Brandy and Monica Have Always Been on the Same Page
A far less polarizing look graced the cover of Brandy's debut album the year prior. 'I wanted to be different, I wanted to showcase my braids, I loved hats at the time, so I wanted to have that hat swag,' she says of the cream separates and brown newsboy cap. 'And Brandy's braids were the thing,' Monica adds.
While both women have flexed their individuality over the years—Monica often in over-the-knee boots ('you could bury me in a pair,' she says) and Brandy donning a durag to an awards show in 2000 ('I thought I needed to be a little hip-hop, she remembers—they've also been known to coordinate. Their seminal 'The Boy is Mine' video saw them in a range of monochromatic looks, and for the Grammy Awards in 1999, they both wore shades of white.
Monica's look that evening was especially memorable: fresh from the Chanel runway. The singer had recently spent time in Paris with Karl Lagerfeld and the house team. 'A fitting with the Karl Lagerfeld is just something you don't forget,' she says. Brandy's response? 'I'm lowkey mad that you didn't take me with you to Paris to meet all the Chanel people,' she says.
Fast-forward to 2020 when the two reunited for a Verzuz performance. Monica opted for a bustier with a matching jacket and hat—all made from the same monogrammed Fendi trench—while Brandy slipped into jeans, a white turtleneck, and an ikat-print jacket. Their cameos in Ariana Grande's 'The Boy is Mine' remake video called for all black, and when they announced their forthcoming tour, they did so by releasing photos of themselves in white straight jackets made from microphone and headset cords—a nod to how they've been 'wrapped up' in the music industry for 30 years, Monica notes.
'I'm just happy that it finally happened,' Brandy says of the tour.
We all are.
Above, watch Brandy and Monica reflect on their Life in Looks.
Director: Starr Nathan
Director of Photography: Dane Brown
Editors: Michael Suyeda, Katie Wolford
Senior Producer: Bety Dereje
Creative Production Coordinator: Anisa Kennar
Associate Producer: Lea Donenberg
Associate Producer, On Set: Jazz Pitcairn
Camera Operator: Moe LaRena
Assistant Camera: Josh Catubig
Gaffer: Eddie Harold Jr.
Audio: Tony Charles
Production Assistant: Quinton Johnson
Production Coordinator: Tanìa Jones
Production Manager: Kristen Helmick
Line Producer: Natasha Soto-Albors
Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds
Post Production Coordinator: Holly Frew
Supervising Editor: Kameron Key
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Global Entertainment Director: Sergio Kletnoy
Executive Producer: Rahel Gebreyes
Senior Director, Video: Romy van den Broeke
Senior Director, Programming: Linda Gittleson
VP, Video Programming: Thespena Guatieri
Images Courtesy Of: Tony Bowen, Thomas Leijgraaff
Filmed On Location: The Times Square EDITION
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
41 minutes ago
- Forbes
Chanel Celebrates Five Years Of The BAAND Together Dance Festival At Lincoln Center
The New York City Ballet for BAAND Together Dance Festival Courtesy of CHANEL The Rite of Spring is one of Igor Stravinsky's greatest legacies, yet that nearly almost wasn't the case. Composed for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky, when the show debuted in 1913, it was instantly met with controversy. But when Coco Chanel met Diaghilev, she became his friend and costumer designer, and eventually his patron when he was unable to fund the revival of The Rite of Spring , allowing the show to be revived at the end of 1920. Coco Chanel immersed herself in the world of dance beyond providing financial support, taking dance lessons with Isadora Duncan. Her passion for dance lives on through her maison. Today marks the opening night of the BAAND Together Dance Festival, in which five iconic dance companies come together for the fifth year, a famously auspicious number for Chanel. BAAND Together Dance Festival began in 2021 when the New York City arts scene was starting to return to the stage after being ravaged by the pandemic. The festival marked a new form of collaboration to help spark the return of live performances. The American Ballet Theatre for BAAND Together Dance Festival Courtesy of CHANEL 'Five is a very important number for Chanel, but also it represents five years of coming out of this extraordinary time for this city, out of a pandemic, and what was not just a silver lining, but this development of a real relationship that happened in a very dark time for the city,' says Shanta Thake, Ehrenkranz Chief Artistic Officer of Lincoln Center. 'These five incredible, illustrious companies coming together and making something bigger than the sum of its parts is one of the most inspirational events.' The festival is an ongoing reminder of how powerful it can be when people join forces for good. 'These five dance companies in the middle of the pandemic were leaning on each other in new ways, as many of us were, and thinking about how as running companies of dancers when we're not allowed to be together and near each other, sharing ideas practices and how to move through this time, and they formed this camaraderie,' Thake says. 'Jon Nakagawa, who was on the Lincoln Center team, found out about this and reached out and asked, 'could you imagine actually performing together beyond this conversation?' They took that and ran with it. This idea of coming together in this way was important for all of the leaders of these companies to show what was possible when they came together, and to be able to celebrate together.' Running through August 2, each dance company will perform a program curated collaboratively by the artistic directors as part of Lincoln Center's Summer for the City. The Dance Theatre of Harlem will perform 'Nyman String Quartet No. 2' by Robert Garland, New York City Ballet will perform 'After the Rain (Pas de Deux)' by Christopher Wheeldon, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will perform 'Many Angels' by Lar Lubovitch, American Ballet Theatre will perform 'Midnight Pas de Deux' by Susan Jaffe and Ballet Hispánico will perform 'House of Mad'moiselle' by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. BAAND Together Dance Festival has grown and evolved since its inaugural performance, which was held outdoors to accommodate restrictions during the pandemic. 