What’s Happening: In indisputably a marquee year for women’s sports, more women athletes can now show up for work in kits that prioritize comfort and quell period anxiety.

The Download: It’s been a banner year for women’s sports. In the spring, the final game of the women’s NCAA tournament drew a record-breaking viewership, making it the most-viewed college event ever on ESPN+. This summer, the Tour de France Femmes staged a hugely successful follow-up to last summer’s debut race, and just last week, thousands of Women’s World Cup fans successfully demanded that Nike make a replica of English goalie Mary Earps’ jersey. For some, the victory of redesigned uniforms has hit much closer to home by finally taking into account their feedback—and peace of mind.

For the first time in 146 years, Wimbledon updated its dress code to allow women players to wear dark compression shorts under their regulation tennis whites in the name of assuaging period anxiety. Similarly, for the Women’s World Cup, the U.S. Women’s National Team did away with its signature white shorts and joined England, France, Canada, New Zealand, and Nigeria in making dark-colored shorts part of its game-day kit. Finally, at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, a number of women on Team USA followed the precedent set by heptathlete Anna Hall in 2022 by donning Nike’s track and field leotard in lieu of a midriff-baring sports bra and spandex boyshort or bikini-like “buns.”

In pro basketball, track and field, soccer, and beyond, Nike’s power and influence as an official gear, footwear, and event sponsor is far-reaching. That degree—and duration—of influence is the rah-rah messaging around some of the newly instated uniform redesigns worthy of a closer look. After all, the brand has partnered with U.S. Soccer since 1995, but first introduced World Cup uniforms cut for women in 2019 and women’s-specific W.N.B.A jerseys in 2021. The new track and field leotards stemmed from a female athletes’ think tank launched in 2020, although it’s long been understood the anxieties surrounding the sport’s tight and tiny uniforms can start as early as high school, extending through the collegiate and professional levels.

In Their Own Words: “I did not realize how much I did not like having my stomach on show until I had a functional and valid option to change it,” the decorated British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith recently told the New York Times. “For some, women empowerment is wearing a crop top and knickers, and that’s absolutely okay. But I wasn’t one of those girls, and when I was running around in the leotard prototypes testing and was confident that I wasn’t going to fall out of it, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go. Get this on.’”

Surface Says: Better 146 years late than never, we suppose.

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Independent 20th Century returns next week on September 7. The invite-only art fair has cultivated renown for its ability to surprise and delight with lesser-known bodies of work by blue-chip talents and thrilling shows by stars in the making. This year’s edition is organized around five curatorial themes: women artists in the 20th century, self-taught artists, the Italian avant-garde, the other side of canonical artists, and artists from the Caribbean, South Asia, and the Americas.

During this year’s edition, Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art will explore the enduring impact of color maestro Yves Klein, while James Fuentes will exhibit the work of self-taught still-life painter Ed Baynard. Another highlight comes from Chicago gallery Corbett vs. Dempsey, which is showcasing the works of the late New York City–based Afro-Cuban artist Emilio Cruz, who rose to prominence in the 1960s. By the ‘80s, his work evolved from its roots in figurative expressionist paintings to brilliantly hued anthropomorphic creatures informed by his study of African ethnographic art. Corbett vs. Dempsey will display several large-scale works unseen by the public since they were first created.

Known for her energetic interiors with propensities for a power clash, Kelly Wearstler and the word “subtle” rarely share the same sentence. But that’s precisely what makes her debut tabletop collection for Belgian brand Serax so striking. That, and the two parties were already quite familiar with each other. “I’ve long dreamt of designing a tabletop collection,” Wearstler tells Surface, “and since I specify Serax for so many of my projects, they truly felt like the perfect partner.” The range, which debuted earlier this week, deftly shows off the themes her award-winning practice gravitates toward—technology, the handmade, nature, and material mixes—but with a newly pared-down touch.

Across two robust series of flatware, glassware, and servingware, Wearstler offers something for everybody. Hospitality designers may favor Dune, a sly nod to Ancient Greek pottery whose two-tone matte and high-gloss finishes enhance the sculptural crests and ridges of dishes and platters. (Try pairing them with marble servingware.) At-home tables could use a pop from Zuma, which pairs futuristic vector grids with ancient glassware motifs for an eye-catching blend of nature and artifice. In the spirit of her interiors, the collections work best when they color outside the lines. “Our collection is vast,” Wearstler says. “We’ve implemented a range of materials—porcelain, ceramic, glass, wood, marble, and metal—for an offering that can be mixed and matched to design a rich and dynamic tablescape.”

Last week, the Black in Fashion Council teamed up with Studio Symoné founder Darian Harvin to host an illuminating evening of conversations about all things beauty at the Standard East Village. A rotating roster of speakers including Ami Colé founder Diarrha N’Diaye, makeup artist Delina Medhin, and Harvin and Black in Fashion Council co-founders Lindsay Peoples and Sandrine Charles discussed some of the industry’s biggest movements and trends over cocktails by Ten to One rum.

When was it? Aug. 24

Where was it? The Standard East Village

Who was there? Melodie Monrose, Aysha Harun, Kendall Reynolds, Delina Medhin, and more.

Just over a year after Maximilian Davis took the top job at Ferragamo, the young creative director’s reinvigoration of the heritage Italian label is continuing apace. Look no further than the brand’s forthcoming Fall/Winter 2023 collection for proof of an impending Renaissance. For the campaign, he enlisted Beyoncé-favorite photographer Tyler Mitchell to capture Renaissance-inspired images shot at Uffizi Gallery in Florence, where Salvatore Ferragamo based the brand in 1927 after a stint in the United States.

In the photos, which celebrate the beauty and cultural history of Florence, models draped in the new collection pose alongside 15th- and 16th-century treasures like Paolo Veronese’s Annunciation to the Virgin and Piero della Francesca’s Diptych of Federica da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza. “The Renaissance is hardwired into Florence, and Florence is hardwired into Ferragamo,” Davis says. “At this time of a new beginning at the house, it made perfect sense to reclaim the cradle of the Renaissance as our spiritual home, and to harness the deep, artistic spirit of this city to showcase the new collection.”

When: Until Oct. 22

Where: Fotografiska, New York

What: For Freedoms zooms out from Fotografiska’s focus on photography to showcase multimedia work by six artists (Cannupa Hanska Luger, Maia Ruth Lee, Eric Gottesman) exploring themes ranging from freedom and family to love and survival. Accompanying the show is a “Banned Book Reading Room” in the sixth-floor loft space, where visitors can engage with a rotating selection of books that have been banned in various American school districts since 2021. The titles, penned by authors like Khaled Hosseini and Toni Morrison, have been labeled as “radical” and “dangerous” but simply speak to the everyday experiences of LGBTQ+ and people of color.

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For the past ten years, Tepozán has been Jalisco’s best-kept secret. Tepozán is one of the few estate-grown tequilas that’s fully grown, processed, and hand-bottled at the source. Pared down to the essential ingredients of mature blue agave, natural yeast, and volcanic-filtered well water from the brand’s estate, the tequila has absolutely no additives of any kind—just incredible flavor.

Surface Says: Estate-grown and additive-free, Tepozán stands out for its commitment to excellence through the old ways of the tequila-making craft.

This social media account finds artwork that matches iconic sports scenes.

Cotchford Farm, the former England home of A.A. Milne, is available to rent.

CDs are becoming popular among Gen Z fandoms—and bring a Y2K twist.

The humble folding chair: an easy place to park or a symbol of resistance?