APR

The Soft
Power of
 DAISY
EDGAR-
JONES PHOTOGRAPHED
BY DAN MARTENSEN

Top, bodysuit, brief, belt, MIU MIU. Bracelet, ring, VAN CLEEF & ARPELS.
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10

Garcia at Polo Palladio Jaipur.

A Passage
to India 4
G ARC IA : C O U RTESY O F TH E S U BJ ECT; U L L A J O H N S O N S KI RT AN D AMAN U SAN DAL S : C O U RTESY
OF M ODA OPER ANDI ; REMAINI NG I MAGES: COU RTESY OF TH E DESIGN ER S AN D B R AN D S.

chief Nina Garcia in the vibrant 8

6 5

CRUZ, $325, GIAMBATTISTA

caladelacruz.com. VALLI HOME, $345,
7 modaoperandi.com.
2. Earrings,
SABYASACHI, 7. Sofa, TULESTE
sabyasachi.com. FACTORY, $9,500,
tulestefactory.com.
3. Skirt, ULLA
JOHNSON, $1,850, 8. Chalice,
ullajohnson.com. VETRERIE DI
EMPOLI, $530,
4. Notelets,
artemest.com.
SMYTHSON, $45,
smythson.com. 9. Candle, ETRO,
$402, etro.com.
5. Sandals,
AMANU, $345, 10. Stool, CB2, $299,
14 ELLE modaoperandi.com. cb2.com.
 APRIL VOLUME XL NUMBER 7

14 NINA’S EDIT BEAUTY

4 9 SMOOTH
22 EDITOR’S
OPER ATOR
LE T TER
Chanel’s face massager
is the tool you didn’t
26 NE W ARRIVAL S
know you totally need.
Meet the bag,
By Kathleen Hou
necklace, and shoe
that you need now.
50 THE SECRE T S
OF HOLLY WOOD
TRENDING HAIRLINES
30 ARTISTIC The top hair transplant
LICENSE surgeons take you
Art and fashion are behind the scenes.
intertwined. By Kathleen Hou

FRONT ROW 52 SAVING SANTAL

Sustainability is keeping
32 NEXT STEPS
the fragrant wood alive.
After making her
By Katie Berohn
name designing at
Loewe and Celine,
5 4 L ASERS AREN’T
Nina Christen is
SCARY ANYMORE
going solo with her
New advances in tech
new shoe line. By
are helping procedures
Véronique Hyland
become less painful and
risky. By Katie Berohn
3 4 SLOW AND
STE ADY
Designer Narciso PERSPECTIVES
Rodriguez returns to 56 WOMEN
fashion—on the terms OF IMPACT
that work for him ELLE spotlights
and his family. By three women making
Véronique Hyland positive change:
Fernanda Santos talks
36 CIRCLE OF LIFE to Brazilian gymnast
Stylist Clare Richardson Rebeca Andrade;
teams with Madewell to Kayla Webley Adler
create a new collection meets former prime
that prioritizes minister of New Zealand
sustainability. By Jacinda Ardern; and
Véronique Hyland Jessica Bennett profiles
philanthropist Melinda
ACCESSORIES French Gates.
38 LOCKED IN
Glittering padlocks, FASHION
sparkling keys, and 66 DAISY EDGAR-
jewel-encrusted JONES TAKES
pins are adorning THE LE AD
absolutely everything. The English actress Dress, ALBERTA FERRETTI.
is a low-key major Brief, FALKE. Necklace, CARTIER.
SHOP movie star. By Douglas
Greenwood. Photographed
Ring, VAN CLEEF & ARPELS.
41 JUST THE by Dan Martensen.
ESSENTIALS Styled by Clare Richardson season. Photographed THE COVER LOOK Photographed by Dan
A simple splash of
by Adrien Dubost Daisy Edgar-Jones Martensen; styled by Clare
red brings beautiful
76 NEW METAL wears a cape from Richardson; hair by Cim
basics to life.
Spring style embraces 101 HOROSCOPE Chanel, and a camisole Mahony for Dyson Beauty;
serious shine. and brief from Cou Cou makeup by Florrie White
TRAVEL Photographed by 102 ELLE MAN Intimates. For at the Wall Group; manicure
44 ART HOUSE Ellen Fedors. Styled by Actor and comedian Edgar-Jones’s makeup by Jenni Draper at Premier
DAN MARTEN SE N

The hottest hotel Chloe Grace Press Bowen Yang divulges look, try Dior Forever Hair and Make-Up;
amenity right now? an unexpected secret: Hydra Nude, Dior set design by Josh Stovell
Having an artist 90 OBJECT LESSONS It turns out he’s Forever Glow Luminizer, at Lalaland Artists;
in the lobby. Classic accessories are actually pretty chill. and Dior Addict produced by Stuart Phillips
By Adrienne Gaffney taking center stage this By Ryan D’Agostino Lip Glow. All, Dior. at Fuse Productions.

20 ELLE
 HAPPY HEARTS

CHOPARD BOUTIQUES
NEW YORK 730 Fifth Avenue – MIAMI Bal Harbour Shops – COSTA MESA South Coast Plaza
1-800-CHOPARD www.chopard.com
Editor’s Letter

Fresh
as a
DAISY
W e all fell in love with Daisy Edgar-Jones in Normal
People, and the actress has carved out quite the ca-
reer since then, with roles onscreen in summer blockbusters
(Twisters) and literary adaptations (Where the Crawdads
Sing), and most recently, onstage as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof. Photographed by Dan Martensen and styled by Clare
Richardson in spring’s best bohemian-inflected looks, our
cover star speaks with Douglas Greenwood about working
with “basically all the internet’s boyfriends,” her role in the
’50s drama On Swift Horses, and taking on parts that challenge
her. “It’s also an interesting thing, being a woman in your 20s,
wanting to find characters who are not always ingenues,”
Edgar-Jones says. “You want to find characters with agen-
cy.…I feel lucky that a lot of the characters I’ve played have
had that. They aren’t defined by their actions or their expe-
Necklace, BULGARI.
riences, or by the men in their life.” Head to ELLE.com to see
Edgar-Jones’s behind-the-scenes video diary from our shoot.
Accessories were standouts this season, from high-top
sneaker boots to statement sunglasses. This month, photog- wood tree, native to Australia, has been near extinction, but,
rapher Ellen Fedors and stylist Chloe Grace Press shine a light finds Beauty Editor Katie Berohn, conservationists are work-
on the metallic trend, while Adrien Dubost photographs the ing to preserve the beloved (and fragrant) plant. Meanwhile,
watches and fine jewelry catching our eye. We’re even acces- Beauty Director Kathleen Hou talks to the hair transplant
sorizing our accessories, with glittering charms showing up surgeons who have put balding people on the endangered list
on bags—for more on the trend, see page 38. Inspired? Shop in Hollywood. And laser treatments have become much less
more accessories curated by our editors at ELLE.com. scary, with minimal downtime, as Berohn reports on page 54.
Our Front Row section features designers at opposite stages This issue marks our third annual celebration of Women
of their careers. The legendary Narciso Rodriguez has made a of Impact, and our trio of honorees is one for the books:
quiet return to fashion, reinventing his approach to allow for Olympic gymnast and gold medalist Rebeca Andrade; Jacinda
much-needed work-life balance. Fashion Features Director Ardern, who became the world’s youngest female head of
Véronique Hyland talks to him about the beauty of the con- state when she was elected prime minister of New Zealand;
sidered creative life on page 34. (Plus, go to ELLE.com to see and philanthropist Melinda French Gates, who is giving
the designer’s hand-drawn sketches from over the years.) In a billions to women’s causes. On April 15, we’ll be hosting
recent meeting, Nina Christen wowed our fashion team with an intimate event with Gates and Ardern in conversation
her impressive résumé (every major runway shoe you’ve in New York City. Head to ELLE.com for coverage that puts
pined for over the past decade? She’s probably behind it) and you in the room.
her much-anticipated solo brand. Speaking of style insiders,
Richardson, our cover story stylist, does double duty as the
founder of high-end vintage site Reluxe Fashion. On page 36,
she talks about her ongoing collaboration with Madewell.
Go to ELLE’s social channels to see how Richardson styles the
DAN MARTEN SE N

sustainable pieces—and tune in to ELLE.com all April for our

ongoing Earth Month coverage.
Santal scents may be ubiquitous these days, but did you
know that their source is actually threatened? The sandal- NINA GARCIA , EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

22 ELLE
 NINA GARCIA HEARST MAGAZINES ADVERTISING
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24 ELLE
VISIT US AT ELLEJEWELRY.COM
New Arrivals

C O U RTESY O F TH E D ES I G N E R .

The BAG
The muse behind Khaite’s new Cate bag? Designer Catherine Holstein herself.
The frame style features a kiss lock and is artfully hand-distressed.
Handbag, KHAITE.

26 ELLE
 RADO.COM
MASTER OF MATERIALS

RADO ANATOM
New Arrivals

The NECKLACE
Vicenza, Italy, has earned the moniker “City of Gold” for its long-standing history of artisanship.
The latest jewel in its crown: Bottega Veneta’s Alchemy necklace, which took 15 days to handcraft.
Necklace, BOTTEGA VENETA.

28 ELLE
C O U RTESY O F TH E D ES I G N E R S .

The SHOE
Aquazzura designer Edgardo Osorio’s love of the ocean inspired not just the name of his line,
but his spring collection, filled with standout pieces like this nautical striped heel.
Heels, AQUAZZURA.

ELLE 29
Trending

C O U RTESY O F TH E D ES I G N E R .

Fine art pops off the page this month—including Gucci’s new
90 x 90 project, which tapped nine global artists to interpret the
house’s silk scarves through their own creative lens.

30 ELLE Gucci printed silk twill carré created in collaboration with Australian artist Jonny Niesche.
 Josh Raiffe’s Shipibo Bag is a futuristic take on a classic accessory.

HEART OF GLASS
New York–based glassblower Josh Raiffe jokes that the
fashion world “kidnapped” him, but at his core, he’s a true
artist. His bags are entirely handmade and have graced the
runways of Kate Barton and PatBo. Raiffe has also amassed
a cult following, with celebrity fans like Kylie Jenner and
Doja Cat. Shipibo Bag, Josh Raiffe.

WAXING POETIC
Rashid Johnson takes over the Guggenheim with his solo
exhibition Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers.
Via almost 90 works culled from throughout his career,
Johnson examines race and masculinity. He also embraces
a multidisciplinary approach to art, offering a series of per-
formances and public engagements. April 18, 2025–January
18, 2026, guggenheim.org.

CROWN JEWELS
At least two monarchs
have worn some of the
pieces featured at the
new V&A exhibition,
Cartier: Queen Elizabeth
II and musical royal-
JOHNS ON: JO SHUA WO OD S; CARTIER PATIALA NECKLACE : VINCENT
WU LVE RYCK ; R E MAI N I N G I MAGES : C O U RTESY O F TH E D ES I G N E R S .

ty Rihanna. Curators
WISH FULFILLMENT Helen Molesworth and
Jewelry designer Nikos Rachel Garrahan sought
Koulis loved wishing on to examine the legacy
dandelion puffs as a child, of the brand, from its
so for his new collection, history of adorning the
Wish, he drew inspiration royal family to dressing
from the plant’s unique modern-day pop queens.
structure. The line took The show features over
two years to complete and 350 objects, including
debuted at Paris Fashion jewelry, watches, clocks,
Week this March. Each and more, and concludes
piece is a limited edition, with a grand display of ti-
and many are one of a kind. aras. April 12–November
Wish bracelet, Nikos Koulis. 16, 2025, vam.ac.uk.
Cartier’s 1928
Patiala Necklace
shimmers at the
V&A this spring. ELLE 31
Front Row

Nina Christen (opposite left) and looks from her debut offering for Christen (above and opposite right).

Next
An industry vet branches out with
a sleek new shoe line. By Véronique Hyland

O n Nina Christen’s first foray to New York, she was outfit-

ting lions and hyenas. She had left her home country of
Switzerland with a dream of heading to the greatest city in the
world, where she landed a job tailoring costumes for The Lion
King. Twenty years later, she is returning to the city with some-
thing a little less Pride Rock: her namesake shoe line, Christen,
launching exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman next month.

