Once you “make it” as a celebrity—especially one known for your sense of style—the natural next step of 21st-century fame is to start a fashion brand. And, well, sometimes celebrity-backed fashion ventures (ones that will remain nameless) simply don’t pan out. But other times, the transition from actress or singer into fashion designer and budding multi-hyphenate is seamless—and it shows, with brands that make headlines for their runway shows or lines that are essentially gifts that keep on giving for more than a decade. Whether it’s powerhouse Rihanna‘s headline-making lingerie line Savage x Fenty, or Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen‘s dual-threat fashion lines, The Row and Elizabeth and James, there are plenty of success stories out there. Scroll down for our favorite celebrities turned designers.
Can an entire continent be trending? Because if so, Australia is having a moment. An influx of Australian beauty brands, appropriately nicknamed A-Beauty, have taken a long layover-filled flight, landed in the United States, and made their way into carefully curated beauty routines. Stateside Sephora locations recently started carrying Aussie-born brands like Dr. Roebuck’s and Go-To Skincare, while the Instagram hashtag #sandandsky has been wrested from nature photographers and is now populated by beauty influencers testing out Sand & Sky Pink Australian Clay.
Australian beauty is all about effortlessness, joy, and a celebration of the country’s unique flora and fauna. (Fun fact: More than 80 percent of Australia’s flowering plants are found nowhere else in the world.) Beauty company founders looked right in their backyards for efficacious botanicals, healing clays, and natural substitutes for harsh chemicals. Many of our favorite A-Beauty brands are all-natural and cruelty-free. Plus, much like a Down Under sunset, A-beauty packaging is often simple and colorful. As a whole, it’s a beauty experience that’s uniquely uplifting.
“The unique element of Australian beauty is driven by our culture and its people,” says Kim Devin, cofounder of Dr Roebuck’s. “Nature and wellness is at the very center of our living and being, so it’s only natural that we treat our skin care routines in the same manner. Australia is rich in nutrients, resources and powerful, indigenous ingredients, so A-Beauty really brings the power and efficacy of Aussie elements to life.”
For Devin, the A-beauty standard is “clean, natural, ‘no-fuss’ skin care.” Since the culture takes pride in healthy lifestyle choices, Aussie beauty focuses on the “glowing from within” look—whether it’s the natural flush from a morning hike or a beauty fake-out concocted with sunless tanner and face oil. And that beach-bum thing? “The messy, postbeach look is a very real trend here,” says Devin. “Overall, being healthy is synonymous with being beautiful.”
We think 2019 feels like the perfect time to inject a dose of Down Under positivity into your beauty routine. Keep scrolling for our 10 favorite beauty brands you need to know—the earth, your skin, and your attitude will all thank you.
When Meghan Markle wears something the whole world watches, makes crazy assumptions about what her clothing choices “actually” mean (hint: most of the time, nothing) and buys every single thing she’s ever worn until they’re all sold out. The Duchess of Sussex does have great style but what’s even more alluring than her aesthetic is the price. Markle is known to shop affordable brands like & Other Stories, Club Monaco and Missoma–which are all coincidentally having incredibly Black Friday sales. Not to mention a bunch of her other favorite pieces are on sale elsewhere, like these Veja sneakers at Shopbop. Lucky for you we’ve sorted through the best Black Friday deals and found all the Meghan Markle worthy pieces on sale below.
One of the best things about fall—besides the sweaters and the PSLs—is that we can give our collective razors a well-deserved break, since we’ll now be bundled up until spring. And though it might seem counterintuitive, that’s a-okay with the newest crop of razor brands to hit the market. From Dollar Shave Club to Billie to Flamingo (which launches today), these Millennial-minded brands are taking a more holistic, inclusive approach to both body hair and self-care.
