What to get the person with everything? From a beautiful hand-crafted chest set from Hermès to a Bottega Veneta domino set – each tile painstakingly cast in Veneto ceramic – or a decidedly sleek saffiano leather backgammon set from Prada, these will impress even the most fastidious of style aficionados (after all, sometimes a gift’s purpose is to please desires, rather than needs). 

In time for days of doing nothing and hibernating at home, we have picked a luxurious list of games and amusements from fashion’s finest, which make for gifts both generous and unique – or simply a precious addition to your own burgeoning games cabinet.

Luxurious board games from fashion’s finest

An elegant card set encased in Celine canvas

Encased in Celine’s signature ‘Triomphe’ monogram canvas, this card set from Celine is a beautiful travel companion with which to strike up a game wherever you are in the world (though would prove equally impressive when brandished after dinner at home). Inside the lambskin-lined case are two sets of cards, as well as a Celine-branded notebook and pencil for keeping score. 

Enquire at celine.com

A Bottega Veneta domino set made from Veneto ceramics

A reflection of the Italian house’s longtime dedication to artisanal craft – one particularly celebrated by current creative director Matthieu Blazy – this domino set from Bottega Veneta features 28 ceramic tiles crafted in Veneto, all encased in a beautiful walnut-wood box. Part of a recently released home collection from the house, other games available include playing cards and backgammon, as well as a wheelalong intreccio leather donkey for children.  

Available from bottegaveneta.com, £1,710

A hand-crafted travel chess set from Hermès

Keep your mind sharp – and your home chic – with this beautiful hand-crafted wooden chess set from Hermès, which also folds away for travel. One of the French house’s most popular amusements, the ‘Samarcande’ comes this year with a new deep red strap, the perfect complement to the mahogany and cassia board. Each of the chess pieces has a distinct, minimal design, as well Clou de Selle engraved stainless steel weights for satisfying hand-feel. 

Available from hermes.com, £2,360

A sleek backgammon board from Prada 

Prada aficionados will no doubt enjoy the Italian house’s sleek take on the classic backgammon set, which provides an impossibly chic centrepiece to your next game night. Constructed with the same meticulousness as Prada’s collections and accessories, the red, white and black board – complete with dice, shakers and playing pieces – is completely clad in the house’s signature saffiano leather (equally desirable are the house’s mahjong and poker sets). 

Available from harrods.com, £4,800

A minimal porcelain and wood draughts set by Brunello Cucinelli

In the house’s signature tones of beige and cream, this elegantly crafted – but minimally embellished – draughts set doubles as both an amusement on long winter days and an adornment for coffee tables and sideboards. Made in Italy, the sleek porcelain surface is inset with contrasting wooden squares, while the pieces come with a sturdy steel ring (and can be packed away using the handy compartments on the back).

Available from matchesfashion.com, £2,657

A traditional solitaire set in signature Berluti leather

Part of Berluti’s luxurious passe-temps collection – which comprises cigar cutters, champagne buckets and watch cases, alongside puzzles and games – this moulded leather solitaire set is a contemporary riff of pasttime which is said to have originated in the court of Louis XIV. It includes 36 brass balls, one delicately engraved with the Berluti logo. 

Available from berluti.com, £3,850.

In partnership with Berluti

Berluti has a long history as an artisanal maker, producing finely crafted shoes, handbags, luggage, and ready-to-wear garments. So it was very exciting when, last year, the Paris-based brand added homewares to its already elegant portfolio, including the Berluti Home & Office Objects collection.

Its new range of desktop accessories sees everyday items recast with allure and artistry, utilising Venezia leather patinated in a palette of jewel-toned colours, sleek marble and hornbeam. Used to make bespoke Berluti shoe lasts, this extremely dense wood with a fine grain is rarely used for small-scale carpentry due to its sturdy, hardwearing properties, and is more commonly used when robust strength is needed.

The collection bridges innovation and modernity with traditional craft, which is exemplified in the likes of the leather mousepad, designed to enhance digital working, while the joys of analogue working are celebrated with a smart pen tray and pencil pot carved from a single piece of hornbeam. Soft, grey-grained Bianco Carrara and black-veined Nero Marquina marbles are used for items such as a minimalist bookend and an ergonomically pleasing cylindrical paperweight, accented with touches of patinated Venezia leather.

Meanwhile, some items feature leather embossed with Berluti’s Signature Canvas, which blends the maison’s logo, taken from the shoe tree of the first pair of shoes made by Alessandro Berluti in 1895, and the undulating strokes of the house’s iconic Scritto motif. Working from home has never been such a pleasure.

INFORMATION

berluti.com

Seventeen months after it was originally slated to take place – in April 2020, when it was postponed because of the pandemic – Salone del Mobile once again graced the streets of Milano. While many of the usual suspects – Prada, Fendi, Marni, Louis Vuitton – opted to sit this Supersalone out, there was no less innovation to be found. Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele made a cartoleria pop-up complete with a mouse hole; Dior gathered 17 of the most esteemed artists in the world to interpret its iconic ‘Medallion’ chair; Giorgio Armani gave us spaghetti measurers and rolling pins; while Hermès crafted a world of fine fabric canopies. Here is the Wallpaper* edit of the best fashion brands at Salone del Mobile 2021.

Fashion brands at Salone del Mobile 2021

Dior

Dior took over the newly refurbished Palazzo Citterio to unveil its ‘Medallion’ chair project. As guests mingled in the Dior-ified gardens, in the concrete depths of the basement, 17 artists – including India Mahdavi, Joy de Rohan Chabot, Sam Baron and Khaled El Mays – presented their interpretation of the Louis XVI-style seat that Monsieur Dior chose as one of the interior emblems of his fashion house on Avenue Montaigne in Paris back in the mid-1940s. The collective result was a reminder of the contemporaneous spirit of the fashion house and its enduring codes. Speaking about the project as well as her own approach, Mahdavi told Wallpaper*: ‘Beauty comes from the strength of the lot; they’re separate but connected and it’s that togetherness that I like.'

Hermès

Staged at La Pelota, Hermès enlisted Hervé Sauvage on set design to create five hand-painted structures in which to house the Paris-based brand’s collection. Designed to celebrate the tension between different textures, guests were invited to crunch around the softly lit space with sand underfoot, a detail which emphasised the raw nature of each room’s curated contents. Inside the imposing constructions sat pieces ‘designed to be touched': its ‘Sillage’ armchair made from recycled paper fibres; its elm and calfskin jewellery boxes; the enamelled copper ceramics from its ‘Sialk’ collection; and cashmere blankets hoisted on wooden poles. With Manuel Rocha Iturbide, Antonio Fernandez Ros and Rogelio Sosa behind the sound design, it became a sensory homage to the physicality of craftsmanship.

Tod’s

Tod’s enlisted New Jersey-based artist Willie Cole for its installation at its Montenapoleone flagship. The contemporary artist, who has carved out a reputation for using discarded domestic items such as hairdryers and irons during his five-decade career, was given free rein in the Tod’s factory to make three sculptures using leftover materials from the production line. The result was a chair, a sofa and a sculpture using the uppers of the brand’s signature driving shoes. ‘The thing that interests me is recycling beyond sanitation,' Cole told Wallpaper*. ‘My work is all about “play”.’ To complement his creations, the brand launched its limited-edition ‘Mosaic’ collection, which uses a traditional patchwork technique, and the offcuts from its mainline collections.

