Blackpink's Lisa and Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Steal the Spotlight at Bulgari's Star-Studded Event
High art met high jewelry last night in Taormina, Italy, as Bulgari transformed the picturesque coastal town into a dazzling showcase for its new Polychroma collection. Renowned for its bold and joyful use of color, the Roman jeweler unveiled 600 stunning creations, including 250 new designs, 60 'millionaire' pieces, and five milestone styles. With the spectacular display, Bulgari once again affirmed its philosophy: the stones don't choose Bulgari—Bulgari chooses the stones, selecting only the most extraordinary gems the world has to offer.
The evening began with a gala dinner at the iconic Grand Hotel Timeo, where Blackpink's Lisa, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Viola Davis, Liu Yifei, and more stars offered a preview of what was to come, gracing the carpet in Polychroma pieces designed by creative director Lucia Silvestri. Set on a terrace overlooking the majestic Mount Etna and the shimmering Ionian Sea, the ambiance was a harmonious blend of Sicilian charm and classical inspiration. The décor, paired with a menu of local delicacies and subtle Greek motifs, served as a poetic prelude to the main presentation.
After dinner, guests were ushered to the ancient Greek Theater of Taormina, where they were treated to a three-act performance showcasing the Polychroma collection. Models donned custom gowns by Francesco Murano, adorned with the high jewelry pieces, and the evening was masterfully choreographed by Sir Wayne McGregor, resident choreographer of The Royal Ballet, who seamlessly blended dance and performance art into a powerful visual narrative that brought the collection to life.
For those wishing to explore the collection up close, Polychroma was on display at the San Domenico Palace in a thoughtfully curated showroom that fused art and high jewelry. Digital artist Zach Lieberman's code-driven works were reimagined by renowned textile house Rubelli, suspended above milestone high jewelry pieces in a striking mosaic. Complementing the space, Taormina-based painter Alessandro Florio contributed handcrafted tapestries, adding a layer of local artistry to the immersive experience.
Bulgari also introduced three innovative experiences that brought a modern edge to the display. Polychroma Theatre, created by artist Giuseppe Lo Schiavo, breathed digital life into a classical statue dating back to 1545–1546, merging past and future through immersive animation. Guests could step into Bulgari's universe via Apple Vision Pro, experiencing the brand's world in an entirely new dimension. Bulgari also unveiled Connected Jewelry—a discreet, invisible code etched into the metal of each piece, offering access to unique details and the story behind every creation.
In honor of its new launch, Fondazione Bulgari also lent its support to two significant local initiatives: the restoration of a historic fresco at Palazzo Corvaja and a new partnership with the Antonio Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo, further solidifying the brand's commitment to preserving cultural heritage.
For a closer look at the collection, scroll through the gallery below to see highlights from the showroom.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
14 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Sacha Jenkins, filmmaker who mined the Black experience, dies at 53
He was 'an embodiment of 'for us, by us,'' journalist Stereo Williams wrote in a recent appreciation on Okayplayer, a music and culture site. 'He was one of hip-hop's greatest journalistic voices because he didn't just write about the art: He lived it.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up And he lived it from early on. Mr. Jenkins, raised primarily in the Astoria section of Queens, was a graffiti artist as a youth, and sought to bring an insider's perspective to the culture surrounding it with his zine Graphic Scenes X-Plicit Language, which he started at 16. He later co-founded Beat-Down newspaper, which covered hip-hop; and the feisty and irreverent magazine Ego Trip, which billed itself as 'the arrogant voice of musical truth.' Advertisement Mr. Jenkins later served a stint as the music editor of Vibe magazine and wrote for publications such as Spin and Rolling Stone, before turning his attention to the screen. Advertisement 'There's a huge void, right?' he said in a 2022 interview with Okayplayer. 'There weren't a lot of documentaries about hip-hop for the longest time. I think hip-hop generated some of the strongest, most powerful storytellers of our generation with the music so it's only natural that we would create projects in the film and television realm that would have resonance.' He joined Mass Appeal, a New York-based media and content company, as the chief creative officer in 2012. Three years later, he directed 'Fresh Dressed,' a documentary that chronicled the rise of urban and hip-hop fashion, tracing elements of Black style from the antebellum plantations of the South to the world's fashion tents. Other notable documentaries included 'Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men' (2019), an Emmy-nominated four-part series that depicted the members of the groundbreaking hip-hop group from Staten Island as 'human-scaled -- determined, gifted, anxious, fallible,' music critic Jon Caramanica wrote in a review in The New York Times. 'Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James' (2021) explored the radiant and sordid career of the punk funk master, who minted anthems of debauchery including the 1980s hits 'Super Freak' and 'Give It to Me Baby,' but who also crossed the line from personal hedonism to criminal abuse. The film premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. Mr. Jenkins dipped further back into history with 'Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues' (2022), which drew heavily from the personal writings of the artist known as Satchmo, from his reel-to-reel audio diaries and from his letters, read by rapper Nas. The film shed light on the inner racial struggles of a jazz giant who generally kept mum on the topic while becoming a global celebrity beloved by white audiences. Advertisement Mr. Jenkins's films 'were homecomings for Black folk who watch these films with the hope that it's us behind the camera,' artist and writer DJ Lynnée Denise, wrote in an essay. She argued that his work stood in contrast to white directors Ken Burns and Martin Scorsese, whose documentaries about Black music 'replicate centuries of symbolic and material imbalance between Black performers and white industry.' Sacha Sebastian Jenkins was born Aug. 22, 1971, in Philadelphia, the younger of two children of Horace B. Jenkins, an Emmy-winning filmmaker, and Monart Renaud, a visual artist from Haiti. His family moved to Silver Spring, Md., a suburb of Washington, and after his parents separated, his father moved to Harlem and the rest of the family settled in Astoria. Mr. Jenkins came of age in New York at a fertile time in hip-hop culture, as it was spreading from such areas as the South Bronx toward the mainstream. 'We grew up writing graffiti, dancing in the street, rapping in staircases,' he said. People were 'plugging turntables into lampposts on the street.' He became enmeshed in the graffiti art scene, but, as he recalled in an interview last year with the multimedia company Idea Generation, he spent 'more time thinking about graffiti and writing about graffiti and publishing magazines about graffiti than doing graffiti.' After launching Graphic Scenes X-Plicit Language and Beat-Down newspaper, he joined forces with two friends, Elliott Wilson and Jeff Mao, to form Ego Trip magazine, which covered hip-hop and a variety of topics, including skateboarding and punk rock. 'White kids who like rock love hip-hop by this point,' he said. 'You can't keep putting people in boxes.' Advertisement In the late 1990s, Ego Trip expanded to books, including 'Ego Trip's Big Book of Racism!' which caught the eye of producers at VH1. The cable network enlisted the Ego Trip team to develop satirical shows including 'TV's Illest Minority Moments,' which lampooned the media's depictions of people of color, and 'The (White) Rapper Show,' a reality competition. Mr. Jenkins also published several books, including collaborating with Eminem on the rapper's 2008 book 'The Way I Am.' In addition to his wife, Mr. Jenkins leaves a son, Marceau, a stepdaughter, Djali Brown-Cepeda, and a grandson. Mr. Jenkins's tart views on race in America were on display in 'Everything's Gonna Be All White,' his 2022 Showtime docuseries that sought to tell 'a tale of two Americas, one white, one not,' featuring pointed commentary about racism from a broad swath of people of color. The documentary touched on the notion of a Black Jesus, the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, and 'white noise,' which Mr. Jenkins argued happens to people of color when they internalize messaging from the white power structure. 'It's a subliminal fuzz, constant, like a ringing in your ear,' he said in an interview that year with the film and television news site The Credits. 'It's always there, right, but you become used to it. If you focus on that frequency, it's going to confuse you, encourage you to make the wrong decisions, like not being conscious of casting folks of color in a film about folks of color.' This article originally appeared in
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Why cozy content is king for stressed-out young adults
Meredith Hayden, a New York-based social media influencer and cookbook author, didn't start out wanting to create comforting content. But that's exactly what resonated with audiences. She went viral a few years ago by posting about her 'day in the life' as a private chef in the Hamptons. Now she has a large following on YouTube for her Wishbone Kitchen brand and her 'Dinner With Friends' video series, where she shows herself setting up relaxing dinner parties, making French-style hot chocolate and re-creating a cozy coffee shop at home. You might see her online wearing pajamas or in bed with her dog while talking to the camera. She doesn't edit out the parts where she messes up the recipe, saying her fans appreciate the flubs. Hayden, who recently completed a tour for 'The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook,' said she isn't necessarily going for a vibe, at least not intentionally, despite the clear Ina Garten influence. 'This is really just how I live my life,' Hayden, 29, said by phone. 'I am glad it comes across as comforting, because I'm definitely someone who gravitates more towards 'comfort content' myself.' 'I'm not planning on watching 'Severance,'' she added, saying she gravitates toward more wholesome, grounded content, such as home makeover shows of the non-competitive variety. That personal preference aligns with a broader trend among young adult viewers, according to recent data from United Talent Agency, the Beverly Hills representation firm. The company's data and insights group, UTA IQ, compiled stats suggesting that many younger consumers are leaning toward material that soothes the nerves and acts as a warm blanket, rather than ratcheting up the anxiety. 