A Lower East Side Gem Pops Up at Spring Place

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A Lower East Side Gem Pops Up at Spring Place

Through September, Gem Wines, chef Flynn McGarry’s beloved Lower East Side bar-à-vin, is taking over Spring Place’s Tribeca rooftop. The beloved Forsyth Street spot will bring its hyperfresh seafood and low-intervention wine lists to the membership club, which McGarry describes as “exactly where I’d want to be in the summer,” with its Hudson River views, landscaped terrace, and waterfront breeze. The chef’s focus on local sourcing means guests can look forward to striped bass harvested from Montauk, dressed with roasted tomatoes and shiso, and plated on region-specific seafood towers. The wine list will complement the coastal fare with a sampling of the 200-some natural wine producers McGarry favors at Gem’s Lower East Side locale. “In my mind, rooftops are not usually associated with quality,” he says, but we anticipate this collaboration will turn that tide. —Jenna Adrian-Diaz

OBSESS
Thom Browne Debuts Exacting Eyewear

The style set’s perennial-favorite tailor recently debuted a collection of sun-and-eyeglasses with silhouettes as deeply considered as his suiting. It seems only made-in-Japan craftsmanship would do for the collection, whose classic forms and sleek acetate and titanium frames are perfected over the course of months. Make like the models and pair yours with one of Browne’s sleek seersucker ensembles. —J.A.D

SAVOR
Café Ginori Cooks Up Culinary High Art at Bergdorf Goodman

The world of Italian porcelain producer Ginori 1735 comes to life at the legendary department store through a cafe teeming with current and archival textiles, table settings, and furniture. Modernized Italian classics, like tableside beet risotto, beef carpaccio, veal ragu tagliatelle, and lobster salad with frisée create a balletic interplay with Ginori pieces like the meandering clean lines of Gio Ponti’s Labirinto collection and the botanic splendor of the house’s Oriente Italiano wallpaper. Those who simply don’t want to live outside of the Ginori universe can head to the brand’s Bergdorf Goodman shop to stock up on their favorites from the cafe on their way out. —J.A.D.

LISTEN
The Late Gae Aulenti’s Prolific Career Comes Into Full View

Last month, Triennale Milano unveiled the first retrospective of Gae Aulenti’s six-decade career as one of Italy’s leading postwar architects. For those who may not find themselves in Milan by the time the show closes in January, tune into the museum’s podcast that explores her legacy. Hosted by design critic Alice Rawsthorn, the five-episode series traces Aulenti’s evolution through the voices of her friends, curators, and peers. In the first episode, Rawsthorn joins design curator Paola Antonelli to reminisce on Aulenti’s wide-ranging oeuvre, from the sculptural Pipistrello lamp to the swooping Sgarsul rocking chair. Her legacy is hard to define, but that’s where the fun lies. “The common characteristic,” Antonelli says, “is that there’s no common characteristic. So this idea of eclecticism—I’ve always admired it so much because style can be a prison.” —Ryan Waddoups

SEE
In “Fragile Beauty,” a Second Life for Chanel Scenography

An exhibition of Elton John and David Furnish’s photography collection recently debuted at V&A South Kensington. At the heart of the show is scenographic design by Ebba Architects founder Benni Allan, who gave new life to materials previously used for V&A’s “Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto” show from 2023. More than 75 percent of the materials Allan used in “Fragile Beauty” are upcycled from the Chanel retrospective to create sweeping moments for visitors to discover portraits by Tyler Mitchell, Robert Mapplethorpe, David LaChapelle, Nan Goldin, and more. —J.A.D.

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Aino Aalto’s Classic Cherry Blossoms Grace Tekla Bedding

In the 1930s, Aino Aalto—the Finnish design pioneer who often collaborated with her husband, Alvar—met the Japanese ambassador to Finland and his wife, who gifted her silk fabric with a cherry blossom motif. Delighted by the gesture, Aalto created the Kirsikankukka textile pattern that evokes springtime sakuras as an homage to the art of Japanese textiles. The pattern was out of production until 2018, when Artek unearthed original fabric swatches at the Alvar Aalto Museum and enlisted a family-owned printing house in Kyoto to produce the fabrics. The pattern remains a fixture in Artek’s upholstery catalog. Now, to celebrate the 130th anniversary of Aino’s birth, the brand has teamed up with Danish studio Tekla to reintroduce Kirsikankukka. This time, it graces high-quality percale cotton bedding in white, blue, and pink, with a children’s option—Tekla’s debut in the category—inspired by a baby bed of Aalto’s design. —R.W.

SHOP
Fine Art and Skate Culture Shake Up a Former Parisian Palace

When Colette co-founder Sarah Andelman makes moves, fashion- and art-world insiders stop and stare. This past spring, her art bookstore and literary concept shop in Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche captivated passers-through with a larger-than-life sculpture by Jean Jullien and art book merch influenced by the likes of the Strand. Now she’s applied her discerning eye to an exhibition of artist-designed skateboards in unlikely surrounds: Paris’s 18th-century palace-turned-Hôtel de Crillon.

From now until September 14, The Skateroom’s Andelman-curated exhibition of skateboards by Cindy Sherman, Juergen Teller, Jenny Holzer, Ai Weiwei, Jeff Koons, and Andy Warhol will take over the lobby and guest rooms. The overall effect isn’t unlike behind-the-scenes photos of Kirsten Dunst rocking out to a Walkman while in character for Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. What’s more, sales of a limited-edition work created with French artist Inès Longevial will benefit the Skateroom’s youth-focused philanthropic initiatives. —J.A.D.