CHICAGO — 

Chicago teachers went on strike Thursday, marching on picket lines after failing to reach a contract deal with the nation’s third-largest school district in a dispute that canceled classes for more than 300,000 students.

The strike came after the Chicago Teachers Union confirmed Wednesday night that its 25,000 members would not return to their classrooms. It follows months of negotiations between the union and Chicago Public Schools that failed to resolve disputes over pay and benefits, class size and teacher preparation time.

The strike is Chicago’s first major walkout by teachers since 2012 and city officials announced early Wednesday that all classes were canceled for Thursday in hopes of giving more planning time for parents.

Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey said Wednesday night that the hope is for a “short strike with an agreement that will benefit our schools and our teachers.” He said Thursday morning while joining picketers outside the Peirce elementary school that striking teachers have long been frustrated by their classroom sizes and crowded conditions they face while trying to teach.

“There’s a pent-up frustration among our membership about what conditions are like in our schools,” he said, noting that Peirce doesn’t have a kindergarten class with fewer than 30 students.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she was disappointed by the union’s decision to strike.

“We are offering a historic package on the core issues — salary, staffing and class size,” she said Wednesday night at a news conference, adding that school district negotiators will remain at the bargaining table and that she hopes the union does, too.

During the 2012 strike, the district kept some schools open for half days during a seven-day walkout. District officials said this time they will keep all buildings open during school hours, staffed by principals and employees who usually work in administrative roles.

Breakfast and lunch will be served, but all after-school activities and school buses are suspended.

Janice Jackson, the district’s chief executive, encouraged parents to send their children to the school that they normally attend, but said they will be welcome in any district schools.

“We’ve put together a really comprehensive plan for the students,” Jackson said. “We will make sure they are safe and they have a productive day.”

Also striking will be 7,000 support staffers, whose union also failed to reach a contract agreement.

Before the strike announcement, June Davis said if teachers walked out, she would likely send her 7-year-old son, Joshua, to his usual elementary school — Smyth Elementary on the city’s South Side.

Davis, 38, said she would otherwise have to take her son to his grandmother’s in a southern suburb, requiring an hourlong trip on a regional bus line.

“Everybody’s hoping they will come to some kind of agreement, find some compromise,” Davis said.

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BOSTON — 

A powerful autumn storm plunged hundreds of thousands of people into the dark, toppled trees, canceled schools and delayed trains Thursday in the Northeast.

The nor’easter brought high winds and rain to the region Wednesday and Thursday. In Massachusetts, wind gusts reached as high as 90 mph on Cape Cod, and about 200,000 residents lost power early Thursday.

The storm left nearly 200,000 people without power in Maine, too. The Maine Emergency Management Agency partially activated the state’s emergency operations center. Heavy rain combined with 60 mph wind gusts knocked down trees and power lines; residents were advised to look out for hazards on Thursday because many roads were unsafe, the agency said.

The nor’easter formed off New Jersey, strengthening as it traveled north. New York authorities said a wind-driven fire destroyed three houses in the Fire Island hamlet of Ocean Bay Park early Thursday. No injuries were reported.

Train delays, power outages and school cancellations were reported throughout the region Thursday morning. Leaves and debris that littered roads created a slippery traffic hazard for commuters.

Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Massachusetts, said the storm system met the definition of “bombogenesis.”

Storm intensity is measured by central pressure— the lower the pressure, the stronger it is. A storm is considered a “bomb” when the pressure drops rapidly.

“That’s why we ended up with strong, sustained winds and wind gusts,” Buttrick said. “It’s an indicator of an extremely powerful storm and not something to ignore.”

Buttrick forecast that the storm would continue traveling north and northeast, across the Maine coast through Thursday, reaching north of Nova Scotia by Friday morning.

In Portland, Maine, the sea level pressure was among the lowest ever recorded in October and most likely broke a record, said William Watson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Maine.

Most areas saw rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches, though some areas of southern New England got about 4 inches.

In New Hampshire, about 100 school districts reported closings and delays Thursday morning due to no electricity or downed trees and powerlines. A wind gust of 128 mph was reported on Mount Washington, the Northeast’s highest peak, according to the National Weather Service.

Sustained winds on Thursday hampered efforts to restore power and clean up downed trees.

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AKCAKALE, Turkey — 

Schools in the Turkish city of Akcakale, on the border with Syria, sat empty Thursday because it was too risky for students to gather in one place.

Shelling in the area since Turkey’s incursion into Syria a week ago to push back Kurdish forces had disrupted a basic understanding for Akcakale schools: Turkish students attend classes in the morning and Syrian children go in the evening. But now no one was there out of fear.

A few days earlier, a mortar shell fired from Syria had smashed through a window in an Akcakale apartment building, killing an 8-month-old child and leaving three other people in critical condition.

A Syrian family that fled the eight years of war in their home country between forces for and against the government of President Bashar Assad had been renting the apartment that suffered the most damage, said Ahmet Toran, a Turkish construction contractor who owns the building.

