Everything We Know About House of Gucci, Lady Gaga and Adam Driver’s New Movie

One year into lockdown and Lady Gaga is giving us a fashionable reason to keep going. It’s been three years since her Oscar-winning performance in A Star Is Born, and she’s headed back to the big screen alongside Adam Driver for a juicy Italian murder mystery, set against the backdrop of the glamorous Gucci family life, called House of Gucci.

The film follows the story of Patrizia Reggiano, Maurizio Gucci’s ex-wife, who plotted to kill her husband Maurizio Gucci, the grandson of fashion designer Guccio Gucci and heir to the fashion house. Here, everything we know so far about the 2021 film, out this winter.

 

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When will House of Gucci be released?

The murder mystery is set to be released on November 24, according to its IMDB page. While many film release dates have been pushed back because of COVID-19, the on-time release of this one seems promising, given they’re clearly still in production. The film drops right around the fashion house’s 100th anniversary.

Is there a House of Gucci trailer yet?

While there’s no trailer released yet, we’re crossing our fingers for one in the summer.

Who is starring in House of Gucci?

The film is stacked with other big names aside from Lady Gaga (Patrizia Reggiani) and Adam Driver (Maurizio Gucci). Jared Leto will be staring as Paolo Gucci, the former vice-president and managing director of both Gucci Shops Inc. and Gucci Parfums of America. Al Pacino will play Guccio Gucci’s eldest son Aldo Gucci, who was the chairman of Gucci Shops Inc. from 1953 to 1986.

Florence Andrews and Jeremy Irons will star as Jenny and Rodolfo Gucci, respectively, while Camille Cottin will play Paola Franchi, girlfriend to Maurizio. Youssef Kerkour, of the Netflix series Marcella and Sex Education, will play Nemir Kirdar, an Iraqi businessman and financier who founded a private equity firm that once owned Gucci, among other big names like Tiffany and Co. and Saks Fifth Avenue.

A+ casting pic.twitter.com/mxnzy00aGm

— Gaga Daily (@gagadaily) March 9, 2021

At one point pre-production, both Penelope Cruz and Margot Robbie were in the running to play Patrizia, while Leonardo DiCaprio was once rumoured to star as Maurizio.

Is House of Gucci based on a true story?

The screenplay is based on the 2001 book House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sarah G. Forden. An Italian fashion journalist for more than 15 years, Forden chronicles the gripping story of the ascent, collapse and resurrection of the Gucci dynasty, taking readers behind the scenes of the trial and family life.

Maurizio was shot and killed by a hitman hired by Patrizia on the steps outside his Milan office in 1995. She became known as the “Black Widow” and was sentenced to 29 years in prison. Her sentence was later reduced to 26 years after her daughters, Allegra and Alessandra, claimed her brain tumour affected her ability to reason.

Where is House of Gucci being filmed?

No surprises here, the film is being mostly shot in Italy where the fashion house was born. Twitter fan account @GagaMediaDotNet shared BTS photos of Gaga as Patrizia, wearing a chic red jumpsuit.

Lady Gaga filming "House of Gucci" in Italy! pic.twitter.com/8O52db1N91

— Gaga Media ▽🦄 (@GagaMediaDotNet) March 9, 2021

Other fan and film update Twitter accounts have shared photos of the co-stars shooting in Milan and Gressoney as well.

Lady Gaga & Adam Driver on the set of Ridley Scott's HOUSE OF GUCCI in Milan, Italy. pic.twitter.com/zFDFhPH9Xe

— Film Updates (@TheFilmUpdates) March 10, 2021

Another set of behind the scenes pics! Adam Driver & Lady Gaga filming in Gressoney, Italy March 8, 2021 part 7 #HouseofGucci pic.twitter.com/ifJ2403jkK

— The Adam Driver Files (@AdamDriverFiles) March 8, 2021

Who is producing House of Gucci?

Ridley and Giannina Scott will be producing the film through their company Scott Free Productions. Ridley Scott is known for his work on films like Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Thelma & Louise, The Martian and more.

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Chloe x Halle Are Neutrogena’s First-Ever Sister Ambassadors

Sister duo Chloe and Halle Bailey — perhaps better known as Chloe x Halle and also known as Beyoncé protégés — released their album Ungodly Hour last year (yes, in the midst of a pandemic) to critical acclaim. Billboard even called it one of the 10 best R&B albums of 2020. “We’re still finding ways to navigate this and perform for our audience,” says Halle over a Zoom call. “It’s been like an interesting creative project, but we miss the energy of an audience and hearing people sing our songs back to us. But we’re making it work.”

Making it work seems to be the underlying theme of the sisters’ year, and work they certainly have been. Chloe and Halle have just been announced as the new faces of Neutrogena — the brand’s first ever sister ambassadors. “We grew up seeing Neutrogena commercials on TV, and particularly that iconic face splash moment [in the sink] and we’d always re-enact it,” laughs Chloe. (Be honest: who among us didn’t nearly flood our parents’ bathroom at one point or another trying to do the same?)

 

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Iconic face wash moments aside, Chloe and Halle are fans of Neutrogena’s sunscreen offerings, thanks to their sheer protective finish. “Because women of all skin tones and types [can wear them], including us with our brown skin, because it doesn’t leave a white cast,” says Chloe. “It doesn’t hide your aura and your true beauty.”

“As Black women, it’s taken a long time for us to find a good sunscreen that works with our skin and doesn’t leave a white cast,” says Halle. “I’m grateful to be part of a brand that thinks about things like that and is inclusive.”

As one of the first, and only, artists signed by Beyoncé’s record label Parkwood Entertainment, Chloe x Halle have been ones to watch for years. To date, the sisters have earned an impressive five Grammy Award nominations and far too many other award show noms to count. When asked what women are on their watch when it comes to beauty inspiration, Halle is quick to answer: “Billie Holiday, the epitome of vintage beauty and glamour. And Beyoncé and Regina King, of course. Women who aren’t afraid to be unapologetically themselves are definitely my beauty icons.”