'Comfort content' is like popping a Lorazepam (though not in the excessive dose Parker Posey's character takes in 'The White Lotus') or CBD gummy at the end of the day. The trend is playing out across TV, streaming, literature and social media, said UTA IQ executive Abby Bailey. She sees it in the rise of #CleanTok videos (totaling 49 billion views last year), in which people do mundane household chores, as well as robust streaming viewership of nostalgic low-intensity sitcoms including 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' and the successful February debut of a new CBS soap opera, 'Beyond the Gates.' 'Somber themes, intellectual depth, cultural satires — those have always defined prestige entertainment, and it's left many to discount the value and the viewership of this more lighthearted, comforting programming,' Bailey told The Times. 'But as audiences are prioritizing their well-being and taking brain-breaks from the weight of the world, the definition of what's capital 'I' important in entertainment is shifting.' The changing attitudes are particularly noticeable in the young adult entertainment space, which several years ago was dominated by postapocalyptic teen dramas such as 'The Hunger Games' and the 'Divergent' series. More than half (58%) of U.S. adults ages 18 to 30 say TV shows and movies depicting young adults have become too dark and heavy, according to UTA IQ's April poll of more than 1,000 people. More than 70% said they want to see lighter and more joyful TV shows with young people. That's not to say that the upcoming season of the dark and sexually explicit 'Euphoria' won't be successful or that the next 'Hunger Games' film won't work at the box office. That type of content still has its place, even as tastes evolve. But studios and streamers appear to be noticing the audience's shifting habits. Examples are popping up in the young adult space on streaming services, including Tubi's 2024 sports romance movie 'Sidelined: The QB & Me,' which is getting a sequel. The Netflix teen drama 'My Life With the Walter Boys' was recently renewed for a third season, ahead of its Season 2 premiere. There are plenty of other opportunities now for young people to take mental breaks on the couch, from the rise of 'cozy gaming' to the crossover appeal of 'healing fiction,' a genre of whimsical books from Japan and Korea that have taken off elsewhere. Olympic diver Tom Daley, who went viral when he was photographed knitting between his events in Tokyo, created a competition show called 'Game of Wool' that will debut on Channel 4 in the U.K. Some millennial parents have turned to gentler, less overstimulating TV shows from decades ago — think 'Arthur' and 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' — to co-view with their young children. Comfort content is certainly nothing new. The term brings to mind the idyllic autumnal walkways of Stars Hollow, the fictional small town from 'Gilmore Girls,' as well as just about anything on the Hallmark Channel, which has enough of a following to justify its own $8-a-month subscription streaming service. But there may be a reason the category is finding renewed purchase in trying times. Bailey hears that theme from consumers who just aren't in the mood for any more nail-biters. 'Time and time again, I get people saying, 'I just can't bring myself to watch anything serious,'' Bailey said. ''Like, all I want to do is watch Bravo.'' As expected, Warner Bros. Discovery will split into two companies, separating its streaming and studios businesses from the struggling television networks business, the New York-based media giant said Monday. The Streaming & Studios company will consist of the film and TV studios as well as HBO and HBO Max. The Global Networks company (which is taking on much of the debt) will have CNN, Discovery and other channels. The divorce is aimed to be completed by mid-2026. Afterward, Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav will be CEO of the streaming and studios group, while Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels will run the networks. The firm previously foreshadowed this move by restructuring its operations along similar lines. Warner Bros. Discovery thus joins Comcast's NBCUniversal, which is sweeping basic cable networks, including MSNBC and USA, into a new separate entity called Versant. It's widely speculated that Paramount Global — if and when the Skydance deal happens — will also eventually unload declining legacy networks. The breakups reflect an ongoing reality — linear television is in big trouble. The struggles of the cable bundle have continued to weigh on studio finances, with customers moving rapidly to on-demand services. Indeed, if anyone thought the entertainment business' bloodletting was over after last year's series of layoffs, Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery disabused them of that notion in recent days. Disney slashed several hundred employees on June 2. An actual number was not disclosed, but the cuts are significant, coming after Bob Iger embarked on a plan to reduce staff by 8,000 two years ago following his return as chief executive. The latest layoffs hit film and television marketing teams, television publicity, casting and development as well as corporate financial operations. The cuts happen to land as the company is celebrating huge box office results from 'Lilo & Stitch.' The new downsizing comes amid Disney's efforts to pare down its production pipeline after binge-spending during the streaming wars. The reduction corresponds to Disney's efforts to focus on quality over quantity while also cutting costs. A couple days after Disney's layoffs, Warner Bros. Discovery cut staff from its cable television channels business. Those Warner Bros. Discovery reductions were smaller in scale (eliminating fewer than 100 roles), but the message to the industry couldn't be clearer. Comcast's NBCUniversal has also undergone layoffs. The question is: What comes next? Many expect the cast-off Warner and NBCUniversal networks to merge at some point, with Paramount channels perhaps joining them one day. Listen: Turnstile's new album 'Never Enough' is out. Also, The Beths have a new tune. Sabrina Carpenter's latest has already been declared the 'song of the summer.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards exhibit opens at Springfield Museums
