You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Daily (Mon-Sun)
Daily Digest
Sign up for global news and reviews, a Wallpaper* take on architecture, design, art & culture, fashion & beauty, travel, tech, watches & jewellery and more.
Monthly, coming soon
The Rundown
A design-minded take on the world of style from Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss, from global runway shows to insider news and emerging trends.
Monthly, coming soon
The Design File
A closer look at the people and places shaping design, from inspiring interiors to exceptional products, in an expert edit by Wallpaper* global design director Hugo Macdonald.
The Wallpaper* Design Awards 2026 are our latest annual nod to the best of the best in design across the worlds of architecture, art, beauty, fashion, interiors, tech and travel, as selected by our discerning global team. Find all the winners listed here, as featured in greater depth in the February print issue of Wallpaper* and on Wallpaper.com.
Architecture
Marina Tabassum, one of our Architects of the Year
As Architects of the Year, we honoured three change makers and, keen to tap into a mood of hope and optimism in architecture, asked each of them to tell us about a building that makes them smile:
Puusauna, our Life-Enhancer of the Year
Meanwhile, our Life-Enhancer of the Year is an architecturally hot Finnish island sauna that we all wish was ours – Puusauna by Jaakko Torvinen is a quiet ode to wood and includes whole tree trunks in its structure.
Our architectural awards would not be complete without a clutch of amazing houses. These three innovative properties all win a nod for Best Use of Material, each making use of earth construction techniques.
- Sombra de Santa Fe, US, by Dust Architects
- Beit Bin Nouh, Saudi Arabia, by Shahira Fahmy
- Rammed Earth House, UK, by Tuckey Design Studio
Art & Culture
Klára Hosnedlová photographed in December 2025 with her installation Embrace at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin
Klára Hosnedlová, a Czech artist known for creating spellbinding immersive worlds, is Best Dreamscaper – we spoke with her ahead of her new show, at White Cube Bermondsey in London (11 February – 29 March 2026).
Design & Interiors
Willo Perron
Meet our Designer of the Year, Willo Perron, the multi-hyphenate creative behind spectacular cultural moments – from Beyoncé’s Western-themed Cowboy Carter tour and Rihanna’s floating-stage performance at the 2023 Super Bowl to mesmerising Chanel sets – and sublime sofas to boot.
Among our Best Scene Stealers: ‘Topan’ lamp, by Verner Panton, for &Tradition (available from Heal’s). ‘Libra’ chair, by Giampiero Tagliaferri, for Minotti. ‘Grace 05 Octagon’ rug, by Nordic Knots. Matte paint in Ivory, by Muller Van Severen, for Bleo
Also defining spaces, our collection of Best Scene Stealers encompasses the year’s space-defining furniture designs – from new items to revered reissues – photographed in a shoot styled by head of interiors Olly Mason. The full list features:
- ‘Fregio L’ sculpture, by Tipstudio, for Visionnaire
- ‘Inga’ chair, by Roberto Lazzeroni, for Baxter
- Tiles, by Muller Van Severen, for Bleo. Flat interior paint, by Tonester
- ’Les Bijoux’ tiles, by Florim
- ‘Topan’ lamp, by Verner Panton, for &Tradition
- ‘Libra’ chair, by Giampiero Tagliaferri, for Minotti
- ‘Grace 05 Octagon’ rug, by Nordic Knots
- Matte paint, by Muller Van Severen, for Bleo
- ‘Moonbeam’ lamp, by Six N Five, for Poltrona Frau
- ‘Andrée’ side table, by Hannes Peer, for Minotti
- ‘Bandra’ moiré fabric, by Dieter Vander Velpen, for Zinc Textile
- ‘Magnitude Grand’ vase, by Lalique
- ‘Loungescape’ armchair, by Antonio Citterio, for Flexform
- ‘Bolda’ lamp, by Kwangho Lee, for Lambert & Fils
- After’ chair, by Michael Anastassiades, for Fritz Hansen, from Chaplins
- ‘Treflo’ dining table, by Ronan Bouroullec, for Cassina
- ‘Coppie di Fatto Black’ vessels, by Nathalie Du Pasquier, for Mutina Editions
- ‘Athina’ table lamp, by Romain Basile Petrot
- ‘James’ fabric; ‘Scratch’ fabric, both by Formafantasma, for Rubelli
- ‘Doto’ rug, part of the ‘Cyprinus’ collection, by Jan Kath
- ‘2093’ chandelier, by Garance Vallée, for Monde Singulier
- ‘Mystone Berici’ tiles, by Marazzi
- ‘Owen’ armchair, by Jean-Marie Massaud, for Poliform
- ‘Stone’ tiles, by Florim
- ‘Tower’ speaker, by Hypnos
- ‘Tact III’ mirror, by Objects of Common Interest, for Tacchini
- ‘Bandra’ moiré fabric, by Dieter Vander Velpen, for Zinc Textile
- ‘Monk’ chair, by Afra and Tobia Scarpa, for Molteni & C
‘Asator’ velvet teddy bear, £175, by Raf Simons, for Kvadrat and Steiff
The Wallpaper* Design Awards embrace the whimsical as much as the wonderful. Best Paws goes to this ‘Asator’ teddy bear, by Raf Simons, for Kvadrat and Steiff.