So how have the now 20- and 22-year-old sisters (Halle and Chloe respectively) handled being in the public eye in the last nine years? With a level of grace and poise reminiscent of their mega-star mentor and label manager, of course. “Just because we’re in the public eye doesn’t mean we have be perfect,” says Halle. “It doesn’t mean we have to look flawless, can’t have pimples, or can’t be human. I think we’ve matured to point where we can get that out of our heads.”

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The Underplayed Documentary Shines a Light on Gender Inequality in Electronic Music

This article was originally published in September 2020. 

Update: Underplayed is now available to stream in Canada on Crave.

After highlighting the issue of “diversity within the music space” in the short film Discwoman several years ago, director Stacey Lee has returned with a documentary that focuses on the routine harassment and lack of equality that women and female-identifying creatives in the world of electronic music have faced for decades. “This isn’t a new phenomenon,” says Lee when asked about the sexism, undervaluing and under-representation that’s explored Underplayed, a new documentary which was produced by Bud Light and premieres at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival on September 19. “Women have been central and instrumental to the whole birth of this industry since the beginning.”

Stacey Lee. Photograph courtesy of Underplayed

Lee’s film offers a voice to a wealth of musical talents ranging from Australian DJ, producer and singer Alison Wonderland and twin sister act Nervo to Los Angeles-based DJ and producer Tokimonsta, Niagara Falls’s Rezz and Grammy winner Suzanne Ciani. It also draws attention to trailblazers like musician and composer Delia Derbyshire.

Lee says that she was shocked at what she uncovered while working on Underplayed, particularly given this wasn’t her first production on the topic. “It was like nothing had evolved,” she says of the four years since her first project hit the screens. “If anything, some of the statistics were worse. It made me realize the urgency surrounding it.” At the core of the film is the notion that for women to gain equal footing with their male counterparts, a revolution — with all voices involved — must happen.

“It’s exceptionally complicated because you don’t want to distract from the art and the craft of what you’re doing by defining yourself as a woman,” says Lee about her documentary subjects. “At the same time, because there’s such inequity in the space, they also have a responsibility to speak up until things are right…. It’s a male responsibility, too. Women can’t be the only ones fighting for this. It’s the same as the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s shouting into an echo chamber if women are the only ones talking about this.”

FASHION spoke to four electronic acts who are part of the documentary about the trials they’ve faced, how self-expression brings them joy and what keeps them playing on.

TOKIMONSTA

courtesy of tokimonsta

“I think ingenuity is such a challenge and a gift,” says L.A.-based multi-hyphenate Jennifer Lee, who produces music and DJs under the name Tokimonsta. “It’s a quality in music that I strive for, and it keeps me on my toes.”

Lee, who grew up in a traditional immigrant household and learned how to play piano in her youth, says it wasn’t until she left for college that she could dabble in musical creation outside the works of the classical greats (all men) she had been exposed to and expected to learn.

“Growing up, I felt as if I had a lot of creative ideas, but if I ever strayed from Mozart or whatever I was playing, my family would be like, ‘What are you doing? Just stick to what you’re meant to do,’” she recalls. “I never allowed myself the opportunity to think that being creative in a different way was possible or OK. Once I decided to leave for college, it didn’t really matter what my parents thought anymore. I was on my own.”

During her first year of post-secondary studies, Lee downloaded the music production program FruityLoops (now called FL Studio) and developed the technical skills and prowess to craft the hypnotic tracks she has become known for; she points to the genres of drum & bass and West Coast rap and the work of Missy Elliott as being pivotal influences on her style. In 2015, after releasing two albums, Lee was diagnosed with Moyamoya disease, which affects arteries in the brain; she lost a host of cognitive functions and had to learn how to make music all over again.

Despite Lee’s evolution as a musical entrepreneur — she launched the record label Yung Art several years ago — and the fact that she’s self-taught, part of the sexist behaviour she has witnessed through her more than a decade-long career centres around her abilities as a creator. “There have been rumours that my boyfriend was making all my beats and he taught me everything I know,” she says. “Those rumours still exist because people don’t want to think I did it on my own. The discouraging part is that I’ve become so wrapped up in this idea that people don’t give me ownership of my music that it creates a blockage, and I feel very reluctant to work with other people. It has created some long-lasting trauma for me. But I’m growing and exiting from that, and I need to think about the art more than my ego, essentially.”

In addition to Lee learning to release her fears about collaboration, she says that familial acceptance with regard to her career has also grown; her mother now gleefully watches out for Tokimonsta mentions in the newspaper. And her mother — who was a fashion designer in the 1960s — has influenced her in terms of the style choices she makes. “She’s had a profound impact on my style,” says Lee. “She’s all about classic looks—the idea that if you have a certain style of jacket, you’ll have it for the rest of your life. I’ve always enjoyed her perspective on fashion in that way.”

TYGAPAW

courtesy of tygapaw

“I didn’t think of DJing as something I could pursue. If you don’t see yourself represented in a position, you don’t think it can be obtained.” Dion McKenzie, who goes by the moniker Tygapaw, grew up in Jamaica, and though she was exposed to music by Whitney Houston and Tina Turner growing up, the male-dominated dancehall and reggae scenes that permeated the culture left little space for women to consider themselves part of that world in the creative sense.

After moving to New York to study graphic design at Parsons School of Design, McKenzie felt emboldened to pursue the passion that had previously been denied. “I wanted to dive into learning how to play an instrument, but I wasn’t necessarily encouraged or supported when I was younger,” she recalls, noting that when she was a teen, her most potent musical memories came from hearing alternative music by bands like Nirvana and No Doubt. “I had a deep interest in the sound of an amplified guitar running through distortion,” she says.

