On March 18, Cunard hosted an intimate evening at the Crosby Street Hotel in SoHo to introduce its latest collaboration with celebrity stylist Micaela Erlanger.
This week, Philips Sonicare reimagined one of the most routine parts of the day (and night) by turning it into something immersive, sensory, and unexpectedly cinematic.
As part of the 2026 Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival in New York, we had the opportunity to step inside Lucinda Childs’ repertory. On February 26 and 27, at the New York Center for Creativity & Dance, a professional workshop dedicated to Radial Courses offered a rare chance to embody the technical rigor of Childs’ minimalist language. Led by Kyle Gerry, currently dancing with the Lucinda Childs Dance Company, the three-hour session revealed that what appears spare from the audience demands extraordinary mental and physical calibration from within.
On Thursday night, The Plaza Hotel’s Grand Ballroom bloomed into a vertical city of orchids as the New York Botanical Garden hosted its 2026 Orchid Dinner in celebration of The Orchid Show: Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle. Under the Plaza’s crystal chandeliers and iconic gilded ceilings, the room filled with a cross-section of New York: Martha Stewart in composed elegance, Alex Newell radiant and commanding, Plant Kween in full botanical glamour, alongside design leaders, philanthropists, collectors, and downtown creatives.
Held in the Chelsea Mercantile, Recollect, hosted by Nolan Feng and Silver Chang, marked its inaugural Lunar New Year dinner salon. Conceived around the Fire Horse Year, the gathering positioned Lunar New Year as both cultural preservation and contemporary authorship, bringing together a cross-disciplinary community of artists, designers, technologists, and friends to experience what celebration looks like when heritage is carried into metropolitan life. The evening centered on intentional hosting, ritual participation, and collective alignment, brought to life through thoughtful partnerships with Rémy Martin, West Elm, Maison Detto, Hudson Wilder, and 25hours NYC.
Last week, Maison Martell welcomed the Lunar New Year at Opera House in Manhattan’s Chinatown, marking the arrival of the Year of the Horse with a celebration rooted in symbolism, craftsmanship, and cultural ritual. Opera House, the upstairs cocktail space above Chinese Tuxedo on Doyers Street, was transformed with red lanterns, silk drapery framing the walls, and red tassels along the dark wood interiors. The room was saturated in crimson, the traditional color of prosperity and renewal.
The evening opened with an open cocktails and conversation with Martell representatives and guests. At the open bar, Lunar New Year–themed cocktails showcased Martell’s portfolio. The most popular was Year of the Fire Horse, a layered blend of Martell Blue Swift cognac, Ming River baijiu, shoumei tea, lemongrass, ginger, and mandarin. The drink balanced citrus brightness with spice and depth, reflecting the energy associated with the zodiac animal. Later on, the guests were surprised with a dragon dance performance that moved directly through the crowd. Accompanied by rhythmic drums, the dragon weaved between guests who were handed red envelopes containing a dollar bill and encouraged to feed it before the dance began. The gesture carries symbolic meaning: placing money into the dragon’s mouth represents an offering of good fortune and prosperity for the year ahead.
Midway through the performance, the dragon bent low and consumed a bundle of lettuce before spitting it outward in a burst of green. The ritual, known as cai qing or “plucking the greens,” draws on a linguistic pun. In Cantonese, lettuce (sang choi) sounds like “growing wealth,” and the act of scattering the greens symbolizes the distribution of prosperity to the community. As the lettuce fell across the floor, applause followed. Inside, two mahjong tables anchored one corner of the venue, staffed by a host who guided guests through the game’s rules and rhythms, with the clicking of tiles adding a steady percussive layer to the evening. In the main event area, passed bites from Opera House reflected contemporary interpretations of Chinese comfort food. Guests sampled Mala fried chicken, golden-edged turnip cakes, and sweet sesame balls that opened into savory pork filling.
