The Best Events in the World of Luxury this September

Our Luxury Calendar provides a comprehensive overview of the top events unfolding around the world every month. Some are micro-luxuries (like a really good book) and others are on a grand, epic scale. Personally, if schedules and money were no object, and we could do anything we’d like, here are our top picks for the best luxury events and experiences in the world in September 2020. Consider it your luxury calendar of the can’t-miss events in fashion, art, music, sports, travel and culinary arts in this month of September.

luxury calendar: how to have a brilliant September

Don’t you just love September?  The very idea of it is luxurious.  Golden light, the arrival of harvest, new books, idyllic outdoor adventures and a feeling of change in the air. 

It’s the month for heading back to school, football games, finding the perfect new fragrance to match your latest sweater purchase and for enjoying a freshly baked apple pie.

And the really good news about September?  After months of social distancing and shutdowns, you will find the slow but wonderful re-emergence of events, museums, music, sports and more.

Like New York Fashion Week. Outdoor opera performances. The reopening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the kickoff of the new NFL season and the return of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. 

There’s also the finals of the US Open (will Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic be in them?) And plenty of new streaming options, too. So while we may be missing some of our favorite performance groups, venues, movie theaters and wide-open travel, we’ll take it.

the best events in the world of luxury in September

It’s hard to narrow the list down to the best of the best, but here goes. Here are our top 25 picks in the world of luxury in September 2020.

we want to see

1. shaun leonardo at mass moca

Five months after the Museum of Contemporary Art (moCa) Cleveland cancelled an exhibition of Shaun Leonardo’s evocative drawings of Black victims of systemic injustice.  The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) in North Adams has stepped up to give the show a platform.  The museum opened Shaun Leonardo: The Breath of Empty Space the last week of August – through Dec 22

2. new york fashion week

Hot on the heels of Copenhagen Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week will also attempt to host a hybrid version of the annual event.  Live events will take place at Spring Studios, with some designers planning for alfresco rooftop shows – Sept 11 – 16

3. romeo and juliet

PBS will present a Great Performances broadcast of the 2019 film adaptation of Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet Romeo and Juliet performed by dancers from The Royal Ballet in London – Sept 11

4. english national opera drive & live

English National Opera is launching ENO Drive & Live at Alexandra Palace for the first three weeks of September. There will be 12 performances of a 90 minute shortened version of Puccini’s La bohème. It will have singers and musicians spaced out in accordance with government guidelines – Sept 19 – 27

5. paris fashion week

Following a successful and creative digital version of Paris Couture Week, Paris Fashion Week will return to the runways – Sept 28 – Oct 6

6. the met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will welcome visitors again this with three new exhibitions on display including Making the Met, 1870-2020 focusing on the institution’s history; Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle highlighting a series by the modernist painter that surveys the formative history of the United States; and a new commission by Héctor Zamora called Lattice Detour that will grace the building’s roof garden

we want to read

7. dior hats

Published on the occasion of the 2020 exhibition at the Musée Christian Dior in Granville, France, and authored by renowned milliner Stephen Jones, Dior Hats: From Christian Dior to Stephen Jones ($55), celebrates more than seventy years of exquisite hats – Sept 1

8. once upon a diamond

After a brilliant experience at The School of Jewelry by Van Cleef, we can’t wait to get our hands on Once Upon a Diamond: A Family Tradition of Royal Jewels ($85).  In the book, renowned jewelry designer Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia recounts the enthralling exploits of his beloved family members. It also describes their extraordinary jewelry collections – Sept 8

we want to watch

9. away

In Netflix’s new sci-fi series Away, oscar-winner Hilary Swank plays Emma, an American scientist who must lead humanity’s first trip to Mars.  Emma’s historic leap for mankind is made all the more difficult by her connection to her husband (Josh Charles) and daughter (Talitha Bateman). She must leave them millions of miles behind at home in the midst of a crisis – Sept 4

10. the nfl season kickoff

The NFL season starts with Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans – Sept 10

11. the duchess

The new Netflix comedy The Duchess stars creator Canadian-British comic Katherine Ryan as, well, Katherine, an unabashedly selfish single mom whose sole priority is her daughter Olive. When Katherine decides she wants to have a second child, her life spins even further out of control – Sept 11

12. premier league

The 29th season of the Premier League is set to kick-off with six match-ups on opening day – Sept 12