McKenzie leaned into learning the guitar, and that eventually led to an interest in DJing. “It started when I was in a band, and my bandmate was a DJ as well,” she says. “She was fierce, and she really encouraged me. She said: ‘If you want to DJ, you should just do it. you shouldn’t put a barrier in front of yourself.’”

Since those early days, Tygapaw has become an integral part of New York’s underground music scene and beyond, although quarantine has forced her to focus more on the creation of her first full-length album than globe-trotting. “I’m enjoying the break because sometimes it can be overwhelming when you’re touring a lot and constantly in motion,” she says.

It’s hard to imagine McKenzie revelling in stillness when her music has such a propulsive quality, mixing nuances of island rhythms with driving electronic elements. the range of influences reflected in her tracks can also be seen in how she approaches dressing. “Personal style for me is all about expression and where I’m at in terms of my comfort in denouncing what society deems as conventional,” she says. “expressing myself, especially when it comes to my gender—or non-gender. There’s an evolution that’s in progress.”

The notion of progression resonates with McKenzie’s career path as well. “I create opportunities for myself, and I don’t take no for an answer,” she says. “A lot of times for Black, queer, non-binary and trans artists, that’s often the case. We create our own space and carve our own path.”

Although Tygapaw is one of the biggest names in New York nightlife, McKenzie says she was surprised to be asked to be part of the Underplayed documentary. “I’m an underground artist, Black and queer, and I also present in a certain way; I’m not high femme,” she notes. “There’s no overnight success for people who look like me; there’s a continuous work ethic — being ridiculously resilient and continuing to have a vision for yourself.”

Interestingly, McKenzie says another creative in the documentary is someone she admired as she was coming up through the touring circuit. “Tokimonsta has been an inspiration,” she says about fellow subject Jennifer Lee. “I saw her live at a festival where I was playing a smaller room, and now it’s come full circle where I’m in a documentary with her. Life is funny and interesting that way.”

And since McKenzie knows first-hand what example and encouragement can lead to, she says that the opportunity to be a voice in the film was important to her. “It’s really to empower young Black girls to know that they’re good enough. You can shine as bright as you want because you’re completely capable.”

NERVO

Photograph by by Chloe Paul

Like many of their peers, twin musical act Nervo acquired their aptitude after years of training — for them, in piano, violin and voice. Miriam and Olivia Nervo — who have recorded tracks with Kylie Minogue and Kesha and got their big break with a Grammy Award-winning song they co-wrote with David Guetta and Kelly Rowland — grew up in Australia in the musical-theatre world and haven’t stopped stealing the stage since.

“I think our singing teachers would roll over in their graves if they could hear us now,” Miriam notes with a laugh, as the pair have lent their vocal skills to pop-fuelled tunes that are a far cry from the formal arrangements they once studied. “The greatest thing about pop music is that it’s super-creative,” she says. “It’s all about breaking rules and doing what you feel.”

One gets a sense of this free-spirited nature via Nervo’s wardrobe choices — a mix that includes bodysuits, outsized tops and jackets and a selection of silky boxing shorts from Thailand. “We’ve always had fun with fashion and our hair,” says Miriam. “The best part of our job is being able to wear the best wardrobe.”

Always ones to follow their own beat, the sisters took a course in music production after several experiences of having their music “ripped off” by producers. When asked about the discrimination they’ve encountered, Miriam says: “We’ve always been around that. It’s part of being a woman in a male-dominated industry — you experience it in all aspects, from talent scouting and development to working with other artists.”

In order to shine a light on these challenges, the two were keen to be part of Underplayed; they had performed as part of the Bud Light House Party Tour and loved the experience. But they’re quick to point out that their interest doesn’t ultimately lie in shaming aggressors. “It doesn’t do us any service to name them,” says Olivia. “It’s tricky airing dirty laundry about our male counterparts in the business,” adds Miriam. “Yes, some of them haven’t been supportive or have been sexist, but our nature is to focus on the good and move forward.”

Miriam and Olivia notably used the documentary’s platform to demonstrate one women’s issue that’s still deeply under-represented in the entertainment industry: being a working mother. The pair announced their pregnancies in 2018 and avidly share the journey with fans. “That part of our lives we’re very open about,” says Miriam. “There are a lot of DJs who are fathers, but you wouldn’t know it from their social media,” adds Olivia.

Recalling the women who have influenced their musicality since they were teenagers — like Irish DJ Annie Mac and British musician Sonique as well as their relationship with music manager Amy Thomson, whom they credit as being a strong single mother — the Nervo sisters can’t help but look forward to a world with more female representation across all industries.

“I’m so optimistic for their lives,” says Miriam about her daughter’s and niece’s future. “I think women and girls these days are getting great opportunities. Society is changing.” And not a minute too soon.

CIEL

Photograph courtesy of ciel

When Toronto-based DJ, promoter and producer Cindy Li — also known as Ciel — isn’t visiting one of her favourite local shops, like vintage haunts Nouveau Riche Vintage, Public Butter and Common Sort, she’s directing her attention to not only her craft but also making the music industry a more equitable place.

Li feels that much of the problem is rooted in confidence, having experienced her own self-esteem struggles, which started when she was a young piano student. “I didn’t think I had it in me,” she recalls about making the move to create her own music after years of classical training. “Growing up in that world…there’s this idea that talent is innate. That kind of thinking is especially harmful for women because we aren’t as encouraged.”

This is something that Li has worked actively throughout her life to combat. “When I interact with women at workshops and on social media, I’m always trying to encourage them to not let fear stop them,” she says. “Anyone can make music if they want to and if they have the time and dedication.”

Though Li, who also ran a fashion blog in the 2010s, took a hiatus from the music scene for several years, she returned to nurture experimentations in sound—her tracks are melodic, intentional and uplifting—as well as encourage a new community by throwing parties with a fellow female entrepreneur. The events brought together “a queer-, woman-, POC-heavy community of people” at a time when “most lineups were 99 per cent male.” And although these parties made headway in terms of illustrating what equality in the music industry could look like, Li says that slowly, over time, she found that her influence was limited. “In the existing community—and you can see this in other cities as well—people were OK to just keep doing what they were doing.”

