London jeweller Lucy Delius is bringing a gothic edge to pearls with a new collection which strings oversized black baroque pearls onto knotted silk. Available at Dover Street Market (DSM), the collection marks a step into the theatrical for Delius, who launched her brand four years ago. ‘I wanted to create a bigger, bolder silhouette than I've typically been able to do in gold,’ she says. ‘Something that felt a bit more playful. The idea of these misshapen, inky molten pearls just really spoke to me. It's been amazing to work with a different material. These still carry the wearability that has become synonymous with my brand.’

The offbeat style is a natural fit for DSM. ‘Lucy’s jewellery works so well because it feels considered but never overcomplicated,’ says the store’s director of jewellery, Mimi Hoppen. ‘There is a balance between instinct and intention that sits very comfortably within the way we approach curation.’

Ultimately, this is jewellery made to be worn. Adds Hoppen: There is a real sensitivity and consideration around how the jewellery sits on the body and works with other pieces, but is still strong enough in its designs to be worn on its own.'

lucydelius.co, doverstreetmarket.com

This article appears in the July 2026 Issue of Wallpaper*, available from 4 June in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

‘The signet ring is a great canvas for gemstones, it faces up really nicely and allows me to play with infinite graphic layouts,’ says Australian jewellery designer Seb Brown. ‘I like to turn the historical aspect on its head and give the signet an inverted meaning. I was trained in graphic design so the basic design elements; form, texture, layout, colour are very important to the success of each piece. I like to play with scales; a tiny stone on a large ring.’

Since forming his eponymous brand in 2009, Brown has honed a dedication to tradition. He draws on heritage techniques, including carving directly into wax and crafting each piece by hand, in a celebration of history. His jewellery, though, with its pops of colour and unexpected design edge, is resolutely modern.

Brown has headquarters in Melbourne but is based in Paris, where his jewellery has just launched at Dover Street Market. His second studio is also located in the city, giving him a space to craft and consider new work. ‘I’m constantly refining my ring shapes, working on new pieces and organising a series of trunk shows throughout the year,’ Brown adds. ‘With the rise in gold prices, we’re making a lot more pieces in platinum, it’s been exciting exploring a new material.’

In Brown’s signature stone setting, gemstones sink into metal, as sparkly as fireworks. ‘Bead setting is an ancient stone setting technique which uses a small ‘bead’ of metal to hold the stone in place; it also adds an element of texture to the face of the ring,’ explains Brown, on how he achieves the graphic effect. ‘The challenge is to keep the piece feeling not overworked, a nuanced setting which highlights the lustre of the gold and the sparkle of the gems. My Melbourne team is trained to set the stones to my exacting standards; everything is hand-made to order.’

Inspired by the past, natural forms and museum artefacts, Brown is focused on the long game. ‘My aesthetic is a light touch and an ancient feeling. I want the wearer to think about their place in history.’

At Dover Street Market, a collection of twelve fine bone china teapots is drawing double takes from shoppers. Handmade from bright white china by Devon studio Feldspar, each piece is subtly mutated: some sprout multiple spouts, others are wrapped with hand-painted cobalt-blue handles that turn function into decoration.

‘Each of the teapots is fully functional – we often wish we had more hands to get everything done, how about tea for three in a single pour?’ joke Feldspar founders Cath and Jeremy Brown, who are known for their slightly ‘wonky’ but wonderfully tactile English fine bone china. ‘But they really are art objects you can use – bridging fine craft and avant-garde design – taking the very traditional and classic and reinventing it.’

The series, titled Surreal Teapots, was prompted by Jeremy’s long-standing fascination with the surreal and the unusual. ‘Long before he founded Feldspar,’ explains Cath, ‘he showcased a surrealist glass project at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco. It questioned what the main function of a glass of wine should be – a vessel for the liquid or the start of human connection and conversation? It was about stopping to think, smile and not take things too seriously.’

‘Our Surreal Teapots are a continuation of this exploration,’ she continues, ‘celebrating the ritual of the distinctly British pot of tea – a drink that epitomises the simple pleasure of human connection.’

Currently displayed within a glass vitrine on Dover Street Market's ground floor, each teapot begins life as a hand-modelled prototype in Feldspar’s Dartmoor workshop, before being translated into a plaster mould for slip-casting in fine bone china. Liquid clay is poured in and left to form the walls of the vessel, the excess slip removed, and the piece refined by hand. It is then fired up to three times to achieve its characteristic strength, translucency and brilliant whiteness, before being finished with Feldspar’s signature hand-painted cobalt blue.

Teapots, it would seem, are having something of a moment. This project follows in the footsteps of Loewe’s teapot exhibition at Milan Design Week last year, where 25 artists, designers and architects were invited to reimagine the humble teapot – an object which, as Loewe observed, sits at the intersection of culture, history and ritual.

The twelve numbered edition teapots are on display and available to buy on the ground floor of Dover Street Market, London, until 2 February 2026. The designs are also available exclusively via Feldspar’s own online store as made-to-order pieces, with a six-week lead time.

At one point in our conversation, the Japanese designer Satoshi Kuwata takes off his cape and turns it into a hoodie, then he deconstructs it again and places it on the floor to show me how it looks like origami. Designs like this – versatile, fluid, part Western streetwear, part traditional Japanese – are the cornerstone of Setchu, the brand that won Kuwata the LVMH Prize for Young Designers in 2023 and is steadily earning him a reputation as one of the most promising designers working today.

The brand takes its name from ‘Wayo Setchu’, an aesthetic movement that began in the 19th century and saw Euro-American codes incorporated into Japanese design (‘Wayo’ signifies Japan and ‘Setchu’ means compromise). That same compromise carries into Setchu’s line of perfumes, which debuted at Pitti Fragranze last week and have just become the first fragrances ever to be stocked in Dover Street Market New York, London, Ginza, Paris and Los Angeles.'. Each of the six scents within the collection combines notes inspired by a certain aspect of Japanese life with a Western counterpart. The result is fragrances that, depending on where you are from, can be familiar in some respects and strange in others, but are altogether unique.

Kuwata knew he wanted fragrances to be a part of Setchu from the very beginning, having been fascinated by scent since he arrived in London for the first time 20 years ago. ‘I arrived at London Heathrow in January and I was immediately shocked by the different smells,’ he says. ‘I realised I was familiar with Japanese smells from spring, summer, winter, but this new country smelled so different.’ Kuwata would go on to study at Central Saint Martins, train under the tailors of Savile Row, work alongside Gareth Pugh and Riccardo Tisci before launching his own brand. Still, that memory of stepping off the plane at Heathrow has stuck with Kuwata, and it's the desire to preserve a moment in time that inspired him to create scents associated with a particular time and day.

The collection starts off with Monday 9AM Genmaicha. Inspired by the tea Kuwata drinks at the start of his working week, Monday 9AM mixes genmaicha, a Japanese green tea blended with roasted rice grains, with sweeter-smelling European-style tea for a scent that is malty, slightly syrupy and, most interestingly, has a subtle burnt note.

The next scent in the collection, Wednesday 5PM Yuzu, is the brand’s take on a citrus fragrance with a combination of bitter and sharp Japanese yuzu and fresh lemon reminiscent of that found in European men’s colognes.

Thursday 1PM Ayu is the line’s most surprising scent considering it is inspired by fish. Specifically, it is inspired by the ayu, a vegetarian fish that only lives in very clean water and, according to Kuwata, who is an avid fisher, has ‘a beautiful cucumber water smell rather than a metal fish smell’. Because fishing is Kuwata’s primary way of relaxing, he asked the line’s perfumer, Julie Massé, to suggest a Western equivalent to the smell of relaxation. She suggested the smell of rocky beaches in the south of France and created a scent that blends Mediterranean solar accord, notes of a salty breeze and the dry scent of everlasting flowers with the watery cucumber and watermelon notes inspired by the ayu.

The next scent, Friday 2AM Tatami, is the most provocative in the collection. ‘I was born and grew up in a room with tatami,’ says Kuwata. ‘It’s in my DNA, but I realised there’s no scent inspired by tatami on the market right now. So I want to express something unique and also sexy, the smell of a night after a party, so it has this woody but also peppery smell.’

The final scent, 8AM Saturday Hinkoki Buro, is for the day after the party. Inspired by bathing in a tub made from hinkoki wood and its Western equivalent, taking a shower, the scent combines the depth of cyprus wood and musk with fresh touches of warm steam accord and fir needles.

All of the scents in the collection are subtle enough that you might not consciously perceive them at first, but curious enough that they work their way into your mind, like a song you heard in the background and have been humming ever since. On the day I’m introduced to the fragrances, I’m told by three different people that they never wear perfume but will be wearing these; proof that it's a perfume equivalent of the maxim, ‘you say more with less’.

laesetchu.com

In the courtyard of Dover Street Market Paris there stands thirteen portraits. Each measuring three and a half metres tall, they recall classical Greek statues in their emphasis on the curves of the human form and the confidence with which they take up their space.

But these works eschew the idealism of ancient sculptures, zoning in instead on the very human attributes of the living body, whether trans, non-binary or fluid. In Yulia Mahr’s works, sculpted men and passive women are sidestepped in a wider celebration of beauty. Photographed with a thermal camera, they dig beneath the skin to look at what lies beneath.

‘From a young age we are taught how to read depictions of the human body, but thermal imagery can radically transform how we perceive that body, its presence and its emotional impact,’ Mahr says. ‘Whereas traditional photography reflects light and shadow, thermal images show heat and energy. In my black-and-white images, heat appears as gradients of grey, reversing our expectations; a warm body appears as black, a cold strand of hair as white (though I can change this in various modes). Therefore, the body becomes an ephemeral, dynamic heat signature which I can manipulate by temperature regulation to reveal the various patterns of life within it. I can push for it to pick up veins and arteries, or leave it more as broad patterns, especially in younger subjects.’

Photographing in this way distorts the normal identity cues we are used to reading. Mahr, who uses a military grade thermal camera which is usually a means of surveillance for those employed to spot people crossing borders, here endows the process with a positivity and embrace of a new way of seeing.

When displayed in homage to the Greek traditions, the photographs are elevated to a higher status. ‘In Greek statuary size was never neutral but symbolised where people stood in relation to the divine,’ Mahr adds. ‘I’m playing with scale for the same reasons, giving more space to people and concepts that are often pushed to the periphery by mainstream culture. This is a constant in my work.’

The Church of Our Becoming will be on view at the Courtyard at Dover Street Market Paris until 24 August 2025

Today (11 February 2025) Dover Street Market Paris has re-issued a rare piece of Comme des Garçons perfume history: the heart-shaped packaging created for Comme des Garçons 2 in 2005, to mark Valentine’s Day.

Crafted from a silver brillo-pad, it was first designed as a limited edition accoutrement for Comme des Garçons 2, a follow-up to the brand’s olfactory debut Comme des Garçons, which launched in 1999 and 1994 respectively by Rei Kawukubo. Both were composed by nose Mark Buxton, with Comme des Garçons 2, a floral chypre, drawing inspiration from Japanese calligraphy via aldehydic florals and heart notes of ink.

Dover Street Market Paris: Love Hurts

Comme des Garçons recently celebrated three decades of perfume-making, which – as creative director of CDG Parfums Christian Astuguevieille told Dal Chodha for the March 2025 issue of Wallpaper* – is always ‘defined without the notion of beauty’.

Alongside Comme des Garçons 2 and its inky scent profile, the Japanese brand’s roster of 102 fragrances counts Antoine Lie’s Comme des Garcons 2011 (which produces the olfactory illusion of industrial glue and brown scotch tape) and Odeur 10, a recent perfume that recalls the antiseptic aroma of hydrogen peroxide.

There are only 120 units of the special edition Love Hurts packaging, which will fit any one of Mark Atlan’s pebble-like Comme des Garçons’ perfume bottles for the likes of Amazingreen, Blackpepper, Wonderwood, CDG 2 and CDG 2 Man.

They are joined by an edit of bespoke pieces by designers close to Dover Street Market exploring ‘love and all its iterations’. This includes the JW Anderson pigeon bag, dressed up in a custom BDSM harness; a sculptural bodysuit from Duran Lantick (one of Wallpaper’s Design Awards 2025 winners); and a series of caps by Aaron Esh, embroidered with texts from John Donne, PJ Harvey and a ‘Reddit user’.

In addition, Ronnie Cooke Newhouse and Karl Bolander, who have collaborated with Comme des Garçons’ Parfums since its inception, have provided new Love Hurts campaign imagery.

Newhouse’s archival ads can also be found in Dino Simmonet’s book Comme des Garçons’ Parfums 1994 - 2025, available at shop.doverstreetmarket.com.

Dover Street Market Paris, 35-37 Rue Des Francs Bourgeois 75004, doverstreetmarketparis.com.

A holey sweater artfully made using sabotaged knitting machines. Protective bulges layered on to a woman’s body. The soft scents of cardamom, musk and rose emerging from a concrete container in a fine mist. Perfumes introduced as ‘odeurs’ that are not Pour Homme or Pour Femme. A big sexy global department store named after a Mayfair street. Boutiques that pop up and vanish. Japanese fashion house Comme des Garçons is part dazzling exactitude, part sucker punch. One immense, perplexing, juicy work of art.

In 1994, designer Rei Kawakubo’s inventive modus operandi didn’t suggest a move into the more industrial realm of fragrance. Since 1973, she had pushed at the lines of the body, tearing up notions of taste, comfort and status with her clothes. How would these values be translated into a less tangible medium? ‘By telling a story around what was unique and unconventional, by transgressing industry norms about advertising and packaging,’ says Comme des Garçons president Adrian Joffe in the foreword to a new book by Dino Simonett, celebrating 30 years of Comme des Garçons Parfums.