13. the devil all the time

The Devil All the Time on Netflix is based on the epic 2011 Donald Ray Pollock novel of the same name, and traces two generations between World War II and the Vietnam War.  The vivid drama has a remarkably stacked cast. It includes  Tom Holland as a good Christian boy drifting towards darkness and Sebastian Stan as a crooked sheriff. It also includes Riley Keough and Jason Clarke as a couple harboring a grim secret, and Robert Pattinson as a roving preacher – Sept 16

14. french open

After the US Open finishes up on September 13th, the French Open hits the clay courts of Roland-Garros – Sept 21 – Oct 11

we want to hear

15. lana del rey’s new album

Lana Del Rey will drop her newest album titled Chemtrails over the Country Club following the July release of her first audiobook, Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass, which found her reading her poetry over music created by Jack Antonoff – Sept 4

16. wild paths festival

Looking to reclaim the end of summer 2020, Wild Paths Festival in Norfolk will return with live music, street food and strict social distancing measures in place – Sept 12 – 13

17. for the love of lyric

A host of opera and musical theatre stars including Renée Fleming and Heather Headley will assemble online for Lyric Opera of Chicago’s For the Love of Lyric, a virtual concert in lieu of the traditional Opening Night Opera Ball in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic – Sept 13

we want to check out

18. stella x smart works auction

Christie’s is hosting the Stella X Smart Works fashion auction featuring 33 lots donated by women including Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss and Lara Stone.  The online charity sale is in collaboration with Stella magazine and aims to raise funds for our September 2019 Sparkler Smart Works – through Sept 15

19. the auburn auction

Now in its 50th year, a socially distant RM Auctions’ Auburn Fall auction will see more than 500 collector cars and as many as 400 lots of memorabilia go under the hammer, ranging from American classics to European sports cars, muscle, hot rods, customs and modern collectibles – Sept 3 – 5

20. the italian grand prix

Formula 1 heads to the Italy for the Gran Premio Heineken D’italia and the Pirelli Gran Premio Della Toscana before finishing up the month in Russia at the VTB Russian Grand Prix – Sept 6, 13, 27

21. les voile de saint-tropez

The annual Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez returns for its 22nd year. The two week-long event will include 2 competitive yacht races over the French Riviera – Sept 26 – Oct 9

we want to check into

22. Mauna Lani

Hawaii’s Mauna Lani reopens this month after a short lived initial opening earlier this year.  The big island’s newest hotel features modern, muted tropical rooms, as well as two-bedroom bungalows. It has nearly 4,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor living space and their own pool and spa – Sept 1

23. lotte hotel seattle

South Korea’s largest hotel group is opening its second U.S. hotel (the first is in NYC) this month. The Lotte Hotel Seattle resides in a sleek stained glass tower that is also home to one of the oldest pieces of Beaux-Art architecture in America, The Sanctuary – Sept 24

we want a taste of

24. vendemmia d’artista auction

For the second consecutive year, Sotheby’s Vendemmia d’Artista Charity auction will be held online, raising funds in support of the Mind’s Eye program of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and will offer collectors the opportunity to acquire the Imperial and Salmanazar large formats of Ornellaia 2017 “Solare” designed by the Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno – Sept 1 – 9

25. hudson valley wine + food fest

The annual Hudson Valley Wine + Food Fest is going virtual with cooking demos and wine seminars with regional celebrity chefs and wine experts – Sept 12 – 13

what else is going on in September 2020?

In addition to all of that, Labor Day in America is the 7th.  Rosh Hashanah begins Friday, September 19th at sunset and ends Sunday, September 20th at nightfall.

The Autumnal Equinox, the first day of fall, is September 22nd.  Yom Kippur will take place September 27th and 28th.

Finally, September 29th is World Heart Day. It is an annual observance to increase public awareness of cardiovascular diseases, including their prevention and their global impact.

That’s it. Our luxury calendar of the best luxury events and true luxury experiences in September 2020. What are you most excited about?

Whether you’re going back to school, back to serious literature or back to baking, we hope that this month you’ll also experience something brilliant.  Stay safe and healthy, dear reader, and have a luminous September.

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Jillian Tangen is the Head of Research at Dandelion Chandelier and a former Senior Research Analyst at McKinsey & Co and Analyst at Shearman & Sterling. She is an avid fan of Nordic design, having owned an independent lifestyle store and sales agency focused on emerging Scandinavian design. She loves cross-country skiing, the New York Rangers, reading, travel and discovering new brands.

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