'We're very fortunate to be in the space of our friends at New York City Ballet, at the David H. Koch Theater,' Thake says. 'We moved it indoors because we want to make sure we never have any weather cancelations when we have these companies together. The other thing is the deepening of the relationship with Chanel, who's been supporting this from the very beginning, moving with us—no pun intended—towards all of these choices of how and where we meet the audience. It's become such a fan favorite, staff favorite and dancer favorite, to see all of these companies together because of the depth of these relationships over five years.' Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for BAAND Together Dance Festival Courtesy of CHANEL For the first time, this season the audience can get the behind-the-scenes scoop on the on-stage collaboration between all five dance companies during a free panel discussion on July 29 at 5PM in the David Rubenstein Atrium featuring the artistic leaders of all five companies, moderated by Thake. 'To actually hear artistic directors in conversation with one another, you see this camaraderie come out in a different kind of way,' Thake says. 'What I love about these artistic directors is that they're also New Yorkers. You also get to see them as people who are so invested in this city, and because dance happens at such a young age, and so many of them grew up here, learning here at these various schools and forums, this idea of what it means to be in New York and dance is going to come through in this panel.' To reach audiences and dance lovers in new ways, free dance workshops will be offered for all ages and abilities. 'Every day of the festival, a different company brings their expertise in education and programming to the David Geffen Hall lobby, where anyone can participate in these dance workshops,' Thake says. 'Another through line of these companies that they all have beautiful, big education programs. It's a large part of what they do. It's not an aside. To be able to make sure that we have room to showcase both of them, and for audience members to be able to come and watch the performance at night, but also be able to dance yourself and join us on the dance floor after the performance, [illustrates] this idea that dance really does belong to all of us. Freedom of movement and the power of being able to use your body in space is one that that we feel is necessary to activate differently in this time.' The performers of the BAAND Together Dance Festival Courtesy of CHANEL A cornerstone of the BAAND Together Dance Festival is making dance more accessible to all, so to honor that effort tickets are available on a choose-what-you-pay basis (the suggested ticket price is $35). 'It's amazing to have audiences walk into that theater and have this experience in one of the best theaters in the world, and choose what you pay ticketing and free tickets, and see these great companies together,' Thake says. 'A lot of people don't think culture belongs to them. It's part of our role as a civic cultural institution to make sure that everyone in the city and beyond knows that art is a public good. We have this opportunity in the summers to open up all of these different culturally rich bridges to anyone that comes through, and to be able to see this height of human expression. We want to make sure everyone has that ability. We also do that through the addition of ASL to performances and performances where we have audio description, making sure that the Lincoln Center is a place for everyone.' Ballet Hispánico for BAAND Together Dance Festival Courtesy of CHANEL As the official partner of the festival, Chanel makes all of this possible. 'Chanel is such an incredibly generous partner for this festival over five years,' Thake says. 'They continue to deepen their relationship to dance and the performing arts, and you see it also in the history of this house, and Gabrielle Chanel's commitment to dance and freedom of movement, and this storytelling around it. When you think of Chanel, you think of this femininity, but also strength. There's a strength associated with the house and you cannot look at the athleticism of the dancers and not think the same thing with these beautiful movements, but also the unbelievable strength of these athletes onstage. Lincoln Center is a long-standing idea and ballet and Chanel is as well, so when you come together around the shared idea of something that's as old as time itself, of people coming together, expressing themselves through movement, it's always a beautiful process.' The Dance Theatre of Harlem for BAAND Together Dance Festival Courtesy of CHANEL Thanks to the BAAND Together Dance Festival, both Chanel and Lincoln Center achieve their shared goal of making dance accessible to all. 'The most rewarding for me is watching this audience come in and maybe they have seen Alvin Ailey before, but they didn't even know that Ballet Hispanico existed, or they are part of the school of Ballet Hispanico, but have never seen ballet with the American Ballet Theater,' Thake says. 'Watching people understand what's available to them in this city, in this world, that there are all of these different forms of expression that are here in this incredible city, I just love that. I love watching somebody come in with a tutu and then stopping by the Alvin Ailey desk on the way out to find out more. The hope is exactly that, that the more people learn about these different forums and companies, the more they continue to expand their own curiosity about humanity at large.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
