Lifestyle
Softness Is Not Surrender. It's the Most Radical Thing You Can Do.
Being a superwoman isn't the flex they told you it was. We're making the case for putting down the cape.
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Eighteen years in, Richmond Fashion Week isn't arriving — it's already here. SS26: Elevation runs April 6–12 across three venues with six distinct runway experiences, dozens of designers, and a week of programming that sets a new standard for what fashion looks like in Richmond.
Before you've had a sip of water this morning, TikTok has already diagnosed you. Your cortisol is ruined, your gut is a disaster, and somewhere a brand is ready to charge you $90 to fix it. The wellness industrial complex has built an empire on manufactured urgency, and women are both its most loyal customers and its most underserved patients. We need to talk about it.
The data is clear: Black women are the fastest-growing demographic choosing single life. But the reasons why are more structural — and more powerful — than you think.
When asked why she calls herself a beauty disruptor, Marvella Akiojano doesn’t overcomplicate it.
“I actually come with actual solutions,” she says. “If I’m dropping something, it gotta make sense.”
That mindset built Marviano Cosmetics, a brand rooted not in hype but in performance. From long-wear lip liners to inclusive shade development, her focus is simple: solve real problems. And in a culture shaped by filters and fast launches, her insistence on substance feels quietly radical.
“The social media be deceiving us sometimes,” she adds. “I need to see the real, real.”
For Marvella, in beauty and in life, what lasts matters more than what trends.