“I HAD STYLE.

NOW
I HAVE FASHION.”

THE MAN WHO

WOULD
BE McQUEEN

WHEN SPORTS MET

FASHION
THE STORY OF A PERFECT MARRIAGE
D I O R B O U T I Q U E S – 8 0 0 .9 2 9. D I O R ( 3 4 67 ) D I O R . C O M
FENDI BOUTIQUES 888 291 0163 FEN D I .CO M
 Winter 2025

FLEX PACE
MODEL GRACE ELIZABETH COVERS THE WATERFRONT IN A JACKET, JUMPSUIT, AND BAG FROM
LOUIS VUITTON AND NIKE SNEAKERS. PHOTOGRAPHED BY DANIEL ARNOLD.

24 surprise to many, jolly prints get 88 104 warm, cozy

Editor’s Letter yet the former you where you’re Through the The Get chic that packs

P RO DUC ED BY BO OM P RO DUCT I ON S. P RO P ST YLI ST: P ET ER KLE IN . D E TA I LS, SE E I N TH IS ISSUE.

wunderkind of going in style Looking Glass The dog days of a bright punch
28 New York fashion Sam McKinniss’s winter are the
Contributors is loving every 74 Connecticut perfect moment 112

FASH I ON ED I TO R: JU LI A SA R R-JA MO I S. HA I R, J O EY G EO RGE ; MA KEU P, SUS IE SOBOL .

minute of it. Irina When Sports home is a to lean into Last Look
32 Aleksander Met Fashion... magical mash-
In Step meets Posen as Athletes as up of riotous
Cover Look Champions League
Margaux Anbouba he gets ready muses? color, throwback
on vintage’s new to dress America The stadium as Americana,
frontier: shoes runway? The and the artist’s
56 arena as front uncanny visions
42 Everywhere row? Fashion of popular
Miracle Drip You Look and sport needed culture. By
NAD+ infusions A paradigm shift no introduction, Chloe Schama
promise to turn is taking place but lately they’ve
back the clock. as more and become totally 94
Mattie Kahn more visionary obsessed. McGirr’s
investigates designers are By Maya Singer McQueen
working with—and Seán McGirr WNBA star Angel Reese of the Chicago
46 for—big brands 84 came out of Sky (above feft in a Versace dress)
Testing Ground Man on Wire nowhere to lead and American Olympic champion
Sanaz Toossi brings 62 Adrien Brody is Alexander sprinter Gabby Thomas (above right
her play English Go Time! drawn to extreme McQueen, one of in a Sportmax top) have skills, speed,
to Broadway Whether roles—but fashion’s most and singular style. Photographed
you’re commuting nothing compares storied houses. by Norman Jean Roy, who worked
48 via train, bike, to his work Hayley Maitland with fashion editors Julia Sarr-Jamois
From A to Zac skateboard, or in The Brutalist. meets the young for the Angel Reese shoot and
Zac Posen’s arrival feet on pavement, By Wendell Irishman writing Yohana Lebasi for the Gabby Thomas
at Gap was a breezy layers and Steavenson its next chapter shoot. Details, see In This Issue.

22 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

Letter From the Editor

BY DESIGN withdrew from consideration for the

LEFT: ZAC POSEN CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund at the
WITH JOY BRYANT,
PHOTOGRAPHED BY start of his career, when he received
ROBERT FAIRER,
VOGUE, 2003. ABOVE: independent financial backing
McQUEEN’S NEW for his fledgling label. Other young
CREATIVE DIRECTOR,
SEÁN McGIRR, designers, he believed, needed
PHOTOGRAPHED BY the Fashion Fund more than he did.
CAMPBELL ADDY.
That’s the way Zac thinks, with a
generosity of spirit. One of the best
words to describe him is a simple one: nice. Zac is nice
to everyone, not just the shiny people who are inevitably
in his orbit. He and his fiancé, Harrison Ball, a New

Meeting
York ballet dancer Zac met through his love of dance,
seem so happy getting to know their new Californian

BRYA N T A N D P OSE N : P H OTO G RA P HE D BY RO B ERT FA IR E R, VOGUE, NOV E M BE R 2003. McGIR R : FASH ION ED ITOR : IB KAMARA.
city, planning their lives together. “I didn’t see this coming,”

the Moment Zac recently said to me about this new chapter. Bravo to
Gap for choosing him.
There’s another great designer profile in this month’s
issue, of Alexander McQueen creative director Seán
IT’S A LITTLE INCREDIBLE TO say, but I’ve known McGirr. Hayley Maitland, an editor at British Vogue, spent

P RO DUC ED BY RAG I D H OL A KI A P RO DUCT I ON S. S ET D ES I G N : I BBY N JOYA . D ETA I LS, S EE IN TH IS ISSUE.

Zac Posen for more than two decades. And yet, somehow, months trailing McGirr, and the result, “McGirr’s
for all of his many lives in fashion, I still think of him as a McQueen,” with a portfolio by Campbell Addy, styled by
chic New York kid, bursting onto the scene with glamorous IB Kamara, is a detailed portrait of a highly ambitious
ideas about eveningwear. Of course, at 44, Zac is no longer designer who has well and truly leaped into the deep end.
a kid, and, in fact, he’s moved to San Francisco, where It takes real confidence to fill a design position left by
he is now the creative director of Gap Inc. This is one of Sarah Burton and, of course, by Lee Alexander McQueen
those turns in a designer’s career that seem both wildly himself, and strike out in his own direction. But McGirr
unlikely and absolutely perfect. As you can read this month has done just that, overcoming some bad luck in the process
in “From A to Zac,” the profile written by Irina Aleksander, (near-hurricane conditions soaked his first Paris show).
with portraits by Annie Leibovitz, Posen is imbuing His family background, his Celtic spirit, his love of indie
Gap’s accessible clothing with his inimitable creativity, music and nightlife, his headlong work ethic have all
romanticism, and good taste. (He weighs in on everything, formed his point of view. I love to see a designer at a major
all of Gap’s brands, even making decor adjustments in house with such an authentic sense of self—and McGirr
the stores.) The new couture-inspired line he’s designing, has chosen all the right people to work with, including the
GapStudio, will arrive this spring, but he’s already revealed incredible set designer Tom Scutt, who made his second
his thinking on recent red carpets (which are Zac’s terra (and far drier) Paris show so arresting. I say this for both
firma). We’ve seen a shirtdress for Anne Hathaway, a Seán and Zac: There’s so much more to come.
hooded dress for Cynthia Erivo, and a sculptural gown
made out of denim for Da’Vine Joy Randolph. “I love
sleeping beauties,” Posen says about the Gap renaissance
he’s spearheading. “For me it’s like, What an opportunity! ”
I can hear him saying that, with his playful high-
spiritedness. I’ll always remember how he graciously

24 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

Contributors

The Giver
For “Man on Wire” (page 84),
writer Wendell Steavenson met
Adrien Brody in London, where,
last fall, the actor was leading the
world-premiere production of
The Fear of 13, a play by Lindsey
Ferrentino. Their conversation
ranged from that show—based on
a 2015 documentary about The Wheel Deal
Nick Yarris, a man wrongfully If you think the pictures in “Go Time!” (page 62) are fun—teeming as they
imprisoned for decades—to are with dogs, children, bicycles, and skateboards (that’s model Grace Valentine
Brody’s work in The Brutalist, above, ready to shred in a cape and jeans from Chanel, an FP Movement tee,
director Brady Corbet’s epic, and Coach shoes)—just know that the shoot itself was doubly so. “I loved
Golden Globe–nominated new film. working with Daniel,” says fashion editor Julia Sarr-Jamois, referring to master
Accompanying Steavenson’s street photographer Daniel Arnold. “He shot a big cast, but he brought such a

BO OM P RO DUCTI ON S. P ROP ST Y LI ST: P ET E R KL EI N . Mc KI NN I SS A N D LO N D RES: P H OTOGRAPH ED BY STEFAN RUIZ .

BRODY: P HOTO G RA P H ED BY A N TON CO RB IJ N . FAS HI ON E DI TO R: EDWA RD BOW L EG I I I. PRODUCED BY NORTH SIX.
incisive portrait of a restless artist? sense of calm to the chaos.” Add to the cool mood the fact that so many models

SI T T I NG S E D I TO R: MI C HA E L REY NO LDS. P RO DUC ED BY BOO M P RO DUCTI O N S. D ETA I LS, SEE IN TH IS ISSUE.

Striking images by photographer were working with family (Liya Kebede with her daughter, Raee; Candice

VA LEN T I NE : P HOTOG RA P HE D BY DA N I E L A RN OLD. FAS HI ON E DI TO R: JU L IA SA R R-JA M OIS. PRODUCED BY

and filmmaker Anton Corbijn, Swanepoel with her two young sons; Amelia Gray with her sister, Delilah Belle)
styled by Edward Bowleg III. and it’s clear that, as Sarr-Jamois puts it, “everyone feels like themselves.”

American Pastoral
When photographer Stefan Ruiz made the trip out
to Kent, Connecticut, to capture the riotously colorful
home of artist Sam McKinniss for “Through the
Looking Glass” (page 88), written by Vogue senior editor
Chloe Schama, he was totally enchanted by what he
found. (See McKinniss—and one of his charming cow
paintings—at near left, posed with his partner, writer
Michael Londres.) “Sam McKinniss’s house is great.…
I could have photographed for a whole other day,”
Ruiz says. “The combination of the house’s details and
Sam’s apparent natural sense of interior design was
like a sensory overload, from the furniture and paintings
to the wallpaper.” At the same time, Ruiz admired how
quiet and simple the rhythms of McKinniss’s life were
in the country. “I was impressed by his discipline, in terms
of how he organized his day for painting,” Ruiz notes.
“He said that he gets up early, deals with emails for an
hour or two, and then paints well into the afternoon.”

28 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

The World of Fashion at Your Fingertips
The New Vogue App Is Here

D IS C OVER P LAY S HO P DISCUSS

 HIGH AND MIGHTY
clockwise from top left: Giuseppe Zanotti
Design pumps from 2012; Prada’s sandal from 2005;
and Manolo Blahnik’s heels from 2003.

IN STEP
I
n 2012, Miuccia Prada sent a pair of Mary Janes down
the runway so sweetly perverse that they sent a chill
Margaux Anbouba plays up my 21-year-old spine. While the design of the
footsie with the final frontier shoe itself—shiny black leather, with a heel arched
like a back—was both elegant and exquisite, it was the
of vintage shopping: shoes. final touch that thrilled me: The toe box appeared to be
dipped in red latex.
Late last year, when I traveled to Milan for Prada’s spring
2025 show to cover the beauty backstage, my eyes began to
wander during the encore walk, and ecco: My dream shoes—
last seen on the fall 2012 ready-to-wear runway—were
reborn. In fact, five different designs from the house (aside
from my beloved Mary Janes, there were geek-chic sandals,
pointy-toe heels, zippy kitten heels from 2008, and platform
penny loafers from spring ’99) were given what Prada called

A LL P H OTOG RA P HE D BY RAYM ON D ME IE R FO R VO GU E. B LU E HEE LS : M A RC H 20 12.

the Re-Edition treatment in a show that paid tribute to Mrs.
Prada’s idiosyncratic yet always spot-on style. Sadly, not all
of them made it from the runway to real life—including
my Mary Janes—which meant that, 12 years after I first
put eyes on them, I would have to hunt down some of the
originals if I wanted to have a pair of my own.
SA N DA LS : M A RC H 2005. LI ME G RE EN HE ELS : MA RC H 2003.

Wearing vintage—whether the so-called true vintage

that’s more than 20 years old or a more recently minted find,
maybe from resale sites like The RealReal—is clearly back
on our collective mind. The vintage market has been grow-
ing by leaps and bounds in the last year, with reasons like
sustainability and simply owning something unique being
driving forces. Since buying a Lilli Ann coat from a store in
Fort Worth, Texas, at age 15, I’ve amassed a closet (okay—
two closets and three storage units) filled with carefully cat-
aloged pieces. Each wrapped in pastel pink garment bags,
the items include bespoke debutante dresses made to do the
Texas dip in the 1950s, dozens of body-conscious Mugler
originals from the ’90s, and yards of silky lingerie by > 3 4

32 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

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 Christian Dior. Vintage underwear? Of course—it looked “Excellent Condition” from The RealReal to see what the
just right under vintage garments (though the very notion fuss is about—baby pink pointy-toes from Dolce & Gab-
startled my former editor Chioma Nnadi when I mentioned bana and a pair of black Chanels with a big pilgrim-like
it to her). For me, wearing vintage has always been about a buckle. I’m drawn to both because of their sexy-prim
sense of individuality—and, yes, the satisfaction of saying designs, and find myself clacking around the office with glee.
“thanks, it’s vintage.” (Translation: No, you can’t buy this at I’ve also long been obsessed with practical, chunky-
any old store.) heeled oxford pumps from the 1940s, and hunt down a
Heading to lunch in a YSL Rive Gauche dress and anoth- pair—only to place my foot inside and realize instantly
er woman’s brassiere? Sure—hence my trousseau of conical that something was inexplicably wrong. Are these shoes
bras, slip skirts, and garters—but I’ve long been skeptical haunted by the spirit of the plucky, practical gal who
of walking a single step in somebody else’s shoes. There’s a clomped around in them, ration tickets in hand—or is the
certain ick factor involved—theoretically, at least: A lingerie arch simply in the wrong place for my foot? Either way:
set, after all, can be sanitized in Back to the purveyor they go.
ultrahot water. Shoes, somehow, Were shoes simply made dif-
feel even more personal—after ferently in earlier decades—or
all, they literally mold to the is this fit issue the same kind
shape of the foot of the per- of thing one still navigates
son who wears them. Still, if I with sample sales and online
ever wanted to reunite with my binges? “The manufacturing
dream Mary Janes, it was time to of heels hasn’t changed much,”
take a deep, cleansing breath and says Brynn Jones Saban, the
get over all of this. owner of Los Angeles’s Aralda
“Shoes are the vintage cate- Vintage, “though modern-day
gory that gets the most physical heels can sometimes offer more
wear and tear,” cautions Brit comfort.” (Comfort, of course,
Blanco-Bird, the cofounder of being relative, with one per-
the appointment-only vintage son’s torture implement another
store Treasures of NYC—and person’s treasure.) Also worth
who, tragically, hasn’t seen my noting: The pairs of Chanel,
beloved Mary Janes—as I start Fendi, Dior, and the like that
my hunt. Because shoes literally have survived for decades in
hit the pavement, they’re ex- immaculate condition were per-
posed to the elements in a way haps considered special-occasion
a dress or a handbag simply isn’t. shoes at the time they were first
That’s why finding vintage shoes purchased—not meant for, say,
in the like-new condition of so me to be running around Park
many dresses is unlikely. Slope on a Tuesday.
TAKE TWO
Undeterred, I plow ahead— As for my quest: Jones Sa-
Prada’s Re-Edition series of so-called
but wait, no, I’m distracted: new vintage shoes gives new life to ban recently sold a pair of Pra-
There’s a pair of turquoise Gi- earlier-issued sandals and kitten heels. das (that and Ghesquière-era
useppe Zanotti butterfly heels Photographed by Fujio Emura. Balenciaga are her most desired
that I swear I once saw on Sex gets) to a friend but, alas, doesn’t
and the City that make their way home with me, even have the ones I’m looking for. And so, with my Prada
though they look quite worse for wear. I reach out to Spasia search still at nada, I venture on to the vintage wild-wild-
Dimitrievska, the founder of online shop Fivedotsvintage, West site Poshmark, only to find my holy grails listed in
for some advice (after sorting out first that, no, she doesn’t my size, under $300, and with the rare, desirable label of
have my Pradas either—ugh). “The first thing I do is check NWOT—shopper slang for “new without tags.” If it all
to see what can be fixed,” she says. “I always change the feels just too good to be true, I quickly realize it is: The seller
heel cap—that’s the most obvious sign that a shoe has been hasn’t been active for over a year, and when I reach out with
worn—and a good cobbler can fix small scratches. There’s a quick “Is this still available?” message, it’s unanswered.
a lot that can be salvaged.” A Poshmark spokesperson, meanwhile, tells me that only
I send my newly beloved butterfly heels to midtown items selling for $500 or more are sent through the store’s
Manhattan’s Leather Spa—they recently repaired the authentication process, and that there’s not much that can
Loewe Hammock bag that my 18-pound cat believed was be done about dormant sellers.
his own vacation-style hammock—and they return patched, Still, I log on to Poshmark each morning, hoping
polished, and primed. (I also have my local cobbler replace against hope for a sign. My follow-up messages become
the insole with something much more cushiony, and for a more and more desperate, ending with a still-unanswered
mere $17 I now feel like I’m floating on air, not tottering “I’ll give you double! Please!” Radio silence.
over West Village cobblestones in 20-year-old shoes.) Will I ever know if this dreamy shoe fits? Hope springs
Dimitrievska cites slingbacks as one of the most eternal. In the meantime, I have five other pairs of new-
in-demand styles from her shop, so I order two pairs rated to-me vintage shoes to wear while I continue to hunt. *

34 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

 MIRACLE DRIP
NAD+ infusions have become
increasingly popular, promising to
magically turn back the clock.
But are they too good to be true?
Mattie Kahn investigates.

