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 This past weekend, the Santa Fe Indian Market celebrated its 100th anniversary, and the annual event—where Indigenous artists across North America take over downtown Santa Fe and showcase their latest works for sale—has only continued to grow in scope. Originally an intimate event held indoors, the market was once specifically focused on reviving the art of Pueblo pottery-making, but today it has since evolved to include beadwork, quillwork, textiles, ceramics, and many other mediums—all from artists of different tribes, styles, and locations. Whether traditional or contemporary in feel, each piece tells a different story and maintains a specific aspect of cultural craftwork. (Today, the market is run by the Southwestern Association of Indian Arts, known as SWAIA).

This year, Indigenous beauty was on full display more than ever before. Inside the 668 booths, which lined the streets of Santa Fe’s downtown plaza, more than 800 artists displayed and sold their new wares, some of which took months—or the whole calendar year—to produce. Highlights included one-of-a-kind works such as Pat Pruitt’s titanium feather necklaces; Maria Samora’s sleek silver rings and cuffs; Jill Kaasteen’s whimsical pickle-shaped medallions, as featured on the hit series Reservation Dogs; Jontay Kahm’s sculptural goose-feather dresses; and Elias Jade Not Afraid’s leather cape embellished with bull-elk ivory, dentalium shells, ermine tails, and spikes. Fashionable visitors—both Indigenous and non-Indigenous—wore their best turquoise jewelry and beadwork while browsing these latest assortments. The many serious (and wealthy) international collectors are known to line up at their favorite artists’ booths at the crack of dawn. Many patrons also showed up in style for the Illuminatives: Indigenous Futures event at the nearby La Fonda hotel, where special panel discussions were held with appearances from Indigenous Hollywood stars—including Prey’s Amber Midthunder, Dark Winds’s Zahn McClarnon, and Rutherford Falls’s Jana Schmieding.

Native innovation was also apparent on the runways during the event’s two fashion shows, where 14 Indigenous designers put forward their new collections fusing the old with the new. At Sunday’s showcase, which was spearheaded by SWAIA’s fashion-show producer Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, Navajo designer Orlando Dugi showed a full new assortment of menswear, made up of lace button-ups and hand-knit striped wool tops. Jamie Okuma presented her new line of couture, including graphic, ribbon-style gowns modeled by Dark Winds star Jessica Matten; Lauren Good Day’s playful prints—done on accessible leggings and bomber jackets—were also modeled by Indigenous supermodel Quannah Chasinghorse and Reservation Dogs star D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.

Many of the artists at this year’s event agree that the market’s survival over 100 years is especially poignant. Despite systemic discrimination—including when Indigenous people were forced into boarding schools and denied the right to practice their cultural traditions—Indigenous artists have prevailed and continued to honor their heritage. It’s a privilege that’s not lost on today’s crop of talent. “As an artist, I put so much pressure on myself to put out the best collection I could this year,” says Okuma, who has been showing at the market since the late ’90s with her mother, beadwork artist and painter Sandra Okuma. “I was grateful to be here for the centennial. The energy and excitement was there.” Dugi echoes the sentiment. “It’s 100 years of Native fashion and art, and to be a part of the celebration, I had to show something that was helping to push forward another 100 years.”

Cara Delevingne first met Karl Lagerfeld when he cast her to walk in the spring 2012 Chanel couture show. She was terrified. “I couldn’t believe I was actually asked to do the show,” she recalls. “He walked straight up to me and told me ‘you are meant to be here.’ Having that reminder and reassurance from him meant everything and I think changed my life in ways I’m still unable to comprehend.” While it is perhaps impossible to quantifiably measure the ways in which Lagerfeld’s influence has manifested itself in Delevingne’s life, her upcoming capsule collection with the Karl Lagerfeld brand, which launches globally on September 8, is certainly a concrete example of their shared affinities. Named Cara Loves Karl, the collection features a mix of genderless ready-to-wear and accessories. “I’ve never understood how we can define clothing with a gender,” Delevingne says. “It was important to me that the collection not be just unisex, but genderless.” The tailoring-forward collection has a concentrated, very KL palette of black, navy, and white; and features suit jackets, elongated vests, and button-down shirts, with details that allow the wearer to customize their pieces to suit their styles. One shirt, for example, features a removable collar, another has buttons at the waistline that allow it to transform into a cropped shirt.

