Viviana Volpicella On: Menswear-Inspired Style
Viviana Volpicella is an oft-photographed favorite of those street-style shutterbugs — and it’s easy to see why. The girl’s got a knack for cool styling combinations, equal parts effortless and bold. Here, the Milan-based stylist and Contributing Fashion Editor for Vogue Brazil talks to us about menswear-inspired style — why she loves it and how to pull it off with élan.
Day in the Life: Daphne Javitch
For Daphne Javitch, the Creative Director and designer of TEN, life is not about lounging around (save for this shot, in our Biarritz Boy Shorts, taken by Hanuk Hanuk). It starts with a green apple and sprint practice on East 6th Street and ends with salad night in Brooklyn. In between it’s about new ideas for TEN and consulting for Theory and Uniqlo.
Spotlight On: Shangri La
Doris Duke’s honeymoon to India in 1935 was a love affair in more ways than one. A visit to the Taj Mahal sparked a life-long passion for Islamic art and culture, which she channeled into her Honolulu home known as Shangri La. Tory visited the estate and was inspired by the Islamic tile work, the mix of outdoor-and-indoor living and the idea that each room had a story to tell about every subsequent trip Duke took to the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Here, Tory’s photo diary of her trip, as well as Shangri La Program Manager Carol Khewhok’s take on Duke’s enduring mystique.
Video: Walk & Don’t Look Back
One of the great gifts of 2012 was getting to see the Rolling Stones — still, by our accounts, the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world. We were dazzled by the lithe and liquid moves of King Jagger who still summons the devilish in all of us. What is the secret to this ageless spirit? We think perhaps the answer is in this great video Mick made with Peter Tosh, and we wanted to share it. Happy New Year, everyone!
Jump — No, Cannonball — into 2013
Here’s to the New Year. We hope it brings peace, love and the jumping kind of joy to everyone.
Recipe: The Cotton House Mango Mojito
Celebrate 2013 with a little mojito mojo. The all-island cocktail party at Mustique’s Cotton House is a weekly tradition that draws locals (a mix of British royalty, rock legends and the fashion flock) and visitors alike to discuss the important topics of any tropical getaway: picnic menus and the rain forecast. The drink of choice this New Year’s Eve? The Mango Mojito. Here, the recipe, straight from the Cotton House’s bartender.
Book of the Week: Ron Church
Bronzed bods, ripping waves, the nostalgic filter of the Sixties, surf and sand — what’s not to love? Ron Church: California to Hawaii 1960 to 1965 features vintage surfing photographs (mostly unpublished) from the legendary lensman and onetime cinematographer to Jacques Cousteau. And he didn’t snap these cool shots as an outsider looking in; a longtime diver and record-holding spearfisher, Ron became a consummate part of the surf community, even paddling out with his camera to shoot from the water. It’s this truly insider view of a burgeoning youth culture that makes the book so compelling.
10 Minutes with an Entrepreneur: Wahoo’s Fish Taco
When the craving for a burrito stuffed with wild-caught Cajun fish hits, head to Wahoo’s, a taco spot with a Mexican/Brazilian/Asian menu and a Hawaiian surf-inspired vibe. The two Honolulu-based Wahoo’s are owned by sisters Stephanie Pietsch Gambetta and Noel Pietsch Shaw, who spent 10 minutes with us.
Tory’s Playlist: Surf’s Up
As the mercury drops this winter, our thoughts continue to turn toward sun-soaked surf days. To help us get in the mood, we’ve compiled the perfect playlist, whether you’re hanging ten or just…hanging around.
Chad Robertson On: Surfing & The Après-Surf Menu
Chad Robertson is more than just an outstanding baker and one-half of San Francisco’s famous Tartine Bakery — with two books out on the kneady stuff to boot. He’s an avid surfer, too, who hits the waves year-round — even while the rest of us reach for cold-weather comforts. Here, he shares his latest surf adventure in Japan, as well as his menu (and accompanying recipe) for the perfect après-surf meal.
Word of Mouth: Martin Parr’s Life’s A Beach
As a documentary photographer, Martin Parr gives it to you straight. He revels in the unvarnished, untony and imperfect. There’s an elegance in the bluntness of his images, which you can see in his current Time Off exhibit at London’s Rocket Gallery and in Aperture’s new beach-bag-sized edition of his photo book Life’s a Beach. The latter spotlights beach culture from all around the world, including Argentina, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, the U.S. and Japan (above). It’s a thoughtful counterpoint to typically dreamy beach-front photographs. The beachgoers here? Take a close look at the scene; they’re idling in Miyazaki’s indoor Seagaia Ocean Dome.
Spotlight On: Tony Caramanico
Since picking up his first surfboard in 1963, artist Tony Caramanico has been riding the waves around the world, from Montauk to St. Barts, all the while recording every kick-flip and reef break in surf journals. Five years ago he turned these collaged objets d’art — a striking mix of photos, illustrations and text — into prints, available at Clic Gallery. Tonight, a few of them are going up for auction at a party in St. Barth (6 PM – 8 PM, at Le Sereno) to benefit the non-profit St. Barth Essentiel, which conserves the island’s culture and environment. “The bottom line,” says Tony, “is that I’ve always been a surfer. The rest of it has been filling in the blanks.”
Alexandra Durbin On: Maui
There’s something about Maui. Alexandra Durbin, the Creative Director of new digital design firm Maui New York, checked in with us from her brother’s wedding in…Maui, where she test drove Tory’s surf shirt. For Alexandra, this is where life, family and inspiration collide.
Tory On: Swim
Going someplace warm and sandy? Here, Tory talks about her favorite kind of swim looks, from always-flattering silhouettes to how she wears them.
Film: Thomas Campbell’s Aberrations of Summer
We asked legendary surf filmmaker and fine artist Thomas Campbell to translate our latest swim collection through his sunny, soft-camera lens. We got Aberrations of Summer, his dreamscape of a film, starring surfers Danica Elbertse, Shannon Lewis and Tanner Prairie and an undisturbed swath of beach in central California. The fifth character is the soundtrack by The Mattson 2. Watch the film and then read Campbell’s inspiration.
Resort 2013: Inspiration
Our Resort 2013 collection was inspired by a cocktail of sun-kissed inspirations, from Mediterranean getaways and the colors of the islands to the leisure lives of Marisa Berenson and Jackie Kennedy. The mood is relaxed yet upbeat while the prints and patterns are playful and bright. It’s everything we love about those lazy days in the sun.
Happy Holidays!
xxTory
I found this picture recently. I was five years old, standing in front of our Christmas tree at our home in Valley Forge. Every year, we went to the local tree farm and picked the best tree we could find. We spent the entire day decorating it with as much as we could — ornaments, lights, spray snow, tinsel, anything. My mother would finish it off with an angel that we had had for years. I loved wrapping gifts (still do!), and played a joke on one of my brothers one year. We had a bet to see who was the nicest and who would get the most presents from Santa. I spent the entire night wrapping anything I could find — bricks, oranges, kitchen utensils. We woke up the next morning, and his pile was huge! Needless to say, he was a bit disappointed.
Tory’s Playlist: Holiday Party 2012
Rock the holidays with our special party playlist. From Van Morrison and David Bowie to Shaggy and Justin Timberlake, there’s a little something fun for everyone….
David Netto On: Oyster Stuffing, Circa 1975
Decorator David Netto’s style can be described as that place on a Venn diagram where retro Upper East Side meets modern, pared-down LA. It makes perfect sense, then, that this Christmas, in his glass box Neutra-designed Silver Lake home, he plans on serving a dish that reminds him of his childhood at 83th Street and Fifth. On the menu? Oyster stuffing served up by his personal chef, Reggie Southerland (on the left). Here, Netto shares both the recipe and the Proustian memories of his youth.
Must Hear: Do They Know It’s Christmas
Every holiday season we return to this song and video and remind ourselves to open our hearts to people around the world struggling to find basic sustenance. Food and shelter. Bob Geldof founded Band Aid almost thirty years ago to help aid and address those trapped by famine in Ethiopia. This video helped spread the message throughout the world. To this day, what a great song and what a great collection of artists. How young they were. How great they are….
What’s Your Sign? Capricorn
What does the earth sign of Capricorn ((December 21st – January 19th) — and the New Year — have in store for you? Astrology expert Susie Cox reveals all.
Tory Entertains: Santa’s Cookie Plate
One of our favorite traditions is baking cookies for Ol’ Saint Nick. He likes them, and so do we. Here, a quick recipe from Chef Dana Minuta for shortbread cookies and spiced hot chocolate.
Tory Entertains: Yuletide Dinner
Calling all holiday chefs! We got the perfect pan-roasted chicken recipe from Lorraine Wallace, who’s made her husband — news anchor Chris Wallace — a chicken dish every week since he started hosting Fox News Sunday nine years ago. Our dessert, meanwhile, comes courtesy of Tory’s favorite holiday book — Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. As for how we whipped up a fictional recipe, you can thank Yummy Books blogger Cara Nicoletti for that.
Word of Mouth: Mayan State of Mind
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and everyone feels fine with that. While scholars, including Nasa, have thoroughly debunked the theory that the world will end on December 21 when the Mayan calendar ends, it hasn’t stopped hosts who love a good theme from throwing apocalypse-eve parties. Andrew Allen is hosting a Mayan Mercer Countdown tonight, complete with Jeffrey Bilhuber décor and a burlesque troop (they definitely had those in ancient times, right?). So what would Allen do if it really was the end of days? “The usual…throw on a pair of cashmere socks and have an end-of-the-world party,” Allen says. Guest Annie Churchill adds, “I’d go to the ocean with a bunch of my friends, have a bbq with great music, dance, talk and huh hum…until the end.”