Highbrow Hippie Blog

Highbrow Hippie began over 12 years ago as a blog. It was an outlet and a way for us to express all parts of ourselves - the multifaceted, multidimensional layers that sometimes take a back seat to our professional lives and selves.While Highbrow Hippie as a business and brand has evolved, the blog has remained a place where we go to sort through our thoughts, to reassess, and to share. If you’ve read any of our blog posts, you know we cover it all - politics, hair and beauty, fashion, motherhood, loss, friendship, entrepreneurship, living consciously…the list goes on.

André Leon Talley knew his place in fashion’s cannon. He knew his history, his references were minute, and he was an enthusiastic student until the end. What elegance he possessed to stake his claim so firmly. What strength. The wit. The delivery!And what a storyteller he was. How beautiful, how fitting, that the story to be told with his Christie’s auction today will benefit the places where he always had an open door, Abyssinian Baptist Church, where his homegoing was held in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, and the Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, both Black-majority churches. Talley, who frequently extolled the community-minded virtues of Black churches, attended both throughout his life. 

André Leon Talley. Change agent. Inspiration. The quick, witty rule breaker who showed us to show up unapologetically as our most fabulous selves. I needed a pause after his passing, as it was extremely triggering for me. Because to exist in white spaces as the only black person is a painful experience sometimes. Because when you dare to exist in those spaces, you make an agreement with yourself to endure the pain of constant microagressions, and it’s enough to break your heart and spirit over and over again. You can’t ever just be good. You have to be better. And there are always people waiting in the wings to take credit for your ideas, or at the very least remind you of your lack of gratitude, lest you forget that you owe them for your place in their world.

On any given day if you come by the Atelier you’ll find a variety of people - old, young, black, white, brown, American, non- American, Christian, Jewish, Agnostic, Muslim…the list goes on. We’ve long been a place that welcomes everyone regardless of labels and for that we’re proud.You see it’s not that common to see people of different ethnicities all under one roof getting their hair done. There are a myriad of reasons as to why, but one is that across the country hair stylists aren’t required to learn how to style textured, coily or kinky hair. As is typical in America, the focus is on Caucasian hair thus leaving anyone else with curly, textured hair out of the equation. 

So here we are, another Black History Month. Another deluge of businesses trying to show off their diversity by adding some black people to their grids, or some soulful music to their commercials in a desperate attempt to show everyone their support. What a joke. Black history is American history, and needs to be celebrated and integrated year round. Full stop. Well, unless you live in Florida…then guess you’ll have to settle for a whitewashed history full of lies and omissions. Sucks for you. By now you know that Highbrow Hippie resides on a street that’s been referred to as the “coolest street in America” (gag). It has 100 plus businesses that exist on its over 2 mile stretch, but only one owned by black women. Us. Which we often giggle about because let’s be real, anything that is considered cool in this country has been influenced by black people, but yet somehow we are only ones here.