On the Cover: Making Dreams Come True
A Ladue residence is transformed from postmodern gloom into a luminous expression of elegance, joy, and devotion.
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Highlights from the July/August 2026 Issue
A Marriage at Sea
There are certain moments in life when the horizon changes permanently. For my wife Debbie and me, that horizon was literal.
What began as my fascination with offshore sailing eventually became one of the most meaningful chapters of our marriage. Along the way came spectacular sunsets, unforgettable anchorages, exhausting overnight passages, chaos in the Gulf Stream and countless moments that tested both our judgment and resilience.
Text & Image: Craig Kaminer
Cover Story: Making Dreams Come True
“Please make her dreams come true.”
In all my years designing homes around the world, I cannot recall receiving a more direct, heartfelt or generous commission. The request came from a husband whose admiration for his wife was evident in every word. He was not asking for a renovation. He was not requesting a new color palette or a refreshed collection of furnishings. He was asking for something far more meaningful: a home that reflected the spirit of the woman he loved.
Text: John Marshall Watson
Photo: Luke White
Built to Lead
As Clayco crosses the $10 billion mark in annual revenue, a new generation of leaders is guiding one of America’s most ambitious builders into the AI era while founder Bob Clark turns his attention toward philanthropy, civic leadership and creating impact beyond buildings.
Text: Craig Kaminer
Photo: Zach Dalin and courtesy of Clayco
The Power of Culture
On June 5 in Nashville, St. Louis brothers, PJ and Bear Kaminer, launched a chef-inspired fresh and frozen Greek yogur t cafe named Culture Club, designed for how people increasingly want to live today — healthier, more connected, more intentional, yet still appreciative of life’s guilty pleasures.
Text: Melissa Mahanes
Photo: Eli Millner
St. Louis Enters a New Raquet-Sports Era
Not long ago, pickleball still carried the reputation of being a quirky retirement-community pastime — a recreational diversion associated more with Florida condos than serious athletic culture. That perception no longer exists.
Today, pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the United States, reshaping the recreational, social and even professional sports landscape across the country. Increasingly, St. Louis finds itself not merely participating in the trend, but helping define what the next chapter of racquet sports in America may look like.
Since Sophisticated Living last explored the rise of pickleball in 2022, the sport has exploded in virtually every measurable category. Participation has soared. Facilities have multiplied. Professional leagues have emerged. Younger players have flooded into the game. Developers, hospitality groups and private investors have begun building entire business models around it.
Text: Lou Ann Wilcox
Photo: Zach Dalin & courtesy of The St. Louis Shock
The Ozempic Aftermath
A decade ago, few people outside endocrinology circles had heard of GLP-1 medications. Today, drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound have become cultural phenomena, transforming not only waistlines but the broader conversation around health, aging and self-image. For millions of Americans, these medications have succeeded where diets, exercise programs and countless weight-loss trends failed, producing dramatic and sustained weight loss that was once nearly impossible to achieve without bariatric surgery.
But as patients celebrate dropping 30, 50, 70 or even more than 100 pounds, many are discovering an unexpected reality: the weight may be gone, but the physical evidence of carrying it often remains. Loose skin, facial volume loss, sagging tissue and changes in body contour have created an entirely new challenge — one that is driving a surge in demand for plastic surgery across the country.
Text: Craig Kaminer
Photo of Drs. Michael Nayak and Charles Nathan: Luke White
Event Calendar, Presented by Spirit Jets
Happenings of note in July & August
Share your celebrations with us, or let us know what events you want to see featured on our pages by emailing editorSTL@slmag.net.
Sophisticated Celebrations
Presented by
ALTBall 2026: Icon
Bach Society Gala
CAM 2026 Gala
COCAcabana
Flower Power Tower Grove Park
The Haven of Grace
Hear the Future Gala
From the Publisher
There is a certain kind of summer heat in St. Louis that doesn’t just sit in the air—it presses on ambition. It is the kind of season where big ideas feel both slightly unreasonable and entirely inevitable. July and August have always been that stretch of the year when I find myself thinking less about comfort and more about scale. Not comfort in the physical sense, but comfort with risk, uncertainty, and the idea that the next chapter may require something far larger than the last.
We live in a region often underestimated, which is exactly why it produces people and companies that refuse to stay in their lane. The pattern repeats itself in business, design, food, sports, and even in how we navigate the river and the ocean beyond it. The most interesting stories almost always begin with someone deciding the current map is not sufficient.
Text: Craig Kaminer
Get To Know Us
At Sophisticated Living, we are dedicated and passionate about all the finer things life has to offer. Whether your interests are close to home or in far-flung places, each issue shares highlights of the good life in St. Louis and beyond.
Craig Kaminer, Publisher
A native of New York City, Craig has spent the last 35 years developing award-winning marketing programs for some of the leading consumer/lifestyle brands in the US and St. Louis including The Ritz-Carlton, Tiffany & Co., Marriott, Italian Tourism, Simon Property Group, and Danon. His marketing experience includes senior management positions at Twist, Influence, Weber Shandwick and Fleishman-Hillard.
Craig is an accomplished sailor, art collector, jazz promoter, and frequent traveler to Italy. Craig received his bachelor’s degree in architecture and art history from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and graduate studies in business management at Columbia University. He is married to Debbie and has two sons, Philip and Barrett, who live in Austin and Nashville respectively.
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Christy Marshall, Editor-In-Chief
After earning her masters at the University of Missouri, Christy started her journalism career at Advertising Age, first in Chicago, then as the Southwest Bureau Chief based in Dallas, and finally in Ad Age’s New York office. She lived in Manhattan for the next decade. While there, she ended up working for Adweek and New York Newsday, while also freelancing for a variety of publications including the New York Times, USA Today, Forbes, and Cosmopolitan.
Christy moved back to her hometown of St. Louis to work on the brand-new daily the St. Louis Sun. When it was shuttered after seven months, she joined the U.S. Attorney’s office as the Public Information Officer. While there, she married her husband, Michael Gans, and they adopted their daughter, Katie, from China.
Always a reporter and writer at heart, Christy returned to journalism. First she was Executive Editor at St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles and then spent a decade at St. Louis Magazine as the founding editor of St. Louis At Home (now StL Design) and St. Louis Family. She joined Sophisticated Living in 2014, retired two years later, and then returned to resume her previous post in 2023.
Christy loves to read, cook, travel, play mah jongg with friends, spend time with her family including their Boxers, Buddy and Dot, and at her family’s farm in Grubville, Missouri.