Second Life

In 2020, Lindsay Holden, alongside her Co-Founders Britta Chatterjee and Shannon Kearney, set out to disrupt the haircare space with the launch of their clean, inclusive, and salon-grade haircare brand, Odele. Derived from the Norwegian phrase for “to share,” Odele can be used by anyone who shares a shower, regardless of age or gender. Despite launching amid a global pandemic, the company reached profitability in the first six months of business, and today, the line is on shelves at CVS, Ulta, and Target. But before getting Odele on major retailer shelves, Lindsay worked on the other side: she spent eight years working at Target in various buyer and merchandising manager roles within the domestics and home department, learning what makes a great product. Even before that, she spent her early career as an account manager, first at the mattress company Serta, and later, at image-licensing business Corbis.

Laura Brown is a journalist, a former editor in chief of InStyle, the founder of LB Media, and the BFF everyone wishes they had. After losing her EIC position due to InStyle’s print shutdown in 2022, Brown was suddenly free to do whatever she wanted—namely bridging the gap between her fashion world and various community-building programs. Among her other initiatives to “meddle for good,” Brown recently became chair of (RED)’s Creative Council, where she rallies her friends in fashion and Hollywood to join the fight against AIDS. Plus, she launched a collaboration with the dreamy French brand Sézane unofficially called French Enough, an ode to the French-girl aesthetic with a hint of LB’s trademark mischief.

Back in 2015, Gara and her team at Post Investment Group recognized the lack of affordable yet elevated massage experiences—and The Now was born. With chic design and exceptional massages at the forefront of their business, they opened the first boutique as a calming oasis within Los Angeles, and over the last eight years, The Now has grown to over 50 locations, launched a line of wellness products, and introduced a membership model. But Gara’s not stopping there: in 2022, using her learnings from The Now, she created Bowie Barker, a full-service pet grooming and self-wash business. But before she was growing two businesses simultaneously, she applied her keen eye for design and sharp attention to detail to making jewelry. What started as a creative outlet during her years spent as an entertainment industry assistant quickly became her buzzy, celeb-favorite line, Gara Danielle.

This week, Hillary sat down with Kristen Nichols, Who What Wear's associate director of special projects. Kristen put together this year's Luxury Report, which details the brands and celebrities influencing designer shopping, the most coveted high-end items of 2023, and, of course, the ins and outs of the quiet-luxury trend. Plus, Kristen shares how to source sold-out items like the Alaïa fishnet flats, and Hillary explains her theory on why all fashion leads back to the Olsen twins.

Though Heidi is a highly sought-after interior designer now, she didn’t predict she’d end up in the design world. After graduating with a masters in international public health, she spent her early career working at a medical clinic in the Gambia. But when she returned to the U.S. to continue working, she was disappointed by how administrative many of the stateside roles were and began a quest to find a new career. She tried a variety of career paths including bartending, acupuncture school, and teaching scuba, but she still couldn't find anything that felt right to her. That is, until she began blogging about design. Through her blog, Heidi landed her first job at a design firm, and eventually, she set out to create a firm of her own. Today, her firm works on projects across the country, and just this September, Heidi debuted a book called Memories of Home, which details 12 of her incredible projects.

Mara Hoffman began her eponymous brand in 2000 by designing and selling one-of-a-kind, handmade garments out of her New York apartment. Twenty-three years later, she's still known for making gorgeous statement pieces with bold colors and prints, but she continues to evolve her approach toward sustainable design and manufacturing. Hoffman recently partnered with textile-to-textile recycling company Circ to release a groundbreaking dress made from 50% recycled textile waste, and she is this year's CFDA Environmental Sustainability Award honoree. This week, Editor in Chief Kat Collings sat down with Hoffman to discuss designing from a place of honesty, the "change or die" mentality, and where they hope fashion is headed.

Vicky Tsai founded her skincare company, Tatcha, with the goal of helping heal people’s skin and soul. But while Vicky’s a major player in the beauty space now, it took years of trial and error to find work that matched her values. She first began her career on Wall Street as a derivatives trader at Merrill Lynch in New York City, but after witnessing 9/11 firsthand, she left her job to attend Harvard Business School for a fresh start. She interned at SK-II, then took a job at Starbucks in China, and later joined a tech startup focused on sustainability. Even with a successful career, Vicky still struggled to find her purpose, while simultaneously dealing with acute dermatitis on her skin. Then, 10 years into her corporate position, she decided to choose her own happiness. With no plan and a mountain of debt, she quit her job and began traveling. While visiting Kyoto, she learned about the beauty practices of geisha, and soon afterward, her skin was healed. She knew she had to find a way to bring her learnings to the masses, and with the help of geisha and cultural advisors, Tatcha was born.