32 ELLE
 (Meanwhile, the show remains a Broadway staple, and she combination of beauty and utility.” It turned out that she’d
thinks some of the costumes she worked on might still be been wearing Christen-designed shoes for years already. “My
treading the boards.) favorite everyday go-to shoes have all turned out to be Nina’s
The Chilean-Swiss designer’s résumé is a rarefied list of designs,” she marvels, adding, “What I was drawn to [about
brands that have been defining accessories over the past the new label] is her original designs. She’s not a copycat.
decade: The Row, Loewe, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, and She’s an originator.”
Celine among them. Working at Phoebe Philo–era Celine, she Christen’s designs feel like the perfect capsule wardrobe:
says, “was intense and interesting. She has such an expec- just-slouchy-enough over-the-knee boots, shearling-lined slip-
tation [of] creating novelty and new attitudes. As a creative
person, it makes you push yourself further.”
While there, she met Daniel Lee, and when he was appoint- “All my work is about inventing
ed creative director of Bottega Veneta, she came on board.
“He gave me carte blanche, and we tried out so many things.
and dreaming things up.”
Almost too much.…People were saying, ‘Oh, that’s too big. No
one is going to like that.’ And I was like, ‘No, it’s a beautiful pers, and stilettos with dangerous curves. She’s augmented
shoe.’ ” When she headed to Loewe, she brought the house’s them with a few clothing items, like luxurious T-shirts and a
balloon heel to life. “All my work is about inventing and dream- shearling jacket, made to accessorize your accessories. Later
ing things up,” she says. this year, she plans to open a store in Paris that she envisions
Now she’s dreaming things up under her own shingle. She as a personalized-shopping paradise.
wanted to create “shoes that express this extreme, feminine, Refreshingly, Christen is not very reliant on vintage re-
chic classicism. Shoes that will still be relevant in 10 years.” search. She references tech companies like Apple, and plans
This means that some styles will remain consistent across to one day hire a data scientist to advise the brand. But one
seasons. As someone who buys up shoes and turtlenecks in thing is old-school about her new endeavor: its quality. Her
multiples, she says, “I hate when things are discontinued. My shoes are made in family-owned factories in Italy’s Veneto
BI L AL E L K ADH I

brand is really about continuation.” region: “They only work for big luxury houses, but because
Yumi Shin, the chief merchandising officer at Bergdorf I’ve built such a good relationship with them over the last 10
Goodman, sums up the appeal as “Beautility, the perfect years, they’re supporting me.”

ELLE 33
Front Row

Slow
and
Steady
Narciso Rodriguez
took a step back
from fashion. Now
he’s returned with
a quiet, measured
new approach. By
Véronique Hyland
The designer with model Angelina Kendall, the face of his fragrance For Her.

O ne of Narciso Rodriguez’s prized possessions is

a pair of Victorian gloves, made painstakingly by
hand. It’s a reminder that, as he says, “Good things last, and

RO D R I GU E Z AN D KE N DALL : D R EW JAR R ET T; S KETC H : C O U RTESY O F TH E D ES I G N E R .

they’re meaningful.”
Creating those lasting, meaningful things is Rodriguez’s
North Star right now. When he founded his namesake brand
in 1997, he quickly became a boldface fashion name. At the
outset of COVID, he shuttered his label, though he continued
to design for private clients and run his thriving fragrance busi-
ness with Shiseido. In the interim, he underwent what he calls
“my personal reinvention,” redrawing the lines of his career.
That meant carving out a smaller, more focused existence that
allows him to stop work every day at 2:45 to pick up his seven-
year-old twins from their school—conveniently located just
around the corner from his studio. His kids can ride their scoot-
ers around his atelier while he arranges his fabric swatches or
fits his custom designs. He now has the freedom to “create a
collection that’s not on a deadline, and on my terms, and forge
a new way forward,” he says. “I just don’t want to be trapped
in a machine. I want to get back to the things that bring me
joy: my craft, the materials. And it’s been a great experience,
because I’ve had the luxury of time to perfect this concept.”
A Rodriguez sketch from spring 2008.

34 ELLE
 everyone’s getting paid and courted and
gifted and flown, and the stylists are now
celebrities, and they’re getting flown in
and paid off. It’s the antithesis of what
good style is,” he says.
Rodriguez went on to be closely asso-
ciated with other women whom he has
dressed, now, for decades, like Julianna
Margulies and Claire Danes. He first met
Danes when she was only 16, and he
has designed wedding gowns for both
actresses. These kinds of relationships
are increasingly unusual in fashion,
where celebrities are often outfitted for
a one-off event or as part of a contract.
Rodriguez is more like an old-school
couturier in that way, following his mus-
es throughout the stages of their lives.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld at Rodriguez’s fall 2004 show. Growing up in a Cuban American
family in New Jersey, he was surrounded
Upon his return, Rodriguez says, “I didn’t want to fall into by women who shaped his view of what style could be. “They
the same trap of department stores and deadlines and shows.” were bold; they loved fashion, fragrance, the art of dressing up.
He has received “interesting proposals,” he admits, “but I And it made a big impression on me at a young age.” One rela-
couldn’t imagine being on a plane, putting on shows in Europe, tive, Nana Concha, was “a real Auntie Mame kind of character,”
and missing out on one day of my kids’ life.” he remembers. “As all these Cuban newlyweds immigrated to
Decades ago, Rodriguez was a part of the go-go revolution the United States, she was the magnet. She set them up, gave
in American sportswear that brought New York designers to them a place to sleep; she taught them how to cook, how to get
the fashion forefront. While he was still at Parsons, Oscar de by. She was a real force in the lives of so many people, a very
la Renta took him on as a mentee. “He loved that I was this loved woman.” He was “completely besotted with her, and her
young Latin man trying to get ahead,” he says. Now he’s paid it beehive, and her makeup. She made herself Chanel-looking
forward, serving as a beacon to designers like Willy Chavarria, suits, and wore fantastic stilettos with pointy toes. It was a
who has said, “There would be no Willy Chavarria without life lesson: It doesn’t take great wealth to have great style.”
Narciso Rodriguez.” (The designer is touched: “Gosh, that For Rodriguez, the true test of his work now is its ability to
was a lovely thing for him to say. It’s so hard for me to wrap last for generations. A client of his stored her Narciso trea-
my head around it.”) sures for 20 years to give to her daughter. “I thought, ‘God,
that’s the greatest compliment.’ It feels like a win that the pas-
“I want to get back to sion that went into each one of those dresses is recognized
and appreciated—and then kept for the next generation.”
the things that bring me joy:
my craft, the materials.”
PARKER AND S E INF EL D S : L AWRE NC E LUC IE R/F IL MMAGI C ; MARGU LI ES, RODR I GU E Z ,
AN D S EYM O U R : ARTH U R E LG O RT/C O N D E NAST/C O NTO U R BY G ET T Y I MAGES .

Rodriguez went on to work for two titans: Donna Karan

(at Anne Klein) and Calvin Klein. “When you’re in it, you don’t
realize what’s going on, which is true for anything in life. And
when you look back, you go, ‘Wow, those were such crazy
times; we worked so hard,’ ” he says. His Calvin colleague
Carolyn Bessette became a muse of his; the minimalist bias-
cut dress he designed for her wedding to John F. Kennedy Jr.
remains probably his best-known work.
Bessette Kennedy’s wardrobe continues to fascinate us
long after her untimely death, and Rodriguez is unsurprised.
“Her style was never a production,” he says. “It was just some-
thing innate. Even when she wore the most complicated Yohji
piece, it was natural.…So often you see people on a red carpet
and you wonder, ‘Who convinced them of that? How uncom-
fortable do they look?’ It doesn’t fit their personality.” In his
time in the industry, he’s seen fashion shape-shift into the
corporate juggernaut it is today. “I know it’s a business, and
Rodriguez with Julianna Margulies and Stephanie Seymour
backstage at the designer’s spring 2004 show.

ELLE 35
Front Row

A celebrated stylist brings her love

of vintage to a sustainable collaboration.
By Véronique Hyland

C lare Richardson recently experienced the closest thing

a non-musician can get to being on tour. “We were in a
different state every day,” she says of crisscrossing the country
to celebrate the collaboration between Reluxe Fashion, her
luxury resale platform, and Madewell. In cities from Austin to
Washington, DC, Richardson brought her discerning eye—she
has styled editorial shoots with Jennifer Aniston and Margot
Robbie, along with this month’s ELLE cover story with Daisy
Edgar-Jones—to the public, counseling women on how to
pair her vintage finds with the brand’s denim styles. “It’s my
happy place,” she says of the store’s dressing room. “I’m not
very good at sitting still. I like to be styling.”
Richardson has been a vintage devotee since her university
days at Central Saint Martins, when she trawled Portobello
Road Market for rare pieces. She still primarily shops sec- Stylist Clare Richardson.
ondhand, save for a few investment pieces; the practice is
“an extension of my values.” But as she got busier and had a this situation.” It was also important for Richardson that a
family, the thrill of the hunt faded a little. “Suddenly I was like, true commitment to slow fashion be at the heart of the col-
‘I don’t want to be wading through tons of stuff, or it starts to laboration. She remembers asking the higher-ups, “ ‘Can we
feel like being fire-hosed with product.’ ” That gave her the not just play at this?’ Because so many companies will an-
idea to create a curated site that had “an editorial aspect to nounce a token, ‘Oh, we’re doing this,’ and they shout about
it, an expertise where it feels like you’re shopping new.” She it, and then they haven’t done anything for a year. To have a
also wanted to lift what she calls “the taboo of secondhand brand as big as Madewell with this commitment, it’s huge that
clothes.” Even her celebrity friends are all in: When she put they’re giving this space and airtime.” Adds Laura Michael,
a vintage Chanel jacket from Reluxe Fashion on Aniston for the company’s head of brand marketing and creative, “Reluxe
a shoot, she remembers, “it was one of her favorite looks.” and Clare share our dedication to incredible quality, style,
Richardson learned from the data on the recent Madewell and circularity. Our partnership is an ideal representation of
drops that jackets, bags, and belts were the top-performing that philosophy, bringing together the effortless sensibility of
categories. “The more we got to know the customer, the more Madewell and the curated luxury of Reluxe.”
we fed into that with these drops—whether it’s online or on The latest drop, out this month, will include pieces like airy
the ground, meeting people and learning what they like.” She lace blouses and suede tassel coats that pair well with denim.
has helped women drill down on their personal style, an ever- (The campaign star is her friend and fellow sustainable fash-
more-elusive concept despite that fire hose of options we’re ion advocate Cameron Russell.) And Richardson will be back
exposed to. “On social media, the noise is so overwhelming, in the trenches, lending her styling talents to the public. She
it’s almost too much,” she says. doesn’t find it too different from her day job outfitting A-listers.
She made sure to offer pieces in a range of sizes to offset “Everybody has their hang-ups, their confidence, their ques-
the well-known inclusivity problems in the vintage space. tions.” Her number one piece of advice, wherever you are on
DAN MARTEN SE N

“It can be really hard. I completely acknowledge that,” she the call sheet? “Show more skin,” she says, gesturing at her
says. “But when we’re sourcing, we try to bear that in mind.” high-necked, fawn-colored sweater, “…she says, with a jumper
Because Madewell offers its denim in a wide array of sizes, up to here! But I’m like, ‘You are gorgeous. Undo that button
“it felt like it all fitted together, that we’re [both] mindful of on your shirt—one more. Celebrate you.’ ”

36 ELLE
Accessories

Dolce & Gabbana’s Mini Marlene is an effort-

less balance of chic silhouette and standout
hardware, with a glossy padlock that ties in to
the charming jewelry trend of the season.

Mini Marlene Day Bag, DOLCE & GABBANA.

 BANGLE, TIFFANY & CO. CHARM, CELINE EARRINGS, L AUREN RUBINSKI
Inspired by a padlock from the archives, Tiffany A sleek padlock charm can add an element One of the French designer’s signature styles,
& Co.’s Lock bangle is now modern, stackable, of chic to any bag, necklace, or bracelet. these link earrings are sleek and lightweight,
and, in this case, dripping in diamonds. suitable for any outfit or occasion.
D OLCE & GABBANA BAG: NATHAN I E L G O L D B E RG ; L AU R E N RU B I N S KI E AR R I N G S : MARC E LO RU D U IT; JAC Q U I E AI C H E
C HAR M: TO NY MI NAS ; JADE TRAU CHARM: RU SS E LL STARR ; REMAINI N G I MAGES : C OU RTESY OF THE DES I GN E RS .