SPRINGFIELD — If a laughing dormouse or a kangaroo playing air guitar doesn't make you smile, nothing will. Kris Ludwig, Curator of Art for the Springfield Museums, is hoping that one of the 60 happy-go-lucky animals on display in the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum as part of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards exhibit will be enough to brighten anyone's day. 'We first came across the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards years ago in articles featuring many of the winning images. They were so funny and uplifting that it became somewhat of a tradition for us to continue sharing them with family, friends, and coworkers every year,' Ludwig said in an interview with The Republican. 'When we discovered that the photographs were being offered as an exhibition, we were delighted to have the opportunity to share this same joy with our visitors.' The competition for which the exhibit is named, the Comedy Wildlife Awards, describes its mission as 'conservation through competition' on its website. The awards are co-hosted by wildlife photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, who also co-founded the awards in 2015. It all began when Joynson-Hicks, who has lived in East Africa for the past 30 years, took the time to slow down and really look at the photos he was taking. In doing so, he noticed just how relatable animals could be. In a statement on the competition's website, Joynson-Hicks said, 'To really understand animals and the issues that affect them, you need to empathize with them as fellow inhabitants of the same planet.' The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, which has expanded over the years to welcome thousands of entries internationally, donates a portion of its proceeds to the Whitley Fund for Nature, a United Kingdom-based charity that supports conservation leaders across the global south. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, more than 47,000 species are being threatened with extinction as of this year. That breaks down to 41% of amphibians, 27% of mammals, 34% of conifers, 12% of birds, 37% of sharks and rays, 44% of reef corals, 28% of crustaceans, 21% of reptiles and 71% of cycads under this threat. While conservation awareness and fundraising are its primary goals, the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards do aim to fulfill a second purpose: making people smile. 'The photographs are as beautiful as they are humorous, so I hope visitors also come away with a sense of appreciation for the natural world around us as well as a closer connection to nature's creatures after sharing some laughs,' Ludwig said. The photographs on display at the Springfield Museums are winners from across the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards' 10-year run. Among them is 'Smile!' which shows a marsh frog leaping out of the water with a big grin, and 'Squirrel Wishes,' which depicts a Eurasian Red Squirrel blowing on a dandelion. Just like the competition itself, the photos on display at the Springfield Museums span the globe, with photographers from across Italy, Sweden, Australia and Russia — just to name a few — being represented. 'As diverse as the photographers are, the locations they traveled to capture these images is even more expansive and includes exotic locals like the Falkland Islands, the Bahamas, and Namibia as well as some more close to home, like Staten Island, New York, proving that animal comedy could be hiding in your own backyard,' Ludwig said. In some cases, the photos capture animals that are now considered 'critically endangered' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, such as the Verreaux's Sifaka, a lemur species native to Madagascar. In Alison Buttigieg's photograph from 2015, 'Staying Alive!,' the lemur is captured mid-hop with one arm raised. Since that time, deforestation and illegal hunting has driven down the Verreaux's Sifaka population, and their status was officially updated from 'vulnerable' to 'critically endangered' in 2020. Asked what his favorite photograph is in the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards exhibit, Ludwig said the answer was 'difficult.' 'One of the most wholesome is certainly 'The Laughing Dormouse' by Andrea Zampatti,' he said. 'The tiny mouse is perched in a flower with its eyes squinting and an expression of pure happiness — you can almost imagine it letting out a little squeak of joy.' Down the hall, the Springfield Museums offers plenty of additional opportunities for animal lovers of all ages to learn more. 'Whiskers and Whimsy: Animals in Currier & Ives Prints,' a collection of more than 1,200 lithographs that depict fuzzy and feathered animals is on display in the D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts. 'Habitat,' on loan from the Smithsonian Institution, is installed throughout the museum grounds and depicts the many different environments that animals call home. In the Springfield Science Museum, visitors can also visit the newly renovated Live Animal Center. 'Here Be Dragons,' also at the Springfield Science Museum, brings visitors face-to-face with live reptiles. For more information about the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards and other ongoing exhibits at the Springfield Museums, visit the Museums' website. Read the original article on MassLive.
