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L.A. Fashion Week, summer camp for style sickos

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L.A. Fashion Week, summer camp for style sickos

Fashion weeks are like summer camps for style sickos. Especially this year’s L.A. Fashion Week, because every event happened at one single location: the W Hotel. You got to see your friends walk a show, or run into a stylist or press rep that you had to do a quick Google Image confirmation on because you only ever communicated with them via email. “You’re [enter name here], right? I’m Julissa, from Image. Yes, it is so good to meet you in person. What part of town are you in? Coffee soon?” On a loop, all week.

LAFW has had the reputation of being the underdog of fashion weeks in global cities, but its president, Ciarra Pardo, is focused on creating a new legacy. L.A. deserves something of its own that is reflective of its relationships and desires, says Pardo, whose company N4XT Experiences acquired LAFW in 2022. “What it hadn’t been doing was really celebrating Los Angeles,” Pardo says of fashion week’s past, pointing to a new kind of programming that is reflective of fashion’s relationship to the growing number of tech and beauty companies moving into L.A., and the city’s sustainable aspirations. There’s also an energy that feels less rooted in tradition than in moving toward openness and experimentation.

“We really support our designers and brands to have a more free-flowing approach, so they don’t have to go by traditional means whatsoever,” says Pardo. “They can show in a traditional runway format, they can show in a presentation, they can do incredible pop-up activations.” Brands including Rio, Private Policy, Priscavera, Theophilio, 424 and Ed Hardy participated in a number of shows, pop-ups and events throughout the week. Photographer, artist, musician and diva Tyler Matthew Oyer and I popped around the scene, where Oyer captured moments backstage and on the runway that reverberated with heat and intimacy.

Nike Sport X Style Studio

A collage featuring Nike campaign imagery.

The Nike Sport X Style Studio celebrated a new Nike collection, and featured the campaign photos, shot by Thalía Gochez, throughout the space.

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The Nike Sport X Style Studio, creative directed by Image’s fashion director at large Keyla Marquez, served as a soft landing spot during the week, billowing with printed organza and metallic curtains, and the enveloping aroma of a Diptyque Oud candle filling every corner of the room. The space was created in celebration of a new Nike collection, with campaign photos styled by Marquez and shot by Thalía Gochez meeting you as soon as you walked in. It featured a styling suite, where Marquez styled special guests and athletes in the new collection, along with custom pieces she made in collaboration with Sailor D. Gonzales and Rusty Reconstructed. There were three workshops led by artist and jewelry designer Georgina Treviño, and for the rest of the week LAFW attendees could be spotted with the pierced Nike bags and shoes they made under her guidance.

A mannequin wearing custom Nike looks.

The Nike Sport X Style Studio was creative directed by Image’s fashion director at large Keyla Marquez.

On Thursday night, the Nike Sport X Style Studio hosted a party where Elias Lopez, a.k.a. Niño Genesis, DJ’d and I experienced the most insane charcuterie board — no, charcuterie table — I’ve ever seen in my life. (I put an entire persimmon in my purse for later — shout-out persimmon season.)

Nike's Bob Dominguez with Spencer Christovale and Dime Jones.

Nike’s Bob Dominguez with Spencer Christovale and Dime Jones.

Lex Orozco-Cabral and Peter Ilic.

Lex Orozco-Cabral and Peter Ilic.

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Nike's Aria Davis with Andrea J. from @masvinoplease.

Nike’s Aria Davis with Andrea J. from @masvinoplease.

Isaías Cabrera, Jessica Kao and Keyla Marquez

Isaías Cabrera, Jessica Kao and Keyla Marquez.

The suite featured custom pieces made in collaboration with Sailor D. Gonzales and Rusty Reconstructed.

The suite featured custom pieces made in collaboration with Sailor D. Gonzales and Rusty Reconstructed.

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Ed Hardy

The Ed Hardy runway show, the clothes were what you would expect in the best way possible: Classic Ed Hardy.

