Guest Edits
Days after seeing a William Eggleston show at the Getty Museum in the early 2000s, Alex Prager, then 21, taught herself how to use a Nikon N90s. Two decades later, the celebrated Angeleno’s oeuvre—with its cinematic, Old Hollywood-inspired streak—encompasses photography, sculpture, and film, as seen in Lehmann Maupin’s New York exhibition Part Two: Run. Below, Prager shares her display-worthy items of choice
Photo: Christopher Michel (Prager)
Louis-Géraud Castor, who studied archeology and art history at the Sorbonne before becoming an antiques dealer, may not have planned to become the French fashion world’s preeminent florist, but when he traded Art Deco designs for his own subtly striking seasonal bouquets—which he arranges out of a Marais studio—in 2017, he quickly caught the attention of the likes of Chanel, Hermès, and Prada. Here, the born-and-bred Parisian reveals his must-haves, from a Dali-esque objet to the candle he lights up at home
Photo: Leon Prost (Castor)
It’s easy to mistake Jean Prounis’s hand-wrought jewelry for pieces displayed in the Met Museum’s Greco-Roman gallery—and with good reason: since 2017, the New York-based designer, who has found endless inspiration in decorative artifacts, has used ancient gold-smithing techniques to craft her signature recycled 22-karat band rings and precious gemstone pendant necklaces. Below, Prounis shares her everyday essentials—both old and new
Photo: Emma Marie Jenkinson (Prounis)
When it comes to Manhattan’s see-and-be-seen spots, few names are more known than that of Kyle Hotchkiss Carone, the young restaurateur and man-about-town behind American Bar, Saint Theo’s, the revived Lambs Club, and, most recently, Holiday Bar, where martinis and seafood are served in a decadent, 80s-inspired setting (mirrored walls, tubular banquettes, and all). Here, Hotchkiss Carone shares his must-haves, from crystal glassware to the vintage cookbook that inspires him most
Photo: Evan Sung (Carone)
As the woman behind Desert Vintage—whose Tucson and Lower East Side boutiques have become sartorial meccas for discerning designers such as Emily Bode and Sophie Buhai—Salima Boufelfel is no stranger to hunting down singular and strikingly unusual finds, be it a 1930s gilded cape or a Madame Grés bias-cut dress from the 1970s. Here, the Arizona native shares more of her choice discoveries, from Parisian tea to a traditional Moroccan lip stain
Photo: Kam Boufelfel (Boufelfel)
When Rafael Prieto, the cofounder of the design practice Savvy Studio, isn’t working with clients like Mast Books and Saint Theo’s, he can be found crafting Casa Bosques’ chocolate bars—laced with blue corn maize or hoja santa leaves—in collaboration with artists including Harold Ancart and Lawrence Weiner. Here, the chocolatier and creative mind shares his everyday essentials, from the toothpaste he turns to post-sweets to the supplement he swears by while traveling between his Tribeca and Mexico City ateliers
Photo: Adrianna Glaviano (Prieto)
A digital glimpse into a rare reading room, Durga Chew-Bose’s Instagram feed abounds with snapshots of the first-edition cover of Hilton Als’s Women, say, or a page from Jonas Mekas’s A Dance With Fred Astaire, which is among her most treasured possessions, as seen below. Here, the Montreal-based author of Too Much and Not the Mood, who has recently penned essays for MoMA’s Wolfgang Tillmans catalogue and Pace Gallery’s Agnes Martin monograph, shares more of her essentials, from an Indian bar soap to the loafers that suit all sartorial standards
Sought out by New York’s most discerning aesthetes, Michael Bargo has become known for expertly marrying midcentury collectibles with lesser-known contemporary finds. Here, the interior designer and dealer shares the pieces with which he’d never part, from a mother-of-pearl caviar set to the black-glass candle that fills his downtown apartment-turned-gallery with inviting notes of cedar and sandalwood
Photo: Francois Dischinger (Bargo)
Born in Maputo, Mozambique, Cassi Namoda lived in Indonesia, Kenya, Haiti, Benin, and Uganda—all before completing high school. Now, based between Manhattan and the Berkshires, the young artist, who’s worked for the fashion designer Maryam Nassir Zadeh and collaborated with the likes of J. Crew and Catbird, has become known for ensembles that are nearly as alluring as her fantastical paintings. Here, she highlights her favorite international finds, from French oil paints to Austrian bath salts
Photo: Alina Asmus (Namoda)
“I have lists of lists,” Graydon Carter once said. It should come as no surprise, then, that the legendary New York editor, who spent 25 years at Vanity Fair before co-founding AIR MAIL, has his very own shopping compendium, as seen below. Here, in honor of our Downtown issue, Carter shares his daily signatures, from a leather folio fit for the office and pavement-proof suede loafers to the shampoo he’s stocked up on at a Greenwich Village pharmacy for over a quarter of a century
Photo: Graydon Carter, photographed by Nigel Parry at the Odeon in 2000.
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