“Last week I was in LA for a friend’s birthday, then [I flew] to New York for press for Only Murders in the Building, and then flew back to London. And all in one week!,” she reveals. “I’m often living out of a suitcase so I like pieces that can be worn in different ways. I can also always find time for a nap — like anywhere — so with that in mind, the collection is also comfortable, easy, and wearable.” Delevingne’s personal dressing ethos is evident in collection standouts, like the two-tone single breasted suit jacket in navy and black, and the reversible black bomber lined in baby blue faux fur—perfect to snuggle up in! “I have been living in the reversible bomber… like day and night! Bright side and dark side, depending on my mood,” Delevingne reveals. “I’m obsessed. All my friends are constantly trying to steal it from me. People keep asking me where they can get it and I have to keep telling them ‘Sorry! You have to wait until September,” she adds with her signature sense of humor. The clothes will be available on the brand’s website as well as in pop-up stores in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Milan.

For Delevingne, it’s worth the wait. “We’ve been working on this collaboration for a couple of years,” Delevingne explains, I truly believe [Karl] would be really proud of what we have created and how we have created it — without defining who should wear the pieces, allowing the person to dictate what the fashion really becomes.” She’s most looking forward to seeing the clothes out on the street. “I’ve been trying to photograph as many different people as possible in the collection in anticipation of the debut,” Delevingne continues, “but I hope people will share the way they are styling the pieces and maybe influence and inspire us for a second collection!” When South Africa’s fashion wunderkind Thebe Magugu first opened the mystery crate from Rome containing Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Valentino haute couture garment, he recognized it at once as the dress that Tracee Ellis Ross wore to grace the 2018 Emmy Awards. This was the garment chosen by Piccioli that Magugu would be tasked with reimagining as the second chapter of Vogue’s dress-swap initiative (see last September’s issue for what Tomo Koizumi and Maison Margiela’s John Galliano came up with): two designers working their individual alchemy to transform a fellow creator’s work. For Piccioli, the project has special resonance. “I love the idea of reinterpreting,” he explains, “but I love even more the idea of creating a moment between two identities, two cultures—this conversation creates a new energy.”

It’s hard to forget one of Thelma West’s jewelry designs. As the mastermind behind the pear-shaped diamond ring set on black ceramic that Rihanna wore to last September’s Met Gala, West has an eye for crafting pieces that are at once bold, luxurious, and comfortable. Yes, comfortable. That is a guiding force for West in both her work as a designer and her personal approach to fashion. “When I’m comfortable, my confidence level goes through the roof,” she says. Born in Nigeria and based in London, West developed her love of jewelry by observing women in her family and admiring how they put together colorful, well-accessorized outfits. She moved to London as a teen in order to study engineering but soon pivoted. Knowing she wanted to work with diamonds and precious stones, West studied at HRD Antwerp, a highly respected gemology program. At the age of 18, she knew immediately that this was what she was meant to do, launching her eponymous label in London in 2012 soon after.

One of the things that sets West apart is her commitment to ethical sourcing. As she told Vogue last year, “Being African, I have a firsthand understanding of the importance of these gemstones and what they mean within our cultures,” she says. “[Still] it was eye-opening to understand how these gems are mined, by who, and where we are within the industry. I’m lucky to have come into it during a time when things are beginning to change.” Diamonds are special on their own, but West knows how to take something sparkling yet familiar and make it feel fresh and young. Forget what Audrey Hepburn said in Breakfast at Tiffany’s about not wearing diamonds before 40: West’s jewelry would appeal to fearless and stylish women of any age. The sugarcane motif she uses on gold bands, for example, adds texture and dimension to the building block of any ring.

