DIVERSIFY YOUR PORTFOLIO.
It’s a phrase we often hear from investment advisers. But it could just as easily apply to fashion and beauty. So often we get stuck in the same purchase patterns—how else to explain the entire rack of black jackets in my closet? Two stories in this issue have inspired me to think outside the (black) box. “Hue New” (page 152) takes me back to the late ’80s when it was normal to put red shoes and yellow tights with a green dress. And the rich tapestries and jacquards of “Inside Out” (page 140) offer a tactile hit of luxe that is going to be hard to resist.
What I actually do add to my wardrobe this fall will have to be prioritized. Which is why I love our annual Math Issue. Shawna Cohen gets three women to share their strategies for saving and splurging in “Cost of Cool” Since I’m a resale shop regular, especially to unload items I’ve been photographed in several times at events, I found this advice from Birkin-crazed Tina Craig of Snob Essentials particularly interesting: “Never sell your Hermès, Chanel or diamonds. Everything else is negotiable.”
Selling one season’s treasures to finance future purchases is particularly useful at a time when luxury prices seem to have taken an unfortunate leap. Even friends in the top one per cent are balking. It doesn’t matter what your shopping budget is, everyone is looking for value. In an effort to understand luxury pricing, we bugged several highly coveted brands to detail the work that went into some of their fall pieces. Max Mara let us know it takes 12 to 15 pairs of hands and up to 60 hours to complete one coat in its limited-edition Atelier Collection (page 54) and, in Paris, at the Chanel couture atelier, I came face to face with a dress covered in more than 50,000 hand-sewn beads (“High Stakes,” page 68).
On the beauty beat, we get four cool girls to reveal their approaches to high-low living, including model Soo Joo Park, who confesses to doing her own nails but indulging in facials (“Sum Girls,” page 110). And I was surprised how often coconut oil surfaced as a cheap pick.
One of the most fascinating trends in beauty is self- expression, which has a wide range of women getting pierced and tattooed and colouring their hair pink. In “The New Normal” (page 100), Fiorella Valdesolo looks at how each of us has become our own canvas for creativity.
Keeping things pure and simple, though, is Canadian actress Sarah Gadon, who channels a modern Grace Kelly on our cover. With three major roles on the horizon and a new contract as the face of Giorgio Armani Beauty, it’s clear Gadon’s star is on the rise (“The Great Gadon,” page 148).
Are you keeping it pure and simple? Or going for purple hair and piercings? We would love to know at letters@fashionmagazine.com.