Welcome to Fine Lines

After nearly two decades in journalism — and five years leading Teen Vogue — I'm launching an independent publication about culture, identity, power, and the stories that connect them.

🎵 listening to: “Messy” by Lola Young; “Anxiety” by Doechii

Five years ago, I celebrated my birthday with the announcement that I would be the next editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue. Seven months ago, I was told that job would no longer exist.

It was a dream job, and I am absolutely still mourning and processing that. (The ubiquity of the Devil Wears Prada 2 press tour this spring didn’t exactly help, as much as I love Anne Hathaway.)

Now I’m here, and sincerely thrilled to be launching a new chapter with you. One thing I’ve learned over the past decade — in journalism, media, and American public life — is that institutions can still matter. They shape what gets seen, what gets funded, whose stories get told, and who feels like they belong. But when they stop serving those purposes — or refuse to evolve — people don’t stop needing them. They start building new ones.

I have more ideas than time (a recurring theme around here, you’ll soon discover). But I also wasn’t ready to rush into the next thing. I’ve been grateful for the chance to slow down, spend more time with my three-year-old, and think carefully about what I wanted to create.

Fine Lines is where I’ve decided to begin: a publication exploring the stories I find most compelling — and the fine lines between culture, fashion, politics, media, and power.

For years, I’ve been told to pick a lane. This is what happens when I don’t.

I’ve always been drawn to the spaces between things: where politics meet culture, where fashion reveals identity, where sports become community, where a meme tells us something about America that a headline can’t. That’s where I think the most interesting stories and questions live.

Some weeks you’ll get a deeply reported essay. Other weeks you’ll get a dispatch from a World Cup watch party, a fashion show, a political event, a corner of the Internet I can’t stop thinking about, or a conversation I can’t stop replaying in my head.

You’ll also find recommendations, interviews with smart people I admire, and observations from life in New York. I’ve been here for 17 years, moving from my home state of Louisiana almost straight after college. (I did that without telling the vast majority of my family, including my parents — who tried to keep me from leaving — but that’s also a story for another time.)

I love journalism. I love stories. And most of all, I love people — their ambitions, their passions, their creativity, and the constant capacity to surprise one another. This will be a place to explore all of that together. And I genuinely welcome feedback.

Many posts will be free here but if you become a paid subscriber, you’ll help ensure more robust coverage. For those of you who want to have more input, a literal seat at the table at future possible events, or direct access to me and my network, I’m launching both paid and founding member subscriptions.

Tomorrow, we’re starting in New York, reflecting on a month that’s truly been one for the history books.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about joy, community, sports, politics, and what happens when millions of very different people decide they’re celebrating something together.

The vibes really are that good. And I think there’s something we can all learn from it.

Collective joy? In this economy? Yes, please.

Thanks for reading. See you soon.

Fine Lines design and photo illustration by: Mashall Sharma