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COMÈTE VOLUTE Accessories NECKLACE IN WHITE GOLD AND DIAMONDS, Quality CHANEL HIGH JEWELRY, 800-550-0005. Star Chanel’s 1932 high jewelry collection expands on the celestial theme of Coco Chanel’s first range of diamond jewelry, Bijoux de Diamants, which was inspired by shooting stars across the Parisian sky. ARTWORK BY ANNA BU KLIEWER

Accessories 1 HEARST CASTLE’S ROMAN POOL IN SAN SIMEON. 2 3 8 These glamorous extras areinspired 4 POOL: GNOHZ/SHUTTERSTOCK; MISSONI TURBAN: COURTESY OF FARFETCH; POOL LADDER: FRANCINE bytheworld’siconicpools. First stop: an ORR/LOS ANGELES TIMES/GET T Y IMAGES; TEKL A TOWELS: COURTESY OF MATCHES FASHION; R EMAI NING IMAGE S: C OURT ESY OF THE D ESIGN ERS; FOR DE TA ILS, S EE SH OP PING GU IDE . 7 5 1. RING, HARWELL GODFREY, $3,300, NET-A-PORTER.COM. 2. TURBAN, MISSONI, $600, MISSONI.COM. 3. FRUIT PLATE, $59, TRAY, $170, DESIGNED BY CTRLZAK, SELETTI, SELETTI.US. 4. SWIMSUIT, OSÉREE, $283, OSEREE.COM. 5. SUNGLASSES, VINTAGE FRAMES COMPANY, $150, VINTAGEFRAMESCOMPANY.COM. 6. SANDAL, MANOLO BLAHNIK X BIRKENSTOCK, $810, MANOLOBLAHNIK.COM. 7. TOWELS, TEKLA, $135 (SET OF THREE), MATCHESFASHION.COM. 8. EARRINGS, ALMASIKA, TWISTONLINE.COM. 6 48

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Accessories 2 4 1 MEXICO HOTPINK 3 The architectural work of Luis Barragán proves that minimalismneedn’tbedevoidofcolor. CUADRA SAN CRISTÓBAL IN CIUDAD LÓPEZ MATEOS. 5 1. CHARM NECKLACE, DANIELA VILLEGAS, DANIELAVILLEGAS.COM. 6 2. HANDBAG, SALVATORE FERRAGAMO, $1,990, FERRAGAMO.COM. 3. FLIPPERS, YUCCA FINS, $80, SSENSE.COM. 4. SUNGLASSES, JACQUEMUS, $300, JACQUEMUS.COM. 5. HAT, GLADYS TAMEZ MILLINERY, $340, GLADYSTAMEZ.COM. 6. PILLOW, THE ELDER STATESMAN, $1,255, SSENSE.COM. 7. TERRA-COTTA HORSE SCULPTURES, FOROM, $648 EACH, FOROM.CO. 8. BIKINI TOP, $130, BOTTOM, $155, MARA HOFFMAN, MARAHOFFMAN.COM. 9. MULE, THE ATTICO, $710, THEATTICO.COM. 10. ARMCHAIR, ADN STUDIO, $900, 1STDIBS.COM. 10 9 87





2 C UA DR A SA N CRISTÓ BA L: M AT H ILD E MA RE ST/ SH UT T ERSTOC K (2 ); Y U CCA F IN S F L I PP ERS, T H E E LD ER STATE SM A N PIL LOW, AN D CA RN E BOLL ENTE TOWEL : 3 4 C OURTE SY OF S SEN SE; P ISC IN E MO LITO R: H E MIS/A L A M Y ( 2) ; LO E WE SUNG L AS SE S: COURTESY OF MODA OPE RA NDI ; REM AIN I NG IM AG ES: CO URTESY OF 5 THE DESIGNERS; FOR DETAILS, SEE SHOPPING GUIDE. 1 10 9 8 PISCINE MOLITOR IN PARIS. 1. CLUTCH, OLYMPIA LE-TAN, $1,630, OLYMPIALETAN.COM. 2. BEACH TOWEL, CARNE BOLLENTE, $90, SSENSE.COM. 3. SUNGLASSES, LOEWE, $379, FARFETCH.COM. 7 4. HANDBAG, MIU MIU, $1,990, MIUMIU.COM. 5. SWIMSUIT, RUDI GERNREICH, $240, RUDIGERNREICH.COM. 6. CITY GUIDE BOX SET, LOUIS VUITTON, $740, LOUISVUITTON.COM. 7. SANDAL, CHLOÉ, $725, CHLOÉ BOUTIQUES NATIONWIDE. 8. SOAP BAR IN KAWAKAWA AND ACTIVATED CHARCOAL, SPHAERA, $26, SPHAERA.CO.NZ. 9. BUCKET HAT, PRADA, $775, PRADA.COM. 10. RING, CHARLOTTE CHESNAIS, $525, CHARLOTTECHESNAIS.COM. 6

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SWIMSUIT, SWIMSUIT, 1 NORMA KAMALI, $165, OCEANUS, $340, MATCHESFASHION.COM WOLFANDBADGER.COM 2 SWIMSUIT, BIKINI, 3 ISA BOULDER, $325, ALESSANDRA RICH, $530, FARFETCH.COM ALESSANDRARICH.COM SWIMSUIT, THE ATTICO, $540, THEATTICO.COM ISA 4 BOULDER 5 BIKINI, OSÉREE, $240, 1. Sunglasses, Tia Adeola OSEREE.COM x Planet-i, $80, tiaadeola .com. 2. Earring, Ana BIKINI, SWIMSUIT, Khouri, anakhouri.com. MAYGEL CORONEL, $405, MAGDA BUTRYM, $485, 3. Dress, Baobab, $240, MAYGELCORONEL.COM MAGDABUTRYM.COM baobabswim.com. 4. Handbag, Susan Fang, GOLDEN susanfangofficial.com. GIRL 5. Mule, D’Accori, $690, net-a-porter.com. Embrace all things shiny and embellished for a seamless transition from pool to party. 56

BIKINI TOP, $250, Shop BOTTOM, $210, JOHANNA ORTIZ, ISLAND JOHANNAORTIZ.COM IT 1 2 BIKINI TOP, $160, Nail that haute-hippie BOTTOM, $140, mix with artisanal details AGUA BY AGUA BENDITA, THEWEBSTER.COM and artful prints. SWIMSUIT, SILVIA TCHERASSI, $290, SILVIATCHERASSI.COM 3 BIKINI, SOLKISSED, $151, SOLKISSED.COM I SA BOU LDE R SWIMSUIT: C OURTESY OF FA RF ETCH; NO RMA K AM AL I SWI MSUIT: C OURTE SY OF MATC HES CALA DE BIKINI TOP, $158, FASHION; D ’ACCORI MULE: COURT ESY OF NE T-A-P O RTE R; WATER BACKD ROP : ROC CA NA LS/ GET T Y IMAGES; LA CRUZ BOTTOM, $98, FE RE MA IN ING IMAGE S: COURTESY O F T HE D ESIGN ERS; FO R DE TA ILS, SEE S HOP P ING GUI DE . NOEL, FENOEL.COM SWIMSUIT, BIKINI TOP, $185, CALA DE LA CRUZ, $275, BOTTOM, $170, SWIMSUIT, LA DOUBLEJ, ERES, $655, 4 CALADELACRUZ.COM LADOUBLEJ.COM ERESPARIS.COM 5 1. AirPods holder, Etro, $205, etro.com. 2. Hat, Romualda, $478, romualda.es. 3. Dress, Missoni, $1,380, missoni .com. 4. Earrings, Marc Jacobs, $120, marcjacobs .com. 5. Sandal, Nomadic State of Mind, $64, nomadicstateofmind.com.