As someone who regards “quiet luxury” as a kind of plague (I’m bored!) — also as someone whose childhood was punctuated by paparazzi photos of early aughts celebs wearing printed and bedazzled Ed Hardy T-shirts, trucker hats and jeans — I was excited for this deeply L.A. moment. Y2K has been here and is on the precipice of leaving again (let’s be honest) so why not lean into it heavy one last time? The clothes were what you would expect in the best way possible: Classic Ed Hardy, with a twist on silhouette that felt extremely of the moment (maybe because this moment and 2004 are kind of the same moment, culturally speaking). The runway opened with the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s “Maps,” my low-lift karaoke song forever, and featured tops made entirely of Ed Hardy patches, low-rise embellished pinstripe pants and boxing shorts dancing with tassels up the side. The delulu part of my brain kept waiting for Lindsay Lohan or Nicole Richie to be the models closing the show. That didn’t happen, but I did spot musician Pete Wentz in the crowd along with Leah Kateb from “Love Island.”

Backstage at Ed Hardy for LAFW.

Backstage at Ed Hardy for LAFW.

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Models backstage at Ed Hardy runway show.

A deeply L.A. Y2K moment.

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Ed Hardy creative director Kevin Christiana.

Ed Hardy creative director Kevin Christiana.

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Theophilio

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Theophilio closed the week with a part-party, part-runway show. Standing-room only, a DJ playing throwies from Sean Paul, a bar serving $25 drinks and seeing everyone you know made it feel like we were clubbing in L.A. But the room was clearly thick with a lot of love and anticipation for Theophilio creative director Edvin Thompson’s always sensual, elegant and sometimes irreverent vision. Models purposefully walked down the runway in flowing suits of crushed velvet and satin, matching leather mini-shorts and jackets, sequined hot pants and tank top sets in yellow smiley graphics and graffiti print. Looks were styled with exaggerated hats, including an oversized leather newsboy cap with eyelets, and a white baseball cap transformed to sculptural effect with white feathers.

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Gazing upon the models strutting final looks on the highest floor of the W Hotel, with Hollywood Boulevard and the hills twinkling in the background, felt like a fitting reminder of where we were in space and time: L.A., the future.

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A model wearing a Theophilio sweater backstage.

The room was clearly thick with a lot of love and anticipation for Theophilio’s always sensual, elegant and sometimes irreverent vision.

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Theophilio creative director Edvin Thompson.

Theophilio creative director Edvin Thompson.

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Forget what you think you know about fruitcake

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Forget what you think you know about fruitcake

“There’s a lot of terrible candied fruit out there, unfortunately …” says cookbook author Camilla Wynne. “It’s fair that they get a bad rap, but they aren’t representative of candied fruit generally.” In her book Nature’s Candy, Wynne guides cooks through making not-terrible candied fruit, for cakes such as the Stollen Pound Cake, above.

Mickaël A. Bandassak/Appetite by Random House


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Mickaël A. Bandassak/Appetite by Random House

For generations of Americans, making fun of fruitcake has been a holiday tradition. Even Sabrina Carpenter cannot resist piling on. “Fruitcake just makes me sick,” the pop star intones in a song on her new Christmas album that happens to be called Fruitcake.

But a Canadian pastry chef and master food preserver would like us to reconsider our assumptions. Camilla Wynne is the author of a new cookbook called Nature’s Candy. It’s an ode to the pleasures of candying fruits — and even the occasional vegetable — and baking with them.

Wynne said she completely understands why fruitcake got stuck with such a terrible reputation.

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Nature's Candy: Timeless and Inventive Recipes for Creating and Baking with Candied Fruit

“I think it’s because there’s a lot of terrible candied fruit out there, unfortunately,” she said. “Bright red or bright green glacé cherries, and the problem with those, of course, is that they don’t taste like anything. It’s fair that they get a bad rap, but they aren’t representative of candied fruit generally.”

Fruitcake is fantastic, says Wynne, if you use excellent fruit, especially fruit you candy yourself. Still, the idea of candying fruit at home seems daunting at best, at least to this NPR reporter (and enthusiastic amateur baker). “Oh, I hate that you’re intimidated!” Wynne said in response to the hesitancy, “That’s like the last thing I want. [But] people are. I understand that.”

Candying fruit, Wynne insisted, is not any harder than boiling eggs. The technique is, basically, briefly simmering fruit in sugar water over the course of a few days.

“I’m candying a bunch of whole figs right now,” she said. “Every day, it’s not much more than watering your plants. They need to simmer for 10 minutes, so when I’m setting up to make dinner, I’ll just turn them on and put on the timer.”