That affinity for invigorating, emotional pieces extends to West’s wardrobe. Below, she discusses her approach to dressing for work and gives tips on how to develop your own personal style when it comes to jewelry. Early on in my career, I sacrificed heels for jewels and that was a conscious decision. In Nigeria, Lagos, everyone went everywhere by car. In England, you walk everywhere and take the tube. So where I am has influenced my style. I have sneakers for every occasion. I used to love heels a lot. I’m drawn to nice things, so nicer heels—which cost money—and then jewels—which cost money. So then I was “what do I love the most,” and it’s jewels. I get personal with the jewelry that I design. I see that everything that goes into a piece of jewelry has an effect on how it’s going to look. Not only do I want to present a beautiful piece of jewelry, I also want it to be comfortable. That’s how I dress as well. The layers unseen and seen are important—even underwear. I don’t really let go of my clothes, the same way I wouldn’t let go of my jewelry. I’m quite sentimental because of the job I do and who I am. Jewels mark a moment and a story, and clothes can do that too. It then becomes a whole thing of falling in love with the pieces I have. If you ask my sister it’s not a good thing, since she doesn’t get any of my old clothes, but I cherish my clothes. I value them.

I don’t buy a crazy amount of pieces. I see my closet developing in a more curated way, that is more me. I’m more selective with the pieces that I buy. I do think [my personal style and the way I design jewelry] are connected. I don’t do collections. The single one that I have I try not to call a collection, because I think each piece is unique and has its own journey. It’s the approach I take in my personal life. Every piece has to be unique in its own way, every piece has to be comfortable, and every piece has to make the wearer feel special. Even if it’s a simple gold band. My style signatures are my locs, my braids, and my lips. When I come down without my lips on, my 10-year-old is there going, “Are you okay?” It’s always the same dark shade. I have some things that should always be the way they are, including a dark lip color and light nail color. Some people have told me that it’s quite lazy, but it looks beautiful so whatever. [The way I dress for work] depends on the day. When I get into the studio it’s either designs or calls. I go into the workshop, I look at a crazy amount of diamonds that need to be selected that day, I talk about manufacturing and production. I go back to the studio and brainstorm. The women who are there, we talk about everything and anything. Wherever the conversation takes us, that’s where we get a lot of inspiration from. We’re based in SoHo so we explore plenty of restaurants and it’s very stylish. There are some people who put a lot of attention on fashion and style and others who are more relaxed. And I have a lot of client meetings, taking clients to drinks or lunch. But there’s a lot of human connection.

Some days it’s a bodysuit and jeans, other days I can be bothered to throw on a blazer with a dress and sneakers. I keep it quite casual when I go to work because I don’t know what the day will throw at me. I have a thing for really baggy trousers, and caftans. I’ll always put on a nice caftan with nice earrings. Caftans are an easy way to say “glam” without having to do too much. Then it would all be about the jewelry after that. “How do I want to present this look?” For an evening out it would be stacked bracelets, or a tennis bracelet with someone else. I love long chains or layers of long chains, and drop earrings. They add a lot of pop to an outfit. It’s a process, finding your own style. I would say start in your own closet, go through it, see what you love, and then explore why you love it and why it makes you feel a certain way. If it’s a top that’s a certain style and you feel best in that outfit, explore that. And then find an influencer that you like. You don’t have to buy anything, but just appreciate the effort they’re putting in. I like a lot of boho style influencers. It doesn’t have to be a 1:1 copy of your style, but follow them and see how comfortable they are in their style and try to get that energy if possible. You don’t need to be on hallucinogens to take in the weird and wonderful waters of Magdalena Bay, but they would probably help. The ever-expanding, 360-degree visual universe Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin have painstakingly crafted around their off-kilter pop project spans everything from DIY music videos to tongue-in-cheek TikToks and surrealist Twitch streams, all underpinned by an aesthetic blending vaporwave and hippie-inflected psychedelia. The only clue that the bulk of it is made on shoestring budgets by just the two of them—improvising with a green screen, handmade props, and royalty-free stock videos from the Internet Archive—is the delightfully chaotic speed at which they’ve released new singles and EPs over the past few years.

Until, that is, the pandemic hit, and the pair were forced to slow down. “In the past, we never went into making an EP thinking, Let’s write an EP; it was always more like, Let’s write a song, and then we have a bunch of songs, so let’s put them together,” says Lewin. “Going into writing the album with the idea of writing an album helped us think a little more conceptually.” The result was their 14-song debut, Mercurial World, which arrived last October as one of the year’s most dazzling pop records. Packed wall-to-wall with irresistibly catchy synthpop masterpieces—from the infectious playground chant and scuzzy guitars of “You Lose!” to the euphoric highs of “Hysterical Us,” to the twinkling yacht rock of “Secrets (Your Fire)”—the record’s glossy production is both meticulous and thrillingly experimental; retro-feeling, but looking firmly to the future.

