GRAZIA Gazette: The Hamptons, Issue 1, 2021

GRAZIA

HAMPTONS

VOLUME ONE

SUMMER 2021

GAZETTE

On The RISE MADELYN CLINE

THE OUTER BANKS STAR FINDS FAME, LOVE, AND A NEW SOURCE OF STRENGTH - ALL IN A GLOBAL PANDEMIC

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VOLUME ONE

CONTENTS

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‘There are no problems, ONLY OPPORTUNITIES.’

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–HALSTON

ould there be a more quintessentially American style icon than Halston? Born Roy Halston Frowick on a midwestern farm, he rose from making chicken feather headdresses for his mother to outfitting American royalty (Jackie Kennedy, to start). From night school in Chicago, he soared to the dizzying heights of Studio 54 decadence (chronicled in addictive detail by Michael Kaplan on page 32). He was a rags-to-riches success story until he wasn’t, brought down by the ultimate hubris – viewers of Ryan Murphy’s delectable Netflix series will know – of selling the rights to his own name.

At GRAZIA USA, we know the weight and worth that a name can have. Eighty-three years after GRAZIA first launched in Italy, we launched GRAZIA USA online last October. We’ve been overwhelmed with the reception of graziamagazine.com and our social channels – but we always wanted our first print product to be something special.

To that end, welcome to GRAZIA Gazette: The Hamptons, the newest and most exciting incarnation of the world’s premier style and cultural authority. GRAZIA has a reputation the world over for glamour, elegance, and effortless chic. Now, for the first time anywhere, GRAZIA Gazette: The Hamptons will marry our trademark authority,

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intelligence, and wit with a uniquely tailored local slant.

All summer long, we’ll bring you exclusive celebrity interviews, fashion and beauty updates, and summer lifestyle, wellness, travel, and culture news from our global team of writers and experts. You can expect the brilliant writing and award-winning photography that have come to define the GRAZIA brand, but you’ll find it all aligned to the people, places, events and developments making waves right here, in New York’s most stylish summer destination. This is a whole new kind of publication: specifically dedicated to those who live, work, play, and relax in the Hamptons – presented through GRAZIA’s discerning lens.

After the strangest and most challenging year in living memory, our corner of the world is finally getting back to normal, and GRAZIA Gazette: The Hamptons will not only be a part of that; but also, it will be at the forefront of this reemerging social scene. So, to celebrate the return of “real world” socializing — and the first summer of what some are already calling the new “Roaring Twenties” — we’ll also be hosting a calendar of exclusive events in collaboration with iconic Hamptons destinations.

We couldn’t think of a better — or more stylish — time or place to do that than right here, right now. Welcome to the summer, and GRAZIA Gazette: The Hamptons.

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David Thielebeule Editor in Chief / Chief Creative Officer

DAVID’S SUMMER PICKS

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Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello sunglasses, $380, bergdorfgoodman.com.

GRAZIA USA

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Elder Statesman sweater, $775, mrporter.com.

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CDLP swim short, $165, mrporter.com.

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Bottega Veneta slippers, $1,650, mrporter.com.

ON THE COVER Madelyn Cline, photographed by Max Hemphill and styled by Chris Horan. Salvatore Ferragamo blazer, $1,950; trousers, $690; sling pump, $795, ferragamo.com.

.com

GRAZIAMAGAZINE

The global authority on fashion, beauty, and culture.

GOTHAM: THE REBUILD The epicenter of the pandemic rises from the rubble of a challenging year with determination, grit, and — of course — a dash of style.

EMERGING BIPOC ARTISTS

ALEXIS REN’S BEAUTY ROUTINE

MUST-HAVE SUMMER SHOES

DOJA CAT’S STYLE SECRETS

Talented, stylish, and changing the game.

#NoFilter necessary, from dawn to dusk.

The ones people will stop to ask you about.

An interview with her creative director.

GET ON THE A-LIST

Sign up for email giveaways, VIP offers, new releases, & more.

GRAZIAMAGAZINE.COM

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HAMPTONS

GRAZIA

SUMMER 2021

GAZETTE BRENDAN MONAGHAN Executive Vice President, Global Chief Brands Officer

DAVID THIELEBEULE Editor In Chief, Chief Creative Officer BRIAN CAMPION Executive Creative Director CASEY BRENNAN Executive Editor At Large GABRIELLE PRESCOD Market Director

FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES Our coterie of Hamptonites who embody success, culture, change, and the art of living well

CHANNING HARGROVE Culture Editor MARISA PETRARCA Senior Beauty & Fashion Director RAVEN BAKER Social & Audience Director DEBORAH DRAGON Director of Publishing Operations HELENE HARRIS Copy Editor

JAYMA CARDOSO

RESTAURATEUR

In her 13th year at the helm of the see-and-be-seen Montauk hotel and restaurant, The Surf Lodge, has a reimagined line-up.

JONATHAN ORINGER FOUNDER

The founder of photo agency Shutterstock–paid $40 million for his Bridgehampton beachfront home in 2014.

It’s now for sale—at a mind-blowing $52 million.

KATHLEEN BURNS Editorial Coordinator CONTRIBUTORS SHELTON BOYD-GRIFFITH DALLAS DUNN TY GASKINS NICK HARDING AIYANA ISHMAEL MICHAEL KAPLAN REBECCA LEWIS AMANDA MITCHELL AARON RASMUSSEN AARON ROYCE ZOE RUFFNER JOHN RUSSELL GEORGE SOTELO MIA UZZELL DIGITAL JESSICA BAILEY International Editorial Director CHARLOTTE STOKES Fashion Director GRACE O’NEILL Fashion Writer REBEKAH CLARK Features Writer EMILY ALGAR Beauty Editor KATE LANCASTER Contributing Beauty Editor ISABELLE TRUMAN Contributing Editor PHOTO & VIDEO

SCOTT SARTIANO

OLIVIA PALERMO

NIGHTLIFE RACONTEUR

ENTREPRENEUR

A staple of the Hamptons society set, Olivia Palermo continues to build an inclusive universe that inspires everyone to be the best versions of themselves through the release of Olivia Palermo Beauty.

After 25 years in New York and as the maestro behind 1Oak, Scott Sartiano has still got what it takes: he’s created the hottest private social club, Zero Bond.

JULIE MACKLOWE

FOUNDER

Skincare entrepreneur Julie Macklowe might be best known as the founder of Swiss botanical line vbeauté but is also an influential investor and philanthropist, thanks to her role as a member of the board for VH1’s Save The Music Foundation.

DAVID ZAZLOV MOGUL

Discovery CEO David Zaslov pulled off the unthinkable: a 43 billion dollar merger with WarnerMedia that will see him take over CNN.

JUSTIN ROSE Visuals Director JASON KATZ Video Director & Editor CHRIS LANE Senior Editor HEADQUARTERS 8 Park Ave South #60778 New York NY 10003-1502 • PHONE (917) 231-8680 • EDITORIAL contact@graziausa.com • ADVERTISING sales@graziausa.com • MEDIA press@graziausa.com © 2021 Mondadori Media S.p.a. All rights reserved. Published by PANTHEON MEDIA GROUP LLC with the permission of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.a. and Mondadori Media S.p.a.

Reproduction in any manner in any language in whole or in part without prior written permission is prohibited.

LINDA FARGO

FASHION DIRECTOR

As the senior Vice President of the fashion office and director of women’s fashion at Bergdorf Goodman, Linda Fargo keeps wellheeled Hamptonites decked in the the latest styles.

GRAZIA USA

hello

SUMMER

SIP IN STYLE THIS SUMMER WITH OUR LIMITED EDITION GRAZIA ROSÉ

BY ONEHOPE WINE. AVAILABLE NOW THROUGH LABOR DAY. VISIT ONEHOPEWINE.COM/GRAZIA

THE NEW & THE NOW

VOLUME ONE

SUMMER 2021

IN FULL BLOOM in a Baby Blue Pick Up Truck

Mission-driven mobile florist Hometown Flower Co. encourages locals and tourists alike to embrace their roots.

BY KATHLEEN BURNS PHOTOGRAPHY ERICA SCHROEDER

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ast Enders: Look out for the baby blue 1976 Ford F-100 with a custom black-andwhite-striped awning, driving through the Hamptons filled to the brim with this season’s latest blooms, thanks to Hometown Flower Co. Long Island’s first-ever flower truck and mobile storefront was launched in May 2019 by Jaclyn Rutigliano and her husband, Marc Iervolino—with the help of a vintage American-made pickup truck—who source locally grown flowers from 12 farmers from Queens to Amagansett.

A certain kindness is carried throughout everything they do, including their mission to connect the community with local farmers. “We are forever committed to paying it forward and it acts as a clear reminder about why we value direct, local sourcing,” Rutigliano reflects. This responsibility to their community was highlighted in a new way throughout the pandemic, when Hometown Flower Co.’s bright, bold, and wild arrangements served as a connection between loved ones who were forced to be apart.

This summer season, look for Hometown Flower Co.’s pick-up truck as they travel from backyard weddings and workshops to their first-ever storefront pop-up in Huntington, adding local blooms to any occasion all summer long.

Become a regular and opt for a “Flowers In a Bag” subscription to receive a beautiful assortment of eyecatching blooms bursting out of a paper bag, delivered straight to your doorstep. This fresh and sustainable take on flowers is, according to Rutigliano, “an easy way for people to have uniquely designed arrangements in their home without needing to have a special occasion”— perfect for a summer when every gathering feels special. hometownflowerco.com

GRAZIA USA

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VOLUME ONE

SWIMWEAR for Every Body

Dos Swim founders Shay Johnson and Paula Hess are creating body-inclusive designs in bold colors and patterns for summer 2021.

BY MARISA PETRARCA

NYC-based friends and fashion designers Shay Johnson and Paula Hess founded Dos Swim in 2019 with the mission of creating high-quality swimwear for themselves and their friends. But as the months—and then years—went by, more and more customers flocked to the brand, enamored of its figure-flattering designs and eye-catching details.