This was evident when Li called out a successful promoter in Toronto who until that point “had consistently booked all-male lineups and actually hadn’t booked a single woman in six years.” She recounts the experience as being something she would advise others against, even though call-out culture has become ubiquitous across industries. “It was really intense, and I don’t recommend it,” she says. “It was mentally trying for me. Leading by example is great if you have a lot of patience. Calling out will get you more immediate results but not necessarily the results you desire. A lot of times when you call someone out, they just shut down and end the project rather than trying to do better. The group that I called out stopped throwing parties. Of course, I was blamed for their disbanding. But I didn’t ask them to disband; I just criticized them for not booking women.”

In spite of this experience, Li hasn’t lost her drive to inspire others. “The way the industry looks now versus how it looked five years ago is hugely different,” she says. “There are way more women on lineups.” But she adds that with an uptick in representation comes the danger of insincerity. “I’ve been the token female DJ on an all-male lineup,” she says, noting that she’s also experienced multiple instances of payment disparity with her male peers. “For a man to say something like ‘I’m not going to play your party unless you pay me $500’ — it’s very rare for women in the industry to have that level of confidence,” she explains. “That’s a much deeper problem in examining inequality — a lot of women lack the self-confidence to compete with full gusto against their male counterparts.”

Li says that there’s much work to be done for the music industry to eliminate discrimination, highlighting the fact that female DJs are still treated differently even when it comes to accolades — for example, in the separate list rankings for top DJs and then top female DJs. “We’re trying to achieve integration and equality,” she says, adding that what it all comes down to is this: “Women need their existence to be normalized.”

This story appears in the October issue of FASHION magazine, available on newsstands from September 10th and and via Apple News + today. 

Photography by Iakovos kalaItzakIs. Styling by Ryan WeavIng. Creative direction by geoRge antonopoulos. left: Jacket, $4,930, corset, $3,830, and skirt, $1,255, andreas
kronthaler for vivienne westwood. right: Jumpsuit, $2,275, vivienne westwood. necklaces and gloves, stylist’s own.

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10 Canadian Women-Led Small Businesses to Shop Now

In honour of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting Canadian female-led small businesses. From hair accessories to statement sweaters, you can find all your fashionable favourites close to home.

If it’s loungewear you’re after, look no further than Sidia. Fashion industry veteran Erin Kleinberg named her brand of elevated casual clothing after her beloved grandmother. For a slow fashion statement, check out architect-turned-designer Ashley Phillips’s handbag line, Azure Lazuli. Phillips’s structured bags are made entirely by hand in Toronto — we love the idea of treating a special handcrafted piece as a future family heirloom.

Channel your inner boss with Rosa Halpern’s leather jackets from her brand By The Namesake. Halpern’s collection of luxe leather jackets are named after influential women, including the Kamala leather blazer inspired by none other than the Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris.

Click through below for our top picks from Canadian fashion brands founded by women.

1/10

Khalo in Pomodoro

($1,969, Azure Lazuli)

Buy Now

2/10

The Kamala Blazer

($1,460, By The Namesake)

Buy Now

3/10

Sailor Tee

($175, Bonset Studio)

Buy Now

4/10

Sparkler Barettes

($8, Neophyte)

Buy Now

5/10

The Classic Short Heart Cardi

($595, Gogo Sweaters)

Buy Now

6/10

Open Arms

($272, Ora-C)

Buy Now

7/10

0004 Black Nappa Backpack

($375, Bain)

Buy Now

8/10

002. Jumpsuit

($415, Pretty Denim)

Buy Now

9/10

Pink Ivy

($180, Baby Minou)

Buy Now

10/10

Gold Dust

($198, Sidia)

Buy Now

For more, check out this list of brands that are giving back to women’s causes.

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Success Strategies from 5 of TikTok’s Most Inspiring Canadian Entrepreneurs

Ever wonder what it takes to be an entrepreneur *and* thrive on a rapidly growing platform like TikTok? On March 4, FASHION sat down (virtually, of course) with a panel of inspiring Canadian TikTok creators and entrepreneurs to discuss just that.

In honour of International Women’s Day, host Jennifer Berry, FASHION’s digital director, asked these Canadian small business owners about what it means to be a woman entrepreneur in 2021, how the pandemic has changed things for each of them, how they approach content creation on TikTok and how they’ve found — and fostered — community on the platform.

• Sana Saleh, Lala Hijabs
• Monica Abramov and Anastassia Boguslavskaya, Lunata Beauty
• Liz Bertorelli, Passionfruit
• Eden Hagos, BLACK FOODIE

“Pivot” was no doubt the word of the evening, with all of the panelists talking about the changes they made to their business strategies, work habits, and work-life balance during the pandemic. One such pandemic pivot for many of these Canadian entrepreneurs was to explore new ways of reaching their communities — like on TikTok. “With TikTok, I started it off as an experiment because I thought it was something just for kids,” said Eden Hagos, the founder of BLACK FOODIE, with a laugh. “But then I ended up reaching hundreds of thousands of people and telling cool stories around my cultural foods and that’s what really woke me up to this platform.”

The pursuit of work-life balance during these unprecedented times was a broad topic of discussion, with many of the panelists offering helpful insight into how they manage their super-packed schedules. “I always tell people that I’m straight-up winging it all the time,” said Suna Saleh, cofounder of Lala Hijabs. “But at the same time I feel like it’s organized chaos. For us, we have two kids, we home school them. On top of that, we have our business. On top of that, we do YouTube, we do TikTok full time. I feel like now we’ve solidified a schedule of how we do things and every single thing has its own time, so I really live by our calendar,” Saleh explained. That means even scheduling things like snack breaks.

