Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2017 i Town & Country

1975 C A P I TA L C A M P A I G N Washington, DC’s old guard— dubbed “Cave Dwellers” in the September 1975 issue of T&C—paid little attention to politics. This group “survived colonialism, revolution, civil war, and 36 presidents… [and] regards the other society through the lens of indifference.” But that apathy wouldn’t last, thanks in part to socially savvy, politically active arrivals like Ambassador William McCormick Blair Jr. and his wife Deeda (shown here). More than 40 years later a new political faction is moving into town, and while many things about Washington have changed, indifference remains resolutely out of style.…

.COM FOR MORE THINGS TO DO, GO TO TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM ARTS & CULTURE February 14 “Past Is Present: Revival Jewelry” Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts reviews 4,000 years of jewelry— and some Valentine’s Day inspiration. February 24 Princess Diana Kensington Palace will display the late royal’s iconic outfits. Cue the ’80s nostalgia. February 15 Ashes, by Steve McQueen The Oscar-winning director’s moving video installation about the life and death of a young fisherman is at the ICA in Boston. January 15 The Young Pope Jude Law plays the Vatican’s first American boss, Pius XIII, in this juicy new series on HBO. February 15–21 Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antique Show Society ladies will be out shopping for exquisite finds to decorate their Ocean Blvd. mansions. Through February 20 “Max Beckmann in…

For more than five decades the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama has, in addition to her worldfamous paintings, drawings, and sculptures, created captivating “infinity mirror” rooms. These mirrorlined, light-festooned installations (below right) have been widely celebrated (a show in New York had a three-hour wait, and Adele used one as a backdrop in a video), and now six of them are being grouped together for “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors,” an exhibition opening at Washington, DC’s Hirshhorn Museum on February 23. Here, Kusama—a voluntary resident of a Tokyo psychiatric hospital—opens up about her process for our peek inside the habits of a creative mastermind. How do you prepare yourself to be creative? I head to the studio at a regular time every day, pick up brush and pen, and begin working. What…

DOG & CO. Dog & Co. is a specialty store offering a carefully curated selection of contemporary canine accessories. With a flagship store in NYC, Dog & Co. also custom designs and locally crafts their own eponymous line of chic dog apparel. SHOPDOGANDCO.com HENDRICKS Handcrafted in Scotland in miniscule batches, Hendrick’s Gin uses spirits from both Carter-Head and Bennett still, which produces a divinely smooth gin that has character and the balance of subtle flavors. With its distinctive blend of botanicals and signature infusion of cucumber and rose petals, Hendrick’s has captivated the attention of bartenders and bon vivants across the nation. US.HENDRICKSGIN.com LANDMARK OVERLOOK CHARDONNAY Located in Sonoma, CA, Landmark has dedicated over 40 years to producing premier wines that reflect the best of each vintage. Landmark Vineyards produces…

Seventy nations have been run by women, from India and Argentina to Haiti and Liberia. (One day, ahem, perhaps the USA will join them.) Was it Hillary Clinton’s historic candidacy or female leaders making news around the world that inspired designers for spring? Runways saw a veritable invasion of uniform dressing: Bullion embroidery, cargo pockets, and an army green palette dominated. UNIFORM SOCIETY A powerful female voice in the Arab world, Queen Rania of Jordan is an advocate for women’s rights and education equality. She’s a role model to her 3 million Instagram followers, and her strong voice, sense of self, and style have global impact. FULL REGALIA In 1991, Queen Noor of Jordan (stepmother to Queen Rania’s husband King Abdullah II) attended a People’s Army reserve unit ceremony in…

It is a fact of modern life that we are a sleep-deprived lot. The CDC recently stated that our lack of proper rest is a public health problem, and the effects range in seriousness from suboptimal (reduction in focus, concentration, and memory) to truly dangerous (increased risk of disease). That’s what inspired Arianna Huffington to create Thrive Global, a new company focused on well-being, particularly the quality of our sleep and how we can get more of it. “We are living our lives under the false assumption that we have to burn out,” she says. Huffington’s long-term goals are to work with corporations to help them create a better work-life balance for their employees, and to create a culture around rest and relaxation in the bedroom. In the more immediate…

