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A New Hotel Celebrates Hudson’s Creative Boom, With Nods to its Industrial Past

Inside the new Pocketbook Hudson hotel in upstate New York, with interiors by Charlap Hyman & Herrero. Photos: Sean Davidson

For those who don’t live in New York, allow me to explain Hudson, a town about 2.5 hours north of Manhattan, population just under 6,000: A former industrial manufacturing hub, since the 1990s it’s been known as a haven for creatives and the LGBTQ+ community, and a prime destination for ultra-high-end antiquing. Once the pandemic hit, its popularity exploded. It’s still a quaint, bohemian upstate town, but on steroids — an alternate Brooklyn filled with former city dwellers (including Misha Kahn and Katie Stout, among others) and pricey farm-to-table restaurants. It already had boutique hotels, even before Covid, but this month the mother of all hospitality projects opened in the center of town, a 46-room property whose list of contributors and amenities befits both Hudson’s artsy pedigree as well as its uptick in well-heeled visitors. Pocketbook — so-named for the massive 70,000 square-foot landmarked former handbag factory it now occupies — boasts an interior by Charlap Hyman & Herrero, a contemporary art program by multimedia artist WangShui, a three-floor mini-mall with vintage stores and the avant-garde fashion boutique Kusuri, a club that will host guest DJs, a fermentation-forward restaurant by a Francis Mallman alum, and a bathhouse forthcoming next year. There’s also a design gallery space where Kahn, Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery, Rich Aybar, and others will set up shop starting next month.

Considering this blinding marquee of talent, the actual interiors of Pocketbook are relatively understated, partly in deference to the kind of unwinding people generally like to do when they visit the country. It’s a lot of original brick, pared-back Judd-style wood furnishings, pretty textiles, and minimalist steel, with a few fashionable details like all the chainmail hanging in the restaurant. There are pieces by Kahn sprinkled in, and the bathrobes are Eckhaus Latta, but the aim of the restoration was clearly to build a bridge between Hudson’s vibrant present and its humble past — to remind visitors that they’ve indeed left the city, and arrived in a place whose spirit hits in its own way.

With The Smoking Section, 40 Artists Redefine the Ashtray for the Cannabis Era

Selections from Gotham’s Smoking Section exhibition, clockwise from top left: Rachelle Sawatsky, John Gill, Rachel Berks, Richard Haining, Anna Sew Hoy, Studio S II, Pap Souleye Fall, Emma Safir

Back in 2018 we wrote about the ashtray exhibition Zoe Fisher put on at her old gallery in Brooklyn, an early entry in the wave of single-object group shows that soon followed. At the time, though, cannabis was still four years away from legal sales in New York, which casts a new exhibition with a similar theme in an entirely different light: The Smoking Section, on view now through January 5, has filled the high-end cannabis lifestyle store Gotham with more than 40 ashtrays that specifically examine how the plant and its implements can serve as “catalysts for reflection, rebellion, and release.” Aesthetically speaking, that means that some of the participating artists and designers have channeled the vibe of ’60s and ’70s counterculture — if not directly, then through a similar irreverent playfulness, as in pieces like a miniature sink full of dirty dishes by Jennifer Xiao or a truly insane and hilarious Frozen Moments–style set piece by Shauna Steinbach where a faux-fur “rat” is dipping its tongue into a resin-soaked trash pile.

Other artists, though, created more abstract ashtrays that simply pay homage to the sense of well-being that cannabis brings to many, and how its status as a beloved daily ritual demands tools that can bring just as much positivity to our lives (and our living rooms). We’ve highlighted a small selection of those above, from a melted-plastic chonk by Pap Souleye Fall to a sculptural swoop of wood by Richard Haining to a Marianne Brandt–inspired geometric metal number by Gotham’s VP of creative, Rachel Berks. Head to Chelsea to see — and shop — all the ashtrays.