How did it feel to have their first full-length project met with such a rapturous response, both from critics and their cult fanbase? “I feel like we’ve been saying the same answer for months,” says Tenenbaum, laughing. “We’re still processing it, but it’s been, like, almost a year, so I guess we should probably have processed it by now. It’s obviously really great. We probably should step back more often and take stock of it, or actually think about it, but we don’t want to get freaked out by it. We’ve just been trying to keep ourselves busy.” And not just busy touring the album: The pair has also been working away at a deluxe edition of Mercurial World, out September 23, that they describe as “a mish-mosh of sorts.” It features new songs that didn’t fit the flow of the original album; acoustic reworkings of a few fan favorites, including “Mercurial World” and “Chaeri”; guest appearances from PC Music’s Danny L Harle and Sophie collaborator Cecile Believe; and even a version of “Domino” sung in Spanish. “We wanted the deluxe to feel special, outside of just tacking on new songs,” says Lewin. “So we felt that was like a really great way to make it its own thing, that still has its own concept and flow to it, but feels separate from the original record.”

The first new track from the deluxe album, “All You Do,” arrives today, accompanied by a typically surrealist video—even if it dials back some of the glitchy, cyber-focused aesthetic tropes of their visuals for the original album, a decision that was very much intentional. The video begins with the pair seated next to each other in a mysterious live performance setting, strumming their guitars, before giving way to a series of more outré setups. In one scene, Tenenbaum and Lewin appear in crisp white shirts and black skirts and trousers (a nod to Marina Abramovic and Ulay, it turns out); another involves an eerily-lit lemon tree; and finally, Tenenbaum is seen dancing across a pool of water in an ethereal white batwing dress, appearing as something between an ice skater and mime artist. It’s ravishingly beautiful, all a little cryptic, and very, very Magdalena Bay.

“I guess it really started with the music, which is this kind of late-’60s, ‘70s folky pastiche,” says Lewin. “For the performance part of the video, we wanted to capture a little bit of that, but you don't want to go too ham-fisted with it, because it still needs to like feel like it could exist at any time. That was kind of like the main challenge with the styling.” Adds Tenenbaum: “Allegra [Chapman, the video’s stylist] found that dress for the final section and then we had the mime vision for the makeup—and the makeup artists killed it, because that could have turned out really weird.” Rather than hewing to a specific narrative, the pair prefer to think of the fantastical and ever-so-slightly bizarre universes they create in their music videos as exercises in abstraction. “When we were thinking about it with Luke [Orlando, the video’s director], we had all these ideas, but we wanted there to be a sort of internal logic within this universe, even if it’s not a logic that exists in our real world,” Tenenbaum continues. “Inside the video, there are a series of sequences and events that lead to something else. And they kind of make sense together in an abstract way. We love so much when people interpret these things in their own way.”

Given the tight control they’ve been able to maintain over their vision so far, producing everything from the music to the visual world that envelops it themselves, how did it feel to hand over the reins with this project, and invite outside music video directors and people like Harle and Believe to collaborate? “It’s definitely a learning process, which we’re still in the middle of,” says Lewin. “I think we’re definitely still control freaks. When we were editing this video, for instance, we couldn't help getting deep into the nitty-gritty of it. I think it’s just a process of finding collaborators that we trust and like, and are on the same page as us.” Magdalena Bay will tour the U.S. throughout the fall, with a live setup that includes a projection of a robot named after their song “Chaeri.” It will give them a chance to reconnect with their close-knit fanbase, who—unlike with most other pop acts—seem to approach the pair in the most friendly, respectful way imaginable. “We always go to the merch table after we play and hang out there,” says Tenenbaum. “They’re all extremely nice, to the point where I’m like, Really? Nothing weird has happened yet from all these interactions? But so far, so good.”

