Polina is a seasoned cultural strategist, editor and journalist with over a decade of experience covering luxury and lifestyle. Her work focuses on brands, institutions and creative thinkers, who are building new realities across art, fashion, design, gastronomy, travel, and hospitality. She is interested in mapping the present and future of all that is beautiful and impactful, sustainable and intuitively human. MORE
Departures Beyond
Winter 2023 DEPARTURES BEYOND
Gees Bend, Lady Ashley Adjaye, Barbara Strum, Central Restaurant, Laird Hamilton and Gabby Reece, Hang Son Doong, Ramdane Touhami, Antarctica, Land Art, Mongolia, SIR Richard Branson, Indonesia, AND MORE
“Built on the grounds of a maharaja’s lush estate, Ananda offers a dramatic, one-of-a-kind retreat from life’s jostled intensity, steeped in age-old wisdom and infused with modern therapies formulated on the foundations of Ayurveda.This ancient healing science originated in India over 5,000 years ago and is at once simple and infinitely complex. Essentially, it posits that the body is a microcosmof the universe and that health is achieved by balancing body, mind, and spirit.”
Higher Powers in the Himalayas DEPARTURES
Ananda Retreat, Rishikesh
“Communication with these spirits, asking for their protection, is an essential component of the Yanomami way of life. The scintillating energy of these regular shamanic ceremonies is captured by Andujar’s quasi-mystical photographs, giving static visual form to both the physical and immaterial.”
Living by Nature's Rhythm DEPARTURES
Claudia Andujar, the Yanomami
“A half-dozen harvests were reaped and distributed among regional food pantries before Sky High Farm’s merch was rolled out: repurposed baseball caps, recycled tees, and deadstock sweatshirts in miscellaneous colors printed and patched with the farm’s trippy logo of a sensual strawberry in full canoodle with an enraptured crescent moon. For those in the know, these early products were snapped up when Dover Street Market New York hosted an in-store farm stand.”
Fashion for Good DEPARTURES
Dan Colen, Sky High Farm
“NEW YORK CITY is an incubator of imagination, a diverse place where new ideas can be tested in real time and where artists and makers shape and are shaped by the creative community. Visual artists, designers, chefs, playwrights, and futurist thinkers, who thrive on the city’s unique energy and strive to shift the status quo. Though they work in different but often overlapping fields, all are united by a core belief in the power of individual ingenuity to lift up the collective.”
New York Creatives Now DEPARTURES
Jeremy O'Harris, Hank Willis Thomas, Batsheva, Tremaine Emory, Susan Cianciolo, Helen Nguyen, Lucien Smith
“This piece is for those interested in seeking out the real deals, the originals — for the love of history, the hunt, and the unique. To help navigate the landscape of shopping vintage clothing, Bivens, for whom this prodigious skill set is a professional necessity, breaks down the process and shares where to find your own vintage magic.”
How to Shop Vintage DEPARTURES
Heidi bivens
“Uniquely situated on a peninsula that catches swells from both north and south, the city’s coast allows for consistent waves throughout the year, and has spots suited to every ability. Moreover, she continues, “Dakar is a fun place to come surf or learn to surf, but then you also have this other cultural experience: great music, great food, and a great art scene. It’s quite cool.”
Surf's Up DEPARTURES
Yodit Eklund, Bantu Wax
“The Taoist concept of yin and yang lies at the heart of this alliance. Its principles maintain that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, fitting together seamlessly and working in perfect harmony. Where yang is power, yin is pause. In the case of District Vision, yang is the action of running and yin is the inner silence that occurs during a long run or in its mental preparation.”
Racing Toward Enlightenment DEPARTURES
Tom Daly, Max Vallot, District Vision
“I learn within minutes that Adrien Sauvage believes in following his own true north. The designer takes heed of omens and numbers and has a deep faith in attaining the heights of his mercantile destiny.”
A Sartorial Legacy DEPARTURES
aDRIAN SAUVAGE, HOUSE OF A. SAUVAGE
“The weather has been generous, which allowed them to sprout weeks earlier than expected. Everyone here is ready to pivot and adjust to nature’s rhythm. “The way my team works now is by adapting and being flexible,” she says. “What’s important is they observe and listen, and adjust to the circumstance. We adapt in response to what occurs.”