I
will be transparent,” says the designer Azeeza Khan. been loading up on NAD+ with Ozempic-like zeal. Bie-
“The first time I heard about NAD+ was because ber seems to have converted her husband, who can be
Hailey Bieber was doing it.” The model was filmed seen hooked up to an NAD+ IV drip in his documentary
sampling an intravenous drip laced with nicotinamide Seasons. Jennifer Aniston has pronounced the molecule
adenine dinucleotide (or NAD+) for an episode of The Kar- “fascinating.” Emily Oberg, founder of the label Sporty
dashians. (Her pal Kendall Jenner was partaking too.) & Rich, administers her own doses at home, claiming
Khan insists she isn’t one to crib longevity tips from improvements in her mood and stamina (and counting on
famous 20-somethings, but her interest was piqued. a harder-to-measure cellular glow-up as she ages). Mara
I LA N RU B IN / TRU NK A RCH I V E.

NAD+ is a common coenzyme that has become a target Raden—the clinical director of Raden Wellness, where
for algorithm-conscious wellness warriors and credentialed Khan gets her NAD+ fix in Chicago—says her patients
researchers alike. Evangelists believe it has the potential to describe its effects as pure “brainpower.” >43
disrupt stubborn realities of the aging process, from the
loss of muscle mass to flagging energy stores. THE SUBSTANCE
From the depths of Calabasas to the medi-spas of Both celebrities and civilians are flocking to
Madison Avenue, celebrities and civilians alike have NAD+, hoping to stem the signs of aging.

42 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

 Sounds like a silver bullet (or snake oil, depending on With characteristic Norwegian bluntness, Tzoulis says
your perspective), but there is theoretical science behind scientists don’t have an answer. Yet. If his current trial
it. Michael Sagner, MD, founder and executive director demonstrates that NAD+ is a viable treatment option for
of the nonprofit European Society of Preventive Med- Parkinson’s patients, he’ll move on to researching whether
icine, explains that NAD+ is found in every cell in the it can help prevent the disease. After that, he’ll investigate
human body, assisting with the most basic and essential whether the general smoothie-imbibing population stands
functions: regulating energy production, cell metabolism, to benefit from supplementation. Still, he’s clear on his pri-
and the arbitration of cell survival. Sirtuins—a family of orities. He and his team did not get into the NAD+ game
proteins that deals with inflammation and oxidative stress for the Goop crowd. “We were not looking at wellness. We
in cells—especially require NAD+ to work. were not looking at wrinkles,” he states.
Shin-ichiro Imai, MD, a professor at Washington Uni- The same cannot be said for the spas at five-star hotels
versity School of Medicine in St. Louis, tells me that his and members clubs that are now hawking IVs and branded
lab has been focused on sirtuins for well over a decade. injections, ranging between $900 and $1,300 a session.
With MIT professor Leonard Guarente, Imai published It’s too bad, per just about every doctor and researcher
a landmark paper in 2000 that helped establish the link I speak to, that they don’t work. “IV drips are unneces-
between NAD+, sirtuins, and aging. “We found that the sary and biologically do not make much sense, as there is
production of NAD+ declines as we age,” Imai says. And no transporter to get the NAD+ molecule into the cells,”
because energy decreases as we age Sagner says. When fans tout their won-
too, it occurred to Imai and his peers drous rewards, Eric Verdin, president
that it might be worth investigating
whether boosting NAD+ could off- “In very plain words, and CEO of the Buck Institute for
Research on Aging, suspects that their
set the normal aging process. Imai intramuscular reactions are owed to “a strong placebo
homed in on the smaller molecules
that cells use to produce NAD+, and IV NAD+ intake effect.” Tzoulis puts it in nonscientific
terms: “In very plain words, intramus-
which can more easily penetrate cell is silly” cular and IV NAD+ intake is silly.”
walls. In 2016 he published another Still, there are several less-suspect
paper, illustrating that increasing one delivery mechanisms. Researchers
of those building blocks with a simple supplement could have identified foods like edamame and avocado rich in
have a “multitude” of antiaging effects in mice. (Guarente NAD+ precursors, though it doesn’t seem that people
was so bullish on the results that he later cofounded the can offset NAD+ decline by eating enough bento boxes.
supplement emporium Elysium Health, which now sells Exercise can raise NAD+ levels. Also promising, accord-
NAD+ precursors for human consumption.) ing to those marketing supplements, are inexpensive pills
Scientists and doctors who study neurological disorders formulated with NAD+ precursors. Those molecules are
are particularly interested in what increasing NAD+ levels small enough to enter cells, where a series of chemical
might do for their patients. Charalampos Tzoulis, MD, transformations turns them into NAD+. (Guarente’s
professor of neurology and neurogenetics at the University Elysium offers two versions, and companies like Thorne
of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital in Norway, and Renue sell their own products too.) The Food and
runs a center that tests new treatments for diseases like Drug Administration hasn’t approved a single one, and
Parkinson’s. After administering a megadose of one of the supplement marketplace remains unregulated.
the NAD+ precursors, Tzoulis and his team were able to In the meantime, Verdin—who has no supplements of
show, among a small sample of patients with Parkinson’s, his own to push—is patiently watching several ongoing
increased NAD+ levels in the brain, a durable metabolic clinical trials to see whether the research will validate the
response, and a “small, but significant” clinical improve- NAD+ mania. It cheers him to think even further ahead.
ment in symptoms. “And it was safe,” Tzoulis continues. He analogizes the decline in NAD+ over time to a basin
“With no side effects.” He has since enrolled 400 patients filled with water that seems to be draining. “Is the problem
in a more extensive follow-up trial, with results expected that water isn’t coming in, or is it that there’s a leak?” he
in June. If it works, he adds, “that will be big.” As Tzou- poses. “I think it makes a lot more sense to see where the
lis cautions, though, dozens of promising interventions leak is and how we can plug it.” Could that kind of dis-
have failed in the past. Neurological disorders, aging in covery make septuagenarian runners reach personal bests?
general—they’re thorny processes to disrupt. Help DNA repair itself well into old age? Make our hair
Tzoulis isn’t surprised that those with no neurodegen- glossier? Skin smoother? Nails stronger? Is NAD+ better
erative conditions—from Aniston to Oberg to the aver- than Botox? Might I agree with influencers and celebrities
age Happier Grocery shopper—have latched on to the about the virtues of a supplement? The scientists are too
research. “These diseases are associated with aging,” he says. sober to indulge me now. But I’m willing to wait. After all,
“So people think, If NAD+ can help fight neurodegenera- in a decade or two, maybe I’ll be able to take a cheap little
tive disease, could I take it to prevent neurodegeneration?” pill and roll back the clock. *

VOGUE.COM WINTER 2025 43

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Toossi, the winner of the 2023 Pulitzer
Prize for drama for English, at the
Persian restaurant Sofreh in Brooklyn.
Photographed by Jonathan George.

Broadway just as Trump returns to

the White House is, in a word, bewil-
dering to her. “I don’t know what it
means that those of us onstage and
behind the scenes get to be experi-
encing what I think is a big career
achievement, while the very people
we’re representing are being villain-
ized and dehumanized,” Toossi says.
“I don’t know how to talk about that.”
Indeed, having recently moved into
a new apartment in Brooklyn, she is
grateful, at the moment, for a task
as pleasantly anodyne as unpacking
boxes. “No mental engagement has
been really soothing,” she says, laugh-
ing dryly. “I’m really enjoying it.”
But make no mistake: There is
nothing ponderous or overtly politi-
cal about English. The show is much
sweeter, funnier, and plainly more
human than that, taking as its prin-
cipal subject the mortifying ordeal of
trying to make yourself understood
TESTING GROUND in a foreign language. Toossi cannot
bear the idea that “people would come
see our play and pat themselves on
Sanaz Toossi brings English, her play about the trials the back” because of where it’s set. “I
of learning a new language, to Broadway. promise you, I’m not going to teach
you anything,” she says. “See our play
because it’s a good time.”
Both Adams and Neshat recall the

S
anaz Toossi doesn’t know group. Funny, contemplative, and
quite how to feel when we rather glamorous, she tells me that her thrill of their first off-Broadway pre-
speak in early November. On cast is “just the most beautiful, gen- view. “It felt like inviting 200 people
the one hand, the 33-year- erous, extraordinary group of artists into your living room,” Adams says,
old playwright’s fleet and heartfelt that I’ve ever worked with.” Neshat “but from the first scene, they were
drama English—about a group of says that after the curtain came just dying of laughter, hooked into
people (parents, students, young pro- down on their final performance off- the story immediately.” Adds Neshat:
fessionals) preparing to take the Test Broadway, “we all sat in our dressing “I think we all walked offstage think-
of English as a Foreign Language, or room and wept for hours. We were so ing, Not only do we have a play, but
TOEFL, in Iran in 2008—will open connected to that play.” I think they’re experiencing the play
HA I R A ND MA K EU P : KA R EN S LOA N , FACE T IM E BE AU T Y.

on Broadway in January. Acclaimed Still, the presidential election—not that we wanted to put forward.”
during its 2022 run at the Linda yet a week behind us—has unnerved Now that they know the show
Gross Theater in Manhattan, the Toossi a little. Years ago an early ver- works—with a flurry of well-regarded
piece, which snatched up the Pulit- sion of English served as part of her regional productions in the interven-
zer Prize in 2023, will once again be graduate thesis at New York Uni- ing years to prove it—the group’s chal-
directed by Knud Adams, and star versity, hewed from her outrage at lenge, as they ready their move to 42nd
Marjan Neshat, Tala Ashe, Hadi Donald Trump’s Islamophobic visa Street, is to maintain, over the course
Tabbal, Pooya Mohseni, and Ava restrictions when he first took office. of its three-month run, that magic
Lalezarzadeh, all of them making (The daughter of Iranian immi- something that made English sing in
their Broadway debuts. grants, Toossi grew up speaking Farsi 2022. “The first time we did this play,
“I hate when we use the word fam- at home in Orange County, Califor- we closed our eyes, held hands, and we
ily in theater, but I do make an excep- nia, and visiting Iran in the summer.) just leapt,” Toossi says. Up and over
tion for them,” Toossi tells me of that That the play should be heading to they go again.— 

46 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

 MIND THE GAP
The launch of
GapStudio reconnects
Posen (far left) with
designing for every
aspect of life—from
laid-back denim on
actor Callina Liang
(soon to be seen in the
film Presence) to
high-glam red on The
Morning Show’s Nicole
Beharie. All wearing
GapStudio (here and
throughout); gap.com.
Fashion Editor:
Tonne Goodman.

From A to Zac
Zac Posen’s arrival at Gap was a surprise to many, yet the former
wunderkind of New York fashion is loving every minute of
his new life. Irina Aleksander meets him as he goes big—and gets
ready to dress America. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
 Z
Today, Posen looks the part of senior management in
a double-breasted houndstooth suit by Banana Republic
(“It’s really important to live and breathe your products,” he
says). But at 44, he still has the exuberant energy of a kid on
Sunday morning. His curls are in a perpetual, endearing bed
head. He smiles big and often, with dimples punctuating
his cheeks, and reacts to ideas for upcoming collections as if
sampling new foods. When Posen likes something, such as
a new print or a reusable bag, he declares it “yummy.” When
he doesn’t, such as a certain shade of orange, he calls it
“yucky.” A color called sulfur gives him “the heebie-jeebies,”
as does wasteful packaging. When he talks about the con-
struction of a garment, he will often remind everyone that
he was a “Lego kid,” meaning a child of the 1980s, and, like
Oprah, he loves a full-circle moment.
Posen also loves to play. On a marble coffee table in the
adjoining room is a stack of Gap fabrics—denim, khaki,
jersey—which Posen hopes to drape on a mannequin
today. But for now, he still has a bunch of meetings to get
Zac Posen and his design team are finishing a custom dress through. He has now rolled his swivel chair to the giant
for an actress. He has done this countless times before monitor, peering into the screen to count the cowls on a
under his namesake line, which was shuttered in 2019. red sequined gown, which Jennifer Hudson’s stylists part-
The difference today is that he is doing it via Zoom from nered with him to create. The T-shirt dress, meanwhile,
a corner office at Gap Inc.’s corporate mother ship in San is for Demi Moore, who appeared in an iconic 1990 Gap
Francisco. And there is some question about whether the ad. When Moore wears the dress in December, that will
gown, made of Gap’s lightweight T-shirt material, will be—that’s right—another full-circle moment. “She likes
provide the actress with enough support. to hide a heel,” Posen tells his team. “Give her a little train,
“She doesn’t need boning, I don’t think,” Posen tells his and we’ll chop it off if she wants.”
team in New York, “but she does like being controlled and For skeptics wondering what Posen, the savant of ball
smooth. She has to be able to wear a bra.” gowns, is doing at a retailer that built its business on every-
Outside, ships and helicopters glide across the turquoise day basics, it’s interesting that the earliest fruits of his ten-
expanse of San Francisco Bay. “It’s like the craziest screen ure have been custom eveningwear. Posen sees GapStudio
saver ever,” Posen says. “The weather changes so dramat- almost like a couture house. Yes, it involves custom pieces,
ically. I’ll be in meetings, and it’s like Wagner outside. Or but the bigger idea is to drive people into the stores. “If
Chopin. It’s trippy.” Since starting the job as the creative Louis Vuitton can have ball gowns that they don’t produce
director of Gap Inc. and chief creative officer of Old Navy on a red carpet in order to sell luggage,” he says, “why can’t
a year ago, Posen has relocated to the city part-time. When Gap have a T-shirt gown on the red carpet? But we’ll actu-
I saw him in New York the previous week, he had flown ally produce it.” And at an accessible price point. Eight days
in late on a Sunday, dressed Cynthia Erivo in a hooded after Hathaway wore her shirtdress, Gap made a version of
black velvet gown—inspired by the Gap hoodie—for the it available for $158. It sold out within hours. “It was a real
CFDA awards Monday night, and caught a 5 a.m. flight viral moment,” Posen says. “I can get you the stats.” (“He
back the next morning to get in a full day at the office. “I’m cannot,” a Gap representative tells me, explaining that the
basically on the plane every other week,” he says. “It’s like company does not divulge those numbers.)
teleporting: I close my eyes and hope for Wi-Fi.” According to Dickson, such moments helped remind
Posen’s job, which Gap Inc. CEO Richard Dickson people that Gap still exists. Since the company’s 1990s
invented for him, is not very clearly defined. Posen chimes heyday, a combination of too many stores, too much mer-
in on design, retail, and advertising across the compa- chandise, and a lack of cohesive vision had sent sales on
ny’s stable of brands: Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, a steady decline, and the company’s valuation from about
Athleta. But the only collection he’s actually designing $40 billion in 2000 to $7.75 billion in 2023, the year Dick-
is GapStudio, a new line arriving in March intended as son joined the company. He needed to capture attention
an elevated take on Gap classics. The 53-piece collection quickly and improve morale. Posen’s creations for Hatha-
includes tailored sailor pants, trenches in denim and khaki, way, Erivo, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph at last year’s Met
logo sweatshirts, and new colorways of the so-called Anne Gala did just that. “Those sparkles turned heads,” Dickson
Hathaway dress, named after the shirtdress Posen created tells me, snapping his fingers. “The lights were now on at
for the actress to wear to a Bvlgari event last year. “Because the Gap.” Though the cleanup began long before Posen’s
it was Zac, I knew it wasn’t going to be just a shirtdress,”
Hathaway tells me. Inspired by Gap’s shirting, the dress
had off-shoulder cap sleeves, a hip-high slit, and an THE SCARLET AND THE BLACK
exposed sheer corset. “He himself is so glamorous, but in a Posen cut his teeth on red-carpet dressing—and he sees a place
for it at Gap too. from left: Julia Schlaepfer (starring in
way that feels very innate and casual,” she says, “and that’s the Yellowstone prequel, 1923) and Laysla De Oliveira (of Lioness).
how the dress made me feel: very light and very glamorous.” In this story: hair, Edward Lampley; makeup, James Kaliardos.

