Moncler’s First Fragrance Comes With LED Screens, and Other News

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Moncler’s First Fragrance Smells Like Snow and Features Bottles with LED Screens

Moncler is branching into the fragrance game with scents that evoke the wild landscapes perfectly suited for their outerwear. The Italian label has unveiled two new scents—Moncler Pour Femme and Moncler Pour Homme—within two distinctive bottles, each bearing hallmarks of the brand’s identity such as the cap’s silver ribbing that nods to quilting found on their signature down jackets. Formulated exclusively for Moncler by Swiss fragrance experts Givaudan, Femme evokes the radiance of powdery snow, Italian bergamot, and jasmine, while Homme conjures an alpine forest with a crispy, enveloping woody aroma. 

In a first for the fragrance market, the flask-shaped “borraccia” bottles are equipped with LED screens that can display personalized messages through a Bluetooth-powered smartphone app, a high-tech feature that recalls the brand’s luggage collaboration with Rimowa. Find it exclusively at Moncler boutiques and Bloomingdales.

Cipriani Plants Stakes Inside Manhattan’s Grand Battery Maritime Building

Once a great testament to New York’s architectural and seafaring prowess when it debuted in 1909, the Battery Maritime Building on the South Street Seaport waterfront has languished for decades, serving as office space for various city agencies and even once as a homeless shelter. Now the Beaux-Arts grand dame, originally designed by Walker & Morris, is ready for its next act. And who better than Cipriani to return it to its former glory? 

The famed hospitality brand, whose restaurants and clubs embody maritime luxury, tapped Marvel, Thierry W. Despont, and preservation specialists Higgins Quasebath & Partners for the restoration and conversion of the historic structure into a private member’s club and hotel. On tap: 47 dapper rooms and suites with private balconies and views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty; a Deco-inspired jazz café; a soaring event space in the Great Hall with a show-stopping skylight; a white oak–lined spa; a member’s club in the spirit of Venice’s iconic Harry’s Bar; and a variety of culinary outfits.

London’s Studio Voltaire reopens in a colorful creative hub with artist-designed toilets.

Following the largest refurbishment in its 27-year history, the nonprofit arts organization receives a workspace facelift thanks to Matheson Whiteley. The site hosts 75 affordable creative studios, a public garden, and contemporary toilets, three of which are outfitted with a permanent art installation by artists Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan that enhance the experience of conventional amenities with technicolor tiles and facial motifs.

Extracted Antarctic ice may reveal new insights about the scale of climate change. 

Visitors attending the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow can view an ampoule of carefully preserved Antarctic air from 1765. Many historians pinpoint that year as the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, meaning the air bubbles preserved inside may very well be the purest on the planet. “Snow falls in Antarctica year by year, but there’s no melting going on,” Dr. Robert Mulvaney of the British Antarctic Survey, told The Guardian. “The snow builds up and compresses all the years of snow underneath. As we drill down, we’re driving further and further into the past—a bit like counting the rings of a big tree.” Side-by-side comparisons of today’s air samples reveal the stark increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide since that date.

The SCAD Museum of Art celebrates 10 years with a dynamic fall lineup of luminaries.

To kick off its 10-year anniversary, the SCAD Museum of Art is reflecting on its achievements through a series of solo exhibitions that look toward its past and future. The institution has hosted more than 200 global artists since its inception—a legacy they’re continuing into the fall. A diverse roster from Japan, Spain, France, Mexico, and Colombia are showcasing their latest: “Hein Koh’s anthropomorphic artistry stirs the senses, Izumi Kato’s curious creatures intrigue and enthrall, and Ira Lombardia’s visual ecology explores and elucidates ephemerality,” SCAD founder and president Paula Wallace says of the artists on view. 

LoveFrom’s cryptic new website still doesn’t reveal what the creative collective does.

The collective founded by Marc Newson and former Apple designer Jony Ive has launched a public website, but it still doesn’t shed much light on exactly what they do. Using a new typeface called LoveFrom Serif, the page describes LoveFrom as “obsessed with the traditions of creating and making,” “insatiably curious,” and “working on projects for joy.” It may commemorate the tenth anniversary of Steve Jobs’ death, nodding to the creative autonomy and collaborative ethos he aimed to inspire. 

To combat rising temperatures, Miami appoints the world’s first “chief heat officer.”

Climate change is causing temperatures to soar and sea levels to rise—and Miami is taking note. Shifting from her role as the city’s chief resilience officer to tackle rising temperatures, Jane Gilbert’s vision as the newly appointed chief heat officer is to “expand, accelerate, and coordinate our efforts to protect people from heat and save lives.” Tree canopy buffers, chiller rooms, and other “climate resilience hubs” are among the interventions she plans to roll out.

A secret nude portrait by Picasso gets restored with advanced imaging technology.

Picasso’s works are riddled with mystery—he often painted over his initial compositions to create alternate narratives. Art restoration group Oxia Palu has found another hidden portrait, this time within his Blue Period painting The Blind Man’s Meal, by using XRF imaging, image processing, and AI to render the masked figure in his style. Called “The Lonesome Crouching Nude,” the reconstruction is on display at London’s Deeep AI Art Fair until Sunday.

Apple enters Hollywood with a new regional headquarters in Los Angeles.

Apple is expanding its footprint in L.A. with a 550,000-square-foot campus near Culver City that will host its Apple TV+, Apple Music, engineering, and artificial intelligence teams. Although the tech giant hasn’t yet disclosed the subscriber base for Apple TV+, the new location near the film production district suggests increased investment in the streaming service and a higher stake in the entertainment industry.

Today’s attractive distractions:

Tesla’s new Gigafactory outside Berlin will also brew up some “Gigabier.”

Romain Veillon captures what buildings would look like if humans vanished.

Twitter offers a not-so-definitive ranking of America’s most hated brands.

Will you be collecting each of Louis Vuitton’s new city-specific necklaces?