Each week, Alexa is rounding up the buzziest fashion drops, hotel openings, restaurant debuts and celeb-studded cultural happenings in NYC.
It’s our curated guide to the very best things to see, shop, taste and experience around the city.
What’s making our luxury list this week?
The St. Regis’ delivers its famous Champagne sabering service to your doorstep, a California-cool collab hits Gap stores and the design mafia descends upon New York City.
Alma Allen is not a household name.
But the self-taught sculptor has amassed a cult following, with A-list collectors, including Beyoncé and Katy Perry.
Not bad for a guy who once sold his works from an ironing board he set up on Prince Street.
His third solo show at Kasmin Gallery opened yesterday (through June 22), with more than a dozen intriguing pieces in bronze and stone.
They are all created in Mexico City, where he has lived since 2017.
Look familiar?
Allen’s sculptures were also installed at Rockefeller Center’s central plaza two years ago.
509 W. 27th St., Kasmin
If you’ve ever stayed in a St. Regis or happened to be on property at dusk, you may have witnessed their nightly ritual of sabering a bottle of Champagne.
Sabering, for the uninitiated, is the act of using a knife to slice open a bottle of bubbly.
It’s all quite dramatic and glamorous, and now they’re offering the experience off-property.
Meaning a St. Regis butler arrives on a Vespa (in New York City or the Hamptons) bearing a beautifully styled basket with everything needed to saber on site.
Pick a date (at least two weeks in advance), choose a Champagne and prepare to be dazzled.
Sabering lessons can also be included.
Hamptons dwellers take note: Bubbly delivery in the 631 can be accompanied by a selection of food pairings (to complement the champs, naturally) from Yann Nury NYC.
From $1,500. Email nycxr.salesmarketingdept@marriott.com to schedule.
Just in time for summer, two California cool brands — Dôen and Gap — have collaborated on a 51-piece capsule collection, available today.
It’s billed as a “celebration of individuality and timeless femininity,” and includes tops and skirts, dresses, denim, loungewear and accessories in sizes for babies, toddlers, kids and adults (with some shared styles and prints for cute matching moments).
There’s a sister theme, too: Dôen was founded by siblings Katherine and Margaret Kleveland, while the ad campaign features model Lily Aldridge and her sister Ruby, as well as 11-year-old twin sisters Levia and Zahar showing off similar looks for kids.
From $20, Gap
New York City is undoubtedly one of the world’s ultimate destinations for design in all forms. During NYC x Design, the city ups the ante in a big way.
There are hundreds of design events, exhibits, talks and tours happening in the next week (through May 23) in various boroughs, and many are open to the public.
The largest is the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), at the Javits Center from May 19 to 21. While technically a trade show, anyone can attend on the last day (we recommend advance registration).
View the full schedule of NYC x Design events at NYC x Design
Two loft-like floors of a historic Tribeca building are now home to Quarters, a gorgeous new home furnishings shop from the duo behind design studio and lighting brand In Common With.
It’s spread over 8,000 square feet (which the company spent six months renovating) and styled to feel like a private residence — the kind inhabited by a stealth-wealth human with incredible taste.
And everything — from furniture and art to the tinned fish in the pantry — is for sale.
Best yet, no appointment is needed.
Simply show up and meander to your heart’s delight.
383 Broadway, ShopQuarters.com