SWIMSUIT, JADE 1 SWIM, $198, WEAR GOOP.COM IT WITH BIKINI TOP, $130, UPF 50+ SWIMSUIT, BOTTOM, $120, COVER, $215, AEXAE, FWRD.COM COVERSWIM.COM MYRA 3 2 SWIM 4 BIKINI TOP, $99, BOTTOM, $99, MYRA SWIM, MYRASWIM.COM SWIMSUIT, JUAN DE DIOS, $325, JUANDEDIOS.CO 5 MAILLOT, 6 JADE SWIM SWIMSUIT: COURTESY OF GOOP; CHRISTOPHER JOHN ROGERS MATTEAU, $320, INT SHIRT: COURT ESY OF N ET-A- PORTER ; K HAI TE HA ND BAG: C OURTE SY OF LUISA .MATTEAU-STORE.COM VIA RO MA; WAT ER BAC KD RO P: ROC CA NA LS/GET T Y IMAG ES; R EMA INING IMAGE S: COURTESY OF T HE D ESIGNERS; FOR D ETA ILS, SEE SHOP P ING GU IDE . BIKINI TOP, 1. Earrings, Anne Klein, $177, BOTTOM, $26, anneklein.com. $95, NU SWIM, 2. The Girls in Queens by NU-SWIM.COM Christine Kandic Torres, harpercollins.com. 3. Shirt, MONOKINI, Christopher John Rogers, RUDI GERNREICH, $195, $825, exclusively at RUDIGERNREICH.COM net-a-porter.com. 4. Sunglasses, Salvatore THEORIST BIKINI TOP, Ferragamo, $325, $124, BOTTOM, ferragamo.com. Bold hues and restrained $104, MIKOH, 5. Handbag, Khaite, $1,180, silhouettes allow your own true MIKOH.COM luisaviaroma.com. 6. Slide, colors to shine through. Free People, $98, freepeople.com. 58

F I N DTHE For those days when you need a reminder of your inner goddess, 302® Fine Jewelry channels the mythological realm with its Artemis Coin necklace. Created in 14 karat yellow gold, this timeless medallion depicting the goddess of the hunt shines even brighter thanks to a chain dotted with faceted gold beads. 14K yellow gold Artemis Coin 18-inch necklace, 302® Fine Jewelry, $1,099, 302FineJewelry.com. PRESENTED BY 302® FINE JEWELRY



Beauty TheWhite Stripes IMAXTREE racing white eyeliner along the waterline to brighten the face is one of the oldest tricks in a T makeup artist’s handbook. But on fashion run- ways this spring, bright white color expanded its reach, migrating to eyelashes, brows, and nails— even the undereyes. At Dior’s haute couture show, models wore a graphic slash of white liner on the lower lashes—a style reportedly inspired by Willow Smith’s makeup when she attended the brand’s 2018 couture show. “The look is very fresh and conceptual, without beingtoointimidating,”saysPeterPhilips,DiorMakeup’screative and image director. To do it yourself, he suggests using a liner like Diorshow On Stage Liner in Matte White ($32; dior.com) to EYES WERE UNDERLINED WITH WHITE LIQUID LINER AT DIOR’S HAUTE COUTURE SHOW.

LEARN &XOWLYDWH&RQɤ GHQFH MORE HERE! Prioritizing mental health DQGIHHOLQJFRQɤGHQWLVVR important to Hilarie. “I love EHLQJRXWVLGHJHWWLQJH[HUFLVH E\\SODQWLQJYHJHWDEOHVDQG FRRNLQJKHDOWK\\PHDOV7R ORRNDQGIHHOP\\EHVW,HDWDV PXFKVHDVRQDOIDUPWRWDEOH DQGJUHHQIRRGDVSRVVLEOHŬ PRVWO\\IURPP\\RZQJDUGHQű Natural W by Nature P\\ PRESENTED BY EUROPEAN WAX CENTER® W JŬ VISIT WAXCENTER.COM TO GET YOUR FIRST WAX FREE.* Keeping It Smooth )LUVWWLPHJXHVWVRQO\\9DOLGRQO\\IRUVHOHFWVHUYLFHV +LODULHNHHSVKHUVNLQVRIWDQG $GGLWLRQDOWHUPVPD\\DSSO\\3DUWLFLSDWLRQPD\\YDU\\SOHDVH K\\GUDWHGEHWZHHQZD[HVZLWK YLVLWZD[FHQWHUFRPIRUJHQHUDOWHUPVDQGFRQGLWLRQV (XURSHDQ:D[&HQWHUERG\\ SURGXFWVŰ:HRQO\\JHWRQHVHW RIVNLQVRZHQHHGWRSUHVHUYH LWDQGXVLQJ(XURSHDQ:D[ &HQWHUŮVERG\\RLOIHHOVOLNHDWLQ\\ ZD\\RIVSRLOLQJP\\VHOIű Lightweight yet super luxurious, EWC Slow moisturizers soothe skin and actually help slow hair regrowth. (:&6ORZƐ&RFRQXW %RG\\2LOZLWK+DLU*URZWK 0LQLPL]HU

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Beauty S U M M E R M A K E U P WILLOW SMITH’S 2018 LINER (LEFT) WAS CITED AS INSPIRATION FOR DIOR’S 2022 HAUTE COUTURE BEAUTY LOOK. AT CONNER IVES (BELOW), PALOMA ELSESSER’S WHITE POWDER WAS “BAKED” BUT NOT BLENDED UNDER EYES. LILA MOSS ROCKED BLEACHED BROWS AT RICHARD QUINN (ABOVE). BETINA GOLDSTEIN’S TAKE ON THE MODERN FRENCH MANICURE (RIGHT) FEATURES CHANEL LE VERNIS IN BLANC ÉCUME. create three dots beneath each eye: one slightly outside the inner GIGI MO SS: DAVID M. BE NET T/G ET T Y I MAGES; SM ITH: L AUR ENT ZA BU LON /A BACA /A L AM Y; corner, one directly beneath the pupil, and one where you want HADID’S ICY ELSESSER: DANIELLA MAIORANO; HADID: AMY TROOST; MANICURE: COURTESY OF the liner to end. Then play connect the dots. LASHES AT BETINA GOLDSTEIN; REMAINING IMAGES: COURTESY OF THE BRANDS. MARC On the fall 2022 runways, model Lila Moss closed the Richard JACOBS Quinn show in a platinum bridal ensemble paired with bleached WERE brows (something her model mother, Kate, also rocked during PAINTED BY her catwalk heyday). Models at Conner Ives wore bright white DICK PAGE. powder under their eyes. And in Marc Jacobs’s spring lookbook, Gigi Hadid’s lashes were coated in layers of white-cream color. To create the icy look, Dick Page used a fan brush to paint on the white shade in Make Up For Ever Flash Color Case Multi-Use Palette ($115; makeupforever.com). Classic French manicures turned up at Michael Kors’s 40th anniversary show this past year, revitalizing a former mainstay of suburban nail salons. To make it modern, nail artist Betina Goldstein recommends making the tip “more oval than square” and using a softer, creamier shade (rather than stark white), such as Chanel Le Vernis Blanc Écume ($30; chanel.com), which has subtle shimmer. The result is “still clean and beautiful without being so in-your-face.”—MARGAUX ANBOUBA 64



Beauty e’re well-conditioned to load up on sunscreen in the summer. But UV rays aren’t skin’s only W warm-weather threat. Spending more time outdoors also means increased exposure to pollution, which is packed with skin-aging free radicals. How can we shield our skin? Enter a new crop of face mists. Some antipollution mists work by blocking pollution par- ticles in the air. Orveda Respure Breathable Mist Beauty Shield ($85; orveda.com) uses algae extract to prevent these particles from adhering to the skin, while Embryolisse Active Water ($25; us.embryolisse.com) is enriched with negative ions that are purported to repel them. “There is data to suggest that negative ions can neutralize pollution particles,” says Blair Murphy-Rose, MD, a New York City dermatologist, but she adds that the exact amount hasn’t been clinically quantified. So while using a mist can help cut down on particle accumulation, JUSTADD WATER washing your face each night is still key to ensure you’ve thor- Can a spray a day keep pollution at bay? oughly removed the day’s environmental grime. A look at the new protective skin mists. A second set of mists work by fighting free radicals in pollu- tion particles (refresher: Free radicals are unbalanced electrons that seek to pair with electrons in skin cells, damaging collagen in the process). “When I formulated our mist, I chose a blend of plant stem cells…[that] are ideal pollution fighters because they neutralize free radicals and maximize the skin’s defense sys- tems,” says Gary Goldfaden, MD, of his brand’s Mist RX ($48; goldfadenmd.com). Other antioxidant sprays: Dr. Koo Private MARTA BEVACQUA/TRUNK ARCHIVE. Practice Hyaluronic Hydration Myst ($75; drkooskincare .com), Gucci Brume De Beauté Beauty Mist ($76; sephora .com), and Byroe Hibiscus Tea Glow Mist ($63; byroe.com). Unlike antioxidant serums, which are typically applied to clean skin once a day, antioxidant-rich mists are convenient (and refreshing) to reapply throughout the day—even over makeup or sunscreen. In addition to added pollution protection, most also boost hydration and impart a dewy glow. But as refreshing as a mist may be, it is not a replacement for an antioxidant serum and should be seen as supplementary protection, says Anthony Rossi, MD, a dermatologic surgeon at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. “I think of a spritz as a bonus to your serum and sunscreen.”— GENEVIEVE MONSMA 66

