Fly

Is this the face of misery? um, no.

Some of my favorite pieces I've written and shared with you appeared last year roughly around this time. Their titles were "Run", "Jump" and "Spin". The titles were important because they referred to things I love and things that were/are integral to my life. Lately, travel is an unexpected activity that seems to have come out of nowhere simply by chance, hence flying or Fly.

MBNY Fashion week....

The stories that I mentioned were all somehow connected to fashion and my thoughts at that moment. Flying is interesting to me because it is a nether world way up in the sky, an alternative universe. I'm neither here nor there, but somewhere suspended in between. I've discovered that it's a place I like very much. Not just because it's "no place special" in a very comfortable seat with whatever one might wish for just a subtle wave away, but mostly because I do some of my best thinking when there's no tug from here and not yet a tug from there. I'm free to let my mind roam and my dreams come and go with little if any interruption.

Undercover Fluff !

Only a few weeks ago I was on my way to Amsterdam to meet one of my very best friends Matt to ride shotgun in a rented car scouring the Dutch, German, Belgian and Danish countryside in search of his dream horse. I know, some of you think what a self indulgent, unrelatable exercise this is, but with the choice of going from tent to gallery to warehouse in search of moving, intelligent, inspiring and inspired collections over NY fashion week or to go couture shopping for the Hautest of horses, I chose 4 big strong legs over 2 skinny ones teetering on high heels. If you like horses like I love horses, this was a trip of a lifetime. Not just because of the horses we saw and Matt tried but especially for the farms and incredible people I met in the process.

Andreas Helgstrand Dressage  Aalborg, Denmark

One moment I was at a 200 year old riding facility in Germany with as much history as there was ivy overtaking every square meter of brick and the next in Denmark at the "farm" of a member of the Danish Olympic Dressage team. He was not only the chicest rider I've ever encountered but the "farm" completely done in white and pale grey was the most pristine facility I've ever laid eyes on. 120 horses, each more amazing than the other in a series of barns and indoor riding arena that were so spotless you could eat off the floor. No flies, no dirt and no horse s%*t, ANYWHERE.

Matt and Qasanova

I kept thinking why couldn't fashion be as organized, focused, elegant and awe inspiring as this? Andreas Helgstrand's (the handsome Olympian) facility was the same as a fashion house except the clothes were replaced by horses. Everything there was in service to these magnificent athletes. It was not about Andreas or his spotless and spectacular team, but about the horse. All of the attention was on them. The people were merely vessels to bring forth the gifts and magic inside these unique and varied creatures. Isn't that what fashion should or used to be about? Wasn't it the clothes that we lived for? Yes, we honored, respected, worshipped and applauded the designers, but at the end of the day it was the clothes that stirred us.

Just another night in Amsterdam

So way up there above the clouds I still think about fashion and design and how it can be something that can move us. It can be one of the things that gives us confidence, pleasure and a kind of peace of mind knowing that we can face the harsh world thousands of feet below where the turbulence is so unpredictably rocky. It isn't about the persona of an editor or the manufactured allure and mystique of a designer but what they put forth. It's the clothes that count and the imagination of a gifted few that can make that dream real. These are just musings before the fasten your seat belt sign goes on.

Hallway of the hotel in Amsterdam... for real.