“What possible crime could that baby have committed?” Toran said. “They were just trying to build a life somewhere, and in a single moment their lives were destroyed.”

A cease-fire announced Thursday by the United States and Turkey, an ally, offered at least some hope of calm for residents along the Turkey-Syria border who have seen their communities suffer as a result of nearby fighting between Turkish and Kurdish forces. Officials said a five-day cease-fire would give the Kurdish militias, who had been U.S. allies until President Trump decided to step aside to allow the Turkey incursion, time to move clear of a 20-mile buffer from the border.

In recent days, Turkish troops, tanks and other hardware have flowed into Syria, along with tens of thousands of Syrian rebel fighters under Turkey’s command. Turkish officials in Ankara say they want to protect their citizens and start settling Syrian refugees back in their own country.

At a border wall separating Akcakale from the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, a pickup truck pulled up this week beneath a guard tower manned by Turkish soldiers in battle gear. Half a dozen young Syrian men jostled for a seat, some inside the cabin, others in the bed hugging the mounted machine gun. They patted one another on the back before heading west, following the wall to a gap where they could cross into Syria. A steady stream of Syrian teenagers posed for pictures before the wall holding up the rebel flag.

Ubaid Hassun, 57, said he normally works in construction, but that had come to a halt with the fighting during the last week. He had left his village in 2014 near Suluk in Syria, some 12 miles from from Akcakale, after Islamist fighters took control.

“There was no wall back then, we just walked across. All of us came thinking we would be going back soon,” he said.

Hassun welcomed word that Turkish forces had taken control of Tal Abyad, and hoped they would push farther and take his village as well.

“There is no good way to earn a living here [in Akcakale] for me,” he said. “Back home I had fields. I could work those again.”

At the Akcakale city hall, Mayor Mustafa Yalcinkaya did not flinch this week at the sound of another mortar blast. He said northeast Syria is not a foreign land for him. Like much of the population in Akcakale, he has extended family on the other side.

More than 3.5 million Syrians live in Turkey, many along the border in towns like Akcakale, where the population has gone from 115,000 before the war to 250,000. Ankara has partly justified its incursion on the premise that Syrian Arabs should be resettled in the places they lived before the emergence of Kurdish militias.

For many Kurds, the Kurdish militias and their statelet in northeastern Syria have been an inspiration.

Cotton fields flank the border road leading west from Akcakale to Suruc. Villagers pack the cotton into giant trucks to be sold in markets in nearby Sanliurfa, even as a war rages around them.

Five years ago along the road, Kurds living in Turkey crossed into Kobani, a largely Kurdish city, to fight Islamic State militants, in a battle that was won with the help of U.S. air power.

Turkish forces watched from hills as Kurds fought Islamic State. Ankara had allowed Kurdish peshmerga fighters to transit through Turkey and outflank Islamic State in Kobani, but Turkey never took part in the battle.

For many Kurds, Kobani was a sign that Turkey viewed Kurdish nationalism as a greater threat than Islamic State. The victory in Kobani helped rekindle an insurgency by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a separatist guerrilla group that has waged a decades-long insurgency war against the government in Ankara. It also brought the wrath of the state upon a pro-Kurdish political wave that was once touted as an antidote to the PKK’s armed insurgency.

“The U.S. helped the Kurds during the revolution in Kobani, but now they have abandoned them,” said Suruc co-Mayor Abdullah Polat, who is an ethnic Kurd. “People have lost trust in the U.S., because they keep changing their minds with each tweet.”

One hundred miles east along the front line of this war, the mayor of another frontier town was firmly behind the Turkish incursion.

“Of course we stand beside our soldiers and our people,” said Abdullah Aksak, the mayor of Ceylanpinar, which abuts the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn.

Standing atop a hill overlooking Ceylanpinar on Tuesday, Aksak was thronged by Turkish news cameras, which have enthusiastically broadcast the fighting. Two children, Aksak said, were killed by a mortar blast in a nearby village that day, and 80 mortar shells fell in the area the day before.

“They are not aiming for armed forces; they are aiming directly for civilians,” Aksak said. “We are not fighting a state; we are fighting a terrorist group. This is not a war; this is an operation against a terrorist group.”

Farooq is a special correspondent.

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Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

‘Get Over It’

During a Thursday morning news conference, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney came out and said it: President Trump withheld roughly $400 million in aid to Ukraine earlier this year in part to pressure its new government to investigate Democrats.

After making that statement, which hits directly at the center of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, Mulvaney insisted that politics is always part of foreign policy: “I have news for everybody: Get over it.” Except later in the day, Mulvaney tried to walk back his comments.

Meanwhile, Gordon Sondland, the hotelier and Trump-donor-turned-ambassador to the European Union, joined the ranks of witnesses telling congressional investigators that they were troubled by the actions of the president and other officials to interject politics into U.S. foreign policy. (Read his opening statement here.)

And Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who is under scrutiny over the role he played in Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, has notified the president that he intends to leave his job soon.

