Last New York Fashion Week, contemporary label Eckhaus Latta took over the decidedly not-contemporary, 1927-founded Russian Tea Room on 57th Street — partnering with Tinder, no less, for a post-runway afterparty. Months earlier, Kylie Jenner sat down with British Vogue for afternoon tea to celebrate her cover. And recently, a satellite friend of mine texted me with a proposition: tea. Which, for two young adults in design-adjacent fields living in New York, felt... a little off-book.
Not dinner (too expected). Not drinks (hard to justify a round of martinis on a Sunday afternoon). Afternoon tea, though, feels novel. An old-school ritual, freshly recast as youth culture. It’s popping up in brand activations, FYPs, and across tables stacked with suspiciously photogenic fake "fruit" pastries and increasingly borrowed dinnerware sets. Some are too busy to notice — they're preoccupied whipping up their own finger sandwiches and matcha-flavored scones. But why?
