Light isn’t only what you see; in a single shift, it can carry you from the quiet radiance of the midnight sun to the intimacy of winter days. And perhaps it is this very poetic idea that has sparked a new collaboration between Nordic design houses Iittala and Byredo, giving rise to Ljus (meaning ‘light’ in Swedish): a limited-edition collection of glass objects exploring light and scent.

While Byredo, the Swedish fragrance and beauty brand, has built its name on creativity and timeless objects that resonate deeply in people’s lives, the Finnish Iittala stands for functional, enduring glassmaking, rooted in material integrity and craft; together, their sensorial suite of pieces is making a conceptual debut at Matter and Shape in Paris.

Byredo meets Iittala: the Ljus collection

'The process was a true dialogue between the two brands,' shares Janni Vepsäläinen, creative director at Iittala. ‘For Byredo, scent creates atmosphere, something spatial and architectural. For us, glass is the medium through which light and concept take form.'

Glass is a particularly eloquent medium; one that translates the expressions and shifting qualities of light with quiet drama, almost embodying a tension between fire and ice. Adds Vepsäläinen: 'We began with the inherent duality of glass. It is born from fire – from extreme heat and constant movement – yet it often appears cool, fragile, almost like ice suspended in time. That transformation, from liquid intensity to frozen clarity, became the poetic foundation of Ljus. As two Nordic brands, we share the same northern sky; its shifting tones, its clarity, its quiet intensity. The unique quality of Nordic light, especially in winter, feels almost sculptural in itself. With Ljus, that light becomes material and experience.'

The exchange between Byredo and Iittala is also anchored in a shared respect for craftsmanship. Made at Iittala’s historic factory in Finland, every piece in the Ljus collection is formed by generations of skilled makers who coax molten glass into being through heat and human touch. Minute shifts in form and surface are inevitable, and it is precisely these delicate imperfections that become the collection’s quiet signatures.

Within these refined vessels, Byredo’s candles and incense read almost like small sculptures. ‘The two materials – scent and glass – complement one another through materiality, spatial layering, and emotional depth. It became a conversation between heat and solidity, diffusion and containment, lightness and weight.’

The detailed processes aside, there were practical constraints when bringing glass and flame together. 'Gravity, heat, the thickness of the glass – these are physical realities that shape the outcome,’ explains Vepsäläinen. ‘But rather than limiting the process, these constraints became poetic elements. There is a subtle sense of motion captured in a solid form. At the same time, the proportions and silhouette were influenced by the presence of the flame: how it diffuses, how it reflects, how it lives within the glass.'

For their presentation at Matter and Shape, the brands were keen to move beyond the familiar language of a product display. Instead, they have conceived a concept-led, multisensory study of light, glass, ritual and materiality – one that allows atmosphere to take the lead. 'The pieces are given space,' states Vepsäläinen. ‘We want the viewer not only to see the form, but to feel the interaction – how the glass reacts to the flame, how reflections move, how the atmosphere changes. The presentation is conversational, poetic, and experiential, inviting people into a moment shaped by light, material, and time.'

The full Ljus collection will launch globally in October 2026, available from Byredo as well as selected Iittala stores and e-commerce.

The neutral eyeshadow palette is the make-up equivalent of water: essential, but often quite boring. At least, that was the case – before Byredo debuted its make-up line in 2020, and with it the ‘Dysco’ eyeshadow palette.

‘Dysco’ is a beauty product that deserves cult classic status. It manages to turn standard beiges and browns into shades that are as fun as their names suggest. From lightest to darkest, these include ‘Feather’, a pearlescent peachy beige; ‘Haze’, a shimmering copper; ‘Flare’, a deep gold; ‘Velvet’ a satiny chestnut, and ‘Faux Fur’, a deep coffee brown with a touch of shimmery gold.

Why Byredo’s ‘Dysco’ eyeshadow palette is a cult make-up classic

All hues are interesting enough to be used on their own. But they can, of course, also be paired together. For a subtle, frosty wash, try using ‘Feather’ all over the lid, and then applying ‘Haze’ from the outer corner through the crease of your eye to the inner corner. Alternatively, for a punchier option, use ‘Velvet’ as your base and apply ‘Faux Fur’ through the lid. (For both looks, a touch of the golden ‘Flare’ can be used in the corner inner eyelid.)

The shades suit all skin tones and their shimmering, high-intensity pigments amplify all eye colours. It’s the kind of product that, by the end of its life, is all scuffed from being in your bag all the time; one of the few that you’ll eke out until the container is empty of every last fleck.

When Byredo’s founder, Ben Gorham, came together with make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench to plan the vision for Byredo Beauty, an experimental approach to colour was their entry point. 'I remember looking at a lot of editorial images, landscape photography – all sorts of creative imagery – and literally picking pixels of colour that I really love,' Ffrench told Wallpaper* in our profile of the brand’s beauty launch. 'This then became the Byredo colour library. Ben and I would sit down together and see which colours resonated most with us and which would work for the make-up.'

This allowed Gorham and Ffrench to develop the atypical make-up shades we see in the ‘Dysco’ palette, for example, and to rethink the ways they could be applied to the face. The brand’s 'Colour Sticks' are the most extreme examples of this, since they are designed to be used anywhere and come in colours like ‘Medium Blue’, a vivid metallic aqua; or ‘Purple Stinger’, a super-glossy lilac.

In the almost five years since ‘Dysco’ first launched, Ffrench has since handed the reigns over to Lucia Pica, Byredo Beauty’s Creative Image and Make-up Partner. (Ffrench now heads up her own beauty line Isamaya Beauty, which sees her idiosyncratic vision taken to new heights: think lipstick tubes in the shape of penises and S&M-inspired eyeshadow palettes).

Pica, the former Creative Make-Up and Colour Designer for Chanel, began her tenure at Byredo in 2022 with a collection of liquid lipsticks that are also worthy of a place in the cult beauty product canon. This is particularly true of the matte versions Pica launched earlier this year, which make a perfect companion to the ‘Dysco’ palette. They achieve the holy trifecta of matte lip colour: non-drying, long-lasting, and highly pigmented, whilst also living up to the brand’s inimitable colour creation.

For your ‘Dysco’ partner, try using ‘Feather’ from the palette along with ‘Marriage’, a deliciously dark burgundy shade. Or use the ‘Velvet’ and ‘Faux Fur’ combo with ‘Muted Cry’, a warm mauve with which the Kaja pencil in ‘Bhoora Bhoora’ can also be used as a liner to create a muddy, grungy lip worthy of the 1990s.

byredo.com

Byredo never ceases to think outside the beauty box. Case in point: its recently launched light green Liquid Lipstick Vinyl, studded with pearlescent particles of gold glitter. Said lipstick forms part of Creative Image and Make-up Partner Lucia Pica’s latest collection for the brand, Mineralscapes, which takes inspiration from ancient geology and the natural landscape of Sweden, the brand‘s birthplace.

‘Mineralscapes is not strictly about where we come from geographically, it’s about something more ancient – our DNA, a cellular memory,’ says Pica. ‘It’s about how landscape and memory have shaped us over millennia. It’s a story that starts before you and ends after you.’

Byredo’s Frozen Memo green liquid lipstick is surprisingly subtle

Whilst eyes are the central focus of the range - anthracite greys, amethyst purples, moss greens, and glacier blues all feature in a highly pigmented, limited edition eyeshadow palette, alongside fine-tipped brow pencils in an array of 18 shades such as charcoal, slate, and sand - the hero lip product, called Frozen Memo, is perhaps the most curious of all. Although it sounds - and looks - as though it would provide a Martian-like pallor, having tried it myself, the effect is surprisingly subtle.

More of a gloss than a lipstick, once applied, the effect is a cool toned-glassy wash. Described by the brand as having an ‘addictive shine and long-lasting comfort with its creamy blend of oils and shea butter,’ it certainly lived up to these claims and was also devoid of that overly sticky, cloying finish that attracts windswept hair like a magnet.

I wore it alone in daylight and didn’t detect a hint of frostbite. Neither did anyone else, for that matter, as I wasn’t once asked if I was cold and needed to borrow someone’s jumper. For an evening out, I opted to slick Frozen Memo over the top of Byredo's Liquid Lipstick Matte, in my favourite colour, Space In Between.

The following night, I decided to get even more creative, patting the lipstick over a pale Mineralscapes eyeshadow, in keeping with Lucia Pica’s playful philosophy. As she says of Frozen Memo: ’[the colour] might feel strange, but [it is] a natural colour – colour we live with. The transformation comes in them becoming part of you.’

Well, reader, she’s right. As I never thought green lipstick would become a regular staple in my beauty product rotation, until now.

Byredo Liquid Lipstick Vinyl in Frozen Memo, £45, and the rest of the Mineralscapes collection by Lucia Pica is available now.

byredo.com

This week (March 2024) Byredo opens a second bricks-and-mortar store in London. This follows in the footsteps of its Lexington Street flagship in Soho, a three-storey space that was unveiled in 2018.

The luxury beauty and lifestyle brand, founded by Ben Gorham in 2006, is renowned for its design-led fragrance and make-up lines (alongside home goods and accessories), and has created signature scents such as Mojave Ghost, Bal d’Afrique, and Gypsy Water. The Byredo cosmetics line, which debuted in 2020, is now led by make-up artist Lucia Pica, who puts a unique slant and emotionally driven slant on products such as lipstick, eyeshadow, and more.

Byredo opens its second London store

The new retail location is situated on Monmouth Street at Seven Dials. In the heart of Covent Garden, it is a destination that falls in line with Byredo’s brand values.

‘As a microcosm of London, Covent Garden expresses the melting pot of influences which makes this city so unique,’ says Gorham. ‘This is totally in sync with the diverse global energies that make up Byredo and I’m interested to see the dialogues that will emerge from our interactions.’

Sleek and industrial, the store’s design provides tension with the area’s cobbled streets and historic architecture, with a bright white façade and glass front providing plenty of natural light. The interiors are a calming and tonal take on Byredo’s ‘signature play on contrasts’, with wood panelling and cowhide couches juxtaposed with aluminium framed vitrines.

The new store will carry the full range of Byredo perfume, home fragrance, make-up and body care products. And, as the brand says, the new destination marks ‘an important step in its fast-expanding retail footprint’.

Byredo Covent Garden is located at 25 Monmouth St, London WC2H 9DD.

byredo.com

Lucia Pica is speaking to me over a Zoom call from the Byredo offices in London. She’s in town from Paris to mark the launch of her latest product range for the brand, the next chapter in her role as creative image and make-up partner. A revered make-up artist, Pica, who has previously headed up beauty at houses such as Chanel, took the reins at Byredo in 2022, starting her tenure with a line of vinyl liquid lipsticks in muted shades of nude, and a collection of products called ‘First Emotions’ (which won a 2023 Wallpaper* Design Award for Best Use of Colour). Now, it’s matte formulations she’s turning to, in a wider spectrum of colours that pack a punch. (One is even wryly named ‘Red Coma’.)

Lucia Pica on Byredo’s Liquid Lipstick Matte collection

‘I've had the shade “Calmer” on for most of the day, which is sort of like a 1990s, brown colour. And I just applied “Marriage” on top, which is a rich burgundy. I also really love “Fire Grace”, which is more of a blue-toned red. Then there’s “Space in Between”, which is exactly what it says: an in-between colour,’ says Pica, when I ask what she likes to wear herself. Matte lipsticks have a reputation for being rather drying and claggy, which is something that Pica was keen to avoid for the Liquid Lipstick Matte collection. ‘For me, when it comes to make-up, senses and touch are so important, because it’s something that becomes a part of you. And I didn’t want to make a heavy, dry, powdery matte texture. So what we have here is very nourishing and moisturising,’ she continues. ‘It glides on the lips very easily and the applicator means that you can do a bold lip, or blur out the edges for a softer effect. It has a very strong delivery of colour, but the experience of it is so sensual. I find it almost compulsive the way you want to continue to put it on and on and on.’

In the days since our conversation, I really have been applying ‘Space in Between’ continuously, as it’s an ideal every day colour for me, a rose tone that leans brown rather than pink. The texture is sensorial dream; it glides on like velvet, remains creamy on the lips, yet doesn’t skimp on staying power. (In addition, the formulations are vegan.) I was even able to forgo lip liner, too, using use the thinner tip of the doe-foot applicator to cleanly draw a shape around the vermillion border and define the cupid’s bow. Later this evening, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I’ll be switching to ‘Fire Grace’, which happens to match the gel polish I’m wearing almost exactly.

‘With Byredo, we tend to have this mixture between primordial and sophisticated,’ concluded Pica, just before she left the call to prepare for an intimate dinner that Byredo was hosting to celebrate the Matte Liquid Lipstick collection that evening. ‘And I think, in the same way that a scent has a power of leaving a mark on someone’s memory, that lipstick does the same,’ said Pica. ‘It's also about pleasure, having fun. I saw Poor Things recently and I thought… The matte lipsticks we’ve created here are products that Bella Baxter would enjoy wearing.’

The Byredo Liquid Lipstick Matte collection by Lucia Pica is available now, £40.

byredo.com

Investing in a selection of new home fragrances is a surefire way to reset your living space for the year ahead, and help stave off the January blues in the process. Scents are a trigger for memories and emotions. So, bringing a whole new olfactory experience to the home can help with the formation of new memories as the calendar months go on. Wallpaper* has selected some of the best home fragrances to help you along the way. From the freshness of Loewe’s Cucumber candle, to Celine’s indulgently scented paper, and Frédéric Malle’s dreamy linen spray, we hope you’ll discover something you love.

Home fragrances to reset your living space

1. Loewe Cucumber scented candle

What could be more cleansing and refreshing than the scent of cucumber? This luxury candle by Loewe (created in collaboration with Chinese actor Leo Wu, one of the brand’s ambassadors) packs an intense verdant fragrance, which also reveals notes of mint when lit. As with most candles from the fashion house, creative directed by Jonathan Anderson since 2013, the natural wax is contained in a glazed terracotta pot, which can be reused. Combine it with a Tomato Leaves candle, also by Loewe, for a delicious olfactory salad.