“And then whatever I’m not able to do, I outsource,” Saleh added. Knowing when to relinquish control and delegate tasks was a learning echoed by many of the Canadian entrepreneurs, as was leaning on your family and friends. “It comes down to the support system that you have and trusting the support system,” said Anastassia Boguslavskay, cofounder of Lunata Beauty, of managing being a busy business owner and parent.

So how do these busy entrepreneurs-slash-content creators stand out on TikTok? “My biggest tip is catch them in the first three seconds of your video,” stated Saleh, whose line of custom hijabs was born after a video she and her husband posted went viral on TikTok. Liz Bertorelli, owner of Passionfruit, agreed with Saleh’s advice of “catching them in the first three” and stressed the importance of keeping your content real. “Authenticity goes such a long way,” said Bertorelli.

“Being relatable is also so important,” added Monica Abramov, cofounder of Lunata Beauty, “because the more you relate to a video, the more you’ll share it. So, obviously that will increase your chances of going viral.”

For more amazing insight, watch the full #SheEarnedIt: A Conversation Presented by FASHION x TikTok video below and check fashionmagazine.com regularly for more exciting career content and conversations!

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Vegan Accessory Brand Lambert Has Launched a Contest For International Women’s Day

In an effort to inspire and support female Canadian entrepreneurs, Mélissa Lambert — founder of the eponymous Montreal-based vegan leather accessory label — has created a contest in honour of International Women’s Day.

The She Leads! initiative offers a grant valued at $5,000 to its winner; $2,500 of the funding will go towards the creation of marketing materials, with the second half allocated to 12 months’ worth of coaching from Lambert and members of her brand’s team.

Lambert — whose line launched in 2017 with three bag styles, and has since expanded to include products across gender categories — was partially influenced to create the contest based on her own experience appearing on Dans L’Oeil du Dragon (the Quebecois version of the business-focused show Dragon’s Den).

 

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“At the beginning, I didn’t talk about my project at all,” she recalls about conceiving the idea for a bag brand after coming up empty-handed during her search for a chic-yet-practical maternity bag while pregnant with her second child. Because of her background in the telecommunications sector and with no formal design training, Lambert said she wasn’t forthcoming about her ambitions because she had a sense of imposter syndrome — a notion that’s reported to disproportionately affect women, people of colour and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The positive feedback she received from the panelists on Dans L’Oeil du Dragon — as well as the outpouring of interested retailers and customers who saw her on the show — spurred Lambert forward. “It made me think, okay, you’re in the right place with this. And it gave me the confidence to continue.”

Now, she’s looking to give some of that energy back with the She Leads! contest. “I read that female entrepreneurs [have been] most affected during COVID,” Lambert notes, highlighting that the pressure on women as they juggle careers and child-rearing duties has endured significant additional strain as schools and child-care options have been put on hold. It’s a reality that deeply resonates with Lambert, a mother of small children herself when she launched her label.

 

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“If you’re at the beginning of your brand, you can be discouraged,” she says about the many facets of entrepreneurialism that have undergone further challenges throughout the pandemic. “This contest is a little push to help a woman go to the next level with her business.”

As for Lambert’s own company, its push forward comes from several projects in the works including further expansion into the Canadian market (it currently has over 200 retailers in Quebec and does a robust national business online), as well as the forthcoming introduction of bags with a lining made from 100 percent recycled materials. She says her team is also researching vegetable-based materiality for future designs, and Lambert adds that they’re looking at upcycling and recycling options for the brand’s own pieces as a way to make its mandate even more sustainability-focused.

“The objective isn’t about the money, it’s about circularity,” Lambert says, adding that when she started the brand, the use of vegan materials wasn’t as common as it is presently. She goes on to say that while eco-conscious textiles are certainly on everyone’s minds these days, there’s a momentum behind their use that takes them beyond mere trend. “I don’t like the word trend,” she notes. “I think of it as a game-changer.” And the same could be said about Lambert’s efforts to give back, too.

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Jameela Jamil on Self-Love and Creating Real Authenticity Online

“I don’t follow anyone who makes me feel bad about myself,” says Jameela Jamil. The actress and activist — who is best known for her scene-stealing turn on The Good Place — has become an outspoken voice on social media, calling out celebs and influencers for sharing misleading posts and spearheading the I Weigh movement, which advocates for radical inclusivity and body positivity. It makes sense, then, when it comes to curating her own feeds, Jamil has prioritized her own well-being. “I’m a big advocate of cutting people out. There’s enough bad to see out in the world — especially as a woman, and especially as a Brown woman. I have enough negativity coming at me. I’m not going to deliberately bring it in front of me.”

Next up for Jamil is teaming up with The Body Shop for the Self-Love Uprising campaign, launching today just in time for International Women’s Day. In a new study conducted by the brand and market research firm Ipsos — in which over 22,000 people around the world were interviewed — a “crisis of self-love” has been discovered. One in two women admitted to feeling more self-doubt than self-love, while 60 percent of participants also wished they had more respect for themselves.

Using interviewees’ answers, the report scores and ranks levels of self-love across various demographics and countries. Canada scored a 51 on the index, falling in the middle of the pack. South Korea was the lowest, scoring an average of 43, while Denmark’s 63 score earned them the top rank.

Among the other insights revealed in the report: 64 percent of Canadian women say the pandemic has not changed how they feel about themselves; those who use social media more frequently are more likely to have lower levels of self-love; racialized women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and people with disabilities are all likelier to have lower self-love scores; and Canadians under 35 rank lower on the self-love index than older Canadians.

“This messaging of self-love just falls so in line with everything I stand for,” Jamil explains over a Zoom roundtable, during which she was joined by Canadian Sara Kuburic, The Millennial Therapist and fellow brand partner for the Self -Love Uprising campaign. “The timing of this is hugely important as the world is coming out of lockdown and back into the open where predatory messaging, and diet, detox and beauty companies are about to start doubling down on everyone about their appearance. This is an opportunity to remind people about what matters and to hold onto the progress we’ve made around our self-esteem.”

