Lifestyle

A Stitch in Time, With His Help

Published

7 months ago

August 19, 2022

Naomi Ariela Mishkin arrived with plaster falling from her hair when she met Graham Henry Lazar for a drink in May 2014 in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. It didn’t bother him one bit.

“I love creative people,” Mr. Lazar said. He first met Ms. Mishkin — an artist-turned-fashion designer nicknamed Nomi — the previous fall when she walked into the kitchen of the apartment he shared with one of her friends above a bodega in Fort Greene.

“Nomi asked me for a carrot,” said Mr. Lazar, then a third-grade teacher, who was preparing a giant pot of minestrone soup for the week. Both are 33.

Mr. Lazar is a product designer who leads the creative team at Apply Stickers, which works with contemporary artists, galleries and museum stores. He graduated cum laude from Harvard and received a master’s degree in urban planning from M.I.T.

“Who is this cutie?” Ms. Mishkin, recalled thinking, as Mr. Graham, who recently moved into the apartment, chopped up carrots and celery.

But, Ms. Mishkin, not at all interested in a relationship, was laser-focused on her art practice and managing the studio and fabricating projects for Janine Antoni, a contemporary artist.

She graduated with honors from the Rhode Island School of Design and received a master’s degree with distinction in fine art from the Ruskin School of Art at Oxford University. She later received a certificate in innovative pattern cutting from Central Saint Martins in London.

The two continued to cross paths at the apartment. In May, two days after his birthday, he asked her out via text for a drink in Fort Greene.

“I didn’t know it was a date,” Ms. Mishkin said. But there was a telltale sign: “His hair was brushed and his shirt was tucked in,” she said.

At first she panicked, but soon realized she really liked him.

But then: “Maybe it wasn’t a date,” she recalled thinking when the evening ended without a kiss.

Turns out it was merely delayed.

The next evening while at the same party, he asked her to go for a walk, and along a beautiful Fort Greene side street came their first kiss.

Ms. Mishkin, who had never dated a non-artist before, soon brought out the artist in him.

“Nomi is so unafraid of any creative task,” said Mr. Lazar, who eagerly helped her with projects from pouring molds to silk screening. “I started drawing voraciously,” he said. “I went to life drawing classes and design school.”

In September 2016, they began a three-year, long-distance relationship, as each pursued further studies. He encouraged her pivot from art to fashion design. And in 2018, she started Naomi Nomi, a Brooklyn clothing and accessory company, offering Oxford shirts in merino wool or cotton and digitally printed silk scarves.

In the summer of 2019 they moved into an apartment in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn. The next year, as the pandemic hit, her company began turning out buy-one-donate-one masks out of ikat cotton and Oxford cloth (about 10,000 in all). The couple also adopted Lady, a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy from Florida.

As Lady ran off-leash in Prospect Park in November 2021, Mr. Lazar proposed.

“When I see one Dalmatian, I know it’s going to be a great day,” said Ms. Mishkin, who saw four that morning just before Mr. Lazar presented his maternal great-grandmother’s Art Deco cocktail ring.

Three and a half weeks before the wedding, Ms. Mishkin began making her two-piece wedding dress — a bodice with a sweetheart neckline and a skirt — out of egg-white, four-ply silk with a Swiss lace-netting overlay. She had taken a cue from her maternal grandparents, once wedding dress manufacturers in the Garment Center.

“We joke that we’re ‘shmatte’ people,” said Mr. Lazar, whose paternal great-grandparents ran a handkerchief business in Ellenville, N.Y.

“I helped with every dart and seam,” he said of the wedding dress. “There was no first look. There was a 10,000th look.”

On July 30, Andrew Sawyer, a friend of the couple who became a Universal Life minister for the occasion, officiated, and led the ceremony with Nasir W. Husain, a close college friend of the groom, at the Brooklyn Grange, an events space in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where the couple stood under a huppah covered in fabric picked out by the bride.

“It’s linen in phthalo blue,” she said quite naturally, with another project in mind — turning it into a blanket in time for winter.

Read the full article here

Lifestyle

Love Letter: A Mysterious Delivery

Published

3 months ago

December 23, 2022

Press Room

After Charlotte Maya lost her husband to suicide, she and her young sons were used to unexpected visitors. But when her doorbell rang one mid-December evening, nobody was there.

