The new nomads
Caftans, sashes, headbands and beads were the preferred uniform at Thursday night’s party on the roof of the Palihouse celebrating “Gypset Style” (published by Assouline), travel and design writer Julia Chaplin’s new book about such chic global nomads as jewelry designer Jade Jagger, clothing designer Alice Temperley, model Nicolas Malleville, artist Damien Hirst and singer Devendra Banhart.
Chaplin coined the term -- a hybrid of gypsy and jet set -- while covering the Milan Furniture Fair, describing a Bottega Veneta luxury camping cot as a “gypset cot.” She began to think of the gypset as a new class of people who prefer surfing Micronesia to sunning in St. Tropez, and hiking Machu Picchu, Peru, to hobnobbing in Aspen, Colo.
The event being a cocktail party, I asked Chaplin what Gypsetters drink. “Colombian moonshine or maybe Tecate from a can,” she said. How do they travel? “A G-5 would be bad, a single-engine Cessna would be OK. An old Land Cruiser yes, but they wouldn’t drive a Tundra.” What would they never be caught dead in? “A logo bikini.”
“It’s not about money, it’s more about creativity and taste,” she said. “It really is a freelance lifestyle.”
And if the economy doesn’t perk up, that could be a lifestyle for a lot more of us. Come to think of it, surfing in Micronesia sounds pretty good right now.
--
Sign up for The Wild
We’ll help you find the best places to hike, bike and run, as well as the perfect silent spots for meditation and yoga.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
