Discover more from All's Well by Nadine Zylberberg
This week, Richard Branson went to space, Emmy nominations came out, and Legally Blonde turned 20 (I know, the math doesn’t add up!). What else has there been to watch, read, and (almost) eat?
Let’s get to it.
Well Read
If the name Phoebe Philo doesn’t immediately resonate, let me explain. The British fashion designer headed the brand Céline from 2008 to 2018 and, in that time, managed to really shake things up industry-wide. The way Vogue puts it, Philo’s Céline aesthetic was “at once sensual, austere, controlled, and achingly, achingly cool.” And it was! Wide-leg trousers, menswear-inspired jackets, fur-lined Birkenstocks… it doesn’t seem that revolutionary, but that’s only because she was so quiet about this revolution. And because brands like the Row and Bottega Veneta have since taken on a similar ethos. As Sofia Coppola put it, “Phoebe filled this void for non-flashy people.” She even made Joan Didion her latest poster girl (see below). And there’s an Instagram account (@oldceline) devoted to her tenure. Philo understood what women wanted, what they wore, and then, poof, she left. No explanation, no bigger, cushier job. This week, however, she’s back with news of her own eponymous brand, and fans everywhere are rejoicing—myself included, even if I’ll never buy a piece from the collection, except maybe second-hand years later. One can hope. The Cut had a great piece in 2017 about her departure from Céline that’s worth a read if any of this is up your alley.
Well Watched
DJ, author, educator, and The Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson now has another title to add to his name: film director. His new documentary, Summer of Soul, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January, taking home two top awards before premiering everywhere this summer. (You can watch it on Hulu now.) It’s about a little-known music festival that brought 300,000 people together in Harlem the same summer as Woodstock. It’s worth a watch for the music, the style, and the cultural commentary. Plus, you’ll catch Stevie Wonder drumming before he was a household name. This footage of the Harlem Cultural Festival sat in a basement for decades until Questlove and his team dug it out for this film, and thankfully they did. I spoke with the director himself about his process, and what he hopes this film offers viewers today. You can find the piece here.
Well Fed
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Two new food items have been brought to my attention this week and I don’t want to be intrigued, but I can’t help it. First up, there’s Dr. Bronner’s chocolate. Yes, the maker of everyone’s favorite verbose castille soap bottle is dipping its toe in the sweets business. It’s all for a noble cause, though: the brand is trying to make the industry more ethical and transparent, as is the case with all their other products. But how do I get the peppermint soap scent out of my head in time to appreciate the chocolate? The final verdict comes next month, when the range is unleashed on the world.
Also in weird foods this week, we have a collaboration no one asked for: Van Leeuwen Ice Cream and Kraft Mac and Cheese. The color —a bright, familiar orange—is enough to put me off, but there’s an Eater review that says it’s “nothing short of magical.” Help. Of course, now, I have to try it.
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How else are you supposed to wash down soap-inspired chocolate and mac-and-cheese ice cream, but with a good bottle of vino? (How’s that for a segue?) Shawn Z, Wine Spectator editor and also my brother, has offered up a wine of the week:
Viña Cobos Felino Malbec 2019 ($20)
I got two bottles of this affordable gem last time I went to Bunbury restaurant in Miami. Irresistible Malbec. I’m lucky they had the ‘19s chilled and ready to go ‘cuz this is a hallmark vintage for Argentina, and on top of that, from a quality producer. Sure, most Malbecs will hover at $15 or less, but cough up those extra bucks for a bright and elegant wine that seems tightly wound at first, but opens like flowers in spring with a few minutes stretching in the glass. I won’t go into boring taste profiles. Just try it and sue me if you hate it.
Well Worn
Another week, another reason to talk about the Cannes Film Festival. It’s still underway and the outfits have been good. Timothée Chalamet wore a silver suit, Bella Hadid wore sculptural Schiaparelli, director Mati Diop wore my dream outfit, Marion Cotillard wore Chanel dungarees to a photocall, Carla Bruni wore sequined Celine (not to be confused with P. Philo’s Céline; this is the Hedi Slimane era!)… Below is a sampling. I’ve miss red carpets; the Cannes red carpet, in particular, is probably the most glamourous there is. It’s not very long, but it’s wide with photographers on both sides, clamoring for stars’ attention in French. Everyone attending a screening walks down the same path and, at the end, once you go up the steps and are about to enter the theater, you turn around and look down on the whole thing. It’s a spectacle, but one that, I presume, never gets old, as evident by every filmmaker’s elated face looking back.
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