Photo courtesy of Michael Kors/ Dylan Griffin for BA Reps
Michael Kors wants to watch world hunger disappear—with a little help from new editions of its best-selling Runway timepiece, designed in collaboration with actress and philanthropist Halle Berry. The brand is releasing four unisex 100-Series designs ($295 each)—its first product created exclusively for an international philanthropic effort—and updating the bold, iconic lines of the classic Runway watch with a stainless-steel case and a gold- or silver-tone band. The dial, etched with a map of the world, is available in turquoise or navy.
For each purchase, the Watch Hunger Stop campaign will donate 100 meals to undernourished children across the globe through the United Nations World Food Programme. As a reminder of the wearer’s gift, the back of each watch is engraved with “1 WATCH = 100 MEALS,” alongside Kors’s signature.
The ultimate goal? One million meals distributed to countries like Bolivia, Uganda and Bangladesh—and thousands of ambassadors for the cause wearing their support on their wrists and watching the campaign’s march to the finish line (there have already been nearly 250,000 meals delivered) via a tracker on the project’s website. destinationkors.com.
Valentino’s iconic dots get a little sweeter in the brand’s newest capsule collection, Pop Pois, which features candy-colored, polka-dotted espadrilles, clothing and accessories in tangy shades of blueberry, cherry and lime. Launched last December during Art Basel Miami Beach, and scheduled for a European release in Valentino boutiques this month, and a release in Asia in May, the Pop Art–inspired collection plays up Miami’s sunny, retro-modern vibe with a wink to the brand’s history. The modular centerpiece is a polka-dotted scarf emblazoned with the Valentino logo, which has been resized and transformed into flowing silk maxi tops, pajama pants and day dresses that can be mixed and matched for a seamless transition from beach to nightclub to bedroom. The glamorous showstopper? A flirty, gold-chained VaVa Voom studded clutch, updated with a matching polka-dot cover. Caftan dress, $1,290; valentino.com.
Perched on a hillside above the Hudson River near Barrytown, New York, Rokeby house is cluttered with two centuries’ worth of knickknacks—some priceless, many worthless—a not-so-gilded tribute to the aristocratic splendor of generations of Astors and Livingstons who once lived there. It’s also the stifling scene of Alexandra Aldrich’sThe Astor Orphan(Ecco), which brings to life the “confusion and the pain” of the author’s upbringing on the deteriorating, 450-acre estate, owned at the time by her grandmother, one of the 11 so-called Astor orphans who lived and studied at Rokeby after the unexpected deaths of New York congressman John Winthrop Chanler and his wife, Margaret Astor Ward. Aldrich recently returned to Rokeby with her son to renovate the “endless supply of broken things” that filled the manse. “Eventually, I realized that cleaning wouldn’t change anything,” she says, “so I started writing.”
Next week, visitors to New York’s Grand Central Terminal will travel farther than their chosen regional destination—almost 7,000 miles farther, to be precise. The second annual Japan Week, a three-day tribute to Japanese culture, art and cuisine, kicks off on March 19, with a commemorative ceremony celebrating the relationship between the century-old terminal and its newly-crowned “sister station,” Tokyo Station (only one year shy of its own centennial). For on-the-go nourishment, travelers can grab ekiben bento boxes, traditionally served at small shops inside Japanese train stations, filled with regional specialties like crab rice, beef, and rice balls. In Vanderbilt Hall, commuters can indulge in a quick drink before heading home—a Japanese tradition that is easily replicated with a pop-up tachinomiya sake bar, where guests can taste more than 90 varieties of jizake craft sake and the Japanese liquor shochu, curated by sake experts like Wasan owner Toshiyuki Koizumi and former Sakagura sommelier Chizuko Niikawa-Helton. March 19–March 21; 89 E. 42nd St.; japanweek.us.
Southern California style meets international luxury in Lucky Brand’s new collaboration with globetrotting textile designers Carolina Irving and Lisa Fine, who started their clothing label, Irving & Fine, after a fabric-sourcing trip to India. Irving & Fine for Lucky Brand’s 11-piece Spring 2013 collection blends Lucky Brand’s vintage Americana look with the exquisite textiles and intricate embroidery that Irving & Fine is known for. Vibrant Moroccan-inspired jackets ($199), detailed peasant tops ($169) and bohemian totes with woven leather straps ($129, pictured here) mix and match easily with Lucky Brand’s handmade, SoCal-inspired denim, jackets and sweaters for a healthy dose of East-meets-West couture. luckybrand.com.