Martell’s connection to the horse extends beyond this year’s theme. When transliterated into modern Chinese, the first character of Martell, “Ma” (马), means horse. The house highlighted that resonance with two limited-edition releases created specifically for the 2026 Lunar New Year. The Martell Cordon Bleu Lunar New Year Limited Edition by Chinese contemporary artist He Datian incorporated calligraphy into the design so that a horse emerges from the Chinese characters of the brand’s name. The dynamic brushwork evokes movement and vitality, echoing founder Jean Martell, who established the house in 1715 at age 21 and traveled on horseback throughout the Cognac region selecting eaux-de-vie. The cognac inside remains the original Cordon Bleu blend introduced in 1912, composed of more than 100 eaux-de-vie, primarily from the Borderies cru, known for richness, elegance, and a long, fruit-and-spice finish.
The centerpiece of the evening was L’Or de Jean Martell Zodiac Edition Assemblage du Cheval. Housed in a Baccarat crystal decanter shaped like a suspended drop, the edition features a deep red crystal horse-head stopper and a gold pedestal engraved with a horseshoe motif. Each bottle is individually numbered. Martell Cellar Master Christophe Valtaud selected aged Grande Champagne eaux-de-vie, including reserves drawn from previous Years of the Horse, to enrich the existing L’Or profile without altering its identity. The resulting blend carries notes of honey, candied fruit, florals, red fruit vibrancy, and extended length on the palate. Guests were invited to select Martell-branded folding fans placed throughout the venue. A small number of fans were discreetly marked with an “X.”, those who discovered the marking were invited to a private tasting of L’Or, creating an intimate moment within the larger celebration. Champagne from Perrier-Jouët flowed alongside cognac tastings as guests circulated between the bar, mahjong tables, and lounge seating.
Lunar New Year celebrations in New York often reflect a balance between heritage and evolution. The evening at Opera House demonstrated how established rituals like red envelopes, dragon dances, prosperity symbolism can be integrated into a modern, design-conscious setting without losing cultural meaning. In the Chinese zodiac, the horse represents vitality, momentum, and independence. Maison Martell’s Lunar New Year celebration positioned those qualities galloping into 2026.
On Saturday night, February 21, the Perelman Performing Arts Center filled steadily. Reflections: A Triptych by Benjamin Millepied, presented by L.A. Dance Project and co-presented with Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, arrived in New York as a culmination of the first time the three works were shown together in their entirety. Commissioned by Van Cleef & Arpels across more than a decade, the triptych Reflections (2013), Hearts & Arrows (2014), and On the Other Side (2016) traces a long arc of Millepied’s choreographic language. Seen consecutively, the evening felt like a study in presence: how bodies negotiate time, how dancers remain porous to one another, and how sequencing becomes structure.
The first piece, Reflections, unfolded against Barbara Kruger’s bold visual design of a stark red and white typographic field that pressed language into the background as both assertion and interruption. Set to David Lang’s score, the choreography oscillated between sensual suspension and sharp-edged fragmentation, where movements began in isolation and then dissolved into fleeting proximity. Timing was precise and almost lyrical. The dancers’ responsiveness to one another felt immediate and effortless, embodying themes of presence and absence. Millepied’s ballet allowed the sequencing to breathe while one dancer initiates a phrase, another absorbs and answers it. The score functions not merely as accompaniment but as atmosphere and a frame within which the dancers improvise micro-adjustments, calibrating weight, and gaze to help the audience visualize the tension between desire and memory.
In Hearts & Arrows, set to the crystalline rhythms of Philip Glass, the pace sharpened. Glass’s music carries a layered insistence, with repetition that accumulates. Dancers entered and exited like shifting facets of a gemstone, while Liam Gillick’s sculptural lighting design became an active partner, carving the stage into zones of tension and release. A cluster of dancers spun through a sequence of lifts and turns that suddenly narrowed into an intimate pas de deux. Here, the sequencing felt architectural, as lines formed, dissolved, and reassembled, and the dancers’ timing created visual counterpoint with one body accelerating while another held suspension, one phrase extending while another contracted. The score, as with much of Glass’s work, invites endurance, as relationships formed and fractured in quick succession.
But it was the final work, On the Other Side, that landed most deeply. Set again to Philip Glass, this time to selections from his Piano Études, the piece shifted from crystalline abstraction into something more human, more porous. Dancers arranged themselves in still or near-still compositions that lingered just long enough to register emotionally before dissolving into motion. These held images, like tableaus of bodies angled toward one another, and weight shared through a shoulder or hip, felt almost painterly moving through skin rather than sound. In this final work, it felt like witnessing a single organism expanding and contracting across space. The curtain call was met with sustained applause. The stage, washed in saturated color, framed the dancers hand-in-hand.