Loewe Home Scents Cucumber large candle, £345, available at mytheresa.com

2.  Officine Générale Smoky Olive room spray

French fashion label Officine Générale launched its first range of home fragrances at the end of last year (December 2023). For the brand’s founder Pierre Maheo and its image director Nina Maheo, ‘scent is ever-present... connecting back to childhood; bringing comfort or familiarity; providing a simple, everyday pleasure’. The scent that has been created for this new product offering is called Smoky Olive, and is infused into a candle, hand wash and room spray, each with top notes of bergamot and ginger, heart notes of iris, patchouli and vetiver, and base notes of tobacco, cedar, incense and leather.

Officine Générale Smoky Olive home spray, £55, available at officinegenerale.com.

3. Diptyque Baies scented oval

Designed in a white porcelain holder by Jean-Marc Gady studio, and containing a wax perfume diffuser, this Diptyque scented oval provides a sculptural take on the brand’s iconic candle (the latter now also available in a refillable version). Crafted with a black cotton rope, allowing the object to be placed at various locations throughout the home, the fragrance will last a minimum of three months (so will take you seamlessly from winter into spring). Diptyque’s Baies scent evokes ‘the tangy coolness of blackcurrant berries and lively, flowery rose accents’, diffusing an energising aroma into any space. (A new launch from the brand for 2024 includes the La Drogurie odour-removing room spray with basil, as part of its home cleaning collection, if you’re in the market for something a little more practical).
Diptyque Baies scented oval, £53, available at harrods.com; La Droguerie Basil odour-removing interior scent spray, £56, available at selfridges.com.

4. Trudon Cyrnos reed diffuser

Trudon has been producing candles since 1643 and was the official provider of the royal court of Louis XIV at the Palace of Versailles. The scent of this reed diffuser, however, is inspired by the citrus gardens of the Belle Époque-style Villa Cyrnos on the Côte d’Azur, designed by Hans-Georg Tersling. Your home may not be quite as lavish as either of these buildings, but it deserves an equally flamboyant fragrance nonetheless. With notes of lavender, pine, cedarwood and fig, this scent will last for around four months, with the diffuser itself made in Trudon-green glass.

Trudon Cyrnos reed diffuser, £178, available at selfridges.com.

5. Gabar 01 Float scented candle

Fragrance and personal care brand Gabar is based in London, but rooted in the culture and heritage of Myanmar, and has newly released its home fragrance line this month (January 2024). The 01 Float scented candle draws inspiration from the Inle Lake in Myanmar’s Shan Hills, with notes of jasmine and violet leaf combining with amber and white musk, to welcome a much-needed sense of calm into the new year and beyond. (It also makes for a perfect bathtime companion.)

Gabar 01 float scented candle, £48, available at gabarmyanmar.com

6. Celine Parade scented paper

Celine scented papers are designed to be placed into a drawer to fragrance clothes and linens, with Parade, the Parisian label’s best-selling perfume, dreamt up by Hedi Slimane. Embossed with the house‘s Triomphe logo, the papers are a decadent way to enliven your wardrobe after a January cull. Although, as Wallpaper* contributing editor Mary Cleary pointed out upon the product’s launch in 2022: ‘...there is plenty of room to get creative with how you use them – perhaps as a perfumed card slipped into a gift, an elegant bookmark, or a clever addition to your suitcase, for example’. Indeed, the possibilities over the year ahead are almost endless.

Celine parade scented paper, £65, available at celine.com.

7. Santa Maria Novella scented terracotta

Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella is the ‘world’s oldest beauty brand’, founded in 1221 by Dominican friars in Florence. This scented terracotta pomegranate can double up as an incredibly fragrant paperweight (or simply a pleasing handcrafted object to rest on any surface in the home). It is imbued with Santa Maria Novella’s Melograno perfume, which is said to be ‘emblematic of fertility and abundance’, led by top notes of bergamot, bitter orange and fresh spices, followed by pomegranate accord, rose, ylang-ylang, labdanum, musk, oakmoss and patchouli.

Santa Maria Novella, Melograno scented terracotta, £60, available at libertylondon.com.

8. Byredo Rose hand wash

It’s time to ditch the Dettol and rid the edges of your sink from Radox. Containing pink pepper, patchouli, white musk (and what Byredo describes as a ‘radiant chord of raspberry’) this rose-scented hand wash is your new bathroom or kitchen staple, a gentle, vegan formulation that cleanses hands whilst leaving them delicately perfumed. The complementary lotion – which is rich in shea butter – also helps aid in soothing and softening dry winter skin.

Byredo Rose hand wash, £44, available at spacenk.com.

9. Mad Et Len x Lemaire Bois d’Orange scented candle

Artisanal French brand Mad Et Len emphasises the evocative power of scent. (In fact, it takes its name from Marcel Proust’s ‘Episode of the Madeleine’, from In Search of Lost Time). All of its fragrances are made in Grasse, with containers crafted from rolled metal. Mad Et Len has recently collaborated with Lemaire, to produce a range of fragrances for the home. The Bois d’Orange candle releases notes of Japanese cypress and Haitian vetiver, and is described as an ‘enveloping perfume that delicately slips into the atmosphere like a thin thread of material or a light fabric’.

Mad Et Len x Lemaire Bois d’Orange scented candle, £90, available at matchesfashion.com

10. Frédéric Malle Dans Ton Lit linen spray

Frédéric Malle says that this fragrance can recreate the effect of ‘sleeping on a bed of roses’ or ‘dreaming on a perfumed cloud’. So if your New Year resolution is to make rest a priority, then investing in a bottle of Dans Ton Lit linen spray is a good way to help you keep it. Containing half Turkish rose essence, and half Rose Water Essential (an ingredient that has been developed as an exact rendition of rose water’s natural scent), simply spritz on your pillow, close your eyes, and drift into redolent slumber.

Frédéric Malle Dans Ton Lit linen spray, £85, available at selfridges.com.

11. Maison Francis Kurkdijan linen care set

In a new release from Maison Francis Kurkdjian for 2024, this scented laundry soap set is ‘the ultimate in refinement’, says the perfumer. (We would be inclined to agree – we’ll be adding it to our clothes care routine.) Infusing garments with the notes of Aqua Universalis, a fresh citrussy scent containing bergamot from Calabria, citron from Sicily, white flowers and the subtle scent of light and musky wood, the set is available for both light and dark colours, and contains a laundry detergent and fabric softener.

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Aqua Universalis Linen Care Set, £95, available at harrods.com

12. Perfumer H Ink incense

Perfumer H, founded by British nose Lyn Harris, is known for its unconventional fragrances. This extends to its offering for the home, including this incense, which has been made by one of the few traditional incense makers in Kyoto, Japan (who also provide incense for the local Buddhist temples and monasteries). Notes include elemi, juniper wood, cedar wood, papyrus, vetiver and frankincense, to evoke the illusion of blue ink.

Perfumer H, Ink incense, £30, perfumerh.com.

13. Discothèque milk candle

Discothèque candles are created to evoke the memories of hedonistic nights out and are made using fully traceable, sustainable, high-grade vegan wax in the United Kingdom. This particular candle is named after the Milk! night club that was up and running in Mannheim, Germany, between 1990 - 1993. With top notes of weeping juniper, citrus limon, bergamot, and black pepper (and with a sandalwood, vanilla bean, leather and balsamic base), lighting it will bring a slice of nightlife into your home, setting the tone for many dinner parties to come.

Discothèque Milk! candle, £54, available at harveynichols.com.

Take a look back at Wallpaper’s top 10 beauty and grooming features of 2023, as selected by beauty & grooming editor Hannah Tindle – from interviews with Hermès nose Christine Nagel and Björk’s nail artist Sojin Oh, to insider looks into Santa Maria Novella and Prada’s make-up debut.

Top 10 beauty and grooming features of 2023

01. Prada introduces ‘ugly beautiful’ debut beauty line

Scottish make-up artist Lynsey Alexander is one of the fashion industry’s most esteemed creative talents. She had previously collaborated with Prada’s co-creative director Raf Simons, and was a natural appointment as global creative make-up partner to oversee the launch of the brand’s debut beauty and skincare offering in 2023.

Wallpaper* took one of the first insider looks at the collection, speaking with Alexander about the inspiration behind it, the products offered, and the unique smart technology used to develop them. ‘There’s a juxtaposition of ugly and beautiful, coming together to create something quite extraordinary,’ Alexander explained. A fitting message for Prada, of course.

READ MORE

02. Santa Maria Novella: a medieval brand enters the modern age

Florentine beauty brand Santa Maria Novella was founded by Dominican friars in 1221, producing medicinal concoctions with herbs and plants cultivated in their gardens, making it the oldest beauty house in the world. With the hire of CEO Gian Luca Perris in 2020, it ushered in a modern era, launching four eau de parfums: L’Iris, Bizzarria, Gelsomino, and Magnolia.

Three years after his appointment, Wallpaper’s Mary Cleary travelled out to Italy to speak with him about his future vision. ‘It is important to create innovations, while still keeping in mind the roots that allowed this company to last until now,’ he said. ‘The monks were great innovators – they were researching new ingredients, making new formulas, working with the Medici family to invest in chemistry and in pharmaceuticals; so we need to keep that in mind, but we also need to go back from time to time and reboot things from the archive.’ We look forward to seeing how this promise holds up in 2024.

READ MORE

03. Björk’s nail artist Sojin Oh on creating some of the most surreal talons in the business

‘I think we share a fearlessness toward being expressive and emotional women artists. I really respect how vulnerable she is in her music, because it captures the power that emotionality and feeling have relative to logic,’ nail artist Sojin Oh told Wallpaper* in February 2023. She was, of course, referring to her work with Björk, and the surreally sculptural talons she creates for the musician.

In combining found materials such as enamel, fish bones, baby shark teeth, caracol shell, oyster shell, and sea glass with builder gel, she crafts nails that sit between the beautiful and the grotesque, recalling organic forms held in terrariums. With recent red-carpet collaborations with actor Hari Nef, and magazine editorials with Grimes, her career keeps on growing.

READ MORE

04. Hermès perfume Un Jardin à Cythère is a cinematic exploration of a Greek garden

Hermès launched a new fragrance in October 2023. To mark the occasion, Wallpaper’s Mary Cleary spoke with the maison’s nose Christine Nagel about the perfume, called Terre d’Hermès Eau Givrée, which is inspired by a Greek garden, containing notes of juniper, cedrat (a citrus fruit reminiscent of lemon and bergamot) and Timur pepper.

Nagel also revealed how she started her career in the fragrance industry after coming from an atypical background as a chemist, and the barriers she overcame. (Perfumery is a typically male-dominated field, with generations of knowledge passed down through families). ‘The first reason [that barriers were there],’ Nagel explains, ‘is because I’m a woman and perfumery is traditionally a masculine job. On top of that, I am not from the south of France, I am not the daughter of a perfumer and, coming from chemistry, I don’t have the typical background.’ Nagel proves that innate talent and a willingness to learn is a potent combination.

READ MORE

05. Japanese hair art: Yumeko Yume’s retro Osaka salon

Wallpaper* ran a series on the tradition and innovation behind Japanese hair art, including an examination of geiko wig-making, and a look inside hairstylist Yumeko Yume’s niche salon, called Yumeya, in Shinsaibashi. Specialising in hairstyles that reference the 1960s and 1970s, and with interiors designed to match, the salon was captured in all its retro glory by photographer Prissilya Junewin.

‘I was interested in the music and manga of the [1960s and 1970s], but most of all, I loved the fashion scene,’ Yume told writer Makoto Kikuchi. ‘I didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so I used to buy all kinds of retro-looking second-hand clothes, like patterned shirts and bell-bottoms.’ If you find yourself in Kyoto over the upcoming year, head to the salon and experience Yumeya for yourself.

READ MORE

06. How Tom Ford changed the beauty industry

In July 2023, Tom Ford announced that he would be stepping down from the helm of his namesake brand, and that Peter Hawkins, a long-time friend of the label, would take over. This followed the sale of the business in 2022 (which included fashion, eyewear and beauty) to Estée Lauder for a casual $2.8 billion.

To mark Ford’s departure, Mary Cleary reflected on his impact on the beauty industry, in the August 2023 issue of Wallpaper*. ‘Eroticism has always been inherent to Tom Ford Beauty, as has a playfulness around notions of femininity and masculinity, whether it’s in a range of primarily unisex fragrances (a trend Ford could be credited with starting) or a range of lipsticks named after the men in his life,’ she wrote. ‘Ford has always had a preternatural ability to give people what they want even before they knew they wanted it, and it is this that makes him a true pioneer of 21st-century luxury in beauty and beyond.’

READ MORE

07. Kelly Lee Owens and Haeckels recreate the feeling of music through a fragrance

Margate-based brand Haeckels and Welsh electronic musician Kelly Lee Owens explored the phenomenon of synesthesia in a new collaborative fragrance called Scent 08. ‘Owens has crafted a fragrance as atmospheric as her music, specifically designed to trigger, through scent, the same immersive and transportive experience of the best electronic compositions,’ wrote Mary Cleary, in a piece where she interviewed the artist about how the scent was made.

Owens translated eight distinct memories into the perfume, including the smell of fresh rain on tarmac (which Haeckels has previously explored in the fragrance Pluviophile), and the recreation of Cafe Poggi 1919 in Venice. ‘This fragrance is something close to my heart,’ Owens told Cleary. ‘What initially started out as creating a scent to accompany an album has gone way beyond that. The fragrance I created has eight notes that combine to uplift, energise, and then ultimately ground the wearer. This is therapy in a bottle.’ 

READ MORE

08. At-home exercises from ‘punk ballerina’ Karole Armitage

Marking International Yoga Day 2023, we revisited a feature in collaboration with American choreographer Karole Armitage, who was described as a ‘punk ballerina’ after she shook up the downtown New York scene in the 1980s, combining classical dance with vogueing, and switching up ballet shoes for towering high heels. (She has also collaborated with the likes of Jeff Koons, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Marc Jacobs.)

For Wallpaper*, Armitage created a simple guide to stretching your body in the comfort of your own home, which was illustrated by Paris-based artist Lucie Birant. With tips and tricks for working the body from head to toe, this instruction manual is one to keep in your arsenal for that ‘new year, new you’ regime.