.COM FOR ADDITIONAL READINGS BY KATHARINE MERLIN, GO TO TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM .AQUARIUS JANUARY 21–FEBRUARY 19 John McEnroe .How you think and what you think about are powerfully highlighted this month, and now is the time to not only come up with new plans but to take them to the world. Your ability to charm and mend bridges is emphasized by the presence of Mars and Venus in Aries, and adventure-filled getaways are also in the spotlight. Remember, because you’re feeling confident and Saturn is now in your favor, nothing can hold you back or thwart your brilliant progress. .PISCES FEBRUARY 20–MARCH 20 Trevor Noah .Take the time to catch up with yourself, as the Sun highlights the most introspective angle of your chart until the 18th. Decisions you make will set…

LOIC GOUZER When he’s not spearfishing monster tuna or swimming with oceanic whitetip sharks, he’s challenging tradition as an iconoclastic curator at Christie’s. NATURAL HABITAT Jetsetting from St.-Tropez to St. Bart’s with billionaire clients; Oceana board meetings. CAVEAT Refers to statuesque beauty and Christie’s Asia Pacific deputy chair Xin Li as his “work wife.” THOMAS SALOMON The fourth -generation heir of French furrier Yves Salomon has big ambitions to take the family business global. A store in Beijing opened last year. NATURAL HABITAT The Casa Tua restaurant and Caribou Club in Aspen—he has a vacation home near the Little Nell. CAVEAT Lots of shop talk at family gatherings. BRONSON VAN WYCK Descended from the New York mayor for whom the expressway is named, he creates dream parties alongside his mom…

BRIAN CHESKY The co-founder of Airbnb was raised by social worker parents and considers Warren Buffett his inspiration. NATURAL HABITAT Entertaining Airbnb guests in his San Francisco home. You can sleep on his couch for $50. CAVEAT His artist girlfriend, Elissa Patel, whom he met on Tinder. JEREMY STOPPELMAN Ever have a mass ively disappointing experience at a restaurant? Talk to Stoppelman— he founded Yelp. NATURAL HABITAT Sipping a cappuccino at B. Patisserie in San Francisco. CAVEAT He counts himself among the dubious ranks of frequent Yelp reviewers. JACK DORSEY The co-founder of Twitter may be mulling a sale after a year of tumbling stock prices. The upside is he’ll have a lot more free time. NATURAL HABITAT Public buses, his preferred method of commuting to work (so he can…

CLEAR THINKING Twenty-five-yearold Marcantonio Brandolini is continuing his mother Marie’s glassmaking legacy. Great hosts and hostesses have long shared a colorful, albeit transparent, secret: their glassware. In lime green with swirls of gold, or emblazoned with pineapples and palm trees, with delicate lilac filigree, or with crimson millefiori in perfectly proportioned shapes, tumblers and goblets by Laguna B are instantly recognizable in a sea of imitation Murano. Another reason for the line’s popularity was its famous founder, Marie Brandolini, a ravenhaired descendant of the Rothschilds who called Venice’s Palazzo Brandolini home. When Marie died suddenly of cancer, in 2013, the future of her business seemed uncertain. Until, that is, her dashing son Marcantonio took the helm two years later. For Brandolini, now 25, keeping Laguna B alive is as much…

The valentines have been delivered, the roses sniffed. The wine has been poured, and generously. As a day devoted to romance draws to a close, even those who eschew formal celebration would do well to crack open a box of chocolates. There is always a slight frisson of mystery among the paper partitions, rows and rows of tiny painted jewels that look too pretty to eat— but must in fact be savored.…

BENSCHOTT In gentler times, the New York–based author says, members of polite society used a code to gossip about one another. His favorite example, NSIT (whispered by debs about dates who were Not Safe in Taxis), “was introduced to me by a beloved great aunt, Laughing Anne.” In “NOBLESSE OBLIQUE” (page 29), Schott imagines a revised shorthand for the modern world. PAULAM c LAIN Complicated heroines are a passion of the author of the biographical novels Circling the Sun and The Paris Wife. In “GONE GIRL” (page 116), McLain writes about new developments in the Amelia Earhart case. “She was most alive when she was stretching toward some new frontier. Think of what we can still glean from her.” ALEXEI HAY “The challenge was to reveal the prince’s African heart,”…