After the performance, Millepied gave a speech during the cocktail party. He spoke first of gratitude for the partnership with PAC NYC and Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, whose continued commissioning and support have allowed these works to travel and evolve. He acknowledged the dancers, describing their dedication as essential in a cultural moment where funding for the arts has grown increasingly precarious. “Money for culture,” he noted, “is clearly more difficult everywhere.” Yet the full theater in New York stood as counterpoint, proof that audiences remain hungry for live performance.
Dance, he suggested, is often considered the least popular of the performing arts. It lacks the narrative clarity of theater or the mass familiarity of music. And yet, in cities like Paris and New York, theaters continue to fill. That persistence, he implied, is not accidental. It is evidence of belief.
On Tuesday evening, inside the auditorium at Japan Society, a room filled with cultural enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and the matcha-curious gathered for Matcha: The Next Generation, a conversation and tasting presented as part of the organization’s annual Living Traditions series in partnership with the Government of Japan.
The evening explored the shift in matcha culture from ritualized, ceremonial, and preserved to an evolving and rapidly changing state. Moderated by Rona Tison, Tea Ambassador and Executive Advisor at ITO EN North America, the panel brought together three voices shaping matcha’s future across continents: Masae Shinjo, Founder and CEO of Matcha Tourism Co., Ltd.; Kunikazu Mochitani, Co-Founder of The Matcha Factory; and Silvia Mella, Founder and Creative Director of Sorate.
Japan’s rural tea-growing regions, particularly in areas like Uji and Shizuoka, are facing demographic decline. Aging farmers, shrinking labor pools, and global demand pressures have created a tension between preservation and production. Mochitani spoke to the technological shifts underway with innovations in farming and supply chain transparency that allow producers to maintain quality while adapting to modern market realities.
Shinjo approached the topic from another dimension with tourism and storytelling. Through Matcha Tourism Co., Ltd., she has built immersive experiences that reconnect consumers to origin, to the fields, the farmers, the labor behind the bowl. In an era where matcha is often consumed as a latte or aesthetic accessory, her work reframes it as agricultural heritage. Revitalizing rural communities, she explained, requires not only innovation but visibility by inviting global audiences to witness the process rather than just consume the product. The matcha boom has been shaped by global wellness trends, social media virality, and aesthetic minimalism, but Silvia Mella emphasized intentional growth by ensuring that farmers benefit from the expansion.
Beyond the economics, the panel returned repeatedly to cultivation itself. Matcha production is labor-intensive: shade-growing tea plants weeks before harvest, carefully selecting leaves, steaming, drying, de-stemming, and finally stone-grinding into the luminous green powder. Climate change, labor shortages, and mechanization debates all shape the future of this process. Following the discussion, guests moved into a tasting reception to experience the human experience behind the shift in match and how it’s being recontextualized through technology, tourism, and women-led entrepreneurship. For a beverage often photographed more than understood, the event offered insight on how the industry is balancing preservation with evolution.
Ahead of the Olympic Winter Games, Gillette Venus announced its partnership with U.S. Figure Skating athletes Alysa Liu, Isabeau Levito, and Starr Andrews, aligning with Team USA as the Official Razor of the Games. In the lead-up to competition, when routines sharpen and rituals matter most, Venus is positioning smooth precision as part of the preparation, and for figure skaters training and competing in the cold of Milan, performance extends beyond the ice. We spoke with Starr Andrews ahead of the Games about artistry, identity, and the rituals that ground her before stepping into an arena.
Andrews has never skated quietly. Long before Olympic conversations, before national podiums and international assignments, she was a child skating to “Whip My Hair,” unapologetic and magnetic. Her now iconic viral routine, set to Willow Smith’s anthem, showcased both technical skill and personality. Even earlier, at four years old, she was performing to “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Lean Back,” choosing contrast over convention. “I’ve always kind of had bold music choices,” she says. “I feel like people get scared to use certain songs because they’re not sure if judges will get it. I’m just like, I’m going to do it. And I’m going to try to act it out so they understand.”