READ MORE

09. Meet Nan Goldin and Bella Hadid’s go-to hairstylist, Evanie Frausto

‘I go into every project with an open mind,’ Evanie Frausto told Wallpaper* in April 2023. ‘I try to find beauty in everything, which leaves me open to so many ideas about what is beautiful.’ The New York-based hairstylist is responsible for taking care Nan Goldin and Bella Hadid’s locks, alongside working with brands such as Fendi and Heaven by Marc Jacobs. His style nods to grunge and turn-of-the-millennium trends: think hair dye in every shade imaginable, and plenty of embellishment.

Frausto shared stories from his days assisting Jimmy Paul and Cesar Ramirez, and discussed the time when he lived in a house of drag queens, one of whom gave him his first-ever experience doing hair on a photoshoot. ‘I was taken in by a house of drag queens in Williamsburg,’ he said, ‘one of whom was a make-up artist and I wasn’t a make-up artist, but I begged him to take me on set.’ And the rest is history, with Frausto now lauded as one of the fashion industry’s most promising talents.

READ MORE

10. Byredo holiday collection nods to Wim Wenders and Georgia O’Keefe

To end this list on a festive note, it’s worth mentioning the recent Wallpaper* feature on Byredo’s new holiday collection. Called Self Illusion, and dreamt up by the brand’s creative image director Lucia Pica, the range of four products draws unexpected references from Wim Wenders, Georgia O’Keefe, and more, with tones of gunmetal grey, washed denim blue, pearlescent silver, deep mustard and chestnut brown, and terracotta red.

‘Byredo is a luxury brand but it also has a cool, modern side to it, a vibrating energy,’ says Pica in the article. ‘So there has to be that something a little off or maybe a little unexpected, but at the same time there’s such a sophistication to the brand that that interesting aspect looks elevated.’ Which is exactly why we continue to be obsessed with everything that Byredo does.

READ MORE

Boxing Day is a distinctly British tradition. No matter where you are in the country, or how you celebrate the holiday season, the general consensus is that it’s considered a national day for doing not very much at all, if possible. Whether you’re currently spending today on the sofa, eating, drinking, and relaxing, or even if you’re on your way elsewhere, take a moment to scroll through the Wallpaper* shortlist of seductive beauty packaging from the past year.

There’s Lucia Pica’s First Emotions collection for Byredo (which won Wallpaper’s 2023 design award for best use of colour), Hermès’ debut eyeshadow launch (captured by photographer Ivona Chrzastek on the pages of our November 2023 art issue, alongside an interview with the creative director of Hermès Beauty, Gregoris Pyrpylis), and more.

Boxing Day: seductive beauty packaging from 2023

Byredo’s First Emotions collection by Lucia Pica

Okay, so if you want to be pedantic, Byredo’s First Emotions collection, designed by the brand’s creative image and make-up partner Lucia Pica, was technically launched in 2022. However, for the Wallpaper* 2023 design awards issue, we gave the range of products the top spot for ‘best use of colour’. It goes without saying that the packaging also deserves a mention, which includes designs for a Kajal eye pencil and mascara in burgundy, a five-colour eyeshadow palette with gold, auburns and metallic pinks, and two lipsticks.

Celine’s bath and body collection

Inspired by the ritualistic Parisian art of bathing, Hedi Slimane realised a new Celine bath and body collection in 2023. Infused with the scent of fragrance Cologne Céleste (which launched earlier in the year containing notes of orange blossom, angelica, sweet lemon essence, petitgrain, neroli, ambrette, and orris butter) the bottles are also pieces of art unto themselves, with weighty glass bottles and metal lids that turn any bathroom into a little slice of luxury.

Hermès’ eyeshadow debut

Designed by Pierre Hardy in keeping with the entire Hermès Beauty range, the packaging for the first collection of eye products was highlighted on the pages of Wallpaper* November 2023, celebrating form as well as function. Called ‘Le Regard’, the selection of products is comprised of eyeshadow palettes and brushes, and a selection of mascaras in six different shades. As Greek make-up artist and creative director of the storied house’s beauty line Gregoris Pyrpylis told Mary Cleary: ‘I don’t want to impose a certain look on someone … I want them to amuse themselves and have a nice moment. Make-up shouldn’t feel like an obligation.’

Rabanne’s new make-up line

‘The nice thing about the products is that they’re very interchangeable. You can mix them, and there’s a lot to play with. There’s definitely that playfulness, that avant-garde spirit and a little bit of sophistication, while still being playful and young,’ said make-up artist Diane Kendal, in a Wallpaper* interview marking the launch of Rabanne’s gender-neutral make-up line, and her subsequent appointment as its creative director, in August 2023. ‘People want to have fun and have products they can play with.’ Of course, a Rabanne product wouldn’t be a Rabanne product without design references to the iconic chainmail that the Spanish brand is renowned for, evidenced in the metallic packaging for foundations, lipsticks, eyeshadows, amongst others.

Ann Demeulemeester’s first ever fragrance

September 2023 marked a first for Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester (her namesake brand was founded in Antwerp in 1985), when the label put out its first-ever fragrance. Simply titled ‘A’, and described as ‘darkly romantic’ with notes of clove, cumin, Ceylon cinnamon, Sicilian lemon and Calabrian bergamot, and ‘narcotic’ jasmine, the bottle played into the gothic minimalism inherent to the fashion line, with a sleek black design crafted from glass. ‘The box itself – evocative of a blank canvas – is designed to recall the designer’s Antwerp boutique, while a portrait of the designer by husband Patrick Robyn in 1992 is fixed to the interior,’ wrote Wallpaper’s fashion features editor Jack Moss upon the perfume’s arrival.

The Wallpaper* gift guide is the perfect moment to put our motto – ‘the stuff that surrounds you’ – into practice. However, having just joined as beauty and grooming editor, when it came to whittling down the extensive list of beautifully designed things that I covet, it turned out to be no easy task. After some careful deliberation, I have managed to settle on a final edit of just ten. What made the cut? Find out below.

Wallpaper* gift guide by beauty & grooming editor Hannah Tindle

A philosophical jewel

Inspired by Hermès' chaine d'ancre motif, which was designed by the maison in 1938, the Echappee ring demonstrates ‘the harmonious balance between practicality and beauty that is quintessential to the Hermès philosophy’. With a circular toggle in the centre, I’ve chosen the largest model available, as something this aesthetically pleasing deserves to be seen in high definition.

Echappee Hermes Ring, Large Model, £450, available at hermes.com

A step in time

‘It is with this tremendous sense of admiration and responsibility that I will seek to carry forward [Alaïa's] legacy of celebrating femininity and placing women at the heart of creation,’ said Pieter Mulier when he took the helm at the house in 2021. I think that these Tribale mules, crafted in buttery black suede and with sculptural silver embellishments in the shape of pebbles, are a testament to the fact that he has kept true to his word.

Alaïa Tribale embellished suede mules, £1,298, available at mytheresa.com

A perfect pair

I practically live in blue jeans and believe that one can never own enough pairs. Although, with such a vast collection, I can easily spend too much time agonising over which cut and shade of wash to choose when it comes to getting dressed for work. With this pair from Celine, which are blue jeans par excellence in their simplicity, I’d save a lot of time in the morning.

Celine Margaret Jeans In Pismo Wash Denim, £790, available at Celine.com

A much-needed replacement

Admittedly, I already have a bar of this soap hanging in my bathroom. It emits Loewe's signature Tomato Leaves scent, which more than lives up to the evocative description of a 'fresh verdant aroma of the vines just before they burst into fruit'. Studded with exfoliating particles of red algae, and with a creamy texture that lathers into a skin-nourishing foam, I would very much like to receive a replacement when the other runs out.

Loewe Tomato Leaves Solid Soap, £43, available at perfumesloewe.com

An ode to blue

As previously mentioned, I have a penchant for blue jeans. This five-colour eyeshadow palette by Dior in the shade Denim cements the obsession once and for all. Designed by Peter Philips to reference haute couture pieces by the fashion house, the shadows contain cornflower extract. So although the formulation is highly pigmented and long-wearing, the finish on the lids is weightless, conjuring the lightness of silk. Whether worn blended together, or used individually for a bold wash of colour, completing my chosen look with two coats of black Diorshow mascara is a must.

Diorshow 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow in Denim, £55, available at harveynichols.com; Diorshow Iconic Overcurl Mascara in 090 Black, available at dior.com

A heavenly bath robe

Taking inspiration from art and architecture, including Le Corbusier and Agnes Martin, Tekla’s blankets and towels provide the most heavenly sleeping and bathing experiences (two activities I love to indulge in). This navy robe, crafted in extra thick, extra combed 385-gram terry cotton, is both highly absorbent and stands the test of time. This is just as well, because I think I would practically live in it should it ever be gifted to me.

Tekla Hooded Cotton-Terry Bathrobe, £155, matchesfashion.com

A bedtime story

Lighting a Byredo candle is always a welcome addition to any bedtime ritual. (I love the Loose Lips fragrance, which has been created with rose, violet and Morello cherry notes, bringing to mind the sugary, waxy scent of lipstick). A red and white limited edition of the brand's signature Alphabeta Blanket, woven in the softest cashmere and virgin wool blend, would heighten the sensory experience.

Byredo Team Colours Limited Edition Blanket, £440; Byredo Loose Lips candle, £64, both available at byredo.com.

A classic hairbrush

When I was little, my mum owned a classic Mason Pearson hairbrush that made excellent work of detangling my very thick hair. Designed with boar and nylon bristles, and with a pleasingly ergonomic handle, it's a testament to its longevity and quality that she still uses the same brush to this day. (I think it’s about time I have one of my own.)

Mason Pearson Popular Hairbrush, £123.50, available at harrods.com

A hint of glamour

Anthony Vaccarello’s vision for Saint Laurent sees meticulous craft melding with unadulterated glamour. And even when paired with relaxed tailoring or loungewear, this diamanté embellished headband would provide a necessary touch of that glamour to the everyday. Plus, it makes the perfect accessory for the later days of your hair-wash cycle.

Saint Laurent Crystal-Embellished Headband, £565, available at mytheresa.com

A generous companion

I've never been one to travel light. Whether heading out of the country, or even just to the office, I find myself laden with endless detritus. Enter Bottega Veneta's Andiamo tote bag, in oxblood Intrecciato leather. Its roomy size would solve a multitude of storage issues, for years and years to come.

Bottega Veneta Large Andiamo, £5,550, available at bottegaveneta.com

With her new Byredo holiday collection, ‘Self Illusion’, Lucia Pica continues to do what she does best: create off-kilter make-up that suits modern beauty. As a make-up artist and creative director at Byredo Beauty (where she won a Wallpaper* Design Award 2023), and Chanel Beauty before it, Pica has endorsed the idea that the most captivating faces are made through subtle eccentricities.

Make-up, as Pica tells me over Zoom from her Paris apartment, ‘should always be asking a question’ by having some element that is slightly off in a barely perceptible way. It has to do something on your face that moves you,’ she says. ‘And that moves the person you’re meeting.’

Byredo holiday collection by Lucia Pica

A prime example of this is her popularisation of red eye make-up, which transforms a traditional marker of illness or sadness into a dramatic way to brighten your eye colour and complexion. The same is true of the clear lip gloss she created for Byredo last year, which can be placed over eyeliner to make you look on the verge of tears.

‘Self Illusion’ continues this approach with four holiday-themed products. The brand’s signature oyster-shaped eyeshadow palette eschews the gold, silver and black found in most holiday collections for gunmetal grey, washed denim blue, pearlescent silver, deep mustard and chestnut brown. The pigments are, as with all Byredo shadows, so intense that a single brush of the finger provides high-impact colour, while the creamy texture makes blending the shades easy.

The colours are complemented by the collection’s Kajal eye pencil in a shimmery brown, and mascara in a peculiar, but subtle, blue-grey that, as Pica puts it, ‘is going to add some character but in a very sophisticated and very elevated way’. 

The collection is rounded out by a matte terracotta red lipstick that ‘is not necessarily a full-on red but still gives you that festive feel’. For colour inspiration, Pica was looking at Georgia O’Keefe’s landscape paintings where ‘warm colours were mixed with cool colours’, as well as Wim Wenders’ desert polaroids, which have an otherworldly bluish tint to them. While desert landscapes might not be obvious choices for a holiday collection, they felt right to Pica ‘because it is about being transported into a different state which can be unreal, which can be dreamy, but at the same time makes you expand’.

Dreams are the touchpoint of this collection, underscored by campaign images that depict models in abstract spaces with their faces slightly out of focus or reflected in mirrors and pools of lapis water. This is holiday make-up for people who want to leave people guessing; and who want to cultivate an individual version of beauty that is immediate but also slightly confusing. As Pica herself puts it, ‘Byredo is a luxury brand but it also has a cool, modern side to it, a vibrating energy. So there has to be that something a little off or maybe a little unexpected, but at the same time there’s such a sophistication to the brand that that interesting aspect looks sophisticated and elevated.’

byredo.com

The introduction of Byredo fine jewellery as a permanent fixture sees the brand expand its already wonderful world – which spans fragrance, Wallpaper* Award-winning make-up, leather goods, homeware, a Milan Design Week 2023 collaboration with Dozie Kanu, and more. Designed around a series of foundational archetypes that riff on the ideas of piercing and adornment, the collection builds on Byredo’s core principles of individual ornamentation and self-expression, as well as on an earlier foray into jewellery with Charlotte Chesnais.

Byredo fine jewellery, ‘Virasaat’ collection

Founder Ben Gorham says, ‘I built Byredo to be anything – that’s the beauty of it; we don’t fit into one category or one definition, and when there is an idea that can’t be bottled into a perfume, we are free to express it in other ways. What’s been really nice, and has always been the case with Byredo, is that we’ve set our own type of cadence. When you have a large part of your business through direct channels and have spent many years engaging with a multitude of communities, it allows you to launch things when and how you want.

‘Launching this new permanent jewellery category deeply relates to my background,’ he continues. ‘When I think about jewellery, it’s more about the reflection on how those pieces connect to me, my memories, and my personal experiences: it was mainly about my mother, my grandmother, and India, where jewellery is something you pass down through generations – the name of the debut collection, “Virasaat”, meaning “inheritance”, embodies this concept. This collection also echoes hip-hop’s cultural influence that I [grew up] with in the 1990s – and its incredible fascination with jewellery.’

