Anita Berber photographed by Karl Lagerfeld, Vogue Germany
The older we get, the more often we find ourselves in the position of mentoring others and nurturing their growth as I’ve found myself doing lately. I’ve always fancied myself to be the eternal fashion student because I enjoy trying and learning new things, but sharing our experiences with others is an important part of the cycle of growth and creativity, and in fact, teaching means learning as well. I think all the best mentors learn as much (if not more) from their students as they teach.
Oftentimes, people teach without meaning to, unintentionally sharing with others through their own experiences and even mistakes. Some of my favorite teachers and mentors over the years have inspired me by simply doing what they did and encouraging me to do the same (so it isn’t always true that those who can do, and those who can’t teach–that cliché does a disservice to many great teachers!).
And so we share what we learn, and we learn from what is shared, and the eternal cycle of fashion (and life) goes on…
