New York Magazine - USA (2020-10-12)

.... the look book goes to a stoop sale.................................................
.......................................... platt traverses midt................

The

Pandemic

Pet

byhilaryreid

PhotographbyAleiaMurawskiandSamCopeland

➸forthosewhothinkwalkinga dogis drudgeryandkeepinga cat is

a chore,a smaller,if slimier, companionhasslidontothescene:thehumble

snail.Overthepastfewmonths,it seemsthat oneman’s pest hasbecome

another m oll sud er the

popular I ed @ her n seen

painting at an easel in a studio; helping advertise jewelry designer Sophie

Buhai’s spring-summer 2021 collection; and in the homes of people like Yoko

Koide, a butcher at Marlow & Daughters, and the artist Chloe Wise.

Thissnailboomis bizarrebutnotaltogetherillogical:Snails don’t ask

muchofyou(care-wise,they’reonlyonestepupfroma fiddle-leaf fig), and

thefactthat they spendtheirlivescurledupina shellmeans they’re a liv-

ing, walking (albeit very slowly) metaphor for these times—one that hap-

pens to be incredibly easy to photograph and will look pleasantly weird

(which is, incidentally, 2020’s resounding aesthetic) next to your Murano

mushroom lamp. It’s taken a characteristically long time for snails to break

into the mainstream as pets, but here they are.

bestbets

october 12–25, 2020 | new york 57