A New Private Vintage Atelier Balances 19th-Century Ornament and Space-Age Steel

At The Vintage Project in Los Angeles, private clients can shop vintage Parisian clothing in a showroom designed by Studio Keeta. Photos: Shade Degges and Austin Leis

Even before she launched The Vintage Project in Los Angeles this fall, Sarah Jordan Buss had been collecting garments for it for years with a singular vision in mind: to be a purveyor of Parisian style, sourcing every archival gown and accessory she’d offer exclusively from the city of light. So when she tasked the local firm Studio Keeta with conjuring a private atelier for her clients, recreating the feel of 19th century Paris was an obvious starting point. The only issue was that the Beverly Hills space meant to become the The Vintage Project was a characterless box with horrible can lighting, so — just like Buss — Keeta’s Kristina Khersonsky had to fully import the look. Every mosaic floor, Murano chandelier, floral ceiling appliqué, Art Deco sconce, and classical ornate door was sourced and added by her team, transforming the naked shell into a boudoir-inspired Haussmannian hideaway.

And yet to avoid the project slipping into pastiche, Khersonsky decided to introduce a contrasting futuristic element into the design by way of its furnishings and textiles, suspending sleek tubular metal clothing rails from the ceiling and incorporating reflective chrome into pedestals, lounge chair bases, and a bold sleigh-frame chaise longue in the center of the main room. The fitting rooms are framed into the space in a brushed aluminum structure, while the entirety of two windowed walls are draped with a soft blue ombré fabric. If you can’t shop Paris this winter, The Vintage Project may be the next best thing, but note that it’s a tad more exclusive — you’ll need to pay for an appointment first.

Peek Elevates the Classic Spotlight in Warm Brass, With a Fun Twist

Brendan Ravenhill Studio’s new Peek family of spotlights and sconces, shot in its Los Angeles studio. Photos: Elizabeth Carababas

Preparing to write this story, I went down a major rabbit hole looking at vintage Ikea spotlights; one in particular, an actual relic from his childhood, sits on the desk of Los Angeles lighting designer Brendan Ravenhill, and was a partial inspiration for his newest series, Peek. Before I knew exactly which one it was (this miniature steel version), I wanted to investigate what Ikea was serving up back in the ’80s and ’90s that could be so much cooler than the usual spots or cans, most of which are either minimal/industrial at best and generically ugly at worst. There were some fun examples for sure, but the issue with vintage finds like these — when it comes to a typology like the spotlight that’s meant to be ultra-functional — is that you never know when they’re going to be heavy on style and weak on performance. And of course, you almost always need to hunt down a lot more than one.

When Ravenhill returned to the archetype to try to perfect his own contemporary version, he stuck with the recognizable cylindrical and rectangular shapes, but rendered them entirely in warm satin brass, added a pretty teardrop-shaped dimmer to the wall-mounted versions, and implemented the key detail that became Peek’s namesake: a hinging split shade that allows users to widen or narrow the light source as they please. As much as we love an eBay search, sometimes an upgraded classic is undisputedly the better bet.

Unpolished Materials and Contemporary Craft Define Enso’s First Interior

Enso’s first interiors project refashions a three-story Brooklyn brownstone originally built in 1888 by architect William Flanagan.

Before they jumped to the upper echelons of our “ones to watch list” this past May, launching a rough-hewn but elevated collection of furniture and lighting at Colbo during New York design month, Yuria Kailich and Joel Harding of Enso cut their teeth working for interiors firms like Gachot, Ashe Leandro, and Workshop APD. We actually weren’t initially aware that the pair had a side of their practice other than their “unpolished and honest” objects, so the news of a recently completed 19th century brownstone in Brooklyn was an interesting twist. The 2,800 square-foot project is replete with both their own pieces as well as those of contemporaries like Minjae Kim, Green River Projects/Bode, and Of the Cloth — plus the obligatory vintage finds, given the home is nearly 250 years old — but the overall effect rings quite true to the duo’s mission statement. “Enso describes its interiors as folk,” they say — “rooted in craftsmanship, shaped by hand, and attuned to the rituals of daily life.” There are aged, imperfect finishes and textures throughout the space, and a strong focus on natural materials; while the wood kitchen has the contemporary sleekness one would expect a client of this income bracket to demand, the project strives toward character overall. We’re curious to see more.