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Beauty H A I R F I L E S CURTAIN CURTAIN CURLY BANGS BANGS: BANGS KENDALL These bangs took off on TikTok JENNER “This ’70s-inspired style is and in real life because they’re having a renaissance,” says an easy option for almost Mischa Golebiewski (“Mischa anyone, says Chris Appleton, G”), owner of New York City’s celebrity stylist to clients like Treehouse Social Club salon. Jennifer Lopez. Shorter in the “People want to stop being middle, longer on the sides, and slaves to blow-dry bars and just split like a pair of drapes, curtain let their curls be.” Like curtains, bangs work on all hair types. curly bangs are fairly low- They also suit most face shapes, maintenance. In fact, Mischa G and, because they’re longish to says some curly bangs are cut start, are pretty painless to grow like curtains, just worn with out. To style, Appleton suggests texture. When styling, she first spritzing with a volumizer, like uses a cream or balm, followed Color Wow Raise the Root by a product that provides ($24; colorwowhair.com), then structure, such as a gel. Try Cult using a round brush and + King Balm and Jelly ($40 and blow-dryer to lift the bangs at $35; cultandking.com). She also the root and bend slightly at the suggests shaping bangs while ends. “The key is to keep the they’re still wet—and then, once face open,” he says. they’re dry, giving the bangs “a little fluff” with dry shampoo. CURLY BANGS: ZENDAYA BANGS NO-COMMITMENT Are BACK BANGS “A lot of people let their hair go (and grow) during JE NNE R: MA RC P IASE CK I/ GC I MAG ES/ GE T T Y I MAGES; ZE NDAYA: BE RT R AND RIND OF F COVID, and want an update,” says New York City stylist P ET ROF F/G ET T Y IMAGES; SC HA FE R: JE FF KR AVI TZ /HBO /FIL MMAGIC. Nunzio Saviano. “Bangs give you a new look without sacrificing length.” The hottest takes on the trend: versatile, low-maintenance options, like these three. CROPPED CROPPED BANGS BANGS: HUNTER A more forgiving take on super-short baby bangs, a SCHAFER cropped fringe hits an inch or so above the brows. Rena To try bangs without Calhoun, the celebrity stylist succumbing to scissors, who cut actress Hunter consider experimenting Schafer’s bangs, says the length with clip-in fringe. For the “should be modified to fit a most natural result, person’s face shape and bone Appleton suggests having structure.” Unlike heavy, Bettie a professional stylist thin Page–style fringe, cropped and shape the clip-in to bangs are relatively wispy and suit your face, because not cut as far back into the “most are thick and hairline, making them easier to oversaturated when you blend in (and grow out). To buy them; that’s what style, Calhoun likes to apply a makes them look fake.” lightweight styling product, Then you can easily attach such as Virtue Volumizing it on your own. Check out Primer ($38; virtuelabs.com), to options from The Hair damp hair, then uses a paddle Shop (thehairshop.com) brush to blow-dry the bangs in or Insert Name Here both directions, smoothing and (inhhair.com). flattening any cowlicks. —GENEVIEVE MONSMA 68

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Beauty MESSAGE in oses are red, violets are a BOTTLE blue, and both are for A new generation of brand founders R women when it comes are rebellingagainsttheideaof to blending perfume. That’s the way it’s al- genderedscents and instead mixing ways been in the tra- fragrances on their own fluid terms. ditional fragrance industry—the scent of a flower or anything sweet has been 70 seen as distinctly feminine, while notes of leather, tobacco, or spices have signaled masculinity and testosterone. But a new generation of LGBTQ+ brand founders and perfumers are rebelling against the hyper-gendered rules of fragrance blend- ing, and instead creating fluid scents that reflect the complexity of human nature. “The gender roles that have been giv- en to fragrance don’t make any sense,” says perfumer and author Tanaïs. “A fra- grance can inhabit any body. It’s about being drawn to the scent and putting it on—it’s not as if a rose wouldn’t smell appealing on the skin of somebody who is male-identifying.” Many of these fragrance noncon- formists cite a single scent as an early in- spiration. In 1994, Calvin Klein released CK One ($65; calvinklein.us)—the first marketed unisex fragrance—which brought together rose with musk, am- ber, lavender, and papaya for a unique- ly clean scent that was a stratospheric financial success as well as a formative beauty moment for a new generation. Both Kate Moss (who was part of the iconic black-and-white campaign) and Jared Leto reportedly wore the scent, which made more than $5 million in the first 10 days and sold 20 bottles a minute at its peak popularity. “I didn’t feel like the girls or the boys growing up,” says Gloria Noto of Noto, who was 11 when CK One came to mar- ket. Noto’s first fragrance experience was their mother’s signature scents, the now-discontinued Exclamation by Coty and Elizabeth Arden Red Door Eau de Parfum ($58; elizabetharden.com). But everything about the gender-fluid launch of CK One spoke to Noto and how they formulated the Agender Oil ($44; notobotanics.com), which brings togeth- er soft lavender with heavy vetiver. “CK One has been a through line in my whole life’s experience,” Noto says. The cam- paign was formative for Tanaïs, too, who says, “I didn’t actually like the scent, but the concept really resonated.” A quarter of a century later, market research company Statista found that 51 percent of new fragrance launches in 2018 were for fragrances that were A RT W O R K BY L ISA RYA N

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Beauty F R A G R A N C E marketed as “unisex”—compared to 17 “A FRAGRANCE CAN INHABIT percent in 2010. And we’re continuing ANY BODY. IT’S ABOUT to explore what it means to smell mascu- line, feminine, and all of the gender and BEING DRAWN TO THE SCENT sexuality expressions in between. AND PUTTING IT ON.”—Tanaïs “We’re at the beginning of a revolu- ($98; boysmells.com) combines sophis- and fir—it’s like a hug from a windswept tion,” says Phil Riportella, cofounder of ticated violet flower—traditionally used ex-lover that lingers just a little too long the online-only fragrance brand Snif. in cosmetics—with rugged tobacco and in hopes of reconciliation. “The types of fragrances an individual leather to create an aromatic tug-of- enjoys don’t have to be tied to gender war that brings to mind a cowboy who Tynan Sinks, a beauty writer and co- anymore, but instead are about what an doesn’t care about smearing their red host of fragrance podcast Smell Ya Later, individual likes.” lip. “Limited gender expectations have recalls the first time he tried on Chanel been shoved down our throats by the Coco Noir Eau de Parfum ($146; chanel The greatest move toward blending fragrance industry,” says the brand’s co- .com)—which is heavily marketed to the lines starts with blending, period. founder Matthew Herman. “Boy Smells female-identifying shoppers—in his early “Blue” and “pink” notes are out, and in- pokes fun at the outdated ideas that pink twenties. “I’ve never fit the framework stead fragrance is like your aura—use is for girls with our packaging—and that of traditional masculinity,” says Sinks, it to greet those around you with a vibe woods and musks are scents just for boys who is known for his pink cat-eye looks. and tell them something about you. Also with the products we create.” “When I started wearing women’s fra- out: language or images that feel like per- grances, I was like, ‘Oh, this is me.’” fume tropes—think of men riding bare- Snif ’s direct-to-consumer model was back shirtless, or women coyly running inspired by those who dread going to The ability to re-explore scent, out- from something while looking over their department store beauty counters and side the gender constructs of the tradi- shoulder. Now imagery tends to be emo- any judgment that can come along with tional fragrance industry, brings a new tive shots of ingredients and products, it. (To overcome the barrier of hesitant joy to this connection, and new audiences and campaigns feature a variety of people online shoppers, there’s a trial purchase to the experience. and bodies. These next-gen fragrances option that comes with a sample and free are all about how they make the wearer returns if the scent isn’t for you.) Sweet “Modern fragrance is all about how it feel—and, more importantly, if you iden- Ash ($65; snif.co) cuts the candied energy makes you feel,” Herman says. “Finding tify with it, then it’s a scent for you. of traditionally feminine notes like vanil- new sides of you and making room for la bean and bergamot with earthy moss evolution is a fantastic and never-ending In 2016, Los Angeles–based Boy journey of self. Scent can and should play Smells began with candles in millennial- a part in that.”—MARGAUX ANBOUBA pink boxes and added fine fragrances— tagged with the moniker “Genderful,” not genderless—last year. Violet Ends 12 FLUID FLUIDS Feels like...? 4 1. SOLUTION NO. 1 patch of wild roses. COURTESY OF THE BRANDS. 3 Off-White “Paperwork,” Notes: Argentinean off---white.com rose, Argentinean oud. 5 Like you’re playing bocce at the beach 4. REPLICA WHEN on a balmy day, THE RAIN STOPS dressed in diamonds. Maison Margiela, Notes: ho wood, maisonmargiela- bergamot, vetiver, sand. fragrances.us Like walking down 2. BISTRO WATERS a cobblestone street D.S. & Durga, post-rainstorm, when dsanddurga.com everything smells Like eating at the clean and earthy. newest fancy vegan Notes: bergamot, restaurant in town, rose, patchouli, where the “house aquatic accord. water” has hints of lime and something you 5. GENTLE just can’t place. FLUIDITY– Notes: pear, basil, SILVER EDITION two water varieties. Maison Francis Kurkdjian, 3. ROSA DE LA franciskurkdjian.com PATAGONIA Like a romantic Fueguia 1833, weekend away in fueguia.com a glass house in the Like you’re hiking in the woods (not listed mountains—and just on Airbnb). a little bit sweaty—when Notes: musk, nutmeg, you stumble upon a coriander, vanilla.



