Christian Louboutin’s First Hotel Is a Master Class in Color, and Other News

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Christian Louboutin’s First Hotel Is a Master Class in Color

A few decades ago, Christian Louboutin was tooling around Portugal, and became so smitten with the beauty of the small town of Melides that he crashed his car and stayed. He moved his atelier there, then moved there, and in 2019 began working on a hotel. This April, guests can stay in Vermelho, the footwear savant’s first stab at a hospitality project, a collaboration with architect Madalena Caiado and operated by Marugal. 

Thirteen ornate rooms, each hidden behind custom Baroque doors of hand-worked American ash with pewter and enamel handles but otherwise unique in their styling, gather around a garden by landscape designer Louis Benech. Custom tiles and ceramics clad floors and walls in riotous colors, as do extravagant hand-painted murals. After a massage in a suite of Luxor alabaster, lucky guests can repair to a green Indian Giada marble bar with silver paneling courtesy of ecclesiastical Sevillian metalsmiths, then dine on octopus salad and lamb chops with migas chimichurri at Xtian, the colorful restaurant. Indeed, the interiors boast Louboutin’s signature nervy use of color—including, of course, his favored red that gives the hotel its name. —Jesse Dorris

The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize’s fourth edition names six shortlisted projects.  

The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize has revealed its six finalist projects for its fourth cycle, selected from 39 “outstanding” projects chosen last year. The jury, led by architect Sandra Barclay, evaluated the quality and impact of each project on its environment and community. The winning project will be announced at a symposium on March 24 and receive the MCHAP Award, a chair in the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and $50,000 for research and publication. The shortlisted projects are the Anahuacalli Museum by Taller Mauricio Rocha; Guadalupe Market by Colectivo C733; The Menil Drawing Institute by Johnston Marklee; Park in the Prado neighborhood by the Mayor’s Office of Medellín; The Polygon Gallery by Patkau Architects; and Valois Housing Building by José Cubilla. 

Stella Jean goes on a hunger strike to protest the fashion industry’s lack of diversity.

Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean has gone on a hunger strike after accusing the National Chamber of Italian Fashion of abandoning her collective, WAMI (We Are Made in Italy), which she co-founded with African American designer Edward Buchanan and Michelle Ngonmo, who leads the Afro Fashion Association. She believes that the Chamber cut its support of WAMI after a speech she made this past September. Jean says she’s taking this extreme step to safeguard the less visible members of WAMI, who she fears will face professional “recriminations.” The Chamber had provided financial and institutional support for WAMI members to produce and present three collections as part of Milan Fashion Week.

Julian Wasser, the renowned celebrity photographer for Time magazine, dies at 89.

Julian Wasser, a renowned photographer for Time magazine in Los Angeles during the 1960s and 70s, has died at 89 due to natural causes. He was well-known for his stylish looks, hard-boiled wit, and exceptional talent for capturing historically important images, which earned him a reputation as a celebrity photographer. Wasser was known for his ability to get up close and personal with even the most remote personalities and his gift for using charm and charisma to get the best out of his subjects. He leaves behind a legacy of vivid images that continue to evoke the world he saw and felt through his lens.

Narsiso Martinez wins Frieze’s Impact Prize and will show portraits at Frieze L.A.

Narsiso Martinez has won Frieze’s Impact Prize for his series of charcoal portraits, Sin Bandana, depicting the lives of farm workers. Martinez, a California-based artist whose work has been acquired by the Hammer Museum and the Orange County Museum of Art, will receive $25,000 and have his portraits displayed at this year’s edition of Frieze Los Angeles. His art is a powerful tribute to the Latinx community and their struggle for rights as farmworkers in the United States. Sin Bandana draws on Martinez’s personal experience as a farm worker and sheds light on the people behind the food industry in America.

Jony Ive designs a nature-inspired logo for King Charles III’s upcoming coronation.

Buckingham Palace has hired former Apple designer Jony Ive to design the logo for the coronation of King Charles III. Ive and his design studio, LoveFrom, have created an emblem that symbolizes the new reign and the king’s love of nature. The emblem showcases the UK’s four national flowers: the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales, and the shamrock of Northern Ireland, intertwined to form the shape of St. Edward’s Crown. The emblem will be featured across various merchandise and be on display at the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey and at community gatherings across the country.

J. Brett Blanton, the former architect of the Capitol, has been removed from his role.

J. Brett Blanton, the former architect of the Capitol, has been fired by President Biden after a bipartisan call for his resignation. Blanton was under scrutiny for misusing his position and for not being present during the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. An inspector general’s report documented evidence supporting serious allegations against Blanton, including misusing government-issued vehicles, misleading investigators, and impersonating a police officer. He was also one of the Capitol’s top security officials and was responsible for maintaining and operating the Capitol complex.

Today’s attractive distractions:

The hot new internship? Creating viral TikToks for desperate brands.

Here’s a lowdown on the Super Bowl’s most memorable commercials.

Scientists say launching dust from the moon could help cool the Earth. 

The “borg” (black out rage gallon) is spreading across college campuses.