Valextra

Valextra teamed with its neighbour Tom Dixon on a project that saw the brand stage Dixon’s ten-piece ‘Black Light’ exhibition in its Via Manzoni flagship. For his installation of ten huge light sculptures, Dixon took his cues from Milanese masters including Gio Ponti, Achilles Castiglioni and Ettore Sottsass. For its part, Valextra looked to the traditional Italian art technique of chiaroscuro – meaning to contrast light and shade – to create a collection of the same name that juxtaposed its multidimensional leathers in four of its iconic handbags: the ‘Iside’, the ‘Tric Trac’, the ‘Bucket’ and the ‘Brera’. The result saw two disciplines come together, said Valextra CEO Xavier Rougeaux, to ‘pay homage to Milan, its masters and celebrate the symbiosis between design and urban craft’.

Gucci

Alessandro Michele created every stationery aficionado’s nirvana with his Gucci Cartoleria pop-up on Via Manzoni, which celebrated the lauch of the Florentine brand's Lifestyle collection. A bona fide treasure trove of pencils, pens, notebooks, pencil cases, paperweights and board games (catnip for early-bird Christmas shoppers when they launch online this week), the space was an ode to the small Italian shops of Michele’s childhood. ‘I imagined a small cabinet of curiosities, a Wunderkammer, like the cave of Ali Baba, that could accommodate these everyday objects and return them to a fairy-tale dimension,' he explained. In his signature whimsical style, Michele incorporated an overhead upside-down train track, a sensor-activated chess set, and a mouse hole complete with a miniature living room at foot level. It was conceived, he said, to restore a sense of wonder to everyday life – and it did.

Armani Casa

Things you now need that you didn’t know you needed ten seconds ago: an Armani rolling pin, spaghetti measurer and chopping board. For his Armani/Casa 2021 collection, Giorgio Armani wanted to ‘express all the dimensions of the concept of “living at home”’, hence the handy additions to a collection that caters to spending lots of time in it. The brand’s first desk chair and a huge new eight-seater square table are joined by an internally lit room divider and a new limited-edition cylindrical bar cabinet, all making the home user-friendly in the most luxurious – aka the most Armani – of ways. He’s considered the garden, too. The ‘Robespierre’ barbeque set, the ‘Rovo’ gardening bag (complete with wooden-handled tools) and the ‘Regni’ cashmere and wool rug that doubles as a chess board with supersized leather pawns take outside living to another level.

Issey Miyake

Issey Miyake staged ‘In The Making’ in its Tokujin Yoshioka-designed Via Bagutta store. Presenting the construction process behind two of the brands under its umbrella, Im Men and A-Poc Able Issey Miyake, it affirmed its longstanding textile-innovation credentials. First up, the ‘Flat’ (whose construction is inspired by 132 5 Issey Miyake) and the ‘Convertible’, which condense into briefcase and crossbody bags and are crafted from the husk of sugar cane. Next up, its ‘Type-I’ project, which involves a process that uses Triporous, a material made from rice husks (100 million tonnes of which are discarded globally every year, the brand pointed out), and achieves a unique shade of black that cannot be done through conventional dyeing techniques. These projects were joined by a presentation of collaborations with Tadanori Yokoo and Fabio Bellotti, both of whom have been working with the brand since the 1970s.

Rick Owens

Rick Owens and Michele Lamy collaborated with Galerie Philia founder Ygaël Attali to engage ten emerging Italian designers to create pieces inspired by Owens’ furniture. ‘My furniture is my couture,’ declared the designer about his one-of-a-kind projects, which here sat alongside the pieces designed in his honour. A marble chair by Pietro Franceschini and a floating glass and brass vase by Agustina Bottini stood opposite a bronze bollard lamp by Owens. Atop Owens’ alabaster and moose-antler ‘Stag T’ side table sat a sculpted brass candleholder by Samuel Costantini, both illuminated by a brass and silicone ‘Howl’ light installation by Morghen. ‘Rick’s work is brutalist, dark and rough and some things here are very soft,’ said Attali. ‘To mix them creates a discussion [between materials] and a dialogue between Rick and the Italian designers.’

Stone Island

Salone’s delay has rendered the fifth installation of Stone Island’s Prototype Research Series, its experimental numbered-garment project, all the more beautiful. The brand experimented by applying a nanometric copper layer through a vapour deposition technique onto a fabric bonded with its signature raso cotton, and made 100 trench coats. The plan was to investigate the natural oxidation characteristics of copper in a fashion context using industrial processes (the first time a fashion brand has used this particular type of technology); the result was a fabric that has a stunning iridescent camouflage-like surface texture but became completely unbonded in the time since the coats were made, the bonding ‘eaten by the same oxidisation', explained creative director Carlo Rivetti; it means the pieces can’t – like previous collections – be sold. ‘This is the unfiltered story of an unfinished research process,’ he added. ‘Each step has taught us important things which will be important for the future, regardless of the goal achieved.’

Kassl Editions x Zara Home

High-street juggernaut Zara Home and indie Amsterdam label Kassl Editions presented their limited-edition homewares collection at the former’s flagship on Corso Venezia. With the first floor devoted entirely to an exhibition to present the tie-up, it made for a bold statement of design democratisation and one for which Kassl Edition’s ‘Pillow’ sofa (originally conceived for Wallpaper’s Re-Made initiative in collaboration with Muller Van Severen) was reinvented. Joined by art prints, flat-weave rugs, reversible mirrors and lacquered wood furniture that can triple as tables, shelves or plinths, the modular collection caters to design enthusiasts on a budget.

La DoubleJ

Supersalone saw La DoubleJ founder JJ Martin ‘activate a hunch and bring back the bat’. Stemming from the themes of spirituality for which the womenswear brand is becoming increasingly known, Martin commissioned the artist JoAnn Tan to help turn the basement of the brand’s new Via San Andrea store into a bat cave-cum-craft installation to celebrate the spirit animal. Martin’s vision came to life through Tan’s suspended bat lamps, made from turned walnut, Italian silk, and Hermès leather on the wings, and which each took one week to complete. The event provided a first opportunity for many to see inside the space, which opened this April, as well as see the brand’s new Miniscalchi homewares collection. Highlights include a set of porcelain plates featuring patterns that first appeared on tableware made for Napoleon Bonaparte’s visit to Verona, here rendered in bubblegum pink (‘because this is La DoubleJ!' laughed Martin), and an extension of the brand’s collaboration with Venetian glassmaker Salviati on smoky sets of liquor glasses.

Versace

Donatella Versace called on Milanese architects Roberto Palomba and Ludovica Serafini to translate Versace’s fashion-house codes for Versace Home in a bid to have a more ‘3D vision of [the] Versace environment’, explained Palomba. Staged in Versace’s Via Durini space, which opened in April, everything hinged on the Greca pattern, which debuted in the A/W 2021 ready-to-wear collection. It manifested here in cushions, bed linen and wallpaper in green, blue, pink and brown. Deliberately less extravagant than Versace Home of old, this collection marks a move towards a clean-lined aesthetic and a focus on details over drama. Symbols synonymous with the house – including the gold safety-pin and Medusa head – arrived as subtle details such as zips and buttons on the new leather ‘Venus’ armchair and buttons on the made-to-share ‘Signature’ sofa. ‘Donatella is the icon for a new generation of women, and we made a house for her to represent her: she wants to hunt, rather than be hunted,’ said Palomba. 

Off-White

Salone may see few brands designing with dorm rooms in mind, but then most brands aren’t Off-White. Creative director Virgil Abloh collaborated with the ceramicist Ginori 1735 on its new homewares collection, which comprises a tea set, serving platters and dinner plates in the Florentine company’s classic white porcelain, all graffitied with Off-White’s tag. ‘This is a collection for the modern dining room – whether formal in a home, a millennial apartment, or simply a dorm room,’ said Abloh of the first instalment of the collaboration (the next will land in 2022). ‘The imposition of the modernity of a logo and graffiti art with the respected house of Ginori 1735 is proof that good design can live on forever.' Studying just got a whole lot more civilised.

