The Artful Life: 6 Things Galerie Editors Love This Week

1. Hermès Opens a Whimsical, Interactive Experience in New York City

Lovers of puzzles, clues, and Birkins need to look no further than Mystery at the Grooms’, a highly interactive experience hosted by Hermès at Pier 36 in New York City from June 19 through 29. Open to the public by appointment, this whimsical, immersive journey takes visitors through the rooms of the residence where the imaginary Hermès horse attendants live. As they piece together clues on the hunt for missing horses, guests become detectives and go from the pantry stocked with bales of hay and carrots as well as Hermès scarves and accessories to the refectory set for a feast with their signature dinnerware. Is that a saddle spinning around in the laundry room’s dryer? Is that a Kelly bag that’s also a rocking horse in the stockroom? Only those adventurous enough to join Hermès for this playful, imaginative good time will find out.—Jacqueline Terrebonne

2. The Malin’s Largest Location Yet Opens in the Flatiron District 

During the pandemic, Ciaran McGuigan envisioned his ideal co-working space: in an exciting neighborhood, with zones that promoted different types of work, and elevated yet inviting interiors. So the Orior Furniture co-founder teamed up with Charlie Robinson and consulted with Soho House executives to develop The Malin, whose first location opened on SoHo’s Mercer Street back in 2021. Thanks to that winning formula, the venture has since become one of New York’s go-to co-working spaces for creative professionals; it now operates five locations citywide (with more on the way) and has expanded to Austin, Nashville, and Savannah, Georgia. Its newest location, perched above Equinox in a landmark building in the Flatiron District, is the co-working brand’s largest and most successful outing yet. Spanning nearly 33,000 square feet across two floors, the well-appointed workspace fully leased all 20 private offices and 36 dedicated desks before the doors even opened. 

Interiors, executed in-house, honor the building’s original bones by preserving exposed steel columns, timber trusses, and lofty ceilings. Rather than an overhaul, the team added subtle, tactile layers like tall timber doors, arched thresholds, moodier-toned worktops, and natural materials that project warmth. “To not have only opened in Flatiron—but to have opened at scale, fully sold out—is a clear sign that The Malin offers something the market deeply wants: elevated design, meaningful community, and hospitality that enhances productivity,” McGuigan says. The amenity-rich space includes three meeting rooms, a 14-person boardroom, 21 phone booths, two libraries, and a mezzanine for events. A new partnership with Equinox adds further cross-access benefits, uniting fitness and workflow in a curated ecosystem that continues to redefine the modern creative workplace. —Ryan Waddoups

3. Designers Gilles & Boissier Introduce Dreamy New Assortment of Glassware

The creative visionaries behind some of the world’s most spectacular hotels, including the Baccarat Hotel in New York and the Hôtel Barrière Le Carl Gustaf in St. Barts, designers Patrick Gilles and Dorothée Boissier of Paris studio Gilles & Boissier know a thing or two about exceptional hospitality. As such, they’ve channeled their style acumen into an array of pieces for the home, including furnishing, lighting, and tableware, perfect for entertaining. Their newest collection, Éclats Soufflés, celebrates the art of glassblowing with carafes and drinking glasses awash in speckled shades of summery hues, from sunny yellow and tropical pink to earth tones of sand, amber, and celadon. The hand-blown assortment is a chic companion to their earlier selections—Natures Rêvées, plates of Limoges porcelain produced by Bernardaud featuring exuberant botanical illustrations by French printmaker François Houtin, and Jardins Sculptés, shapely platters and dishes crafted with celebrated earthenware specialists Maison Bourg Joly Malicorne—elevating any table with the aesthetic splendor of the Côte d’Azur or Italian Riviera.—Jill Sieracki

4. Hotel Oil Nut Bay Unveils First Overwater Spa in Virgin Gorda

Tucked amongst the British Virgin Island’s crystal clear waters and glistening white beaches, luxury getaway Oil Nut Bay has finally unveiled their long anticipated Sundara Spa + Studio just in time for the Summer season. Marking the island’s first overwater wellness space to be built, 360-degree panoramic views alongside underwater windows allow visitors to take in the healing energy of the ocean while choosing among the different amenities offered including glass enclosed treatment rooms equipped with products from organic seaweed-based skincare line VOYA, a hair and nail salon, hospitality bar, sound baths, or opting to work up a sweat in yoga or pilates classes. Designed by Jenn Zella of CID Design Group and architect Carlos Agelet De Saracibar of OBMI, the spa’s open space concept is emphasized through neutral color palettes and natural materials to fully embrace the hotel’s hypnotizing and calming surroundings, perfect for anyone searching for true paradise. — Shelby Black

5. Dobel Debuts Latest Release in Collectible Atelier Series, Animales Endémicos

In a colorful kick-off to summer, Dobel Tequila has unveiled its latest edition in its collectible Atelier series, Animales Endémicos, which is presented in six, carefully hand-painted bottles, each depicting small fantastical creatures inspired by an animal native to Mexico. The bottles, painted by Oaxacan artisans, are bright, vivid, and full of intricate patterns featuring an axolotl, a jaguar, a monarch butterfly, a dwarf jay, the Mexican wolf, and the Tamaulipas owl.

The bottles, which mark the third release in the Atelier series, contain an Extra Añeo tequila that has been rested for over three years in new American and European oak barrels and then blended, resulting in a warm taste of wood as well as agave and fruit with a smooth aftertaste. With dark amber, bright gold, and copper tones, the tequila gives off an aroma of sweet scents and light tones of tasted wood. “Dobel is built on 11 generations of tequila-making legacy, and the Atelier series reflects our dedication to redefining aged tequila,” says Juan Dobel, founder of Dobel Tequila. “This Extra Añejo showcases the depth of our tequila heritage and reflects the artistry of Mexico, inside and out.”—Alexandria Sillo

6. The New MillerKnoll Archive Charts the History of Modernist Furniture

Few companies have shaped the language of modern design more decisively than Herman Miller and Knoll, the once-rival furniture giants who came together under the same umbrella in a groundbreaking 2021 merger. Now, for the first time, the legacies of both brands are converging in a singular museum-like space that reveals not only hallmarks of 20th-century design history but the ideologies, experiments, and innovators behind them. The newly opened MillerKnoll Archive, located at the company’s Design Yard headquarters in Zeeland, Michigan, houses over one million objects, from early prototypes and landmark campaigns to sketches and rare photographs. Its inaugural show, “Manufacturing Modern,” hand-picks a selection of furniture staples designed by the visionaries who shaped each company (Florence Knoll, Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames) to explore how modernism was forged across decades of innovation.

The archive’s open storage concept, created in collaboration with New York design consultancy Standard Issue, puts over 300 seminal works on full view, including pieces by MillerKnoll brands Hay and Design Within Reach. Rarities abound, including a blooming Womb Chair prototype gifted by Saarinen to his mother and mahogany Gilbert Rohde pieces from the 1933 World’s Fair. More than serving as a monument to the past, the archive exists as a working resource; tours will be available on select days through the summer in partnership with Cranbrook Art Museum. “This debut invites our communities to experience design history—and imagine its future—in one dynamic space,” says Ben Watson, MillerKnoll’s chief creative and product officer. “The ability to not only understand how iconic designs came to be, but how design solutions evolved over time, is a never-ending source of inspiration.” —R.W.