Earlier this month, Monse founders Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia staged their first fashion week runway show since September 2022. Subversive tailoring and downtown sexiness runs deep in the label’s DNA, and this season’s choice of setting—the copper-ceilinged International Building at Rockefeller Center—rounded out the collection with a dose of Art Deco drama and cinematic glamour. Pop art–inspired graphic tees and slinky knits depicting surreal landscapes streaked with UFOs imparted levity. Crucially, they also transitioned the collection from workwear-ready to something more akin to a party girl’s battle armor with metallic fringe and spiked leather bustiers.

Most people wouldn’t see Midtown as inspirational fodder for the kind of fantasy a runway show asks its attendees to inhabit, but then again, Garcia isn’t “most people.” After his friend Jenna Lyons suggested he join her on a walkthrough of the complex for some location scouting, he replied “you don’t need to ask me twice.” Surface spoke with Garcia about his longtime love of Rockefeller Center, his “Stanley Kubrick moment” on the runway, and aliens.

You have such strong affection for Midtown. Where does that come from?

It’s a sentimental tie. I grew up in the Dominican Republic but my family would come to New York City for as many Christmases as possible. Going to the Rockefeller Center tree lighting was a must; going to Central Park, seeing the Plaza Hotel and sometimes staying there. For the millennium, my grandfather invited ten of us to celebrate the morning at the Rainbow Room. I had more of a relationship with uptown as a boy than I do as an adult. But it’s close to my heart.

Did the choice of location influence the collection at all?

What it did influence was the music. The eeriness of the space made me think of ways to have the echo reverberate on these gorgeous marble walls and tall ceilings. That was very present in my mind. I wanted everybody to feel a sense of calm, but alien energy. It dictated the pace of the girls and the crescendo of the music, knowing that they would be using escalators and that the finale would be all of them coming down the escalators.

It was a cinematic finale.

Cinematic was what we fed Collin [Craig, who helped us develop music]. I’m a huge movie buff. I told him my favorite composers: Trent Reznor and Philip Glass. And I said, “You know the opening credits of The Shining, when all you had was a solemn, one instrument [playing in] one key?” I went back to The Social Network. Trent Reznor’s one piano key was the entire score.

With all this reverberation, darkness, and coziness, I wanted to make people feel like it was bringing them back to a Kubrick moment: a sense of building a story and telling with the clothes, that the music speaking to the person coming out is all connected. When I pick music for a show, I think of it as a movie playing out. I have the beginning character who we don’t know, and then middle, and then chaos towards the end. The crescendo builds towards that person.

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Tucked in the lower level of the recently refreshed Prince Kitano Hotel, Manhattan’s new 71-seat Kaiseki spot approaches traditional techniques with a modern sensibility. Local firm Modellus Novus (Tatiana, COTE Singapore) outfitted the modernist space with polished sapele walls, unfilled travertine floors reflecting the glow of the metal grille ceiling, and sculptural floral arrangements that pop against the reverent backdrop.

Boasting four award-winning chefs hand-selected by the Japanese-owned Seibu Prince Hotels Worldwide, Hakubai guides guests through 11 courses dedicated to hyper seasonality and the philosophy of “shun,” meaning every ingredient is served at the peak of its flavor. Hokkaido snow crab miso is topped with blush-toned finger lime pearls and sweet alyssum flowers; turnips are lovingly hand-carved into chrysanthemums, Japan’s national flower; and Yamagata-sourced Tsuyahime rice is tossed with grilled eel and bathed in sencha flushed dashi broth. To finish, a gluten-free rice flower cake is crowned with Oiishi strawberries.

The creative vitality of San Francisco is embedded in the DNA of Design Within Reach, the MillerKnoll-owned modern furnishings purveyor that recently opened an experimental studio in the city’s burgeoning Potrero Hill district. Just a few blocks away from its former showroom, the brand gut-renovated a 15,000-square-foot 1920s warehouse from the ground up while preserving existing features like original timber and skylights. Beyond offering its standard slate of midcentury classics by the likes of Mies Van Der Rohe, Harry Bertoia, and Charles and Ray Eames, the showroom is also debuting rotating galleries—one aptly named the “Case Study Apartment”—that celebrate its collaborators. First up: a Vitra-curated reading room furnished with Jean Prouvé classics and an installation of unique configurations of USM Haller shelving.

Attendees of next week’s Felix Art Fair at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel can anticipate seeing much more than blue-chip art on the walls. Dover Street Market is teaming up with the fair to offer an exclusive lineup of apparel, accessories, and footwear that matches a star-studded roster of visual artists with the high-fashion retailer’s range of labels.

The collaborations, set to be released daily throughout the fair, are nothing short of compelling. David Hammons teamed with Denim Tears on a pair of Converse that fuse his African-American flag design with Marcus Garvey’s pan-African flag. Parley for the Oceans teamed with artists such as Jenny Holzer and Julian Schnabel to produce limited-edition totes made from ocean plastic. The biggest draw: Comme des Garçons’ transient Black Market will make a rare appearance outside Japan inside an Oscar Tuazon intervention in the ballroom.

When: Until Sept. 1

Where: National Galleries Scotland, Edinburgh

What: Do Ho Suh is perhaps best known for his architectural “hubs,” the life-size reconstructions of parts of his former homes constructed in wispy translucent fabric. His latest exhibition, though, focuses on drawings the Seoul-born artist created over the past 25 years. They range from large-scale “thread drawings” and never-before-seen ink sketches from his notepads to blueprints that help him work out the engineering challenges of his house installations.

Last week, 88rising hosted its inaugural Moonrise Gala at Milk Studios in Los Angeles. Established as a platform to amplify the voices of Asian creatives, the event honored musician Anderson .Paak, fashion icon Jackson Wang, singers NIKI and Jocelyn Enriquez, hip-hop group Invisibl Skratch Piklz, and filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton. Upon arrival, guests were greeted by a red-toned tunnel that guided them into a giant hangar where they enjoyed cocktails by Johnnie Walker Blended Scotch Whisky and an art installation that showcased the all-electric Lexus RZ.

When was it? Feb. 17

Where was it? Milk Studios, Los Angeles

Who was there? TOKiMONSTA, Rich Brian, James Jean, Jackson Wang, Rich Ting, Sulinna One, and more.

Flavor Paper is a Brooklyn-based wallpaper company that specializes in hand-screened and digitally printed designs. Flavor Paper is eco-friendly, using water-based inks and PVC-free materials when possible. All products are print-to-order for easy customization. Residential, commercial, and specialty products are available.

Surface Says: This studio’s colorful creations are a feast for the eyes, and sometimes even the nose. Their range of clever and often humorous designs includes Pop Art–inspired scratch-and-sniff options.

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