Loro Piana

Famed for its deliciously luxurious textiles, Loro Piana looked to the past, the present and the future to create three stories that celebrate fabric for its Salone presentation at its Montenapoleone store. First up it commissioned Gabetti & Isola to create an exclusive version of its iconic ‘Bul-bo’ lamp (originally created in the late 1960s); as the new ‘Bul-bo Soft’, its base is covered in cashmere and contrasting Altai wool fabric. Next up, an interpretation of the classic director’s chair by Exteta and Paola Navone-Studio Otto, which has resulted in the ‘Delight’ chairs, covered in an outdoor fabric conceived by Loro Piana that is light, salt-, chlorine- and fungus-resistant. And finally, there’s the ‘Palm Duet’ chaise longue, a creation by Raphael Navot made exclusively for Loro Piana and upholstered in Cashfur, a novel fabric made from combining cashmere and silk on circular knitting looms.

Etro

After the best part of 18 months spent at home, it’s little surprise that bar cabinets have made a celebrated return. Etro’s new offering, the ‘Rajan’, is equipped with bronze glass and lined in a champagne paisley print (naturally). It forms one of the elements of the brand’s ‘Intimate Dining' collection on display at its Via Pontaccio store, where it is joined by its new ‘Klee’ round dining table, complete with a dinner-party friendly lazy Susan; the suitably sumptuous ‘Kush’ armchair, which is studded in gold; and the ‘McKenzie’ glass lamps, which drop like jewels from the ceiling.

Missoni

Missoni had a three-fold presence across the city. Its Via Sant’Andrea boutique hosted its Virgila Soft loungers and circular Art Glass tables. On display at its Brera HQ was its new collection of Miss Wood chairs - rounded wooden sculptures which have been polished and painted in degrade pastel hues so to appear almost plastic in their structure - and its new Grandma armchair suite featuring curved Walnut arms and upholstered in five variants of its famed zigzag textile. But it was at the Universita Statale di Milano where the world of Missoni Home came to life: modular outdoor sofas and square poufs covered in its water-repellent Andalusia stripe stood in the shadow of a huge Missoni vase covered in an intricate mosaic by the famed Venetian furnace Orsoni Venezia 1888. Creative Director Rosita Missoni, who turns 90 in November, told Wallpaper* that it was a joy to be designing items that allow people to enjoy being outdoors, something she has personally relished since the start of the pandemic.

Sunnei

Milan-based Sunnei partnered with its fellow Milanese brand and long-term collaborators NM3 on an installation outside its Via Vela flagship to celebrate the Super Salone. The cuboid metallic seating structure features a maple tree in the centre and was designed to bring the inside out, creating a tranquil oasis in the heart of Milan’s urban centre – in signature low-key-chic Sunnei style. The design duo behind the brand, Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo, used the occasion as an opportunity to spruce up their collection space too, where they presented their autumn/winter 2021 collection, AKA the uniform of Milan’s design-centric cool crowd.

Roberto Cavalli

Taking its leave from its new designer Fausto Puglisi’s first menswear collection for the house in June, the Roberto Cavalli Home collection on display at its Via Montenapoleone flagship was all about optimum glam (before arriving at the house, Puglisi was famed for dressing Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez, so no surprise there). The result was two threads: the new Wild Dining and the Wild Suite. Brushed bronze tables, brass chandeliers and a bookshelf panelled in Wild Tiger fabric were met with animal-print bed linen, silk pillow cases and black leather bed frames, while the home office gets a suitably decadent update with a jewel-handled gold desk. 

Berluti

Berluti enlisted the talents of Spanish furniture designer Jorge Penadés to repurpose leather offcuts from its ready-to-wear collections to create three pieces of furniture that were unveiled in its new Montenapoleone flagship. After gathering a mound of multicoloured pieces, Penadés created what he has coined “Structural Skin”; it’s a wood-like structure that saw him compress the leather with natural glue in a bespoke mould and leave them to dry for weeks before cutting and sanding them down. Taking on a rock-like appearance similar to that of agate, his creation has formed the legs for a glass and steel table, the base of a table lamp, and keyring cords. Plans are to produce them in a numbered and limited-edition series, with only five of each available.

There’s long been debate about whether fashion design constitutes art, but for S/S 2021, men's knitwear creations made a convincing creative argument. A host of brands used clothing as a canvas, interpreting the gestural strokes of figurative portraiture and the globulous bulges of ceramic forms within their folds.

At Dior, Kim Jones was compelled by the emotive and bold brushstrokes of Ghanaian portraitist Amoako Boafo, who had his first solo exhibition at Mariane Ibrahim Gallery in Chicago last autumn. In a tactile and tonal twist, a figure inspired by Boafo’s oil on canvas ‘Yellow Dress’ has been translated into an intarsia motif on a cashmere roll neck.

Jonathan Anderson showcased the figurative work of Catalan illustrator and designer Pol Anglada in his eponymous brand’s spring collection. A fiery chunky knit weave cardigan features a brow-furrowed face, inspired by illustrations in Anglada’s father’s comic book collection. 

At Loewe, where Anderson is also creative director, the designer achieved state of the art style, nodding to the figurative works of Paul Cadmus, whose portraits paid homage to the male form. A jacquard wool jumper translates the egg tempera brushstrokes of Cadmus’ ‘The Inventor’ into fabric.

The oozy, molten forms of ceramicist Brian Rochefort inspired Berluti’s Kris Van Assche, who transformed the colourful glazes and lava-like textures of the LA-based sculptor’s pieces into prismatic jacquard jumpers. Their knitwear fabrications evoke the appearance of Rochefort’s works, which seem to overflow with dribbling glazes.

INFORMATION

A version of this article first appeared in the April 2021 issue of Wallpaper* (W*264) – available to download here

A focus on skilled craftsmanship and exquisite materials united French men’s fashion house Berluti and watch brand Hublot when they first collaborated on a watch four years ago.

Now, the brands have come together again, this time to create the elegant Hublot Big Bang Unico Berluti Cold Brown which features a dial crafted from Venezia leather. For creative director of Berluti, Kris Van Assche, it was a chance to add a modern edge to the brand’s heritage leather. ‘There is a very contemporary feel to these sports watches, a little sports, of course, a little chunky, and I immediately felt this universe would make for a more surprising contrast with our Venezia leather and patina,’ he says. ‘I always push for the Berluti heritage to be discovered in unexpected new contexts.’

In this new piece, the Venezia leather in Cold Brown patina – originally inspired by an archive patina and renewed to achieve its warm hue – is inserted between two pieces of sapphire glass, with a cut-out silhouette revealing the movement beneath. In a first for both brands, the leather also forms part of the bezel, meaning like the strap it will develop a new patina over time as it ages.

‘It is an amazing technical feat made possible by the expertise of our watchmakers, designers and engineers, all of whose know-how was required to master the conception of this new bezel,’ adds Ricardo Guadalupe, CEO of Hublot.

INFORMATION

hublot.com

Already an established maker of the finest leather accessories and menswear, Berluti has found added purpose under Kris Van Assche, its artistic director since 2018. Having revived 17 pieces of original Pierre Jeanneret furniture for last year’s Design Miami, upholstering them with the brand’s Venezia leather, Van Assche is now launching a Home & Office Objects collection that brings together creativity, heritage and craftsmanship.

‘Berluti is above all known for working leather – leather shoes, leather accessories, and so to make the next step to homeware seems logical,’ explains Van Assche. Rather than designing from scratch, he opted to cast a series of European design classics in a new light. ‘The idea is to take existing design, but to embellish it with our know-how.’

From Werkstätte Carl Auböck, a fourth-generation brass workshop based in Vienna, Van Assche selected desk accessories, a magazine rack and a wastepaper basket, accentuating their perfect proportions with a distinctive patina and delicate hand-stitching.

