Town & Country September 2023

1983 JERRY HALL To paraphrase the ancient Greeks (and Shakespeare), clothes really do make the man—or woman. Examples abound throughout history, and in the present day. Note this month’s cover star, Sofia Richie, who engineered an impressive overnight identity transformation via Chanel couture, just in time for her spring wedding at the Hôtel du Cap. Clothes can also define a woman after the love fades. Two words: revenge dress. Princess Diana (you know the one), Mariah Carey, Elizabeth Hurley, Julia Fox… Now we can add Jerry Hall to this illustrious list. In 1983 she was photographed by Norman Parkinson for a T&C story dedicated to the art of the Lannan Foundation in Florida. Forty years later, and just months after the end of her six-year marriage to Rupert Murdoch, she…

Chanel, C’est Moi “Clothes make the man” gets the point across, but “The apparel oft proclaims the man” (Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3) just sounds better, doesn’t it? Either could be the cover line for our September star, Sofia Richie Grainge, who in one Chanel-studded wedding week transformed her Google search persona from Justin Bieber to Fashion Icon. The right white bouclé can do that. We’ve seen the life-altering power of fashion before. Remember when Liz Hurley appeared in that safety pin dress? When Eliza Doolittle dressed for Ascot? When Channing Tatum wore The Row? And it’s what the September issues of fashion magazines have always been about: the promise that a new wardrobe holds the possibility of a whole new you—though of course you’re perfect just the way you…

WHERE ARE WE GOING? The whirlwind film festival circuit, which began with Sundance in January and has since gone to Cannes, Venice, and Toronto, marks its grand finale in New York. Heavyweights are de rigueur here. You may catch the latest from Scorsese or Coppola; Todd Haynes’s May December, starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, premieres opening night. SEPTEMBER 29–OCTOBER 15, FILMLINC.ORG WHAT ARE WE WEARING? For modern masters of the universe, there is no holy grail like a Patek. The classic Calatrava, with its sleek lines and pure form, is a horological master class in sotto voce eleganza. The new white gold 6007G comes reinforced with modern details, like a textured black dial and sky blue stitching. It’s as timeless as ever, now with side of cinematic panache.…

World domination was not on the menu at this year’s Summit at Sea, an invite-only cruise that convenes a “global community of entrepreneurs, academics, athletes, artists, astronauts,” and beyond. Relative to its past self, the vibe at the once ambitious floating Davos for millennial technocrats was muted against a backdrop of broader anxiety gripping Silicon Valley as it navigates uncertain waters. Even for a gathering long interested in wellness, there was a telling number of powdered elixirs in Summit’s swag bags, as well as an awful lot of seminars focusing on mental health, spirituality, and psychedelics—and in Palo Alto demand for hallucinogenic mushrooms, ketamine, and LSD is running high, as the likes of Sergey Brin and Elon Musk evangelize about their healing qualities. “People are not feeling as bullish,” says…

The days of the Breuer Building as a museum are waning. The brutalist structure on Madison Avenue was recently acquired by Sotheby’s, and the Frick Collection, which has been the building’s tenant since 2021, will hand over the keys at the end of next year. Until then, however, the place seems intent on flexing its muscle. An exhibition of work by Barkley L. Hendricks (1945–2017), curated by Aimee Ng and Antwaun Sargent, is chief among these efforts. Beginning September 21, paintings by Hendricks, the first artist of color to have a solo show at the museum, will hang alongside the Old Masters the Frick is known for, creating a connection between past and present. “The Frick was one of Hendricks’s favorite museums, and I wanted to show him at the…

When the Rothko Room—which houses four of the Abstract Expres-sionist Mark Rothko’s works in a snug, serene space—opened in 1960 at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, the artist’s wishes were considered when it came to hanging his pieces and planning the lighting. But upon his first visit, an adjustment was required. “There were originally chairs in the room when it opened, and in 1961 Rothko came to visit the museum unannounced,” says chief curator Elsa Smith-gall. “He immediately told the guards that they needed to remove those chairs and that there needed to be a solitary bench. That change was made and has stayed true to this day.” This fall, however, something bigger is afoot for the Rothko Room. On October 18 the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris will…