Fashion & Shopping
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Star French Florist Weathers Pandemic

Holly B. Martin

There was a time, pre-pandemic, that Thierry Boutemy’s flowery creations graced catwalks, magazine covers and celebrity weddings.

Now, of course, the French florist — who has worked for Sofia Coppola, Lady Gaga and the fashion house Hermes — is having to weather the crisis like anyone else.

But his passion for petals has not withered.

Boutemy is horrified by the 'industrial' flower trade at venues like FloraHolland in the Netherlands Boutemy is horrified by the ‘industrial’ flower trade at venues like FloraHolland in the Netherlands Photo: AFP / EMMANUEL DUNAND

For more than 25 years, Boutemy has run his boutique in Brussels, a cob-walled den where Italian poppies, Dutch hellebores and tulips from the south of France perfume the air.

All are imported — “Belgium doesn’t produce anything in winter,” he says — but they are all blooming, alive, from soil, free from chemicals and of verified provenance.

That attention to detail and devotion to nature means Boutemy sources most of his plants from small

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American Beauty
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How 11 Beauty Entrepreneurs Are Handling Business Amid the Pandemic

Holly B. Martin

Once brimming with energy and post- haircut highs, salons and spas have been eerily quiet for the better part of a year. So we called up 11 beauty entrepreneurs — all of whom we profiled during happier days — to find out how they’re faring a year into the pandemic, and what’s next for an industry on the brink.

Whoever coined the phrase “hope isn’t a strategy” clearly never lived through a pandemic — or met these entrepreneurs. They still have their skills, their tools (needles, threads, miles of hair), and the belief that best pc monitoring software things will eventually get better. Because if any business knows how to finesse a comeback, it’s the beauty business. Keep scrolling for their stories.

Shelley Smith

Braid Heaven Salon, Kansas City



a person holding a baby: The family behind Braid Heaven Salon (clockwise from left), Leslyn, Allecia, Shelley, Jasmine, and Glynnis Smith.

© Photographed by Nagasaka Fumi
The family behind Braid Heaven Salon (clockwise from left), Leslyn, Allecia, Shelley, Jasmine, and Glynnis Smith.

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Fashion Style
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How To Travel In Pandemic Style With The Coolest Antimicrobial Protective Clothing

Holly B. Martin

My first foray into traveling internationally during the pandemic was something I did not take lightly. I researched way too much about how dangerous it was to travel and probably over-prepared for my short journey to Mexico. I wore gloves, a double face mask, and a face shield but never went so far as to change my clothing. I noticed several other passengers were wearing disposable hazmat suits, which looked utterly ridiculous and uncomfortable and thus started my search for new fashionable options for my next trip.

While viruses are known to survive on clothes and surfaces, it isn’t yet known how that translates to getting infected. But I wanted peace of mind, and finding protective clothing that is made of quality while at the same time comfortable enough to sleep in on a long flight led me to

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Fashion Style
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Making a Case for Utility Fashion Amidst the Pandemic

Holly B. Martin

It’s been a year since street style lived up to its pre-pandemic exuberance. In a “normal” Fashion Week, we’d post hundreds of images documenting the energy and expressive style of models, editors, buyers, and influencers at the shows. What was once a reliable cadence governed by specific dates and times—Vogue’s Phil Oh never missed a big show!— has now become a giant question mark.

For the record, there are always stylish people on the streets; the medium pre-dates Fashion Week. But when it came to capturing the (limited) action at the Milan menswear shows this weekend, our photographer Gianluca Senese trained his lens on the models zig-zagging between photo shoots and live-streamed shows. As a result, the images are a bit quieter than we’ve seen in the past, and there’s a good chance these models didn’t expect to be photographed this season.

That means we’re getting a glimpse

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