Instead, on her doormat was a kit to make a gingerbread house with a note that only said, “On the First Day of Christmas. … ”

In this week’s Modern Love essay, “When a Doorbell’s Ring Means Hope,” Ms. Maya describes how a series of mysterious deliveries buoyed her family during their darkest days.

Join the 7-Day Happiness Challenge.

Research shows that the single most important driver of happiness is the strength of our relationships. Sign up for a week of exercises from the New York Times Well desk that will help set you up for a happier, more connected year.

Read the full article here

Lifestyle

How One Japanese-American Designer Is Revitalizing Vintage Kimonos

Published

3 months ago

December 23, 2022

Press Room

In her Brooklyn studio, designer Sara Sakanaka keeps a small drawstring bag that her grandmother made for her decades ago. Sewn from textile scraps, the striped pouch is one of Sakanaka’s oldest keepsakes, an heirloom representing a generations-old philosophy. “My mom used to tell me this story. It was about how if we treat objects with love and care for one hundred years, they can obtain a soul,” she shares as pours each of us a cup of Mugicha, a Japanese Barley tea that she grew up drinking. We met at her studio on a gray Tuesday morning, where a collection of silk separates, each made from reclaimed Japanese kimonos, hangs neatly. On a shelf, folded piles of salvaged textiles wait for her to sew them into something new, just like her grandmother once did as a hobby. “There’s this whole idea that objects have lives,” she says. “I like to see every piece as a true considered object in that way.”

Nick Krasznai / courtesy of Considered Objects

It makes sense then that Sakanaka would name her own label Considered Objects. The 39-year-old launched her line—a collection of hand-sewn jackets, dresses, and shirtings that are made entirely from reclaimed Japanese kimonos and textiles—just two years ago. “I never had the dream of starting a business,” she shares. “I was happy working toward someone else’s vision. But at some point, there’s this part of you that wants to explore what you want to say. It took time for me to be able to discover that.”

Sakanaka has a lot to say. With 20 years of experience under her belt, she has developed a design philosophy of her own. “I have no interest in buying new materials or producing with mills,” she says while showing me the intricate, hand-stitched panels of a vintage summer kimono. As she points out its cotton lining and hand-painted family crests (her own paternal and maternal family crests are tattooed on each of her arms), it becomes clear that she is not just making clothing; she’s stitching age-old stories into contemporary garments. “After years of working at different fashion brands, I found that you can get stuck on this hamster wheel. What has always grounded me was the question, ‘how can I not only find true meaning in these things, but how can I offer connection through these pieces?’”

Nick Krasznai / courtesy of Considered Objects

An FIT graduate, the apparel designer previously worked for fashion label Imitation of Christ, luxury line Ports 1961, bespoke womenswear collection Honor, and the Japanese fashion house Foxey. In 2020, after spending nearly four years traveling back and forth between New York and Japan for work, she felt she was ready for something new. “I started to wonder how I would mentally, physically, and creatively sustain. I was burnt out.” she tells me. Around that time, her grandmother, the one who gave her the collaged drawstring bag and taught her how to sew, passed away. “This was during the pandemic, so I wasn’t able to attend her funeral in Japan. I had previously inherited her collection of kimonos and rediscovered them during that time. I had completely forgotten about them, but learning about them became part of my grieving process. Having those made me feel close to her,” Sakanaka reflects.

It was then that she took a page from her grandmother’s book. “Studying these shambled garments and giving them new life through reconstruction was a way for me to heal while reconnecting with myself and my culture,” she says. Preserving the original rectangular panels and stitching style from each kimono, the designer began dismantling and reassembling each one. Her first design? A classic, collared, button-down shirt. Inside each shirt she constructed, Sakanaka sewed a layered patchwork flower made from leftover silk scraps. “That flower, that mark, it was sort of my way of memorializing the whole experience of my creation and of finding closure. It was a way of bestowing my honor upon each piece.”

Read the full article here

Lifestyle

Here’s How to Style 5 Luxurious Loungewear Sets This Winter

Published

3 months ago

December 23, 2022

Press Room

_{All products featured on Vogue are independently selected by our editors. However, we may earn affiliate revenue on this article and commission when you buy something.}

Cozying up for the winter has never looked chicer courtesy of luxurious loungewear sets from The Row, Wardrobe.NYC, Éterne, and more. Crafted from ultra-soft cashmeres and sultry silks, these matching sets are as indulgent as it gets and can be worn in the comfort of your own home or out and about for casual coolness. As the newly appointed foundation of your winter wardrobe, styling a luxe loungewear set properly can offer both ease and elegance at the same time.

