Little blue boxes have always accented Lauren Santo Domingo’s life. But as she settles into her new role at Tiffany & Co., she’s gathered new memories from its storied archives.
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From a silver spoon gifted at her first communion to the golden wedding bands she exchanged upon marriage, Tiffany & Co. objects have marked countless personal moments for Lauren Santo Domingo. Her affinity for items of the table, however, took time to cultivate. “Growing up, I saw entertaining as such a feminine pursuit,” she says. “It was something I associated with housewives and domesticity.” Once-in-a-lifetime invitations to the homes of seasoned hosts in the highest echelons of society, like philanthropist Deeda Blair and fashion legend Valentino Garavani, changed her outlook, swaying her to understand how bringing guests together could be a mode of creative expression.
It’s an evolution that has given her pleasure in setting the table and a renewed appreciation for the Tiffany Home archives, which Santo Domingo has pored over since being named artistic director of the category in March of last year. A few of her favorite finds thus far: a gleaming, sapphire floral Valse Bleue dessert and coffee set, influenced by tableware from the 1960s; the Tiffany Berries collection, which centers on six whimsical berry motifs; and coffee cups from the Tiffany Cups collection, a mirthful take on utilitarian paper cups elevated by bone china fabrication and rendered in gemstone hues, including the signature Tiffany Blue.
Such studying is apparent in her debut, the Tiffany Crest Collection. It nods to iconography from the luxury brand’s past with the one thing it didn’t yet have: an official crest. Cemented atop its new insignia, Tiffany now has an homage to Jean Schlumberger, a designer at the company for more than three decades, and his Bird on a Rock brooch, which features a tiny, bejeweled yellow cockatoo perched on an enormous, brightly colored jewel. Inside the emblem are maple leaves in homage to New York City, the brand’s hometown; a hammer and anvil symbolizing Tiffany’s traditional craftsmanship; dragonflies as a motif from the archives; and diamonds, inarguably at the foundation of Tiffany’s bequest. Then there’s the signature Tiffany sign-off, Revertere Ad Tiffany, Latin for “Return to Tiffany,” at the bottom.
It’s a fitting representation of the future that Santo Domingo envisions for her new role. “We will look ahead but be firmly rooted in the past,” she says. “This has always been my aesthetic point of view, so it’s quite natural to think and design this way.”
Location is everything—especially for LA renaissance man Harley Wertheimer. Be it the new setting of his contemporary art gallery or his revitalized Hollywood café a stone’s throw away, he sees spaces not for what they are but for what they could be.
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Traditionally served on Shrove Tuesday, this sweet, cardamom-flavored pastry never goes out of season for photographer Jukka Ovaskainen.
