March ahead
immediate support - resilient rebuilding - enduring design
Today is my first monthiversary at Modern Luxury! 🍾 Only 22 working days, but an emotional lifetime.
You might have heard from my new email address on Day Two, a.k.a. January 7 when LA caught on fire. You were gracious when you replied — neither of us knew the scope of the days ahead. Everyday, we’re still learning another facet of impact, both devastating and inspiring.
Information and planning continues to evolve by the moment. Design industry events were postponed and are now reimagined. Together, we’re in this next phase of the grief cycle after the initial shock of it all: Recovery: Community: Strategy: Celebration.
Attending the 60th Pasadena Showcase House of Design Empty House party on January 31 was a microcosm in itself of how quickly the design community can work together to rebuild. The party was in the gutted 15,000 square foot Bauer Estate & five acres of Gardens the night before they start to install their visions into nearly 30 rooms. Mark your calendar, I’m especially excited for the Easter Egg Hunt planned for opening day: April 20 – May 18.
More to celebrate: Jobi, head of Quintus at the PDC, has raised nearly $70k for designers and architects who lost their homes, while the PDC is providing additional rent-free space to House of Honey’s Soft Landing Project (sign up here to volunteer your physical body) and LA CAN DO for interiors donations. Sidenote: I got a preview of Tamara Kaye-Honey’s LA home in Modern Luxury Interiors Vol. 1 … I can’t wait for you to see it on March 5.
I’m proud of how Modern Luxury has responded. Angeleno published A Comprehensive List of Local Resources for Those Displaced by L.A. Wildfires (subscribe to the Angeleno newsletter here), circulation redirected all copies of the February issue from burning zip codes (see digital version here), editorial rewrote the March issue lineup to highlight heroes (shipping March 5), production vendors agreed to donate paper and printing to enhance the donation Modern Luxury is giving. (March issue details here - all profits go to LAFD Foundation.)
If you would like to participate in this issue, I’ll need your commitment and materials by 🚨 February 20 🚨. We offer complimentary design services if you need them (materials required: a high resolution image and a logo).
March issue cover artwork (donated by the artist) will be unveiled at an Angeleno event in March, and proceeds from auctioning the artwork also benefit the LAFD Foundation. Your participation in the issue secures your invitation to this event.
If you are ready to go out tonight: Modern Luxury Riviera invites you to a wine experience in Anaheim while Modern Luxury San Francisco brings together creative minds shaping the city’s future at Chase Center | Above the Rim.
This weekend: RIOS hosts AAPIDA in person and via Zoom to discuss the recovery process, culminating with a celebratory 🐍 Lunar New Year 🐍 lunch. One of my absolute favorite food parties last year.
And, see below invitation for the next event in the running for my favorite this year so far, baby’s first media partnership executed in my new role at Modern Luxury Interiors! Tell me if you are going to Palm Springs Saturday, 2/15/25, and maybe I can sneak you in under my fancy caftan.
Note: the fabulous new logo for Modern Luxury Interiors is in the same brand identity you will see rolled out across all 30+ Modern Luxury core regional titles this month.
Modern Luxury Interiors Volume I ships at the same time as Angeleno’s March issue with the same materials deadline.
I should have final details about the Modern Luxury Interiors Volume I launch party by the time you get my next newsletter, and a few more West Coast partnership announcements. Modern Luxury Interiors Volume II (shipping May 19) features FACES OF DESIGN, celebrating leading design experts. If you would like to participate in this section, commitment and materials due 🚨 April 15 🚨.
Call me! Let me know if I’ll see you tonight in Anaheim or next week - February 12 - on La Cienega at the next ICAA meeting. Join THE AIA|LA WILDFIRE DISASTER RESPONSE TASK FORCE. Keep opening my monthly (possibly quarterly) newsletters! Click on all these links! 💘 Be my 💖 Valentine! 💝