POPULUXE: Recent Episodes
Thomaï Serdari
Populuxe is a weekly podcast, written and hosted by Thomaï Serdari. It explores stories of desire through objects bought, made, found, shared, and cherished. Made in New York City, Populuxe considers the link between desire and luxury based on conversations with a variety of inspired guests.
Whether you are a collector, hopeful first-time buyer, or simply curious wishing to crack the mystery of ROLEX's success open, you have an ally. Prolific author and business historian Pierre-Yves Donzé released his latest book titled, The Making of a Status Symbol: A Business History of Rolex, published in June 2025 by Manchester University Press.
It is expertly researched, accessibly written, and, easily, the definitive historical account of how ROLEX came to be ROLEX. As the minds behind the iconic watch brand have maintained, "if you have already created perfection, why would you strive to innovate?"
Pierre-Yves Donzé is a professor of business history at the University of Osaka, Japan, and a visiting professor at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. His work focuses on the dynamics of creative industries (watchmaking, luxury and fashion) and the business history of multinational enterprises. His last books include The Making of a Status Symbol: business history of Rolex (Manchester University Press, 2025) and Capitalism’s Favorite Child: Global Fashion Business since 1850 (co-authored with Ben Wubs, Bloomsbury, forthcoming in 2026).
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
Every legacy brand has an ideology, James Ferragamo tells us. He is talking of course about his family business, the legendary luxury brand started by his grandfather, Salvatore Ferragamo, the shoemaker. Or was it dream maker?
That ideology keeps the brand in place so that nothing ever changes--and yet, James makes sure that everything changes. As the Chief Transformation Officer, he oversees and executes on the evolution of the brand so that it continues to deliver dreams that are relevant, beautiful, and magical.
James Ferragamo is the grandson of Salvatore Ferragamo and a key figure in the family’s luxury brand. With a background in international business and retail, he has played a crucial role in shaping Ferragamo’s product strategy and innovation. As the Chief Transformation Officer, he continues to uphold the brand’s legacy of craftsmanship and elegance. He lives in Florence with his family.
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
Founding partner of CookFox, Rick Cook visited Populuxe recently to share his "object of desire" with our listeners. As it happens, Rick's training, practice as well as his own curious and empathic constitution create the perfect backdrop against which a nuanced discussion about luxury unfolded. From a Ferrari V12 engine to a sunlit café in Florence to the new Armani tower in New York City, Rick has a lot to add to the discussion of luxury and desire.
Rick Cook is a Founding Partner of COOKFOX Architects. He has built a reputation for innovative, award-winning architectural design. In 2003, Rick joined with Bob Fox to form COOKFOX Architects based on a transformative vision: beautiful design guided by high standards of sustainability, and a commitment to excellence enriched by the collaborative process.
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
Writing in verses comes easily to Monte Packham, author of children's books, who started his career as an art critic. His work evolved into the deliciously playful rhymes that he puts together for young audiences after first having taken a detour into art historical writing. Whether documents of art or illustrated childrens' books, Monte's work is for the committed. His words fall into place as if the story they tell had always existed. Such is the timelessness of his wordsmithing that it inspired an animated conversation about reading and luxury.
Monte Packham is the author of books including Rooms for Dessert, The Blueberry Machine, Rhyme Time, ABC Photography, Concentric Circles as well as Living with Matisse, Picasso and Christo: Theodor Ahrenberg and His Collections (2018), Book of the Year at the 2019 Collector's Awards, and Photo Adventures (2019). Born in Sydney in 1981, he holds degrees in art history and law from the University of Sydney.
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
Dates, almond oil, persimmon, pomegranate... These recipe ingredients that have given Persian women their legendary beauty from the inside out are also the core pillars of hair brand 14th Night, founded by Negar Mohammadi.
Sun-kissed, athletic, and curious, Negar mastered the technical aspects of business as a young professional working for a major consulting firm in Paris--yes, like Emily in Paris but with real work involved.
Armed with fluency in French and a sense of true luxury, Negar returned to New York and rose up the corporate ladder in the city's competitive fashion industry. Her last corporate post was with VOGUE.
Listen to her story to get all the sensorial details that define Negar's journey in hair beauty and learn how she bottled them all in a series of divine natural formulas that are good for the hair and, mainly, for the soul.
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
Get ready for a new year filled with exciting conversations and inspiring guests. Season Four coming soon!
