Be Your Own Narrator
On couture codes, personal style, and the art of translation.
Hailey, Carolyn, Morgan, Diana, Zoë, Dakota.
Their names? Iconic. No last name needed.
They are the style icons—setting trends without even trying.
They wear their clothes. Their clothes don’t wear them.
But what is it about them that hits differently? It’s not that every item they wear is perfect, or even unattainable. Hailey can wear a $68 tee shirt—take Coucou Intimates Rina—and it simply works—and immediately sells out.
Hailey, Carolyn, Morgan, and Zoë are fashion icons because the clothes they wear are filtered through a clear point of view. They know what works for them, and they wear it on repeat—they’ve developed their own personal uniforms. They define the trends—they don’t merely follow them.
Their calling cards? Hailey’s is defined by body-conscious, elevated basics—her philosophy for Rhode “making one of everything good” applied to clothing. Carolyn’s was structured, minimal, refined. She defined and continues to define the ‘90s. Morgan has taken color as personality and made elevated basics an art. Princess Diana, Zoë Kravitz, and Dakota Johnson each possess equally recognizable, though vastly different, visual languages, proving there is no single formula for unforgettable style. Hailey, Carolyn, Morgan, Diana, Zoë, and Dakota all remain true to their mantras—their closets filtered through their respective lenses.
Fashion? It’s catching up to its muses. Take this week’s runway couture by Dior and Chanel. When Jonathan Anderson and Matthieu Blazy took the reins of their respective houses, they didn’t abandon house codes. The Bar jacket, boucle, the suit—filtered through the house language but reinterpreted through Anderson’s and Blazy’s own visions.
Chanel’s fairytale-inspired collection featured whimsy and joy—Blazy hallmarks. The clothing was ethereal; it floated with the models. Impeccable attention to detail, as only Blazy can. Embellishments executed to perfection. Look 31, the embodiment—a simple column-shaped gown transformed by the beautiful calliphony of delectable hand-gathered sherbet-colored organza flowers that cascade down the dress. Simple. Perfect. Unforgettable.
Dior, too, delivered a feast for the eyes. Anderson’s focus on silhouette, movement, and color all unfolded within the pretty, feminine language that Dior is known for. Anderson has resurrected the original 1947 Bar jacket, giving it a modern edge while keeping it true to the spirit of the house. The new rendition is softer, sometimes with a peplum, sometimes with fringe—but at its core, it remains a recognizable Bar jacket. I think Christian Dior himself would approve.
And, ultimately, that’s what personal style is—the lesson that Hailey, Carolyn, Morgan, Diana, Zoë, Dakota practice every day—become your own narrator, write your own fashion story. Take a reference from the runway, from the pages of a magazine or from Substack, and translate it.
Case in point—the aforementioned, Coucou Intimates Rina top. Hailey wears it cropped and tight. I loved the top, but at a hair over 40 (give or take a few years…), I bought it in black—more forgiving than the white and sized up two sizes, no need for a midriff-baring tee. Same line, same look, just tweaked through my lens.
Becoming your own narrator is an ever-evolving path. And while the road is rife with unexpected twists and turns—and quite frankly, takes time to discover—following it through is worth it. To truly curate your own closet, you need a laser-focused lens. What works for you? What pieces make you feel good? When you venture into your closet, what are the pieces that you return to time and time again?
Answer these questions, and you’re more than halfway there. You’re discovering your own calling card, be it color, fit, shoes, bags, or scarves. It’s the one thing that makes jeans and a tee shirt feel styled instead of simply worn.
And that is the essence of style.