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The Five-Day Cease-Fire

The U.S. and Turkey have reached an agreement for a five-day cease-fire in Syria that will leave the Turks in control of a wide swath of Syrian territory, force formerly U.S.-allied Kurdish militias to withdraw and require the U.S. to drop its newly imposed sanctions against Turkey.

Trump called it “a great thing for civilization.” Turkey’s foreign minister said, “We got what we wanted.” But Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, was among those not buying it: “Are we so weak and so inept diplomatically that Turkey forced the hand of the United States of America? Turkey?” In the Turkey-Syria border area, residents welcomed the cease-fire but, while they hope for calm, they see danger at every turn. Fighting indeed continued Friday morning in one border town despite the cease-fire.

More Politics

— Trump intends to host next year’s Group of 7 conference at his Doral International Resort in Miami in June, leveraging his official powers to benefit his private business holdings in a manner unprecedented for an American president. In announcing the plan at the White House, Mulvaney said Trump is “the most recognized name in the English language.”

— House Democrats’ hopes for a short and focused impeachment inquiry against Trump are being put to the test by a string of new leads that could lengthen their investigation, as well as by some moderate Democrats who remain skeptical about whether the case has been made for impeachment.

— The grieving parents of British teenager Harry Dunn, who was killed in a car crash involving a U.S. diplomat’s wife, said that Trump “doesn’t understand” how much the accident had broken their family. The parents’ spokesman called White House aides “a bunch of henchmen trying to make [Trump] look good.”

Under Siege by Narcos

It was like a scene from a civil war: Heavily armed criminals laid siege to the northern Mexican city of Culiacan after the government captured Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel and the son of jailed drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Masked men with high-powered weapons faced off with soldiers and took control of major streets; gunmen blocked entrances to the city with burning vehicles. In the end, Mexican security forces released Guzman after apparently being overpowered by the combatants.

The Creeping Terror

You’ve probably never heard of the 160-mile-long Garlock fault on the northern edge of the Mojave Desert. After all, it’s never been observed to produce a strong earthquake or even to move. But scientists say the Garlock fault, which is capable of generating a magnitude 8 earthquake, has begun creeping as a result of this year’s Ridgecrest earthquake sequence. And if you were ever told smaller quakes make bigger quakes less likely, this discovery is a good example of why you should think again.

PS: It’s never too early to start preparing, as last night’s magnitude 3.8 quake near Ridgecrest and this morning’s magnitude 3.7 quake centered in Compton reminded us. Here’s how.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

Decades before texting on cellphones was a thing, Roland C. Casad introduced a new form of advertising: text on squash. In 1933, Casad sent a squash to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

On this date in 1933, The Times reported: “On the squash, which weighs eighteen pounds and is twenty-one inches long, the President will find a message addressed to himself and the citizenry at large, reading as follows: ‘When the people show as much interest in the solution of this depression as our President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, does, this depression will soon be over. This is the people’s problem as much as his.’ ”

CALIFORNIA

— A pharmacy licensing exam cheating scandal has prompted the state to invalidate the scores of the more than 1,000 new pharmacists who took it in recent months — and upended their nascent careers.

— For years, Ed Buck was known for his abrasive behavior, but politicians still took his money. Who did? There are quite a few familiar names.

— The light rail to Long Beach is reopening next month. Just don’t call it the Blue Line.

— A wind-driven 443-acre brush fire burning west of Santa Barbara on Thursday afternoon prompted evacuations and the closure of a section of the 101 Freeway.

YOUR WEEKEND

— Here’s the recipe for a pumpkin spice treat you won’t be embarrassed to love. (And if you love it a little too much, could this workout routine help you lose 10 pounds?)

— If you’re a fan of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch novels — his latest lands Tuesday — try touring the fictional LAPD detective’s 15 most iconic L.A. haunts.

— Or if you feel like curling up with a new book, try tackling one of the 20 best L.A. crime books.

— Eight great things to do in L.A., including a Day of the Dead show with Lila Downs.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— Back home at Fox News, Megyn Kelly had some harsh criticism for her old employer NBC News.

— Paul Dano will play the Riddler in “The Batman.”

— Film critic Kenneth Turan says Taika Waititi’s uneven satire “Jojo Rabbit” is at its best making Nazis, and Hitler, the joke.

NATION-WORLD

— Cuban asylum seekers who have had a clear path to legal status in the United States since the 1960s are now finding that route blocked by the Trump administration’s Remain in Mexico policy, according to lawyers representing Cuban nationals.

— China’s economic growth slowed more than expected in the third quarter, with lackluster domestic demand and the ongoing downturn in global trade weighing on output.

— Born in South Korea, Christian Morales was raised by a Mexican abuela in East L.A. At his Mexican restaurant in Seoul, he’s re-creating the flavors of the home he can’t return to since being deported.

BUSINESS

— Telecommunications giant T-Mobile has agreed to partner with Quibi, a Hollywood start-up that plans to distribute bite-size entertainment designed for millennials.

— The former head of investment giant Pimco will plead guilty in the college admissions scandal, federal prosecutors say.

