Welcome to the T List, a newsletter from the editors of T Magazine. Each week, we share things we're eating, wearing, listening to or coveting now. Sign up here to find us in your inbox every Wednesday. And you can always reach us at tlist@nytimes.com. |
A Patisserie Opens at the Ritz Paris |
 | | Left: Le Comptoir, the new pastry shop at the Ritz Paris, with confections by chef François Perret. Right: a selection of glazed and filled madeleines, the chef's signature pastry. Bernhard Winkelmann |
|
By Lindsey Tramuta T Contributor |
The culinary vision of the French chef Auguste Escoffier established the Ritz Paris as a coveted dining destination more than 120 years ago. Now, François Perret, the hotel's pastry chef since 2016, is cementing that reputation with Le Comptoir, a patisserie that opened at the property earlier this week. Accessible to the public from the Rue Cambon, the bright, peachy-hued shop offers twists on classic pastries, from croissants and mille-feuilles to seven varieties of glazed madeleines. But Perret has also introduced new creative confections, like his three made-to-order "cake shakes" — drinkable versions of his best-selling treats from the Ritz's Salon Proust teatime menu. "Working in a place with such an aura, with such history, we owed it to ourselves to be ambitious with this project," explains Perret. "People come to us for something special because we're the Ritz. That had to come to life in the pastry." ritzparis.com. |
The Season's Most Sensible Shoe |
While I frequently see clogs on the streets of Brooklyn, I'd never considered them for myself. With their stiff wooden soles and chunky rounded toes, I've always just admired them on others. And now the shoes have popped up all over the spring runways. At Hermès, designer Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski paired every look with a beach-wood clog featuring the house's signature H on the calfskin leather, which comes in an array of neutral tones. (Just like the house's Birkin bag, there's now a wait-list.) Chanel's rendition also came in a neutral beige but with a low block heel to remain true to a clog's comfort, along with a cork sole. At Louis Vuitton, meanwhile, Nicolas Ghesquière's version features gold studded detailing on the outer sides and a strap with the brand's classic monogram. If you prefer to go with independent brands, try clogs from Ancient Greek Sandal, known for their high quality leather, or Porte & Paire's collaboration with the Frankie Shop. |
A Line of Jewelry Inspired by Sculptural Vessels |
 | | A sculpture by the ceramist Simone Bodmer-Turner (left) next to the Bodmer Earring it inspired (right).Anastasiia Duvallie |
|
Morgan and Jaclyn Solomon, the duo behind the jewelry brand Agmes, have always found inspiration in art, from the works of Alberto Giacometti, Man Ray and Barbara Hepworth, among others. So their new collaboration with the Brooklyn-based ceramist Simone Bodmer-Turner — on a collection that reshapes some of the artist's existing sculpted pieces into miniature, wearable versions — is a fitting extension of their practice. "Jaclyn and I had been great admirers of Simone's work," Morgan says, "and she had actually just gifted me one of Simone's vessels when Simone reached out to us about buying a pair of earrings. As soon as I saw her message, I knew I wanted to discuss the idea of a collaboration." From there, the trio worked together to create pieces that are at once a reflection of Bodmer-Turner's singular aesthetic (the collaboration allowed her to work with a variety of metals rather than clay) and Agmes's penchant for artfully handcrafted accessories. The ceramist's influence is evident in the wavy, organic shapes of the line's bold rings, pendant necklaces, chokers and earrings in silver and gold, which have been accented with freshwater pearls, silk cords and glass baubles. agmesnyc.com. |
"Altered States," Curated by the Artist Gary Simmons |
 | | From left: David Korty's "Untitled" (2020) and "Untitled" (2019)Courtesy of the artist and Rebeca Camacho Presents |
|
The artist Gary Simmons is best known for deploying a technique called erasure. Using as his source material pop culture detritus ranging from the pre-World War II racist "Looney Tunes" character Bosko to the titles of long-lost Jim Crow-era "race" films like "The Bronze Buckaroo," Simmons paints and draws, sometimes directly onto a chalkboard, then blurs the image with his hand — a gesture that gives his work the eerie quality of a lapse in memory. Erasure also happens to be the unofficial theme of "Altered States," a group show Simmons has organized at the recently opened gallery Rebecca Camacho Presents in San Francisco. The works, by six Los Angeles-based artists, include sanded metal paintings by Josh Callaghan reminiscent of Simmons's own smudged chalkboards and photographic self-portraits by Genevieve Gaignard, which are composed as if the sleek nostalgia of Cindy Sherman's "Untitled Film Stills" were transported to a suburban sprawl but with a voyeuristic anxiety. "You see certain threads in the work around you. There are common interests," Simmons says of the exhibition. The summer group show is a beloved art world tradition, and now also a sign that galleries may be returning to normal. "Altered States" is one view through July 23 at Rebecca Camacho Presents, 794 Sutter Street, San Francisco, rebeccacamacho.com. |
Prints and Patterns Reminiscent of Contemporary Art |
Whether born from creative collaboration or developed in-house, this season's men's wear took inspiration from the world of visual art. Hermès debuted shirts emblazoned with indigo horses that feel lifted from a woodblock print and were made in collaboration with the French painter and sculptor Jean-Louis Sauvat, while Bianca Saunders repurposed an archival photo of her mother lounging on the beach in Jamaica, which she repeats across the front panels of a button-down. Then there's the ceramist Brian Rochefort, who partnered with Berluti's creative director, Kris Van Assche, to translate his vivid sculptures into various garments, including a shirt whose splotches evoke the spots of an otherworldly animal. For Ermenegildo Zegna's own painterly print (a violet-and-teal pattern on a half-zip smock), the brand drew from the foliage of Oasi Zegna, a nature preserve in the Biellese Alps that was the focus of a 1930s reforestation campaign led by the brand's namesake founder. Dior Men's Kim Jones, meanwhile, fell in love with the work of the Ghanian painter Amoako Boafo and created an entire collection in dialogue with the artist's vibrant portraiture. |
The Art of Japanese Brush Making |
 | | Nara fude — made from mixed hair (left) and goat hair (right) — for practicing calligraphy using sumi ink ground on an ink stone.Shina Peng |
|
Chiyomi Tanaka is one of seven remaining masters of crafting Nara fude. "Fude" roughly translates to "brush," but Tanaka uses the word only for the style of calligraphy and ink-painting brushes she makes in a tradition with roughly 1,300 years of history in Nara, the landlocked prefecture below Kyoto. She works on the brushes in batches — first blending and shaping a stiff inner core, then wrapping it in softer hairs — repeatedly wetting and drying the hair, whether that of a squirrel, itachi (a kind of weasel), horse, rabbit, sika deer, tanuki (raccoon dog) or a Yangtze River Delta white goat, between steps. The stiffness or softness of a hair, how much spring and resilience it has, the amount of ink it picks up and how quickly it releases ink onto the page — all of this matters to a calligrapher who desires a particular kind of line. In Japan, calligraphy is still valued on the same level as poetry or painting, but, with very few exceptions, the village brush maker is a thing of the past. As the demand for everyday calligraphy brushes dwindled, though, some makers turned to another source of income: beauty brushes. For Hannah Kirshner's full story on Japanese brushes, visit tmagazine.com — and follow us on Instagram. |
| And if you read one thing on tmagazine.com this week, make it: | | |
|
