Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2024 i Town & Country

1961 SOCIETY? For 178 years it has been T&C’s mission to chronicle the people, places, and things that define Society—always with a touch of irreverence and a healthy dose of introspection. In the 1960s we were aided in this pursuit by social critic Cleveland Amory, whose patrician roots—he was a Boston Brahmin educated at Harvard, where he was president of the Crimson and a member of the Spee Club—gave him an excellent vantage point from which to observe (and skewer) the elite, which he did in his 1960 book, Who Killed Society?, and in columns for this magazine. Amory’s wit still reverberates today as we continue to ponder this eternal question. Society? What does it mean now? How can it be better? We hope you will find some answers in…

A mid the mayhem of art fairs in New York last spring, one booth at the Future Fair in Chelsea stood out. It featured a large sofa planted in the middle of the space on which a young woman invited fairgoers to take a seat beneath a wall of works that she soon revealed was a salon-style showcase for contemporary women artists. For Hall Rockefeller, 31, that fair was an important public moment for Less Than Half, the education and advisory platform she founded to help “culturally curious women find meaning in art by learning to collect and support women artists.” Rockefeller titled Less Than Half after a 1989 poster by the Guerrilla Girls, an anonymous group of feminist activists who have for decades fought for more equity in the…

“ I in the hotel pool, of all places. She wasn’t love what you do!” A woman approached Michael Kors during a visit to Big Sur—referring to his most recent hits. She went bigger-picture. “The way Rene Russo looked in The Thomas Crown Affair!” she gushed. “I still base how I want to look on how she looked in that movie.” “That movie,” John McTiernan’s redo of Norman Jewison’s 1968 original, is a slick, romantic caper. It’s also a fashion classic, a brilliant example of the role clothes can play in creating a fictional character. Russo plays Catherine Banning, a sophisticated insurance investigator out to nail Pierce Brosnan’s playboy cat burglar. Twenty-five years after the film’s release, Russo’s sultry, commanding wardrobe looks as valid as it did in 1999. Arguably,…

Do I really wear a lot of jewelry? ”Philanthropist Brooke Garber Neidich (the woman behind Sidney Garber) considers the question. “In 1980, when we created the Domed Cuff, I started wearing two at a time: a yellow and a white gold. When our tubogas Rolling Bracelets, with two yellow gold bands and one white gold, were born in 1985, I immediately wore two at a time. Now I wear three of those with one six-strand version. I remember seeing photographs of Tina Chow in a white T-shirt, an oversize cardigan, and piles of necklaces around her throat. I did the same. Later I played with longer necklaces of all kinds—chains, pearls, bezelset diamonds, charms on gold, gold and diamond chains, gold and green sapphire chains. I love the depth all…

Olivia Benson needs DNA evidence to crack a case, but Mariska Hargitay has known her character long enough to be sure she wouldn’t ask like that. It’s a sweltering summer Friday in New York, but Hargitay will work until sunset as she shoots the upcoming season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The show has made her not so much a network television fixture as a patron saint of justice—a badge-brandishing heroine so beloved that Taylor Swift named a cat after her. Hargitay and I meet at Chelsea Piers, on a set where she is finishing a hospital scene, approaching the bed of a survivor of gruesome violence. It’s a staple SVU setup, the kind Hargitay could pull off without thinking. Except just before the director calls action, she…

First, Isabella Strahan realized she couldn’t walk in a straight line. On a hike, her friends asked if she was about to fall off the mountain. A doctor thought she had an ear infection. Then she threw up blood. Last October Isabella, daughter of Michael Strahan—Good Morning America anchor, Fox NFL Sunday presenter, and Hall of Fame defensive end for the New York Giants—was just a few weeks into her freshman year at USC when she was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma, a type of malignant tumor, in her cerebellum. Three surgeries followed, along with six weeks of radiation and four rounds of chemotherapy, a journey Isabella charted in a raw, honest, funny, informative, and moving series of videos on her You-Tube channel. As her followers have seen, Isabella has had…