Their uncanny—and, yes, mercurial—world may be expanding, bringing along a new host of players with it, but Magdalena Bay is happy to see it evolve into something new. “Obviously, we’re not great at everything,” says Lewin. “So if we want to make things better, we need to collaborate. It’s just natural.” Adds Tenenbaum: “It will always be an ever-continuing learning process.” This past weekend, the Santa Fe Indian Market celebrated its 100th anniversary, and the annual event—where Indigenous artists across North America take over downtown Santa Fe and showcase their latest works for sale—has only continued to grow in scope. Originally an intimate event held indoors, the market was once specifically focused on reviving the art of Pueblo pottery-making, but today it has since evolved to include beadwork, quillwork, textiles, ceramics, and many other mediums—all from artists of different tribes, styles, and locations. Whether traditional or contemporary in feel, each piece tells a different story and maintains a specific aspect of cultural craftwork. (Today, the market is run by the Southwestern Association of Indian Arts, known as SWAIA).

This year, Indigenous beauty was on full display more than ever before. Inside the 668 booths, which lined the streets of Santa Fe’s downtown plaza, more than 800 artists displayed and sold their new wares, some of which took months—or the whole calendar year—to produce. Highlights included one-of-a-kind works such as Pat Pruitt’s titanium feather necklaces; Maria Samora’s sleek silver rings and cuffs; Jill Kaasteen’s whimsical pickle-shaped medallions, as featured on the hit series Reservation Dogs; Jontay Kahm’s sculptural goose-feather dresses; and Elias Jade Not Afraid’s leather cape embellished with bull-elk ivory, dentalium shells, ermine tails, and spikes. Fashionable visitors—both Indigenous and non-Indigenous—wore their best turquoise jewelry and beadwork while browsing these latest assortments. The many serious (and wealthy) international collectors are known to line up at their favorite artists’ booths at the crack of dawn. Many patrons also showed up in style for the Illuminatives: Indigenous Futures event at the nearby La Fonda hotel, where special panel discussions were held with appearances from Indigenous Hollywood stars—including Prey’s Amber Midthunder, Dark Winds’s Zahn McClarnon, and Rutherford Falls’s Jana Schmieding.

Native innovation was also apparent on the runways during the event’s two fashion shows, where 14 Indigenous designers put forward their new collections fusing the old with the new. At Sunday’s showcase, which was spearheaded by SWAIA’s fashion-show producer Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, Navajo designer Orlando Dugi showed a full new assortment of menswear, made up of lace button-ups and hand-knit striped wool tops. Jamie Okuma presented her new line of couture, including graphic, ribbon-style gowns modeled by Dark Winds star Jessica Matten; Lauren Good Day’s playful prints—done on accessible leggings and bomber jackets—were also modeled by Indigenous supermodel Quannah Chasinghorse and Reservation Dogs star D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.

Many of the artists at this year’s event agree that the market’s survival over 100 years is especially poignant. Despite systemic discrimination—including when Indigenous people were forced into boarding schools and denied the right to practice their cultural traditions—Indigenous artists have prevailed and continued to honor their heritage. It’s a privilege that’s not lost on today’s crop of talent. “As an artist, I put so much pressure on myself to put out the best collection I could this year,” says Okuma, who has been showing at the market since the late ’90s with her mother, beadwork artist and painter Sandra Okuma. “I was grateful to be here for the centennial. The energy and excitement was there.” Dugi echoes the sentiment. “It’s 100 years of Native fashion and art, and to be a part of the celebration, I had to show something that was helping to push forward another 100 years.”

Cara Delevingne first met Karl Lagerfeld when he cast her to walk in the spring 2012 Chanel couture show. She was terrified. “I couldn’t believe I was actually asked to do the show,” she recalls. “He walked straight up to me and told me ‘you are meant to be here.’ Having that reminder and reassurance from him meant everything and I think changed my life in ways I’m still unable to comprehend.” While it is perhaps impossible to quantifiably measure the ways in which Lagerfeld’s influence has manifested itself in Delevingne’s life, her upcoming capsule collection with the Karl Lagerfeld brand, which launches globally on September 8, is certainly a concrete example of their shared affinities. Named Cara Loves Karl, the collection features a mix of genderless ready-to-wear and accessories. “I’ve never understood how we can define clothing with a gender,” Delevingne says. “It was important to me that the collection not be just unisex, but genderless.” The tailoring-forward collection has a concentrated, very KL palette of black, navy, and white; and features suit jackets, elongated vests, and button-down shirts, with details that allow the wearer to customize their pieces to suit their styles. One shirt, for example, features a removable collar, another has buttons at the waistline that allow it to transform into a cropped shirt.

