Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 47 - November 2024 i L'OFFICIEL USA

When we first met Grace VanderWaal, the year was 2016. America’s Got Talent reigned as a ratings juggernaut, and a 12-year-old sporting an Anna Wintour bob and strumming a ukulele possessed enough power to pull over 100 million views on YouTube. Looking every bit the part of a Crewcuts catalog model in a pair of yellow skinny jeans and ballet flats, the Suffern, New York, native stole hearts on the competition show’s stage. Her charisma was as obvious as her ear-to-ear grin, and was matched only by the raw vocals of someone at least twice her age. After Simon Cowell dubbed her “the next Taylor Swift,” she was there to stay and, eventually, to become the second female—and the first-ever child—victor in the show’s history. Eight years later, VanderWaal has…

“I think history is everything,” Harris Reed tells me, the lilt of his accent, a British-American mélange, curling around the words. “You learn the most from looking back.” It’s mere days after his Spring/Summer 2025 presentation—a paean to the world of lost textiles, with structural gowns made from vintage haberdashery fabrics to 200-year-old Point de Venise lace tablecloths. I’ve caught him in the flux period; he’s about to go do it all again at Paris Fashion Week. Any other designer would be out of puff, but Reed is alacritous, brisk, full of life. The 28-year-old, a 2020 graduate of Central Saint Martins, has a résumé many designers dream of, built within just four years: well-received collections, made notable by his fastidious, capital-R–romantic taste; a first-ever client in Harry Styles, whom…

The iconic public intellectual and writer Susan Sontag once said, “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” No matter what spurs the desire to travel—an Instagram photo, a friend’s recommendation, or even just spinning the globe and pointing—there’s always somewhere new to discover. As younger generations continue to make travel a priority, weighing experiences over material goods, the diversity of offerings, from luxury spas to immersive getaways, only continues to grow. Looking ahead to the new year, L’OFFICIEL asked a range of creatives to share where they’re planning to touch down in 2025. From a private island in Patagonia to the gem show in Tucson, here is an eclectic assortment of dreamy offerings that may just inspire your next trip. IRA MADISON III, Writer “Ever since I saw…

After Pierpaolo Piccioli departed his long-held position of creative director at Valentino in March, speculation on his successor commenced immediately. But for the Roman maison, there was only one clear candidate to take up the mantle: Alessandro Michele. His two decades in Milan as a creative force at Gucci were well spent honing a unique, identifiable style, but the time had come at last for the Roman designer to return home. “I know what women want. They want to be beautiful,” Valentino Garavani famously said. Michele, too, knows what women want, and through decades of experience as a visionary designer, he’s found that Garavani’s original hypothesis still rings true. Michele shocked the fashion world earlier this year after moving up his debut—originally slated for September’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection—with an unexpected…

Journeying to faraway destinations, real or imagined? The three-part High Jewelry collection from Van Cleef & Arpels will help you tackle life’s towering tides. Its plunging necklaces, precious clips, and ornamental bracelets emulate the 1883 adventure story Treasure Island, capturing the invigorating sights and mood of an epic voyage to a mysterious island. The maison creates a true treasure trove, marrying architecturally innovative designs with a crystalline clarity akin to the sparkling seas. Finely crafted pieces contain strategically arranged colorful gemstones that evoke the rich flora and fauna of marine life, and are a breathtaking interplay of enticing shades and advanced materials. Pieces are polished and engraved to perfection, exuding magnificent three-dimensional realism and adventure-seeking character. In this issue, the realms of fashion, design, and travel converge in a celebration…

Athena Calderone seeks inspiration across the globe and in the past. The interior designer is drawn to the 1930s—both in her recent collaboration with Crate & Barrel, released this fall, and in her Tribeca home currently under renovation. “My design is almost like a visual autobiography of what I’m obsessed with right now,” she says. This November, Calderone will travel to Italy to celebrate two milestones: her 50th birthday and her 25th wedding anniversary. Every time Calderone travels, she takes something home with her. “Travel has been such an important player in my evolution as a designer,” Calderone says. She likes to pick up something vintage while on the road, whether it’s a vase, a vessel, or a catch-all, or “just something that ends up being very much imbued with…