Indholdsfortegnelse for Volume 5, 2023 i W Magazine

Matt Holmes Stylist, “The Originals: Carly Mark” (page 168) Who do you consider original, and why? Yohji Yamamoto—his story, what he has done for our industry, and his dedication to his voice. He becomes even more original with time. Do you have a creative outlet separate from your work? Photography, which allows me to reflect on life and contextualize it. And I DJ for pure fun on the side. Some of my friends are musicians and in the nightlife world—so much inspiration comes from what we’ve been listening to. What does originality mean to you? Believing in and understanding your own narrative and taste. And trusting your gut. Olivia Laing Writer, “Personal History” (page 96) Do you have a creative outlet separate from your work? I have a walled garden…

Musician You’ve released albums under the alias Blood Orange, produced songs for the likes of Solange Knowles and Kylie Minogue, and composed a score for Luca Guadagnino. While you’ve covered Philip Glass before, two recent projects—performing with the London Symphony Orchestra at the hallowed Barbican Centre and hosting “Composed With Devonté Hynes,” a classical music series on BBC Radio 3—hint at different dimensions to your artistry. Classical is so ingrained in me, but it’s not about me finally putting it front and center. It’s more that I’ve finally been given opportunities to do so. You know, you can’t do a BBC show unless the BBC asks you to. The London Symphony won’t play your music unless they ask you. Just the fact that I was allowed to do either of…

Artist You started out making comedic, fashion-focused illustrations. Then, a few years ago, you posted videos on TikTok and Instagram, re-creating runway and celebrity looks with everyday items. When you’re at a party and someone asks what you do, what do you say? Usually, I say I’m an artist. I used to say I’m an illustrator, but in my mind, illustrator implies you are illustrating someone else’s concepts. Now I think the broader term “artist” is fine. So the follow-up question is usually: What kind of art do you do? The best answer is: I engage with fashion in a satirical manner. Initially, I was doing that through illustration, and now I also do that through video. So it’s basically popular culture commentary that has moved beyond my initial interpretation…

Designer Before you started your brand, Puppets and Puppets, you were an artist. A lot of your work revolved around candy and snacks. Now your brand’s most iconic piece is a bag embellished with a resin chocolate chip cookie. Why do you think you gravitate toward food as a source of inspiration? I first moved to New York when I was 18, and I was this excited but terrified young person walking alone for the first time in a big city. There were bodegas everywhere, which were mystifying to me, having grown up in the suburbs of Detroit. I was just like, What is this weird corner store with bizarre foods from multiple countries, and there’s dust on everything and there’s a cat that lives here? I felt very inspired…

Designer Before starting your own label, Ashlyn, you worked under the likes of Yohji Yamamoto and Raf Simons. What did you learn from those experiences? When I interviewed at Yohji, I said, “I am the white canvas, so you can dye me in any color, in your color.” That happened with each designer: Yohji Yamamoto at the start, then Alexander Wang, and finally Raf Simons. At Yohji, what I learned about was respect for time, human resources, and effective processes. While working under Raf Simons at Calvin Klein, I learned that Raf and Yohji are seeking the same kind of inspiration. They really respect the culture and history of fashion, and then fuse original ideas into their collections. What was it like jumping from being a part of the team…

I have been a Sofia Coppola fan for as long as I can remember. I must have seen The Virgin Suicides a thousand times; I bought every piece from Coppola’s 1990s fashion line, Milk Fed, that I could get my hands on. I obsessed over her personal style and played the soundtrack of her film Marie Antoinette until the CD broke. In late May, our Editor at Large, Lynn Hirschberg; our Visuals and Content Director, Alexandra Ben-Gurion; and I were lucky enough to see an early screening of Coppola’s latest film, Priscilla. It is, of course, about Priscilla Presley and her relationship with Elvis, but, like most of Coppola’s work, it also tells the story of a young girl growing up in the most unexpected of circumstances. It has the…

Victoria Beckham is always in the news for something. One day, it’ll be for riling up her neighbors in the Cotswolds for reportedly wanting to build a greenhouse on the grounds of her country home. The next, it’ll be for donning a pair of yellow Crocs, after she once famously said she’d “rather die” than wear them. Beckham, who’s gone from Spice Girl to acclaimed fashion designer, has gotten used to living a life in the public eye and having her every move scrutinized. Well, has she got some surprises for you. This fall, Beckham is releasing a trio of new scents inspired by several life moments, including the early days of her whirlwind romance with footballer David Beckham, and she’s opening her scrapbook here to tell the tales…

Fashion Entrepreneur Alára, your luxury concept store in Lagos, Nigeria, is considered one of the world’s best boutiques. It’s often described as the Colette or the Dover Street Market of Africa. Do you find those comparisons complimentary, offensive, or fair? I understand the connection: female founders, a strong and unique point of view, curated and presented with a focus on art and its interaction with fashion. But our mission is different: upliftment. I launched Alára in Nigeria in 2015 to redefine African luxury, both to Africans and to the rest of the world, mixing iconic international designers with leading and emerging African designers, and to demonstrate the parity in ingenuity and craftsmanship. So we put Saint Laurent, Simone Rocha, and Christopher John Rogers alongside Lagos Space Programme; Awa Meité, from…