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
A passionate explorer of nature, a committed adventurer, a tech entrepreneur whose mission is to create a sustainable and equitable travel industry for all, Håvard Utheim moves from idea to idea and from start-up to start-up.
He is the type who has vision, sets the mission, and culls the right people to populate the new business. In doing so, he is also working on ensuring that the beneficiaries are many as opposed to the usual select few.
Listen to this episode to find out what his connection to Succession is.
Håvard Utheim is an entrepreneur. He founded several companies, including: The Transparency Company, a database and a practical tool to manage, document and communicate social and environmental responsibility; Travelopment, a company that provides education for those in the travel industry; Re-Treats, a system of mobile high-end hotel rooms built with used materials; and Nanook, a company that matches travelers with more sustainable travel options.
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
Her impeccable foresight and vision of market trends, along with her passion for haute couture and luxury leather goods make Diane D’Amato a true force in the luxury market. She is as sharp in business as she is warm and empathetic in her relationships.
In charge of the luxury accessories categories at Heritage Auctions, Diane brings unique pieces to auction and regularly buys and sells entire collections privately. She is the pulse of the luxury world.
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
Hats, authentic jewelry from Africa, mainly Senegal and Ghana, as well as tie-dye shirts and other accessories are Fallou's Wadje's street hustle in Harlem.
Her life's calling is creativity. Her purpose is the creation of objects that give luxury a new definition: 'twixt the physical and the spiritual. A vessel of energy herself, Fallou the artist finds daily inspiration in Central Park where she observes and absorbs all that nature has to offer.
Listen to Fallou's radiant voice that resonates with the knowing that creation originates in belief and practice.
Fallou is BaayFall Fashion’s CEO, designer, and stylist. After emigrating to the US from Senegal in 2013, she launched Baayfall Fashion with $192 and a single vendor table, selling customized hats, original screen-printed t-shirts, and one-f-a-kind garments and accessories on 125th street in Harlem.
Baayfall Fashion quickly grew from one table to six, then to a brick-and-mortar storefront. That led to numerous editorial features, and a 2022 presentation at Harlem Fashion Week. Today, Fallou’s Harlem atelier creates custom clothing, screen printing, hand-painted garmets, and unique accessories for celebrities, activists, and everyday people across New York City and around the world.
Baayfall Fashion is fashion that uplifts, reminding those who choose to wear it how powerful they are as human beings. As Fallou herself says: “If you can make the outside look royal, you certainly have it inside you.”
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
A century-old Cape Cod wooden house seems to be the point of departure for interiors architect Robert Finger's journeys into desire.
At first I thought of it very similar to a juicy and delicious piece of candy that releases a range of magical sensations when you bite into it. But after we spent some time chatting, it became clear that that little house is a marvelous container of unique and intense experiences that have shaped the lives of all those who have spent time in it.
It is the house that allows its tenants to open up, release, and practice their singular sense of desire. One with nature, the house is a launchpad for creativity.
A founding partner of Fogarty Finger, Robert Finger leads firm interior projects. Graduating from Syracuse University, Robert developed a passion for design at the venerable architecture firm, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), where he oversaw several international projects. In 2003, he and fellow SOM collaborator, Chris Fogarty, started architecture and interiors firm, Fogarty Finger.
Robert brings a unique approach to commercial interiors, a devotion to 20th-century modernism, and a love of historic preservation that emerged from childhood summers on Cape Cod. Through design work, he translates idealism and politics of the modern age into living in contemporary society. He is also passionate about textiles, ranging from historic Persian and Peruvian fabrics to the work of modern designers such as Hella Jongerius. In addition, he takes inspiration from movies and the representation of reality captured in interiors, architecture and landscapes that communicate time, place, and mood.
With a breadth of experience in luxury residential design, Robert’s emphasis on scale and materials brings refinement and detail to commercial projects. Robert has designed award-winning, corporate office interiors in New York and the Northeast for major clients including: BXP, Rockefeller Group, Rudin Management, Tishman Speyer, and Vornado Realty Trust.
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
There is so much activity underwater. Reefing takes attention, concentration, and a small dose of obsession. The feat is rewarding and illustrates how our climate works and what preserves life in our oceans. Listen to this captivating episode, in which Adam Simon explains the ins and outs of reefing and how to start collecting live coral.