Comme des Garçons perfume: 30 years of disruptive fragrance

The brand’s first fragrance, Eau de Parfum, was launched around the pool at the Ritz Paris, the room decorated with sacks of yellow liquid. Its raison d’être, penned by Kawakubo, was presented in bold Helvetica type across two double pages: ‘A perfume that works like a medicine and behaves like a drug. To excite the feelings, to stir the emotions, to raise the spirit and to make one feel positive. The pleasure of a perfume for oneself.’ With those words, Kawakubo crashed through the fragrance industry’s sedate notions of gender, design and function. She offered a new sense of taste.

She is interested in smells, rather than the business of perfume, a distinction pressed by Comme des Garçons Parfums’ creative director Christian Astuguevieille, who says he doesn’t like things that are ‘too beautiful’ or ‘excessive’ in their beauty. ‘Very beautiful things are, to us, suspicious, boring and unsettling. The concept of Comme des Garçons Parfums is defined without the notion of beauty.’

Astuguevieille – an artist, sculptor, furniture designer, maker of jewellery and objects – is also most certainly not a ‘nose’ yet has overseen the development of some 94 fragrances ranging from the polluted grassiness of London’s Serpentine Gallery location to the classic English rose for Grace Coddington.

When he first met Kawakubo in 1991, they did not talk about perfume. She invited him to create rope sculptures painted black to sit in harmony with her latest collection. ‘And I created an imaginary forest,’ he says. Around the same time, he had been making objects inspired by wabi-sabi and furoshiki in his Paris studio. He is an interlocutor of odour, working between a number of perfumers and Kawakubo herself to translate concepts to elicit the most abstract scents. How would a perfume be if it were offcentre is a question never far from his mind.

As a collaborator on the debut fragrance – acting as co-author and poetic emissary – Astuguevieille described the structure of the original eau de parfum as ‘a journey along which windows open and close in succession’. A precursor to the beauty-product-as-home-sculpture we see so much of today, the bottle was designed to lie horizontally like a stone at the bottom of a stream. Kawakubo created the now-recognisable pebble bottle and the vacuum-packed interior while Franco-American designer Marc Atlan conceptualised the graphic vocabulary for the box and the bottle – all of which still confidently sit out of the mainstream. It embodies Kawakubo’s practice in the most direct way; it is a bottle that cannot stand up yet fits comfortably in the palm of the hand.

At Dover Street Market in London, a tree-like iron structure on the ground floor accommodates the brand’s fragrances. The bottles seem small, humble, regardless of their size. Even when they are 200ml, they are wide not tall; the eye is kept low, you peer at them from above and hover. The pebbles lie face down, seemingly discarded, unassuming and unpretentious – the opposite of the shiny, erect, metallic bottles that are commonplace elsewhere.

All of the vessels for Comme des Garçons Parfums are provocations, ranging from thick glass rectangles, wider than they are tall, to round cylinders and ones that appear to have flat bases but will not stand up. Their boxes appear as utilitarian as Apple products and are free from the embossed logos, thin cellophane, and polyester ribbon that still dominate the wider fragrance industry.

To date, the Comme des Garçons fragrance portfolio includes scents made with a musician, a milliner, a gallery, a muse, an artist, a magazine and a furniture design company. For the last three decades, the notion of ‘guerrilla’ has been key to the output of both Kawakubo and Astuguevieille. ‘Our olfactory research has evolved over time, but the principle has remained our loyalty to audacity and freedom,’ says Astuguevieille. That concept is the freedom to use materials like tar, the smell of clothes drying in the wind or of a garage, while knowing how to use classic substances like vetiver and patchouli. ‘We prefer not to be stuck in a category, but to be free and different.

Comme des Garçons Parfums 1994-2025, a new book by Dino Simonett celebrating three decades of Comme des Garçons disruptive fragrances, is available now at shop.doverstreetmarket.com.

comme-des-garcons-parfum.com

A version of this article appears in the March 2025 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on international newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

Preparations for Lunar New Year are well underway, with many readying themselves to embrace the Year of the Wood Snake. This year’s Chinese zodiac animal represents wisdom, charm, elegance and transformation, and these characteristics are interpreted across some of London’s favourite foodie hotspots from playfully serpentine bao buns to specialty coffees, carefully orchestrated tasting menus to afternoon teas. With so much going on in the city we have put together Wallpaper*s own guide to navigating the Lunar New Year (from 29 January until 8 February 2025).

Our guide to celebrating the Lunar New Year

Where to snack

 Dim Sum by China Tang at Harrods

In the iconic Harrods Dining Hall, Dim Sum by China Tang, (the sister restaurant to the renowned China Tang at The Dorchester) offers decadent bite size parcels that satisfy. With a variety of flavours from scallop dumpling topped with caviar, to crispy vegetable spring rolls, to Wagyu taro puffs, it is a delicious quick fix on busier shopping days. There are also a variety of other dishes which include Iberico pork xiao long bao soup dumplings and the half roast Peking duck, which can be accompanied with a gin-based Tang Tea cocktail which packs a punch.

BAO London's serpentine pastries

One of London’s cult favourite steamed bun hotspots, BAO London is known not only for its pillowy Taiwanese bao buns, but also for its playful interpretations of Chinese zodiac animals, from its dragon buns last year to tiger claw shaped pastries the year before. Of course, this year does not disappoint with a limited number of pistachio-filled Year of the Snake baked goods, which are carefully piped like a serpent.

Year of the Wood Snake Bao Bakery Goods are available from 20 January baolondon.com

Shangri-La's Lunar New Year afternoon tea

If your sweet tooth needs more than a pastry to satisfy, then an afternoon tea might hit the spot. Located at Shangri-La’s Ting restaurant, its Lunar New Year afternoon tea honours the traditions of the season. The menu includes snake-like treats such as the ‘Red Serpent’, a dark chocolate mousse with Sichuan pepper and yuzu to the Mandarin, a spiced milk chocolate mousse with mandarin, its flavours selected to symbolise luck and prosperity.

Priced from £78 per person at ting-shangri-la.com

Where to dine

Canton Blue at The Peninsula London

Celebrating its rich Asian heritage (founded in Hong Kong in 1928, before expanding to having many outposts around the world), The Peninsula London has an archive of Lunar New Year activities to enjoy. Guests staying at the hotel on 29 January will witness a traditional Lion and Dragon Dance performance. The hotel's elegant Canton Blue restaurant will become Canton ‘Red’ for the evening, offering a three course menu. Traditional red envelopes will be handed out to guests, while a Chinese calligrapher will be crafting messages of prosperity. If a more hands-on activity is of interest, the restaurant’s Tea Lounge will be hosting daily tea masterclasses.

www.peninsula.com

Chop Chop by Four Seasons

If you want to ring in the festivities until the early hours of the morning, then Chop Chop has you covered. Open until 4 am the restaurant by the Four Seasons is located in the Hippodrome Casino. With a menu of dim sum and noodles, to high quality pork, duck and chicken, for Lunar New Year the restaurant will also be gifting guests a traditional hongbao red envelope as a symbol for good fortune, prosperity, and blessings for the new year. Even better for those born under the snake Chinese Zodiac sign as they will also get a 20% discount off the entire menu. If that is not a symbol of good fortune, then we don’t know what is.

If you want to discover more late-night restaurants worth staying up for read more here

www.hippodromecasino.com

Gouqi's special edition set menu

There is an array of Chinese restaurants to choose from in London and we are almost spoiled for choice, especially with those boasting exquisite contemporary interiors and authentic food inspired by the modern metropolis of Shanghai or Chongqing. We have put together our pick of the best Chinese restaurants in London, each offering a unique take on the Lunar New Year with a tailored menu to fit the occasion. One of those to note is Gouqi’s Chinese New Year set menu offering dishes from Dried Oyster, Fat Choy & Fried Bean Curd Fortune Dumpling to Crispy Pipa Chicken with Szechuan Sesame Sauce.

gouqi-restaurants.co.uk

Hunan crafts a Lunar New Year tasting selection

For those who hate making a decision when it comes to food Hunan’s solution is to do away with the menu altogether. A Wallpaper* favourite, the Chinese restaurant tailors its food to what you like and don’t like to eat, and carefully crafts 12 to 18 miniature dishes to try. To celebrate the Lunar New Year Hunan have put together a set dinner menu varying from Steamed black cod with chilli dressing and Lo mai gai, lotus leaf wrapped pork for mains to home made mochi with black sesame and ginger broth for dessert.

hunanlondon.com

What to drink

Rémy Martin XO cognac

In collaboration with Chinese artist Huang Yuxing, the cognac house Rémy Martin presents a special and limited edition Lunar New Year cognac. The Rémy Martin XO decanter and box is decorated with the artist's colourful drawings. The outer box boasts snake motifs, which slides open to showcase the decanter’s serpentine decoration and fluid shapes. The tasting notes are fiery, with layers of fruit from plums and dried figs, candied orange, passionfruit and a hint of honey. This is rounded off with a hazelnut and nutmeg tasting notes, finished with hints of cocoa beans and gingerbread

The Rémy Martin Lunar New Year 2025 XO cognac is £205.00 and available to buy at Selfridges www.selfridges.com

Bespoke cocktails at Hakkassan

Toast the year in chic style with bespoke cocktails at Hakkassan. The modern Cantonese restaurant offers a menu of tailored cocktails ,partnered with Hennessy. ‘The Snake’, created by mixologists Marcio Macedo & Peter Szamra, is a mix of Hennessy V.S.O.P, Campari, Sichuan pepper & strawberry, coconut, pomegranate, grapefruit, and supasawa. With an alcohol free iteration also available. For something less sweet the ‘X.O Old Fashioned’ is a blend of Hennessy X.O, kumquat saccharum, and Peychaud Bitters. To further immerse yourself within the celebrations, the restaurant also invites guests to write wishes for the year ahead on its ‘wishing ribbons’ and hang them on its handcrafted ‘wishing trees’.

hakkasan.com

Mothaiba's pandan leaf infusion

If you are planning on hosting your own Lunar New Year festivities then Mothaiba is a pandan vodka – made with pandan leaves from Vietnam – made for a perfect martini to toast good fortune in the Year of the Wood Snake. Mothaiba – named after the expression ‘Mot Hai Ba!’ that people exclaim before a toast in Vietnam – is also infused with makrut lime leaves, lime zest and ginger to create a crisp and refreshing flavour.

mothaiba.co.uk

Origin's limited edition coffee blends from China, Thailand and Taiwan

Origin has launched a limited-edition coffee collection featuring three intriguing coffees from Qing Yè from Taiwan, Fuyan from China, and Sirinya from Thailand. Fuyan offers notes of plum, orange, and brown sugar, while Sirinya offers flavours of Pink Lady apple, apricot, and raisin. The special-edition Qing Yè offers a flavour profile of apricot, cranberry, and Earl Grey tea, with a medium body, vibrant acidity, and floral finishing notes.

The Lunar New Year coffee collection at Origin. Prices range from £20.60-£28.00 origincoffee.co.uk

What to buy

Trudon glass and ceramic tealight holder

Centuries old French perfumer and imperial candle maker Trudon have released a Lunar New Year candle holder. Trudon La Promeneuse Red Edition is a diffusing lantern made from 100% ceramic and glass, with brass hardware. The design offers a red tinted glass exterior, with a ridged striped façade and a curved handle made in France.

Trudon La Promeneuse Red Edition is £350 and available to buy here

BAO x Dover Street Market's tasty treats, merch, and a quirky installation

One of London’s cult favourite steamed bun hotspots, BAO London, launches BAO & Friends across Dover Street Market (DSM) in London, Ginza and Singapore to welcome in the Lunar New Year. Partnering with DSM, BAO unveils its ‘Convenience Store’ installation in London and Ginza, Tokyo until 3 February. The design of the quirky pop-up came from the local stores throughout Taiwan, with the BAO & Friends ‘Convenience Store’ displaying limited edition Year of the Snake items and BAO’s signature ‘Lonely Man’ illustrations across products such as embroidered caps to engraved Zippo lighters. Accompanying the collaboration are pieces from well-loved brands including a snake necklace by Simone Rocha to Lunar New Year T-shirts and totes from Carhartt WIP, to rubber clogs by Deathmask, to name a few.

The BAO Convenience Store at Dover Street Market London, Ginza and Singapore will be open from 16 January until 3rd February selling limited edition DSM Exclusive collaborations in addition to BAO’s own merch and special items. Also available on the DSML e shop doverstreetmarket.com

Fortnum & Mason's piped biscuits are too pretty to eat... almost

Fortnum and Mason of course has a selection of hampers, gifts and confectionery to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Highlights include Lunar New Year Iced Biscuits, intricately decorated gingerbread biscuits featuring a lantern, a Koi Karp, a fan, a boat and a snake; and a ‘Cup of Good Fortune’, a sweet blend of Bai Mu Dan white tea with Rose Petals and Lychee flavouring, packaged in a red and gold tin.

Lunar New Year Iced Biscuits £19.95 and Cup of Good Fortune Loose Leaf Tea Tin £16.95 available at .fortnumandmason.com

What to see

Yauatcha's traditional lion dance performance and pineapple buns

Alongside a new limited edition menu, zesty pineapple pastries and snake-inspired decorations Yuatacha, Soho’s Cantonese dim sum teahouse will also be hosting a traditional lion dance. On 1 February the performance is set to bring in good luck and fortune to the new year.

taogroup.com

Chinatown's annual parade

If you are willing to brave the crowds, Chinatown offers a variety of celebrations and performances bringing together east and south east Asian traditions and culture through festivities, dishes and decorations. Its annual parade will take place on 2 February, starting from East of Trafalgar Square to Chinatown, with an abundance of lion dance performances beforehand.

chinatown.co.uk

Artisanal representations of metaphysical ideas, the objects of desire coming out of Kiki Karayiannis’ jewellery atelier, Vasiliki, shine bright with this committed young designer’s individuality and innate flair. Some are bold, others subtle, but all Karayiannis’ designs convey the quality of originality that has made her one of the jewellery world’s most exciting names to watch.

