Paul Andrew Departs Salvatore Ferragamo, and Other News

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Salvatore Ferragamo creative director Paul Andrew is departing the brand after five years. 

Paul Andrew will be leaving Salvatore Ferragamo after completing the Florentine brand’s pre-spring 2022 collection in early May. A replacement hasn’t yet been named, nor has the designer shared his next move. Andrew was hired as creative director of women’s footwear of the Italian label in 2016, and promoted to women’s creative director one year later. In 2019, he was appointed to creative director across all collections. His departure coincides with board shakeups in which Leonardo Ferragamo will replace his brother, Ferruccio, as chairman, while adding three independent board members. 

Salone del Mobile may get postponed again as Italy experiences a resurgence in Covid-19.

After first delaying its 2020 edition to June and then to September 2021 as Covid-19 ravaged Europe, Salone del Mobile organizers are considering delaying the festival once again. Covid-19 cases are currently on the rise in Italy, which has put half of its regions under lockdown through April 6 and experiencing a lagging vaccine rollout. Claudio Luti, president of Salone del Mobile, is reportedly pressuring the government to answer questions about vaccination dates, reopening international travel, vaccine passports, and when trade fairs will be allowed to reopen. If the government can’t figure it out in time, then Salone del Mobile will need to cancel its 2021 dates and focus exclusively on an edition planned for April 2022. 

Francis Kéré receives the 2021 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture.

This year, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture has been awarded to the West African architect Francis Kéré. Known for his pioneering communal approach to design and commitment to sustainability, Kéré has become one of the world’s most distinguished contemporary architects who has completed work across four continents. His latest projects include the Burkina Faso National Assembly, the Léo Surgical Clinic & Health Centre, IT University, Lycée Schorge Secondary School, and a gathering pavilion for the Tippet Rise Art Center. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals recognize the contributions of recipients in the endeavors in which Jefferson excelled and held in high regard. 

Volkswagen’s name change to “Voltswagen” turns out to be an April Fool’s Day prank.

News of Volkswagen’s plans to change the name of its U.S. operations to Voltswagen quickly took the internet by storm yesterday, but it turns out the ploy was an elaborate April Fool’s Day marketing scheme. “The renaming was designed to be an announcement in the spirit of April Fool’s Day, highlighting the launch of the all-electric ID.4 SUV,” Mike Tolbert, Volkswagen’s U.S. spokesman, said in a statement. A press release that was briefly shared on the German car manufacturer’s website said the name change is expected to take effect in May and called the change a “public declaration of the company’s future-forward investment in e-mobility.” 

Chinatown Market will change its name after being accused of cultural appropriation.

Chinatown Market will be changing its name in the coming months after being accused of cultural appropriation. The move follows a growing number of targeted acts of violence against Asian Americans across the United States and an online petition accusing the white-owned streetwear label of “cultural theft.” In a statement, Chinatown Market wrote “the Asian American community is rightfully demanding all of us think and act more honestly. We should have done this sooner, but it’s never too late to do the right thing. Our name was inspired by the shops, people, and vibrance of Canal Street and Chinatown in New York but it’s not our name to use.” The brand is currently working with partners and retailers to donate proceeds from existing products to fund nonprofits working with the AAPI community. 

The Armory Show will launch a digital exhibition space with pandemic-related programming.

One of New York’s largest art fairs is launching a digital exhibition space where independent curators can organize virtual shows. Called “Armory Access: Curated,” the platform kicks off on April 15 with the group exhibition “Pandemic Is a Portal” with artists such as Hank Willis Thomas, Gordon Matta Clark, and Andrea Bowers. The show, organized by Public Art Fund curator Daniel S. Palmer, draws inspiration from a Financial Times essay in which the author Arundhati Roy considers how the pandemic might be viewed as an opportunity to imagine a more equitable society. The Armory Show plans to stage its next physical outing in September at the Javits Center.

Ethereum cofounder Joe Lubin creates a 99 percent more energy-efficient blockchain.

A group of blockchain’s biggest players, including Ethereum and ConsenSys co-founder Joe Lubin, have announced the launch of Palm, an alternative network for NFTs that’s 99 percent more energy efficient than the current Ethereum blockchain. While Palm isn’t the long-promised wholesale switch from Ethereum to Ethereum 2.0 (Eth2) that would drastically reduce the network’s energy consumption, nor is it the first platform to use other more energy efficient blockchains, it signifies a huge stride from some of field’s leading figures. Palm will debut with a series of 10,000 unique oil paintings on paper by Damien Hirst that will be sold as NFTs. 

Today’s attractive distractions:

A proposed tower in Silicon Valley would sway in the wind—and be powered by it.

The sophisticated chairs seen throughout the original Star Trek beckons a revisit.

Grayson Perry is casting a bell that will ring when the Covid-19 pandemic ends.

Rick Owens drops a streamlined, less-chunky take on summer platform sandals.