Lifestyle
Sterling K. Brown recommends taking it 'moment to moment,' on screen and in life
Sterling K. Brown, shown here in January 2020, stars in the new film American Fiction.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
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Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Sterling K. Brown, shown here in January 2020, stars in the new film American Fiction.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
When Sterling K. Brown first came to Hollywood in the early 2000s, casting directors told him he needed to lose his “smart guy thing” in order to get more roles. The actor, who had studied economics at Stanford and interned at the Federal Reserve, says he didn’t fit the mold of the stories being told about Black people.
Those stories, Brown says, “had to deal with Black folks overcoming certain adversities and dealing with certain traumas. … That was also linked to a certain socio-economic wash that they thought was appropriate for how Blackness needed to be portrayed in order to be ‘authentic.’ ”
The notion of “authentic” Blackness is at the center of Brown’s latest film, American Fiction. The movie is about a novelist (played by Jeffrey Wright) who’s told his work is unpublishable because it’s not Black enough — and who, in turn, writes a book that traffics in stereotypes. Brown plays the novelist’s brother, a plastic surgeon whose wife has left him after discovering he’s been having affairs with men.
Brown won an Emmy in 2016 for his portrayal of prosecutor Christopher Darden in the miniseries The People v. O.J. Simpson, and another Emmy in 2017 for his role as Randall Pearson, the Black adopted son in a white family, in the NBC series This Is Us. In Black Panther, he played the prince who betrayed Wakanda.
Brown says of his Black Panther part was a small but important role that he shot while he was working on This Is Us. “The fact that I was able to moonlight in something that did wind up making history is something that I get a chance to celebrate until the day that I pass away,” he says. “I’m so honored that I got a chance to be in that film.”
Interview Highlights
On initially seeing O.J. Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden as a traitor for prosecuting a Black man
Hands down, 100%, he was persona non grata as far as I was concerned. Like, you’re trying to take down one of our heroes. I think that’s the way a lot of Black folks will relate to people who “make it,” celebrity or otherwise, but particularly celebrity. And particularly at that time. We have so few people that are able to make it to a level of esteem, notoriety or what have you, that the idea that the system, “the man,” that America is trying to bring them down and that a Black man [Darden] got attached to … the wrong side. This felt like, why are you allowing them to use you? That was definitely my perspective at age 18 or 19 when it happened. …
My perspective as a human being has shifted. … Like, who is the voice for the people who were murdered? They don’t have anyone to speak for them. And so someone has to do it. Even getting into Darden’s book, in terms of being a prosecutor, he’s like, “We need to have a Black presence in all facets of law enforcement, whether that is as police, whether that is as prosecutors, as defense attorneys.” … Like, a presence in all of those things means that we can work from the inside. And I think that that’s sort of an admirable perspective that he has on how law enforcement can work at its best.
On going by Kelby (his middle name) as a child, but switching back to Sterling (his father’s name) as a teen
My dad passed away when I was 10, almost 11, and it had been about five years that I hadn’t heard his name in my life on a regular basis. And honestly, Terry, I wanted to hear his name. I wanted to hear the name of Sterling. So I said, “Hey, guys, could you call me Sterling now?” … I think I really grieved my father about five years after his passing away. I think for the first five years, I felt like I had to be the man of the house. I had to keep it together for my mom. I also believed — and still believe — that my father ascended to heaven so that he was in a better place. But that still didn’t allow me the space to, like, really just be like, “I miss you, I miss this man.” And so I think it took about five years for me to fully let that out. And then after I let that out, I was like, “OK, I’m ready to hear his name again.”
On his mother’s ALS diagnosis
I don’t talk about it that often, but I’m talking about it more now because I think that the universe is calling me into some sort of action, and I’m still figuring out what that is. My mom was diagnosed with ALS in April of 2018. She lost the ability to speak in October of 2018. And I think [she] has far exceeded the expectations of most doctors in terms of lifespan, because she’s still with us, and about to go into 2024. But the joy that my mom is able to hold onto in the midst of this incredibly debilitating disease, the smile that she still has for the people who walk into her sphere is radiant. And it shows you, it shows me that, first of all, I don’t have to allow circumstances to dictate how I am in the world, that I still have choice. I may not have choice over what the circumstances are, but how I respond to them. And my mom has been a shining example of how to maintain radiance in the midst of a very difficult situation.
