Stylist Jason Bolden may be known for occasionally selecting his clients’ jewelry the same day as the event, but his newfound role as CULTURED style editor-at-large was decades in the making.
Last Friday, guests gathered in Manhattan’s NoHo for lunch at Raf’s to celebrate the appointment and the start of September’s New York Fashion Week at an event hosted by Bolden alongside Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrelson. "I first met Jason in 2020, when we were doing the Yara Shahidi cover," Harrelson remembered in a toast. "We instantly hit it off. Besides being brilliant in the fashion realm, he's also brilliant in all the realms that CULTURED covers."
The first order of business once the stylist landed at the magazine was the inception of his new column: Provocateurs At Play. His first guest for the conversation series will be none other than regular collaborator Tory Burch. “Tory’s unwavering voice when it comes to change—be it in humanity, design, or style—has not only made her one of the pillars in my fashion life, but the embodiment of the spirit of this column,” he told CULTURED. In the forthcoming column, the two compare notes on working with clients and models like Michael B. Jordan and Kendall Jenner, as well as on shaping a personal point of view.
At Raf’s, the intimate group of fashion veterans seemed perfectly at home among the restaurant’s vintage mirrored walls. The new New York classic—transformed from an Italian bakery to a warm, woodfired Mediterranean restaurant—adapted, again, to the lunch crowd. Among the guests were Monse and Oscar de la Renta co-Creative Director Laura Kim, actors Jemima Kirke and Tiffany Haddish, Tanner Fletcher design duo Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell, designer Jackson Wiederhoeft, model and activist Bethann Hardison, model Paris Jackson, CULTURED Contributing Culture Writer Delia Cai, Style Not Com's Beka Gvishiani, photographer Quil Lemons, and comedian Delaney Rowe.
Attendees were plied with overflowing plates of pasta while they perused stories from the new Provocateur issue—the first with Bolden on the masthead—and relished the rest of the menu alongside a gift of CULTURED paraphernalia, Diptyque candles, and Dr. Barbara Sturm’s face creams.
"I don't talk about myself a lot," Bolden told the crowd during a speech. "But this is a dream come true—I manifested this. When I got the email, I was like, 'What the fuck, yes!'"
Bolden’s position at the magazine follows a decades-long career as an entrepreneur, creative director, and stylist. The St. Louis native—who originally moved to Chicago to study medicine at Northwestern—transferred to the Art Institute of Chicago before securing a job with Cynthia Rowley.
Bolden went on to work with brands from Louis Vuitton to Gucci, while still pursuing his education, building a strong client base and cementing his love of fashion. Following his graduation, he moved to New York, where he co-founded vintage store the Garment Room. The space went on to inspire collections by brands like Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren and encouraged Bolden to co-found JSN STUDIO with his husband, interior designer Adair Curtis.
Facing his new editing role, the host took time to acknowledge the often underappreciated work behind-the-scenes of fashion’s biggest events. Starting in the early 2010s, Bolden began working with Gabrielle Union and Taraji P. Henson, styling looks for events including Art Basel and the Met Gala. His singular eye has permeated red carpets over the last decade, bringing him to work with celebrities such as Sabrina Carpenter, Vanessa Hudgens, and Yara Shahidi, all of whom he dressed for the 95th Academy Awards.
As he looked forward to the next phase of his career, Bolden took time to look back, honoring, alongside his guests, the pivotal work done to keep driving fashion forward, and into its latest season.
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