For inspiration the designer turns to Ancient Greek, Japanese and Norse mythologies, plus postmodern novelists Borges and Ballard, before hand-molding offbeat forms that represent their stories and symbols in her own abstracted way. Whether earrings, necklaces, bracelets or rings, her creations tend to be fluid, bearing an artisanal charm that stands out in a machine-led world. Sometimes gnarly, always organic, each of her miniature sculptures feels precious to wear because of the passion and care put into its making.

Despite having killer looks, Karayiannis has been relatively camera shy until now, largely evading portraits and modelling requests from her creative scene friends for years. For our shoot with photographer Marco Arguello at her space beside Philopappou Hill in Koukaki – the neighbourhood between the Acropolis and contemporary art museum EMST – she’s paired a hotel pyjama shirt from her recent trip to Japan with a heavy kilt and ballet pumps, accessorised of course with a few of her own accents.

Proteus, Orlando, Ursula, Gilgamesh – this motley crew of charismatic personae inhabit the Vasiliki world, lending their assorted associations to be solidified at Karayiannis’ craft-worn fingertips. The designer says she enlists these archetypes 'as consoling protections against the violence of the here and now,' tapping into a fortifying psychic pool in which eternal associations reside. Each kink, gloop, (de)formation is a micro-tribute to randomness and digression, in contrast to the blandness of uniformity she feels has taken over.

Besides its founder’s vivid imagination, the treasure in Vasiliki’s toolbox is craftsman Spiros Amanatidis, now aged 73. He ran his own Classical and Byzantine revivalist jewellery company for years with his brother, and today makes pieces for the admired Lalaounis house. Karayiannis’ designs emerge from their close collaboration and hours of detailed conversations. 'We’ve had a strong emotional connection since we first met, and he’s one of the only craftsmen I know willing to create everything by hand.'

Amanatidis handmakes each Vasiliki chain, some requiring over 100 hand-turned links, which is a rarity these days and gives the label its organic style. Greece has a rich historical jewellery culture and Karayiannis learned her techniques by studying with local craftsmen, which is how she found Amanatidis. Spending long hours at their work tables, she not only learned about mould making and stone setting, she also picked up Greek.

Karayiannis is committed to sourcing ethical materials wherever possible, which is easier with metals than it is with stones (sapphires, emeralds, tourmalines, lemon quartz) but she persists, working with a network of dealers she met at London’s ethical gemstone fairs. Sometimes she repurposes antique diamonds from heirloom pieces she finds at auction, inherited by clients, or from her craftsman’s stash. She works exclusively with precious solid metals – recycled sterling silver and Fairtrade-certified gold. Over the years the designer has donated various pieces to raise funds for regional causes. Her mother had to leave Cyprus abruptly at nine years old after the 1974 Turkish invasion, and Karayiannis is sensitive to the conditions around the Eastern Mediterranean she’s chosen to make her home.

Bespoke one-of-a-kind commissions are where the dynamic designer’s talents come into their own as she imagines unique sculptures to suit an individual’s character, style and needs. In 2020 for example, she crafted a bouquet of protective amulet pendants for a painter friend to wear on a chain, re-envisaging the age-old icons of the cross and evil eye in her charming gloopy hand. More recently she’s come up with spherical solid gold vessels, gemstone-studded chains, irregular gold cufflinks, and molten splashes of kintsugi to rehabilitate a broken pearl.

There have inevitably been more than a few engagement rings too, for which she’s tested her capacity to transform something standardised into something unusual, creating a diamond encrusted organic band for a gallerist, a rich molten version of a solitaire with cabochon emeralds for an artist, and an ancient-looking eternity ring with princess-cut rubies for an architect.

You can find Vasiliki at Sense online, as well as small boutiques like Sekt & Sekt in Basel and Bureau in Taipei. When in 2022 she was commissioned by fashion brand Nanushka to design a silver collection for them, she came up with bulbous bracelets and fibrous ear cuffs. Last year, for chic new perfume boutique Phaon, she created delicate pinched gold candlesticks each on three twiggy legs, which she’s since made available to purchase upon request.

At a warehouse in Piraeus port district (previously used for plates designed to be broken at Greek weddings…) she collaborated with curator Alix Janta on an exhibition with fourteen artists from across Europe to install a series of object dialogues riffing on ideas of fantasy and metamorphosis. Faye Wei Wei made ceramics, Zoe Paul sculpted marble, and Matilde Cerruti Quara performed a poem, each adorned in Vasiliki. Karayiannis got a First in Fine Art and History of Art at London’s aptly titled Goldsmiths before coming to Athens on a trip in 2019 and deciding to stay. Besides being quite the aesthete, she’s a complex, detailed, ideas-led person, which lends her jewellery its variety and depth.

How does the designer feel about the way the Greek capital has changed in the years since she arrived? 'It used to feel like my hideout, like some kind of dreamworld bubble of ancient and urban ruins where I could work on my designs. Now it’s much more social, more collaborative, there’s so much happening.'

One of the things that’s very much happening is Vasiliki. The studio launch was heaving like a house party and private commissions keep coming in for clients ranging from the household names of fashion celebrity to grandes dames of arts patronage. So what does the future hold for this shapeshifting designer? 'I want to expand the Vasiliki universe, I like bringing its sensibilities into everyday life. We now have butter knives, ashtrays and hors d’oeuvres spoons – it might be time to start filling the room!'

vasiliki.studio

Dover Street Market is celebrating two decades of ‘beautiful chaos’. Opening its doors in London's Mayfair in 2004, the radical concept store was founded by Comme des Garçon’s Rei Kawakubo and her husband Adrian Joffe with a simple mission: to offer a shopping experience without definitions. Departments were intentionally mixed up, windows changed constantly, and visual arts institutions and creatives were invited to bring their subversive ideas into the space. Moving to the cavernous site in Haymarket below Piccadilly in 2016 – potentially an act of retail suicide that luckily paid off – while expanding to outposts in Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles and Paris, Dover Street Market has, over the years, come to represent so much more than a store. It's the beating heart of Comme des Garçons, a touchpoint for a global community of creatives, and an incubator for emerging design talent. Never sticking to convention and always evolving, it is above all a place where people can connect with one another and feel inspired.

Incredible displays have been a part of life at Dover Street Market since the beginning. In a practice linked to its Tachiagari turnover – where the store closes for a few days each season to be reimagined anew – everyone from Ai Weiwei to Karl Lagerfeld has been given free rein over the space. In efforts that have often kept staff working through the night, these interventions have seen Stephen Jones festoon hundreds of hats from the ceiling; artist Matt Clark sail a captainless boat through the window; and a huge wooden structure with positive aphorisms penned by Kawakubo, made in celebration of DSM’s tenth anniversary, which very nearly got vice president Dickon Bowden arrested by Westminster City Council. ‘Storytelling is not just one thing,’ says Joffe, when asked why these installations are a vital part of DSM’s world. ‘Experiences are better when deeper and wider.’

Marking 20 years of radical retail, the store has planned a carnival of displays and special releases with Undercover, Cav Empt, and more, set to be unleashed in Haymarket this week. As celebrations get underway, here Wallpaper* looks back at the most memorable installations in Dover Street Market’s history.

Two decades of Dover Street Market installations

Heaven by Marc Jacobs, 2022

In 2020, Marc Jacobs channelled his inner teenage angst into the launch of the diffusion line, Heaven. Drawing upon subcultures like grunge and rave, the youthful offshoot of his namesake label was a stratospheric success from the word go, and has since caused frenzy with rebellious collaborations alongside Kiko Kostadinov, Dilara Findikoglu, and Isabella Burley’s Climax Books. In 2022, the brand found a spiritual home in the basement of Dover Street Market, the area of the store that houses fledgling brands and where DSM’s youngest customers can access a piece of its world at more affordable price points. Brought to life by John Scharbach, the installation resembled a suburban teenage bedroom on acid, complete with a wall made from hundreds of teddy bears, a plush colourful carpet and logo neon light. No parents allowed!

Simone Rocha, 2021

After several lockdowns and a year of working, for the most part, at a distance from others, the start of 2021 marked a year of strange seclusion around the world. Livestreamed from an empty Gothic Revival church in central London, Simone Rocha’s ‘Winter Roses’ A/W 2021 collection was a product of these disjointed months, fusing the formality of school pinafores with airy, dreamlike dresses and looks of a darker mood. As ever with the Irish designer, it was about being tough and tender at the same time. In celebration of ten years of her brand, and after having to show the collection digitally, the designer decided to bring the church to Dover Street Market, where a sturdy house-like structure was erected on the ground floor. Its walls were printed with the angelic figures found in the stained glass windows of St John’s Hyde Park.

Martin Parr, 2019

Few photographers have captured the quirks of British identity as prolifically, and with such accuracy, as Martin Parr. In 2019, a retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery celebrated the seminal photographer’s enduring fascination with people, bringing together some of his most recognisable works from the past five decades with never-before-seen photographs. To coincide with the landmark Only Human show, Parr designed an installation at Dover Street Market that brought the unbeautiful charm of his images into the 3D realm. Channelling the sunburnt splendour of his iconic 1980s series, The Last Resort, the photographer brought objects of English coastal nostalgia into the store, such as a plastic Mr Whippy ice cream cone, toy capsule vending machines, and a weather-beaten wooden bench.

Hello! 30th Anniversary, 2018

Over the past 20 years of Dover Street Market, frequenters of the store have learnt to expect the unexpected. The gossipy headlines of Hello! magazine might feel like a universe apart from the conceptual beauty of Comme des Garçons, but nevertheless, in 2018, DSM had its fun celebrating the British tabloid’s 30th birthday with an installation imagined by visionary set designer Andy Hillman. Emblazoned with red and white signage that read ‘Haymarket!’, a temporary newsagent stall sold items that started at the price point of 75p, including notebooks, mugs, and bottle openers.

Comme des Garçons, 2016

Rei Kawakubo’s A/W 2016 collection for Comme des Garçons was a particularly memorable display of the designer’s genius. Sending a procession of floral warriors down the runway in exaggerated silhouettes made from rose jacquards, leather bondage, and upholstered armour, it drew upon the spirit of punks and the revolutions of the 18th century. Imagined by Kawakubo herself, an austere metal structure that resembled a temple was built in the store, under which her warriors stood proudly in formation as if ready for battle.

Loewe, 2015

In 2022, Jonathan Anderson released his viral pigeon clutch – perhaps the year’s most headline-grabbing accessory – which was made even more famous by its cameo on And Just Like That in 2023. Hardcore fans of the designer will know, however, that the Irish designer’s love for bringing animals into his surreal world stretches back some years. Before the pigeon and his frog-shaped Wellipet shoes, Anderson invented the adorable – and now mainstay – Elephant crossbody bag for Loewe, which realised the curves of the gentle giant in supple calfskin leather. To mark its release, Anderson teamed up with Dover Street Market to create a life-size elephant in cheerful technicolour stripes, which towered over 10ft tall on the ground floor of Haymarket.

JW Anderson, 2016

Jonathan Anderson created his first window installation for Dover Street Market ten years ago. On the precipice of becoming one of the most important British designers of our times, that year Anderson’s men’s and women’s collections had an architectural quality to them – all strange angular cuts and dramatic silhouettes – and he described the men he imagined for S/S 2014 as ‘columns.’ With the ancient act of building on his mind, it made sense that his debut installation at DSM resembled a town, seeing sky blue walls and turrets snake together in a conceptual city for passers-by to admire in a window adjacent to DSM’s iconic white spheres.

Octopus, 2008

The gallery-like proportions of Dover Street Market have allowed space for installations of impressive scale. The team has taken advantage of this in manifold ways over the years. One particularly playful example saw a gargantuan octopus sculpture take over a corner of the shop. Created by Les Trois Garçons back in 2009, the piece was carved by hand and finished with glossy black resin and metal disks for suckers. Its tentacles wrapped around the walls, as if the mollusc was making a move to ascend the wooden spiral staircase at the heart of the store.

Tim Walker, 2008

Dover Street Market is a place where fashion’s most inventive fantasies can be experienced and touched; where you can lose yourself for a little while in a thousand different stories told by clothes. In 2008, the store celebrated an escapism of a similar kind, marking the release of Tim Walker’s now-highly collectible book, Pictures. Drawing upon the fairy tales that have shaped the legendary photographer’s ambitious tableaux images, a human-scale wooden drummer puppet sat in the window display with a dozen hand-painted drums tumbling around him, a copy of Walker’s fashion tome sat at his feet. While it may not be the biggest or brashest project the team has pulled off, the poetic display was, however, one of the store’s most beautiful – and also one of Joffe’s all-time personal favourites.

Last night at Dover Street Market New York, we celebrated the launch of the October issue of Wallpaper* by hosting a live performance and signing event with St. Vincent.

St. Vincent – one of three guest editors for October, alongside architect Marcio Kogan and chef and food artist, Laila Gohar – indulged her latest creative endeavour: making “post-industrial dance music for clubs I’ve never been to”. Throughout a 30 minute electronic set, from the Dover Street mezzanine, St. Vincent debuted unheard music, including a remix of Broken Man from her latest album, All Born Screaming.

Afterwards she took the time to meet the 200+ guests in attendance, signing the cover of her edition of Wallpaper* while they enjoyed cocktails and sipping tequila, courtesy of Casa Dragones.

Take a peek inside last night’s invite-only event.

Photos by Andrew Morale.

London fashion has always been defined by a mood of eclecticism, where the establishment – the meticulous precision of Savile Row, Knightsbridge’s gleaming department stores – meets the convention-breaking, from the punkish glamour of Vivienne Westwood to Alexander McQueen’s savage beauty, or the playful, idiosyncratic approach of Jonathan Anderson.

