Hail The New Tastemakers.

In 1913, Henry Clay Frick had everything—except what money couldn’t buy. Acceptance.

He had built an empire in steel and railroads, yet America’s elite saw him as an outsider. Because status wasn’t just about wealth. It was about lineage, culture, and refinement—things you couldn’t buy, only inherit.

Like many self-made men of his era, Frick had the means but not the pedigree.

Enter the art collector Joseph Duveen.

Duveen understood something his clients didn’t: art wasn’t decoration—it was a cheat code to legitimacy.

A Rembrandt in the study, a Vermeer in the drawing room—these weren’t just paintings. They rewrote a man’s story. They whispered taste without saying a word.

For Frick, art wasn’t an acquisition. It was an invitation—to a world where he finally belonged.

Art was a cheat code to taste. And taste was you got acceptance. And Duveen knew it.

Experiences Are the New Art.

Fast-forward a century, and something eerily similar is happening. But this time, the currency isn’t art. It’s experience.

The most powerful events today don’t sell tickets. They sell access.

The people crafting these gatherings are the new Duveens. They don’t deal in oil paintings; they deal in moments—meticulously designed experiences that create belonging.

Duveen didn’t sell paintings; he sold status and influence. Today, that influence isn’t built on what hangs on your wall. It’s built on where you’re invited.

How Curators of Experience Are Rewriting the Rules

The new tastemakers aren’t gallery owners.

They’re small magical event creators—the architects of spaces where remarkable people collide.

? An invite signals status.

? Presence means proximity to power and ideas.

? A well-curated room can change the trajectory of careers, companies, and industries.

Scarcity in an Age of Digital Overload

Everything is accessible. And that’s the problem.

The more we can get anything at the click of a button, the more we crave what we can’t.

Exclusivity isn’t just about price. It’s about unavailability.

At Paris Fashion Week, The Row banned all phones at its Fall-Winter show. No social media. No livestreams. No instant content.

The result? Whispers. Intrigue. A moment only for those in the room.

The future of small magical events will be defined by this principle:

“You had to be there.”

Gatherings: The New Luxury

Loneliness is the epidemic of our time.

Despite digital “connection,” real-world isolation is at an all-time high. One in two adults in America reports feeling lonely. The U.S. Surgeon General equates the health risks to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

A well-crafted gathering isn’t an event. It’s a re-humaning.

Put the right people in the right setting, and you’re not just hosting. You’re healing.

Small magical event planners aren’t in the business of entertainment. They’re architects of belonging.

The Return of the Curator

In a world where AI curates everything from playlists to news feeds, human curation is the new luxury.

Joseph Duveen didn’t just sell art. He sold context, status, belonging.

Today’s best event curators do the same.

Every detail—venue, music, scent, conversation—is intentional. Nothing is random.

When you design an event with that level of precision, it stops being just a night. It becomes a statement.

Creating Mythology, Not Just Moments

Anyone can throw a lavish party. The best event creators craft legend.

Think of Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball.

A private masquerade for 540 guests. Fiercely curated. Impossible to get into. More press than the Oscars.

It’s still whispered about half a century later.

Because Capote didn’t throw a party. He staged a story.

The best modern events follow this blueprint:

? Scarcity. If anyone can come, it’s not special.

? Mystery. A surprise speaker. A venue reveal. A secret you’re not allowed to share.

? Cultural Weight. If the right people are there, the world takes notice.

The Rise of the Experiential Aristocracy

Small, magical events are the new power centers.

In a world drowning in digital noise, your power is in what technology can’t replicate—intimacy, awe, and the magic of being in the right room.

Like Duveen a century ago, you create value from the intangible—a sense of belonging, a brush with wonder, a chapter in a story only the chosen few can enter.

You don’t need to scale. The smallest events will have the biggest impact.

Exclusivity isn’t about cost. It’s about curation, narrative, and making presence feel like a privilege.

The next generation of tastemakers won’t collect art or fashion. They’ll collect experiences.

They’ll bring people together in ways that shift worldviews.

You’re not just planning a party. You’re building a legacy.

The stories you enable will be told for years.

This is how you become a Duveen of your domain—a creator of spaces where remarkable people feel like they belong.

The world is waking up to the power of small, magical gatherings.

Your role is to be the curator of the unforgettable.

You are the new tastemaker.

#events