EARRING, EÉRA EARRING, ANITA KO

Go literal with Eéra’s key-shaped earring, No key? No problem. An Anita Ko paper clip Skeleton keys are made ever more
complete with branded grooves. is the perfect pick…for your jewelry box. stylish with a Jacquie Aiche touch.

EARRINGS, STEPHANIE GOTTLIEB CHARM, JADE TRAU CHARM, PANDORA

For a subtle take on the trend, Victorian-era key charms inspired The Copenhagen brand’s signature
try Stephanie Gottlieb’s simple Paperclip Jade Trau’s updated version, with three brilliant- engravable padlock and key charms can go
Diamond Drop Earrings. cut diamonds and optional engraving. anywhere, with anything, for anyone.

ELLE 39
 e e o eo i le

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THIS ADVERTISEMENT IS NOT AN OFFERING. ORAL REPRESENTATIONS CANNOT BE RELIED UPON AS CORRECTLY STATING REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEVELOPER. FOR CORRECT REPRESENTATIONS, MAKE REFERENCE TO THE
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY SECTION 718.503, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO BE FURNISHED BY A DEVELOPER TO A BUYER OR LESSEE. THE ARTIST REPRESENTATIONS AND INTERIOR DECORATIONS, FINISHES, APPLIANCES AND FURNISHINGS
ARE PROVIDED FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY. DEVELOPER MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES EXCEPT AS MAY BE SET FORTH IN THE OFFERING PLAN. DEVELOPER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SUBSTITUTE MATERIALS, APPLIANCES,
EQUIPMENT, FIXTURES AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION AND DESIGN DETAILS SPECIFIED HEREIN WITH SIMILAR MATERIALS, APPLIANCES, EQUIPMENT AND/OR FIXTURES OF SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL OR BETTER QUALITY. ALL DIMENSIONS ARE
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BARRIERS TO OBTAINING HOUSING BECAUSE OF RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, SEX, HANDICAP, FAMILIAL STATUS OR NATIONAL ORIGIN. is a trademark owned by HACHETTE FILIPACCHI PRESSE SA, France.
 Shop
Just
the
Essentials
Pair red accents
with tried-and-true
denim, leather, and
crisp white for
the perfect
sportswear mix.
C O U RTESY O F TH E D ES I G N E R .

Polo Ralph Lauren. ELLE 41

Shop 4

1
2

10

KHAITE HAN D BAG , D R I ES VAN N OTE N M U L ES , AN D RÙAD H J E AN S : C O U RTESY O F M O DA O P E R AN D I ;

7

R E MAI N I N G I MAGES : C O U RTESY O F TH E D ES I G N E R S AN D B R AN D S .

1. Choker, ANITA KO, 6. Mules, DRIES VAN NOTEN,

anitako.com. $695, driesvannoten.com.
2. Watch, RADO, $1,350, 7. Earrings, PHOEBE PHILO,
rado.com. $900, phoebephilo.com.
3. Tank, DANDY DEL MAR, 8. Jeans, RÙADH, $520,
$59, dandydelmar.com. ruadh.com.
4. Jacket, COACH, $695, 9. Sunglasses, RAY-BAN,
coach.com. $163, nordstrom.com.
5. Handbag, KHAITE, 10. Belt, KHAITE, $480,
khaite.com. khaite.com.

42 ELLE
Travel

Hotels are investing in

artist-in-residency programs,
changing the perspective of
guests, staff, and artists
alike. By Adrienne Gaffney

F or an artist used to working within the confines

of an urban studio, Costa Rica’s Hotel Belmar is
a revelation. Working days are broken up by hikes
through the misty tropical forest or countryside
horseback rides, and views out the window may
include a gorgeous inlet of the Pacific. Artists are
able to spend weeks living and working at the hotel,
which can have a transformative impact on a career,
and guests are able to witness them at work. While
placing artists’ work on a hotel wall is common-
place, and might include a narrative connecting the
work to the space, Hotel Belmar and an increasing
number of other hotels are running residencies
that establish a relationship between an artist and
a property, broadening the guest experience.
Hotel Belmar’s program began when Pedro
Belmar, the owner and then-manager of the
eco-hotel located in the mountains of Monteverde,
Costa Rica, started thinking of ways to connect the
hotel to the art movements that were thriving in
the region. Belmar, who had a longtime love of art
and had done an internship at MoMA, connected
with Martha Palacio, a documentarian who had
been working on a project about underground art-
ists. They put together a program that would both
nurture artists and bring their work into the hotel.
At Belmar, artists are given a room and a work-
space for their stay. They spend the time work-
ing and taking inspiration from the local scenery,
but also lead talks, workshops, and open studios.
Residents have included painters, writers, pho-
tographers, and sculptors. “This close encounter
with an artist at work can be deeply profound, as it
invites guests into a world of transformation, offer-
ing insight into the complexities of creation while
fostering a deeper connection to the environment
and the artists themselves,” Palacio says.
Grammy-winning artist Paul Blair, who per-
forms under the name DJ White, oversees the
Graduate Sweet Dreams Society, a residency
program at Graduate by Hilton hotels. For him,
it’s about looking at the resources the hotel has
and seeing how they could be utilized to help
artists create. “It was like, ‘Okay, cool, we have

44 ELLE
 Opposite, from top:
Hotel Belmar’s
exterior; the hotel’s
residency connects
artists and guests.
This page, from top:
A Hotel Belmar guest
room; Monteverde’s
mountains and
forest reserve.

this coatroom that nobody’s walked into for the

last four years.’ There’s a lot of extra space that’s
“This close encounter with an
been underutilized, and what artists don’t have artist at work can be deeply
is space—or the money to get a space,” Blair says.
Blair recalls one artist who had spent the last
profound, as it invites guests into
40 years painting in solitude in his studio. But the a world of transformation.”
bustle of the hotel convinced him to venture out. —MARTHA PALACIO
He set up his easel in the lobby and began painting,
offering guests a unique peek into his process.
The Ace Hotels run residencies in New York which was transformed from one of the guest
City, Kyoto, Sydney, and Palm Springs. Participants rooms into my atelier during this period,” he says.
have included Stephanie Santana, a mixed-media “It was an exciting and happy experience for me
textile artist; and Lauren Cohen, who paints, and for the guests to witness the creative process.
sculpts, and creates graphic novels. “Being able to Some mentioned they felt ‘healed’ through the art
utilize all of the hotel is such a gift,” says Tokotah of calligraphy, while others said that the time spent
M O NTEVE R D E : AN D R ES G ARCIA L AC H N E R ; R E MAI N I N G I MAGES : C O U RTESY O F H OTE L B E L MAR.

Ashcraft, who manages the program. “The front creating in the studio ‘gave them inspiration.’”
desk and the folks who work in the lobby or in the He can’t wait to be invited back.
restaurants take such pride in the fact that we have
an artist in residence, and they’re able to see the
beautiful work each day and witness the commu-
nity participation in these programs, too.”
Caroline Zimbalist, an artist and fashion design-
er known for using unusual materials, spent August
of 2024 at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn creating a work
that would be shown in the lobby for three months.
Toward the end of her residency, Zimbalist led a
workshop for guests of the hotel and community
members, introducing them to bioplastics, a type
of plastic made from renewable resources, before
she created her own works onstage.
The residencies also introduce guests to the
local culture. Participating in the Peninsula Tokyo’s
Art in Resonance program let Maaya Wakasugi
share the art of Japanese calligraphy with guests.
“I held live performances in the hotel lobby, and
guests were also invited to visit my art studio,

ELLE 45
 BACK ROW, FROM LEFT: NINA GARCIA IN RALPH LAUREN, TILDA SWINTON, SELENA GOMEZ IN RALPH LAUREN, MIKEY MADISON IN RALPH LAUREN, SAOIRSE RONAN,
DEMI MOORE IN RALPH LAUREN & JULIANNE MOORE. FRONT ROW, FROM LEFT: DANIELLE DEADWYLER, KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN & ZOE SALDAÑA.

PROMOTION

ELLE’s annual Women in Hollywood celebration

honored nine remarkable women for
their contributions to the worlds of film, television,
and beyond. The event was held on
November 19 at the Four Seasons Hotel
in Beverly Hills in partnership with Ralph Lauren,
Harry Winston, and TikTok.
ELLE & TIKTOK RED CARPET CORRESPONDENT
TEFI PESSOA IN RALPH LAUREN PEDRO ALMODÓVAR
 CAMERON DIAZ IN RALPH LAUREN, ZOE SALDAÑA, SELENA GOMEZ IN RALPH LAUREN
YURA BORISOV IN RALPH LAUREN & KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN MIKEY MADISON IN RALPH LAUREN

NINA GARCIA IN HARRY WINSTON EARRINGS

ALIX EARLE & EVA LONGORIA IN RALPH LAUREN SAOIRSE RONAN & CAREY MULLIGAN COLMAN DOMINGO IN RALPH LAUREN & SELMA BLAIR

DANIELLE DEADWYLER
JOSHUA JACKSON IN RALPH LAUREN JAL9OADKGF$<=EAEGGJ=AFJ9DH@D9MJ=F$JGKA=G<GFF=DDE=D9FA=?JA>>AL@ & JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON

I N PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H SPECIAL THANKS TO
 For your vanity, and
the vanity: a gleamy,
glowy face tool.
A hot new bombshell is entering the villa. Attention-
C O U RTESY O F TH E B R AN D.

stealing and unexpected, the face massager from

Chanel (Chanel N°1 de Chanel Massage Accessory,
$70, chanel.com) is an exciting addition to your beauty
routine. Start with a moisturizer or serum (Chanel N°1
de Chanel Cream, $120; or Chanel N°1 de Chanel
Revitalizing Serum, $165, chanel.com), then practice
sweeping, upward motions for a feel-good glow.
—KATHLEEN HOU