When it comes to shopping in the city, you will find a similarly diverse offering – from big-name boutiques and classic department stores to the best in vintage, alongside the sleek and experimental – which continues to draw international shoppers off their phones and onto the streets. Here, Wallpaper* selects the very best fashion stores London has to offer.

A guide to the best fashion stores London has to offer

Dover Street Market

Moving from its eponymous Dover Street address to Haymarket in 2016 – a short walk from the busy Piccadilly Circus – Rei Kawakubo and Adrian Joffe’s conceptual fashion market remains London’s most thought-provoking boutique. Across the vast 31,000 sq ft space, Dover Street Market London shoppers will find not only pieces from the various Comme des Garçons lines (Kawakubo is also the founder and creative director of the Japanese label), but an array of brands spanning streetwear, luxury houses, and the international avant-garde, as well as plenty of rising talent. ‘People’s expectations rise and you have to rise with them. The question is how do we make DSM even more surprising and create something that you don’t expect?' Joffe told Wallpaper* when the store opened. Indeed, traversing the labyrinthine space, which unfolds over five floors, reveals hidden displays and spaces – head all the way to the top and you’ll be rewarded by a London outpost of the Parisian Rose Bakery, where cakes and pastries line the steel countertop. Read more.

18–22 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4DG.

london.doverstreetmarket.com

Alaïa

Fashion and art unite in Alaïa’s sleek London flagship, seeing a changing roster of artists – including Sarah Lucas, Thomas Ruff, Steven Shearer and Sterling Ruby – line the space’s gallery-like white walls (the selection is curated by creative director Pieter Mulier). Meanwhile, in an echo of house founder Azzedine Alaïa’s meticulous eye for interiors, Marc Newson’s ‘Pelota’ lamps, chairs by Gerrit Rietveld, Gio Ponti and Franco Albini, and tables by Shiro Kuramata populate the two-storey space, providing a satisfying backdrop for Mulier’s latest clothing and accessories collections. Another nod to the late Azzedine Alaïa comes in an industrially designed kitchen on the second floor – a reference to the late couturier’s Paris home, where he would memorably host home-cooked dinners for his creative milieu of friends and muses. Read more.

139 New Bond St, London, W1S 2TL.

maison-alaia.com

Climax

Though not a fashion store per se, Climax bookstore has become a favourite with fashion industry insiders – so much so, it has collaborated with Heaven by Marc Jacobs and, most recently, Chopova Lowena on a capsule collection. Founded by former Dazed editor-in-chief and current Acne Studios chief marketing officer Isabella Burley, it promises an array of rare and out-of-print tomes, focussing on photography, erotica and counterculture, as well as objects and ephemera. ‘It's about us not just being seen as a second-hand bookstore but having a world, a kind of universe around us that encompasses many different things, not just books,’ Burley told Wallpaper* after opening a New York Climax earlier this month (September 2024). ‘I think books are the foundation of Climax and what we've been trying to do, but it's really fun to think: what is Climax beyond that?’ As such, as well as collaborations, Climax is also a burgeoning publishing house, with Martine Syms and Del LaGrace Volcano monographs in the works.

Climax Books HQ, 5 Wardour Mews, London, W1F 8AL.

climaxbooks.com

Sunspel

While Sunspel has always been a spot for those seeking the best in basics (such is the brand’s appeal, it was the undergarment of choice for Daniel Craig’s James Bond), a relatively new store on Jermyn Street takes the process of honing the world’s best T-shirt one step further. Alongside the usual product range, those visiting the store – which is situated on a street synonymous with made-to-measure style – can have a bespoke T-shirt made, cut to their body shape and requirements (whether a slightly shorter sleeve, higher neckline, or particular colour of cotton). After being measured in-store, the T-shirt will be made in the brand’s historic Long Eaton factory. Also in the store is an ongoing exhibition space, showcasing both the brand’s history and hosting intimate events for the Sunspel community.

23 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6ST.

sunspel.com

Harrods

Steadily approaching two centuries in business, the 1849-founded department store Harrods is a stalwart of London shopping, long attracting hordes of tourists to the Knightsbridge address – whether seeking teddy bears, tea or tote bags, and particularly so when the 19th-century exterior is illuminated for Christmas with its signature rows of string lights. Though recent years have seen Harrods shake off its somewhat stodgy reputation, as it has drafted in a slew of big-name brands for blockbuster takeovers – among them Dior (a gingerbread world for Christmas), Louis Vuitton (complete with an enormous Yayoi Kusama), and Burberry (a blue-lit facade and Burberry-clad porters). This is alongside a promised £200 million renovation of the store’s fashion areas – including an already-completed lingerie and sleepwear area designed by David Collins Studio with all the marble and gleaming glass you would expect, and a near-encyclopedic menswear department on the lower ground floor.

87-135 Brompton Road, London, SW1X 7XL.

harrods.com

Celine

A ‘carnival of materials, furniture and art’ is how Wallpaper’s Dal Chodha described the Hedi Slimane-designed Celine outpost on London’s Bond Street. Indeed, the gleaming space features opulent panels of marble, white walls and neoclassical mouldings, alongside a selection of contemporary art and furniture that reflects Slimane’s singular vision as creative director of the house, which combines classical French luxury and savoir-faire with a countercultural flair. For a truly intimate encounter with the store’s catalogue of artworks, seek out the men’s fitting room which features the 1670 oil painting Portrait of Maximilien de Bethune Duc de Sully of the Flemish school – surely a changing room first. Read more.

40 New Bond Street, London, W1S 2RX.

celine.com

Rellik

Located on west London’s Golborne Road in the shadow of the Ernő Goldfinger-designed Brutalist Trellick Tower, vintage store Rellik is the domain of Fiona Stuart, Steven Philips and Claire Stansfield, who have long sourced some of the city’s most unique vintage finds – from punk-era Vivienne Westwood to rare Maison Martin Margiela, Azzedine Alaïa, and John Galliano, as well as 1930s underwear, costume jewellery and millinery. A spirit of anarchy still defines the small, busy store, though it has become beloved by establishment names from Kate Moss to Kim Jones, and was recently taken over by Valentino for the house’s vintage exchange project.

8 Golborne Road, London, W10 5NW.

relliklondon.co.uk

Balenciaga

Step in Balenciaga’s Bond Street store and you might be mistaken for thinking you have stepped into a site that is still in construction. Indeed the raw concrete walls – each one painstakingly ‘distressed’ by hand – were made to recall ‘the warehouse, the carpark, the emptied gallery – places that have hosted a palimpsest of activities,’ said Niklas Bildstein Zaar and Andrea Faraguna of the Berlin-based studio Sub, who collaborated with Balenciaga creative director Demna on the space. It makes shopping akin to walking onto a film set, leaving you to wonder what is real and what is fake, all the way down to the patina of rust on enormous concrete girders. Demna calls it ‘raw architecture’, and it makes for a shopping experience like no other. Read more.

24-25 New Bond Street, London, W1S 2RR.

balenciaga.com

The Row

The Row’s London outpost is an exercise in refinement: which other store in London greets you with one of James Turrell’s glowing orbs in the entranceway? Elsewhere, a tasteful array of objects and furniture adore the airy space, a reflection of the design-focussed universe Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have curated at their 2006-founded label. Located just off Mount Street – an afternoon of shopping in itself – it makes for a serene haven in which to peruse the brand’s men’s and womenswear collections, which marry ascetic design with enveloping fabrications and flourishes of craft and play. And it's only getting better. But so is demand – with searches up 93 per cent on Lyst, we advise befriending store staff to get a heads up on new arrivals.

5 Carlos Place, London, W1K 2EY

therow.com

Aries

Aries founder Sofia Prantera envisages the skatewear brand’s Soho outpost as a kind of ‘library’ for its community, hosting not only its collections but an outpost of Paris café Paperboy, a bookstore, and a vast basement which can be transformed for events and screenings. Meanwhile, the store design echoes what she calls the ‘temple and the rat’ ethos of Aries (a reference to Fergus Purcell’s playful graphics for the brand), seeing the brand traverse the worlds of luxury design and streetwear. Here, a marble staircase references Carlo Scarpa’s Venetian architecture, while sparse concrete floors, strip lighting and scaffold poles meet luxurious Italian furniture. ‘[Since the beginning], our identity is all about this duality – the elevated temple and the decay of the rat,’ Prantera told Wallpaper* when the store opened. Read more.

31 Great Pulteney Street, London, W1F 9NN.

ariesarise.com

Baraboux

Sarah Faisel, owner of the east London-based vintage store Baraboux, has fashion in her blood. Named after a fashion business run by her mother – which then sold leather goods and handbags – Faisel has since turned Baraboux into a fashion archive which collates a sleek edit of pieces which lean towards 1990s minimalism (in stock currently, S/S 1990 Prada capri shorts, a Maison Martin Margiela ‘sock boot’ from A/W 1999, and plenty of Helmut Lang). Housed in Hackney’s Netil House (by appointment only), Faisel says that ‘in a world of excess, Baraboux aims to provide just what you need: nothing more and nothing less’.

Netil House, 1 Westgate St, London E8 3RL.

baraboux.com

JW Anderson

Soho is not the typical address for a fashion store, though Jonathan Anderson – lover of the strange and the idiosyncratic – is no ordinary designer. Housed next door to the ‘Las Vegas’ amusement arcade in a former corner shop, the JW Anderson store features gleaming neon lights (a nod to its neighbour) alongside sleek shelving housing the brand’s famed accessories, like the Bumper bag. A more enveloping basement level features curtains of fabric and rough plaster walls, which 6a architect Tom Emerson (who designed the space) says is ‘how you might finish a London basement that you would never expect anyone to see'. ‘As much as everyone is consumed with the online experience, it's still important to have a physical space,’ Anderson told Wallpaper when it opened in early 2020. ‘It's kind of like porn somehow. Everyone can get porn online but they still come into Soho. Everyone can get fashion online but they will still come into Soho.' Read more.

2 Brewer Street, London, W1F 0SA.

jwanderson.com

For Nicholas Moltke, good design is synonymous with classical architecture, both characterised by nods to geometric forms and textural play. It is something that runs throughout Moltke’s eponymous jewellery brand, available exclusively at Dover Street Market, London.

The ‘Abacus’ collection, crafted in recycled gold and featuring lab-grown diamonds, is distinguished by two patented cuts. Rings, necklaces, bracelets and hoops juxtapose these distinctive stones with a hypnotic interplay of gold and diamonds. Here, Moltke takes us inside his young brand.

Inside jewellery brand Moltke

Wallpaper*: Can you tell us a bit about the philosophy of the brand? How is it shaped around your interest in design and architecture?

Nicholas Moltke: The Moltke philosophy is rooted in a desire to merge contemporary art, stone masonry and classical architecture design principles with diamond and jewellery design. In doing so, a new language and visual universe emerges. For me, it’s about pursuing a sense of truth. The additional dimension of my philosophy is craftsmanship and excellence, developing unique diamond cuts and crafting a new jewellery language takes decades-long experience and skill. When I was in my late teens I was focused on becoming an architect, my fascination with form and creation was only second to my obsession for gemstones and diamonds. In the end, I chose to submerge myself in the world of diamonds. Yet, it was my interest in the principles laid out by Vitruvius (80–70 BC) that now, three decades later, I have fused with diamond design.

W*: Graphic design codes imbue these precious materials with a modernity. How would you characterise your aesthetic?

NM: My aesthetic is primarily contemporary minimalism mixed with a generous amount of sensuality. Geometric shapes are an important source of truth for me; they have their own universal language and were used in stone masonry. These principles have, however, never been applied to diamond design, as there has been a mild obsession with designing and cutting diamonds that prioritise brilliance. This is why you will see geometric shapes having a central position in my visual universe, which also takes cues from contemporary art. I grew up in Copenhagen, and Danish design, which epitomises a blend of beauty, utility, timelessness, simplicity, and enduring quality, has played an important role in shaping my aesthetic. Travelling the world and living in the UK (London), Botswana (Gaborone) and Belgium (Antwerp) has also influenced my aesthetic into something more global. My passion for precious materials, sustainability, quality, utility, form and craftsmanship are all interconnected; but with Moltke I wanted to showcase these in a more sensual and global way.

W*: Why are you keen to work with lab-grown diamonds?

NM: It would be incredibly challenging to create my designs and diamond cuts using natural diamonds, firstly because it would be impossible to find enough of the right rough stones to cut these shapes from. Secondly, there would be too much waste when cutting natural rough diamonds. Across different creative fields, there is impetus to explore new materials, understand how they can be optimised and how they can be adopted to help reduce human footprint. Sustainability for me is not just about carbon footprint, that is too simplistic. It’s also about understanding utility and waste. Using lab-grown diamonds was the only viable option if I wanted to unlock the design vision I have created for Moltke. Rough lab-grown diamond crystals enable experimentation and innovation, as very large exceptional high-quality crystals can be grown, allowing for low waste and a zero footprint. Using lab-grown diamonds facilitates me to pursue truth in my designs in a way that natural diamonds do not.

W*: What are the main challenges you have encountered when creating your pieces?

NM: Creating a whole new design language is incredibly challenging. Developing the ‘Abacus Diamond’ took close to two years to perfect. I worked tirelessly with our master diamond cutter in our Antwerp atelier to develop this unique cut. Together we went through multiple stages of adjusting facet angles to develop optimal light performance and flash of light. In conjunction with the cut development, we ran a parallel process of experimentations with multiple techniques to hand-set the Abacus in 18ct gold. The precision and consistency needed by our diamond cutters to cut the Abacus is remarkable. From a design perspective, taking the principles of classical architecture and stone masonry and applying them to a miniature scale and diamonds is challenging, but beauty has emerged as a testament to taking a different approach while using century-old design and craftsmanship principles.

doverstreetmarket.com

‘Beautiful chaos,’ is how Adrian Joffe describes the ‘credo’ of Dover Street Market, the unconventional fashion store that he opened with his wife, Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo, on London’s Dover Street in 2014. Part of the Comme des Garçons umbrella – the Japanese fashion label known for its avant-garde collections and anti-fashion approach – Dover Street Market, which now has outposts around the world, has always struck a similar mood. Featured designers and brands straddle both establishment and counterculture, while the ever-changing, inventive interiors feature not only clothing but installations and pop-ups spanning art, photography and literature, even food.

