Mission gathered its global family of creatives and forward thinkers to celebrate the launch of the Human + Nature Issue at The Bench in New York City.
“Immediate, human, and deeply cultural” is how Mission founder and CEO Karina Givargisoff describes the urgency surrounding biodiversity and our natural world in the publication’s latest Human + Nature Issue. The same could be said of the atmosphere at the issue’s launch on Wednesday, June 17th, at The Bench in Chinatown.
Nestled on the sixth floor of an unassuming building on Elizabeth Street, the venue is equal parts grit and glam, not unlike the publication itself. Awash with political memorabilia, from vintage campaign bumper stickers to framed issues of JFK Jr.’s game-changing George Magazine, another publication unafraid to play with the dynamics between aesthetics and hard-hitting global conversations, The Bench set the scene for a family reunion of sorts: a gathering of Mission’s extended community across continents and creative industries. Mingling over copies of the issue and tequila and mezcal-infused cocktails from guest editor David de Rothschild’s spirits brand, The Lost Explorer, it was more a homecoming than a launch party.
Like the issue’s magnetic cover story, In Harmony, following the unlikely adventure of a bear and a model impeccably tailored in Bottega Veneta, Hermès, and Dior, the event brought together a motley crew united by a shared love of all things Mission. Writers and activists traded banter, models and artists pored over the crisp pages, photographers shot, and DJs spun. Like the Earth, within The Bench’s kitsch-laden walls, Mission had achieved its own ecosystem.
The Human + Nature Issue, like the biodiversity it celebrates, gathers its collaborators’ vibrant creative output and reveals the silver thread that runs between them. From the quiet majesty of Sarah Teng’s underwater photography to Saad Amer’s compelling reflections on climate justice, each contribution is a quest to convey the interconnectedness of our human experience and our place in the natural world. Just as in the room celebrating it, the pages of this issue brim with perspective and humanity, varied yet cohesive.
David de Rothschild wears many hats, moving fluidly between them with panache and a globally minded perspective. The explorer, entrepreneur, and environmental advocate now adds guest editor to his prodigious resume, imbuing the issue with a hopeful yet clear-eyed perspective on our relationship with the natural world, and even more so, with one another. His spirits brand, The Lost Explorer, is rooted in both biodiversity awareness and the fostering of human connection.
In the feature, The Found Explorer, de Rothschild argues, “there are businesses trying to do better. There are people trying to do better.” There was this same hopeful ethos in the room that night, found in the clinking of glasses, the embraces of colleagues, and the sun setting over the downtown skyline.
Homepage banner image of Serena Orlando and Emma Wernhoff by Sasha Furmin. Homepage image l-r, Mission contributors, Nora Rose Tomas, Gautam Balasundar, founder Karina Givargisoff, and Emmy Liu, with photographer Luci Valentine. Photo by Sasha Furmin. Inside top image of Boy Ewald and friend. Photo by Luci Valentine.
Special thank you to The Bench, 49 Elizabeth Street, 6th Fl. New York, NY and the team, especially Mischka Bengio and Noa Taieb. With thanks also to David De Rothschild and The Lost Explorer team.
