As a child in the ’70s, Pae White used to visit Sea Ranch, a utopian artists’ community tucked into the Pacific coast of Sonoma County. There, she spent her days digging through the gritty sand to collect whole crab shells and iridescent abalone fragments. The sense of exploration, wild beauty, and serendipity stuck with the artist as she grew up, and she has often incorporated shells into her vast installations and tapestries alongside other scavenged materials.

White was inspired to reengage with this visual vocabulary after noticing the door handle of Milan-based jewelry maison Vhernier, which was cast in bronze in the shape of a crab. Each of the jeweler’s hand-crafted pieces likewise pulls from the natural world, whether through embracing the inherent facets of its precious materials or evoking the organic curves of the body.

For their collection, White took the architecture of crustaceans and abalone but translated it into the new medium of precious stones. The result is a 10-design, limited-edition collection of Vhernier rings in shades of cerulean, violet, and bottle green. Gems like sapphires and diamonds are set into Vhernier’s signature white or rose gold and overlaid with rock crystal to create the illusion of restless light and color, like a mirage on the sea.

Only two versions of each design will be produced, lending a sense of rare discovery to each one. Softly faceted and glimmering, each ring is a little changeable and tempestuous, just like the open sea.

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Gabrielle Richardson, model and gallerist

“Zoë Kravitz wears the same thing she wears every year, but also is so hot that it’s okay and I love it. Emma Chamberlain in a hand-painted Mugler gown may be the only one on theme, I guess.

We need more color.  The theme is about art. Everyone is in a monochromatic [look]. I’m obsessed with Chase Infiniti’s look, and I’m obsessed with Emma Chamberlain’s. And you know what? I’m a bit of a gray-beige girl. I’m not gonna pretend that I’m not. But when we’re talking about the theme being art, we need a little color. We’ve got Amy Sherald on the host committee. Let’s give a little love to the paints.”

Tina Zhang, writer and critic

“The first thing I said was: is Troye Sivan wearing jeans to the Met Gala? The second thing was: he looks exactly like a young Mapplethorpe. Sivan’s reference to Mapplethorpe’s ‘body as a self portrait’ is clever and fitting, and I adore the Prada-fied homage. My only note is that he’s missing a crab claw necklace.

I have been waiting for a Naomi Osaka comeback story, and tonight she brought it in Robert Wun Couture. Those whimsical red feathers sprouting from her coat were divine enough and then she unveiled that glittering dress and matching opera gloves… exquisite.

Ms. Emma Chamberlain, I was not familiar with your game. While technically a veteran of these steps, Emma’s custom Mugler stopped me in my tracks. The way her dress looks like it’s covered in thick, swirling oil paints down to that dark, decaying train is an Impressionist’s fever dream.”

Michael Cuby, writer

“After being adopted into the exclusive cult of Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent, Connor Storrie had sky-high expectations heading into tonight’s Met Gala, thanks to YSL’s hosting duties. Luckily, his look, a slightly oversized black suit worn with a silk polka-dot pussybow blouse, was the perfect mix of French sex and gay sleaze. The long pussybow turning into a surprise train once it hits the wind was perfect for a red carpet ‘moment,’ but it was the surprise reveal of a sleeveless blouse underneath that really got the crowd going. After all, what good is all that time spent in the gym if you can’t flex those perfectly sculpted biceps when the cameras start flashing?

For much of her One Battle After Another awards run, Chase Infiniti was bedecked in Louis Vuitton (for better and for worse). But for her first strut down the Met Gala red carpet, the rising star looked to Thom Browne to craft a custom dress that blew everything she’d previously worn completely out of the water. A deceptively simple silhouette offset by eye-grabbing embroidery for the perfect trompe-l’œil effect, the look was an ideal interpretation of the theme, giving the illusion of a ‘body’ while also feeling like a piece of art in and of itself. And don’t get me started on that gorgeous, diva-ready hair. Nothing gets me going like a huge ‘do.”

Mackenzie Thomas, writer

“Okay: love the girl. Like everyone else in America, I have been so inspired by  Alysa Liu. She’s fucking incredible. She’s amazing. But she looks a damn mess tonight. She looks prom. She looks quinceañera. I have to make up a name. She looks like Missy Magoo. I feel like she has such a cool look, but her team is afraid to let her tap into being punk. It looks like Toddlers in Tiaras. Cupcake, sweetheart. It needs to end. Give the girl some fishnets, please. A metallic eyeshadow. She is a hero, but even heroes look a damn mess sometimes, and I’m looking at it.