Dollar Shave Club was one of the first to take a more down-to-earth approach to razors. “We use our humor and no-nonsense attitude to convey our value to women,” says Sam Kang, the brand’s vice president of acquisition. (That explains why, despite its core marketing being geared toward men, women make up nearly 30 percent of the subscription service’s members). Billie then doubled down on these efforts, first by paying women back for the pink tax—the higher cost of personal care products marketed for women—and more recently by launching #ProjectBodyHair, the first-ever ad campaign by a razor company that even shows body hair.
It was the natural evolution of the pro-body hair trend, which saw Rihanna’s leg hair and raised it Janelle Monae’s pubes. All of the above has contributed to the declassification of body hair as something gross, unhygienic, or even taboo, as had been the case for years.
PHOTO: Ashley Armitage
Now, men’s razor brand Harry’s is following suit in a big way. Flamingo, its new female-focused line, aims to celebrate “women’s natural bodies (bumps, dry skin, body hair, and all), dispelling the myth of ‘feminine perfection.'” It’s smart move to capitalize on the momentum, seeing as sales of Harry’s razors grew a whopping 943 percent in 2017, while some traditional razors like Gillette’s Venus Embrace saw negative sales growth. Plus, 59 percent of women between 18 and 34 are interested in trying subscription services (such as Harry’s, Flamingo, and Dollar Shave Club), per findings from market-research firm Mintel.
Now, all of the women who’ve been using Harry’s for years will now get to enjoy razors made for them and by them—in this case, literally. Allie Melnick and Brittania Boey, who helped launch the brand and used the men’s razors themselves, were closely involved in the development of Flamingo, and they took this new attitude toward body hair—and body positivity in general—into consideration.
There’s the obvious: Unlike Harry’s, Flamingo razors are designed to fit the curved areas women tend to shave most, such as our legs, toes, and bikini lines. But the two wanted to go the extra mile. “While building Flamingo, we talked to over a thousand women about body hair, body care and everything in between,” says Melnick, now the general manager of Flamingo. “As a part of this journey, we saw how personal and private everyone’s body care routines are so we wanted to bring these conversations out of the shadows and embrace the realities.”
Those realities involve not shaving every single day—or even at all, depending on your personal preferences. “We’ve created products that address these realities and the in-between shave or wax stubble moments,” says Boey, Flamingo’s senior vice president of Research & Development and Design. Not only does an innovative soft-gel wax strip for face and body, the first of its kind in the US, no longer require that you grow your hair out first (as was typically the case, since hair had to be long enough for the wax to adhere), but ancillary products in the line are also designed to care for skin before, during, and long after you shave. That’s strategic thinking: Ever since a report from Mintel found that women now face less pressure to remove body hair (and less stigma associated with it), brands have been offering formulas that maintain and even nourish female body hair for those who choose to keep it. Flamingo, which spans everything from post-wax clothes to body lotion, takes that seriously.
Each time a brand has made a step in the right direction—that is, the one of more inclusivity—advocates of both body hair and the not-so-smooth realities of shaving voice their support. Fans have also embraced pink tax-free men’s razors, like Harry’s.
And this advocacy can mean big things for brands. “We doubled sales the week of the campaign launch and we ended up completely selling out of product,” says Billie cofounder Georgina Cooley. She also notes that since the campaign, the brand has received an investment from Serena Williams. “I think women are appreciative of brands that are celebrating diversity and breaking the mold of what is considered ‘normal’ in mainstream media,” adds Cooley. “We’re all tired of seeing the same glossy, airbrushed models.”
But it’s still a hard sell, since the core audience seems to be stuck in their habits. “I appreciate the gesture of body hair and all body types, but honestly, I don’t spend that much time or attention on shaving—and having a more inclusive brand image isn’t going to make me start,” says Pei, 28, a student in San Francisco. The same goes for Allison, 30, a publicist in New York City. “I like the thought of what they’re doing and stand for, but I buy the same razors I grew up buying out of habit,” she says. “But I feel like it’s good that girls who are making their first razor purchases see brands like that.”
