thrill was phone, and it was still in her hand, is not a good singer. I can’t go back to
familiar. The giddy anxiety of watching dripping wet. the city because I’ve done stupid things.
yourself and waiting to see what you “Fuck,” Alex said, but Victor was “ Want to come on out of there,
would do next. laughing, too, plucking at his sodden Alex?” Simon said.
“I’ll go in if you go in,” Alex said. A shirt. He drifted toward Alex in the Victor had stopped laughing, had
bad idea had its own relentless logic, water, his features wavery in the pool stopped smiling, but Alex couldn’t
a momentum that was queasy but also lights. They weren’t touching but they make herself stop. She knew she
correct. were close. Alex’s dress was heavy and was making it worse, laughing like this,
“What if someone pushed you?” he floaty at the same time. They made eye but still, she floated for a second too
said. “What then?” contact, and he seemed to be feeling long, waited a second too long before
“You wouldn’t.” what she was feeling: that this was she slogged toward the steps, before she
A beat, a question in the air waiting correct, the correct situation, both of pulled herself out. @
to be answered. them here in this pool. Alex kicked
Alex wasn’t sure he would do it her legs to stay in place. Nothing had Adapted from The Guest by Emma
until he actually did, Victor swoop- happened, not yet, but it was there Cline, to be published in May by
ing toward her, wrapping Alex in a between them. Random House, an imprint and division
bear hug—they wobbled together for “Alex.” of Penguin Random House LLC.
THE LINE OF TIME Burch cuff; toryburch THE GET
In This Issue 140: Aquazzura

shoes; aquazzura.com.
143: Vintage Chanel
gloves, stylist’s own.
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Uniqlo T-shirt; uniqlo
.com. Michael Kors
Collection sandals;
174–175: 8. Pearl strand,
$7,200. 10. Charm,
price upon request.
11. Dress, price upon
Cover Look: 40: From Aki Hirayama. Center 145: Manolo Blahnik michaelkors.com. request. 12. Necklace,
top to bottom, left of Attention: 98: Dress; shoes; manolo Watch; omegawatches $9,680. 13. Ring,
to right: On Yai: Dress; givenchy.com. Sophie blahnik.com. 149: .com. 171: Sandals; $2,550. 15. Ring, price
(800) 550-0005 for Buhai earrings; sophie Bottom left: Gloves birkenstock.com. upon request.
information. On Hadid: buhai.com. Manicurist: from Cynthia Rowley; Chain necklace; david
blouse, skirt, and shoes; Merrick Fisher. Lay It On cynthiarowley.com. yurman.com. Jennifer LAST LOOK
(800) 550-0005 Thick: 110: Manicurist: Manicurist: Maki Fisher ring; jennifer 184: Dress; marineserre
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and Akech: dresses 140, 145, 148, and 512: Belt; wkleinberg.com. couture-women for
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VOGUE IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT © 2023 CONDÉ NAST. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. VOLUME 213, NO. 4. VOGUE
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183
Last Look
Marine Serre dress
When Marine Serre began a deep
dive into Karl Lagerfeld’s work for Chloé
to create this custom piece—which
echoes a dress from the label’s spring
1977 collection and a top from fall
1973—“I discovered a lot of things I did
not know,” the designer says. In
particular, the work was “much more
sensual than I remembered.”
The result, worn here by Jill Kortleve,
marries Serre’s signature lunar
print with upcycled silk scarves, which
are wrapped, twisted, and arranged
on a black grounding fabric. “Karl
was really living in the present—almost
in the future,” Serre says. “And
he wasn’t afraid to do the giant work of
transforming [a house’s codes] into
something that people want to look
at again. When I’m making a collection
with upcycled garments or found
fabrics, it’s the same type of logic:
How do you give sense and sharpness
to something that other people
may find a bit boring? How do you do
something interesting with that?”
P H OTO G RA P H E D
BY N O R M A N J E A N R OY
HA I R , I LK E R A KYOL ; MA K EUP, FRA NC E LL E DA LY FO R LOV E C RA F T B EAUT Y.

PRO DUCE D BY T HE CA NVAS AG EN CY. D E TA ILS, S EE I N T H IS I SSUE .

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MAY

MAKEUP ARTISTS’ BEST KEPT SECRET.

48 to confront artist Hayal into the spotlight. sumptuous skin 118

140 among the

FASH I ON ED I TO R: A M A NDA HA RLECH . HA I R, EUG E N E SOULE I M A NI ; MA K EUP, A N A TA KAH ASH I.

P RO DUC ED BY P RO D N. SE T D ESI G N : IB BY NJOYA . D E TA I LS, SE E I N T HI S ISSU E .

Cover Look French Connection

TAKE THE WHEEL

3 S KETC HES : A LL COU RTESY OF T HE BRA NDS.

J’ADORE PARFUM D’EAU

J’ADORE EAU DE PARFUM

HOSTED BY CHIOMA NNADI AND CHLOE MALLE.

work. These pages are animated by the sketches and

fabric samples that their creative directors prepared in

Sketch by Karl lagerfeld, 2003

Giorgio Armani, “with a kindness

KARL, YOUR CREATIVITY AND MAGIC HAVE

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TO P : COU RT ESY O F T I MOTH Y TAYLO R, N EW YO RK/ LO N DO N . BOTTOM : P HOTO G RA P HED BY D ID EM CIVGINOGLU.

he name Hayal means “Daydream” in Turkish.

T “Many Turkish names are also names of things,”

set drink.’ Then I came back and told them it’s

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P RO DUC ED BY PAU L P R EI SS AT P RE I SS CR E AT I V E. D ETA ILS, S EE I N TH IS I SSU E.

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FASH I ON ED I TO R: M A X O RT EGA . H A I R, I LKE R A KYO L; MA KEUP, F RA N CE LL E DA LY FOR

I jokingly, when I told her I was investigating the

T stay at Hotel du Cap-Eden-

Humans carry a unique kind of electricity. And the only thing

©2023 Lexus, a Division of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

Ten designers inspired by Karl Lagerfeld

Worn by Devon Aoki. In this story: hair, Jawara;

RAG I D H OL A K IA PRO DUCT I O N S. S E T DESI G N: I B BY N JOYA.

The Line of Time

dress from fall 2000.

I N T HI S I MAG E : HA IR , SO IC HI IN AGA K I. PRO DUC E D BY

THE BELL CURVE

At a glance, the Brise

fall 1983 collection

Short Cuts A new wave of

Just One Thing

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exemplifies the white

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THE LINE OF TIME Burch cuff; toryburch THE GET

In This Issue 140: Aquazzura

Cassady Rose Bonjo.