“Last week I was in LA for a friend’s birthday, then [I flew] to New York for press for Only Murders in the Building, and then flew back to London. And all in one week!,” she reveals. “I’m often living out of a suitcase so I like pieces that can be worn in different ways. I can also always find time for a nap — like anywhere — so with that in mind, the collection is also comfortable, easy, and wearable.” Delevingne’s personal dressing ethos is evident in collection standouts, like the two-tone single breasted suit jacket in navy and black, and the reversible black bomber lined in baby blue faux fur—perfect to snuggle up in! “I have been living in the reversible bomber… like day and night! Bright side and dark side, depending on my mood,” Delevingne reveals. “I’m obsessed. All my friends are constantly trying to steal it from me. People keep asking me where they can get it and I have to keep telling them ‘Sorry! You have to wait until September,” she adds with her signature sense of humor. The clothes will be available on the brand’s website as well as in pop-up stores in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Milan.

For Delevingne, it’s worth the wait. “We’ve been working on this collaboration for a couple of years,” Delevingne explains, I truly believe [Karl] would be really proud of what we have created and how we have created it — without defining who should wear the pieces, allowing the person to dictate what the fashion really becomes.” She’s most looking forward to seeing the clothes out on the street. “I’ve been trying to photograph as many different people as possible in the collection in anticipation of the debut,” Delevingne continues, “but I hope people will share the way they are styling the pieces and maybe influence and inspire us for a second collection!” When South Africa’s fashion wunderkind Thebe Magugu first opened the mystery crate from Rome containing Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Valentino haute couture garment, he recognized it at once as the dress that Tracee Ellis Ross wore to grace the 2018 Emmy Awards. This was the garment chosen by Piccioli that Magugu would be tasked with reimagining as the second chapter of Vogue’s dress-swap initiative (see last September’s issue for what Tomo Koizumi and Maison Margiela’s John Galliano came up with): two designers working their individual alchemy to transform a fellow creator’s work. For Piccioli, the project has special resonance. “I love the idea of reinterpreting,” he explains, “but I love even more the idea of creating a moment between two identities, two cultures—this conversation creates a new energy.”

It’s hard to forget one of Thelma West’s jewelry designs. As the mastermind behind the pear-shaped diamond ring set on black ceramic that Rihanna wore to last September’s Met Gala, West has an eye for crafting pieces that are at once bold, luxurious, and comfortable. Yes, comfortable. That is a guiding force for West in both her work as a designer and her personal approach to fashion. “When I’m comfortable, my confidence level goes through the roof,” she says. Born in Nigeria and based in London, West developed her love of jewelry by observing women in her family and admiring how they put together colorful, well-accessorized outfits. She moved to London as a teen in order to study engineering but soon pivoted. Knowing she wanted to work with diamonds and precious stones, West studied at HRD Antwerp, a highly respected gemology program. At the age of 18, she knew immediately that this was what she was meant to do, launching her eponymous label in London in 2012 soon after.

One of the things that sets West apart is her commitment to ethical sourcing. As she told Vogue last year, “Being African, I have a firsthand understanding of the importance of these gemstones and what they mean within our cultures,” she says. “[Still] it was eye-opening to understand how these gems are mined, by who, and where we are within the industry. I’m lucky to have come into it during a time when things are beginning to change.” Diamonds are special on their own, but West knows how to take something sparkling yet familiar and make it feel fresh and young. Forget what Audrey Hepburn said in Breakfast at Tiffany’s about not wearing diamonds before 40: West’s jewelry would appeal to fearless and stylish women of any age. The sugarcane motif she uses on gold bands, for example, adds texture and dimension to the building block of any ring.