Collaborating with Italian wood workshop Bottega Ghianda, he reinterpreted the work of architect Gae Aulenti. Handcrafted in maple and ebony, Aulenti’s trays and photo frames are now finished in colourful Venezia leather, adding to their tactility and visual allure.

Kris van Assche, Berluti creative director, with some of the Pierre Jeanneret pieces, restored by François Laffanour of Paris’ Laffanour Galerie Downtown, and upholstered in Berluti leather. Clockwise from front, ‘Base Building’ desk in neelam blue; daybed in nespola orange; and ‘Cinéma’ armchairs in simal red and sukhna sunset purple, all price on request, from Laffanour Galerie Downtown.

Equally covetable are Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s ‘Cartoccio’ bowls, created for Milanese silversmiths San Lorenzo. Their memorable forms, evoking elegantly crumpled sheets of paper, have been given a fresh spin with the addition of Venezia leather on the outside, an unusual yet fitting complement to pure silver.

Van Assche has additionally commissioned designer Simon Hasan to create five new vases, with statuesque silhouettes achieved via a 15th-century crafts technique, in which vegetable-tanned leather is coaxed into specific forms via boiling in a wooden mould. ‘The fact that he makes art pieces in a similar way to how we traditionally make shoes felt like a nice match,’ says Van Assche. ‘Simon has always worked in natural colours, and it was the first time he’s brought colour and patina to the table.'

Spanning seven decades of design, the Home & Office Objects are a testament not only to the versatility and allure of Berluti’s premium leathers, but also to Van Assche’s expansive vision for the brand.

‘Know-how and craft can be a little old-fashioned, and it’s part of my job to make them contemporary,’ he reflects. ‘It’s the definition of Berluti: there’s one foot in tradition, one foot in the future.’

Berluti’s artistic director Kris Van Assche at the brand’s Paris HQ, introducing the new Home & Office Collection. Film by Lucas Posson and Axel Maffert

INFORMATION

The Berluti Home & Office Objects Collection is available from November 2020. berluti.com

With a chain of coronavirus-related fundraising campaigns underway around the world, the French fashion industry is doing its bit for the cause: La mode s’engage (which roughly translates as ‘fashion commits’ in English), a four-day online charity auction launching on 1 May.

This project goes hand in hand with #ProtegeTonSoignant, a French civil association devoted to help local caregivers, not only by collecting funds but also by logistics such as monitoring needs of medical institutions, chasing and dispatching equipment supplies. 

More than 100 donors, mostly Paris-based or Paris Fashion Week participants, responded to the call of Sarah Andeleman, former head buyer and creative director of Colette, the fashion federation FHCM (Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode), and other collaborators. The donors list includes luxury players, emerging designers and lifestyle brands. They created original collector-pieces or picked up a few from their ongoing collections, playing out with a shade of blue bordering on electric, the symbolic colour of #ProtegeTonSoignant.

Céline proposes the most wishlisted Triumph handbag in royal blue. Another iconic bag, Chanel’s 2.55 is adorned with blue-shaded camellias. While Schiaparelli opted for clothing items dipped in a turquoise sun-reflecting-water print. Male bidders are not excluded. Kim Jones of Dior offers a Saddle bag with air-brush effect. One of the most unique choices is by Gauthier Borsarello, a rare-vintage reseller. The perfect piece he found is a 1994 Pink Floyd T-shirt of blue-hued tie&dye. For all items, bidding starts at 100 euros. Funds raised will go towards purchasing vital protective equipment like surgical masks and protective gowns for healthcare workers in France. The lots will be shipped out with high security attention, once France’s lockdown period is lifted, likely on 11 May. 

INFORMATION

lamodesengage.com

La mode s’engage auction, from 12:00 (GMT+1) 1 May through 23:59 (GMT+1) 4 May. Sign up online in order to bid.

Mood board: An electric blue suit, eased in proportion but still sharp, opened the show at the Opera Garnier. The staircase was strewn with a kaleidoscope of flowers in acid bright colours. Artistic director Kris Van Assche’s A/W 2020 collection surveyed notions of heritage both real and yet to be realised. Speaking about the collection, Van Assche said he was intrigued by what the maison’s century-old archives, which are largely focused on the craft of shoemaking and leather work, would hold if they contained tailoring and ready-to-wear. His musing put candid twists on classic suiting with pops of neon. A brightly hued roll-neck replaced a shirt-and-tie.  

Team work: For December’s Design Miami, Van Assche joined forces with François Laffanour (founder of Paris’s Laffanour Galerie Downtown) to present a collection of original Pierre Jeanneret furniture pieces. Restored by Laffanour, they were upholstered with Berluti’s signature Venezia leather. The patina of a green blouson and lean leather suiting extended the concept one step further, giving the body a poetically perverse touch.

Finishing touches: Prince of Wales check, houndstooth and herringbone were all dialled up: houndstooth embroidered onto knitwear; the same tessellation blown up and refracted over a hand-splashed ponyskin jacket. Houndstooth blended with Prince of Wales check on a double-face wool coat. Shearling was shaved with chevrons. New for the season was a shoe care kit made in collaboration with Globe-Trotter. Van Assche examined the emblematic Scritto motif in a signature canvas which took its lines to form a logo that featured on canvas bags: ‘My idea was to design a printed canvas as if it had always existed in the archives,’ he said of the pattern. A bridge between past and potential.

For this year’s Design Miami fair, Kris Van Assche, creative director of the luxury leather brand Berluti, and François Laffanour, founder of Paris’ Laffanour Galerie Downtown, have joined forces to present a collection of original Pierre Jeanneret furniture pieces, restored by Laffanour and upholstered with Berluti’s emblematic Venezia leather.

The series consists of 17 pieces, all created by the Swiss architect in the 1950s to furnish the administrative buildings of Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex, the vast compound masterplanned by his cousin and long-term collaborator Le Corbusier.

Included are a ‘Base Building’ desk, an ‘Easy’ armchair, a pair of ‘Cinéma’ armchairs, a ‘Judge’ armchair, a folding screen and a writing chair. The furniture is a reflection of Jeanneret’s ethos: solidly constructed, designed along rudimentary principles, and capitalising on the skills of local craftsmen and regional materials. Made in solid teak, the chairs are recognisable by their V-, U- and X-shaped legs, and originally featured seats in finishes including rattan, leather and vinyl.

As is typical with pieces of this pedigree, the hardwood has outlived the 1950s upholstery. The furniture has been restored by Laffanour to conservation standards, but with the patina of its framework intact; 
holes and marks are left unfilled to celebrate its origins, use and age. Meanwhile, elements such as panels and cushions have been given a new lease of life with leather in various hues.

Le Corbusier was commissioned by India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to head up the Chandigarh project in 1951. The planned city was one of the newly independent country’s flagship projects, and Le Corbusier’s largest, most ambitious creation: the very model of modernism.

Jeanneret, who had already built a solid career as a furniture designer thanks to the tubular chrome pieces he created with Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand in the late 1920s, was tasked with designing all the furniture for Chandigarh’s government buildings, as well as supervising their construction. When Le Corbusier left the project midway, Jeanneret became chief architect, living in Chandigarh for 15 years.

The Capitol Complex was selected by Van Assche as a location for Berluti’s A/W19 digital campaign, photographed by Ronan Gallagher this spring. The colours Van Assche came across there, alongside the two colour systems Le Corbusier created in 1931 and 1959, became a starting point for the palate of the restored Jeanneret furniture collection.

Pairs of seats, such as the ‘Cinéma’ armchairs, have been mismatched, one in Sukhna Sunset purple and the other in Simal red, while the folding screen features two shades of blue,
in a chequerboard pattern. The only piece upholstered in Berluti’s classic, brown-hued Tobacco leather is the writing chair – where there was already bold colour in the frame. Although constructed in teak, the chair was later painted blue, to identify its use for the university in Chandigarh. For Laffanour, this was an important historical intervention that should be left visible.