As for the trends they love for summer, 2021, Dos Swim’s founders have their eyes on bright colors, thong bikini bottoms, and matching top and bottom capri sets.

“My favorite suit is the Isa top + Nova bottom. I’m loving our swimsuit color, ‘Ting,’ for the summer season.

It’s the perfect Barbie pink,” explains Hess.

Johnson prefers: “a tiny bikini in a classic vibrant red; it screams hot girl summer.”

As bold as their trademark hues are, the Dos Swim designers are already branching out.

They’re starting to create custom prints. “The brand is growing, but we still want to remain low-key and small. Our production runs are limited, and once we sell out, that’s it. We move on to the next collection. That’s how we have run the business since day one.”

Founders Shay Johnson and Paula Hess

CAVIAR CROWNS: Your New Summer Obsession Dos Swim top, $89, bottom, $79.

Dos Swim top, $89, bottom, $79.

GRAZIA USA

Dos Swim top, $79, & bottom, $79.

Dos Swim top, $89, bottom, $79.

All at dosswim.com.

Mark Herman is about to be crowned the new king of caviar. The former Food Network marketing executive recently launched The Caviar Shark, an NYC-based company that specializes in what he calls Caviar Crowns—“pies” that come in a variety of enticing flavor combinations, including the original savory cake with homemade egg salad, whipped crème fraîche and cream cheese, topped with caviar covered in edible gold leaf and flowers. Available for limited delivery in NYC and the Hamptons, Herman wants The Caviar Shark to be “exciting, yet also approachable—and Instagrammable, too!” Check out all the amazing options at @thecaviarshark or online at thecaviarshark.nyc. - AARON RASMUSSEN

ZEROBONDNY.COM

ZEROBONDNYC

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VOLUME ONE

SUMMER READING These six books will make you the coolest person in your summer group chat.

BY CHANNING HARGROVE

Crying In H Mart Michelle Zauner

Story of family, food, grief, and endurance, the woman behind Japanese Breakfast proves herself far more than a captivating singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

White Feminism Koa Beck

Unraveling today’s conversation about race, empowerment, and inclusion in America, Beck boldly examines the complicated history of feminism.

CHANGING THE WORLD One Bottle at a Time

ONEHOPE Wine has donated more than $6.5 million since its founding in 2007–and its female founders are just getting started.

The Other Black Girl Zakiya Dalila Harris

Detransition, Baby Torrey Peters

A dynamic thriller and sly social commentary is perfect for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or overlooked in the workplace.

Peters navigates the most dangerous taboos around gender, sex, and relationships in this thrillingly original, witty, and deeply moving novel.

Somebody’s Daughter Ashley C. Ford

Answered Prayers Truman Capote

Ford details growing up poor and Black with a family impacted by incarceration, while she battles her body and environment, embarking on a powerful journey.

GRAZIA USA

Hamptonite Capote’s classic unfinished novel is a witty yet devastating group portrait of the high and low society of his time.

Eight recent college grads and friends dreamed of making an impact on a global scale while simultaneously sipping on a quality glass of wine. While some of us leave our daydreams at brunch, these women made theirs a reality, and ONEHOPE Wine was born. Since then, President Tiffany Wotjkiewicz, EVP of Sales Sarah McPeake, and EVP of Marketing Kristen Shroyer have led the company to levels of success that they and their friends never could have imagined. And continue to do so to this day.

Even though ONEHOPE Wine has grown on a massive scale, its cofounders haven’t forgotten how it all began. “We all met right out of college while selling wine in high-volume Southern California grocery stores,” they tell GRAZIA USA in a joint statement.

“During October, we noticed hundreds of brands supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month by doing cause-marketing campaigns with nonprofits. But at the end of the month, everything stopped. So we asked the simple question—why stop? Let’s

create a brand that supports amazing causes 365 days a year.”

They did just that, developing a cause-minded business model that’s equal parts genius and generous. For every bottle of award-winning wine purchased, the company donates a percentage of its profits to charity. Since its founding, ONEHOPE Wine has distributed more than $6.5 million to causes around the world. These donations have provided over three million meals to help end childhood hunger, helped build schools in the developing world to educate thousands of children, funded major water projects to allow access to clean and safe drinking water, and so much more.

Want in on the label’s dogood endeavors? We partnered with the brand to release GRAZIA by ONEHOPE, a Vintner Collection California Rosé comprised of a rich strawberry backbone with hints of cherry, watermelon, and citrus. Not only is it perfect for toasting to a healthy, happy summer in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic; but also, a portion of each bottle (sold exclusively on ONEHOPE’s website) will go towards fighting the climate crisis by saving the ocean with Project Zero. – MARISA PETRARCA

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THE NEW & THE NOW

GUCCI COMES HOME to the Hamptons

PRESS PLAY

Gucci finally finds its forever on the East End—and the breathtaking space proves it was worth the wait.

For stylist Amanda Murray, or @londongirlinnyc as she is known on Instagram, music is an enormous part of life: “I sometimes use music, as a way to stimulate memories of people, places and time.”

BY AARON RASMUSSEN

Waiting In Vain Bob Marley & The Wailers Lady D’Angelo

Gucci Hamptons woven pouch, $980; woven bag, $2,500, available at Gucci East Hampton.

Gucci can no longer be considered a seasonal summer blow-in. After years of operating in temporary summer spaces in select areas, the iconic fashion house has found a permanent home in East Hampton—its only brick and mortar location in the East End. In keeping with Gucci’s elegant and sophisticated style, the new boutique’s contemporary, spare aesthetic—the brand officially describes it as a “combination of traditional and modern, industrial and romantic”—spanning two floors and 2,000 square feet of space was inspired by its tony East Hampton surroundings. Like a long summer weekend, the discreet interior was designed to evoke a Hamptons state of mind and lull customers into a sense of complete relaxation while perusing the collection.

Aqua-hued moiré walls mimic the nearby Atlantic Ocean’s dancing, rippling waves while hand-stained wood flooring, Gucci Décor paneled screens, and wicker accents reflect the area’s bright and natural appeal. In a nod to welcoming beach chairs, cozy velvet armchairs with polished nickel and aged brass fixtures scattered throughout the boutique invite guests to sit back and relax during their shopping experience. “The result is a space that entices, surprises, and feels personal to Gucci,” the fashion brand notes of the store’s interior design.

The eclectic approach to the space’s look complements the products for which Gucci has become famous over the past 100 years. The East

Hampton store, opening on May 28 at 17 Newtown Lane, showcases an impressive and wide-ranging selection: men’s and women’s ready-to-wear collections, shoes, handbags, luggage, small leather goods, jewelry, watches, eyewear, childrenswear, Gucci Beauty, and Gucci Décor.

Whats more, in honor of their official arrival out East, Gucci—which previously has made seasonal appearances at spots including Moby’s on Pantigo Road and the beloved Montauk vintage spot Melet Mercantile— is celebrating with a special capsule collection available only at the new boutique. The limited-run pieces include a jacquard drawstring bucket bag and matching zip pouch woven in red and beige and accented with blue leather trim, embroidered Gs, and a round emblem embossed with “The Hamptons” in gold. The collection also includes an oversize tote, bags, and other leather goods.

Under the direction of creative director Alessandro Michele, who has been at the helm of the storied fashion house since 2015, Gucci has continued to grow and evolve while remaining true to the brand’s glamourous aesthetic. Recently, Gucci also has been able to capture the attention of a younger audience, thanks to its buzzy—and star-studded Beloved campaign—featuring a diverse group that includes Harry Styles, Awkwafina, Sienna Miller, Dakota Johnson, Diane Keaton and Serena Williams posing with “It” bags such as the Dionysus, the Gucci 1955 Horsebit, the GG Marmont and the iconic Jackie 1961.

I Belong To You Lenny Kravitz Kiss Of Life Sade

Nobody Else Summer Walker

The Roof (Back In Time) Mariah Carey Stick Up Kelis

Green Papaya Lianne La Havas

How’s It Goin’ Down DMX and Faith Evans Tell Him Lauryn Hill

Listen now on GRAZIA’s Spotify.

HERE COMES The Sun

Lanvin sunglasses in striped red, $289; Lanvin sunglasses in tortoiseshell, $289, both eyeconic.com.

Bruno Sialelli’s new sunglasses for men and women have arrived–and not a moment too soon. “Lanvin has always been about a reflection of the times alongside a respect for history, using the past to invent a future,” the creative director tells GRAZIA USA. “For our SS21 eyewear launch, we rediscovered the emblematic styles of the house.” The brand’s new frames are a striking fusion of vintage-inspired and contemporary inspirations, available in a variety of classic colors. Of course, each pair of statement frames is stamped with the house’s signature (and heart-warming) mother-and-child logo. – MARISA PETRARCA GRAZIA USA

New Flying Spur V8.

This is modern alchemy.

Start your extraordinary journey at BentleyMotors.com/NewFlyingSpur The name ‘Bentley’ and the ‘B’ in wings device are registered trademarks. © 2021 Bentley Motors, Inc. Model shown: New Flying Spur V8.

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THE NEW & THE NOW

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MORE AT GRAZIAMAGAZINE.COM

It’s A SHORE THING

After a year indoors, anything goes this summer when it comes to vacation style. Let your destination be your guide: don’t shy away from fun accessories and never be afraid to show a little skin.

BY GABRIELLE PRESCOD & MARISA PETRARCA

Serendipitous Project, $150, serendipitousproject.com.

Alberta Ferretti, $195, albertaferretti.com.

Prada, $625, farfetch.com.

CHRISTOPHER ESBER

TOM FORD

MICHAEL KORS

VERSACE

MARQUES ALMEIDA

ALTUZARRA

Saint Laurent, $795, matchesfashion.com.

