Loose Threads
The Met Gala announced its 2026 chairs in a video that looked like the unveiling of a mausoleum. They are: Beyoncé, Venus Williams, and Nicole Kidman. Committee co-chairs are Saint Laurent (the major brand sponsor) designer Anthony Vaccarello, and Zoë Kravitz. And the “Host Committee” includes Sabrina Carpenter, Lisa, Lena Dunham, and Vogue Head of Editorial Content Chloe Malle. Notably absent from this slew of bold-faced names is Lauren Sánchez Bezos, whose underwriting of the whole thing has been pretty unpopular.
Photographer Pietro d’Azzo’s new project Men in Heels depicts a man’s feet stuffed into Prada heels. Dazed has the images, and they’re rather captivating.
If you’re a big jewelry person, good news: The ‘80s are back. If you want to get in on the coin jewelry trend, Ben Bridge has some options in real gold. If you’re more minimalist, I also like this necklace from them.
According to a proprietary ranking system, secondhand site Rebag says that The Row bags have an average 97 percent value retention rate. Other “unicorn” brands in this ranking include Goyard and Hermès.
For her Stephen Colbert appearance, Taylor Swift wore a deep red velvet David Koma dress with sleeves that looked like they could hold a glass of egg nog. Koma is an unexpected designer for her and I thought it was fun.
Earlier in Back Row:
The Personal Stylist to New York Billionaires and Centi-millionaires
The flatlining of the luxury fashion industry has been the big fashion story of 2025. However, as Back Row subscribers know from recent interviews with Very Important Clients, at a certain tax bracket, there is no downturn. Buyers may be annoyed with higher prices, but they’re buying anyway.
Such is the case for one personal stylist to Upper East Siders, whose clients’ haven’t slowed their shopping, even though she sometimes gets annoyed about prices on their behalf. With a design background, she offers her clients — billionaires and centi-millionaires — a unique, expert perspective on getting dressed. “I was doing a lot of custom bridal,” she said, “and then the husbands get jealous that they don’t have someone helping them put together everything. So then they’re like, ‘Can you do our husbands too?’” Her styling business snowballed from there. She primarily dresses her clients by shopping at retail stores in New York. I wanted to get her perspective on “the great reset” and how her clients feel about fashion in general right now.
What did your clients think of the spring 2026 season or “the great reset”?
My clients don’t even give a shit about spring 2026 or “the great reset.” They’re buying the brands that I put in front of them. They’re invited to the shows — they spend so much — but not all have time to go. Some go. They like it and it’s exciting. But I think they get more excited when they can physically have the purchases in front of them.
It’s funny that they’re not interested in being at the runway shows.
We’ll get tickets and I’m like, “Do you want to go?” And they have a plane. They’re like, “No.”
So they’re not shopping from the runways?
It’s irrelevant until it’s in their possession or they’re able to try it on themselves. They have to see it on their bodies. Their husbands are particular about what they wear. They’re like, “Make sure there’s cleavage.”
What are they shopping for? Every aspect of their lives?
I’m not traditionally a stylist, so I’m very expensive to work with. Some keep me on rotation because they trust me and they realize how much easier their lives are, and they get the most compliments when they wear stuff that I put together for them. Then my bigger clients usually use me for events. So it’s like they have a four-day Christmas extravaganza in Aspen. Then they have their husband’s birthday party yacht thing that’s happening in St. Barths. They have a wedding in the south of France. I could go on.
They own planes and boats?
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