YouTube
On working with Andy Samberg and personal hero Andre Braugher for an episode of the comedy tv series Brooklyn Nine-Nine
I think for me more than anything else, is that when you try to stay in the moment, the next moment has a way of taking care of itself. When you’re trying to project to the future and be like, “Oh, I hope I make it to this crescendo at the very end,” then you sort of, like, wind up missing what’s happening just right now. Taking it moment to moment in life, on stage, on screen is usually the best recipe to get to the end of anything. That’s what I try to do as a performer. And I think those two gentlemen in particular are wonderful at it. And so they made it easy for me to join in the symphony.
Lauren Krenzel and Seth Kelley produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.
In the year since his death, there has been no hard pivot at Armani. The shadow of the founder has stayed in place over the Milan HQ, where the brand seems happy to leave it. Armani is not just plumbing the past for continued inspiration, it’s reselling it.
Today, Giorgio Armani is announcing Archivio, a grouping of 13 men’s and women’s looks, plucked from the brand’s back catalog and remade for today. (And, yes, at today’s prices.) There’s a jacket in pinstriped alpaca of 1979 vintage; a buttery one-and-a-half breasted jacket with a maitre d’s flair that first appeared in 1987; and an unstructured silk-linen suit that will activate ’90s flashbacks for die-hard Armani clients and those who want to capture that era’s nostalgia. The advertising campaign was shot and styled by Eli Russell Linnetz, who has his own label, ERL, but always seems to be the first call brands make when they want sultry photos with the aura of Details magazine circa 1995. (He did a similar thing for Guess recently.)
Linnetz’s images are a reminder of how Armani’s work still reverberates decades later.
Archivio is also a canny recognition of what shoppers crave now. On the resale market, Armani wares are as coveted as can be. Every week it seems as if I get an email from Ndwc0, a British vintage store, announcing a new drop of meaty-shouldered ’90s Armani power suits. They sell for less than $500. At Sorbara’s in Brooklyn, you can buy a tan Giorgio Armani vest for $225.
That vintage-mad audience is in Armani’s sights: To introduce the collection, it’s staging an installation, opening today, at Giorgio Armani’s Milan boutique. It will feature the hosts of “Throwing Fits,” a New York-based podcast whose hosts wear vintage Armani button-ups and shout out stores like Sorbara’s.
It’s prudent, if a bit disconnected. Part of the charm of old Armani is that it can be found on the cheap. I’m wearing a pair of vintage Giorgio Armani corduroys as I write this. I bought them for $76 on eBay. Archivio is reverent, but its prices, which range from $1,025 to $12,000, may scare off shoppers willing to do the searching themselves.
If you ask me, the next frontier of this archive fixation is that a brand — and a big one — will release a mountain of genuine vintage pieces. J. Crew and Banana Republic have tried this at a small scale, but a luxury house like Armani hasn’t gone there. Yet. Eventually, Armani (or a brand like it) is going to grab hold of the market that exists around its brand, but through which it gets no cut.
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Lifestyle
The story behind this rare architectural speaker from cult Japanese fashion brand TheSoloist
This story is part of Image’s April’s Thresholds issue, a tour of L.A. architecture as it’s actually experienced.
You hear it before you see it.
Turning the corner of the 15th floor corridor of the historic American Cement Building, a low thrum of electronic sounds seeps through the door of Archived, an L.A. luxury vintage curator. Inside, standing 43 inches tall, a silver speaker from Takahiro Miyashita’s brand TheSoloist vibrates high fidelity through the showroom.
Constructed of 3D-printed polycarbonate resin and aluminum, with a wide amp frequency range of 20Hz to 25KHz, the object looks less like a speaker and more like a relic of time. It is an artifact set in concrete, chiseled away to reveal a replica of the Flatiron Building in New York City. Containing seven audio channels and two bass speakers, its vibrations can be felt against the skin.
Dream Liu, along with his partner Marquel Williams, founded Archived in 2019 to resell rare vintage collectibles. Their designer wardrobe houses some of the most sought after pieces in the industry — like a 1990 Chrome Hearts biker jacket— but the collection of homeware, including a Giovanni Tommaso Garattoni glass chair or a Saint Laurent arcade machine, is what greets you when you walk in. “That’s one way we stand out from all the other archival brands,” Liu says. “We’re very much deep into everything design-related, not just fashion.”