That affinity for invigorating, emotional pieces extends to West’s wardrobe. Below, she discusses her approach to dressing for work and gives tips on how to develop your own personal style when it comes to jewelry. Early on in my career, I sacrificed heels for jewels and that was a conscious decision. In Nigeria, Lagos, everyone went everywhere by car. In England, you walk everywhere and take the tube. So where I am has influenced my style. I have sneakers for every occasion. I used to love heels a lot. I’m drawn to nice things, so nicer heels—which cost money—and then jewels—which cost money. So then I was “what do I love the most,” and it’s jewels. I get personal with the jewelry that I design. I see that everything that goes into a piece of jewelry has an effect on how it’s going to look. Not only do I want to present a beautiful piece of jewelry, I also want it to be comfortable. That’s how I dress as well. The layers unseen and seen are important—even underwear. I don’t really let go of my clothes, the same way I wouldn’t let go of my jewelry. I’m quite sentimental because of the job I do and who I am. Jewels mark a moment and a story, and clothes can do that too. It then becomes a whole thing of falling in love with the pieces I have. If you ask my sister it’s not a good thing, since she doesn’t get any of my old clothes, but I cherish my clothes. I value them.

I don’t buy a crazy amount of pieces. I see my closet developing in a more curated way, that is more me. I’m more selective with the pieces that I buy. I do think [my personal style and the way I design jewelry] are connected. I don’t do collections. The single one that I have I try not to call a collection, because I think each piece is unique and has its own journey. It’s the approach I take in my personal life. Every piece has to be unique in its own way, every piece has to be comfortable, and every piece has to make the wearer feel special. Even if it’s a simple gold band. My style signatures are my locs, my braids, and my lips. When I come down without my lips on, my 10-year-old is there going, “Are you okay?” It’s always the same dark shade. I have some things that should always be the way they are, including a dark lip color and light nail color. Some people have told me that it’s quite lazy, but it looks beautiful so whatever. [The way I dress for work] depends on the day. When I get into the studio it’s either designs or calls. I go into the workshop, I look at a crazy amount of diamonds that need to be selected that day, I talk about manufacturing and production. I go back to the studio and brainstorm. The women who are there, we talk about everything and anything. Wherever the conversation takes us, that’s where we get a lot of inspiration from. We’re based in SoHo so we explore plenty of restaurants and it’s very stylish. There are some people who put a lot of attention on fashion and style and others who are more relaxed. And I have a lot of client meetings, taking clients to drinks or lunch. But there’s a lot of human connection.

Some days it’s a bodysuit and jeans, other days I can be bothered to throw on a blazer with a dress and sneakers. I keep it quite casual when I go to work because I don’t know what the day will throw at me. I have a thing for really baggy trousers, and caftans. I’ll always put on a nice caftan with nice earrings. Caftans are an easy way to say “glam” without having to do too much. Then it would all be about the jewelry after that. “How do I want to present this look?” For an evening out it would be stacked bracelets, or a tennis bracelet with someone else. I love long chains or layers of long chains, and drop earrings. They add a lot of pop to an outfit. It’s a process, finding your own style. I would say start in your own closet, go through it, see what you love, and then explore why you love it and why it makes you feel a certain way. If it’s a top that’s a certain style and you feel best in that outfit, explore that. And then find an influencer that you like. You don’t have to buy anything, but just appreciate the effort they’re putting in. I like a lot of boho style influencers. It doesn’t have to be a 1:1 copy of your style, but follow them and see how comfortable they are in their style and try to get that energy if possible. You don’t need to be on hallucinogens to take in the weird and wonderful waters of Magdalena Bay, but they would probably help. The ever-expanding, 360-degree visual universe Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin have painstakingly crafted around their off-kilter pop project spans everything from DIY music videos to tongue-in-cheek TikToks and surrealist Twitch streams, all underpinned by an aesthetic blending vaporwave and hippie-inflected psychedelia. The only clue that the bulk of it is made on shoestring budgets by just the two of them—improvising with a green screen, handmade props, and royalty-free stock videos from the Internet Archive—is the delightfully chaotic speed at which they’ve released new singles and EPs over the past few years.

Until, that is, the pandemic hit, and the pair were forced to slow down. “In the past, we never went into making an EP thinking, Let’s write an EP; it was always more like, Let’s write a song, and then we have a bunch of songs, so let’s put them together,” says Lewin. “Going into writing the album with the idea of writing an album helped us think a little more conceptually.” The result was their 14-song debut, Mercurial World, which arrived last October as one of the year’s most dazzling pop records. Packed wall-to-wall with irresistibly catchy synthpop masterpieces—from the infectious playground chant and scuzzy guitars of “You Lose!” to the euphoric highs of “Hysterical Us,” to the twinkling yacht rock of “Secrets (Your Fire)”—the record’s glossy production is both meticulous and thrillingly experimental; retro-feeling, but looking firmly to the future.

