Cause of Death Determined for Flaunt Magazine Cofounder Long Nguyen
CAUSE DETERMINED: While many friends and former colleagues of Flaunt magazine cofounder and its longtime style director Long Nguyen are still grappling with the news of his recent death, the office of New York City’s chief medical examiner has determined the cause.
Long Nguyen’s death was a suicide due to “multiple self-inflicted stab and incised wounds,” according to Julie Bolcher, director of public affairs for the office of New York City’s chief medical examiner. In keeping with that agency’s longstanding practice, it only provides the cause and manner of a death, following an autopsy.
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Meanwhile, friends and relatives of Nguyen are planning a memorial for him in New York, possibly at the end of this month or next month, his sister Dao Nguyen said earlier Thursday morning, before the medical examiner’s office had released the cause of death. She could not be reached for further comment Thursday afternoon.
In an interview Tuesday, his sister stated that he was born in 1965 but she was uncertain of his age and the exact location of his death. In the interview, she said, “He died peacefully and on his terms,” adding he had been unwell.
The Vietnamese-born Nguyen, a Princeton University graduate, has been described as a thoughtful, learned and complicated individual, who wasn’t inclined to cave into any type of group-think. Nguyen had been making the rounds on the fashion scene for decades. Some knew him in his pre-Flaunt years, when he served as style director for Detour magazine in the mid- to late ’90s, helping to define the relaxed and accessible street style and grittier heroin chic ethos that was taking hold in the fashion industry. Earlier in his career, Nguyen opened the first public relations office for Dolce & Gabbana in New York. More recently, Nguyen had served as chief fashion critic at The Impression. After leaving that post, Nguyen had been working as a creative consultant.
Kaleidoscope Consulting founder Miki Higasa, who first met Nguyen in her days at Commes des Garcons when he was at Detour magazine years ago, said, “Long gave such a light-spirited and energetic persona and yet he had this very sharp and intelligent point of view of fashion. He was also a very generous and warm person.”
Nguyen’s sister Dao reaffirmed her hope Thursday that a book that Nguyen was said to be working on about the fashion industry from the 1980s on would be completed with the help of his friends.
