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New York Post
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
Influencer Candice Miller returns to social media with cryptic post nearly a year after husband's suicide
Mommy blogger Candice Miller made her return to social media with a cryptic social media post nearly a year after her husband took his own life in their sprawling Hamptons estate, leaving her and her daughters with a crippling $33.6 million debt. The glamorous mother of two, who ran the popular Mama & Tata blog with her sister documenting their ritzy lifestyle before her husband's shocking suicide last July, posted a photo of the sun glaring over the ocean on her otherwise deleted Instagram page Monday night. 'In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer,' a quote posted in the caption read. 'And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger – something better, pushing right back.' The quote is attributed to the philosophical French novelist Albert Camus. 4 Influencer Candace Miller returned to Instagram on Monday night 11 months after her husband's suicide. Bre Johnson/ / Shutterstock 4 Miller posted a photo of the sun over the ocean with a quote attributed to Albert Camus. Miller's husband, 44-year-old Brandon Miller, a high-profile New York real estate developer, poisoned himself in the garage of their Hamptons home over the 4th of July weekend last year as he secretly battled a mountain of debt totaling $33.6 million. 4 Miller sold the sprawling Hampton's estate for $12.8 million. Bespoke Real Estate 4 Brandon Miller left Candice and their daughters behind with nearly $34 million in debt. Getty Images At the time of his death, Miller had just $8,000 in the bank. Candice reportedly admitted to friends that she never asked about his business dealings and didn't keep tabs on details of their personal finances. After her life was upended by her husband's sudden death, Miller sold the Hamptons estate for $12.8 million and resettled with her two daughters in Miami, Florida, where she is attempting to rebuild her life.
Business of Fashion
27-05-2025
- Business
- Business of Fashion
Inside The Business of Beauty's Community Event for Industry Leaders in New York
Long considered one of the most resilient discretionary categories, the beauty industry is experiencing a slowdown — one that is impacting its biggest conglomerates and its hero categories. To navigate this new market reality, brands are reevaluating their positioning, channel strategies and their relationships to core customers. To chart these changes together, The Business of Beauty gathered founders, executives and entrepreneurs from across the beauty, wellness and financial sectors at Spring Studios in New York. The evening was an opportunity for intimate networking with peers and also featured an Executive Briefing — a presentation designed to distil The Business of Beauty's market-leading coverage into actionable insights. The Business of Beauty Community Event BoF's chief business officer Johanna Stout welcomes beauty founders and executives to The Business of Beauty community event. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ 'Everyday, everyone in this room is having to make business-critical decisions in a rapidly changing market,' said Johanna Stout, chief business officer and head of beauty at The Business of Fashion, in her opening remarks. 'The amount of information required to make strategic decisions has grown exponentially, as well as the variety of insights across consumers, technology and regulation that is required to remain competitive.' The Business of Beauty Community Event Leaders from companies such as Amazon, Elemis, Biologique Recherche, Dibs Beauty, Coty and J.P. Morgan gathered for an Executive Briefing from BoF's Priya Rao and Alice Gividen. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ To unpack the complexity and brief the executives in the room, Priya Rao, executive editor of The Business of Beauty, and Alice Gividen, BoF's director of content strategy, analysed and offered perspectives on the biggest beauty takeaways from the last quarter. The Business of Beauty Community Event Veronika Ullmer, Global Head of Corporate & Consumer Communcations, Partnerships and Impact at Glossier, and Alisa Carmichael, Partner at VMG Partners, in conversation at The Business of Beauty Community Event. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ Their discussion began with the evolving impact of President Trump's tariffs — particularly in relation to South Korea — putting an end to the decade of free trade that helped to spur US consumers' obsession with K-beauty. Gividen and Rao discussed the risks of cutting off access to innovation that consumers are not only accustomed to, but now demand. The conversation turned to the importance of a multi-channel strategy in 2025. Activate Consulting finds that the average consumer has a 32-hour long day thanks to multitasking across different channels — from TV and audio, to mobile, e-commerce, gaming and sports. Indeed, sport was identified by Rao and Gividen as a key investment for beauty brands that want to organically hold consumer attention. The scope of opportunity was discussed— from the rise and rise of women's sports, through to brand-building opportunities and first-mover advantage in hyper-local community sports like padel. The conversation concluded with a discussion around the opportunities and complexities of 'longevity' in beauty, as the industry's biggest conglomerates have been quick to invest in this space. While L'Oréal Group invested in the longevity biotech brand Timeline, Estée Lauder Companies has continued its longevity-focused partnership with Stanford. Rao and Gividen discuss the longevity strategies gaining traction with customers, but cautioned brands to avoid committing to promises they cannot fulfil. Activate subscriptions to The Business of Beauty for you and your team today, for access to in-depth reporting, competitor analysis and exclusive insights. The Business of Beauty's senior strategists are available to deliver Executive Briefings in-house, tailored to your business. Please get in touch here to arrange one. The Business of Beauty Community Event Veronika Ullmer, Global Head of Corporate & Consumer Communcations, Partnerships and Impact at Glossier, at The Business of Beauty Community Event in New York in May 2025. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ The Business of Beauty Community Event Leilah Diong, Private Banker at J.P. Morgan, at The Business of Beauty Community Event in New York in May 2025. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ The Business of Beauty Community Event Fara Homidi, founder and CEO at Fara Homidi Beauty and Delfina Forstmann, Brand Strategist at Fara Homidi Beauty, at The Business of Beauty Community Event in New York in May 2025. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ The Business of Beauty Community Event The Business of Beauty's Priya Rao, and Andrew Stanleick, President at Kenvue, at The Business of Beauty Community Event in New York in May 2025. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ The Business of Beauty Community Event Margot Humbert, Head of US at Biologique Recherche, at The Business of Beauty Community Event at New York in May 2025. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ The Business of Beauty Community Event Alisa Carmichael, Partner at VMG Partners, at The Business of Beauty Community Event in New York in May 2025 (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ The Business of Beauty Community Event Jeff Lee, CEO at Dibs Beauty, at The Business of Beauty Community Event at New York in May 2025. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ The Business of Beauty Community Event Henry Davis, CEO at Sakara Life, at The Business of Beauty Community Event in New York in May 2025. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ The Business of Beauty Community Event Shamini Rajarethnam, CEO of Rationale Beauty, and Polly Viska, Marketing Director at Rationale Beauty, at The Business of Beauty Community Event in New York in May 2025. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ The Business of Beauty Community Event Ryan Piela, Executive Director at Estée Lauder Companies, and Roseanna Roberts, Global Trend Foresight Lead at Estée Lauder Companies, at The Business of Beauty Community Event in New York in May 2025. (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ The Business of Beauty Community Event Jackie Dunklau, Founder & Partner at Aria Growth at The Business of Beauty Community Event in New York in May 2025 (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/ The Business of Beauty Community Event Tehmina Haider, Partner at L Catterton at The Business of Beauty Community Event in New York in May 2025 (Kevin Czopek/ Czopek/
New York Post
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
A Hamptons ‘girls' weekend' comes with an outrageous price tag these days: ‘Like Disneyland now'
