Viewing Costume Couture Head On with OKCMOA’s Edith Head Exhibit
When eight-time Academy Award-winning costume designer Edith Head attended fittings with Hollywood’s brightest female stars, she dressed conservatively so they could focus on their reflections, not her. As she once purportedly said, “Audiences should notice the actors, not the clothes.”
Oklahoma in the Spotlight: Sunrise Tippeconnie on the Art of Okie Films
Oklahoma filmmaker Sunrise Tippeconnie has, throughout his decades-long filmmaking career, only had one job on a set that he’s truly disliked. “I was a drapist on one commercial once — putting up curtains. You don’t think about how they get up,” Tippeconnie says. “They look nice, they work as curtains, but they’re very heavy and terrible to work with. That’s a department I do not want to have anything to do with.”
An Artisan Empire: Tracia Forrest
Many people play sports up until college, and then, when the realization sets in that they aren’t good enough to play at the next level, they start watching sports instead, perhaps continuing to play in work and church leagues. Tracia Forrest did play sports after college — for USA Volleyball, which, at the time, had several divisions below the national team — but hadn’t played until then.
A Little Bit of Everything: Saint Paloma Vintage owner Brittany Phillips
If you asked Brittany Phillips what she did for a living, “photographer” used to be the answer — but now she has amassed a creative portfolio that has stretched beyond just one category. Phillips is the face behind Saint Paloma Vintage, co-creator of the OK Vintage Market, photographer, stylist and overall creative powerhouse.
Rule Number One: CEO & founder Mauricio Umansky
New York City, Beverly Hills, Amsterdam, Maui, Panama City — this is just a short excerpt of the list of 100 locations that The Agency, one of Inman’s Top Luxury Brokerages, calls home. This year, Oklahoma gets added to that list.
A Space & A Community: Fulton Street Books
Onikah Asamoa-Caesar had a decision to make. After moving to Denver for a year, the former Tulsa teacher was looking to settle down and set up shop. She had spent two years in Oklahoma working for the nonprofit Teach for America, and wasn’t sure she wanted to plant roots back in Tulsa. She could rattle off a number of reasons why she believed it wouldn’t be good for her or her future child.
The Year of the Dragon
Tony Li and Shawna Burroughs, co-chairs of the 2024 Tulsa CARES Red Ribbon Gala, Year of the Dragon, are working hard. When Luxiere caught up with them, they were cheerful, charming and passionate and they’d also clearly entered the giddy, exhausted phase of event planning where you’re fantasizing about the after-party. If you’ve been at the helm of a nonprofit event, you know exactly what we mean.
Simple Done Well
Depending on your sense of humor, the title of Miss Choctaw 1997 is the best place to start this story, especially if you know Jamie Winteroth nee Fritts. “I’m going to find a picture, but just know the whole idea of pageants hurts my feminist heart; I did it for scholarship money,” said the operating partner and co-founder of Shared Plate Hospitality. Houston-born Fritts moved to Oklahoma with her family when she was 5 years old, and she became Winteroth in 2009, when she married her now husband and business partner Jordan Winteroth.
The Savvy Approach
Over a year ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Jamie Spann, and from our first conversation, I was interested in learning more about how she built a successful consulting practice by targeting physicians and medical spa owners exclusively.
Focus on the Farm
Chef Luke and Tylyn Fry decided that the best way to do a farm-to-table dinner is to go to the actu-al farm. The idea isn’t unique in the sense of serving a meal at its source; chefs have a long history of pop-ups on area farms and ranches, but the Frys have a multifaceted approach that is farmer-centric, not restaurant forward, as is typical.
The Diamond of All Questions: Nature or Nurture?
Perhaps this holiday season you’ve decided you want to buy a diamond for someone you love – like yourself! First of all, you absolutely should – who doesn’t need a little sparkle? You’ve probably also determined about how much you’d like to spend on your diamond. Now comes another decision. Do you prefer larger and lab grown or perhaps a little smaller and natural when it comes to your precious gems?
A Tale of Tokens: The couple at the heart of OKC-made custom jewelry creations
Stories have entry points; you shouldn’t necessarily start at the beginning every time, because sometimes the beginning isn’t the best part. So let’s say Love Tokens begins on a park bench in Santa Monica where former standout NFL defensive lineman Rosey Grier taught Stacey DeGraffenreid how to crochet. Along with her husband Chris, she’s half the ownership team of Love Tokens, the Oklahoma City-based custom jewelry manufacturer with a client list that includes Kemo Sabe and Lucchese Bootmaker.
To See Il Seme
After the fire last year at Farm Bar in Tulsa, owners Linda Ford and Chef Lisa Becklund watched anxiously as the target date to reopen kept receding into the distance. The damage was too great to do a quick turnaround, and so the couple — they are married — opted to pivot for three important reasons.
A Life More Legendary: Steph Simon and Tulsa’s Dreamland Festival
When Steph Simon thinks about it today, it still feels surreal. The moment came in 2017, when Simon was following his daily routine of hopping on the metro bus in Tulsa before attempting to zone out to his music while he rode to his job at a DirecTV call center. It was a normal start to what he envisioned would be a normal, mundane workday.
Taking Yoga Off The Mat
The journey within is never without twists and turns. No one is more aware of that than Katie Kanak, owner and lead teacher of Ashtanga Yoga Shala OKC — Oklahoma City’s first Ashtanga-only yoga studio.
Art Without Stopping: Tulsa’s No Parking Studios
A few years ago, Antonio Andrews had a problem. At the time, downtown Tulsa was under major construction, and finding a parking spot felt like a never-ending nightmare. But Andrews also recognized that the construction meant growth and possible prosperity for the city he grew up in. Those elements inspired the multidisciplinary artist to create No Parking Studios LLC.
Valley Girl: Valerie Naifeh brings her iconic bling to Sun Valley
It’s a Monday afternoon in September and the weather in Sun Valley is brisk. Valerie Naifeh — Luxiere’s first cover girl and still striking as ever — is leading a quick tour through the second of two shops her eponymous Oklahoma City brand, Naifeh Fine Jewelry, is launching in the luxe Sun Valley Resort, longtime Hollywood playground and extremely wealthy Idaho enclave.
In Sight, Out of Mind
At more than 82,000 square feet, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is massive. It takes up 6.1 acres on the north side of the National Mall. But it feels even bigger once you step inside its doors and try to locate one particular work of art out of the 150,000 sculptures, decorative arts, prints, drawings, photographs and paintings in its permanent collection.
Cultural Awakening: Rebekah Danae’s artistic view of Oklahoma’s future
Artist Rebekah Danae has a lifelong deep connection with open spaces — and a knack for filling them with art. Growing up in the expansive prairies of Midland, Texas, she spent her youth and early adulthood experimenting with various mediums like ceramics, textiles and paint. After earning her B.F.A. in painting from Baylor, she moved to Oklahoma to join Teach For America in north Tulsa.
The Chef Fox Effect
Chef James Fox’s life changed the day his friend handed him a carne asada burrito. Up until that moment, his life had consisted of what he calls “homey” cooking. “We were kind of a Hamburger Helper family,” Fox says. “Neither of my parents were great cooks, so we ate pretty humble food growing up.”