Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2021 i Town & Country

2014 JOHN BALDESSARI IN L.A. Seven years ago we devoted our entire September issue to the creative world of Los Angeles, covering—with the help of guest editor Liz Goldwyn—the eclectic community of upstarts, geniuses, and icons turning this metropolis into “the new capital of cool.” Among them, of course, was the artist John Baldessari, photographed for T&C by Max Vadukul. With a vibrant and witty style, Baldessari defied conventional boundaries and helped usher in a new era for the city’s contemporary art scene. In June, L.A.’s Sprüth Magers Gallery will honor the late artist (he died in January 2020 at the age of 88) with an exhibition of his final series of 30 paintings.…

WHAT’S #VERYTANDC HERE? The history: Renzo Mongiardino was so prolific an interior designer for Europe’s aristo class that his client roster—which included Agnellis, Brandolinis, Radziwills, Safras, and Rothschilds—was often dubbed “a kidnapper’s wish list.” He was famous for his trompe l’oeil flourishes and theatrical juxtapositions, and thanks to his extensive collaboration with Italian wicker furniture company Bonacina, discerning doyennes from Milan to Villefranche-sur-Mer enjoyed summer villas perpetually furnished with premium rattan. The fans: Marella Agnelli, who made wicker her signature with custom Bonacina and once quipped of an American socialite’s ornate apartment: “It will take her another lifetime to understand wicker.” Also, Princess Irene Galitzine, inventor of palazzo pajamas. The news: The 132-year-old Bonacina has rendered its Radiant chair, designed by Mongiardino, in a more resilient outdoor-friendly model. So go…

As Beeple basked in the aftermath of the $69.3 million auction of Everydays: The First 5000 Days at Christie’s, he had more on his mind than his newfound riches: He needed a frame. After all, as the new frontier of NFTs—non-fungible tokens, which are artworks or collectibles that are certified on a blockchain, a permanent digital ledger—opens up, collectors are going to need a place to put them, and an ornate gilt rectangle simply won’t cut it. Mike Winkelmann (Beeple’s real name) won’t reveal what this new hardware might look like, but he has hinted that it will be unlike any frame we’ve seen before. Today most NFTs are viewed online, as not all artists give permission for them to be printed into physical art. “This way the content can…

When I was younger, sick days home from school meant one thing and one thing only: I got to spend the day with my caretaker. Not my mother or my family’s housekeeper, but my nanny—the Nanny, the irrepressible sitcom character Fran Fine, who was memorably brought to life by the actress Fran Drescher for six seasons in the ’90s. I don’t remember the show’s major plot points, but the clothes? I remember the clothes, a kaleidoscope of animal prints, upbeat colors, and more joie de vivre in a single mini-skirt than I thought possible. I wasn’t the only one whose mind was blown—it was the costume design by Brenda Cooper that earned The Nanny its only Emmy, and today the show remains a social media darling. Now, 22 years after…

Rolex owners rarely give watch repair a second thought. We imagine that tuneups, when needed, happen somewhere that resembles a combination of the tree where the Keebler elves bake cookies and the munitions lab where Q cooks up new gadgets for 007. Over the years I had heard whispers of a “watch spa,” the horological equivalent of knowing about the off-the-menu burger at Raoul’s. But it was the stuff of myth, like El Dorado. Then, on a recent gray day, I my GPS reading: “Rolex found myself driving through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where the rolling farmland looks ripped from Andrew Wyeth. As I turned into Lititz, which bills itself as “America’s Coolest Small Town,” an unmarked 40,000-square-foot facility came into view. It had the vibe of a Silicon Valley tech…

Whether you’re planning a first trip to Greece or a post-pandemic return splurge, the stops, excursions, and pampering on this itinerary are the tops (and crowd-free, for now). DAYS 1–2 FEEL OH SO CIVILZED WHERE Athens. WHY Where to begin? Cradle of Western civilization, birthplace of democracy, and a vibrant modern city, with three major new (or reborn) art institutions. HOW Check into the Four Seasons Astir Palace, if you prefer out of town, or the Grande Bretagne—in central Syntagma Square, with views of the Acropolis from both your suite and the rooftop restaurant—and your afternoon is at leisure (with suggestions). The next day is a grand guided tour of both the city’s ancient and contemporary treasures. Among them: the Acropolis and its spectacular museum; the Columns of Olympian Zeus…