The task of upholstering the chairs was entrusted to Domeau & Pérès, the Paris-based upholstery and leather workshop founded 25 years ago by Bruno Domeau and Philippe Pérès, both ‘crazy about Jeanneret’, notes Van Assche. They came up with the idea of using magnetic fixings so as not to compromise the integrity of some of the originals. As per Berluti tradition, they used specially tanned leather from calves raised in northern France.

A patina was hand-applied in their workshop, enhancing the look of the pieces and emphasising the curves of their padding. Van Assche and Laffanour’s friendship is built on a shared passion for 20th-century design; Van Assche is a keen collector of Jeanneret and a fan of Jean Prouvé, so much so that his 2018 debut collection as creative director of Berluti was shown at Paris’ Place de la Concorde, inside Prouvé’s 1958 prefab classroom for the Institut Fénélon high school in Clermont-Ferrand, which had been restored by Laffanour Galerie Downtown.

Wallpaper* photographed Van Assche with some of his favourite pieces from the restored furniture collection. He already owns a pair of Jeanneret’s ‘Cinéma’ armchairs, one in black, one in red (bought previously from Laffanour Galerie Downtown), and has a soft spot for the daybed – ‘an ideal think bed’ – and the ‘Judge’ armchair, both of which would fit seamlessly into the new office he is furnishing at Berluti’s Paris HQ. 

As originally featured in the December 2019 issue of Wallpaper* (W*249)

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Mood board: In his second show for the house, Kris Van Assche ramped up its métier. ‘There was colour in January, but there is way more now,’ he said backstage. ‘It’s all about tradition and being contemporary. I refuse to think that Berluti should only be about timeless luxury, I think that’s in there, but it’s also supposed be for now.’ Slim suiting came with green and jade accents around shoes; trousers split at the front to reveal diamond sculpted boots. Wide palazzo pants in bright orange had pep. Cotton bikers were worn over suiting. For his debut last season, Van Assche drew inspiration from the stained marble tables on which the Berluti craftsmen in the Ferrara manifattura hand-dye the brand’s classic patina shoe. ‘The colours all come from the inks that are used. This time I wanted to make it into a fashion proposition. Last season was a photograph of reality. Now I’m putting more acid in there,’ he said.

Best in show: The colours were bold and bright – fluro orange and mustard, cobalt blue, navy and vivid violet. Standout were pieces onto which Van Assche had embossed the maison’s heritage ‘scritto’ motif, a largely indecipherable 19th-century manuscript sacred to the Berluti archives. For S/S 20, it is inscribed onto leather suiting, written on the lining of jackets and used like a shadow on pin-striped tailoring. It is the logo of the house. Leather blazers were punched with nail-head embellishments: ‘When I went to the factory where they hand-make the shoes, what struck me is that they put the nails in their mouths as they are working. It struck me that these boot makers do that. This know-how is underneath the sole of the shoe – I wanted to use that as an embellishment to show what’s inside,’ Van Assche said.

Sound bite: The look was more playful than the house has usually been accustomed. ‘I am still making a new interpretation of the heritage, the patina, the embossed leather, but pushing things forward, almost making archive pieces that didn’t exist,’ Van Assche said. ‘It’s more Berluti than I could be, and it’s also more fashion.’

Mood board: The recent drift towards dissecting the archives to define new design has led to some tricky terrain. Raf Simons sent poster-size invitations to his A/W 2015 show that read: ‘To the archives, no longer relevant’ – yet his collection upped the ante on self-referencing. Demna Gvasalia of Vetements and Balenciaga happily reissues the best of the 1990s no matter who might have done it first. Berluti was established in Paris in 1895 and has been built by four generations of shoemakers; its foray into ready-to-wear is relatively nascent. Since 2011 the house has expanded its offering, putting its exquisite leather know-how to good use. In his first Berluti show as artistic director, Kris Van Assche cut loose from the venerated codes of an ancient house. There was a new freedom to his look that was still rendered in a hard-line, strict sensuality.

Scene setting: The show was staged in the gilded halls of the Opéra Garnier – models walked up the marble staircase, looping around the alcoves in adventurously audacious couplings. Rows of artisans who work in the fashion house’s manifattura in Ferrara lined the staircase, proudly wearing their worn, leather aprons. Each had their own patina of wear, time and skill. Inspired by the old marble tables at which craftsmen sit and hand-dye the patina of shoes, Van Assche’s collection takes its hues from the stains of their surfaces. 

Best in show: The classic Alessandro shoe hand-crafted from one piece of leather was reimagined with sculptural caps, recalling the faces of diamonds. A white sneaker was created with the same artisanal attitude. Photographs of dye-splattered marble were printed on silk shirts and nylon bags. Tailoring was the major focus, in soft calfskin and jacquard or structured in exotic skins. The line had a strong, defined silhouette with a wide shoulder and narrow waist either worn with slim trousers with zip openings at the front cuff or with logoed motocross patchwork pants. Sculptural clutches and attaché cases looked like the chassis of fast sports cars.

Mood board: In a world that is louder than ever, the cerebral designer Haider Ackermann is a lone voice – his serene A/W 2018 collection explored the very essence of man, eschewing the sports-lux logo-mania taking over the shows. ‘I like the idea of a quiet man. Serene, cool, collected, yet standing on his own two feet,’ he said. There’ll be no statement puffer jackets or hybrid trainers here. Ackermann’s clothes for Berluti are the apex of exemplary luxury. They have a sensual, cool minimalism. A/W introduces more nylon jackets, handcrafted from a single piece of fabric and treated as if made from the most precious of skins. Rich, seamless suede outerwear is inspired by the house’s emblematic Alessandro shoe; sleek natural leather coats become invisible at the seams.

Best in show: The invitation to the show – a serious, thick wedge of pale pink card – foretold the staging: a velvet lined catwalk at the Grand Palais in the same erotic hue. In only three seasons, Ackermann has established a uniform with a refined, modest attitude. Light tailoring is without shoulder pads; a leather trench is lined in grey cashmere. A restrained black cashmere coat has ivory silk pinstripes on the inside and can be worn inside out. Sweaters in brushed Japanese cashmere are worn tucked in; hand-cut velvet suits are sharp. His clothes define a modern sensuality. His colour palette of deep olive, fresh sky blue, warm orange and purple is both bewildering and bewitching.

Finishing touches: As the world spins itself into a puritan phase, Ackermann deliciously served naysayers a leather and silver cigarette case to complement last season’s flask. A new shoe – the Alessandro One Cut – nods to the collection’s focus on seamless construction. The boot has a slightly elevated heel which gave the models a modern retro gait. Ankle boots in Venezia leather and crocodile are an evolution from S/S 2018’s cowboy boots; Ackermann has added a subtle decorative seam that catches the eye. His Berluti should be touched; it should be heard above the noise. 

Mood board: This was Haider Ackermann’s sophomore collection for Berluti, the LVMH-owned luxury brand best known for its leather savoir-faire. His signature was all over the staging, the casting and the easy, believable lavishness of the clothes. S/S 2018 was inspired by the colour palette of American-German photographer Erwin Blumenfeld; to wit, the collection features the same hues of pinkish greys, sunbleached amber and powdery blues and gold. There was a modernist athleticism to the wide leg, easy-fit trackpants and light cashmere coats offered in a range of cool colours.

Finishing touches: Ackermann subverted textile and silhouette; a utilitarian tank top was in silk jersey, the lining of jogging pants and the waistband of trousers in the finest silk. The accessories were luxury from inside out – a tote bag in double-faced leather was black on the outside and dove-grey on the inside. A flat slipper made from a single piece of soft nubuck leather came from the classic Alessandro Oxford shoe, adding a bohemian loucheness to the exquisite collection.