50
LOVE ALL THE WAY
Posen and fiancé
Harrison Ball at home in
New York (though these
days they’re spending
plenty of time in San
Francisco). Details, see
In This Issue.
 arrival, Gap Inc. has now seen sales grow for four consec- store development (who tells me that Posen inspected the
utive quarters, and its stock is up 16 percent. fabric of her pants the previous week), unbuckled his pants
Posen, for his part, saw himself in Gap’s plight. “I to check the weave of a Gap tag, snapped a leaf off a plant
love sleeping beauties,” he says, adding, “America loves to add to a mood board for summer, and studied the brand
heralding and shooting down. And I’ve definitely been a labels on denim worn by three separate Gap employees.
dove, a pigeon, a unicorn, and a dragon. So for me it’s like, Posen slips a pincushion onto his forearm. He takes the
What an opportunity!” corner of a denim sheet, pins it onto a mannequin just
below the ribs, and tells me how, two weeks after meeting

B
with Dickson, he flew west to appear before the company’s
board. Their questions were what one might expect: What
happened to his company? After making his name in eve-
ningwear, why did he want to make jeans and T-shirts? Did
he understand the complexities of a $15 billion business?
Posen had once led the way for a generation of designers
that emerged in post-9/11 New York. His first show, which
took place weeks after the towers fell, was made possible
in part because the city’s factories emptied out, allowing
his designs to be made. What followed was 20 years of
ups and downs as he struggled to keep his business afloat,
ultimately succumbing to the same forces plaguing many
Back in 2019, after Posen’s company closed, he found him- midsize fashion brands: a flawed wholesale model, the
self in a professional abyss. He wondered how he would excesses of runway collections, and a lack of solid finan-
support himself. Posen went to Los Angeles, flirting with cial partnership to guide him through it all. The house’s
the idea of working in Hollywood. He tried Paris, where intellectual property (including Posen’s name) has since
he interviewed for jobs at French houses. Eventually, he been sold off to a licensing firm.
returned to New York, supporting himself with private And yet during that time, Posen had amassed an enor-
commissions including bridal dresses, a piece for Drake’s mous amount of experience. It is worth listing for the
2023 tour, and costumes for Ryan Murphy’s Feud: Capote sheer scope of it: He has collaborated with Target, MAC
vs. The Swans. He and Dickson connected in the fall of cosmetics, Magnum Ice Cream, David’s Bridal, two dia-
2023. Dickson was previously the president of Mattel, mond companies, Kenmark Eyewear, Barbie, the Muppets,
where he shepherded the Barbie blockbuster. “I’ve been and brands in mainland China and South America; he’s
a Willy Wonka at Mattel,” Posen recalls Dickson saying, also been the creative director of womenswear at Brooks
“and I need to find my Willy for Gap.” Brothers, designed uniforms for Delta Airlines and for the
The company’s San Francisco headquarters has thou- waiters at Carbone, created two diffusion lines, written a
sands of employees. Since I am also a child of the ’80s, the cookbook, and spent six years as a judge on Project Runway.
offices reminded me of The Sims, with its busy collective “People might interpret all that as ego or attention-seeking,
of perpetually smiling people, a “Gapeteria,” and a chief of and in fact it was 95 percent survival mode,” Posen says,
technology named Sven. Posen bounds about its 15 floors, explaining that it was part of his extensive effort to keep
darting between meetings. To bypass the elevator bays, his company going. “But it definitely prepared me.”
he’ll often just take the stairs. “I would be terrified to see Among those whom Dickson called when considering
my steps,” he says. He has joked that the company should Posen was Domenico De Sole, the chairman of Tom Ford
get him a fireman’s pole so he can scoot down to his office. International, who had underwritten, along with Ford,
The company’s language of corporate acronyms are a Posen’s second runway show in 2002. De Sole, who’d been
challenge for Posen’s dyslexia. His calendar is filled with a member of Gap’s board until 2017, thought Posen would
SLT (senior leadership team) and LRP (long-range plan- be a great fit. “Zac is a very creative person,” De Sole tells
ning) meetings and reviews of P2Ms (product to market). me, “but he’s also a thoughtful person. He understands
For the first time in history, the company is redesigning marketing and business.”
stores for its brands all at once, and Posen goes over play- In his office, Posen has now pinned the denim fabric
lists, floor plans, and window displays. The day I visit marks around the hips, folding each corner like origami. He takes
the reopening of a Gap store in New York’s Flatiron district, white poplin, which at this moment looks no more inter-
and Posen proudly tells me that the paint on the walls was esting than a bedsheet, drapes it over one shoulder, and
purchased with his personal Farrow & Ball discount. When rips it straight across, leaving a heap of discarded fabric on
he visited the new Banana Republic flagship in San Fran- the carpeted floor.
cisco, he inquired why the decor included a bowl of green What appealed to Posen about the job was the oppor-
apples and had it swapped out for an asparagus fern. tunity to be integrated into so many people’s lives. He was
In the afternoon we settle into Posen’s office, where he impressed to learn, for example, that Old Navy was the
unlaces his boots. “The shoes are coming off,” he says. “You second-largest apparel brand in the US, with $8.2 billion
don’t care, right?” It makes sense that Posen, who is highly in sales and an exponential potential for growth. And he
tactile, would need to design barefoot. By this point in our would now have the solid, experienced partners he’d always
time together, he had insisted on fixing the collar of my looked for. Earlier I watched him show summer sketches
shirt, tried on a woman’s blazer worn by Gap Inc.’s VP of to Dickson and Mark Breitbard, Gap’s CEO. There was a

54
 chambray “Gaptan” (a Gap caftan), as well as pieces in knit known for the wild parrots that live in its trees. We drive
pointelle, sheer mesh, and macramé. Dickson didn’t like past Chinatown, where chef Kathy Fang, daughter of the
the mesh, but Breitbard encouraged Posen not to self-edit, legendary House of Nanking founders, has become Posen’s
a rare thing for a designer to hear. “Sample, play,” Breitbard food guide, and Vacation, a vintage store where Posen finds
said. “Let’s try it.” inspiration in Gap designs from prior decades. (When I
I wondered if Posen feels a new kind of freedom with stopped by the previous day, the owner, Kristin Klein, told
the resources of a major company behind him. “I mean, me she was saving all vintage Gap and Banana Republic
this is the big leagues,” he says, but he pushes back on the pieces for Posen. “He gets first dibs,” she said.)
idea that he’s under any less pressure. “It’s a public com- “This is the hill that keeps my ass up,” Posen says as we
pany, which is a whole different level of intensity. That turn onto a steep road leading to his home. At the door we
means you’re in touch with the market, the weather, the are greeted by Posen’s fiancé, Harrison Ball, a former New
world beyond.” He means literally: the weather. On one York City Ballet dancer.
of his first days on the job, Posen found himself in the When Posen got the job, the couple had one week to
boardroom looking at global weather patterns and how find a place to live. Ball found their home on Zillow. A
they might affect the price of linen in two years. creaky four-story rental with steep stairs and clear views of
Dickson tells me that Gap has different challenges than the bay, it was built in 1852 by a ship captain. They’ve been
a brand like Barbie. “Barbie had haters,” he says, “so you had working with designer Ken Fulk to make it theirs, updating
people who actually didn’t like you. Here, you have people an upstairs sitting room with red velvet Banana Republic
who like you, but just weren’t engaged anymore.” Mean- sofas and a painting by Posen’s father. The couple’s dogs,
while, its role in the market Tsuki and Bizet, circle under-
has been encroached upon foot as Posen slumps in Ball’s
not just by fast-fashion giants
like Uniqlo and H&M but
“How do you do it?” arms in the kitchen. “What a
week,” he says.
even by luxury brands such as
The Row, which looked more Posen asks, about the While Posen walks the
dogs, Ball tells me how they
Gap than Gap itself when it
presented baggy jeans, long-
sleeve tees, and denim shirting
task ahead of him, met. They first saw each oth-
er in 2019 at Lincoln Center
when Posen designed cos-
in recent collections. Dick-
son’s hope is to reclaim some
before answering his tumes for the ballet. Ball had
just been hit by a car, so he
of that space. “How do you do
it?” Posen asks, before answer- own question. wasn’t dancing, and Posen’s
company was in its final days.
ing his own question. “You go (“He was masking a lot of
back to what you do best.”
Every detail of GapStu-
“You go back to what pain,” Ball says.) A few months
later, Ball was performing as
dio, from the brand patches
to be sewn into the garments you do best” Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake.
He asked a mutual friend to
(leather, embossed, “yum”) to invite Posen to rehearsals. Ball
the stock of a hangtag and cotton string (black, waxed) imagined wooing Posen, but instead Posen came onstage
and shopping bags (heavyweight, debossed), has been the afterward and gave Ball a correction. “Granted, I later saw a
result of meticulous deliberation. At one point I watched tape of that performance, and he was right,” Ball says.
P RO DUC ED BY A L ST U D I O. P RO DUCT I ON CO OR DI NAT I O N BY BO OM P RO DUCT I O NS I N C.
S ET D ES IG N : MA RY HOWA RD. SP ECI A L TH A NKS TO H OO K STU D I OS A N D HO O K P RO PS.

Posen’s design director, Thomas Vasseur, whom Posen met As the pandemic hit the city, Ball fled to an island in the
at Azzedine Alaïa’s studio in 2000, confer with Posen about Bahamas where his father has a home. Posen holed up in
whether a gift box should come with a high-quality rib- Bridgehampton with the Schnabels, the family of his close
bon. “When you receive a product, of course I’m thinking childhood friend Lola. Ball and Posen began exchanging
waste,” Vasseur began, “but I’m also thinking…” messages. But then the cell tower on the island was struck
“…experience,” Posen said, finishing his thought. “Of by lightning, wiping out the internet. Months went by
course.” Later, Posen tells me, “It’s not luxury, but it’s, you without the two communicating.
know, yummy.” In the fall of 2020, with pandemic restrictions easing,
As we’ve been talking, the sheets of fabric on the man- Ball and Posen met for coffee back in New York. Ball had
nequin have transformed into a fishtail denim skirt and a planned to visit for three days and ended up staying a month.
raglan-seam top that recalled the ’90s. Posen thought he During a day trip to Woodstock, Ball asked Posen what he
might send a photo of it to Uma Thurman, a close friend, was looking for. Posen said he wanted to have a family. Ball
or maybe it would become part of a future collection. “And was 27 then. He had been dancing since the age of four and
that’s a really great way of creating, right?” he says. “That was experiencing freedom for the first time. He encouraged
just became something very hands-on and artisanal. Our Posen to do the same—to go and live and date people.
customers deserve that experience. It shouldn’t be price They didn’t see each other again until early the next
prohibitive—I just don’t believe in that.” year. When Ball returned to New York, Posen sent a car
to pick him up from the airport. But Ball panicked. He
In the early evening, we leave the office and head to Posen’s asked the driver to turn around, and flew to North Carolina
home in Telegraph Hill, a northeast corner of the city instead to see family. “I could feel C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 0 6

55
Everywhere You Look
A paradigm shift is taking place in fashion, with the old markers—
exclusivity, luxury, aspiration—now being joined by widely welcomed
notions of ingenuity, affordability, and accessibility. From Clare Waight
Keller taking the reins at Uniqlo and Zac Posen ushering in a new era
at Gap to the come-up of labels like Toteme and The Frankie Shop—and
visionary designers collaborating with big brands—chic clothes are
becoming more attainable to more and more people. The clothing you see
here—a mix of classic Americana, young designer conceptualism, and
athletic flourishes—ranges from $7 to the (still-substantial) $1,000. Call it
the democratization of fashion. Photographed by Inez & Vinoodh.
 TIE BREAK
Model Vittoria Ceretti
wears an All-In top
($375; all-in-studio
.com) and All-In x
Guess U.S.A. skirt.
opposite: Model
Anok Yai wears an
Arc’teryx windbreaker
($700; arcteryx.com),
Willy Chavarria x
Adidas jacket ($200;
adidas.com) and
Wales Bonner sweater
($570; walesbonner
.com for similar styles).
Fashion Editor:
Camilla Nickerson.
IT’S A CINCH
Suffice it to say that
model Loli Bahia
is open to a slightly
subversive take on
suiting. A.P.C. jacket
($630; apc-us.com),
COS shirt ($135;
cos.com) and The
Frankie Shop pleated
skirt ($240; the
frankieshop.com).

58
 STITCH IN TIME
Model Devyn Garcia
is in full-on bombshell
mode, wearing a
custom denim dress
from GapStudio,
an R13 shirt ($595;
r13.com), and a
Frame skirt ($268;
frame-store.com).
 BLUE ANGEL
There is something
unmistakably Faye
Dunaway–in–Network
about model Angelina
Kendall’s long, loose
layers, beginning with
that natty pinstriped
Coach jacket ($450;
coach.com for similar
styles) and carrying
on through her belted
Proenza Schouler
White Label coat and
Polo Ralph Lauren
dress ($398;
ralphlauren.com).

P RO DUCE D BY V L M P RO DUCT IO N S. SE T D ESI G N : LAU REN N I KROOZ.

CROWNING GLORY
Model Amelia Gray
wears a La Perla
slip dress. In this
story: hair, Mustafa
Yanaz; makeup,
Fulvia Farolfi. Details,
see In This Issue.
ON THE RUN
Model Grace Elizabeth
makes haste in a
flurry of great prints.
Jacket, jumpsuit, and
bag from Louis Vuitton;
select Louis Vuitton
boutiques. Nike
sneakers; nike.com.
Apple AirPods Max.
Fashion Editor:
Julia Sarr-Jamois.
 Go
Whether you’re
commuting via train,
bike, skateboard, or feet
on pavement, breezy

Time!
layers, jolly prints, and
sensible-chic shoes get
you where you’re going
in style. Photographed
by Daniel Arnold.
 DOG DAYS
from left: Model Grace Burns
wears a Michael Kors Collection
coat; michaelkors.com. Simone
Rocha x Crocs shoes; simonerocha
.com. Jil Sander by Lucie and
Luke Meier bag. Model Lila Moss
wears a Miu Miu coat, sneakers,
and chain belts; miumiu.com.
Model Stella Jones wears a Coach
jacket; coach.com for similar
styles. Dolce & Gabbana dress;
select Dolce & Gabbana boutiques.
PEDAL PUSHER
above: Model Paloma
Elsesser spins her wheels
in a JW Anderson top;
jwanderson.com for similar
styles. Hermès bag;
Hermès boutiques. Rolex
watch. opposite, from
left: Model Liya Kebede
wears Bottega Veneta;
bottegaveneta.com. Cartier
earrings; Cartier boutiques.
Raee Kebede wears a
Coach T-shirt; coach.com
for similar styles. Hermès
jumpsuit; Hermès
boutiques. Chloé bag.
67
TRAINING DAY
from left: Model Delilah
Belle sits pretty in a Burberry
dress and jacket; us.burberry
.com. Apple AirPods. Her sister,
model Amelia Gray, wears
a jacket and dress from Prada
(prada.com)—and the kind
of don’t-mess-with-me glare
that any subway habitué knows
well. At her side, a Prada bag
and Beats Solo 4 headphones.
69
 GANG’S ALL HERE
above: Model Candice
Swanepoel keeps her brood
in order in a Gucci coat, top,
jeans, and scarf; gucci.com.
Birkenstock shoes. Her
sons, Anacan (center) and
Ariel, both wear Brooks
Brothers; brooksbrothers
.com. Anacan carries a
Coach backpack. opposite:
Model Grace Valentine
grabs air in a Chanel cape
and jeans; select Chanel
boutiques. Coach shoes.
beauty note
CeraVe’s new hair-care
line includes Gentle
Hydrating Shampoo and
Conditioner formulated
to help maintain a
healthy scalp barrier
(and flowing locks).
70
 COMING THROUGH!
Model Divine Mugisha
(left) wears a dress and
mask from Balenciaga;
balenciaga.com. Pink
Hermès bag; Hermès
boutiques. Proenza
PRO DUC E D BY BOO M PRODUCT I ON S.

Schouler black mesh

bag; proenzaschouler
PRO P ST YL I ST: PE T E R K LE I N .