Living RECLAIM YOUR ZEN When a standard vacation won’t cut it, it’s time for a mentalhealthgetaway. lay on the floor of a 407-year-old French chapel, CAL-A-VIE JERRY WARD reconstructed stone by stone on a lavender- VISTA, CALIFORNIA I covered hill at Cal-a-Vie, a tony Southern GUESTS AT THIS WELLNESS RETREAT, WHOSE GROUNDS ARE LOCATED AMONG FIELDS California destination spa. Six crystal bowls OF GRAPEVINES AND LAVENDER IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, CAN PARTAKE IN SOUND surrounded me, humming with a soothing BATHS, A FORM OF MEDITATION THAT STUDIES SUGGEST CAN ALLEVIATE ANXIETY AND sound. Palms up, eyes closed, I was there for a DEPRESSION. “EVERYONE IS A LITTLE DEPRESSED RIGHT NOW,” SAYS INSTRUCTOR sound bath, a form of meditation that studies suggest can allevi- KUMIKO NIWAYAMA. “THIS WILL SNAP THEM OUT OF IT.” ate stress, anxiety, and depression (Kendall Jenner and Meghan Markle are fans). As the hour-long session rolled along, Kumiko reset to survive parenting in a pandemic that just won’t quit. Niwayama, one of Cal-a-Vie’s yoga and meditation instructors, Perhaps you can relate. Women, disproportionately impacted strummed the bowls, rumbled a Native American drum, and shook a rattle filled with seashells that sounded like a receding by the crisis, are maxed out: Twenty-nine percent of women re- wave —each note intended to relax the subconscious and activate ported symptoms of anxiety and depression in a 2021 University the body’s natural healing systems. Before long, my mind quieted of Chicago Medicine study, nearly double the pre-pandemic rate. and I began to drift off into a semi-sleep state. It’s no surprise, then, that we’re itching to get sprung from two I had come to the spa seeking just such an escape—a dedi- years of house jail, and travel has come roaring back. In the third cated hour where I could relieve my pulsing brain. Mothering week of March 2022, hotel occupancy was down just 3.7 percent two children under four during the time of COVID-19 has done from the same time frame in March 2019. But now we’re search- a number on my nervous system. Weeks-long quarantines, hard- ing for destinations that not only transport us, but transform us. to-find childcare, and general looming uncertainty have dialed More than two-thirds of travelers plan to base their next vacation my existing anxiety into overdrive. Couple that with a pandemic on improving their mental well-being, according to a September puppy and a preschooler who, darling as she is, stopped napping 2021 survey by American Express. “We are seeing the demand and started going all Picasso on my walls, and by the time the for mental health retreats skyrocket,” says Alex Timmons, two-year anniversary rolled around, I was one nursery school co-owner of Mountain Trek, a holistic hiking retreat in Canada, closureawayfromattendinga#MomScreamevent.WhatIneed- where interest in mental wellness offerings has jumped 137 per- ed was some quiet time to myself, a place where I could mentally cent since the pandemic started. “It was a long time coming, but COVID pushed people over the edge.” The travel industry has responded to our collective angst. Wellness tourism, now a $436 billion industry, is booming, and 74



Living M E N T A L H E A L T H T R A V E L the array of new mental health offerings is just as robust. There’s BORGO EGNAZIA art therapy in a greenhouse surrounded by lush gardens at the PUGLIA, ITALY Royal Mansour in Marrakech, or Reiki with a former Buddhist nun in Bali. At Mountain Trek, guests can forgo electronic devic- HAPPINESS RETREATS ARE EXPERIENCING A POST-PANDEMIC BOOM. THIS LUXURY HOTEL es, hike for three to four hours a day, and forest bathe. In Greece, IN SOUTHERN ITALY OFFERS A “HAPPINESS BREAK”: TRAVELERS IN NEED OF A MOOD Euphoria Retreat’s Feel Alive Again program promises to “purge BOOST TAKE PART IN SESSIONS WITH A LAUGHTER MASTER, WHO DRAWS ON GUESTS’ the effects of the pandemic” with activities such as expressive SILLY IMPRESSIONS OF EACH OTHER AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL APULIAN MUSIC AND dance, breath work, and moodboarding. In Brazil, you can go DANCE TO EVOKE DELIGHT. foraging for fruits and herbs to make doctor-recommended mood-boosting elixirs. And in Northern California, Cavallo Point Maya. In January, the hotel debuted its Happiness Program, serves up new customizable wellness itineraries that include which uses an on-property shaman, centuries-old Mayan tra- Freedom From Anxiety hypnotherapy or, if you’re game to put ditions, and energetic cleansings to help guests achieve lasting yourself in the hands of a shaman, a program that “engages the contentment. Meanwhile, the Happiness Break at Borgo Egnazia forces of nature and the ancestors’ ancient wisdom to create in Puglia, Italy, takes a lighthearted approach: aromatherapy to lasting changes for physical, mental, and emotional well-being.” boost dopamine production, and sessions with a laughter mas- ter, who draws on guests’ silly impersonations of each other and The demand for psychedelic retreats—the ultimate mental traditional Apulian music and dance to evoke delight. reset—for addressing issues like addiction, anxiety, trauma, and depression is also soaring. From 2021 to 2022, bookings dou- Some locations are working with certified mental health bled at Soltara, a high-end ayahuasca healing center in Costa professionals to bring guests relief. In 2021, Miraval Resorts, Rica frequented by celebrities, prompting the center to open with locations in Arizona, Austin, and the Berkshires, teamed up an additional location in Costa Rica and one in Peru . (The bur- with the National Alliance on Mental Illness to produce a series geoning psychedelic tourism industry is often unregulated, of recorded meditations. In February, Canyon Ranch rolled out so prospective psychonauts should choose retreats that have the Build Resilience Pathway, a course at its Tucson, Arizona, reputable healers, licensed medical staff, and trauma-informed and Lenox, Massachusetts, locations in which guests meet with facilitators on hand.) Happiness retreats, too, are experiencing a licensed therapists and spiritual wellness practitioners, such as post-pandemic-doom-and-gloom boom. “Now more than ever, a former Christian minister, to develop behavioral therapy tools guests are looking for moments of peace and physical and emo- and mindfulness techniques. And in November, Auberge Resorts tional harmony,” says Alejandra Bustamante, wellness director Collection reopened Hacienda AltaGracia in Costa Rica’s high- of Mexico’s Chablé Maroma, a seaside resort on the Riviera lands, where guests might top off a morning spent climbing to the rain-forest canopy with a session of Integrative Energy Work, which incorporates Emotional Freedom Technique, or tapping, a method to treat psychological and physical pain.