— Wells Fargo must offer 66 jobs to women and black applicants it rejected five years ago, now that the feds have found it discriminated against them.

— Commissioner Adam Silver admits the NBA’s China conflict has hit its bottom line hard. “I don’t know where we go from here,” he said. “The financial consequences have been and may continue to be fairly dramatic.”

SPORTS

— The UCLA Bruins football team beat Stanford, snapping an 11-game losing streak against the Cardinal that was their longest against any team in their 100 years of football.

— Young quarterbacks are taking over the NFL. Here’s why.

— The Lakers’ JaVale McGee says he wasn’t faking an injury. Social media isn’t so sure.

OPINION

— Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal makes the best of what’s still a terrible idea, The Times Editorial Board writes.

— Columnist Virginia Heffernan says Pete Buttigieg has the pedigree to clean up after Trump. But is that enough to win in 2020?

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

— “I guess I’m the Meryl Streep of generals”: Former Defense Secretary James N. Mattis reacts to Trump’s calling him “the world’s most overrated general” and claiming credit for defeating Islamic State himself. (Politico)

— “How indie went pop — and pop went indie — in the 2010s.” (Pitchfork)

— What looks like a fungus, acts like an animal and has almost 720 sexes? Meet “the blob,” otherwise known as the slime mold Physarum polycephalum, on display at the Paris Zoological Park. (The Guardian)

ONLY IN L.A.

Rikki, don’t lose that paddle number? Hundreds of guitars, pedals, keyboards and other music gear are up for auction today and tomorrow in Beverly Hills. But this is hardly a random collection; it’s the result of musician Walter Becker’s decades-long pursuit of instruments and gadgets as co-founder of 1970s jazz-rock band Steely Dan. Fittingly enough, it includes “the weirdest rare boutique pedals that you’ve ever seen.”

If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends. Comments or ideas? Email us at [email protected].

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18th Oct 2019

Treasured jewels and sparkling diamonds shine bright in the subconscious at the mention of Cartier. The Juste un clou, the Love bracelet and the Tank are but a few of the maison‘s signature identifiers we’ve come to recognise and covet. Founded in 1847 in Paris by then 28-year-old Louis-François Cartier, the eponymous jewellery giant has become neatly woven into our sociohistorical fabric over its 172-year history, having adorned the décolletages and wrists of famous figures from Jean Cocteau to Elizabeth Taylor and Princess Diana.

But what of the female hand at the maison‘s helm? Piquing the interests of Coco Chanel, George Barbier and Louis Cartier, Jeanne Toussaint was hired by Cartier in 1913 as director of bags, accessories and objects. Then in 1933, her indelible mark on the company was solidified, when Toussaint was named director of Cartier’s luxury jewellery department. A title she wholeheartedly embraced, Toussaint mobilised her position in the company to introduce personal interests in Art Deco, sculpture and India to the jewellery house and its customers, precipitating a revival of Tutti Frutti-style jewellery and the introduction of its enduring Panthère collection.  

To delve deeper into her influence on the house, Cartier’s new Past + Present campaign harks back to the past in an illustrative retelling of Toussaint’s formative chapter within the legacy of Cartier. Arnaud Carrez, Cartier director of marketing and communication, as well as Cartier’s heritage department, speak with Vogue about the house’s new digital series, Toussaint’s irrevocable mark on the maison and how she came to inform the Panthère collection. 

Tell us about this new digital series. 

Arnaud Carrez: “L’Odyssée de Cartier explores where and how our maison takes its inspiration from. With this new cultural program, we aim to showcase the diverse influences nurturing Cartier’s creativity, including lesser known stories as well as strong characters, such as Jeanne Toussaint. As such, the idea of dedicating an episode to her came naturally to us. Starting the program with that particular episode is a way for us to pay tribute to this bold and visionary woman who strongly inspired Cartier’s values.”

How did Toussaint capture the attention of Louis Cartier? What was their relationship like?

Heritage department: “Jeanne Toussaint met Louis Cartier in the days of World War I. He was immediately intrigued by her sure taste, and asked her to join the maison in the early 1920s. They complemented each other very well. Where Louis Cartier was very knowledgeable about gemstones, diamonds, settings and technique, Jeanne Toussaint had a relentless creativity and an eye for contemporary fashions, especially the graphic and geometric Art Deco movement. But above all, they shared a taste for distant lands and a shared vision of style. This is why Louis Cartier naturally appointed her as his successor and Cartier creative director. She remained in that job until she retired in the early 1970s.”

Toussaint’s appointment as creative director would have been revolutionary at the time. Tell us about its significance.

AC: “At that time, in the thirties, there were very few women leading the creation of jewelry maisons or even fashion houses. In a way, Louis Cartier made an audacious and pioneering move in giving Toussaint this responsibility within our maison. That being said, Cartier has always been a maison open to the world, and the new. What Louis saw in Toussaint was first and foremost her endless creativity, her determination and passion to bringing Cartier’s style beyond the boundaries of time.”