Editor’s List

Clockwise from top left:

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While showing with Petra at BDNY two weeks ago, I spotted this stunner in the booth of Anastasio Home — the housewares brand’s newest marble tray, the Shell. Definitely looks like something you’d source from a luxury antique dealer in France, but it’s available to all and only $195 (I say “only” because it’s 7″ in diameter of solid marble, so it’s got some serious weight to it). Would look so nice on a nightstand, entrance console, or bathroom counter.

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Marta gallery in Los Angeles just opened an exhibition of drawings by Chase Biado and lights by Antonia Pinter, better known to many of us as the duo behind A History of Frogs. It’s fun to see the individual interests behind a studio we only know as a joint entity, especially because Jill and I are both now in love with Pinter’s Pierrot pendants, one of which is shown here. I’ve never seen a form inspired by jesters and clowns look so very sophisticated. Also, #tinyballs.

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I can’t tell you how many things I find in the process of Google Image Search-ing other things. There should be a name for that phenomenon. This week, looking for one chair led me to this other, 100% unrelated chair, a 1970s Brutalist hand-carved gem from the Los Angeles antiques purveyor Galerie Provenance. I am bowing down to this vision of beauty and also mentally filing it under “everything really has been done before.” If I had seen this in a contemporary exhibition last week I would not have batted an eyelash.

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Ending this weekend in Rome is a wonderful solo exhibition by Italian designer Francesco Faccin that focuses on one of my favorite favorite objects: the pedestal. In our book we talked about how placing an object on a column in your interior can make that object feel more standalone and special, but it’s even more exciting when the pedestal itself is beautiful and considered, too. Faccin’s whole show consists of dozens of different pedestals he’s designed, each topped with an object he’s pulled from either his personal collection or the archive of Giustini / Stagetti, where the show is taking place. Hurry over if you’re in Rome!

News

Legless chairs and a low table, part of the new Japanese Design exhibition at Side Gallery in Barcelona. Photo: Jeroen Verrecht

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Side Gallery in Barcelona will spend the winter showcasing postwar Japanese design, and how the furniture makers of the so-called Economic Miracle era “sought to reconcile the nation’s centuries-old woodcraft, minimalism, and spatial harmony with the optimism of an industrialized future.” Many of the names in the exhibition are ones I hadn’t previously heard, like Isamu Kenmochi, Daisaku Choh, and Ubunji Kidokoro; at first the fare struck me as frustratingly Scandinavian-esque until I noticed some of the little details, not to mention the legless chairs and dropped-low dining tables.

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If you’re in New York between now and December 20, stop by Superhouse gallery in Soho to see a solo show of work by Elizabeth Browning Jackson, who launched her career in the 1980s making both furniture as well as rugs that she treated as fine art. The show mixes “reinterpretations” of some of the original rugs with entirely new ones she created this year, along with some of her original chairs and tables.

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Will definitely head to MoMA soon to see the Helen Frankenthaler show that opened earlier this week, showcasing five paintings from the museum’s collection, spanning the ’50s to the ’80s. Presented in the museum’s second floor atrium, where it’s meant to be more immersive, it’s a small presentation, but her work is always such a treat to see in person that I’ll welcome any chance.

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Some of my favorite objects tend to be by jewelry designers, so my radar is particularly attuned to those crossovers. Mr. Larken recently posted a new collection by Danish jewelry designer Trine Tuxen that includes some really nice lighter covers, bowls, and a matchbox, and I’ve been living for the latest Instagram object drops of Suna Bonometti, like this cutlery and this incredible marvel. And of course if you missed it in our bathroom shopping guide earlier this week, dying for these new wooden trays by Jessi Burch too! If you find any other good examples, DM us!

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Heading to Copenhagen anytime soon? After a long hiatus, The Apartment is now accepting overnight bookings again! (And it’s right across the street from the Ganni outlet, just sayin’).

Jobs

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