ELLE 49
Beauty

TH OMAS KL EM ENTS S ON

What happened to all the bald

people? Ask these top hair
transplant surgeons. BY KATHLEEN HOU

50 ELLE
O n a Friday at 9 p.m., my calendar reminds me that I
have a meeting with Diamond and Champagne. The
two go together like popcorn and Nicole Kidman’s AMC ad,
quality, isn’t quite straight, and contains multiple growth
patterns with varying densities. It is each surgeon’s job to art-
fully re-create this effect to the best of their ability. Cowlicks,
particularly in Beverly Hills, where the pair are from. They widow’s peaks, and your maternal grandmother’s hairline
pop up on my Zoom screen, logging in after a full day’s work can all potentially be replicated, removed, lowered, or raised.
that started at the dark hour of 6 a.m. Every surgeon is an artist, employing little tricks to fool the
Given their names, it may be surprising that Jason human eye. Kahen uses a slight zigzag pattern, like a Wassily
Diamond and Jason Champagne are not a Vegas lounge Kandinsky painting. Champagne calls his method “irregu-
act, but rather two of California’s busiest plastic surgeons. larly irregular”—much like Jackson Pollock’s work, there is
Together, they are responsible for a good portion of mindfulness to the seeming randomness. Wesley compares
Hollywood’s best hairlines. Things of which there are only
about 1,000 in the world: the rare mountain gorilla; the ap-
proximate number of shoes in the Sandy Liang x Salomon
Cowlicks, widow’s peaks, and your
sneaker drop; and hair surgeons. And probably less than half grandmother’s hairline can be replicated,
of those surgeons are able to do the meticulous work of hair
restoration, aka transplant surgery.
removed, lowered, or raised.
“You just don’t see [bald people] anymore,” says John
Kahen, MD, a hair transplant surgeon. He may be exagger- the process to pointillism, à la Georges Seurat. “We can get
ating, but this could be true in Los Angeles, where he has lost in it,” he says, and each little dot becomes a full tableau
been practicing for close to two decades. “If you look at the of hair. He looks at vellus hair and little baby hairs under
movies from the ’80s and ’90s, you used to see so many bald very strong magnification. “It’s really paying attention to all
people.” For today’s top hair doctors, their work has come a the hints and clues that the scalp provides.” In a sneaky bit
long way from anything that could be called “plugs.” Modern- of engineering, surgeons can cover any facelift scars present
day Hollywood hairlines are bolstered with painstaking tech- in the hairline or scalp.
niques that yield much more natural-looking results. Hair transplants used to be primarily sought by men, but an
On the back of every human head, there is an area that increasing number of women are getting them, too. Kahen es-
(rarely) ever goes bald. It is the eternal spring, the Strega Nona timates that his patients used to be 70 percent men, 30 percent
pasta pot of hair. “Genetically, [those hairs] are programmed women, but it’s now closer to 50/50—especially over the past
to stay forever,” Kahen says. While most of us will lose hair at six years, due to hair loss related to COVID and also to what
our crowns or temples first, this particular section will be the he believes is a lesser-known side effect of GLP-1 drugs. You
very last to go. Hair transplant surgeons harvest follicles from may have seen the TikTok clip of “Turkish Hairlines,” showing
this “donor area” at the back of the scalp by punching small a flight departing from Turkey back to the U.S., with rows of
openings in the skin—which can contain anywhere from one men with red-spotted, half-shaved hairlines, post–hair trans-
to multiple hair roots—and then grafting them onto thinning plant. A key difference between a Hollywood or New York
areas. In one method, called follicular unit transplantation hairline and an Istanbul-created one is that some U.S. surgeons
(FUT), a strip of skin containing multiple follicles is excised don’t shave the transplant recipient site. This makes for a more
from the donor area and divided into smaller segments (like difficult surgery, but Champagne finds that it’s easier to see
thin slices of bread) that each contain a follicular unit, then exactly where he needs to implant the grafts, and he can blend
transplanted to places in need. (Champagne even uses a ver- these in with the existing hair. It also reduces downtime to as
sion of FUT to do eyebrow transplants.) The even more la- little as 10 days, as the tiny openings scab and fall off.
borious follicular unit extraction (FUE) technique involves Diamond and Champagne offer a little-known surgery
extracting follicles one at a time, preserving them, and using that often confuses people: a combo hairline-lowering and
surgical forceps and a scalpel smaller than a millimeter to brow-lift procedure. The typical process of raising brows may
implant them, in accordance with the hair’s unique natural also slide back the hairline. Realizing this, the pair created
growth pattern. Surgeons may repeat this process upwards of a two-for-one procedure. When people on social media try
3,000 times on average, which could take as long as nine hours. to guess what celebrities have had done, “oftentimes, it’s
You can only implant your own follicles, or your body will this procedure, but people can’t pick up on it,” a member of
reject them. About three to four months later, the hairs start to Diamond’s staff tells me.
grow, and within a year, the full crop comes in. “I call it garden- Wesley got into this field after doing residency training at
ing,” Kahen says. I joke to NYC hair transplant surgeon Carlos Yale New Haven Hospital’s department of surgery, where he
Wesley, MD, that one surgery must be akin to doing 3,000 encountered hair follicle stem cell research. “I was initially
mini heart transplants in one day. He makes a “sort of” face. quite self-conscious about going into a cosmetic field,” he
“[Except] we can tell right away that it’s going to take. Out of says, but he now sees it in a different light. “You’re allowing
my entire med school class, I know I’m for sure the happiest.” people to address something that gave them so much inse-
Think of the hairline on a Lego figure. It’s blocky, one-note, curity and dissatisfaction. They can just focus on living their
and obviously fake. A true Hollywood hairline has a feathery lives. There are a lot of happy patients, and that feels good.”

ELLE 51
Beauty
Sandalwood “has this interesting milky creami-
ness,” says Frank Voelkl, the principal perfumer
behind Le Labo’s Santal 33. “There’s something
universally pleasant about it.” But its very mys-
tique has brought the tree to near extinction.
Sandalwood, with its oblong light-green leaves
and twiggy branches, is a semi-parasitic plant
that needs a host tree. It can take up to 30 years
for it to be ready for perfume oil extraction. The
modern perfume industry originally used sandal-
wood from India, but starting in 1974, unbridled
and unsustainable harvesting practices caused a
precipitous drop in supply, likely driving up the
cost of the wood. “There was a time when it had
basically disappeared for perfumers,” Voelkl says.
In Australia, conservationists are working to
protect native sandalwood trees from a similar
fate. They are learning from the Indigenous people
who hold these trees sacred: the Martu, a First
Nations tribe and one of the traditional landowners
of Western Australia. The Martu created the non-
profit K Farmer Dutjahn Foundation to regenerate,
restore, and safeguard wild sandalwoods.

“Sandalwood had basically

disappeared for perfumers.”
“Sandalwood—dutjahn in the Martu language—
is very special to our culture,” says Clinton Farmer,
founder and chairman of the foundation. “It’s a
tree of healing.” In addition to its alluring scent,
sandalwood has anti-inflammatory and antimi-
crobial properties. Farmer explains that the Martu
have used it for generations to heal skin infections,
ward off evil spirits, and fuel smoke ceremonies.
Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils, in partnership with
K Farmer, processes, distills, and sells the oil to
fragrance houses like Givaudan. It plants seeds

Saving
for every tree harvested, being careful not to overharvest
or kill young plants prior to maturity, and practices enrich-
ment planting, which helps bolster other endangered desert
species. In doing so, the Martu are working to maintain bio-
diversity, boost the ecosystem, and ensure sandalwood has a

Santal
healthy place to grow.
For the first time this year, the foundation had a hand in
designing a fragrance collection. In collaboration with Pura,
which developed a line of sandalwood-infused home fra-
grances, the Martu helped devise the fragrance names and
How perfumery’s favorite wood create the artwork on the bottles. Ochre Heart, for example,
is finding its way back from is named after the natural ochre pigment that’s a cornerstone
of Indigenous art, and features abstract artwork in the min-
near extinction. By Katie Berohn
FLOR IL EGIUS /GET T Y IMAGES .

eral’s golden color.

Ask people why they love wearing sandalwood, and they’ll

Y ou can smell it on collarbones and behind ears

in the darkest, sexiest bars. It smells like your coolest
friend who exclusively shops at the RealReal and has read
often say it smells cozy and familiar, like their favorite cash-
mere sweater. With more sustainable sandalwood options,
like the sandalwood hand-cultivated by Farmer and his family
every novel in the Neapolitan Quartet. It’s sandalwood, and found in some Pura and Givaudan fragrances, you’re able
and you may know it best from smash-hit fragrances. to smell like home without destroying someone else’s.

52 ELLE
 P ROM OTION

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F O L LO W U S O N I N S TAG R A M @ E L L E U S A
Beauty
Lasers Aren’t and might be even more effective for lifting and
brightening. These next-gen options are also safer
across skin tones. “A lot of [older lasers] readily ab-

Scary Anymore sorb melanin, so [people with darker complexions]

can get really significant burns,” says Michelle
Henry, MD, a dermatologist in New York. Now,
many of the lasers she currently has in her office
are safe for dark skin.
Less pain, shorter downtime, and reduced risk Perhaps as a result, lasers are booming: There
for deep skin tones. By Katie Berohn were over 3.5 million skin resurfacing procedures
in 2023, a 5 percent increase over 2022, according
to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ annual

Y ou’re sitting in a doctor’s office with numbing cream spread on your

face like buttercream icing on a cake. You’re preparing to have a laser
beam penetrate your skin at the same temperature that water boils.
statistics report. Here are some of the best lasers
that don’t belong in a sequel to The Substance.

You’re bracing for your face to resemble tuna tartare for at least a week. THE TIGHTENING LASER
Sounds scary? For a long time, this may have been the reality for any- According to Eunice Park, MD, a facial plas-
one seeking a laser treatment to tighten or tone skin. Today’s lasers, how- tic surgeon in New York, a method called “Pico
ever, are far less harsh, reducing pain and downtime for many patients— Sculpting,” which is popular in South Korea to
tighten skin, is gaining ground in the U.S. Using
super-short pulses of energy at different depths,
the picosecond laser can target its effects: It can
plunge to deep levels, like a scuba diver, to tight-
en without disturbing the outermost layer. It can
sweep through the middle layers, like a snorkeler,
to rejuvenate. And it can skim the surface, like a
surfer, to smooth texture. Though skin might be
slightly red or swollen for a few days, the minimal
downtime unveils results starting within a week.

THE RESURFACING LASER

Ablative lasers are a great tool for resurfacing, but
they can also make you look sunburned for up to
a month. UltraClear is the first cold fiber ablative
laser that stimulates collagen without causing ex-
cessive redness. (“Cold” doesn’t refer to a tempera-
ture, but rather for the way the laser uses a unique
2,910-nanometer wavelength to treat the skin.)
UltraClear delivers quick pulses of energy in inter-
vals to curtail heat damage and pain. Unlike other
ablative lasers, UltraClear’s 3DMiracl treatment
seldom requires any numbing cream beforehand
and has less downtime, though there may be a bit
of redness or swelling. Patients can notice skin
improvements within five days.

THE ALL-IN-ONE LASER

Mosaic 3D works well for hyperpigmentation,
acne scarring, and wrinkles. It’s a non-ablative la-
ser (meaning it doesn’t disturb the skin’s surface),
L AU RE NT CASTE L LAN I/ BL AU BLUT ED ITI ON .

which Henry says makes it ideal for all skin tones.

But precision is what makes this laser a secret
weapon: It has a cold sapphire tip for chilling the
skin; an air-cooled rolling system for even cover-
age; and an algorithm called 3D Controlled Chaos
Technology to control the space and depth of where
beams enter the skin. These features allow the laser
to sweep over tricky-to-reach areas, like around
the eyes and mouth. Skin may be mildly red for up
to 48 hours, but downtime is only two to five days.
Perspectives

Women of Impact

Back in training after

her Olympic triumph,
Brazil’s beloved gymnast
Rebeca Andrade reflects
on a journey fueled by grit,
talent, and her
mother’s love.

56 ELLE BY FERNANDA SANTOS PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARCUS SABAH

 S he glanced to her right from the podium’s highest perch
and saw, on the silver medal spot, the most decorated
gymnast in the world, Simone Biles. She searched for her
teammates; they were crying on the sidelines of the springy
carpet where she had just delivered a dazzling floor exer-
cise routine at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The feeling of
reaching a goal for which she had worked so hard—“I really
wanted the gold,” Rebeca Andrade recalls—hadn’t yet sunk
in when Biles and another American gymnast, Jordan Chiles,
dropped to one knee and bowed to her.
By then, Andrade, 25, had surpassed the sailors Robert
Scheidt and Torben Grael to become the most decorated
Olympic medal winner from Brazil, her home country. The
moment’s significance transcends Andrade’s own achieve-
ment. “It’s important for Black girls and Black boys to be able
to see people like them—people like us—on such a gigantic
stage, winning a competition that is so important, that has
so much visibility,” Andrade says in Portuguese in a video
interview from Rio de Janeiro, where she has trained for 15
years. “I understand the importance of our representation.”
Andrade is a Black girl from the periferia, the Portuguese
word that describes the low-income neighborhoods that
hug Brazil’s urban centers. She spent her childhood moving
around Vila Fátima, on the edge of Guarulhos, the second
most populous city in Brazil’s most populous state, São Paulo.
Her mother, Rosa Santos, was a maid raising eight children
pretty much on her own. Santos brought Andrade along to
work sometimes, to houses so big Andrade lost count of how
many rooms they had. The people who lived there “were re-
ally well off,” she says, and shares how her mother framed
the experience for her: It was not their reality, but there was gymnastics could be something more than a good time. “I
nothing wrong if that was what she aspired to have someday. really wanted to be someone,” she explains. “It’s not like if I
As her mother would tell her, “Our simple life gives us every- didn’t do gymnastics, I would be a nobody. No, I would always
thing we need, but we have the right to dream and seek more.” be Rebeca. I would always be Rosa’s daughter. I would have
STYL E D BY L AR I S SA LUC C H ES E ; HAI R BY TO M S OUZ A ; MAKEU P BY LAU RÃO ; SET DESI GN BY H U G O TEX AT N O TITLE.