I actually really like what Troye Sivan is wearing. I think wearing jeans to the Met Gala is really bold. But then I thought deeper about why I liked what Troye Sivan was wearing, and it’s because he looks exactly like La Roux, the singer that sang Bulletproof, and I miss her. I just like Troye Sivan’s outfit because there’s a gap in my heart for La Roux… I miss her.

Hahaha no, Ben Platt no, absolutely not. It’s not like I was looking for Ben Platt to be the epitome of high fashion today, but yet I am still shocked. Absolutely disgusting, and those are the nicest words I have to say about his suit. Absolutely disgusting and vile. Absolutely not.”

Ira Madison III, writer

“Once again, I am asking, is Law Roach trolling us? Is he scamming Lauren Sánchez Bezos? Because what is going on here. She looks like [she’s wearing] a bottom three, Project Runway, Mother of the Bride dress. It’s not giving. How do you give a speech about Anna Wintour and art as fashion earlier this morning, and then step out wearing this. Did the real dress get lost. Is this shipped in Amazon? Is this supporting her husband’s business? I got a lot of questions, and I don’t really care for the answers.

Someone, please free my man Connor [Storrie] from YSL. It’s really not giving, for me personally, and it doesn’t seem to be giving to the Internet either. It’s giving Kristen Stewart when she was held prisoner by Chanel, and that time Margot Robbie was unfortunately locked up like Princess Peach. This man is too fine to be running around in some long fuck-ass scarf. What are we doing? In the suit. He’s so hot—fix it.

Naomi Osaka is game, set, match. My favorite look of the night, absolutely.”

RelaxItsOnlyFashion, fashion critic

“Loved Lena Dunham in Valentino—fiery, playful, and she looked hot. Jisoo in Christian Dior and Cartier was my favorite styling. The dress is beautiful, but the hair, makeup, and jewelry brought it all together.

I had déjà-vu seeing Rihanna in Margiela. Audrey Nuna just wore a similar Margiela look to the Vanity Fair afterparty. She was my biggest disappointment.”

Ezra J. William, entrepreneur and fashion commentator

“Emma Chamberlain in custom Mugler by Miguel Castro Freitas reads like a walking painting, fluid and expressive in motion. It subtly nods to Mugler’s 1997 legacy, reimagined through a softer, more contemporary lens.

Sabine Getty in custom Ashi Studio feels more like a sculpture than a dress. It fits the theme perfectly—fashion, at its best, is art. Kylie Jenner in Schiaparelli turns the body into the statement, sculpted and deliberate. It feels sensual and performative, suspended somewhere between wearing and shedding.”

Hillary Taymour, designer, Collina Strada

“We just saw Connor Storrie inside. He looks fab. Honestly, he’s hard. He just looks elegant. It’s so Saint Laurent, but it’s so him, and I’m very into it. Paloma is glowing in her dress. It looks better in person than I’m sure it does in photos. The work is so intricate, and Francesco Risso did such an amazing job. Katy Perry looks really fab in the Stella McCartney mask. It has burn marks on the back and a train. So fab. The silhouette is silhouette-ing.”

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When it debuted in 1931, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso brought the ingenuity and glamour of the Art Deco movement’s bold, geometric vocabulary to the watch world.

Its unique reversibility was created to solve a rather esoteric problem: how to protect the delicate glass covering a watch dial from smashing on the polo fields. René-Alfred Chauvot, a French industrial designer tapped by Jacques-David LeCoultre, founder Antoine’s grandson, devised an ingenious solution: flipping the watch within its case so the glass was hidden and the metal back could absorb the impact of errant balls and mallets.

As the watchmaker approaches its 200th anniversary, the Reverso Tribute collection pays homage to this original streak of genius. While Jaeger-LeCoultre has expanded the Reverso to include three collections, the clean lines and Art Deco aesthetics of the original have endured. The instantly recognizable rectangular case also remains, decorated with three horizontal gadroons on each side of the dial. The watch swivels in its case, revealing a polished surface for engraving or a second dial.

The hero of this homage is the Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds, which is receiving an update with a monochrome pink-gold design and a stunning Milanese bracelet woven from more than 50 feet of pink-gold thread. Clever finishing techniques soften the look of the all-gold piece: The case and the bracelet are polished to a high shine, which contrasts with the matte finish of the textured, grained dial.

The applied polished gold indexes and Dauphine hands display the time, and at 6 o’clock, there’s a small seconds subdial. The result effortlessly bridges almost a century of innovation, one move at a time.

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When Ivy Getty first pulled out her mood board for her Met Gala look this year, she had no idea what kismet was running through her offhand selection. The American model and philanthropist teamed up with Parisian designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin for the look and offered, as a token of inspiration, the small illustration L’Eclat de l’Or. 