.com. All-In brown

bag (on the ground);
all-in-studio.com. Model
Alex Consani wears a
Loewe dress; loewe.com
for similar styles. In this
story: hair, Joey George;
makeup, Susie Sobol.
Details, see In This Issue.
73
WHEN
SPORTS MET
FASHION...
Athletes as muses? The stadium as runway?
The arena as front row? Fashion and sport needed
no introduction, but lately they’ve become
obsessed. Maya Singer reports. Photographed
by Norman Jean Roy.
 GOLD STANDARD
“It’s always been both:
basketball and fashion,”
says WNBA star—and
emerging fashion icon—
Angel Reese, in a
Stella McCartney dress.
opposite: Loewe coat.
Fashion Editor:
Julia Sarr-Jamois.
 I
I’ve been sports-pilled. I’m not sure
when it started, but I can tell you
when I knew: The Olympics were
winding down, I was watching rhyth-
mic gymnastics, and it struck me with
a pang that in a matter of days there
would be no more of this, this pageant
of human effort and excellence. No
more synchronized diving. No more
twirling shot-putters or pole-vaulters
flying backward through the air. Fare-
well to the impassive, agile grapplers,
and to the whiplash pleasure of a
badminton rally. Or—wait—I inter-
rupted myself. Tennis! Tennis has
two men who played the final. Not
long after concluding their showdown
at Arthur Ashe, both flew to Milan,
where Jannik Sinner sat front row at
Gucci, and Taylor Fritz walked the
runway at Boss. Meanwhile, up in
the stands, Taylor Swift was watch-
ing that Fritz-Sinner match with her
NFL-star boyf riend Travis Kelce
and his Kansas City Chiefs team-
mate Patrick Mahomes, who’d turned
up camera-ready in, respectively,
Gucci and Prada.
“If I’m in the city during Fashion
Week, I’m not not going,” declares top-
rare exceptions (David Beckham, the
Williams sisters) proving the rule.
Now the stadium is the runway: The
“tunnel ’fit,” the pregame looks ath-
letes wear ambling from team bus to
locker room, has turned NFL and
NBA players into tastemakers, with
stylists pulling items straight from
Paris shows and millions following
fan accounts like @leaguefits.
“I have a team of stylists—there
are three of them that work together,”
explains Boston Celtics forward
Jayson Tatum. “My biggest non-
negotiable is, I’m six feet nine, I’ve
rallies! How many days until the US ranked player Frances Tiafoe, who, got a 32-inch waist, and I want to be
Open? Could I make it until then? straight after dazzling Open-goers, comfortable—I spent enough time,
I guess everyone’s been sports- made a beeline for IB Kamara’s Off- especially when I was younger, wear-
pilled. Because, wow, the Open was a White show. It was held on a basket- ing clothes that didn’t fit. So now we
scene—Taylor Swift, Kendall Jenner, ball court. Women’s US Open champ have a tailor in New York and a tailor
movie stars, and influencers every- Aryna Sabalenka and Olympic gym- in LA, and when my stylists find a
where. Maybe they’d all gotten really nast Suni Lee were there too. pair of pants, they go straight to a
into Challengers. Or maybe this was I reel off this very non-compre- tailor who has my measurements.”
part and parcel of a turn in the zeit- hensive list of recent sports-fashion Other pieces are custom-made. His
geist, which is what I suspect. Because mash-ups because, bluntly, as trends wardrobe, he says, has basically taken
around the same time, the spring go, it’s weird. Since time immemo- over his house. In the locker room, he
2025 fashion season was underway, rial, there has been Sport, and there and his teammates chat about their
and it was like you couldn’t throw a has been Fashion. At an apparel level, tunnel looks. “We notice, we com-
stone without hitting a sports star. the two do habitually converse— pliment each other…. If somebody
Gymnasts, sprinters, basketball play- Coco Chanel launched her business looks good, it’ll be like, ‘Yo, I see you,
ers, footballers, boxers perching their making tennis dresses, and today’s I see the vision.’ ”
muscular butts on seats at Michael athleisure has antecedents in Claire Tatum contends that there was
Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Carolina Her- McCardell’s bodysuits and Y2K-era always plenty of style in the tunnel,
rera, Burberry, Bottega Veneta. And Prada Sport. They call it “sportswear” and social media merely made the
more. I even spotted dapper fencer for a reason. And it is likewise true
Miles Chamley-Watson at Fendi. that there have always been individ-
CHICAGO FIRE
So this isn’t just about tennis. But— ual athletes with loads of style. But
Reese, wearing a Jacquemus suit,
returning for a moment to the US as cultures, as worlds, the runway and begins her sophomore season with the
Open—consider the destiny of the the stadium kept their distance, with Chicago Sky in May.

76
COURT ACE
Last year’s US Open
semifinalist Frances
Tiafoe makes a point of
attending New York
Fashion Week. “If I’m
in the city I’m not
not going.” Dunhill
coat. Levi’s jeans.
Dolce & Gabbana hat.
Fashion Editor:
Mobolaji Dawodu.
 W
’fits visible. Perhaps. But not every- purse. Hair done. I wanted to look put hen I was
thing social media makes visible goes together. I still do.” That desire to look growing up
viral, and not everything that goes finished applies on and off the court: in the ’90s, I
viral gets fashion’s stamp of approval. Reese earned her Bayou Barbie nick- didn’t know
Fashion chooses its muses with care. name at Louisiana State thanks to her fashion, but
Designers respond to a certain type penchant for glamming up for games. I knew sport,
of admiration—to whatever feels “I used to watch America’s Next and I knew Nike, because they had
paradigmatically now. That’s how Top Model with Tyra and practice people who looked like me in their
you wind up with Prada dressing my walk in the living room,” Reese ads,” says Off-White creative direc-
Caitlin Clark for the WNBA Draft. recalls. Later, in college, she put that tor IB Kamara, who hails from Sierra
And that ’s how I—lifelong non- sashay to use in the LSU tunnel, with Leone. “It’s very democratic in that
sports fan—wind up tuning into bas- her teammates joining her in serv- way. And very global. You can be a
ketball games and following Clark’s ing fierce pregame looks. Once on kid anywhere in the world and be a
rival Angel Reese on Instagram. It’s the court, she led them to a national fan of a team like AC Milan, and
not just because I enjoy tracking her championship before deciding to go that jersey will mean something to
evolution f rom upstart you.” Off-White recently
Bayou Barbie to Met capped a three-year part-
Gala jet-setter. I’ve seen nership with AC Milan
versions of that Cinder- by launching a capsule
ella story before. There’s collection celebrating
something about Angel the storied football club’s
Reese, or about what 125th anniversary. A sim-
Angel Reese represents, ilar collaboration with the
that means more to me. WNBA’s New York Lib-
erty debuted last fall, and
On a brisk New York likewise comprises merch
morning, I catch up with for both players and fans,
Reese as she’s passing as well as a charitable
through the city, and sit in component.
on a training session. Her All of which is very
sophomore season with much in keeping with
the Chicago Sky is some Virgil Abloh’s vision for
months off, and this is the brand. I recall a con-
her time to work on tech- versation I once had with
nique. Again and again, Abloh, about a project
she tosses the ball into the he was working on with
basket, with a near metro- Nike, via Off-White—
nomic rhythm. From the making uniforms for
free throw line. From the a soccer team of West
side, off one leg. Catch- African refugee kids in
ing the ball on the go and Paris. This was sometime
sliding into position: bend early in 2017, and Abloh
and stretch, eyes on the made a point about sports
target, a light touch, ball being a pastime and a
whirling upward, swish. passion we share across
Then again. STRING THEORY borders. That sometimes
“It’s always been both: On court, Tiafoe favors clothes that match his playing style: means a seed takes root
basketball and fashion,” “Loud colors, bold colors, stuff that pops.” Tom Ford suit and shirt. in surprising soil: Af-
Reese says. Basketball ter civil war broke out in
runs in the family, she explains; both pro—an announcement she made Sierra Leone, Kamara fled to Gam-
her mother and grandmother played. not on ESPN but rather via this very bia…where, among other interests,
And when she was growing up in title. One day, she says, she’d like to he cultivated a childhood fixation on
Baltimore, the sport was just around. model in a real fashion show; maybe Serena Williams. “People don’t know
“But I was a fashion girlie from young Paris Fashion Week, that’s still on her this about me! I love her, I love tennis,
too. Like—let me find this picture to-do list. In the meantime, however: I love watching it,” Kamara enthus-
my mom sent,” she goes on, digging eyes on the target, a light touch, swish. es. “It’s so expressive. There’s so much
through her bag for a snapshot of Again and again and again. I record personal style.”
herself, age five, adorable in a pink her with my phone, a minute or so of Many Sierra Leoneans fled that
dress and tiara, almond eyes gleam- rote grace and precision, then zoom brutal war, among them Alphina
ing. “I was always in my mom’s closet, in on her eyes, all steely focus under Kamara (no relation) and Con-
putting on her stuff. I liked to carry a unblinking false eyelashes. stant Tiafoe. They found shelter in

79
 FINAL CURVE
Sprinter Gabby
Thomas came
home from the Paris
Olympics with
gold medals and a
following. “I had
style. Now I have
fashion,” she says.
Bottega Veneta
dress and earrings.
Fashion Editor:
Yohana Lebasi.
the United States, where their twin convoluted tale—but, in its abbrevi- themselves—that hip-hop influence.”
sons Franklin and Frances Tiafoe ated version, a very good lesson in the As a kid in St. Louis, Tatum was all
were born in 1998. Constant helped way formal limitations can enhance about that look. “Air Force 1s, every-
construct the USTA’s Junior Tennis creative thinking. thing oversize—like that.” A far cry
Champions Center in College Park, At the start of the 2005–2006 sea- from an aesthetic he now describes as
Maryland, then signed on as the son, then NBA commissioner David “sort of, luxury ‘business casual.’”
maintenance manager for the facility, Stern instituted a dress code for play- “Love a cardigan, love a suit, a
a regional training hub for young ten- ers: “business” attire when participat- matching set, a collared shirt, a button-
nis talent. “He worked constantly—he ing in any team or league activities. up,” Tatum elaborates.
even slept at the club—and me and This included, importantly, the walk What happened, basically, is that
my brother, we’d stay with him.” So through the tunnel from team bus NBA players—once stuck with the
that’s how Frances Tiafoe stumbled to locker room. As Tatum explains, dress code—embraced it. Stars like
on to the court; he lived there, basi- many players decried the dress code as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and
cally. At 17, he won the USTA Junior racially motivated, because it specifi- Russell Westbrook studied up on de-
National Championship. cally prohibited sports jerseys, “head- signers and the finer points of tailor-
Right from the get-go, ing. The looks got sharper
Tiafoe was known for his and splashier. Bit by bit,
passionate playing style. “the tunnel” became a
“And I wanted clothes to promenade of dandies the
match, you know? Loud likes of which hadn’t been
colors, bold colors, stuff seen since Beau Brummell
that pops,” Tiafoe says. strode the cobblestones
His favorite ensemble is of Mayfair. After Stern
probably the borderline retired in 2014, the code
psychedelic one his spon- was relaxed, allowing for
sor Nike designed for progressively zanier ’fits.
him to wear at the 2023 Meanwhile, young ath-
Australian Open. Suffice letes like Tiafoe, Tatum,
to say, his mental mood and Reese were imbibing
board is not collaged with an avalanche of fashion
vintage images of men in content (every NBA team
starchy tennis whites. “My plays 82 regular season
influences originally—I’d games) and witnessing the
say, I liked to look at utility of style as a personal
awards shows, the BET branding tool.
Awards, and for real, the NFL players were pay-
Met Gala. I liked to see ing attention too. They
these mega-mega celebri- wanted their own tunnel.
ties when they were really Or some of them did,
turned out,” he says. “You anyway—Odell Beck-
know, going for it.” ham Jr., Cam Newton, a
If the Met Gala seems handful of others. Then
a far-flung source of in- more. “It’s very new,” says
spiration for Tiafoe, con- Kyle Smith, the NFL’s re-
sider that he sees himself cently appointed in-house
as not just an athlete, but FINISH LINES fashion editor. “When I
an entertainer. “Don’t get “I’m just starting to get a sense of what I like,” says Thomas. started working as a styl-
me wrong, I’m battling Proenza Schouler dress. ist for the NFL Network
as hard as I can for every in 2019, nobody talked
point. But what we do, what we put gear of any kind,” and visible “chains, about what the players were wearing.
our bodies through, at the end of the pendants, or medallions.” You may Because mostly they were wearing, you
day it’s in the service of entertaining as well have drawn a giant X over a know, whatever. Sometimes there’d be
people.” And fashion, Tiafoe believes, photo of Allen Iverson, with his sig- a flashy suit, and that would surprise
is part of the show. Offstage, he still nature bling, baggy clothes, and flat- people.” Today, the NFL is active-
tends to favor the baggy silhouettes brimmed caps and durags. “I thought ly boosting its swagged-out fashion
of his youth, when he was taking he was stylish,” says Tatum, who scene, launching its own style-focused
most of his style cues from basket- looked up to Iverson as a child and Instagram—one of several new initia-
ball. “Well, yeah, growing up, we all paid attention to what he and other tives led by Smith—and broadcasting
were, of course.” top players wore to games. “A lot of pregame interviews to showcase the
Clothes matter in the NBA. A those guys, they came from the inner ’fits of clotheshorse stars like Cincin-
lot. How that came to be is a rather city, and that was how they expressed nati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

81
 “As an agent, one thing you always be found in the debut of the Adidas an entrepreneur. Run for office if you
impress on your clients is that there Originals x Willy Chavarria collab- like. There was always a certain “fake
is inherent value in being seen and oration that closed the show, with it till you make it” aspect to this, but
being respected outside your sport,” Olympian Noah Lyles serving as one that was precisely the allure—the
explains Tom Chapman, a partner at of the models. The aesthetics of sport most successful influencers seemed to
mega-agency WME Sports, which still interest Chavarria; now, the ath- have discovered a cheat code for nav-
represents Tiafoe, among many oth- letes interest him too. igating a fast-evolving, culturally and
ers. “So how do you do that? If you “The thing about athletes, they’re economically disruptive technology.
want to build a persona that lasts past not famous for nothing. You know? Bring on the filters.
what—let’s face it—can be a very We’re so bombarded with that now, Now we’re somewhere else. Awash
short career, fashion can help. So people where you’re like—who are in pseudoscience, misinformation,
players are investing more and more you? Where did you come f rom? bots, deepfakes, AI-generated content
into their look. And the NBA and the With social media, these ‘celebrities’ garbage. Maybe I’m only speaking for
NFL, to their credit, they’ve myself here, but I long for the
done a great job giving them real. And when I watch eight
a platform, and it’s been good
for everyone. “You can be a vessel, Olympic sprinters set off at
the women’s 200-meter final,
“So now we’re asking our-
selves,” Chapman continues,
“golf, tennis, other sports—
a shield; you can and see Gabby Thomas streak
away from the pack, I am in no
doubt that that is what I am
how do they catch up with
that? What do their tunnels
make armor,” says witnessing.
“There’s so much truth in
look like?”
Ambush designer what we do,” Thomas agrees,
when I catch up with her last

S
mith was not, un- fall. She’s just returned from a
til a few years ago,
a football fan.
Yoon Ahn. “You long run, but she looks like she
just returned from the spa—
Sports in general,
not his thing. He
empower them. dewy-skinned, refreshed, no
filter necessary. “On the track,
started his career
assisting the celebrity stylist
Karla Welch. It wasn’t until he
That’s what fashion I can’t cheat four years of hard
work and commitment—
otherwise I wouldn’t be there,”
happened to get a job dressing
football players—which was,
can do for sport” she continues, going on to
note that any Olympic-caliber
at first, “just a job”—that he athlete has spent countless un-
began to think, Oh—this is interest- just kind of appear. Whereas,” Cha- publicized hours mastering their sport.
ing. He was struck by how extraordi- varria notes, “when you see someone “You show up every day, and you work.
narily hard these men worked. “And, who can swim faster than anyone else And win or lose, the emotions that
like, 90 percent of them, you’d never in the whole world, it’s like—wow, come—you can’t fake that, either.”
recognize their faces, because they’re you’re incredible.” Since returning from Paris with
wearing helmets during the game, Eyes on the target, light touch, three gold medals, Thomas has taken
they’re just part of the team,” Smith swish. Repeat. I’ve watched that in fashion shows and basketball games,
notes. “I don’t know, it was refreshing.” training video of Reese a bunch of done some modeling, and presented
Likewise, designer Willy Chavar- times; there’s something hypnotic the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award
ria had an ambivalent relationship to about it. What it doesn’t capture is the last year. If Gabby Thomas is turn-
P RO DUC ED BY BO OM P RO DUCT I ON S. S ET CO O RD IN ATO R: JOJ O ROY.
sport. “It interested me aesthetically,” stuff that happens later, when Reese ing into an influencer, I, for one, am
he says. “I’ve always been obsessed is tiring out and her shots start going prepared to be influenced. She’s smart,
with the way people dress to assim- awry. Then she gets exasperated, and charismatic, and seems to be having
ilate into different groups to express she could call it quits, but she keeps some well-deserved fun in the inter-
their identities—and team sports are shooting. Marshaling some inner val between the hard work she put
such an example of that. Yankees, reserve of—what? I’m not sure. And in to earn her fame as a sprinter, and
Lakers, whatever. In Chicano culture finds her rhythm again. the hard work to come in the medical
that’s a staple, an oversize football As Chavarria points out, we’ve been field where her ultimate ambitions
jersey. Doesn’t matter if you’ve ever living through a rather strange epoch, lie. (Thomas studied neurobiology
watched a game.” fame-wise. For the past decade, maybe and global health at Harvard and has
Cheeky versions of those jerseys longer, the normal order of operations a master’s degree in epidemiology.)
showed up in Chavarria’s spring 2025 has been inverted: First you get follow- Fashion, she says, is one of the things
RTW show, which paid homage ers on social media; then, once you’ve she’s enjoying right now.
to America’s Chicano community. proven your influence, you branch “I’ve been so in athlete-world, I feel
(Indeed, the name of the collection into some other craft or calling. Be like I’m just starting to get a sense of
was América.) More sportiness was to a model, an artist, a fashion designer, what I like,” C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 0 6

82
SKY’S THE LIMIT
Thomas wears a Dior
jumpsuit and earrings. In
this story: For Reese: hair,
Lacy Redway; makeup,
Susie Sobol. For Thomas:
hair, Mideyah Parker;
makeup, Janessa Paré.
For Tiafoe: grooming,
Valissa Yoe. Details, see
In This Issue.
MAN ON WIRE
ADRIEN BRODY IS DRAWN TO HIGH-RISK ROLES AND
FILMS THAT PUSH HIM TO EXTREMES. NOTHING HE’S DONE
COMPARES TO THE BRUTALIST. BY WENDELL STEAVENSON.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY ANTON CORBIJN.

