"He is nightlife, I am the morning after"
A few notes on Paris Fashion Week, a new lip obsession, and a favorite makeup brush
Two days late, I know! I had a few deadlines and events to cover, which shouldn’t be an excuse. Mentioned in this letter: a few things about Paris Fashion Week, a new lip product that just might become my next obsession, my favorite foundation brush, the future of Substack, and more. If you’re new here and these topics interest you, here is a button below to make things easier. I send out letters weekly (typically every Thursday) and I promise to be on time more often!
Links and other thinks you might enjoy
Notes on designer debuts
It is Paris Fashion week once again, and we saw refreshing designer debuts at a few fashion houses: Haider Ackermann at Tom Ford, Sarah Burton at Givenchy, and Julian Klausner at Dries Van Noten (my favorite collection of the three). Journalist Rachel Tashjian pointed out the poetry in Ackermann’s show notes: “He [Tom Ford] is nightlife, I am the morning after; this is where our dance begins.” I love a powerful semicolon! There is also this i-D article, which gives us a glimpse of the relationship between Julian Klausner and Dries Van Noten. Of his successor, Van Noten shares: “It would be a pity to just make interpretations of things we did in the past. That’s not how I worked, and that’s the last thing that I would expect from the person who comes after me… Julian was always quite clear with his opinion, and that’s exactly what I’m looking for.”
A photo dump + exciting beauty news
I'll be totally honest with you—I haven’t been reading as much this week. To make up for the lack of links to articles, here are some photos from two launch events I attended the other day: Roger Vivier’s La Rose Vivier presentation and Hermès Beauty’s Rouge Brilliant Silky launch.
The latter took me back to my beauty editor days in Manila; how I missed attending beauty events! Last week, I wrote about searching for a new red lipstick, and the Rouge Brilliant Silky seems like a strong contender. It can be worn sheer and transparent, but its buildable formula also reveals its rich pigment. It stayed on throughout the entire night, even after two glasses of champagne!
In other beauty news, Louis Vuitton recently announced that they were launching a makeup line with the iconic Pat McGrath as their creative director. I can’t wait!
The future of Substack
Another event I attended this week was a panel discussion on Substack, hosted by Laurent François and Khuyen Do at IFM. It was interesting to hear everyone’s thoughts on the future of the platform and how it differs from traditional media. One topic in particular piqued my interest: with Substack becoming increasingly saturated as more people (influencers?) are leaning toward clickbait-y titles, how do we preserve the platform for what it was originally intended to be? I consider myself relatively new here (I started last summer but was only consistent late last year), and one thing that definitely drew me to this platform is that it seemed ‘slower’ compared to other apps like Instagram and Tiktok. Substack is clearly evolving with its new features left and right, but I hope it doesn’t resemble Instagram anytime soon.
Clothes that reveal your interior world
There are collections like Prada’s that make us think long after it is over. Some people didn’t find the last show amazing, sure, but its intentional awkwardness was still difficult to stop thinking about. It wasn’t about effortless elegance; it was about challenging what we find appealing. Related to this topic, this essay by Leandra Medine provided interesting points on this type of interior sensuality. She writes that this sensuality is “not on the surface of a woman’s body but within the woman and the sometimes insidious, often expansive interior worlds that she erects for herself.“
I can’t stop thinking about…
This adorable dog named Rambo, who we met at Le Barav. He had two outfit changes.
Every time I visit Reyna, I need to have their burrata.
Kristin Davis bring relatable for revealing that she did not want to break up with Alec Baldwin then because of his “incredible” house in the Hamptons.
The squishy end of this Shiseido brush came up in conversation at a dinner last night. It’s one of my favorite brushes, perfect for blending out a light foundation or cream. Plus, it feels great on the skin.
See you next week. xx.