Getty knew she wanted to pay homage to stage outfits from the 1920s, in her exploration of the Costume Insitute’s annual exhibition “Costume Art.” So, she pulled old sketches and imagery from across postings and catalogues. The dress that de Saint Sernin loved most was the shimmering gold and silver frock of L’Eclat de l’Or, sketched by Russian artist Erté for the show The Golden Fables in 1926. When the pair sought out more on the work, they discovered it was being stored in the Met archive. Fate, surely. Especially since this year marks the drawing’s 100th anniversary, and when visiting it in person, they discovered a number of other pieces from Getty’s mood board in the behind-the-scenes trove.

Getty’s final, fringe-lined look sees de Saint Sernin put his own personal twist on a storied design. But before it hit the carpet and everyone had a chance to behold it, we sat down with the pair for an up-close look at the construction, and what it’s really like preparing to walk fashion’s most iconic carpet. 

Ivy, how did you first become aware of Ludovic’s work and what was your first impression?

Ivy Getty: Your work was familiar when I searched you up, but the first look that really caught my eye and had me like, Oh my God, was the Hunter Schafer feather look for the Vanity Fair Oscars After Party. I was obsessed. It was especially exciting when I realized you were in charge because I’m just so inspired by young designers. For the future of fashion, that kind of look is exactly what it should be. It’s revolutionary and creative—I love it.

Ludovic de Saint Sernin: That was such a moment because it was just a few days after my debut for Ann Demeulemeester, and Law Roach reached out and said, “I want this look for Hunter.”

Getty: So many moments happening at once!

De Saint Sernin: Right, and I said, “One hundred percent. Will she do it?” He luckily replied, “She loves it.” Even then, I wasn’t sure [how it would be received] when I was watching the live stream.

Getty: What makes the look so good is that the model wearing it on the runway and Hunter had two completely different ways of approaching it.

De Saint Sernin: Totally. It was such a moment. It went viral and we had millions of views. She was so happy with it, which is always the best outcome. 

How did the two of you connect to work on this look together? Ludovic, what were you initial inspirations for dressing Ivy?

De Saint Sernin: Well, actually, Ivy came up with the inspiration for the look because I knew the theme and I was really excited to see what her vision of the theme would be. I always like to let the talent that I’m working with speak first and see where we can take it. She sent me a bunch of references: there were illustrations from the ’20s and one of them really caught my eye and I was like, “This is the one.” Then I submitted sketches and she loved it, so we went for it. But then something crazy happened after: We realized that there were so many fun facts about the artwork.

Getty: The majority of the info I sent to Ludovic turned out to be Erté’s work. He was an artist and illustrator mainly for theater and costumes in the 1920s.

De Saint Sernin: And it turns out that the illustration we chose is from 1926, so it’s exactly 100 years old. The sketch is also part of the Met’s drawings collection, so we reached out to them because it’s not on view. Then they allowed us to go into a gorgeous study room where we could see all of Erté’s illustrations with Ivy.

Getty: It was insane. They pulled out a box and it was just so many of his pieces that we had saved. It was the craziest experience to go to the Met and be taken to a secret room where there’s stuff not on display that you can’t normally see. It was just so serendipitous: [Erté’s drawings] being at the Met when we’re wearing it for the Met. We didn’t even know any of this when we put together the board.

De Saint Sernin: That was very, very special. When you work on a theme like this and you’re referencing an artist, you don’t necessarily expect to have the chance to see their work. For us, it wasn’t even through a looking glass. We were able to directly look at the piece, which was very special. To know that 100 years later, you’re creating something referencing the artwork is so cool.

How do you see L’Eclat de l’Or translated into Ivy’s look?

De Saint Sernin: The way that I interpreted his drawing was through the lens of my most recent collection. I had a lot of fringes, and that piece had fringes, so it worked. I thought, This is perfect, because I’ve never done fringes [for a look like this] before, and it’s really special to connect Erté’s drawing to my most recent work.

We even did a degradation of colors, so it feels like a beautiful black and white illustration. Then, I reinterpreted the top part because the original sketch had a headpiece that’s covering the chest. We wanted the look to be more sensual—to hug the body and the shoulders. It’s totally backless as well. I mean, almost backless. But it’s all created by hand in Paris with a special technique that I’m known for now.

Ivy wears it so beautifully and effortlessly too. It’s not the easiest thing to put on, but once she has it on, it just looks like it’s hugging her body so naturally.