Adam Simon is a Buy Side Analyst currently pursuing his MBA through NYU Stern's Langone Program. During the pandemic, he chose to take up reef aquaculture as a new hobby similar to his past of keeping saltwater fish only tanks.
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
Find out why I decided to own a silk scarf by Hermès and why my collection keeps growing.
What moved you to buy one of your prized possessions? Was it its qualities? Its aesthetic merit? Are your purchases based on emotional associations or simply fashion trends and peer pressure?
I invite you to email me at populuxepod@gmail.com and let me know.
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
Mathias Rosenzweig is one of the most talented creative persons I have met. You have probably read his work through the pages of V Magazine, an authority voice in fashion. Mathias started as a writer covering the music scene for Interview Magazine and quickly rose to an editor's role covering fashion shows all over the world. His portfolio includes directing and hosting the podcast V Wanna Know (backed by V Magazine), in which famous students are connected to world renowned experts to explore the student's topic of interest in depth.
An avid traveler, people observer, and creative soul, Mathias is also producing his own creative writing and working on a special full-length project.
Mathias Rosenzweig is a writer splitting his time between Brooklyn, New York and Lisbon, Portugal. Upon graduating from New York University, he became the Senior Music Editor of BlackBook Magazine, as well as a regular contributor to Paper Magazine, Galore, Noisey, i-D, V Magazine, Malibu Magazine, and Interview Magazine. Today, he is the fashion editor at V Magazine while also exploring other creative projects.
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
Deeply steeped in design, both by training and in practice, Tami Hausman could write a book about a seemingly humble object: A three-legged wooden chair with a molded seat and curved back of sticks.
This is no ordinary chair. It is the Mira chair designed by American woodworker George Nakashima and has been in Tami’s life since she can remember.
Listen to this episode of Populuxe to explore the connections between the essentialism of modern design, the economy of paired down aesthetics, and the passion for the integrity mid-century modern designers contributed to our culture.
Tami Hausman is a communications strategist, facilitator, and expert advisor who
collaborates with international architects, designers and building industry professionals to amplify their influence. Additionally, she writes articles and books about key trends in architecture and urban planning. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Semiotics-French from Brown University and a Master of Arts and PhD in Art History from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.
Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast!
It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.
You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.
If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï
When it comes to identifying the best bag for any job, Adam Brodowski, industrial and UX designer, has a range of criteria to assess his options.
Owning more than 25 bags, Adam is always thinking about how to perfect the utility of each item and how new materials may contribute to an elevated experience. Luxury for Adam goes beyond functionality. Luxury is joy.
Listen to this episode and gain insights into how modern men think about their every day existence.
Adam Brodowski is a design and research consultant who loves working through early stage ideas with all sorts of start ups. He is co-founder of Superliminal, a brand and product design studio based in NYC. Outside of the studio he teaches digital product design to grad students at NYU Stern and The New School.
Carol Altieri's passion is to bring big, shiny and well designed objects into your life. She does so through Bob's Watches, an online marketplace she co-owns with her husband Paul. Yes, Paul, no, not Bob.
In addition to buying and selling for her customers, Carol has amassed an impressive collection of vintage watches part of which she is bringing to market through a private sale in collaboration with Goop.
To tease us, she brought with her a Rolex Day-Date President with a Black Onyx Dial, a piece she acquired many years ago as she became more and more invested in the secondary market for prestige watches. It turns out design watches tell more than the time. They tell personal stories, style stories, and even war stories.
You can find Carol online or in one of the two locations Bob's Watches operates, one in Newport Beach, CA and the other in Naples, FL.
A sculptural extravagance in blue silk, a dress by fashion designer Mohamed Benchellal made Jenn's heart skip a beat.
She, in turn, chose the words to describe it with nuance and precision on Populuxe today. Pay close attention to her voice as it carries us back to Jenn's early music education in a household of musicians, in a memory-making family, and a culturally rich career filled with the aroma of coffee.
*Jenn Rugolo is an editor and product manager focused on print and digital communications in specialty coffee, a comfortable role found after years of chasing varied interests down various rabbit holes.
An ex-academic and recovering musician, Jenn holds both a Bachelors of Music Ad Hoc (Northwestern University) and a Masters of Arts in Ethnomusicology (University College Cork) as well as a Diploma in Irish Traditional Music (University College Cork).*
Intrigued by the scent of a Dior red lipstick? Attracted to the texture of red by Guerlain? What's at the root of this intergenerational obsession with red lipstick that resonates with people across cultures, ages, and genders?