Tell us about Jeanne Toussaint’s impact on the legacy of Cartier.

HD: “Jeanne Toussaint was obviously a major influence within the maison. She really laid the foundation for our stylistic vocabulary and creativity, but her influence extended well beyond the maison’s walls.  She left an indelible mark on 20th century jewellery. She had a deeply personal style, very distinctive, nourished by architecture, naturalism and exotic cultures. Even during her lifetime, people referred to the ‘Toussaint taste’. To this day, we keep drawing on her stylistic heritage and her endless creativity. She was visionary, bold, open-minded, curious. She inspired Cartier’s values and spirit and remains at their heart.”

Toussaint helped to revitalise Cartier’s ‘Tutti Frutti’ collections. Tell us about how she accomplished this.

HD: “Cartier and India have an old shared history. Jacques Cartier made his first trip to India in 1911, building strong relationships with maharajahs and bringing back an inspiration and unique style that has infused Cartier’s jewellery to this day.

In the 50’s, Jeanne Toussaint who had also travelled to India and loved composing her own rich and flamboyant palettes, revived and enriched what we call the ‘Tutti Frutti style’: multi-colored pieces featuring emeralds, rubies and sapphires with diamond accents around carved stones. Inspired by the colour of the gems and the gold, she also urged the designers at the firm to return to yellow gold after a predominance of platinum settings which had lasted over 30 years. 

Today, ‘Tutti Frutti’ jewels are among the most distinctive of Cartier’s designs and a considerable part of Cartier stylistic vocabulary, and we keep celebrating this heritage within each of our high jewellery collections.”

Toussaint’s designs captured the attention of strong-willed female celebrities, socialites and royalty alike. Can you elaborate on Toussaint’s connection with these clients and friends? 

HD: “Jeanne Toussaint was avant-gardist in her private life as well as in her professional life. She definitely supported female empowerment though her creations, both strong and statement oriented but also more flexible and malleable than ever, in order to allow women easy movement and to encourage a new freedom of attitude. She paved the way for other women and thought of jewellery as a way to enhance one’s beauty but also to reveal one’s personality. Her clients definitely responded to that. They were very diverse, from Maria Felix to the Duchess of Windsor, from Elizabeth Taylor to Daisy Fellowes, and many others. They all shared a common sense of femininity, [they were all] multi-faceted, free-spirited and independent.”

Tell us about Toussaint’s affiliation with the panthère.

HD: “Toussaint was ‘the panthère’. That nickname [given to her by Cartier] conveyed both her magnetic charm and her rebellious spirit, her feline allure and her sharp mind. She made the panthère her totem in life as well as in jewellery.”

Tell us about the importance of the panthère as a motif for the house.

HD: “As Cartier’s creative director, Jeanne Toussaint gave the panthère a new, more sculptural look. She gave volume and life to the cat, encouraging her designers to go to Paris zoos in order to sketch the animal in every pose. In a 1948 brooch for the Duchess of Windsor, she set a yellow-gold cat spotted with black lacquer on a very large emerald, thereby creating the first three-dimensional version of the animal. 

To this day, the panther remains a key expression of Cartier’s femininity and a driving force of our mindset.”

Why do you think the motif resonates with the modern Cartier woman today? 

AC: “The panthère is a key character and inspiration within our maison style – it truly is at the heart of Cartier’s DNA and a driving force of our mindset. It is also an expression of Cartier’s femininity which is very relevant in today’s society: determined, passionate, daring.”

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In the living room of this home in Paris’s 16th arrondissement, bespoke Bryan O’Sullivan Studio coffee tables by Rupert Bevan; Faye Toogood Roly Poly table and chairs; Fortuny Icaro pendant lights; Tom Kemp vessel (on table) from Henry Saywell; rug from Tovine Sellers; artwork by Abigail O’Brien. 

A long-term client approached Irish-born, London-based interior architect Bryan O’Sullivan asking him to transform a grand Beaux-Arts mansion in the chic 16th arrondissement of Paris into a comfortable, good-looking family home. The architect’s biggest challenge? To avoid turning the house into a pastiche of its glamorous architectural past. Previously owned by LVMH fashion mogul Bernard Arnault, the home was bought by the current owners about eight years ago.

By the time O’Sullivan came onboard three years later — after the owners had tried unsuccessfully to kickstart the renovation a number of times — the traditional rooms were still in place, but many of the original details had been stripped out. “The floors weren’t great quality, and the plumbing was all shot, but it was still an amazing canvas to work with,” says O’Sullivan.

In the kitchen, bespoke Bryan O’Sullivan Studio kitchen by Doig Furniture Makers; wideboard oiled oak flooring; bespoke ironwork by Van Cronenburg; photograph by Eoin Moylan. 