When the news broke in October that Prince Albert had purchased his mother Princess Grace’s childhood home in Philadelphia, local preservationists were elated. Her family had sold the red brick townhouse at 3901 Henry Avenue in 1974, and in the ensuing 40 years it had fallen into disrepair. Albert scooped up the property for a relatively modest $775,000 (the original asking price was more than $1 million) and quickly made clear that the home’s status as a beloved area landmark was guaranteed. “We’re looking at having it contain some museum exhibit space and maybe use part of it for offices for our foundation work,” he said at the time of the sale. “I’m looking forward to showing the house to the kids [his and Princess Charlene’s twins, Jacques and Gabriella],…

ALL MANNER OF JEWELRY “I f you buy true quality gemstones, and have a bit of patience, you will not lose money.” Henri Barguirdjian is bullish on jewelry. He has a right to be. For the last 16 years Barguirdjian was the CEO of Graff Diamonds North America, where he had access to the world’s finest specimens and also honed an eye for the truly rare ones. In October he announced his “retirement” from Graff to form Arcot Finance—described as a fine gem investment firm—with Harbinger Capital hedge fund magnate Philip Falcone. The establishment of Arcot highlighted the role of stones and jewels as a new asset class. As Women’s Wear Daily explained in October, “While many private individual collectors purchase stones as investments, it is difficult to pinpoint a…

Ten years ago perfumer Sherri Sebastian was having what she calls an Eat Pray Love moment in Belize. Much like that book’s author, Elizabeth Gilbert, she met a healer in paradise who told her to put clary sage oil on her pillow at night if she wanted colorful, vivid dreams. All of a sudden, Sebastian says, “I stopped thinking about sleeping and looked forward to dreaming.” Using fragrance to shift one’s perspective was on her mind when she created her new line, Provision, which includes Dream Extract, a room and linen spray built around fresh, herbaceous clary sage. Perfuming bed sheets may seem impossibly indulgent, but it can be functional as well: This Works Sleep Plus Pillow Spray contains motion-activated molecules with a calming chamomile, lavender, and vetiver scent that…

It’s an early morning in August, my first in Malawi, and I’m riding in a Land Cruiser at the front of a small convoy along a tree-lined track in Liwonde National Park, headed for the floodplain of the Shire River. The rains stopped two months ago, and all around are various shades of pale—bleached blue sky, yellow grasses, sand-colored soil. It looks serene, but the atmosphere is electric. And not just because Prince Harry is riding in the vehicle right behind mine—although that does, I’ll admit, lend a certain charm. “Nice to meet you, T&C,” he ventured earlier over a hasty standup breakfast back at the campsite at Liwonde’s Mvuu Lodge, where we are staying (mvuu is “hippo” in the local Chichewa language). Eyeing my bowl of dry cereal—how’s this…

ANTHONY CHANDRIS The son of Greek sh ipp i n g t ycoon John Chandris pals around with the London smart set. NATURAL HABITAT Waterskiing in the Greek islands. CAVEAT Brother Dimitri’s recent royalsstudded Tuscan wedding to Lydia Forte will be tough to top. BENE TASCHEN The son of famed German publisher Benedikt Ta s chen has made a name for himself as the founder of Hardhitta gallery, which specializes in contemporary photography and painting. NATURAL HABITAT German art fairs. CAVEAT Prepare to be gifted a lot of oversize art books. GUS & THEO WENNER Gus plans on taking over Rolling Stone from his dad Jann for the magazine’s 50th anniversary this year, while Theo continues to photograph for the magazine and shoot ad campaigns for Chloé and Marc Jacobs.…

STATEMENT JEWELS MAYORS ‘Tis the season to sparkle in Mayors’ one-of-a-kind 23.84 carat fancy yellow diamond ring in 18-karat yellow gold with diamonds. MAYORS.com DELGATTO DELGATTO is the leading brand for the resale of fi ne jewelry, diamonds, and watches. Our experience and unique range of buying options, including our online marketplace, allows us to pay unprecedented prices for your items. DEL-GATTO.com PICCHIOTTI Earrings aglow in a setting of rare splendor featuring mesmerizing Madagascar pear-shape pink sapphires and Sri Lanka cushion blue sapphires. Embellished by delicate diamond motifs, these unique gemstones create one-of-akind earrings. PICCHIOTTI.it GIA Shopping for a diamond? Be sure you look for diamonds with GIA grading reports. GIA’s Retailer Lookup helps you fi nd retailers who sell GIA-graded diamonds or have GIA-trained sales staff on site. GIA.edu/retailer-lookup…

YES, QUEEN This month 65 years ago, Queen Elizabeth II was at Sagana Lodge in Kenya when she received word of her father’s death. Her assumption of the throne at the age of 25 and the early years of her reign are the basis of hit Netflix drama The Crown.…

Since it was introduced in 1976, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak ladies watch has graced the wrists of champions (Serena Williams) and icons of feminine allure (Alessandra Ambrosio). It has also been a favorite of jewelers, including Carolina Bucci. The Florence-born Bucci, who comes from a long line of goldsmiths, is known for casually luxe charm necklaces and gold friendship bracelets. She also happens to wear a Royal Oak every day, which made her the ideal candidate to update the the watch’s look. Tasked with this mission, Bucci applied her “Florentine finish” to the bracelet of both the rose and white gold editions, a process that involves hammering the metal with a diamond-tipped tool. Says Bucci, “I love things that sparkle, and this finish gives the watch a dynamic quality so…

When Georgetown University announced in September plans to make amends for its historical participation in the slave trade, President John J. DeGioia drew a curious parallel. The descendants of 272 slaves sold by the university in 1838 to pay off debts, he said, would receive the same advantage in admissions as the children of Georgetown alumni. He seemed unaware of the irony. Alumni children at prestigious universities like Georgetown tend to be white and to come from affluent families. In other words, DeGioia was equating a remedy for past racism with a policy, known as legacy preference, that itself discriminates against lowincome and minority students. “If Georgetown really wants to come to grips with its discriminatory past and present, it would also end admissions policies like legacy preference that unconscionably…

THE FUTURE? Dismayed by the political atmosphere? Take heart: These guys have stellar résumés, outside-the-box minds, and charm to spare. ADAM KINZINGER This Republican congressman from Illinois has been included on The Hill ’s “50 Most Beautiful People” list, but this year he made headlines by refusing to support Donald Trump’s run for president. NATURAL HABITAT In the pilot’s seat—the former air force lieutenant loves to fly. CAVEAT He’s already broken one engagement. SETH MOULTON Before he was a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, Moulton was a mar i ne who earned both a Bronze Star and a commendation medal serving in Iraq. And before that he attended both Harvard and Andover. NATURAL HABITAT The fish market in Marblehead. We hear he makes a mean lobster fettuccine. CAVEAT You must…

JAMES PACKER The Australian billionaire called off his engagement to Mariah Carey because of her extravagant spending and his disdain for her reality show. NATURAL HABITAT Staying away from the spotlight in Bondi Beach. CAVEAT Carey is demanding a $50 million settlement and plans to keep her $10 million ring. Still, to him it’s chump change. CORY VITIELLO The ex of Prince Harry’s current flame, Meghan Markle, is a Food Network star and celebrity chef. NATURAL HABITAT Toronto, at an outpost of Flock, his rotisserie chain. CAVEAT Hope you like chicken. KEN GRIFFIN The billionaire philanthropist, art collector, and investor divorced fellow financial powerhouse Anne Dias Griffin. NATURAL HABITAT Chicago, where he’s the richest man in town, and New York, where he bought a $200 million pad at 220 Central…

MATILDA LUTZ The 24-year-old actress Matilda Lutz doesn’t let fear get the best of her. “I always try to face what frightens me,” she says. But if Lutz has managed to banish terror in real life, she’s not so lucky onscreen. This winter she’ll make her American film debut as the star of Rings, the latest installment in the globally popular, terribly scary horror franchise. Despite this auspicious introduction, drama wasn’t Lutz’s first love. She was a psychology major whose mother, an Italian fashion executive, recommended that she take acting classes to overcome shyness. Those lessons—first in Milan, then in Los Angeles—helped, and Lutz soon found work on Italian TV and in independent films. And although her American fashion photographer father “never wanted me to model,” she says, the beauty…