A pair of central motifs – rounded pearl forms interlocked with industrial bars – create a pattern that can be repeated and extended endlessly. Applied to necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings that have been exquisitely crafted in Italy from silver and gold, the forms almost appear fluid in their repetitive rhythm.

‘The collection is really a collective work between me and my creative team at our studio in Stockholm,’ Gorham says. ‘I really wanted to design products inspired by my own memories and made to endure: totemic objects, to be passed down from generations to the next ones.’

That personal connection carries through to the rich imagery that accompanies the launch of the  ‘Virasaat’ collection. ‘India has a very personal and intimate meaning to me, and there are many of my memories and odes to India woven into our collections. For our campaign, we worked with photographer Ashish Shah, who previously worked with Byredo on our Mumbai Noise campaign back in 2021,’ he says. ‘I was drawn to Ashish because of the modernity and reality of his work and his distinct lens on his home country India.’

The new collection launches today, exclusively at Byredo's Paris boutique, 199 rue Saint Honoré, 75001 Paris, and will be available from global flagship boutiques from 25 January 2024.

byredo.com

Rose perfumes have traditionally been characterised as the olfactory equivalent to pop music – guaranteed crowdpleasers, easily accessible. Recently, however, a host of niche perfumers and big-name brands have been experimenting with rose fragrances, taking the ubiquity of the scent as a challenge to create perfumes that subvert exceptions and offer a new perspective on an old classic.

Here, we sniff out the best of these experimental rose scents.  

Café Rose by Tom Ford

Tom Ford’s newest rose fragrance, Café Rose, leans heavily into its ingredients’ gourmand factor. Put together as an unlikely yet complementary combination of coffee and rose, the scent conveys an untamed sensuality that pairs refined Turkish rose essence with that of dark coffee. Opening with a floral accord, which also includes rose Bulgaria and ylang ylang, the scent gives way to a spicier heart of coriander, cardamom and patchouli, and ends in hints of incense resin and sandalwood. The perfume’s unexpected character carries through to its flaçon, a semi-transparent fluted pink bottle with a rose pink top and plaque.  

tomford.com

Rose by Perfumer H

Perfumer H's Rose perfume is masterfully composed to smell exactly like its namesake. A high concentration of rose oil and absolute are combined with camomile Romaine, raspberry, geranium Egypt and a hint of iris and musk to create a luscious fragrance.  Spraying it on your skin is probably the closest you can ever come to actually wearing roses. 

perfumerh.com

Elisabethan Rose

Leave it to the quintessential English perfume brand, Penhaligion's, to create an exceptional rose fragrance inspired by the flower of England— the Tudor rose. Inspired by the union of the houses York and Lancaster, Elizabethan Rose blends its central fragrance with Red Lily, Hazelnut Leaf, and Vetiver. It’s a light and airy floral perfect for those who prefer delicate fragrances. 

penhaligons.com

Rosa Carnivora and Raving Rose by Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten’s newly launched beauty line (which debuted in Wallpaper* earlier this month) includes two rose perfumes that embody  the Belgian designer’s penchant for ‘impossible combinations.’ 

Rosa Carnivora, by perfumer Daphné Bugey, is a creamy blend of rose, vetiver, and patchouli, while Raving Rose, by perfumer Louise Turner, is a spicy take on the flower with a near startling infusion of pepper. The two fragrances ‘are kind of a kick in your face’, according to Van Noten with Rosa Carnivora a good match for those who prefer a more classically elegant rose fragrance and Raving Rose a good option for those who like more punchier, masculine scents.  

driesvannoten.com

Odeur Du Théâtre Du Châtelet by Comme des Garçons

Conceptualism has always been at the heart of Comme des Garçons’ fragrances, with scents designed to evoke the ink of a calligrapher’s studio, lime soda, and ‘grilled cigarettes teamed with town gas’. With Odeur Du Théâtre Du Châtelet – inspired by the Paris theatre – the brand once again presents an ‘anti-perfume’ that challenges common notions of what makes a smell pleasurable. 



The rose perfume was composed by perfumer Caroline Dumur in collaboration with Comme des Garçons’ founder Rei Kawakubo, and the Théâtre Du Châtelet’s then-artistic director Ruth Mackenzie (she left the theatre in August 2020). The aim of the project was to create a scent that captured the historic character of the theatre while hinting at its modern incarnation. The result blends the intensely rich, musky-floral notes of ambrette absolute with rose oxyd, black pepper oil, and coffee accord. 

It’s a curiously appealing fragrance, designed to evoke the theatre’s velvet seats, infused with the powdery, floral perfumes of its 19th-century audience layered with the modern, spicy fragrances favoured by modern theatregoers. Like all Comme des Garçons creations, it’s equal parts unexpected and beguiling.

comme-des-garcons-parfum.com

Eau de Parfum Eau Rose by Diptyque 

Newly reformatted Eau Rose perfume features two of perfumery’s mainstay roses – damascena and centifolia – alongside the fiard, an unusual third rose, in the form of an upcycled extract made from damascena rosewater discarded during the distillation process. More unexpected still is the inclusion of chamomile, artichoke and litchi, making for a bright, juicy rose perfume. 

spacenk.com

Rose 31 by Le Labo 

Le Labo’s Rose 31 perfume aims to transform the traditionally feminine Grasse Rose into an ‘assertively virile’ fragrance by blending it with warm and spicy notes of cumin, cedar and amber. Most interesting is the inclusion of musty cistus which gives Rose 31 a distinctly animal note. It’s an appealing alternative to Le Labo’s iconic Santal 33 with a warmer, and much less ubiquitous, aroma. 

harrods.com

Georgette by Vyrao

Wearing Vyrao's Georgette perfume is the olfactory equivalent of diving into a pool of rose petals. The fragrance is weighty with Turkish rose accords, violet leaf, sandalwood and patchouli, with grounding base notes of pink pepper and black tobacco. 

What makes this perfume really stand out, however, is its use of Herkimer diamond crystals and integrative quantum medicine to take the healing principals of aromatherapy to a new level. The brand has ‘energetically charged’ each fragrance with the help of healer Louise Mita, whose practice combines Traditional Chinese Medicine techniques, Qi Gong, anatomical studies, and quantum theory to ‘unblock’ bad energies. While rose oil is meant to inspire enlightenment, violet leaf encourags self-expression, and guaiac wood clears energy.  

selfridges.com

Young Rose by Byredo 

Young Rose is the latest fragrance launch from Byredo. When creating the scent, Byredo’s founder, Ben Gorham, was inspired by the work of young creatives working in China today, including photographer Leslie Zhang who shot the Young Rose campaign images. 

The fragrance blends piquant notes of Sichuan pepper with Damask rose and Orris for a spicy take on a classic floral. ‘The next generation always has an emotional obligation to rework the traditions of their predecessors,’ says Gorham. ‘It’s their role to take that fearless dive into the unknown; to discover and develop what’s next. Young Rose salutes that spirit.’ 

cultbeauty.com

Doll by Mondo Mondo 

Mondo Mondo is perhaps best known for its gold and gem jewellery that looks ornate enough to belong on a Renaissance noblemen but with enough hearts and rhinestones that it appeals to a modern, cheeky sensibility. That baroque and playful spirit is on full display in the brand’s line of perfumes as well. 

Doll is a rose perfume that combines Bulgarian rose and rose de mai with saffron and musk to create a scent that verges on the overwhelming. It is a fragrance best suited to those who like to make a statement, ‘a hot, sweaty, electric rose,’ in the brands words. One that ‘will conjure an undeniable nostalgia for being a little brat.’ 

mondo-mondo.com

L'Heure Osée by Cartier

Cartier’s master perfumer, Mathilde Laurent, once again shows off her knack for artistry and innovation with L'Heure Osée. Laurent has spoken openly about her dislike of roses, what she calls ‘an emblem of femininity withered before it blooms,’ and so it is no surprise that her creation for Cartier is the antithesis of a typical rose perfume. 

A heavy dose of citrus notes gives L'Heure Osée a powerful punch, while notes of musk and hints of wood create a heady undertone. It is, in the brand’s words, a distinctly ‘un-cute’ rose fragrance. 

net-a-porter.com

L’Homme À La Rose by Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s L’Homme À La Rose is a is a masculine take on a scent traditionally typecast as one of the most feminine in perfumery. As such, it is a fascinating examination of the construct of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ in fragrance.  

As Kurkdjian told Wallpaper* last year, what makes a scent ‘masculine’ is ultimately a question of timing. ‘What is masculine today may not have been masculine a decade ago and it may not be masculine two or three decades from now. The idea of masculinity and femininity, they are conventions and they are concepts that evolve with society.’ 

To create the essence of modern masculinity in this scent, Kurkdjian blends rose with citrusy grapefruit accord, heady amber woods, and fresh sage.  

franciskurkdjian.com

Rose & Cuir by Frederic Malle

Rose & Cuir is the handiwork of Jean-Claude Ellena, the former in-house perfumer for Hermès and a longtime Frederic Malle collaborator. With his characteristic ingenuity, Ellena has created a rose fragrance that is on the surface a unique, but not altogether revolutionary, interpretation of the floral that blends rose essence with pepper and cassis.

Give it time, however, and the scent eventually takes on an earthy, almost leathery quality, thanks to the use of vetiver and cedar. Most exceptional of all is its incorporation of IsoButyl Quinoline, an intensely bitter molecule that has been little used since its heyday in the 1920s.

libertylondon.com

Unrequited by Bel Rebel 

Ever wonder what those garish plastic roses sold on city sidewalks would smell like if they actually had a fragrance? Probably not, but if your curiosity is now piqued, pick up a bottle of Bel Rebel’s Unrequited. 

The scent has top notes of overtly synthetic-smelling rose oxide, and aldehydes, a chemical compound frequently used in perfumery. These are mixed with base notes of saffron and musks to create a smell that balances between plasticine and musky. 

belrebel.com

Celtic Rose by Alexander McQueen 

Leave it to the radical house of Alexander McQueen to design a rose perfume that eschews the classic simplicity of its counterparts. Celtic Rose draws its name from a traditional Celtic pattern, which weaves together multiple geometric forms to create a unified, perfectly symmetrical rose shape.

Both the pattern and the fragrance owe their allure to the complexity of their design. McQueen’s Celtic Rose takes a classic, delicate rose fragrance and adds a punch of black pepper to create a spicy floral.

harrods.com

Memories are fickle things. They change, disappear, resurface in different guises, feel deeply personal but then, when you think about it, aren’t yours at all but have just been subsumed into your consciousness through stories, pictures, smells. 

For his collaboration with Byredo at Milan Design Week 2023, multimedia artist Dozie Kanu has created an exhibit that explores that malleability of memory, and how, despite its delicacy, it is the most reliable conduit we have to other people, places, times and, consequently, ourselves. Specifically for Kanu, born into a Nigerian family in Houston, USA, that means channelling the memories of his ancestors through art-making in an effort to understand where he came from and where he can now call home. 

Bal d’Afrique: Dozie Kanu and Byredo explore memory

The conceptual launchpad for the show, installed at Via Achille Maiocchi 10, is Byredo’s Bal d'Afrique perfume. For brand founder, Ben Gorham, the fragrance was its own memory exercise, a way to reach across a divide between himself and his father by recreating the latter’s diaries, kept over 15 years of living in Africa, through scent. 

‘Bal d’Afrique drew from a very personal memory, tied to my father and his living in Africa,’ Gorham tells me when he, Kanu and I meet near the ‘Bal d'Afrique’ exhibition space. ‘And then as soon as I put it out in public, it became something different.’ 

Bal d’Afrique fragrance was originally launched in 2009, and is the first featured in a new annual series, where classic fragrances from the Byredo catalogue will be reinterpreted by other creatives. 

For Gorham, involving other perspectives has always been an integral part of Byredo, with its first collaboration happening only six months after the brand first launched in 2006. The impulse comes from, according to Gorham, ‘the acknowledgment that I don't really know anything. If that's your starting point, then collaboration and learning by doing becomes natural.’

Diversifying the narrative by opening it up to other voices is a key part of Kanu’s practice as well. For this exhibit, he invited the London-based archival project Saman Archive to contribute a selection of images from its vast collection of photographic negatives sourced from Ghana. These images line the entranceway of the exhibit, each displaying, in their own way, a moment of unbridled intimacy – a young boy poses with bravado in front of a painted backdrop; a young couple hold each other on their wedding day; a man dances on an empty dance floor. 

‘When I started to think about how I could justify doing something of this scale and having someone [like Ben] trusting me to crawl towards my full potential,’ says Kanu, ‘it made me think about the people before me that maybe didn’t have those opportunities, people that were very creative and inherently artists but just didn’t have the same level of support. So I wanted to pay homage to them in some way.’ 

The images set the tone for what is to come, like snapshots in the entryway of a family home – a poignant glimpse into something private and emotional before entering the more dynamic space within. 

Inside that central space, Kanu has constructed an impressive rattan pavilion and it is the first of what promise to be many more architectural creations to enter his oeuvre. Around and inside the pavilion are pieces from Kanu’s archive – objects that tightrope between design and art to explore our definitions of utility and methods of meaning-making. There are also drums, created specifically for this show and made from found objects like washing machine parts, electrical wires and glass. 

In the vast hanger-like space, these elements coalesce to create a meditative, even numinous environment. It makes sense, since for Kanu, artmaking is its own kind of spiritual act, a channelling of the same ‘collective consciousness’ that Gorham has been trying to access through his perfume-making since 2006. 

‘When I'm making a work, I have to let go of thinking too much and look within,’ says Kanu. ‘Sometimes it can feel like someone else is working through me, past lives or something else is working through me and I’m not thinking. Then I step back and look at the finished work and I try to figure out where that came from. Because when I'm making it, I'm not really conscious, so that's how I think about involving past lives or past perspectives and how they influence the present.’ 

And while there may be an otherworldly element to Kanu’s work and practice, he wants viewers' responses to be firmly grounded in reality. 

‘The main thing I want is for them to feel a little bit confused,’ he says. ‘I want them to leave and ask questions.’ 

