Who

The fashion critic for the New York Times, Horyn has made waves with her brutally honest reviews of haute couture.

Backstory

A native of Ohio, Horyn says she only became interested in fashion reportage after she realized that the fashion correspondent at her local paper got to travel to New York for two weeks a year to cover the fashion shows. Horyn earned her first fashion-related editorial gig in Detroit, where she moved in the mid-1980s with her infant son after replying to a help wanted ad in the Detroit Free Press. She left Motor City after four years to become fashion editor of the Washington Post, resigning in 1994 to serve as a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and pursue a freelance career. She became the New York Times' fashion critic in December 1999.

Of note

Known for her tendency to speak her mind, Horyn has aroused no shortage of fury among fashion heavies. In 2006, she skewered Carolina Herrera's collection, calling it "fussy" and "remarkably irrelevant"; she was rumored to have been dropped from Herrera's press invite list as result. In February 2008, she was disinvited to Giorgio Armani's Milan show due to "belittling" comments she made about Armani's friends and family. She's provoked similar reactions at Dolce & Gabbana, Vera Wang, and Nicole Miller. "She has a lack of real education in the fashion business. She doesn't even know how to pronounce Lanvin," once sniffed Bud Konheim, Nicole Miller's business partner.

Members of the fashion media, too, haven't been immune either. Horyn wrote a February 2007 profile of Anna Wintour for the Times that accused the editrix of using her power for evil, and "promoting labels of dubious design merit but with an obvious social or power connection." The bold piece angered some fashion insiders, particularly those close to the Vogue matriarch. Still, for all feathers that Horyn ruffles, many have found her lack of sycophantism refreshing. In addition to pieces in the paper, Horyn also shares her thoughts on her official Times blog, On the Runway.

The look

Horyn is no rail-thin fashionista. In 2004, she embarked on a weight loss campaign and shed nearly 40 pounds, a process she later wrote about for the Times. Other members of the fashion media seemed bemused by the transformation: When Horyn showed up at the Chanel couture show in Paris in July 2006, Fashion Week Daily sniped, "Horyn may be looking trimmer these days, but Natalia Vodianova she is not."

Personal

Horyn has a son, Jacob, and is single. She had her three-acre home in Garrison, NY built from the ground up in 1998.

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