GEMINI MAY 22–JUNE 21 In June it’s crucial to follow through on plans, but wait until the 22nd to finalize details. You now have opportunities to get on a more secure financial path. July brings complexities around shared interests, so try not to take a rigid stance. And August is all about communication and new horizons—so stretch your wings and follow your intuition. STEPHEN RUSSELL, STEPHENRUSSELL.COM SAGITTARIUS NOVEMBER 23–DECEMBER 21 Relationships, both personal and business, are accented in June. Positive change is on its way, but questions lurk. Have faith in your ideas in July, and don’t be deterred by others’ misgivings. In August your ruling planet Jupiter’s retrograde motion is telling you to follow through and be precise. Your logic alone will convince others. PICCHIOTTI ($601,000), BIGHAM JEWELERS, NAPLES,…

“The first thing we wanted to do was get Black people talking about mental health,” Taraji P. Henson says. “Let’s just get it out there. I’ll say something. I’ll break the ice.” That’s just what she’s done. Since founding in 2018 the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation (named after her father, a Vietnam War veteran who struggled with both post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder), Henson—who won a Golden Globe for her role as Cookie Lyon on the TV series Empire, having earlier earned an Oscar nomination for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button—has been a tireless advocate for addressing mental health in the Black community. And never have such efforts been so necessary; according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, more than 17 percent of non-Hispanic Black adults in…

Baby2Baby Several factors dictate social capital in L.A.; for new moms in town, the most important is being involved with Baby2Baby, a nonprofit that supplies diapers and essentials to children living in poverty. Since 2011 the organization has been led by co-CEOs Kelly Sawyer Patricof and Norah Weinstein, who have cannily leveraged their celebrity friendships—Patricof is a former model and the wife of Hollywood producer Jamie Patricof; Weinstein is a former lawyer married to Brian Weinstein, president of Bad Robot Productions—to grow Baby2Baby from a grassroots endeavor to one of the city’s starriest nonprofits. Its list of board members and ambassadors reads like a who’s who of cool moms: Jessica Alba, Drew Barrymore, Nicole Richie, Julie Bowen, Kerry Washington, Kate Hudson, Mindy Kaling, Jennifer Meyer, Amy Adams, and Whitney Wolfe…

Diana Whitney was a Dartmouth College freshman in 1992 when a classmate raped her. Now, with daughters of her own, she’s the co-founder of a group determined to stop campus sexual violence. D One of its targets: Dartmouth’s Black Family Visual Arts Center, named for Leon Black, the billionaire alumnus and former Drexel Burnham Lambert banker, who for the past 30 years has been synonymous with Apollo Global Management, the sharpest elbows on Wall Street. Through his charity, the Debra and Leon Black Family Foundation, Black chipped in $48 million toward the arts center, which opened in 2012. The only director the foundation had for years, besides the Blacks, was Jeffrey Epstein. The charity says he quit in 2007, but his name was listed on its tax forms as late…

For decades award-winning actor Ben Vereen—who originated roles on Broadway in Jesus Christ Superstar and Pippin and was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of “Chicken” George Moore in 1977’s landmark television adaptation of Roots—has proven to be a trifecta of talent, mastering film, television, and the stage. Not one to let his accolades outshine his purpose, Vereen talks here of his humble beginnings and why Black stories need to be told. Was there a choice you made, whether in your personal life or your career, that has greatly affected who you are today? BEN VEREEN: You know, I didn’t really prepare for this. I didn’t go, “Well, you know what, I want to be a star. I want to be on Broadway, I want to be in movies.” That…

STEARNS & FOSTER® 175 1846 | 2021 This year, Stearns & Foster and Town & Country share an extraordinary milestone, celebrating 175 years as landmark American brands, built on trust, authenticity, and enduring ingenuity. Designer Spotlight JOY CHO @ohjoy Joy Cho, founder of celebrated lifestyle brand Oh Joy!, shares how to make the most of your bedroom. No bedroom is complete without… Cozy bedding, the perfect set of pj’s, and mood lighting. What helps you sleep better? I love tweaking the design of my space to foster sleep and comfort. Also, a calming spritz of rose water on my face! What are some easy ways to make a bedroom more inviting? Start with a neutral base, then add color and build depth with patterned accessories. What’s a quick way to…

