Kanye West’s unexpected collaboration, a members club is coming to Hudson Yards, and Kelly Wearstler backs a new financial platform for designers. All that and more in this week’s Five on Friday.
Vergo is ready to help designers and architects with their finances
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A new financial platform geared toward interior designers and architects has hit the market. Vergo, which was cofounded by Rich Kane and Einar Hohenstein, announced last week that it received $4.1 million in seed funding, and among its investors is designer Kelly Wearstler. According to AD Pro, the startup aims to streamline the industry’s accounting and project management needs by offering a banking platform that helps with estimates, invoicing, and more. Thousands of architects, interior designers, and contractors are currently on the waitlist to join.
Major Food Group to open members club in New York
Photo courtesy of Randy Caldwell/Flickr
Following the successful 2021 opening of ZZ’s Club in the Design District of Miami, the team at Major Food Group is plotting the members club’s second location, The New York Times reports. The exclusive spot, set to open before the end of the year, will occupy the three-floor, 25,000-square-foot space that was formerly the Tavern by WS in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards neighborhood. Members will get to enjoy lounges, bars, and party spaces, as well as a Japanese restaurant and their very own Carbone outpost. The restaurant group has not disclosed how many members will be accepted or how much a membership at the New York location will cost.
Kanye West teams up with McDonald’s
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Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa and rapper Kanye West—or Ye—have come together to redesign McDonald’s burger box, reports Dezeen. Unveiled on the musician’s Instagram feed (the post has since been deleted), the reimagined packaging boasts a more minimal design than the fast-food chain’s standard, brightly colored look. While specific details remain hush, McDonald’s has confirmed that the collaboration is, in fact, official. “A simple, high-quality, short dialogue was exchanged through the design process,” Fukasawa said of partnering with West.
Queer bars are here to stay
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Pride Month may have just come to a close, but, there’s no time like the present to appreciate Bon Appétit’s piece on the observable shift from gay bars toward queer bars. As one Washington, DC bar owner puts it: “Our goal with As You Are is to queer the gay bar agenda.” Without ignoring the significance gay and lesbian institutions have had on history and culture, newcomers are reframing what it means to be inclusive, “with less focus on the gender binary and more on personal autonomy and social accountability,” write Luz Cruz and Chala Tyson Tshitundu. “These spaces hold true to a similar mission—the desire to build community, organize, and share information—but prioritize the safety of their patrons, especially in regard to consent.” (And ICYMI: Check out 5 Spaces Crafted with the LGBTQ+ Community Top of Mind)
HDTV goes inside Ci Siamo with Danny Meyer and Matthew Goodrich
Danny Meyer and Matthew Goodrich onsite at Ci Siamo
For HDTV, Hospitality Design magazine’s recently launched video series, restaurateur Danny Meyer of Union Square Hospitality Group and designer Matthew Goodrich of Goodrich took us behind the scenes of Ci Siamo, Union Square Hospitality Group’s newest restaurant and Meyer’s first in New York since 2018. The three-level upscale Italian concept, helmed by chef Hillary Sterling, is situated within a Skidmore, Owings & Merrill building in New York’s emerging Manhattan West development. Watch the video!