Simple Pleasures DEPARTURES
Lena Evstafieva, Villa Lena
“While juggling time zones, projects, and initiatives, not to mention a back seat filled with “the crew,” itching to get to their destination, Gray maintains a powerfully peaceful focus. It’s the place from which he strategizes and narrates each step of his journey. Every move and word are intentional, infused with a mindful awareness of history, injustice, and the infinite possibilities of transformation.”
Revolutionizing the Pantry Shelf DEPARTURES
Jon Gray, Ghetto Gastro
DEPARTURES
“Whatever the medium, the themes of land and longing that interest Weeraworawit most are so local that they’re global. The specifics are different, but the issues are the same.”
Mood Indigo DEPARTURES
Chomwan Weeraworawit, Philip Huang
‘Never settling, Touhami’s omni-channel, multitasking brain is always looking for the next business to reinvent. “My job is to provide wow,” he continues. “I believe that if you make what you want, and have one or two wows a day, then you are happy.”’
Parisian Savoir-Faire DEPARTURES
Ramdane Touhami, Buly 1807
“Inspiration for the brand’s designs stems from appreciation — for the bounty of nature, and for the traditions that traversed through history between coastal West Africa and the United States.”
A New Kind of Bicoastal Life DEPARTURES
Abrima Erwiah, Studio 189
“Mixed for the king of Parthia in the first century AD, Roman nobility were said to douse themselves in the recipe that inspired Artaban, a fragrance that first-century author Pliny the Elder called the “height of refinement.” The intoxicatingly layered scent has no fewer than two dozen plant ingredients, sourced from all four corners of the Earth. On the skin, it settles like an unctuous balm and smells how I imagine Messalina or Cleopatra did after a bath of milk and honey.”
Time in an Ambrosial Bottle DEPARTURES
Astier de Villatte Historic Perfumes
DEPARTURES
“Once at ease with who we are, our heart calm and self-assured can turn outward and seek its mate(s). From this place of devotionalself-honesty, relationships of all kinds blossom in the foundation of their truth.”
Born out of Devotion HUMAN SHIFT 4
Rich Roll, Julie PiatT
“When we wholeheartedly connect with our values, and seek to heal from the insecurities of our past, sympathy increases, and intention to help others propels our actions. Take for instance a home-cooked meal, a daily non-event for many, which then becomes a sacred offering of love for someone who is in need.”
Food, A Vessel of Love HUMAN SHIFT 4
SOPHIA ROE
“The current industry, blossoming with queer-owned skate brands and established companies whose teams represent all identities, is a different world from Yann’s early days on the scene. With a decade of self-discovery and self-expression behind him, Yann has emerged as a fierce advocate of the LGBTQ+ community within the skate industry, joyously celebrating being loud and proud.”
On Love, Skateboarding and Social Acceptance HUMAN SHIFT 4
Yann Horowitzme
“From time eternal human beings have sought to love and be loved in return. The hardest test of all is to love another person, but the projection out becomes much simpler once the radical love of self has already been internally absorbed.”
A Tale of Radical Self-Love HUMAN SHIFT 4
Jessamyn Stanley
“To find our purpose we need to give voice to that which burns brightly within. The ego-identity gives us our sense of self and determines how we choose to show up in the world. Without this strong self-awareness and the confidence, freedom and power to express it, no transformation is possible.”
Power in Community HUMAN SHIFT 3
Rosario Dawson
“To access our personal power, we must acknowledge the collective identity that we share with those who came before us, and those who will come after. Through respectfully highlighting cultural motifs, this story exemplifies the vital connection one must have with their community, in order to uplift, inspire, and reach their full potential.”
A Hair Journey HUMAN SHIFT 3
Ebonee Davis
“Finding warrior energy within self-knowledge, manifesting purpose, connecting instincts borne from the gut, propels us humans to action— these are the key lessons arising from the fiery center of our physical being.”
The Jewels of Keith Michell HUMAN SHIFT 3
Keith Mitchell
“The realm of the second chakra, is one of movement, fluidity, pleasure, creation and emotions. Feelings are every human’s internal fluctuations; they move out, stir up, and agitate. When in balance, we are awake to our sensations and attuned to their course—emboldened and allowed to feel. To not get stuck, our emotions need to flow like water.”
Master of Flow HUMAN SHIFT 2
Shama Beckford
“We spoke with some of today’s leading water gods and goddesses: athletes tracing lines in nature’s curves, explorers revealing new ways of looking, a body-hacker teaching to embrace cold for better living, and the warriors leading the charge against single-use plastic.”
In the Flow in the Snow HUMAN SHIFT 2
Sierra Quitiquit