And even though body hair has gained more acceptance, it’s still polarizing for some. “I’m not a fan of body hair,” says Bebe, 29, a computer scientist in Chicago. “I feel like our generation is a mix of ‘who cares, be free’ and people who literally shave everything.” Alex, 29, a producer also in Chicago, agrees. “I don’t care what anyone else does, but [removing body hair] makes me feel cleaner.”
The good news is that even so, everyone across the board thinks the pink tax is bullshit.
Designer Teni Adeola is an extraordinary student. A rising senior at The New School in New York City, Adeola—who is more popularly known as “Tia”—spends hours in the library, alternating between studying for her media studies courses and looking for inspiration for her growing fashion brand, Slashed by Tia. It’s this drive that has helped her build a company that, since its launch in 2016, has amassed a massive Instagram presence and caught the attention of superstars like SZA,, Lorde, and Gigi Hadid.
Did we mention she’s just 21?
PHOTO: Gotham
Gigi Hadid wearing Slashed by Tia in July.
Once you land on Slashed by Tia’s Instagram page, you’re met with dramatic, ruffled blouses and skirts in sheer pastels. These have become the brand’s signatures, making it a familiar name among the fashion community. Never mind that the designer behind them has no major design house gigs on her résumé—rather, is balancing a heavy academic schedule with a budding brand.
Tia began her career in fashion as an intern in Lagos, Nigeria. She was 12 when she was given an opportunity to work under designer Ituen Basi. Around that time, she began reading fashion history books, designer biographies, and old magazines; as well as taking more traditional, hands-on sewing classes and textile workshops. Basi would urge Tia to pursue this type of fashion scholarship and commit to research before designing and experimenting with complex silhouettes—a lesson that remains with her today.
For someone who has pretty much built her brand on Instagram, Tia’s process for finding inspiration is somewhat surprising. Reference books rather than social media? “I know it sounds kind of nerdy—like, you’re a designer, why are you reading?” says Tia. “If you want to do something that really stands out and if you want to do something that’s like, ‘Okay, that’s by her,’ just go to the library and read. Look through those archives, it’s really worth it.”
PHOTO: Courtesy of Slashed by Tia/Lumia Nocito
A photo from a recent Slashed by Tia lookbook.
Ultimately, it was those books that lead her to ruffles, one of her brand’s most distinctive elements. During her senior year of high school, while studying at a boarding school in London, Tia wrote a dissertation on fashion and art from the 16th century Spanish Renaissance period. “I loved how the royals were painted, and the extravagant clothes they would wear,” she remembers. And that involved ruffled garments: “[They were] something that they always had, no matter how big or small… They just always looked so good painted by some of my favorite painters. They were always something that stuck with me.”
In Slashed by Tia’s world, though, ruffles are the uniform of a very different demographic: women who are unafraid to challenge societal norms and make daring fashion statements. “A lot of the time people wear see-through clothes and it’s often described as tacky or distasteful, but I feel like with my clothes, even though it may be see-through and you may be seeing boobs, there definitely is an artistic aspect to it,” Tia says. Many of her sheer-ruffle pieces expose nipples and are cut short, revealing quite a bit of arm, stomach, and leg. “With my clothes I definitely wanted to make them slightly more risque. It just goes against the whole idea of ruffles at the time and just how women were viewed at the time.”
Her brand message and design ethos has resonated with the fashion-obsessed, socially conscious Instagram generation: Some of the brand’s most high-profile clients, including Kali and SZA, got in touch with Tia via DM, the designer says. Kali wore a number of custom Slashed by Tia pieces while on tour; SZA wore a pink set for her Coachella 2018 performance. Lorde, Dua Lipa, and Abra have also donned Slashed by Tia, on-stage and off.
“I feel like when I make my clothes, I make them so the girl walks into the room and everyone’s like, ‘OMG, her outfit’,” Tia says. “I feel like you kind of need that with stage presence: Everyone needs to be like, ‘She looks amazing’… I do consider that when I’m making clothes. I’m like, Okay, what’s going to turn heads?”