"Bal d'Afrique’ is on view through 23 April 2023 at Via Achille Maiocchi 10 in Milan.

byredo.com

Since launching in 2020, Byredo Beauty has been at the forefront of bringing a niche interpretation of beauty to a commercial scale. The beauty industry ‘was very dictating, it was very linear in saying, “buy this or this, and look like this”, which I didn’t relate to,’ Byredo founder Ben Gorham told us ahead of the brand’s debut. ‘So my idea was to be inclusive, to the point of saying that this can be anything to anybody. That’s how we approached it from the start.’

The result was a five-product range created in collaboration with make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench, which came in space-age packaging and placed an emphasis on the expressive power of colour with multi-purpose ‘colour sticks’ in unusual shades like car-key green and glossy lilac, and high-pigment eyeshadow palettes with inspirations ranging from a corporate workplace to experimental musician Yves Tumor. 

Now, a year after winning Best Grooming Product in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022, Byredo Beauty is embarking on its next chapter under the guidance of former Chanel make-up and colour director, Lucia Pica. It is a fitting match, considering Pica has always been a champion of idiosyncratic glamour and, above all, an expert on colour. 

Red in particular has always been her favourite colour to work with, notably, while at Chanel, popularising the use of it around the eyes, so what is often seen as a marker of sadness or sickness became a provocative way to brighten the eyes. For Pica, joining Byredo certainly felt like the logical next step. ‘I felt like it was really the right place for me to land at this moment in time, where I could still work with a luxury brand, but with the freedom of a creative brand as well.’ 

Best Use of Colour for Byredo Beauty First Emotions

The melding of luxury and creativity has produced First Emotions, Pica’s first collection with the brand, and one heavy on reds – recognised with the nod for Best Use of Colour in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023. 

The collection comprises five products: a Kajal eye pencil and mascara in burgundy, a five-colour eyeshadow palette with gold, auburns and metallic pinks, and two lipsticks. ‘The primal power of emotions is reflected in the colours,’ says Pica. ‘There is light and excitement in the gold and something darker in the burgundy. There are the different tonalities of love; the different facets – erotic, sincere, unconditional, even unrequited.’

For Pica, emotions felt like a natural theme for this first collection. 'After meeting Ben,’ she says, ‘it became clear that [Byredo] is about a personal story, working to evoke an emotion or a memory within a person. He was talking about this transparent medium he does with [perfume] and I thought ’this is perfect,’ because [to me] colour has always been about evoking emotions as well. Colours are super important in make-up to help you express yourself and also to change your mood.’

And therein lies, for both Byredo and Pica, the power of beauty. It’s about ‘giving people a medium to have fun, to express themselves, and to enhance what is unique about them. That is what beauty ultimately means.’ 

The winners of the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023 are revealed in the February 2023 issue, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

byredo.com

Lucia Pica is going to make you cry. Or, more precisely, make you look like you're crying and it’s going to look good. 

As one of the industry’s most preeminent make-up artists, Pica has an ingenious ability to cosmetically transform unsettling facial features into points of attraction. Case in point, her popularisation of red eyes during her six-year tenure as Chanel’s global creative make-up and colour director. What is usually a marker of sadness or sickness became, with Pica’s eyeliners, shadows, and mascaras, a provocative way to create contrast with, and hence enliven, your natural eye colour. 

Now, Pica’s brand of sophisticated subversion has found its ideal match in beauty’s enfant terrible, Byredo, founded by Ben Gorham (and which saw the debut of Byredo make-up in 2020, later winning a Wallpaper* Design Award 2022 for Best New Grooming Product). 

Pica’s first launch as the brand’s new make-up partner is Liquid Lipsticks, a range of ten glosses that range from a purely transparent gloss to saturated, earthy shades of muddy pink and terracotta reds. 

The products are designed for lips, but Pica recommends also trying the clear gloss on your eyes: ‘When you put clear gloss on the inner corner of the eye or on top of eyeshadow it makes you look like you’ve been through some intense emotion. I sometimes put a gloss on top of my eyeliner so that you don’t know if I’m super excited or if I’ve been crying.’

As Pica puts it, ‘emotions are allowed’, could easily be the motto of her new collaboration with Byredo. The brand has always been an exercise in ‘evoking a memory or an emotion within a person’ through physical objects. 

‘Ben talks a lot about the past, present and future when it comes to the perfumes and how they are about finding that place where all three happen together,’ says Pica. 

‘After meeting him, it is so obviously clear that the brand is about exploring depths of emotion and personal stories through a transparent medium [ie, perfume].’ With this in mind, Pica decided to make her debut Byredo product a gloss as ‘a way to connect with the transparency and fluidity of Byredo’s perfume’. 

She adds, ‘With Liquid Lipsticks I'm looking at that the power of simplicity and the power of transparency, because I am trying to get in touch with the essence of the Byredo person. That’s why the colours in this collection are very natural and earthy, to start at the beginning with this primordial feeling; and the element of water or fluidity in texture was important as well to make this link with the perfume.’ 

It is an exciting new chapter for both Byredo and Pica. ‘We’re still in the early stages but I am feeling so excited already,’ says the make-up artist. ‘I don’t want to wish my life away, but I can’t wait for next year and everything we have to come.’ 

INFORMATION

byredo.com

There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about pink make-up and beauty products for summer, but the latest launches from three brands – Byredo, 19/99, and Hermès – are offering an innovative new take on a classic. 

Three fresh takes on pink make-up

Hermès Hermesistible tinted care oils

Hermès‘ new Hermesistible tinted care oils come in six shades that range from the cantaloupe-coloured Beige Sapotille to the bright berry Pourpre Camarine. Unsurprisingly, Hermès has considered every aspect of Hermesistible's design, including its scent. As Hermès’ in-house perfumer Christine Nagel says: ‘Hermesistible is the known unknown, an enchanting and reassuring surprise. Through these colour scents, I have sought to share memories and emotions, without regressing into the past. I have sought to combine intuitively the notion of extreme quality with pleasure, to express both joy and comfort.’ Formulated with 97 per cent natural ingredients to moisturise lips, the oils have a subtle touch of colour and brightening gloss that makes them an ideal companion for casual summer beauty routines, and a low-key take on pink-make-up.

Byredo colour sticks

Meanwhile, Byredo’s colour sticks offer something a bit bolder. Designed to be used anywhere on the face, the new sticks come in Demerara, a dusty pink inspired by brown sugar, Frosting, a glossy rose glittering with gold sparkles, and Marzipan, an electric mauve with a shiny finish. The colour sticks’ versatility encourages play and pink make-up experimentation. Byredo founder Ben Gorham told us when the line first launched: 'I found that in the beauty industry, it was very dictating, it was very linear in saying, “buy this or this, and look like this”, which I didn’t relate to. So my idea was not just to go paint a picture of my peers. It was to be inclusive, to the point of saying that this can be anything to anybody. That’s how we approached it from the start.'

19/99 precision colour pencils

The Precision Colour Pencils from vegan beauty brand 19/99 are likewise designed for use on lips, eyes, or cheeks, with vibrant peach shade Fiore and 1990s-style muddy pink Neutra providing high-impact colour with all-day staying power. They are some of the best pencils we’ve tried, easily ranking among Wallpaper's beauty favourites.

INFORMATION

A version of this article appears in the July 2022 issue of Wallpaper*. Subscribe today!

WINNER

Make-up, by Byredo

When Ben Gorham, the founder of Swedish fragrance and accessories brand Byredo, launched the first Byredo make-up line, he wanted to create a collection that defied easy categorisation.

To do that, he enlisted the help of Isamaya Ffrench, the British make-up artist who has become one of the subversive forces in the industry for her work with top luxury brands such as Burberry, Yves Saint Laurent and Tom Ford, alongside projects that explore the mutable nature of the human face through prosthetics and digital technology.

The result is a make-up line that is built around the expressive potential of colour, and includes mascara (stored in a striking curved red container), eyeliners, lipsticks and eyeshadows. Most notable are the brand’s ‘colour sticks’, which come in an array of shades that can be applied to any area of the face and layered for stronger or lighter impact. Consequently, the face instead becomes a canvas for an expressionistic application of colours, rather than a painting-by-numbers grid to be filled in. 

byredo.com

SHORTLIST

Les Mains Hermès hand care collection, by Hermès

When we presented an exclusive preview of the launch of Hermès Beauty in 2020, the line consisted of 24 lipstick shades packed in refillable, colour-block tubes designed by Pierre Hardy. The launch was a sensation and the brand’s subsequent beauty offerings have not disappointed, from the blush collection earlier this year to this latest range of hand care products and nail enamels. 

Titled Les Mains Hermès, the collection includes 24 nail polish shades, a base coat, a top coat, reparative hand cream, nourishing cuticle oil, and hands down the chicest nail files ever made. Once again, the packaging has been designed by Hardy and features a two-toned top and gold ex-libris seal. The nail polish shades are derived from the brand’s iconic enamel bracelets, and include sophisticated shades such as Rouge H red, and more eccentric colours like the sun-yellow Jaune Impérial, and Vert Égyptien, a green inspired by mirages in the Nile Valley. 

hermes.com

Microneedling kit, by Teresa Tarmey 

We’ve already declared Teresa Tarmey the ‘sleekest facialist in London’ thanks to her Notting Hill clinic (among our pick of the best London spas) that has served as an exhibition space for never-before-seen Guy Bourdin images, and her new position as one of Dior’s skincare ambassadors. 

Yet, if anything proves Tarmey’s distinctive aesthetic and innovative approach to skincare, it has to be her recently revamped line of at-home products. The microneedling kit is particularly noteworthy. It consists of a peptide treatment and a dermaroller, which allows users to refresh the look of their skin at home by lightly puncturing the skin surface to stimulate the formation of new skin cells. Best of all, it’s bold, graphic packaging makes it look unlike anything in skincare right now. 

teresatarmey.com

Air Eau de Parfum, by Air Company

Creating a perfume that smells like air might sound like a fruitless endeavour, but The Air Company has made a habit of turning outside-the-box concepts into promising projects, and its latest launch is no exception. 

Air Eau de Parfum is a genderless fragrance that is made from carbon dioxide captured at its source point. To make it, the brand produces hydrogen that is fed into its patented Carbon Conversion Reactor alongside the CO2. The resulting reaction transforms the hydrogen and CO2 into impurity-free ethanol, methanol and water, which forms the body of the fragrance. 

The concoction is then finished off with light fragrant notes, including orange peel, jasmine, violet, and tobacco. 

aircompany.com

‘Grand Hers’ combs, by Aurore Piedigrossi

‘Grand Hers’ is a new collection of sculptural horn combs that pays homage to the history of the Hers Valley in the south of France. Starting in the 14th century, the Hers region became a hotspot for comb production, with millions eventually produced each year for distribution around France and the rest of the world. The arrival of plastic in the 20th century heralded the end of comb production in the region, and now the craft has almost entirely disappeared. 

In an effort to keep that heritage alive, designer Aurore Piedigrossi has created a series of horn combs that are moulded into unexpected, sinuous shapes. The result is an everyday object that doubles as a sculptural work of art.

grandhers.com

INFORMATION

The Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022 feature in the February 2022 issue of Wallpaper*. Subscribe today!

The story of Ben Gorham and the founding of Byredo is an oft-told tale in the beauty industry. Born in Stockholm and raised in Toronto by his mother, who was originally from Mumbai, Gorham trained to be a professional basketball player before visa issues back in Sweden stunted his dream.

After a stint working in construction and earning a degree in fine art, he had a chance meeting with perfumer Pierre Wulff that sparked his interest in the ability of perfume to trigger memories and recreate moments in time. 

From there, Byredo was born and quickly became an empire of cultural cachet that now spans leatherwear, jewellery, and a make-up line. Throughout it all, Gorham has used the brand as a platform both to collaborate with major names across various industries – musician Travis Scott, make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench – and to champion the work of up-and-coming creatives.

Now, Gorham has just launched one of his most personal creations yet: Mumbai Noise, a scent inspired by his childhood trips to visit his mother’s family. And while the fragrance is an intimate portrayal of Gorham’s own life, like all Byredo launches it also has a broader aim.

Ben Gorham on Mumbai: memories and modernity

To create the launch campaign, the brand enlisted the young photographer Ashish Shah to offer a vision of Mumbai’s creative subcultures and contemporary youth movements, scenes that tend to receive little exposure in mainstream Western culture. 

Here, Gorham discusses his Indian heritage, translating that personal history into scent, and why he feels it is important to champion the work of young artists. 

Wallpaper*: Why did you want to create a fragrance that expressed your Indian heritage? 

Ben Gorham: There are many of my memories and odes to India woven into our collections, but Mumbai Noise perhaps has the most overt link to my childhood trips to [the Mumbai suburb of] Chembur. It was a place I went to spend time with my grandmother and the memories are vivid. Mumbai hits you the minute you get off the plane, it’s a sensory overload. The smells and the noise and the motion of the city as it moves at this intense pace. It has an overwhelming sense of place that you just can’t escape. 

W*: Why did you want to work with Ashish Shah on this campaign? 

BG: I was drawn to Ashish because of the modernity and reality of his work and his distinct lens on his home country. Beyond the scent, I wanted the campaign to capture the hearts and minds of contemporary India. Mumbai has evolved at an astounding pace – it changed drastically in the years that I didn’t visit – yet the way the rest of the world continues to depict India remains so clichéd. 

The narrative has been stuck on poverty and mysticism for eons, yet when you visit, the city is brimming with young creatives, fashion designers, drag artists and contemporary dancers. There is a vivid counterculture and these are the people that Ashish photographs, this is the community he embodies in Mumbai. And that’s what I wanted to capture and share with the world. Mumbai in all its fragmented modernity, never escaping its rich traditions but always evolving, always with its strong sense of place.

W*: What memories were you replaying in your mind as you made this fragrance? 

BG: These are very warm memories, laced with a childlike haze. Mumbai will always be an experience rooted in family for me; time spent with my mother, my grandmother and my aunts. [Yet while] it was familial and welcoming, I felt small in this bustling metropolis, completely overwhelmed by the sights and sounds and cars and rain and colour. I wanted Mumbai Noise to capture that tension – tradition and innovation, familiarity and the unknown. 