I had to turn to the expert. Correction! THE expert, Rachel Felder, author of Red Lipstick: An Ode to A Beauty Icon to dig a little deeper and find out what motivates our desire to apply red on our lips and why this private indulgence is as much about confidence as it is about mysticism.
How delightful to begin a new season of Populuxe with one of the most prolific and well versed writers who see beauty for what it truly is: a cultural tenet of our humanity. Rachel treats the subject with respect and finds the fun in it too!
Rachel Felder is an author and journalist who writes about style, art and trends for many outlets. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, The Financial Times, Women’s Wear Daily, and many other publications. She has written five books. The most recent, Red Lipstick: An Ode to a Beauty Icon (HarperCollins), examines the enduring appeal, glamour, and history of the makeup’s most beloved staple. She commutes between New York and Miami.
A digital media publication with close to two million users, ablogtowatch founded by Ariel Adams, educates, helps, and guides consumers in their decision to buy watches and to build their collections.
In the 20 years that Ariel has been in the watch collecting space both as an enthusiast and a professional, things appear to have changed and social media have played a big role making watch buying more accessible.
Not all is what it seems though. Ariel explains to us why the watch industry is filled with options that far exceed the few norms perpetuated by social media platforms and that severely limit people's taste and behavior.
Ariel Adams is based in Los Angeles, California and travels abroad and domestically to connect with watch brands and watch enthusiasts about the art of watch collecting. As a luxury brand communications expert, Ariel writes and talks about watches, luxury, and marketing. He also produces a podcast on the subject called Superlative.
Allow me to interrupt the regular format with an episode about one of my objects of desire... and yes, I do have many!
This one is special: A small book with 100 Letters by Italian architect and designer Gio Ponti (1891-1979) gifted to me by my friend Christine Singer who knew Ponti well through her husband's company, M. Singer & Sons Furniture.
Ponti produced some of the most exquisite mid-century modern pieces through M. Singer & Sons Furniture. Today, most of Ponti's furniture remains in private collections and in the collections of mostly European museums. In the US you can find a few pieces at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art while they occasionally come up at auctions.
In memoriam: Christine Singer (1929-2022), scientist, architectural historian, and excellent cook.
What are your feelings about receiving luxury objects as gifts? Do you take pleasure in these possessions or new experiences? Do they define new rituals that organize your day differently than before? And when have you felt compelled to give an object of great value as a gift to someone else?
These are some of the ideas I will tackle today with my guest, historian and curator Pat Cooke who is based in Dublin, Ireland as he opens a bottle of fine and very rare Irish Whiskey, a Midleton from 1996. Pat has been instrumental in shaping the modern Irish experience around cultural events. Among other roles, he was the curator of Kilmainham Gaol Museum and the Pearce Museum. Warning! Chatting with someone so deeply steeped in Irish history brings up a lot of stories about wars, and jails, and prisoners.
For two thirds of his career Pat Cooke was a museum curator in Ireland, caring for sites and collections associated with Ireland's struggle for independence from British rule (Kilmainham Gaol and the Pearse Museum). He spent the last third as director of the Master program in Cultural Policy and Arts Management at University College Dublin, retiring in 2020. In 2021 his book The Politics and Polemics of Culture in Ireland, 1800-2010 was published by Routledge.
Curiosity and practice have allowed Lara Knutson to satisfy her dream of experiencing light. Her objects are either made of reflective materials that turn the material into immaterial or the other way around. Lara uses light as a material to create objects that both are and are not there and that still allow the viewer to interact with them.
Her work has been included in the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art while most of her production finds applications in a variety of fields, from architectural space design, to lighting design, and fine art painting.
In Lara's words: “What I really think about light objects is that they become special when you share a moment with them. Light causes you to pause and be there with it. This is the ultimate luxury because time is the most fleeting thing we own.”
Lara Knutson is an Artist, Industrial Designer and Architect who lives and works in New York City. She received a master’s degree in Industrial Design and a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Pratt Institute and believes her work is informed by the interplay of light, space, materials and structure that unite these two disciplines.
Whitney Jordan has an eye for the visual arts and a point of view about fashion, retail, and business. She is also someone with training and experience, not just opinions.