Out East, temperatures are rising — and so are the prices. The cost of a 'girls' weekend' in the Hamptons has now blown out to several thousand dollars as aspiring content creators fork out big bucks to elbow their way into the hotspots hyped up on social media. The Wall Street Journal reports that an individual can drop at least $3,823 in just three days if they splash cash at the pricey places beloved by their favorite New York City-based influencers. 'The Hamptons is like Disneyland now,' self-described 'zillennial finance expert' Haley Sacks told the publication. 'It's so commodified, and you need to go to all these places to check a box so you can post on Instagram. And they all cost a lot of money.' 'The content aspect is really new,' Sacks added. 'There's a lot of pressure right now online of this idea of sameness, and the sameness pushes people into debt because it forces you to spend to keep up with a certain crowd.' 7 Revelers are pictured at the Surf Lodge in Montauk this past Sunday. The pricey hotspot is a favorite for influencers and aspiring content creators. David Benthal/ 7 New Yorker Noelle Conforti is pictured in the Hamptons. Last summer, she and her gal pals paid thousands for a summer share. @noelleconforti/Instagram 7 Duryea's in Montauk is an essential pitstop on an glamorous girls' weekend. @duryeasmontauk/Instagram 7 The $97 lobster cobb salad at Duryea's is a must-have for young Manhattanites who flock to Montauk. @duryeasmontauk/Instagram But for the hordes of bright-eyed Big Apple youngsters who step off the Jitney armed with their smartphones and credit cards, the steep costs are a small price to pay for access to an elite scene — and enviable social media content. 'It feels like you're a part of some exclusive club,' New Yorker Noelle Conforti, 26, told the Journal. 'You almost feel like you've made it in a sense because you're there and you're partying with really fun and cool people that you typically see on social media.' For those who don't have their own house in the Hamptons, the biggest cost is accommodation, with the Journal reporting that gal pals pay up to $1,500 each to bunk down for three nights in a shared motel room. Others squeeze into rental houses, which are also exorbitantly priced. 7 'It feels like you're a part of some exclusive club.' Glamorous trendsetters are seen posing at Surf Lodge in Montauk over the Memorial Day Weekend. David Benthal/ 7 Round Swamp Farm, an organic market in Bridgehampton, is also an essential stop, thanks to its $32 guacamole and $16 chicken salad, both of which have gone viral on TikTok. Courtesy of Round Swamp Farm Conforti told The Journal that her group of friends paid $3,700 for four nights in a three-bedroom share last summer. However, the accommodation merely functions as a place to sleep, with the vacationers stepping out — and paying up — to capture content for their social channels. Among the go-to places: Carissa's The Bakery, where a matcha latte and an almond croissant will set you back $15, and a Tracy Anderson workout class costing $75. Those heading to Montauk can expect to pay $97 for a lobster cobb salad at Duryea's, while bottle service at Surf Lodge is a eye-popping $950, per the publication. Round Swamp Farm, an organic market in Bridgehampton, is also an essential stop, thanks to its $32 guacamole and $16 chicken salad, both of which have gone viral on TikTok. 7 Revelers are seen at Surf Lodge over Memorial Day Weekend. There, bottle service can cost an eye-popping $950. David Benthal/ Also factored into the cost of a girls' weekend: hair, makeup and clothing. Big Apple-based Francia Cooper, 33, told the Journal she does serious grooming ahead of a Hamptons weekend. The wellness entrepreneur will buy new extensions for $180, fake eyelashes for $120, and treat herself to a Russian manicure and pedicure for $250 all for a Hamptons trip. Many visitors also flock to the brand-name boutiques that line the main streets of Southhampton, East Hampton and Sag Harbor to indulge in a spot of shopping. However, some merely pose out front, mindful that they've already spent too much money on their weekend away. 'If you don't take a selfie in front of the little Chanel boutique house-looking store, then I'm not sure if you even went to the Hamptons,' Conforti quipped.
New York Post
09-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Maggie Gyllenhaal's daughter, Ramona Sarsgaard, arrested during Columbia protests
Maggie Gyllenhaal's daughter, Ramona Sarsgaard, was arrested during the chaotic anti-Israel protests at Columbia University Wednesday, police sources said. Sarsgaard, 18, who attends Columbia College, was slapped with a desk appearance ticket for criminal trespassing, the sources said. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Ramona Sarsgaard Matteo Prandoni/ / Shutterstock Protesters take over the Columbia University library. Obtained by NY Post The actress's daughter was one of nearly 80 agitators arrested while storming the university's Butler Library Wednesday evening as students prepared for final exams. At least two school safety officers were injured in the melee, officials said.