Svnr, $120, svnrshop.com.

Aliita, $1,105, us.aliita.com.

Sea & BE SEEN The summer’s best earrings just washed ashore.

GRAZIA USA

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VOLUME ONE

Pout PERFECT A fresh lip is the best after-beach accessory.

Guerlain KissKiss Shine Bloom Lipstick Balm in 119 Floral Nude, $39, guerlain.com.

JADE Swim top, $90, bottom, $90, jadeswim.com; Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello sunglasses, $420, ysl.com; KHAITE skirt, $980, khaite.com; Bottega Veneta wedge mules, $990, bottegaveneta.com.

Dos Swim top $89, bottom, $79, dosswim.com; Valentino shirt, $2,900, net-a-porter.com; GRLFRND shorts, $160, revolve.com; AMINA MUADDI thong sandals, $710, intermix.com.

Gucci Rouge à Lèvres Voile Lipstick in 25 Goldie Red, $42, gucci.com.

Tom Ford Lip Color in Primal, $56, tomford.com.

Lola hats straw hat, $265, lolahats.com; Myra swimsuit, $190, myraswim.com; Loewe basket bag, $650, loewe.com; Fe Noel pants, $378, fenoel.com.

Khiry earrings, $625, khiry.com; Rosie Assoulin dress, $1,895, modaoperandi.com; Versace platform sandals, $1,175, saksfifthavenue.com; ALAÏA tote, $1,930, net-a-porter.com.

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupté Shine Lipstick Balm in 123 Nude Transparent, $38, yslbeautyus.com.

Lancôme L’Absolu Rouge Ruby Cream Lipstick in 274 Coeur De Rubis, $32, lancome-usa.com.

Fenty Beauty

by Rihanna Slip Shine Sheer Shiny Lipstick in $uga Kiss, $22, fentybeauty.com.

Eric Javits hat, $425, ericjavits.com; Andrea Iyamah swimsuit, $150, andreaiyamah.com; Staud sandals, $225, staud.clothing; Tory Burch sarong skirt, $428, toryburch.com.

GRAZIA USA

TOVE dress, $614, tove-studio.com; Fisch, top, $149, bottoms, $115, shopbop.com; BROTHER VELLIES mules, $495, brothervellies.com; Gucci bucket bag, $2,450, gucci.com.

Chloé basket bag, $850, chloe.com.

Made For Summer: THE CHLOÉ BASKET BAG We can’t talk summer fashion without talking about the latest accessories taking the industry by storm. Currently, we are buzzing about the new Chloé Basket Bag, unveiled by the French luxury fashion house just in time for warmer weather. The famed label created the woven baskets in partnership with the Finnish design company, Mifuko, a World Fair Trade Organization member. Together, they

COPERNI

MICHAEL KORS

created the perfect sustainable—and stylish—basket that has earned the coveted title of the first fair trade-verified luxury bag collection.

The basket bag is equal parts playful and elegant, just as perfect for a relaxing beach day in the Hamptons as it is for oysters and rosé with friends. The design is available in two sizes and three leather detailing colors (orange, blue,

BOTTEGA VENETA

and brown leather). The outer patch doubles as a pocket to store your essentials, and it’s inscribed with the maker’s signature, in addition to the Chloé x Mifuko logo. If you want to add the accessory to your handbag collection, take note that the Basket Bag is currently available for pre-order, and shipments will start to make their way to shoppers’ doorsteps in early June. – MARISA PETRARCA

DRIES VAN NOTEN

STELLA MCCARTNEY

GRAZIA USA

LE VIAN PLATINUM COLLECTION™ EXCLUSIVELY AT JARED & JARED.COM

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SUMMER 2021

LOOKING FORWARD

Vintage top; Her own necklace and Maria Black earrings.

SUMMER OF LOVE

With a breakout performance in this spring’s most addictive new teen drama, ‘Cruel Summer’ star, Harley Quinn Smith has found the role she’s been looking for.

BY JOHN RUSSELL PHOTOGRAPHER KELSEY HALE STYLIST VERONICA GRAYE HAIR AND MAKEUP EMILY DAWN

GRAZIA USA

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VOLUME ONE

Annakiki dress and H&M earrings.

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his spring, Harley Quinn Smith has been unable to escape speculation and fan theories about Cruel Summer, Freeform’s juicy new teen drama. “It’s been pretty insane to see people react to the show the way that they have been,” she tells GRAZIA. “I’ve never been a part of something that has so many opinions surrounding it.”

The show, which debuted at the end of April, has had fans scratching their heads and connecting the dots for months.

Its central mystery involves two teenage girls: queen bee Kate (Olivia Holt) and wannabe Jeanette (Chiara Aurelia). When Kate is kidnapped in the early 90s, Jeanette suddenly blossoms, seemingly taking the missing girl’s place in the lives of her friends.

The story unfolds over three summers: in 1993 just before Kate’s disappearance; in 1994 just after she is rescued; and in 1995 as both girls struggle with the ramifications of Kate’s ordeal—and Jeanette’s possible involvement.

Smith plays Mallory, an outsider Janis Ian-type—the Mean Girls character, not the singer-songwriter—who begins the show as

GRAZIA USA

Jeanette’s bubbly bestie in the ‘93 timeline but evolves into Kate’s more anti-social ride-or-die by the time we get to ‘95. “I kinda fell in love right away,” Smith, 21, says of the character. “I love how straightforward she is. I love her attitude. I love how she really just says it how it is. I’ve always wanted to play a character like that, and she was kind of the perfect match I was looking for, for myself.”

Every character on the show has secrets, but Smith says it genuinely upsets her when fans question Mallory’s motives. “I read all sorts of things about her, thinking that she’s so sketchy.

And, I mean, I understand. She can come off a little aggressive.

But I’m like, No! I love her! I want people to think she’s a good person, ‘cause I love her myself.” She laughs: “I just want others to see her how I see her, I guess.”

Smith grew up on film sets. Her father, the director Kevin Smith, started putting her in small parts in his movies when she was still a baby. (And, yes, she is named after the Batman villain.) She appeared as “Baby Silent Bob,” a young version of her father’s character in 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and

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LOOKING FORWARD

PRESS PLAY When she’s not gracing the screen, Harley Quinn Smith owns the stage as frontwoman and bassist for bubblegum punk band, the tenth.

Check out these recommended tracks or scan the QR code for the full playlist.

I Will Not Make Any Boring Art This opener to the band’s first fulllength album, Dunes, introduced fans to the band’s guiding ethos.

I Saw a Ghost “Nobody warned you not to be on my bad side / Now, I kicked you out of my life and said my final goodbye,” Smith sings, in what could be a theme song for Cruel Summer.

Hymns & Hieroglyphics One of the band’s more mellow tracks, this would not be out of place on a summer BBQ playlist.

I’ll Go When It’s My Time Bandmate Taylor Blackwell takes the vocal lead, but Harley Quinn directed this song’s creepy, campy music video.

Listen now on GRAZIA’s Spotify.

later had small roles in Jersey Girl (2004) and Clerks II (2006). But, Smith insists, her dad’s goal was never to rear a child star. “Those moments were just meant to be something to look back on—like a more expensive scrapbook,” she says. “I didn’t want to act when I was younger. I wanted to play bass in a band—which I do. But that’s all I wanted to do.”

It wasn’t until she appeared in her father’s 2014 film Tusk that she really got the acting bug. “It was a super specific moment,” she recalls. “I just fell in love with it that day. I thought it was so much fun. I just wanted to keep doing it.”

Since then, Smith has been in more of her father’s projects, including Yoga Hosers alongside Lily-Rose Depp. She also landed a small part in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, as a member of the Manson family, and appeared in an episode of The CW’s Supergirl. But Cruel Summer represents Smith’s most high-profile role to date.

Like the rest of the show’s cast, Smith plays three different versions of her character, at the ages of 15, 16, and 17. “The three years that the show takes place in are three very developmental years

of a teenager’s life,” she says. Despite the intense circumstances and gothic drama, Smith maintains that the series is grounded in the tectonic shifts in identity that young people go through in high school. “I went through many phases when I was younger, and to see these characters change as much as they do, that’s something at least I identify with. Like, one year I had black hair and I was very emo. Then the next year I was, like, the basic California girl. I don’t know, I feel like I was constantly changing when I was younger.”

Those changes are reflected in each character’s dramatic transformation in appearance from one year to the next. Of course, part of that is to help clue the audience in to which timeline we’re watching. But as Smith explains, Mallory’s evolving look—from mismatched tween to bleached blond goth—is a manifestation of her state of mind. “I think Mallory just is so confident with herself,” Smith says. “That’s just how she expresses herself: I feel good in this and that’s all that matters. I just love how confident and comfortable she is in looking how she wants to look and not being concerned about what other people are going to think of her.

That’s a quality that I would like to share.”

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A Sweet Hamptons SUMMER TRADITION

BY AARON RASMUSSEN

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Carissa Waechter has a simple philosophy about baking: “The final results should always be perfectly imperfect,” she says.

If that’s the case, the pastry chef has mastered the art of imperfection, and the lines out the door at Waechter’s beloved original Carissa’s Bakery at the Newtown Lane location in East Hampton prove it.

This summer, the wait is likely to only get longer since the Carissa’s Bakery staff has been busy cooking up some tasty new developments. “I am lucky and appreciative to work alongside some of the greatest and most interesting people I’ve ever met,” Waechter says, noting she’s just “one member of a very thoughtful team” that puts “a ton of effort behind every item that’s offered at the bakery.”

That will now include newcomer Evan Tessler, a Union Square Hospitality alum who most recently was chef at Untitled, a restaurant attached to the Whitney Museum in Manhattan that recently closed after almost a decade in operation. Chef Tessler will helm the 75-seat café, restaurant, and bakery at Carissa’s 221 Pantigo location, which opened in 2019 and serves up dishes that utilize produce sourced in the area, such as a house-roasted beef sandwich with horseradish cream and local arugula served on a baguette. Waechter notes her formercustomer-turned-business partner, Lori Chemla, “pours herself into sourcing products with interesting backgrounds and producers” and “deserves an enormous amount of credit for making and finding standouts.”