ARIES MARCH 21–APRIL 20 Being fluid and taking changes in stride will let you make the right moves early this month. Finances and joint endeavors are accented, and Mars entering Leo also revs up your confidence. Aries is the adventurer of the zodiac, and with Venus rising to the zenith of your chart by the 11th, it’s time to break free from constricting situations. TAMARA COMOLLI ($3,400), 561-659-3700 TAURUS APRIL 21–MAY 21 The new Moon in Scorpio is all about refreshing your most important relationships. Lifestyle changes may also be in the wind, but whatever occurs midmonth will have a liberating effect, letting you enjoy life more fully. The full Moon of the 15th happens in your birth sign, and expressing your feelings will also reshape your future. GYAN JAIPUR…

This was the year Ruth Gottesman donated $1 billion to make medical school tuition free for all Albert Einstein College of Medicine students. The year MacKenzie Scott gave away $640 million, more than doubling her planned gifts, to 361 nonprofit applicants. The year Mike Bloomberg gave a record $600 million to four historically Black medical schools. And the year rapper Flavor Flav sponsored the Olympic women’s water polo team immediately after he heard from one of the athletes that they needed help. There are grand gestures of philanthropy to honor and celebrate, yes, but also many simple acts of kindness. “Sometimes you can buy a raffle ticket,” arts and dance education patron Jody Gottfried Arnhold reminded us at last year’s T&C Philanthropy Summit. “Sometimes you can be president of the…

Darren Walker In July, after 12 years and $7 billion given to the arts, prison reform, the media, and more, Walker announced that he would step down from his perch atop the Ford Foundation at the end of 2025. The departure will be bittersweet; during Walker’s tenure he increased the foundation’s assets, collaborated with Ava DuVernay and Agnes Gund, and landed on the cover of T&C’s 2023 Philanthropy Issue. But anyone who has seen the endlessly energetic Walker work a room knows he deserves a break. Still, his legacy will loom large—as former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault told the New York Times, “What Darren has done to the world of philanthropy has truly been transformational. It’s more than just giving dollars, it’s how do you bring about real change…

Proposing to a jewelry designer is not an easy thing to do. Austin Harris learned that the hard way when he popped the question to Loren Teetelli, founder of jewelry brand Loren Nicole, with what she calls a giant cocktail ring. “I’m going to have to throw him under the bus,” she says, “but I was like, ‘Why didn’t you consult me?’ ” On the other hand, the benefit of proposing to a jewelry designer is that she can redesign the ring however she wants, which is what Loren did, taking it apart and resetting the rock, a Paraíba tourmaline, into something more wearable. “I never would have wanted a neon blue stone for my engagement ring, but it has grown on me,” she says. “It’s my favorite stone, so…

IN THEORY & PRACTICE TIP 1: LEARN THE LANGUAGE In the early 20th century it was taboo for women to check the time. Maisons like Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier, propelled by the daring spirit of Art Deco, got creative. TIP2: IDENTIFY YOUR IDOLS Christie’s sold Elizabeth Taylor’s Bulgari Serpenti secret watch for nearly a mil in 2011. Such ambition is still the MO, both in high jewelry and on the red carpet (above). TIP 3: EXERCISE GRAND GESTURES Discretion, they say, is the better part of valor—especially when disguised in diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and turquoise. Consider these the ne plus ultra of #IYKYK moves.…

Angela Doyinsola Aina In 2016 Aina, a public health professional, co-founded the Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA), a national organization that supports and promotes groups that aid Black women before, during, and after pregnancy. The need was acute. To this day, African-American women are three times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than white women in the United States. “BMMA exists to fill the gap in maternal and reproductive health by centering Black mamas, leaders, and providers in advocating for transformative care approaches rooted in Black feminist and womanist traditions,” says Aina, who is also the group’s executive director. Next up: In 2025, BMMA will host its eighth Annual Black Maternal Health Week Campaign, an effort to amplify the many Black women nationwide who are working to improve maternal…