Slashed by Tia’s celebrity clientele has attracted even more eyeballs to the brand. And the designer has capitalized on its ever-growing following to make a statement about diversity in fashion, sharing elaborate, conceptual lookbooks featuring primarily models of color surrounded by greenery and ornate interiors (inspired by Tia’s art history background).
Tia typically works with an all-woman production team to create video and photo editorials that play off Slashed by Tia’s soft, feminine embellishments: One of early photo shoot featured models adorned in her ruffle designs skateboarding around New York; a recent video lookbook featured a sword wielding model strutting through a Victorian-style home in a sheer ruffle two-piece set, surrounded by a striking crew of equally bad ass models.
PHOTO: Courtesy of Slashed by Tia/Lumia Nocito
An image from a recent Slashed by Tia lookbook.
Tia makes it a point to cast women of color—and black woman, in particular—in her campaigns because of their absence in the Renaissance paintings she studied, loved, and felt inspired by. “It’s so interesting because when I was doing my research in high school, I remember Googling ‘black people in renaissance paintings’,” she explains. “It was one, rare, and two, they were never really wearing ruffles. It was definitely something I wanted to incorporate into modern day dress and [make] accessible for the everyday girl to wear.” (The price point of the collection also supports this mission: Everything’s under $300.)
PHOTO: Courtesy of Slashed by Tia/Lumia Nocito
An image from a recent Slashed by Tia lookbook.
Slashed by Tia has participated in runway shows in Lagos, Paris, and New York, but will make her official New York Fashion Week debut in September, for the Spring 2018 season. Tia’s also finishing her degree, expecting to graduate next year.
Right now, her weekdays are spent in class, her evenings on the brand (she’s still a one-woman show, managing business operations, production planning, and marketing herself). But once Slashed by Tia’s her full-time occupation? Well, it’ll surely open her A-list client book up to even more people looking for edgy ruffle designs, meticulously slashed by Tia.
When I first found out I was pregnant, I worried about how I would translate my personal style to maternity clothes. While my options weren’t as bad as I feared they would be (I managed to find some stuff I actually really liked!), I still couldn’t wait to retire the stretchy-waist pants and return to my regularly scheduled wardrobe programming. I figured as soon as the baby was out, the style hiatus would be over—I even threw my favorite Nike turtleneck sweatshirt dress (similar style here, for reference) in my hospital bag to wear home after the birth, and to do so as it was intended to be worn, as opposed to stretching the waist as far is it would go during those last few weeks of the bump. What I naively didn’t take into account, though, was what sartorially restricting phase came after: breastfeeding.
I didn’t consider how breastfeeding would render almost the entirety of my prepregnancy closet useless, including that aforementioned dress. I did have one friend who advised me to bring some nursing bras and button-down PJs to the hospital, but no one had mentioned to me anything about the best way to get dressed when you’re nursing eight to 12 times a day. I guess most moms wear whatever’s on hand? But it didn’t take long for me to discover that I didn’t like lifting up any old shirt and nursing that way—for one thing, I had my baby in March, when it was still cold. As soon as I had to nurse in public for the first time (it happened on her fourth day of life), I learned that I like to feel fully dressed when I do so, which turned out to mean button-downs, zip-ups, and spending way too much money on anything labeled “nursing” as I went on online shopping sprees during 4:00 A.M. feeds.
I’ve found that there’s a wide mix of stuff in the market. Some recurring brands in my pregnancy shopping rotation, like ASOS and H&M, have been offering nursing options for quite a while. Facebook’s algorithm relentlessly targeted me with ads for some newer, nursing-specific brands, like Latched Mama, that have risen in the social media age. My in-the-know fashion friends tipped me off to some just-launched labels, like Storq and Teat & Cosset, that are incredibly chic—not a word you usually associate with this category of clothing. (Thanks, pals!) To see how they stacked up, I tried them all. Here, my thoughts.
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