WSJ. Magazine What's News: December 2016
Goings on in the world of style & culture
Bright Ideas
Bright Ideas
French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, 42, often blends science, technology and style to create works of great imagination, such as his plant-powered terrariumlike air filter, the “pale-pink egg” light fixtures he recently installed at the Louvre’s Café Mollien and the rippling black Liquid Marble table he showed in September at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. At his solo Carpenters Workshop Gallery exhibit in London this fall, he debuted Spring Lamp, whose handblown-glass tubes arc dramatically from their cylindrical marble base. “The impressionist painters tried to catch elements that are not supposed to be caught: light, air, wind,” explains Lehanneur. “My work is stopped movement that is transformed into an object.” More of his recent designs go on view with Carpenters Workshop at Art Basel Miami Beach in early December. —Ted Loos
Sole Property
Sole Property
Fresh off the September opening of its first U.S. store, in New York, Australian shoemaker R.M. Williams is offering a new bespoke service that allows customers to order a pair of the brand’s classic boots made from their choice of kangaroo, crocodile or 10 other types of skin. 212-219-3619. —Isaiah Freeman-Schub
Into the Woods
Into the Woods
A trio of renovated, one-of-a-kind retreats offers interiors, cuisine and activities distinct to each milieu. —Kate Donnelly
From left:
Scribner’s Catskill Lodge
Built in 1966 in upstate New York, this updated inn now features vintage-chic interiors, a lineup of nature hikes and cider tastings, chef Joseph Buenconsejo’s Alpine-inspired dishes
and panoramic views of the Catskill Mountains. scribnerslodge.com
The Suttle Lodge
Located in central Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest, this 11-room getaway also boasts timber-clad cabins, as well as snowshoeing and ski biking. Portland chef Joshua McFadden’s boathouse menu leans on hearty vegetable chowders. thesuttlelodge.com
Timber Cove
Set above the Sonoma, California, coastline, this lodge has outfitted its 46 rooms in calming natural wood. Mushroom picking and rainy treasure hunts lead to fireplace chats,
followed by dinner at Phillip Kaufman’s Coast Kitchen.timbercoveresort.com
The Cult of Vintner's Daughter
The Cult of Vintner's Daughter
“With the serum, as with our wine, we believe you have to be able to control the quality from start to finish,” says April Gargiulo (above), who founded Vintner’s Daughter and whose family owns a Napa Valley winery. Her skin serum has surged in popularity thanks to its blend of top-quality natural botanicals and its inflammation-reducing, glow-inducing results. It has sold out twice since April, prompting devotees to stockpile the one-ounce bottles. Makeup artists like Jamie Greenberg and Andréa Tiller use it on their celebrity clients, including Amy Schumer and Tracee Ellis Ross—“It creates a perfect matte glow,” says Gargiulo. And this winter, it’s found its way into facials: Skin-care specialists Joanna Czech and Dangene incorporate the serum into treatments, and London’s Pfeffer Sal skin clinic mixes it with hyaluronic acid and vitamin C for microneedling. $185; vintnersdaughter.com —Fiorella Valdesolo
Step Forward
Step Forward
Leave the heels at home and dip a toe into the newest evening trend: embellished slides that are effortlessly elegant. From top: Roger Vivier, $1,395, rogervivier.com; Dorateymur, $475, Net-a-Porter; Giuseppe Zanotti, $795, Giuseppe Zanotti design boutiques, 212-650-0455; Bottega Veneta, $440, 800-845-6790; Sanayi 313, $730, shop.sanayi313.com; Oscar de la Renta, $750, Oscar de la Renta boutiques.
Crack the Code
Crack the Code
In 2012, a challenge from a 6-year-old cousin to make computers and coding as easy and fun as Legos got Alex Klein, a former tech journalist based in the U.K., thinking. He and two partners started Kano, which produces kid-friendly, make-it-yourself computers. Now the company is set to release three new products, starting with the Lite-Brite–style Pixel Kit this month. After assembling the device, users can connect it to any web browser and learn to program classic arcade games, shifting color patterns or real-world data displays. “It’s the least obvious conceptually,” says Klein, “but it’s the staff favorite.” Camera and speaker kits will follow in 2017. kano.me. —Christopher Ross
Eye for Design
Eye for Design
After the launch of his hospitality brand earlier this fall, Karl Lagerfeld—the creative director of Fendi and Chanel—is now revealing the plans for his first U.S.-based interior design project: the Estates at Acqualina, a residential development in Miami’s Sunny Isles Beach, which will feature two Lagerfeld-designed lobbies. “I made enough houses for myself that it is now time for me to do places for other people,” says Lagerfeld, 83, who has renovated and designed about 20 homes over the past half century. The Miami lobbies’ standout features include hammered metal floors, water fountains, ocean-blue mosaic rugs inspired by the project’s beachfront setting and Lagerfeld’s photographs of ancient Roman fountains etched onto the skylights and 10-foot-tall panels of glass. “He pulled everything together in a very contemporary way but with a tremendous amount of history in it,” says Estates at Acqualina owner and developer Jules Trump, who partnered with New York–based creative agency Leitzes & Co. on the project. The 5.6-acre development is slated to be completed by 2020. —Lenora Jane Estes
Flight of Fancy
Flight of Fancy
Jet-set fans of Rimowa luggage can now purchase a plane to match. Co-CEO Dieter Morszeck has revived the famed Junkers F13 plane, which first flew in 1919. The new version can be ordered for $2.5 million and features the same grooved metal as the suitcases—but with a leather-finished interior. rimowa-f13.com