C California Style & Culture

Summer 2021

SUMMER

Cover

DREAMS

A S TY

LE

URE C LT

MAYA HAWKE’S BRIGHT FUTURE

IF OR NI

AL

PLUS CATHERINE OPIE / COOL JEWELS / GIA COPPOLA / THE BEST BEACH ESCAPES

& CU

Cartier

Cartier

Cartier

Cartier

Christian Dior

Christian Dior

Prada

Prada

INTRODUCING

Ralph Lauren THE

STIRRUP

EYEWEAR

COLLECTION

Ralph Lauren

Saint Laurent

Saint Laurent

Harry Winston

Harry Winston

Loro Piana

Loro Piana

VALENTINO.COM BEVERLY HILLS: 324 NORTH RODEO DRIVE (310) 247-0103 SOUTH COAST PLAZA: 3333 BRISTOL STREET (714) 751-3300 SAN FRANCISCO: 105 GRANT AVENUE (415) 772-9835

Valentino

by Michael Bailey Gates Los Angeles, 24th November 2020

Mia

Valentino

Tom Ford

Tom Ford TOMFORD.COM

Van Cleef & Arpels

Van Cleef & Arpels

JULY 16–25, 2021 SUMMER SEASON

FEATURE PERFORMANCES Arts for All Gala featuring Jennifer Hudson Dance Gala: Roberto Bolle and Friends Opening Night with Lisette Oropesa Opera Under the Stars with Michael Fabiano Bouchaine Young Artist Series The Four Seasons of Napa Valley with Chad Hoopes and Festival Orchestra Napa featuring Matt Haimovitz’s Primavera (Nia Imani Franklin world premiere)

Festival Napa Valley

Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi starring Lucas Meachem Tribute to Tony Bennett

photo by Dylan Coulter

Blending the beauty and bounty of Napa Valley with the very finest performing arts.

707.346.5052 | @napafest | festivalnapavalley.org/cmag

2021 Media Sponsor

Roberto Bolle Chad Hoopes

Summer THE

Lucas Meachem

10 B ES T DAYS OF Nia Imani Franklin

Festival Napa Valley

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Lisette Oropesa

James Conlon

Audrey Vardanega

Kent Nagano

Michael Fabiano

A S U PE R I O R R EA L ESTATE E XPE RIE N C E

Mckown Weinstein

Compass is a licensed real estate broker (01991628) in the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdraw without notice.

Mckown Weinstein

R EX M CKOW N 949.689.5018 rex@mwaluxury.com DRE 01275953

M A RCY W EIN ST E I N 949.689.3550 marcy@mwaluxury.com DRE 01094198 mwaluxury.com

Pelican Crest | Newport Coast 6 Bed | 9 Bath | 11,605 sqft | $26,900,000 | 7PelicanVista.com

66.

92.

C

76.

84.132.

100.

54.

N

Summer 2021 STATEMENTS Ocean Fathoms’ wine, aged on the seabed, is making a splash.................................................................................................................... 39 A new chapter at Fendi as Kim Jones takes the helm........................................................................................................................................... 46 Ayesha Curry’s Oakland store spotlights Black-owned home-goods businesses.......................................................................... 50 Los Angeles’ statuesque modernist structures are captured in a new tome..................................................................................... 54

T E N

TOC

Say “I do” to Tiffany & Co.’s new men’s engagement rings................................................................................................................................. 59 Tosca Cafe is revived by a trio of San Francisco’s finest........................................................................................................................................ 62

FEATURES

107.

Maya Hawke and Gia Coppola talk Gen Z and technology.............................................................................................................................. 66 Summer’s cool and colorful jewels....................................................................................................................................................................................... 76 Rising star Melissa Barrera tries on the Dioriviera collection for size...................................................................................................... 84 The Oscars’ favorite farmers on pandemic stardom and sustainability.................................................................................................. 92 Photographer Catherine Opie’s art-world odyssey................................................................................................................................................. 100

46.

T S

DISCOVERIES

112.

Four Golden State beach escapes ready for business......................................................................................................................................... 107 The homegrown brands behind California’s Ayurveda revolution............................................................................................................. 112 How Shay Mitchell stays Zen..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 116

114.

28

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

MAYA HAWKE/GIA COPPOLA: WE ARE THE RHOADS. FARM: RAINER HOSCH. MELISSA BARRERA: EMMAN MONTALVAN. JEWELRY: JOYCE KIM. CHILD: JESSE, 1995, BY CATHERINE OPIE, COURTESY THE ARTIST AND REGEN PROJECTS, LOS ANGELES; LEHMANN MAUPIN, NEW YORK/HONG KONG/SEOUL/LONDON; THOMAS DANE GALLERY, LONDON AND NAPLES; AND PEDER LUND, OSLO. HOUSE: TIM STREET-PORTER. COCKTAIL: KODIAK GREENWOOD.

O

Gucci

D I G ITA L

C O N T E N T S

T H I S J U ST I N . . .

WHAT’S HOT ON MAGAZINEC.COM FEATU R I NG

EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS Cover star Maya Hawke on the pop stars, playwrights and poets that fuel her creativity

FASHION NEWS

TOC DECOR & DESIGN A look inside the most stylish homes in the state and the creatives behind them

WHAT INSPIRES MAYA HAWKE

PLUS TH E L ATEST

PROFI LES

30

TRAVE L

B EAUTY

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

MAYA HAWKE AND GIA COPPOLA: WE ARE THE RHOADS. FASHION NEWS: ETRO. DECOR & DESIGN: DISC INTERIORS. PROFILES: SOLEIL MOON FRYE. TRAVEL: CAREYES. WELLNESS: JASON WU.

The latest from our favorite homegrown labels and international brands

Fendi

B E V E R LY H I L L S R O D E O D R I V E B E V E R LY C E N T E R S O U T H COA S T PL A Z A SA N FR A N C I S CO G R A N T FE N D I .CO M

JENNIFER SMITH

Founder, Editorial Director & CEO JENNY MURRAY

Editor & President Chief Content Officer ANDREW BARKER

|

Chief Creative Officer JAMES TIMMINS

Beauty Director

Senior Editors

Graphic Designer

KELLY ATTERTON

KELSEY McKINNON

HANA ISHIJIMA

Contributing Fashion Editor

ELIZABETH VARNELL

GINA TOLLESON REBECCA RUSSELL

Copy Editor JEFF ANDERSON

Deputy Managing Editor ANUSH J. BENLIYAN

Masthead

Contributing Editors Caroline Cagney, Elizabeth Khuri Chandler, Kendall Conrad, Danielle DiMeglio, Nandita Khanna, Stephanie Rafanelli, Diane Dorrans Saeks, Andrea Stanford, Stephanie Steinman, Elizabeth Varnell Contributing Writers Catherine Bigelow, Christina Binkley, Samantha Brooks, Kerstin Czarra, Peter Davis, Helena de Bertodano, Marshall Heyman, David Hochman, Christine Lennon, Ira Madison III, Martha McCully, Jessica Ritz, S. Irene Virbila, Chris Wallace Contributing Photographers Guy Aroch, David Cameron, Mark Griffin Champion, Gia Coppola, Victor Demarchelier, Amanda Demme, Michelangelo Di Battista, Lisa Eisner, Douglas Friedman, Sam Frost, Adrian Gaut, Beau Grealy, Zoey Grossman, Pamela Hanson, Rainer Hosch, Kurt Iswarienko, Danielle Levitt, Kurt Markus, Blair Getz Mezibov, Lee Morgan, Ben Morris, Pia Riverola, Alistair Taylor-Young, Jan Welters

RENEE MARCELLO

Publisher

Client Services + Production Director

Information Technology Director

Controller

AMY LIPSON

SANDY HUBBARD

LILLY ALLEN

Sales Development Manager

Finance Assistant

ANNE MARIE PROVENZA

LEE SULTAN

C PUBLISHING 2064 ALAMEDA PADRE SERRA, SUITE 120, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93103 T: 310-393-3800

SUBSCRIBE@MAGAZINEC.COM

MAGAZINEC.COM

SHOPSTUDIO-C.COM

Pomellato

F O U N D E R’S

L E T T E R

EDITORS’ PICKS This month’s wish list

VALENTINO

S

ummer is the definitive California season — full of all the sun, sand and surf clichés. But go a little deeper and you can find so much more in our eternal summer state. Specifically, our breathtaking beaches, mountains and deserts can inspire you to follow your dreams.

John and Molly Chester, known for the award-winning documentary The Biggest Little Farm, traded in the big city for a 214-acre lot in Moorpark 10 years ago. We go down home on the farm with this inspiring new archetype of regenerative farmers who pursued a passion for creating an ecosystem that put the soil first.

Speaking of following dreams, Gia Coppola has known she’s wanted to tell stories since birth — it runs in her DNA (with grandfather Francis Ford Coppola and aunt Sofia needing no introduction). We first photographed Gia years ago, when she was still in college, but we saw huge potential in her. With that now fully realized, we turn the camera on Gia and photograph her with the muse of her latest work, Mainstream: the amazing actor Maya Hawke (daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke).

I always knew our shores sang a siren call for some, and they are doing their job by beckoning Dior to show its Dioriviera collection for the first time in the U.S., specifically in the American Riviera we call Santa Barbara.

Melissa Barrera, star of two upcoming dance adaptations for the big screen, takes a sartorial spin at the legendary Bellosguardo Foundation estate.

Art in all its forms, from movies to fashion to photography (check out our interview with the legendary artist Catherine Opie) to even the art of sustainable farming, can be nurtured and inspired by the California spirit that says anything is possible — because on these shores, just maybe it is.

Alcove double-handle bag in Bianco, $3,790, valentino.com.

STUDIO C Playa candle, $49, shopstudio-c.com.

Founders DANIELA VILLEGAS Attina earrings with agate, and pink and gray sapphires, $17,000, latestrevival.com.

Summer 2021

ON THE COVER

SUMMER

DREAMS

34

PLUS CATHERINE OPIE / COOL JEWELS / GIA COPPOLA / THE BEST BEACH ESCAPES

Photography by WE ARE THE RHOADS. Fashion Direction by PETRA FLANNERY. Hair by MARA ROSZAK at A-Frame.

Makeup by JO STRETTELL at TraceyMattingly.com using Dior Beauty.

Manicure by MARLA BOLDEN at Opus Beauty using Chanel Le Vernis.

MAYA HAWKE wears DIOR dress and double belt, and PIAGET and VAN CLEEF & ARPELS jewelry.

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

ILLUSTRATION: DAVID DOWNTON.

URE C LT

& CU

@ccaliforniastyle

LE

Founder, Editorial Director and CEO

A S TY

JENNIFER SMITH

MAYA HAWKE’S BRIGHT FUTURE

IF OR NI

AL

Herve Leger

h e r v e l e g e r.c o m

C

P E O P L E

CHRIS & SARAH RHOADS

SAMANTHA TRAINA

Together known as We Are The Rhoads, the L.A.-based husband-and-wife duo Chris and Sarah Rhoads have worked as photographers and directors for more than a decade for clients including Levi’s, Carolina Herrera, i-D, Vogue Paris and GQ. They snapped cover star Maya Hawke and Gia Coppola for “Double Act,” p.66. MY C SPOTS • La Copine in Yucca Valley is our favorite restaurant in the desert • Clark Street Bread is the best bakery on the Eastside • We drive extra far to go to Carpinteria Beach because it’s just that special

Stylist and brand consultant Samantha Traina was C’s fashion editor for many years and has since lent her talents to the likes of Tom Ford, Goop, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. The Los Angeles- and New York-based creative did the fashion direction for “Dancer in Dior,” p.84. MY C SPOTS • Tacos Garcia in Yountville for the best tacos in town • I love getting lost in Book Soup in West Hollywood • Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco — it never gets old

Contibutors

Lotte Jeffs is an award-winning British journalist, author and former deputy editor of Elle UK. Jeffs — whose podcast, Some Families, explores LGBTQIA+ people’s parenting journeys — interviewed artist Catherine Opie for “Shock and Awe,” p. 100. MY C SPOTS • I’m a vegetarian, so Gracias Madre for the bowls and mezcal cocktails • Malibu Farm on the pier for coffee, cake and eye candy • Flamingo Estate does the most amazing weekly veg boxes

36

REBECCA RUSSELL London-born, Venice, California-based stylist Rebecca Russell has been a longtime collaborator of C. Following a yearlong hiatus after a breast cancer diagnosis at age 31, Russell — who did the fashion direction for our summer jewelry portfolio, “Color Me Happy,” p. 76 — is officially back in her creative saddle as C’s contributing fashion editor. MY C SPOTS • Shibuya sushi is one of the only things I would travel to the Valley for • I always leave with a secondhand wardrobe staple from Wasteland • Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve in Playa Del Rey

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

LOTTE JEFFS: HOLLY FALCONER. REBECCA RUSSELL: IRA CHERNOVA.

LOTTE JEFFS

Tag Heuer

Country Mart

S

CONTRIBUTORS KELLY ATTERTON ANUSH J. BENLIYAN KELSEY McKINNON REBECCA RUSSELL GABE SAGLIE FLORA TSAPOVSKY

T

ELIZABETH VARNELL S. IRENE VIRBILA

DEEP DIVE

A

Ocean Fathoms is aging wine beneath Santa Barbara’s sea

T E

Statement

M E N

MICHAEL HABER

The Santa Barbara Channel is teeming with sea life, much of which ends up adorning the wine bottles that OCEAN FATHOMS ages underwater.

STYLE

CULTURE

DESIGN

BEAUTY

DINING

T S 39

S

N EWS S P O T L I G H T

T A T E

Clockwise: Wine bottles are reeled back up after a year of underwater aging.

The secret underwater “cellar” is located 1.2 miles off the Montecito coast.

An avid diver, EMANUELE AZZARETTO — who is part of the trio behind Ocean Fathoms — identified the perfect underwater location for aging wines after more than 20 test dives off the Santa Barbara coast.

M E N T S

Statement

S

ome underwater treasure comes in 750 mL bottles.