Liu first encountered TheSoloist speaker a few years ago at the home of a friend, a lighting designer working in music who he admired. The speaker, he says, lived at the back of his mind ever since. Archived eventually sourced it directly through TheSoloist’s manufacturer, now acting as an intermediary seller. Only a few hundred of the silver color-way, on display in the showroom, were produced. Even fewer exist of the black, for sale on their website for $9,500.
Miyashita, the cult Japanese designer behind early-2000s punk label Number (N)ine and later TheSoloist, is known for fusing meticulous Japanese craftsmanship with distinctly American motifs. The speaker, for instance, pays homage to New York City, where he opened his original store. Without even seeing a single garment, his style is clear: avant-garde, grunge and very rock ’n’ roll.
(Archived)
Six months ago, Archived opened its MacArthur Park showroom, a brightly lit loft with exposed beams, floor-to-ceiling windows and a panoramic view of downtown. Today they are a team of about six people. Distinctive objects like TheSoloist speaker are an extension of not only the brand’s imprint, but the architecture that houses it. “The speaker fits perfectly into this space.”
Archived, whose clientele consists mostly of celebrities and high-profile curators such as Timothée Chalamet, Travis Scott and Don Toliver, sources its pieces through consignments from sellers and endless hours spent hunting across international marketplaces. When it comes to selecting which piece makes it to the floor, Liu looks for collectible items and whatever fits the brand’s taste, which can be described as minimal avant-garde with a touch of fine craftsmanship.
“Nothing is random,” Liu says. Every item at Archived has a story, from the Giseok Kim aluminum shelf where an unworn pair of 2005 reconstructed Nike Dunks are displayed, to the Marc Newson racks which archival Rick Owens hangs off.
The speaker is valuable, Liu admits, because of Miyashita’s reputation as one of the greats, placing him alongside designers like Jun Takahashi and Yohji Yamamoto. “Our audience knows his designs and all of his great collections,” he says. “So the speaker itself speaks volumes.”
Originally from West Palm Beach, Fla., Liu moved to California to study fashion merchandising at FIDM in San Diego. Before that, he had dabbled in architecture. “It’s always been in the back of my mind,” he says.
Liu said he recognizes that designers, after a time, get fatigued with profit-driven conglomerates and begin to delve into other art forms. “Fashion is just another art form, and I think eventually, when [designers] tire of making clothes — Helmut Lang as an example, even Tom Ford — they transition to art.”
If the nature of design is building upon and taking from existing works, then creating an archival space is collecting pieces of history. “Everything is a reference point,” Liu says. “Every piece here has made an impact on the current climate of fashion.”
To Liu, items like the speaker are worthy of preservation because some of them are only getting rarer and rarer to find. “Pieces like this deserve to be presented properly, and be in spaces that reflect the caliber of the clothing,” he says. “You can put random objects in a beautiful space and that object becomes important.”
The scene recalled the frenzy that unfolds backstage during fashion week: On a recent Monday, in a room full of clothing racks, the stylist Micaela Erlanger was working alongside a team of tailors and assistants. But they were not preparing for your average fashion show.
Ms. Erlanger and the group had assembled at her studio in Manhattan to prepare looks for the actress Meryl Streep, Ms. Erlanger’s client of 11 years, to wear during the press tour for “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” the buzzy sequel to a beloved film set at a fictionalized version of a certain glossy fashion magazine.
In the sequel, Ms. Streep steps back into the stilettos of Miranda Priestly, the publication’s glamorous editor in chief. She stars alongside Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, who also reprise their roles as Andrea Sachs and Emily Charlton, characters who served as Miranda’s assistants in the original film. Based on a novel and released in 2006, it has become a cult favorite among serious and casual followers of fashion alike.
To prime fans for the sequel, Ms. Streep has appeared on the cover of Vogue and, along with some of her co-stars, has traveled to Mexico, South Korea, China and Japan in recent weeks for premieres. On Monday, cast members appeared in New York, and they will travel to London for more events before “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is widely released on May 1.
Each affair has offered the cast members a chance to turn heads in finery on par with the clothing worn by the characters they play in the movie. Balenciaga, Chanel, Valentino and — yes — Prada are just some of the labels they have sported as they have traveled the globe.