STEP 1: The movement, the most vital organ, is de-cased. The gears, jewels, levers, and spring are all inspected. STEP 2: Key parts are lubricated and replaced, and the dial is polished to its original luster. STEP 3: Over 24 hours, the watch is road-tested in conditions simulating those on a wearer’s wrist. STEP 4: A machine like Tony Stark’s rice cooker tests for waterproofness and pressure seal. Feel free to go diving afterward. STEP 5: After two weeks of tuneups, case and bracelet are reunited, et voilà—a new look! And no recovery time, either.…

You’ve waited long enough. It’s reward time. Here are four crème-de-la-crème journeys—in the Caribbean, Greece, Italy, and the USA—planned out day by day. We’ve consulted top trip designers. We’ve considered every detail. Book them as is or customize them as you desire. (And, because things change like the wind, get travel insurance.) Dare we say it: Bon voyage.…

We’ve left nothing to chance—you’re staying at celebrated hotels, with priority access to monuments, museums, and culinary extravaganzas. Plus tips for aperitivos-with-a-view. DAYS 1–3 BATHE IN BEAUTY WHERE Venice and its islands. WHY It’s the object of our collective desires and will likely never be this tourist-free again. HOW A private water taxi will take you from the Venice airport to (the choice is yours) the grand Gritti Palace; the resort-like Belmond Cipriani, on Giudecca; or the boutiquey Londra Palace. And then you’re off on a private introduction (or return) to the highlights: St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, the Rialto market, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the islands of Burano and Murano. Get lost, also, among the little streets, bridges, and silent, palace-ringed squares. There will be gondolas and Riva…

“We had to bury my cousin on my birthday,” says Pharrell Williams. So the day the music producer and impresario turned 48 years old was devoted not to his own life but to one cut short at 25, that of Donovan Lynch. “It was bittersweet,” Williams says. “The way he died was bitter. Where he is right now is sweet.” Lynch was gunned down by the police in his and Williams’s hometown of Virginia Beach, Virginia, on March 26; Williams has just returned to Miami after speaking at the funeral. “I wasn’t able to deliver the speech with the fire and intention I wanted,” he says, his voice wavering, “because I was just choked with emotion.” In the days after the shooting, the police department gave varying stories about whether…

Marlo Thomas has a lot on her mind. A script to read. A podcast to record. A book to write. Her new Williams-Sonoma collection of entertaining essentials. Women’s rights. Gun control laws. And always: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “I honestly can’t tell you where my thoughts of St. Jude begin and where they end. If I’m not in a board meeting, I’m on the phone talking to a corporate sponsor, working on a fundraising video, or speaking at a hospital event,” she says. Sleep is no escape. “I even dream about the kids and their families,” she adds. Fighting for those who are desperate is Thomas’s birthright. It’s November 1937, and Thomas’s father doesn’t have the money to pay the $70 hospital bill for his wife, who has just…

It all started in 2013, at the end of a dirt track in a rural section of New York’s Hudson Valley where a humble white farmhouse stands among a few colonial-red barns. Old Mud Creek Farm, as it’s called, had been put up for sale by the agrochemical giant Syngenta, which had used the 386-acre property for years to test products—fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides—on corn and soy crops. Nothing remarkable, just another tract of heavily used industrial farmland in a region where people have been rushing to get out of the industrial farming business. Who would buy such a place? Abby Rockefeller, the septuagenarian daughter of the late David and Peggy Rockefeller, sent her farm manager, thirtysomething Ben Dobson, to negotiate a price. She and Dobson are now co-founders of Hudson…

In May, when news of Bill and Melinda Gates’s divorce hit, speculation in the nonprofit world reached a fever pitch. Town & Country checked in with Benjamin Soskis, senior research associate at the Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy. (Note: The institute’s work has been supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.) How do you expect the Gates Foundation to change as a result of the divorce? BS: It’s worth pointing out that at the foundation there had already been, for several years now, a differentiation of focuses between Bill and Melinda. The foundation has been able to absorb a form of decoupling already, so it’s quite possible it could continue to do so. What are those different priorities? BS: Bill has focused on global health for decades…

WHAT DO YOU GET THE GUY WHO IS EVERYTHING? Introducing the Canfield Speedway—the ultimate Father’s Day gift. Shinola’s first-ever automatic chronograph features a tachymeter, a scale on the bezel that converts time elapsed into speed traveled. This limited-edition watch puts both style and performance on the fast track. GIFT IN THE FAST LANE AT SHINOLA.COM the strap premium perforated leather Smooth and supple, the Canfield Speedway’s leather strap evokes the sporty style of a fine pair of racing gloves. the case polished stainless steel The 44 mm case features a heavy coin edge, anodized aluminum pusher collars, and an exhibition caseback that offers a full view of the engine at work. the dial tachymeter speed scale Reminiscent of a car odometer, the Canfield Speedway’s dial showcases a bold, tricolor tachymeter,…