In the spring of 2022, the family of actor Bruce Willis announced that the Die Hard star had been diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder that affects how a person communicates—but that wasn’t the full story. The following year it was revealed that Willis’s specific diagnosis was frontotemporal dementia (FTD), making him one of an estimated 60,000 Americans living with the disease, which can impact language skills, behavior patterns, and movement. While there are no treatments and no cure for FTD, the diagnosis did inspire Emma Heming Willis, 46, Bruce’s model, writer, and entrepreneur wife, to not only share her family’s story but to take up advocacy to fight the disease. She has been open about the challenges FTD has presented her family and has become active in work to push…

INFORMATION MARISKA HARGITAY: COVER: CHANEL COAT, 800-550-0005. CARTIER EARRINGS ($7,750) AND RING ($12,300), CARTIER.COM. EDITOR’S LETTER: AQUAZZURA, AQUAZZURA.COM. STELLA MCCARTNEY, STELLAMCCARTNEY.COM. VAN CLEEF & ARPELS, VANCLEEFARPELS.COM. PAGES 76–79 MALONE SOULIERS, BERGDORFGOODMAN.COM. MAX MARA, MAXMARA.COM. MICHAEL KORS COLLECTION, MICHAELKORS.COM. POMELLATO, POMELLATO.COM. TIFFA-NY & CO., TIFFANY.COM. VAN CLEEF & ARPELS, VANCLEEFARPELS.COM BRYAN STEVENSON: COVER: BRUNELLO CUCINELLI TURTLENECK ($4,100), BRUNELLOCUCINELLI.COM. EDITOR’S LETTER: OFFICINE GENERALE, OFFICINEGENERALE.COM. PAGES 80–83 BRUNELLO CUCINELLI, BRUNELLOCUCINELLI.COM. ZEGNA, ZEGNA.COM EMMA HEMING WILLIS: COVER: BRUNELLO CUCINELLI COAT ($13,500), SHIRT ($1,895), AND PANTS ($7,395). DAVID YURMAN EARRINGS ($2,350). POMELLATO NECKLACE ($8,400) AND BRACELETS (FROM $7,300), POMELLATO.COM. EDITOR’S LETTER: FERRAGAMO, FERRAGAMO.COM. SIDNEY GARBER, SIDNEYGARBER.COM. PAGES 84–87 AKRIS, AKRIS.COM. DAVID YURMAN, DAVIDYURMAN.COM. POMELLATO, POMELLATO.COM. STELLA MCCARTNEY, STELLAMCCARTNEY.COM. VHERNIER, VHERNIER.COM MICHAEL & ISABELLA STRAHAN: COVER: DIOR DRESS, DIOR FINE JEWELRY NECKLACE AND EAR CUFFS ($5,700 EACH). JOHN VARVATOS JACKET…

WHERE ARE WE GOING? It was considered the most dangerous race in the world—so deadly it had to be canceled in 1955, only five years after its inception. And yet the allure of the Carrera Panamericana—a 3,000-km rally that speeds through Mexico—never faded. In 1988 it was brought back (and made safer), and it remains a holy grail for any driver, from Formula One to NASCAR. OCTOBER 11–17, LACARRERAPANAMERICANA.COM.MX WHAT ARE WE WEARING? Just how influential was the Carrera Panamericana? In 1963 Tag Heuer scion Jack Heuer was so inspired by tales of the infamous race that he designed the Carrera chronograph, which is still a house signature today. Another superfan: Porsche. (Guess where the Carrera and Panamera models got their names.) What happens when two heritage brands share a…

Kering Foundation The fashion behemoth’s charitable arm, which shines a spotlight on women impacted by gender based violence, raised more than $3 million at a recent gala. Princess Grace Foundation–USA In October the group, backed by Prince Albert, held its 40th annual gala and celebrated bestowing 900 awards on early-career artists. Rolex Awards for Enterprise This year Rolex marked its 160th cash grant since the program began, in 1976, to award innovators helming philanthropic projects in science, health, the environment, and the arts. Matthew Perry Foundation A year after the death of its namesake, the foundation has launched a series of grants supporting organizations focused on addiction. John Michael Kohler Arts Center This year the Wisconsin institution marks 50 years of its prestigious Arts/Industry residency program, which has more than…