COURTESY OF THE VENUES. CHABLÉ MAROMA Paltrow. Since launching new classes in response to the pandem- PUNTA MAROMA, MEXICO ic, such as Anxiety and Nutrition: The Gut-Brain Connection; Create a Meditation Mala Bracelet; and Restore Your Nervous THIS SEASIDE RESORT BEGAN OFFERING A HAPPINESS PROGRAM IN JANUARY AFTER System yoga, the spa has seen bookings jump 15 to 20 percent. SEEING COVID-FUELED DEMAND FOR SUCH SERVICES. “NOW MORE THAN EVER, GUESTS “It used to be all about physical fitness; now it’s all about mental ARE LOOKING FOR MOMENTS OF PEACE AND PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL HARMONY,” SAYS fitness,” Oliver says. “People want skills and techniques they can ALEJANDRA BUSTAMANTE, THE RESORT’S WELLNESS DIRECTOR. THE PROGRAM INCLUDES take back into their lives.” MAYAN TRADITIONS AND ENERGETIC CLEANSINGS TO REACH SUSTAINED CONTENTMENT. Back in the former chapel, after an hour of sound bathing, Less therapy, more fun is the name of the game at Tschuggen I began to come to, and Niwayama started to explain how the Hotel Group’s four properties in Switzerland. Having seen a rise pandemic has zapped our collective well-being. “We were going in the number of COVID-weary guests looking for relief, the hos- along as normal. Now there is no normal, and we don’t know pitality group worked with wellness experts to develop Moving what to expect. Everyone is a little depressed right now. This Mountains, a mind-body-spirit program created, in part, “to help will snap them out of it,” she said. And it was true: The sound travelers rediscover vitality and joy, and mentally recover from bath had dimmed the electricity of my anxiety; I felt lighter and the pandemic,” says Leo Maissen, the group’s CEO. Launched more optimistic. Was I cured? No. Was I better? Yes. in early 2021, Moving Mountains is based on the tenets of move- ment, play, nourishment, rest, and giving. So a stay at one of Later that day, on a camellia-lined patio over a lunch of Tschuggen’s properties might involve gleefully skiing down the grilled swordfish with romesco sauce, another Cal-a-Vie guest slopes of St. Moritz at sunrise or paragliding over the medieval reflected on travel in the time of COVID-19. “We all need a re- town of Ascona, followed by an aromatherapy massage designed set right now and a different way of living,” said Robin Ola, a to balance the nervous system, an endorphin-releasing ice bath certified life and weight-loss coach and personal trainer from in Lake Obersee, or a sleep program devised by a Mayo Clinic– Austin. In the distance, vineyards spooled down the hillside as trained slumber specialist. guests trickled in from TRX and spin classes. “Traveling gives us the time and space to pause, creating opportunities to learn A cognitive reboot is what I was searching for when I signed new ways of being that will help us thrive in such an uncertain up for Cal-a-Vie’s Refresh & Renew program, which debuted future.” The war in Ukraine, a wobbly economy, new variants— in January. This is how I found myself in that sound bath, one yes, the future is wildly uncertain. But leaving Cal-a-Vie, I felt of a number of wellness offerings the spa has introduced since ready for whatever life, and pandemic parenting, throws my reopening after the first lockdown in June 2020. “Guests kept way. I won’t need that #MomScream session anymore, but I telling us that they needed help mentally as well as physical- may need to invest in some sound bowls.—KELLEY MANLEY ly,” says Kyra Oliver, wellness director at Cal-a-Vie, which has welcomed Michelle Obama, Shailene Woodley, and Gwyneth 77

PERSPECTIVES I THE t’s pouring rain in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but the fire dancers WOMEN swinging flaming poi outside the warehouse party don’t seem to OF mind. They’re entertaining cryptocurrency industry executives, CRYPTO blockchain developers, and Burning Man types who’ve flocked to the island in December 2021 for Blockchain Week, in which ELLE talked the island’s crypto bigwigs rent out basement club venues, to 35 women party-hop in gated communities with top-shelf liquor, mingle about what with some Miss World contestants (there for the pageant the it’sliketowork in following week, funded in part by local crypto billionaires), and the scarcely catch COVID together. regulated, wild, notoriously I’d come from a dinner earlier that night where a different bro-y industry. set of fire dancers twirled in the background while a founder of a “social impact” blockchain company explained how his BY JESSICA KLEIN team, despite tireless efforts, couldn’t find a qualified woman to fill their chief financial officer role. (They’d hired a white 78 man instead.) Next, it was off to a house party with a driveway full of Tesla charging stations and bros leaning on the balcony. On the journey over, the thirtysomething woman riding with me, a director at an NFT (non-fungible token) music company, mulled over a question she’d been asking herself since joining the male-dominated cryptocurrency industry: “Is this a high point or a low point?” she said, recalling a moment during Art Basel Miami Beach when she’d found herself networking at E11EVEN, a 24-hour “ultraclub,” in the wee hours of the morn- ing with industry colleagues. “I really don’t know....” For women in the crypto space, this waffling between the good and bad, this constant weighing of the pros and cons of working in this exciting, emerging, and sometimes creepy in- dustry is a recurring theme. While the opportunities for women can be both thrilling and boundless, in part because they stand out in a sea of crypto men (a bonus when networking), their minority status often goes hand in hand with misogyny. After all, it was mostly men who bought into cryptocurrency at its start, allowing them to amass big early money in the space and influence the newborn industry, where they continue to hold the reins. No industry is safe from sexism, but the Wild West nature of the barely regulated cryptocurrency market tends to ex- aggerate both problems and successes. The high highs of the money and lavish parties (Chris Rock introducing the Strokes; twentysomething coders bum-rushing a yacht) are punctuated by the low lows (scams, mishaps, and market fluctuations that have cost investors millions and sent early operators to prison), facilitating an atmosphere in which it feels like almost anything

