Happy Friday!
Today finds us in the middle of a three-night worldwide event called La Nuit des idées, The Night of Philosophy and Ideas. People are gathering in cities including Paris, London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Dakar, and Kiev for all-night “happenings” and philosophical discussions on topics including language, politics, robots, and love. Quartz design reporter Anne Quito compared this very French festival to an intellectual rave party.
With its philosophical lens and real-life interactions, La Nuit des idées might provide people around the world with a welcome shift in perspective. “This event is about creating this kind of parentheses, where good thinking can happen,” founder Meriam Korichi told Anne.
Many cities’ happenings have already happened, but if you’re in New York, you’re in luck! Tomorrow night, from 7pm until 7am at the Brooklyn Public Library, screenings, lectures, performances, virtual reality experiences, and more will take place for free. I, for one, would be all over the calligraphy-instructor-attended handwriting station—and the pastries at dawn.
And you can always touch base with big ideas at your local bookstore (or record store). Wednesday evening I found myself at Book Soup, an outstanding independent bookseller on LA’s Sunset Strip.
There, a woman wearing batwing eyeliner and leopard-spotted pants sold me a copy of George Orwell’s 1984, which I’m deeply ashamed to admit I never read. Now, thanks to Quartz’s Thu-Huong Ha, I have a guide to the novel‘s freshly relevant concepts, such as “crimestop.”
“Crimestop,” Thu explains, “was the deliberate erosion of the public’s skepticism, such that they learn not to ask hard questions.”
While we can’t be precisely sure why 1984 has lately shot up the bestseller list, in an era when presidential proxies are pushing “alternative facts,” it might be time to brush up on such Orwellian concepts—and take comfort in knowing that others are too.
You can see what else Book Soup’s booksellers recommend for the moment at the site’s “Soup of Month” page. Bookmark it!
What to wear to an all-night think-in? Chic pajamas, of course. Quartz fashion reporter Marc Bain predicts that in 2017 daytime pajamas will be the new athleisure, and I hope he’s right. We’ve already seen this on the runway at Dolce & Gabbana (pictured below), which has been pushing the “pyjama” agenda hard. Also see: Julian Schnabel.
For something a little less “rakish millionaire” and more “nonchalant freelancer” try Sleepy Jones, or the sleepwear sections at J.Crew and Brooks Brothers. Personally, I went for a floral satin set on sale at a local lingerie shop, in hopes of landing somewhere in-between. (“Rakish freelancer?”) Try mixing-and-matching with your boo, like Jenna Lyons and Courtney Crangi.
PJs aside, suits are not just for “suits” anymore. ”On Masculinities” is the theme of the current issue of Vestoj, a critical journal about fashion. Along with a lovely Rick Owens interview and other excellent features is an essay by Quartz’s Thomas Page McBee about the cultural complexities of the suit. (It’s not available online; go to a bookstore.) To some, writes Thomas, “a suit” is a derogatory term for a hack who falls into line with the establishment. To others—including Thomas, who is trans—the suit offers the opportunity to embody an alternative masculine ideal.
At the recent menswear shows in Paris, Quartz’s Marc Bain wrote, a new shape of suit has emerged. If the silhouettes at Balenciaga and Dries van Noten are any indication, a broad-shouldered, double-breasted jacket and a drainpipe pant might soon replace that shrunken, slim shape we’ve all become accustomed to.
Thom Browne—the designer we can thank for all those exposed ankles—seems again focused on reinventing the menswear staple, perhaps by entirely deconstructing it. Browne sent out models wearing what appeared to be two-dimensional, oversized pattern pieces. One model’s entire head sat inside the neck of a collar. The suit is no longer shrunken; the wearer is.
If you’re actually headed to Paris (or just clicking through the couture shows from afar), you might check out My Little Paris, a wildly popular weekly email with insider tips from the city’s pro-flâneurs. With its genial tone, watercolor illustrations, and city-specific tips, it recalls the glory days of Daily Candy (but in French).
Quartz’s Anne Quito chatted with founder Fany Péchiodat—the Gwyneth of Paris’s Goop, if you will—about how she turned her address book into a €40 million enterprise. (The key: make it all super-shareable.) La Parisienne is her new, English-language version of the newsletter for wannabe Frenchies.
May your nights be filled with great ideas, and your days with chic pajamas (and both with French kisses). Have a great weekend!
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團年飯 Tomorrow night marks the beginning of Chinese Lunar New Year! This will be the year of the rooster, and the best way to bring it good fortune is with lots of auspicious foods. Should you be attending a feast—or cooking one—Quartz’s Echo Huang has you covered with a glossary of good-luck eating, according to the Cantonese tradition. If you’re in need of cash, eat jau gok, sweet fried dumplings. For a plentiful year, have jyu, or a whole steamed fish—but leave some meat on the bones. The leftovers portend a surplus for the future. And if you’re looking for love, follow the advice of Echo’s 80-year-old grandmother, and pick up some cherry blossom branches for the house.