This Isn't the First Time These Hard Rock Legends Have Said Goodbye
This Isn't the First Time These Hard Rock Legends Have Said Goodbye originally appeared on Parade. With the big "Back to the Beginning" farewell /Black Sabbath concert extravaganza set for July 5, fans might recall that this isn't the first time that the iconic frontman and hard rock legends have said goodbye. Back in 2016, the band was on a tour billed as 'The End,' to support their 2013 album 13. That album opens with a song titled 'End of the Beginning,' in which Osbourne sings 'Is this the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?' 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 Back then, Black Sabbath discussed doing one final album followed by another tour but decided to scrap their plans for another studio effort and instead opted to hit the road on a four-leg trek that hit Australia and New Zealand, then Europe, before closing in North America. In advance of that tour, this writer interviewed Osbourne and bassist/lyricist for Yahoo! Music in Osbourne's office, in the back of his Beverly Hills estate. Both Sabbath legends said during that interview the decision to forgo another studio effort came down primarily to a matter of time. 'It would have taken another three years to write and record another album,' Osbourne explained. 'We just felt we wanted to tour.'Back in 2016, Osbourne was already talking like the band was finished after 'The End' tour. 'I'm glad we're all still alive. I'm glad we can still play. I'm glad that we all still want to play, and I'm glad it's the end because we didn't want to fizzle out,' he added. 'To end up with a final thing with the guys I started off with is great. I'm not saying I'm retiring, because I'm still going to be doing some kind of musical thing, but it's been a great journey. We never thought when we first went into the studio in 1969, early 1970, that we were going to last five years, and here we are nearly 50 years up the road and we're still active. That's what really is important to me. "One of my favorite things is we weren't a band that was created by some business guy in London,' Osbourne continued. 'We're four guys. I was in a band with Terry [Geezer], [guitarist] Tony [Iommi] was in a band with [drummer] Bill [Ward]. I went to school with Tony. We came from a three-mile radius of each other, and we formed a band to have a bit of fun and here we are on this amazing journey. I'm glad it's coming to an end on a high note, for a change.' This Isn't the First Time These Hard Rock Legends Have Said Goodbye first appeared on Parade on Jul 4, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 4, 2025, where it first appeared. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sydney Sweeney Is Facing A Backlash Over Her New American Eagle Campaign. Here's What People Are Saying
Sydney Sweeney's new collaboration with the fashion brand American Eagle has become the centre of a whole lot of debate. The Euphoria star unveiled a new campaign with the American clothing brand last week, to promote their line of denim last week. However, it didn't take long before social media clips to promote the deal sparked a wave of discomfort among many critics, largely due to some of the language that's used in the campaign. This is the story so far… What is Sydney Sweeney's new ad campaign for American Eagle all about? For American Eagle's autumn 2025 campaign, Sydney Sweeney can be seen sporting items from the brand's denim range, including a new pair of jeans inspired by her. The campaign also makes use of the slogan 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans', a pun on the term 'great genes'. In another, she explains: 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour.' 'My jeans are blue,' she then quips, at which point a narrator delivers the line: 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.' Why are some people upset about Sydney Sweeney's new ads for American Eagle? Unfortunately this repeated use of the slogan 'great jeans', a pun on 'great genes', has put some viewers in mind of the language used by white supremacists and eugenicists. By centring a blonde, white star in a campaign referencing 'genes', some critics are accusing the brand of tone-deafness at best – particularly in the current political climate – and deliberately pushing a white supremacist agenda at worst. HuffPost UK has contacted representatives for both Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle for comment. Others are pointing out that Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle campaign doesn't mention one other important aspect of the product American Eagle's new 'Sydney Jean' features a butterfly detail on its back pocket, in a nod to domestic violence awareness, a cause which the White Lotus star has championed throughout her career. In fact, an American Eagle press release confirmed that '100% of the purchase price from 'The Sydney Jean' will be donated to Crisis Text Line', a charity in the US which aims to help those affected by domestic violence. However, the ads are also being criticised for not highlighting this key part of the campaign, with some saying its accompanying slogan is even more jarring as a result. Has Sydney Sweeney or American Eagle said anything about the controversy? Not yet, but we'll be sure to keep you updated if and when they do… READ MORE: Glen Powell's Ex Makes Veiled Comments About How Sydney Sweeney Rumours Affected Relationship Sydney Sweeney Fires Back After Producer's Takedown Of Her Looks And Talent Sydney Sweeney Makes Blunt Comment On Women's Empowerment In Hollywood
