PicoBlog

Happy almost Snow Day if you live around NYC! The weather was threatening to keep me at home but nothing stuck, so I ventured out for my anticipated appointment at Atelier Jolie.

For those who don’t know, Angelina Jolie—a true minimalist fashion-wise and refugee advocate, has taken over the former studio of Basquiat (rent is apparently $60k a month!), where she has opened a multi-dimensional boutique and small refugee-run cafe, Eat Offbeat, with beautiful pastries from around the world (didn’t try, must go back). The set up is a bit odd, because you walk in and the clothing is immediately to your right, however, as they politely tell you, you must have an appointment to peruse. If you’re coming out of curiosity and on a whim, you are led to the back where the small cafe is. I learned this when I went with a friend last week, so I made an appointment to come back to shop (you do this via email, atelier@atelierjolie.com) .

For my appointment I was greeted by a trio of super nice young people who gave me FIT/Parson student vibes, and then one of them walked me through the small Atelier Jolie collection, the other brands chosen by Jolie (there were 4), and to the basement where you can pay $25 for a T-shirt and then paint/design it (there are also some vintage pieces—all in white, available to purchase and play with as you see fit). The second floor atelier is off-limits unless you book another appointment, where they say you can dream up anything and they will make it for you. Or remake a vintage piece you can’t wear anymore, or rework a vintage piece into a unique design. I couldn’t get an idea of prices; the person I was talking to said they were expensive, but considering the prices of the Atelier Jolie clothes, it’s all relative. Also, they offer embroidery and stud detail services to items you purchase on the first floor. All materials used in Atelier Jolie are dead stock, which means what is shown on the floor, won’t be there again, unless there is more of the same material from where they source it. That is something I appreciate.

My first impression: Atelier Jolie is affordable and my kind of mix of feminine and tailored styles. The Atelier Jolie x Chloe collab (available at Bergdorfs) is Chloe prices, but here, a voluminous, half-lined wool trench coat is $425, sheer chiffon dresses are $500, shirts are $215 and a little silk cami is $110. I only focused on Jolie’s collection—all in black and white, which felt simple but personally very her.

The voluminous trench coat feels like it must be an amalgam of favorite trenches she owns, along with details she wishes they had. Oversized, soft-shouldered, with rolled up cuffs, I have to say it feels very movie-star and a bit The Row. The kind of languid piece you can hide in but still look elevated when you’re shopping for groceries.

There were blazers in black velvet, white stripes and other materials, a brilliant kimono evening jacket that I loved but wouldn’t get any wear out of, sheer silk chiffon dresses (not for me), kimono sleeve tops that draped below the knee on one side to wear over a tank and pants at night, trousers (which I should have tried to report back on, sorry), a white silk wrap blouse and sweet tap pants in chiffon and lace. There weren’t many size smalls left, so I tried on mediums, but slightly oversized kind of gave me AJ vibes so was into it.

The sweet silk ivory spaghetti strap tank ($110) reminded me of the tank above (not literally, but in thought) from Angelina’s story in British Vogue that was from her closet.

My takeaway: They need to iron out a few things. It feels like a work-in-progress (which is fair enough), the sales people couldn’t answer all my questions, there wasn’t a place to put down my bag and coat, etc. Plus, you are out of luck unless you live in or are visiting NYC and know that you must make an appointment. (If it was open to the public, I imagine the racks would have been cleared out immediately.) I should get an email now when a new shipment drops, so let’s see.

One of my favorite designers, Sisi Li of Nells Nelson is having an excellent archive sale on her site. She has offered TFI readers an extra 10% off the already 30% off prices. I thought about making this perk only available to paid subscribers, but today I’m feeling generous (this is also a reason I encourage you to pay $5 a month, I try to make it worth your while). Use the code FLAIR10 at checkout to get the extra 10%. My top five faves: The Nicolette pants (my go-to black pants that I wear at least once a week); the Louise Cashmere shirt (have); this coat; this elegant trench; this knit blazer.

Finally, I’m always blathering on about fewer, better things. Here, is a rather yuck, in-your-face obvious reason to follow that ethos, thanks to another favorite designer Maria McManus, who works diligently to create the most sustainable clothing line she can. I also have a few of her pieces and am a fan. I’m just going to cut and paste her IG post (images above/words below) so I don’t miss a thing. (Also, check out her designs.)

“Fascinated by this post by @haleboyd . @permacoach_me took a pair of stretch jeans, I am presuming the content was something like 60% cotton / 40% elastane, and tried to compost them. The cotton which is biodegradable broke down quite quickly. Cotton if composted can decompose within weeks or months. However, as you can see from the images all of the the elastane was left.

There are many issues with the fashion industry when it comes to carbon use, pollution generally and how people are paid, but the proliferation of cheap fossil fuel based materials like polyester, nylon and elastane are a really significant issues. These materials are toxic to create and pretty much permanent once created. Nylon can take 30-40 years to decompose. Polyester and elastane can take 500+ years.

At this point we have found it almost impossible to eradicate nylon and elastane from our collections. We only very occasionally use recycled polyester. However, sadly we have not found a high quality replacement for nylon and elastane both of which help our garments to last longer and feel more comfortable - in my mind important when trying to create high quality, long lasting clothes. Our mission for 2024 is to try to replace nylon and elastane with new materials that have a more gentle effect on the planet. Hoping the technology is out these. We will keep you posted.

In the mean time, please check the care labels on your garments and try to avoid polyester as much as possible. These polyester garments will be polluting our soil and water for centuries to come with forever micro-plastics doing unknown harm to animals, marine life and our children’s bodies.”

EEEEwwwww. The other day I was thinking about a pair of tailored pants from a less expensive brand—good fit, great color, really inexpensive, but majority polyester. I couldn’t do it and so glad I didn’t. This is why quality matters. Natural materials are far better for all of us in so many ways. And it is interesting once you read this and start looking at the fabric content of other pieces, some, that are quite expensive, also use a lot of polyester or elastane. FYI, I looked it up and Spandex, Elastane and Lycra are all the same synthetic material. (Spandex and Lycra are brands that make their own version of Elastane.)

Knowledge is power people.

Have a good weekend!

x Jennifer

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