W*: What are the specific scents you used to translate those memories into a fragrance? 

BG: The olfactive approach is one of contrasts and contradictions. Mumbai Noise is an amber fragrance that features rich, warm woods with brightness, plummy davana positioned alongside leather, bitter coffee stirred with sweet tonka beans. It’s a fragrance that commands attention and envelopes your senses immediately. 

W*: Beyond Ashish Shah’s work, where else were you looking for inspiration during the making of Mumbai Noise? 

BG: It’s interesting to think that I was working on Mumbai Noise during a period of time when I couldn’t travel, when the world really slowed down to almost a halt. And honestly, the place I took the most inspiration from was my journals. I write everything down somewhat incessantly, and I have pages and pages of notes from my time in Mumbai. Because my process in creating a scent is so personal, it’s quite an introspective process. And finally I had this calm period in my life where I had the space to read and reflect, dig deep into the pictures and memories of my grandmother’s house. It was an extremely inspiring moment in my life.

W*: Why is it important for Byredo to champion young artists? 

BG: For me, creativity has nothing to do with age or experience. Just as my philosophy on fragrance has nothing to do with gender. I came into this very well-defined luxury industry as a total outsider, a basketball player who had just finished art school. I felt like I had something to offer, but the way the industry was structured made it difficult to get my message out there. 

Then, when I did, I was lucky enough to have a community of people who got me. It was a small community, but they understood that luxury doesn’t have to mean gilded and antique and over the top as it often did in 2006. That’s exactly how I feel about artists and talents. 

Their age or their level or fame doesn’t mean they don’t have something important to say. It’s important to give these talents space to express themselves. And I just can’t imagine this campaign being shot by anyone else but Ashish. This is his city, his community and his reportage, exploring my memories and my olfactive portrait of Mumbai. It’s a collective experience that brought my contemporary vision of India to life, and I’m extremely grateful.

INFORMATION

byredo.com

Perfume isn’t normally considered a platform for social change, but leave it to Byredo to reinvent the wheel again. Rather than rest easy since recently adding make-up and jewellery to its ever-expanding universe, the cult beauty and lifestyle label continues to blaze a trail with the unconventional launch of its latest olfactory creation, an epicene fragrance called Mixed Emotions.

In development for almost two years, Mixed Emotions stems from the universal feelings that accompany the modern-day struggle of having a lot on one’s plate. Byredo founder Ben Gorham says, ‘Mixed Emotions comes from the juxtaposition of many things, work, family, planning for the future, spontaneity and chance. These are all life moments we go through and that we often have to juggle together at the same time. The pandemic, for me, really heightened this awareness and the re-affirmation that being OK and not being OK is all perfectly natural and completely personal to each of us.’

The fragrance complexly brings together notes of maté, blackcurrant, smokey Ceylon black tea and violet leaves in a base of birch wood. To mirror its personal and honest quality, Gorham collaborated with London-based filmmaker Fenn O’Meally to create a short film for the launch. What originally began as a video campaign quickly grew into a full-on film project, with the final result standing as a 17-minute cinematic short, titled Tall are the Roots, that goes beyond simply expressing the philosophies behind the fragrance.

‘I wanted to discuss the different sides of emotions, and so how we launch the fragrance and how it is interpreted was a really important part of it,’ Gorham says. ‘To bring that story to life, I immediately thought of a film and then Fenn as someone who could create this. There is such honesty, strength and fragility in the stories she tells. Tall are The Roots explores the strength of drawing upon your origins, the very things that make you who you are. It was a collaboration in its truest form and Fenn had total carte blanche to create. How people perceive and interpret that now is open.’

In O’Meally’s hands, the film is an enchanting vehicle that captures the realities of being a young person of colour, and of non-conforming background. Dream-like visuals of dancers moving around the palatial grounds of Syon House, in Middlesex, are interspersed with extracts of interviews with four protagonists – poet/activist Kai-Isaiah Jamal, singer/artist Alewya Demmisse, dancer Deneille Percival, and artist/choreographer Abdourahman Njie – who share their thoughts on life, personal safety and dealing with struggles. Bookended by Jamal’s narration of a poem, ‘It Knows (Even When You Don’t)’, which was written for the project, the film is a powerful, unvarnished look at the conviction it takes for some to just simply be.

‘Being biracial has meant that I somewhat struggled with my own identity while growing up, but it also gave me a great appreciation for culture and it’s differences,’ Gorham says. ‘Fenn and I experienced a lot of the same things growing up, finding your identity and place in your own environment and I think this really comes through in the film too.’
 
He adds: ‘The film is a place for the stories to be heard and each of the protagonists in the film captures something we can all relate to – their passions, being seen and not being seen, their fragility and hopefulness – and so the film is in a way a piece of activism, [inviting you] to share experiences and be open and honest. To be yourself.’

INFORMATION
byredomixedemotions.com

There’s only a matter of hours, possibly minutes, potentially no time left at all if you’re hoping to purchase a candle or perfume from the Travis Scott and Byredo ‘Space Rage’ collaboration. 

The collection got restocked on Byredo’s website at 6:00 pm CET today, 19 January, and promises the same internet-breaking buying rush as the initial launch last month. The fragrance is the second space-inspired collaborative venture from Byredo, released soon after the Byredo makeup line developed alongside Isamaya Ffrench.

According to Byredo’s founder Ben Gorham, the ‘Space Rage’ eau de parfum and candle smells ‘literally like space’ with top notes of ‘cosmic dust’ and ‘antimatter particles,’ middle notes of ‘starlight’ and ‘the scent of supernova, and base notes of ‘atmospheric vapour.’ 

Only the lucky few who manage to purchase the scent will be able to distinguish what, exactly, that description means, but if it’s anything like the astronaut Don Pettit described the smell of space, it’s not far off from the odour of ‘pleasant, sweet-smelling welding fumes.’ 

Head to Byredo's website to see if there’s still a chance to purchase ‘Space Rage’ and decide for yourself. It might take a superstar to bottle the galaxy, but it is up to the public to decide if it’s really out of this world. §

INFORMATION
byredo.com

Fashion trends 2021: style must-haves selected by the Wallpaper* editors, from Prada pet bags to chunky chain necklaces by Louis Vuitton...

Sandals, by Bottega Veneta

‘After dressing mostly from the waist up over this past year, my feet are desperate to feel something again, ideally the uplift of a great heel. The nappa leather of these Lagoon Bubble sandals by Bottega Veneta is exactly what I’m looking for, butter-soft yet toughened by lacquered studs. With the bubble insole, these are the ideal heel for (comfortably) standing out in style. I’ve also promised myself I’ll no longer fear looking overdressed, so I’ll be running around in these whatever the occasion, feeling the pure joy of being a touch taller.' – SG

Pet bag, by Prada

‘‪My top resolution for the New Year is to adopt a dog, and so I've set my sights on this Prada pet bag, made from two materials that are synonymous with the brand – Re-Nylon, which is upcycled from plastic waste and can be recycled over and over again; and luxurious Saffiano leather. Features include generously proportioned zipper pockets, a removable bottom, a strap for a collar and food bowl, the requisite breathable mesh panels, and even a petite holder for pet waste bags. Functional and fetching, this is a perfect carrier for any future (or current) four-legged friend.‬' – TC

Chain necklace, by Louis Vuitton

‘After a subdued year, I’ve learnt two things: one, if you save anything for best you’ll never wear it and two, I’m a creature of habit. As lockdowns relaxed, I wanted to be in chains again. There is something enduringly appealing about a classic chain link, with their play on simple geometry and punk references making them completely irresistible. Luckily, chains were all over the catwalk this season, but it is this one from Louis Vuitton which has gone straight to the top of my wish list. Timeless it may be, but the boldly oversized proportions of its links and juxtaposition of diamonds against clean metal bring it bang up to date. When we can go to a formal occasion again, its sparkling edges will bring a cool edge to black tie attire, but for now I’ll be teaming with a sweatshirt and trainers. At least lockdown taught my some styling tricks.' – HS

Shirt, by Arthur Arbesser

‘I like this shirt from Milan-based designer Arthur Arbesser, because the bold white and blue print reminds me of endless summers on a Greek island, my favorite holiday destination. The piece really makes me dream of travelling again, with its blue and white pattern recalling the calming influence of marine nature.' – MS

Bag, by Paco Rabanne

‘As 2020’s social calendar dried up, so did my chance to sport my collection of ostentatious evening bags. For 2021, I’ll be coming back with an embellished bang, so it’s natural that my magpie’s eye has been drawn to this mixed metal chainmail evening bag by Paco Rabanne. Its circular shape is sizeable enough to store all my post-pandemic party essentials, including hand sanitiser and face mask, and its chainmail construction nods to the design heritage of the French house. The maison is the doyen of the dance-all-night disco sensibility, which is where I hope to be spending most of my time by the end of the year.' – LH

Room spray, by Byredo 

‘After spending most of 2020 indoors and longing for weekend gateways to the countryside, Byredo’s Tree House room spray is the perfect escape remedy for bringing the outdoors in. With its woody notes of cedar and breezy notes of freshly cut hay, the fragrance conjures up the aroma of summer walks in county lanes and afternoons spent lounging in fields.' – JH

H95 headphones, by B&O

‘As part of this year’s 95th anniversary celebrations, Bang & Olufsen is offering new and enhanced iterations of many of its best and brightest products. The Beoplay H95 are wireless headphones that tick every box of an especially demanding clientele – design-loving audiophiles. Not only are these elegant over-ear headphones fully foldable – with a neat aluminium hard case – but they also incorporate Active Noise Cancellation, allowing you to fully cocoon yourself from the outside world, or let it in and take a call if you simply can’t escape. In anniversary spec, the soft lambskin and memory foam of the ear pads are paired with gold-tinted aluminium hardware that hits just the right note between muted celebration and lush ostentation. As always with B&O, attention to detail is paramount – the woven fabric cords and cables with their aluminium tipped detailing and subtle branding show why this venerable brand is still our number one.' – JB

Cap, by Celine

‘2020 cemented the baseball cap’s place as one of the most fashionable and functional items in my wardrobe. It added an extra edge of casual cool to lockdown’s relaxed aesthetic and proved particularly handy at covering up experiments with at-home hair cuts and dyeing that might not have gone exactly as planned. Hopefully, 2021 will see us all being outside a bit more and using the humble cap for its original sun-protection purpose. For those looking to up their baseball cap game, there’s no better way to swing into the new year than with Celine’s S/S 2021 versions. A key accessory in Slimane’s stadium show, the caps were paired with equally insouciant sports bras and high-waisted jeans. My favorites are the denim version emblazoned with ‘Celine’ or the classic navy with a terrycloth ‘C’, both of which look equally alluring on the field green or city street.' – MC

Boots, by Peter Do

‘I have spent an abnormal amount of time thinking about these dark brown calfskin boots from the New York designer Peter Do. Do, an alumnus of Phoebe Philo-era Celine, co-founded the label with four friends over two years ago and has quickly become known for his strong, androgynous silhouettes. Do's Spring 2021 collection is all about adaptable dressing, with clever, convertible elements that allow clients to customize the way they wear each garment according to how they see fit. The label's footwear, which launched last season, expertly adapts masculine motifs for women to wear. Square-toed and adorned with metal accents, these lug-soled beauties exude a cool, hard edge, while still being practical enough for daily walks.' – PRK

LED face mask, by CellReturn mask

‘Months into our Covid-run lives I think we all have slowly, if not surely, established our own ways to face the challenges at work and home and to maintain our physical and mental health; but even so, uncertainty can still trigger anxiety that stresses our skin. While searching for the best way to soothe ‘pandemic skin condition' and to level up my at-home skincare regime when a beauty salon visit is not possible, I spotted Cellreturn’s LED Mask Platinum in a K-drama on Netflix.

The NASA-derived technology light-therapy mask equips 1026 LEDs with three wavelengths – red, blue and near infrared rays – which are designed to help absorb serums and regenerate skins cells, leading to improvements in skin elasticity, whitening and the production of collagen while minimising discolouration, wrinkles, inflammation and blemishes. It sounds too good to be true but given that it is coming from South Korea, where beauty products and technologies reign supreme, a 20-minute treatment a day could be a good investment (the hefty price tag of USD 2,100 might be something worth considering though). Its foolproof application means you just strap it on and use the touch sensor to select the treatment you want. Lay down, let the aurora work its magic and enjoy a meditative moment for both body and soul.' – YC

Bobby bag, by Dior

‘The Dior Bobby bag, named as a tribute to Christian Dior’s beloved dog, has just been introduced by current creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, and ticks all my boxes as an object of desire. Glossy leather, intricate embroidery and gold hardware in perfectly crafted form: We are deep in luxury territory here, yet this bag is beautifully practical – and what is luxury if you cannot use it everyday? The Large Bobby bag is elegantly proportioned, (as a bag should be), yet spacious enough to really move into, and use daily.

The removable strap may be used over the shoulder, or cross-body (hands-free), and features the ever-chic Dior oblique jacquard – a poem to timeless textile design that embraces the maison's decades of rich heritage. The Paris atelier address, ’30 Montaigne’ is embossed above the essential back pocket, (perfect for phone and face-mask) – a stamp of bold modernity that brings us firmly into 2021. – MK

Shoes, by Petrucha

‘I have become more steadfast in my outlook on fashion since the pandemic. I want fashion that transports me! I enjoy writing about clothes that distract me from the doom. For my own personal wardrobe however I look for reductivist clothes that say very little to the outside world. The joy I take from a jumper or patched up pair of coveralls is mine alone – I have a bit more fun with what I put on my feet.

I was excited in the autumn to discover the Alicante-based label Petrucha. Founded in 2014 by Anaid Cano and Josep Vila (a lawyer and a computer engineer respectively) the duo were determined to create a handmade shoe that is: ‘both genderless and functionally minimal without the limitations of seasonal collections, and firmly opposing dominant trends.’ Soft open back slippers, hand-distressed lace up leather boots, nylon ballerinas – the resulting selection they make-to-order is not rooted in one particular "look". In the truest sense of the cliché, there is something for everyone. With their circular business they have redesigned the worn-out methods of production and distribution that are the preoccupation of so much fashion writing today. I love them because they make elegant shoes, ethically.' – DC

Glasses, by Gucci

‘I wear glasses everyday out of need not choice. As my work set up almost exclusively relies on the crop of Zoom, how I dress my top half has to be a consideration after years of a "shoe first" approach. I usually opt for silver over gold but have I've realised the latter metal can be softer and often more flattering. Apparently you should chose a glasses shape to mimic the line of your eyebrows. Round works best for me. These Gucci frames, modern and delicate are top of my list. New year, new specs, new me.' 