A
Adrien Brody was just 29 when he won
the best-actor Oscar for The Pianist,
Roman Polanski’s haunting film set
in the Warsaw Ghetto. He was the
youngest ever recipient, a record that
still stands. The immersive effort of
preparing for the role, moving out
of his New York apartment, avoid-
character. I wanted to have a creative
journey. But that is the problem.”
It’s a choice that has led to a career
that can look, at superficial glance,
like a slide after an early peak. But the
optics are misleading. To date, Brody
has made almost 60 movies playing a
multiverse of characters, from punk
ing friends, and starving himself to rocker to ventriloquist to bull fighter
understand loss and isolation, left him to Roman general; he’s played Arthur
depressed and exhausted. He did not Miller, Houdini, and a wonderfully
work for a year afterward. The next whimsical Salvador Dalí in Woody
role he took was a developmentally Allen’s Midnight in Paris. He has defied
disabled murderous boy in M. Night genre and typecasting, headlining big
Shyamalan’s The Village, a gothic tale action movies like Peter Jackson’s
of monsters in the woods; hardly King Kong and the Predators reboot;
leading-man material. done sci-fi, thrillers, and horror; and
“I accepted that role without my become a recurring member of Wes
agents even reading the script,” Brody Anderson’s film troupe. Some of his
told me with a wry expression. “Night movies are critically acclaimed; plenty
didn’t want anyone to read it, so I hon- have bombed, but his performances are
ored his request.” Brody had come up never less than wholly committed.
working with directors like Spike Lee, Brody is sanguine about the business
Ken Loach, Barry Levinson, Steven of show business. In conversation he
Soderbergh, and Terrence Malick, and was open about the strange alchemy of
he wanted more of the same: inter- moviemaking, and about the interplay
esting roles, collaborations with great of fame, publicity, and marketability.
artists. “I didn’t want to say: Okay, now He told me that before winning an
I’m only looking for an overtly heroic Academy Award, actors tend to be
judged on their performance; after-
ward they are more likely to be held
WORK ETHIC
responsible on how well the movie did
Brody is constantly acting, painting,
making music. “It all connects,” as a whole, critically and commercially.
he says. Gucci trench coat. “That is an actor’s dilemma,” he
Fashion Editor: Edward Bowleg III. said. “But an actor’s journey should
 be a much more creative process, full Anderson told me in a voice note.
of experimentation, full of risk.” “There’s something of the old movie
This year Brody, now 51, finds star from another time in him.” Brody
himself again at the center of awards has walked the runway for Prada and
attention for his performance as has a debonair penchant for wear-
László Tóth, a fictional Jewish Hun- ing large glittering brooches on his
garian architect trying to rebuild tuxedo lapel on red carpets. But on
his life in America after the Second the rainy Tuesday afternoon we met,
World War, in Brady Corbet’s monu- the man in front of me, leaning for-
mental masterpiece The Brutalist. It’s ward in earnest good cheer, friendly,
a very different movie from The Pia- articulate, laughing at his digressions,
nist, but in some ways, with its post- looked comfortably ordinary. He wore
war setting and themes of art and loss, nondescript sneakers, jeans, a checked
an inadvertent sequel, and for Brody, flannel shirt, and he took off a black
perhaps, an expiation. “It’s taken me New York Yankees cap as he sat down.
two decades to find something of this “I’m not really sleeping,” he admit-
caliber, and for that I’m grateful.” ted. “I wake up with dialogue from
the play constantly in my thoughts.”
met Brody last October in Lon- Brody was born in Queens, the

I
don, where he was starring in only child of Elliot Brody, a public
The Fear of 13, a play by Lind- school history teacher who taught
sey Ferrentino that portrays himself to paint like an Old Mas-
the real-life Nick Yarris, who ter (“he would make an amazing art
spent 22 years on death row forger,” Brody told one interviewer),
in Pennsylvania before being exoner- and Sylvia Plachy, a renowned pho-
ated through DNA evidence. It was tographer, whose elegiac black-and-
the first time Brody had done theater white images have appeared in The
since he was a teenager; the reviews Village Voice and The New Yorker, and
were glowing, and he was enjoying are in the permanent collection at
the f reedom of reinterpreting his MoMA. He grew up with a mixed
performance night to night. Catholic-Jewish Mitteleuropa ances-
The play was staged at the Donmar try and in an intellectual milieu; as a
Warehouse, a famously intimate venue child he loved magic, performing as
for new and experimental productions, the Amazing Adrien, got seriously
only 250 seats, and it ran an hour and into hip-hop, and attended LaGuar-
45 minutes without an intermission. dia High School of Music & Art and
Brody held the stage as magnetically Performing Arts, applying to study
as he holds the screen, deftly render- fine art and then switching to drama.
ing Yarris’s different phases and facets: “He was a kid from Queens who
wisecracking street-tough, philosoph- really embraced the culture of the
ical inmate, man in love, abused child. streets,” his partner of five years,
He told me that Yarris himself comes Marchesa designer Georgina Chap-
often to see the performance and that man, told me, when I met her in her
he has wept in catharsis. “He shared atelier in the West Village in Man-
with me how I have personally lifted hattan. “Yet he also carries a very
away so much pain and suffering by European elegance, which gives this
helping to tell his story.” wonderful complexity.”
Brody and I sat in a small room in Brody credits his parents with
the Donmar’s offices. His face, with imbuing him with the values that
its great scimitar nose, eyebrows have underpinned his artistic choices.
drawn upward like an opening bridge, “Being raised the son of a photog-
and watercolor eyes, is a particularly rapher, in New York City, seeing
distinctive canvas on which he proj- all these complex and beautiful
ects his chameleon craft. “The way aspects of the city, being with won-
he looks is like nobody else,” Wes derful writers and around all these
PRO DUCE D BY N O RT H SI X .

great creative people,” he said. “So

LEADING MAN much of my ability to be tenacious
Brady Corbet’s film The Brutalist has and to believe in myself came from
put Brody at the center of awards my parents respecting my unique-
season. Tom Ford turtleneck and coat.
Hair, Rudi Lewis; grooming, Aoibhin ness and creative pursuits as some-
Killeen. Details, see In This Issue. thing valid.” C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 0 7

87
 Through the Looking Glass
Sam McKinniss’s Connecticut home is a magical, maximalist mash-up, tying
together riotous color, throwback Americana, and the artist’s uncanny visions of
popular culture. By Chloe Schama. Photographed by Stefan Ruiz.
 SUNNY DAYS
Light streams into the
downstairs “apartment,”
a guest room and
parlor in one. opposite,
top: McKinniss’s
Sam’s Sweater, 2014,
oil on canvas; below:
McKinniss’s Cow (study),
2022, oil on canvas.
Sittings Editor:
Michael Reynolds.
 COLOR THEORY
clockwise from left: McKinniss’s painting Charlie Fox,
set off by wallpaper from Rifle Paper Co.; the exterior
of the house; the bedroom, with a Dorothy Draper–esque
checkerboard rug; McKinniss in front of his painting
Monica Geller, Ross Geller, Chandler Bing, Phoebe
Buffay, Joey Tribbiani, and Rachel Green, 2024, oil on
linen; Fiona Apple, 2024, oil on linen.

T
recognizable—subtly seared into “It was built in 1969,” McKinniss
our subconscious by a thousand tells me, opening the door, dapper
impressions—and also disarming, but casual in Brooks Brothers slacks
evoking the way we relate to those with a white oxford shirt, red Charvet
images with empathy, scorn, affec- slippers, and a black Pringle cardigan
tion, disdain. draped over his shoulders. The home,
And then there is his house in Kent, which he shares with his partner,
Connecticut—an artistic project of a Michael Londres, is a maximalist con-
different order but with a metacom- coction of McKinniss’s own making,
mentary of its own. With its long, low a riot of color and pattern, from the
SA M M c KI N NI SS, C H AR L I E FOX, 202 2, OI L ON LI N EN .

profile and rough-hewn beams, the canvases (his own, his friends’, artists
house seems as if it might have had he admires), to the exuberant wallpa-
The first thing to know about the a former life as a 17th-century cabin, per, to the cut chrysanthemums. The
artist Sam McKinniss is that he pipe smoke suffusing its wooden pan- house, says David Kordansky, whose
loves a fake. Or maybe it ’s more els and subtle rippling in the window gallery shows McKinniss’s work,
precise to say that the 39-year-old panes. It’s early fall when I visit and reflects Sam as a person: “It is the
painter, who has made his name by the trees have dropped their leaves; mash-up of pop against a backdrop
turning ubiquitous images from pop cords of chopped wood are piled of something mundane, ubiquitous,”
culture into lush canvases, loves the chest-high out front, ready for winter. says Kordansky. “It really is this amal-
disquiet caused by something that It’s easy to imagine a lesser member gamation of ornate boredom.”
seems about five degrees off. His oil of the Mayflower staking out a home- Born in Minnesota, the third of
paintings of celebrities are instantly stead on the site. four kids, McKinniss was raised

90
in Hartford County, Connecticut,
where his father was a local rever-
end. “Watching him every Sunday, I
learned a lot about rhetoric and pub-
lic speaking,” McKinniss says, “and
about composure.” He took art classes
in high school—seeking out extra-
curricular sketching sessions with live
models—and earned a scholarship to
the Hartford Art School. After gradu-
ating, he followed a boyfriend to Bos-
ton, where he worked retail jobs he
 GREEN SCREEN
The emerald color of the living room was inspired by George Washington’s Mount Vernon. A porcelain canine friend, named Molly,
stands sentry at the fireplace. opposite: A nook in the kitchen, decorated with photogravure prints by Carsten Höller.

disliked and one great job at the sto- dating a DJ. Meanwhile he was devel- solo shows, he felt financially stable
ried Brattle Book Shop. He was sell- oping a devoted following, showing enough to take on a floor-through
ing a few paintings a year at that point, his paintings at Team Gallery in New apartment in Greenpoint in 2019.
mostly through word of mouth and York and then at Jasmin T. Tsou’s (He had also become, for a while, sud-
mostly images of his friends, modeled Tribeca space, JTT. “Sam has been denly famous for painting the cover

R I G HTS SO CI E T Y ( A RS) , N EW YO RK/ VG BI LD- KU N ST, BON N . P RO DUC ED BY BOO M P RO DUCTIONS.

O P P OSI T E, I N T HE N OO K: CA RST E N HÖ LLER , COLO R P H OTO GRAVUR E P RI N TS. © 2025 ARTISTS
after the work of Nan Goldin and Jack able to focus on this one particular of Lorde’s 2017 album, Melodrama.

A RT WORK ON T HE M A N TE L, L EFT: LU KE O’HA L LO RA N , CA R D F LOUR I SH , 20 19, OI L ON PAPER .

Pierson, artists known for gritty yet human behavior,” says Tsou, “which “We have a mutual friend,” he says of
celebratory depictions of queer life. is essentially to project our desires Lorde.) The Greenpoint apartment
McKinniss moved to New York in through a parasocial process onto was the nicest place he had ever lived,
2011 to enroll at NYU, “and try to be a celebrity. There’s certain imagery but the glow quickly faded when the
charming and do my best to get lucky,” that sticks with you, and you don’t claustrophobia of the pandemic closed
he says. His classmate the artist Lily really realize how much until Sam in. He began buying up home goods
Stockman, whose studio was next to paints it.” At the same time he started and antique furniture to pass the time,
his, describes a “cool charisma and painting canvases in the mode of the until he realized he’d better find some-
intellectual confidence that immedi- 19th-century French artist Henri where to put it all. Friends helped him
ately established him as a leader in the Fantin-Latour. “His flower paintings find the house in Kent in 2021; bud-
group.” McKinniss, Stockman says, were so anodyne that the punk kids dies from high school, Joshua and
“suffered no fools and had no prob- were outraged, which of course Sam Jesse Kellam of Kellam Carpentry,
lem being disputatious. He loved ban- delighted in,” says Stockman. “He put it in working order.
ter, debate, and good argument. He has truly catholic taste—to Sam a gay Today there is no lingering evidence
loathed laziness, sloppiness, and peo- Fragonard is the same as a TMZ shot of any disruptive transformations. In
ple eating while walking on the street. of Lindsay Lohan in her car.” the foyer a William Morris print cov-
Sam has beautiful manners.” In 2015, McKinniss turned 30, and ers the walls, while around the corner
McKinniss went out a lot in those it became a lot “less appealing to stay two dozen baseball hats hang on pegs
years, to the GHE20G0TH1K parties out doing drugs all night long,” he says. in a precise configuration. McKin-
organized in Brooklyn warehouses He had only ever lived in “dumps,” niss shows me a tucked-away laundry
and downtown clubs, and he started but after a series of well-received room painted C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 0 8

92
SHEER FORCE
Actor Raffey Cassidy,
seen in the film
The Brutalist, wears an
embroidered tulle
halter-neck dress from
McQueen; alexander
mcqueen.com
(here and throughout).
Fashion Editor:
IB Kamara.

McGIRR’S McQUEEN
A year ago, Seán McGirr came out of nowhere to lead Alexander McQueen,
one of fashion’s most storied and emotionally charged houses.
Hayley Maitland meets the genial young Irishman writing McQueen’s
next chapter. Photographed by Campbell Addy.
TALL ORDER
Producer and
singer-songwriter
Florence Sinclair
wears a winsome
lace blouse and a
silvery drop earring
modeled after an
English rose—a
house signature.
 T
more security personnel guarding of organza to give the impression of
the École’s towering wrought-iron shearling. The team had just finished
gates than there were showgoers three days of fittings when McGirr
three decades ago. I step outside just decided, overnight, to refit every-
as Salma Hayek arrives, the paparazzi thing—not for the sake of throwing
flashes making a disco ball of her a spanner in the works, he assures me,
sequin dress in the gloaming—and but simply to make sure that every last
when I return, McGirr has slipped T-bar detail worked as intended. It’s
away backstage to steel himself for a process drilled into him by Louise
the industry’s judgment. Wilson, the legendary human cruci-
In the months I shadowed the ble for design genius at Central Saint
designer over the past year—between Martins. (Among Wilson’s other
his debut in March and his pivotal protégés: Christopher Kane, Jonathan
sophomore collection in September— Saunders, Simone Rocha—and, yes,
it was only in the immediate lead-up Lee McQueen, who was in her first
to the latter show that he betrayed graduating class, in 1992; McGirr was
There’s been nothing but rain all week the pressure he was under. “I came in her last before she died, in 2014.)
in Paris—it’s rained until every plane in this morning and at 7 a.m. called “In tutorials, she’d be like, ‘No,
tree in the Tuileries shed its leaves— my right hand and said, ‘We need to it’s not right.… It’s not right yet’—
but on the night Seán McGirr pres- break everything down and build it but in the most profane language
ents his spring 2025 collection for all back up,’ ” he’d told me, with his imaginable, like a football hooligan,”
Alexander McQ ueen across the usual buoyance, less than 72 hours McGirr recalls. It was the greatest test
Seine from the Louvre, the city is earlier. We were perched on a non- of endurance he’s ever been through.
bathed in a golden September light. descript couch on the third floor of “She’d be like: ‘Fucking do the job.
Perhaps that’s helping the 36-year- McQueen’s Saint-Germain tem- Just do it.’ It’s very practical.”
old Dubliner—plucked f rom the porary studio, surrounded by model When Kering announced, in 2023,
JW Anderson studio less than a year boards and button trays. Even though that Sarah Burton would step away
ago—look so composed as he takes McGirr, a self-confessed “Fashion f rom McQueen, many wondered
François-Henri Pinault, chairman Week smoker,” had likely had more whether any designer from outside
and CEO of the Kering group, which Marlboro Golds than hours of sleep of the storied house could really do
owns McQueen, through rail after rail in the preceding days, he was full of the job. If the fashion industry likes
of heritage designs and explains, in enthusiasm about everything—from to speak of codes, McQueen’s is a
his gentle Irish lilt, how he’s contorted the Birdee heels he’d designed with uniquely difficult one for a creative
them: Jermyn Street tuxedos with a mohawk of leather feathers to a director to crack. February 2025 may
curlicue lapels; communion dresses in newly developed cobweb lace inspired mark 15 years since Lee’s death, but
provocative, translucent crepe; rugby by Louise Bourgeois. He has classic his emotional hold on the culture at
tops made camp with Etonian frills. Irish coloring—fair skin, dark hair, large is ongoing: His Highland Rape
Then again, perhaps McGirr’s and Atlantic blue eyes—and gives and The Hunger shows still linger in
air of calm is merely relative. With the impression of being forever in the minds of Gen X editors as ’90s
less than 20 minutes until showtime motion. Today he’s dressed in a tie- fashion at its most electrifying; mean-
in the École Nationale Supérieure dyed McQ ueen T-shirt with an while, millennials who would struggle
des Beaux-Arts, the paparazzi calls upside-down skull embroidered dead to tell a 2.55 from a Lady Dior waited
accompanying each VIP arrival echo in the middle of the chest, skinny up to six hours in thousand-strong
around the neoclassical courtyard. jeans, and sneakers. “I’ve been busy queues to see “Savage Beauty” at The
Backstage, McQueen staffers with wearing a lot of McQueen,” he says. Metropolitan Museum’s Costume
pincushion armbands are moving so “It’s important to see how the fit is, Institute, and Gen Z TikTokers are
quickly that the tape measures thrown and to improve things as well: Some- making McQueen’s 2003 skull scarves
over their shoulders trail behind them times things don’t turn out how you their entire personality (despite some
like streamers; models in bathrobes thought.” His elfin features are punc- not yet being born when Karen Elson
stand to attention; and, in a corner tuated by a dimple in his right cheek sashayed down the runway with one
of the room, embroiderers are trim- that emerges when he smiles, which tied to her pirate breeches).
ming the silver threads of the banshee he does freely and often. Of course, Lee McQueen’s is a
headdress that will close the show. If he’s disarmingly warm, though, hard story to forget, his contradictions
Even amid the tumult, this last he’s also exacting. On the floors below endlessly mythologized: Here was a
detail is arresting—at once a tribute to us, the ateliers are, under his instruc- Savile Row apprentice who used the
London’s nocturnal rebels and a nod to tion, knitting skull masks from ivory pattern-cutting he’d learned making
Alexander “Lee” McQueen’s own ban- cashmere and hand-shredding yards English drape suits to invent the infa-
shees from his fall 1994 presentation— mous Bumster trouser; who yearned
his second-ever runway show—at the TURNING HEADS for extreme reactions to his designs
Café de Paris nightclub in Leicester McGirr, now a year into his tenure (“I’d rather people left my shows and
Square. Tonight, though, there are at McQueen. vomited,” he once said. “I want heart