Ocean Fathoms has identified a unique, if not revolutionary, way to age wine: under the sea, just off the California coast.

This ocean venture worthy of Jacques Cousteau is the brainchild of Emanuele Azzaretto, an avid diver with a résumé that includes engineering projects for the navy in his native Italy and big-game sanctuary missions in Kenya. He moved to Santa Barbara 13 years ago, not long before news began to spread around the globe that cargo from a schooner that had sunk in the Baltic Sea 170 years earlier had been reeled to the surface. Dozens of bottles of bubbly discovered onboard had lost their fizz, but the wines remained remarkably drinkable. Inspired, “I decided to do it myself,” Azzaretto says.

He has two partners in Ocean

Words by GABE SAGLIE 40

Fathoms: Todd Hahn, a former sports and entertainment talent agent, and Jordane Andrieu, a Frenchman who runs the lucrative Héritage Fine Wines in Beverly Hills. The trio soon discovered that the waters off Santa Barbara may be among the very few spots on the planet where the underwater aging of wine works especially well. Optimum temperatures are steady

year-round (54 or 55 degrees) and the rush of plankton-rich water through the Santa Barbara Channel creates perpetual pulsation — just enough movement to keep the bottles continually in motion, which reduces sedimentation.

The ultimate magic sauce, though, may be Ocean Fathom’s patented cages, which use zinc and copper to create saltwater galvanic batteries when lowered beneath the ocean’s surface. They shoot charged ionic currents through the wine, which breaks down tannins, and the absence of oxygen keeps the wines vibrant and fresh. An aging process that can take years appears to be achieved in months.

The team’s underwater cellar, identified after dozens of dives, is a secret spot about 1.2 miles off the coast of Montecito, at a depth of 70 feet. No sunlight, no sounds but water. A plethora of sea life, though, which turns each bottle into its own work of art.

“When we bring them up, we see barnacles, shells and coral on them, even sea worms and octopi,” says Hahn. “Every bottle is unique to itself.”

“We’re working with the ocean,” adds Azzaretto, “instead of against it.”

Ocean Fathoms is planning about a half dozen 10-cage drops through the year — around 50 percent their own proprietary blends, like a Santa Barbara Super Tuscan, and around 50 percent from labels from around the world, such as Taittinger, that are clamoring to collaborate. Some of these drops will include invited consumers, creating open-ocean gastronomic experiences complete with comparative tastings. And there’s a documentary in the works, too, which should hit the film-festival circuit next year and begin streaming in the fall of 2022.

Commercial availability of Ocean Fathoms wines hinges on FDA approval.

With that green light, the focus will be direct-to-consumer sales, premium resorts and restaurants, auctions and an exclusive members club. The team is aiming to submerge more than 50,000 bottles over the next five years. oceanfathoms.com. 2

Photography by MICHAEL HABER MAGAZ I N EC.COM

Piaget

S S T T A A T T E E M M E E N N T T S S

N EW S

S P L A S H

OPEN SEASON Toe infinity and beyond

1.

LOUNGER LOVE

2.

GEE, THANKS! Hollywood’s Sycamore district recently welcomed Gigi’s, a Parisian-style bistro with a Californian slant helmed by executive chef Matt Bollinger, formerly of Trois Familia, Winsome and Jean Georges. The menu of perfected classics includes starters like steak tartare with sauce gribiche, while mains range from a house cheeseburger with caramelized onions to fragrant mussels in a vadouvan curry sauce (a French derivative of an Indian masala) — all of which pair perfectly with pommes frites, of course. Settle into one of the 40 outdoor seats for caviar service and a bottle of natural wine from the Frenchand California-focused program by sommelier Kristin Olszewski (of Nomadica). Inside, a handpainted mural by local artist Andie Dinkin wraps around the Andrew Cosbie-designed space, where the brass-clad bar serves up bar director Courtney Rose’s signature cocktails such as The Eloise: French gin, Lillet Rose, rose cordial, honey and lemon. Chin chin! 904 N. Sycamore Ave., L.A.; gigis.la. A.J.B.

3.

Statement

From top: The interiors of GIGI'S were designed by ANDREW COSBIE, a former protégé of Pamela Shamshiri.

Appetizers include country pâté and deviled eggs with fried oysters and caviar.

The Pavona lounge chair, from $948, by ANN MARIE VERING for RH.

4.

1. MIU MIU sandal, $1,220. 2. BOTTEGA VENETA wedge sandals, $1,590. 3. SALVATORE FERRAGAMO Blush F Heel sandal, $695.

4. JIMMY CHOO Maelie 70 thong mules, $595.

With a background in architectural engineering and the intuition of an artist, designer Ann Marie Vering has lent her welltrained eye to five-star resorts, wellness spas and restaurants around the globe. Now the Los Angeles-based creative has teamed up with RH on two new outdoor furniture collections: the Pavona and Laurel ranges. The former, inspired by handheld folding fans, includes an all-weather cord sofa, lounge chair, chaise and armchairs, each of which feature arched, handwoven frames that mimic an unfurling fan.

The Laurel pieces, on the other hand, are Vering’s modern interpretations of classical architecture.

Featuring sculptural silhouettes and tapering lines, the range includes a dining table and chairs, a coffee table and lounge chairs, all handcrafted in aluminum or sustainably harvested teak. rh.com. A.J.B.

Countryside recreation across Somerset’s rolling hills inspired the beginnings of Mulberry’s bag designs, and 50 years later the British brand is at last arriving on California’s coast with a concept store in South Coast Plaza. The 161-square-foot space’s stark interiors, filled with minimal modular shapes — a nod to London’s Brutalist architecture — allow both the women’s and men’s lines of leather bags, tailored accessories and luggage to draw the eye. Here sit limited-edition Icon Edition drops: a series of miniature versions of the brand’s era-defining carryalls, including an Alexa satchel inspired by Alexa Chung’s vintage Mulberry briefcase. Designs made of regenerated nylon from fishing nets even bring the company full circle to its days devising leisure bags for fishing trips. 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, 949-508-2166; mulberry.com. E.V. At the new MULBERRY boutique in South Coast Plaza, you'll find totes, belt bags, interchangeable top handles and whimsical keychains.

42

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

GIGI'S INTERIOR: SHADE DEGGES.

BERRY NICE

ENGINEERED BY INDIA . WHISKEY. CHARLIE .

IWC Schaffhausen

Big Pilot's Watch 43. Ref. 3293:

presence on your wrist with unprecedented

The functional design with its easy-to-read

comfort. The IWC-manufactured 82100 calibre,

dial and distinctive cone-shaped crown has

sapphire cr ystal back, and EasX-CHANGE

ensured the Big Pilot’s Watch of its iconic

rapid strap replacement system are further fea-

status. Now, for the first time, it is available in

tures of this enormously versatile sports watch.

a 43-millimetre case that combines a striking

IWC . ENGINEERING DRE AMS . SINCE 18 68 .

D OW N LOA D TH E N E W IWC A P P FO R V I R T UA L TRY- O N

IWC-manufactured 82100 calibre · Pellaton automatic winding system · 60-hour power reserve · Central hacking seconds · See-through sapphire-glass back · Water-resistant 10 bar · Diameter 43 mm · Stainless steel

IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN BOUTIQU E · SOUTH COAST PL AZA

S S T T A A T T E E M M E E N N T T S S

N EW S

S P L A S H

The HARRY WINSTON Pink Legacy diamond ring.

IN THE PINK

TAKE PRIDE In celebration of inclusion, diversity and the vibrancy of the LGBTQ+ community, Michael Kors is launching its Pride 2021 capsule for Pride Month this summer. The exclusive collection features rainbow-bedecked men’s, women’s and gender-neutral apparel and accessories, from playful bucket hats and slides to versatile gym shorts and crewnecks, as well as a unisex organic-cotton T-shirt with a groovy rainbow heart patch design. All profits from both online and in-store sales of the special-edition tee (available in white or gray, $68) throughout the month of June will be donated to OutRight Action International, a longstanding global human-rights organization. michaelkors.com. A.J.B.

Statement

From left: MICHAEL MICHAEL KORS slip-on sneakers, $115.

Sweatshirt, $155. Backpack, $498.

Symmetry is crucial in diamonds, and not just when it comes to facets, so the jewelry house of Harry Winston is commemorating the 125th birthday of its founder with a ring that’s perfectly aligned in more ways than one. The weight of the center stone in the Winston Pink Legacy diamond ring, 18.96 carats, happens to mirror the birth year of Winston himself, 1896. The rectangular-cut fancy vivid pink diamond, which was acquired by the house in 2018, is set in rose gold between two shield-cut diamond side stones totaling 3.55 carats, set in platinum.

The striking stone is part of the house’s Incredibles collection of rare gemstones — rubies, emeralds and colored diamonds — set in exceptional designs that also happen to be larger than life. 310 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-271-8554; harrywinston.com. E.V.

HOME COMFORTS When L.A.-based interior designer Courtney Applebaum, whose clients range from former tennis star Maria Sharapova to The Row on Melrose Place, can’t find the perfect piece to finish a room, she flexes her creative chops. “I really love modern and vintage design, but I don't love contemporary, so we end up filling in the gaps with bespoke pieces all the time,” she says. This season, Applebaum is launching a debut home collection. “I really wanted to create things that didn’t have a space or person attached,” she says. The initial offerings include raffia sconces, terra-cotta globe lamps and sconces and a seededglass coffee table. Applebaum is planning to add vintage pieces to the assortment, too, explaining, “It’s an eclectic mix that is reflective of the way I like to design.” courtneyapplebaumdesign.com. K.M. COURTNEY APPLEBAUM terra-cotta table lamp, $2,750.

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

Flexpower

Get Moving. Stay Moving.

SCENT FREE PAIN RELIEF TOPICALS AND BATH SALTS

flexpower.com

S T A T

ST YL E

R A D A R Clockwise from top: Former C Magazine cover star CHRISTY TURLINGTON BURNS at the FENDI Spring 2021 Couture show. Fendi’s new creative director of women’s wear, KIM JONES. Model BELLA HADID. Model/actor CARA DELEVINGNE.

E M

NEXT CHAPTER

E

Fendi’s new creative director of women’s wear forges the Roman house’s future

N T

A

S

s Kim Jones, previous head of menswear for Louis Vuitton and currently the creative director of Dior Homme, sent out his first looks at Fendi’s Spring/Summer couture presentation, endless speculation swirled around what the British designer’s vision for women’s wear might be. When his friend Demi Moore emerged clad in a sleekly curve-hugging black silk suit, a fluid androgynous sensibility began to take shape.

Informing his first collection as artistic director of women’s wear and couture at the Roman house — and present in Moore’s hands during the show — is Jones’ personal copy of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, one the author herself gave to her lover and the book’s muse, Vita Sackville-West. Moore, her look and the book also made the cover of April’s Vogue Italia celebrating creative communities in fashion — which Jones guest-edited.

Clearly Woolf’s bohemian Bloomsbury set and the novel, whose namesake character first appears as a man in the Elizabethan age and shifts gender over the centuries before finding herself in 1920s Britain, informs both the couture collection and Jones’ new vision for women’s wear at the Roman house after its 54 years under Karl Lagerfeld.

Beaded sculptural dresses, marble-printed caped suits and hybridized gowns fitted with shirt or blazer sleeves — worn by 19 models including a contingent with California ties: Christy Turlington Burns and her nephew James, Bella Hadid, Cara Delevingne and Moore — all nod to Jones’ deft melding of conventional codes of masculinity and femininity. Ever innovative, Jones even translated his debut Fendi looks into a crisply edited monochromatic ready-to-wear spring capsule collection of striped shirts with elongated sleeves, tailored suits and elegantly draped satin dresses that offer an even clearer look at what’s ahead for the house under his direction.

195 Grant Ave., S.F., 415-820-2090; 201 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-623-3420; 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, 714-751-1111; fendi.com. 2

Kim Jones embraces sculptural androgyny and his California cohort in his couture debut Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL 46

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

COURTESY OF FENDI. CHRISTY TURLINGTON BURNS: BRETT LLOYD.

Statement

Buccellati

N EW S

S P L A S H

DIAL UP

The duet suite at THE BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL SPA.

Time for a wrist assessment

1.

REST ASSURED

2.

A residence designed by L.A.based duo STUDIO LIFE/ STYLE — consultations with whom are offered through THE EXPERT.

STYLE COUNSEL

Statement3.

Known for creating warm, elegant interiors for high-profile clients including Rashida Jones, Sophia Bush, and John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Jake Arnold is arguably one of the busiest designers in Los Angeles. But when the pandemic threw a wrench in his modus operandi, Arnold, 31, and his childhood friend, entrepreneur Leo Seigal, hatched the idea of a virtual platform for designers to connect with clients.

After enlisting over 75 other industry leaders, this spring they launched The Expert, where clients can book private video consultations in either 25- or 55-minute sessions.

“Some of the first people I reached out to were veterans such as Jaime Rummerfield, who was my first boss, and Brigette Romanek,” says Arnold; other California creatives include Jamie Bush, Nina Freudenberger, Amber Lewis and Maison Trouvaille. For Arnold, “nothing beats watching someone experience their aha moment” — even if it’s not in person. $250-$2,500/session; theexpert.com. K.M..

4.

1. TAG HEUER Carrera Sport, $5,750.

2. JAEGER-LeCOULTRE Polaris Mariner Date, $11,100.

3. IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41, $7,200.

4. VACHERON CONSTANTIN Overseas Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin, $94,000.

Following an extensive seven-month refurbishment and redesign, The Beverly Hills Hotel Spa finally reopened in February with a fresh new look. Manhattan-based studio Champalimaud Design oversaw the project at the storied Dorchester Collection hotel, which included the addition of a relaxation lounge, where guests can laze before treatments, and a sun-drenched nail suite that looks out to the citrus garden.

The treatment rooms were updated with custom Californiainspired wall coverings by Fromental.