Byredo is a brand that has always defied easy categorisation. Founded by former basketball player Ben Gorham in 2006 as a fragrance house, Byredo quickly gained a cult following for its sleek, minimal packaging and narrative-driven scents, with inspirations as far-ranging as First World War field nurses and an Inez & Vinoodh photograph. Since then, Gorham has expanded the Byredo universe to include clothing, eyewear, leather goods, jewellery and, from October 2020, make-up.

To bring his cosmetics project to fruition, Gorham enlisted the help of British make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench, who, in addition to working with the likes of Burberry, Yves Saint Laurent and Tom Ford, is known for subverting classic interpretations of beauty, instead exploring the mutable nature of the human face using prosthetics and digital technology. This includes working with an animatronics company to give a dinosaur-like beak to a model for a high fashion spread, and employing an AI system to analyse 17,000 Instagram images of ‘beauty’ in order to generate slightly disconcerting images that were then applied to a celebrity cover star’s face. In these ways and more, she creates unconventional cosmetic looks within familiar commercial contexts to reveal how fragile and fabricated our perceptions of beauty are.

For Gorham, this true ‘outsider perspective’ made her well-suited to translating Byredo’s idiosyncratic ethos into a cosmetics line. Colour, its variations and usages, served as a foundational element of Gorham and Ffrench’s collaboration. ‘I remember looking at a lot of editorial images, landscape photography, all sorts of creative imagery, and literally picking pixels of colour that I really loved,’ says Ffrench. ‘This then became the Byredo colour library. Ben and I would sit down together and see which colours resonated most with us and which would work for the make-up.’

Conceptualising the brand through colour allowed Gorham and Ffrench to rethink how certain shades are typically applied to the face. With tools like its ‘colour sticks’, which can be freely applied to any area and layered for stronger or lighter impact, the face becomes more of a canvas for an expressionistic application of colours rather than a paint-by-numbers grid to be filled in. The sticks are available in 16 shades, ranging from an electric candy floss pink to khaki green and kohl black. They suit all genders, skin tones and ages, and, depending on how they’re worn, can be seen as experimental or familiar.

The colour sticks sit alongside the new line’s lipsticks, eyeshadow palettes, mascara, eyeliner and lip balm, all of which share the colour sticks’ playful shades and names (a neutral-tone eyeshadow palette is called Corporate and a fiery red lipstick is called Divorce). The space-age packaging also reflects the brand’s designs for the future. ‘I interpreted Isamaya’s universe into these physical objects,’ says Gorham.’ She had a very clear idea of colour curation and I wanted these objects to look like a curation of objects. Not one design study, or one signature design, and not off the shelf. I started to apply the same process and theories that I’ve used previously in Byredo when developing products.’

The line’s otherworldly appearance is mirrored in the campaign image by Jesse Kanda, which depicts a lone, multihued, alien-like figure. ‘I found that in the beauty industry, it was very dictating, it was very linear in saying, “buy this or this, and look like this”, which I didn’t relate to,’ says Gorham. ‘So my idea was not just to go paint a picture of my peers. It was to be inclusive, to the point of saying that this can be anything to anybody. That’s how we approached it from the start.’

INFORMATION

A version of this story appeared in the October 2020 issue of Wallpaper*, guest edited by Design Emergency. A free PDF download of the issue is available here

byredo.com

During a time that keeps you inside, a careful arrangement of atmospheric tricks (perfumes, scented matches, soaps, shampoos), can conjure the natural world wherever you are. Our edit presents woodsy scents that evoke the fresh air of a forest terrain from within your own home.  

Bathing Culture’s ‘Cathedral Grove' body wash was inspired by the Redwood trees of the brand's native Northern California. A shower rinse with Bathing Culture feels like becoming a raindrop, dripping past all sorts of fir needles on the way down to the ground. Pair with Aesop’s classic shampoo and conditioner, which blend cedarwood bark and juniper berry oil for an invigorating cleanse.

From there, find the deepest, almost navy green smells of the forest—nothing light, nothing herby, or grassy and fleeting, no quieting sandalwood. Aer’s ‘Cedar', a perfume made with collected cedar scraps from a furniture factory in Virginia, is that big woods smell with a bit of bergamot spice. Take shelter in a log cabin with Byredo’s ‘Tree House' candle and its combination of cedar, bamboo, and hay. Go further off the trail, into the thicker forest of cedar, gaiac wood and tree moss with Connolly’s ‘Leather Smoke' candle.

Wind it down with Buly 1803’s ‘Sumi Hinoki' scented matches. Inspired by the pyres in ancient Japanese temples, these matches conjure up the forest at night – a little haunted and dark, a little intense and cloaked. 

There are lots of paths to devote ourselves to the world from afar and to coax ourselves to stay sheltered, take every available scent escape.

In a way, fragrance and jewellery both play a contradictory role, designed as they are to elevate the personality of the wearer, yet also to become an almost imperceptible element of their character. ‘Jewellery has to be almost invisible, yet have real strength,’ says Byredo founder Ben Gorham, who was struck by this dichotomy a year ago, when he asked the Paris-based jeweller Charlotte Chesnais to create a simple chain for him. 


From pieces owned by Gorham’s Indian mother to midcentury Navajo designs, jewellery has long fascinated the former professional basketball player, who launched Byredo in 2006 with a series of niche scents. After dabbling in homeware and bodycare, the Stockholm- and New York-based brand produced its first handbag line in 2017, a move that piqued Gorham’s interest in metalwork. Byredo’s jewellery debut, the Value Chain collection, was designed in collaboration with Chesnais and is inspired by the chain she created for Gorham. The collection spans from a dazzling pavé-encrusted gold necklace to a utilitarian sterling silver bracelet, as well as rings and earrings. ‘Because I don’t have a background in jewellery, I tried to take a few steps back when conceiving the designs,’ Gorham says of the pieces, formed from chunky links connected with metal double loops. ‘They define a new language.'



Byredo’s repertoire and aesthetic is constantly evolving. In June, it unveiled collaborations with Swedish outdoor label Peak Performance, alongside ByProduct, a collection of basketball-inspired sneakers and made-to-order suits by Stockholm tailor AW Bauer & Co. The elemental nature of the Value Chain collection bears parallels with the reductive nature of Byredo’s original scent: clean, pure, and without the bells and whistles of glossy branding. 


Chesnais, who founded her eponymous company in 2015, is known for her sculptural, asymmetric designs that play with metals and interact with the body. She has also created catwalk jewellery for Balenciaga and Paco Rabanne, and met Gorham when designing under Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga. The Byredo collaboration marks the first time she has designed a chain, and the interconnecting links are a symbol of the partnership. ‘The basic form also allows us to play with scale and materials,’ she says of the designs. 
The project continues Byredo’s ‘exploration of materials and techniques’, apparent in its collection of zebu-horn combs handcrafted in the French Pyrenees and blankets designed in collaboration with M/M (Paris), the creative studio behind Byredo’s visual identity.

It also happens to be a smart time to launch fine jewellery, which has become a luxury-sector sales juggernaut. In April, Prada debuted its first fine jewellery line, and in July, Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele presented his first high jewellery collection for the house. Gucci has also opened its first high jewellery boutique, on Paris’ Place Vendôme. According to a report by McKinsey business analysts, global jewellery sales are expected to grow five to six per cent year on year, reaching €250bn by 2020. Pertinently, it’s also predicted that future growth in branded jewellery is likely to reach beyond traditional jewellery names to luxury fashion houses in adjacent categories, such as high-end apparel or leather goods — companies like Dior, Hermès and Louis Vuitton.


There’s a beauty in the engineering of Chesnais’ jewellery pieces, their various fastenings a display of craft and ingenuity. Take a sinuous, S-shaped earring, attached to the ear lobe with a clasp of curving spiked metal, or two bi-metal rings linked with a hook. For the Value Chain collection, she created two styles of closure: a gliding ‘kiss kiss’ clasp that imperceptibly slots together to close the silver pieces; and a hinged clip, which ‘makes you feel like you can’t take the piece off’, for the heavier gold and pavé designs. 
The fastenings link back to Gorham’s belief in the essential ‘invisibility’ and ‘strength’ of jewellery. ‘The weightier clasp makes a loud click,’ Chesnais says. Byredo’s success was once defined by the smell of pine needle, incense and bergamot. It has a satisfying sound now too.

Available from byredo.com

Desire, seduction, a feat of human engineering: fashion has a well-oiled relationship with fast cars. Twenty years since he released I Love Fast Cars, a tome capturing the raw power of the American muscle cars, fashion photographer Craig McDean has released a new book, Manual, published by Rizzoli. It documents McDean’s long lived passion for speed behind the wheel, including many previously unseen works from his personal archive, alongside his well-known fashion images, also revered for their energy, movement and momentum. Spliced together, Amber Valetta dressed in Yohji Yamamoto (A/W 2000) leans against a scarlet Camaro Sky, while naked Raquel Zimmerman (S/S 2017) languidly stretches along the base of a royal blue muscle car.

‘I grew up around cars, driving a Ford Cortina with my dad and watching films like Vanishing Point. Cars became an adventure and that stayed with me,’ says McDean, who worked as a mechanic for a year before picking up a camera. ‘As objects to photograph and desire, cars are the same as fashion and clothes to me,’ says McDean. ‘When I first moved to America I bought muscle cars, I lived my fantasy. Now I have Italian cars, I like looking at the lines of them and knowing they are hand built. And they don’t fall apart and go round corners a lot better!’

McDean has released the book with the support of with his friend Ben Gorham of Byredo, who designed 400 limited-edition yellow fabric box covers stamped with metal license plate tags, and a line of motoring-inspired merchandise that will be available to buy alongside the limited-edition book in global Byredo stores. Checking off the tropes of car culture merchandise – mechanics jacket, lighters, beer coolers, baseball caps and t-shirts – Gorham explains, ‘It’s less of a collection and more nostalgia you can wear, almost like memorabilia.’ McDean and Gorham bonded over cars a decade ago in Long Island when ‘Craig’s kids took my two year old daughter on a first date in an electric SUV up and down the lawn,’ recalls Gorham.

Which leaves only question. What is McDean’s car of choice to drive? ‘I was just in Milan and I took my Maserati Spyder out, it won the Turin Motor Show and it’s such a great car to drive.’ And for Gorham? ‘I just ordered the new electric Porshe last week. They call it the Tesla killer!’ 

INFORMATION

rizzoliusa.com

byredo.com

‘I have spend a lot of time in Miami, as a holiday spot, with chunks of time in a go, so I’ve seen the Design District develop over the years,’ says Byredo founder Ben Gorham, on why he chose the sunny Floridian spot for the Swedish brand’s latest installation. The wooden pop-up structure is a personal project for Gorham, opening in the expanding district just in time to welcome the international fashion, art and design crowd flocking to visit Design Miami and Art Basel.

The simple framework evokes a sense of a home with separate rooms and staircases that lead to nowhere, representing human obsession with house-ownership. Appealing to our sensibilities was high on Gorham’s agenda: ‘wood is honest, its human, in a way that metal – another material we use quite often – isn’t’. Gorham’s affinity with nature has defined much of the brand’s work over the years, and here he reiterates it in a major part of the installation’s narrative, creating an organic experience for the visitor while they meander through the wooden architecture.

In the window frames of the structure, Gorham has added his own photography of American adventures; a layering of natural landscapes, sports and athletics (he was a Swedish basketball star in the past). These windows into Gorham’s life reflect how he spent much of his time in the US. It’s the first time he has ever showcased his photography, and he wanted to create an aura of personal nostalgia among the fragrances, leather and eyewear on sale.

Its all full circle for Gorham. ‘Designing these installations is not dissimilar from creating a fragrance or a bag – it's all about the process,’ he says of the storytelling space, that will remain open until May. But this isn't it for Byredo’s Miami presence, as a permanent store is high on the list too. Watch this space.

See more highlights from Miami here

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Byredo website

ADDRESS

BYREDO 161 NE
40th Street Miami
Florida, 33137

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

‘London was the very top of our location list for quite a few years – we’ve been building a following in this diverse and progressive city,’ Byredo founder Ben Gorham explains ahead of the launch of the brand's first flagship location in the heart of Soho last night (Sunday 16 September). ‘There’s a strong arts, fashion and music scene. It checks all the boxes.’

Though London was a dead cert (following Byredo flagships in Stockholm and New York) which district the new store would be located in was up for debate. ‘I pretty much looked all over the capial,' Gorham continues. ‘I looked at the traditional luxury streets – but I didn’t feel like they really related to, or reflected, Byredo. Then I remembered Soho, which is maybe not where most people thought we’d put it, but it's this amazing, buzzing place where I hung out ten years ago. I still feel like Soho is where young creatives work, think and move.’

The creative area reflects the new store's ethos; there's a dedicated space for displaying art, and plenty of seating to encourage relaxed conversation and a convivial shopping experience. ‘I always imagine retail to be accessible and warm, as an emotion rather than a tonality’, Gorham contiues. ‘I wanted to present a different offering to what's found in our department stores, with a narrative and dialogue with our clients and customers. This is a place that you can come and learn about things, without feeling the pressure to buy, while avoiding the hustle and bustle of the larger crowd. It's a cliché, but I want it to feel like we're inviting people into our home.’

The design of the store comes courtesy of Gorham, alongside his 11 year-collaborator (and friend), Swedish interior design firm Halleröd. ‘I’ve been working with Christian [Halleröd] since I started – he’s like the rational part of my brain. He’s great when it comes to proportion, and he’s a great filter and funnel.'

