What’s Happening: The de Young museum’s latest exhibition reflects on a century of high fashion and history in its own backyard. Augmented reality tech by Snap Inc. even makes the unthinkable possible: visitors can “try on” archival eveningwear from Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, and Kaisik Wong.

The Download: As American fashion capitals go, New York City gets a great deal of attention. Yet “Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style,” currently on view at the city’s de Young Museum, shows how designer fashion’s foothold in the city parallels San Francisco’s own journey toward prosperity in the wake of challenges beginning with the infamous 1906 earthquake. As the city became a hub for manufacturing, politics, society families, artists, counterculture, and philanthropy, a preponderance of Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, and Dior proliferated in the city’s upper echelons.

Of course, the great French couture houses are regulars on the circuit of museum retrospectives. “Fashioning San Francisco” branches beyond them. Highlights include a shibori-dyed silk gown from Yohji Yamamoto, a honeycomb-ish three-dimensional evening jacket by Junya Watanabe for Comme des Garçons, and a color-blocked gown by Christopher John Rogers. Then there are pieces from houses lost to history, like a captivating, beaded flapper-style silk chiffon evening dress from 1926, created by the late Louise Boulanger—a favorite of New York’s own society set.

Where the exhibition really shines, though, is in its inclusion of the late homegrown talent Kaisik Wong. The Chinese-American artist and fashion designer was born in San Francisco in 1950, collaborated with ‘60s drag troupe “the Cockettes,” and emerged a tour-de-force from the city’s wearable art movement. The designer’s name ricocheted across the industry in 2002, after his death, when Nicolas Ghesquière admitted to copying a patchwork dress designed by Wong for a nearly identical patchwork vest in Balenciaga’s S/S 2002 collection. Doubtless, Wong is overdue his own, dedicated retrospective—the museum even owns his archive. Visitors, however, will have to content themselves with seeing just one of his looks: a black lamé ensemble with a structured overcoat and embellishments inspired by Chinese culture. Or, thanks to a collaboration with Snap, they can try the piece on.

In Their Own Words: While Snap’s AR tech has been used by the likes of LACMA and the Louvre, “Fashioning San Francisco” represents the first use of its AR mirrors in an American museum. The mirrors, which allow visitors to “try on” Wong’s ensemble, and evening gowns by Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent, were custom-made for the occasion. “That’s one of the benefits of being adjacent to Silicon Valley and the tech industry,” Laura L. Camerlengo, the curator in charge of costume and textiles at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, said in a recent interview. “They were excited to work with their hometown museum.”

Surface Says: Maybe reality didn’t bode well for the metaverse, but AR seems to be doing just fine.

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“I wanted it to feel like walking into an exhibition,” Humberto Leon says of the pop-up boutique the Opening Ceremony co-founder recently designed for Tory Burch. Unfolding like a game of cat-and-mouse along Melrose, the concept store features German photographer Walter Schels’ blown-up portraits of animals throughout, starting with mice on exterior walls and a cat mid-meow dominating the interior. “The pictures are so arresting,” Leon says. “They stop you in your tracks, and you question them.” Likewise for the shag carpet covering floors and structural beams, mimicking a cat tower. Along with clusters of Mexican artist Aranza García’s candy-pink ceramic seats, they display highlights from the label’s Resort 2024 collection.

If this outing from the buttoned-up American label feels breezier, looser, and more fun, that’s because Burch is looking beyond what’s “on-brand” and letting her creativity flow. Her husband, LVMH chairman Pierre-Yves Roussel, took over as the label’s CEO in 2019, relieving Burch of addressing business needs. The monogrammed ballet flats and preppy-chic leather tote bags are still there, but presented in a different light. “We’re proposing different ways of wearing and styling clothing, making everything less precious,” Leon says. The collection also mixes with an exclusive capsule of T-shirts, sweatshirts, and tote bags that Leon designed exclusively for the pop-up, adorned with Schels’ portraits of cats and bunnies. The boutique will stay open through 2024 while Tory Burch’s Rodeo Drive flagship undergoes renovations.

Earlier this week, Gagosian toasted the opening of “Iconic Avedon: A Centennial Celebration of Richard Avedon” at the gallery on rue de Ponthieu. Marking the centenary of the legendary fashion photographer’s birth, the exhibition is the latest in a slate of high-profile shows celebrating his legacy. An intimate group of high-profile guests from across fashion, art, and design gathered during a busy Paris Couture Week for the occasion, which was followed by a private dinner at Le Bœuf Sur le Toit in collaboration with Dior.

When was it? Jan. 22

Where was it? Gagosian, Paris

Who was there? Karlie Kloss, Jonathan Anderson, Baz Luhrmann, Anna Weyant, Derek Blasberg, India Mahdavi, Peter Dundas, Lauren Santo Domingo, Dasha Zhukova, Delphine Arnault, Margherita Missoni, and more.

Our weekly roundup of the internet’s most preposterous headlines, from the outrageous to the outright bizarre.

“Outrageous” Tea Recipe Involving Pinch of Salt Draws U.S. Embassy Comment [The Guardian]

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Kansas Couple Charged With Collecting Man’s Retirement While Keeping His Body In Their Home Six Years [AP]

Pennsylvania Man Fatally Stabs 62-Year-Old Neighbor in Dispute Over “Loud Snoring” [The Shade Room]

Utah Teen Facing Charges After Allegedly Taping Fish to ATMs [HuffPost]

Woman’s Leg Scratch on Fishing Trip Led to 55 Surgeries—Now She Wants Amputation [New York Post]

Most of us are familiar with the pop-culture spin of awards season: the media babble about who kissed or dissed who, and the subsequent blind items about eyebrow-raising afterparty antics. For those who prefer to focus more on the craft of it all, snaps of red carpet couture and the winners’ post-show selfies with their awards give precious, but little insight. A new exhibition at Charlotte’s Mint Museum offers an unprecedented close look at 167 trophies created by Society Awards with an emphasis on artistic collaborations and awards that recognize artisanship.

Society Awards founder David Moritz, who worked with Mint Museum staff to bring “Beyond the Red Carpet: Iconic Awards and Artistic Collaborations” to life, knows that visitors are unlikely to know the ins and outs of every award, but that’s part of the show’s purpose: “You might come in to see Hollywood awards, but you’ll learn that the ‘famous’ awards are that industry’s top honors, and each industry has their own.”

If you ask Cass Calder Smith what he’s working on, you should be prepared to keep track of his answers. The architect behind Jean Georges’ spacious food hall, the Tin Building, and Tesla’s first L.A. showroom is a tastemaker’s designer through and through. Visionary developers, discerning homeowners, and the exacting powers-that-be who govern historical landmarks are just a few of the types around the world who entrust their projects to Smith’s namesake firm.

Art + Loom is a bespoke rug company based in Miami. Founded ten years ago by designer Samantha Gallacher, Art + Loom’s mission is to bring fine art to the floor in homes around the world. Each rug is designed by Gallacher and hand-made in Nepal or India using techniques handed down over generations.

Surface Says: A roster of collaborations with prominent creatives and Gallacher’s dedication to overcoming challenges posed by the built environment positions Art + Loom where art and design meet.

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