96
 T
attacks. I want ambulances.”) but also all about tensions,” he says: between hirty-three years since
launched a range of prom dresses with attraction and repulsion, refinement its founder began
Target; whose East End origins and and brutality—and, yes, the avant- cutting up fabrics in
Celtic heritage fueled collections that garde and the commercially via- a pokey South Lon-
ripped classism and empire to shreds, ble. As Lee himself said, when the don flat, the house
yet whose legacy is irrevocably bound press eviscerated him for his debut of McQueen’s head-
up with British blue bloods like Isa- Givenchy collection: “It’s fucking quarters now inhabit a six-story,
bella Blow or Stella Tennant. hard to be both at the same time.” 30,000-square-foot building in
McGirr, who is as pledged to the Backstage in Paris, I’m wondering London’s Clerkenwell. When I first
cult of Lee as anyone—he’s recently if it’s even possible, as the banshee visit, on an overcast July day less than
been studying Blow’s 1989 wedding
at Gloucester Cathedral, and Ten-
nant remains his favorite model of all
time—hopes to restore some of the
playful aggression the house had in its
infancy. “There’s a sort of intellectual
kinkiness, which I quite like,” he told
me shortly after he had landed the
job. “It’s not overtly sexy at all—and
I think that’s really modern.” During
his f requent visits to the house’s
King’s Cross archives this year, he
bypassed more commercial noughties
collections to focus on Lee’s earliest
drawings. “There’s this confidence in
his line drawing that is like wow—it’s
razor sharp, almost architectural.” At
the same time, McGirr notes, “there’s
also a new generation that couldn’t
get into McQueen—you know what
I mean?” I do. While the house under
Burton gracefully matured and refined
its proposition, McGirr wants his
McQueen to be about youthful energy
and what he calls “the animal within.”
None of which is to say that he
doesn’t have a “deep, deep respect”
for Burton, Lee’s right hand from the
time of her own degree at Saint Mar-
tins, and the ways she made the house
her own during her 13-year stint as
creative director. If Lee claimed to
have stitched expletives into the lin-
ings of the Prince of Wales’s Ander-
son & Sheppard suits—and pubic
hair into the hats of the Queen’s
Beefeaters—Burton unfurled nine feet
of satin gazar on the steps of West-
minster Abbey as Miss Catherine
Middleton married into the House
of Windsor in 2011. And while Lee’s CHAIN OF COMMAND three months before the spring show,
mood boards featured the Marquis Model Sacha Quenby, in McGirr—having moved his work-
de Sade’s The 120 Days of Sodom and the scintillating closing dress from space down from the corporate level
McQueen’s spring collection.
Hans Bellmer’s dismembered dolls, to be closer to his design team—is
Burton’s inspirations were the Taatit sprawled on the blond pine floor,
rugs of the Shetland Islands and the headpiece is reunited with its dress inspecting a range of materials for
blue flax fields of Northern Ireland. on a mannequin—when a McQueen resort 2025’s sunglasses. (McGirr’s
For McGirr the challenge is to build publicist in a Motorola headset approach to design in general, he
on the execution perfected by the lat- appears at my elbow. says, is very “on the floor”—there’s
ter while capturing the energy and “We’re about to begin,” she whis- not a safety pin brooch that goes into
edginess of the former. “McQueen is pers. “Please, take your seat.” production without his fingerprints

98
on the sample.) He likes a kind of atelier,” he insists, and while he’s College of Fashion—though the
monarch butterfly print—“ Ver y brought in some of his own designers hedonism of the city quickly proved
McQueen, no?” he says, holding and cutters, much of the team that more of a revelation than his courses.
it up for me to inspect—less so the worked under Burton is still in place, His student apartment was just across
malachite, which he finds too Gucci. some of them remaining from Lee’s from the Camden music venue Koko
He’s “not opposed to a pair of flame days. His aim is to use their technical in the days when Amy Winehouse
sunglasses,” he adds, with his dimpled mastery to bring a frisson of daring and Pete Doherty were often found
grin. He’d seen them on a research back to British fashion. “I think of beneath its giant disco ball—influences
trip to LA, where he became enam- McQueen as a lab for experimen- easily apparent on his mood boards. To
ored with the opiumcore scene and tation, for creativity. I say it to my make ends meet, he worked nights as

THRILLS AND FRILLS design team: Play around—push ideas a bartender-slash-promoter for a gay
A mélange of frolicsome textures— until they’re strong and feel like they bar on Soho’s Wardour Street, where
heavy-duty gold embroidery, shredded go somewhere else.” he would spot the likes of Kate Moss
tulle, silk faille, heritage lace—takes flight.
It’s McGirr’s realization, through and Allegra Versace being trailed by
engaging with L ee’s ideas and paparazzi. (“I was like, ‘Oh my God!’”)
the brazen style of some Playboi work, that you could “say something It’s during this period, too, that he
Carti fans on Melrose. through clothes, and that was really really began to embrace his sexuality.
If youth is a creative touchstone important”—that led him to move “It sucks for all gay kids to come out,
for McGirr, it’s also worth noting from Dublin to England after fin- especially if you don’t really fit in in
how much he respects experience. ishing high school in 2007, enrolling school,” he says, although he’s quick
“McQueen is so much about the to study menswear at the London to note that his parents have always

99
AIR APPARENT
Model Sara Caballero
wears a washed-
silk chiffon dress,
adroitly draped
and finished with
delicate lace trim.
 STREET SMARTS
Actor Samuel
Adewunmi, last seen
in the series Queenie,
wears a double-
breasted jacket,
tuxedo trousers, and
leather sneakers.
PRO DUC E D BY RAGI D HO L AK I A PRODUCT I ON S.
SE T D ESI G N : I B BY N J OYA .
been extremely supportive. Now,
though? “I’m so happy to be gay,” he
tells me. “I thank God every day—I
love what gay people did before me,
and the sacrifices they made, and I’m
always super engaged with all these
prolific gay artists—Kenneth Anger,
Derek Jarman, Susan Sontag, Peter
Hujar. I feel like it’s my obligation to
represent gay people, speak for them,
and support them.”
While McGirr worked in the West
End—he’s never, he tells me, had
enough money to not be worried
about it—he preferred the club scene
in McQueen’s native East End, and
it’s through nights at Boombox and
Ponystep that he first heard of Wilson
and became fixated on studying with
her. After landing an interview and
surviving her predictably brutal ques-
tioning, he heard her calling after him
down the hallway as he made his exit:
“ ‘Oi, Irish boy! There’s a scholarship
that you should apply for now, because
I know you fucking students: You’re so
lazy, and you miss out on these things.’
That was her way of being like, ‘I’m
going to give you a scholarship so you
can afford to study.’”
That scholarship kept him going
financially. When he graduated from
Saint Martins in 2014, he did so with
a collection of jeans he had scrawled
on with a ballpoint pen, inspired by
Piccadilly hustlers and River Phoe-
nix’s character in My Own Private
Idaho. Candy Nippon, a Tokyo bou-
tique, bought the collection in full.
If there’s a through line to McGirr’s
life over the next decade, it’s living in
the epicenter of cities and making a
study of their youth culture. When
Uniqlo hired him out of school,
he moved into a tiny apartment in
Tokyo’s Shibuya, browsing Tsutaya’s
bookshelves until 2 a.m. and marvel-
ing at Harajuku’s kawaii scene. Two
and a half years later, he relocated
to Paris to work more closely with
Christophe Lemaire on his Uniqlo
capsules, living in a shoebox apart-
ment near the Palais-Royal, spending
his free hours C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 0 9

BLUE SKY THINKING

from far left: Sinclair, model Celina
Ralph, gallerist Oyinkansola Dada, and
Quenby mix it up in McGirr’s twisty
subversions of traditional English tailoring.
In this story: hair, Cyndia Harvey; makeup,
Bea Sweet. Details, see In This Issue.

103
 3
2

The Get

Scandi
Style
The dog days of winter are
the perfect moment
to lean into warm, cozy chic
that packs a bright punch.

10

8 7

104 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

 PRODUCTS : COURTESY OF BRAN DS/WEBSI TES.
PHOTOG RAPH ED BY PATRI CK DEMARCH ELI ER,
VOGU E , DECEMBER 2014. FLOWERS: WWW.FLOWERBX.COM.
11

13

.COM.
.COM.

LITTLE

HAY
GANNI DRESS,
.COM.
.COM.
.COM.
 FROM A TO ZAC Though Posen grew up in SoHo, the much baggage,” said Lyons, “but he doesn’t
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 55 son of an artist and a lawyer, he’s quick to have that same notion of what you can and
that something was about to change say that there was no trust fund. He didn’t cannot do, or what will and will not work.”
in my life,” Ball tells me. A week later exactly plan on becoming the ball gown At dinner, Posen is monitoring a text
Posen cleared out two closets and Ball guy. It’s true that while at Central Saint thread with his SLT that is still buzzing at
moved in. A year later, in 2022, they Martins he was assigned a T-shirt project 8 p.m. Everyone is excited about the new
got engaged. They had gone to Omen and made a dress instead—“My own kind Flatiron store, where sales are up 60 per-
in SoHo for dinner and walked back of reverse punk-ism,” he says—but he’d cent. In general, the news has been good:
uptown all the way to East 73rd Street. also made plenty of distressed T-shirts Third quarter sales at the company are
There had been a shooting on the sub- and deconstructed jeans. Gowns were up 2 percent, which is enough for Dick-
way that day, and there was an eerie ultimately a strategic decision. Fast fash- son, who’s focused on steady, incremental
energy in the city. At home, Ball turned ion was coming in to take on sportswear growth. Still, the stakes are high, both for
on NY1 and lay on the couch when and accessible luxury. Eveningwear made Gap’s legacy and for Posen’s career. But
Posen proposed, handing him a custom sense. “There was an opportunity to really Posen has more perspective now. “I still
ring by Taffin. own it,” he says. care deeply, but I won’t do high drama,”
That same year, Ball was promoted The previous night, Ball had chris- he says. “It’s exhausting and it’s silly.” He’s
to principal dancer. Posen came to every tened a new TV room by watching Posen focused on the work, and on passing the
show. Ball was dancing the role of the on Project Runway for the first time. lessons he’s learned on to the next gen-
Poet in La Sonnambula when he decided “People may look at that and think he eration of designers, hoping to establish
he wanted to retire. A sesamoid bone in sold out for TV,” Ball says, and turns to a mentorship program at the company.
his foot was crushed, and arthritis was Posen. “But you were just trying to help The reality is that he’s part of something
tormenting his body. He and Posen your company survive.” larger now that isn’t really about Posen at
began to spend more time with Posen’s Ball is fiercely protective of Posen, who all. “It was there before me, and it will be
family in rural Pennsylvania. “And then likens himself to a child star: raised in there after,” he says.
his mother got diagnosed with cancer, the traditional fashion system, listening It sounds like the great humbling of Zac
stage IV,” Ball says. to those he thought he could trust, and Posen. “When you’ve had your name taken
When Posen returns from his walk, losing his way in the process. “You were a from you, it’s pretty humbling,” he says.
he seems nervous. “Everyone gets really kid,” says Ball, who moved to New York Plus, his priorities have expanded. He and
scared when I talk, because I really talk,” as a teen. “The fact that Zac survived as Ball would like to have children—they’ve
Ball says. long as he did is amazing, and he came agreed on two—and they’re still getting to
As we walk to dinner, Posen picks up out of it not a drug addict, not an alco- know their new city. Back in New York
the story. When Ball told Posen to go holic; he’s not a loose cannon.” Dickson their evenings were spent at the ballet, the
and live, he went to LA, where he stayed told me that this was part of Posen’s philharmonic, the opera. But here, out
with Alice + Olivia founder Stacey Ben- appeal: That he had known and under- West, Ball will often pick up Posen from
det Eisner and her husband, Eric, at the stood failure. Ball likens it to a pilot in work with their dogs in tow, and they’ll
sprawling Malibu estate owned by Eric’s the Bahamas who once crashed a puddle drive to Muir Beach, or Petaluma, or
father, Michael Eisner. “I was like Maria jumper into the ocean. Nobody would fly Point Reyes, where they’ll shuck oysters
von Trapp,” Posen says. with him. “But my dad was like, ‘That’s on the beach, make a bonfire, and jump
He developed scripts for several TV exactly who I want to fly with because he into the freezing cold water. Posen seems
networks, including one about a fashion crashed and survived,’” Ball says. introspective when he tells me, “You’re on
designer, and thought about making a Posen’s mother, Susan, played a big role this planet for a real short amount of time.
career pivot toward directing and pro- in Posen’s decision to take the job. Last You’re probably not going to be remem-
ducing. But then the new year came, his Christmas Eve, Posen was with her in bered, sorry to say. Life kind of recycles
mother became ill, and he kept thinking the hospital, negotiating with Dickson by itself. We’re not that different from a leaf,
about Ball. “It was time to go back to phone. She was asking Posen the terms of disintegrating in all its humility. So you
New York,” he says. his contract just before her vitals crashed might as well try during that time to give
Shortly after getting together, Ball and and she briefly lost consciousness. Susan back, ignite imagination, build confidence,
Posen rented a car and drove across the had been the CEO of her son’s company affect somebody’s life in some capacity.” *
country, staying at Best Westerns and until 2010; what ultimately transpired
Hampton Inns along the way. As we weighed heavily on her. Posen hoped that WHEN SPORTS
sit down to dinner at an upscale Italian by landing at a major American brand, MET FASHION…
restaurant in Jackson Square, I’m having he would alleviate some of her worries. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 82
trouble picturing Posen at a Best West- “I really needed her to feel that I was Thomas says. “Not that I don’t have my
ern. “Really?” he says. Posen reminds me okay,” Posen says. (Susan continues to own style. I do, but then I put on some-
that he has a grounded side: He likes to undergo treatment.) thing like that white Carolina Herrera
garden, cook. “I have a polarity of mister Ball believes that Posen ultimately dress that I wore to the show, and it’s
tuxedo, which is fine,” he says, “but I’m ended up with the perfect job for him. like, Oh, oh-kaay. Since then I’ve been
actually happiest barefoot digging in the He is now gaining more experience than doing more ‘pretty’ looks. And more pol-
ground. And in jeans.” he ever would strictly as a designer— ished. Same with the hair and makeup,
“Listen, his parents are normal,” Ball Gap Inc.’s annual sales are in the realm I’m growing with that too.” Listening to
adds. “He grew up going to Q-Mart in of Chanel’s—and Posen has some big Thomas talk, I’m reminded of a com-
Quakertown, Pennsylvania.” Ball traces ideas. Could Gap, which was founded in ment Chavarria made about her Olympic
Posen’s more glamorous turn to his 1969 as a records and jeans shop, have a teammate Lyles—a fashion fanatic who,
having attended Saint Ann’s School in record label? Could Banana Republic at one point, was angling to get a track-
Brooklyn, and having a friend circle that become a hospitality brand, with its own and-field “tunnel” going.
included Schnabel and Claire Danes. line of hotels? This reminds me of some- “At the end of the day, even if he likes
“When you’re a teenager and you hap- thing Jenna Lyons, the former president going on a red carpet, you know his pri-
pen to find that door, you want to know of J.Crew, had told me when discussing orities are elsewhere,” said Chavarria.
what’s in that room,” Ball explains. Posen’s new position. “I would have had so “Which is cool.”

