“I will be encouraging feral behavior from here on out. Let’s get some mischief started. I want you hanging from the rafters girls!” - Laurie Cooper
Since I’ve last written we’ve had both the worst snowstorm in 10 years AND the earliest 80-degree day on record (yesterday). We launched a new Spring collection, new collaborations with Jonathan Haidt and with NPR, and my team convinced our head designer Josh and me to do another round of these QVC-esque videos, dear lord.
I’m usually not one for weather chit chat, but today’s a special case. There is nothing quite like being in NYC at the onset of the first warm days of the season. Downtown especially, sorry I said it. It’s like one big happy party. Everyone just out there digging it the most. Sadly, I think we are in our official “Fools Spring”…
What else is going on besides the weather?
The 90s are trending again, in no small part because of Love Story. CBK's style is being marketed harder than the coastal grandma trend ever was. (Remember that?) I want to stop here and remind you that good style, including Carolyn's, had everything to do with finding YOUR personal style and curating it to fit you. Yes, CBK was the definition of CK minimalism, but there's only so far a turtleneck and trench coat can take you. A lot of women I'm seeing lately are trending more Elizabeth Holmes than CBK.
Some women with killer personal style who should be required studies: Nan Kempner, who once wore a YSL Le Smoking when a restaurant wouldn't let her in wearing pants, so she took off the trousers and wore the jacket as a dress. Lisa Eisner, queen of magic jewels, west-coast garden mama and grandma extraordinaire who famously bought the entire wardrobe of Sammy Davis Jr. at an auction and wears it around LA. Tracee Ellis Ross, who always seems to dress like someone who actually enjoys getting dressed. Lee Radziwill, Jackie's sister but arguably the more interesting dresser. Videos of her time out at Andy Warhol’s estate Eothen in Montauk served as my inspo for our Fall 24 collection. Quieter, more European, impossibly chic. Brooke Neidich, who always makes me want to chop my hair and buy more pearls. And Ann Dexter Jones, LF runway star and mega matriarch, who I happened to run into at Bar Pitti this past Sunday night with her family, along with half of NYC.
Note, I'm not sure if heaven exists, but Bar Pitti outside on the first warm day of spring must be it. Ann was in a purple-maroon tweed vest with matching socks, jeans, a cashmere layer, and loafers. Effortless. Chic.
Last Saturday night, I did what I believe is the most 90s thing a person can do. I left my phone at home and went out with friends. Granted, it wasn't on purpose. As I boarded the ski lift in Windham with pals to head to dinner on the mountain at Cin Cin, I panicked when I realized I didn't have my iPhone. What if my kids needed me? What if someone texted about work? What if we BOMBED Iran? Reader, all three things happened while I was gone. My kids figured it out. Work survived without me. And Iran? Not knowing about it for four hours was honestly the greatest gift anyone has given me this year. What DID happen? I was fully present for an entire dinner. It was so freeing. It was like time traveling to 1996. I'm going to start doing this on purpose. Wanna start "going 90s" with me?
It was fitting that two days later, I welcomed Jonathan Haidt and his team to the LF Townhouse for a fireside chat. I was inspired by his new book, The Amazing Generation, a graphic novel that distills the ideas from The Anxious Generation and packages them for teens and even younger kids. I wanted to bring it to life. So I asked my son’s (14) friend’s brother Felix (17), who all the boys look up to, to join the conversation. He brought his friend Sophia, both high school seniors, and Thatcher (8th grade) rounded out the panel to speak with Jonathan in front of a packed room of friends and their teens.
The last time I had seen some of these kids was when I hosted a first birthday party for friends with babies the same age as mine, in that very same room, back when the LF headquarters were my house. Back then the big issue was sleep training. Now it's screen time and ai planning. Wild what a decade does. A gut punch reminder of how fast it all flies.
I wasn’t lying when I told the audience (who could have gone on for hours) that it was my favorite conversation we’ve hosted to date at the LF townhouse. A testament to Jonathan’s work but also to the weight of this issue and how it’s pressing on all of us. The kids were the best part. They genuinely get it. They want to live in a different reality than the one we’ve handed them.
One topic that came up: how hard it is to have the attention span to watch a full movie without scrolling on a second screen. And books? A dying art form, which is both depressing and terrifying. As Jonathan put it, “you can’t have a civilization without books.” For me, reading at the end of a long day resets both my mind and my nervous system. I jokingly launched an LF book club this week, which is really just smart gear to showcase your love of reading. But I do think book clubs are underrated. They can just be two friends reading the same thing and texting thoughts back and forth. So anyway.
What are you reading right now? I’m about to go on a two week long Spring break surf trip to Indonesia and need recs.
Here’s what I have on my bed stand and my Kobo:
Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza. Gone Girl, but make it tradwives.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I’ve never read it. Can you believe it?
The Hare by Melanie Finn. A gift from my friend Monica. I had a pet rabbit growing up and love that Amy Sedaris raves about this book.
AlphaPussy by Gina Gershon. Our dear friend Gina's new book. I'm a quarter in and breezing through what it would be like to be a groovy Gina in the Valley in the 70s. Fantastic fun.
Things I Don't Want to Know by Deborah Levy. Quietly devastating in the best way.
Stoner by John Williams. Billed as “One of the most beautiful novels ever written about an ordinary life.”
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. This keeps coming up in my IG recs as does:
The Stranger by Albert Camus.
Yet to be released - but should be on your radar:
Lucien by J.R. Thornton. From my lovely friend Habitually Chic. Touted as The Secret History meets The Talented Mr. Ripley. Released on March 17th.