The store’s latest outpost – which marks the eighth Dover Street Market – is revealed today (10 May 2024), before its opening later this month on 24 May 2024. ’[It is] an experiment in un-understanding,’ says Joffe, who serves as the store’s president, noting that the Marais location marks a departure of sorts from the existing Dover Street Market outposts, whereby brands have been separated into individual concessions. Here, the entire space – including the requisite Rose Bakery café – is designed by Kawakubo.

Inside the new Dover Street Market Paris

It lends the store – which is housed in the 17th-century Hôtel de Coulanges, once resided in by French writer Madame de Sevigné – a starker appearance than the existing locations, which have a collage-like appearance thanks to the market-like concessions. Here, Kawakubo says she wants the store design itself to be the statement, with a focus not on selling garments – no clothes will be visible from the street, for example – but rather a space in which shoppers can immerse themselves. ‘We have arrived at a place, not a forest nor a plateau, not a valley nor a peak. Just a place with a beautiful view of behind and above,’ explains Joffe (Kawakubo did not want to be quoted about the project). ’And from this station-location, we try to feel where we go next.’

So the various brands – including the entire Comme des Garçons roster, which also features Junya Watanabe and Noir Kei Ninomiya – will be mixed together across the various floors (other brands include Simone Rocha, Rick Owens, Prada, JW Anderson, Willy Chavarria, Craig Green, Wales Bonner and Kiko Kostadinov, among several others). The idea is for the shopper to immerse themselves in the curving, labyrinthine displays, which recall the recently opened Comme des Garçons store on Paris’ Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré – also conceived by Kawakubo – where the designer said she wanted to invite a mood of discovery, a place to explore and experiment.

’It will not be only another shop,’ says Joffe. ’It is in fact already a building in which we hope to build and open a new pathway ahead, building on everything we have accomplished and daring to tread in the unknown. A building that already contains a brand development division and spaces to do all kinds of actions to create an energy-synergy syntax.’

The store itself – spanning 1,100 sq m and centring around a courtyard set back from the road – occupies the ground and first floors of the building, as well as one of three basements. The other two basements will be reserved for art and community events, while the upper floors will be occupied by Dover Street Market’s brand development team. An exhibition by Paolo Roversi, celebrating his longtime collaboration with Comme des Garçons, will celebrate the opening.

’Too many explanations can detract from the own-eye-witnessing,’ concludes Joffe. ’I am impatient for all of you to discover it.’

Dover Street Market Paris, 35-37, rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Paris 75004, opens on 24 May 2024.

doverstreetmarket.com

For jewellery designer Bernard James – who has designed a white gold edition of his signature Flora chain necklace for Dover Street Market New York to mark the store’s tenth anniversary – flora is a source of creativity, curiosity, and wonder. Inspired by the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, a stone's throw from his childhood home in Crown Heights, he reimagines the beauty of daisies, hellebores, and petunias through gold and diamonds. 

Although James’ work has transcended the neighbourhood – he produces his line in New York’s famed 47th St Diamond District in midtown Manhattan and boasts a burgeoning international following of high-jewellery connoisseurs – his Brooklyn roots are never far away. Here, he speaks to Wallpaper* from his dedicated storefront in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn.

Bernard James x Dover Street Market New York

James says that he’s ‘super excited’ about his partnership with Dover Street Market: ‘They have such a strong presence in New York and such an eclectic mix of brands. I think their merchandising is fantastic. And they have a very, distinct point of view.’ The new collection is emblematic of his aesthetic – featuring rings, earrings, necklaces of 14ct and 18ct gold, and diamonds that interpret a range of blossoming flora, including pavé diamond flora earrings shaped as lilies and helios.

While his aesthetic is well-defined, James says that his creative process and the decisions he makes in running his business are based on careful deliberation. ‘I sit on things for a long time,’ he admits. ‘Something pops into my head, but I've had to learn to be discerning.’ Perhaps it is this patience that has enabled him to avoid mass-producing and overproducing, he says.

The jewellery designer has a disdain for the growing industry of manufactured diamonds. ‘I'll just be very diplomatic and say, there's a use for every material,’ he says. He goes on to cite his partnership in 2023 with the Natural Diamond Council, called ‘The Process Collection’, in which he showcased the ‘journey of natural stones’, explaining that his goal was to highlight the process of cutting a natural stone and transforming it into a finished product. ‘So, I created this middle step showing that process of cutting. I’m obsessed with natural diamonds. I love the idea of working with something that's been formed over millions of years. I think it's such a special thing.’

James has had his share of challenges breaking into the industry, and it is not lost on him that as a person of colour, in a space with both established luxury brands and multigenerational jewellery houses, it wasn’t going to be easy. ‘You sort of feel like an outsider in a lot of ways, because a lot is handed down and a lot is based on relationships.’ 

He shares a story of one client who attempted to refer friends but reported that they declined because they preferred a more recognisable house for fine jewellery. However, shortly afterwards, the same client returned and mentioned that someone at a party recognised one of his pieces on her and mentioned his line by name. ‘The fact that there is recognition on a different scale with the brand, and people are getting familiar with it, is really special to me,’ he says.

doverstreetmarket.com

The London-based jewellery label Completedworks has released an exclusive, seven-piece collection at Dover Street Market. Available to view in person Dover Street Market Los Angeles and New York, the exquisite capsule is set against a striking installation, designed in-house, that nods to the inspiration behind the design of the pieces.

For this collection, the label’s artistic director Anna Jewsbury was driven to explore the various ways rope has been used across cultures and throughout history. In both of Dover Street Market’s US stores, large wooden glass cabinets house lengths of brightly coloured tubing that symbolise the piles of rope that are looped and heaped on the side of a quay, typically seen when vessels return to moor after a long voyage.

Completedworks X Dover Street Market

‘This is definitely a continuation of our existing investigation into how rope has been used across cultures to enhance record keeping and encode meaning – which was initially prompted by studies of how the Easter Islanders used ropes to move the Moai statues,’ Jewsbury says. ‘We were looking for a new way to explore these ideas and were intrigued by the way extremely thick ropes are left heaped on docks and unintentionally have a sculptural quality to them.’

The pieces in the capsule carry these sentiments into new forms and shapes that still remain rooted in the brand’s aesthetic vocabulary. Made using recycled silver and brass plated with 18ct gold, with occasional flashes of white topaz gemstones embedded into the metal, loose and sinuous knotted forms take on dynamic, asymmetric shapes that drape off the ear or encircle the wrist, finger and neck. Subtle details like twists in continuous lines convey a fresh dimensionality between space and pattern.

‘This is a counterpoint to the use of rope as record keeping because the rope used at sea gets left behind once the voyage is over,’ she continues. ‘It is left on the dock or on the ship. So while the pieces already in our existing “Tied” collection explore how we tie down the objects and structures that matter to us, these new pieces explore the freedom provided by just leaving behind the knots and tied rope that carried us across seas, enabling us to take long journeys and to start new beginnings.’

shop-us.doverstreetmarket.com

Fashion has well and truly infiltrated Frieze Week, with a slew of happenings across the city to coincide with the arrival of Frieze London 2023, which opens to the public tomorrow (12 October 2023). Whether fashionable new sponsors for the fair itself or the numerous other happenings across the city – from a blockbuster Gucci Cosmos exhibition to Dover Street Market’s annual Frieze takeover, as well as relaxing gong bath courtesy of Birkenstock, Tekla and Matches – there is plenty to keep both art and style aficionados amused throughout the week. Here, we run down the fashion-and-Frieze crossovers that aren’t to be missed.

Best fashion moments at London Frieze Week 2023

Stone Island and Dunhill become Frieze partners

The year’s Frieze in London welcomes two new principal partners: Italian streetwear label Stone Island and British heritage house Dunhill, the former supporting Frieze’s ‘Focus’ and ‘Frieze 91’ projects, the latter Frieze Masters. As part of the multi-year deal, Stone Island will give participating ‘Focus’ galleries – younger, less established institutions – a special bursary which is equivalent to 30 per cent of the stand fee. ‘Stone Island is built on community and creative energy inspired by research and innovation, characteristics that define the Focus section of Frieze’s art fairs,’ says Robert Triefus, the brand’s CEO. ‘Through this partnership, Stone Island will offer foundational support to some of the world’s most significant emerging galleries and artists for years to come.’ The partnership will be celebrated with a club night at Koko in Camden on 12 October, as well as a special collaborative collection with Dover Street Market, which will launch at the store the same day. 

Dunhill, meanwhile, will support this year’s edition of Frieze Masters Talks, a celebrated programme of conversations between various art world figures – this year’s participants include Sarah Lucas, Maggi Hambling, Rachel Whiteread and V&A East’s Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, among others. There will also be a dedicated Dunhill space at the fair, whereby the current collection from the house will sit alongside archival pieces, curated by Nick Foulkes, author of Dunhill by Design. 

Burberry supports Sarah Lucas at Tate Britain

Though it opened just prior to Frieze, British artist Sarah Lucas’ latest exhibition ‘Happy Gas’ at Tate Britain (until 14 January 2024) will no doubt attract those travelling to London for the fair (Lucas will also participate in Dunhill’s Frieze Masters Talks on 13 October at 3pm). The exhibition is sponsored by British fashion house Burberry, which under latest creative director Daniel Lee is hoping to forge greater links with Britain’s arts and culture scene. To coincide with the exhibition, Burberry released a special portrait of Lucas photographed by Anton Gottlob at Tate Britain and will host an intimate private dinner during Frieze Week to celebrate the partnership.

‘Humour, desire, domesticity’: read our review of ‘Sarah Lucas: Happy Gas’.

Gucci Cosmos takes over 180 Studios

Brutalist landmark 180 Studios plays host to Gucci Cosmos, a travelling exhibition that celebrates the Italian house’s archive and opens to the public on 11 October to coincide with Frieze Week. The immersive exhibition – comprising a number of garments and accessories that date from Gucci’s founding in 1921 to the present day – features dramatic set pieces from British artist and set designer Es Devlin. These include a pair of enormous white resin figures project with archival looks (an ode to Gulliver’s Travels), a luggage conveyor belt, and a surreal, futuristic imagining of the house’s archives. The exhibition will run until December 2023. 

Take a look inside Gucci Cosmos.

Dover Street Market launches ‘Frieze 2023 Happenings’

Dover Street Market’s London outpost continues its tradition of hosting a series of installations, activations and product launches to coincide with the arrival of Frieze Week. Beginning with a celebratory evening on 12 October – complete with food and drink from its in-house Rose Bakery – these include a special collaborative collection with Stone Island, the arrival of a slew of new Comme des Garçons collections, as well as various special projects with the likes of Mary McCartney, Jake Chapman, Dauphin x The Serpentine Galleries, Susan Nemeth, Angela Hill and Seana Gavin, among others. 

Tekla, Birkenstock and Matches provide a relaxing pit stop

Those seeking escape from the hustle and bustle of the Regent Park tents should head to Mayfair, where Matches is hosting a series of relaxing crystal-bowl gong baths in its Carlos Place townhouse. The occasion is Birkenstock’s recent collaboration with Danish lifestyle brand Tekla, a series of loungewear, clogs and sandals designed to capture the serenity of home. Attendees will also be able to shop the collection, launching exclusively at Matches, while the pieces can also be purchased online.

Gong baths will take place on 12 October 2023 at Matches Townhouse, 5 Carlos Place. Places can be booked here.

Thom Browne celebrates 20 years in business

American designer Thom Browne has arrived in London this week to celebrate 20 years of his theatrical collections, as documented in a new Phaidon-published tome. Browne hosted a dinner on Monday night (9 October) at London‘s V&A to mark the book’s launch – preceeded by a talk alongside critic Charlie Porter – as well as a special lunch on Tuesday alongside department store Harrods. A capsule collection – available on the brand’s website and in flagship stores around the world – will also celebrate the anniversary, featuring its year of founding, 2003, adorning a series of Browne’s iconic pieces, from varsity jackets and sports coats to a classic wool flannel pleated skirt. 

The Row hosts new work by jeweller Ana Khouri

Ana Khouri’s creations have long straddled sculpture and jewellery – Khouri had a background in fine art before starting the eponymous jewellery brand – making Frieze Week the perfect moment to reveal a new collection. Hosted by The Row in its London Carlos Place outpost, Khouri will reveal a new collection of pieces titled ‘Raw’, part of her ‘Edition’ line, which is released every two or three years. Mining Khouri’s fascination with gold – ‘its simplicity, the way it reflects the light and illuminates the skin’, as she describes – the various pieces are inspired by the process of digging in the dirt for gold. ’I was overwhelmed by a sense of reverence for the care involved in procuring such a gift from the earth and how that care can yield something so exceptional,’ she says. ‘Unearthing even the smallest fragment of raw gold, holding it in my hand, I felt enveloped by something larger – as if nature’s creative energy and my own had merged.’

Margaret Howell hosts exhibition celebrating Architectural Review’s memorable covers

Opening on 13 October 2023, Margaret Howell will host a new exhibition in her Wigmore Street store (featured in a recent behind-the-scenes film), celebrating two decades of Architectural Review covers spanning the 1960s and 1970s (eras of design that have long been a fascination for Howell). The exhibition follows a show hosted by the brand during the London Festival of Architecture 2023, whereby photographs of Britain’s cooling towers – ‘sculptural giants’ – were celebrated in a mesmerising display in the brand’s flagship store.

