Women You Should Know
SHOUT OUT: Christene Barberich
Photo By: Frankie Marin via Architectural Digest
Christene Barberich is the founder of Refinery 29, a site she imagined and created early on.
It was one of the first “smart, cool girl” verticals that my daughters-in-law and I read religiously.
Christene has always been revered and celebrated for her success. She sat front row at fashion shows and lived in Brooklyn before it was cool. She left years ago and now lives a coveted but real life. Christene is still a creative force.
I’m not sure if she remembers, but when I got the job at Yahoo to create a beauty magazine, the idea was unexpected and bizarre to those in the industry. I’m sure people were annoyed which created some commotion.
Photo By: Nicole Cohen via Elle Decor
But there is one thing I will never forget; A gorgeous bouquet of flowers showed at my (then) office with the most wonderful note congratulating me from Christene.
Kindness means everything to me.
She has an amazing Substack called A Tiny Apt. that covers personal style, spaces, and, navigating life. I especially love the home finds at places like IKEA.
Here are some of the highlights of her stack:
“Everything I’m Buying From IKEA”
Love Christene! ❤️
I love this! Believe it or not, my first apartment in NYC after graduate school was literally 100 sq ft. It was on the fourth floor of a walk up on the corner of West 12th and West 4th Streets in the West Village. This was in 1994 and I paid $800/month. It was so small I couldn't even fit a full sized futon frame, so I had my mattress bent in half like a couch on the floor. Still, I loved the neighborhood, I was in my mid 20s and single. I bet that apartment rents for thousands of dollars now 🤣.