New York Post
07-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
We sold thousands worth of designer clothing to a NYC secondhand shop — and never got paid
Before deciding to sell her designer clothes, Monica Suk had barely heard of Dora Maar. Now, she wishes she never had — after the trendy NYC-based online luxury consignment shop went out of business, leaving her high and dry. The company and its founder and chief executive Lauren Taylor Wilson were once splashed across the pages of Vogue, Marie Claire, Women's Wear Daily, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal. Advertisement Lilah Ramzi, an editor and fashion historian, and the style blogger Leandra Medine Cohen also helped promote the project, giving it additional heft — Rodarte and Markarian, who dressed Jill Biden for the 2021 inauguration, even teamed up with the trendy site to resell inventory. 'It looked legit, and it was cool,' Suk, a 36-year-old tech professional in Hong Kong, told The Post. 12 Monica Suk, who works in tech but does content creation for fun, claimed she was never paid by Dora Maar. Daniel Murray Advertisement Wilson, 35, brought major cred to the project, having previously held impressive positions at luxury platform Moda Operandi, in marketing at Christie's and Gucci before starting Dora Maar in 2019 — to sell high-end fashion through community and storytelling and establish a provenance for each piece of clothing. Unlike competing consignment operations like The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective, Poshmark or Rebag, Dora Maar, named for the Surrealist photographer and onetime lover of Picasso, elevated its consignors to rockstar status. 12 Dora Maar founder and chief executive Lauren Taylor Wilson started the company in 2019. Lanscine JAnneh/ The sellers, most of whom were microinfluencers Wilson called 'muses,' were highlighted on the website and on social media in magazine-worthy photographs, typically wearing the clothes they were selling. Advertisement Many of them were stylists hawking their own services, and they welcomed the exposure and chance to promote their brands. 'Heartbreaking and painful' 12 Suk claimed they made it easy to list about $16,000 worth of items. Daniel Murray When Suk turned to the company to offload her estimated $16,000 worth of designer wares last year, a direct conversation with Brian Solis, Dora Maar's head of fashion, helped to put her at ease, as did emails with Solis and the team. 'They made it easy for me to sell my items,' she said — providing her with a DHL label and a set time to pick them up. Advertisement Suk signed a lengthy contract about a month after and shipped two boxes of clothing — including a black Gabriela Hearst cashmere and silk dress, a Bottega Veneta poplin top, a Celine sweater and a pair of Chanel rubber rain boots — to the company's Brooklyn headquarters. Suk waited for payment, but claimed none came. 12 Dora Maar is named after the French Surrealist artist. Jason Crowley/ At the end of July 2024, Suk received a mass email from Wilson informing her that as of early August, Dora Maar would cease business operations. The Post viewed the email in which Wilson wrote the decision was 'incredibly heartbreaking and painful for all of us.' The founder claimed the team took part-time pay cuts in the spring and she had 'barely taken a paycheck for over a year.' After an anticipated investment fell through over the summer, the shop had no choice but to shutter. Previous 1 of 6 Next Advertisement The online luxury consignment shop announced it was closing. The brand announced it was closing in August 2024. Dora Maar/Instagram Advertisement 'After five years we're sad to announce that Dora Maar is closing. Thank you to everyone for your unwavering love and support. We are so proud of what we've built together. It's been the journey of a lifetime. Love, Lauren and the DoMa team.' Dora Maar/Instagram Dora Maar often referred to its customers as the DoMa family and called its sellers 'muses.' Dora Maar/Instagram Advertisement Wilson said in a message that she was proud of the team, the muses and the 'relationships that were formed that became more than just a business, and more than a community,' she wrote. 'It became a DoMa family.' Advertisement Wilson also acknowledged that it was her responsibility to try to make the muses 'whole,' but she couldn't guarantee that would happen. She asked sellers to let her know if they wanted their unsold items returned or if she should try to sell them with another resale platform. The website is still live, but no products are available for sale. 12 Brian Solis and Lauren Wilson, seen here in 2024 at the Friends of the Costume Institute breakfast and tour of the Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion exhibit. Hippolyte Petit/ Non-payment Suk, who still hadn't received any commissions, sent Wilson an email on July 30 requesting payment for 22 items, which had sold for $3,626.65. Advertisement Wilson assured Suk a week later that her leftover merchandise would be shipped back. 