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DAN FORBES

P E R S P E C T I V E S | Women in Crypto can happen. And almost anything does, particularly as crypto- women show me the NFT art of Olive Allen, an artist in her currency becomes increasingly mainstream. Matt Damon pres- twenties who’s been making NFTs since well before the main- sures people to invest, saying “Fortune favors the brave” in a stream hopped on board. It’s an image of a skeletal girl sur- Super Bowl ad; Gwyneth Paltrow and Jimmy Fallon buy NFT rounded by Twitter icons with devil horns and text that sums ape cartoons for a reported six figures. up her experience as a woman working in NFTs: “When they But because cryptocurrencies allegedly democratize finan- say they are here for female artists but go & buy a pic of a wom- cial systems by removing traditional gatekeepers like banks an from DegenBoy69.” Because of the minuscule market share and politicians, anyone—not just wealthy celebrities—can get women creators account for in the NFT space, “there have been in on the action, ideally. In reality, though, women have large- funds organized to buy female artists’ NFT work,” Allen tells me ly been left out of the cryptosphere. About 19 percent of 18- to later in her Brooklyn apartment. “It’s clearly an undervalued 29-year-old women reported buying, using, or trading crypto- asset in the space”—just as women generally are. currency versus 43 percent of men in that age group, per 2021 Pew Research Center numbers. And a November 2021 report hose who’ve felt the sting of crypto misogyny by research firm Art Tactic showed female artists made up just often chalk it up to the space’s newness. “The 5 percent of all NFT sales over the preceding 21 months. Per T leaders in this industry in general are young a February 2022 Bakkt study, “nearly all” participants—men and inexperienced,” one woman who works and women—felt crypto was “strongly associated with men.” at a crypto trading firm tells me—meaning Ninety-five percent of non-crypto-owning women, however, they’re not exactly versed in the importance of said that association wasn’t what kept them from buying—it was diversity and inclusion. The more experienced leaders can also more about not understanding crypto. But as women account lack, well, leadership qualities. This is on display in Puerto Rico, for more than half of the “crypto-curious” in the Bakkt study, where hordes of the crypto rich have controversially moved to the number of female investors could soon increase, represent- avoid paying taxes. ing a “major potential shift.” Another recent survey by BlockFi, The most high-profile leader there is Brock Pierce, a crypto a crypto financial services company, found nearly one in three billionaire and former child actor infamous for his involvement American women say they are planning to buy crypto this year. in a Hollywood child sexual abuse scandal stemming from Of the 35 women working in crypto and NFTs interviewed his cofounding, in 1998, of a video production start-up called for this story, most estimate that women make up around 10 to Digital Entertainment Network with Marc Collins-Rector, who 20 percent of the industry, with some describing the culture was later accused of sexually assaulting three underage males. that’s sprung up around cryptocurrencies as “alienating” and (Pierce was named in a 2000 civil lawsuit related to the allega- “intimidating.” One woman says she’s seen résumés get passed tions, but two of the plaintiffs dropped their claims against him. over at her company solely because of the applicant’s gender; Pierce settled with the third plaintiff for $21,600, according to others mention microaggressions, sexual harassment, and jeal- court documents, a fee Pierce has claimed was levied to cover ous male colleagues, who raise a stink or spread rumors when the plaintiff’s legal fees.) female peers earn promotions over them. “The moment I be- Pierce’s rise in crypto has also been marked by controversy. came a VP was when a lot of the wolves in sheep’s clothing came He has been involved with two big-name crypto entities that out,” says Chjango Unchained (the name she goes by in crypto), have each faced allegations of financial misconduct. The first, a podcaster who’s been in the space since 2014. “I think it’s just Block.one, which sold EOS tokens (one of the more popular the nature of women rising in the hierarchy. The higher in the cryptocurrencies at the time) in a yearlong $4.1 billion initial ranks you go, the more there’s a target on your back.” coin offering in 2018, settled a class action lawsuit for $27.5 But it’s not as simple as writing off crypto as purely a play- million filed by EOS investors who said the company sold un- ground for misogynists. It’s a growing, global industry full of registered securities and pumped up the price of EOS. (Pierce opportunity for anyone who takes the time to learn about it left the company in 2018.) Second was Tether (which Pierce and dive in—and suggesting that women stay away to avoid bad says he hasn’t been involved with since 2015), a crypto compa- actors would be a disservice. Besides, ny that has come under scrutiny for many of the women interviewed for being unable to prove it is holding the this piece couldn’t wait to extol its billions of U.S. dollars that supposedly virtues. Joyce Yang, 32, founder and back its currency. CEO at Global Coin Research, calls The crypto world is crawling with it “one of the best places for women” Inevitably, a man men like these—early bitcoin inves- because of the “very open-minded tors who’ve maintained power by vir- ethos…[and] welcoming atmosphere.” crashes our tue of their appreciating digital assets, She and others I spoke with acknowl- conversation. When I eclipsing sometimes sketchy pasts edge the space’s gender imbalance, and business dealings. And their pow- but see the proportion of women say I’m doing an er is only growing. Pierce ran for the growing “notably faster than…in tra- interview about U.S. presidency as an Independent ditional tech.” Almost all of them say women in crypto, he in 2020, and has filed candidacy that while there are not a lot of wom- papers with the Federal Elections en in crypto, the ones who are rank Commission to seek a Vermont among the sharpest, most badass peo- says, “Who doesn’t Senate seat. In November 2021, New ple they’ve ever met. want more ladies?” York City’s mayor-elect, Eric Adams, who had said he’d get his first three Still, my night at the warehouse in San Juan ends on a damp couch paychecks in bitcoin, flew to Puerto covered in fluffy blankets where two Rico in Pierce’s private jet.

Another early adopter turned mega-influencer in the industry is blockchain public relations vet- eran Michael Terpin. The mission behind Terpin’s CoinAgenda, a conference that’s part of Blockchain Week in December, seems to lie in luring more big- time crypto investors to the island. Known for los- ing $23.4 million in a SIM-swap hack in 2018, Terpin has his hands in numerous crypto projects and is the founder of both blockchain PR and consulting compa- ny Transform Group and crypto angel investor group BitAngels. Terpin has been extolling the virtues of relocating to Puerto Rico to crypto industry workers and holders since he moved there himself from Las Vegas in 2016. He proudly claims to have been the first person from the crypto world to relocate to the island to take advan- tage of its tax benefits, which allow wealthy newcomers who live there for at least half the year to enjoy tax-free profits on their investments. That’s a very appealing prospect to crypto investors who benefited big-time from the market’s 2017 bull run and followed Terpin to the island, much to many locals’ chagrin. Puerto Ricans have staged protests against the tax breaks, including demonstrating outside a Pierce-organized conference, according to the Washington Post. And Puerto Rican Senate member María de Lourdes Santiago Negrón has put forward legislation to repeal the tax break. A STILL IMAGE OF GODDESS OF PEARLS, AN NFT BASED ON AN ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING BY Nevertheless, Terpin is undeterred in his aim to THE SAME NAME, MADE BY ARTIST CHRISTINA LEWIS VIZCARRONDO (AKA BONESY). attract more crypto industry players to the island. He does this in a small San Juan convention center for an audience of mostly middle-aged white men. Holding up his a group called the Ministry of Social and works with both Pierce hand to mimic dangling a $1 million check, he demonstrates and Terpin. Looking ready for Burning Man in a cowboy hat and how he’s gotten other crypto founders to relocate. He insists the red pants when we meet outside the CoinAgenda conference narrative that crypto bros are “colonizing” Puerto Rico is “false,” (which she does sales for), she acts surprised when I ask about but proceeds to use wartime analogies to describe how he and crypto’s gender imbalance. “It doesn’t even cross my mind,” she his cohort descended on the island. “I guess I would have been says, “because it’s not a thing here.” Peering up at a palm tree the paratrooper—go out and see whether it’s safe, and come shielding us from the daily downpour, she thinks for a second. back and say, Hey, it’s a beautiful island, and, you know, easy to “There are a lot of men in crypto in Puerto Rico—young, single do business down here,” he says of arriving in Puerto Rico in men—but I’ve never felt any gender profiling.” 2016. “And then Brock was coming [in the] next wave, he came down…with about 50 of his friends. I guess that’s sort of like the f you’re looking for slightly more women in Air Force.” For many—in Puerto Rico and beyond—Terpin and blockchain, head to Miami, where crypto ad- GODDESS OF PEARLS (2021) BY CHRISTINA LEWIS VIZCARRONDO (AKA BONESY). Pierce have been their entry points into the industry, serving as I vertisements float by on boats passing South gatekeepers with their outsize influence. Beach and the mayor has turned his paycheck The maleness of this conquer-culture is not lost on the wom- into bitcoin. The city hosts a younger crypto en who’ve made Puerto Rico their home. During Blockchain crowd, representing a newer wave marked Week, I meet Christina Lewis Vizcarrondo (aka Bonesy), 35, an by the 2021 NFT boom and growing use of the term “Web3” to artist who moved from New York to her mom’s native Puerto describe the decentralized internet that runs on blockchain. “I Rico in 2019. She estimates that if she could sell one NFT a fit into the Web3 ideology, which is quirky, transparent, authen- month, she wouldn’t have to worry about her bills. “A lot of tic, and [about] empathy,” says Imgesu Cetin, 26, cofounder of people come here and expect [locals] to bow down to them,” Defy Trends. Pronounced alternatively as “DeFi,” for “decen- she says. “For the most part…that’s been male. I’ve never seen tralized finance,” and “defy” as in “openly resist,” the company a woman in the space do that.” Before I arrived in San Juan, a aims to lower the barrier to entry into crypto with an easy-to- 29-year-old who works in crypto told me about her “very lone- use investing tool. Its branding stands out from the predominant ly” experience in Puerto Rico “surrounded by 99 percent men.” dark-toned, complex-looking software that caters to “male pro She detailed “bro parties at penthouses” with drugs, sex work- traders who’ve been in the game for six years,” Cetin explains. ers, and “e-girls,” attractive women who get paid to promote dig- A party the company hosts in January in Miami’s artsy ital coins. “I got tired of it—like okay, this is fun, but it’s not me.” Wynwood neighborhood boasts a theme of women’s empow- While I don’t see this exact scenario play out on the island, erment. Local mural artist Diana Contreras, 40, has been invit- every crypto party I attend in Puerto Rico is a “bro party.” The ed to create a live painting (to be encoded into an NFT) while party coordinator, however, is a woman: Molly Pops, a self- attendees mingle under purple lighting among Defy Trends– described “community builder” who got into crypto less than a branded unicorn statues, the bar littered with koozies that read year ago and gushes about the industry’s “abundance.” She runs “Talk Crypto to Me.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 122 81