How did it feel to have their first full-length project met with such a rapturous response, both from critics and their cult fanbase? “I feel like we’ve been saying the same answer for months,” says Tenenbaum, laughing. “We’re still processing it, but it’s been, like, almost a year, so I guess we should probably have processed it by now. It’s obviously really great. We probably should step back more often and take stock of it, or actually think about it, but we don’t want to get freaked out by it. We’ve just been trying to keep ourselves busy.” And not just busy touring the album: The pair has also been working away at a deluxe edition of Mercurial World, out September 23, that they describe as “a mish-mosh of sorts.” It features new songs that didn’t fit the flow of the original album; acoustic reworkings of a few fan favorites, including “Mercurial World” and “Chaeri”; guest appearances from PC Music’s Danny L Harle and Sophie collaborator Cecile Believe; and even a version of “Domino” sung in Spanish. “We wanted the deluxe to feel special, outside of just tacking on new songs,” says Lewin. “So we felt that was like a really great way to make it its own thing, that still has its own concept and flow to it, but feels separate from the original record.”

The first new track from the deluxe album, “All You Do,” arrives today, accompanied by a typically surrealist video—even if it dials back some of the glitchy, cyber-focused aesthetic tropes of their visuals for the original album, a decision that was very much intentional. The video begins with the pair seated next to each other in a mysterious live performance setting, strumming their guitars, before giving way to a series of more outré setups. In one scene, Tenenbaum and Lewin appear in crisp white shirts and black skirts and trousers (a nod to Marina Abramovic and Ulay, it turns out); another involves an eerily-lit lemon tree; and finally, Tenenbaum is seen dancing across a pool of water in an ethereal white batwing dress, appearing as something between an ice skater and mime artist. It’s ravishingly beautiful, all a little cryptic, and very, very Magdalena Bay.

“I guess it really started with the music, which is this kind of late-’60s, ‘70s folky pastiche,” says Lewin. “For the performance part of the video, we wanted to capture a little bit of that, but you don't want to go too ham-fisted with it, because it still needs to like feel like it could exist at any time. That was kind of like the main challenge with the styling.” Adds Tenenbaum: “Allegra [Chapman, the video’s stylist] found that dress for the final section and then we had the mime vision for the makeup—and the makeup artists killed it, because that could have turned out really weird.” Rather than hewing to a specific narrative, the pair prefer to think of the fantastical and ever-so-slightly bizarre universes they create in their music videos as exercises in abstraction. “When we were thinking about it with Luke [Orlando, the video’s director], we had all these ideas, but we wanted there to be a sort of internal logic within this universe, even if it’s not a logic that exists in our real world,” Tenenbaum continues. “Inside the video, there are a series of sequences and events that lead to something else. And they kind of make sense together in an abstract way. We love so much when people interpret these things in their own way.”

Given the tight control they’ve been able to maintain over their vision so far, producing everything from the music to the visual world that envelops it themselves, how did it feel to hand over the reins with this project, and invite outside music video directors and people like Harle and Believe to collaborate? “It’s definitely a learning process, which we’re still in the middle of,” says Lewin. “I think we’re definitely still control freaks. When we were editing this video, for instance, we couldn't help getting deep into the nitty-gritty of it. I think it’s just a process of finding collaborators that we trust and like, and are on the same page as us.” Magdalena Bay will tour the U.S. throughout the fall, with a live setup that includes a projection of a robot named after their song “Chaeri.” It will give them a chance to reconnect with their close-knit fanbase, who—unlike with most other pop acts—seem to approach the pair in the most friendly, respectful way imaginable. “We always go to the merch table after we play and hang out there,” says Tenenbaum. “They’re all extremely nice, to the point where I’m like, Really? Nothing weird has happened yet from all these interactions? But so far, so good.”

Their uncanny—and, yes, mercurial—world may be expanding, bringing along a new host of players with it, but Magdalena Bay is happy to see it evolve into something new. “Obviously, we’re not great at everything,” says Lewin. “So if we want to make things better, we need to collaborate. It’s just natural.” Adds Tenenbaum: “It will always be an ever-continuing learning process.”