Director, Playwright, and Screenwriter Your tender and heartbreaking debut film, Past Lives, is loosely based on your own experiences emigrating from Korea to Canada as a child and reuniting with your childhood sweet-heart as an adult. Before you made this movie, you had been working as a playwright in New York for 10 years—just like Nora, the main character. How was telling a story for the screen different from writing for the stage? This story spans decades and continents. It mattered that the cities, New York and Seoul, were visually represented as their own characters and personalities. There are no human villains here, but there are villains—time and space. In theater, time and space are figurative, and in film, they’re literal. It’s about the little kids that these two people…

Classical Singer At 36, you have established a reputation in classical music, experimental theater, and beyond as a singer who crosses boundaries—between genres of music and styles of performance. You also boast a full vocal range, from bass to above tenor. When did you recognize your love for music? My earliest musical experiences were in the Black Baptist church. I remember being 8 years old, rolling on the floor because we’d been in choir rehearsal for four hours, and I wanted to enjoy the rest of Saturday. But it was amazing, because I was indoctrinated in music making that is all for a reason; there’s nothing that’s ornamental, nothing decorative. All music has a function, and that frame has stayed with me. What was it like growing up as a…

Chef In your memoir, Notes From a Young Black Chef, you vividly detail your experience growing up poor in the Bronx and becoming one of the most renowned chefs in America. Along the way, you were a drug dealer, sold candy bars on the subway to finance a catering business, trained at the Culinary Institute of America, and came in sixth place on Top Chef. Recently, your restaurant Tatiana, which specializes in the flavors of West Africa, was named the No. 1 restaurant in New York by The New York Times. Your career has been a fascinating mix of street hustling and high-end achievements. Did you ever feel you had to code-switch to adapt to all these different environments? No, I never changed my demeanor; I was myself wherever I…

Like gelato and talking with one’s hands, the Gucci Horsebit loafer is one of Italy’s most adored cultural exports. An early exemplar of la dolce vita lifestyle, nonchalant luxury, and brand virality, it was released in 1953, at a time of rapid expansion for Gucci—just as the house was opening its Manhattan flagship, at the Savoy-Plaza Hotel, on East 58th Street. According to company lore, Aldo Gucci (who, along with his brothers Rodolfo and Vasco, took over the business from their father, Guccio, the founder) brought out the dressy loafers in response to the rise of comfortable knockabout moccasins such as the Bass Weejuns, which he noticed were popular with American prepsters. The elevated Gucci offering, in black lightweight leather and featuring an almond-shaped toe and a distinctive gilded snaffle…

In the Art Institute of Chicago, there’s a portrait by the Edwardian artist John Singer Sargent of an extraordinarily commanding woman. She stands very upright, one hand on a pink silk armchair, the other on her hip. Her lips are full, her red hair is loosely piled up, and light ripples from a peach and silver wrap. The more closely you look, the more this compelling figure appears to dissolve into loose brushstrokes, a zigzagging tracery of creamy pink and soft smoky gray. This is the mezzo-soprano and society hostess Mrs. George Swinton, known as Elsie, and the great-grandmother of the actor Tilda Swinton. Elsie was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where Swinton would later film scenes for Sally Potter’s 1992 epic, Orlando. Though Elsie’s position in society prevented her…

Filmmakers In your latest collaboration, the FX series A Murder at the End of the World, out November 14, an eccentric billionaire, played by Clive Owen, summons an eclectic group of strangers to his exclusive enclave in Iceland, where one of them winds up dead. Emma Corrin plays Darby Hart, a writer who investigates that death. Like your series The OA, A Murder at the End of the World combines technology, otherworldliness, and intrigue in a story that takes place in the not-too-distant future. But let’s go backward: How did you two meet? Zal Batmanglij: I met Brit when we were both at Georgetown University. This was a few decades ago, and the school was having their first-ever film festival. My friend Mike and I had made two short films,…

Actor You came into fame playing Zoey Johnson, the eldest daughter on the series Black-ish and its spin-off, Grown-ish, all while earning a degree in sociology and African American studies at Harvard and advocating for social justice issues and Women in STEM. What was it like balancing all of those endeavors? I’ve needed both worlds, because I think one gives the other meaning. My education allowed me to speak more confidently about the things that I advocate for in my work. To have the privilege to spend four years studying the things that I had already spent years discussing was really meaningful to me. What are you looking forward to next? A more equitable entertainment world so that we can resume storytelling in a way that people can make a…

Filmmaker You’re a director, producer, and screen-writer known for mind-bending films such as Sorry to Bother You, and a musician in the political rap group the Coup. You’re also an Oakland resident, and the Bay Area has served as the backdrop for more than a few of your projects. Oakland has an inherently rebellious, antiestablishment culture. Do you feel that? Yes, I agree with that assessment. But having toured all over the world for the past 30 years, I think that’s everywhere. Go to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and it’s there. You go to Venice, Italy, and it’s there. People want a different world, and they want to push back against the way things are. I think the benefit and problem with being in the Bay Area is because of the ’60s…