T’s Culture issue shines a light on innovators in their many forms. In our cover story, the New York Times pop music critic Jon Caramanica explores the ever-expanding empire of Kanye West — hip-hop superstar, expert button pusher and, now, clothing designer — as he attempts to broaden the reach of fashion, one sportswear collection at a time. The Dutch designer Iris van Herpen, like West, is invested in the limitless possibilities of clothes. Alice Gregory details the unorthodox methods — including tapping scientists and even the military for inspiration — she has used to bring her high-tech pieces to the mainstream. And in New York City, Lisa Cohen catches up with the pioneering performance and video artist Joan Jonas, who, at 78, is making some of the most inspired, challenging work of her career. Elsewhere, Raf Simons invites T into his atelier at Dior, where the only thing tighter than the deadlines are the designer’s relationships with his devoted staff; Walter Kirn pens an impassioned essay about the meaning of memory in the age of smartphones; we visit a real-life Grand Budapest Hotel (this one’s in the Swiss Alps), where Old World charm and a lack of sleek amenities are the very things keeping guests coming back; the New York City Ballet gets the “By the Numbers” treatment; and the merveilleux, a delectable bite-size pastry perfected by years of experimentation in France, finds a sweet new spot in the West Village. See all stories from the issue >>
For over a decade, the rap superstar has made music that pushes boundaries, courts controversy and divides critics. Now, the man who has compared himself to Jesus and Steve Jobs just wants to make clothes for the masses.
These clothes couldn’t look any more modern — dramatic silhouettes, dark colors, floral appliqués — yet they are created in the most traditional manner. Is custom-made fashion a treasure or a relic?
The latest pastry sensation is a meringue and cream sandwich more than a century old. Meet the merveilleux.
A jeté into the anguish and the artistry of the New York City Ballet.
A true aesthete with a taste for imperfection, the former fashion designer creates her decorating masterpiece — frayed carpets and all — in a storied London townhouse.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Renée Fleming get pumped up over a fancy jump rope, an elderly It girl and guys in heels.
The designer talks about a new film detailing the bumpy road to his first couture collection for Dior — and the intimate relationship with the women of his atelier.
At a time when Silicon Valley is trying (and failing) to be fashionable, the Dutch designer is taking a different route — borrowing the discoveries of scientists, architects and even the military to create artistic pieces of great beauty.
As we increasingly outsource our memories to devices, we may be forgetting the pleasures of imperfect recall.
The designer has always stayed true to his vision, creating unique and whimsical furniture inspired not by styles or trends but by his own vivid imagination.
The poet Paul Muldoon and the artist Ugo Rondinone lament a life lost too soon.
The British singer-songwriter has always been precocious, down to her (very productive) midlife crisis at 23.
For over a century, this crenellated fortress has attracted European intellectuals and loyal families drawn to its Old World charm and resolute lack of sleek amenities.
For over half a century, the artist’s arresting, inventive and immersive performances and videos have conjured strange mythological landscapes that upend a viewer’s sense of time. Now, as she reaches the height of her creative powers, the art world is finally catching up with her.