Curious about
their work,
not the moment.
Leila Antakly has spent over twenty years in conversation with artists, musicians, designers, filmmakers, and thinkers all over the world who are making work that matters. These are the conversations.
Interviews from the Archive
Explore all our conversations
SORELINA: Handcrafted Luxury with a Wild Spirit
Defiance is elemental. That is the first thing Priscilla Franco Asturias says about Sorelina, the jewelry studio she founded with her sister Andrea in Los Angeles in 2011. A reaction between heat and pressure which creates something new and beautiful. Lava meets diamonds. Raw wood meets rubies. The result is jewelry that feels like it was made by the earth itself and then finished by a very careful hand.
KALMANOVICH INTERVIEW
She walked into a fabric shop as an economics student and felt something she couldn't ignore. Julia Kalmanovich has been following that feeling ever since — through a mentorship with the Patriarch of Russian fashion, a solo debut in 2009, and a sparkling red gown that sold out before the season even began. We caught up with the designer on clients, icons, and the art of dressing spontaneously
HOLST + LEE: A Love Letter to Bold, Unapologetic Glamour
Natalie Holst and Rochelle Lee didn't just move to New York — they stormed it. HOLST + LEE was born from friendship, a mutual love of cool things, and the desire to craft accessories that feel more like wearable art than mere adornments. Their muses include Iris Apfel, Alexa Chung, and Barry Weiss from Storage Wars. Their brand appears in over 275 retailers worldwide.
Valdez: The Gypset Accessory Brand with a Conscience
A graduate of Istituto Marangoni, trained under Zac Posen and Carlos Campos, Gabriela Goldbaum could have gone anywhere. She went back to Ecuador. What she built there, with 500 craftswomen and organic toquilla straw harvested by hand in Manabi province, is one of the most quietly radical things in contemporary accessories. The hat ends up at Colette. The subway gives her the ideas. The earthquake rebuilds the community.
T L - 1 8 0 INTERVIEW
They met at Luisa's 18th birthday party at Villa Medici in Rome. What sealed the friendship wasn't fashion — it was a broken fridge with an almost identical sign in both their kitchens. From that moment, everything followed: evenings painting and drawing near Piazza di Spagna, a first pochette folded and hand-sewn by candlelight, a move to Paris, and TL-180.
“Visibility has never been our measure of significance. We seek out artists and inspiring individuals whose work sparks curiosity, challenges assumptions, and leaves a lasting impression.”