“Live your art.” If this philosophy doesn’t hit you straight away when you first meet Lynn, you’ve missed the point entirely. And you’re probably wearing a blindfold.
Lynn has landed in Newton, NJ, creating a fashion bastion in this land faraway from her old Greenwich Village home base. She’s been a style guru for a very long time, with stops along the breadth of the globe: Soho, Paris, Hollywood, The Village. And now Newton. She’s been the celebrity stylist to a galaxy of stars. Yoko. Oprah. Mary J. Blige. Julianne Moore. Sarah Ferguson. Katie Couric. Even Bruce Springsteen. And dozens more.
But that’s not where her interests are anymore. “Those were my celebrity clients. Now, my women are my celebrities. That’s the beauty in this, that’s really the shift.”
“I went to Paris when I was sixteen and that changed my life. I saw that all things are possible at every age. All people saw there were these amazingly confident, sexy women, no matter what age they were, what their body type was. ‘This is who I am, I own it.’ It’s the joie de vivre and the joy of being. Along with a little wine, of course.”
There’s a sense of magic here at her shop in Newton. It’s called Interplay, inspired by the dance of things that are disparate yet intertwined. Europe and the Village. Modern and timeless. Spiritual and practical. Yin and yang.
Interplay is an explosion for your senses, a Bohemian refuge within a small town. It’s the sort of place where you’ll be convinced that elves are redecorating as you look around. There’s an ethereal vibe that permeates everything and draws you in. You’re welcomed with a sign that says “No Bad Vibes” — and offered a glass of wine.
It’s everything that Lynn herself is. Her glow of positivity envelopes you. “We help to sculpt away the excess debris of all of those negative body issues, the ‘I can’t, I won’t’ that women sometimes feel. I’ve had women weep when they look in the mirror because they’ve never felt pretty enough and we can help them see just how beautiful they really are.”
That’s where her magic kicks in. She really is a living style guide. It’s a hands-on, immersive experience of shopping where her lifetime of being a fashion virtuoso gets to know you, what you like, who you want to be, how to make your soul sing.
And that’s the lifeblood of her philosophy. When you find something that resonates with you, you absorb that part of the culture into you. Go ahead and make part of Paris on your front stoop. Explore your world and it can really redefine you.
That’s why Interplay should be your destination for self-exploration. “Come in with an open mind and you will not leave feeling anything but comfortable with yourself and delighted with the change.”
Lynn has even found a way to serve women who can’t make the drive to Newton. She offers a virtual shopping option (bookings available on her website) as a personal consulting service to go through your closet, see your style, what you can let go of, donate, or simply refresh. You get the elan of Interplay from your own home.
So how did this free spirited globe-trotting style advocate end up in Newtown? “My husband Gil and I have always been passionate about animal rescue. We were living in a 600 square-foot 5th-floor walkup in the Village with 6 dogs and eight cats, it got a little much, even for us. So one day we took a road trip, looking for a weekend place. We found a place where the air smelled different, the dogs nearly lost their mind from the smells of nature and the open air. We’d found our place.”
“Now we’re on a 62 acre farm with horses and donkeys and farm animals. I was still commuting to Soho from here every day. We felt like we should make a life out here so we moved here for good. So I guess I brought Soho to me.”
Interplay is on Water Street in Newtown and online at interplaycouture.com