Stacey Battat is a costume designer and longtime collaborator of director Sofia Coppola, known for her work on films like The Bling Ring and The Beguiled. But most recently, Battat took on the huge undertaking of crafting the looks for A24’s newly released biographical drama, Priscilla. Based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me, Coppola’s Priscilla, which stars Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi, depicts the couple's epic yet tumultuous relationship, this time from Priscilla’s perspective. From the late ’50s to the early ’70s, Battat had a ton of ground—and fashion eras—to cover when it came to costume design. She’s here to talk about how wardrobe choices impact character development, what type of research is involved in telling true stories, and why having a solid team is of the utmost importance.

Growing up, Sohla El-Waylly always had a passion for cooking, but it wasn’t until after she graduated college with an economics degree that she made the leap to attend culinary school. In the years following, she worked in fine-dining restaurants, even opening and running her own high-end diner for a year, before pivoting to food media and landing jobs at major food publications such as Serious Eats, Bon Appétit, and The New York Times. Along the way, she began showcasing her cooking skills on camera, and most recently, she served as a judge alongside Dan Levy on the HBO competition cooking show The Big Brunch. And now she’s embarking on yet another new venture with her first cookbook, Start Here, which hits shelves October 31.

This week, Hillary hands the mic to Who What Wear Editor in Chief Kat Collings for a special episode welcoming Nikki Ogunnaike to her new position as editor in chief at Marie Claire, Who What Wear’s sister brand! Nikki has big plans for the iconic publication, which she hopes to make feel like "a group chat of your most ambitious friends." The two EICs discuss growing up with Marie Claire, high-impact, low-lift personal style, and the accuracy of the Miranda Priestly depiction of an editor in chief.

Emily Schuman had the initial idea for a food and fashion blog called Cupcakes and Cashmere back in 2008, and today, the company has grown into a full-fledged media and e-commerce business. In addition to running the Cupcakes and Cashmere company, engaging with the 570,000+ followers on her personal instagram and designing and restocking the bestselling jewelry on her online shop, Emily recently embarked on a new endeavor: candles. In December 2022, Emily debuted Lavune, initially launching with holiday candles like Evergreen and Ember, which have returned for this fall season alongside the line’s core collection. Before she was running her own businesses, Emily spent her early career working in media advertising, first at Condé Nast and later at AOL. But while she was gaining valuable knowledge about publishing and the digital landscape, her free time was consumed by writing about the things she loved.

Ziwe is a comedian and writer perhaps best known for her provocative Instagram Live and Youtube interview series, Baited, or her Showtime variety sketch show, Ziwe. Both shows highlighted her talent for getting to the heart of the most divisive American issues, while still managing to produce hilarity. Today, she’s here to discuss her most personal project yet: Black Friend: Essays. Ziwe talks about how her comedy background helped lay the foundation for the book’s content and structure, the reason the essays are heavily footnoted, and why becoming a good artist means being very bad at your craft for a long time.

As CEO and founder of The Sill, Eliza Blank is the ultimate plant person. Inspired by her mother’s love of gardening and her own struggle to find plants for her tiny NYC apartment, she started The Sill as a direct-to-consumer houseplant company, bringing the benefits of plants to indoor environments. Though Blank had the initial idea for The Sill back in college, she didn’t yet have the tools to execute it. So when she graduated, she actually began her career as a brand strategist at global brand agency Wolff Olins before moving to haircare brand Living Proof as a brand manager. But the whole time, she kept the houseplant business in the back of her mind, and in 2012, she made the leap. She left her job, created a Kickstarter that raised $12K, and The Sill was born.

Mario Dedivanovic is a beauty tastemaker of the highest order. His makeup career began over 20 years ago when he first stepped foot into a Sephora. Since then, he’s created viral looks for celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and shared his knowledge and methods with thousands of makeup artists in live MasterClasses. Finally, in 2020, he created his namesake brand, Makeup by Mario. This week, he’s talking through entering his soft era, developing products with intention, and how you should actually be applying your concealer.

Ría Safford, the founder and CEO of RíOrganize, is a home-organization expert. RíOrganize was founded in 2016 as a luxury home-organization solution to help make homes more functional. But after a few years spent building her clientele, Safford got a call to organize celebrity hairstylist and Ouai founder Jen Atkin’s beauty closet, and the project went viral on social media. Today, RíOrganize boasts celebrity clientele including Paris Hilton and Chrissy Teigen, and has expanded to include services in relocation and curation. Safford has also recently shared her immense knowledge in her new book, The Organized Home for New Parents. But Safford wasn’t always helming a home-organization business—in fact, she considers herself a naturally messy person. Before RíOrganize, Safford worked in real estate, but after becoming beyond burnt out, she left her job and embarked on a new path to build something of her own. The Organized Home for New Parents is Out Now: https://rstyle.me/+3vHJ9w3oAa-AvDcsv3DsGw