Whitney's account of the merits of Stella McCartney's Falabella bag, an "It bag" that became iconic since it first launched in 2009, is filled with nostalgia. Her stories give out a distinct sense of appreciation of all the experiences that shape who we are as persons, even if we don't make much of them in the moment.
Whitney Jordan is a Retail & Consumer Goods Strategy Consultant at Accenture where her interests are retail innovation strategy, entrepreneurship, and Black consumer behavior. She has a Fashion & Luxury MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Northwestern University.
Justin Partyka's life story sounds like a web of coincidences that place him in front of people or circumstances that relate to him via another path as well. A practicing photographer, Justin was trained as a folklorist and has a deep passion for and understanding of music.
A remarkable multi-volume book of William Eggleston's Democratic Forrest published by Steidl is Justin's object of desire. As we listen to him describing the ritual of immersing himself in Eggleston's photographs, we come to appreciate the singularity of photography as a medium of expression and its closeness to that of poetry.
Partyka’s photographs have been exhibited widely including at Tate Britain, London; the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich; the Museum of English Rural Life, Reading; and the Boutographies photo festival in Montpellier, France. Publications include Granta magazine, the Guardian weekend magazine, and Source magazine. Also the limited edition books, Field Work and Not Exactly Nature Writing, and a commissioned series of photographs for a reissue of the classic book of oral history Fenwomen.
Part of Justin's work is available to view on Instagram @161poitiers
Justin Partyka's life story sounds like a web of coincidences that place him in front of people or circumstances that relate to him via another path as well. A practicing photographer, Justin was trained as a folklorist and has a deep passion for and understanding of music.
A remarkable multi-volume book of William Eggleston's Democratic Forrest published by Steidl is Justin's object of desire. As we listen to him describing the ritual of immersing himself in Eggleston's photographs, we come to appreciate the singularity of photography as a medium of expression and its closeness to poetry.
Partyka’s photographs have been exhibited widely including at Tate Britain, London; the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich; the Museum of English Rural Life, Reading; and the Boutographies photo festival in Montpellier, France. Publications include Granta magazine, the Guardian weekend magazine, and Source magazine. Also the limited edition books, Field Work and Not Exactly Nature Writing, and a commissioned series of photographs for a reissue of the classic book of oral history Fenwomen.
Part of Justin's work is available to view on Instagram @161poitiers
Tobias Meinecke is a story teller. Critically acclaimed filmmaker, sought after film director of creative projects for luxury brands, writer, actor, and, most recently, book publisher, Tobias Meinecke is the co-founder of Love Child, a company that develops stories.
Tobias studied in Munich first and then in New York City, at Columbia University, under the tutelage of master teacher Milos Forman. Technically meticulous and creatively unruffled, Tobias has adopted Sebastian King's mantra "go create" and enjoys the unpredictability that his practice allows him.
Tobias Meinecke is an award winning screenwriter - director - producer based in New York City and Berlin. Dedicated to character-driven storytelling that equally illuminates the human condition and entertains, he has three television series and six feature films in development, financing or pre-production.
A pair of Nike running sneakers and a flat screen TV were two of the objects that Chris Santa Maria presented to me as possible conversation starters. Well, that's not how this episode went... and admittedly, it is longer than usual.
Do listen till the end of the whole 45 minutes because you will learn about the mighty power of a Princeton brush and the extraordinary details of often harmful and unsustainable materials that artists are using to create their work.
The desire of the next creation and the next and the next is what keeps Chris Santa Maria going, no matter how poisonous that love may be some times.
Chris Santa Maria is a visual artist working in a variety of media (collage, drawing, painting) and is based in Brooklyn, New York. He is also the Director of the Joni Weyl Gallery, a legendary institution that has been representing the publications of the Los Angeles-based workshop GEMINI G.E.L since 1984.
For the most part, women have been left out of history regardless of the weight of their contributions to science, the arts, design and any related field. These forgotten creative minds need champions.
Kathleen Guzman, a most accomplished auctioneer, happens to be a supporter of other women's work both historical and contemporary. Having spent her professional career, in its many iterations, surrounded by beautiful and valuable objects, Kathleen is the perfect guest who can illuminate Populuxe listeners about luxury spending, conspicuous behavior, collecting and desire.
Having recently left her post at Heritage Auctions, where she was Managing Director/SVP, Kathleen joins us today for an insightful conversation about objects of desire, starting with the work of Arts & Crafts artist Marie Zimmerman.