And yes, you might even spot a banana leaf or two woven into the design of the serene space. 9641 Sunset Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-887-2006; dorchestercollection .com. A.J.B.

CONSCIOUS CLOTH Climate science points to a future in which fabrics must be sustainable and designs adaptable to hotter temperatures; and the Italian linen brand 120% Lino is doubling down on both concepts. The company’s seasonal collections of men’s and women’s knitwear, dresses, suits, jackets, trousers and bags are made of breathable natural linen woven from organic flax fibers. Now, on the heels of a West Coast expansion that includes shops at both the South Coast Plaza and the Gardens on El Paseo, the global brand is opening a boutique in Beverly Hills, and recently debuted a new collaboration with Rosantica. 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa; 73545 El Paseo, Palm Desert; 9533 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills; 120percento.com. E.V. The new California 120% LINO boutiques stock the 35-year-old global brand's latest offerings, including accessories from the recent ROSANTICA collab.

48

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

THE EXPERT: SAM FROST. 120% LINO: JERI KOEGEL.

S S T T A A T T E E M M E E N N T T S S

Minotti

CONNERY SEATING SYSTEM | RODOLFO DORDONI DESIGN TORII ARMCHAIR | NENDO DESIGN BOTECO COFFEE TABLE | MARCIO KOGAN / STUDIO MK27 DESIGN DISCOVER MORE AT MINOTTI.COM/CONNERY

LOS ANGELES

BY ECRÙ INC. SOLE DEALER OF MINOTTI S.P.A. FOR LOS ANGELES AND ORANGE COUNTY 8936 BEVERLY BLVD - LOS ANGELES - CA 90048 T. 310.278.6851 - INFO@MINOTTI-LA.COM WWW.MINOTTI-LA.COM

N EW S

S

S P L A S H

T A T E M E N

FLEXPOWER is available at STUDIO C.

T S

SKIN DEEP

AYESHA CURRY 's new store and cafe, SWEET JULY, in Oakland is stocked with handpicked home and lifestyle goods.

Statement SWEET SPOT

A year after launching the lifestyle magazine Sweet July, entrepreneur and chef Ayesha Curry has opened an Oakland boutique by the same name. In the Uptown neighborhood, doors from her friend Sherri McMullen’s eponymous shop (known for carrying Lagos-based Maki Oh alongside Khaite and Simone Rocha), Curry is spotlighting Black-owned and women-owned brands that don’t yet have dedicated storefronts. Oakland native Candice Cox’s boldly patterned quilted jackets join a selection of books, linens and home goods, as well as a coffee bar with signature syrups, meant to evolve into a community space. For Curry, the mother of three July-born children with husband Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors, the shop echoes the neutral tones and minimalist look of the family’s Atherton residence, which she also designed. Both places, she says, are “designed to calm the spirit.” 455 23rd St., Oakland, 510-806-4600; sweetjuly.com. E.V.

Originally formulated to steer world-class athletes away from oral pain medication, Flexpower is today embraced by people of all ages and lifestyles.

It focuses on fragrancefree, active, natural topical substances to treat pain at its source, using liposome technology to deliver ingredients deep into muscles and joints.

Now, founder Rasheen Smith is furthering this approach with a fresh look and new products, such as Soothe, which combines ingredients including trolamine and CBD to produce a synergistic painrelieving effect. “We’re focused,” Rasheen says, “on helping everyone embrace a brighter, healthier, more active life without pain.” flexpower.com. K.A.

Greg and Daisy Ryan met at Thomas Keller’s Michelin-starred Per Se in New York, but decided to trade the hustle and bustle of city life for Daisy’s stomping grounds — California’s sleepy Central Coast — where they opened the French-focused Bell’s in Los Alamos. Now the culinary power couple are following up their initial success with Bar Le Côte , a seafood-centric shingled tavern in Los Olivos. Along with co-owner and chef Brad Mathews (Fishing With Dynamite), they are working with local purveyors to churn out dishes like Pacific Gold oysters topped with Keller’s Regiis Ova caviar. 2375 Alamo Pintado Ave., Los Olivos; barlecote.com. K.M. Serrano-wrapped local halibut with “Espagnole” sauce at BAR LE CÔTE.

50

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

BAR LE CÔTE: CARTER HIYAMA.

MAKING WAVES

Vacherin Constantin

N EW S

S P L A S H

A BAG FOR ALL SEASONS Introducing the Sesia by Loro Piana

THE RUG COMPANY x RODARTE California Poppy, from $4,800 or $200/sq. ft.

TAKE THE FLOOR

Statement The new LORO PIANA Sesia bag (shown here in white smooth calf leather, $4,725, Eucalyptus grain calf leather, $4,250, and Kummel smooth calf leather, $4,250), is inspired by the curve of the river in Piedmont near the Italian label's Borgosesia factory.

For its encore collaboration with The Rug Company, Rodarte dreamt up a pair of striking new designs inspired by two distinct muses. (The brands originally teamed up on four rugs in 2014.)

For the first one, called California Poppy, Kate and Laura Mulleavy — the sisters and designers behind the Pasadena-based fashion label — were inspired by their mother’s fauvist artwork of the state flower. The second design, called Daphne, is a modern nod to the shag carpets of the ’70s, featuring a symmetrical motif inspired by Daphnis moths. Both of the handknotted Tibetan wool-andsilk creations carry a sense of nostalgia for the Mulleavys’ childhood home in NorCal, and echo the same ethereal vibe found on the Rodarte runway. 8727 Melrose Ave., L.A., 310659-9955; 722 Montgomery St., S.F., 415-941-3171; therugcompany.com. A.J.B.

BATHE MAGNETS Splash around in a new swimsuit

52

LA’MARIETTE

SIDWAY

VINCE x NU SWIM

CULT GAIA

The fiery tones and patterns of this L.A. brand, launched mid-pandemic, are worth checking out. la-mariette.com.

Designer Sarah Sidway created a swimwear collection textured like silk and inspired by ’90s supermodel silhouettes. sidway.com.

The new collaborative collection is the focal point of the Summer Swim Shop at Vince’s Pacific Palisades flagship. vince.com.

Dedicated to desert dreaming, the brand’s latest range boasts cut-out floral patterns and understated hues. cultgaia.com. R.R.

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

LORO PIANA: JOYCE KIM, FASHION DIRECTION BY REBECCA RUSSELL, STYLING BY SAMANTHA MARGHERITA.

S S T T A A T T E E M M E E N N T T S S

Resort at Paws Up

The wonder and joy of a tree house can be yours again. At the green o, your hideaway awaits, with luxury Tree Haus accommodations that would make the eight-year-old you drool. And that’s to say nothing of the cuisine. From foie gras to cedar plank salmon to a wine list for the oenophile in all of us, your stay will be full of gastronomic touches that the world’s best hotels can’t touch. So join us among 37,000 acres of the most beautiful, and unspoiled, nature in the world. You’ll be as giddy as a child.

R E M OT E . R E F I N E D.

thegreeno.com I Greenough, Montana I 888-957-9919

© 2021 The Last Best Beef LLC

S

DESIGN

S P O T L I G H T

T A

E

MODERN MASTERS

M

Celebrated lensman Tim StreetPorter takes readers on a tour of his beloved Los Angeles in a glorious new photo book

E N T

S

“

omeone asked me once why I still liked living in L.A. [after all these years]. I replied that L.A. is constantly evolving and redefining itself, giving me all the change I need,” says Tim Street-Porter. The internationally celebrated photographer, who hopped the pond from his native London in the late ’70s, was lured by the creative community here, “and then of course, as with David Hockney’s similar romance with L.A., there was the climate, the desert light, the architecture and the palm trees. … All very tempting after English gloom and Margaret Thatcher!”

Street-Porter has since spent the majority of his decades-long career documenting iconic architecture and design (his books include Doris Duke’s Shangri La, Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s Live, Love & Decorate, Tony Duquette’s Dawnridge and the Rooms to Inspire series).

Now, 15 years since his last tome on Los Angeles (L.A. Modern), Street-Porter decided the city was ready for its close-up once again. Over the course of a year, he traversed L.A’s sprawling 450-plus square miles with his Canon 5D Mark III, capturing over 250 landmarks for the newly released Los Angeles Today (Rizzoli New York, $70).

(His last shoot was the Formosa Cafe, a week before they shut down because of the pandemic.) For Street-Porter, embarking on this “glorified Easter egg hunt” required persistence: “Like driving in traffic to an obscure corner of the city and finding the wrong light, or a truck parked in the way … so I’d have to go all the way back again.”

Chapters are neatly categorized by neighborhood.

Street-Porter names the restored Griffith Observatory as a favorite shoot, along with Whitley Heights, the Hollywood neighborhood where he lives with his wife and collaborator, Annie Kelly, who edited the new title.

While taking stock of the city’s immense architectural repository, Street-Porter explains that much of that precious heritage is at risk from redevelopment. He praises enlightened architectural review boards and the Los Angeles Conservancy, because for him, “It’s a city worth saving.” 2

S

Clockwise from top: Nakahouse, designed by XTEN Architecture. The Gamble House, Pasadena.

Lensman TIM STREETPORTER’s latest book, Los Angeles Today, is out now.

The John Lautner Silvertop residence. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House.

Statement

Words by KELSEY McKINNON 54

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

LOS ANGELES TODAY: CITY OF DREAMS: ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TEXT BY TIM STREET-PORTER EDITED BY ANNIE KELLY, RIZZOLI NEW YORK. (FINE-ART PRINTS OF STREET-PORTER’S L.A. PHOTOS CAN BE ORDERED THROUGH HIS FIRM, ICONIC LOS ANGELES AGENCY.)

T

Lunya

S S T T A A T T E E M M E E N N T T S S

N EW S

S P L A S H At THE HOUSE, interior designer TRACY SIMMONS proffers locally made home accessories.

BLUSH HOUR Rose-gold diamond earrings

1.

TAG HEUER Connected Golf Edition watch with built-in GPS, $2,550.

2.

3.

NEW HEIGHTS Sought-after San Francisco interior designer Tracy Simmons finally has the chance to share her good taste with a wider audience. In December 2019 she opened The House, an expansive studio-meets-boutique in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights — only to close it in March 2020 due to COVID-19. But now The House by Tracy Simmons Design is open again, welcoming anyone who needs a fresh perspective on the spaces they’ve been cooped up in. In it, Simmons has curated a mix of furniture, accessories, ceramics, textiles, books and art with an emphasis on California artisans: San Francisco’s Harwell Godfrey jewelry alongside pieces from Los Angeles-based Sheldon Ceramics, and wooden stools by Oakland artist Jacob May next to photography by Mill Valley’s Bess Friday. The House is open by appointment Monday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm; bookings are available through the website. 3307 Sacramento St., S.F., 415-867-7195; tracysimmonsdesign.com. F.T.

Statement

4.

1. GRAFF Spiral hoop earrings, $14,000.

2. ANITA KO Coil earrings, $7,450.

3. TIFFANY & CO. HardWear link earrings, $12,000. 4. CARBON & HYDE Linked earrings, $3,680.

RACING THE CLOCK Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer’s first California boutique opens this June in Costa Mesa with a stunning image of pro surfer Kai Lenny mid-barrel. The new 825-square-foot space is just miles from Huntington and Seal Beach breaks favored by the Maui-born waterman, who is a brand ambassador for the storied house.

The racing-inspired boutique design includes pops of Tag’s trademark racing red amid displays of limited-edition timepieces and recent launches including the new-generation Aquaracer Professional 300 diver’s watch. Tag’s Connected collection of smart watches is also on offer at the new South Coast Plaza shop.

3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa; tagheuer.com. E.V.

This summer, a Midwest favorite is making its California debut. Danny Grant — who made headlines in 2011 when he became the youngest U.S. chef to receive two Michelin stars, at Chicago’s RIA restaurant — is bringing his wood-fired Italian restaurant Etta to Culver City.

The new outpost will serve up such hearth-centered staples as fire-baked focaccia with ricotta, honey and truffle; fire-roasted whole branzino; and, of course, signature smoky pizzas like the “fire pie” with chile de arbol. The West Coast launch is part of a nationwide expansion from the What If Syndicate hospitality group. 8801 Washington Blvd., Culver City; ettarestaurant.com. A.J.B. This summer, celebrated Chicago chef DANNY GRANT is bringing his wood-fired pizza joint ETTA to Los Angeles.

56

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

THE HOUSE: BESS FRIDAY.

FLAME AND GLORY

Nestled above the Pacific Ocean in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains, El Encanto, a Belmond Hotel, invites you to unwind and draw inspiration from this vivid sensory oasis.

Belmond El Encanto

800 ALVARADO PLACE, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93103 | 805 845 5800 | BELMOND.COM/ELENCANTO @elencantohotel |

@belmondelencanto

S S T T A A T T E E M M E E N N T T S S

N EW S

S P L A S H

GET SHADY Tortoiseshell sunglasses

1.

2.

PIAGET Possession rings, from $10,600.

CIAO LUCIA Umbria dress, $425.

LA DOLCE VITA

3.

Statement

The lightweight smocked dresses, ruched blouses and mini wrap skirts of Los Angeles-based label Ciao Lucia bring to mind the seaside resorts of the Italian Riviera — a major inspiration for founder Lucy Akin. The San Francisco-bred designer spent much of her early adulthood hosting at an Italian restaurant overlooking the Bay, collecting vintage postcards from Italy in her free time and studying abroad in Europe (she got the nickname “Lucia” in Rome) before launching her fashion career. The 4-year-old brand’s latest collection, featuring flowy frocks and silky patterned separates, pays tribute to “those lazy summer days and balmy, romantic nights” that we all yearned for during the pandemic, explains Akin, whose fans include Margot Robbie, Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid. She also has a ’60s-inspired, monochromatic tennis capsule collection coming out in July. ciaolucia.com. A.J.B.

4.

1. VICTORIA BECKHAM sunglasses, $345. 2. TOM FORD Pilot sunglasses, $470. 3. LOEWE Paula’s Dive In Mask sunglasses, $360. 4. JACQUES MARIE MAGE Enzo Argyle sunglasses, $640.