Getty: I think that’s also why I love your work so much. It always feels like it’s made for whoever is wearing it.

De Saint Sernin: Well, this was literally made for you!

What do you see as the rules of Met Gala dressing, and which do you think are worth breaking?

De Saint Sernin: Even though I’m very daring and out there, I am a very good boy. I don’t like breaking the rules. I wouldn’t want to be, you know, on Anna’s bad side. I’m trying to respect the rules, as much as we can, but also allowing our creativity to flow. Honestly, this look isn’t that far from the Hunter world.

Getty: Totally, I am the exact same. The thought of seriously getting in trouble or even going up to the principal’s office is terrifying. I never want that. I think I would cry if somebody screamed at me. I’m way too sensitive for stuff like that. But it’s important to express ourselves too.

De Saint Sernin: Within the parameters of what’s allowed.

Getty: Exactly, and I feel like I’ve always functioned like that, so it’s something that comes naturally to me.

How do you interpret this year’s theme and what are you most looking forward to seeing teased out in the exhibition?

De Saint Sernin: I’m so excited to see the exhibition. We’ve actually been seeing it online a little bit. What’s so interesting is how diverse the interpretation of the theme can be. We went for something that feels super close to Ivy’s aesthetic, which compliments mine at the same time, so I feel like it’s a very unique take on the theme. I don’t know if many people will necessarily go with an illustration from the 1920s as a reference for this year.

Getty: There’s so much room to go in different directions. Even when we were visiting the special room at the Met, looking at Erté’s work, there were so many good illustrations you could have a whole theme based off of him. Like such incredible colors. Everything looked like he had just made it yesterday: the way the Met took care of his work and the vividness. It was stunning. 

What lessons did you learn from your first Met Gala, or those that followed?

Getty: Honestly, to just have fun. Then, well, this is Ludovic’s first Met Gala in person, although he’s dressed people before.

De Saint Sernin: Yes, it is. It is my first time attending, so I’m very grateful to Ivy for taking me as her date. I designed for three people a couple years ago, and that was an incredible experience. I’m also so happy that the weather is amazing today. 

Getty: Right, because it was raining last year. There’s no way to prepare for something that’s so different every year. That’s what’s special about it, and there’s so many people involved to make this such a special evening. It really is an experience that will never get old. I’m just so grateful to personally be there and be able to see these new designs up close. It’s so exciting to see what everybody’s going to wear.

De Saint Sernin: That’s the most exciting part.

How would you characterize this collaboration and how much do you see dressing for events like these as a collaboration versus a play on “the maker and muse”?

Getty: Well, the relationship has to be there. Nobody can just be a muse as such. You have to inspire each other. I feel like this is a real collaboration, and I’m so grateful that I have gotten to know Ludovic. I really enjoy his company, and I feel like we would be friends outside of this event. We have so much fun together.

De Saint Sernin: Yes, it’s been the most organic and fun.

Getty: It doesn’t feel forced at all. 

De Saint Sernin: It’s such a dream—the whole experience. 

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Every fashion house has its mascot, and at Valentino, the panther reigns supreme. The feline first appeared as a motif seven years into the brand’s existence when Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti unveiled their Fall/Winter 1967 couture. The sleek panther graphic—bared teeth and all—appeared on a suite of flowy, jewel-toned gowns and tunics that quickly became staples of a fashion world that was shedding its postwar rigidity.

Decades later, the jungle cat reemerges from the brush on the Valentino Garavani Panthea bag. Twin feline heads, delineated by an antique gold finish and set with Swarovski crystals, anchor the design from strap to strap. Chevron-style nappa leathers—in matte and waxed finishes, or ostrich and python—give the accessory a so-passé-it’s-great-again touch.

The Panthea has now made two appearances: first for its debut during the Fall/Winter 2025 season in Alessandro Michele’s sophomore show, Le Méta-Théâtre Des Intimités, and next for the Cruise 2026 offering. Already, its variations have been spotted under the arms of Lily Allen, Lana Del Rey, and Lila Moss. Every It girl needs a big cat.

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Few cities hold so strong in the collective imagination as Venice. The sea green canals, the arcing gondolas, and the Byzantine façades of Saint Mark’s Basilica linger in the mind, even as the city sinks. Much like Don Delillo’s Most Photographed Barn in the World, an artist cannot approach Venice with unspoiled eyes—it will always carry the weight of its history and the art that came before it. Peter Fraser has spent his entire career traveling the world, searching for ways to see the familiar with new eyes. Now, in collaboration with Bottega Veneta, he turns his lens towards one of Italy’s most visually iconic cities.