Not cardboard but ceramic – these vessels by Jacques Monneraud are a teasing delight
A lot less cuddly but each chosen for their striking, characterful aesthetic, explore our Best Bold Moves, spanning ceramic vessels, a freaky stool and surreal seating.
Stephen Burks and Malika Leiper
Designer Stephen Burks and cultural director Malika Leiper have reshaped their lives during the past year, around creative residencies and collaborative projects in Montana, Senegal, Alabama, the Democratic Republic of Congo and rural Japan, using each location as a testing ground for new ways of working at the intersection of craft, community and industry. We acknowledge the pair as Best Helping Hands and explore the fruits of their various projects.
Turning to design criticism, we applaud David Michon for his Substack newsletter For Scale. Quite unlike any formal form of design publishing at the moment, it’s razor sharp, loud, funny, casual, chaotic and intellectual, all at the same time. Its readers revel in its riotously unfettered freedom to tell it like it is. Hats off to our Best Takedown.
‘Off Piste 8 Feet’ American pool table, $265,400, by Hermès
In playful mood, our Best Game Changer award goes to Hermès for bringing contemporary cool to the classic pool table, in matte leather with curved lacquered legs and hornbeam and leather cues.
A reimagined Porsche 964 Targa, featuring an oiled teak handbrake, machined brass dials, and Connolly leather interiors, earns Best Ride Pimp for design duo David/Nicolas.
Watches & Jewellery
Dazzled by these ‘Flame’ earrings by Boghossian, where green jadeite is teased into sculptural curves that cradle vivid green tourmalines, we award them Best Gem Wizardry.
Ur-Freak watch by Ulysse Nardin and Urwerk, price on request
A ‘no-hands’ watch, the Ur-Freak by Ulysse Nardin and Urwerk, reimagines a 2001 timepiece and wins Best Time Warp in the process.
Travel
In Detroit, the Ford Motor Company spent six years transforming a long-derelict former train station into Michigan Central, a 30-acre tech and cultural hub, with plans to open a 180-room NoMad hotel outpost on its top five floors
City of the Year goes to Detroit – once a byword for urban distress, the Motor City is undergoing a fresh wave of regeneration, driven by progressive developers, design distinctions and dynamic investment. Detroit looks different these days. Its grand but long-abandoned buildings – vestiges of a bygone era when the automobile was king – have been transformed into galleries and hotels. New glistening towers soar high above the historic skyline. Once blighted neighbourhoods have been redeveloped to keep existing residents while attracting new ones – 12,500 in 2024, according to US census data. There’s a sense of optimism here that’s hard to find anywhere else in the US.
With interiors by Dimorestudio, the 12-carriage luxury sleeper train La Dolce Vita Orient Express embodies the spirit of midcentury Italian glamour
More travel inspiration comes from Orient Express, which wins Best Reinvention as the company best known for luxury train travel enters a decisive new chapter that includes the opening of its first hotel – La Minerva in Rome – and an upcoming yacht.
As for hospitality hot spots of the year, head to new hotel Capella Taipei, designed by André Fu, our Best Opening; and Club Bâtard, Best Social Hub, offering drinking and dining across three floors of Hong Kong’s Pedder building.