Taking inspiration from the playful spinning ring it introduced in 1990, Piaget uses equally charming rotating designs in its new Possession rings, pendants, bangles, necklaces and earrings. Long before fidget spinners, the Swiss house’s line provided wearers with a captivating diversion, and now a new generation of designs is on offer. Sliding pendants, also set with brilliant-cut diamonds, can be layered and paired with double bangles capped by bright-green malachite or rose-gold cabochons and twirling diamonds.

9490 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills, 424-3324280; piaget.com. E.V.

TRADING PLACES Quarantines spark opposing responses: move out or shelter in place. Mojave Flea Trading Post’s James Anthony Morelos chose the latter, and began meticulously arranging the wares sold at his traveling markets — formerly held outdoors at places like the Ace Hotel & Swim Club — inside a 10,000-squarefoot Palm Springs shop. “A lot of people who do markets attempted to pivot to the digital space, but we’re interested in the personal connection of experiential retail,” says Morelos, whose department store carries a curated range of wares such as BathCult balms and soaps and sustainably produced Hampui hats. “It’s been an incredible experience to help small-business people thrive in such an uncertain year,” Morelos says. 383 N. Indian Canyon Dr., Palm Springs; mojaveflea.com. E.V. The new MOJAVE FLEA TRADING POST store founded by JAMES ANTHONY MORELOS,

58

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

CIAO LUCIA: HANNAH FAITHLORD. BAVEL: BAVEL: MODERN RECIPES INSPIRED BY THE MIDDLE EAST BY ORI MENASHE, GENEVIEVE GERGIS AND LESLEY SUTER, COPYRIGHT © 2021.

PUBLISHED BY TEN SPEED PRESS, AN IMPRINT OF PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE. PHOTOGRAPHS COPYRIGHT © 2021 BY NICOLE FRANZEN.

SPIN THROUGH

The new BAVEL cookbook includes a recipe for peach cobler.

From top: An artisan examines a TIFFANY & CO. men's engagement ring after placing the emerald-cut diamond in the bezel and shank. The Charles Tiffany Setting men's diamond engagement ring in platinum, price upon request.

BAVEL ON

Statement MARRIAGE MATERIAL Tiffany & Co. is debuting its first capsule collection of men’s engagement rings in San Francisco, which more than 17 years ago was the first U.S. city to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The house’s new sparkler style, the Charles Tiffany Setting — named after company founder Charles Lewis Tiffany — is a proposal-ready signet silhouette set with a solitaire diamond and streamlined knife-edge band. The platinum or titanium designs house round, brilliant- or emerald-cut registered and traceable diamonds up to 5 carats, and will launch at the house’s Union Square flagship just as the city’s annual Pride celebrations commence. Now there’s a ring shape and style for everyone who is engaged.

Just like that, marriage equality inspires another first. 350 Post St., S.F., 415-781-7000; tiffany.com. E.V.

Chef Ori Menashe and his wife, pastry chef Genevieve Gergis, had just opened the doors to their first restaurant, DTLA’s always-packed Italian mainstay Bestia, when the idea for a followup restaurant started cooking. Craving the flavors of his childhood in Israel (Gergis’s family immigrated from Egypt), Menashe perfected recipes for shawarma, shakshuka, falafel and tahini at his home kitchen in Silver Lake. In 2018, the culinary power couple opened Bavel in a former iron-ore plant near the banks of the L.A. River, and now they have released a companion tome, Bavel (Ten Speed Press, $40), sharing the stories and steps behind everything from handwhipped hummus and turmeric chicken to sacred family recipes like garlicky beeffilled hingali dumplings, beef cheek tagine and Safta Rachel’s cure-all peshalo noodle soup. K.M.

SNAKE CHARMERS Bulgari and fashion designer Mary Katrantzou share the homeland of Greece, so when the two came together to create an exclusive capsule collection, it was a match made in Elysium. Called Serpenti Through the Eyes of Mary Katrantzou, the assortment consists of richly hued handbags and textiles reimagining the distinguished jeweler’s iconic Serpenti snake.

Created around the idea of transformation and the journey of development through life, these bewitching bags will take you to the Mediterranean and beyond. 401 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-858-9216; bulgari.com. R.R. MARY KATRANTZOU x BULGARI special edition bag, $3,250, and Bulgari heritage watch (not available for purchase).

59

S

DINING

R A D A R

T A

RAISE THE BAR

T

Three beloved local figures breathe new life into San Francisco’s historic Tosca Cafe

E M E N T

Clockwise: The century-old bar at TOSCA CAFE. Chef NANCY OAKES, restaurateur ANNA WEINBERG and designer KEN FULK. Caviar celebrations.

The Tosca entrance.

S

T

osca Cafe had just opened its doors in 1919 when boom! Prohibition happened. Fastforward a century to 2020, when the notable local trio of chef Nancy Oakes, restaurateur Anna Weinberg and designer Ken Fulk were set to launch Tosca 4.0 — and enter COVID-19. A blow all right, but the legendary cafe has survived with takeout, the occasional pop-up, and, when permitted, a supper-club menu and brunch served on its six-table “parklet.”

Come summer, the partners will move toward an a la carte menu. Oakes wants the food to reflect the North Beach she used to frequent in the ’60s: “I loved eating at Vanessi’s and Little Joe’s late at night.” And drinking and smoking and thinking at Tosca. Back then everybody was there — the ballet, the symphony conductor, beatniks, filmmakers and actors, the poet who just read at the City Lights bookstore.

Her menu will feature the kind of elemental pasta dishes she loves — maybe one with lemon sauce and a dash of colatura (anchovy essence from the Amalfi Coast) or a twist on all’amatriciana made with farro instead of pasta.

“We’re not ever going to take Tuscan fried chicken off the menu,” Oakes says, also noting that she’d love to recreate Vanessi’s “fried cream” for dessert. Tosca’s meatballs will figure on the late-night menu, along with Oakes’ tribute to Little Joe’s mighty burger, this one made with Flannery beef, homemade giardiniera, pancetta, fontina and chicories.

For Weinberg, it’s been a source of joy to try to save this old piece of North Beach. She calls the area where it’s located the last real neighborhood in the city. “People are so excited to come back,” she says. “They’ll pop in and tell us stories or show us photos of a 25th birthday party or …”

How has it changed? Not much. Fulk has taken a light approach with the design: mostly he’s reframed the memorabilia in the back room, fiddled with the lighting and redesigned the cramped seating along the bar. But his goal is to revivify, not renovate. “Many of us who know and love Tosca feared it could disappear,” he says. “I’m hoping that we can bring some of that magic back with Tosca, where delicious food will be lovingly prepared and all are welcome for drinks, dinner or a late-night hangout.”

If you do go for drinks, make yourself a part of that old magic: don’t miss the infamous “house cappuccino.”

There’s no coffee involved — it’s a mix of chocolate, frothy milk and booze. And it’s been served disguised in a coffee cup since Prohibition. 242 Columbus Ave., S.F.; 415-986-9651; toscacafesf.com. 2

“Many of us who know and love Tosca feared it could disappear” KEN FULK

Words by S. IRENE VIRBILA 60

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

TOSCA CAFE (3): GRADY BRANNAN. PORTRAIT: ALANNA HALE.

Statement

Lido Marina Village

N EW S

S

S P L A S H

T A T E M E

VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux watch, from $123,000.

N T S

LABOR OF LOVE

From left: Customizable charms and pendants are a signature of JENNIFER FISHER . The new flagship in Beverly Hills.

CALIFORNIA CHARMS

Statement

Sunlight bounces across rows of modern jewelry designs encased in the white vitrines at Jennifer Fisher’s new 1,200-square-foot Beverly Hills flagship. “Whenever we discussed opening a West Coast flagship store, it was always in Los Angeles,” Fisher says. The Santa Barbara native, who worked as a bicoastal wardrobe stylist before creating the charm necklace (a gold dog tag stamped with her son’s name) that launched her career as a jewelry designer over 15 years ago, selected the brick-lined space on North Cannon for its foot traffic. Such a pragmatic approach echoes Fisher’s beginnings in the industry, when she pioneered an online business model to oversee the orders that flooded in after actor Uma Thurman wore a JF charm necklace on a magazine cover. A full-fledged minimalist jewelry line in white and yellow gold followed. Now JF hoops are a mainstay for Hailey Bieber, Emily Ratajkowski, Selena Gomez, Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez. 450 N. Cannon Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-843-9573; jenniferfisherjewelry.com. E.V.

After a year of living apart, a masterful new collection of Van Cleef & Arpels watches is poised to bring us back together.

Intricately crafted Pont des Amoureux timepieces include scenes of a couple’s first meeting. The enamel dials on the selfwinding Lady Arpels Pont des Amoureux Jour depict a lady and her beloved traveling across the bridge to reunite at midday or midnight. Vibrant enamel and stones combine in new Charms and floral Poem collection watches, while mythical couples — from Aida and Radamès to Ulysses and Penelope — are woven into high-jewelry designs with concealed dials.

300 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-276-1161; vancleefarpels.com. E.V.

BRUSH UP After years honing her craft as a portrait and landscape painter, L.A.-based artist and educator Kimberly Brooks now adds abstraction to her celebrated oeuvre. The impetus for her most recent work was to create the cover art for her debut tome, The New Oil Painting (Chronicle Books, $17).

Instead of a survey of past work, it is a guidebook for would-be artists, illustrating the basics of this ancient medium from how to set up a studio, gather materials and mix colors to eliminating toxic solvents from your practice and thinking in three dimensions. An exhibition at Zevitas Marcus (June 10 to July 24) will showcase Brooks’ latest work, including the cover’s Blue Wave — a tactile gesture over an infinity-blue backdrop that hearkens to the ever-inspiring California coast. K.M. A portrait artist KIMBERLY BROOKS painted of her mother.

62

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

Ojai Valley Inn

Take time to revel in the joy of travel, share magical moments with loved ones, and discover new adventures at Ojai’s beloved 220-acre retreat — just a short drive away. Rejuvenate at our reimagined Spa Ojai following a yearlong transformation to enrich your wellness journey. Delight your palate with epic culinary experiences at The Farmhouse and sublime outdoor dining on our breathtaking open-air terrace. Find sanctuary in our new collection of luxury private villas and fully refreshed guestrooms. Our serene mountain valley setting welcomes you to celebrate every moment of Ojai’s rare spirit.

844.269.4675 OjaiValleyInn.com

©2021 Ojai Valley Inn

Colette Cosentino

SUMMER 2021

Feature Opener

MELISSA BARRERA wears DIOR Dioriviera hat, price upon request.

MAYA HAWKE AND GIA COPPOLA’S SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP

EMMAN MONTALVAN. STYLING BY SAMANTHA TRAINA.

THE COOL AND COLORFUL JEWELS TO WEAR NOW MELISSA BARRERA TAKES DIORIVIERA FOR A SPIN DOWN ON THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM PHOTOGRAPHER CATHERINE OPIE REFLECTS ON THREE DECADES AT THE TOP California Style & Culture 65

DOUBLE DOUBLE ACTT AC

Maya Hawke is the star of Gia Coppola’s new

film about the perils of YouTubestyle stardom. Here, the pair discuss awkward childhoods, mindless algorithms and the misrepresentation of millennials

Feature - Maya

Words by STEPHANIE RAFANELLI Photography by WE ARE THE RHOADS Fashion Direction by PETRA FLANNERY

Feature - Maya

GIA COPPOLA wears RALPH LAUREN COLLECTION cashmere sweater vest, $790, silk shirt, $1,290, and silk pants, $1,490. VANS slip-on sneakers, $50.

CARTIER La Panthère de Cartier ring, $6,100, Écrou de Cartier ring, $2,870, and Cartier Love necklace, $4,150. MAYA HAWKE wears GUCCI tulle crewneck , $1,400, and plongé leather skirt, $4,500. CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN Mary Jane shoes, $875.

BULGARI B.zero1 rings, from $7250, and B.zero1 earrings, $6,150.

O

ur selves and our followings, intimacy and fame, addiction and ego: all the cravings and perils of our digital age are placed center screen in Mainstream, Gia Coppola’s pop-art retelling of Elia Kazan’s 1957 A Face in the Crowd for the YouTube and influencer generation. In the lead sneakers is Andrew Garfield in an unhinged, Jim Carrey-topping turn as Link, an increasingly maniacal YouTube satirist, in a virtual world that merges with a neon-lit Los Angeles — a place where cravings are supercharged into obsessions. But the city is brewing a new infatuation with Garfield’s co-star: husky-voiced 22-year-old Maya Hawke, who plays Frankie, an introspective bartender and frustrated video artist. Her languid blue eyes alone express Frankie’s volcanic longing for self-expression and the magical sensations, at least, of love.

Before her turn as Jo March in the 2017 BBC adaptation of Little Women, Hawke began her career as a teen model like her mother, actor Uma Thurman, did. She got to know the softly spoken Coppola while modeling for the director-photographer’s Zac Posen Spring 2019 look book. But Hawke is not just a singularly natural face in the crowd; she’s also a fiercely intelligent new voice, with the curious philosophical mind and writerly nature of her father, actor Ethan Hawke. Streams of inspired ideas spring from her mouth as emoji do from Frankie’s

Feature - Maya

“Gia was the first person who tried to capture my weirdness” M AYA H A W K E

68

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

Coppola wears MICHAEL KORS COLLECTION foulard silk shirt, $990, foulard silk skirt, $1,190, woven leather belt, $690, and Langley leather sandals, $495.

CARTIER Clash de Cartier rings, from $3,050. BULGARI B.Zero1 necklace, $7,550.

Hawke wears MAX MARA cotton top, $1,395, and cotton skirt, $615. DIOR Abbesse lambskin sandals, $950. BULGARI Serpenti Viper earrings, $3,600. VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Perlée Couleurs pendant, $21,100.

Feature - Maya

SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO dress, $10,500. VHERNIER earrings, $15,400.

