Spring 2025 is blooming with creative energy, and whether you’re updating your playlist, planning a night out, or simply looking for cultural inspiration, VMAN has your back. This isn’t just a season of fresh starts—it’s a curated journey through love stories on screen, bold scents in the air, art in unexpected corners, and culinary experiences that blend fashion with flavor. We’ve rounded up six must-see, must-hear, must-feel experiences that will elevate your spring—from indie films and exhibitions to fine dining and fragrance. This is your ultimate cultural cheat sheet, where style meets substance and discovery feels personal.
Love, secrets, and identity: Plainclothes rewrites the rules
Carmen Emmi’s directorial debut, Plainclothes, is a searing and deeply personal love story wrapped in the tension of a 1990s thriller. Set in 1997, the film follows a young undercover cop, played by Tom Blyth, who is ordered to entrap gay men—until he falls for one of his targets. With supporting performances from Russell Tovey, Maria Dizzia, and Amy Forsyth, the story becomes less about action and more about identity, redemption, and self-acceptance.
Premiered at Sundance, Plainclothes is based on Emmi’s own experience growing up closeted, and the emotional urgency is palpable. “I made this film so that my seven-year-old self could exhale,” Emmi writes. The result is a nuanced take on sexuality, institutional control, and the price of becoming who we are. As much a historical reckoning as it is a contemporary statement, Plainclothes is a must-watch for anyone who believes that love stories should be told in full.
Urban beauty in motion: Norman reedus captures NYC in transit
Known for his gritty performance as Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead, Norman Reedus brings the same raw emotion to his photography. His latest exhibition, In Transit, is now showing at the Gallery at Soho Grand and is easily one of New York’s most compelling art events of the season. Through his lens, the city’s fleeting moments become timeless, framed by a dark aesthetic that celebrates the strange, the moody, and the unseen.
The exhibition plays like a photo diary of the city’s forgotten corners, each image capturing the tension between decay and beauty. From subway shadows to neon-lit solitude, Reedus’s photographs are urban poetry in grayscale. Having shown in Tokyo, Paris, and Los Angeles, this NYC showcase brings it all home. If you’ve ever fallen in love with the romance of the city’s imperfections, this is where you’ll feel most seen.
Where fashion meets fine dining: Le Café Louis Vuitton arrives
This spring, Louis Vuitton isn’t just dressing you—it’s feeding you. The brand’s new café, perched on the fourth floor of its East 57th Street flagship in New York, is a luxurious fusion of fashion, cuisine, and conversation. Le Café Louis Vuitton, helmed by chefs Arnaud Donckele and Maxime Frédéric, offers a menu of haute French bites with a New York twist, from scallop soufflé with caviar to pear tarts embossed with the LV monogram.
But it’s more than just about what’s on your plate. With a curated library of 600 books and interiors that rival any boutique hotel, the café creates an atmosphere where aesthetic and appetite align. It’s a place where you can sip champagne beurre blanc and debate Susan Sontag, or savor hazelnut gâteaux while flipping through a first edition Warhol. This isn’t just a café—it’s a cultural salon for the well-dressed and well-read.
A new era of masculine seduction: Dior Homme Parfum, reinvented
When Francis Kurkdjian takes on a classic, you know the result will be anything but ordinary. His newest take on Dior Homme Parfum is bold, complex, and sensual—a fragrance made for the modern VMAN. With double the concentration of Iris Pallida, the scent is simultaneously floral and masculine, delicate and commanding.
The blend of iris, amber, vetiver, and coumarin makes this fragrance magnetic yet grounded. It wears like a second skin, unfolding over time to reveal layers of strength and subtlety. Kurkdjian’s signature paradox—a marriage of raw power and tender emotion—turns this release into more than just a cologne. It’s a statement piece for your senses, perfect for anyone who likes their seduction served with sophistication.
Soundtrack of the season: Tamino’s every dawn’s a mountain
Tamino returns with Every Dawn’s a Mountain, a ten-track odyssey of heartbreak, rebirth, and emotional truth. The Belgian-Egyptian singer-songwriter weaves together indie rock and Middle Eastern instrumentation, using the Arabic oud and his haunting falsetto to create music that lingers long after the last note.
Tracks like “Babylon” and “Sanctuary” (featuring Mitski) showcase Tamino at his most intimate and incendiary, exploring themes of loss, identity, and transformation. This is not just an album—it’s a spiritual and sonic experience, burning slowly like incense in a sacred space. Releasing March 21, it’s the perfect companion for long walks, late nights, and new beginnings.
Required reading: Assouline books that belong in your Life (and your Instagram)
What’s a stylish season without an equally stylish coffee table? Assouline delivers two standout titles this spring. James Bond Style is an essential read for fashion buffs and secret agent aspirants alike, cataloguing the best looks from all 25 Bond films, complete with insider anecdotes and never-before-seen sketches. It’s part history, part style manifesto.
Chic Dogs, on the other hand, is a visually rich tribute to the most fashionable furry companions in pop culture—from Coco Chanel’s pooches to Winston Churchill’s bulldogs. It’s a reminder that a dog isn’t just a best friend—it’s a brand extension. These books do more than elevate your space—they tell stories of elegance, attitude, and timeless charm.
This spring isn’t just about trendspotting—it’s about immersing yourself in the art of living. Whether through scent, cinema, food, or sound, the season is rich with moments waiting to be experienced. So get out there, VMAN. Curate your senses. Chase what moves you. This is your time.
