Spring Expectations

New Yorkers will tell you that spring weather lasts one week here, two week at best. Although the spring equinox is just around the corner, the actual period in which it feels like spring tends to be much later. Even so, I look forward to that uneventful day in March year after year. Winter is long and the case of the Februaries can be strong, so the comfort and pleasure of even dreaming of warmer and brighter days ahead is a powerful mechanism to make it through the last stretch.

After almost a year of living in quarantine and three snowstorms this past winter, my hope and expectations for this year are, well, impossible to meet. But no worries there. That's not the point.

For me, the mental exercise of planning and visualizing serves as much purpose as doing. The first on my list: Immerse myself in nature. Yes, it sounds all hippy-dippy, but I am starving for hours of sunlight (with sunblock, of course!) and expansive green space after months of being indoors. It has the incredible ability to regenerate and restore — something I've come to appreciate even more since last year. The effects of natural light are life-changing, and as writer Kelsey Clark perfectly puts it, "nature's antidepressant." In this issue, Clark explores how to maximize natural light in the home through effective design — and with more of it during the day, it can reset your internal clock and lead to better and deeper sleep.

Nature's gifts are bountiful. Writer Marie Lodi transports us around the globe and reveals each culture's beauty formulas and natural ingredients plucked straight from the earth, used to treat the skin and hair, and one to even ward off evil spirits. These heritage beauty formulas are passed down from generation to generation, embodying more than a remedy, but also a story that is unique to each culture.

Nigerian fashion designer Kenneth Ize is keeping to cultural traditions when designing his collection. Ize creates exuberant clothes utilizing Nigerian textiles, while infusing his notions of gender fluidity through soft tailoring and silhouettes. Writer Jessica Iredale caught up with the industry darling (Naomi Campbell walked his first runway show) in the lead-up to his digital presentation in Paris, and he shares his ups and downs of last year and the happiness that comes from speaking the truth.

Finding moments of bliss in the ritual of getting dressed up is something our cover star Daisy Ridley does not take for granted. "Fashion can be such a beautiful way of self-expression; I hope that everyone is super overdressed [after lockdown]." Admiring Ridley's ability to pull off spring's latest fashions so effortlessly, I cannot agree more. I'm ready.