Kathleen Guzman is a recognized auctioneer, appraiser and lecturer for over 40 years in the Arts and Antiques sector. Her career has included managerial positions at Christies, Phillips, Heritage and eBay, as well as her appearances as an expert on "Antiques Roadshow" since the show's inception.
No matter what Matt Chu decides to do, he excels at it. Data analytics at Condé Nast? Check!
Influencer account on Instagram ? Triple check! Corporate career at Bloomingdale's? Easy! A new path in technology? Why not?
I have always admired Matt for his pragmatism and dedication to anything that catches his interest. But mostly, I am totally smitten with his kindness.
Take a listen to his rather unconventional approach to luxury and do listen all the way to the end to get to the question of the week.
Echo New York (originally Echo Design) is a family-run company founded in New York City in 1923 by two ambitious, hard working, young entrepreneurs who also happened to be husband and wife. Today, their great-grandchildren are still in charge of and growing the company with great commitment to the values of quality and creativity. Making people's lives meaningful through its products is Echo's vision.
In this episode, Charlie Roberts, one of the founders' great-grandchildren, discusses a painting by American folk artist Kathy Jacobsen. The picture belonged to his late grandmother, Dot, who was Echo's CEO for many years and long before the age of #girlboss.
Charlie Roberts is the Managing Director of Sales & Marketing and part of the 4th generation at Echo Design Group, Inc., a fashion accessories and home décor company founded by his great-grandparents. He holds an MBA from NYU Stern and a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College in Vermont. He lives with his fiancé in Brooklyn.
How does one get from admiring a glass object by sculptor Joe Cariati to discussing the merits of an exquisite cashmere sweater? Well, that's easy when you spend a few minutes with Steve Cardino, a former Macy's Vice President Home and Fashion Director, who currently represents the Fifth Avenue Association Business Improvement District in its relations with merchants along the famed retail corridor.
Steve is a gifted storyteller. Whether he uses words or objects selected with great emotion, Steve's stories provide a bridge between the good old days of traditional American retail and the future of consumers' tastes and attitudes.
The best way to make him happy? Take a day trip to New York City's Fifth Avenue and indulge in what the avenue has to offer in terms of luxury retail and hospitality solutions.
Artists develop a personal discipline that includes daily rituals. It is that type of commitment that allows them to absorb details of materiality, focus on ideas, and resolve the challenge of combining it all in expressive form.
This is precisely how some of the most exquisite luxury products resemble works of art. This is also why creatives find a fitting home in the luxury sector where a variety of luxury brands require individuals with superb visual and manual skills able to carry out some of the most imaginative retail environments.
Mixed media artist Rebecca Goodman has worked both in the commercial and nonprofit worlds and seems to have made up her mind. Public art that deals with ecology and the sense of self in a high-tech future is what she likes to explore in her writing, soon in her practice as well. But that does not mean she has turned her back to discussing luxury. It is all related. Listen to this episode to find out how.
Rebecca Goodman is a mixed media artist and arts administrator. Rebecca works across multiple mediums including painting, drawing and collage, often combining mediums into abstract, large-scale assemblages. She graduated cum laude from NYU (2012) with a BA in Art History and has studied visual art at Parsons, Skidmore College and the Corcoran College of Art & Design. She is currently pursuing a Dual MA in Modern and Contemporary Art History & Arts Administration and Policy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has previously worked in museum management consulting and the fashion and design industries.
The girl who fell in love with Fluffy, her sourdough starter, is actually the woman who kneads stories in her kitchen. She is a filmmaker and her name is Marie.
Marie possesses the type of elegance that allows her to transform the most humble vintage outfit into glamorous fashion. Her vivid imagination pushes her work beyond the boundaries of filmmaking and storytelling. How does she do it and what drives her desire to create?
A talented baker and cook, Marie approaches the practice of the meal with the openness of spirit that leads to breakthroughs in writing, immersive visuals, and a sense of whimsy in her filmmaking. Oh... and she knows a lot about sourdough, farmer markets, and old recipes too! Îles Flottantes anyone?
Marie is a French director, writer and photographer. Using non-traditional framing and composition, she captures raw moments of beauty and creates appetizing visual narratives with a touch of humor and a sense of humanity. She directs food commercials and narrative films about falling in love with a sourdough starter.