Over 40 years, the Welsh-born photographer has focused on the strange and quiet lives of objects. A contemporary of Martin Parr, having both attended university in Manchester in the ’70s, Fraser later traveled to Memphis to live with William Eggleston for seven weeks and photograph alongside him. Both Fraser and Eggleston shared a fondness for vibrant quietude, one that the former foregrounded in his work, even as he traveled extensively across America, Europe, and North Africa. Perhaps what unifies all of Fraser’s work is a deep-rooted emotionality, no matter the subject.

In this latest series, over 27 photographs explore sweeping marble floors and deep blue canals but also construction cranes, discarded plaster casts, and glossy beached boats. Juxtaposed against Bottega Veneta’s intrecciato bags of sumptuous woven leather, pulled from Louise Trotter’s first collection, the images nod to the house’s long history in the Veneto region. It’s a wistful look at a city and an atelier proudly carrying on its history. Here, Fraser takes us behind the lens.

What is your relationship to Venice? 

I have photographed in Venice before for very different projects, as well as in Palermo, Naples, Matera, Bari, and Lecce. But Venice is sublime. It floats in the mind and on water.

How do you visually approach a city that carries such a profound legacy and iconography?

By distancing myself from preconceptions of what I might photograph and bringing a mental blank canvas for what might happen.

You’ve traveled globally, photographing disparate environments. How do you get to know a space when you are shooting in an unfamiliar place? 

When arriving in a new place to photograph what is essential for me to be excited, to be able to work, is the “shock of the new.”

Do you try to engage deeply with people or operate more as an observer? 

There is a moment before each successful image whereby, for a few moments immediately before exposure, the relationship between myself and the subject is so intense that there is no past and no future. Additionally, the tension between the impossible beauty of the world and its irrefutable fact generates significant momentary insight. So, the way I work means that I photograph because of the way I feel, not because of the way things look. Only then do the photographs look the way they do.

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Beyond a lush park in Milan’s Porta Romana neighborhood, and a few stories high, one of the most comprehensive archives of luxury fashion sits tucked away. In meticulously labeled boxes, on hangers requiring a ladder’s reach, and in branded dust bags, stylist and creative director Nicoletta Santoro—a friend of Miuccia Prada and wife of photographer Max Vadukul—has spent years developing a Prada trove that, on first sight, can truly take one’s breath away.

Santoro’s committed relationship with the Milanese fashion house began in the 1990s, when she and Vadukul moved to New York as he started shooting portraits for The New Yorker (as the magazine’s second staff photographer, following Richard Avedon, no less). “Fashion became a form of strength for me as I adjusted to a new life in New York. A quiet, personal power,” Santoro tells CULTURED. As she navigated a fresh path in the city—where her son Alex Vadukul now writes for The New York Times—Prada served as a consistent point of view in the midst of massive life shifts.

Back at home in Milan today, bound volumes of vintage Vogue are stacked against monographs on art and fashion; a wall of portraits featuring celebrities and icons such as Mick Jagger winks down at any passing guest. Everywhere, there is evidence of a life lived inside well-crafted images. Santoro embodies that very sensibility when we meet: precise, instinctive, and deeply personal.

For CULTURED, her husband developed a series of bespoke portraits featuring Santoro in looks from her collection. In conversations spanning email, WhatsApp, and shared glasses of prosecco during Salone del Mobile, she traced how a wardrobe becomes an archive—and why, for herself, nothing is ever really let go.

You’ve been wearing Prada since the mid-1990s. What was the moment you knew it was the only thing you wanted to put on? 

It all goes back to when I first moved to New York and felt the need for a different fashion language in which to express myself—one that could interpret my new story, my new life, in a foreign place so distant from Paris and Milano. That’s when I started seriously wearing Prada for the first time in my life, as it let me express my many selves. Before that, I was a Kenzo, Callaghan, and Romeo Gigli girl.

Style isn’t about appearance alone, but about intention. Fashion became a form of strength for me as I adjusted to a new life in New York. A quiet, personal power. Real glamour is not external, it lives inside. It’s how I feel in what I wear, how I carry myself. My style is not fixed. It evolves with me. It reflects my resilience, my contradictions, my freedom. It is my language.

What does Miuccia Prada understand about women that few else do?

Miuccia understands that women are deeply complex, intelligent, and often contradictory. The Prada woman doesn’t dress for the male gaze. She dresses for herself, for her own sense of power and inner life. She approaches fashion as something psychological and even political. Her work reflects how women actually think and feel, not how they are expected to appear. What also makes Miuccia different is that she does not treat women as muses. She treats them as subjects. [They] are intellectual, sensual, ambitious and also insecure, all at once. That tension is what fuels her work.

