Why Everyone is Talking About Celine (And Why It Matters)

Hi friends!

Today, we will temporarily veer off our regular programming en lieu of a Fashion 101 that was requested by a handful of those who have yet to understand why their Instagram feeds are flooded with enraged commentary about the latest Celine show. Personally, I’m so excited that something other than Bella’s crop tops and Yeezy pantyhose has reached those with little interest in the fashion world, that I will gladly utilize my (waning) industry knowledge to decipher.

Let’s start with a quick crash course. Here is what you need to know before we proceed:

Most major fashion houses are owned by huge luxury conglomerates, the key players being LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Dior, Celine, etc.) and Kering (Gucci, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, etc.) These parent companies hire creative directors (i.e. head designers), who, in turn, imbue the brands with their respective vision. Sometimes, the creative directors are celebrities in their own right (think Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel); other times they are behind-the-scene mavericks who are largely unknown to the public. Sometimes, they respect the inherent brand codes; other times they have their own, impenetrable vision. Like with any job, they can stay anywhere from one season to a few decades. The most important thing, to the suits-in-command, is that they SELL.

With a Little Help from Your Friends

Typecasting · by Marina Khorosh

Call me a naive Babysitter’s Club byproduct, but I can’t wax enough poetic to female friendships. In an ecosystem where every other touchpoint – men, work, even family – are often imbued with headache and chaos, friends are akin to a glass of Sauvignon Blanc – predictable, dependable, a surefire temporary refuge from your issue du jour. Having stumbled upon many of those over the years, I couldn’t be more grateful to my globally-dispersed gaggle of girlfriends for their emotional support and endless patience!

I say “gaggle,” because it often takes a small village of friends to pick you up from life’s proverbial gutter and hustle you back to sanity. Just like one should not expect their partner to fulfill all their needs, one cannot realistically expect one friend to simultaneously fill the role of mentor, advisor, wing woman, cozy shoulder to cry on, etc. Instead, it is best to amass a handful of trusted confidants to emotionally exploit rely on in the perennial hamster wheel that is life. Without further ado, here they are, in diminishing order of importance.

P.S. Don’t forget that friendship is a two-way street and all that. Where a lot is given, a lot is expected!

La Vie en Rosé: The South of France Diary

Musings of the Mind · by Marina Khorosh

Gloria Steinem likens travel to sex. To quote directly from her new book, My Life on the Road, “[moving from place to place] is right up there with life-threatening emergencies and truly mutual sex as a way of being fully alive in the present.”

For the past decade, travel has served as my best medicine, a surefire way to reboot my brain and move forward as a tweaked version of myself. Following a few shitty weeks – fine, months – this was exactly what I was seeking when I galvanized a group of friends into an impromptu South of France romp, appropriately monikered #EuroMess2018.

And, boy, what a glorious mess it was!

Russian Dating Rumors, Debunked

Typecasting · by Marina Khorosh

When I was eleven years old, I went on an exchange program in a French city called Nîmes. On my first night there, a boy named Arnaud confronted me with two pressing questions: did we have electricity, and did bears roam the streets of my native Saint-Petersburg? (And so began my rapport with French men..)

Twenty years later, not much has changed. I still regularly find myself on the receiving end of endless stereotypes about Russia, which have since shifted from bears to De Beers (ha!) Since this is the sacred month when I park myself in the motherland and inhale practical wisdom in bulk, I decided to simultaneously explore some of the dating-related gems that I have been privy to this year.

Is Social Media a Self-Care Antidote?

Musings of the Mind · by Marina Khorosh

Warning: this is an exhausted topic. Those seeking novelty may click over to Wired to learn about robots using Airbnb.

July marked the official kick-off of #Summer2018 vacation season, that riveting time of the year when the Instagram elites relocate to their Mediterranean outposts, bouncing from Mykonos to Positano to Capri faster than their Hermes Oran sandals can carry them.

I am usually immune to said Insta-circus. It appears that everything I lack in emotional stability, I make up with a very weak envy gene that allows me to focus on the tryptic of Me, Myself and Moi rather than the lives and possessions of others. (Actually, I kind of want Oran sandals, is that bad?)

What Nobody Tells You About Life After Singlehood

Musings of the Mind · by Marina Khorosh

So, the narrative has changed.

I am now one of “them.” Namely, one of the Happy People, sailing through the world sans problems or concerns. Actually, forget the world – we live in a different stratosphere, a utopian planet where (pre-Hedi) Céline is free and multi-continental real estate is a rite of passage and North Korea is a natural reserve, haven’t you heard?

Why? Because I’m in a relationship, of course.

Just last week, three people who must have glimpsed my recent Instagram Stories decided to congratulate me on this grand accomplishment. “You’ve been together for a while now! It seems so perfect!” they remarked, as though I had passed some grand milestone that now made my relationship Real. (Then again, I probably had.) After this, they all stared, waiting for me to break into a sonnet about the Power of Love.

I was conflicted. Sure, part of me wanted to comply and tell them what they wanted to hear, cutting the inquisition to finish. At the same time, bullshit isn’t my brand.