Hair by SYLVIA WHEELER at Forward Artists using Bumble and Bumble. Makeup by KATE LEE at The Wall Group using Chanel. Manicure by MILLIE MACHADO.

69

Feature - Maya

Feature - Maya

PRADA dress, price upon request. CARTIER Écrou de Cartier earrings, $2,640 each.

Opposite: LORO PIANA Cynthia dress, $3,090. CARTIER Panthère de Cartier bracelet, $25,300.

SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO coiled necklace, price upon request.

Feature - Maya

Hawke wears DIOR dress, $10,000, and double belt, $1,200. PIAGET Possession ring, $13,300, and Possession bangle (left), $12,500.

VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Perlée Couleurs bangle, $18,300. Coppola wears BRUNELLO CUCINELLI cotton top, $1,875, and Panama cotton and linen shorts, $1,095. CARTIER Cartier Love necklace (bottom), $4,150, and Clash de Cartier necklace, $3,500.

in Mainstream. Also a poet and lyricist, with a voice as pure as singing glass, she released her first album Blush last August.

Coppola, now 34, has garnered a reputation as a naturalistic chronicler of Californian youth, with an offbeat eye for composition and the beauty hidden in the quiet and the ordinary. Raised in L.A. and NorCal, Coppola — who has also made films for Gucci — started out as a photographer, eschewing four generations of her family’s film tradition (her aunt is Sofia, her grandfather Francis Ford). That is, until James Franco persuaded her to direct an adaptation of his short story collection Palo Alto. In 2013, the drifting, dreamlike portrait of plotless teenage lives, starring Emma Roberts, Jack Kilmer and Nat Wolff, drew festival acclaim.

Both from big extended families, Coppola and Hawke retreated home during the pandemic: the director to the Coppola family vineyard in Napa Valley, and Hawke (who has one brother, Levon, 18, and three half sisters) to her mother’s childhood home in Woodstock (after shooting for season four of Stranger Things, in which she plays ice cream scooper/Russian code breaker Robin, was pulled), giving impromptu musical performances from their barn.

Today Hawke is back in L.A., goofing around with Coppola on set in the hilltop wilds of Malibu and engaging with her for C Magazine in philosophical debate on algorithms, the future of film, poetry and streaking.

Feature - Maya

C Magazine: Maya, how does it feel to be back in L.A.? Both your parents are such stalwart New Yorkers.

Maya Hawke: In my family, L.A. has always been considered like Disneyland, a place to go where magical dreamland things happen. You go to your hotel, your favorite restaurants, go see the ocean, and you think, “I should live here! Why do I live in that hideous concrete jungle?” And then you leave. Leaving it shiny is kind of the goal. I remember my whole childhood, everywhere I would go, people would ask me, “Do you live in Hollywood?”

And I’d reply: “Hollywood doesn’t exist, guys.

It isn’t even a thing.” Now I like the idea that Hollywood exists. Then I can go home to my dirty streets, pollution and cold weather and I can be all pale, bitter and revolutionary.

C: What were you like at school?

MH: Before high school I was totally a

73

GUCCI Georgette longsleeve dress, $11,000, and tulle slip, $490. Opposite: SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO double-breasted wool blazer, $2,990, Lavallière top, $1,350, bike shorts, $590, leather Camellia choker, $545, and leather belt, $525.

Hair by MARA ROSZAK at A-Frame.

Makeup by JO STRETTELL at TraceyMattingly.com using Dior Beauty.

Manicure by MARLA BOLDEN at Opus Beauty using Chanel Le Vernis.

Feature - Maya

loner. I went to five different schools trying to find the right learning style for me [before attending Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn].

That school definitely had a different barometer, I think, than the classic Midwest television cheerleaders school had for what was cool. It made a lot of room for outcasts.

But I was still struggling to find myself. I was friends in my freshman year with the super popular girls, because my mom is a movie star and that seemed cool for everyone. And then it was like, you’re not that cool for us.

Then I was friends with the degenerates and the stoners. Then I was friends with the theater geeks and did all the school plays.

I loved poetry. Taking on a whole novel was really intimidating to a young dyslexic student, but an Emily Dickinson poem was more approachable. My connection to music is about poetry.

C: And you, Gia? Gia Coppola: I was super awkward. I had pimples and weird bangs. I was always hunched over, as I was so insecure in myself.

I didn’t have any friends in school, I hung out with my cousins [actors/musicians Robert and Jason Schwartzman]. The whole academic environment didn’t suit me. I am such a visual learner, I needed to experience things in order to retain them. I look at teenagers now and they all don’t seem to go through an awkward phase. They all look like TikTok, long hair and cropped tops.

C: So many different L.A.s have been immortalized on film, Gia, but I really related to the slightly seedier L.A. in Mainstream.

GC: I live above Hollywood Boulevard, so I have a deep appreciation of that kind of strip.

It feels very much to me what Times Square was probably like in the ’70s. Sometimes it feels like you are inside a cell phone. It’s a bit like Las Vegas, everything is directing you to buy something or see some sensationalized celebrity thing. During the recent protests there were all these different groups, and there was Freddy Krueger walking through them trying to get a hot dog.

C: It’s also where Andrew Garfield runs around, more or less butt naked, for Link’s Jackass-style guerrilla YouTube show.

GC: Originally we were going to do it in a quiet neighborhood, but it wasn’t sensational or courageous enough. And I said, “Well, how about Hollywood Boulevard?” We were going to use nude underwear, but then Andrew suggested, “What about a giant prosthetic dick?” I think for him, it was really liberating to just run around Hollywood Boulevard naked.

C: His performance is Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker-level unhinged.

GC: The genesis of this movie was me feeling like an outsider to what the mainstream, the mass majority, is liking [online]. It was what I feel about [making] art in this world where everyone just wants a picture of you naked, essentially. He had similar thoughts, and like Maya, he can articulate them much better than me.

C: He pulls really A-grade dance moves too.

MH: The day that I got the part in this movie, I went to a party and saw Andrew and Gia there, and I thought, “Oh, Andrew is such a good dancer!” I was desperate to work

with Gia after the Zac Posen shoot, because she was the first person whose camera I ever sat in front of that I felt like saw me — not what I could be or what I should look like, but who tried to capture my weirdness and awkwardness. I saw Palo Alto in high school and it felt like the first movie about my generation which was made by someone who actually saw us. So often, the way late millennials and Generation Z are depicted is addicted to their phones. But the truth is, most 40-year-olds I know are staring at their Blackberries more than my friends and I look at our phones.

GC: All the cool kids now don’t even want to use their phones. They don’t want to be tracked.

MH: Phones have taken some of the drama out of films because no one shows up announced anymore. Or it’s really hard for any character to say, “How will I ever find him again?” But in Mainstream, Link doesn’t have a phone in the beginning, so you actually do build that same romantic tension.

C: There’s a silent dialogue going on between intimacy and technology in the film.

MH: I think intimacy is to do with a powerful desire within all of us to be known and understood. … It seems really easy to get to know someone [on social media] when they boil themselves down to a picture in a small square with the few qualities that they want you to know about them. But annoyingly, people are so many things, so that never feels good enough. You never feel truly understood until someone really sees your ugly bits. Then you’re like, “Oh no! I don’t want to be known anymore.”

C: That’s the thorny, illusory, addictive nature of social media.

GC: Link is eventually sucked into it because it’s so hard to be in this world [of influencers] and not let it affect your ego, and stay authentic. By the end, he has gone full ego in this entertainment way. We don’t focus on anything anymore unless it’s entertainment. That’s a fascination for me. The way that the [online] algorithm forces you to become Continued on P.115

Feature - Maya

75

COLOR ME HAPPY

All the shades of California are captured in the latest designs from the world’s jewelry houses, just in time for summer

Feature - Jewelry

Photography by JOYCE KIM Fashion Direction by REBECCA RUSSELL Styling by SAMANTHA MARGHERITA

Feature - Jewelry

Clockwise from top center: VRAM DiaChrona triple-band purple sapphire ring, price upon request. FENDI pink basket bag, $690. NICK FOUQUET Palm Tree scarf, $175. HARRY WINSTON Forget-Me-Not pink sapphire and diamond necklace, price upon request. IRENE NEUWIRTH pink tourmaline necklace, price upon request. VRAM Echo pink sapphires ring, $22,400. POMELLATO Forget-Me-Not pink sapphire and diamond earrings, price upon request. IRENE NEUWIRTH single pink tourmaline and diamond earring, $3,810. BUCCELLATI diamond and ruby ring, $23,000. POMELLATO Tango pink sapphire bracelet, $31,200. HARRY WINSTON Avenue Classic Aurora pink sapphire and diamond timepiece, price upon request. POMELLATO Nudo rose quartz ring, from $3,000. NICK FOUQUET Vagues straw hat, $675.

Location INNER GARDENS, Culver City; innergardens.com.

Feature - Jewelry

Clockwise from top center: POMELLATO Tango aquamarine, tanzanite and blue sapphire bracelet, $28,400. VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Pompon Gaia sapphire, emerald, lapis lazuli, amazonite, pearl, white mother-of-pearl and diamond necklace-timepiece, price upon request. BUCCELLATI diamond and sapphire ring, $46,500. HARRY WINSTON Ballroom sapphire and diamond earrings, price upon request.

CARTIER Cactus de Cartier chrysoprase, lapis lazuli and diamond ring, $28,500. BUCCELLATI gold and chalcedony earrings, $5,400. JANESSA LEONÉ Constance straw and leather visor, $270.

Feature - Jewelry

Clockwise from top center: BULGARI Serpenti Viper carnelian and diamond necklace, $5,000. VRAM Chrona zircon and diamond chandelier earrings, price upon request. PIAGET Possession carnelian cabochon and diamond sliding pendant, $7,400. BULGARI Serpenti Viper carnelian and diamond ring, $5,150. PIAGET Possession carnelian and diamond earrings, $5,250.

Feature - Jewelry

Feature - Jewelry

Feature - Jewelry

Clockwise from top center: BULGARI High Jewelry emerald and diamond necklace, price upon request. CARTIER Panthère de Cartier emerald, onyx and diamond ring, $81,500. HOORSENBUHS Model VII sunglasses in Tokyo Tortoise, $895. BUCCELLATI diamond and emerald cabochon ring, $20,000. CARTIER Cactus de Cartier chrysoprase, lapis lazuli and diamond necklace, $87,000. BULGARI High Jewelry emerald and diamond earrings, price upon request. NICK FOUQUET UFO scarf, $225. IRENE NEUWIRTH single emerald and diamond earring, $7,410.

Feature - Jewelry

DIOR Dioriviera J’Adior California sweater, $1,200, Dioriviera skirt $4,500, and Dioriviera bikini bottoms, price upon request.

MEJURI gold hoop earrings, seen throughout.

Location BELLOSGUARDO FOUNDATION, Santa Barbara.

Feature - Dior

As the Dioriviera collection pops up at Montecito’s Rosewood Miramar Beach, actor/dancer Melissa Barrera takes it for a spin on the Santa Barbara shores

DANCER IN Feature - Dior DIOR Words by MARTHA HAYES

Photography by EMMAN MONTALVAN Fashion Direction by SAMANTHA TRAINA

Feature - Dior

DIOR Dioriviera dress, $4,700. Opposite: DIOR Dioriviera jacket, $2,150, and Dioriviera shorts, $810. Dior Maison Dioriviera surfboard, price upon request.

Feature - Dior

Feature - Dior

DIOR Dioriviera bralette, $810, and Dioriviera skirt, price upon request. Vespa 946 Christian Dior by Piaggio Group in collaboration with Dior. Top case in original Dior Oblique jacquard technical canvas. Opposite: DIOR Dioriviera anorak , $3,400, and Dioriviera bikini bottoms, $400.

Feature - Dior

Opposite: DIOR Dioriviera shirt, $1,300, Dioriviera bikini bottoms, price upon request, and Dioriviera scarf, $500.

Availability: Dior at Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito, California, 1-800-929-DIOR .

Hair by CLAYTON HAWKINS at A-Frame Agency. Makeup by LILLY KEYS at A-Frame Agency.

Feature - Dior

90

M

elissa Barrera is recalling the time her mom and three sisters visited her from Mexico on the set of her first feature, In the Heights — the highly anticipated Hollywood adaptation of the musical which Hamilton creator LinManuel Miranda wrote back in college. “My family has no shame,” laughs the actor. “They were like, ‘Hey Lin, we haven’t seen Hamilton,’ wink wink, trying to get tickets out of him.”

The problem was, Barrera confesses, “I hadn’t actually seen Hamilton, but I had never told Lin because I was embarrassed. [When I did] he was like, ‘what?’”

She has, however, seen In the Heights on Broadway — “more than 15 times,” which was ample preparation to take on the lead role of Vanessa. The musical follows a group of residents in New York City’s Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights, and it is a lead contender for the feel-good movie of the summer. “It’s the perfect film to lure people back into the theaters,” says Barrera, 30, with a smile.

She’s casually dressed in an oversize gray sweater and talking from her apartment in Studio City, which is around the corner from the set of Vida, the popular Latinx drama she landed when she first arrived in Los Angeles in 2017 that ran for three seasons on Starz.

The role of Vanessa — the love interest of narrator Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) — swiftly followed by the lead in Benjamin Millepied’s big-screen reimagining of Carmen (opposite Normal People’s breakout star Paul Mescal) and a part in 2022’s Scream relaunch cement Barrera’s status as one of Hollywood’s most exciting new stars. But that’s not the only way In the Heights has changed her life path.

She’s been gearing up to play Vanessa for more than a decade: auditioning for the Broadway show from the age of 18 and studying musical theater at the Tisch School at New York University. A Broadway career wasn’t

to be, however, as visa issues initially forced her back to Mexico, where she starred in the telenovelas Siempre tuya Acapulco (2014) and Tanto amor (2015) — but Barrera never gave up.