Waechter’s a standout in her own right, and this summer she’s put together a brand-new gelato flavor for the season based on the sweet Oishii Omakase berry.

She’s also been busy working on reconceiving some classic recipes with a twist.

“I find the creative outlet incredibly therapeutic,” Waechter says of continually honing her baking skills and what she offers customers. “This season I’m playing with different variations on the galette: unique crusts, a wide variety of seasonal fruits, fun garnishes, plus savory versions with help from our awesome kitchen.”

She’s also always experimenting with viennoiserie, or baked goods made with a yeast-leavened dough, so customers should anticipate relishing specials like the savory za’atar croissant with white sesame or poppy croissant with lemon curd.

As always, Carissa’s Bakery will continue to offer the foods they’ve become most famous for, including Waechter’s popular salty sour pickle rye bread as well as the establishment’s specialty—custom layer and chocolate flourless cakes topped with whimsical Swiss meringue peaks.

Waechter got her start in the baking world as an apprentice to a pastry world champion, and that led to a variety of unique baking opportunities. Despite her rich background and training through the years, she hasn’t forgotten how her roots have affected her success in the baking business. “I think it’s in my blood—my great-grandmother lived on a wheat farm and was the famous pie baker of her area in her day.”

Wheat also happens to have been the impetus for Waechter’s idea to open Carissa’s Bakery. In 2009, she was doing a summer project in Amagansett and Amber Waves Farm began growing wheat on the East End for the first time in decades. “I began playing and realized there was an audience for breads and baked goods, and so I ‘planted the seeds,’ starting small.”

She sold baked products locally and co-founded a nonprofit dedicated to farmers and food producers, and eventually she decided to take the plunge and open and operate her own business, which became Carissa’s Bakery.

Ever since, Waechter has managed to create culinary magic based on her personal recipe for success—sensory overload. “In terms of the baked goods,” she says, “I have a mental formula I follow to try to capture as many senses as possible within any single offering: bright colors alongside neutrals when appropriate; crunchy and soft in the same bite; fresh and roasted textures at the same time.”

Not only do her creations sound delicious, Carissa Bakery fans would agree they look, smell, and taste amazing, too.

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LOOKING FORWARD

‘I THINK IT’S IN MY BLOOD—my greatgrandmother lived on a wheat farm and was the famous pie baker of her area in her day.’

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Brief REPRIEVE

A minimalist spa in East Hampton offers a much-needed recharge after a trying year.

BY ZOE RUFFNER

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hortly before COVID-19 sequestered us to the confines of our homes, I paid a visit to Shou Sugi Ban House. In the six months that the intimate Water Mill, New York spa and wellness center had then been open (it officially began welcoming guests in the spring of 2019), it had become a selfcare destination for both those near and far—and I soon understood why.

Though only a stone’s throw from the thoroughfare of Route 27, Shou Sugi Ban House, situated next to the Parrish Art Museum on the one-time grounds of a sculpture park (a remnant of which can be found in the entrance’s gigantic Buddha), feels like a world unto itself. An oasis even. “It really had this magical feel,” the visionary co-founder and CEO Amy Cherry-Abitbol—a former Mergers and Acquisitions attorney who had decided to change careers after enrolling in New Path, a week-long Harvard Business School program, in 2014—recalls of the moment that she first encountered the three-acre plot. (Apparently, others thought so too; the property had received some 45 inquiries before Cherry-Abitbol, a Southampton resident with longstanding roots in the community, was finally able to secure the permits.)

“So many retreats start with a hike in the mountains, and I thought it’d be so great to be able to actually begin your day with a beach walk,” she says, noting that the location’s proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, coupled with its lush farm-like land, was the ideal setting for a sanctum that took a 360-degree

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approach to improving one’s well-being. Years ago, Cherry-Abitbol had become fascinated with the idea of longevity—and, more specifically, the science behind holistically lengthening our lifespans—upon discovering the Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn’s research in the field. “It really validated this wholesome mind-body-spirit approach,” she adds.

After three-and-a-half years of navigating the town’s land use regulations, the Hamptons-based architect Debbie Kropf set to work on erecting a structure that takes its cues—not to mention name, which refers to a traditional technique of charring wood to render it a deep-charcoal black—from Japan, where Cherry-Abitbol lived for five years in the 90s while practicing law. Now, the property houses two barns, a tea lounge, a fitness pavilion, and a windowed meditation hall. (A geodesic dome, home to Shou Sugi Ban House’s reiki, hypnotherapy, and energy-balancing services, is a newer, COVIDfriendly addition.) The 13 clean-lined, cedar guest studios, meanwhile, come equipped with the likes of organic Sasawashi slippers and sustainable bamboo toothbrushes, which can also be found in the spa’s boutique. It’s stocked with locally-made ceramics and recycled cardboard notebooks made by expert craftsmen in Tokyo, and many consider it the East End’s best-kept shopping secret.

Of course, the grounds themselves—surrounded by 250 deciduous and evergreen trees, as well as 20,000 grasses of five different varieties—are just as inviting, thanks to former model-turned-landscaper

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Lily Kwong, who dreamt up a cherry orchard, pebbled courtyard, winding pathways, and a biodynamic garden, from which many of the herbs that work their way into the nature-forward culinary and spa menus are plucked.

Speaking of the spa, this summer, classic treatments—such as a purifying green clay-and-sesame body wrap, and a collagen-boosting facial, which relies on Japanese nanocapsule technology—are joined by a handful of new programs specifically designed to cater to the strange times in which we now find ourselves.

Take, for instance, Healing Through Water. Offered from Memorial Day until Labor Day, the almost entirely outdoor experience will combine beach meditation, aquatic fitness, private access to the resort’s hydrotherapy facilities—an infrared sauna, dry sauna, experience shower, ice fountain, and contrasting pools—and guided breathwork that helps prepare and heat the body for an icy saltwater plunge, which has recently become one of Shou Sugi Ban House’s most requested offerings. “We’ve always been centered around the healing powers of water,” explains CherryAbitbol, noting that they also incorporated geothermal wells and a structured water filtration system across the entire property.

Another recent addition to the lineup is a Digital Detox workshop, which features intention setting, morning yoga, nature walks, and intuitive painting sessions, led by a fourth-generation shaman. It is designed to address the Zoom fatigue and technology burnout many of us are experiencing after months tethered to our screens. “Almost everyone’s been affected by how much [the time we spend online] interferes with our mood, sleep patterns, and overall well-being,” notes Cherry-Abitbol, before adding that,

for better or worse, it is one program that is here to stay.

“I don’t think it’s going to go away anytime soon,” she admits with a knowing laugh.

Though the pandemic significantly slowed the arrival of international guests, Cherry-Abitbol says that it has, in fact, brought about one welcome change: droves of locals, coming from Montauk and Manhattan alike, have begun to flock to the wellness sanctuary for some much-needed solitude, be it for just a few hours or a whole week.

It doesn’t come as a surprise to me. After all, in the early days of quarantine, when I was suddenly spending more time with my then-significant other than ever before, I found myself fantasizing about Shou Sugi Ban House, remembering in crisp detail my indulgent overnight escape, how I satiated myself with chef Mads Refslund’s sustainably-foraged Scandinavian fare and unwound in my spacious en-suite bathroom’s Hinoki tub, after an evening spent lying back as tuning forks and gongs and crystal bowls sounded around me, which is why when I received my second vaccine, nearly a year-and-a-half since I’d last entrusted my body to the hands of someone else, one of the first things I did was book myself a follow-up visit. It turns out, I am not alone. For having been open only two years, “We have a tremendous number of repeat guests,” CherryAbitbol says proudly.

As for what it is that ultimately sets Shou Sugi Ban House apart from the sea of other carefully considered spas even more than its therapeutic treatments and soothing wabi sabi-inspired design? Simply put, “There’s a connection and the feeling of us caring,” Cherry-Abitbol tells me. “We really are a healing place, and that’s something that people need particularly now. But, really, something that people need always.”

‘SO MANY RETREATS START WITH A HIKE IN THE MOUNTAINS, and I thought it’d be so great to be able to actually begin your day with a beach walk.’

GRAZIA USA

866-ferragamo SHOT AUGUST 2020 IN MILAN

BY LUCA GUADAGNINO STARRING MARIACARLA BOSCONO FERRAGAMO.COM

HAMPTONS

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Salvatore Ferragamo coat, $6,500, ferragamo.com.

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Salvatore Ferragamo ribbed polo, $1,050; leather skirt, $2,400; sling pump, $795, ferragamo.com.

adelyn Cline shimmies and grins as the opening notes of “Piece of Me” by Britney Spears echo out across Malibu Canyon.

She’s on top of the world -- literally, at Stunt Road Ranch, and in a figurative sense, as her career explodes to superstar heights. After our daylong Friday fashion shoot, the 23-year-old would have another the following day, heading into the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday night. (She’d win Best Kiss with boyfriend and Outer Banks co-star Chase Stokes, of course.) Life for Cline these days is camera flashes, glam squads, red carpets, and couture. It’s no wonder that Spears’ album Blackout, an opus on the highs and lows of fame, is her professed summer soundtrack.

Still, Cline seems poised to avoid the pitfalls that have waylaid starlets like Spears. Confident and grounded, she seems equally comfortable rocking the Salvatore Ferragamo power suit on our cover as she is hanging around in the sweatpants and slip-on sneaks she changed into for the drive home. Speaking of which, no chauffeurs or black cars for Cline. She drove off in her own ride — with South Carolina plates.