The Architectural Review Covers Exhibition runs at Margaret Howell, 34 Wigmore Street from 13 October – 5 November 2023.

Vestiaire Collective supports the Barbican’s new exhibition on ecology and gender

Fashion resale platform Vestiare Collective – which aims to provide a sustainable, circular way of buying and selling luxury fashion – sponsors a major new group exhibition at the Barbican, titled ‘RE/SISTERS: A Lens on Gender and Ecology’. Across various mediums – including photography, film and installations – the expansive exhibition sees 50 women and gender-non-conforming artists explore ‘the systemic links between the oppression of women and the degradation of the planet’. A particular focus is placed on work from indigenous communities, while several of the artworks look towards a brighter future: ‘a roadmap for creative forms of civil disobedience and protest: a lesser explored, cautiously optimistic route to reconsidering our relationship to the Earth’, as the institution describes. To celebrate the launch, Vestiare Collective will host a private view and dinner on 11 October 2023. 

‘RE/SISTERS: A Lens on Gender and Ecology’ runs from 5 October 2023 – 14 January 2024 at Barbican Art Centre

Theory ‘Shades of Fall’ 

To celebrate the launch of a new campaign, ‘Shades of Fall‘ – based on the idea of colour theory – American brand Theory hosted an exhibition of work by Wanda Koop and Kenny Rivero at No. 9 Cork Street Gallery (a partnership with Frieze, it was celebrated with an intimate dinner on Friday evening). The two artists offered their own colour theories as part of the campaign; ‘red is the most powerful and passionate,’ said Koop, while Rivero posited that ‘black is the uniform, the armour and the camouflage that lets me be everywhere and nowhere at once.’

Discover the best of Frieze London 2023 in our ongoing round-up.

As New York Fashion Week A/W 2025 continues, our ongoing edit of the best fashion stores New York has to offer, selected with input from the city’s most fashionable and design-conscious residents. Whether rare vintage finds, downtown designers, or big-name boutiques, consider it your ultimate New York shopping guide.

The best fashion stores New York has to offer

Collina Strada

Cult New York-based label Collina Strada has opened its first physical space on Downtown’s Canal Street, a small but immersive store which captures Hillary Taymour’s offbeat spirit (in a recent interview, she called it a ‘Collina salad’). Alongside Taymour’s colourful, nonconformist collections – from naively hand-drawn motifs on hoodies to twisted jersey tees and flourishes of lace and tulle – the store features surreal custom mouldings by photographer Ryan Petrus, an undulating central table by designer and friend of the label Misha Kahn, and a floral shellac floor by artist Justin Hager. Opening just in time for fashion week (February 2025), expect it to become a hangout for Collina Strada’s growing community – among them brand muses model Aaron Rose Philip and actress Hari Nef, who both appeared in Taymour’s recent A/W 2025 runway show. JM

52 Canal St, New York, NY 10002

collinastrada.com

Climax

Isabella Burley opened the New York outpost of Climax, a distributor of rare books, ephemera and erotica, this past September (a ‘sexy, angry bookworm’ cut-out designed by London-based fashion label Chopova Lowena was the mascot for its inauguration). In the six months since, it has been a gathering spot for the New York fashion scene, with Paloma Elsesser, Tyler the Creator, Kelsey Lu, Simone Rocha and Sofia Coppola all photographed brandishing the store’s signature hot pink shopping bag. Elsewhere, Burley – previous editor-in-chief of Dazed and current CMO of Acne Studios – has launched a like of ‘bookworm’ merch and created a capsule collection of Climax clothing with Chopova Lowena. ‘The best thing [about Climax] is that I have so many friends who are photographers, stylists or creative directors, and it's really fun for them to say to me, “Oh, I'm shooting this person”, and I can say, “Have you seen this book?” It feels nice to offer some sort of small reference point, and then you see the shoot or the issue come out, and know where those influences came from,’ she told Wallpaper*. JM

READ: Fashion’s favourite bookstore, Climax, opens a ‘sexy, angry’ New York outpost

56 E 4th St, New York, NY 10003

climaxbooks.com

Essx

Concept store Essx, located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, was founded by Laura Baker – a former merchandising director at American media company Complex – alongside Abe Pines and Yoel Zagelbaum, who started streetwear subscription box Scarce during the pandemic (delivered to customer’s doors, the parcels were filled with backstop and overstocked pieces which would otherwise have gone to waste). The sleek, sparse interiors were created by New York-based architecture firm Leong Leong alongside designer Yossi Shetrit and span 7000 sq m, where shoppers can browse pieces from the likes of Martine Rose, Mowalola, Maison Margiela, Jil Sander, Wales Bonner and more. The founders see it as a platform for discovering new names, as well as stocking the more conceptual offerings of better-known designers. ‘Essx’s mission is to show the connection between art and fashion, and culture and commerce,’ Baker previously told Wallpaper*. ‘We believe in empowering individuality while sustaining growth through partnerships, innovation and influence.’ JM

READ: Essx store opens in New York’s Lower East Side

140 Essex Street New York City, NY 10002

essxnyc.com

John Lobb

Historic British shoemaker John Lobb is known for its dedication to hand-craft – each shoe is made by a complex 190-step manufacturing process – an approach it brings to its outpost on New York’s Madison Avenue. Whether you are in the market for a new pair of shoes or simply seeking a momentary respite from the hubbub of the famed shopping district, the serene walnut wood-clad space is an exercise in timeless, considered design. The brainchild of French architecture studio Ciguë – and following refreshed John Lobb stores in Paris and Beverly Hills – its elegant, mid-century-influenced interiors features wall hangings inspired by the work of Uruguayan artist Gonzalo Fonseca and sofas by French designer Christophe Delcourt. Alongside a range of ready-to-wear footwear, bespoke suites allow shoppers to commission their own unique pair from reams of leather samples, colour charts and soles, while previous John Lobb clients can return for repair. JM

READ: Inside John Lobb’s timelessly elegant New York flagship, a trove for shoe lovers

700 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10065

johnlobb.com

Founded in 2018, with its true launch in August 2021, Frank Ocean’s independent jewellery and accessories brand made its home in Chinatown within the five-storey New York Jewellers Exchange building. Glass and metal vitrines house Homer’s fine and high jewellery, such as a turquoise enamel pendant in the shape of a doll inlaid with lab-grown diamonds, with some accessories such as silk scarves in the space designed in collaboration with Michael Abel and Nile Greenberg of ANY. Some of the pieces reach six figures: Ocean reportedly once said he wants nothing to be less expensive than Cartier.

70-74 Bowery, New York, NY 10013

homer.com

Café Forgot

‘Café Forgot came about after years of wanting to show our friend’s work and reminiscing about our high school fashion club and the small boutiques we loved growing up in New York,’ says Lucy Weisner, co-founder of Café Forgot along with Vita Haas. ‘Our first store was a week-long pop-up at a friend’s ground-floor studio space on Suffolk Street. We did a shoot, reached out to our friends who were making interesting clothes and accessories, and got an Instagram up and running. After that, we did pop-ups in different locations in New York about four times a year for a few years.’ They also run a great magazine-style website. For the past two years, they have had a more permanent shopfront on Ludlow Street designed by the architecture firm ANY, which features a motorised display that rotates at the turn of a literal giant button (created by artist Sam Stewart). ‘Café Forgot is dedicated to carrying the work of emerging designers that work outside typical fashion production models through handmade, one-of-kind, or limited-run pieces from found or recycled textiles,’ they say. Speaking of dedication, the pair marked the founding of their business with tattoos: Haas has ‘Forgot,’ Weisner has ‘Café’.

25 Ludlow Street, New York, NY 10002

cafeforgot.com

The Row

The immaculate residential side street of East 71st, just a stone’s throw from Central Park, is as fitting a preamble as any to The Row’s stately Manhattan home. Far more than just a shop, the palatial townhouse has become a destination of its own for both fashion and furniture lovers. Designed in collaboration between founders Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and the interior architect Jacques Grange, it is discreetly outfitted with custom and sourced vintage and contemporary museum-grade furniture, art and design, which rotates over time. Exclusive collaborations, such as a limited run of ceramic planters by Grace Fuller Marroquin, and special items also pop up from time to time: currently, a small collection of Line Vautrin pieces (including some vintage jewellery designs which were styled with looks in the S/S 2023 runway presentation) are displayed and on sale. Ascend the spiralling grand limestone staircase to more womenswear, menswear, handbags and shoes, then close your eyes and pretend just for a moment it’s home.

17 East 71st Street, New York, NY 10021

therow.com

La Garçonne

A quiet yet consistent cornerstone of New York retail, La Garçonne was founded back in 2005, at a time when billboard brands were serving a more polished and overt version of luxury and over a decade before it found its own 4,000 sq ft home in Tribeca in 2014. Its white walled, raw-wood surrounds quickly became a church for those looking for a curated edit of pared-back, androgynous and masculine-feeling clothes from established designers as well as emerging names from around the globe, such as Casey Casey, Auralee, and Toogood. ‘Our online and physical stores carry the same inventory in real time,’ says founder and creative director Kris Kim. ‘Clients can shop online or utilise the online platform as a guide for a personalised in-store experience.’ Homeware from French-American designer of the moment Sophie Lou Jacobsen and Tekla, and a small selection of clean beauty completes the offering.

465 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10013

lagarconne.com

Maryam Nassir Zadeh

The beloved downtown New York designer Maryam Nassir Zadeh has managed to navigate the seemingly impossible: building an independent business that continually feels relevant and authentic while navigating fashion’s paradox of serving newness while prioritising longevity. Indeed, she opened her Lower East Side store in 2008 and regularly shows at New York Fashion Week, often casting friends to model in her show. Inside, a curated selection of hard-to-find designers (Cristaseya, Bless, SC103, All-In) as well as cult labels (Eckhaus Latta, Lemaire, Lauren Manoogian, Vaquera) sit alongside finds from her travels as well as the brand’s own offering.

123 Norfolk Street, New York, NY 10002

maryamnassirzadeh.com

Comme des Garçons, Chelsea

While Comme des Garçons has a presence dotted all over the city, by way of several standalone stores, Dover Street Market and its shop-in-shops at Bloomingdale’s and Saks, its Chelsea location on West 22nd Street is a particular treasure trove. Devised by Rei Kawakubo alongside Takao Kawasaki, Studio Morsa, and Future Systems (which tackled its now iconic façade and tunnel entrance), the store first opened in 1999 – back when the now-gentrified neighbourhood was in the nascent stages of transforming its industrial wasteland into rows of cutting-edge galleries – before undergoing a renovation in 2013. Devotees will delight in the comprehensive Comme offering of ready-to-wear, accessories and perfume from the very many CDG lines, including (but not exhaustively) Comme des Garçons, Homme Plus, Shirt, Homme, Homme Deux, Girl, Play as well as Junya Watanabe, Junya Watanabe Man, Tao and Noir Kei Ninomiya.

520 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011

Kallmeyer

The opening of Daniella Kallmeyer’s downtown store three years ago was one of the flag-bearing destinations that rang in Orchard Street’s renaissance. ‘It started as a pop-up over the summer of 2019, and quickly became the permanent retail home for our then-eight-year-old brand that fall,’ says the designer. Here, the understated uniform of New York’s art and fashion crowd can be browsed in a fittingly sophisticated arena, with its oversized dressing room, custom furniture and vintage fixtures. Kallmeyer works with local manufacturers and fabric warehouses to repurpose old fabrics and deadstock materials into best-selling styles, and you can often find styles from limited runs and in-store-only colourways exclusive to 83 Orchard Street. Alongside the collection, shoppers will find the designer’s favourite makers and brands of vintage and fine jewellery, artisan pop-up markets, and one-of-a-kind home objects for sale. Friendly staff dispel the preconceptions of downtown’s ‘too cool’ school, and private consultation appointments are also available, often with Kallmeyer herself or her team of experts – in particular as a ‘go-to for custom wedding suiting, particular amongst the queer community’.

83 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002

kallmeyer.nyc

James Veloria

‘Our store is a colourful, vibrant, queer safe space to play dress up and shop for avant-garde designer clothing at a reasonable price point,’ says Collin James Weber, co-founder of James Veloria. He and Brandon Veloria Giordano, his now-husband and partner of 13 years, opened the doors of their Chinatown vintage and contemporary pre-owned destination in July 2017. It’s easy to see why it's become a steadfast favourite of stylists, photographers and fashion enthusiasts: ‘We regularly showcase rotating special collections featuring pieces from specific eras of designers, such as Tom Ford at Gucci, Stella McCartney at Chloe and Michael Kors at Celine. We also partner with other vintage dealers we love, giving them a platform to showcase their curated collections to our community,’ says Weber. Operating well outside prescriptive trends or any fashion calendar, the store was born from, and continues to promote, the pure joy, pleasure and self-expression that clothing can be a portal to.

75 East Broadway, #225, New York, NY 10002

Dover Street Market New York

Following the theme of ‘beautiful chaos’, Comme des Garçons creative director and Dover Street Market co-founder Rei Kawakubo designs all the Dover Street Market shops. DSMNY landed in a characteristically odd and untrendy corner of Manhattan’s Kip’s Bay district (remember when you didn’t know where Mount Street was?) in 2013, nearly a decade after DSM London opened in 2004. Operating much like a gallery, twice a year in February and August the store completely closes to refresh its installations and offering, as well as undertaking more minor changes throughout the year. Thankfully, DSMNY reopened with its ‘New Beginning’ theme just ahead of New York Fashion Week A/W 2023. Be sure to visit the Manhattan outpost of Rose Bakery while you’re there, the beloved vegetarian Parisian-founded café by Rose Carrarini and her husband Jean-Charles Carrarini.