Andrade was very young when she joined a free gymnas- my siblings. But I felt and saw that I had the potential to be a
tics program at the gym where her aunt worked. To a kid standout at gymnastics. I really wanted to change my life and
who liked to hang upside down from her brothers’ bunk bed, to have the chance to change my family’s life, too.”
gymnastics practice became another opportunity for having That chance began to take shape when Andrade was
fun. Andrade also had obvious talent and a body built for gym- about 10, when she left home to join other promising young
nastics—muscular, strong, and flexible, making the most chal- gymnasts for an intensive training program under Francisco
“Xico” Porath Neto, her coach to this day. The year
was 2009, and the program had a very clear purpose:
“It’s a gift to have the opportunity to have to prepare the next generation of Brazilian gym-
nasts for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
such a strong voice, to have visibility—to be She worked hard to tune out the praise. “I think
able to share my story.” that if I focused only on my talent, on my potential,
I would be just another hope for Brazil,” she says—
another athlete who could have and should have,
lenging of movements seem effortless. Soon she earned the but didn’t get there. And she worked hard, period. Andrade
nickname “Daianinha,” or Little Daiane, after Brazil’s Daiane moved to Rio in 2010 and began training at Clube de Regatas
dos Santos, the first South American and first Black gymnast do Flamengo, where she’s been based ever since. “My mother,
to win gold at the World Championships. instead of clipping my wings, she was the person who gave me
Famously, when there was no money for bus fare, the most impetus to fly, to run with my own legs, to achieve
Andrade’s older brother accompanied her on the three- to my goals in my own way, while always knowing that I would
four-mile walk to and from the gym. He sold cans and scrap have a home to return to,” Andrade says.
metal at a junkyard to buy a bicycle, which became their main We speak during a break in one of her recent afternoon
mode of transportation. Andrade cherished their time to- training sessions. She sits on a chair next to an off-white
gether; her siblings, she says, “were my best friends.” With wall, her long, curly hair held back by a black-and-white
every tumble she mastered, and with every cartwheel, jump, sweatband. She smiles as she talks, her words spilling out
and somersault she landed, Andrade came to recognize that with the speed and assuredness of her CONTINUED ON PAGE 100

ELLE 57
Perspectives
Women of Impact

As New Zealand’s prime minister, she became

a worldwide phenomenon. And then she walked away.

J acinda Ardern was just 37 years old when she cap-

tured the hearts of the globe. Elected prime minister
of New Zealand in 2017, a race she won a mere seven
hope I’ve demonstrated something else entirely: that
you can be anxious, sensitive, kind, and wear your heart
on your sleeve. You can be a mother, or not. You can
weeks after entering the contest, she was the youngest be an ex-Mormon, or not. You can be a nerd, a crier, a
female head of state, one of just 13 women premiers hugger—you can be all of these things. And not only can
worldwide—a progressive who promised to combat you be here, you can lead. Just like me.”
climate change, support abortion rights, and make her With those words, Ardern left New Zealand politics
country the best place in the world to be a child. behind, but she didn’t exactly take time off. “I am what
They called it “Jacindamania.” It was the first time you might call an ‘active relaxer,’” the now 44-year-old
many in the U.S. had known the name of the person former prime minister tells me as we sip cappuccinos
leading the small South Pacific nation, let alone followed at Henrietta’s Table, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, insti-
her every history-making move. She won fans around tution, adjacent to her office in the Harvard Kennedy
the world and made headlines for having an equal num- School. “I have taken a bit of time. But I have not felt like
ber of women and men in her parliament; for being the I’ve slowed down. I still feel like I’ve been busy, busy.”
second head of state in history to give birth while in She’s deliberately kept a lower profile, enjoying some

HAIR AN D MAKEU P BY K AC I E C O R B E L L E ; P H OTO G R AP H E D AT TH E N EWBU RY BO STO N .

office; for taking parental leave; for being unmarried; time as an observer rather than a central figure on the
for having her partner, Clarke Gayford, stay home with world stage. But behind the scenes, Ardern has been as
their daughter, Neve, while she went back to work. devoted as ever to the issues that came to define her time
She was called the “anti-Trump” for the kindness she in office. She holds three fellowships at Harvard—as an
exuded on the world stage, an antidote to the rise of pop- Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow, a Hauser
ulist strongmen. She was also praised for her empathetic Leader at the Center for Public Leadership, and a Senior
leadership style in the face of a deadly volcano eruption Fellow in the Women and Public Policy Program. Her
and mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch that time at Harvard was meant to last for three months but
claimed 51 lives (she announced a ban on assault rifles has been extended. “I had some hesitancy about leaving
six days later). In October 2020, Ardern was reelected New Zealand,” she says. “But it’s been a nice break.”
in a landslide, her popularity fueled by her deft handling One of her favorite things has been talking with
of the COVID pandemic. And then, after over five years students during office hours. When I marvel over the
in office, in January 2023, she announced her resigna- opportunity students have had to meet with a former
tion, saying, with tears in her eyes, that she didn’t have prime minister, she stresses, “Oh, but what an oppor-
“enough left in the tank” to do the job justice. tunity for me.” She’s usually fairly incognito walking
Three months later, in her final speech before around campus: coat, backpack, AirPods in, head down.
Parliament, Ardern reflected on her legacy: “I cannot But she is occasionally recognized, particularly by in-
determine what will define my time in this place,” she ternational students. New Zealanders are unfazed, she
said, swathed in a traditional Maori cloak. “But I do says: “It’ll just be like, ‘Oh hi, Jacinda.’”

58 ELLE BY KAYLA WEBLEY ADLER PHOTOGRAPHED BY CHRISTOPHER CHURCHILL

Perspectives
Last summer, in partnership with the Center for and small?” she asks. “I don’t know if I can. Since leaving
American Progress Action Fund, she founded the Field office, that’s what I’ve grappled with—how can I still be
Fellowship for Empathetic Leadership. Ardern is also useful? And I probably can’t be useful and stay small.”
one of 12 global leaders to receive a $20 million grant
from Melinda French Gates’s Pivotal Ventures, a sum ardern grew up in morrinsville, a rural dairy farm-
she’s been entrusted with distributing to organizations ing community on North Island, about two hours south
she deems to be doing “urgent, impactful, and innova- of Auckland (today, the town of 8,500 people is dotted
tive work to improve women’s health and well-being with 60 fiberglass cow sculptures). Her father worked as
globally.” She also continues to work with Christchurch a policeman for 40 years, while her mom mostly worked
Call, the initiative she cofounded with French President jobs that allowed her to be home when the kids were
Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the shootings, ded- home. Ardern was raised Mormon, but left the faith as

“Sometimes I think about the ease of having a smaller profile—it’s much

easier to be in the world that way. Can I be useful and small?”
icated to eliminating violent extremist content online. an adult due to the church’s stance on LGBTQ issues.
When we meet, she is jet-lagged, having returned Her parents had an orchard when Ardern was young,
from New Zealand just a few days prior, after spending where she learned to drive a tractor and roamed free
time with family over the holidays. Her daughter, now among the fruit trees for hours in the summertime, her
six, has been waking up at 4:30 a.m. Ardern is only in mom telling her to be back by dinner. She rode her bike
town for a few days before she’ll jet off to the World to school, often showing up for class barefoot, which
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and from there she assures me is the New Zealand way.
to Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival, where Her introduction to politics came from an aunt who
a documentary she’s the subject of, Prime Minister, will was active in the Labour Party. “I just remember having
premiere. Not long after that, she’s due to attend a cli- a team and knowing that this was the party that aligned
mate event in Paris as part of her work as a board mem- most with the way I saw the world,” Ardern says. She
ber of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize. joined the party at age 17 and was voted “Most Likely to
Be Prime Minister” by her classmates. She says the pre-
scient title was bestowed upon her simply because she
was the only one in school who belonged to a political
party, but then adds, “It’s very easy for me to dismiss it.”
There were signs she was meant for this life.
She was on the school debate team; she and a friend
started a human rights group and wrote letters for
Amnesty International. She campaigned for girls to be al-
lowed to wear pants to school (many public schools have
uniforms in New Zealand, and girls were often required
to wear skirts). “I can tell you it was not on behalf of fash-
ion. It was just very pragmatic—it was cold in the winter,”
she says. “But that was my first time campaigning.”
The fire had been lit. By the time she finished high
school, she knew she wanted to make a difference in the
world, and she understood politics as the way to do that.
She studied professional communications and interna-
tional relations at the University of Waikato. After grad-
uation, she began working as a junior adviser to Helen
Clark, the country’s second female prime minister. (New
Ardern speaking at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where Prime Minister premiered. Zealand was the first country in the world to allow
women to vote, in 1893, and has now had three women
MAYA D EH L IN S PAC H /GET TY I MAGES.

Between the film and the publication of her mem- heads of state.) Following that, she spent time over-
oir, A Different Kind of Power, coming June 3, Ardern seas: six months in New York City, sleeping on a friend’s
is gearing up for the increased exposure. “I have to get couch in Brooklyn and volunteering at a Catholic soup
used to being out there again,” she tells me. “There are kitchen. Then she was off to London, where she worked
trade-offs. Sometimes I think about the ease of having in the Cabinet Office as a civil servant.
a smaller world and a smaller profile—it’s much easier Two years later, in 2008, someone put her name on
to be in the world that way.” But she wonders if she can a list in a winnable district, and just like that, she was
continue to make an impact at that size: “Can I be useful elected to Parliament and returned home. She was the

60 ELLE
youngest member at the time, and felt like it: “I remem- in the corner of the room. You’re done. You’re tapped
ber feeling like, ‘Do I go buy suits now? Do I change who out. It’s over,” she says. “And I wasn’t there. It just wasn’t
I am?’ And I made a conscious decision to be myself.” an accurate reflection for me. I’m very actively trying
She held on to that commitment nearly 10 years later to work on issues that I still care about, because that’s
when she was tapped to run for prime minister. The what gets me out of bed in the morning.”
former party leader, an older man who’d served for many She didn’t want to rattle off the typical politician exit
years, resigned following bad poll numbers when the line: “I’m leaving to spend more time with my family.”
vote was seven weeks away. The party desperately need- “As only the second woman leader to have a baby in of-
ed a boost from a younger candidate. (Sound familiar?) fice, I felt so conscious about what I was telling people,”
As deputy leader, Ardern was up: “There was no time to she says. “I didn’t want to say that, because it implies you
redesign myself, or for anyone to tell me who I needed to can’t have a family and be in these jobs—and you can.”
be. So that was quite freeing—I could just be me.”
On October 26, 2017, she was sworn in as prime min-
ister—around the same time as she learned she was
pregnant. She understands being the second elected
world leader to give birth while in office is part of why
she got such outsize attention (the first was Pakistan’s
Benazir Bhutto in 1990), but says, “Those are the things
we don’t want to be novel. The day we’ve made prog-
ress is the day it’s not worth commenting on.” When it
came to taking leave, and having Gayford stay home with
Neve, she wasn’t trying to be revolutionary. “We were
just thinking, ‘How do we make this work?’”
Living in a “small country at the bottom of the
world,” she says, Kiwis aren’t used to people paying
them much attention. “You don’t really think about what
anyone other than the people in your country think
about the work you’re doing,” she says of experiencing
“Jacindamania.” “My instinct is always to discount any-
thing that feels like it might be a distraction. So I was
very dismissive of it. I had a job to do.”
But it was impossible to ignore the eyes on her al-
together. “In a way, it raised expectations, and I was
always afraid of not meeting those,” she says. “So with
any good poll, or with the so-called mania, in the back of
my mind would be, ‘What comes after this? Where do I
take us next?’ And so that was always the way I viewed
the world—anticipating the downside of things.”
Over time, it started to feel like every day was a test:
“I remember the commentary for any crisis would be,
‘This will be a test of her leadership.’ And then the next
one would come, and they’d say it again. And I realized
that there was no point at which anyone would conclude
that I had proven myself,” she says. “But I do remember,
at the point when I concluded that it was time to go, I
felt like I didn’t need to do that anymore.”
The night before announcing her decision, she spoke
to a senior member of the party, explaining her reason- Ardern photographed at The Newbury Boston hotel in January.
ing. “She said, ‘I totally understand, but what are you
going to tell the public?’ And I said, ‘That.’” She couldn’t Toward the end of our conversation, we get to talking
imagine saying anything other than the truth. “When it about how to increase the number of women in politics.
came time to leave, it wasn’t because I felt I wasn’t strong She admits, “Politics has always been a hard place to be,
enough to keep going. It was simply that the 5 years felt but it certainly feels like it’s getting harder. There’s con-
more like 10, and I realized that should another crisis stant online critique; very little room for error; very little
present itself, I knew I didn’t have the extra that was privacy. And does that mean good people will opt out? I
required,” she says. “I could keep going, but I wouldn’t think it does. So how do we keep attracting good people
have done the job justice. I wanted to be open about that.” to public leadership? That’s one of our challenges.”
She was a bit bothered that the narrative became She’s doing her part through her Field Fellowship
that she was “burned out,” because that’s not how she for Empathetic Leadership. The inspiration to create it
felt. “In my mind, ‘burnout’ is, you’re in a fetal position came from people who found the CONTINUED ON PAGE 100

