Since graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2016, Christopher John Rogers has taken the fashion world by storm. He’s racked up awards (Forbes 30 Under 30, Vogue Fashion Fund, CFDA Emerging Designer) and his eponymous line is stocked at Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Net-a-Porter. Year after year, his collections earn unanimously positive reviews because the clothes and the perspective behind them are just that good. What’s more, in an exclusive industry preceded by a punishing reputation, he is unfailingly kind.

The avid following that has coalesced around Rogers in the wake of his talent and deserved success shows up well outside of the fall and spring seasons that envelop New York in street-styled mayhem every February and September. Since 2021, he has debuted new collections in May and December around the resort and pre-fall seasons and shows once a year outside of Fashion Week. While his approach to the fashion calendar has evolved over the years, so too has his ability to awe with an eye for color so distinct that a particular way of color blocking or a certain shade of red-orange is attributable to him. It all makes the designer’s new collection of paints with Farrow & Ball seem downright cosmically ordained.

The Carte Blanche collection features 12 colors and three wallpapers that draw inspiration from memories spent with loved ones in Rogers’ home state of Louisiana. Ahead of the launch, Rogers joined Farrow & Ball creative director Charlotte Cosby in conversation with Surface to talk about the power of autonomy and play, colors that didn’t make the cut, and reinvention.

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On September 8, Shanghai photography and digital art fair Photofairs will open its first New York City edition. Galleries from locations as far-flung as Zurich, Buenos Aires, and Seoul will appear alongside local power players, including the artist collective For Freedoms.

Founded by Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo, and Wyatt Gallery, the collective has used its considerable platform to put artists—including its co-founders—at the center of civic action and education. In that vein, Photofairs New York will give a platform to For Freedoms’ inaugural class of fellows: Da’Shaunae Marisa, Emanuel Hahn, McKayla Chandler, Eric Hart Jr., and Maya Mansour. Each artist receives funding, mentorship, and exhibition opportunities through either the Hear Her Here fellowship with Converse, which promotes the work of Black femme artists, or the Image Equity Fellowship with Google, which aims to supporting creators of color.

Though enthusiasm for contemporary art has never felt more palpable, navigating a fair can be a daunting experience. “The art world feels intimidating to a lot of people,” Mike Steib, the CEO of Artsy, once said. “You walk into a gallery or an art fair, and you just aren’t quite sure where to start.” Steib took the top job at the virtual art platform after building XO Group, the parent company of wedding planning mainstay The Knot, into a billion-dollar business. A passionate collector of work by emerging talents, he identified similar potential in the tight-knit art market, whose machinations—and major fairs—can feel like playing a blindfolded game of inside baseball.

Suffice it to say, Steib loves art. “I want everyone to be able to buy art with the same level of confidence that they buy other things,” he says of his role at Artsy. “And I want to help expand the art market so more galleries flourish and more artists can make a living.” He’s particularly excited about The Armory Show, whose 29th edition is making a splashy return to the Javits Center this week. Representing more than 225 global galleries and showcasing a staggering 800 artists, New York’s preeminent art fair is back with the same renewed enthusiasm and experimental edge as this past year’s edition thanks to an expanded curatorial platform imagined by director Nicole Berry and curators Eva Respini, Candice Hopkins, and Adrienne Edwards. Ahead of the show, Steib shares the artists to watch exclusively with Surface.

Gucci is embracing change. Besides welcoming a new creative director in Valentino alum Sabato de Sarno, the Italian label has relocated its London outpost into a converted Grade II–listed structure on New Bond Street imbued with touches of restrained minimalism. That translates to parquet wood floors, restored classical columns, and marble fireplaces—a departure from the maximalist leanings of Alessandro Michele. Then there are the clothes. Gucci’s raucous A/W 2023 collection takes pride of place while an upstairs room evoking a historic railway carriage houses Gucci’s Valigeria collection of suitcases and travel accessories.

Discerning sartorialists may instead opt for the Gucci Salon, an invite-only private room where they can browse apparel hand-selected for each visitor. It’s essentially a portal to the Gucci Galleria that opened above the Beverly Hills boutique that was once called “perhaps the most luxurious place to shop in the entire world.” The revamp also allows Truls Blaasmo’s curation of Italian artworks by Liliana Moro, Franco Mazzucchelli, Matilde Cassani, and Massimo Uberti to shine, nodding to the storefront’s origins as an outpost of Colnaghi. Much like a gallery, the artwork will evolve. Don’t miss Concetto Spaziale, a series of slashed canvases by Lucio Fontana that will go on display during Frieze week in October.

“I’m honestly just tired of social media,” Walid Mohammed, a 23-year-old creator, recently said. “I’m tired of consuming content all the time.” Instagram fatigue has set in as the photo-sharing app spirals into a slurry of perfectly curated content, professionally shot reels, and influencers hawking brand deals. Its user base, however, has held steady—even as new apps like BeReal have tried to stake their claim. That might be because non-creators who’ve given up on adhering to the platform’s unspoken rules of “good” content have moved on to posting in more low-stakes spaces like direct messages, group chats, finstas, and “close friends” stories, where the app somewhat resembles a figment of its past self.

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Duplex is a New York–based design boutique engaged with the world’s most iconic design brands, groundbreaking talents, and master artisans, all of whom offer a surrealistic take on form and function. Its founder, Patrizio Chiarparini, brings a curatorial approach to Duplex’s roster with the goal of providing clients with a sophisticated, unexpected range of pieces.

Surface Says: Chiarparini goes the extra mile—literally—to offer one-of-a-kind design objects and exhibitions, making Duplex an international destination for those lucky enough to be in the know.

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