Keeping close to her Carolina roots has been easy for the Charleston native, considering that her breakthrough performance in the Netflix series Outer Banks takes place a short drive from her hometown. Hearing her describe her time filming the series—for Cline, her last days of relative obscurity—it almost sounds like she’s describing a college experience: days of bonding and self-discovery before launching into the real world.

“The first season of the show felt like going and shooting an indie,” Cline says. “It was very tight-knit, so the filming of the first season felt very intimate in the best way possible. We really vibe with our crew and our cast, obviously. We immediately had chemistry, and we immediately started hanging out, which is amazing.”

Cline found her closest connection with Stokes, her co-star and now boyfriend of one year. Still, even with two seasons of filming now under their belt, the Outer Banks cast is closer than ever—a fact that has helped Cline cope with the crazy ride of new fame.

“We all kind of started in the same place when we got the show,” she explains, “and we just stuck together. We’re all going through the same thing and it just helps to have people around you who understand and who are there for you. We keep each other grounded and we hype each other up. We’re all each other’s best hype man.”

There’s a lot of hype to be had for Cline these days. Among the other accolades being thrown in her direction, GRAZIA USA represents Cline’s first-ever national photo shoot. That is, if you don’t count Parent & Child magazine or American Girl.

Although Cline is a newcomer to the bright lights of Hollywood, she’s no stranger to semi-stardom, having worked for years as a child model after winning a 2008 competition. Commuting from Charleston to New York for gigs, she landed shoots for those magazines and others, along with ad campaigns for EZ Bake Oven, Sunny D, Toys R Us, T-Mobile, and more.

What was meant to be a way to save for college planted the seeds of a potential career path for Cline, but only in retrospect.

As Good AS GOLD

‘Outer Banks’ star Madelyn Cline conquers Hollywood, her way.

BY AARON RASMUSSEN PHOTOGRAPHER MAX HENPHILL STYLIST CHRIS HORAN HAIR SIENREE MAKEUP JENNA KRISTINA MANICURIST ZOLA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SALVATORE FERRAGAMO

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Salvatore Ferragamo patchwork leather overshirt, $5,600; aalto green Trifolio top handle bag, $2,400, ferragamo.com.

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Salvatore Ferragamo washed silk twill dress, $1,850, ferragamo.com.

She explains, “I kind of got a taste of what being on sets were like, and that was fun. But when I turned around 14 or 15, I was like, ‘That was cool, but I don’t know if this is what I want to do. Maybe at some point I would like to work and find a job in that industry, but I don’t want to do this forever.’”

Still, she couldn’t quite avoid the spotlight: “I kept auditioning because I thought working on sets was a lot of fun. The more I got into acting and the more I was on TV and movie sets, the more I realized, that was where I wanted to be.”

Today, however, the work of being a star takes place almost as much off set as it does on. Social media is a huge part of developing and keeping the kind of fan following that lands you roles -- something that Cline, with her 6.3 million Instagram followers and 3.4 million TikTok followers, understands implicitly.

“I’m still learning,” Cline admits. When it comes to engaging with fans in a healthy way, “It’s new territory for me.”

“The expectation to share everything is intimidating,” she continues. It’s a constant pressure that takes real thoughtfulness to navigate.

“It’s a lesson to get real with myself and to be honest with myself,” she says. “What are you comfortable with? What are you not comfortable with? And also, what are your opinions?

How do you feel? Checking in with myself has been a big thing,

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because it’s necessary.”

On the other hand, she’s acutely aware that her introspection must be balanced with an awareness of the millions on the other side of her phone screen.

A truly digital native celebrity, Cline says, “I was a teenager when Instagram was really new. As a consumer of social media, I was thinking about what I wanted or needed. I check in with that younger version of myself, because a lot of our audience are teenagers. I ask myself, ‘What can I do today? What message can I send them?’”

If all else fails, there’s always Bravo.

“Personally, I’m a pretty private person,” Cline reveals, “even with some of my closest friends. There are some days where I just need to set myself in a room and close the curtains and just watch Below Deck. I need to reset. I need to recharge.”

Morning workouts, meditation, YouTube yoga -- those are more of Cline’s tools for staying sane and centered in the middle of a media storm. Journaling helps, too, along with staying connected to the people who know her best: her parents, real estate agent Pam Cline and engineer dad Mark.

An only child, Cline says, “I talk with my mom and my dad almost every day. They’re just as excited as I am about all of this. This is all incredibly new to all three of us. They get almost more excited than I do, which is very sweet, but since I can’t

physically be with them all the time, I’m just doing my best to share everything that’s happening with them and share my world with them. I adore them. They’re really lovely people and they’re great parents.”

Cline herself could be the proof of that. Authentic and charming, grounded and dazzling, she has the “It” factor that makes women stars, along with the intelligence and gravity that keeps them from burning out. If she has anything to do with it, she’ll be following in the footsteps of ingenues turned A-listers like Scarlett Johansson—who she happened to meet at the MTV Movie Awards the night before our chat.

“Last night was very exciting, because we saw and we met some incredibly talented people,” Cline dished excitedly, “people that I’ve watched and admired as a fan for a very long time. To be in front of them was pretty mind blowing.”

“I’ve always really admired Scarlett Johansson as an actress, and her choices and her career are just incredible,” she says. “I’ve met a lot of women in my time here in LA -- really independent, powerful women—and I admire that. Bottom line, just being able to be around that kind of energy and women who are such bosses is incredible.”

With Season 2 of Outer Banks set to premiere later this summer and more projects on the horizon, Cline doesn’t seem to realize this indisputable fact: She’s one of them already.

Salvatore Ferragamo sleeveless knit top, $830, knit skirt $1,250, pump $750, ferragamo.com.

DISCO, DECADENCE AND HOW

STUDIO 54 CAME CRASHING DOWN

THE UNTOLD STORY OF WHEN THE MUSIC DIED

BY MICHAEL KAPLAN

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isco was over-the-top, outrageous, and drugdrenched — and Studio 54 was a disco like no other. Beyond the hallowed doors of the former TV soundstage on a dingy stretch of West 54th Street in Midtown Manhattan, legal and moral boundaries were shattered night after night by the most famous — and possibly most debauched — people on earth.

Late 1970s superstars Elton John, Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Bianca Jagger, and Diana Ross were just a few of the A-listers who counted themselves among the era-defining joint’s elite regulars. None of them, or anyone else, could ever have imagined the way it all would come crashing down.

Now, for the first time ever, the ones who share it firsthand speak to GRAZIA USA exclusively about what they saw inside the most exclusive and legendary nightclub of all time.

If you’ve seen the iconic club depicted in Netflix’s new hit series Halston, just know this: That’s the PG-13 version.

Studio 54 was a phantasmagorical dreamscape, teetering always between a dream come true and a nightmare. Throughout the course of any given evening, a giant, anthropomorphized crescent moon, with a coke spoon pressed to its nose and eyes flashing red, hovered over the room like a Peruvian-flake deus ex machina. On the dance floor, revelers took their cues and engaged in snorts of their own – often hoovering socalled “party favors” allegedly supplied by club owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager. The costs and recipients of those favors were carefully noted in expense logs that were eventually confiscated by the IRS and scrutinized by the Southern District of New York’s Assistant United States Attorney Peter Sudler. “I was astonished at the [blatantly detailed] record keeping,” he marveled, recalling evidence from a 1979 case against the club owners. “I had never seen that before.”

Prior to prosecutors snooping around, though, nocturnal escapades were over the top: Bianca Jagger riding a white horse across the dance floor, fashion designer Valentino Garavani presiding over his own three-ring circus, or Grace Jones doffing her clothes so often that a jaded employee described it as “boring.”

As recalled by Myra Scheer, who served as assistant to both Rubell and Schrager, and worked the inner door as a “troubleshooter,” near where people passed through what she called the “corridor of joy” as admission to Studio was secured, “Every night was a great night. You were never left wondering where the people were. Nights [inside] started slowly, with tons of people waiting outside to be handpicked.”

Once in the club, customers got so frisky that the balcony was eventually covered in rubber so that sexual fluids could be easily hosed off at night’s end. To celebrate the 50th birthday of Andy Warhol, she says Rubell dumped 800 $1 bills over the lucre-obsessed artist’s head. It would later turn out that the sum was recorded as an expense, attributed to Warhol.

As things later unraveled for the club and its owners – all of whom all wound up in jail under various pleas related to income tax evasion – Warhol told New York Magazine of

the attribution, “Why would Steve [Rubell] do that? … No wonder people are afraid to go there now.”

Just a year earlier, however, Big Apple scenesters were afraid to not go there. Crowds thronged to get in, pushing up against the famous velvet rope, originally placed at the club’s entrance to keep the then-seedy neighborhood’s hookers at bay. Later, of course, the plush barrier became a symbol of nightlife exclusivity.

Warren Beatty, Henry Winkler, and Nile Rodgers were all snubbed at the door. Quaaludes were allegedly handed out like breath mints by Rubell, and some used the chemical inspiration to start their own party outdoors. Supposedly, it was not unheard of for stoned, frustrated strivers to resign themselves to having sex while awaiting entry. “Steve loved giving out Quaaludes; if you told him you didn’t want one, he’d say, ‘Just take a half,’” said former Interview magazine editor Bob Colacello in the documentary Studio 54.

Gatekeeper supreme was Marc Benecke, who said that he “fell into the job when I was 18 years old, met Steve and he asked me what I was doing for the summer.” From 1977 until 1980 – the glory days of Studio’s reign – Benecke ruled as one of the most powerful people in night life; so much so, that Benecke, who now co-hosts the Marc & Myra Show on the Studio54 channel of SiriusXM, along with Myra Scheer, sometimes would be walked home with a bodyguard so that he could be protected from disgruntled nobodies who nursed grudges over being rejected.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Studio 54’s last gasp – when nightclub aficionado and fan of 54 Mark Fleishman reopened the glitzy joint after it was shut down earlier in 1981.

