Happy Friday!
As Valentine’s Day approaches (it’s Tuesday), I’ve been thinking about displays of love. One of the most romantic notes I’ve seen in recent memory appeared in an unlikely place: Facebook. It was written by Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert, as a coming out about her relationship with her best friend, Rayya Elias, who had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Gilbert explained that her feelings for Elias went beyond friendship; she was deeply in love.
“She’s my best friend, yes, but it’s always been bigger than that,” Gilbert wrote. “She’s my role model, my traveling companion, my most reliable source of light, my fortitude, my most trusted confidante. In short, she is my PERSON.”
The casting of Valentine’s Day as a holiday just for couples shows a lack of imagination. This year, let’s follow the lead of Parks and Recreation‘s Leslie Knope, who declared February 13 “Galentine’s Day”—a frittata-laden celebration of female friends—and cast the net even wider. Show some love to your Person, your people, whoever they are. As you’ve known since elementary school, everybody loves getting a Valentine.
Richard Branson + Barack Obama. Right now, Richard Branson seems to be Barack Obama’s Person, having just hosted the former president in the British Virgin Islands. He documented the experience on Virgin.com’s corporate website.
I’m not saying these two were purposely trolling US president Donald Trump with the photo stream of their bromantic getaway. But if they were, it’s A+ work. “Here we are kite-surfing in the waters surrounding Richard’s private island! Now we’re play-fighting on his boat!” Some Americans felt a little wistful as they scrolled through. Others would love for Obama to wrap this up already and get back to work.
“It’s the thought that counts.” That’s true, but good execution doesn’t hurt, which is the premise behind a handful of startups trying to Warby Parker-fy flower delivery with reliably tasteful, reasonably priced, and easy-to-order bouquets. BloomThat and UrbanStems offer same- or next-day delivery in much of the US. Bloom & Wild offers two-hour delivery of postbox-friendly bouquets in London. These services won’t replace the personal attention you’ll get from a special local florist, but they’re a good option if its shelves are already bare.
BloomThat’s most popular offering, a $50 bouquet of multicolored, burlap-bundled California-grown tulips, bears remarkable resemblance to the iOS bouquet emoji. (Perhaps it’s the platonic ideal of a floral arrangement for millennials?) For something less conventional, UrbanStems’ succulents in rose gold dinosaur-shaped planters would certainly cheer up a boring desk.
Rethink pink. I once had a home office painted the palest whisper of pink. It felt warm and clean when New York was dingy and grey. For my next act, I may follow the lead of Blake Pope, the general manager of Kindred Restaurant in Davidson, North Carolina, and go for a bigger pink on a smaller wall. Blake’s, pictured below, is an accent wall in a bedroom painted dark blue.
“I (and every other design enthusiast on Insta) am obsessed with this room,” wrote Amber Redmond, a Massachusetts-based grant writer and maker of home goods, when she posted it on her Instagram. ”I mean, holy-perfect-shade-of-pink!”
Blake said he chose this now discontinued color from Sherwin Williams, called Indulgent Peach, after trying several (and hating a few). He describes the winner as more peachy than “doll-room,” and notes how great it looks with brass, wood, and lots of plants. Sherwin Williams recommends Jaipur Pink as a suitable replacement.
New York Fashion Week officially kicked off yesterday, and this morning’s Calvin Klein show—the first under the new creative direction of Raf Simons—is the big debut. Simons has been teasing the new direction with advertisements for a capsule collection of feathered, embroidered, and impeccably tailored pieces available by appointment, as well as a new denim and underwear campaign pairing half-clad models with works by Richard Prince, Andy Warhol, and Sterling Ruby. By the time you’ve read this letter, runway images from the Fall/Winter 2017 collection will have flooded Instagram.
It will be interesting to see how the fashion world is adapting to Trump’s new world order. The Business of Fashion, whose editor-in-chief Imran Amed took fashion executives to task for their silence following president Trump’s travel ban, invites everyone to wear a white bandana to promote unity and inclusiveness, as part of the fashion news site’s #tiedtogether campaign.
“This is not a political statement,” says the dedicated homepage. “It is a positive statement in support of humanity during a time of turmoil and fear in many nations around the world.”
Meanwhile, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) is distributing hot pink badges declaring the industry’s support for Planned Parenthood—#IstandwithPP—along with cards outlining the services Planned Parenthood provides, and actions to support the organization. Look for pink badges and white bandanas on runways, in front rows, and all over Instagram.
Hillary Clinton will close it out. Next Thursday, Clinton and Anna Wintour are scheduled to speak at a US Postal Service ceremony dedicating a new stamp. Before you joke about fashion people attending the opening of an envelope, take note: This stamp is not just any stamp. It is a Forever stamp bearing the likeness of the late, great Oscar de la Renta, in a black-and-white photograph taken by the dynamic duo known as Inez and Vinoodh.
As a reporter, I was lucky enough to meet de la Renta a couple of times. The designer was gracious and warm, and he would hold your hand when he talked to you in a crowd. He loved to sing and dance, and in 2011 I asked him if he remembered the last song he listened to in the studio.
“I was the other day singing a song that I haven’t sang for a long time, which has one phrase that I love,” he told me. “It says, ‘I don’t know really what new mystery this night will bring.’ Nunca sabe que misterio nos trae esta noche. Isn’t that beautiful? I don’t know what mystery this night will bring. That’s the expectation, the hope.”
Here’s to mystery and romance. Have a great weekend!
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The Grammys are on Sunday night! The ceremony starts at 8pm EST on CBS. Beyoncé, A Tribe called Quest, Anderson .Paak, Adele, Daft Punk, Bruno Mars, and many more will perform—some of them together. The night will likely belong to Chance the Rapper, who has seven nominations and is also performing. Chance, who has eschewed traditional record labels in favor of streaming services and social media, just this week released a new video for his song “Same Drugs.” If Coloring Book has somehow failed to reach you, this duet with a giant-headed puppet might just be your gateway drug to the album.