Like Byredo's origin city Stockholm, London has long, grey overcast seasons, ‘so we wanted the shop to pop out,' Gorham says of the decision to paint the five storey facade white. Inside, the once-office building has been ‘completely gutted'. A material palette of anodised aluminium, industrial elements, wood and concrete offers a calming, unintrusive backdrop to the products. ‘Whether its handbags, perfume, packaging or eyewear, I always design objects with their retail environment in mind,' Gorham reveals. ‘I hope the London store will offer a unique experience that's tightly tied to the origin of what we're making.'

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Byredo website

Selfridges has embraced its radical alter-ego in The Flipside, a side-stepping new exhibition aiming to define contemporary – and future – concepts of ‘radical luxury’. Housed a few steps from the department store’s storied, bright-white Accessories Hall, which was overhauled last year, is The Old Selfridges Hotel, a concrete maze of darkened rooms, activated by luxury technology, fashion and fragrance houses into a disorientating dystopia.

The Flipside takes notes from the Accessories Hall and turns them on their head. An antithesis of the Hall’s clean-cut aesthetic, with its half-moon shaped bar and distinctive, calming orb lighting, The Flipside employs high gloss black flooring, a multitude of mirrors, and neon strips that puncture the darkness. It’s as if, Stranger Things-style, we’ve slipped into the Upside Down.

Alongside installations by Louis Vuitton, Loewe and Thom Browne, Gareth Pugh presents a self-portrait film displayed on a corridor of mirrored screens, and Byredo looks to a future where fresh water will be a precious scarcity, through a collection of large, empty water butts, which echo the silhouette of its famous fragrance vessel. Elsewhere, Google has created a photobooth installation, where guests take selfies framed by their own definitions of luxury, showcasing the Pixel 2’s low-light abilities. The exhibition cumulates (via a fragrant make-your-own personalised cocktail room called The Libationary) atop a giant sundial, created by Selfridges in-house design team, where we are asked to contemplate the most in-demand of luxuries – time.

The Flipside is the second stop on Selfridges ongoing ‘radical luxury’ campaign trail, the most ambitious in its 109 year history. It launched earlier this month with a 60 second art-film, currently playing in cinemas across the country – the first film advert from the department store in 40 years. We also look forward to The Flipside hosting contemporary dance performances and panel discussions, all of which will attempt to define, question and dissect radicalism in the age of luxury.

INFORMATION

Until 20 May. For more information, visit the Selfridges website

We’ve always had a nose for Byredo’s fragrances, the perfume house founded by the Swedish ex-basketball player Ben Gorham. Having celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2016, Byredo also launched a leather goods collection the previous year, and now Gorham has teamed up with denim label Frame on its first menswear collaboration.

‘Although most know Ben for his work in the fragrance industry, as friends we have always admired his unique sense of style and his playful approach to masculine dressing,’ explain Frame Denim founders Jens Grede and Erik Torstensson. In his fragrances, Gorham has nodded to a wide range of references, from tree houses to nurses working during the First World War, and his first ready-to-wear collection is inspired by the evolving youth culture within rodeo and ranch life.

‘My initial experiences of rodeo culture come from old Western movies,’ Gorham explains. ‘Denim for me was always tied to that idea of the American cowboy. When I was asked to do the capsule collection, I started my exploration of that idea.’ The collection features Ford logo t-shirts, paisley-lined patchwork denim jackets and buckled waistcoats. ‘It evolved to an interesting hybrid of western, street and sportswear culture that I was seeing younger generations wearing around the rodeo circuits,’ he says.

‘We loved the idea of creating a super-slick western style collection, capturing the rawness and masculinity behind the culture,’ Grede and Torstensson add. ‘The raw denim, aged leather and vintage t-shirts still embody Frame, but from a different perspective. The power of collaborating with friends enables us to experiment and explore a wider visual.’ For Grede, Torstensson and Gorham, this is a partnership riding high.

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Frame website

Most people would celebrate their tenth anniversary with a cake and some candles or a night out on the town, but not Ben Gorham, the soft-spoken Swedish founder of Byredo. Instead, in keeping with his cool, creative brand, he commissioned a new fragrance whose selling point is that it doesn’t have a name – just a blank label on which buyers will be able to add whatever name they want, using the dry-transfer Byredo lettering included with each bottle. It’s a neat gimmick, perfect for this era of mass customisation (though I do wonder how many buyers will be tempted to give their bottle a rude name).

Reclining in state at the Chiltern Firehouse, Gorham describes the new perfume as a way ‘to enable customers to make their own story’, which will be accompanied by a digital platform where people can upload their thoughts and images.

But what of the scent itself? Concocted by regular Byredo perfumer Jérôme Epinette at Robertet (whose other clients include Atelier Cologne and Vilhelm Parfumerie), it has a definite Byredo character. Gorham says that, ‘I purposely didn’t want it to fit into a particular fragrance family, but I also wanted it to have strong associations.’

Guided by visual images, poetry and music that Gorham felt encapsulated the idea he was aiming at, Epinette has created a light, slightly syrupy scent, which derives (among other things) from pink pepper, balsam fir and a hint of violet and iris. It’s a little too sugary for my taste (my personal favourite remains 'Baudelaire'), but it will almost certainly appeal to longstanding Byredo devotees.

Gorham describes Byredo’s success as ‘like watching your children grow up too fast – especially the last five years’, a period during which he sold a majority share of the company to London-based investment firm Manzanita Capital (which also has stakes in Diptyque and Malin + Goetz). ‘But I’m enjoying it more than ever now,’ he adds. ‘I feel as though I’ve really settled into the brand.’

Ten years may be a cause for celebration, but Gorham is already looking ahead. ‘We’re heading into phase two now,’ he says. ‘The first phase was about establishing the brand and clarifying its vision; now it’s about evolution.’

As part of that evolution, fans will be pleased to hear that a third Byredo boutique is on the cards, following up from the standalone stores in Stockholm and Manhattan. ‘London is top of the list,’ Gorham reveals. Not without irony I ask whether Byredo will be joining Frederic Malle, By Kilian, Roja Dove and the niche-perfume pack in the Burlington Arcade? Gorham chuckles. ‘That’s the last place I’d want to be!’ Never let it be said that Byredo follows fashion.

INFORMATION

Unnamed eau de parfum, £135 for 100ml, available in the UK exclusively at Liberty and the Byredo website until 15 September. Available worldwide thereafter. For more information, visit Byredo’s website or the unnamed perfume project website

Photography: Michael Ainscough

With its cool back-story (founder Ben Gorham started life as a Swedish basketball star before transitioning into perfume) and pared-down yet reassuringly hefty packaging, Byredo is a very Wallpaper* brand. Its latest eau de parfum is called ‘Heliotropia’, and it’s an intriguing floral perfume with a burnt-sugar edge.

‘Heliotropia’ is launching exclusively in Liberty London on 20 June, and may be the first perfume to be directly inspired by the building in which it’s sold. According to Ben Gorham, ‘The opening of the fragrance evokes a clear image of the traditional Liberty floral patterns, and the mid notes are quirky and meant to represent the personal and curated approach that Liberty have. The base notes – of agar wood and white birch – are an interpretation of the massive wood structure that the building still carries.’

Apart from the agar wood and white birch, ‘Heliotropia’ includes gardenia, Somalian incense, jasmine sambac and heliotrope. As for its intriguing name, Gorham explains that ‘the heliotrope accord is one of the main ingredients, and was very important in the project, while “tropia” is a reference to utopia, in the sense of a very pure and elevated idea.’

INFORMATION

‘Heliotropia’ eau de parfum, £135 for 100ml, exclusively available from 20 June exclusively at Liberty London. For more information visit Liberty’s website

Photography courtesy Byredo

Launching on 2 March, Byredo’s Super Cedar has all the hallmarks of everyone’s favourite Swedish fragrance brand. Like the box it comes in, Super Cedar is cool, clean and minimalist – discreet and very wearable, with an apparently simple smell that probably took regular Byredo perfumer Jérôme Epinette ages to perfect.

According to Byredo, ‘Cedar is without a doubt one of the scents that our nose recognises most easily. Reminscent of pencil shavings, it evokes a sense of nostalgia for school days and simpler times. Evocative of log cabins and Scandinavian furniture, cedar adds warmth to the overtly modern. In the perfumer’s palette, it has the power to inject energy and lend verticality to a fragrance.'

Leaving aside the question of how a vertical fragrance might smell different from a horizontal one, that’s a pretty fair summary of how cedar wood smells, though Super Cedar is far less immediately redolent of pencil shavings than, say, Hermès’ classic of the genre, Bel Ami. In fact it has the odd but interesting effect of smelling less strongly of cedar when you first spray it on than it does after half an hour on the skin, when its faint initial scent – which reminded me of surgical spirit with a hint of baking biscuits – makes way for an attenuated cedar fragrance that then changes little over the remainder of the day.

Actually ‘cedar’ (like so many terms in perfumery) is something of a misnomer, as ‘cedar wood’ oil actually comes from a species of North American juniper tree, Juniperus virginiana. As such it’s more closely related to the European juniper bushes whose berries give gin its distinctive flavour, but cedar wood oil does have that wonderful pencil-shavings smell, which also makes for an effective moth-repellent – worth bearing in mind if you tire of Super Cedar on the skin.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit Byredo’s website.

We’ve long been fans of Byredo, the painfully cool Swedish fragrance brand founded by Indian-Canadian one-time basketball pro turned scent impresario Ben Gorham. The latest perfume in their range, Rose of No Man’s Land, marks the centenary of the First World War with (in their words) a ‘fragrant tribute to the nurses (often referred to by soldiers as "rose of no-man’s land”) who saved thousands of lives on the front lines’.

It’s a timely perfume, but – as you might expect of Byredo – it’s also completely of our time: a rose fragrance, but a clean, modern, pared-down rose rather than a blowsy old-fashioned one. Created by regular Byredo perfumer Jerôme Epinette, it uses an extract of Rosa x damascena, the so-called Turkish rose, which has a refreshingly light, cool scent, blended with touches of (synthetic or natural) pink pepper and papyrus.

Byredo bill Rose of No Man’s Land as a unisex scent, though I’d say it’s probably too floral to appeal to most men, lacking, say, the woodiness that gives Serge Lutens’ wonderful Feminité du Bois its universal appeal. But for anyone who likes a fresh floral fragrance it would be an appealing daytime choice.

Keen-eyed Wallpaper* readers will notice that Byredo have used the new launch as an opportunity to refresh their packaging design and typography, using a new semi-deconstructed logo designed by M/M Paris. The refreshed logo also appears on their brand-new Bibliothèque room spray and trio of Subzero scented candles based on candied fruits – Figue, Cassis and Prune Glacée. Did anyone mention that Christmas is coming?

INFORMATION
100ml eau de parfum from £130; www.byredo.com 

In its nine years of being, the Swedish brand Byredo has gone way beyond just selling perfume. Hot on the heels of launching a covetable line of leather accessories earlier this year, Byredo unveiled a shiny new boutique in New York last week - a fully-fledged expression of the brand's multifaceted scope, appeal and all-around good taste.

Located in a part of Soho where the fashion and design worlds intersect, Byredo's spacious boutique was designed by its founder and creative director, Ben Gorham, in collaboration with the Swedish architect Christian Halleröd. Stemming from Gorham's predilection for traditional woodwork, the boutique deftly pairs Italian terrazzo floors with Douglas fir ceiling beams, while reflective display cases and mirrored walls cut through the interior with a razor sharp edge. Service points, including the checkout counter, are cleverly disguised within a frosted glass chamber constructed out of graphic glass box tiles, which doubles up as a display area for the label's various wares.

'This is the first time Byredo's universe is presented in its entirety,' says Gorham. 'Some of the products in the store are from projects that we have been working on for a few years, so it's exciting for me to see it all come together here in the New York store.'

The opening in New York also poignantly marks a redesign of the company's logo. Partnering with M/M Paris, who worked with Byredo on their own fragrance, the new logo features a fragmented, stencil-like typeface that will appear on packaging; the perfume labels will stay the same. With perfumes, leather goods and ceramics under one roof, and a bespoke leather and fragrance atelier that will be revealed later this year, the New York boutique not only takes stock of how far Byredo has come, but also serves as a signal of all the beautiful things imminent in its future.

ADDRESS

62 Wooster Street
New York 10013

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Byredo has always been one of the most forward-thinking perfume brands – and their new Bibliothèque home fragrance shows that its charismatic owner, Ben Gorham, is still thinking ahead of the curve.

What we like about it – apart from its appealingly chunky dark-grey bottle and minimalist graphics created by M/M Paris – is the fact that it’s a room spray rather than a scented candle. That might not sound like much to get excited about, but with the scented-candle market reaching saturation point, it’s refreshing to see a home fragrance in a different format.

Released in time for the holiday season, Bibiothèque is based on one of Byredo’s most popular scented candles. Given its name you might expect it to smell of dusty old books, but in fact it has a fruity scent based on peach and plum notes in the base, mixed with peony, violet and patchouli and a touch of vanilla as well.

That might not sound – or smell – very bookish, but this otherwise rather sweet fragrance (originally created by perfumer Jérôme Epinette at fragrance house Robertet) is tempered by a leather note that’s redolent of plush leather book bindings. One for the bookshelf, we’d say.

INFORMATION

250ml bottle, £60. For more information, visit Byredo’s website

Previously confined to the realms of pop-up stores and temporary points of sale, Stockholm-based perfumer Byredo last weekend launched their premier store in the Swedish capital.

The brainchild of Byredo co-founder Ben Gorham, who designed the store together with Christian Hallerød and Johannes Svartholm, the aesthetic has taken the brand’s signature pared-down style and turned it on its head with a Raj-inspired interior, playing on Gorham’s own North Indian roots.

“I have been thinking of this store since we founded Byredo,” says Gorham, “now seemed the perfect time. We have built a great client base and the brand has reached a point where I felt ready to take the next step.”

Set in a turn of the 19th Century building in Stockholm’s retail centre, Master Samuelsgatan, the store has been designed as an all-encompassing ‘Byredo world’ - with influences ranging from traditional Swedish blown glass to Indian ‘palace on wheels’ trains.

“It’s the first time that we can show a clear origin for the brand – now I have a suitable home for the fragrances,” says Gorham.

ADDRESS

Master Samuelsgatan 42
11157 Stockholm
Sweden

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS