Keens for You: We’re Doing a Sandal-of-the-Summer Giveaway
Plus Charlap Hyman & Herrero’s late-night auction searches.
Much interest in ancient craft this week: Murano-glass pendants and turquoise ceramics. Can you believe this tile was made over 1,000 years ago? Kind of looks like Shane Gabier. —Simone Kitchens, Winnie Yang, Lauren Ro, Erin Schwartz, and Michael Zhao
* Winnie was in the Berkshires recently and had dinner at the new Cliff House, part of Prospect, a resort in Egremont, Massachusetts, that opened about a month ago. She was especially charmed by the candy-striped globe pendants over the bar. Co-owner Jade-Snow Carroll, who designed all the interiors of the property, told us that she got them from the Copenhagen shop Millefiori Interior, which specializes in Murano lighting. Many of the other items in the restaurant, cabins, and other buildings are more locally sourced, including the Dragon Scale Planters from Campo de’ Fiori, based in nearby Sheffield.
* Features writer and rain-or-shine cyclist Madeline Leung Coleman has tips for looking cute while biking: “For commuting to work, bike in a sleeveless underlayer and pack layers for the office AC. Calomel’s sleeveless shells are like the Flore Flore tanks but half the price. This Pleats Please top is for sports. My favorite Nu Swim dress allows me to pedal with ease. If your trousers are too wide, roll up the hems or strap them with these. If you use a bike-share program, an eight-to-12-inch bungee cord can strap your bag to the front rack and spare you the indignity of riding with your going-out bag dangling from one shoulder. Here’s a little pouch to carry it in.”
* Our resident rain-or-shine cyclist Michael told us about these new relaxed-fit chinos with cinchable hems (in navy, brown, and charcoal) designed by Blue Lug, the internationally renowned Tokyo bike shop. At $55 a pair, plus $20 for U.S. shipping, they’re quite affordable for being made of 100 percent cotton. Just be sure to read the Japanese sizing chart closely before ordering — the company’s “long” inseam measures closer to a western “regular.” Meanwhile, in coastal Connecticut, Ron’s Bikes just dropped a batch of Italian-silk scarves printed with its signature tulip logo pattern.
* When we saw these great but not cheap dupioni-silk shorts from Cawley, Lauren told us about this Florida brand she discovered: “Julia Amory, based in Palm Beach, naturally, makes dupioni-silk pieces in bright colors, and on sale — they’re a fraction of Cawley’s.” She got this magenta wrap skirt for $90 and this aquamarine top for $87 (to wear separately).
* A faux-ceramic-stool hack: Cover a beaten-up Alvar Aalto dupe in Magic-Sculpt and spray paint.
* Noihsaf Bazaar, the Minnesota-based resale site, is throwing a lamp-focused pop-up market at Block Shop in Los Angeles tomorrow and Saturday. The lights, which will include German teak lamps with fabric shades, French ceramic lamps with fiber shades, and Italian lamps with rose-marble bases, are sourced by Nathalie James, an L.A.-based lamp collector who picks them up in Europe. There will also be Noihsaf vintage and secondhand independent brands for sale as well as the debut of Ilana Kohn’s new line, Samet. (3215 Glendale Blvd.; Friday, June 27, 4 to 7 p.m, and Saturday, June 28, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The lamps will also be available on Noihsaf Bazaar.)
* Past Lives Studio and Studio Nordic recently opened a showroom in Nomad, where L.A. brand Cuff Studio also has a few pieces. Lauren stopped by the other day and was impressed with the vintage rugs, Swedish Grace ceramics, Art Deco pewter, Italian modernist furniture, French 19th-century tapestries, and specifically this Studio Tetrarch “Tovaglia” Tablecloth Coffee Table.
* We recently called this Keen water-sandal-hiking-shoe hybrid the new shoe of the summer in the Secret Strategist (the Mary-Kate Olsen Tevas previously held this distinction). Lauren first spotted the bungee-cord monochrome shoe on the Instagram of Paris boutique Rendez-Vous, where it was paired with a billowy skirt and looked rather stylish for something so gorpy. Now this is how we’re all wearing it. To celebrate our move to Substack, we’ve partnered with the brand this summer to give away one pair of Newport H2s. Sign up here for a chance to win.
Charlap Hyman & Herrero is responsible for some all-time-great interior design (check out this custom-tiled fireplace and this incredible upstate farmhouse). Erin spoke to principals Adam Charlap Hyman and Andre Herrero about their favorite things:
Andre Herrero: I love a really good, niche hardware store.
Adam Charlap Hyman: In another country, if I can refine. Oftentimes there will be a category of thing that will be much more special than the way it is in the U.S. — like, the radiators in Germany and Switzerland are just bananas. In England, the plumbing stuff is amazing. The toilets are much more beautiful than in the U.S.
Andre: In Japan, I just purchased the office all new high-vis-wear and hard hats. Much nicer cuts and fits. The pants are scrunchy at the bottom and kind of baggy.
Adam: French stationery containers — folders, boxes, binders, envelopes. There’s a general store on Île de la Cité that has these black cloth-bound box binders with a strap. I always bring things back to the office when I’m there; we use them for our presentations.
Secret Strategist: Do you have any collections?
Andre: Candlesticks. I like things that are spindly and spiky and kind of scary-looking.
Adam: I collect turquoise glazed ceramics. Various ceramicists have turned to the color throughout history because it’s a reference to ancient ceramics; there’s this Syrian blue that shows up over and over again. I don’t collect the ancient stuff, but I really like when French ceramicists got into it in the mid–19th century. It’s the strongest, most rich, dense color. They’re like having a light on — especially in clusters, they are electric. A few makers I’m into are Théodore Deck and Edmond Lachenal.
I also have a collection of worthless drawings by artists that I really like — obscure artists that I can buy their drawings for nothing at auction. I use the Invaluable app. I have hundreds of key words, and at night, instead of meditating or something, I sit in bed and spend about 30 or 45 minutes going through the entirety of my key words. I put really low bids on anything that I like. I win almost nothing, except I put in so many bids that about once a month I get something.
Some of Adam’s key words, un-gatekept exclusively for Secret Strat readers: lusterware, Azucena, anthroposophic, symbolist painting, Ward Bennett, Eastlake, memento mori.
ily secret strat
I'm a HUGE Millefiori fan! Love that you featured them!!