Those candied figs are put to succulent use in Wynne’s Florentine tart recipe, along with candied cherries and orange peel. Even to a fruitcake skeptic, the cake recipes in Nature’s Candy look delicious. Her Tropical Terrazzo Cake (recipe below) uses coconut milk, lime juice and an array of candied tropical fruits. The cookbook also includes plenty of non-fruitcake recipes, such as caramel corn with candied ginger, and strawberry sugar cookies with candied jalapenos.

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“You get all this jalapeno syrup with it too, and it makes a really good base for margaritas if you’re into that kind of thing,” Wynne noted with relish.

Back in the lockdown days of the pandemic, she added, many home cooks turned to baking bread. Candying your own fruit is similar, she says. It brings a sense of scaling up skills and quiet contemplation to the kitchen during a moment marked by violence and institutional turmoil around the world.

“Unwind, de-stress and connect to beauty,” Wynne suggested. “The world’s a bit nuts.”

And what goes better with nuts, after all, than candied fruit?

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Tropical Terrazzo Cake

By Camilla Wynne

“They paused to breathe in steam rising from the oven and took extra helpings of pound cake sliced to reveal a terrazzo pattern of candied citron and glace fruits,” writes John Birdsall in one of my favorite culinary biographies, The Man Who Ate Too Much. The idea for this sturdy pound cake studded with chunks of candied tropical fruits and glazed with tart lime syrup came from that single line in this biography of icon James Beard. The book is full of literary descriptions like this that pull you right into the action, making it a pleasure to read. Most importantly, the book doesn’t downplay his queerness. I recommend reading it while you enjoy a slice of this cake. Use a variety of candied tropical (or tropical-adjacent) fruits, keeping in mind that it can always be a mixture of homemade and store-bought. I usually use pineapple, kiwi, papaya, citron, ginger, and cactus pear.

Serves 16

For the Cake

230 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature (very soft)
533 g (2⅔ cups) sugar
1½ tsp salt
Zest of 1 lime
6 eggs, at room temperature
420 g (3 cups) all-purpose flour
250 mL (1 cup) full-fat coconut milk
500 g (2 cups) drained and chopped (½- to 1-inch pieces) mixed candied fruit, reserving the syrup

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Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Generously grease and amply flour a 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan and refrigerate the pan until it’s time to fill it.

To make the cake, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, salt, and lime zest until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

With the mixer running on low speed, add one-third of the flour and then half of the coconut milk. Alternate until all the flour and coconut milk are incorporated.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium-high for 30 seconds to make sure everything is well blended. Fold in the chopped candied fruit.

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Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Give the pan a hard tap on the countertop to help settle the batter. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, make the syrup.

For the Syrup

125 mL (½ cup) candied fruit

syrup (see Note)

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60 mL (¼ cup) lime juice

2 Tbsp dark rum (optional)

NOTE You can use any candied fruit syrup for this recipe or use the reserved syrup from the cake method. To make the syrup, in a small pot, combine the syrup and lime juice. Bring to a boil and cook until it is reduced by half. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum, if using.

To assemble, carefully turn the cake out of the pan. Use all the syrup to brush the cake all over the top and sides. Cool completely. The cake will keep, well wrapped, at room temperature for at least 5 days.

Excerpted from Nature’s Candy by Camilla Wynne. Copyright © 2024 Camilla Wynne. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

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Edited for radio and the web by Meghan Sullivan, produced for radio by Chloee Weiner, produced for the web by Beth Novey

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Aaron Rodgers Reveals He Has A Girlfriend

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'May love rest gently in your broken heart': What to say to a grieving friend

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'May love rest gently in your broken heart': What to say to a grieving friend

It can be tricky to offer condolences to someone who is grieving. You want to show your friend you love them, but you also know there isn’t much you can say to heal your friend’s pain.

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This month, we asked our audience: What words of comfort do you say to a friend whose loved one has passed away? It was part of a podcast episode and story we did on how to support a grieving friend.

We received dozens of emails on this question. Some people shared the exact messages they sent to their own good friends. Others who have experienced loss told us what not to say — and what they wished people said instead.

As many can attest, it can be tricky to offer condolences — you want to show your friend you love them, but you also know there isn’t much you can say to heal your friend’s pain. Here are some ideas about what to say to a grieving friend. These responses have been edited for length and clarity.

