Aesop Pays Tribute to Toronto’s Victorian Architecture, and Other News

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Aesop’s latest boutique pays tribute to Victorian architecture in Yorkville, Toronto.

“A moody maroon palette and Victorian-style flourishes pay tribute to Yorkville’s architecture at Aesop’s newly opened store in the well-heeled Toronto neighborhood. Designed by local practice Odami, the retail store adopts a minimal design approach, except for its ‘spindle’ moldings. Reminiscent of historical banisters, they run around the whole interior of the store, patterning walls and seating.” [H/T The Spaces]

Vogue will stage an outdoor runway show and fair during New York Fashion Week.

“Vogue is returning to New York Fashion Week with an ambitious live event. ‘VOGUE World: New York’ will include a runway show and street fair, staged in a yet-to-be disclosed Manhattan location on Sept. 12. While the official objective is to celebrate the publication’s 130th anniversary, it also represents another opportunity to brand Vogue beyond traditional media channels. The fashion show will be broadcast via livestream, featuring looks from the Fall/Winter 2022 collections of a range of designers, including Balenciaga, Valentino, Gucci and Dior, but also big American brands Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, plus Bode, Brother Vellies, Conner Ives and others.” [H/T Business of Fashion]

Ai Weiwei’s latest installation brings 2,000 life jackets of Syrian refugees to Quebec.

“For the 9th annual edition of Québec City’s Passages Insolites art fair, humanitarian activist artist Ai Weiwei presents his monumental new artwork, Life Jackets. The poignant installation takes over a defensive rampart of the Royal Battery in Québec, Canada, questioning local history and European colonization. Exhibiting a colorful wall of 2000 life vests that were once used by Syrian refugees and collected in Greece by the artist himself, Ai Weiwei presents a sensitive socio-political commentary on the dangers of the migration crisis.” [H/T Designboom]

The Noguchi Museum will receive $4.5 million for a major campus expansion project.

“Just days after announcing significant capital funding for a slew of Brooklyn cultural sites, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) Commissioner Laurie Cumbo landed in Queens to reveal additional organizations and institutions based in New York City’s largest and second-most populous borough that will be awarded with capital project-earmarked funding. Notably, the Noguchi Museum, located near the Long Island City riverfront, will receive $4.5 million in support—$1.5 million of it contributed by Mayor Eric Adams and the remainder by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards—to carry out a major revamp of the museum and sculpture garden’s campus.” [H/T The Architect’s Newspaper]

Amazon will roll out palm-scanning payment technology to Whole Foods in California.

“Amazon’s “One” palm scanner payment technology will be launching at over 65 Whole Foods stores in California. This is the biggest rollout to date, with stores in Malibu, Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Orange County, Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Santa Cruz receiving the tech that aims to modernize retail shopping. Amazon One is part of the company’s mission to use “contactless” technology that makes it faster to pay. The tech works like this: Users visit a kiosk or a point-of-sale station at participating locations to link their palm and payment card to the service. Then, all they have to do during the checkout process is hover their hand over a scanner to complete the transaction..” [H/T TechCrunch]

The embattled Orlando Museum of Art is trying to redeem itself in the cultural sphere.

“The Orlando Museum of Art no longer resembles the active crime scene it was in June, when agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Art Crime Team raided the museum and seized its marquee exhibition: 25 paintings attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat but whose authenticity was questioned in an F.B.I. affidavit that detailed a nine-year-long criminal investigation into the artworks. Now the museum is hoping to get beyond its role at the center of a headline-grabbing art scandal, and is trying to reassure the public, the art world, local officials, donors and its own staff that it still has a culturally vital role to play in serving the community. It is not going to be easy.” [H/T The New York Times]

To curb losses and layoffs, Allbirds will refocus its apparel strategy to focus on basics. 

The economic downturn has not been kind to DTC brands, which were already struggling with profitability before and have now turned to layoffs to stem losses. In the past few weeks alone, Glossier, Allbirds and Warby Parker have all laid off staff. That still may not be enough for Allbirds. As it battles inflation and widening losses, Allbirds is making shifts across the business. The company’s nascent apparel business—launched just under two years ago—is seeing an update as the brand adjusts to consumer demand. Allbirds will focus on “classic, seasonless items such as tees” and shift away from apparel with a more narrow scope.” [H/T Retail Dive]

Today’s attractive distractions:

This new Instagram finds uncanny similarities between art and sports photos.

Here’s how Carbone became one of the world’s most star-studded restaurants.

Meyers Manx unveils its first all-new dune buggy off-roader in almost 60 years.

Why is Coke releasing soda that tastes like “surrealism of the subconscious?”