In Rural Connecticut, a Somen Noodle Water Slide Was the Centerpiece of This Playful Lunch Party

Last weekend, the chef, DJ, and writer Kiki Kudo and her partner, artist and musician Brian Close, celebrated the launch of their new project with the cult lifestyle brand Everybody.World at their home in Connecticut. Here, Kudo shares the story behind the collection—and the offbeat way they chose to inaugurate it.

I moved from Yokohama to New York in 2011 and met my partner Brian Close during my fourth year there. In 2021, we decided to leave our home in SoHo and head to Connecticut, where we’ve been living on acres of lush farmland ever since—and just last summer, the co-founders of Everybody.World, Iris Alonzo and Carolina Crespo, visited us here.

On the trip, they mentioned wanting us to design a new piece each for their Contributor Collection, and asked us what was missing from our wardrobes. Brian knew he wanted to make boxing-style shorts and I had ideas for long pants with deep pockets, because pockets are always a deciding factor in my clothing choices. A pocket that lies far from the center of the body helps me to feel good. Anyway, we took Iris and Carolina to our favorite local lake, and we swam together. There, the names of our Lake Pants and Pond Shorts were born.

Fast forward to last weekend. A picturesque summer’s day and the perfect backdrop to launch our new designs, both of which are made from a lightweight recycled cotton woven fabric. We hosted a long lunch to celebrate, with a group of dear friends who drove the two hours up from New York City to meet us in bucolic Litchfield for a floating noodle party. (I wore my Lake Pants in Bottle Green with a metallic shirt by Toga, whose designer, Yasuko Furuta, is my longtime friend in Tokyo.)