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‘May love rest gently in your broken heart’ 

Our 29-year-old son died unexpectedly in September. There really are no words to console us. Most comments that mention healing or finding peace, however well-intentioned, feel so unrealistic and oblivious to the depth of our loss. I hope we do find peace and some degree of healing eventually, but right now I need to sit with my grief.

I’ve thought a lot more about what I say to those who are grieving. The (barely) best I’ve come up with so far is: “May love rest gently in your broken heart.” —Betsy Hooper-Rosebrook 

A simple way to break the ice 

When my husband passed away unexpectedly five years ago, it was so hard for me to go to the grocery store or the post office. Everyone asked me, “How are you doing?” I felt like I needed to respond in a way that assured the other person I was OK when I was not.

However, two friends would always say, “It’s so good to see you,” and give me a hug. That took the pressure off of me. So now, with my grieving friends, I try to say that too. —Cindy Jackelen

Tell your friend they are wonderful 

On a card, I usually say something like, “I know their life was better because you were in it.” People have commented that they loved hearing that. —Connie DeMillo

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‘Sorry for your loss’ does not cut it 

Of course it is exactly what you mean and is probably sincere, but it’s stock language. Come up with an original, personal message that’s your own. Ask yourself: What would you want someone to say to you if you were in that situation? Give that person the gift of five minutes’ thought and empathy. —Beth Howard 

This illustration shows a wall with multiple arched open windows. Figures are sitting on the windowsills, with heads tilted downward in deep contemplation.

Send your friend a message of support on the death anniversary of their loved one. “It helps relieve the burden of grief when it is acknowledged and shared,” says reader Thomas McCabe.

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Mark death anniversaries on your calendar 

I lost my wife of 42 years to cancer ten years ago. I always dread the approach of her death anniversary. But it’s comforting to receive a text from someone who remembers that day as well.

I have a friend who lost both her husband and her only child to cancer. I’ve marked those dates in my calendar and I send a simple text that says “Sending love to you today.” It helps relieve the burden of grief when it is acknowledged and shared. —Thomas McCabe 

Bring up their laugh 

Say, “I’ll always remember their laugh.” Every time I’ve said it to a grieving person, they perked up, smiled and were truly thankful. —James Vandeputte

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Don’t say nothing

Having lost my son when he was 20, don’t say nothing. Saying something doesn’t remind a grieving friend of their loss. It’s already on their mind 24/7. —David Lavallee

Sit with them quietly

When my mother passed away in 1998, it was very difficult for me. Friends called and came by and said the typical condolences. I didn’t want to hear any of it.

I was sitting alone in my living room quietly when my then 14-year-old son reached out and held my hand. He sat with me and never said anything. After a while, he got up and went back to his room.

In that moment, I found total comfort and understanding. I knew I would get through this sadness. I wondered how my son could know this was all I needed. Sometimes, just sitting with a person and saying nothing is everything. —Sharon S. Barnes

Validate their pain 

Several years ago, I had to deal with the death of two brothers and both parents over a span of about five years. I talked to a friend who had some training in grief counseling, and we worked out together some words to help me grieve and understand. It goes like this:

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Your world has been shattered and is in a million pieces. It no longer makes sense. You can’t see how you can live and breathe and move in this world. But, given time, you will be able to put it back together. It won’t be the same world that you knew before, because there will always be a piece missing — forever. But you’ll be able to live and move in this new world that you’ve put together. Eventually, this world will make sense and start to work for you. You’re even allowed to go visit the place where the piece is missing and grieve.

I’ve been able to pass these words on to others who have been in severe grief, even strangers, and it seems to help. Maybe you can pass this message on to others. —Dan Corbett 

Share the silliest memories 

My mother-in-law died recently at the age of 94. Upon her death, I reminded my wife of 35 years of a humorous event that occurred when my mother-in-law was a mere 80 years old. We were walking behind her into her house and later, the same evening, I told my wife that her mom had a cute butt. When I reminded my wife of that, we both laughed and cried. —Wayne Mac 

Thank you to everyone who wrote in with your words of support and love for grieving friends. 

The digital story was edited by Meghan Keane. The visual producer is Beck Harlan.

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