C U LT U R E TAKING A BEAT Instead of churning out “content,” youngfemaleartists areslowingdown, indulging in other passions—and igniting their creativity in new ways. BY MARISSA R. MOSS SINGER-SONGWRITER MARGO PRICE’S MEMOIR MAYBE WE’LL MAKE IT WILL BE RELEASED THIS FALL. his summer, Regina Spektor is doing some- “If you stay away from the game of being relevant, and stay thing she hasn’t done in six years: releasing a bit quiet, you can gain time to ruminate and brew and build in secret, and get to interesting places artistically,” says Spektor, T a new album. When Home, before and after whose last album was Remember Us to Life. comes out this June, it will be her first LP since 2016, a gasp-worthy gap in a playlisted, It wasn’t like Spektor vanished completely from public TikToked music industry increasingly ob- life—she appeared in a Broadway residency and released a few sessed with the need to stay current. It’s “all new, all the time”: songs here and there. But she did resist the increasingly popular A single a week. A post an hour. But while many artists are grav- tendency to constantly flood the marketplace with her music, a itating toward that kind of around-the-clock content, Spektor pressure that’s only become heightened as streaming becomes is part of an emerging group of women who are following a the norm, social media dominates, and attention spans dimin- mantra she once chanted in her opening song for Orange Is the ish. And she isn’t alone: Many female artists have made space New Black: “You’ve got time.” for themselves in a world outside the hamster wheel of constant

content creation this year. They’ve been taking back their time, and how they use it, one minute and one project at a time. Artists like Spektor, Adele, Lorde, and Fiona Apple have taken years between new records, without constantly drop- ping a surprise single to make sure that they remain buzzy. Fans are still patiently waiting for new projects from Rihanna, Lizzo, and Beyoncé, all hopefully out soon. Others have made time for pursuits outside of music altogether: Margo Price wrote a memoir, Maybe We’ll Make It, due in the fall. Phoebe Bridgers launched her own label, Saddest Factory Records. Dua Lipa began a newsletter, Service95. Sharon Van Etten has been working to- ward her undergraduate degree and hopes to study mental health counsel- ing next, while Selena Gomez has honed her baking skills on her cooking show, Selena + Chef. “The single-driven marketing ap- proach got started simply because it’s a cheaper way for the label to run their business,” says producer and songwrit- REGINA SPEKTOR’S ALBUM HOME, BEFORE AND AFTER, er Linda Perry, a staunch supporter of OUT THIS MONTH, IS HER FIRST LP SINCE 2016. the art of the album. “Why give a band a budget of $250K when there’s no guarantee it’s even going to you’re completely proud of.” hit, when you can spend $50K on a couple of singles?” Albums This kind of freedom has even found its way into the music used to be preceded by one single before release—now it can itself. Courtney Barnett named her new record Things Take be as many as five or six. And if those singles don’t succeed on Time, Take Time. And Maren Morris’s Humble Quest ruminat- streaming or radio, it can mean entire projects get shelved. It’s ed on the very idea of constantly achieving and reaching for the a sad reality that’s the exact opposite of creative fertile ground, next best thing, when those things are sometimes right in front and artists are pushing back. of our faces. “There is constant pressure to chase,” says Charity “Personally, I’m so tired of being inundated with too much Rose Thielen of The Head and the Heart, “but being quiet and music, too much news, too many posts, even from the artists I building anticipation is important. It’s learning the balance.” As love,” says Van Etten, whose new LP, We’ve Been Going About a member of a collective, she sees time off as a crucial building This All Wrong, came out in May. “I chose not to release any block in her own process—and a way to make room for things singles from my new album, because I believe strongly in this like gardening and, most of all for her, motherhood. album as an entire piece. I want to give fans the opportunity Following passions outside of just recording music, wheth- to listen to it the way I intended, start to finish, not in pieces er academically, personally, or artistically, can also play an im- and not what the new norm has perpetuated in consumption.” portant role in unlocking new creativity for an artist. “I love With artists moving in this direction, it’s no wonder that being able to silently step away and get lost in poetry, painting, a clip of Maggie Rogers in conversation with Tavi Gevinson and writing,” Price says. “Working on my memoir over these from October 2019 went viral. “I want something that takes last few years gave me something to work toward while I time,” Rogers said. “Because I want something that is going to couldn’t tour. And honestly, it was amazing to have the time last.” Like many new artists with critically and commercially and introspection to do something different. I have always successful albums, Rogers, on the heels of her superb debut wanted to truly prove myself as a writer, not just a singer. I have LP, Heard It in a Past Life, had already been getting questions already been scheming an idea for a work of fiction.” PRICE: BOBBI RICH; SPEKTOR: SHERVIN LAINEZ. about what was next: a next single, a next LP, a next Instagram Of course, sometimes posting copious stories to Instagram, post, a next bit of content. Rogers wasn’t buying it then or now. writing something just for TikTok, or dropping a new song a “I don’t think we spend enough time having reverence for the week can feel fulfilling, too—and it can be necessary for some process,” she told Gevinson. women, especially women of color, who don’t get a guaran- Rogers didn’t just take time for her process, finishing her teed embrace from an industry that still largely prioritizes sophomore album, Surrender, this past February, three years whiteness. At the end of the day, as Spektor points out, it’s after her first. (It will drop in July.) She also enrolled at Harvard all about operating from a personal truth. “The only advice I for graduate studies, the kind of thing that could be considered would give anyone working on art is to try to be honest with career suicide by someone who sees dollar signs first, not per- themselvesabout thecommunitythey wanttobuildorreach,” sonal fulfillment. “You can’t really force creativity,” concurs she says. “I would say there is enough room for any and all of singer-songwriter Priya Ragu, who released her debut mix- it, as long as it’s true to you. You only get this lifetime, so make tape, damnshestamil, named for her Tamil heritage, this past your choices from an honest place, and you’ll love who you’re fall. “You have to take your time and make sure it is something surrounded by.”▪ 83



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THE EXTREMELY ONLINE LIFE OF RAP’S OFTEN TRENDING SUPERSTAR. OVERLOAD BY MARJON CARLOS. PHOTOGRAPHED BY ADRIENNE RAQUEL. STYLED BY PATTI WILSON.

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HAIR BY NIKKI NELMS FOR MAUI MOISTURE; MAKEUP BY RAISA FLOW ERS AT E.D.M.A; MA NICURE BY CHAUN LEGEND J dog, too. It’s fucked up that I don’t have 2021, debuting at number one on the AT THE ONLY AGENCY; SET DESIGN BY DANIEL HOROWITZ AT JONES MGMT; PRODUCED BY WILLIAM B. GA LUSHA. ust Google ‘Chinese Crested,’” Doja Cat a dog. It’s not fair. I want to take care of Top R&B Albums Billboard chart and says, instructing me to find an image of a dog. I want to raise it and run around continuing to chart a year later. the dog of her dreams. “They look like in the grass and touch it.” they’re 90 from age two weeks. They’re Still, what’s exciting to note about like old people,” she says with endear- Naturally I’m intrigued, and when I Doja’s work is that for all her recent com- ing wonder. I’ve been talking to the type her desired breed into the search mercial success, she’s a creative loose superstar-in-the-making for a few hours engine, I let out a knowing laugh at the cannon. “Doja’s her own little weird vid- now, with the 26-year-old rapper and image results. Of course. The hairless eo game–playing introverted skateboard- singer zooming from her Buenos Aires doggo, often deemed the “world’s ugli- er chick from Southern California,” says hotel. Her camera has been off, but that est,” is an odd little fellow—half cat, half Brett Alan Nelson, her creative director. inimitable gravelly Southern California potato, with puffy tufts on its paws that “But she comes from a ballet background; tone of hers has been coming through Doja likens to “hairy boots.” “I think it’s she can pop and lock—there are just so loud and clear. Massive crowds will be beautiful,” Doja coos, and I believe her. many things this girl can do.” Doja says gathering that night for Doja’s first stop Such a creature would not only be the she’ll go to her team and say, “I want to be on her Lollapalooza South American perfect foray into dog ownership for the a lobster, or a pumpkin.” Or “Let’s make headlining tour—which, when later bona fide cat lover (if her stage name me into a giant or an alien.” Or “I want to streamed on Twitch, will show a swell didn’t tip you off, she owns two cats and be a spider today,” and then her team gets of 100,000-plus fans singing along to wants two or three more), it’s also so to work on the metamorphosis. “We go at her monster hit, “Get Into It (Yuh),” and damn meme-worthy—a canine primed it sort of in the way that a Barbie can be Doja, in black distressed-denim pants to go viral, as many of the things in Doja’s anything,” she adds. lined with liquid pink spandex, banging fun, frenetic, bonkers world often do. out a drum solo intro to her fan-favorite The disrupter started out as a music- jam “Tia Tamera.” Anyone who has been following the obsessed kid of a white artist-designer While our conversation has flowed career of Doja Cat—née Amala Ratna motherandaBlackSouthAfricandancer- easily between the Grammys, touring, Zandile Dlamini—from her SoundCloud performer father. Raised by her mom, and the success of her 2021 album Planet days, when she recorded tracks in the Doja spent her formative years at an ash- Her, she’s particularly excited to speak solitude of her mother’s closet, to her ram in California before moving to the about this “really, really ugly dog that’s current Billboard chart domination, greater Los Angeles suburb of Oak Park dope.” She hopes to make one her own knows she is masterful at turning the as a preteen, where she took up surf- after completing the 18-city After Hours absurd into a sensation. Whether she’s ing, skateboarding, music, and dance. Til Dawn tour with the Weeknd this digging into a cheeseburger and twerk- The predominantly white neighborhood summer. “Honestly, that is it,” she tells ing against a green screen made from was alienating for the girl of color with me. “I want to finish this tour up, kill bedsheets in her bedroom in “Mooo!,” a mind and style of her own. Doja re- it, and see my fans happy. And then I her 2018 viral hit dedicated to cows (“Got members being reprimanded in middle want to start writing again. I’m going steak, ho? Got cheese?/Grade A, ho, not school for coming to school in colorful, to finish this next album, and then I’m lean”), or accepting her MTV VMA for attention-grabbing themed ensembles, going to get the fuck out for a second. I Best Collaboration dressed in a wormlike complete with tutus. One day her look want to disappear for a little bit and just Thom Browne cocoon gown, or per- was Harajuku; the next it was pirate- do things like wear slides and go to the forming a freestyle rap homage to Taco inspired. The administrator wasn’t hav- farmers market. I don’t give a shit about Bell’s Mexican pizza on TikTok, she ing it. “He was like, ‘Get that crap off vegetables, but how fun! And I want a loves to bring together disparate refer- of your face. Nobody wants to see that. ences to see what kind of beautiful, irrev- Why do you dress like this? What’s the erent mess they create. Earlier in our call, point of dressing like this? You’re such a she recalls a Jay-Z interview that spoke distraction,’” she says. “I never liked the to her ethos: “He was talking about irony way I looked. I didn’t feel like I fit in. I felt in rap, and that is just such a key element. like I stuck out all the time, and I didn’t When you take something that isn’t sup- like it,” she says. “It was a strange time.” posed to be what people perceive as rap and mix it in, it creates something new She later dropped out of high school and inspiring. I love the irony.” and began dedicating most of her time to recording music, developing a small There is plenty of play on meta in the but loyal community on SoundCloud. universe the rapper has created on Planet Doja’s homegrown single “So High” Her, an album filled with earworms that, would come to the attention of Dr. Luke as the title suggests, invites us into Doja’s at Kemosabe Records, where she signed world. She shape-shifts in videos set in a record deal in 2014 at age 17. I remem- a far-off galaxy, bending physical form, ber hearing the underground hit that space, and musical genres—from hip- hop, Afrobeats, and frothy, high-femme pop to heartstring-pulling ballads. “I play with genres that I’m not really used to, and I’m inspired by things that are new to me,” she says. “That’s the game of it all.” If her 2019 album, Hot Pink, kept quarantined audiences entertained with a TikTok-ready dance beat, then Planet Her became the unofficial soundtrack for a “vaxxed and waxed” summer of 89

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same year, and both loving her sound fans became convinced she was collab- and being intrigued by her stage name, orating with the “Levitating” pop star. which is inspired by her love for cats But Doja laughs and assures me it was and a particular strain of weed. I also re- just her goofing off. “It’s not a clue. I member feeling relief that maybe music just thought it would be funny. And it was finally making space for someone made sense because I did the two blonde as elastic as Doja—a young Black wom- streaks in the front of my hair and I kept an with a range of references and tal- calling myself Dua Lipa that day.” ents, who could rock out to heavy metal and hard rap, and speak to the layered In other words: There is no strate- experience of Black womanhood. Fast- gy—Doja just likes being observed. “I forward years later to Doja reinvent- put a lot of things out there about my- ing “Say So” across a myriad of award self. I’m just constantly on live,” she says. show stages: It was freeing to see a Black “Sometimes I look at myself and I’m like, woman given the license to morph into Well, if you could just fucking turn off a Fosse Broadway starlet or a Courtney your phone for, like, five minutes….” But Love–esque rock band front woman. she thrives on the direct contact with When I mention this to Doja, she agrees: her fans. “When I’m getting creative in “It means a lot to me in the sense that I any way, I like to see what people think didn’t have that either. And if nobody of it. I’ll be like, ‘Should I do this hat or could be that girl for me, then I might as that hat?’ Or ‘We’re going to do a ’90s- well be that girl for someone else.” inspired makeup thing today.’ Or ‘My wig is falling off the front of my face. Do you Doja brings that same sense of play want to watch me reapply it?’” It’s rem- to her emerging fashion persona, serv- iniscent of her Periscope days as a teen, ing polished effervescence with a splash where Doja would spend upwards of 10 of the parodic. Like the time she wore a hours at a time making beats. “Now I just plunging avant-garde Carolina Herrera go online and scream at people, and that’s gown to walk the red carpet at the 2022 kind of a fun hobby for me,” she deadpans. Billboard Women in Music awards: She could barely move in the sculptural de- t has served her well. sign, and there’s a hilarious video of her Dubbed the “unofficial trotting to the venue with the aid of her team. Normani, who presented Doja I voice of TikTok,” Doja with the Powerhouse Award that night, used the platform as told me, “Doja is a force of nature and a a launching pad for true inspiration to so many. She works so Hot Pink’s “Say So” re- hard and truly loves what she does, and cord-making success, that shines through in her music, her while “Streets” went viral thanks to the performances, and everything she does.” #SilhouetteChallenge. But her life as a VeryOnlinePersonhasalsoproven con- Just as Doja can command a stage, troversial. As much as she is a child of she can command the internet. Tens of the internet, it is also often her foil. With thousands of followers tune in to watch Doja having lived half her life online as her silently apply makeup while listening a music-obsessed gamer, her blunders to music, or give her signature bug-eyed don’t just go away. Keeping track of the gaze at an LOL comment, or even blow many fires she’s caused is difficult, but off steam with an unscripted Twitter high level: In 2018, people called her out tirade on how she’s overworked. Raw for a homophobic tweet she wrote in and diaristic in nature, Doja’s IG Lives 2015. In 2020, just as “Say So” hit fever and TikTok videos are portals into cor- pitch, her questionable behavior in on- ners of her life, with rapt fans constantly line chat rooms surfaced, including using trying to follow the bread crumbs. When a racial slur. Doja apologized each time, she claimed in an Instagram caption, taking responsibility for her missteps. “Dua Lipa is trapped in my basement,” In a 2020 apology, she wrote, “I want to address what’s been happening on Twitter. I’ve used public chat rooms to socialize since I was a child. I shouldn’t have been on some of those chat room sites, but I personally have never been involved in any racist conversations. I’m sorry to everyone that I offended. I’m a Black woman. Half of my family is Black from South Africa and I’m very proud of where I come from.” The internet doesn’t forget—but then, in a way, it does. Doja has bounced back from near-cancellation thanks not 92

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