Raf Simons’ paved the front of the Louvre’s Cour Carrée with a multifaceted mirror that distorted the immaculate lines of the building’s classical 18th century façade. The same kind of twisting occurred once inside the show, where the clothes were imbued with - at least in historic terms - a split personality. The 18th century provided fertile ground for Simons’ remixed influences, from the rural countryside to glamorous court palaces, which manifested themselves in a variety of silhouettes, cuts and materials. Circle skirts came reared with humped backs; dresses were trimmed in rows of microscopic fabric buttons; sleeves had the pomp of court dress; while velvet gilets tumbled to the ground like grand, sweeping frock coats. Most intriguing, however, were the more humble iterations of that period, like a calico print cotton that was cut into modern shapes and paired up with 1980s-style black tailored separates, or the old-fashioned nightgowns that found new life as crispy, airy cotton dresses. Simons anchored his looks with witchy-looking boots constructed from knitted sock uppers. The best looks in this collection, however, were those where Simons’ icy modernism popped out: the micro jacquard suiting was excellent as were the figure-hugging button-trimmed ¾ length skirts, paired with turtlenecks and lace tops.
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Boathouse Zaka is the radical renovation of an ageing structure into a light-filled workspaceOFIS Architects turns a traditional boathouse into a lakeside laboratory on one of Slovenia’s best-loved bodies of water
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Mercedes streamlines the CLA Shooting Brake to create an aerodynamic electric load luggerThe new CLA Shooting Brake is the first ever electric estate car from Mercedes-Benz, a tour-de-force of quiet technology and elegant lines
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Willy Chavarria: ‘We’re still so stuck in fashion‘s old guard’As part of the August 2025 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper*, we invited three creative powerhouses to comment on the state of the States. Here, award-winning American fashion designer Willy Chavarria speaks on creative resilience, uniting with activist groups, and shaking up fashion’s old guard
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Haute Couture Week A/W 2025: what to expectFive moments to look out for at Haute Couture Week A/W 2025 in Paris (starting Monday 7 July), from Glenn Martens’ debut for Maison Margiela to Demna’s Balenciaga swansong. Plus, ‘new beginnings’ from JW Anderson
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Donna Trope celebrates the power of the Polaroid in Paris‘Polaroids used to be my rejects, and now they are my holy grail,’ says the beauty photographer, as she shows rarely seen images in a Paris exhibition
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Summer games, from pétanque to pool floats, get a fashionable spinFrom a luxurious pétanque set to pool floats and playing cards, summer games and toys from the world’s best-known fashion houses
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‘Modern beauty’: Pieter Mulier on his new vision for AlaïaAs creative director of Alaïa, Belgian designer Pieter Mulier honours the timeless vision of the maison’s founder while rewriting the past anew. Here, speaking to Jack Moss, he tells the story behind his first year at the house
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Palace unites with Rapha to celebrate inaugural Tour de France FemmesMarking the first time women will compete in the historic cycling race since the late 1980s, this new collaboration sees Palace Skateboards and Rapha create uniforms for both on and off the bike – including an ‘outlandish’ pair of Crocs
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NYC fashion exhibitions to see right nowNew York City fashion exhibitions to add to your cultural calendar, as style stages a stunning takeover at The Met and more
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Mariella Bettineschi’s feminist artworks survey guests at Dior A/W 2022 showAs guests gathered at Dior’s A/W 2022 womenswear show venue in Paris, sets of duplicated eyes stared down at them from the artworks of Mariella Bettineschi
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Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022: Chanel to Miu MiuIn this extended report, Wallpaper* updates you live from Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022 shows, with rolling coverage as runway events unfold
