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Happy birthday, InStyle! The brand officially turns 30 this year, and toasted its landmark anniversary with a soirée at Boom atop The Standard Hotel. Editor in chief Sally Holmes hosted the star-studded event, which also celebrated a new InStyle era with her team of fashion and beauty editors—which she’s built out since mid-2023.
“When I first got this job, so many people said to me how much InStyle meant to them growing up and means to them now as a brand that they can turn to her inspiration and advice and that they get involved in,” Holmes said. “My greatest accomplishment is hiring an amazing team of the most talented people in the business, who are super smart, have incredible ideas, and nice and so much fun.”
Sally Holmes
The night found stars like Nina Dobrev, Coco Rocha, Gayle King, Jessel Taank, Larsen Thompson, Darren Criss, and more mingling with champagne and hors d’oeuvres while honoring InStyle’s legacy. Of course, everyone took time to snap photos at its InStyle and Pandora’s glam photo booths!
Christian Siriano, whose muses and designs have frequented InStyle’s pages, fondly recalled the title’s focus on inclusivity over the years. “They’ve always celebrated a lot of different types of people,” said Siriano. “They never got pretentious. It wasn’t always just the newest it-girl—it was always interesting, curated people, curvy girls on the cover, everything.”
Christian Siriano
Eef Vicca, Larsen Thompson
Dobrev memorably recalled her own InStyle editorial debut in 2009, shortly after The Vampire Diaries debuted. Though she’s graced numerous covers since, her first feature was truly special—and proved InStyle‘s ability to embrace stars on the rise.
“It was the four of us, all four girls: Candice [King], Kayla [Ewell], Kat [Graham], and I,” Dobrev remembered. “It was inside—not a cover story—but I remember feeling so special and important that we were doing this big shoot with this big magazine. I’d just come from Canada, and I felt like this small, insignificant person that all of a sudden people cared about—and it was special. It was a big deal! The magazine is so iconic and fashion-forward, and I wanted to get into fashion, so it was a very exciting moment.”
Boom
In addition to InStyle’s past and present, the party also celebrated the publication’s future. The mag’s recent covers with stars like Iman, Sharon Stone, and Reneé Rapp have upheld its goals of showcasing both diverse talents and high fashion. At the event, Rapp was also celebrating her digital cover for InStyle’s 30th anniversary—as well as its growing inclusivity for LGBTQIA+ communities.
“Everyone I’ve met here tonight is very cute, and very young, and very gay. Therefore, that makes it exciting to me!” Rapp said. “This is a big group of a lot of young, queer people. We have a lot of young queer people of color, so that’s upped my perspective on the whole night!”
Plasma, Reneé Rapp, Sally Holmes
The evening ended on a high note with a rousing “Happy Birthday” performance by drag queen Plasma. Cheers!
Guests included Brittany Snow, Tayshia Adams, Racquel Chevremont, Valentina Ferrer, Naomi Watanabe, Presley Oldham, Brandon Blackwood, Prabal Gurung, Yaya DaCosta, Chris Appleton, Tiler Peck, Ross Matthews, Julio Torres, Cody Rigsby, Emily Moreno, Matthew Cancel, and Candace Bushnell, plus InStyle’s Kevin Hyunh, Kara Brown, Madeline Hirsch Stamp, Zizi Strater, Tessa Petak, and more.
All images: Steven Eichner
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