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C ontinuing the tradition of coaxing a design luminary to town as part of its programming, this fall the Texas Contemporary Art Fair brings The Haas Brothers to Houston (on the heels of last year's PA by Ligne Roset scion Anthony Roset). Don't know fraternal twins Niki and Simon Haas? Then you're decidedly behind in the realm of cutting-edge design brushing up with important contemporary art. The L.A.-based 30-year-olds — one straight, one gay — grew up in Austin with an opera-singer mom, sculptor father and actor brother. Early on, they pursued separate creative paths: Simon studied painting at RISD, while Niki followed a musical career, touring with talents ranging from Vincent Gallo to Sean Lennon and Jim O'Rourke. In 2007, the two bros came together on the West Coast to play with the band RRIICCEE. Three years later, The Haas Brothers was formed in L.A., jump-started by a fortuitous collaboration with a pal on a Johnston Marklee project (the same architects who are designing the new Menil Drawing Institute). Just five years later, the wildly inventive brothers seem to be everywhere a smart, international design language is spoken: exhibiting at DesignMiami in both its iterations (Miami Beach during Art Basel fair week and its parent fair in Basel, Switzerland, with back-to- back appearances there in 2014 and again this June) and being represented by R & Company, New York, the discerning, influential gallery that showcases the most ground-breaking voices in contemporary global design from 1945 onward. (The Haases' exuberantly staged first U.S. solo last fall at R & Company, "Cool World," was critically acclaimed and documented by a 176-page monograph — their first book.) The pair has also infiltrated the often fickle world of fashion with high-profile collaborations for Versace (2013 capsule collection) and Louis Vuitton, where their furniture graces LV's Maison in Shanghai. Lady Gaga has come calling, tapping the brothers to design and fabricate Little Monsters masks for her 2012 Fame print campaign. Come this October, hear The Haas Brothers in a design dialogue at the Texas Contemporary Fair, one of their first Texas appearances. Discover the masterminds behind the often transgressive yet unforgettable home- furnishing creations rendered in everything from futuristic resins and polyurethane plastic to fur, brass, bronze and porcelain. Their anthropomorphic, animalistic chairs, sofas, lamps, vases and rugs go far, far beyond pushing the envelope, shoving the discussion of gender and sexuality into the middle of an exquisitely furnished room. For details as they unfold, consult the Texas Contemporary calendar, txcontemporary.com. Canvas: Insider Preview TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR, YEAR FIVE October 1 – 4, 2015 H O U S T O N txcontemporary.com COURTESY R & COMPANY, NYC; PHOTO JOE KRAMM. Niki and Simon Haas in their 2014 exhibition, "Cool World," at R & Company, New York Bulgari has a sexy new neighbor at the Galleria. La Perla, the 61-year-old Italian lingerie couturier, set up shop in Houston, with help from Italian architect Robert Baciocchi, who has created a lush concept store for key cities, Houston being one. Best known for luxurious lingerie, La Perla pushed the boundaries of pretty panties in recent years to include beachwear, nightwear, accessories, bridal lingerie, even a men's line. After the brand's acquisition in 2013 by Pacific Global Management (parent company to Elite models) creative director Emiliano Rinaldi turned heads when he presented the La Perla Atelier couture collection during the Paris Couture shows with top- drawer bods Lindsey Wixon and Naomi Campbell walking the show. Galleria, 713.621.5285, laperla.com. Francine Ballard DOING PUSH UPS C ount this as a dual victory. Opening at press time, The Bryan Museum in Galveston signals an impressive win for preservation and history, with Torch Energy CEO J.P. Bryan's bold restoration of the imposing late-Victorian Galveston Orphan's Home (circa 1895, rebuilt 1902). Acquired in 2014 by the energy czar who is also famously the savior of the Gage Hotel in Marathon, the Texana- and Southwestern-obsessed Bryan has been collecting since his boyhood, amassing the world's most significant trove of art, artifacts and ephemera that record 2,500 years of this region. Numbering more than 70,000 treasures, the museum presents packed yet carefully curated cases, vitrines and walls. It took a team of Houston's top art handlers weeks and weeks to install the works in the handsome turn-of-the-century