In 2021, Stephanie Seymour lost her youngest son to addiction. Harry Brant died from an accidental overdose at the age of 24. Seymour has been in deep grief ever since, and she hasn’t made any public statements that I’ve seen. Now she covers an issue of WSJ. Magazine to talk about what she’s learned over the past few years and how much she still thinks about her son. She has other children, all of them adults – Dylan Thomas Andrews (33), Peter Brant Jr. (29) and Lily Margaret Brant (18). She’s a grandmother too – Dylan recently welcomed a son, and they named him Harry after his uncle.
On losing her son: “If I think that Harry would love something, I do it, and it does help me with my grief,” she told the publication. That includes breathing new life into some of Harry’s favorite clothing items (Seymour remembers her model son styling her outfits since his elementary school years). In one of the black-and-white WSJ. photos, Seymour wears Harry’s favorite Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane suit. In the powerful image, she models the trousers and holds the jacket to her chest, while her bare back, turned towards the camera, bears her son’s name scripted with paint.
Harry’s favorite suit: “It’s a suit that I keep hanging in my dressing room, which is this big room where I keep all my stuff. I do my makeup there. I live in that room,” she shared of the sentimental piece. “I looked at that suit one night and I said, ‘I’m going to put it on.’ It fit me. It still feels so good to put his clothes on,” Seymour added, while revealing that she wants to continue to photograph Harry’s clothing because “he would love it.” Plus, she said, there’s a “whole flock of women that would love to wear his clothes and be photographed.”
She has grandchildren too: “I try to just be present. For me with holidays, and I’m sure a lot of other people can relate, it’s difficult now because I’m always thinking of what’s missing. There’s nothing that’s helped me get through all of this more than my grandchildren.” Like her role as “Grandma Stephanie,” which she said has brought her solace.
This just broke my heart, honestly. The fact that she keeps Harry’s clothes in her dressing room so she can look at them, and deciding to put them on. It’s just so poignant. Also… for some reason, I did think Stephanie and Peter Sr. were no longer together – they did separate at one point, but they reconciled and they’re apparently still together? Anyway, my heart goes out to her.
This IG made me cry:
Cover courtesy of WSJ. Magazine.
I feel for her. I hope she continues to gain strength during her grieving process. Everyone processes grief in their own way. It’s helpful if those around you support you and allow you to process your grief. My husband passed suddenly and unexpectedly 2 years ago. I’m just now getting over the “ magic thinking” that he’s simply away on a long business trip and will return home any day.
I’m so sorry for your loss.
I’m so sorry.
I am so sorry Midnight. That’s unspeakably awful. I hope life brings you some peace and happiness in the future.
Oh, I am so sorry for your loss, Midnight. Sending you comfort and light.
Losing a child, grief never ends.
Whatever you can do to keep on going, do it.
If this gives her comfort, fine.
I know several people who lost loved ones who can not bear to have their personal items that remind them of their loss. Donated everything.
Whatever. Totally a mind your own business situation.
I’m amazed by mothers that can even continue to breathe after losing a child. I think about it often. What would I do? You want to make sure you are there for the surviving one at least, but I think I would simply just shrivel up and die. When anyone asks if I would recommend having children, I always say no, because this type of love is almost unbearable. I feel for her. Whatever it takes to continue existing is all you can do.
I don’t even have children, but I can’t fathom it. You do see mothers waste away and die after losing their child. Knowing what it would do to my mother has kept me alive on a couple of occasions. I feel like I would be ending HER life if something happened to me… even if her heart kept beating.
My sister’s husband died in December. She and her daughters all wore an item of his clothes to the funeral. It was heartbreaking.
I felt my heart crack reading this. They were obviously very close, and to have him taken at such a young age is unspeakably tragic. His life was just beginning. I hope she can find some peace someday.
Anybody out there using opioids, or anybody with a friend/family member they know is using them… get yourself a Narcan prescription if you can. This is not to direct fault at Stephanie, or her son, WHATSOEVER. Just a PSA for a drug that can save lives.
@LUCKSTER — yes. And not just opiates — people are dying who think they’re using cocaine, or Xanax, or something, that they bought on the street, and what they get is fentanyl and it kills them. Narcan saves lives.
Excellent suggestion, Luckster. My ex-husband and I both keep it on hand in case our son relapses. It has been a long, harrowing road and he’s only 19.
My CVS does not require a prescription for Narcan. Not sure if that’s a state-by-state thing, but just putting it out there. The shots are way cheaper than the nose spray, but the nose spray is much easier to use (I’ve used both).
sorry but she was parading those kids around inappropriate settings before they were even teenagers. All for the cameras—all about “the scene.” Lots of weirdly enmeshed sexualized photos with her, etc.
Parenting malpractice has consequences. Poor kid had everything bit nothing that mattered.
That may have been true but…compassion? She lost her son. This is a really awful take here–save it for a discussion about parental enmeshment or inappropriate parenting. This is a discussion about grief, and your holier than thou attitude could be really hurtful to the people who have experienced similar grief here. Please do better.
+1,000,000
Amazing how some people cannot muster even an ounce of decorum smdh.
I agree. She indulge them. Especially the oldest brant boy. The father even spoke up.
I’m not surprised it was an accidental overdose. Those kids had no boundaries or rules. With that being said it’s hard to be young today. The distribution dont test or even know how its suppose to look. The drug dealers just sell whatever they get and they don’t know anything about drugs. They think it’s cocaine but it’s really fent. Could happen to anyone. But rich people have the means to test.
This comment is unnecessarily cruel. Do you feel better/superior/good about yourself typing such a judgmental and gross comment out loud?
Oh this poor woman. My heart breaks for her. Like @kgeo above, I do not know how a mother takes a breath when her child is gone 💔💔💔
It’s a tragic situation that sounds like there were really skewed boundaries where he was raised. I did a lot of grief support for families and caregivers and it is so particular to each person. However Alan Wolfelt really put grief care in a place in the US (centerforloss.com). When I was doing grief work with people they require you to do your own work. He once told me that “Darkness is the chair in which light sits.” I love that saying. We express our grief in metaphors so particular to each person’s situation. It sounds like she has found the one that expresses her loss and her son’s life at the same time.
If anyone ever needs support for loss go to that site it has numerous resources and incredible amounts of help. It also links to many grief centers across America.
(centerforloss.com)
I’m so sorry for her loss. I’m not sure that she and her husband are actually back together, but the divorce proceedings got so ugly that I think they agreed to stop it and peacefully co-exist. I know Peter Brant just bought two very lavish buildings in Manhattan that have passage ways that joint them somehow. I’m sure they are united in grief and in their love of their family.