Scene setting: The staging for the show was the courtyard of the Monnaie de Paris on the Left Bank – it felt true to Haider Ackerman’s luxuriously intimate and sensuous presentations for his namesake label. Models walked from all angles across the cobbled floor, crossing over, walking fast and then slow – men, women, they were there and suddenly not. It was rigorous and aggressively modern: this is a proposition for those who are not interested in the details of being told how to look. No, the Berluti customer is sure of that. Stella Tenant walked in the show wearing a reductivist long black leather coat with a fine-knit jumper and white silk trousers, joined by fellow model Finnlay Davis in the same look. A radical gesture, delivered with extreme elegance.

Prada: Mrs Prada once again partnered with Dutch studio AMO to build a backdrop for her menswear showcase at the Fondazione Prada complex. Decked out in hiking-inspired attire, models strode up and then down a continuous metal mesh ramp to a 1990s soundtrack.

Gucci: A huge serpent motif slithered along Alessandro Michele’s green-carpeted runway at Gucci this season. Deep-buttoned benches and wall panels upholstered in green velvet lined the space, while green lighting paired with a delicate mist created a totally immersive fashion experience

Acne Studios: For a collection that served as a tribute to the emptiness of the Swedish summer, Acne Studios staged a game of musical chairs within the dilapidated library space at Paris’ Lycée Charlemagne. Old-fashioned metal-legged school chairs were scattered along the runway with square mirrors placed on the floor in between them, reflecting the crumbling frescoes above. Meanwhile, multicoloured filters placed over the windowpanes created welcome chequerboards of colour against the peeling plasterwork and worn floorboards

Fendi: The holiday snaps of Pablo Picasso and David Hockney provided the inspiration for Fendi’s S/S 2017 outing. Decked out in terry cloth robes and striped totes, models made their way around a crisp-edged blue pool headed up by a bright yellow diving emblazoned with the Fendi logo

Givenchy: Riccardo Tisci presented his S/S 2017 menswear collection for Givenchy in the courtyard of Paris’ Lycée Janson de Sailly. Black and white cube-shaped stools, which echoed the optic checkerboard patterns in the collection, were laid out in three concentric circles to form the schoolyard catwalk

Dior Homme: Following on from last season’s skateboard ramps, Dior Homme returned to the Tennis Club de Paris with a rollercoaster set that swooped around the runway. Festooned with coloured light bulbs, Kris Van Assche’s fashion fun fair was designed to evoke the atmosphere of the Sinksenfoor amusement park in Antwerp, Belgium.

Moncler Gamme Bleu: Forty mosquito-netted one-man tents were erected along Moncler’s grass-lined runway this season. The elaborate staging, complete with trees and a campfire, provided the perfect backdrop for the label’s Boy Scout camping-themed show

Ami: Bathed in a golden glow that evoked early morning light, Alexandre Mattiussi’s romantic set occupied the length of one of the long curved walls within Paris’ Grand Palais. His models, clad nonchalantly in pleated trousers, nylon hoodies and knitted sweaters, walked alongside a series of tall windows, both real and fake, complete with billowing white linen curtains and slatted shutters that filtered the hazy light.

Balenciaga: With a blue sky overhead and a clear view of the 7th arrondissement and the Eiffel Tower on the horizon, the dazzling atrium of Paris’ Lycée Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague served as the setting for Balenciaga’s first ever men’s runway show. Arranged under the atrium’s spectacular curved, lattice-framed roof, a simple set with just three rows of seating lining either side of the catwalk let the spectacular cityscape do the talking

Belstaff: Inspired by On Any Sunday, a documentary about motorcycle racing made in 1971 starring Steve McQueen, Belstaff’s S/S 2017 collection was full of references to riding and motorcycle culture – as was the set. A dirt track peppered with pine trees, a vintage pick-up truck and motorbike transported the audience straight onto a Husqvarna in the California desert

Berluti: For S/S 2017, Berluti threw a lush poolside cocktail party complete with games, burger vans, champagne bars and a host of inflatable animals. To celebrate the launch of its opulent outdoor equipment – as part of a new lifestyle collection, which included skipping ropes, dumbbells, beach rackets and a set of boules – models skateboarded through garden paths, worked out to the sounds of Donna Summer and frolicked across a makeshift swimming pool, tossing a Venezia leather frisbee

Berthold: Presented in the dark concrete basement of London’s 180 The Strand, Raimund Berthold’s S/S 2017 collection was built around the outsized proportions of an old French cavalry coat. To reflect this, his minimalistic set, designed once again by Justyna Kabala, was filled with angular metal frameworks draped loosely with white fabric held in place by heaps of coral-coloured sand that spilled over onto the black rubber floor

Canali: Inspired by the intersecting warps and wefts of its textured jackets, pants and knitwear, Canali’s models emerged from a spiraling web of tension cables lit with steel blue and burnt sienna lighting to match the collection’s clout palette

Mackintosh: An undulating platform made up of mirrored panels and eleven white plinths served as the catwalk at Mackintosh’s S/S 2017 presentation. As well as highlighting the details of the British heritage brand’s three-quarter length coats, the mirrored flooring reflected and amplified the Edwardian splendor of the show’s location in the Waldorf’s Palm Court

CMMN SWDN: Channeling the souks of Marrakech, designer Kimberley Harding conjured a sun-soaked market place show set for CMMN SWDN. With a sand-covered floor, makeshift market stalls in warm shades of ochre, burnt sienna and terracotta echoed the collection’s colour palette

Issey Miyake Men: The sun-baked quadrant within Paris’ Université Pierre et Marie Curie provided the perfect platform for Issey Miyake Men’s India-inspired ‘Journey from a white page’ collection. Taking advantage of its stepped grid design, models stalked up and down the steps in perfect formation to the sound of Japanese band Kikagaku Moyo who performed at the centre

Kenzo: Creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon took to Carreau du Temple, a former clothes market, to showcase the French label’s S/S 2017 offering. A raised tiled platform, sprayed with abstract graffiti lines in petrol blue, acid green and black, set the scene for a 10am Saturday morning rave with a thumping house soundtrack

Louis Vuitton: Held in the open air among the columns of Paris’ impressive Palais Royal, Louis Vuitton’s show set had no trouble in evoking the hot plains of Africa – Kim Jones’ source of inspiration for S/S 2017. Snaking around square pyramid-style seating arrangements, the subtle pink stonework provided the perfect backdrop for Jones’ sun bleached palette of brown, taupe and beige

Pal Zileri: An enormous backdrop burning with bright magenta and green created a horizon-like effect for Pal Zileri’s sharp tailoring. Models walked out silhouetted against the screen before taking their turn along a spotlit, v-shaped runway

Philipp Plein: The designer’s ‘Sportsworld Spectacular’ themed show got underway on a basketball court set created by Simon Costin. Backdropped by a giant screen flashing up NBA logos and player stats, the court was awash with models, NBA-mascots, a troop of neon-clad cheerleaders and a gang of slam dunk acrobats from the Harlem Globetrotters. Lights flashed, flames were fired up into the air and rapper Busta Rhymes performed – exactly the type of no-expense-spared show that we’ve come to expect from Plein

Qasimi: Over at Somerset House designer Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi of Qasimi drew influence from the Gulf War and contemporary architecture for his collection ‘Videogames Wars’. Inspired by the undulating titanium facade of Gehry’s Guggenheim in Bilbao, a riveted metal platform conceived by set designer Andrea Cellerino served as a rippling sand dune in Qasimi’s dystopian desert

Sacai: Held in an all-white orangerie-cum-art gallery space at the Jardin du Luxembourg, Chitose Abe’s Clockwork Orange-inspired collection for Sacai was paraded around strategically placed heaps of beige gravel that created a Mars-esque landscape

Thom Browne: The designer welcomed guests to a perfectly square gothic tropical island complete with its own black palm tree and glittering black sands for his S/S 2017 outing. Models dressed in wet suits, as seagulls and as birds of paradise added to the jovial atmosphere – as did the suited model wearing a shark head who opened the show to the Jaws soundtrack.

