What’s Happening: “It’s about showing skin.” Indie designer Maryam Nassirzadeh brings her namesake label’s coquettish sexiness to a summer capsule collection for J. Crew that channels the Brat-ty romance of Capri in the distance.

The Download: This summer, the Dimes Square girlies are lingering outside of Le Dive until the early hours, chain-smoking Spirits or Galoise, blasting Charli in the Uber home, and—wearing J.Crew? Its new Maryam Nassir Zadeh capsule seems poised to finally nudge the hallmark of American suburbia to land on this side of cool. Standouts from the 30-piece collection include the flowy white peasant skirt that every 20-something from Tribeca to the 2nd Arrondissement seems to be pairing with beat-up sneakers and a lace-trimmed CouCou camisole, braided leather block-heels purpose-made for dancing in Madrid until the wee hours, and a slinky and sheer crystal-studded bolero-style blouse with three delicate front ties that stand between its wearer and the world.

If this doesn’t look like the J. Crew you think you know, that’s the point. The writing on the wall first appeared in earnest back in February, when the retailer dropped its Spring 2024 lookbook. Among the predictable cotton and cashmere layering moments were a smattering of surprises: boyfriend-cut bomber jackets, not-quite-but-almost-nipple-baring sheer sequined tulle camp shirts, and a low-slung patent leather midi skirt whose candy-apple hue and thigh-high slit rendered it unignorable (Not to mention how it was styled, clinging to the model’s hips, which was a statement in and of itself.)

J.Crew’s status as a famous favorite of Michelle Obama only got it so far when it struggled to find its footing after the departure of CEO Mickey Drexler and Jenna Lyons, the stewards of its last golden age. “Has the great fashion experiment at J. Crew come to an end?” the media asked in Lyons’ wake. Shortly after, the company bottomed out and flirted with bankruptcy. The answer, a resounding “no,” came when it brought in Lyons’ former deputy Olympia Gayot to helm womenswear and Supreme alum Brendon Babinzien on menswear.

Since then, Gayot has gradually nudged the brand’s womenswear to be more in step with the zeitgeist. It’s now on its second collection with Brooklyn-born indie jeweler Catbird, and its holiday capsule with Ukrainian designer Anna October brought some welcome oomph with an edit of slinky, lingerie-inspired eveningwear. Nassirzadeh’s capsule heralds a new era, one in which the retailer is not only unafraid of, but embracing sexiness: “It’s about showing skin,” she says. “The transparencies.”

In Their Own Words: The near nascence of the capsule was a conversation with Gayot, in which the VP of women’s design termed Nassirzadeh as a ‘summer girl.’ Perhaps unsurprisingly, Nassirzadeh seems to see her fellow summer girls as the collection’s target audience. “Now I’m wearing what I call ‘jewelry clothes,’” she says. “I’m playing with color again. I’m mixing textures, I’m mixing prints. I’m falling in love with dressing all over again, and I’m realizing that it is because of my roots, my DNA as a ‘summer girl.’ A ‘summer girl’ is about ease. There’s a playfulness, a spontaneity, and a bit more boldness.”

Surface Says: Maybe, soon, J.Crew will even come around to freeing the nipple.

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Ben Shenassafar, of the cult-favorite streetwear label The Hundreds, has another feather in his cap as the founder of newly minted Hollywood brasserie The Benjamin. Interiors by Jared Meisler pay homage to its setting in a 1920s Art Deco building, with a solid oak bar, “wedding cake” frosted glass pendants, olive velvet banquettes, and brass accents aplenty. For something savory, dig into executive chef Johnny Cirelle’s whole roasted branzino with red chimichurri and charred lemon. Or, for those feeling “just desserts,” we recommend pairing the sticky toffee pudding with a house specialty cocktail, like the apricot spritz.

It was a meeting of the Francises—Bacon, the sulfurous painter of the tortured postwar psyche; and Giacobetti, whose unorthodox lens brought dashes of elegance to nude photography. Just months before the former’s death, in 1992, he granted the latter a rare series of interviews and sittings in his cluttered London studio, which Giacobetti would later describe as looking “as if a plane had crashed into the two-room flat.”

His vulnerable photographs of Bacon and the excerpts from their wide-ranging conversations illustrate the disheveled inner workings of a tormented enigma, which inspired Giacobetti to create a series of original images inspired by the dialogue they shared. It all comes together in “Francis Bacon by Francis Giacobetti,” a new Assouline volume that relates an unflinching portrait of one of the 20th century’s most vital illustrators of the soul’s distorted depths.

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

Why Have So Many Whale Remains Been Found on the Ocean Floor Near Los Angeles? [Smithsonian]

How an Art Heist at Taco Bell Is Fueling a Thriving Black Market [Artnet]

FYI: Your Coffee Has Way More Cockroaches in It Than You Think—and That’s OK [Food & Wine]

China Is Freaking Out Over an “Open Secret” That Its Cooking Oil Was Ferried for Years in Chemical Tanks That Weren’t Cleaned [Business Insider]

France Is Busing Homeless Immigrants Out of Paris Before the Olympics [New York Times]

These Picassos Prompted a Gender War at an Australian Gallery. Now the Curator Says She Painted Them [AP]

Balance is key in the work of Federico Stefanovich, a craftsman of rigorous Calder-like luminaires who spent five years honing his sensibilities at Esrawe Studio before setting out on his own. Since then, the Mexico City native has developed a distinct design language informed by the mathematics of counterpoise yet rooted in the raw beauty of natural shapes. His lighting sculptures are just as satisfying to read by as they are to look at.

Cass Calder Smith Architecture + Interiors is an interdisciplinary, bicoastal practice with offices in San Francisco and New York City. Celebrating 30 years in business, the firm practices boldness balanced with simplicity, innovation balanced with functionality, and power balanced with precision. The studio’s award-winning modern designs have an attention to detail, materiality, and authenticity that exhibit an artfulness uniquely tailored to the client.

Surface Says: Cass Calder Smith may call New York and San Francisco its home bases, but the reach of this interdisciplinary firm extends far beyond thanks to the expertise of its principals and more than three decades in the business.

A 28-year-old episode of the Simpsons prophesied this Cypress Hill concert.

Steve Jobs predicted generative AI 41 years ago, and there’s video evidence.

NASA’s solar probe beat its own record as the fastest human-made object.

A six-minute short film looks at the environmental impact of the Kardashians.