Paris, pomp, and circumstance
Soft style for hard power, and what went down in politics this week. Plus: an interview with Paris-based fashion designer Lutz Huelle.
Everybody Wants to Rule the World.
To quote PBS on Monday, February 17: “Last week, top U.S. officials from the Trump administration made their first visit to Europe leaving the impression that Washington was ready to embrace the Kremlin while it cold-shouldered many of its age-old allies.”
In other words, the U.S. regime is plotting-to-please Russian President Vladimir Putin — behind the backs of America’s longtime loyal allies.
In response, French President Emmanuel Macron felt forced to call an emergency meeting of EU & UK leaders at The Elysée Palace in Paris this week. Because if you’re not at the negotiation table, then your own security is on the table.
Just one month into this new American regime, our EU and UK friends are working feverishly to put their own security and Ukrainian peace plans in place in the event their (former?) U.S. ally is now all-in on “anti-demokratizatsiya”.
The style of solidarity and the importance of glamorous optics: EU and UK leaders positioning for peace, and uniting nations this week at The Elysée Palace.
I miss the days when we were simply seen as having gone daft, now that our allies see us as morally bankrupt. And — to understate — I am completely confounded that a very slim majority of my fellow countrymen and women proudly voted to unleash this current dumpster-fire onto the world; to destroy American norms and principles; to blow up eighty years of Pax Americana.
As the Brits would say — well done, you!
But remember…75 million of us voted for the exact opposite of all of this. In November 2024, we showed up at the polls and said no to division, intolerance, and the surrender of American values and global leadership.
So we must NOW ALL SPEAK UP. Loudly, and at every turn. Why? Because to quote a German proverb: “If there’s a Nazi at the table and nine others sit at it silently, there are ten Nazis at the table.” Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and all other parties must unite and commit both time and treasure to every upcoming election to defeat MAGA at the ballot box.
“Only in the song does the one automatically follow the other. In real life, you don’t get to be ‘the land of the free,’ if you’re not also ‘the home of the brave,’” wrote
this week. Let’s think on that one.The dispatch: An interview with Paris-based fashion designer Lutz Huelle
PHOTO CREDIT: @LUTZ_HUELLE_PARIS
Meanwhile back in Paris, we’ll draw inspiration from independent fashion designer and toast of Paris Fashion Week Lutz Huelle, as we style ourselves ongoing to save democracy.
Huelle enjoys a fashion-insider following in Paris, to include renowned French journalist Loic Prigent and model Suzi de Givenchy, (yes, that Givenchy). But Lutz’s presence is also globally felt, since he designs for those with big plans to change the world.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Lutz Huelle a few months back, and our lightly edited conversations follows.
An admirer of your work recently commented to you on Instagram, “I’ve always loved the worldview of the clothes that you make.” Those of us who follow your work physically felt these thoughts. How did you feel, upon reading them?
It was an incredible thing to say, and it made me so happy.
As designer, sometimes you don’t know for sure if you are really reaching people to have an effect. For me, it has always been about so much more than creating a dress, or a pant, or whatever. So it felt brilliant for this person to express her connection to my work.
PHOTO CREDIT: @LUTZ_HUELLE_PARIS
What lives in your head when you design a new collection?
It’s all about possibility for my clothes, for those who will wear them. I care about people, and I want to help them make their own mark on the world.
You were born and raised in Germany. What do you like about living in Paris?
It’s a really wonderful, and very beautiful, place to be. And I feel more European than German. So I love the feeling of being part of all of these different cultures, to include the French culture of course.
PHOTO CREDIT: @LUTZ_HUELLE_PARIS
How would you describe your creative path?
For the longest time, I felt like I had not touched the core of where I wanted to go. I always felt outside of fashion. Like an outsider in fashion. Others perhaps saw this as my shortcoming, but I believe it became my strength.
I have always been interested in clothes. Because we re-invent ourselves, to become the person we want to be, by dressing as we choose. We become the kind of person who would wear the clothes, through the very act of wearing them.
Did you always want to become a fashion designer, or did you have other plans growing up?
I always wanted to work in design, with clothes.
PHOTO CREDIT: @LUTZ_HUELLE_PARIS
What are your thoughts on…
FASHION AS FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
To collectively share and celebrate cultural experiences through fashion, and other art forms, creates the ability to build bridges and melt away our differences. And then there can’t be war.
GRACE AS GEOPOLITICS:
Grace is about the moment that you decide to embrace your own unique personality. When you understand this as your power, you start to stand out in the room.
ELEGANCE AS ADVOCACY:
Elegance is charisma, and charisma is elegance.
Elegance is how you carry yourself. Elegance is rooted in knowledge and self-awareness, which are the building blocks of self-possession.
INCLUSION AS ALWAYS IMPECCABLE:
Inclusion is about embracing that which is different in others from us. And seeing it as being equally wonderful to that which is the same as us in others.
PHOTO CREDIT: @LUTZ_HUELLE_PARIS
REFINEMENT AS RESISTANCE:
Whatever is terrible in the world right now is happening out of a lack of refinement. Refinement is about openness. It’s about not being rigid. Refinement is about celebrating freedom. And it’s about the power of possibility.
Refinement always wins the day behind issues of social justice. Behind democratic ideals.
PHOTO CREDIT: @LUTZ_HUELLE_PARIS Lutz Huelle with former Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.
👀 Coming up next week…
Stay tuned for my interview with Becky Akinyode, a fashion stylist and designer’s muse based in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
What I’m reading this week
My favorite Substacks on politics and style.
Politics & The Law:
, founder of The Lincoln Project, writes stark daily coverage of political events for his newsletter, The Warning. — the MSNBC/NBC legal analyst and former federal prosecutor — has a great Substack called Civil Discourse. “Anand Writes”. Publisher of The.Ink “Telling the truth without fear.”Fashion & Style
“Back Row” Fashion and culture journalist and New York Times best-selling author of Anna Wintour’s biography “ANNA: The Biography”. Amy’s letter is a must follow for up to the minute coverage and analysis in things fashion and media. “Mon Review/Your Woman in Paris” Fashion, style and cultural substance delivered from a Canadian fashion journalist/married to a Parisian/raising adorable tiny French children. “Jenny Sais Quoi” Accessories designer, artist, stylist with her own modern “Audrey aesthetic” and perspective, writing to us from Milan.Am I missing your favorite read? Tell me in the comments!