Valentino: Returning to their usual stately spot at Paris’ Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino presented a collection that they said was inspired by ‘the Shakespearean world transformed into an emotional alchemy’. Contrasting the opulent surrounds with rough timber clad bench seating, the simple set design reflected the collection’s languid, intentionally ‘undone’ mood

Thomas Pink: The house used a gravity-defying wall of chairs to showcase its S/S 2017 presentation at the ICA in London. Nonchalantly sitting on non-descript white-painted wooden chairs suspended across a blue-tiled wall, were 15 impeccably half-dressed men in a range of shirts, crisp boxer shorts, long, fine-gauge socks and leather lace-up shoes

Mood board: Berluti has been making shoes since 1895. Key to the house is its quirky classicism. The spring collection of smart day-to-evening wear was designed for the contemporary hedonist, off for vacation in the Miami sun. His wardrobe consists of supple leather blousons, zipped fleece-lined hoodies, tailored denim shirts and relaxed trousers. Colours are fresh, ranging from pure white to sunshine yellow, turquoise and deep brown.

Scene setting: The brand hosted a lush poolside cocktail party complete with games, burger vans, champagne bars and a host of inflatable animals in varying formations. At the heart of Berluti is an activeness – but it is activity of the highest luxury order. Models skateboarded through garden paths wearing neat pique polo shirts. Some worked out to the sounds of Donna Summer, wearing sneakers in pure white Vitello Unico leather – others frolicked across a makeshift swimming pool, tossing a Venezia leather frisbee.

Finishing touches: For S/S Berluti presented the most opulent outdoor equipment as part of a new lifestyle collection that included skipping ropes, dumbbells, beach rackets and a set of boules. The label’s signature hide was also hand-stitched around a football – just in time for France’s match against Ireland on Sunday.

Hermès: Renown for its luxurious goods and eminent handbags, the famous maison's latest collection – proposed by Véronique Nichanian for the menswear line – were utterly stupefying in their expert finish and unequivocally French mood. Photography/Videography: Antonio Camera

Dior Homme: Set in the midst of a sprawling mass of rollercoaster tracks festooned with coloured lights, Kris van Assche's catwalk was said to be a direct replica of a ride that once stood at Sinksenfoor Antwerp, a traditional Belgian fairground. Photography/Videography: Antonio Camera

Comme des Garçons Homme Plus: Transparency and pageantry were the message of Rei Kawakubo's S/S 2017 collection. A raft of tailoring was layered with fine gauze, longline cardigans underneath or PVC trench coats on top, models milling about the raw concrete runway. Photography/Videography: Antonio Camera

Berluti: Instead of a traditional fashion show, Berluti chose a rather more active stage on which to showcase their new wears: a poolside party. A rather fitting touch, considering they debuted their new lifestyle collection. Alongside skipping ropes, dumbbells, beach rackets and a set of boules, the label’s signature hide was also hand-stitched around a football which models kicked around in a friendly match. Photography: Antonio Camera. Videography: Courtesy of Berluti

In 1989, I went into Gucci to look at a pair of loafers – at the time a very cool shoe, from a majorly uncool brand. I seem to remember thinking all the rest of the merchandise and the store interior was laughably outdated and beyond hideous (although I would love to get my hands on that so-wrong-it’s-right homeware now). 

That was five full years before Tom Ford began shaking things up, making the brand sexy and the product desirable. After a recent lull, Gucci today is really hot once again with a major popularity surge under Alessandro Michele’s creative leadership, and I am back buying loafers. 

Similarly, I used to dread appointments at Berluti – I just could not get my head around the tattooed and painted shoes. I had no idea then that Berluti would blossom into one of my Paris fashion show must-sees and to boot, a staple in my wardrobe. Picky Nicky is always right, but knows when he judged too soon.

I never really paid proper attention to Anya Hindmarch, despite one of her stores being next to my Sunday post-Pilates breakfast stop, Ottolenghi on London’s Ledbury Road. I thought it was a perfectly good product, but I just wasn’t bothered. Then I spotted a video on Instagram, at the time of Hindmarch’s A/W 2014 show, called Counter Culture, where models pushed supermarket trolleys to a soundtrack of a scanner’s ping on a set built as a giant barcode. This was the launch of her ‘Crisp Packet’ handbag, all polished shiny metal like a portable Jeff Koons, and I really felt I had missed something. I had to learn more. By the A/W 2015 Diversion show, with its motorway set, catering by Little Chef and a finale that included the 100-strong London Gay Men’s Chorus belting out Pilgrims’ Chorus by Wagner in high-visibility jackets, I was properly hooked. Flawless fashion theatre at its very best, yet a proper focus on product. 

A visit to the Paris showroom to see the collection up close, plus the special windows at Antonia in Milan and Colette in Paris confirmed this was more than just catwalk antics. I think I may have smiled the most and applauded the loudest at Hindmarch’s latest show (above), over the mink fried eggs, pixelated leather marquetry, winking smiley face pockets and the illuminated moving Rubik’s Cube set.

I never dreamt I would pine over a pair of Berluti tattooed lace-ups, nor did I ever expect to consider a white sneaker with Hindmarch’s yellow winking emoji on the back tab. But then, I never thought I’d be sporting Alessandro Michele’s shaggy kangaroo-lined Gucci snaffle loafers either. Footwear as a conversation starter has never felt quite so fun. 

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When Picky Nicky judged too soon, almost:

Instagram: Despite the fact that I am presently obsessed with Instagram, the first time I was shown it, on a train from Milan to Florence, I failed to hook up. I was a little perplexed by the filters (which I never use), which were too gimmicky for me. My early adopter status was almost cancelled. 

Azucena: The first time I went to check out the furniture brand, in its original Milan showroom, I peered through gaps in the opaque glass, could hardly see a thing and could not locate the hidden entrance. Luckily, I made myself return – the back catalogue really is treasure.

Hyatt Hotels: After staying in a large Hyatt property in Taipei, I vowed never to stay again. Until the company opened its first Park Hyatt, that is.

Wallpaper*: As a client, I bought pages in the very first Wallpaper*, earning my full early adopter stars. But when the founding editor left, I assumed it was doomed. Months later I joined the team as a Milan stringer; this year marks my 14th and we celebrate 20 years at the top of our game.

As originally featured in the May 2016 of Wallpaper* (W*206)

INFORMATION

Illustrations: Danae Diaz

2

Models at Hussein Chalayan’s Paris show who took a shower on the catwalk, allowing their soluble clothes to melt away

12

BMX bikers and professional skateboarders catching some air on the ramps at Jimmy Choo’s menswear show, held inside a London leisure centre

19

Giant Roman arches on the Kenzo catwalk with models sweeping through on a conveyor belt

80

Crushed cars, 12 motorcycles popping wheelies, one monster truck, two spinning cop cars and two BMWs exploding into flames at Philipp Plein’s men’s show

20

A-listers playing blackjack and roulette at Chanel’s casino set in Paris’ Grand Palais shows

3

Lifesized fake carwashes, featuring fluffy rotating brushes and bubble machines, on Jeremy Scott’s runway at Moschino

700

Plexiglas panelshanging from the ceiling at the Prada men’s show      

200

Metres of carpet printed with snakes and roses and 14 bespoke upholstered screens on the catwalk at Gucci

30

Buddhist monks, in matching red robes, chanting before the start of Prabal Gurung’s women’s show

100,000

People who attended New York fashion week versus 2.4 million people who live-streamed the shows at home