Don't Be Evil by Claire Stapleton. Claire is my cousin by marriage and was the key organizer of the Google walkout. I read her memoir galley and found it both fun to read and an insightful curtain pulled back on what it's actually like to work inside Google. Out August 4th. Preorder now.
Also, I REALLY LOVE the idea behind this unique bookstore.
The New York Times just put out their list of 32 novels to be excited about this spring.
I’m basically obsessed with our new quilt silk prints (above) for Spring, and I am really excited that you are too. These silk pieces are the top sellers so far from the new collection. They are fun, comfy and versatile.
I met Jack Schlossberg last week at a fundraiser hosted by his chic godmother Alexandra Styron, Laura Bickford, and others. It was surreal watching his mother, Caroline Kennedy, watch her son proudly own a room of established fancy New Yorkers. We stitched him a sweater with his tagline “believe in something again” on it and he was a huge fan. The best part? He’s running for District 12, the very district our garment district operations sit squarely in. The sweater was literally stitched in his future constituency. He was well spoken, smart, and handled the room with a seriousness that’s rarely seen on his IG. We desperately need more people from our generation in politics, people who will actually be around to deal with the fallout of the decisions being made right now.
Later that night I rushed to a friend's house for an intimate dinner party on the LES. I got sat next to a devastatingly handsome gentleman. Great, I thought. He's going to be a moron. Lucky for me, I was wrong. You can be handsome and also smart. And more importantly, curious. Men, if you take one thing from me today, take this: when you are talking to a woman, ask her questions before talking about yourself. You will win her over. It truly is that simple. Anyway, this man, Paul Rabil has the cutest wife and runs a pro lacrosse league with his equally handsome brother. I remember reading about them years ago (any story about brothers piques my interest as a mom of two boys). He pretty much convinced me that lacrosse is primed to take over America. I love learning new things outside of my world when I go out.
Also at the dinner, (at the sensational Danny Moynihan and Katrine Boorman’s chic LES apt) the delightful Angelica Hicks and her talented beau Oscar Boyson. We convinced him to send us the link to his new film "Our Hero, Balthazar" which we devoured with our kids last Friday night. Oscar, who interned under the Neistat brothers, has a really mischievous first film on his hands. It’s now playing in Union Square.
I, for one, am extremely team Chloe Malle at the helm of Vogue. It feels like getting dispatches from a kind friend who actually lives inside fashion rather than reports on it from a distance. Her Thursday newsletter, Malle Wear, is required reading. Here are two photos I screen grabbed from her that capture exactly why. Something about them just feels fresh in a world of fancy fashion people.
I loved this conversation happening on substack. Speak on sister! Jess Graves (Also, thanks to you, we all now suddenly need this grey pearl necklace.)
“Fashion has always functioned as a norm-setting industry. Influencers aren’t just selling shoes; they’re modeling behavior.”
The last (and only, ha) time I went to the Vanity Fair Oscar Party was in 2014, back when it was still at the Sunset Tower. I was breastfeeding my youngest who was an infant, and almost stayed in because I was an exhausted young mom running on fumes. My husband Sean (a partner of Graydon’s in Waverly Inn) and I dragged ourselves there and I’m so glad we did. We actually had a blast. They ended up mailing us the photo booth pictures weeks later, which remains the ONLY photo from the entire night. I came back with a lot of stories that I’ll have to save for another time. All of this to say, I loved this piece by Elise Taylor on the history of the Vanity Fair party. It really is a thing unto itself.
While in LA, I was still checking in with my west coast Guest of a Guest crew,
which most certainly included Morgan Stewart. I found Morgan because I was one of many reading her "Boobs and Loubs" blog and thought she'd be hysterical to write for us. Can you imagine my delight discovering she's picking up the blog again? And on Substack no less? Morgan Stewart McGraw , welcome!!!!
The definitive guide for what to serve as snacks at your next party.
A really chic way to never lose your phone.
It’s not important how I happened upon this old NYT piece on Lorraine Kirke and her genius throw beds, what matters is I found it in time for summer. I'm now stocking up on these to scatter all over Montauk. I can’t wait to get lazy and just like lounge about like the lizards we are.
“You know, you’ll see something somewhere, and people say ‘Oh, this, yes, it’s really useful.’ Well, it’s not coming in my house. I don’t get things that are useful. I get things I fall in love with.” - Lorraine Kirke
Lorraine Kirk’s fab throws, left, Athena Calderone’s Chic AF bathroom, right. I LOVED my friend Athena Calderone’s new Tribeca home on the cover of AD this week. I always tell her in person that her secret sauce is that she’s equal parts exotic as she is approachable. A winning combo, just like her new home.
It's rare that I covet anything, let alone a bag. But after seeing Harry Styles rocking this new Chanel, I kind of need it.
There are many, MANY reasons to have your arms up with this administration and the way they're spending our tax dollars (the first week of this war has already cost well over $11 billion). And yet, of all things, it's the crab legs that have sent me over the edge. $93 billion in September alone. They're calling it Lobstergate. The most expensive shellfish in American history. Poor crustaceans.
I love Christa Miller and I love her as Liz on Shrinking. Are you watching? It’s been really fun seeing her outfits - so far three this season are LF pieces! Thanks @allysonfanger!
You can find the updated version of her blazer, new for spring in pinstripes. See it modeled glamorously below by our merchandiser Meredith, along with Andrew from our team in our new Spring Sloane Cardigan. I'm telling you, this new collection is GOOOOOD.
Finally, New Yorkers, I really really don’t think you should miss this.
That’s it for now. We’re starting talks about our Montauk store stock - if you have cool brands for us to stock out in our little store at the Crow’s Nest hit me up! Here’s your reminder that there are still kind, talented, interesting people out there doing cool things. Go find them—and dig it the most.
xo Rachelle
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