That instinct to choose differently has followed her into adulthood. In recent Olympic cycles, Andrews began recording her own vocals for competition programs, a rare move in figure skating. The first time she performed to her own voice, singing Whitney Houston, she admits it startled her. Hearing herself echo through an arena mid-program felt surreal. “I forgot that I recorded it,” she laughs. “I was like, oh my god, that’s me.” What began as an experiment evolved into a pattern. For another Olympic year, she recorded “At Last” by Etta James. Her voice has matured, deepened, and the choice to sing her own music has become more than novelty. Skating to her own voice, she explains, shifts something internally, the performance feels less performative and more personal.
“It’s more calming,” she says. “I know what I’m singing about. It’s heartfelt. It brings a genuine smile.” She describes how different genres trigger different physical responses. While, her short program channels Beyoncé (sassy, sharp, confident), her long program moves between darker, vampire-inspired intensity and a softer second half set to “Turning Page” by Sleeping At Last, a song she sings herself. The lyrics thank those who’ve supported her journey.
Andrews enters this Olympic chapter not as a newcomer but as an athlete shaped by cycles of successes, setbacks, and visibility. Born in Los Angeles and introduced to skating by her mother, she rose through the ranks quickly, becoming one of the most recognizable young faces in U.S. figure skating. Her early viral fame introduced her to a broader audience, but her competitive résumé solidified her credibility: national medals, Grand Prix assignments, and now Olympic selection as an alternate for Team USA.
Representation has been part of her story whether she intended it or not. Growing up, she rarely saw skaters who looked like her. The first time she remembers seeing someone with curly hair on television was Adam Rippon. “I was glued to the screen,” she says. “I had never seen that before.” At international competitions, she often found herself the only Black girl in the locker room. She remembers one moment of discomfort, sitting in that realization. “I felt like I stuck out,” she says. “But I made it there. So it didn’t matter.” Now, she works with organizations like Unity Ice Academy, supporting young skaters of color entering a space that still lacks diversity. What began with a small group has grown significantly.
Beyond competition, Andrews’ creativity extends in quieter directions. She paints. She embroiders. She knits. She cooks. If she weren’t a figure skater, she imagines she’d still be in motion. Dance, gymnastics, even synchronized swimming once captures her attention, but currently skating allows her to combine athleticism with her own narrative. That intersection between beauty, performance, and discipline makes the Gillette Venus partnership feel authentic. “Figure skaters have rituals before stepping on the ice,” she says. For her, that includes shaving. Cold air, sensitive skin, dry arenas aren’t just cosmetic concerns but also physical ones. Andrews, who has eczema and dry skin, gravitates toward moisturizing razors with aloe and built-in lubrication which means fewer irritations and fewer distractions. Milano Cortina 2026 represents another chapter in her journey that began with glitter dresses and spotlights. “I started skating because I thought it was shiny and cool,” she says. Today, she steps into the Olympic conversation as a seasoned athlete, artist, and advocate. She is someone who has carved space for herself rather than waiting for it to appear.
On Saturday, February 7, the Human Rights Campaign convened LGBTQ+ advocates, artists, and allies at the New York Marriott Marquis for its annual Greater New York Dinner. The event, one of the organization’s most prominent regional gatherings, came at a moment of heightened political pressure for LGBTQ+ communities nationwide, and the evening reflected that urgency in both tone and programming.
The night brought together leaders across entertainment, fashion, activism, and politics to honor individuals whose work has shaped visibility and advocacy in tangible ways. This year’s honorees included actress, singer, and dancer Jane Krakowski, New York–based fashion designer Daniella Kallmeyer, and transgender activist Juli Grey-Owens, founder and executive director of Gender Equality New York. Rather than framing the evening as a celebration removed from current events, speakers repeatedly acknowledged the political and cultural climate shaping LGBTQ+ life in 2026, including legislative attacks on transgender rights, censorship efforts, and growing threats to press freedom.
