Last week New York Magazine broke out a story that made the chair cognoscenti’s hearts skip a beat: You can buy Anna Wintour’s office chair online.
According to the report, the chair made a recent cameo in a business article in the New York Times, about powerful people’s offices.
“The chair, originally designed by metalworker Xavier Pauchard for the French brand Tolix in 1934, has spawned countless knockoffs, and in recent years, it’s become, as Vox calls it, ‘the metal chair that’s in every restaurant,'” writes Dominique Pariso, “Even if you know it from your local California Pizza Kitchen, the chair is a classic, and you can buy it for $251 at Design Within Reach.”
In light of Anna sliding into our consciousness by way of a chair, I thought to dig up some Anna in the news and pick up some style cues for us all, chair enthusiasts or not.
Style Lesson no. 1: Rocking rocks
At the National Magazine Awards Anna wore on her neck the largest rock hanging from a dainty band of smaller rocks. It’s so huge it looks like it came from the auctioning off of the collection of a fallen royal. Anna from the block teaches us not to neglect rotating our vault’s contents.
Style Lesson 2: How to do print on print the Anna way
Let’s look at Anna at the Michael Korr’s show, where the clothes usually aren’t amazing but it’s okay, they advertise. This crisp fit is so specific I can churn out the winning formula: Gray leopard coat + blown up amoeba print on a sedate lilac dress + gray snakeskin boots = GOLD.
Style lesson no. 3: Toxic paradigm
Tie-dye is back in the general cycle of things. Even Prada made tie-dye videos that made it look like it’s actually a scientific thing. What’s cool about this Anna look is the exquisite colorway: that inkblot black that is the stuff of artsy nightmares and the most noxious green that red carpets rarely get to see.
Style Lesson No. 4: Florals are forever
Remember what Anna wore to the 2013 punk-themed Met Gala? Pink floral Chanel couture. Not punk—which is exactly why it’s punk? So Anna loves a good floral. Here’s Anna in a gorgeous floral dress, which you might think you’ve seen once before on a curtain, a tablecloth, or your Under the Tuscan Sun DVD. Are there peonies in Tuscany? Anyway, fashion-wise, Anna likes to keep things in full bloom. Donald Newhouse looks lovestruck.
Style Lesson no. 5: Patchwork is in
This one’s my favorite, because it’s so anachronistic. Pardon the pun. Generally Anna stays in the realm of calf-length dresses but within that playing field Anna is wild. The devil wears quilt, did you say?
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SPOTLIGHT: MEET THE BROTHERS BEHIND MANILA’S FRESHEST STREETWEAR STARTUP
SYF bros Ralph and Randell Cruz model the swag and talk shop. BY JED GREGORIO
