Dress, $525 (U.S.) through www.kaelennyc.com. Styling by Alex Sweterlitsch. Makeup by Dana Rae Ashburn. Hair by Laura Polko. Shot on location at Dylan Prime restaurant in New York City (www.dylanprime.com).Javier Lovera/The Globe and Mail
"I feel like 2015 is the year of wellness," says Hannah Bronfman. I am chatting with the 26-year-old co-founder of Beautified (a fashion app that's an industry favourite) and HBFit (an online guide to living the good life) at the Tribeca smoothie bar Juice Press during New York Fashion Week. She is balancing a salad on her lap with the same confidence she employs to navigate a jam-packed daily schedule, one that is equal parts erratic and fabulous.
The daughter of Seagram heir Edgar Bronfman Jr. and actress Sherry Brewer, Bronfman is a New York native and no stranger to the city's high-speed lifestyle. Yet the way in which she manages her many obligations – including her digital platforms, DJing parties around the world and modelling for big-name brands such as Donna Karan and Banana Republic – has made her a role model for young women juggling an equally frenetic lifestyle.
Our interview and photo shoot is scheduled between the Jason Wu runway show (where she sits in the front row alongside street-style star Michelle Harper and Saudi retailer Princess Deena Al-Juhani Abdulaziz) and a DJ gig for the Karl Lagerfeld-helmed brand Fendi at its new Madison Avenue flagship. It's not an unusual itinerary for the entrepreneurial It Girl and highlights how she has been able to attract an audience that includes 135,000 Instagram followers. The Hannah Bronfman brand of balance isn't about simplifying things but embracing it all, fashion parties, speaking engagements and intense workouts included.
"It's unrealistic not to be able to indulge," says the seasoned jetsetter. "I live a normal lifestyle, but I try to make healthy decisions while doing it."
Many Manhattanites survive on plates of kale and SoulCycle sessions, but Bronfman's "normal" is built around a more holistic approach that includes meals focused on whole foods and a daily midday workout. Her need to be active is what motivates her through a day of meetings.
Beautified helps keep her on track, too. Touting a simplified approach to same-day bookings for spa, salon and fitness appointments, Bronfman says the Big Apple-focused app was born out of necessity. "There was nothing like it [when Beautified launched in 2013]," she says. "Now, ondemand beauty is a really hot market."
HBFit debuted after a legion of fans encouraged Bronfman to take her commitment to a healthy – and chic – lifestyle to the next level. Posting photos of her breakfasts (a plate of eggs, avocado and kimchi is her go-to) and workouts ranging from Beyoncé dance classes to boxing, Bronfman began to realize that people were associating her with a new approach to wellness. She launched the website last fall and it has grown to include fashion trend reports, makeup tips, interviews with fellow fitness buffs (healthy-eating advocate Tara Milhem was a recent subject), recipes and workout updates. "I met a woman who told me she lost 100 pounds since she started following me last year," Bronfman says, beaming. "It's so rewarding."