A Year in Standard Culture from The Standard Hotel on Vimeo.
That’s a wholelotta culture. Now onto the Highlights!
OUR TOP CULTURAL MOMENTS OF 2011
If we had to call it, 2011 belonged to KAWS. Not only did we sell 1000 of his special edition light bulbs in like, the flicker of a filament, (In your face GE!) we also installed the beloved KAWS Companion Piece in the plaza of The Standard, New York. We really miss that guy. At least we have pictures, lots and lots of pictures thanks to the talented amateur photogs who were kind enough to submit to our little contest. Our favorite pic, we must confess, was the snapshot of Paz de la Huerta aptly titled, “Kaws and Paz.” (We recommend saying that with a Boston accent for further enjoyment.)
Part traveling art installation, part ornamental manicure center, part companion experience to Standard Press’ latest and greatest, Nailed, The Imperial Nail Salon at The Standard Spa, Miami Beach was––and we’re not just saying this––the talk of Art Basel 2011. The retro-bling vision is courtesy of Carlos Rolon (aka Dzine, the author of Nailed) who transformed one of our suites into the spitting image of his mother’s living room nail salon circa 1975. Here’s how The New York Times described it: “The sight of a fastidious Tilda Swinton showing off a baroque finger corsage and coordinating nails in a setting straight out of ‘That ’70s Show’ was jarring — indeed, one of the crazier visions unveiled at Art Basel Miami Beach last week.” It should not go unmentioned that to stand out as, “crazy” among the 500,000 or so works of original art on display during the fair, is, well, impressive to say the very least.
- Olivier Zahm, founder and editor of Purple, the publication of record for the hard-partying aesthete, commutes between Paris and New York like most people commute from their bedroom to the kitchen. Perhaps one of our most loyal guests, he shares some of his secret travel items. We can’t quite make out the name of his, “cheap 70’s vintage perfume” for “men who like women who like men.” Some mysteries are better left unsolved.
In the first of our staff Day in the Life Video Series, we met Standard, New York bellman, Michael Castillejos. This Texas native has Texas-sized charm, mad trolly surfing skills, and is a great example of the diverse talent that makes The Standards so great. Oh, and to further acquaint yourself with our personnel, head over the Community Section of the site and check out the amazing vocal stylings of Food + Beverage Manger, Tanya Lam.
We’ll recap this one real quick: Florence and the Machine, Lady Gaga, Patti LaBelle. We mean, come on. Even Stan was impressed and very little impresses Stan.
And speaking of our rakish Culture Columnist, Stan D’Arde, he really out did himself snagging an interview with the one and only, Signore Valentino. Brava good sir. Your $10,000-a-word fee is worth every penny.
The Man, The Myth, The Cartoonist ... Anthony Haden Guest did a little reading from his new book out by the pool last spring and he did a great drawing for us and you know, this is what it’s all about. Sure our primary function is to offer a great place to sleep, eat and socialize, but then it’s like, oh hey, who’s that reading by the pool? Oh it’s just like, this super iconic personality and cartoonist. It’s not always about the flashy, marquee events. Sometimes it’s just a book reading or most of the time it’s some up-and-comer singing at Le Bain, or a yet-to-be-discovered artist installing in the vitrine. A lot of really unique, dare we say cultural, moments take place in these hotels and that’s why we created this site, to document and share a bit of that ephemeral ether before it’s gone forever.
And with that in mind, we’ve got so much brewing for next year. So much. Can’t wait. Until then ...
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!