Is there a piece in your closet that you’d describe as a mistake—and do you still wear it anyway? 

Not one piece—many. But I don’t experience them as mistakes. For me, clothing is never just functional or aesthetic, it is archival. If something remains in my wardrobe, it’s because it carries a trace of who I was at a particular moment in time. Even the pieces that feel dissonant to me today, those I no longer wear, contain an emotional memory for me, so I’m not interested in editing them out. To call them mistakes would mean denying parts of my own evolution. Instead, I see them as necessary contradictions—evidence of change, of experimentation, sometimes even of uncertainty. I may not wear them anymore, but I keep them deliberately. They are not garments at that point. They become memory objects.

You’ve worked with some of the greatest photographers in the world on major sets. How has living inside images for so long changed the way you get dressed?

Living inside images for so long hasn’t really changed the way I dress. It has only clarified it. My approach to editorial styling has always been instinctive, coming from imagination rather than trend, from a very personal interpretation of fashion. I don’t separate how I dress myself from how I dress others—they come from the same internal language, the same point of view. Of course, working with extraordinary photographers amplifies that vision, whether it was Avedon, [Paolo] Roversi, [Steven] Meisel, or [Peter] Lindbergh, or my husband Max Vadukul, who is now the only photographer I still style for. They bring scale, intensity, even a kind of grandeur to what I do. But they don’t redefine it, just help reveal it.

What is the piece you’ve worn the most, and what does it look like now? 

The piece I have worn the most is a long shirt dress from the Prada Spring/Summer 2004 collection, runway look 33. It was inspired by the idea of slightly rumpled 1950s tourist and explorer chic, with a quietly subversive, lived-in quality. Over time, for me, it has transformed. It no longer feels like just a dress, but like a memory I carry. Something that has been buried, then slowly brought back to the surface—altered, softened, made more intimate. There’s a kind of poetry in it now. Not nostalgic in a decorative way, but in an emotional and almost fragile way. The fabric seems to hold time, to absorb experience. It has become, for me, a sacred piece. A fragment of the past that continues to live, to evolve just as I do.

Is there a Prada era—a specific collection, a specific year—that you think was genuinely misunderstood at the time? Is there an era that you always come back to? 

Spring/Summer 2008 is one of those collections people didn’t fully understand at the time, but that today feels iconic. The colors were soft, almost faded, and then you had these fairy-tale prints by James Jean that were beautiful but slightly strange. Nothing felt obvious. Even the accessories had this handmade, almost hippie feeling, but reworked in a very Prada way. At the time, it confused people. It felt too much, too illustrative, especially in a moment when everything was so minimal. But for me, it wasn’t about fantasy. It was something more complex, more emotional, and almost unsettling. Now you can see that it clearly opened the door for a different kind of romanticism that influenced so much after.

What is the strangest thing in your closet, and what is the story behind it? 

I don’t usually think in terms of “strange,” but I suppose a piece from my closet that might feel strange from the outside would be a piece that carries a tension: a piece that was really ahead of its time, or slightly outside my usual fashion language. So the “strange” pieces are arguably the most important ones in my closet, as they’re the ones that are still unresolved for me.

How do you decide what to keep and what to let go of, or do you ever let go of items? 

From 1995 to today, I’ve kept everything. Letting go is not part of my vocabulary when it comes to my wardrobe (which is ironic, as I’m otherwise fastidious about clutter, and have no emotional hangups when it comes to throwing most objects out). For me, my closet is an archive, not something to edit. Every piece has a reason to exist, even if it’s no longer worn. Luckily, I’m still the same size! That’s how, over time, I’ve built what has become an extraordinary vintage collection.

How has your wardrobe changed across the cities you’ve lived in, between Milan, Paris, and New York?

The shift I made from wearing primarily Romeo Gigli in Milan and Paris, to beginning to wear Prada in New York, was not just about clothes, it was emotional. In Europe, with Romeo Gigli and Callaghan [where Gigli was creative director], there was a softness and romantic intimacy. It was beautiful, but also protective, almost like being wrapped. Then I moved to New York, and something changed. I needed a different language. With Prada, I found it. It was more direct, more intellectual, a little uncomfortable even, but very real. It allowed me to be more exposed and more myself. Less dream, more awareness. That’s when Prada stopped being just fashion for me and it became part of my identity.

What do you want people to feel when they see you walk into a room? 

