ByWind Luncheon #3

Founded in London in 2015 by Frances von Hofmannsthal and Thomas Persson, Luncheon is a biannual magazine dedicated to the subjects of art, fashion, photography and culture at large. Its high printing values and generous format (27 x 38cm) reflects the worldly and welcoming editorial ethos of inviting old and new friends of all generations and cultural experiences to share their views, life and work over lunch. From simple jam sandwiches in the park to home cooked feasts to hours spent in chic restaurants, the conversation and visual content is inspired by this midday treat.

Lunch, after all, has many things in common with a magazine. Both should be about bringing people together, exchanging ideas, telling stories, and to give pleasure. In other words, Luncheon is not about food, although food certainly is a part of it, but rather a convivial moment in time to present to our readers what we believe to be among the most interesting people and topics today. After only three issues our table of readers is getting bigger as people around the world are discovering and getting an appetite for this new and different magazine.

2017 marks several anniversaries covered in the third issue of Luncheon. First of all, our cover story. It is 70 years since the French fashion designer Christian Dior presented his first collection known as ‘New Look’ and it is 60 years since he died. The young man who was the last to photograph him in 1957 – Tony Armstrong Jones, later the distinguished photographer Lord Snowdon – peacefully passed away earlier this year.

Luncheon commissioned the young photographer Jack Davison to return to Chateau de la Colle Noire where Tony Armstrong Jones photographed of Monsieur Dior 70 years ago. This time it was to capture, in the same mood and at the same wintry time of year, the first collection by Dior’s first woman designer Maria Crazia Chiuri. Combining the photographs of Tony Armstrong Jones and Jack Davison in a 22 page lay-out, the result is at once playful and haunting, mysterious and light-hearted – accompanied by an insightful and evocative essay on Monsieur Dior by Suzy Menkes.

To mark the centenary of Irving Penn’s birth, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will open its doors in April to a major exhibition celebrating one of the foremost photographers of our time. With more than 200 prints on display the retrospective is the most substantial to date and explores every period in Penn’s prolific 70-year long career.

For Luncheon we asked the two curators behind the exhibition, Maria Morris Hambourg and Jeff L. Rosenheim to select three images each from the show and reflect upon them. From Marlene Dietrich (1948) to a tribesman in New Guinea (1970), a female nude (1949 – 50) and a still life for Vogue (1947), a fishmonger in London (1950) and two cigarette butts (1972) – Penn’s wide ranging subjects are observed and explored within the 12 page lay-out, reflecting on his worldly narrative and profound talent for storytelling.

This spring is the first time a living woman designer is celebrated with an exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute. As the show Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between opens in May, the photographer Paolo Roversi and head stylist and artist Julien d’Ys, who have collaborated with Rei Kawakubo and her collections for Comme des Garçsons for more than 30 years, have looked back through their archives and made a selection of their photographs and drawings and put together an extraordinary portfolio especially for Luncheon celebrating the work of the Japanese design legend.

2017 also marks the 130 year anniversary of Café de Flore on Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris. Few establishments, if any, have managed to stay a la mode for so long without conforming to changing trends and tastes. Its intellectual history of writers, artists and cultural figures who come here to eat, drink and socialize is a continuing one, which simply proves that some things never go our of style: the dialogue between people and the exchange of ideas.

As Margot Henderson so beautifully wrote for our first issue exactly one year ago: “Break bread, drink wine, and see where we end up. The possibilities are endless.”

Thomas Persson
Editor-in-Chief & Creative Director