Prior to turning to filmmaking and obtaining her MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she studied law and English literature at Cambridge University and Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne.Follow her work:
@ibakefilms
@mylifeinsourdough
@redcurrant.jelly
Join me in this episode of Populuxe as I reconnect with my former student and now accomplished architectural photographer Artur Pretto Junqueira. Together, we explore French philosopher René Girard's work on human desire and some of the famous and emerging Brazilian architectural practitioners. And surprise, surprise! We end up talking about New York City. But how not? This is where our paths crossed and where our lives changed.
Quem corre por gosto não cansa.
Artur Pretto Junqueira is a Brazilian architect and architectural photographer. He graduated from the Brazilian Universidade do Vale do Taquari with a degree in Architecture and Urbanism. As part of his study, Artur did a year long exchange student program in Architectural Design at Parsons School of Design, The New School in New York City. Interested in visuals and aesthetics from a very young age, he now shares his vision and hopes to help others to share their own through photography.
Here is a link to Artur's published work.
Legend has it that the Scofflaw, a classic Rye cocktail, was invented by the famous bartender Harry Craddock during the height of Prohibition at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in 1924. Daphne Howland, Senior Reporter at Retail Dive, discovered it in Portland, Maine where she lives with her family.
A talented writer and accomplished photographer, Daphne ruminated on whether it ever gets easier to talk about luxury even for someone like her, who tackles questions on the subject on a daily basis as she delivers news on fashion, beauty, retail and luxury.
An existential exercise for most, choosing an object of desire landed Daphne on her recently acquired T1 Phone SB phonograph.
It turns out desire works best when it's Friday night and her husband... well, listen to the episode and find out what happens!
Globetrotting? Gratitude? Jaunts to the Global North?
Aida Sykes has had the privilege to experience it all based on academic merit and opportunity. As an actively engaged young leader in her native Tanzania she doesn't take any of the aspects of luxury lightly.
On the contrary, her own exposure to both the North and South, deep understanding of expressions of inequity, and clear vision of how these can be addressed, have made her one of the most promising voices on African Luxury today.
During her visit with Populuxe, Aida shared her memories of a beautiful luncheon at the Parisian Ritz and left us dreaming of amuse bouche, canapés, and pigeon au floc.
Listen to this episode to savor luxury in the presence of the Daughter of Sun. (Hint: Her identity will be revealed early on but keep listening!)
When Maxwell Gladwell wrote about the "ten-thousand-hour-rule" in his book Outliers, he incorporated earlier research by Herbert Simon and William Chase, who claimed that "there are no instant experts in chess—certainly no instant masters or grandmasters. [...] We would estimate, very roughly, that a master has spent perhaps 10,000 to 50,000 hours staring at chess positions..."
Let that number sink in. Now, let's translate it in the number of gallery visits, works studied, and articles written to appreciate the job of an art critic, especially when that art critic happens to be Emily McDermott, the young American who left her native Ohio to study at New York University and who, at the age of 18, began her writing career. Quickly, Emily figured out how to explore her own taste and the topics she would like to write about, carved out her niche, and secured a full-time editor's position at Interview Magazine, the legendary publication founded by Andy Warhol in 1969. That's no small feat for an aspiring writer, let alone someone who just graduated from college--with Honors, of course!
Based in Berlin since 2016, Emily has been supporting young artists with her writing. But the desire to acquire a work that appealed to her grew stronger and stronger until she decided to splurge in Dilemma 2, 2021 by artist Conny Maier represented by König Gallery.
Listen to this episode to find out more about Emily's object of desire and get an insider's view on what it means to maintain a creative practice as a writer in the art industry.
A company visit to the Whitney Museum of American Art to view the novel paintings of Toyin Ojih Odutola, the celebrated Nigerian--American visual artist whose work challenges the traditions of storytelling through portraiture, led Sarah LaFleur to an inner journey of desire and the meaning of narratives in forming one’s character.
Popular fascination with royalty, Sarah ruminates, is a manifestation not so much of our desire to share their wealth or material possessions but rather to be able to trace our legacy back to multiple generations.
“Luxury is to know where you come from,” the entrepreneur and young mother of three utters while reminiscing of the many times her family had to relocate although, admittedly, without the pain or stress that marks the experience of modern refugees. For Sarah, a daughter, who has internalized the generational narratives of a multicultural background, and a mother, who faces the inevitability of a partial erasure of precious cultural elements that are the hardest to transmit to her kids and their kids, “luxury is [synonymous with having a] home.”