I hope people might feel that I have a signature style, and that I am confident and self-assured. That they might feel I’ve chosen the pieces I wear with the intentionality of a curator, not a shopper. But more than their attention, I’m interested in a certain reaction, a kind of curiosity, a recognition. In the end, though, I am simply myself.

If your closet could talk, what is the first thing it would say? 

Not to sound arrogant, but every time I open my wardrobe closet door, it should sing back to me: “Hi, I’m Nicoletta Santoro. What are you going to wear today?”

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What do soccer legend Megan Rapinoe and SNL star Chloe Fineman have in common? Daniella Kallmeyer. The designer launched her eponymous fashion line with just $7,000 in her pocket in 2012. Her sharp tailoring has since become the wardrobe blueprint for cerebral, sharp-witted women.

What do you want to see more of in your industry? Less of?

I want to see more successful businesses and founders celebrated for building something that works, that fills a need, and that isn’t grown on just the illusion of success. I want to see intellect, leadership, and kindness celebrated in fashion the way we idolize thinness and beauty and fame.

What do you think is your biggest contribution to culture?

I hope it’s that Kallmeyer captured a shift in how women wanted to be seen. We moved power dressing away from costume and spectacle and toward something more natural: clothes and community that matched the complexities and desires of real lives. If we did it right, my legacy won’t just be silhouettes—it’ll be the feeling. That moment when we stopped dressing to perform authority and started dressing from it.

What keeps you up at night?

Usually time. It always feels like there’s too much life to live with the time we have. I will literally get into bed and keep myself up with a sudden urge to research places I want to go, books I want to read, furniture auctions, ideas I want to fabricate, films to watch… all in an irrational panic that if I don’t make a plan for them right then and there before my eyes close, I’ll never get to it.

What’s one work of art that got you through an important moment in your life?

Stone Butch Blues. I read it out loud on FaceTime while I was living alone in a studio apartment during the early quarantine days of Covid. It gave me so much gratitude for my privileges as a queer woman today, and so much perspective about the importance of clothes, style, and identity in society, culture, and community.

What’s something people get wrong about you?

That I’m always an extrovert.

Name an influence of yours that might surprise people.

Psychology. I design and run my company on instinct, and I love learning how people think and behave.  

What question do you ask yourself most often while you’re making work?

Would I pay for this? Is it versatile and clever? Is it necessary? And necessary doesn’t have to mean essential. There are plenty of things we need for the simple purpose of striking inspiration and curiosity. Art is necessary. 

Who do you call the most?

My mom and my partner. Sometimes I just merge their calls for efficiency.  

What would you like the headline of your obituary to be? 

“Don’t Make Me Sing.”

What would you wear to meet your greatest enemy?

I don’t have enemies. (Doesn’t mean everyone’s my friend.)

What would you be doing if you weren’t working in your field?

Maybe branding or advertising? I love consumer behavior and cultural psychology. That said, there was a point when I almost quit fashion and considered moving to the mountains to make furniture. 

What grounds you, and what invigorates you?

Getting my hands dirty. Making homemade pasta. What invigorates me? Flea markets and belly laughs.

What are you looking forward to this year?

Making time for the things that inspire me. Celebrating my 40th birthday with the people I love. Traveling more. Expanding the Kallmeyer universe. Learning to zoom out.

To read more from the 2026 CULT100 honorees, see the full list here.

Ludovic de Saint Sernin has been credited with bringing sex appeal and skin back to menswear. The red carpet is a second home for the Belgian-born designer, with stars including Tate McRae, Charli XCX, and Alexander Skarsgård favoring his sculptural, body-conscious designs for their viral-ready appearances.

What do you want to see more of in your industry? Less of?

More help from the establishment for young designers. When I first started there was a bit of a change in the air. People were craving newness and looking at young designers, but I feel like today big brands are becoming stronger again and we’re forgetting about the future generations and voices. 

What do you think is your biggest contribution to culture?

Encouraging people who look at and wear my clothes to reconsider what they allow themselves to represent. It’s about making visible what’s sometimes hidden—a sexiness, a queerness, a boldness, but all refined and precise. It’s not ostentatious. It’s soft and erotic at the same time. It’s complex and it’s powerful. Think Hunter Schafer in the Feather Top I did for Ann Demeulemeester at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscars Party. That went viral because it was beautiful, daring, and important. It was culture.

What’s one work of art that got you through an important moment in your life?

The book I keep referencing over and over again is Just Kids by Patti Smith. At a moment when I was questioning my identity as a young adult, reading it was a revelation to me sexually, but also in my identity as a designer and as an artist. What did I want to stand for and what would be my contribution be to the world? This book gave me purpose and gave me the courage to launch my own brand. 