160 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016

newyork.doverstreetmarket.com

180 The Store

Housed in a former dairy factory in the heart of Tribeca with giant skylights that drench the minimal space in light, 180 The Store is much more than a shop. ‘Our two-level space is a platform for our network of brands and creators to experiment, to showcase, to exhibit, and host events and activations exclusive to 180,’ says founder Denise Williamson. ‘I wanted to create a place that brought our clients into the worlds of my favourite artists, designers, and craftsmen; an intentional selection of quality pieces for a life well-lived.’ The emphasis is on an edit of products for all aspects of life – whether a new piece for your wardrobe, art for your collection, wares for your kitchen, furniture or fragrance, all from Williamson's pick of makers from around the world. This includes fashion buys from Japanese labels for men and women, like Chimala and Cottle, as well as cult favourites such as Sofie D’Hoore and lifestyle products from Frama, R+D Lab, Savvy Studio, and Arjé, as well as rare, one-of-a-kind pieces from makers like Fabio Vogel and Kosi Hidama.

180 Duane Street, New York, NY 10013

180thestore.com

Desert Vintage

‘We think of Desert Vintage as a shoppable museum dedicated to sartorial history. Each piece is unique and with its own story and it's those stories we love to share with our clients,’ says co-owner Roberto Cowan who took over the 1974-founded business with Salima Boufelfel in 2012. ‘Our selection is full of archival designer vintage as well as antique clothing. Generally, things that are hard to find multiples of and, in a sense, that lends to our offering being one of a kind. It also means our racks are constantly changing and rotating. Every week new treasures can be found.’ Originally opening in Tucson, Arizona, the current owners landed on Orchard Street in February 2022. The eclectic edit reflects Arizona’s dusky landscape in a way that suits the city, with a focus on understated colours and natural materials – browse a cream Hermès button-down, a Romeo Gigli trapeze coat, a 1960s YSL terracotta cord safari jacket, a Zoran cappuccino silk skirt, as well as handpicked vintage from the turn-of-the-century through the 1970s.

34 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002

desertvintage.com

Supreme, Brooklyn

Thursday is drop day (those who know join the waitlist on Tuesdays). Others come just to watch or use the indoor skate bowl, designed by New York architect Neil Logan. When Supreme opened its Williamsburg store in October 2017 in a renovated former warehouse, the streets around were filled with New York’s coolest skaters and fans, and its popularity shows no signs of abating – few, if any, brands have managed to emulate the kind of organic hype that this skate brand, ney, religion, has.

152 Grand Street, Brooklyn, New York, NY 11249

supreme.com

In May 2020 we previewed Arpa, a new multi-platform brand from perfumer Barnabé Fillion that combines scent, music, architecture, and imagery into an all-encompassing, immersive experience. 

Now, in November 2021, Arpa has officially launched at Dover Street Parfums Market, and the final collection is as captivating as was originally promised. 

Fillion is best known for his work as the house perfumer at Aesop – where he has created all of the brand's fragrances and its first candles – as well as his collaborations with Lemaire and institutions such as the Guggenheim. Particularly notable are the 'Biography' perfumes he created in collaboration with artist Anicka Yi (featured among our best perfumes for women), which attempted to reconstruct the personalities of historical women, such as Fusako Shigenobu, or the imagined body odour of future AI entities. 

Arpa sees Fillion reuniting with many of his previous collaborators, calling on their diverse talents to create companion pieces to the brand's fragrances; these include a series of sculptures and records to go with the scents, from the likes of Yi, and French DJ Pilooski. Graphics are designed by Memphis Group heavyweight Nathalie du Pasquier and an office space designed by Aesop’s in-house architect Jean-Philippe Bonnefoi. Meanwhile, limited-edition bottles have been handblown by the artist Jochen Holz. 

Arpa fragrances 

The fragrances are at the heart of this collaboration. Like most of Fillion's work, these perfumes take their inspiration from his personal travels and historical narratives. The first three scents (with three more to come soon) include Arco Spettro, inspired by the acid bath craters in Dallol, Ethiopia; Fosforo, a petitgrain and iris scent inspired by the waters surrounding the island of Kyushu, Japan; and Recedere, an earthy blend of liquorice, neroli, and plaster that is meant to recreate a plaster studio in the Belgian Blue Forest.    

Synesthesia and ‘physiological nostalgia’

The launch of Arpa was delayed by the pandemic, but the consequences of that event and what followed have imbued the project with a new significance.

Over the course of the past two years, there has been a surge in projects that meld fragrance with other sensory experiences for both artistic and therapeutic purposes. As a 2021 study into the future of beauty put it, the use of sensory relaxation or ‘physiological nostalgia’ is set to become a new norm, as people look for a screen-free way to transform their domestic space into a meditative zone. Projects that combine audio escapism and aromatherapy, such as the Haeckels x Kelly Lee Owens candle, photographer Lea Colombo's perfume line, Co incense, and Sruli Recht’s incense burner, are examples of this trend, yet Arpa was early to catch onto the wider sensory possibilities of fragrance.

For Fillion, though, this project will always be about synesthesia (experiencing one sense through another) and what we can learn from melding our senses. ‘At Arpa, I work with the purest natural materials,' he says. ‘I listen to them to elicit transmissions from extra-sentient wavelengths; to eschew a future of artificiality in favour of joyful poetry.

‘Everything that I’m doing in perfumery is visual and related to my own synesthesia, to convey not just a memory but a texture. I’m always running after a blurry image that becomes more focused with time.'

INFORMATION

doverstreetparfumsmarket.com

Bamford London and Dover Street Market are inspired by comic-book royalty for their latest collaboration. The new Dover Street Market x Bamford London Snoopy GMT celebrates Peanuts’ lovable hound, with Snoopy – arguably the world’s most famous beagle – taking centre stage on the clean white dial of the stainless steel watch.

Offbeat design codes and humorous ticks collide in the watch, the latest in a series of retro collections for George Bamford, founder of Bamford London, who in the past has paid tribute to icons across a multitude of media, from Sesame Street to Popeye. ‘I love character watches and the way they brighten up your day when you look down at your wrist,’ says Bamford, adding, ‘I find the open dial works really well in creating a retro modern design whilst combining humour with the character.’

He is frequently inspired by the past for his pieces, which nod to the classic watchmaking design epitomised by Gerald Genta. Here, a clean face is broken only by Snoopy’s arms, which tell the time, assisted by treasured sidekick Woodstock, who perches on the 24-hour GMT hand. Functionality is interwoven throughout, with a rubber compound strap that incorporates the durable fabric, cordura, to ensure easy wearability.

‘All eras of watchmaking inspire me,’ he says. ‘I love learning from the past to create a future product. The inspiration behind the Bamford GMT was a retro-modern case with a beautiful step on the case. I love working with characters and continuing to work with Peanuts is amazing.’

The watch marks a continuation of a long relationship with Dover Street Market. ‘We have been working with Dover Street Market almost since the day Bamford Watch Department started,’ Bamford says, referring to his wider brand. ‘I am always inspired when I visit their stores. I love what they have done with Snoopy on other products, like T-shirts, which I can never resist, as a huge Snoopy fan. They are great friends of the business, so it is amazing to work on this Snoopy GMT with them.’

INFORMATION

bamfordwatchdepartment.com
doverstreetmarket.com

Art and fashion lovers rejoice! Frieze Week 2021 has a sartorial sway, with a host of brands, designers and retailers getting in the spirit of collaboration and celebration all over London. Here’s what to see and do.

Fashion and art come together at Frieze Week 2021

Matchesfashion

The luxury retailer is once again partnering with Frieze, serving up an art-inspired programme of events at its majestic townhouse at 5 Carlos Place in Mayfair. Peckish? Stop off for breakfast, lunch or a glass of fizz from caterer Spook London in Matchesfashion’s attic café; join a masterclass with floral artist Wagner; or sign up to an ‘In Conversation’ event with Turner Prize co-winning artist Alberta Whittle or budding gallerists Phoebe Saatchi Yates and Arthur Yates. Get RSVP-ing!

5 Carlos Place, London W1K 3AP, matchesfashion.com

Zilver

In a bid to promote a more sustainable mindset, fashion brand Zilver is hosting a pop-up space and exhibition at Walkers Court, bringing guests into its eco-aware universe. ‘Do Disrupt’, created with curator Mehdi Dakhli welcomes artists that question the status quo in exploring new media, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and upcycling. Among them are  Marc-Aurèle Debut, Andreas Greiner, Armin Keplinger, and Giuseppe Lo Schiavo. Zilver also unveils its latest collection, Leo Part II, which features Flwrdwn by Pangaia, an insulating material made out of organic flowers and its collaboration with Tino Seubert on the brand's first Lifestyle piece, an aluminium chair accented with hand-hand-woven Zilver organic apple leather.

7-9 Walkers Court, London W1F, zilver.com

Kim Jones and Daniel Arsham

Dior men’s artistic director Kim Jones and close friend and collaborator Daniel Arsham – whom we enlisted to create the limited-edition cover for Wallpaper's 25th anniversary issue – come together for a talk at The Whiteley Gallery, in celebration of Arsham's ‘Eroded Summer’. Jones and Arsham teamed up for Dior's S/S 2020 menswear collection, with a show set featuring the artist's idiosyncratic monolithic sculptures in a state of decay, and a series of ready-to-wear pieces inspired by his partially eroded relics.

The talk will take place at 10am on 14 October 2021 at The Whiteley Gallery in Bayswater. ‘Eroded Summer’ runs 16 – 17 October at the gallery.

Dover Street Market London

Dover Street Market London celebrates Frieze Week 2021 with a plethora of exclusive displays and pop-up product launches. Just a few of our must-sees? A Supriya Lele special display featuring Narmada, the book she worked on with Jamie Hawksworth; the arrival of Kiko Kostadinov and Asics’ magazine, featuring an installation in the retailer's sneaker space; the launch of vintage diamond Cartier watches by Harry Fane; and the debut of Leica's Sofort instant camera. 

18-22 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4DG, london.doverstreetmarket.com

‘It sounds so new age when I say it,’ says Rodrigo Garcia Alvarez, founder of the candle brand Amen, ‘but I finished a gong healing ceremony with Simrat Kaur and asked her; if you could choose a fragrance for your studio, what would it be?’

That question was the genesis of its latest range of candles, 7 Fragrances for the 7 Chakras, which, as the collection title suggests, offers seven different scents intended to ignite a different chakra, or energy centre of the body. 

All of the home fragrances were developed in collaboration with Dr. Simrat Kaur, a dermatologist, yoga practitioner, and founder of the Brazilian wellness centre Medicina da Consciência.

Dr. Kaur describes chakras as, ‘seven main energetic vortexes, each related to a gland and a plexus of nerves… as they are perceptive frequencies, each chakra can be expanded and balanced through our senses, through sensorial stimuli such as essential oils and candles.’ 

Each of the candles come packaged in Amen’s biodegradable mycelium packaging, which is currently the subject of a new exhibit at Dover Street Perfums Market.

Garcia Alvarez understands that the philosophy around chakras might be new to some but he hopes that the 7 Chakras collection will be the first step for outsiders of the Yoga Universe to find 'a world with more harmony, love, unity, and compassion.'

 ‘I’m an outsider in the world of yoga… the mission of this 7 Chakras was to inspire people who, like me, may not be from the world of yoga but feel inspired to know more and practice it at home, especially nowadays when we are all at home.’  

For those looking to learn more, below is some brief insight into the seven different chakra types, their corresponding fragrances, and the different energies they activate. 

Chakra: Root 
Scent: Vetiver 
Purpose: Activates the foundational chakra for a grounded feeling and general calm. 

Chakra: Sacral 
Scent: Sandalwood 
Purpose: Connected to how we perceive ourselves and others, this chakra regulates the creative and sensual self.

Charka: Solar
Scent: Ginger 
Purpose: The centre of self-perception, this chakra is responsible for self-confidence and feelings of control. 

Chakra: Heart 
Scent: Roses 
Purpose: Expands the centre of emotional feeling for an experience of deeper compassion and empathy.

Chakra: Throat 
Scent: Eucalyptus 
Purpose: Opens up the source of the voice for authentic expression and effective communication. 

Chakra: Third Eye 
Scent: Jazmin 
Purpose: Awakens the intuition and opens up the third eye, encouraging perception of the world beyond the surface level for imaginative thinking. 

Chakra: Crown 
Scent: Lavanda 
Purpose: The centre of spiritual connection, this calming fragrance prepares the mind for relaxation and meditation

INFORMATION

The candles will be available this Thursday 29 October on matchesfashion.com.

The abstract elan of graffiti artist Futura (Lenny McGurr) has long captivated the fashion world. For Louis Vuitton’s A/W 2019 runway show, Virgil Abloh invited the artist to live tag the brand’s New York-inspired show set, in a nod to the famed orbs and narrow squiggles he used to spray paint across the city in the Seventies, where he ran in an avant-garde art circle with Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Dondi White. Just last month, Sotheby’s auctioned a pair of 2005 Futura-designed Nike Dunk High Pro trainers for $63,000 USD as part of its ‘Cult Canvas’ auction. 

A creative polymath working across fashion design, photography and album art, Futura relaunched his streetwear label Futura Laboratories in May 2019, after an eight-year pause. The brand’s relaunch was first stocked and celebrated at Dover Street Market Singapore, where in line with the opening of Futura's major exhibition ‘Constellation’ in the city – an exclusively commissioned artwork was installed instore.

Now, Dover Street Market and Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo has continued her celebration of Futura's aesthetic oeuvre with an installation of spherical sculptures embellished with archival prints, on display on the ground floor of Dover Street Market London. These kaleidoscopic, textural artworks were selected by Kawakubo in spring 2019, and feature as striking prints in Comme des Garçons SHIRT’s A/W 2020 collection. The offering features shirts, tote bags, and tees, panelled and collaged with Futura’s nebulous forms.