I once spent hours roaming the Arms and Armor gallery at the Met to write a story on a Louis Vuitton high jewelry collection created by Francesca Amfitheatrof. This time I braved the Musée d’Orsay on a Sunday. Amfitheatrof’s narrative-driven work inspires research. Each piece, like the d’Orsay on weekends, contains multitudes. The theme of Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds, her sixth high jewelry collection for Louis Vuitton, is 19th-century France. “It was a time of incredible change,” Amfitheatrof says, “and when Paris really became the center of the world. The design language of the collection reflects that—all its intricacies, complications, and innovations, turned into incredible jewels.” In case you need an AP European History refresher, here are a few things that happened: the end of royal court rule. Impressionism, Haussmann,…

What does it mean to smell like money? No, not the real stuff—salty, sweaty, old-papery—but like a person who exudes an aura of affluence (you know the type). If you’re curious, TikTok has thoughts; How to Smell Expensive on #PerfumeTok has 35 million views and counting. “These perfumes scream wealth,” says a well-coiffed brunette in a post with nearly 40,000 views. “I’m talking generational wealth and opulence.” (Her recommendations include Louis Vuitton Les Sables Roses, “if you want to smell like oil money,” and Jo Malone London Myrrh & Tonka Cologne Intense, which “gives Kate Middleton.”) The suggestions range from inexpensive spritzes that smell high-quality (Zara fragrances get frequent shout-outs) to perfumes that would empty the bank accounts of most 99 percenters. But the goal is always the same: to…

Kristin Holloway Kristin Holloway met her husband Lee Holloway in 2013 while working at Cloudfare, a technology company he co-founded. They married soon thereafter, and less than a year later she noticed stark changes in his behavior. In a process familiar to families of victims of neurodegenerative diseases, she and Lee spent months searching for a diagnosis before they finally learned that Lee, at 36, suffered from a behavioral variant of FTD for which there is no cure. Kristin, now on the board of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, created the Holloway Family Fund, making an initial donation of $2 million followed by annual $1 million gifts to expand the association’s fellowship and scholarship programs and to organize an annual summit. “Focusing the fund on research was important to our…

In 2019 Jenn Louie was a high-level Facebook executive working on policy regarding disinformation and privacy. The social media company had just come off the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which tens of thousands of Facebook users’ personal information was misused by digital consultants to the first Trump presidential campaign, and questions about the ethics governing Big Tech were front and center in Americans’ minds. Louie had joined Facebook after a decade working in Silicon Valley, feeling that the best way to solve a problem was to be on the inside of it. But now she felt conflicted. “I was going through a bit of burnout… I’d been doing tech policy for over 15 years, and I thought, If I’m doing my job well, I should be working myself out of…

Last year, at colleges and universities across the country, a handful of insurgents challenged campus authorities, sometimes with surprising displays of belligerence and self-regard. No, not the student activists massed in protest encampments—although you could certainly find belligerence and self-regard there, too. Think instead of major donors who, angered over those protests and over schools’ responses (or lack thereof), threatened to turn off the philanthropic spigot if their concerns were not addressed. A few of them—like Marc Rowan, co-founder of the private equity group Apollo Global Management and chair of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School advisory board, and Bill Ackman, founder of the hedge fund Pershing Square and a Harvard alum—went even further. They manned the digital ramparts to rally their fellow philanthropists to join them in a donor…

I can’t remember the first time I became aware of Joan Rivers, but when I was growing up in New York City—and being as obsessed with show business as I was—she seemed to always be there. Armed with a powerful elegance and a legendary catalog of jokes, she was part Queen Elizabeth, part Lenny Bruce, part Statue of Liberty. While I’m still inspired by her craft, there’s another side to Joan that continues to impact me: her activism. As in her comedy, Joan was never afraid to stick her neck out for important causes. When AIDS ravaged the entertainment community in the 1980s, she was one of the first public figures to get into the trenches and help. When she learned that God’s Love We Deliver was providing meals to…