A Note From Farah…

There is a specific kind of fatigue that comes from scrolling through the digital and physical stacks of what we’ve been told to call “lifestyle” media. I’ve struggled with that word for a long time now; it feels like a hollow container, a sterile term used to describe the messy, vibrant, often contradictory act of simply existing. It has become synonymous with a relentless, automated copy-paste culture where the same aesthetic, the same hollow buzzwords, and the same “aspirational” tropes are recycled until they lose all texture. When everything is curated to the point of being frictionless, we stop feeling anything at all. That is why we built Osé, or Kate did and invited me to give a hand – in the sorority way we cherish so much – but that’s a talk for another day. We didn’t want to add to the noise; we wanted to change the frequency.

Marhba, bienvenues, welcome, benvenutti (or my italian best friend is gonna end me!) to our first “issue”, to our going “on air” day! If you’re reading this, you are part of an experiment in being “daring”, -which is the literal heart of our name-, but also in being responsible. We believe that entertainment and integrity aren’t mutually exclusive. We want to make you laugh, we want to make you dream, and we certainly want to show you things that are beautiful to look at, but we also want to be held accountable for the ideas we put into the world. In an age of disposable opinions, we want our statements to have weight. We want to talk to you like adults who are capable of handling complexity, beauty, and the occasional hard truth all at once.

Our pages will always be an open door for those who deserve to be known. There is so much quiet brilliance happening in the world right now, despite all the ugliness, far away from the loud, algorithmic spotlights. We want to bring you the stories of people doing genuine good, not for the “clout” of it, but because they can’t imagine doing anything else. You will meet artists who are redefining what it means to create in a digital age, photographers who capture the soul of a moment rather than just its surface, and designers who are rethinking the very objects we sit on, wear, and gift, we will take you places you never been, or have but will discover through another prism. Whether it’s a piece of jewelry that tells a story of heritage or a chair designed to last three lifetimes, a restaurant with the same menu since 1985, we are looking for the makers who prioritize the soul over the bottom line.

Sustainability is a word that gets thrown around a lot lately, often as a marketing shield. For us, it’s not a trend; it’s a necessity. We will always lean toward the ethical, the slow, and the considered. However, we have to be honest with you, – and this is where the “Osé” part comes in, – we are not perfect and we’re not even trying to be. We are deeply, stubbornly human. This means that while we champion the planet and the ethical choice, we also have our shallow moments. We are occasionally seduced by the purely aesthetic, the wonderfully impractical, and the delightfully vain. We embrace these contradictions because we have no interest in being the moral police of your living room. We don’t want to be perfect because perfection is a vacuum where no one can actually breathe. We want to be real, and reality is a bit messy. It’s a mix of high-minded ideals and the simple, shallow joy of a beautifully cut dress or a shimmering piece of gold that serves no purpose other than to make us feel spectacular for an evening. We claim that right to be multifaceted, and we want you to give yourself permission to do the same.

The world is currently obsessed with “curating” a life, but we are more interested in living one. The industry has become a factory of imitation, where journalism often feels like a press release that’s been slightly reworded. We are willing, and we believe we are fully able, to do things differently. We aren’t interested in the press release version of a person; we want the version that exists when the camera is off. We want to dive into the “why” behind the “what.” This publication is about breaking walls, but specifically, the walls we’ve built around and within ourselves. We spend so much of our energy fighting the glass ceilings placed above us by society, the media, and the expectations of others, but we often fail to notice the internal walls we’ve constructed out of fear and habit. We play against ourselves before the world even gets a chance to join the game. Osé is about dismantling that internal architecture. It’s about the courage to be seen before you feel ready and the audacity to speak before you’ve been given the floor.

We are tired of the copy-paste existence. We are tired of the sanitized, the safe, and the middle-of-the-road. In these pages, you will find a celebration of the outliers and the enthusiasts. You will find fashion that feels like armor and furniture that feels like poetry. You will find people who are trying to fix the world in small, tangible ways, and you will find us, your editors, admitting when we’ve fallen in love with something purely because it’s pretty. This is a space for the responsible and the reckless, the sustainable and the shiny. We are here to explore the art of being alive without the filter of what is “on trend” or “correct.”

As you turn these pages, I hope you feel the shift in energy. I hope you see a reflection of your own complexities, your desire to do good and your desire to look good, your need for substance and your craving for lightness.