After a lengthy audition process for the film, her perseverance paid off. “After I sang ‘It Won’t Be Long Now,’ Lin was teary-eyed and I was like, ‘OK, I think that’s a good sign.’ I walked 40 blocks down the road and felt like I was floating.”

Then the hard work really began. “Blood, sweat and actual tears” went into training with salsa choreographer Eddie Torres Jr. for the grueling dance scenes. “I’m a very reserved person, so I had anxiety about the choreography,”

“torn between two countries,” she says. “Why do I have to choose one if I love both?”

L.A. has clearly stolen her heart. She enjoys people-watching and longboarding on Venice Beach, drinking “stinky” tea — green with a splash of apple cider vinegar — and ordering from Khao Soi Thai on Ventura Boulevard “at least once a week.” For Mexican food she loves Guelaguetza in Koreatown or, if she’s feeling fancy, some seafood at Catch in West Hollywood.

Barrera spent quarantine with her husband Paco Zazueta — a singer who runs his family’s butcher business — at their home in Sonora, Mexico, and at her family’s in Monterrey. The couple only married in 2019, so it felt like an extended honeymoon. “We got to eat dinner together every day and wake up next to each other — months together I didn’t think we’d have in our entire lives!” she exclaims.

When we talk, Barrera has just wrapped filming Carmen and Scream back-to-back, the latter opposite original cast members Courteney Cox, Neve Campbell and David Arquette. “I was obsessed with Friends, so when I met Courteney I was like, how am I going to keep my cool?,” she recalls. “But she is so chill and generous and has Sunday family dinners on her patio overlooking the ocean in Malibu. I can’t believe she’s my friend now!”

Barrera might only be getting started, but she has ambitious plans, including developing a TV show and producing films. “I want to have more say in the stories put out there so they’re not always stereotyping us,” she explains. “I have a responsibility with the huge deficiency of content for Latinos out there, so I need to create; that’s the only way we’re going to feel seen.” In other words: Hollywood, watch this space.

The Dioriviera takeover of two bungalows at the Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito runs May 27 through September 6. The public is invited to experience the collection in the pop-up boutique and around the bocce court and pool. X

Feature - Dior

Barrera explains. “After one rehearsal I cried for 20 minutes. That was a pivotal moment of, wow, you need to not keep things bottled up. I’m grateful to the choreography team who trusted that I was going to get there when I didn’t believe it myself.”

The eldest of four children, raised in Monterrey, Mexico, by a single “supermom who was working full-time [as an accountant] but somehow managed to be at every dance recital or field trip,” Barrera was “very outdoorsy, climbing trees.” Mexico will always be home, but after attending a U.S. school and having spoken English her whole life, she often feels

91

LITTLE FARM, Feature - Apricot

The Alan York Lookout stands tall over The Fruit Basket, an orchard boasting 75 different varieties of trees: peaches, plums, pomegranates, cherries and the apricots which give APRICOT LANE FARMS its name.

BIG FUTURE For John and Molly Chester, who quit city life 10 years ago to set a new standard in sustainable produce, pandemic popularity was just a by-product of their farming revolution

Feature - Apricot

Words by HELENA DE BERTODANO Photography by RAINER HOSCH

Feature - Apricot

A

tragedy appears to be unfolding when I arrive at Apricot Lane Farms. A 1-day old lamb — a triplet born in a rainstorm the previous night — is at death’s door and John Chester is trying to save him. “Are you with me? Oh God, he’s so weak. Hang in there, buddy,” he pleads, cradling the hypothermic lamb while trying to insert a tube of colostrum into its mouth.

After an hour of trying different approaches — colostrum, milk, dextrose, a lamp for warmth — the lamb remains barely responsive. “Those are all the tricks I’ve got,” sighs John, placing the lamb gently into a wooden box and covering it with his jacket. He leaves the lamb in the care of two farmhands, preparing them for the worst. “This might not work out. And it’s really hard.”

There is never a dull moment at Apricot Lane Farms. Which is why John,

a documentary maker turned farmer, was able to make such an engaging film about his quest with his wife Molly to turn 214 acres of exhausted land northwest of Los Angeles into a regenerative, organic, biodynamic farm. The Biggest Little Farm is a visually stunning, very personal tale of endurance and fulfillment, and was short-listed for a best documentary Oscar last year.

Now John is filming a new series which will be released by a “major” streamer in 2024, although he can’t say which: “It will pick up where the movie left off: focusing more on wildlife animals than on us.” One episode, for example, will center on George, the egret who used to eat minnows from the pond but has now helpfully switched to gophers, the farm’s most prolific pests. “He swallows them whole. He’s a gopher-eating harpooning maniac,” says John.

This April marked the 10th anniversary of the couple’s move from their tiny apartment

in a Santa Monica complex, with its fireescape garden. “We didn’t have two pennies to rub together,” says Molly, 42, who worked as a private chef for Hollywood actors. They had rescued a retriever/border collie mix, Todd, whose barking led to their eviction — igniting a long-held dream. With the help of a financial backer, they bought a neglected avocado and lemon farm outside Moorpark.

Todd was ecstatic, John and Molly slightly wary: “We were both nervous but wanted to give it a try,” says Molly.

Todd is now buried under a tree, and they have Blue, a white golden retriever, as well as six guardian dogs which help look after the sheep.

They also have a son, Beauden, who is six. And their farm is literally a dream come true, an earthly utopia you have to see to believe.

John, 49, takes me on a tour in a buggy. It is storybook pretty: brown cows graze on verdant hills, lambs gambol through lemon groves, stone-fruit trees are bursting into

Above: The Garden Barn is the central hub for operations for the 2.1-acre market garden. Opposite, clockwise from top left: Rose, one of four Great Pyrenees guardian dogs. MOLLY CHESTER with some Swiss chard.

An avocado tree. JOHN CHESTER and Emma the Pig. Rico the horse. Freshly picked beets. The Spanish-style Main Barn. A blue Andalusian hen.

94

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

Feature - Apricot

blossom, citrus trees groan under the weight of lemons, oranges and kumquats. “We call this The Fruit Basket,” says John, plucking a Fukushu kumquat: “You don’t have to grow 80 varieties of trees and have every single animal represented, but the more you can add that complexity, the higher the level of biological diversity.”

The couple’s first task was to change the composition of the soil: “When you taste a real heirloom-variety apple grown in really good soil, you taste the mineralization of the appley flavor,” says John. Meat and eggs taste better too, harvested from livestock that feeds on grass grown in that rich soil.

His enthusiasm is infectious, and you can see why Gwyneth Paltrow jokingly asked him to be her “spiritual teacher” on a recent Goop podcast: he sounds almost evangelistic.

Vaulting over a fence into a cow pasture, he drops to his knees and scrabbles together a handful of soil. “Smell it. Put your nose right into it.” It smells sweet and damp. “The only alchemizer of death back into life exists right here beneath our feet.” He points to the sky, then back to earth: “This is how it works.

This is how it has always worked. … You are a leather bag of nutrients sourced from dead kittens and woolly mammoths, and the soil is only waiting for you to come back.”

On that cheerful note, we continue up the hill and stop at another breathtaking view, the Pacific Ocean twinkling 30 miles away in the distance. “At 1 o’clock the breeze starts coming from the ocean and cools everything off.” He points out a house on a neighboring

sell out within minutes of the stalls opening at markets in Santa Monica, Thousand Oaks, Calabasas and Mar Vista. It takes me a couple of trips to markets before I manage to land a box — but they’re worth the effort. Rich with golden yolks, they make other eggs pale, literally, in comparison. And everything else currently in season — fennel, spinach, carrots, avocados — tastes like a sweeter, truer version of itself.

The couple arrived at the farm with little experience. “I thought I had experience, that’s the worst part,” says John. “In my teens and 20s I worked on corn and soy farms in Maryland. I drove a tractor and built fences, but I didn’t understand soil. I dumped 40 tons of raw manure in a tomato field here once, I didn’t know it had to be composted.”

He chuckles: “It’s all right: those tomatoes didn’t go to market but they were insane — the best goddamn tomatoes ever.”

We pass a field where a few black pigs are snouting through the soil. John whistles and shouts: “You guys are not supposed to be there! You know it too. That’s hilarious: look at the way they’re looking at me like ‘grrrrrrr.’”

His personification of the animals is part of the charm. Emma the pig and Greasy the rooster were two of the stars of The Biggest Little Farm. But the documentary doesn’t sugarcoat the experience, concentrating as much on the epic struggle the couple faced — against predators, the elements, disease and death. Disasters come thick and fast; even their chief adviser Alan York, a pioneer in biodynamic farming, dies of cancer. California’s worst drought in centuries delivers another blow. And then come the wildfires, which threaten to destroy everything.

At times, the strain has overwhelmed them. John describes having nightmares of a sideways tornado hurtling straight toward him. Do they do therapy? “Oh my gosh, yes!” exclaims Molly. “I have a therapist, John has a therapist. We also have a couple therapist. I have a business coach. I need it all.”

Starting from three staff, they now employ up to 75 people depending on the season, including several in media and film. Stable stalls have been converted into production offices. “I do voice-overs in here,” says John, opening a shed door. “It used to be a birthing stall for horses.” Mostly self-sufficient, they shop for extras at Erewhon or farmers markets. “We buy milk unless Maggie [the cow] is milking,” says Molly. “And we buy

“I have a therapist, a Feature - Apricot couples therapist and a business coach. I need it all” M O L LY C H E S T E R hill, once their home and now a school for their son and eight other children whose parents are local or work on the farm. The Chesters have moved to a newly constructed larger Spanish-style villa.

Their customers are “people who connect their personal health to the food choices they make,” says John. He describes the eggs as “the gateway drug” into Apricot Lane Farms produce. A dozen eggs may cost $15, but they

Above: John and Molly Chester take a stroll by The Fruit Basket orchard.

Opposite: Three Akaushi cows — a Japanese Wagyu breed — of the 25-strong herd graze on the hillside of the 214-acre Apricot Lane Farms.

96

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

Feature - Apricot

SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO dress, $10,500. VHERNIER earrings, $15,400.

Hair by SYLVIA WHEELER at Forward Artists using Bumble and Bumble. Makeup by KATE LEE at The Wall Group using Chanel. Manicure by MILLIE MACHADO.

97

Feature - Apricot salami, cheese and broccoli.” Meanwhile Molly is compiling a book of recipes that follow what she describes as a seasonal, ancestral approach to cooking — an extension of her connection with nature and the farm’s ecosystem, using culinary techniques such as soaking, sprouting, souring and fermenting.

The coronavirus barely halted their stride.

“We treated it very seriously,” explains John, “and our farmers-market team was really innovative and became a role model in sanitation, so our food sales got better. People who really wanted to stay healthy wanted this food.”

Their neighbors, whose land starts “where it gets brown over there,” were dumbfounded. “They think we’re crazy and say we’re never going to feed the world with this way of farming. At first I was like, ‘Holy shit, they’re right, we’ll never feed the world like this.’ It took me a few years to realize this

whole love-the-planet thing is a complete …”

He struggles for the right word. “I mean, I like the idea of the planet. But do you love a girl in Kansas you’ve never met? I have not met the whole planet. What is wrong with first feeding your family, feeding your community? I’m not trying to save the world.

I’m trying to save my piece of property. And guess what: that’s enough.”

Today one small lamb, the 28th born this season, is the beneficiary of that focus.

Walking back into the barn, we hear a healthy bleating. But the wooden box is empty. “He’s disappeared!” exclaims John, alarmed. A search ensues and the lamb is found in the bathroom, peeing beside the toilet. “That’s an A for effort,” John chuckles.

Molly, who has a quieter energy, says they haven’t changed so much as “become.”

“I didn’t even understand myself until

I figured out I was a farmer. I used to wonder: ‘Why are my hands so big?’” She says their newfound fame has not altered them. “Didn’t Oprah once say it depends when fame hits: before or after you knew who you were? We already knew what was important. So it just enables us to continue to do what we believe is important.”

If they had known how grueling the last decade would be, would they have embarked on the project? John looks pensive. “If someone said, ‘You’re going to experience a plane crash, the wings are gonna fall off and you’ll be isolated on an island making decisions about life and death,’ you probably would say no. But if I could have seen us now, then hell yes. But you’ve got to get me to the end.”

“Would I go through it again?” asks Molly.

“In a heartbeat. The love for this farm is really just the love of life.” apricotlanefarms.com. X

Above: On the western perimeter of the property runs Lemon Pepper Lane. Opposite, clockwise from top left: A South African Dorper lamb. The red barn with its barn owl box. The restored pond to encourage bird and aquatic life. Wildflowers litter the property. A young chick . The apple orchard. Holistic market garden manager JOY JOYCE. Rows of snap peas. John, Molly, Rose and a newborn Dorper lamb.

98

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

Feature - Apricot

Using her photography to document history, Catherine Opie has spent three decades focusing her lens on such diverse subjects as the BDSM scenes of San Francisco and Black Lives Matter. And she shows no sign of slowing down

SHOCK AND AWE Feature - Opie

Gina & April, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1998, by photographer CATHERINE OPIE. Opposite: SelfPortrait, Last Day, New York, 1985. Photos throughout are excerpted from the new volume Catherine Opie.

C

atherine Opie is late for our Zoom call, leaving me staring at myself in the screen for so long I start to wonder who it is I’m looking at. She logs on just in time to save me from a full existential meltdown.

But being forced to sit awkwardly with my own image feels like the perfect primer for a conversation with photographer Opie, whose imagery has challenged the way we see and understand the world for well over 30 years.

She apologizes and explains there’s been “a little crisis.” She has workers in her 5,000-square-foot studio near Los Angeles’ Lincoln Heights neighborhood replacing the protective film over the windows that prevents the photos she develops and prints in-house from spoiling in the heat. But they’ve run out of said material, and she’s been frantically phoning suppliers all morning. “I found someone who can deliver by 1 p.m.,” she tells me. “I’m all yours.”