The interior expert’s first rule was to ensure that any architectural interventions stayed true to the original building. “We didn’t want to mess with such a masterpiece of a house,” he says of echoing the early 20th-century age of the home in the redesign. “We wanted it to feel authentic.” So O’Sullivan and his team conducted extensive research into period details at Paris’s nearby Musée Nissim de Camondo, a once-lavish mansion that was built around the same time as this house. Here, he found inspiration for the new decorative stucco, stair runners, stone floors and Versailles parquetry flooring reinstated on the ground and first floors, as well as the thinner, longer boards of the chevron parquet on the top floor. O’Sullivan also drew on the talents of dozens of independent craftsmen including Irish stonemasons, Belgian timber specialists and British furniture makers, as well as French gilders, ironmongers, painters and polishers.

In the dining room, bespoke Bryan O’Sullivan Studio dining table and chairs by Jonathan Sainsbury; Christopher Butterworth Italian console with banded onyx top from the Battersea Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair; bespoke Bryan O’Sullivan Studio chandelier by Francis Russell Design; 1960s Zugasti Spanish gilt-metal wall lights from the Battersea Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair; Les Lointains wallpaper from Zuber; rug from Tovine Sellers. 

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New structural additions included arched-fanlight doors to divide the dining room and grand salon from the main entrance hall. “They provide a really nice vista all the way through the ground floor and out to the garden,” says the designer.

More natural light floods through an oblong skylight and top-floor light well down into the gallery on the first floor. “Before, it was a really underwhelming space. Now, it really feels kind of wow.” That same wow factor also comes from the impressive scale of the rooms, originally designed by Grand Palais architect Henri Deglane.

“They are extraordinarily generous, even for Paris,” says O’Sullivan. With his own impressive architectural pedigree, O’Sullivan was the perfect man for this job.

In the main bedroom, bespoke Bryan O’Sullivan Studio bed by Dudgeon; antique chairs upholstered in Clarke & Clarke Alvar Mist velvet from Gallery 25; pendant and wall lights by Josef Hoffmann and Wiener Werkstätte for Woka; Fontana Arte floor lamp from Gordon Watson; Phi Phi Flycatcher rug from Sinclair Till. 

Having worked with major architects including Annabelle Selldorf in New York and Luis Laplace in Paris, and interior designers David Collins and Martin Brudnizki in London, O’Sullivan founded his eponymous practice in 2013. Today, he has projects traversing high-end residential projects from New York to Ibiza, superyachts and destinations such as Ballynahinch Castle Hotel in Galway, Ireland, and The Tamburlaine Hotel in Cambridge, UK.

This house’s eclectic aesthetic mixes traditional gilded edging and Louis XV-style sconces with vibrantly patterned marble fireplaces, Fortuny pendant lamps and curvaceous Pierre Paulin sofas. Italian floor lamps and shell-shaped cocktail chairs from the 1950s team with contemporary woven leather, wool and raffia rugs by Toyine Sellers and 19th-century antiques sourced from London’s decorative-arts fairs and the Marché aux Puces in Paris.

In the bathroom, Jean Royère chair; walls, floor and vanity in Calacatta Retro marble; Reda Amalou Mat Dot side table from The Invisible Collection; vanity wall lights by Ercole Barovier; La Chapelle deck-mounted basin bridge mixers from Lefroy Brooks.

Giacometti-inspired gesso-finished chandeliers in the dining room and hallways provide a modern contrast to the ornate black-and-gilded wrought-iron balustrades. Bedrooms showcase special bespoke pieces, such as fluted headboards and a walnut and bouclé sleigh bed inspired by the work of mid-century architect Jules Leleu that cleverly conceals a pop-up TV.

“I try to hide televisions as much as I can — they are my absolute pet hate,” says O’Sullivan. In the bathroom, there’s a lively juxtaposition between the floor, which is predominantly green with white stripes, and the wall, which is predominantly white with green stripes. “This was the trickiest room to get right because you see it from the bedroom. Everything had to be spot-on,” says the interior designer. The result is a house that feels grand but not intimidating. “Nothing feels too far away or disconnected,” says O’Sullivan. “What we tried to do was balance the house’s past with the right contemporary mix of colour, texture and playfulness so the owners felt instantly at home.”  

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18th Oct 2019

There are few things fashion fans find more compelling than a new pair of shoes. The soft touch of supple leather, the clean slate of a new sole, the promise of an elongating heel – all are temptations enough to stir an idle window shopper to hand over their hard-earned cash and take home a box (or two!) complete with their new prized possessions.

And no one knows this better than Italian master craftsman and shoe designer to the stars Giuseppe Zanotti. Famous for his sky high heels with amped up glamour and statement sneakers, boots and sandals, Zanotti’s designs have maintained a firm grip on the feet of some of the most famous celebrities in the world. The brand, based in Italy, has been worn by the likes of Kim Kardashian West,  Gwyneth Paltrow and Candice Swanepoel to name a few, and has amassed a global audience of over 4.5 million on Instagram alone. 

Off the back of the designer’s recent presentation of his spring/summer 2020 collection at Milan Fashion Week, Zanotti chats to Vogue about growing up in the industry, differentiating his designs from the rest, and why women continue to be a an incredible source of inspiration. 

Tell us about your spring/summer 2020 collection.