The lamps developed inside Foscarini’s stark white research laboratory shine far brighter than the average desk light. Each is produced in collaboration with a world-renowned artist, like Luca Nichetto, winner of the 2008 Gran Design Award, or Giulio Iacchetti, who was presented the Premio dei Premi by Italian president Giorgio Napolitano in 2009. The Venice-based lighting company itself is no stranger to awards. In addition to a slew of Compasso D’Oro and Red Dot award winners, pieces from its line were selected for inclusion in the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Foscarini’s fall lamps take their cues from nature. German designer Werner Aisslinger’s Behive suspension lamp (shown here; $1,136), with soft light diffused through stacked white polycarbonate rings, brings to mind a dangling beehive. And from Ludovica+Roberto Palomba, designers of the Birdie lighting family, a ceiling light (from $608) combines the elegance of a chandelier with the simplicity of the outdoors, its adjustable steel arms recalling the thin branches of a young tree. 17 Green St.; 212-247-2218; foscarini.com.
Burberry’s newest London flagship store, located on Regent Street near the bespoke tailors of Savile Row and the luxury boutiques on Bond Street, is steeped in history. Since its construction in 1820, the building functioned as an art gallery, radio broadcast headquarters and livery stable. But with this month’s opening of the 44,000-square-foot store, Burberry is looking more toward the high-tech future than the past. During New York fashion week, visitors to the store watched Burberry Prorsum’s models, clad in Technicolor hues, strut the runway in real time, streamed overseas to the store’s oversized display; RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags woven into the clothing and accessories turned mirrors into video screens. Despite the flagship’s flashy interior, the brand hasn’t forgotten its rainy roots: On dreary days shoppers can hear raindrops patter on the ceiling’s Georgian lantern dome, reminding them that they are still in London—and wouldn’t they like a raincoat? 44-20/7806-8904; burberry.com.
Photo courtesy of PEI International Shellfish Festival
The fresh fish caught off Prince Edward Island (PEI) is the stuff of legends—after all, the rural island along Canada’s Atlantic coast is called the tuna capital of the world for good reason. Still, when it comes to cuisine, PEI is rarely a Canadian foodie’s first stop. All that is changing. This September brings culinary cachet to PEI’s shores, with two food festivals featuring superstar chefs and highlighting the island’s prodigious seafood offerings.
For the competitive set, nothing beats the PEI International Shellfish Festivalon thehistoric Charlottetown Waterfront. From September 13 through 16, foodies from across Canada are invited to participate in oyster-shucking and chowder-cooking competitions. To kick it all off, Food Network chefs Michael Smith and Mark McEwan will host a dinner on September 13, featuring carved-pork canapés and butter-braised lobster poutine.
For a broader taste of the island’s offerings, the month-long Fall Flavours Culinary Festival (September 7 through 30) brings seven of Canada’s top celebrity chefs to PEI, including Top Chef Canada champion Carl Heinrich and pastry chef Anna Olson, who will bake and serve her famous cupcakes at a picnic in Cavendish Grove in PEI National Park. Visitors can also dig for clams off the coast, taste moonshine at the island’s historic distillery and cook with local flavors at a boot camp hosted by the Culinary Institute of Canada.
Peter Liversdge, WILL HISTORY BE KIND, 2011 / Courtesy Sean Kelly, New York
Frieze Art Fair, which has called London’s Regent’s Park home for the past eight years, will host its first U.S. installment this weekend on Randall’s Island in New York. To house the exhibitions, Brooklyn-based architects Solid Objectives – Idenburg Liu (SO – IL) designed a tented, snake-like structure—a signature of the past London fairs—that overlooks the East River. Inside, art from New York’s top contemporary galleries will be on display, including offerings from the Marianne Boesky Gallery, David Zwirner, Gagosian Gallery and Lehmann-Maupin.
The festivities spread to Manhattan on May 5 with Chelsea Night (6 P.M. to 8 P.M.), cosponsored by Frieze and Net-A-Porter. Chelsea galleries featured at Frieze New York will throw open their doors for a block party, transforming West 26th Street into a pedestrian plaza complete with food trucks, live music from Brooklyn electro-pop outfit Dreamshow and exclusive looks at more than 35 galleries. At Sean Kelly Gallery (528 W. 29th St.; skny.com), visitors can attend the opening reception for painter Kehinde Wiley’s “An Economy of Grace” exhibition, and both Chelsea locations of Gagosian Gallery (gagosian.com) are participating, offering works by Lucio Fontana (555 W. 24th St.) and Richard Avedon (522 W. 21st St.). May 4–7; friezenewyork.com.
Warmer weather brings flowers, picnic baskets and fruity Chardonnays—sometimes all in one tidy package. Chic Picnique, the product of a new collaboration between fashion designer Tracy Reese and boutique Sonoma winery Clos du Bois, arrives just in time for a springtime outing. The stylish wicker picnic hamper, lined with Reese’s iconic floral-patterned fabric, is filled with two Clos du Bois wines, reusable travel glasses, a corkscrew, a bottle stopper and two fabric napkins in a matching print. It’s perfect for making toasts alfresco. $135;
closduboiswinestore.com
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