“From the beginning, we knew that our first issue had to be about our relationship with home,” says Glass of the magazine’s most meaningful moment. “The whole idea of Family Style is about warmth and community and people. I think every story touches on the idea that home is where we come from, but that it’s always changing.” Oh, don’t worry. There’s plenty of fashion, too. A particular highlight (at least for this reader) was the reunion of former Style.com editors, including Tim Blanks, Tommy Tong, Derek Blasberg, and Vogue’s Nicole Phelps, over brunch at Cheval Blanc in Paris. “Not everything has to last forever,” says the website’s former editor-in-chief, Dirk Standen. “Sometimes a beautiful memory is fine.”
Former Style.com editors and staff, from left to right: Marina LaRude, Tommy Tong, Derek Blasberg, Nicole Phelps, Tim Blanks, Nicola Kast, Katherine K. Zarella and Steph Yotka.
Photography by Anton Gottlob. Image courtesy of Family Style.
Ultimately, Family Style’s broader expression is how the worlds of fashion and food have become surprisingly intertwined: “I remember the first season I did a show in Europe and I was like, ‘When are we going to eat?'” Glass says, “and no one stopped to eat!” (This is without any mention of the fashion industry’s long and problematic history of cult of thinness, or its profound impact on the people who work there.)
But these days, hardly a day goes by without a brand announcing a new gastronomic venture. (Prada’s pastry shop! Chanel’s retro diner! Burberry’s greased spoon cafe!) Meanwhile, dinners have eclipsed parties and in-store events, and brands are now realizing that hosting something social and intimate builds deeper bonds. On any given night in London or New York these days, there are a half-dozen brand-sponsored dinners happening at restaurants across the city, packed with editors and influencers looking for a hearty meal (and maybe some industry gossip). “With the pandemic and the rise of so many cross-category artists who use food as a means of self-expression, I think fashion has embraced the world of food,” adds Glass. “If you look at how luxury brands are interacting with their customers right now, it’s all about the intimate and curated, and there’s no better way to foster that feeling than food.”
Chef David Zilber.
Photography by Jasko Bobar. Image courtesy of Family Style.
It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that Family Style is intended to be as much a mobile banquet as it is a magazine. Glass is already planning a dinner party series to celebrate the first issue and continue to grow its community. “Everyone who works on the magazine is friends,” Glass says. “The whole idea of Family Style is that food not only brings people together, but also inspires conversations that go beyond, ‘What did you do today?'” Now that the first issue is on newsstands, those conversations are about to begin.
The first issue of Family Style (£12) is available to buy at family.style.