What keeps you up at night?

My collection! I have a shoot in two days, and I have been bubbling with so many ideas for it. My brain won’t stop going and going! I am a Virgo so I overthink, overanalyze, and over-prepare for everything, so by the time I get on set it’s the smoothest experience possible for everyone because I already know exactly what I want, but at the end of it I am exhausted! At the same time I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Where do you feel most at home?

Paris is my home. I lived here since I was a little boy. I have been in between Bruxelles and Paris, London and Paris, Milan and Paris, and now New York and Paris, and each and every time I am in Paris, I look at the city and find beauty, culture, and history. It fills me with joy and pride. It’s truly a magical city and I can’t get enough.

However, LA has been flirting with me for a minute now, and I’m not gonna lie, I might have to have an affair with her at some point. When I land there, see the blue skies, and feel the sun on my skin, I am happy. I’m a summer baby. I was born in August, so sun is everything to me.

What would you be doing if you weren’t working in your field?

I would probably have my own flower shop. I adore flowers and plants. I admire anyone who picks out the most beautiful things for their little shop and makes someone else’s day better by bringing poetry into it. I just found this incredible florist near my place. I had passed in front of her shop over 100 times and never stopped, and then one sunny morning, I read the poem written on her window, entered the shop, and fell in love. It’s just the kind of experience that makes your daily life better and I’m grateful for it.

To read more from the 2026 CULT100 honorees, see the full list here.

As president of arts, culture, and heritage at Chanel, Yana Peel has unequivocally raised the stakes for the fashion world’s commitment to art. Under her watch, the French house has supported the opening of China’s first public contemporary art library, transformed Gabrielle Chanel’s French Riviera abode into a retreat for thinkers of all stripes, and launched the Next Prize for emerging artists.

What keeps you up at night?

Youth unemployment, gender-based violence, online safety for teens, anti-Semitism, A.I. eating the world. Also, whether I am going to be the last in my family to finish the next day’s Wordle.

What do you want to see more of in your industry? Less of?

I want to see more celebration of the creative journey and less fixation on metrics. In his recent book The Score, the philosopher C. Thi Nguyen calls for us to focus on the beauty of process in a world of quantified results. If we don’t control our scoring systems, they control us.

What’s one work of art that got you through an important moment in your life?

At every challenging moment: Anna Akhmatova’s “Requiem,” a poem that honors collective grief through individual genius, giving voice to voiceless women.

What is your biggest vice? Your greatest virtue?

Vice: I am always on. Also, Swedish Fish. Virtue: Optimism as a sense of duty.

What would you be doing if you weren’t working in your field?

Architecture. I’ve been most inspired by people in my life like Zaha Hadid and Richard Rogers, who were committed to leaving each city they touched better than they found it. Career highlights for me were building pavilions with Frida Escobedo, [Diébédo] Francis Kéré, and Liu Jiakun when I was CEO of the Serpentine. As well as Christo, whose final project I had the honor of bringing to life in London.

What’s been the hardest part of your career so far?

6 a.m. starts on the London trading floor of Goldman Sachs.

What do you think is your biggest contribution to culture?

I get to create the conditions for artists and cultural leaders to pursue radical work. 

What question do you ask yourself most often while you’re making work?

What can I contribute that is singular/original? Which thinkers can help me go further than I can go myself? Will this accelerate the ideas that advance culture? Does my work bring joy? 

Where do you feel most at home? 

Hyde Park, Central Park, Sammy’s Beach, the mountains of Verbier. Always in nature.

Name an influence of yours that might surprise people.

Rave flyers from the 1990s.

Who do you call the most?

Elizabeth Saltzman, Hans Ulrich Obrist, my mom.

When’s the last time you laughed hysterically?

In Spain last summer, on the annual “Yanamigas” summer trip with my best friends. IYKYK… Or last week, trying to follow Danielle Barton’s choreography in a Pineapple dance class. 

What would you wear to meet your greatest enemy?

Chanel, naturally. (And also to meet my dearest friend.)

What grounds you, and what invigorates you?

Grounds me: My family, dance at Sadler’s Wells and ABT, Fitzcarraldo Editions. Invigorates me: Original thought and disruption from brilliant minds across disciplines—tech, art, business, science, culture.

What are you looking forward to this year?

Lina Lapelytė’s takeover of the Hamburger Bahnhof’s Historic Hall, the Guggenheim’s celebration of pioneering women at the Venice Biennale, catching David Byrne on tour in London, celebrating Linder at 70 in Chanel’s collaboration at Kyotographie.

To read more from the 2026 CULT100 honorees, see the full list here.