ELLE 61
Perspectives
Women of Impact

The billionaire philanthropist

is single, 60, running her in an office park along the lake that, while it doesn’t have
a cryochamber in its basement or an indoor swimming
own foundation—and pool, does have free tampons in the bathroom (and a
redefining what it means copy of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique on dis-
play in the lobby). She is here to talk about the philan-
to leave a legacy. thropic endeavors funded by her foundation, Pivotal
Ventures, through which she has committed $2 billion
to “expanding women’s power and influence” in the
U.S. and globally.
She is also, loosely, here to talk about the things in her
personal and professional life that have surrounded that

T here are some, shall we say, eccentricities we have

come to expect of a certain class of tech billionaire.
Morning ice baths instead of coffee. Calorie restriction—
commitment: Her divorce from her husband of 27 years.
Her departure last year from the world-changing Gates
Foundation, which bore her name for almost 25 years.
or slaughtering their own meat—for lunch. Meetings Turning 60—which, contrary to some of her billionaire
on the beach, or barefoot in a conference room, or per- peers, she seems to have embraced. And also the new
haps while in a rocket ship to space. Whether it’s ego, or book she will publish in April, a memoir called The Next
masculine performance, or some sense of competition, Day, about life transitions, including those aforemen-
chasing the extreme seems to be a way of life for these tioned. One of the stipulations of this interview was
titans—when they’re not chasing immortality itself. that we wouldn’t delve too deeply into the content of
How else do you explain wanting to upload your con- the book (her team doesn’t want any spoilers), but the
sciousness to the cloud? book is about change and moving forward, and it’s safe
Melinda French Gates—philanthropist; billionaire; to say she’s in the midst of both.
and former spouse to an original tech titan, Microsoft For close to three decades, French Gates was the
cofounder Bill Gates—is, in the way we think about bil- woman beside a man who would upend the way we
lionaires today, something of an anomaly. She is one of thought about computers, and he was the man be-
the richest women in the world. Yet shortly after the side a woman who would change the way we thought
Gateses announced their split, French Gates pledged to about giving. She was also a fiercely private wife and
donate a majority of her income. “Giving away money mother, who would retire from an impressive career at
your family will never need is not an especially noble Microsoft, where she and Gates met, to raise the cou-
act,” she wrote in a public letter. And as for conquering ple’s three children. She oversaw their education; man-
the universe? “That’s just not me,” French Gates tells aged the Gateses’ massive high-tech estate, Xanadu 2.0;
me, laughing. “That’s not who I am.” and ran a foundation that would give away more than
French Gates is speaking with me in her office in $77.6 billion to help eradicate polio, malaria, and HIV,
Kirkland, Washington, a nondescript concrete structure and fight poverty and disease around the world.

62 ELLE BY JESSICA BENNETT

PAOL A KU DAC KI /TRU NK ARC H IVE.
Perspectives
Those who know French Gates have always known the systemic disparities they confront—lack of health
she was a force in her own right. Bill is “smart as hell,” research, representation in politics, abortion access,
Warren Buffett once said of his longtime friends, “but workplace rights, technology access—face a persistent
she is smarter”: a woman who could manage a house- dearth of funding. There is ample evidence to show
hold, wow the dignitaries who underestimated her, that more women “advancing into” their power, as she
and focus on maintaining a sense of normalcy in her puts it, yields all sorts of societal benefits, from better
family, even with the kind of wealth that, she says, “no economic returns to more innovative technology. And
one should have.” Even now, as her ex-husband is on the while there are many organizations out there doing
speaking circuit promoting his own book—the first of great work to further these goals, for too long they’ve
three planned memoirs, which came out in February— been playing defense. She wants them to have the means

“There are barriers in society that often keep women from using
our full power. Our job is to help remove those barriers.”
—MELINDA FRENCH GATES

he has noted that many things had to coalesce for him to play offense. “We all have power,” she says. “But there
to achieve the kind of grand success he did, and one of are barriers in society that often keep women from using
the biggest ones was his partnership. “My marriage to our full power. Our job is to help remove those barriers.”
Melinda, that kept me grounded,” he told a reporter for In 2019, French Gates pledged $1 billion over the
a profile in The Times of London. The family still spends course of 10 years toward advancing women’s rights.
some holidays together. Then, last year, she committed an additional $1 billion,
But things had been going south for a while. Gates including $235 million to organizations like Paid Leave
has publicly acknowledged an extramarital affair in- for All, which she is particularly passionate about. She
volving a Microsoft employee, which led to an internal notes that the United States remains the only Western
investigation in 2019. (Gates ultimately stepped down nation without a comprehensive paid family leave pol-
from the board, which his spokesperson had said was icy. French Gates has also allocated some $45 million
unrelated to the matter.) French Gates is said to have toward increasing the representation of women in
been displeased with the way a sexual harassment claim technology, including AI, and has offered grants of $20
against Gates’s longtime money manager was handled million to a variety of individuals—Jacinda Ardern, Ava
by her husband, according to press reports, and she DuVernay, Richard Reeves—to distribute as they see fit.
expressed discomfort with her husband spending time Advancing the rights of women—and seeing how
with Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein had pled guilty in they fit into the broader equation of social progress—is
2008 to soliciting prostitution with a minor, according a cause that French Gates has long championed, even
to a New York Times article published in 2021. French if indirectly. For years, at the Gates foundation, she was
Gates hired divorce lawyers. the voice urging others to see the gender angle in almost
In the ’90s, during the Microsoft antitrust trial, Bill any social problem. It’s also uniquely personal to her,
Gates was widely viewed as one of the most ruthless after often finding herself an outlier in rooms full of
bullies in the business, and one of its toughest nego- men: first as a computer science major in college, then
tiators. So you can imagine what a divorce arbitration later at Microsoft. “Men make certain decisions—not
might have looked like. French Gates writes that she had necessarily bad decisions, but decisions based on their
panic attacks just thinking about it, and it took a while to lens on society, right?” she explains.
untangle their affairs. When all was said and done, how- French Gates is among a small club of former wives
ever, her family was supportive—including her youngest who are giving very differently—and living differently,
daughter, Phoebe, who was still a teenager at the time, too—like MacKenzie Scott, with whom she pledged $40
and her Catholic parents, who’d been married 63 years. million to gender equality groups a few years ago; and
French Gates was now free to allocate her funds as she Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, who in
pleased, without having to convince a cochair or a board. an email praised French Gates’s ability to “blend deep
On a vacation with friends after the divorce, a trip they compassion with sharp analytical thinking.” French
jokingly dubbed her “freedom tour,” she discussed her Gates’s approach, as always, is thoughtful, strategic,
C O U RTESY O F P IVOTAL VENTU R ES .

plans to narrow her professional focus to women, and purposeful. I ask her if she’s worried about the mes-
largely here in the United States. Only about 2 percent sage all these rich guys in power—with their rivalries
of philanthropic giving goes toward programs aimed and their rockets and their calls for more “masculine
at women and girls, French Gates tells me. So she is energy” at work—send to the masses. “It’s really import-
creating what is essentially a giant DEI initiative that ant to not see billionaires as a monolith,” she tells me,
Donald Trump has no power to touch. choosing her words carefully. “Not all of them need to
The way she thinks about it is simple: Women and stand on a stage to talk about or to demonstrate what
girls make up half the world’s population. And yet they’re doing.”

64 ELLE
 French Gates founded Pivotal Ventures in 2015 to the day we are to meet, the headlines are abuzz about
focus on work that didn’t necessarily fit within the goals the interview that Bill has given with The Times of
of the Gates foundation, such as increasing women’s London, in which he called his divorce from Melinda his
power and influence on her home soil. But it has only re- “mistake I most regret.” Now the tabloids were asking
cently become her full-time gig. Her personal life looks whether the former couple were getting back together.
quite different, too. She moved out of the gargantuan “You’ve clearly Googled more than I have,” French Gates
mansion she never really wanted to live in and back to says, rolling her eyes. “Look, divorces are painful, and
Seattle proper. She lives in a neighborhood where she it’s not something I would wish on any family.” She says
can once again walk to grocery stores and coffee shops. that leaving her marriage was both one of the hardest
A neighbor down the road has a chicken coop. and most important things she’s ever done.
Her kids are now out of the house, and while of And anyway, she’s got bigger things to worry about.
course she misses them, and is immensely proud of Like why the funding for women’s health is so paltry.
the adults they have become, it’s actually been “pretty “Why do we have Viagra and Cialis and whatever else
wonderful” having a little more time to herself. She is is out there, and why have we not looked at menopause,
still very much devoted to her family—and notably, the something every woman will go through?” she asks.
two grandchildren who call her “Nonna” (“I’m like, Before we part, I ask her about a section of her book
we’re not even Italian?” Phoebe says)—but perhaps for in which she describes the months leading up to her
the first time, she is unencumbered. She is spending her decision to divorce her husband. They took a trip, just
own money. She is the boss of her own company and the two of them, to Santa Fe, where she deduced, from
doesn’t have to ask anyone for permission. “A woman the photos on the walls, that the house they’d rented
should have her full voice, her full decision-making belonged to a couple who were no longer together. She
authority. It’s nice to have that,” she says. found herself Googling the owners, trying to see where
French Gates marked her last birthday with a vaca- they’d ended up. “If, five years from now, someone was
tion. There was some soul-searching on her part. “Once in your old house, Googling you,” I ask her, “what do
you cross 50, you can’t ignore that you’re on the back you hope they’d find?”
half of life, you just can’t,” she says. “But there’s some- “She’s thriving on the other side of a divorce,” she
thing about turning 60, and having grandchildren, that says, smiling. “Just thriving.”
has made me incredibly reflective about, ‘What kind
of world are we leaving behind?’” This, she says, has
impacted her giving. (“My granddaughter should not
French Gates
have less rights than I had,” she has often said.) But it visiting a third
has also impacted the way she lives her daily life: caring grade class at the
less about what people think (she’s a “recovering perfec- Solar Preparatory
School for Girls
tionist”); staying active; and trying to find moments of in Dallas in 2019.

