ELLE December/January 2021

deck the halls

1. CHEF’S TABLE Met Gala caterer Olivier Cheng has found a way to duplicate his signature culinary experiences in the comfort of your home. This summer, he launched Destination: Hamptons, bringing Long Island summer essentials like hot dogs and homemade pies to doorsteps around the country. For fall, Cheng turns his attention to the holidays, with dinner and cocktail kits that aim to make the season as stress-free (and joyful) as possible. Starting at $1,500 (for eight people, including stationery), plus delivery. Additional services upon request. 2. ETERNAL FLAME Countless design eureka moments have been inspired by flea-market finds, but few designers strive for vintage verisimilitude the way jeweler Ted Muehling does. After Muehling fell in love with a vintage Biedermeier candlestick, his attempts to craft his own version stalled, given that they…

fashion royalty

Nestled amid 2,000 acres of Scottish countryside sits Dumfries House, an eighteenth-century estate complete with a walled garden straight out of an Austen heroine’s dreams. It’s been home to generations of earls, but lately it’s hosted a very different set of tenants: students from Italy’s architecture, design, and engineering school Politecnico di Milano. They’ve come together with British graduate artisans to create the Modern Artisan Project, a fashion collaboration between Prince Charles’s educational charity The Prince’s Foundation and Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP). While it might seem like an unlikely pairing, Yoox founder and YNAP chairman and CEO Federico Marchetti says he and the prince bonded over a shared interest in conservation. Prince Charles “started talking about the effects of plastic in 1969, the year I was born!” Marchetti marvels. “He also…

generation z

Zendaya made history this fall as the youngest-ever Emmy winner in her category for Euphoria, her must-see HBO show. And she’s about to hit another milestone with her upcoming movie Malcolm & Marie—shot, with rigorous safety protocols in place, during the height of the quarantine. Speaking with her Dune costar Timothée Chalamet, the actress, who has been an outspoken advocate for mental health, discussed the struggles that millennials and Gen Zers are facing right now. “It feels like a very hopeless time, specifically in this country,” she says. “I know a lot of my peers feel enraged and exhausted and tired of living and growing up in a system that feels like it wasn’t built for us.” Which is why she is focused on finding silver linings where she can.…

mass appeal

STAY Steeped in local charm, the White Elephant resort is everything you’d expect, from cedar-shingled facades to tasteful guest rooms. The resort is also the starting point of the annual Nantucket Christmas Stroll (set to return in 2021) and a short walk to the Main Street tree lighting. whiteelephantnantucket.com DINE Located in the Harborside Hotel at the White Elephant, the Brant Point Grill offers the best in seafood from a casual space overlooking the harbor. Should you stop by for brunch, be sure to sample the Signature Lobster Bloody Mary. whiteelephantnantucket.com/dining/brant-point-grill SHOP Why not bring a bit of the island back home with you? Bodega Nantucket offers a curated selection of decorative accents, furniture, and textiles. Among the coastal-inspired objets, you’ll also find unexpected treasures, such as block-printed Indian pillows and leather tassels from Morocco.…

renaissance men

When most of the world had long since ceded style to sweatpants and staying home, Dolce & Gabbana’s staunchest enthusiasts packed their suitcases with ball gowns and journeyed to Italy this September in pursuit of beauty. After a bad year for fashion, and for just about everything else, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana envisioned salvation in the post-lockdown resurrection of their over-the-top Alta Moda runway affair, a multi-day, socially distanced shindig dedicated to the city of Florence—the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. In the Four Seasons’ Medici chapel, the designers sat on a brocade sofa, surrounded by golden sixteenth-century frescoes. “We know the situation. We know the problem,” Dolce said. “We know everything,” Gabbana added solemnly. “But we want to continue. We want to go on.” The pair’s destination shows turn their…

ace of diamonds

It’s hard to fathom that Messika, the Paris-based jewelry brand founded in 2005 by the très chic Valérie Messika, could get any cooler. After all, how many jewelers can claim Beyoncé, Hailey Bieber, and Charlize Theron as devoted fans of their timeless yet modern designs? Make no mistake, these are diamonds with a capital D, but made for everyday wear. So it’s hardly surprising that Kate Moss, that great champion of mixing high and low, would hit it off with Messika after meeting with her in Paris. Or that a collaboration inspired by Moss’s eclectic aesthetic would soon be born from this creative tête-à-tête. “I brought my jewelry box to our first design meeting so Valérie could see pieces that I love, and get an understanding of my taste,” Moss tells…