interiors designed by Gilded Age architect Alfred Muller. This collection serves up an extraordinarily compelling lesson in Texas history, ranging from Jim Bowie's knife to the belongings of gentleman gunslinger John Wesley Hardin, plus saddles, spurs, a special cowgirl section, letters, documents and a rare 16th-century volume recording an early expedition to Galveston. Watch these pages for our in- depth look at The Bryan Museum and chat with its founder, coming next month. thebryanmuseum.org. Catherine D. Anspon TEXAS TWO-STEP COURTESY THE BRYAN MUSEUM, GALVESTON COURTESY THE BRYAN MUSEUM, GALVESTON J.P. Bryan in front of his eponymous historical museum W ho says flying is no fun anymore. Here are two adventures to make you change your mind about spending hours in a fuselage high above the earth. Number one, you can fly from George Bush Intercontinental to Taipei in the company of Hello Kitty on EVA Air. The beloved characters have taken over select jets in the Taiwanese company's fleet, and everything from your pillows and hand lotions to the toilet paper has been selected and approved by Hello Kitty and her team. (Once on board, you'll be able to purchase more Hello Kitty goods, some available only in the sky.) The planes' exteriors — giant canvases for the world- famous Sanrio brand — are emblazoned with your traveling buddy. Tip: Get yourself in the mood before your flight east with a visit to Sanrio's Hello Kitty Galleria store. It's what all the cool kids are doing. evakitty.evaair.com/en … Enough of HK. Let's move on to the Four Seasons, which has transformed a Boeing 757 into a flying boutique hotel and is accepting reservations now for spectacular itineraries the world over. Want to learn to plant rice in Chiang Mai? How about heli-flightseeing over volcanoes in Kona? You can do that and more on one of the Toronto-based chain's curated trips. For those of you free for a good part of September and October 2016, consider Extraordinary Adventures: An Around the World Journey, which commences in Austin and jets to Sydney, the Serengeti and Lisbon, with stays in Costa Rica, Lana'i and other amazing places. The cost: $137,000 per person, based on double occupancy. Outfitted with a mere 52 seats, The Four Seasons 757 is equipped with a Journey Manager, an Assistant Journey Manager, a Four Season Concierge and one of the chain's chefs. "It's a natural extension of what we've been doing in our hotels for more than 50 years," says Susan Helstab, executive vice president of marketing. The concierge at Four Seasons Houston can get you on your way. Goodbye, Kitty. fourseasons.com/ aroundtheworld. James Brock MILES HIGH WITH HELLO KITTY & YOUR VERY OWN FLYING HOTEL All of Houston's hot spots, fun fashion finds and beautiful people are now in one place: your inbox. Go to the new papercitymag.com to sign up for our weekly edit feed. YOU HAVE CHIC MAIL Spanish Colonial Silver Saddle, collection The Bryan Museum, Galveston La Perla in Houston Galleria The Four Seasons 757 Open a pizza joint anywhere from California to Maine, and you'll draw a crowd, albeit an ever more discerning one. Ray Salti, owner of the 15-year-old Pepperoni's Pizza chain that started in Fort Bend County, expanded inside the loop a few years ago with Sorrel Urban Bistro. He shuttered that upscale farm-to-table eatery last year and planned to sublease its West Alabama space. But when those plans fell through, he went back to what he knows best: pizza. Enter Bollo Wood-Fired Pizza. The green Sorrel interiors are replaced with bold dashes of red and stylish references to Italy, from the wine list and charcuterie at the bar to the wood-fired pizza oven built in Napoli. Using only imported 00 flour — the kind every worthy pizza maker swears by — he serves up red (rosso) and white (bianco) pizzas and more. Build your own pie, or choose from the classics: Margarita ($12) or the Bollo Classico ($9) with tomato sauce, Italian spices and fresh mozzarella. We opted for the zing of spicy salami, red peppers, arugula and buffalo mozzarella on the Diavola ($14), its crust blistered in the scorching heat of Bollo's coveted oven. Precede your pie with tender homemade meatballs ($6) and perfectly seasoned white bean soup with Italian sausage and kale ($5). Still hungry? Entrees include pastas, lamb shank ($16), double-cut pork chop in a Marsala wine sauce ($18), and mussels from the Pacific Northwest, opened in a garlic wine broth ($14). End your meal with tiramisu ($6), and enjoy la dolce vita. 2202A W. Alabama, 713.677.3691, bollohouston.com. Laurann Claridge PIZZA PIE Bollo Wood-Fired Pizza