“It’s really important to not

see billionaires as a
monolith. Not all of them need
to stand on a stage.”
—MELINDA FRENCH GATES

“discovery” in the everyday. (Every year, French Gates

chooses a word to guide her in the year ahead. Discovery
is what she’s chosen for 2025, she tells me.) She can’t run
every day like she used to, but she is skiing and kayaking,
going on walks with friends, meeting with her two spir-
itual groups. “I feel vibrant,” she says. She launched a
YouTube series, in which she interviewed famous wom-
en friends like Michelle Obama and Megan Rapinoe.
Last fall, she was linked to the entrepreneur Philip
Vaughn, but, she says, dating is not her priority right
now. Sure, it would be nice to have a partner someday,
she tells me. “But again, I knew when I got divorced, I
would be okay on my own. And I think that was the most
important thing.” Which isn’t to say that this particular
“transition” back to single life hasn’t been difficult. On

ELLE 65
 Daisy
Edgar-
Jones

Photographed by DAN MARTENSEN

Styled by CLARE RICHARDSON
Story by DOUGLAS GREENWOOD

Funny thing about that string of projects with your

favorite actors: The British actress has
earned top billing in almost every one. Ahead of On Swift
Horses with Jacob Elordi, she talks about her
whirlwind rise and the source of her quiet power.
66 ELLE
Jacket, SAINT LAURENT. Top, trousers, heels, CHLOÉ.
This page: Necklace, BULGARI. Opposite: Romper, necklace, CHLOÉ.
In a dance studio somewhere in north dress and deliver a monologue, near uninterrupted, to a dis-
London, Daisy Edgar-Jones is standing on interested Brick for close to an hour of the first act. It was
a blazing reintroduction to the form she’d first fallen in love
her tiptoes. It’s been about five years— with as a teenager, and strangely full circle: It was the first play
and a sudden rise to international fame she’d appeared in since Albion, also at the Almeida Theatre,
—since she felt like her heels last touched less than a month before London locked down in 2020. “Five
years on, and my life is so different,” Edgar-Jones says. “I am
the ground. In an effort to return to her so different.” She says it’s the most she’s ever grown on a job.
roots, the actor decided to take up ballet The show might be done, but her body hasn’t quite clocked
that. She’s shedding her layers in the hot café, ordering
lessons again. She hasn’t worn these Turkish eggs as we talk. “Last night, I was watching Gilmore
shoes since she was seven. Girls, and at around 7:30 my heart was going at 111 beats per
minute,” she says.
If she’s been consumed by the big-budget fare that shaped
“My mum still has my grade one certificate,” Edgar-Jones her 2024, then her 2025 looks set to take Edgar-Jones back
says. Returning to ballet now, after her mind wandered from to more character-driven material. April sees the release of
it as a child, feels like she’s recentering herself. Though it’s On Swift Horses, a queer independent drama set in 1950s
not lost on her that she is, despite being just 26, a little old to California. Edgar-Jones plays Muriel, a housewife who’s
be studying for her grade two qualification. “My lovely ballet settled in San Diego with her husband Lee, played by British
teacher told me that I could do a group exam or a solo one, but actor Will Poulter, after he returns from the Korean War.
that the group exam would be me and a bunch of eight-year- Jacob Elordi plays Lee’s mercurial younger brother Julius,
olds!” she says, laughing. “They’d wipe the floor with me.” who turns down an offer to settle in town with his brother
Edgar-Jones and I have agreed to meet at a Mediterranean and heads to Las Vegas, where he embarks on an affair with a
café in Crouch End, the leafy London neighborhood that man. All the while, Muriel’s domestic setting becomes stifling
was rumored to have hosted Taylor Swift during her time and strange to her; she longs for the life Julius lives. And so
here, and that borders Muswell Hill, where Edgar-Jones Muriel responds to her urges, drawing close to her neighbor
grew up. She bounds through the door in a wool hat, a tan Sandra (Sasha Calle).
distressed-leather jacket, a white T-shirt, black pants, and The film shot for two months on the dusty, beautiful land-
boots, spotting me in the corner. scapes on the outskirts of Los Angeles at the start of 2023.
The ballet dancing—an act of grounding—follows a half To bring the cast together, and to lean into one of the film’s
decade that changed her life in ways she could never have central themes, its director Daniel Minahan brought in an
predicted. Back in April of 2020, Edgar-Jones became what expert on poker and blackjack to teach Edgar-Jones and her
felt like one of the most-watched women in the world. The TV castmates how to play. She pored over a reading list of books
limited series she starred in, an adaptation of Sally Rooney’s from the period that Minahan gave her. She had an early belief
searingly sad romance Normal People, coddled a bruised in the project, having signed on in early 2022, waiting for the
population through the early stages of the pandemic. Her moment to start shooting. “I thought it was a really beautiful,
performance as Marianne earned Golden Globe and BAFTA lyrical script, and I found it really interesting to [think of ] how
nominations; alongside her costar, Paul Mescal, she became a filmmaker would take it on,” she says. (She also ended up
an internet obsession. loving the costumes: “When Will and Jacob and Sasha came
In the years since, Edgar-Jones has relished the opportu- in their outfits, I was like, ‘This is very hot.’ Everyone looks so
nity to try different things. Some days, she tells me, she’s into hot. I love the high-waisted ’50s.”) It reminded her of Normal
blockbusters. Recently she’s been watching big, big movies, People in a way: a young ensemble cast who all bonded quickly,
like Braveheart and Speed. Last summer, she starred in one, and its themes of “interpersonal dynamics, self-discovery,
the sweeping disaster film Twisters. The film helped her growing up, and learning who you are.”
“appreciate these epic-scaled movies that stay with people
for years,” she says. With Twisters and the hit adaptation of in high school, edgar-jones was well-behaved and studi-
Where the Crawdads Sing, she already shows the allure and ous. She wasn’t the brooding, painfully artistic type, she ad-
credentials of a movie star. mits: “I was lighthearted and cheerful…and a bit weird.” She
But on other days, like today, all she’d like to do is dance. discovered theater early on. At 15, she spent much of her spare
The role that initially lured her back to ballet this past winter time as a member of London’s National Youth Theatre, where
was Maggie, the lonely and frantic protagonist of Tennessee she found like-minded friends and, a year later, auditioned
Williams’s potboiler Southern drama, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. for a dark adaptation of The Little Mermaid by Sofia Coppola.
The play, helmed by the celebrated theater director Rebecca Coppola eventually left the project, and Edgar-Jones has lit-
Frecknall in London’s West End, centers on a married cou- tle memory of the audition, beyond lying on a sofa (“because
ple—Edgar-Jones’s Maggie and Brick, played by Barbie’s I didn’t have legs, I had a fish tail”) as she read her lines. That
Kingsley Ben-Adir—and how their fragmented relationship she didn’t get the role doesn’t matter, because she made the
holds up to the severe expectations of Brick’s rich family. right impression: The film’s casting director pointed her to
Through ballet, Edgar-Jones hoped to take hold of some an agent, who put Edgar-Jones on the books right away. Soon
of Maggie’s nimble prickliness—until she broke a toe. Only after, she was cast as a series regular on the British sitcom Cold
recently was she able to return to the practice. Feet, which put her plans to go to university on pause, and a
She embodied the role regardless: Every night, a sold-out TV retelling of H. G. Wells’s War of the Worlds. And then, after
crowd watched Edgar-Jones burst onto the stage in a silver being cast in 2019, Normal People came into her life.

70 ELLE
Dress, ALBERTA FERRETTI.
 Coat, BY MALENE
BIRGER. Camisole, brief,
COU COU INTIMATES.
 It hasn’t really left her since. Her costar Mescal remains Her characters spill into the corners of themselves, full
one of Edgar-Jones’s real-life best friends. Together they pictures of what it means to be a woman. Her Marianne was
weathered the strange half-in, half-out pandemic fame, being scathing and complicated; both at the behest of a boy and
stalked by paparazzi every time they left the house. It happens too good for him. In Crawdads, she played a marsh girl at
to this day—though, she jokes, “never when I’m dressed really the center of a court case, for whom the typical structures
nicely and I’ve done my makeup well. I promise you, it’s only of society hold no interest. “It’s great that more and more
when I wear Birkenstocks and socks or pop out for some milk. stories are being made with women front and center. It’s also
I see photos of myself online and go, ‘Damn it.’” an interesting thing, being a woman in your 20s, wanting to
While doing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, she was applauded in find characters who are not always ingenues,” Edgar-Jones
the style pages for wearing Birkenstocks in winter. “That was says. “You want to find characters with agency. I want every
a pioneering fashion statement I’d made, because I got papped character I play to be complicated and deep and have layers
in it, and I was devastated,” she says, laughing. In reality, it to them, because that’s what it is to be human. I feel lucky
was November and she was freezing—she just couldn’t wear that a lot of the characters I’ve played have had that. They
shoes because of her broken toe. aren’t defined by their actions or their experiences, or by
Today, Normal People continues to dominate much of the men in their life. Like with Kate in Twisters, I know
Edgar-Jones’s narrative. I wonder if there is a part of her that there was a big uproar that there wasn’t a kiss at the end.
is weary of talking about it, and she laughs a little. “It isn’t that But she went on a journey in that film that was bigger than
I’m bored of talking about it, because I am so proud of it,” she a romantic journey.”
says. “I want to find something that connects like that again. I She prepares for her characters with a dogged work eth-
still can’t comprehend how widely it reached. Five years on, ic—she began learning her lines for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
I’m older now, and I’m keen to talk about other things, too.” months before even stepping into the rehearsal room—which
might stem from an admitted fear of failure. “I remember
when Normal People first came out and I was being inter-
“I have worked with basically all of the viewed loads, I talked so much about experiencing impostor
internet’s boyfriends. And I’m syndrome,” she says. “I really thought it would go away, and
it hasn’t. But I’m working on it. I don’t want that fear of not
lucky that every actor has been incredibly being good enough to ruin my life.” She says she reads reviews
supportive of me being the lead.” of her work “all the time.” It was Frecknall who encouraged
her to stop reading what people, critics specifically, think of
her. “That’s just been a big learning curve for me,” she says.

HAIR BY CI M MAH ONY F OR DYS ON BE AUT Y; MAKEU P BY F LORR I E WH ITE AT TH E WALL GROUP ; MANI CU R E BY J EN NI D RAPE R AT PREM IE R HAIR
edgar-jones’s list of costars reads like a roll call of the “I didn’t realize I have a fear of getting things wrong, or fail-
most fawned-over stars of the moment: In addition to Elordi ing, or embarrassing myself, you know? All those things that
and Mescal, there is Harris Dickinson (Where the Crawdads come with life, but also with the job I do, because it’s so public.
Sing), Andrew Garfield (Under the Banner of Heaven), I experienced a lucky and big trajectory in my early 20s, but it

AND MAKE -U P; S ET DES IGN BY JO SH STOVEL L AT LAL ALAN D ARTISTS ; PRO DU CE D BY STUART PH IL LIP S AT F US E PRODU CTION S .
Sebastian Stan (the horror film Fresh), and Glen Powell meant that my period of learning has been in front of people.
(Twisters). “Just Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler left!” I’m growing and getting better but also sometimes getting it
she jokes. wrong, and I find that hard at times.”
But what’s interesting is that in almost all of her projects She has learned quickly, but she’s also had to unlearn much
since Normal People, she is the lead; these men (aside from of what her brain tells her to think about how Daisy Edgar-
Garfield) have taken second or third billing. This perhaps Jones, the movie star, is seen. She knows she can’t please
speaks to a positive trend in Hollywood: Last year was the everybody, that some of her projects haven’t been showered
first time for gender parity at the box office, with a little more with the same praise that Normal People was. “Where the
than half of high-grossing films being led by women. Twisters Crawdads Sing didn’t get great reviews, but it’s been the thing
and Crawdads have a combined global box office gross of more that most people come up to say they loved,” she says. “For
than half a billion dollars. some people, it’s their favorite film. How amazing is that?
“I have worked with basically all of the internet’s boy- And I had the best time, and I think it’s a great film. Art is so
friends,” she says. “And I’m lucky that every actor I’ve worked subjective, and you can’t control how people respond. You
with has been incredibly supportive of me being the lead. can only do something with goodwill and to learn something
Glen, Sebastian, Paul, all of them. I think that’s why they’re so from it yourself, I suppose. And then how people respond is
successful and so loved and so good: that they are so generous, because of their context and what they need.”
and they really serve the story and are not serving themselves. The past few months, the time spent grounding herself—
Glen was always like, ‘What’s Kate’s journey in this? Let’s find with Frecknall, with Maggie, in the ballet rehearsal room
it.’ And same with Sebastian; he was so completely invested —seems to have changed her perspective somewhat. There are
in Noa’s journey. Paul’s like playing tennis with your best things that matter more to her right now than the judgments
friend. I’m nervous for the point that it comes to working with of others. “Of course, I want to make things that connect,
someone who might not be so chill with it! Because there’s and I want to make things that are critically acclaimed, but
so much ego that can exist in this industry.” I also want to be brave and fearlessly approach my work,” she
Dickinson, her costar in Where the Crawdads Sing, says says. “You can’t do that if you’re too worried about whether
Edgar-Jones makes it easy to collaborate. “She’s one of the something’s good or bad. You can only connect with whether
kindest people I’ve ever met. She has immense patience and you find something truthful, and if it speaks to you, then give it
sensitivity,” he says. “I think that makes her a brilliant artist, your all. I want to stop being concerned about anything other
too, because it means she’s fully tuned in.” than what’s in front of me.”

