Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/643518
PHOTOS COURTESY COOPER HEWITT; BASS MUSEUM; AKRIS 44 BAL HARBOUR CAUSE & REFLECT We are fascinated with mirrors, it might be said, because we are fascinated with ourselves. Award- winning fashion designer Thom Browne seems to address this concern in "Thom Browne Selects," a new exhibition he's curating at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Featuring 50 of the institution's most interesting mirrors, the show includes 18th-century French gilt bronze frames as well as pieces designed by contemporary artists such as Jim Dine. "I wanted to give the viewer the idea that his or her reflection is a work of art," says Browne. The show also includes objects from the fashion designer's own collection: a desk, chair, typewriter, coat stand—and 56 pairs of his mirrored shoes. WELL TREAD This spring, the Bass Museum of Art presents "Art & Sole," a new show that takes us into the closet of shoe aficionado Jane Gershorn Weitzman. Opening on March 8, the enviable collection includes some beautiful but nonfunctional styles including gem-encrusted soles and dahlia stilettos. THE ARCHITECTURE OF AKRIS When Akris presented its Spring collection in Paris, the brand's approach to ready-to-wear was more literal than most. Complementing the architecturally inspired looks—with fabric created in partnership with Sou Fujimoto—were rings made in collaboration with 3D-printing house VOJD Studios. Now available at the brand's Bal Harbour boutique, the rings take their cue from the architect's Naoshima Pavilion in Kagawa, Japan. Thom Browne Decked in Dahlias, designed by florist Jane Carroll, is among the shoes in Weitzman's collection.