Opie is notoriously hard to pigeonhole as an artist, although she claims her work is simply “about place and identity and how they inform each other.” The critics never know what to expect next, and that is part of her appeal. “I’m not interested in photography as nostalgia,” she explains when we discuss the manifesto that motivates her. “I’m interested in photography as a place of memory, as a placeholder for us throughout history.”

Her 2008 Guggenheim retrospective took over four floors of the Frank Lloyd Wrightdesigned museum in New York; her ethereal pictures of Lake Michigan hung in the Obama White House.

Feature - Opie

Words by LOTTE JEFFS 101

Feature - Opie

102

COURTESY THE ARTIST AND REGEN PROJECTS, LOS ANGELES; LEHMANN MAUPIN, NEW YORK/HONG KONG/SEOUL/LONDON; THOMAS DANE GALLERY, LONDON AND NAPLES; AND PEDER LUND, OSLO.

Jesse, 1995.

Opposite: Los Angeles Women’s March, 2017.

Early self-portraiture, most famously a 1993 shot of two female stick figures scored onto her bare, blood-dripping back, firmly established her as a “subversive.”

She’s well known for her groundbreaking documentation of the BDSM and leather dyke scenes from her time living in San Francisco in the ’80s, bringing a marginalized community into the spotlight and celebrating their otherness in a way never before seen in the “establishment” art world. Today, these works continue to open a discourse for queer people, making her something of a spiritual figure in the community. “I’m even more excited by what it has done for younger queers,” she says. “I turned 60 in April, and [it’s great] to have people come up and say, ‘I saw your work in the Guggenheim and it changed my life — I was able to talk to my parents about who I was as a person.’”

But ever since she’s subverted what it means to be a subversive, her subject matter has veered wildly, spanning freeways, queer families, disappearing swamps, football players and the personal effects of Elizabeth Taylor. Her landscapes — for example, the 2009 series Twelve Miles to the Horizon, showing the sunrise and sunset on each of

“Growing up, I felt unpopular.

Photography was my little superpower” C AT H E R I N E O P I E

the 10 days it took to cross by container ship from Busan, South Korea, to Long Beach — may not shock in the same way as some of her portraits, but both explore a sense of home, whether via community or topography.

Indeed, there is a thread running through all Opie’s pictures, as each radically diverse subject is captured with the same depth of emotion and ability to render the familiar (a freeway interchange, a surfer, a mother) somehow strange. Now, a new Phaidon tome surveys her body of work, bringing together 300 images (including some never before seen) connected by the themes of people, place and politics, and Opie hopes that folks will finally understand that yes, this is all from the same artist.

I ask what she has learned most about the U.S. in the time that she’s spent documenting it. “How incredibly optimistic I am, and how heartbreaking this country is, time and time again.” She says she tries to make work that is not just of its time but also reflects on the historical representation of her country, and then within that, reflects the importance of community and identity. “I hope to provoke the sense of humanity, and for people to understand that difference is actually a strength.”

Feature - Opie

103

As a hugely successful artist (reportedly able to earn over one million dollars in a good year), it would have been really hard to have a child without the support of her wife, Opie explains. “[Julie] really did pick up the slack when I was constantly traveling. But we always had a rule that I wasn’t allowed to be gone more than 10 days.” At the time of Oliver’s birth in 2001, same-sex couples could not legally marry under California state law, meaning Julie couldn’t be named on the birth certificate. “We always talked about me adopting Sara, and her adopting Oliver, but it was just a lot of legal fees and paperwork. And we felt like no, we are a family.” Sara now has a 7-year-old son and also lives in L.A., meaning her moms can dote on their first grandchild.

Opie’s close friends, many of whom were part of queer subcultures in California in the ’80s and ’90s, are often the subjects of her portraits. She shot them against bold colored backdrops to evoke the paintings of Hans Holbein, offering a sense of reverence to a marginalized community. I ask how capturing the personalities of strangers differs from working with close friends. “I don’t have any preconceived ideas of who they are, as a person. There is a different ebb and flow — one is bearing witness, and one is recognizing this very internal relationship of either friendship or somebody who I completely admire, such as David Hockney.”

It was the work of photographer Lewis Hine that first inspired Opie. Born in Sandusky, Ohio, she received a Kodak Instamatic camera from her parents for her ninth birthday, and she began shooting her family and neighborhood. “Growing up, I felt displaced always,” she says, “and unpopular.

Photography was a way that allowed me to make friends and have something really special that I could give out to the world. It’s like my little superpower. Continued on P.115

Feature - Opie

104

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

COURTESY THE ARTIST AND REGEN PROJECTS, LOS ANGELES; LEHMANN MAUPIN, NEW YORK/HONG KONG/SEOUL/LONDON; THOMAS DANE GALLERY, LONDON AND NAPLES; AND PEDER LUND, OSLO.

Opie moved to Los Angeles in 1988. Over three decades, she has documented public uprisings in L.A., from the Rodney King riots of 1992 to demonstrations for immigration and labor rights in 2006 to the Women’s March of 2017. “Even though we’ve moved forward a little bit with reform, not really,” she says, referring to the nation as a whole. “I mean, women who are sleeping, who haven’t done anything wrong, can have police barge into their home and shoot them, like Breonna Taylor.” During last summer’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations, she avoided the familiar forlorn mask-on-the-street shots in favor of reflecting “where we are in this time of COVID and racial injustice without actually creating more cliches around it.”

During the pandemic, Opie and her wife, Julie Burleigh — a painter and garden designer — sent their son, Oliver, off to college at Tulane University in New Orleans. After no prom to speak of, his high school graduation was held in the backyard of their home in Wilshire Park, near Koreatown, replete with cap and gown and their dog, cat, lizard, two rabbits and chickens looking on. “There was never a time in my life that I didn’t want to have children,” Opie tells me. “It was a question of if financially I would be able to do it. So as soon as I got my teaching job at Yale with health insurance, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m 40, I have a fulltime position. I’m getting pregnant.’”

When she met Opie, Burleigh was a single mom to her daughter, Sara, whom she had had at the age of 18. She was head of the painting department at Washington University in St. Louis and Opie came in as a guest artist for one year.

They decided to make a life together. “And Julie thought at 40, maybe I wouldn’t get pregnant because she had literally just finished raising Sara.” She says that for Julie this past year has been “really monumental, because it’s the first time in her adult life she’s not raising a child.”

Cobalt Blue Sky, 2015. Below: Untitled #3 (Inauguration Portrait), 2009. Opposite, from top: Untitled #3 (Freeways), 1994.

Diana, 2012. Joanne, Betsy & Olivia, Bayside, New York, 1998.

Feature - Opie

High Camp

WILDLY BEAUTIFUL

highcampsupply.com

D The SURFRIDER hotel in Malibu equips rooms with handwoven hammocks — and they’re available for purchase ($750).

I S SAND, SURF, SUN SUPREME Four beach escapes to explore as the California coastline opens up

C O V

Travel

E R I M.K SADLER

E TRAVEL

WELLNESS

ZEN MOMENTS

S 107

D

T RAVE L

D I A R Y

I S C O V E R I E S

MALIBU STAY: At only 20 hotel rooms, the Surfrider (thesurfridermalibu.com) already feels like an intimate getaway, but with its rooftop deck and restaurant — complete with bar, lounge area, firepits and dining exclusively for hotel guests — the property can also feel like a private club. On any given day, you’ll likely spot visiting surfers alongside international fashion editors, road trippers and musicians, all on the spectrum from barefoot to bejeweled and everything in between.

While nearly every room features a balcony and ocean breezes, the heart of the property is its rooftop, as there’s no better vantage point in Malibu for PCH and the local surfers catching waves. The culinary focus here is on botanical, organic, sustainable California fare (the chef trained under Thomas Keller); the Gjusta

Words by SAMANTHA BROOKS 108

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

CHAIR ON BALCONY: TREVOR TONDRO. COCKTAIL SERVER: BRECHT VAN’T HOF. POST RANCH INN: KODIAK GREENWOOD.

Travel

sourdough bread and house-made butter deserve specific mention for their creative additions of sweet peas, lemon myrtle, wattle seed and wildflowers. The property lends out its fleet of Mini Coopers for local excursions, and new for the season is a collaboration with McTavish surfboards which will offer guests complimentary longboards for summer in stunning hues.

DO: Have the hotel pack a picnic of farmers-market finds and charcuterie, and enjoy it in any of the locales on co-owners Matt and Emma Goodwin’s “guide-toMalibu treasure map.” Non-surfers will enjoy the kayak rentals just across the street from the hotel, allowing you to explore the coastline of coveted Carbon Beach.

Just up the road, the Cross Creek shopping center is the pulse of Malibu, with a collection of outdoor venues that make up a non-stop hub for both locals (spot them barefoot and in board shorts with surfboards strapped to their Porsches) and tourists (who stand out in anything flashy): take a complimentary yoga class at the Lumber Yard, and then sip a billion-dollar smoothie from Sun Life Organics while browsing the boutiques at the Malibu Country Mart, which range from the popular (Paige, Vince and John Varvatos) to the independent (Bleusalt for sustainable fashion; Canvas, which combines an art gallery with a retail concept; Sunroom for clothing and accessories). Taverna Tony and Tra di Noi have always been popular hot spots for dining — and now Lucky’s can be added to that list, as the Santa Barbara institution has brought its steak house just south. The filet is top-notch, and the potato skins do not disappoint.

Travel

BIG SUR STAY: Partially known for its 1992 iconic earthsheltered architecture, courtesy of local architect Mickey Muennig, and partially revered for its incomparable cliff-top setting, 1,200 feet above the Pacific, Post Ranch Inn (postranchinn.com) has long been a bucket-list destination for people across the globe. While the dramatic cliffs and a bounty of wildlife from birds to whales remain intact, recent improvements to the rooms have made the boutique resort all the more compelling. The 40-room property completed the renovation of its North Ocean Houses earlier this year, adding stainless-steel custom twoperson soaking tubs and new stone patios overlooking the ocean. Fully remodeled bathrooms now offer added privacy for guests (no more paper-thin doors), as well as walk-in showers with sea views. The South Ocean Houses were also revitalized with updated plumbing, radiant-heat stone floors and restored wood paneling, soft goods and more.

DO: There’s no reason to leave the property,

Clockwise from top: Sweeping views of Big Sur from the world-famous POST RANCH INN. The cocktail menu at SIERRA MAR’S BAR boasts organic liquors and beers.

One of the newly renovated North Ocean Houses. A fig tartine at the Post Ranch Inn restaurant. Opposite, clockwise from top: Balcony views of Malibu’s First Point surf break . Surfrider co-owners MATT and EMMA GOODWIN. The in-house mixologists infuse cocktails with locally sourced fresh produce.

109

D

T RAVE L

D I A R Y

I SANTA BARBARA

S C O V E R I E S

as its 100 acres of redwoods, organic gardens and landscaped fields offer a holistic experience.

Unwind at the spa, shop at the on-site art gallery and mercantile, partake in the falconry program, lounge at any of the three stunning pools (two infinity-edge pools on opposite ends of the property and one larger pool in the center of the grounds, better designed for swimming and sunbathing) and of course don’t forget to book your table (well in advance) at Sierra Mar. The dining venue features local ingredients as well as those grown on-site (such as squash, kale and every herb you can imagine) at the chef’s garden. New for this season is The Outpost, a dining venue within the chef’s garden with a barbecue, pizza oven (guests can even pick their pizza toppings directly from the garden and top their pizzas as they like), cocktail program and light bites.

Travel

STAY: Tucked away into the foothills of Montecito, San Ysidro Ranch (sanysidroranch.com) is the kind of magical escape that makes the property a destination in itself.

From the lavender-lined driveway to the 400-year-old oak trees and lapping creek, it’s clear this isn’t just another beach-town resort. Just 41 guest rooms are available in clusters of bungalows and cottages that perch among the hills, offering glimpses of the ocean and ample privacy.

After mudslides, the property endured a major renovation, and this past winter the upgrade was completed, with three new cottages given full backyard gardens as well as hot tubs with mountain or ocean views. Updates also include a refreshed interior of the spa and salon.

DO: The on-site Stonehouse and Plow & Angel restaurants emphasize local ingredients, including those sourced directly from the property’s own garden (citrus groves, lettuce patches and root vegetables). Oenophiles will appreciate the comprehensive wine cellar and rare scotch and tequila offerings. Seventeen miles of hiking trails are available directly from the property, but those who wish to venture into town might enjoy new haunts including Sevtap Winery, the new tasting room in the Presidio from winemaker Art Sevtap (former baker for Emeril Lagasse), who also serves freshly baked breads and tapas with his wine. When it comes to shopping, there’s the new Idyll Mercantile, a plant boutique; and C Magazine’s concept store Studio C at the Montecito Country Mart, which stocks the very best designed-inCalifornia brands.

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

From top: SALINE, the indooroutdoor eatery at HOTEL JOAQUIN. Poolside loungers and double daybeds. The artful lobby. Opposite, from top: The Eucalyptus Cottage at SAN YSIDRO RANCH. The property’s lily pond and lush gardens.

LAGUNA BEACH

Travel

STAY: If you’re a resident of Los Angeles or San Diego, it’s easy to take Laguna Beach for granted.

However, the former bohemian bungalow town is a refreshingly hip change of scenery from SoCal’s other top beach destinations, with its charming art galleries and bevy of outdoor delights, as well as clearer water and a dramatic rocky coastline that butts right against the shore. Check into the Hotel Joaquin (hoteljoaquin.com), which opened in May 2018 with 21 rooms designed by Robert McKinley for a Saint Bart’s-meets-midcenturymodern vibe. The intimate property is set just above Shaw’s Cove — a beach so hidden it’s almost private. The hotel’s “adventure garage” is packed with equipment like kayaks and snorkels for guests to use at the beach.