For an elevated errand ensemble, The Row’s ‘Jaspar’ hoodie and matching ‘Anton’ wide-leg pants are knitted from the softest of cashmere. The chic combination is so comfortable that you won’t want to change once you get home. Enhance the look with stylish sneakers from Nike, plush cable-knit socks from Johnstons of Elgin, and Nothing Written’s minimalist bag. Loungewear sets, like this cashmere turtleneck and midi skirt pairing from Altuzarra, also have the power to be dressed up for festive evenings out, especially when adorned in jewels from Missoma and Laura Lombardi. A matching activewear set from Sporty & Rich ensures that you arrive at any workout in style. Sofa-ready outfits from Wardrobe.NYC and Olivia Von Halle help curate the perfect night in this holiday season and beyond.

This winter, investing in a loungewear set has never looked better. Below, here are five ways to style luxe loungewear sets that are as comfortable as they are chic. (Plus, also find a few more statement sets to add to your winter wardrobe.)

The Elegant Errand Runner

Nothing says chic errand runner like this matching cashmere hoodie and pant set from The Row. Knitted from the softest of cashmere, it’s a chic combination so comfortable that you won’t want to change once you get home. Enhance the look with stylish sneakers from Nike, plush cable-knit socks from Johnstons of Elgin, and Nothing Written’s minimalist bag. Jewels from Mejuri are welcome embellishments.

The Row Jaspar cashmere hoodie

The Row Anton cashmere high-rise pants

Johnstons of Elgin cable-knit cashmere socks

Nothing Written Ferry bag

Mejuri bold Croissant dôme huggies

The Cozy, Yet Chic Evening Look

A loungewear set doesn’t have to be confined to the comforts of your own home or even resemble a traditional sweatsuit, for that matter. Case in point: find this dazzling skirt set from Altuzarra that is crafted from pure cashmere. Complete the elegant evening ensemble with Saint Laurent’s croc-effect pumps and Anine Bing’s minimalist handbag. Drip in gold thanks to Missoma hoop earrings and Laura Lombardi’s cult-classic necklace.

Saint Laurent Blade chain croc-effect leather slingback pumps

Anine Bing Colette shoulder bag

Missoma x Lucy Williams chunky entwine hoop earrings

Laura Lombardi Calle gold-plated necklace

The Statement Sporty Attire

When it comes to activewear, a matching set, like this one from Sporty & Rich, will ensure that you arrive at any workout in style. Go one step further and tie the brand’s ‘Wellness’ sweatshirt around your waist for extra comfort. New Balance ‘Core’ sneakers are a staple in any workout wardrobe, as are these Bala Bangles and Stanley’s tumbler to keep you nice and hydrated.

Sporty & Rich appliquéd cotton-jersey sweatshirt

Sporty & Rich cropped printed stretch-jersey tank

Sporty & Rich printed stretch-jersey leggings

New Balance 574 Core sneakers

Stanley Quencher H2.O travel tumbler, 40oz

The Luxurious Loungewear Set

Wardrobe.NYC x Hailey Bieber’s simple grey sweatshirt and sweatpants are prime examples of luxurious loungewear. Wear with a coveted pair of Birkenstocks—or even heels for an elevated athleisure look. But because we’re sticking with loungewear, cozy up even more courtesy of cashmere socks from Raey and Brunello Cucinelli’s alpaca-blend blanket. Loewe’s scented candle is an immediate ambiance enhancer.

Wardrobe.NYC x Hailey Bieber cotton sweatshirt

Wardrobe.NYC x Hailey Bieber wide-leg cotton sweatpants

Birkenstock Boston shearling clogs

Raey ribbed cashmere-blend socks

Brunello Cucinelli speckled-jacquard fringed alpaca-blend blanket

Loewe Home Scents Honeysuckle medium scented candle, 610g

The Perfect Pair of Pajamas

Olivia Von Halle’s ‘Coco’ pajama set is crafted from the finest of satins to create a soft-to-the-touch feel you’ll never want to take off. Meanwhile, Ugg slippers are the perfect accoutrement. Continue to wind down with the help of scented bath salts from Maude and Augustinus Bader’s luxurious face cream. Reflect on your day with The Five Minute Journal and finally get some shut-eye thanks to Brooklinen’s silk eye mask.