“The spring/summer collection is a reinterpretation of our signature codes, revisited with unexpected details that also give an unfinished effect in some cases. There are also bold graphics, innovative proportions, uncommon hardware matched with a vast array of materials, from the more traditional to the more innovative ones… femininity and elegance are a must!”

Do you have a favourite pair of shoes in the collection, and why?

“It’s hard to say, but I think that the Lilium sandal makes quite a statement. Nature in general is a source of inspiration for me and this maxi leather lily flower not only speaks for true Italian artisanship, but is also sort of a tribute to nature and magic.” 

You’ve worked in the industry for so many years. Does the design process ever become easier?

“No, never! Otherwise I would get bored! The design process cannot get easier with me, as it’s in constant evolution just like the Zanotti women. When I design I always think of them: they are multifaceted; they cannot be ascribable to a unique role or to a definite label. They constantly evolve with society, so my shoes do [too], to respond to their new needs. With these premises, the design process definitely cannot stay the same!”

Where do you look for inspiration and what keeps you motivated?

“My creativity and curiosity are fundamental sources of motivation for me. I’m a creative person, I have always been and always will be hopefully! I draw my inspiration from everything that surrounds me: art, different cultures, music – it depends on the moment. I often imagine stories set in different periods of time and places (ancient Greece, the ’40s) and then I design what I see.

But the main source of inspiration is still the woman. I watch women as they live their lives: they love traveling, with body and mind, reading books, watching TV, they like to confront themselves with other women of different backgrounds. I create for them. Of course, also their body has a leading role… women’s legs and feet are so important!”

What is the most exciting part of being a shoe designer and what is the most challenging?

“‘Croce e delizia’ we say in Italian. The search for the perfect shoe is at the same time what keeps me going – and dreaming – and what troubles my entire living. As a designer, when you have your latest creation in your hands – the perfect one, just like you wanted – you immediately feel a sense of joy and confidence, but soon after you realise you’re not there yet, you need to keep searching and then it starts all over again. It’s frustrating and motivating at the same time.”

Were you always interested in shoes ever since you were a child?

“I realised I was meant to design and craft shoes when I was 18-years-old. I grew up in San Mauro Pascoli, a small village on the Adriatic Riviera where footwear is the main industry. I’ve always been an acute observer and looking at the beautiful women that I happened to meet I soon realised there was something odd: they were so beautiful but their shoes did not do justice to them; they did not exalt their beauty and were not suited for the changing times we were living in.

I started thinking I could do something about it. [I felt] almost like a sculptor that would like to change what he does not like with his own bare hands. But I was too young and did not have the necessary skills so I began working in a shoe factory to learn the basics and soon after I started consulting for big international fashion houses. And this is how it all started!”

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Your shoes are intimately linked to Italian heritage. How do you define Italian style?

“The woman who buys my shoes, she is cosmopolitan; wherever she goes she looks for innovation, beauty, quality. I think these characteristics are beyond the concept of nationality.”

How do you distill big, creative ideas and communicate these in such small objects such as shoes?

“My formula consists in always paying attention to the balance of elements that form a shoe, by selecting the right embellishment or jewels on the right silhouette. Even if they have intricate details, my shoes always have a distinctive sign: their lightness. This is the key! I use light, natural materials, they are rich but with a light touch. I use silk and well-tanned hides and also the other components, soles and heels, are light as well as the proportions and the styles themselves.”

Tell us about how it feels to have your shoes worn by the biggest celebrities in the world.

“I can remember every single time an A-list celebrity wears my creations, because it always makes me feel so proud. It’s not because of their celebrity status, but it’s all about what these women represent: they are strong, independent, self-confident. Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Rita Ora… They are examples of extraordinary women who are not scared of raising their voices. They decide who, how and when to be. At the same time, they are not afraid of their femininity, of their seduction skills. They represent what a woman should be for me, so it gives me such joy when they choose to wear my creations!”

How do you hope women feel in your shoes?

“I really hope they feel empowered. Whether it be heels or flats, I want them to gain self-confidence when wearing my shoes, without renouncing [their] femininity and sensuality. With my shoes, I would like to give a woman the chance to reinvent herself every time, without making compromises. It seems strange but such a small object like a shoe can have such a great impact on us!

To women I say: when buying shoes, follow your instincts, go for whatever makes you feel strong and confident!”

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18th Oct 2019

While we have welcomed many a television reboot with open arms this year, there are a select few series and films that we still prefer remain untouched. So, when we heard the news of ‘90s classic Clueless being slated for a television reboot, we were left unsure about how to feel.

Being that the 1995 film—which remains to this day the perfect embodiment of the period’s zeitgeist—still forms part of our top teen movies of all time, and has provided a number of memorable wardrobe moments, including Cher Horowitz’s yellow tartan look and the white Calvin Klein date night mini dress, we should have been ecstatic at the news.

But, if we’re being honest, almost all we felt was the uncontrollable urge to utter “As if!?!”

