BEFORE I BEGIN THIS story, I must disclose that much of it was written within the lacquered mahogany walls of Casa Cipriani New York, the 115-year-old ferry terminal turned members' club next to where the Staten Island Ferry comes into Manhattan. My spot was a corner couch in front of the crackling fireplace, not because the club was a subject of this story but because I'm a member there and I like to watch the buzzing traffic of private helicopters and boats in the harbor. I would tell you about the characters I see in the Jazz Café on Thursday nights (often in sunglasses at 10 p.m.), and what I hear in the sauna on Tuesday afternoons (this town's private schools are nuts)-I swear, sometimes it's a full-Scorsese fever dream-but I can't, because writing about the club's members, along with baseball hats and photography, is not permitted.
I am not alone in warming up to the members-only experience. Since the waning of the pandemic, private clubs have proliferated in New York City. It is not a new phenomenon in major urban areas around the world, but this is the crest of a whole new wave of options in a city that has not regarded club membership as a signifier for cool in quite some time. Good for a Christmas party or a cocktail with your dad's friend? Sure. But not cool.
Even as nouveau members-only clubs, like Soho House, thrived in places like London (where it was founded) and Berlin and Mexico City and Bangkok, the sparkle of New York's location came and went, due to the influx of bad start-up ideas and Allbirds sneakers. Now, though? Soho House's cachet is back up, with three locations in the city. And pay-for-play social life is having its day. There are start-up clubs, eating clubs, coworking clubs, office clubs that become dance clubs, old blue blood clubs looking for new life, et cetera, et cetera. What happened? First, obviously, the pandemic.
This story is from the Summer 2024 edition of GQ US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Summer 2024 edition of GQ US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How New York's Social Life Went Members-Only
A new wave of private restaurants, workspaces, wellness centers, and nightclubs has taken New York City by storm. Emily Sundberg gets inside most of them-and helps us understand why so many young New Yorkers are gleefully shelling out membership dues.
COLMAN DOMING REACHED THE SUMMIT NOW WHAT?
After three-plus decades in Hollywood, Colman Domingo finally found his work validated with an Oscar nomination-and became the new king of red-carpet style. Here, he gives us an exclusive first look at Loro Piana's luxurious new camping collection, and talks about the career opportunities he's been preparing to seize all his life.
WHY IS EVERYONE ON STEROIDS NOW?
Suddenly, steroids and a slew of other performance enhancers are moving out of the shadows and into the fitness routines of a new category of enthusiastic user. Across the internet and in gyms, how did body-modifying drug use become so ubiquitous, so effective, so...normal? And can it really be a good thing?
NEW YORKS GREAT BRICK-AND-MORTAR SHOPPING REVIVAL
The clothes are glorious. The vibes are immaculate. And the options are endless. We visited five of the city's buzziest shops for a look at the summer's best new threads worn by their stylish staffs, and to find out what's driving the return of NYC street retail.
THE OUTLAW TALES OF PESU PLUMA
He grew up listening to Ice Cube and Travis Scott, unless he was singing along to the corridos that immortalized larger-than-life Mexican legends. Now, the mullet-rocking superstar is fast becoming as famous as his rap idols-and as compelling as the folk heroes he used to sing about.
LET THE LUXURY GAMES BEGIN
This summer, as athletes and fans descend on the Paris Olympics, LVMH is spending a fortune making sure its brands are enmeshed in the Games. It's the grandest convergence of sports and luxury ever-but what can it tell us about the Arnault family's broader ambitions
KEVIN COSTNER BETS IT ALL AGAIN
For years, Kevin Costner had an obsession he couldn't shake: A four-part film epic called Horizon that has so far cost him $38 million of his own money. Now, he talks in-depth for the first time about why he left Yellowstone and why he's placing one of the most grandiose bets in Hollywood history on himself.
MEET THE WILDEST CHARCTER IN THE WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSIC SCENE
Right now, to be the most important new voice in Afrobeats means you might just be the most important new voice in global music, period. That title currently belongs to Asake, a Nigerian singer with bonkers style and a penchant for making speaker-melting hits.
MARNI'S FRANCESCO RISSO WILL NEVER GROWUP
The eccentric Italian designer is proving that the very serious business of fashion doesn't have to be very serious at all.
WELCOME TO LAUREN HALSEY'S NEIGHBORHOOD
The red-hot 36-year-old artist has achieved global success with a very local approach: applying imaginative, laserlike focus to a few square blocks of her hometown. In doing so, she renders and reflects what it's actually like to live and work in-and never, ever leave-South Central Los Angeles.