We joined Jamil and Kuburic for the roundtable to chat about boosting self-love and what true authenticity looks like.

On using social media to stay connected without sacrificing your mental health

Jamil: “Social media is incredibly important. We’ve been witnessing the progress of Black Lives Matter, Trans Lives Matter and my own movement, I Weigh, on it. Without social media, none of these things would have travelled the way they did. It’s helped people feel less isolated and gaslit. It’s also important to remember we can curate what we see on social media and we should make more of an effort to protect ourselves. You can mute or block people who might trigger feelings of [low] self-esteem. If you’re a person who makes me feel bad — either online or face-to-face — you’re gone. And you’re gone until you do better. I’m very ruthless about that because my mental health and my journey to self-love is my priority.”

Kuburic: “We have to understand that we do have some power and responsibility over what we see online. I’m a therapist and I mostly just follow other therapists. It’s so wonderful when you can have your feed look exactly how you want it to look. It’s important for us to have those boundaries with who we follow and how much time we spend online. The Body Shop Index talked about this — spending more than two hours on social media generally reflects lower self-esteem. And don’t confuse Instagram for a pure connection. Sometimes you really need to do a FaceTime call, write letters, or find other ways to connect with people without social media.”

On the responsibility of content creators in fostering real authenticity

Jamil: “I would like more accountability from celebrities and influencers who sell products online. I would like to see less editing of photographs, less editing of people’s lifestyles. I’d like to see more authenticity — I want to see body hair, nipples, I want to see it all. I want a realistic perception of human beings. I don’t want to constantly compare myself to digitally altered images. And a lot of these filters are racist — I don’t want my face, my skin colour, my features to be turned into a Eurocentric fantasy online.”

Kuburic: “We need more authenticity. And not just in the way we present our bodies, but who we are. It’s damaging to believe that other people have perfect lives, have it all together, are in perfect relationships and have perfect careers. It puts unrealistic pressure on this person to keep the mask on, to keep up the facade, and it puts pressure on us to try and emulate that. We need to see more genuine self-love — like ‘I am striving to love myself’ self-love.”

Jamil: “Not ‘I put on a sheet mask’ self-love. Actual, sustainable self-love.”

Kuburic: “Yeah. Like ‘I put up a boundary today.’”

On making mistakes and doing better

Jamil: “I make mistakes publicly online sometimes, and I don’t shy away from those mistakes because I feel we need role models who will show that they’ll work things out, like, ‘Okay, I made a mistake. I didn’t know this. Now I do. This is the better way to do this or to say this. Now I’ve made the mistake so you don’t have to.’ I don’t ever want to be aspirational. I want to be inspirational. I don’t want you to want to be like me. I want to inspire you to be the best version of yourself.”

Kuburic: “I love that. Even as a therapist, I’ve put posts up where I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m taking that down. That was not articulated in the way it probably should have been and there are people who are triggered and I need to understand that.’ There have been several instances where I’ve taken content down because I made a mistake very publicly and I would try to remedy that.”

On finding the beauty in self-confidence and eschewing beauty standards

Jamil: “It’s an ongoing process, an ongoing affirmation to respect the body you’ve got and that gets you from point A to B, that gets you to your job, to the fun you’re going to have, to the sex you might have. You [have to view] your body as this incredible product of engineering; it’s a machine that is always working for you. It’s your best friend, your ride or die. When you can learn to see your body as a vessel that carries your beautiful mind and spirit, then you can really start to respect it. I hope that after the last year, when we have seen that we can’t take our bodies for granted anymore, that we have grown our respect for survival and how much our bodies work to protect us.”

On learning self-love with age

Jamil: “I love getting older. The further I get away from my teens the happier I am. I love my stretch marks, I love my little white hairs that are coming through. For a lot of my life, I have been very sick, so I consider getting old to be a big privilege. You develop more perspective. Your values change as you get older. Other things become more important. You, hopefully, start to have better role models and are around better people who understand the world better; people who don’t put emphasis on how they look or how you look so excessively. I just want everyone to get old fast.”

Kuburic: “[Youth] is a time of necessary confusion. It’s when we build our sense of identity and autonomy. It’s incredibly hard to love someone when you are unsure of who they are. Once you start to come into your own and start surrounding yourself with people who genuinely nurture you and support you, like Jameela said, your priorities shift and the way you see yourself shifts, which allows you to have a bit more acceptance, respect and love for your journey.”

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A Timeline of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah Interview Revelations

Within minutes of starting to air, the much-anticipated Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Oprah interview started making waves online. As the promos promised, nothing was off limits, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex delivered. Discussing everything from their secret (!) wedding, to mental health struggles, and what led to their decision to step back from the royal family, we learned a lot during the two-hour special about what’s been going on with Harry and Meghan over the last few years. And if anything became obvious, it’s that not everything is what it seems. Here are the biggest reveals from Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview, organized in chronological order.

Summer/fall 2016: Meghan Markle meets Queen Elizabeth II

Soon after Meghan and Harry started dating, Meghan met Queen Elizabeth II — and it was a total surprise. The couple were in the car heading to Windsor, where the Queen just so happened to be wrapping up a church service. As Meghan tells it, Harry looked over at her and said, “Okay, well, my grandmother says you are going to meet her.” The duchess was initially excited — she says she loves grandmothers — but then she realized the intensity of the situation when Harry asked: “Do you know how to curtsy?”

Meghan tells Oprah that she was surprised by the question — she thought curtsying was a public formality, but not something the family did in private when it was just them. But, Harry explained, “She’s my grandmother and she’s the Queen.”

“That was really the first moment that the penny dropped that this wasn’t easy for me,” Meghan says, explaining that she hadn’t researched Harry or the royal family at all when they started dating. “I went into it naively. I didn’t grow up knowing much about the royal family,” she admits.