1

Designer down during a post-show runway lap: Tommaso Aquilano, of Aquilano Rimondi, tripped and face-planted in Milan

820

Free tickets that Givenchy gave to the public on a first-come, first-served basis to its women’s show in New York

12

Strong, female, professional dancers carrying other women like backpacks and papooses at the Rick Owens’ show

7

Earth mountains created by artist Maya Lin for Phillip Lim’s New York show

50

Oriental rugs hanging from the ceiling of the harem-like show space at Antonio Marras

136

Digital ‘windows’ flashing videos of clouds, rain storms, blue skies, lights and models walking at the Canali men’s show

17

Miniature outfits hanging on a lifesized fake tree installed inside Milan’s 18th century Palazzo Clerici for Agnona

10

Colour-blocked tents created by Danish artist FOS for Phoebe Philo’s Céline show

17

Miniature outfits hanging on a lifesized fake tree installed inside Milan’s 18th century Palazzo Clerici for Agnona

3

Giant robots who dressed models on a conveyor belt after Courtney Love had performed Celebrity Skin at Philipp Plein’s women’s show

120

Lucky guests treated to a private dance performance by six Michael Clark Company dancers wearing Pringle menswear at Galleria Sozzani in Milan

6

Hours for carpenters to build a lifesized section of Sou Fujimoto’s House N inside Paris’ Grand Palais for Akris

 16

Oars on each of the two boats at the rowing-inspired Moncler Gamme Bleu men’s show

4

Mariachi singers belting out songs during Brian Atwood’s presentation at Milan’s Museo Bagatti Valsecchi

40

Bare-chested men, in knee-high socks and shiny shoes, reading newspapers in deckchairs in the courtyard before the Berluti show

20,000

Gallons of water to fill the mini lagoon in which the models frolicked at Tommy Hilfiger’s New York show

300

LED water lilies on the runway at Giorgio Armani  

8.5

Height in feet of the giant Balthus cat on the runway at Arthur Arbesser’s show in Milan. It was later cut into three pieces and taken home by the Austrian designer

1

Cheeky selfie taken by Alexander Wang in front of a pool of water during his final show for Balenciaga

3,000

Electric blue delphiniums planted on a temporary hill (that took 30 days to build) in the middle of the Louvre’s Cour Carrée for the Dior show

40

Models at Dolce & Gabbana who took to the runway with cellphones in hand, snapping selfies

Mood board: Since 2011, artistic director Alessandro Sartori has been focused on defining the silhouette of the Berluti man. The ultra-luxe clothes in lush, jewel tones he presented for A/W 2016 borrowed its palette from Marfa, Texas and its line from the geometry of artist Donald Judd.

Team work: In a more raffish direction, the New York-based tattoo artist Scott Campbell created five original designs that were stitched to the back of leather bomber jackets and shoe-uppers and etched onto leather. Fake tattoos of Campbell’s miniature geometric patterns were applied to most of the model’s necks and faces too. Amongst such storied elegance, the art of tattooing isn’t as improbable as you may think; tattoo artists at Berluti’s workshop in Ferrara, Italy have been etching personalised designs and monograms for its customers since 2001.

Best in show: Judd’s influence was there in a bold rectangular grid patchwork wool and leather topcoat and an array of graphic knitwear. Tailored jackets that looked like they were worn layered were also, in-fact part of the same garment. 

INFORMATION

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

You no longer need to be an underworld villain to don a turtleneck with tailoring. For A/W 2015, the humble knit, which boasts four synonyms in the English language alone, was championed by luxury titans from Berluti to Bally, as suiting and separates were teamed with roll-neck jumpers of varied gauges.

The skivvy, turtleneck, roll-neck or polo neck, as it is disparately known, graduated from the standby of naval sailors and menial workers in the late 19th century to become a sartorial symbol of the 20th century intelligentsia - adopted most notably by French philosopher Michel Foucault. Serge Gainsbourg gave it the beatnik stamp of approval in the 1960s, just as Sammy Davis Jr, Paul Newman and Marlon Brando took it to Hollywood, before Apple boss Steve Jobs elevated the staple skivvy (his by Issey Miyake) to cult status in the 1990s, also validating a subculture of tie-less professionals in Silicon Valley.

This season, Margaret Howell showed fine merino skivvies peeping out from under shirt collars, while JW Anderson explored a more avant-garde incarnation in the form of detachable ribbed chokers, along with zip-up ski skivvies finished with a dangling, retro-issue geometric toggle. Anderson may have flashed us back to 1970s East Village bohemia for his neo-transatlantic hipsters, but on most catwalks the turtleneck received a more straight-laced redux, perfect day-to-night attire for the busy creative. Offering a more casual, albeit polished, alternative to the shirt and tie, the roll-neck comes in many effortless guises, from plains to intarsias, but do opt for merino, alpaca or cashmere blends, as cotton jersey tends to lose pigment and shape.

And for those debating the manliness of the turtleneck, it's impossible to deny the masculinity of Steve McQueen in the 1968 American thriller Bullitt. Frank Bullitt famously paired his with a tailored blazer or shoulder gun holster; a look that's recently been reprised by Daniel Craig in the latest James Bond film, Spectre. Enough said.

As originally featured in the September 2015 edition of Wallpaper* (W*198)

Mood board: Fun, fun, fun! Guests entered the show to be greeted by a large fleet of models seated in deckchairs wearing nothing but boxer-shorts, socks and Berluti shoes. Rich colours were everywhere, a bright precursor to the kaleidoscopic show.

Best in show: A giant cable knit cardigan was in rich pea green and matched with slack trousers in marine blue; wafer-thin silk and wool V-neck jumpers; showerproof rain macs and woollen jumpers adorned with flecks raining across the body were all key pieces of the show. Presented in a dizzying array of colours, buyers - and no doubt the public - will be able to mix and match with glee.

Finishing touches: Rainbow hued leather bags, briefcases and rucksacks in the finest supple leathers were clutched by sneaker clad models.

Mood board: Alessandro Sartori’s once intimate Berluti showings have relaxed and evolved to encompass a wardrobe far beyond the bespoke suit, with luxuries made for living in morning to night. Autumn’s palette declined previous monochromatic studies with washes of evergreen wool, steely grey nubuck and even the palest ice pink shearling. From daytime duffels to a finale of shot silk tailcoats, the house enforced its message as a one-stop shop for the high-flying 21st century gentleman.

Scene Setting: A mirrored catwalk trailed from the porticos of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in a silvery stream, adding a futuristic touch to the classical venue that was otherwise absent in the collection. The label’s signature burnished brogues were suspended from clouds of white helium balloons, hung from the grand staircase.

Best in show: The welcome lightness of unstructured trench coats allowed Berluti’s exquisite leathers a new sense of movement, with glazed white calfskin and a mushroom-coloured suede version stealing the show.

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Umbrellas were standing by at Berluti's summer garden show last night, with inclement weather conditions lending a dewy air to the atmosphere surrounding this particular sartorial brand's lush renaissance. For a house blooming from the luxury footwear trade, designer Alessandro Sartori surprised with sneakers from the first exit onwards, treating them with all Berluti's savoir-faire to arrive at a luxe hybrid that shod his multi-generational casting with casual ease. The designer showed a tonal passage of meticulous heirloom pieces for the dashing 20th century gentleman, in a progressive story of tweeds and checkerboard knitwear that ran from dusty earth tones through olive and forest greens, on to deep chocolate and purples to finish in rich indigo and midnight blue. It is a difficult task to modernise the strict aesthetic frame of such a classical wardrobe, however Sartori succeeded in the light touch of sprayed seams that traced around sports coats and trousers echoing the brand's burnished brogues, or the trim nappa blousons he matched to suit trousers to relax formality with a dashing, urban elegance.