One of the evening’s highlights was surprise appearance by journalist Don Lemon, who delivered an impassioned speech on press freedom and democratic accountability. Speaking to the room as a journalist rather than a media personality, Lemon framed the First Amendment as essential to both democracy and LGBTQ+ liberation. “The First Amendment is not just a legal guarantee,” he said. “It is the breath in the lungs of democracy.” Lemon warned against the normalization of attacks on journalists and the erosion of truth in public life, describing witness, not rebellion, as the greatest threat to unchecked power. “The free press does not exist to reassure the nation,” he said. “It exists to reveal it to itself.” His remarks drew extended applause and positioned journalistic integrity as inseparable from broader civil rights struggles.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 07: Don Lemon speaks onstage during the Human Rights Campaign 2026 Greater New York Dinner at Marriott Marquis Times Square on February 07, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Human Rights Campaign)
Jane Krakowski received HRC’s Ally for Equality Award for her long-standing support of LGBTQ+ communities through both advocacy and cultural work. In her remarks, Krakowski addressed the room directly, referencing renewed government hostility toward LGBTQ+ people and particularly toward transgender youth. “Here we are in 2026, and the government has again turned its back on this community,” she said, citing book bans, the amplification of hate speech, and legislation targeting trans children. Her speech emphasized continuity, noting that she has witnessed the community respond to adversity with solidarity and creative force before. “You refused to be silent when the government turned its back,” she said. “You refused to hide when the world tells you to be ashamed.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 07: Jane Krakowski accepts the Ally for Equality Award onstage during the Human Rights Campaign 2026 Greater New York Dinner at Marriott Marquis Times Square on February 07, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Human Rights Campaign)
Designer Daniella Kallmeyer was honored with HRC’s Visibility Award for her impact as a queer woman shaping contemporary fashion. Kallmeyer used her remarks to acknowledge the communities that supported her career and challenged her accountability. “Thank you to those who kicked doors open,” she said, emphasizing that visibility is not an individual achievement but a collective one that carries responsibility. Her recognition highlighted the expanding role of fashion as both cultural expression and platform for representation.
Juli Grey-Owens received the Community Impact Award for her work advancing transgender rights across New York State. Earlier in the evening, Grey-Owens spoke on the blue carpet about the importance of recognition for communities that have historically been pushed into hiding. “When people are forced into invisibility, normalization becomes impossible,” she said. Grey-Owens emphasized the value of local action, noting that while federal change can feel distant, meaningful progress often begins at the state and community level. Her organization has been instrumental in advocating for transgender protections in New York, including mobilizing rallies and legislative efforts on Long Island.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 07: Juli Grey-Owens accepts the Community Impact Award onstage during the Human Rights Campaign 2026 Greater New York Dinner at Marriott Marquis Times Square on February 07, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Human Rights Campaign)
HRC President Kelley Robinson followed with a speech that emphasized collective action and long-term vision. Robinson spoke about choosing hope and courage amid political setbacks, urging attendees to remain engaged rather than discouraged. “The question is not whether or not we can win,” she said. “The question is what are we willing to do.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 07: Kelley Robinson, President, HRC & HRC Foundation, speaks onstage during the Human Rights Campaign 2026 Greater New York Dinner at Marriott Marquis Times Square on February 07, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Human Rights Campaign)
Elected official Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke about recent electoral challenges and the need for continued vigilance against policies that threaten equality. Senator Cory Booker framed the current moment as one that has historically produced renewed empathy and social progress, emphasizing interconnectedness across movements. The guest list reflected the event’s intersection of culture and advocacy, attendees included actor and singer Tituss Burgess, The Gilded Age actress Louisa Jacobson, iconic NYC subway announcer Bernie Wagenblast, and comedian Dana Goldberg, among others. Their presence underscored the role of cultural figures in sustaining visibility beyond formal political spaces.
Throughout the evening, speakers returned to a shared theme that visibility remains both necessary and contested. The event resisted spectacle in favor of substance, prioritizing testimony, accountability, and coalition-building over celebration. The Greater New York Dinner reaffirmed HRC’s role not only as a civil rights organization but as a convening force at a time when LGBTQ+ communities continue to face coordinated challenges. The message echoed across speeches and conversations alike: progress is not linear, rights are not permanent, and presence whether through art, activism, journalism, or policy remains essential.
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