To be held at the 29 Arts in Progress gallery and running through March 25, 2023, the “Gian Paolo Barbieri: Unconventional” show will include an exclusive selection of colored images and unseen photographs by Barbieri.

The exhibit will flank images of top models and celebrities in key advertising campaigns Barbieri photographed throughout the years for brands such as Versace, Vivienne Westwood, Valentino, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana and Gianfranco Ferré, among others. The goal is to also offer a glimpse of the lesser-known work of the photographer and spotlight the link to the worlds of art and cinema in his iconography.

On a personal note, the exhibition will closely follow the launch of a docu-film on Barbieri’s life and work, which will be screened in movie theaters in Italy next month. Dubbed “L’uomo e la bellezza,” or “The man and the beauty” in English, the 75-minute film directed by Emiliano Scatarzi will include interviews with the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Monica Bellucci, Rita Airaghi for Fondazione Ferrè and Giuseppe Zanotti, among others.

The documentary premiered at the Biografilm Festival 2022 in Bologna in June, when it scooped the Audience Award in the Art & Music category. After the Italian rollout, it will launch internationally on Sky Arts starting from Jan. 23.

Born in Milan in 1935, Barbieri is one of the most influential photographers in fashion. He hails from a family of textile wholesalers and it was in his father’s warehouse that Barbieri started to become accustomed to fashion.

He quickly moved to the world of theater, becoming an actor, operator and costume designer. American noir cinema has served among his biggest inspirations, informing his use of light. As he never attended photography school, he conducted experiments in his basement with light bulbs slipped into the pipe of a stove.

After moving to Rome, Barbieri accepted a work offer in Paris, beginning his career in fashion photography as assistant to Harper’s Bazaar’s Tom Kublin for a brief period. In 1964 he returned to Milan, opening his first photographic studio, where he started to work for outlets including Novità, the magazine that in 1966 would become Vogue Italia. From that moment his collaboration with Condé Nast was forged, further extending to international editions as well including American Vogue, Vogue Paris and Vogue Germany as well as Vanity Fair and GQ through the years. — SANDRA SALIBIAN

Autoritratto, Gian Paolo Barbieri, Milan, 2000. Courtesy of Fondazione Gian Paolo Barbieri / 29 Arts in Progress gallery

J. CREW GETS RUNNING: Just in time for fall marathon season, J. Crew is partnering with running brand Tracksmith on a capsule collection that will launch on Tuesday.

The collection of running shorts, singlets, sweatpants, quarter-zips, long-sleeve T-shirts, turtlenecks and hoodies include some signature Tracksmith styles such as the singlets and shorts, as well as more lifestyle options.

Matt Taylor, cofounder and chief executive officer of Tracksmith, said he’s known Brendon Babenzien, the new men’s creative director for J. Crew, for a while and collaborated with him on a collection for his other brand, Noah, in 2017 for a line targeted to the New York City Marathon. “Brendon’s been a customer for a while and he called me when he got the J. Crew job, so it was a natural extension,” Taylor said.

The collection can be worn while running or just relaxing.

The collection was created by Taylor and Babenzien and a small team to “set the direction,” Taylor said, and direct the distinct designs and trim such as a “J” with a wing coming out of it for the front of the hoodie and the block letters “crew” on the back. Tracksmith’s trademark logo of Eliot the hare is also found on many of the items and the singlets feature the brand’s sash across the chest. Prices range from $65 for singlets and shorts to $110 for a Trackhouse hoodie, $128 for a Fells merino wool turtleneck and $198 for a Bislett pant.

“One key thing about the collection is that the anchor pieces are Brendon’s favorite Tracksmith pieces and happen to be mine as well — the Bislett Pants and Fells Turtleneck,” Taylor said. “They’re really aesthetically distinct for running apparel, yet perform really well, which is why Brendon was attracted to them.”

The collection is available beginning Oct. 11.

The collection can be worn to run a marathon but also to go to the gym or just out with friends. “They would meet the requirements of the committed runner but it’s good for everyone else too,” Taylor said.

The line, which will be available online and in stores, is just a one-time collaboration at this point, Taylor said.

Tracksmith was created by Taylor in 2014 in Wellsley, Massachusetts, the halfway point of the Boston Marathon, and it moved 13.1 miles downtown to Boston’s Newbury Street in 2017. It operates one retail store, the Trackhouse, in Boston. It is known for its classically styled athletic apparel and its dedication to the sport of running.

On Sept. 30, Tracksmith opened its second store in London during the London Marathon weekend, a two-level, 1,700-square-foot shop with a patio and garden at 23-25 Chiltern Street. It was open through Oct. 7, at which point it closed to be revamped before opening permanently in November.

For the store opening, Tracksmith debuted its first running shoe, the Eliot Runner, which Taylor said has been in development for five years. The shoes are available for preorder on Oct. 24 and will ship in November.

“It’s a major introduction for us,” Taylor said, and the fact that both the shoe and the store were introduced in London rather than another city in the U.S., “gives you the idea of our ambition to be a global brand.” — JEAN E. PALMIERI

COLE’S CAUSE: Kenneth Cole is releasing the brand’s second NFT drop on Tuesday night. The drop, called “The All Together” series, is focused around the Mental Health Coalition’s logo, the square peg in a round role.

Among the artwork that will be released, from most rare to most common, are: “We are all f–ked up,” “We are all perfectly imperfect,” “We are all square pegs in round holes,” and “We all have issues.” Each will be priced at .08 ETH, or $1,307.58.

“With one in four people directly impacted by a mental health condition, and four in four affected, mental illness is arguably the worst public health crisis of all time,” said Kenneth Cole. “Through our brand and partner platforms, we are intent on making a meaningful, predictive and quantifiable impact on this crisis, but we can’t do it alone. We are excited to continue to engage the Web3 community in the hope that through our combined passion, application, execution and reach, we will continue to open people’s minds, expand their horizons and, in turn, save lives.”

Similar to Cole’s first collection of NFTs, which dropped last May, 100 percent of the money generated will be donated to The Mental Health Coalition, which is led by Cole. The Mental Health Coalition is a working to end the stigma surrounding mental health and to change the way people talk about, and care for mental illness.

At the Clinton Global Initiative last month, the Mental Health Coalition, in partnership with Meta, reported that its content and resources have changed how more than 500,000 Americans have self-reported how they felt about the importance of their mental health and their willingness to seek mental health support. Specifically, people’s opinions about stigma were changed measurably, allowing for the process and resulting impact to be scalable. The digital initiative showed a significant increase in people’s understanding of their emotional well-being and the importance of taking care of it. It also increased people’s willingness to seek vital resources for emotional wellbeing.

Cole will be participating in a Twitter Spaces conversation on Tuesday evening in the Web3 space. Following the conversation, the NFT collection will be available to mint. — LISA LOCKWOOD