“Studio 54 sucked people in, luring them back night after night,” Fleishman wrote in Inside Studio 54, his memoir of those good old days. Fleishman described that allure as “affecting their personalities and emboldening them to do things they might not otherwise have done.”

Maybe the same can be said for the owners.

Back in the late 1970s, the party seemed like it would never

end – until a rather anonymous, disgruntled ex-employee by the name of Donald Moon pulled the plug on the debauched proceedings. “As far as we knew he was good to work for,” recalled Benecke. “He had a good temperament.”

Or maybe not. While a rumor swirls that Moon, now deceased, had tax problems, which led him to report Studio 54 owners Schrager and Rubell to the Internal Revenue Service in exchange for leniency, Sudler makes it sound simpler than that: “He was angry about being passed over for a promotion.”

“He contacted the IRS and alleged that skimming was going on [i.e. that Studio’s proprietors were reporting only some of their revenues to the IRS as taxable income and keeping the rest without paying taxes],” Sudler said. “He alleged that there was a second set of books” – along with bags of money and drugs – “kept in the ceiling tiles. Based on that, we got a search warrant.” Amazingly, the obituary that marked Moon’s 2015 death depicts him laughing and stated, “He loved to talk about his time at Studio 54 and all the amazing people he was fortunate enough to meet.” According to Sudler, Moon wanted nothing in the way of compensation if those amazing people – including investor Jack Dushey, who earned his money in real estate – proved to be guilty of the charges and resulted in remuneration for the government. He only wanted placement in America’s federal witness protection program.

Whatever Moon told the IRS must have been convincing.

On the morning of December 14, 1978, a reported 31 agents pulled up to the club and banged on its door with a search warrant in hand. Though the raid time was earlier than when Studio 54 employees normally clocked in, somebody – probably a “cleaning man,” according to Sudler – was there to open up. “We tried to conduct the search at the best possible time: when it was closed and nobody was there,” said Sudler.

“We wanted to not go in there with a disco scene going on.”

Whatever the case, he added, efficiency was of the essence: “We had to move quickly. If you can’t get the evidence, you don’t have a case.” Soon after agents made their way inside, employee Scott Nilsson arrived for his shift. He usually worked

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nights, manning a spot inside the front of the club, where patrons not lucky enough to be on the guest list – which had a pecking order, with those notated as NFU (No Fuck Ups) at the top – paid their admissions. But, on that day, he was there to help out in the office. An occasional job responsibility of his was counting cash from the previous night. Nilsson got to the club right after the raid began and, along with a dozen or so other employees, was told to wait outside.

“I was shocked and not shocked,” Nilsson said. “Steve had been talking about how much money Studio was making.

And, if anything, I thought they might have been laundering money.” Rubell told finance columnist Dan Dorfman, in the fall of 1977, “The profits [are] astronomical. Only the mafia does it better.” That was a jaw-dropping statement for several reasons. First, Schrager’s father had the kind of mob ties that earned him a mafia nickname: Max the Jew. Second, he and Rubell were cooking the books in a style that was at least a little bit mafia-esque. What’s more, they were not exactly keeping it a secret. When the reporter, Dorfman, asked about revenues, Rubell replied, “It’s a cash business and you have to worry about the IRS. I don’t want them to know everything.”

Clearly, someone with connections to the IRS was reading.

Employees did not need to be insiders to know what was going on.

“I knew they were exchanging the tapes,” Nilsson said, referring to tapes that tracked how much money went in and out of a given cash register. At some point in the night, said Nilsson, “They would close the register and pull out the money. The first set of tapes was reported and the second set was not.”

From Nilsson’s vantage point, things looked dicey, as feds rolled out boxes of records, file cabinets, and books. Standing with other employees, Nilsson wondered whether or not the club would open and could only speculate on what was going down inside. One person who knew was Ian Schrager. He showed up for his day at the office and was surely shocked to see his nocturnal gold mine being raided. Schrager could have done a lot of things at that point but, by strolling into the scene of a raid, he opted for one of the dumbest.

“I thought it was unusual that he would walk down the street, see IRS people searching [his place of business] and walk inside,” said Sudler. “I thought it was incredibly stupid.”

With the warrant that the authorities had, anything he brought in from the outside was privy to being searched.

Inside a briefcase being carried by Schrager, authorities found five envelopes. Each one contained an ounce of cocaine. The coke was nearly pure. Schrager was arraigned on a complaint of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute. He was sent home after putting up a $50,000 bond, but the white powder was nothing compared to what agents found in the ceiling.

As explained in the documentary, Studio 54, records literally pointed out that money was being skimmed because they contained a column with the word “skim.” According to charges, more than $3 million in cash was ultimately seized from inside the ceiling of Studio 54, from a Citibank safe deposit box and from individual home safes.

“We found manila envelopes as evidence of a skimming operation,” said Sudler. “They had one for every day. You could see an enormous amount of money not reported. I was surprised at the amount. It was almost 80 percent. Typically, you don’t skim that much.” The situation for Schrager and Rubell got even worse when investment partner Jack Dushey copped a plea. It’s been characterized as a willingness to shoulder blame.

Sudler, however, does not see it that way. “He did not take the rap,” said Sudler. “He pled guilty to a felony and testified.

In exchange for his testimony, he was granted leniency. He

gave it all up. He put a voice on the records.” Lawyer Roy Cohn – the shrewdest, smartest, most well-connected counsel out there in the late 1970s – and a phalanx of other attorneys worked overtime to resolve problems of Rubell and Schrager.

They created legal smoke and mirrors and a blizzard of media.

There was even a ham-handed attempt to seek a break by maintaining that the club owners could provide information about Hamilton Jordan, then President Jimmy Carter’s White House Chief of Staff, snorting coke at the club. That gambit backfired and even may have brought enmity from the White House. Bad move.

Still, you’d never have known it from how Rubell and Schrager visibly handled the stress. Multiple sources make it clear that they moved forward as if nothing was amiss. The club went through a major renovation – with augmentations to make it competitive against a newly opened Studio-wannabe disco called Xenon, including a moving bridge inspired by the Broadway play Sweeney Todd. Additionally, new businesses were in the offing.

Schrager was deep in research mode for a designer jeans line – examining bestsellers from Bloomingdale’s and Fiorucci for ideas that could be co-opted. There was talk of a record label and Benecke looked at a space across the street from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for a proposed Los Angeles offshoot of Studio 54. None of that was to be. By February 1980, avenues of defense and opportunities for resolution were exhausted.

Saturday Night Live even parodied their problems, with John Belushi playing a coked-up Rubell.

Meanwhile, enemies of the two partners were gloating.

Rubell and Schrager copped a plea. They were sentenced to four years apiece, on two counts of income tax evasion, charged with skimming $2.5 million and defrauding the government of some $400,000. Before they left to do their time, though, there was a last blast in the club that they made famous. “My Way” played on the sound system and at least one booster showed up with a tee shirt that read “Free Steve Rubell.” Drugs flowed, the dance floor bumped, Liza Minelli and Diana Ross sang them off from the moveable bridge.

Word has it that Ross lost a shoe there that night. Of course,

Go inside the fabled Studio 54 — with one quick scan of your phone. GRAZIA Gazette: The Hamptons presents a curated playlist to bring you the power, pleasure, and people at the “greatest nightclub of all time,” as the late and great music mogul Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder and longtime chairman of Atlantic Records once said. Scan this unique barcode with a camera to instantly relive the sociological phenomenon that was Studio 54.

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Studio 54’s employees – many of whom soldiered on with their bosses behind bars – lost something much more. “We loved Steve and Ian,” said Myra Scheer. “It was like Mom and Dad [were leaving]. Freddie, who was Steve’s bodyguard, summed it up best. He said, ‘If there was any way I could go to jail with him, I would.’” The partners were remanded to the Manhattan Correctional Center. Knowing, perhaps, what a couple of pampered New Yorkers would be missing most while behind bars, Sudler took a last shot at gaining some form of cooperation from the partners. “We were investigating other discotheques,” recalled Sudler when being interviewed on the TV show Building NY: NY Stories with Michael Stoler.

He arranged a sitdown with Rubell and Schrager – and had it strategically catered. “I ordered a slew of Chinese food,” he revealed. As the scent wafted, “Rubell looked around and asked for some of the food. I said that they had to be part of the team [if they wanted to eat].” By all indications, Rubell and Schrager dined well that night. In the documentary, Schrager insisted, “It isn’t as if we named names. But we would have perjured ourselves if we didn’t answer question about [the other] nightclub owners… They were our enemies.”

Rubell and Schrager did their time, got out of jail and transcended their initial success by getting into the hotel business. Following the Studio 54 model – transforming a rundown and abandoned space and making it something mind-blowingly special – they purchased a decrepit West 46th Street and Eighth Avenue dump called the Paramount.

The spot was an instant hit that launched their company and transformed the hotel industry, making the overnight business as cool as the nightclub business. Things were booming in 1989 when Rubell died from hepatitis and septic shock complicated by AIDS. He had been closeted for much of his life, so much so that he told reporter Dorfman a tall tale about an ex-girlfriend breaking up with him over his workaholic ways. Schrager, meanwhile, thrived as hotelier to the fashionable, with properties that have included the Royalton, Mondrian, and Gramercy Park Hotels. He currently heads up the chic Public Hotels brand.

In 2017, then President Barack Obama pardoned him for his crimes. The process was helped along through a letter written by the man who put him behind bars, Sudler.

“Schrager called and told me he wanted to apply for a pardon,” Sudler told Stoler. “[Schrager] said it’s because he has five children and he wants the pardon so they know he is not just a convicted felon. I wrote a letter based on him having done his time, become a big hotel-success, paid his fine [of $20,000], cooperated.”