'As for the commissions, we are working on this through the closure and will follow up in due course,' she wrote in an email seen by The Post. 12 Dora Maar featured Wilson wearing Suk's Chanel rain boots on its social media account. @shopdoramaar Weeks later, Suk claimed she never received the money or the clothes. Worst, she claimed some of the prices on her pieces had been heavily discounted without her consent. Advertisement In September 2024, after multiple attempts at getting a response from Wilson on her outstanding payments and giving her a deadline for rectifying the situation, Suk posted a video online, alleging her items were 'stolen,' and asked others to share their experiences. She received comments from more than 40 women for an estimated $25,000 in total. Some claimed they were invited to invest in the company; others claimed they were recruited in the months or weeks before Dora Maar announced its closing. Some sold clothing on behalf of their own clients, which meant they owed money elsewhere. One was told that a Dora Maar employee's mother had purchased her handbag; another said her items were bought by an employee. Advertisement None of the women had been paid since April, they claimed — with insult added to injury as they watched Taylor post glamorous pictures from her European travels. 'It was very alluring' Kate Easton, an actress in New York, is also waiting to get paid for her items. Easton, who declined to give her age, was asked to pose for a spring campaign to promote Dora Maar. 'The mutually agreed-upon terms were that they would sell my luxury items and I would receive commission for each of my items sold,' said Easton, who also posted on Instagram about Dora Maar events and clothing. Easton reached out many times over the next few months about the non-payment and was eventually told that the company was shutting down and wouldn't be able to pay her commission from sales — nor were they able to return her sold items. 'It's disappointing and unfortunate that I was never paid for two of my luxury items that were sold on their site,' she said. 12 Clare Hardy called the company 'predatory' for its alleged actions. Courtesy Clare Hardy ''Predatory' — that's the best word I can describe for what the experience was for me,' Clare Hardy, 39, claimed. Hardy said Wilson messaged her online and invited her to become a muse in March. Hardy, who works at a large tech conglomerate and runs a website called The Haute Lady, was just starting out in the luxury resale space and was flattered that someone of Wilson's stature deemed her muse-worthy. 'I was blown away that a very small, brand-new creator like me would even get that type of attention,' Hardy said. 'The thought was, 'Oh, I was handpicked to be a muse.' It was very alluring.' 12 Hardy claimed she was 'targeted' as a 'new creator who didn't know what the heck she was doing.' Courtesy Clare Hardy She assembled about 15 items, shelled out roughly $2,000 on a photo shoot of her wearing them and sent everything from her home in Atlanta to New York. 'It's like I was targeted because I was a new creator who didn't know what the heck she was doing,' said Hardy, who has not been repaid the $4,000 she estimates she is owed. (She did receive her unsold clothes, minus an Hermès bracelet.) 12 She spent $2,000 on a photoshoot for the company and listed about 15 items. Courtesy Clare Hardy 'Emotional betrayal' Natalia Zemliakova, a stylist in New York who declined to give her age, was also 'discovered' by Dora Maar on Instagram in late March. Like other women, she appreciated the company's ethos. 'With The RealReal, it's so impersonal,' Zemliakova said. 'You basically send your clothes to a warehouse, and they don't communicate with you. They don't tell you how much they will pay — you just ship it, and they decide everything on their own.' 12 Hardy recalled thinking, ''Oh, I was handpicked to be a muse.' It was very alluring.' Courtesy Clare Hardy But this was different. Zemliakova sent about 15 pieces, including a vintage Yves Saint Laurent jacket. 'I warned them, 'If you guys sell it for a super-low price, just tell me because I'd rather keep it,'' she said. Dora Maar seemed to understand the emotional turmoil that often accompanies closet evacuation, and the company promised to adhere to her request — which, she said, they did. But she says she is still owed $1,000 for three items that sold. 12 Natalia Zemliakova is still owed $1,000 for three items that sold. Courtesy Natalia Zemliakova 'It's almost an emotional betrayal,' said Zemliakova. 'They were selling these clothes, and the person who bought them basically paid for the thing, right? They were supposed to take 50 percent, and 50 percent goes to me. So why can't they pay for it?' Neither Wilson nor her lawyer, Daniel Weberman, responded to questions. Solis declined to comment. According to a report by Bain & Company, in 2024 the global secondhand luxury goods market grew to an estimated 48 billion EUR (more than 50 billion US), outpacing the sales of new luxury goods. The online second-hand market accounts for approximately 50% of the total second-hand market. But it's not regulated. 12 Zemliakova called it 'emotional betrayal.' 'Why can't they pay for it?' she asked. Courtesy Natalia Zemliakova John Breyault, a fraud expert with consumer advocacy organization the National Consumers League, said it was difficult to say if anything illegal took place. 'If they promised a lot of things and didn't deliver on them over a sustained period of time, or they were not upfront about what would happen if the company went out of business, that could be something I would expect an attorney general to look at,' he said. Suk said she was blocked by Wilson's personal account after posting the video and hopes to prevent others from falling victim to what she called an 'irresponsible entrepreneur.' 'Her point to people was, 'We're a small company, and there are risks,'' she explained. 'No! That's something you tell your investors, not your sellers. Don't use the terms 'sustainability' and 'community' — especially when you're going to end up exploiting that community.'