74 ELLE
 Dress, PHILOSOPHY DI
LORENZO SERAFINI. Bracelet,
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS.
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WOMEN OF IMPACT: REBECA ANDRADE WOMEN OF IMPACT: JACINDA ARDERN
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 57 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 61

movements on the floor, balance beam, vault, and uneven way she responded to the Christchurch tragedy remark-
bars—the latter of which earned Andrade her first med- able. “It felt to me like any human in my shoes would have
al in a senior international competition, the bronze in the responded in that way. And yet, if it was notable, what did
Ljubljana World Challenge Cup in Slovenia in April 2015. that say about how leaders are taught?” she says. “So I start-
Two months later, she tore her right ACL for the first ed thinking about what would have made it easier to be an
time; it would happen twice more, in 2017 and 2019. The empathetic leader. I felt that having people around me who
first time was especially tough. Andrade got through the viewed leadership in the same way would have been quite
surgery and recovery, but fear almost made her give up. On helpful, and so that’s where the fellowship came from.”
the day before she was set to resume training, she recalls, The first cohort was all women. A coincidence—men
she called her mother to say she wanted to go home. are welcome—but perhaps not a surprise, as kindness is
She knew that her mother knew that she was scared of generally seen as a female trait, one of many perceptions
not being able to perform at the same level. “Your mother Ardern hopes to shift. “There have been, in the past, times
won’t let you stop because you’re afraid to try,” Andrade re- when some leaders haven’t felt like they could show emo-
members Santos telling her. “You’ll go to the gym. You’ll try. tion—times when that would have been seen as weakness,”
If you don’t succeed, then it’s okay. You have your house to she says. “But that will only change when people start
come back to. We will welcome you. You will do other things showing that you can be those things and still demonstrate
with your life and everything will be fine, but you won’t give strength as well.”
up without trying. I didn’t raise you like this.” In June 2023, five months after stepping down, she
Andrade took her mother’s prodding and ran with it. She announced her book deal on Instagram, saying she didn’t
became the first woman to win an Olympic medal for Brazil want to put out a typical political memoir that raked over
in gymnastics, with silver in the all-around competition and every policy decision in boring detail. Instead, she said she
gold on vault during the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021. Later planned to write a book that would have made a difference
that year in Kitakyushu, Japan, she won the gold for Brazil to her 14-year-old self, the young woman from small-town
at the world gymnastics championship, and became the first cattle country, who would have benefited from knowing she
Brazilian to qualify for an uneven bars final, winning the could be her own brand of leader. Ardern tells me the book is
silver medal. Altogether, Andrade has nine world medals about how it feels to lead, especially if you’re someone who
and six Olympic medals, more than any gymnast in Latin couldn’t envision that life for yourself. She wrote it herself,
America and more than any Brazilian Olympian in any sport. no coauthor or ghostwriter, and says the process left her
In Paris, she stepped onto the mat for the floor exercise feeling vulnerable. “It’s very personal,” she says. “I hope
final wearing a bright yellow leotard, a near-perfect match there’s something in there for anyone who’s experienced
to the color of the diamond at the center of the Brazilian self-doubt, because I don’t think we talk about that a lot,
flag. What followed was a gravity-defying sequence—a front but I’m in a position now where I can.
layout full to full-in, followed by a full-twisting double lay- “If you want to make a difference in the world,” she adds,
out. Her gold medal score: 14.166, just 0.033 ahead of Biles. “sometimes it requires you to put yourself out there.”
Judging by her results, it’s fair to say that after each inju-
ry, Andrade only gets better. “Failure only happens when we
don’t try, so for me, failure doesn’t exist, because I’m always ELLE (ISSN 0888-0808) (Volume XL, Number 7) (April 2025) is published
trying,” she says. “I’m always trying to be a better person, monthly, with the exception of combined issues in June/July and Dec/Jan, by
Hearst, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019 USA. Steven R. Swartz,
trying to be a better athlete.” President and Chief Executive Officer; William R. Hearst III, Chairman; Frank
Andrade is fully aware of the influence she has. Once, A. Bennack, Jr., Executive Vice Chairman. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc.: Debi
at an event in Guarulhos, about a thousand children and Chirichella, President; Regina Buckley, Chief Financial and Strategy Officer
and Treasurer; Catherine A. Bostron, Secretary. © 2025 by Hearst Magazine
adults gathered at a sports center to hear her talk about her Media, Inc. All rights reserved. ELLE® is used under license from the trade-
life and career. “I’ve already experienced so many things, mark owner, Hachette Filipacchi Presse. Periodicals postage paid at New York,
and I think I have so many cool things to share and to teach, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canada Post International Publications mail
product (Canadian distribution) sales agreement No. 40012499. Editorial and
you know?” she says. “It’s a gift to have the opportunity to Advertising Offices: 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019. Subscription
have such a strong voice, to have visibility, to be able to share prices: United States and possessions: $15 for one year. Canada: $48 for one
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ELLE will, upon receipt of a complete subscription order, undertake fulfillment
someone—that it will make them want more.” of that order so as to provide the first copy for delivery by the Postal Service
She’s still training, so the rumored retirement after her or alternate carrier within four to six weeks. For customer service, changes of
gold in Paris is—for now, at least—just a rumor. But Andrade address, and subscription orders, log on to service.elle.com or write to
Customer Service Dept., ELLE, P.O. Box 37870, Boone, IA 50037. From time
does have other plans for her future. One of them is to grad- to time, we make our subscriber list available to companies that sell goods and
uate from college; she has been studying psychology. services by mail that we believe would interest our readers. If you would rather
She’s also a big Beyoncé fan; in the Rio Olympics, she set not receive such offers via postal mail, please send your current mailing label
or an exact copy to ELLE, Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 37870, Boone, IA
her floor routine to a medley remix of “Crazy in Love” and 50037. You can also visit preferences.hearstmags.com to manage your prefer-
“Single Ladies.” She asks me if I’ve heard the Beyoncé song ences and opt out of receiving marketing offers by email. To assure quicker
“I Was Here.” It’s a song of reflection, one where an icon service, enclose your mailing label when writing to us or renewing your sub-
scription. Renewal orders must be received at least eight weeks prior to expi-
thinks about her legacy, singing that she wants to leave her ration to assure continued service. Manuscripts, drawings, and other material
footprints on the sands of time. “I think this is my song, you submitted must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. ELLE
know?” Andrade says. “It’s being remembered for who I am, cannot be responsible for unsolicited material. Printed in USA. Canadian reg-
istration number 126018209RT0001. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS.
for not regretting anything, for being a good person, for hav- (See DMM 507.1.5.2); NONPOSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Send
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100 ELLE
 Horoscope

APRIL
Mercury and Venus are still retrograde in dreamy Pisces at the start of the month, creating
an emotional and reflective mood. As both planets turn direct—Mercury on April 7 and Venus
on April 12—clarity and momentum return. By the AstroTwins

ARIES LEO VIRGO CAPRICORN

MAR 21–APR 19 JULY 23–AUG 22 AUG 23–SEPT 22 DEC 22–JAN 19
Embrace closure and self- April’s early days are for reassessing Communication or love may feel Speak your truth—just do it with
compassion—then launch into your eighth house of intimacy. What muddled, but introspection will offer diplomacy. The planets’ retrograde in
action. As Venus and Mercury shift, fears or attachments are holding fresh insights, allowing you to rebuild Pisces slows your communication
get ready to reconnect with people you back? Mid-month, you’ll feel bonds and connect on a deeper level zone. But by the end of the month,
and projects that inspire you. empowered to create closer bonds with romantic or business partners. you’re prepared to powerfully share
or rework a financial plan. your vision.
TAURUS LIBRA
APR 20–MAY 20 SEPT 23–OCT 22 AQUARIUS
Evaluate the dynamics in your social Back to basics, Libra. Reevaluate JAN 20–FEB 18
life during the first half of April.
“I love this tension— what truly supports your health Money matters on your mind?
Which connections bring value, and a bold, chunky piece and productivity, so you can prioritize Review your spending, saving,
and self-worth early in April. After
which feel draining? When Mercury the habits that align with your long-
and Venus move direct, collaboration and a sexy, feminine term goals. mid-month, take confident steps
will flow smoothly again. element of exposed toward stability and abundance.

skin between SCORPIO

GEMINI OCT 23–NOV 21 PISCES
MAY 21–JUNE 21 the 18-karat gold Passion projects or matters of
FEB 19–MAR 20
The month opens with a review of setting and the the heart might seem stuck, but With Mercury and Venus retrograde
your career and goals. By mid-April, this pause is fertile ground for in your sign, you’re anything but
you’ll know exactly how to move antique diamond, inspiration. Your confidence and focused. Take time to refine your
forward with renewed confidence April’s birthstone.” creativity will quickly return. personal goals and approach. As the
planets move forward, you’ll feel
and purpose. —JADE RUZZO, DESIGNER
reinvigorated to make a spring debut.
SAGITTARIUS
C O U RTESY O F TH E D ES I G N E R .

CANCER NOV 22–DEC 21

JUNE 22–JULY 22
Start the month by focusing
Use this reflective energy to clarify on your home and heart:
what aligns with your heart, Are you nurtured in your space Get daily readings from the
especially when it comes to travel, Markie ring with antique diamond, or close connections? Mid-April
education, and big-picture goals. JADE RUZZO, elysewalker.com. brings breakthroughs, helping
AstroTwins at ELLE.com,
Then expand your world: Book the you lay solid groundwork for your and follow them on Instagram
trip, or commit to that next step. next chapter. at @astrotwins.

ELLE 101
ELLE Man
Funny Guy

BOWEN YANG
From Saturday Night Live to Wicked, the lovable, wry comedian has been making
our cheeks hurt for years. He now stars in a rollicking reimagining of Ang Lee’s seminal
queer romantic comedy, The Wedding Banquet. By Ryan D’Agostino

elle: Three favorite rom-coms: Go.

bowen yang: Whoa. My Best Friend’s
Wedding is one. Crazy Rich Asians.
These are big popcorn movies—but
there’s nothing frivolous about them.
And then an ensemble rom-com: The
Best Man or The Best Man Holiday.

elle: What’s the best lesson you’ve

learned from a female costar?
by: Lily [Gladstone] showed me that
there doesn’t have to be any pretense

“I’m much more low-key

than people might
anticipate—I’m not a
trickster chaos agent.”
when it comes to acting. She had just
come off of an amazing awards season
for Killers of the Flower Moon, where,
in my mind, it seemed like she was the always get into the office drama, and Peggy Olson, from Mad Men, as a char-
favorite to win [the Oscar], and it didn’t I would weirdly love hearing about acter. I rewatch “The Suitcase” episode
happen—and it didn’t stick to her at it. But she would always punctuate it in Season 4 constantly, when Don and
all. That was the window into her ap- with: “Bowen, it doesn’t matter what Peggy pull an all-nighter. That dynamic
proach: There is no room for ego. other people think of you. If you can go between Don and Peggy is one of the
above and beyond sometimes without great TV dynamics.
elle: What’s something that most expecting anything in return, that’s all
women do better than men? that really matters.” Working at SNL, elle: What would someone learn
by: Hold information. I get frustrated you’re constantly inundated with opin- about you months into a relationship?
with the world when I have to hold too ions of total strangers, being like either by: I have gas issues? No, I’m much
much—that feeling of being weighed “What you did was amazing” or “What more low-key than people might antici-
down mentally. That’s something that you did was awful”—and it’s hard to pate. I’m not the trickster chaos agent
women have to cast a veneer over: “I’ve toggle between absorbing a compli- that people might expect. I think I’ve
got to hold this all together. The sur- ment and trying to cope with someone settled into a nice mellowness. Which
BE N RAYN ER /TRU N K ARC H IVE .

face has to be pristine, even though saying they didn’t dig what you did. So is not to say that I can’t be perturbed
what’s underneath is basically mulch.” that’s a good lesson from Mom. easily or that I’m dead inside.

elle:What’s the best lesson your elle: If you could be half of a famous elle: What perturbs you?
mother taught you? fictional couple, who would you be? by: Too many text messages and
by: My mom worked as a lab techni- by: Does it have to be a romantic cou- emails. My mental state is dictated by
cian for a diagnostics lab. She would ple? I’ve always been obsessed with the number badge on my app icon.

102 ELLE
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SHOWER!