Food & Entertaining (beautifully) has reached another height of popularity. Yet with the rise of polished tablescapes and art-defying culinary installations on instagram, the DIY version at home, has perhaps never been more unattainable––potentially in comparison not beautiful and much more messy without the 10-20 person production & clean-up crew. However, there is one trick even Martha didn't have then, that we have now that may be the secret weapon for looking polished even when serving a red-sauce. Read to find out more on the phenomenon that is art defying aesthetic cooking & entertaining.
*Cover images by Ananasananas and Nata Concept Store
NEW YORK–Food & Entertaining (beautifully) has reached another height of popularity. Yet with the rise of polished tablescapes and art-defying culinary installations on instagram, the DIY version at home, has perhaps never been more unattainable––potentially in comparison not beautiful and much more messy without the 10-20 person production & clean-up crew. However, there is one trick even Martha didn't have then, that we have now that may be the secret weapon for looking polished even when serving a red-sauce. Read to find out more on the phenomenon that is art defying aesthetic cooking & entertaining.
Perhaps not since Martha Stewart's reign of the 80s and early 90s, have entertaining, table scapes, and the lifestyle around styling the home for dinner parties or gatherings (may it be park picnics, dinner with the girls, or influencer-adjacent dinner, masked as a casual get together with best internet friends and your favorite brands, been this at the forefront of pop-culture. Food-based art like that found at the Nata Concept store, jewelry like that of MackBecks, and luxury cake design, like the work of Sophia Agnella Anita Stolz, are top of mind inspiration for person or brand hosting an event. So much so, that the Gen-Z version of Martha Steward seems to have already been appointed by Town & Country Magazine, in the form of 25 year old St. Anne's alum Romilly Newman. (P.s. She was also featured in Architectural Digest, on a piece that combined her culinary activities with the way she styled her home.)
Gatherings around food & cooking are at their height of popularity, so much so that it is one of the first go-to activations for any brand on their press circuit for launching a new product, collection, service, or entrance in a new market. Food is also quickly becoming the perfect accessory to luxury goods when it comes to product photography, editorial, and even commercial work. The work (gourmet beauty shots that leave you both hungry and in awe) of Alex Paganelli of @deadhungry, Suzanne Saroff of @hisuzanne, and Joceyln Cabral of @jocelyncabral, to name a few, certainly speak to that.
Lifestyle & Fashion reporters online, like @thestanzamedia are calling this the "Fashionization of Food." We see this in the rise of culinary creative studios like Balbosté who count clients Loewe, Dior and Miu Miu on their roster, as well as We Are Ona who have hosted dinners for JACQUEMUS, David Zwirner gallery and Saint Laurent. Other up-and-coming groups include AnanasAnanas that include The Frankie's Shop, Saie Beauty, Dries van Noten, and Lunya as part of their client list. They often also create objects for presentation and service-wear, like they did for their last collaboration with Prada.
These are the high-brow culinary exhibitions, but the smaller influencer-hosted spread, at a lower-scale, is also very popular amongst brands looking to engage with a following whose interest in the subject matter has also grown.
There are even meta fashion x food collaborations that are taking over Hollywood that are not even for sale. Menswear darling Thom Browne collaborated with FX’s The Bear, a TV show which this writer also doesn’t have to tell this reader about, given the show’s break out popularity–and newly elevated fascination–or fetishization should we say–of the professional culinary world, which has given rise to the trending #YesChef on TikTok and Instagram.
These culinary partnerships work so well, because they show up as simply as an effortless, non-thirsty mechanism to show up for their followers and provide content that is as digestible, as it is delectable.
And some are more under-the-radar collaborations buy juggernauts, Zara, for example. In this week’s Puck New’s newsletter writes, “One of the ways that Zara has seduced consumers is through its if-you-know, you-know approach to collaborations. For instance, there's been zero editorial coverage of Zara's project with Los Angeles restaurant Sqirl, which launched just last week. Right now, you can buy a Sqirl apron, you can buy a t-shirt printed with a Sqirl receipt, and you can buy a Sqirl tote bag. How did that happen? I asked some people who would know, and they said someone from the Zara headquarters in Spain reached out to the restaurant earlier this year. (One of the designers had visited Sqirl on a holiday and loved it.)”
Delectable, because we see it translating off the pages of instagram and into the homes of consumers, who are only getting younger and younger. It seems like cooking, or the act of gathering, has never been so popular. Maybe because there is nothing more democratic or more well-loved than eating (or thinking about eating!) something delicious. It is a pleasurable act and past-time across cultures & age brackets. And then more accessible you make it, the more desirable it is.
Enter the brands supplying the tools and vibe-maker accoutrements servicing the need of making the common man and woman (with perhaps no experience hosting / in the kitchen look like they too can "cook beautiful", (also the name of Athena Calderone's how-to-cookbook written with the same intention). Of course they have never been so popular. (Romilly Newman, mentioned above, also works as a recipe editor for Calderone's digital publication "EyeSwoon.")
One brand at the forefront creating food visuals, but also beautiful tools for entertainment is Gohar.World, co-owned by Laila Gohar, who came to be known for her work as a food artist.
Gohar.World was seemingly created as a direct extension of her work, but one that could connect with the larger consumer with smaller more affordable objects for purchase, rather than the high ticket-cost of an activation, that also, a regular civilian would never be able to spring for, but also would never need. But cute knick-knacks to style a table and accessories for entertaining–now that is something that most people can get behind.
However, in the real world, there is a conundrum. Cooking in real life is not staged, and it can be messy. Especially when hosting. And if hosting, one of the more challenging things (for this host in particular) is looking *ready for* the party, when you're trying to *put on the party.*
Either you greet your guests mid-risotto & popping Zucchini blossoms out of the oil in a stained button-down, sweats, and a tattered and stained apron... or... you're toiling over the stove trying to keep your salsa verde and marinara off your dinner outfit – the smart white summer frock you've picked out weeks ago and is perfect for a summer dinner-party, but that doesn't stand the chance surviving in between prep and service. So what is a host to do? Disappear post-serving, and arrive to the table fresh and ready after missing the first course?
Enter the fancy apron. Also something that Gohar.World–and several others (one of which Angora Group worked alongside of to create a solution) have attempted to solve for.
Gohar made an apron – perhaps the most “festive and dressy” one on the market, in both short and long styles that matches the energy of a disco-ball, but for the kitchen (a metallic silver one was released for holiday; this host was gifted it, it is fun!). Now it is available in long a sleek navy option. A great host or hostess gift, or a fun purchase for oneself.
What this hosting solution needed to provide coverage for was the space in between the kitchen and the dinner party. To bridge the gap in between the cooking outfit and the dinner party outfit. Either as a replacement, or as stylish protection, for a new generation of home cooks that perhaps are wanting to get behind the more traditional aspect of cooking, but without the desire of sacrificing a fashionable entertaining outfit while doing it.
This is exactly what Our Place set out to solve for last year and they hired us to support. The "Home Cook Apron" and the "Hosting Apron" (released in collaboration with Selena Gomez) were two designs iterations that came from the Research, Design & Development & Fit program we did with the brand. They were able to industrialize their designs with one of their linen manufactures which enabled them to hit their target MSRP, so it was great to see that result in the product the ultimately wanted to target to give their customer the same kind of beautification in cooking uniform, as they have for their cooking tool sets.
So like always in fashion, we see high-level editorial trends trickle down to become, beautiful utilitarian products that the consumer can find useful. We still see this as a huge whitespace for more brands to design & develop into as the customer will have appetite for it as long as they will for eating and drinking, so the longevity is endless!