Yes, we know what you’re thinking—a Clueless TV spin-off already exists, and the original film itself was an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. But, while the ‘90s series, which aired between 1996-1999, continued Cher, Dionne and frenemy Amber’s storyline as Beverly Hills teens and their tales at Bronson Alcott High, the revived series will take a completely different trajectory.

Touted as an amalgamation of modern-day teen culture mainstays, more specifically “Mean Girls meets Riverdale meets a Lizzo music video”, the new series will bind the genres of teen drama with mystery and amplify each.

According to Deadline, the plot will provide a “baby pink and bisexual blue-tinted, tiny sunglasses-wearing, oat milk latté and Adderall-fuelled look” at what happens when the seminal high school queen bee Cher suddenly goes missing and her right-hand girl Dionne “steps into Cher’s vacant Air Jordans”—and with that sentence comes the first and second problem with this revival.

One, we could never imagine a Clueless universe in which Cher isn’t front and centre, scrolling through her virtual wardrobe or setting friends up on dates. And two, somewhere, the fictional Cali girl character is cringing at the idea of ever placing on a pair of hi-top sneakers.

But of course, given the soft spot we have for nostalgia, we’re still going to give Clueless’s upcoming television revival the viewing it deserves. Each episode of the new series, which will be set in set in 2020 Los Angeles, will reportedly play out for an hour, and will follow Dionne as she attempts to unravel the mystery of what happened to her best friend.

No news on a release date just yet, or where the series will air. Deadline reports CBS TV Studios, who own the rights to the Amy Heckerling written and directed film, are considering offers from a number of streaming services, as well as US network, the CW, which already airs a number of teen shows, including Riverdale, the new Nancy Drew series, Dynasty and Katy Keene.

We’re keeping our fingers crossed the new series doesn’t break our Clueless-loving hearts.

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Melbourne’s Chapel Street is synonymous with great food and fashion, with the new Capitol Grand building at the South Yarra end promising to take things up a notch. Designed by Bates Smart and costing property developer Larry Kestelman $800 million, Capitol Grand will comprise 50 floors of apartments on top of an enviable swathe of new eateries and bars.

Leading the charge on Capitol Grand’s new hospitality space is the foodie arm of beloved Australian department store, David Jones. Founded in 1838, the store has a strong place in Australian cultural identity, and was the setting for Madeline St John’s hit novel Women in Black (which was also made into a film starring Rachael Taylor).

The newest David Jones Food store will overlook Chapel Street and act like a modern-day corner shop, marrying convenience with high quality fresh produce. Gourmet pre-prepared meals will be on offer, including a new vegan range (see lead image), as well as organic barista coffee, chocolate made from ethically sourced cocoa, and entertaining essentials like fine wine and spirits, gourmet cheese, cured meats and ready-to-cook party foods.

And that’s only the beginning. As well as a fabulous curated range of food and drink, the new location will also offer fresh flowers and potted plants in collaboration with local Melbourne Instagram sensation, Plant Society – because there’s no host alive who doesn’t love a serve of fresh blossoms or greenery with their house guests.

Model and beauty entrepreneur Jessica Gomes will cut the ribbon to the new David Jones Food store at 9am on Thursday October 17 – and the first 100 customers will be met by complimentary coffee and a gifting wall. It all sounds like the ideal way to start a Thursday, particularly if you’re one of the many Melbournites who wake up hungry with a hankering for high quality caffeine.

Visit: davidjones.com/capitol-grand

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Melbourne’s Chapel Street is synonymous with great food and fashion, with the new Capitol Grand building at the South Yarra end promising to take things up a notch. Designed by Bates Smart and costing property developer Larry Kestelman $800 million, Capitol Grand will comprise 50 floors of apartments on top of an enviable swathe of new eateries and bars.

Leading the charge on Capitol Grand’s new hospitality space is the foodie arm of beloved Australian department store, David Jones. Founded in 1838, the store has a strong place in Australian cultural identity, and was the setting for Madeline St John’s hit novel Women in Black (which was also made into a film starring Rachael Taylor).

The newest David Jones Food store will overlook Chapel Street and act like a modern-day corner shop, marrying convenience with high quality fresh produce. Gourmet pre-prepared meals will be on offer, including a new vegan range (see lead image), as well as organic barista coffee, chocolate made from ethically sourced cocoa, and entertaining essentials like fine wine and spirits, gourmet cheese, cured meats and ready-to-cook party foods.

And that’s only the beginning. As well as a fabulous curated range of food and drink, the new location will also offer fresh flowers and potted plants in collaboration with local Melbourne Instagram sensation, Plant Society – because there’s no host alive who doesn’t love a serve of fresh blossoms or greenery with their house guests.

Model and beauty entrepreneur Jessica Gomes will cut the ribbon to the new David Jones Food store at 9am on Thursday October 17 – and the first 100 customers will be met by complimentary coffee and a gifting wall. It all sounds like the ideal way to start a Thursday, particularly if you’re one of the many Melbournites who wake up hungry with a hankering for high quality caffeine.

Visit: davidjones.com/capitol-grand