SURFACE 7

Moments of Intrigue Define This Moody Menswear Boutique

Plus, the Emory brings a lavish suite of suites to London, Sarah Ellison staples reimagined for the outdoors, and more of the best things we saw this week.

Photography by Erik Stackpole Undehn

SHOP
Moments of Intrigue Define This Moody Menswear Boutique

The retail scene in Downtown Los Angeles has a stylish addition in multi-brand menswear retailer Departamento, which fittingly relocated from the Arts District to the retail enclave Signal. It offers an array of luxury labels like Marni, The Row, and Wales Bonner within moody environs masterminded by local studio 22RE, whose founder, Dean Levin, is cementing its status as a fashion-favorite firm that artfully deploys sensory details in boutiques on both coasts.

Accessed through a hidden storefront, the deconstructivist-inspired Departamento abounds with strategically placed mirrors that reveal glimpses of styled vignettes, sparking moments of voyeuristic intrigue. Industrial flourishes like silver painted beams (an homage to Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra) are tempered with softer touches like burgundy carpeting and spotted cowhide seating. Levin even partnered with unisex label Taiga Takahashi for a transportive shop-in-shop that evokes traditional Japanese inns—it features wood repurposed from 300-year-old ryokans, shelving with tatami-mat bases, pebble-inspired flooring, and a glowing ceiling that shrouds the shop in a futuristic aura. —Ryan Waddoups


 

Image courtesy of Maybourne

STAY
The Emory Brings a Lavish Suite of Suites to London

In London’s Knightsbridge neighborhood, the proprietors of tony accommodations like Claridge’s and The Connaught have unveiled The Emory: a 61-key, suite-only hotel designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. The place reads as a who’s who of movers and shakers of the food, interiors, and wellness worlds. Every two floors are crafted in the visions of design luminaries like Alexandra Champalimaud, Andre Fu, Pierre-Yves Rochon, and Patricia Urquiola, with a colossal penthouse by Rigby & Rigby topping it all off. The property’s public spaces, designed by Rémi Tessier, include no fewer than three restaurants by Jean-Georges Vongerichten: abc kitchen, abcV, and abc cocina. After a day—or night—spent about town, guests can recharge at the Surrenne spa. There, under its gold-leafed ceilings, one could take a spin in its hyperbaric oxygen chamber, or even the U.K.’s first snow shower. —Jenna Adrian-Diaz


Images courtesy of Tortuga Forma

OBSESS
Tortuga Forma: Double Sided Table Linens

This collection of double-sided table linens is purpose-made to push 2D prints into the third dimension. A series of high-contrast colorways, combined with Tortuga Forma’s Japanese production facility (and its knowledge of the country’s folding arts) are guaranteed to make for a conversation-worthy tablescape. From $48. —J.A.D.


Images courtesy of Design Within Reach

SOURCE
Sarah Ellison Staples, Reimagined for Outdoor Living

The sculptural shapes and bold proportions of Sarah Ellison’s slick furniture balance the comfort of coastal living with the sophistication of a city apartment. Now the Australian designer’s firm, newly rebranded as Ellison Studios, is introducing outdoor editions of its signature pieces for Design Within Reach. The Alva armchair now features a powder-coated steel frame complemented by oversized cushions in a versatile sand-colored fabric. The curvy Arch Anywhere dining chair in molded plastic now comes in a warmly tactile yet smooth finish that could easily thrive indoors or out. And her signature plush Muse sofa, now upholstered in performance fabrics, has been deftly reengineered for outdoor lounging. —R.W.


Photography by Natelee Cocks, courtesy of Avroko

PLAY
A Speakeasy-Style Steakhouse Checks Into the Four Seasons

AvroKO has made its name by crafting gobsmacking, transportive interiors for some of hospitality’s most prestigious names. Their latest, Chicago Rare, an Art Deco–esque dazzler of a steakhouse in Doha, is no exception. For proof, look no further than its oxblood leather banquettes and the downright cinematic cake shade lighting in its foyer. After a milk-fed veal chop, or platter of duck fat fries served with parmesan and truffle salt, head to its copper still-inspired cocktail bar, which pays homage to the Prohibition era with its speakeasy atmosphere. Keep the party going with a stop in at the adjoining cigar lounge, which hosts live jazz performances. —J.A.D.


Photography by Brenda Bieger, courtesy Buffalo AKG Art Museum

VISIT
Chloë Bass Is Asking Us Life’s Deepest Questions

There’s much more to see at the newly OMA-restored Buffalo AKG Art Museum than a kaleidoscopic pavilion. A few years after launching Wayfinding at the Studio Museum in Harlem, artist Chloë Bass now brings the series of reflective signage to the campus and its accompanying Delaware Park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. On each sculpture, Bass asks a hard-hitting poetic question—How much of care is patience? How much of love is attention?—that intends to promote contemplation as one wanders through the grounds. Given that it’s impossible to experience each of the 48 signs at once, the questions add up to a larger gestalt and practically guarantee that each viewer’s pathway through Wayfinding will be unique. —R.W.


 

Photography by Sebastien Veronese, courtesy of Galerie Scene Ouverte

SAVOR
With L’Abysse, Haute Franco-Japanese Cuisine Hits Monte Carlo

There’s no shortage of Michelin-caliber dining in Monte Carlo. There are now no fewer than seven stars in its .81 square miles of land—a number that grows with each passing year. At L’Abysse Monte Carlo, the first Monegasque outpost of chefs Yannick Alléno and Yasunari Okazaki’s L’Abysse au Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris, that list is all but certain to expand. The duo has now brought their joint venture to the Belle Époque–inspired, five-star Hotel Hermitage. Guests can expect seasonally driven omakase rooted in a Mediterranean palate with French inflections. Interiors by Galerie Scene Ouverte, the Parisian art and design gallery, feature installations from artists Célia Bertrand, William Coggin, Silver Sentimenti, and Caroline Désile, who in turn evoke the cuisine’s sense of place with abundant references to both the sea and Japan. —J.A.D.

All Stories