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The Only Thing Angela Rye Won’t Wear on CNN

The political commentator and attorney proves with every TV appearance that serious women can be fashionable—with a little help from a friend who keeps her “not just looking cute, but fashion-forward.”

BY AMIRAH MERCER MARCH 8, 2018
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/03/angela-rye-fashion

There is a seemingly endless cast of talking heads on CNN, but if you’ve heard an Angela Rye sound bite, you’re unlikely to forget it. The 38-year-old lawyer greeted Omarosa Manigault’s departure from the White House with a joyous “Girl, bye!” and told conservative radio host Joe Walsh, in a conversation about then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s patronizing exchange with reporter April Ryan, “I’m not talking to bigots.”

But Rye is far more than what’s seen on TV. “My life is not revolved around commentating,” she says by phone from L.A. Though Rye’s celebrity is increasing daily, she only sees it as fuel for her actual work, which includes her podcast On One with Angela Rye and her role as C.E.O. of IMPACT Strategies, a D.C.-based political advocacy firm.

But when a public appearance is required, Rye knows that her image matters—or, as her friend, InStyle editor Kahlana Barfield instructs, “making sure that I am not just looking cute, but looking fashion forward.” Take her appearance at an official city event in Memphis in February, where she wore a black beret cocked to one side to advocate for the city’s sanitation workers, who continue to suffer from poor quality of life even as the city commemorates a landmark 1968 strike. The beret was, yes, about the Black Panthers, and her namesake Angela Davis. “But also, Black Panther just came out, so I’m all Wakanda everything right now.”

Rye, who has also partnered with Tamara Mellon on a one-of-a-kind platform shoe made from vintage scarves sourced in L.A., spoke to Vanity Fair about how fashion and advocacy cooperate, plus how her relationship with Common has helped her grow.

Vanity Fair: I was digging through your Instagram and had to pause at the picture of your look from the Essence Black Women in Hollywood lunch. How did that look come together?

Angela Rye: I have a great friend who’s also from my hometown, in Seattle, named Kahlana Barfield, who is the InStyle fashion editor. She is extraordinary and she has been on me about making sure that I am not just looking cute but looking fashion forward, so that was a look that Kahlana actually pulled from Naeem Khan. I’ve always cared about appearance and making sure that I was together, but Kahlana makes sure I’m extra together.

Do you feel like you’ve had to evolve your style as you’ve gone from behind the scenes to appearing on CNN regularly to being more in the public eye?

Yeah. I would say if I didn’t, Kahlana would definitely make sure that I did. It does take a lot of work. The hair, the makeup, and all that stuff—making sure you’re together takes a lot of work. People think it’s a lot of glamour, but, man, it is a whole lot of work. I wish I would’ve known that. It’s fun when you get to see the pictures after. You’re like, O.K. it was all worth it.

We’re moving past this idea that serious women can’t be fashionable. A really interesting moment is where you were debating S.E. Cupp about gun control in this really elegant one-shoulder shirt. I feel like you display that duality of femininity really well.

Yeah, the most important thing that I’m learning in life is, it’s really critical for us to always be our 100-percent selves. We are always evolving. The best thing about humanity is we can continue to grow and to learn and to develop and find new passions and find new things we like. For me, being able to wear what I want to wear, or wear my hair the way that I want, or decide if I want to wear my glasses one day because my contacts are irritating me, or whatever is a decision that is clearly mine. I’m grateful to work with media partners and to be an on-air contributor with a platform like CNN that doesn’t ever second guess what I decide to wear, unless the pattern’s too busy for the eye on camera. Other than that, I have full creative control.

Was the beret you wore to commemorate the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike an intentional homage to revolutionaries or did you just not even think about that?

She definitely didn’t wear a beret, but I was named after Angela Davis and of course she’s affiliated with the Black Panther Party, so there’s that. But Black Panther just came out so I’m all Wakanda everything. And even though there were no Black Panther cast members in a beret, hopefully they will be in the sequel. There’s gotta be a sequel! We’re almost at a billion dollars international at this point.

What’s a typical morning routine for you?

Atypical. There’s never a day that’s the same. Everything is different. Like, we just finished what we’re calling the #WorkWoke tour at the end of Black History Month, and for me that meant being in a different city every morning. And because I was so afraid that I was going to miss a flight, I was waking up every hour. There’s not a typical day. Sometimes it’s first thing in the morning, I have to wake up and do commentary on-air or I have conference calls for clients or I have to be at an event or make an appearance somewhere. It’s always very different, but the one thing I try to do every morning is take a moment to myself and express gratitude to God for being here, and doing my devotionals so I can set my day off right, because you never know when somebody, especially a Trump supporter, might get under your skin.

You’re being featured in shoe designer Tamara Mellon’s International Women’s Day campaign. How does her story resonate with you?

Tamara Mellon as a shoe designer is dope. When I think about brands that I want to be associated with as a woman and as a black woman, I think about Tamara Mellon. The shoes are amazing, they’re comfortable, and I have several pairs at this point. And the thing that I really, really like about her is she’s down to earth. She doesn’t say, “Hi, I’m Tamara Mellon, the co-founder of Jimmy Choo.” That never even comes up. You have to search that on the Internet to find out her background.

Getting to shoot with them for their International Women’s Day campaign was a dream come true, because they’re like, you know, boss up in these pictures. The other women featured, [Women’s March founders Paola Mendoza and Sarah Sophie Flicker, and Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy], are people I admire. Some of them are friends. I cannot wait to see where she goes with the brand.

Lastly, in your relationship with Common, are you learning anything about navigating the public eye, since this is more of his world as a celebrity?

From meeting Common I’ve definitely become a better human being, and for that I’m grateful.