Looking back on it all, Myra Scheer can’t help but wonder if everything wound up for the best: “Look at what Steve and Ian did after Studio 54. After getting out of jail, they went way beyond the nightclub business. Studio was just the start.”

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46

VOLUME ONE

BEYOND JACKSON POLLOCK

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Perle Fine, Bristling, 1946, Courtesy of Berry Campbell Gallery, New York; Mary Abbott, Blue Thistle, 1960, Courtesy of Berry Campbell Gallery, New York; Betty Parsons, Flame, 1967, Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York; Charlotte Park, Departure, 1955, Courtesy of Berry Campbell Gallery, New York

The unsung women artists on Long Island that impacted a generation.

BY DALLAS DUNN

T

he East End, the tidy moniker given to the far end of Long Island, NY, is somewhat of an oxymoron. Spotless beaches entertain both unwieldy mansions of the wealthiest of the wealthy, and quaint villages whose denizens count the days until fall when housewives pack up and head back to the city. It’s hard to imagine a time when the placid potato fields stretching from NYC to Montauk were relatively secluded.

This isolation, combined with the magical light and pristine views of the Atlantic, drew an unlikely group of artistic explorers around the middle of the last century.

Arriving somewhat grimy from cold water flats in downtown Manhattan, they came armed with canvases and hoping for inspiration. Today, we know their names, at least some of them. The male sect would secure their legacy and cement their output as the de facto brand of American art; their equally talented female contemporaries, less so. The story is old. And tired.

In the past 10 years, much has been done to confront this bifurcated body politic. Beginning with a few small gallery owners—often women themselves, like Anita Shapolsky

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and Katharina Rich Perlow—who recognized the merits in this fertile body of untouched treasure, the women behind these lionized men began to have their stories uncovered. In 2016, the Denver Art Museum mounted Women of Abstract Expressionism, and while it wasn’t the first museum show of its kind, it rang out loud and clear. Recently the Parrish Museum in Watermill has launched a landmark exhibition, Affinities for Abstraction: Women Artists on Eastern Long Island, covering 42 artists “who have called the Hamptons home for a week, a season, or a lifetime.” It’s open through the summer and highly recommended.

While female artists of the past are now more present than ever in the exclusive world of art, many of their names are still not nearly as recognizable to the general public as they should be. For every Pollock or Warhol taught to school children, they should learn of people like Anne Ryan and Sonia Sekula.

If this article were ten times as long it would still not scratch the surface of all names that should be mentioned. By a long shot, this list is woefully short. It is also not lost on me that many of these women came from privileged upbringings, and all were white. While the art world can seem like a very liberated space, there is still a mountain of work to be done.

But, as Leonard Cohen said, “there are heroes in the seaweed.”

We just have to keep looking. For the sake of brevity, here are some of my favorites.

MARY ABBOTT One of a few female artists to be included in The Club, the fabled “salon” frequented by New York’s most important artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers, Mary Abbott’s intuitive abstract paintings have a transformational quality, saturated with an energy that seems to channel, if not actually capture, vibrant landscapes, flora, or simply the changing light of day.

A descendant of President John Adams, Abbott grew up in New York City and frequently spent time in Southampton, where she would eventually reside permanently. As a member of the social elite, she graced the covers of no less than Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Glamour. This however, would become a minor footnote in her remarkable career.

While studying at Rothko and Motherwell’s Subjects of the Artist School, an unconventional, short-lived “anti school,” she experimented with the hallucinogenic peyote, which opened up her understanding of color and allowed her to better harness her use of it. In a video from the Denver Art

47

Museum exhibition Abbott stated “Trying to do things representationally didn’t work for me. [With abstraction] I could talk in a different way.”

To view Abbott’s paintings is to view that intense grip of color. Annual trips to Haiti and the Virgin Islands greatly influenced her work, and it is in her swaths of pinks, greens, reds, and golds that we are transported to these tropical landscapes. Her most exciting works though, are her works on paper. Vaguely representational forms are suggested smartly by a quick line of black, or constricted into tight balls of vibrating chromatic energy eager to explode. No brushstroke or crayon mark is unnecessary or used carelessly.

It is rumored that her abstract landscapes influenced similar works by her male counterparts. It is rumored that she had an affair with fellow artist Willem de Kooning. What is empirically true though, is that Abbott’s works represent the pinnacle of Abstract Expressionism.

Why she is not better known on a greater scale, even among her female counterparts, is a puzzling question. I knew Mary and I can tell you, she was a firecracker you wouldn’t quickly dismiss. Once, while discussing another artist (who was, in fact, a friend of hers), Mary insisted that her slight French accent was an affect. I innocently pointed out that the artist was indeed born in France. She replied caustically out of the side of her mouth, “Yeah, but not the right part.”

CHARLOTTE PARK Neighbors of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner in New York City, Charlotte Park and her painter husband followed the conspicuous couple out to Long Island. Despite being firmly ensconced in the often rowdy crowd of the Cedar Club, the couple is often described as being relatively temperate and collected.

Until recently Park was little known, having kept a low profile while her husband’s career was nurtured.

Despite gallery shows and inclusion in annuals at the Whitney Museum throughout the 1950s, Park was mostly absent through the 1960s.

Park’s work itself may be the key to unlocking the quiet nature of her career. Perhaps she did not have to say much because her work speaks so strongly for itself. Her early paintings, largely in black and white, are undeniably assured, rich with paint, leaving no space unconsidered. While not aggressive, they exude the strength with which artists like Franz Kline are typically hailed. Unlike Kline, there is a very sensual tumult brooding in her works. These works are not rigid. These works are breathing.

A museum-quality painting at Berry Campbell Gallery, titled Departure (c.1955), introduces color to her composition in a fearless way. Ochre, deep orange, and an oddly contrasting sky blue co-exist in a united huddled mass. Her agility working with such disparate hues gives the painting a feeling of community. Gallery owner Martha Campbell says of the work, “I can say without a doubt that she was one of the most naturally gifted painters I’ve ever seen. In Departure, her surfaces are worked, scraped, and then built up again, this process repeated countless times, each layer adding new energy and each scrape revealing more brilliant color combinations. The end result is this sparkling energy, each component magnifying and complimenting that of the previous.”

To say that Charlotte Park’s work is underrated is to say that the dictionary is a book that has some words in it. It is sad to note that, to date, at auction, her record high is a mere $11,000. I cannot imagine that number will hold steady for long. Increasingly top galleries like Campbell’s have taken note and museums have followed. Park’s work is now showing up at art fairs with regularity.

PERLE FINE A quote from artist Perle Fine from 1976 might best underscore her obvious dexterity and confidence. “When I paint something I am very much aware of the future. If I feel something will not stand up 40 years from now, I am not interested in doing that kind of thing.” Trust me, these works stand up!

Fine was one of only a few women promoted by Hilla Rebay and the Guggenheim Museum in the 1940s. In 1954,

SUMMER 2021

she left the political trappings of New York City and built a one-room studio in the Springs section of East Hampton, where she would live and work for the rest of her life.

Her body of work is truly fascinating. Despite changing methods, materials, and ever-evolving styles—gestural works in the 50s, color field in the 60s, Op and minimalism in the 70s—Fine was a staunch advocate for abstraction as a framework and color as expression. Reviews glowingly speak of her ability to achieve harmony and to evoke feeling through her precise visual rhythms.

Throughout every period of her life, Fine exemplified the unyielding, pioneering American spirit. Finally, in 1978, Fine was given a retrospective at Guild Hall in East Hampton titled Perle Fine: Major Works 1954-1978. I would say it’s time for another.

studies. This dedication to life studies informed her founding of the New York Studio School where future generations of artists like Christopher Wool would get their start.”

Her friend and fellow Abstract Expressionist artist Elaine de Kooning remarked of Matter’s work, “Everything has a miraculous, alive quality.” In a painting from their exhibition, titled Still Life (1962-63), the play between subject and space is forged into a beautiful chaos.

BETTY PARSONS Of all of the female artists whose name should be as storied as Pollock or de Kooning, perhaps no one deserves it more than Betty Parsons. This is not to say that much hasn’t been written on Parsons or that her contributions and accomplishments aren’t noted. She is capital “V” venerated within the “art world,” but it is the dichotomy of her name not being MERCEDES MATTER “household” that is a travesty.

It would be all too easy to summarize Mercedes Matter’s Like Abbott, Parsons was born to a wealthy family. At the legacy into a story of scandal and beneficence. She has been age of 13 she visited the 1913 Armory Show, the international properly celebrated for her contribution as a beloved educator exhibition that introduced Americans to Modern Art with and mentor. After writing an article in Art News in 1963 works by Brancusi, Duchamp, Kandinsky, and the like. A titled “What’s Wrong with U.S. Art Schools?” she was pressed failed three-year marriage was followed by a Parisian expat into action by her students who, like her, were disenchanted period of serious art study, as well as dancing with Josephine with the antiquated and academic art instruction offered. In Baker and Alexander Calder. In California, she is said to response she founded The New York Studio School, housed in have played tennis and flirted with Greta Garbo. By 1936, the former Whitney Museum building in Greenwich Village. her finances shaky from the financial quake of the Great Gagosian Quarterly did a marvelous homage to Matter in Depression, she moved back to New York and had her first solo gallery show.

In 1946, the vanguard Betty Parsons Gallery opened up on 57th Street in Manhattan. In short, it was a cataclysmic success. At the time there was a very small market for avant-garde art. The artists she championed are today hallowed in every museum in America and abroad. Their names have become synonyms for American art - Rothko, Still, Hoffman, and yes, Pollock.

It would be easy to assume from that list that she only gave opportunities to straight, white, cisgendered men. But she didn’t. Parsons showed women like Louise Nevelson and Agnes Martin.

She showed Black, Asian, and Latinx artists such as Thomas Sills, Kenzo Okada, and Roberto Matta.