Host of the Year goes to Sharan Pasricha, who founded the phenomenally successful hospitality conglomerate Ennismore back in 2011 (brands including Mondrian, The Hoxton and Delano, with its soon-to-reopen Delano Miami Beach hotel, are under its umbrella), and can't stop thinking about ways to upgrade how we live, work and connect. We met him to discuss hospitality’s way forward, at his London private members’ club, Maison Estelle, part of a brand that also includes Estelle Manor hotel in Oxfordshire.
Beauty
Discover the year’s five most transformative beauty launches, designed to elevate dressing tables and daily routines.
The Ziip Halo – our Best Buzz – is a sleek, handheld device that offers the transformative effects of a high-end salon facial in the comfort of your home. It employs gentle microcurrents that promise to firm skin, diminish wrinkles, boost collagen, reduce acne and even out skin tone.
Chanel’s Le Lift under-eye patches – Best Time Turner – are formulated with hyaluronic acid and the brand’s signature eye complex to reduce dark circles and puffiness, while also reducing the appearance of discolouration and wrinkles with prolonged use.
Hermès Beauty’s Plein Air foundation – our Best Base Line – the brand’s first of its kind, is formulated with an 82 per cent skincare base designed to hydrate, nourish and plump the appearance of skin with continual use.
Our Best Tool Kit? Victoria Beckham’s line of make-up brushes are inspired by calligraphy tools and feature synthetic bristles specially developed for exceptional pick-up and easy application of everything from foundation and eyeshadow to lipstick and eyeliner.
For a fragrant finish to our best beauty launches, Loewe’s Crafted Collection is a line of three perfumes – our Best Note Takers – that each takes a commonly used note in perfumery (oud, iris and vanilla) and transforms it into an idiosyncratic new scent.
On another note, we look to Comme des Garçons Parfums and Vaquera for our Best Scent Throwback. Classique Perdu is a fragrance that transports us back in time – drawing on 1990 fashion magazine perfume sample, the nostalgic fruitiness of cheap shampoos, and ‘the metallic sparkle of a summer fountain’.
Fashion
Ferragamo is among our fashion winners of the S/S 2026 season. Top, skirt, both by Ferragamo. Cuff, by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. Shoes, by Gucci. Tights, by Wolford
We single out the standout looks of the S/S 2026 collections, with Best Show Case, in a shoot by photographer Sébastien Giraud and Wallpaper* creative director Jason Hughes. Our winners are:
- Ferragamo
- Givenchy by Sarah Burton
- Prada
- Phoebe Philo
- Jil Sander
- Gucci
- Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello
- Versace
- Alaïa
- Celine
- Dior
- Maison Margiela
- Chanel
Jake Burt
Cult London fashion store Jake’s – founded by Jake Burt, one half of fashion label Stefan Cooke – is our Best Retail Therapy. Standing apart for its refreshingly irreverent and relaxed approach, it’s as much a hangout as a store, and each Saturday, friends and customers come to chat, drink free coffee and eat the latest pastel-coloured confections made by pastry chef-cum-model Louis Thompson.
Also among our fashion awards is a show invitation that set our pulses racing. Guests were summoned to Pierpaolo Piccioli’s debut, S/S 2026 runway show as creative director of Balenciaga by a cassette player that played a recording of a beating heart – our favourite invitation of the year and Best Heartwarmer.
‘Speedy 20 Monogram Origine’ by Louis Vuitton
Best Party Bag, meanwhile, goes to Louis Vuitton for its ‘Speedy 20 Monogram Origine’, marking the 130th anniversary of the house’s monogram. The celebratory bag sees the mongram rendered in its original form on Louis Vuitton’s contemporary linen-and-cotton canvas.
From Prada comes the Best Sartorial Shapeshifter, a striking mash-up resulting in a hybrid accessory that’s part eyewear, part jewellery, as crystal flowers adorn a pair of metal-framed glasses.
Tech
Of all the tech that crossed our desks in the past year, nothing was more appreciated than the Paper Pro Move from the Norwegian digital paper brand reMarkable. Combining handwriting recognition with a variety of pen and brush types, easy cutting, pasting and resizing, and a handy suite of geometric shape tools, reMarkables are a dream to use – making this our Best Pocket Rocket.
The Wallpaper* Design Awards feature in the February 2026 Design Awards Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News + from 8 January. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.