“I didn’t fully understand what the job was,” Meghan adds, explaining she didn’t fully understand the difference between a celebrity and being a royal. “As Americans, what do you know about the royals? It’s what you read in fairy tales. It’s easy to have an image of it that’s so far from reality.”

But Meghan practiced her curtsying — Sarah Ferguson, who Meghan calls “Fergie,” even ran out to help — and the introduction went well. “I apparently did a very deep curtsey, and then we just sat there and chatted,” Meghan recalls. “It was lovely and easy.”

May 2018: Meghan and Harry have a secret royal wedding

We all, of course, remember Meghan and Harry’s beautiful, star-studded royal wedding (Oprah was there!) back in 2018. But, what we didn’t know was that by the time Meghan walked down the aisle at St. George’s Chapel on May 19, the couple had held a secret private ceremony three days earlier. Meghan tells Oprah that it was just her, Harry and the Archbishop of Canterbury in their backyard, where the royal couple exchanged vows without fanfare.

“I’ve thought about [our wedding] a lot because it was like having an out-of-body experience I was very present for,” the duchess went on to say about their publicized ceremony. “That’s the only way I can describe it, because the night before I slept through the night entirely, which in and of itself is a bit of a miracle. And then woke up and started listening to that song, ‘Going to the Chapel.’ And just tried to make it fun and light and remind ourselves that this was our day — but I think we were both really aware, even in advance of that just, this wasn’t our day. This was the day that was planned for the world.”

June 2018: Meghan bonds with the Queen

Although both Meghan and Harry discussed many of their troubling concerns about the royal institution (more on that later), they both had kind words to say about Queen Elizabeth II. “The Queen has always been wonderful to me,” Meghan tells Oprah.

The Duchess of Sussex went on to talk about her first joint engagement with the Queen, during which they spent one night in June 2018 travelling on the royal train together on their way to open a new bridge. “We had breakfast together that morning and she gave me a beautiful gift and I just really loved being in her company,” Meghan recalls, revealing the gift was a pearl necklace and matching earrings. “And she has a blanket that sits across her, her knees, for warmth and it was chilly and she was like, ‘Meghan, come on.’ And put it over my knees as well. And it made me think of my grandmother, where she’s always been warm and inviting and really welcoming.”

October 2018: Meghan and Harry’s royal tour signals a tide change

In late 2018, Meghan and Harry went on their first royal tour as a married couple, visiting Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand. The tour was a public success — everyone seemed to love the charming couple — and it was even when the Sussexes announced they were expecting their first child.

But, according to Harry, this is when things started to go downhill. The royal family was, apparently, very welcoming to Meghan initially, but after the tour, their relationships started to change. “It was the first time the family got to see how incredible she was at the job. And that brought back memories,” Harry tells Oprah, subtly referring to Princess Diana’s own success during her 1983 tour of Australia with Prince Charles.

Oprah, ever the seasoned interviewer, followed up: “Are you saying there were hints of jealousy?”

“I wish we could all learn from the past,” Harry responds, calling Meghan “one of the greatest assets to the Commonwealth that the family could have ever wished for.”

November 2018: False rumours about Meghan and Kate Middleton emerge

Six months after Meghan and Harry’s royal wedding a rumour became widely reported in the U.K. tabloids: Meghan had apparently made Kate Middleton cry over some argument about bridesmaid dresses. We now know that’s not true.

When Oprah asked Meghan about this event, the duchess’s answer was succinct: “The reverse happened.” It turns out there was actually an argument over bridesmaid dresses a few days before the wedding, but according to Meghan, Kate said or did something that “made [her] cry and hurt [her] feelings.”

“I don’t say that to be disparaging to anyone, because it was a really hard week of the wedding, and she was upset about something. But she owned it, and she apologized and she brought me flowers and a note apologizing,” Meghan went on to add. “I don’t think it’s fair to her to get into the details of that because she apologized, and I’ve forgiven her.”

Meghan — who also calls Kate “a good person” — describes this moment as “a turning point” for her as a member of the royal family, and was shocked that the story came out months after the wedding, and that nothing was done to dispel it. “I would have never wanted that to come out about her ever, even though it happened,” Meghan says. “If you love me you, don’t have to hate her. And if you love her, you don’t have to hate me.”

January 2019: Meghan reveals she is experiencing suicidal ideation

Back in January 2019, Meghan and Harry attended a performance at Royal Albert Hall. In all the photos released from the event, the couple look happy. But, as we now know, this was far from true.

Meghan remembers friends sending her photos of the evening, commenting on how beautiful they looked, a moment she says “still haunts” her. “If you zoom in, what I see is how tightly his knuckles are gripped around mine. I see the whites of our knuckles,” she tells Oprah. “Because we are smiling and doing our job. But we’re both just trying to hold on. And every time those lights went down in that royal box, I was just weeping.”

It turns out, earlier that day, Meghan had confessed to Harry how much she’d been struggling, revealing that she had thoughts of self-harm. “I was ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry. But I knew that if I didn’t say it — then I would do it,” she says. “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.” Harry had suggested Meghan stay home that night, but she said, “I don’t think I can be left alone.”

Meghan went on to add: “And that’s so important for people to remember. You have no idea what’s going on for someone behind closed doors. No idea,” she says. “Even the people that smile and shine the brightest lights. You need to have compassion for what is actually potentially going on.”

Meghan and Harry go to the Palace for help — and receive none

Meghan also describes the barrage of hate and scrutiny she was receiving was “almost unsurvivable.” After sharing her struggles with Harry, she says they both tried to get help from “the institution” (a.k.a. the royal family and the people connected to it), and even went to the palace’s version of HR.

“I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. And I said that I’d never felt this way before. I need to go somewhere. And I was told that I couldn’t, because it wouldn’t be good for the institution,” the duchess says.

Instead, she was told: “My heart goes out to you because I see how bad it is. But there’s nothing we can do to protect you because you’re not a paid employee.”