LGBT artists such as Sonia Sekula, Alfonso Ossorio, and Ellsworth Kelly were also represented (it has been suggested that Parsons herself was relaxed on the sexual spectrum). My personal favorite? Forrest Bess (they/them), whose mystical, visionary paintings chart a visual path of exploration of subversive sexuality and gender.

If her career had been encompassed solely by the Mercedes Matter, Still Life, 1962-1963, Courtesy Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA last two paragraphs, that alone should make her a “household” name, ripe for a Cate Blanchett biopic. their fall 2020 issue.

It isn’t, and that is also only half the story. Parsons was an But what about scandal? I could talk about the intimate incredibly accomplished artist in her own right. Her works relationships she fostered with some of New York’s most have an easy, naive quality that in many ways counters the influential power brokers. She was known to be an incredibly often overly complex works of her artists. striking beauty (the stunning nude photos her photographer In 2020, Parsons was the subject of two illuminating solo husband Herbert Matter took of her on the beach in shows at Alexander Gray Associates. In her works, amorphous Provincetown in the 40s confirm this) with an even more forms are laid out in playful compositions, dancing around striking and fierce intelligence. Writers have made a case the plane, sometimes suggesting topography, sometimes for Matter’s proclivities as a proto-feminist reaction to the anatomy. Her palette is unique, especially considering what unbalanced gender politics of the time. Matter was ready to was de rigueur when these were painted. Parsons clearly liked play like the boys. I could also talk about the cache of dubious color and was unafraid to try every crayon in the box. There is Pollock paintings found in a family storage locker, but that no fussy blending of colors. Each is kept relatively unmolested would be gossipy. and applied with a very even hand, which makes the paintings Sadly, where Matter’s confidence in her intellect succeeded, clean and clear. If you walked into the Alexander Gray shows, her certainty as a painter was somewhat lacking. She was and didn’t know better, you could easily assume that these famously known for turning down a solo show with respected were the work of Brooklyn’s or Berlin’s next great discovery. I dealer Leo Castelli. This is a shame because her paintings are haven’t even mentioned her wood constructions culled from teeming with complexity and tantalizing duality that is far beach debris on the Long Island Sound that are quickly rising more interesting than the salacious aspects of her life. Matter’s in price, thanks to their growing presence at auctions like paintings practically buzz. Despite a sometimes soft palate, Rago, Sotheby’s, and Christies. I’d happily make space for one, her brush strokes are explosive, bursting forward with an or ten. 1977, Parsons coined the phrase “invisible presence” to unexpected momentum. She was known to work from still describe the energy she experienced in any given setting, an life compositions and if you strain just enough you can almost energy that she attempted to capture in all forms of her artwork. see the source material.

The paintings leave open a lot of space for interpretation, and Heather James Fine Art, which currently has an exhibition it is that ambiguity that most works to her advantage. Despite of the artist’s work says that, “despite the spontaneous look and the success of her eponymous gallery, Parsons was an intensely free nature of her abstraction, Matter would spend months private woman. Betty Parsons’ paintings make you want to or years on works, turning a sharp eye to in-person, real life know who Betty Parsons really was.

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49

SUMMER 2021

The Perfect GUEST

After a year of social distancing, many of us are spending time together again. Here’s a primer from Hamptons influencers on how to make sure you keep getting invited back.

BY AARON RASMUSSEN REPORTED BY GEORGE SOTELO

G

eorge Sotelo, founder of Thorsun Swim, notes this summer is gearing up to be “the most hyped, Instagrammed, TikToked, and Tweeted season in recent history” — the modern-day equivalent of the Roaring 20s.

“After a stressful year of travel restrictions and social distancing, re-entry into the world has a lot of us feeling equal parts excited and socially rusty,” he tells GRAZIA USA. With the long lockdown slowly starting to lift, Sotelo explains, it’s time to dust off those social skills and explore some important questions now that the Hamptons high-season is here: What’s socially acceptable post-pandemic? What are the best rules to follow to be a great houseguest? What are some traits every host hopes to see in those who visit their homes?

“As the designer of a resort wear line, my summer is usually spent in Europe on the fashion week trail, followed by August out East, so I consider myself well-versed as both a guest and host in all the usual haunts: East Hampton, Bellport, and Montauk,” Sotelo says.

Though often left unspoken and sometimes broken, one critical rule he thinks all guests should observe is never to be the “weekend extender”—those who somehow manage to stretch their stay to longer than Thursday through Monday.

“Weekend extenders were barely tolerated pre-COVID, but now, they’re as welcome as a one-night stand who won’t go home,” he jokes. “We all love guests, but respecting people’s time should be the golden rule these days.”

Another key aspect of earning a reputation as an ideal guest is to be thoughtful when it comes to selecting the perfect host gift.

Sotelo recalls one standout present he received when hosting a friend was a case of fine wine, Casamigos premium tequila, and a great selection of gourmet cheeses. Thoughtfully sent prior to the guest’s arrival, the gesture “totally set the mood and saved a trip to the store,” he says.

Sotelo, who admits he’s feeling “out of sorts” preparing for the new post-COVID entertaining era, caught up with some of his favorite hosts to get some more suggestions for GRAZIA USA on what to do—and not do—to be the perfect houseguest.

The first thing most seasoned hosts recognize is time spent

together this summer is going to be very different from in the past—and guests should be prepared to roll with the punches.

Former Warhol Factory “it boys” Tom Kashian and Jay Johnson are requiring guests be vaccinated for indoor entertaining, but also plan to hold smaller outdoor dinners and cocktail parties. Kashian recommends guests this summer always “remember to respect social distancing for everyone’s comfort.”

Speaking of comfort, fashion designer Cynthia Rowley recommends everyone “bundle up and leave your shoes” at home in order to be ready to spend plenty of time on the beach, from clambakes to bonfires.

Sophie Roche Conti, founder and CEO of Conti Communications, observes that “COVID has brought Darwin’s principle of natural selection to our social lives,” meaning social groups have shrunk to “the fewest people with the most favorable characteristics.” For the public relations professional, that means inviting guests who “take the least amount of effort.”

Others echo that thought and add their own spins on what exactly makes for an ideal guest at gatherings and weekend stays.

Esquire Executive Director of Global Fashion and Retail, John Wattiker, believes the perfect guest “is someone who is equally excited to spend time together and also looking forward to a little exploring in and around the place they’re visiting on their own.” He’s right if television journalist Alina Cho’s past experience is any indicator. “A few years ago,” she recalls, “I stayed with close friends in East Hampton and I overheard the husband telling mutual friends, ‘Alina is the best houseguest— we never see her!’”

Fashion guru Linda Fargo agrees, explaining guests should be “independent and thoughtful” but also “come prepared to have a good time.”

Guests should keep in mind that their generous hosts want to have some fun, too. “A great guest is somebody who participates and doesn’t make you act like their waiter, shopper, or cleaner,” celebrity hairstylist Sally Hershberger says. “I’m a very relaxed person. I want to feel that they can relax, too.”

Entrepreneur Julie Macklowe notes, however, that she prefers houseguests who don’t get too relaxed. “Feels like a five-meal

limit is the right amount of time” to be a houseguest, she suggests.

Meanwhile, Rowley likes anyone she invites to her Hamptons home to stick to her golden rule: “Bring me a fun activity and you’ll always get invited back! A giant slip n’ slide, badminton, bocce, a trampoline.…”

Gifts are a nice gesture to show a host appreciation for opening up their home and can range from the humorous— photographer Ben Watts once got a bottle opener made from kangaroo testicles— to the extravagant, such as the Ross Bleckner painted surfboard Jayma Cardoso, owner of Montauk’s The Surf Lodge, received and hung over her dining room table. “The thoughtfulness wasn’t the obvious expense of the gift, more so that he had really paid attention to the design and style of my home and my passion for art,” Cardoso says.

Sometimes it really is just the thought that counts and gifts don’t have to go to extremes to make a big impact. “You can never go wrong with champagne and caviar,” The Storefront Bellport owner Melissa Feldman advises.

Gen Z marketing guru Larry Milstein loved receiving a homemade loaf of Swedish walnut and olive bread, while Julia Moshy, who works in membership at Cipriani’s new private members club, thought a friend gifting her a chef’s knife was “unique and thoughtful” since she loves to cook. When real estate investor John DeStefano and Costa Brazil designer Francisco Costa entertain, they appreciate something as simple as a thank you card. “I always remember the notes and look forward to having them back,” Costa says.

Not everyone will receive an invitation to return, especially those who break the unwritten rules of what not to do when spending time in someone else’s home.

Pippa Cohen, contemporary art curator and philanthropist, hopes never to be in the position to have to strike a person from her guest list, but anyone who “doesn’t offer to help with anything while they are staying or leaves a huge mess, it’s probably a good sign they won’t be invited back,” she says.

Joey Wölffer, co-owner of Wölffer Estate Vineyard, is more definitive. She warns: “If you are needy and high maintenance, you will not be welcomed back!”

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50

VOLUME ONE

What’s in my beach bag?

JENNIFER FISHER

When it comes to a beachy vacation, fashion entrepreneur Jennifer Fisher is all about la bella vita. “Traveling to Italy in the summer is the best,” gushes Fisher. “Drinking the best Aperol Spritz in the world and jumping off the side of the cliff at my favorite hotel, the Il San Pietro di Positano. The people, the food, and the coastline—it is perfection.”

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Celine by Hedi Slimane sunglasses, $450, celine.com.

Supergoop sunscreen, $35, supergoop.com.

Dior bucket hat, $1,250, Dior boutiques.

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Jennifer Fisher spicy salt, $12, jenniferfisher.com.

Jennifer Fisher hoops, $495, jenniferfisher.com.

Prada tote bag, $1,270, prada.com.

LARQ water bottle, $95, goop.com.

Jennifer Fisher anklet, $800, small lock, $1,000, jenniferfisher.com.

51

SUMMER 2021

MELISSA CRONIN President, Chief Operations Officer

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