Sarah’s visit with Populuxe sets a tone of self-awareness and openness to the unpredictability of one’s personal journey. In essence, legacies that last are those built on the warmth of a glowing hearth and not on blobs of caviar.
Sarah LaFleur is the Founder & CEO of M.M.LaFleur. Sarah founded M.M.LaFleur in 2013 with a mission to help women take the work out of getting dressed, so they can focus on the work that matters to them. Prior to founding M.M.LaFleur, she worked at Bain & Co. in New York and TechnoServe in South Africa. Sarah sits on the board of International Rescue Committee's Airbel Impact Lab and on the business advisory council of the New York Fed. She graduated from Harvard University. M.M.LaFleur is named after her mother, whom she calls her biggest inspiration.
Ask any 20 year old who loves sneaker culture what their "dream" job would be and most answers will resemble Brahm's actual job at Sotheby's, where he is Vice President, Head of Streetwear and Modern Collectables.
When Brahm was in my class, in the spring of 2019, I sensed he was cool. He knew a lot about brands, always wore interesting sneakers and baseball hats to class, and was very approachable.
Even though I learned then that Brahm is a talented cook with legitimate culinary school training, I never knew how a pair of sneakers had defined several major moments in his life from his first business to his application to business school and from his fashionable outfits to the pair he just gifted his newly born, beautiful daughter, Violeta.
For Brahm, a pair of sneakers has been the ultimate "object of desire."
Ambergris is a rare, precious, and quite expensive natural ingredient used in luxury perfume making. It was used much more frequently in the past by luxury brands like Chanel, Dior, and Guerlain, among others.
The type of perfume produced with ambergris is considered to be an "animalic" fragrance. It is characterized by longevity, fullness, and balance.
Ambergris is indeed one of the main ingredients of MXXX, a perfume created by Barbara Herman for ERIS PARFUMS, and a category disruptor.
In Barbara's words, ambergris, her object of desire, sheds a golden light that brings out all the details of a well designed perfume formula.
Barbara Herman is the founder and creative director of ERIS PARFUMS, a luxury niche perfume brand based in New York City. She's also the author of Scent and Subversion: Decoding a Century of Provocative Perfume (2013, Lyons Press).
Correction: In this episode, it was stated, incorrectly, that Barbara Herman is a native Californian. Barbara was born in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). She grew up in Arkansas and Texas, moved to New York, and then to California where she spent 15 years. She also lived briefly in New Orleans before permanently returning to New York.
A Zojirushi thermos may be the connector that allows Eric Darton, prolific author of fiction and nonfiction, to download ideas, inspiration and that ineffable jolt of energy that he knows how to transform into words.
Follow our discussion to find out what luxury means to him, how he gets in the flow, and why a great quality saw comes only second to his thermos.
Eric Darton’s books include Free City, a novel, first published in 1996 by WW. Norton and recently re-released by Dalkey Archive Press, and the New York Times bestseller Divided We Stand: A Biography of The World Trade Center (Basic Books, 1999, 2011). He co-edits Witty Partition, a triannual journal of world literature, wittypartition.org.
What is it like to be backstage at fashion shows? And which elements of the pre-social media era remain memorable to Sophie Panych from her early years as a beauty editor?
An international expert and well-known beauty influencer, Sophie identifies any one of the four iconic camel hair coats by Max Mara as her object of desire. She tells us all about it, where and when she saw it for the first time and what made it so magical for her. In the process, she lets us in for a peak at backstage madness and celebrity encounters. Sophie just joined Farfetch as Head of Beauty content.
Sophie has been a celebrated performer of traditional Ukrainian folk dance. In her honor, please consider donating in any of these five verified charities that can help the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom and life. Populuxe chose to donate to World Central Kitchen.
If you love luxury, you will want to visit Populuxe once a week. Our guests are accomplished creatives from a variety of ages, cultures, and professions. Together, we discuss their object of desire, an object they cherish or one they aspire to acquire. Sometimes these are products by well known luxury brands but they can also be works of art or well-crafted objects that trigger emotions of desire. Whichever the case, our guests help us understand what the personal luxuries of the many are while they also help us enter better understand concepts that relate to luxury, culture, business, and society.