Meghan adds that there were “emails and me begging for help and saying very specifically I’m concerned for my mental welfare.”

May 2019: Baby Archie is denied a royal title

Meghan and Harry’s first son was born in May 2019. When he was born, he didn’t receive an official title or prince designation. It’s always been reported that this was Meghan and Harry’s choice — but Meghan says it wasn’t.

Before baby Archie was even born, Meghan says the royal family didn’t want to give him a title at all. Now, Meghan explains, she doesn’t actually care about the title, but she cares about what comes with it: safety. And because Archie isn’t a prince, the palace wouldn’t provide him with a security detail. “It was important because it affected his safety,” she says.

Meghan even explains that there was a royal convention that automatically would have granted Archie the title — but that protocol was changed before his birth. “When you’re the grandchild of a monarch, when Charles becomes King, automatically Archie and our next child would be prince or princess… it’s not their right to take it away,” she adds, pointing out Archie is not only the first royal grandchild to not receive the title, but also the first biracial grandchild. “While I was pregnant they said they wanted to change the convention for Archie, and I just thought, ‘Why?’”

The royal family has “concerns” about Archie’s skin tone

While discussing how Archie was denied a title and security detail, Meghan also revealed that there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.” When Oprah asked who made those comments, Meghan declined to answer because “it would be very damaging” to that person.

It seems that these were questions that were never posed to Meghan directly, but rather to Harry who relayed them back to his wife. Oprah also asked him about these conversations when he joined the interview, but he also declined to get more specific. “That conversation I’m never going to share,” he says. “It was awkward. I was a bit shocked.”

However, Oprah was on CBS This Morning discussing the interview, and revealed that Harry wanted to make sure she knew that it wasn’t his grandmother or grandfather who were part of those conversations.

January 2020 to present: Harry and Meghan step back as senior members of the royal family

When Harry and Meghan first announced their decision to step back as senior members of the royal family early last year, there were rumours that they had “blindsided” the Queen. The Sussexes say this was not the case. “No, I never blindsided my grandmother,” Harry says. “I have too much respect for her.”

The couple confirms what we always knew: They never wanted to leave in the first place. “I was desperate. I went to all the places, which I thought I should go to for help,” Harry explains. “But we never left.”

Meghan continues: “We never left the family and we only wanted to have the same type of role that exists … there are senior members of the family. We said specifically we’re stepping back from senior roles.

“We weren’t reinventing the wheel here, we were saying, ‘Okay, this isn’t working for everyone. We’re in a lot of pain, they can’t provide us with the help that we need. We can just take a step back,'” Meghan said after explaining that, currently, there are members of the royal family with titles “who earn a living, live on palace grounds and can support the Queen if and when called upon.”

The royal family’s lack of support contributes to Meghan and Harry’s decision to step back

Ultimately, they felt they had no choice but to step back, even if they didn’t want to. According to Harry, it was a “lack of support and lack of understanding” from both the U.K. media and royal family that led to their decision. But instead of being given help, he was just constantly told “This is how it is, we’ve all been through it.”

“This constant barrage, my biggest concern was history repeating itself and I’ve said that before on numerous occasions very publicly,” Harry adds, referencing his mother. “What I was seeing was history repeating itself, but more perhaps or definitely far more dangerous.”

And while Meghan and Harry know a lot of the hate hurled at the Duchess of Sussex is racist, Harry’s family failed “to acknowledge race was an element,” which disappointed him. “There were opportunities for my family to support her, yet no one from my family ever said anything,” he says.

Harry reveals he always felt trapped in the royal family

Prince Harry says he probably never would have stepped back from his senior role in the royal family if it weren’t for Meghan — but he made it clear it wasn’t Meghan’s “fault” or that she was solely responsible for the decision. Before Meghan, Harry simply didn’t see a way out. “I was trapped,” he says.

Oprah, naturally, is skeptical — how could a literal prince, the epitome of privilege, be trapped?

“Trapped within the system,” he explains, adding that the reason he’s able to step back is because he’s lower down the line of succession. “My father and brother, they are trapped. They don’t get to leave,” he says — though he can’t say if they actually feel that way themselves. “And I have huge compassion for that.”

Early 2020: The Sussexes are cut off financially from Harry’s family

Upon stepping back as senior royals, Harry says the royal family “literally cut him off financially,” and their security was also revoked. The royal says the only reason they were able to move to California and afford the necessary security was because of the inheritance left to him by Princess Diana. In fact, Harry adds that he thinks his mom “saw this coming.”

“I think she would feel very angry with how this has panned out and very sad, but ultimately, all she’d ever want is for us to be happy,” Prince Harry explains. “I brought what my mom left me, and without that, we would not have been able to do this.

“I certainly felt her presence throughout this whole process.”

Prince Harry’s relationships with Prince William and Prince Charles are strained

Since leaving the royal family, Harry and Meghan say that their relationship with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip is good — they even Zoom so they can see Archie.

But after they stepped back, Harry revealed there was a time when his father Prince Charles stopped taking his calls. “There’s a lot to work through there,” he says. “I feel really let down, because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like, and Archie is his grandson. I will always love him, but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened.”

As for Harry’s relationship with his brother, William? “I love William to bits, he’s my brother, we’ve been through hell together but we’re on different paths,” Harry explains, adding later: “The relationship is space at the moment, and time heals all things.”

Summer 2021: Baby number two is on the way

Meghan revealed that she was pregnant with her second child earlier this year. The couple now tell Oprah that Meghan is due in the summer, and that she’s expecting a girl. The Sussexes also said they won’t have any more children after their daughter is born. “Two is it,” they said.

As for how’s feeling about having a daughter on the way, Prince Harry says: “Grateful, having any child, any one or two would have been amazing, but to have a boy and then a girl . . . now we’ve got our family and we’ve got four of us.”

The post A Timeline of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah Interview Revelations appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

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