Merry Christmas, London: the city has a new Banksy mural to mark festive season.
London has gained a new Banksy mural for the Christmas season, depicting two children lying on their backs and gazing upward. The work was confirmed by the artist after it appeared above garages in Bayswater. An identical image surfaced near the Centre Point tower, though Banksy has not verified that second work, prompting speculation about its intent and authorship. Commentary links the imagery and location to homelessness, noting Centre Point’s long association with the issue and reading the children’s upward stare as a quiet contrast to the way vulnerable people often go unseen during the holidays.
TikTok has offloaded its U.S. operations to a joint venture between U.S. investors.
TikTok has shifted control of its U.S. business into a new joint venture led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, a deal Donald Trump has framed as a national security victory. The ownership structure tells a messier story: the venture will control roughly half of the U.S. entity, while ByteDance and its existing investors retain a substantial stake. Critics argue the arrangement looks less like a safeguard against Chinese influence and more like a forced entry into a highly profitable platform. With the algorithm and governance still partly tied to ByteDance, questions remain about what has meaningfully changed beyond who shares in the upside.
Matthieu Blazy will recreate his Metiers d’Art debut for Chanel in Seoul next spring.
Chanel will restage Matthieu Blazy’s first Métiers d’Art collection in Seoul on May 26, reprising the show he debuted in New York in December. The presentation marks Blazy’s inaugural craft-focused outing for the house and underscores Chanel’s practice of extending Métiers d’Art collections beyond their original venues. While the Seoul location remains undisclosed, the choice reflects the brand’s long-standing relationship with the city, which has previously hosted cruise shows, exhibitions, and earlier Métiers d’Art reprises. The move positions Seoul as the next stage for a collection that blends cinematic staging with an emphasis on Chanel’s specialist ateliers.
Raf Simons is making a comeback with an archive sale at Dover Street Market Ginza.
Raf Simons will stage a short-term return of his namesake label through an archive-focused sale at Dover Street Market Ginza, opening December 29 and running through January 18. The installation will offer garments and materials spanning nearly three decades, including pieces from early-2000s collections that shaped his reputation, alongside rare printed matter such as original lookbooks. Simons will appear in person for a signing event on opening night for customers who purchase items. The project frames the brand less as a revival than as a curated release from its own history, timed two years after its final runway collection.
Frick chief curator Aimee Ng is starting new conversations about the museum’s collections.
Aimee Ng, newly appointed chief curator at the Frick Collection, is reframing the museum’s holdings by shifting attention from painterly technique to the lived experiences of the people—especially women—depicted on its walls. Through archival research, public-facing video series, and exhibitions that foreground overlooked figures and global histories of labor, colonialism, and race, she has pushed the institution to broaden how its canonical works are understood. Her approach blends deep scholarship with accessible storytelling, drawing new audiences without flattening complexity. Ng’s leadership signals a curatorial direction that treats the collection as a site of inquiry rather than inheritance.
Today’s attractive distractions:
The renovated Élysées Lincoln theater might just be one of the prettiest in Paris.
If holiday windows aren’t your speed, may we suggest the oldest hardware store in New York?
The beloved objects of late, great artists tell the story of who they were.
To hear it from those present, nothing has rocked Carnegie Hall quite like Cameron Winter.
