From Nipissing to New York
On the first Monday in May, Christian Allaire, a senior fashion and style writer at Vogue, is up at seven in the morning writing stories in preparation for fashion’s biggest event. By the early afternoon, he is ready and ravishing on Fifth Avenue for the Met Gala’s 2024 red carpet, themed “The Garden of Time.” Allaire, descending from Italian-French and Ojibwe lineage, wears a black suit and blazer detailed with purple lupines and scarlet red Indian paintbrushes—the flowers from back home. His designer, Jamie Okuma, added a traditional black-and-white Ojibwe breechcloth to the pants, mixing the tailored, modern suit with traditional, cultural attire. To top it off, Allaire carries an antique, multicoloured shoulder bag with floral beadwork to represent his heritage and home.