106 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

“I will never take my daughter to watch to her Japanese roots, about the pressures wasn’t finding material that spoke to me.”
robots play tennis.” So swears Alexis of professional tennis. “I wanted to give Disillusioned, he rediscovered painting.
Ohanian, husband of Serena W il- her an outfit that got her away from the “Painting reemerged as something
liams, a cofounder of Reddit, and, pressure,” Ahn explains, “and made her that gave me a creative autonomy that
under the auspices of his venture capi- feel like a little girl again walking out on I don’t have making a movie. It gave
tal firm Seven Seven Six, creator of the to the court. me fulfillment.”
women’s-only track invitational Athlos, “You can be a vessel, you can be a “His new work is getting better and
which he launched with Thomas’s help shield; you can make armor,” Ahn goes better,” said Chapman, who admits there
in September. Ohanian and I had been on. “You empower them. That’s what are many Brody canvases on their walls.
chatting about his investments into wom- fashion can do for sport.” * “It’s something he loves.” He has an art
en’s sports—there are several; he plans studio at the house in upstate New York
more—and found ourselves in concep- MAN ON WIRE where he lives with Chapman, her two
tual territory. Sport, we theorized, was CONTINUED FROM PAGE 87 children, her ailing mother, four cats, two
the anti-virtual. Not merely because, as One of the movies he is most proud donkeys, three horses, and a small white
the philosopher Avishai Margalit wrote, of, for example, is Detachment, which shaggy-haired dog called Ziggy. Chap-
“watching excellence in sports is watch- he made in 2011 with the director Tony man and Brody met on a trip to Puerto
ing humans in their fullest expression”— Kaye (best known for American History Rico, invited by mutual friends; it turned
gratifying, at a moment when AI seems X with Edward Norton), over his agents’ out they shared the same birthday, April
ever more humanlike—but also because objections. He played a substitute teacher 14. “So the first evening we had a joint
a sporting event is one of the few occa- in a Queens public school—almost a birthday party,” said Chapman, “blowing
sions left where we watch in real time paean to his father. “A tiny little movie out candles together, and weirdly we even
and gather together in physical space, about the failings of the education sys- had almost matching outfits, we were
be it stadium, sports bar, or f riend’s tem,” he said, “but it spoke to me.” wearing the same print.” Life at home
sofa. And where else—as several people His dedication to the integrity of is low-key: hiking, cooking. “If he’s in
pointed out to me in the course of report- his craft runs like a plumb line through the midst of inhabiting a role, he’s up in
ing this story—do Americans estranged his career. the office, reading, covered in cats,” said
from each other manage to find common “I like a challenge,” Brody told me. “I’m Chapman. In between working, Brody
ground? “Share a beer, share a cheer,” is very open to pushing myself past things will disappear into his studio, totally
how Ohanian put the ethos. Which is, at that feel a bit intimidating and require absorbed, “into the wee hours.”
least, a step in the right direction. a deep dive. You really have no option He paints large, vibrant canvases, often
“The thing with sports is it’s constant. once you’re in it but to just work hard.” social commentary shot through with
You go to any bar anywhere in America— No matter the material, “I have the same humor. His first collection, “Hot dogs,
anywhere in the world—there are sports level of commitment and immersion. I’m Hamburgers and Handguns,” skewer-
on,” notes WME Sports agent Chapman. eating worms and being thrown down ing big food and the culture of violence,
“It’s not like the cinema or music; that’s glacial rivers and putting on real braces debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in
selective, that’s taste. Sports is just kind of and living in solitude and eating less or 2015. He also makes music.
there. In theory, it’s for everybody.” hiding.” Anderson concurred: “Adrien “It all connects,” Brody said. “I’ve
If you want to be cynical, you could say doesn’t always like the part, but when he discovered that they’re all collage-like
that the fashion industry is glomming on settles in and this is what he’s going to do, interpretations. Acting, painting, even
to sports, and its stars, because that’s the he gives it everything.” the style in which I produce music, is by
last means of communicating to a wide Brody’s characters teem with contra- layering dissonant and various elements.
audience. Designers see Reese, they see dictions and inner hinterlands; patience Some clash and some work.”
Tatum, they see dollar signs. Sure. But gives way to explosive anger, smiles A string of lauded TV roles—as a
isn’t the cynical explanation also the curve inward; his brow furrows articu- trilby-wearing mafioso in Peaky Blinders,
Pollyanna one? Why wouldn’t the fash- lately as any monologue. He can change a shrewd venture capitalist in Succession,
ion industry want to be in business with his voice—language, accent, cadence, and, most recently, the legendary basket-
people who represent the values of hard modulation—as easily as his hairstyle for ball coach Pat Riley in Winning Time—
work and authenticity? Who give us, at a a role. There’s often a tension between a restored his profile and his confidence.
moment when many of us find this rather movie star and the character they play; In 2021 he starred in the movie Clean,
difficult, something to believe in? Brody obliterates the distinction. which he cowrote and produced, a gritty
“I feel like we got to represent the best “He’s incredibly raw emotionally, but revenge drama set in the wintry, run-
of America,” Thomas says to me, reflect- he’s not pretentious,” Chapman says. “He down outskirts of a nameless town. He
ing on her Olympics experience. “Focused doesn’t bring his ego into play, and I think also scored the film, writing its musical
on what brings us together—our dedica- this is what allows him to inhabit a role in themes and working on the sound design,
tion, our resilience, our passion for what such a pure way.” “breaking glass and laughter, the guy
we do. I felt pride, pride for my country.” Brody has admitted that he is, at heart, coughing and the siren.” He loved being
And on the flip side, as someone who an introvert, an observer. “Anything that involved in the whole process. “So crazy
loves fashion, I believe it has more to comes into his life gets held,” Chapman and rewarding and wonderful, it’s like—”
offer athletes than help with their per- told me. “It’s painful, good and bad; but he smacked his hands together, “you’re
sonal brands. Consider the frilled and he’s able to draw on this enormous uni- doing a sketch and all of a sudden you’ve
bow-bedecked looks Naomi Osaka verse inside him.” It is not easy to work at got this oil painting.”
wore when she made her comeback at that kind of level of fierce concentration.
last year’s US Open. According to Yoon “It does exhaust him,” says Chapman, In the role of László Tóth in The Brutal-
Ahn, the Ambush designer who collabo- “because he gives so much. He’s very sen- ist, Brody has arrived at the apotheosis
rated with Osaka and Nike to create the sitive, he has a very thin veil emotionally of his career, drawing together threads
head-turning ensembles, brainstorming with the world.” of autobiography, professional experi-
began two years ago, not long after Osaka ence, and persistence. He understood the
gave birth. She talked to Ahn about At one point, about 10 years ago, Brody backstory from his research interviewing
motherhood, about wanting to connect put his acting on pause. “To be honest, I Holocaust survivors for The Pianist;

107
 Brody’s mother fled the 1956 Soviet pictures, and imbued the set with her design for the Greenbrier resort—the
repression of the Hungarian uprising past. “I think we both felt an obligation famous 14,000-acre West Virginia prop-
with her family, an immigrant journey to make Sylvia quite proud,” Corbet told erty, where each room feels like a Koda-
echoing Tóth’s in The Brutalist. In Cor- me. For Brody it was a way to honor the chrome ad—was a reference, as was the
bet, Brody knew he’d met a filmmaker of experience and sacrifice of his mother and movie Holiday Inn (1942). “I wanted to do
obsessive vision. “It’s one of these things grandparents. “The foundation, before I the house in what Hollywood used to call
when subject matter, performer, character was even born, of coming to America and the American Colonial Revival style, but
were so incredibly aligned,” Corbet told my ancestral struggle and loss,” he said. put back in New England,” he says. We
me, “that it’s sort of self-evident.” “That has afforded me opportunities that step into a sunny sitting room with a ceil-
Corbet, a former actor, won the are not taken for granted.” ing the color of lemon curd, the walls cov-
best-director award in 2015 at the Venice ered in a graphic floral from the Swedish
Film Festival with his debut feature, The The Brutalist premiered at the Venice wallpaper company Sandberg—a warmly
Childhood of a Leader, and the respect of Film Festival in September. Brody had enveloping pastiche. It would be hard to
independent filmmaking peers with his seen a rough cut; Chapman was viewing be gloomy in a room like this. “What I
commentary on fame and its emotional it for the first time. “We were both blown really wanted was a proper home out of
manipulation and costs in Vox Lux, star- away,” she told me. “I was genuinely lost town,” McKinniss says.
ring Natalie Portman as a damaged and for words.” The film received a standing On first glance, McKinniss’s studio,
damaging pop star. “Very rarely you meet ovation, and Corbet was awarded the Sil- housed in the renovated barn just 100
someone like Brady,” said Brody, “who ver Lion for his directing. It’s clear from paces from his front door, offers a more
presents something that is not only so talking to Corbet and Brody that the austere aesthetic: The drywall behind his
compelling and relevant but who knows sheer relief of having achieved what they paintings is optic white, save for the halo
how to lift up the entire state of indepen- had set out to do outweighed the acco- of colored slashes where McKinniss has
dent filmmaking.” lades. “I don’t feel particularly affected wiped his excess paint. The track light-
Corbet shot The Brutalist in VistaVi- by opinions,” Corbet told me. “I am ing is fluorescent. Functional storage
sion, a large-format process, not much definitely not going to always be making lines the walls. But in another way, it’s
used since the 1950s, and it has a run time movies that everyone connects with.” of a piece: McKinniss’s canvases, like his
of over three hours with an intermission. Similarly, accepting that the highs house, radiate a deep awareness of how
“I want to keep pushing the medium as and lows of a movie career don’t often visual culture alters the way we perceive
far forward as I possibly can,” he told me. correlate with commercial success has the world. New paintings are inspired by
He wrote the script with his wife and afforded Brody equanimity, and even the cover of Fiona Apple’s 1996 album,
screenwriting partner, Mona Fastvold, grace. He’s not overly excited by the Tidal; an image of the characters from
and makes it a point to work with peo- coming awards season. “I’ve been down Friends; a picture of the diver Greg Lou-
ple he both likes and admires. He told the road,” he told me, as he headed out to ganis, upside down with his arms out-
me that Brody, like most of the cast— prepare for that evening’s theater perfor- stretched in a Christ-like configuration at
notably Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce mance. “If you’re lucky you can still find the 1988 Seoul Olympics. These images
and Joe Alwyn—had remained commit- yourself loving what you do and finding have all been rendered on canvases that
ted through several years of COVID and ways to grow and learn and collaborate will ship out the following day, bound
financing delays. Having Brody’s partic- and strive. I’m not worried if I am going for the David Kordansky Gallery in Los
ipation was crucial. “Just straight up, the to have another great role. Sometimes Angeles, where a solo show titled “The
movie would not have gotten made with- work comes and sometimes work may Perfect Tense” opens in January.
out Adrien,” Corbet said. not come. I’ll find ways to stay creative, The new paintings are in the same
The Brutalist is cathedral grand and as and that is very comforting. And the rest: mode as his earlier work, McKinniss says,
delicately emotionally sprung as a watch You take the good and the bad.” * “which you could describe as entertain-
mechanism. It is a Fitzcarraldo fable of ment as usual.” But he also wants there
artistic endeavor, a universal immigrant THROUGH THE to be evocations of loss and mourning.
tale, and a searing indictment of capi- LOOKING GLASS “I was trying to make a show that devel-
talism. Tóth is human and complicated, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 92 oped the idea of a private experience of
stubborn, closed, addicted; he suffers the a cheery tomato-soup red, where a strange grief that could then be experienced in
devastation of war and the promise and soffit, lined with exterior siding, emerges the public domain,” McKinniss says, “so
betrayal of the American dream. Brody’s from the ceiling. The man who built a lot of the notes that I’m trying to hit
performance is a mesmerizing kaleido- the house, Roger Gonzales, “used to tell have to do with a demise or imminent
scope that conveys all of this. people that this was its original corner,” danger.” (Apple has gone through men-
Jones plays opposite Brody as Tóth’s McKinniss says, “and the rest of it was tal health struggles; the Friends image is
wife, Erzsébet, in an indelible portrait of all an addition.” An assortment of brass haunted by the death of Matthew Perry;
a woman physically broken by war who candlesticks appear timeworn; McKin- Louganis later found himself ensnared in
remains resolutely unbroken in spirit. niss tells me he buys them online for $5 controversy when he revealed that he had
They had to act scenes in Hungarian, a apiece. The windows are antique glass, but kept his HIV status secret.)
feat Jones likened to patting your head they were purchased secondhand. The In his rural idyll, McKinniss might be
and rubbing your tummy at the same high-gloss walls of his living room are moving into a more contemplative mood
time. “We never left character when we a lacquered green—inspired by a parlor than that of his 20s and 30s. He is at
were doing those scenes,” she said. “We at Mount Vernon. The color seems both work by 9 a.m., breaking for lunch with
completely immersed ourselves in those Colonial homage and how the Emerald Michael—“the gentlest, most decent
moments, and for the duration we were City might appear if you were watching person you’ll ever meet”—reading vora-
filming we really became those people.” The Wizard of Oz while just a little high. ciously (on his nightstand are works by
The movie was shot, ironically, in “I wanted the house to look like Dor- the art critic Dave Hickey, Ta-Nehisi
Budapest, with the surrounding coun- othy Draper,” McKinniss tells me, whose Coates, and Kazuo Ishiguro), going for
tryside standing in for Pennsylvania, on crisp colors—acid green, flamingo pink— long walks. But he still surrounds himself
a tight budget of under $10 million. Bro- paired with classical details defined a cer- with vivacious friends. (And he knows
dy’s mother, Sylvia Plachy, visited, took tain kind of midcentury baroque. Draper’s everyone—at one point I offhandedly

