In the end, your entire fashion life is loaded into a
database, producing the kind of deep inventory that
Ortiz calls “a professional-grade digital closet.”
You will not be alone in this closet. A YX stylist
will create ensembles for you, suggesting endless
combinations of the stuff you already have, to put
together potential outfits for every possible occasion in
your life so that you never again have to ask yourself,
at 6:00 a.m., “What do I
have that goes with those
high-waisted pants? Is there
anything in my house the
right length for these boots?”
There will always be someone
on the other end of the app to
answer you when you text in
desperation from the fitting
room, “Do I need this?” “Should I buy this?” (I can hear
it now: “Lynn, you already have 32 tutus, so maybe not.”)
One of the company’s first clients, entrepreneur
Sandra Barros, recalls that when her stylist noticed that
some of her comfy sweaters were losing their oomph,
she sent over pictures of likely replacement candidates.
Through YX, she discovered The Elder Statesman, a
knitwear brand she admits she never would have found
on her own. (The company employs a seamless one-
button process for both purchases and returns.) San
Francisco–based art adviser Sabrina Buell, who asked
YX to find her more female designers and to locate
more sustainable options, says she relies heavily on the
service’s packing lists. (This is an especially coveted
benefit—and if you have ever left those silver sandals, or
even the laptop cord, at home, you will understand why.)
This may all seem like a pure indulgence—but ever
notice how quickly luxury can morph into necessity?
And wouldn’t this be a godsend for the many women
running for office in 2020? Along with solving health
care and immigration, they would no longer have to
worry about what they wore the last time they swung
through Missouri.
But there is also something far less practical, far less
sensible, in the way mere material things can lift the
human heart. Hirsch has her own story to tell: When she
was a little girl, her grandmother gave her a copy of the
classic Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Decades later,
the designer Olympia Le-Tan, who creates handbags
based on book art, made a clutch with that long-ago
cover. Alas, it was a strictly limited edition—only sixteen
were reportedly made—and the purse slipped through
Hirsch’s fingers. But Project YX, she attests, can work
miracles: “One of our people found it in a small shop
in Paris.” And then—in a development that would have
astonished Grandma—YX uploaded an image of the
bag and rolled it into Hirsch’s database, so Rebecca
could find her rightful place in a grown-up wardrobe.
—ly n n yaeger
Your entire fashion
life is loaded into a
database, producing
a digital closet
A Shore Thing
From the
private pools of
Calabasas to the beaches of
St. Barth’s, Solid & Striped’s
color-blocked bikinis and
maillots have been racking
up the frequent-flier miles
since the vacation-inspired
brand launched six years
ago. “We’re in the business
of making products that can
be packed into your duffel
with a little bit of sand from
your last trip,” says 33-year-
old founder Isaac Ross, a
social media–savvy William
just as summer gets under
way. “I wanted to connect
beyond swimwear,” Ross says
of the four-piece, made-
for-Instagram collection,
which arrives in ’70s-inspired
packaging from in-demand
Paris-based creative director
Ezra Petronio. Completely free
of the contentious chemical
UV filter oxybenzone—banned
in some places for its harmful
side effects on marine life—
the range is anchored by a
lightweight, coral reef–safe
SPF 30 lotion, available in two
sizes, and the standout Sculpt
Stick, a solid jelly–like bronzer
that glides onto limbs for a
just-back-from-the-beach
glow, no matter what your
out-of-office plans look like.
—ZOE RUFFNER^
BEAUTY
SOAK IT UP
FOR ITS FIRST FORAY INTO BEAUTY,
SOLID & STRIPED MAKES SAFE SUN
CARE FUN. PHOTOGRAPHED BY
ANGELO PENNETTA, VOGUE, 2018.
VLIFE
66 JUNE 2019 VOGUE.COM