Of all the paused pastimes once again filling our dance cards, theater as we knew it hasn’t quite hit full swing. Stateside, creative configurations abound. While Broadway has its sights set on fall openings, New York’s Public Theater will present Shakespeare in the Park this summer with a take on The Merry Wives of Windsor. In Massachusetts, the Berkshire Theatre Group’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest will bloom in June, and live performances are expected on stages nationwide. Meanwhile, London’s West End plans to welcome theater-goers in increasing numbers much sooner. “Theater is a live, collective experience that you can’t find repeated in any other form,” says Andrew Lloyd Webber, the musical wellspring behind Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, among many others. “You feel the energy…

Earlier this year the internet collectively erupted in excitement over a photograph of Adam Driver and Lady Gaga. This was not just any picture: The pair were costumed to the hilt as mid-’90s Maurizio Gucci and Patrizia Reggiani for Ridley Scott’s forth-coming film House of Gucci. As the behind-the-scenes snaps poured out, it became clear that there was far more at play than the hormonal response elicited by charismatic celebrities, or the promise of a dishy true crime flick. There was fashion: several decades’ worth of statement-making suits, jewelry, and sumptuous textiles gathered in eye-popping ensembles glimpsed through a paparazzo’s long-range lens (and sometimes Gaga’s Instagram account). You didn’t have to spend much time sifting through the swooning commentary to see that after all the hideous trials of 2020, and…

MAKE IT PERSONAL Scale the size to your space and match the firmness to your sleep style. Map out your bedroom to determine whether a king or a queen would be the best fit. If you sleep with a partner (or pets!), it may be worth sizing up. Find the right feel—Firm, Plush, or Ultra Plush—based on your usual sleep position. THINK LONG TERM A high-quality mattress should last up to 10 years, so invest in comfort, durability, and support. Research how it’s made—the materials used for the interior and the exterior can have a major impact on comfort and durability over time. TRUST THE LEGACY Seek out a brand with a proven track record. Stearns & Foster mattresses are crafted by hand, not mass-produced. So much care is put…

In the Marvel superhero flick Black Panther, the kingdom of Wakanda’s fiercest warriors are all women. The group, known as the Dora Milaje, are characterized by their red and gold outfits, for which veteran costume designer Ruth E. Carter took inspiration from the Turkana and Maasai cultures of Kenya. Reinforcing their battle gear were stacked neck rings and matching cuffs by designer Douriean Fletcher that call to mind the Ndebele women of South Africa. Then there is Wonder Woman, a master at harnessing the potential of cuffs—hers repel bullets, after all. In the latest installment of her franchise, Wonder Woman 1984, Gal Gadot doesn’t just sport cuffs for protection on the job, she also incorporates the power piece into her off-duty look, in the form of—what else?—Elsa Peretti’s Bone cuff.…

On a recent Sunday, Hugh Evans was working the room—if you can call it that—at the 70,000-seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. There were 25,000 fully vaccinated people in attendance, plus plenty of performers to greet (Jennifer Lopez, H.E.R., Eddie Vedder), hosts to shmooze (Ben Affeck, David Letterman, Gayle King), and a prince and pregnant duchess to thank for serving as co-chairs. They had gathered to film Vax Live, the latest mega-event staged by Global Citizen, the group Evans co-founded and of which he is CEO. Last year, in April, Global Citizen produced “One World: Together at Home,” a television and online special broadcast on all the major networks and hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert. The list of performers involved reads like a Wikipedia page of…

It would be tempting to describe 2021 as a breakout year for Honor Titus. The 31-year-old painter’s first solo show in New York City, “For Heaven’s Sake,” at Timothy Taylor Gallery from January to March, was one of the high points of the winter season. The entire collection, which included vibrant studies of figures at leisure, was quickly swept up by eager collectors. In October the gallery will present new work by the artist in an equally anticipated show at Frieze London. A good year, but Titus has already been through the business of blowing up, albeit in other genres. From 2011 to 2016 he fronted a Brooklyn-based punk band called Cerebral Ballzy, which made two well-received albums and played memorable high-octane gigs, including opening for bands like the Strokes…

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