108 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

mention the children’s artist Richard current iteration, one that extends from a Kering house with a reported annual
Scarry; Scarry’s granddaughter is, of Clerkenwell to tailors in Italy, fabric mak- turnover of more than 800 million euros
course, an acquaintance.) The weekend ers in the North of England, merchan- (as of 2022). “He’s working-class, you
before my visit, some 40 people swirled disers in Korea, and far beyond. “I’m not know,” says fellow London designer
through the house, playing the grand making clothes for a museum,” McGirr Charles Jeffrey, who’s known McGirr
piano in the living room, eating the gin- tells me more than once. “It ’s really since he served as his fit model at Saint
gerbread and apple cakes that Michael important that people wear things.” Given Martins, their f riendship solidified
had baked. McKinniss makes time to visit the turbulent state of the world lately, he over nights dancing at Vogue Fabrics in
the city too, where he and Michael keep hopes his designs can be a form of modern Dalston. “There’s not that many of us
an apartment in Tudor City. armor: “It’s almost like a way of surviving, that have these voices in the industry.”
Have the rhythms of his new life wearing McQueen.” And then there’s the response to
changed him? He explains the story There’s still plenty of room for light- McGirr’s debut, concocted in less than a
behind his more recent large cow paint- ness in McGirr’s universe, though. Today month and presented in the disused train
ings. The canvases emerged from an urge, everyone in the atelier is invited to weigh depot of Les Olympiades on an oddly
he says, to just “take pleasure in art” after in on whether a zebra-print fabric is too wintry evening in March. McGirr had
a period when he was overstretched with “Patsy Stone” (the tragicomic fashionista been studying Lee’s spring 1995 The
gallery obligations. They are less like his from the Absolutely Fabulous series) and Birds collection—particularly its translu-
previous work, and more like “a fantasy whether an abstracted houndstooth is too cent cling film dress—and experimenting
of what I thought painting would’ve “Tati,” referring to the checked pattern of with compression and distortion through
been,” he says, “a fantasy version of an a French chain store. Much, admittedly, is sculptural knitwear, sharply angular sil-
artist in New England.” McKinniss was still in flux: The walls are lined with mood houettes, and shoes inspired by horses
at that time new to Kent, and intended boards pinned with images of Siouxsie and goats. While much of the mixed
to bef riend his local dairy farmer, to Sioux and Plum Sykes, but I soon learn reaction among the editors and influenc-
“trot onto their property with a portable that the collection’s direction has shifted ers was coolly measured—none of which
easel.” Instead he finds himself painting again, while McQueen’s factories wait to impacted the virality of McGirr’s Hoof
cows from images he prints from the get started on production. If the concept boots—far too much of the Instagram
internet. Nature rendered in pixels and of the banshee has begun to crystallize in commentary veered into cyberbullying
transformed again, the uncannily familiar, McGirr’s mind, there’s nothing yet to see cloaked in the guise of fashion criticism.
made strange and new. “The first one I in terms of clothes—just rail after rail of In the ’90s, Lee McQueen was known
did literally was a thumbnail image of a vintage clothes for research, from an olive to place gilded skeletons amid the press
dairy cow,” he says. “From Wikipedia.” * green leather trench to a cream rayon cape seats at his shows as a reminder of his dis-
embellished with sequin lightning bolts dain for their occasional reproaches; one
McGIRR’S McQUEEN that Ziggy Stardust might have worn. As wonders how he might have responded
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 103 McGirr will admit to me later on, “You to a 290-part thread weighing in on his
photographing young kids and skaters on need a bit of time to understand who you draping skills, as McGirr had to endure.
Rue Léon Cladel. (Until 2023, McGirr are within the framework of this kind of (“Can you imagine,” he asks me at one
identified as both designer and photog- brand, which has never really had a new point, sounding both amused and
rapher, winning a prize for his pictures creative director.” appalled, “if I had Instagram?”)
and publishing a book of them.) From I try to figure out how much time On my way to Clerkenwell, I had
there, Antwerp beckoned when he he’s actually had. It’s July, and in the wondered whether McGirr might have
landed a job at Dries Van Noten (his first months since McGirr’s appointment was become jaded since I last glimpsed him,
collection was the label’s frothy collab- announced, he’s produced a 52-look fall back in Paris’s Chinatown in March,
oration with Christian Lacroix) before collection, attempted to meet the scores being pointedly asked by reporters what
returning to London—first as head of and scores of people working underneath he thought Lee would make of his debut
menswear at JW Anderson, then as head him, overseen a 31-look resort offering, collection, but no. McGirr’s pleasure in
of womenswear too. started the spring collection—and weath- dressing—whether others or himself—
The atmosphere in McGirr’s McQueen ered two PR storms. remains intact. If it’s become de rigueur for
studio is markedly democratic. While he The internet met the news of his the millennial directors of major fashion
has his own office, which is filled with mil- arrival in October 2023 with a tiled, houses to adopt a uniform of the Uniqlo
itary chairs from the 1940s, he’s rarely in it, monochrome image of McGirr next crewneck/Levi’s 501s variety, McGirr still
preferring to be with the team while cast- to Kering’s five other creative leads: chooses a look every day for the sheer joy
ing, designing, fitting. McGirr can, over Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent, of it; say, skinny jeans from Kapital in
the course of a single conversation, refer- Demna at Balenciaga, Sabato De Sarno Tokyo, a vintage tweed blazer from Ste-
ence Caravaggio’s Madonna dei Pellegrini, at Gucci, Norbert Stumpfl at Brioni, and fano Pilati’s time at Saint Laurent, and
the contemporary programming at Tokyo’s Matthieu Blazy at Bottega Veneta. In diamond pavé earrings from Antwerp’s
SCAI The Bathhouse, and photographer terms of gender and racial identity, as the Diamantkwartier (“the place for a bit of
Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s distinctly Amer- social media chorus quickly pointed out, bling,” he says). He gushes, too, about the
ican ennui. It’s one of the reasons why one of these things was very much like 2024 Met Gala, when he and Lana Del
Pinault felt instinctively that he would be the others. McGirr replies thoughtfully Rey spent the previous night choreograph-
right for the job. “Seán exemplifies a new and sensitively when I mention it. “It’s ing their red carpet moves in her suite at
generation of creativity in British fashion,” a really important conversation to have,” the Plaza, ordering M&M-topped sun-
he says. “His vibrant energy and passion he says, adding that it’s always been crit- daes from room service at 2 a.m. in a nod
for couture and tailoring—and his rich ical to him to have a team that’s “super to Home Alone. “It’s very stressful, obvi-
background in art and music—resonate diverse”—not just in terms of race and ously, but I managed to also have fun,”
perfectly with the spirit of McQueen.” gender, but age and nationality as well. McGirr says. “That’s important.”
And yet McGirr sees art and fashion as What he doesn’t say is that, even now, Among the McQueen old guard to
distinct entities. Art, he says, comes from it still takes preternatural grit, talent, have rallied around McGirr back on
a singular person, while fashion is gener- and determination to rise from a subur- home shores: milliner Philip Treacy. The
ally produced by a team—in McQueen’s ban Dublin community to the head of two bonded at Treacy’s studios, with

109
 Treacy reminding McGirr that McQueen The Met, they were like, ‘Who the fuck retrospective—Yoko being, McGirr feels,
spent much of his life being undermined. do you think you are?’ I was like, ‘I’m “very McQueen in her fearlessness.”
“Now, obviously, Lee and Isabella are sorry! I just made a dress! I’m no one!’” Still, he’s under no illusions about the
such heroes—and they always were, in “I guess I have this sort of Celtic kin- fact that business is everything in fashion
their own right—but [Philip] told me ship with McQueen,” he tells me over now. “It’s not like 10, 15 years ago, when
that in the ’90s, people didn’t understand lunch in the geranium-filled courtyard of you had certain designers who would
them. He was like, ‘People hated Lee,’” La Famiglia, an old-school Italian restau- show collections that were really cool and
McGirr says. “[Lee and Isabella] were rant off the King’s Road, in August. “We really good, but maybe didn’t sell,” he says.
rebellious—but without being arrogant. both, weirdly, have tartans,” he adds— “Now everything is based on monetary
That’s important.” although McQueen’s, he says, “is way success. Do I think that’s a shame? Kind
McGirr is in no way arrogant, but he more chic.” On weekends in the ’90s and of—but it’s important to acknowledge it
is resolute. As Jeffrey says, he’s always ’00s, McGirr and his family would travel and understand the times we’re living in.”
been charming, fun-loving, and jolly— “deep, deep, deep in the countryside” to The first time McGirr saw the label
but it would be a mistake to confuse his the 100-odd-person village of Lahardane Alexander McQueen was in the depart-
kindness with weakness. There’s a kind near Ireland’s west coast, where one of ment store Brown Thomas, on the soles
of Celtic fire in him, Jeffrey adds, and “if Seán’s maternal uncles had a pub. From of Lee’s 2006 Puma collaboration. It’s
people turn around or say no, it’s just like, the age of 10, he collected empties there also around this time that his paternal
Well, I’ll fucking show you.” and heard the punters recount the folk- grandmother, Maureen, a department
lore that McQueen was riffing on. store window dresser, gave him a 1950s
In the years when Alexander McQueen Despite all of that, McGirr says, sewing machine, and that he learned
reigned over Cool Britannia, Seán “For me, McQueen is about London— about someone named Hedi Slimane—
McGirr was coming of age beside the there’s an attitude in the city that’s very quickly deciding to snatch his school uni-
Irish Sea in the Dublin neighborhood of visceral, but very refined at the same form to match Slimane’s signature skinny
Bayside—a ’60s suburb with a medieval time.” (While his banshees might have Dior Homme silhouettes.
Kilbarrack graveyard—with his bed- their roots in Gaelic folklore, they’re Today you can feel the legacy of teenage
room walls lined with tickets from emo more likely to appear outside Trisha’s, an Lee and Hedi fandom in McGirr’s aes-
concerts. His mother, Eileen, a fertility underground Soho dive, at 5 a.m.) It’s thetic, and in his muses—none of whom
nurse, can trace her eldest’s obsession why, even though the job has his “one- McQueen pays to wear its clothes, an
with design back to the hours and hours hundred-million-and-twenty-percent abnormality in our transactional age. He’s
he spent building amazing structures out dedication at all times,” he’s still out pleased that Beyoncé (among many oth-
of Legos as a three-year-old, while his and about as much as possible, mak- ers) was “really, really obsessed” with the
mechanic father, Brendan, remembers ing frequent excursions across the city voluminous shearling coats in his first col-
McGirr whiling away rainy Saturdays by bicycle: to the exhibition of Francis lection and that Charli XCX spent much
hanging around his Dublin garage. Bacon’s paintings at the National Portrait of her Brat Girl Summer in his Hoof
McGirr returns to Bayside when he Gallery; to a gig by the art-rock band boots (“She’s really like the girl, actually,
can, where he and his family “stay up until Still House Plants south of the Thames; Charli”)—but he’s far more effusive when
1 or 2 a.m. pouring our hearts out to each and, yes, to the occasional “queer rave in telling me about Florence Sinclair (pho-
other,” McGirr says, adding that they can some back-ass place.” (“Sometimes,” he tographed for this story), a British Carib-
quickly disabuse him of any notions of adds, “you need a good stomp.”) We’ve bean musician with 10,000 Instagram
grandeur he may have acquired: “When just been to see the glass hammers and followers and a sound that reminds him
they saw me on the carpet with Lana at wish trees of Tate Modern’s Yoko Ono of Lou Reed. (As for whether he plans

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Sobol. Manicurist: Nori image: Chanel cape and $98; jcrew.com. Raee: Bag; chloe.com. 72–73: On Mugisha:
Yamanaka. Tailor: Curie jeans; select Chanel Alexis Bittar necklace, E. Luntz earrings. Balenciaga stola and
Choi. Right image: On boutiques. Coach shoes; $895; alexisbittar Selima Optique glasses; boots; balenciaga.com.
Thomas: Top; sportmax coach.com. Hair, Joey .com. Manicurist: Gina selimaoptique.com. Beepy Bella hat; beepy
.com. Tory Burch George; makeup, Susie Edwards. Tailor: String Ting bag charm; bella.world. Manicurist:
shoes; toryburch.com. Sobol. Manicurist: Lars Nordensten for stringting.com. Don’t Nori Yamanaka. Tailor:
Hair, Mideyah Parker; Nori Yamanaka. Tailor: Lars Nord Studio. Let Disco bag charm; Victoria Yee Howe.

110 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

 to continue nurturing McQueen’s affilia- a human with a conscience—so if some- of McQueen’s sketches transfigured into
tion with the royals: “Yeah, they haven’t one says something that’s a bit mean, it distinctive collars; leather charms of the
reached out to me yet,” he jokes, although might hurt my feelings, but at the same English roses that Burton so loved; the
he thinks “the kids are quite cool”—and time…it’s noise. You’re always going to Bumster reimagined with a panel of
that six-year-old Prince Louis, of the have noise.” We say our goodbyes, and he’s gossamer silk; georgette dresses adorned
three, has the most “McQueen energy.”) swallowed by the ground traffic of Soho. with black hawthorn branches in a nod
McGirr lives in a two-bedroom ’60s The question— particularly for young to Lana Del Rey’s Met Gala look—and
apartment in the emotional nexus of designers—seems to be: Can you still hear then, transfixing the room, the irides-
London where Soho revelers and Picca- your own voice in spite of that noise? cent banshee dress. The applause, as the
dilly tourists brush up against the toffs of models make their final lap, reverberates
St. James’s private men’s clubs. He still As we take our seats in Paris at McQueen’s around the glass-ceilinged atrium, and
does his own grocery shopping, still has September show, we are greeted by a when McGirr materializes for the cus-
his grandmother Maureen as his iPhone statement of intent directly beneath tomary bow, his eyes are bloodshot.
background—although he’s delighted to our feet: an installation conceived with I’d planned to congratulate him prop-
now have the luxury of a spare room for Tony-winning designer Tom Scutt that erly backstage in the aftermath, but what
when his family comes to visit, even if gives the illusion that McGirr has drilled awaits us, when we join the models toast-
said spare room is largely filled with his clean through the Beaux Arts tiles of the ing one another among the Corinthian
collection of ’80s Armani suits. Palais des Études and installed his own columns, is pandemonium. Daphne
He is, by his own admission, “a bit of a steel-plate runway among the debris. Guinness—in a blazer from McGirr’s
workaholic—that’s just what I like to do.” “The impetus Seán described for me first McQueen collection scattered
Most days he’s awake before 7, reviewing was about his time in London, walking with glinting jet stone—picks her way
the voice notes he sent to himself the day through Soho at 3 a.m.,” explains Scutt, through the TikTokers and ring lights to
before over a full pot of slow-drip coffee the mastermind behind Cabaret’s set and breathlessly invite McGirr to dissect her
before lifting weights or practicing yoga costumes. “We talked a lot about that— collection of Victoriana, just as Lee did
and heading to the office on foot. There’s what it’s like to live in the center of town, in the noughties. Cardi B, swaddled in
a touch of woo-woo to him: He’s into and this liminal dream space that opens furs, insists that “it was beautiful, it was
Reiki, cold baths, and analysis ( Jungian, up between night and day and becomes a dark, it was edgy” (and also that she will
not Freudian). “I don’t know if every- portal into another world.” When the two be needing 14 of those dresses with the
thing in the whole world relates back to visited the École together, it struck them collars). Then McGirr has Mr. Pinault to
your relationship with your mother,” he both: “There’s something quintessentially thank and talking points to rehash about
says—though sex, he quickly adds, “is McQueen about the idea of ripping up his mood boards for various newspapers.
really important.” the floor of an institution and releasing I’m watching all of this, faintly
I find myself wondering whether any of this sort of spirit,” Scutt says. amused, when I realize McGirr’s mother,
this has proved a lifeline since last October. More than one showgoer is still gaz- dressed in her own clothes, is doing the
We’re in a taxi now, speeding back toward ing downward at the trompe l’oeil effect same thing across the echoing marble
the center of London, past the gilt statue when the lights dim, and the pulse of room. I find my way to her and ask what,
of the Victoria Memorial and the Regency Cyrus Goberville’s soundtrack sounds exactly, she makes of this rapture. “Well,
curve of Piccadilly Circus. I steel myself to a warning, before McGirr’s banshees McGirr for McQueen,” she says, pausing
ask, as we approach his stop: How, exactly, materialize through the vapors that shiver and smiling in spite of herself.
has he coped with the trolls? His response above the metallic catwalk. There, one “You have to admit: It’s got a nice ring
is measured, but moving. “Obviously I’m after another, are the architectural lines to it.” *

WHEN SPORTS select Dolce & Gabbana For Angel Reese: McGIRR’S
MET FASHION… boutiques. Ralph Lauren Manicurist, Nori Yamanaka; McQUEEN CONDÉ NAST IS
OT HER T HA N T HE AU T HO RI ZE D STO RE, T HE BUYE R TA KES A RI SK A N D SH OU LD USE CAUTION
SO LD BY D I SCOU N T ERS. AS I S A LWAYS TH E CAS E I N PU RC HASI N G A N I TE M FROM A N YWH ER E

74: Coat; loewe.com for Purple Label shoes; tailor, Curie Choi. For 94–103: Movement
A WO R D A BOU T DI SCOUN TE RS W HI LE VOGUE TH OROUG HLY R ES EA RC HES TH E CO MPANIES

COMMITTED TO GLOBAL
M EN T I ON ED I N I TS PAG ES, W E CA N N OT GUA RA NT E E T HE AUT HE N TI CI T Y O F M ERCHA N D ISE

ENVIRONMENTAL
similar styles. Eterne ralphlauren.com. 79: Frances Tiafoe: Tailor, director: Yagamoto. SUSTAINABILITY. SCAN
HERE FOR DETAILS.
bodysuit; eterne.com. Jacket, shirt, and pants; Cynthia Crusan-Noble. Manicurist: Ama
Brother Vellies shoes. tomfordfashion.com. For Gabby Thomas: Quashie. Tailor:
74–75: Dress; stella Rings; davidyurman Manicurist, Nori Yamanaka; Della George.
mccartney.com. Femme .com. Jaeger-LeCoultre tailor, Cha Cha Zutic.
LA shoes; femme.la. watch. 80: Dress and THE GET
77: Jacket and pants; earrings; bottegaveneta MAN ON WIRE 104–105: 5. Ring,
jacquemus.com. .com. 81: Dress; 84–85: Trench coat; price upon request.
Stella McCartney shoes; proenzaschouler.com. gucci.com. 86–87:
stellamccartney.com. Khaite shoes; khaite Turtleneck and coat; LAST LOOK
78: Coat; dunhill.com. .com. 83: Jumpsuit and tomfordfashion.com. 112: Bag; select Ralph
Jeans; levi.com. Hat; earrings; Dior boutiques. Tailor: Nafisa Tosh. Lauren boutiques.

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111
Last Look

Ralph Lauren Collection bag

Ralph Lauren’s well-tended stable of accessories has a knockdown new addition: a style inspired
by the designer’s beloved classic cars. The Ralph Tote is all swoon-worthy curves—from the ample
calfskin leather body, seen here in a plummy bordeaux, to the hand-carved burl wood and metal
handle (based on a vintage steering wheel). Whether you’re gearing up for work or merely idling at
the farmers market, it’s an heirloom in the making that’s safe—and chic—at any speed.
P H OTO G RA P H E D BY C H R I S B RO O KS

112 WINTER 2025 VOGUE.COM

THE AD-APPROVED DESIGNERS
TRANSFORMING VISIONS
INTO REALITY

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