DO: Restrictions are still in the process of being lifted at the property’s on-site restaurant, which specializes in California cuisine merged with Middle Eastern spices and flavors, but you can always relax at the rectangular pool (there are always enough lounge chairs) and intimate beach. Off-site, explore the nearby surf shops and boutiques like Stitch and Feather for the perfect elevated beach-life look. When it comes to relaxing, check out the new Spa Del Rio, which offers everything from facials to massages and bodywork. X

111

D

WE L L N E S S

R E P O R T

I S C O V E R I E

BEAUTY IN BALANCE The California Ayurveda brands to know

S

Wellness

Clockwise from above: SOMA AYURVEDIC’s rose oil-based Vitamin C Serum. The incense blends from UMA incorporate such ingredients as vetiver and rose. The potent botanicals in Uma’s offerings are harvested from SHRANKHLA HOLECEK’s family estate.

M

ore than ever, the modern beauty world is embracing Ayurveda’s timetested rituals. No surprise, California is home to many followers. After all, yoga, often called Ayurveda’s “sister science,” has been hugely popular on the West Coast since the ’70s, and is considered a doorway to Ayurvedic practices. It’s all about balance, the belief that well-being lies in treating the body, the mind and the spirit through herbs, yoga, meditation, sleep, breathing and diet. Here are a few of the brands leading the way in The Golden State.

Determined to launch a brand that authentically honored his Indian heritage, Soma Ayurvedic’s founder, Arjun Sampath, spent a year traveling throughout Kerala, a lush region in southern India known as the birthplace of Ayurveda. He met with farmers, suppliers and manufacturers, determined to bring this centuriesold healing practice to Western consumers. The fruits of his travels?

A three-product skincare collection intentionally formulated with ingredients used in Ayurvedic practices.

There’s a brightening Vitamin C Serum with rose and citrus, a hydrating Anti Aging Cream with aloe vera and saffron and a cooling Under Eye Gel with lavender, moringa and avocado. “We don’t say we are a modern version of Ayurveda,” Sampath explains.

“Sometimes we see the word ‘Ayurveda’

Words by KELLY ATTERTON 112

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

Clockwise: SOMA AYURVEDIC Vitamin C Serum, $118. RANAVAT’s Kansa Wand or Facial Massage Tool, $70, is made from teak wood and Kansa metal. UMA Absolute Anti Aging Face Oil, $95. Soma Ayurvedic Under Eye Gel, $98.

Clockwise from left: THIRTEEN LUNE is dedicated to supporting Black- and brown-owned beauty brands. The site stocks more than 20 labels and counting. Thirteen Lune founders NYAKIO GRIECO and PATRICK HERNING.

used too cavalierly, as when brands sprinkle some turmeric on a product and call it Ayurvedic, creating consumer confusion. We are unabashedly Ayurvedic. Everything we do, and will do, is based on this time-tested science.” somayurvedic.com.

“I wanted to create skincare that wasn’t just effective; I wanted it to be transcendent,” says Michelle Ranavat, who launched her eponymous skincare collection, Ranavat, in 2017. Inspired by beauty rituals of Indian royals and their elevated approach to self-care, she focused on integrating traditional ways with her own life experiences, creating a modern approach to Ayurveda while remaining true to tradition. “Ayurveda is a science and can appear to be complicated or confusing. But it’s all about creating harmony and balance, in your skin and in your body,” Ranavat explains. The nine-product range, formulated with ingredients sourced in India, consists of organic botanicals like saffron, madder (manjistha) and Pushkar rose. “Our Brightening Saffron Serum is consistently called a real game changer in reviews,” shares Ranavat. “It works wonders on the skin. The serum is balancing, of course. But it is truly a

brightening miracle.” ranavat.com.

“I grew up in India, practicing Ayurveda,” says Shrankhla Holecek, founder of Uma, a luxury brand deeply rooted in ancient traditions.

Her family served Indian royals as Ayurvedic physicians for hundreds

Wellness

“Everything we do, and will do, is based on this time-tested science”

of years, with formulas of their own that still are the backbone of Uma’s offerings. Treatments are made of ingredients harvested from their land.

The more than 30 products, mostly oil based, include the in-demand Absolute Anti Aging Face and Body Oils, which combine ultra-pure botanicals like clary sage, frankincense, sandalwood and neroli to revitalize the skin. “Ayurvedic beauty can foster a sense of ritual, peace and pleasure in this frantic world and deliver results far beyond just glowing skin and vibrant hair,” Holecek explains.

“It can serve as a gateway to a deeper connection with Ayurveda’s healing principles, and even oneself over time.” umaoils.com. 2

A R J U N S A M PAT H

113

D

B EAUT Y

T R E N D

I S

BEAT THE HEAT

C

Enhance, protect and restore with these summer standouts

O V E

1.

2.

3.

R I E S

HEALES APOTHECARY FINGER LIME SERUM

MERIT FLUSH BALM

Containing nothing but pure, uncut finger lime caviar extract — used to treat everything from hyper-pigmentation to eczema — this serum performs like a natural retinol. $72, healesapothecary.com.

Created to give a natural, lit-from-within hint of color, this cream blush glides on, melting into the skin, leaving a transparent flush that stays put all day. Available in five shades. $28, meritbeauty.com.

4.

5.

Wellness

AMANDA HARRINGTON THE BUFF & BRONZE EDIT Formulated to illuminate and hydrate, this three-step face set delivers the perfect sunkissed glow. Available in three shades. $88, net-a-porter.com.

6.

LÉA JOURNO SUBLIME SHEER OIL

MOB BEAUTY LIP BALM

HOLIFROG AMINO CUSHION CREAM

Light enough for fine hair and rich enough for textured hair, this organic French plum oil, combined with Monoi de Tahiti, vitamin E and rice bran, protects and helps restore dry, stressed hair. $65, leajourno.com.

An ultra-hydrating lip balm formulated with a cocktail of jojoba, mimosa and sunflower oils, this balm is offered in six shades and housed in a reusable bullet vessel. $25, mobbeauty.com.

A concentrated formula of peptides, ceramides, vitamins and 11 amino acids, this buildable cream is like a multivitamin for your face. $60, dermstore.com.

7.

8.

LINNÉ SKIN TEA

T3 FIT

A vitamin-, mineral- and antioxidant-rich tea bursting with 13 biodynamic and organically grown flowers, leaves, seeds and fruits known to support the skin and overall health. $26, linnebotanicals.com.

Powered by advanced T3 IonAir technology, this lightweight mini dryer packs a mighty punch, drying hair quickly with shiny, frizz-free results. $149, t3micro.com.

9.

ELEVEN BY VENUS WILLIAMS UNRIVALED SUN SERUM This ultra-lightweight serum combines mineral sun protection with skincare ingredients like prickly pear extract for hydration. $50, credobeauty.com.

Words by KELLY ATTERTON 114

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

COURTESY THE ARTIST AND REGEN PROJECTS, LOS ANGELES; LEHMANN MAUPIN, NEW YORK/HONG KONG/SEOUL/LONDON; THOMAS DANE GALLERY, LONDON AND NAPLES; AND PEDER LUND, OSLO.

continued from p.75 DOUBLE ACT this person. And where is the way out?

MH: It’s very hard to resist that algorithm.

People no longer need to trust in an individual’s creative vision to make a piece of art. Instead, they trust the algorithm to tell them what creative decisions hold people’s eyes. If you base all your decisions on [that alone], you’re immediately catering to the lowest common denominator. Computers have such low expectations of people.

C: As do studio executives, historically.

MH: If you left me in a room with the whole Criterion Collection, I would watch all of it. If you also put in a ton of pornography and some chocolate cake and some Arrested Development, it would probably take me a long time to get to the Criterion Collection. You have to give people the opportunity to rise; if you don’t, even the smartest people will eat chocolate cake and watch porn. You can’t blame people for that.

They’re not addicted to it, they’re being fed it constantly.

C: And now we have AI who write novels and paint, and maybe soon they will fully act and direct?

MH: I don’t think robots will ever take up the space of the human imagination. No matter how good movies have gotten, theater is not dead. People still enjoy the possibility of bodies and sweat and life happening before your eyes. Even in the Star Wars movies when they [posthumously] animated Carrie Fisher, I thought that was amazing. I don’t feel threatened by it at all. I’m not worried about having to compete with Marilyn Monroe for parts.

GC: Maya is a movie star. Playing Frankie you get so much of what is going on inside that character, just through Maya’s eyes. And then off camera, Maya is doing the Macarena with all the crew.

C: Maya, you met Jesse Harris, your musical collaborator, through jams with your dad?

MH: My dad really loves these guitar-circle moments. He’s obsessed with [the idea of] the family band. He loves to get people together to sing. Jesse was often a part of that when I was growing up, and I would write songs and Jesse would give me advice and then we started writing together.

C: Speaking of your dad, he’s had such critical acclaim with his adaptation of James McBride’s The Good Lord Bird [in which Maya plays the daughter to her father’s abolitionist John Brown].

MH: I think my dad did a beautiful job of that, and I’m very proud of him. It’s such a special story. I definitely get my optimism from my dad.

To go back and look at bleak stories of absolute darkness and look at the underbelly of what the human race is capable of, but also to look back at bright moments — James McBride’s goal was to expose a moment of intersecting interesting beautiful people at a time when everything seemed awful.

C: Gia, you come from a musical family too.

GC: I remember always being at the house of my cousins Jason and Robert and them just playing piano all the time, even in the middle of the night. And taking a new word and making it into a tune. My grandpa too [Francis Ford] — the first time he meets anyone and they say their name, he always turns it into a song. And my great grandfather Carmine [who won an Oscar for the score of The Godfather Part II]. I love your music, Maya. I see Maya as a poet, too.

MH: I’m excited about the possibilities in this world where everything is getting more short form. I think poetry is a great literary medium for the short attention span of the age.

IFC’s Mainstream will be released in select theaters and on demand on May 7. X

Runover

continued from p.88 SHOCK AND AWE

I spent all night in the darkroom so I could go back to school the next day with a stack of prints.” She wasn’t out at school: “I was really trying to think about having a boyfriend, but fortunately I got to ’Cisco soon enough to realize that I didn’t need one!”

Opie is such a fixture on L.A.’s art scene — sitting on boards at MOCA and the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts — that it’s been reported her friends refer to her as the mayor of the city. I ask if it is easier to challenge the establishment from inside it. “I think it is better to be both inside and outside,” she answers. “I like to stand over the doorstep. I really value what I’ve learned being on several boards as an artist, because it’s not a room that you actually usually get to sit in.”

She is optimistic that the L.A. art scene will thrive again post-COVID, especially as institutions address their own internal struggles with inclusivity and diversity.

“Recently we’ve watched curators lose their jobs, we’ve watched museum directors step down. I think that there’s a lot of questions

right now in play about who are the museums for and what do they collect? There’s a really interesting reckoning with that.”

After a year at home, this summer Opie plans to get back on the road, spending six weeks alone in Rome “thinking about the Vatican and what it means for an isolated city within a city that has a different kind of governance — the boundaries and the spaces of that.” Closer to home, her priorities are shifting, and she is less focused on documenting emergent subcultures as on using her art and influence to give back to the city’s lower-income communities, volunteering in schools and helping children in South and East L.A. with their college essays.

And there’s still a whole year left to mount that mayoral campaign, should she so wish.

Catherine Opie (Phaidon, $150), with essays

by Hilton Als, Elizabeth A. T. Smith, Douglas Fogle, Helen Molesworth, and Catherine Opie in conversation with Charlotte Cotton, will be available June 16. X

From top: Untitled #4 (Surfers), 2009.

Catherine Opie (Phaidon, $150).

115

ZEN

M O M E N T S

I

Openfit app — I’ve completed it almost three times now.

S

Favorite treatment?

I am loving lymphatic massages with Flavia Lanini at her studio in West Hollywood.

C O V

Where do you take visiting friends?

When I have friends in town I always drive them to Malibu and through the mountains. It’s the perfect excuse to take a beautiful drive through the canyon and see the beauty of this area through fresh eyes.

E R I E

What’s in your cosmetics bag?

You mean my Béis cosmetic bag, right? I never go anywhere without my Kelley Baker brow pen, eyelash curler, concealer and mascara.

S

S HAY MITCHELL

Zen Moment

Pretty Little Liars actor Shay Mitchell, 34, is the founder of the travel and lifestyle brand Béis and Onda, a range of low-cal, sparkling tequilas Where do you live?

Los Angeles.

Where do you feel most Zen? In my bed, basically, at any time I may find myself there: morning snuggles with my 18-month-old daughter Atlas, afternoon catnaps, phone catch-ups with friends… It’s my happy place.

Favorite park/hike?

The classic Griffith Park hike.

Favorite beach?

El Matador in Malibu. Love the rocks, and there is such a dramatic descent to the

116

beach. The caves and arches are so special.

Favorite relaxing getaway?

I love going to Los Cabos in Mexico. I can really disconnect for just a few days and come back feeling fully recharged.

Favorite health-food fix?

Broccoli-crust pizza, because it’s pizza, but healthy.

Do you follow a diet?

Absolutely not. I believe that anything in an extreme form is not sustainable. I prioritize healthy eating and taking time for myself to exercise.

Favorite hotel?

Mezzatorre, in Ischia, Italy.

Favorite exercise class?

I have loved doing my 4 Weeks of Focus routine on the

Favorite skincare?

Hands down, getting a facial with Shani Darden. She clears my skin and I get a nice catch-up with my friend.

Hair products?

I like to wash my hair like two or three times a week to make sure it’s not being overly processed or drying out. I also avoid hot tools unless totally necessary. On days I’m being a mom, its au naturel.

Favorite flowers?

Peonies — and any color will do, thank you.

What book are you reading?

Many Lives and Many Masters by Brian Weiss.

Go-to musician for relaxation?

Sade.

Favorite podcast?

I recently listened to Chameleon, and holy moly. My mind was blown. beistravel .com; drinkonda.com. 2

MAGAZ I N EC.COM

INTERVIEW BY KELLY ATTERTON.

D

Flamingo Estate

Add to your weekly vegetable delivery at flamingoestate.com California Table Wine ©2021 Flamingo Estate, San Luis Obispo, CA. All rights reserved.

Bulgari

C MAG A Z I N E

SUMMER 2021