To pull off this fashion feat — and to avoid any style faux pas — Ms. Erlanger, 40, has been in constant communication with Erin Walsh, 43, Ms. Hathaway’s stylist of seven years, and Jessica Paster, 60, who has been styling Ms. Blunt for going on two decades. The women have been operating as something of a hive mind for months, sharing details of the actresses’ looks — the brands, the accessories, the color palettes — in group chats, calls and conversations on the sidelines of runway shows.
“I got to see Erin and Micaela at fashion shows,” Ms. Paster said. “We would whisper: ‘I like that. I like that. I like this. I like that.’”
In a conversation that has been edited and condensed, Ms. Paster, Ms. Erlanger and Ms. Walsh discussed their collaborative relationship, the stakes of styling press tours and the ways they have used fashion to build hype for “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”
How have you each approached dressing your client for the press tour?
MICAELA ERLANGER With Meryl, we leaned into this idea of powerful silhouettes and shapes that you haven’t necessarily seen her in. This is a fashion movie — we’re leaning into it. I would say that there are a lot of references that the fashion community will appreciate and enjoy. We have not just been referencing the first film, but referencing references within the film. I call it “meta dressing.”
JESSICA PASTER You have to remember that Emily Charlton was an assistant 20 years ago. She has evolved. So I’m approaching her as a little stronger — a girl with power. She doesn’t need to borrow clothes anymore. Designers are now giving her the clothes, and she’s out buying clothes.
ERIN WALSH I guess I am hesitant to tell you a theme. I don’t want to encapsulate it. Ultimately, it’s always about how we make a person feel their very best.
You said you communicate via group text. What are you saying to one another?
ERLANGER We have been, from logistics to creative, kind of strategizing among ourselves. What look works best here or there? What’s the other person wearing? Will they look great together?
PASTER I remember one text among us was like: “I’m thinking red. I’m thinking a little burgundy red. And I’m thinking red, too. Is it weird that they’re all wearing red?” I said, “No, let’s lean into that, and let’s do it all in red.”
What we do is make a picture more beautiful. If we have two people who are wearing red, and one is wearing white or purple or black, that is the girl that should be in the middle of a photo. It’s not about, “My girl needs to be in the middle.” If something goes viral, it’s going to help Erin; it’s going to help me; it’s going to help Micaela; and it’s going to help the movie because it gets everyone buzzing and excited.
WALSH With our job, there are always curveballs thrown your way. By working together, we can better navigate any kind of situation in a joyful way without having breakdowns.
Styling has a competitive aspect, in that there are only so many looks, and everyone can’t always get what she wants. How are you navigating that together?
PASTER There are a lot of stories about stylists competing with each other. We’re not. We are so busy. We do not have time. Micaela is calling me because she needs something. I have so many questions to ask Erin and Micaela. If one of these two girls needs me, I will be there for them.
WALSH Removing anything competitive or not collaborative from the equation makes us stronger. It makes our work better.
ERLANGER Collaboration also benefits our clients. Everybody wins when we are aligned.
I’m curious, where were you in your careers when the original “The Devil Wears Prada” premiered?
ERLANGER We have stages of our careers that directly relate back to the first movie. I was an intern at Condé Nast, the company that owns Vogue.
WALSH I was an assistant at Vogue when it came out. I watched Anne onscreen. “The Devil Wears Prada” I knew, you know, in my skin.
PASTER I was a stylist, and, in fact, I was trying to get Emily Blunt as a client.
Modern press tours can involve several premieres in addition to other events. How has that changed how you work?
ERLANGER Social media has made every moment a photo op. Even if it is a junket day when your clients are sitting in a room for on-camera interviews, those pictures get picked up. So every single moment has become press-worthy. And, therefore, there’s more intentionality behind what clients are wearing.
PASTER People forget that we just can’t bring in a dress or two, bust out a look and call it a day. Micaela and Erin are going with nine suitcases all over the world to fit their girls, and I have two trips of fittings in Ireland.
What clothes have you been wearing during the press tour?
WALSH You’ve got to look the part. I tend to, in these situations, reach for more empowering pieces, like a shoulder pad and heels. I don’t work in flats.
ERLANGER I need a flat, and I kind of want to be more comfortable. I’m in jeans and a blazer and a button down and a flat.
PASTER I’m working in sweats and with my hair in a bun.
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