Rendered in planetary form, the orb-like steel and vinyl sculptures on display are a symbol of Futura's graffiti-focused world. For those living in London, it's just got a little closer.

INFORMATION

Until 12 November

doverstreetmarket.com

As the beauty industry continues to expand and embrace the non-binary, it seems like the perfect moment for Dover Street Market to venture into the space with a unique retail concept of its own. Launching today, Adrian Joffe and Rei Kawakubo’s Dover Street Market Parfums Store is the duo’s first ever standalone beauty store on Bis rue Elzévir, a skip away from the Musée Picasso in Paris’ Marais district.

Dedicated to all things fragrant, avant-garde and artisanal, Kawakubo and Joffe have curated a discerning mix of brands both established and emerging, across perfume, cosmetics, make-up, skincare and hair care. Alongside Gucci’s The Alchemist’s Garden perfume collection and newly launched beauty line, clients can expect offerings from Byredo – which will host its own space within the store – and designer Thom Browne, who will exclusively launch his debut scent line entitled 07.27.65

Speaking at the opening, Joffe describes the new store as ‘an outpost of DSM, with the same DNA. It's a stimulating retail space where impeccable service and unexpected choices of products come together in a beautiful interior unlike any other beauty shop.'

A wide range of independent and nonconforming fragrance brands will be available in the space including cult NYC favourite DS & Durga, natural French perfumer Ormaie, genderless essence from Suigeneris and photography- and art- inspired aromas from Ulrich Lang. In signature DSM style, they will sit alongside elixirs from classic French scent purveyors Caron, Nina Ricci, Carven and Robert Piguet.

Celebrating 25 years since the Commes des Garçons perfume was launched, customers can experience the full CDG collection, and also ink themselves with a CDG tattoo kit which has been created in collaboration with MAC. Progressive beauty brands in the mix include Stryx, a make-up range for men, luxury lipstick line La Bouche Rouge and Japanese eyeline specialists, UZU by Flowfushi.

Sustainably and organically produced ranges are top of the agenda for Kawakubo and Joffe with selections from former Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa’s vegan and cruelty-free skincare line, Costa Brazil, bamboo toothbrushes from Sweden’s Humble Brush, and a boutique offering of white charcoal shampoos, masks and oils from Danish brand, Sort of Coal.

In its design, the store aligns with DSM’s minimalist aesthetic, with bare walls and floors, no logos, and not a gaudy display in sight. Rei Kawukubo has designed a specially installed forest of pillars featuring egg-shaped shelves to display the Market’s many treasures, with subtle pops of colour throughout and a crocheted pillar feature that spans all of the floors.

True to Kawakubo and Joffe’s ethos, there will be no complimentary samples or gifts on offer here, but with bountiful new discoveries from around the world and conceptual fragrant adventures to be had, your beauty appetite will be more than satisfied.

INFORMATION

doverstreetmarket.com

ADDRESS

11 Bis rue Elzévir
Paris 75003

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Today, gemstone manufacturers are not just digging below ground, but making new inroads away from soil to develop man-made diamonds. De Beers has launched new company Lightbox, which specialises in laboratory-grown diamonds, while Swarovski has invested heavily in innovative mining-alternatives, which offer transparent supply chains.
 
Now, San Francisco-based man-made diamond manufacturer Diamond Foundry has teamed up with Dover Street Market, on an exclusive collection with six fine jewellers. ‘We wanted to create a collaboration that was inspired by our unique and special diamond cuts, enhanced by each designer’s expert craftsmanship, to push the boundaries of design’, explains Mona Sadat Akhavi, vice president of marketing at Diamond Foundry.

Ana Khouri, Delfina Delettrez, Hum, Hunrod, Raphaele Canot and Sophie Bille Brahe are all on the leading line-up. These jewellers are renowned for their experimental diamond settings, choosing to suspend them in space or offset them against unusual gemstones. There’s a punky punch behind their designs for Dover Street Market. Brazilian Ana Khouri, whose ear cuffs curve ergonomically around the ear, has created a single cuff style dangling with a length of pavé chain, while Italian jeweller Delfina Delettrez’s studs and punched with punky metal piercings. Elsewhere, Japanese atelier Hum has subverted the concept of a single stone ring, dangling a central diamond as a moveable pendant.

For the launch, Dover Street Market has enlisted photographer Katerina Jebb to shoot its accompanying campaign images. The industrial, stripped back shots are an evocation of the retailer’s modern approach to jewellery design, and reflect the fresh and visible inroads being made in gemstone manufacturing.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Dover Street Market website, Diamond Foundry website

The riotous imagination of 1960s Copenhagen jeweller, sculptor and goldsmith Arje Griegst translated masterfully into his striking Baroque jewels: a ring formed of a curling golden wave breaking over a sharply cushion-cut white diamond, a royal tiara shaped into a summer meadow overgrown with nodding poppies, and an Edvard Munch-like pendant dripping coloured pearls. Now, two years after his death, his son, photographer Noam Griegst, has picked out ten pieces from the archive to re-issue them for Dover Street Market London.

Arje began his career in the early 1960s, training with silversmith Just Andersen before bringing 40 sketches of new rings to Anders Hostrup-Pedersen, the dynamic manager of Georg Jensen. A prominent figure in the Danish craft world, with a keen eye for new talent, Hostrup-Pedersen commissioned 20 of Arje’s rings and agreed to send him away to Paris with a handful of gemstones and pearls to work with.

The resulting pieces were Arje’s first anti-modern statement as a jewellery artist. ‘The rings were like small sculptures in 20-ct gold and precious stones' says Noam. ‘When they were shown at Georg Jensen, the press wrote that it was a crime against modernism’s demand for light and air, but the collection turned out to be in tune with the times – all the pieces were sold within two weeks.'

Arje was known for his painstaking approach – a single ring could take as long as two years to perfect, using his own wax mixture and casting technique – and Noam is now using the very same casts, collaborating with some of the goldsmiths that worked for his father. ‘A heritage of such a size is an enormous responsibility. There are many pieces that I want to re-issue, but they are very complex and challenging to produce, even for the goldsmiths that we are working with today. Tastes have changed many times since we started making jewellery in the 1960s, but real beauty transcends time.'

Arje’s vision steered towards the transcendent. The pieces re-made for Dover Street Market include the ‘Cosmos' ring, which swirls into itself like a diamond-set galaxy, while the ‘Stardust' ring, pitted with craters, clusters around the finger. The ‘Spiral' earrings are formed of twists of ribbed gold, each punctuated with a white diamond. ‘One of my father’s main inspirations was transformation, and the metamorphoses that happen in nature,' explains Noam. ‘He had a very clear idea of the universe that he created throughout his life.'

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Griegst website and Dover Street Market website

The gritty, industrial and transitional Los Angeles Arts District has become the home for the first West Coast Dover Street Market and the 6th outpost by the brand. The collective community of avant-garde designers and artists that make up each unique space from London to Singapore, include the pillar conceptual, anti-establishment fashion brand Comme des Garçons conceived by creative director Rei Kawakubo, who runs the company with her husband and president, Adrian Joffe.

The entire Dover Street Market Los Angeles interior – spanning 19,500 sq ft – has been designed by Kawakubo including all Comme des Garçons brand spaces, common areas, and architectural features, which is engulfed in an all-white tile wraparound façade, spanning across two ground-level buildings. A duo of trans-lateral huts pierces the dividing wall between the two structures, comprised of corrugated scrap metal sheets with different textures. For the LA design, Kawakubo was inspired by the sunshine and natural elements and didn’t want the space to be too colourful, but let the contents and light take centre stage. 

With artworks and installations incorporated into cutting-edge fashion, Joffe is most interested in the synergistic energy that you get from a diverse grouping all in the same space and, as with all Dover Street Markets, the reigning theme is ‘beautiful chaos'. ‘The DNA has to be the same across the brand,' and according to Joffe, ‘we like mixing things up and giving the chance for accidents to happen. Streetwear brands next to luxury brands and what type of feeling that creates. It’s a community of like-minded people who have vision and something to say.'

The collections are conceived with the surrounding environments in mind. The front entrance is filled with jewellery cases and a Cindy Sherman photograph of a women wearing pearls that is seemingly watching over the bounty by a mix of Japanese, Brazilian, European and American jewellers. Local Sophie Buhai’s minimalist pieces in silver and gold are alongside charms by Annoushka x The Vampire’s Wife, and Ana Khouri, who has given her newest Paris designs in 18-ct fairtrade gold exclusively to the LA store. Across the room, you can peruse Gucci’s watch collaboration with LA artist Wes Lang and Jonas Wood’s piece for Bamford.
     
‘California has always been a birthplace of new ideas,' says Joffe. Like the previous DSM outposts, every six months the doors close for several days for switching out the products and reinstallation. Just like the evolving breads and cakes, at the signature DSM Rose Bakery, the rebirth gives customers a sense of discovery when they come back. 

There are no windows facing the street but there are two event spaces near the front and back entrances, where artists will be regularly commissioned to create in-store installations. For the opening, the front rotating space includes a pocket shelf shop surrounded by black and white plexiglass dotted displays and graphics by artist Jordan Wolfson, next to Pat McGrath x The MET flanked with gold chains and makeup, and Eli Russell Linnetz who has done both a CDG campaign for Andy Warhol perfume and a collaboration with Nike.

There are many additional ‘firsts’ for this location including Chanel fine jewelry and the debut Los Angeles retail spaces for Nikelab, Noah from New York and cult streetwear brand Palace.

DSM favourites also return, including Brain Dead who creates live fashion with spell-your-own message letters on Velcro T-shirts, plus the 18th collection of tulle dresses with leather and faux fur from Noir Kei Ninomiya (who studied under Rei Kawakubo).

UK milliner Stephen Jones feels there has always been a big clientele here for the brand and his signature dramatic black hats are displayed on a pile of tiny white wooden chairs, ‘It’s like two worlds colliding. DSM is like home for me in any city and LA is like my second home.'

IDEA Books co-founder David Owen is also excited about being in Los Angeles. ‘We already have a big online customer base but it makes a big difference to have something physical in the city.'

London-based Charles Jeffrey presented five very colourful, furry ghoul-like sculptures which are also showcased at DSMNY as a part of Frieze Art Fair. ‘The LA fashion scene has a very underground aesthetic still, which seems to contradict how connected people are these days. The vastness of LA feels slightly odd, but I'm fascinated. I can’t wait to see Avi Gold’s work in person, those t-shirts look wicked.'

Toronto-based Avi Gold's kiosk is a micro version of his store, one that is already creating a buzz for its cheeky depictions on t-shirts of the characters from Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. ‘I wanted to give myself and my friends, who are all basically artists, a platform to showcase what we do and make things fun and exciting again and bring something new to the table.'

In keeping with that theme, DSMLA has also worked with six international artists on a series of chandeliers that are dotted throughout the space. Warren Muller, Björn Dahlem, Yuichi Higashionna, have existing pieces on display while Lyn Dillin, Gary Card and Stuart Haygarth have made bespoke pieces for the project. Several of the chandeliers encapsulate an underlying theme of the current environmental impact on our oceans and recycling found objects.

The front entrance bears a bold black monochromatic chandelier by Haygarth who was sourced black plastic beach objects found on the UK coastline over a six-month period, giving them new life along with a human connection. ‘These spaces make the shopping experience unique and exciting, almost akin to strolling through an inspirational art gallery,' he says. ‘My work creates harmony from chaos, bringing together families of objects and producing order. In this case, the mass of black objects forms together to create a sinister floating UFO, highlighting the dark nature of plastic waste found in the oceans of the world.'

Sonoma-based artist Lyn Dillin’s ethereal Chjellydelier, ‘used trash and waste and things nobody thinks are important – what I call road kill – smashed spectacles, broken tools, squashed cans, cracked compasses, animal bones, salt-hardened seaweed, and combined them with poems I wrote and printed on transparent plastic and stuffed into glass bottles and test tubes.' Dillin was also inspired by Kawakubo’s fierce adherence to her own vision. ‘It was encouraging to create with no interference or guidance. I was free to follow my heart to build something that was meaningful, beautiful and strange.'

The diverse chandeliers dangle over a varied mix of camo bomber jackets, Adidas blazers, checked overcoats from Raf Simons and opera length PVC gloves. Nearby, a staggering variety of sneakers are displayed on a shiny gold center island a few racks away from hot pink backpacks and red patent leather dresses. The designers run the gamut from Creatures of The Wind, The Row, Balenciaga, Junya Watanabe, Kiko Kostadinov, Prada, Noon Goons and Rick Owens. For more casual unisex wear, t-shirt brands include Dreamland, Expert Horror and Fucking Awesome, among dozens of others.  

‘The customer is getting more and more individual and understanding what we are trying to say,' says Joffe. ‘At first people didn’t understand who we were appealing to. It was a struggle. Now there is a better understanding 14 years later of what we are doing.'

‘It’s all about that connection and we always like to connect with the local community in the best way that we can. In LA it seemed even more important. California has a real community feeling,' says Joffe.

As for the future of the brand, one day Joffe would like to open in Paris where he has lived for decades. ‘And, there we stop,' he says. ‘We are not going to take over the world.'

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Dover Street Market Los Angeles website

ADDRESS

606-608 Imperial Street
Los Angeles
CA 90021

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Puffers are entering a new era. The full lineup of 40 designs from the Moncler 6 Noir Kei Ninomiya collection, launches tomorrow exclusively at Dover Street Market. The line falls under the Moncler Genius umbrella; part of a series of eight collaborations with designers including Valentino's Pierpaolo Piccioli, Craig Green and Simone Rocha. Each collection will drop monthly, like an anticipated outerwear advent calendar.

Like its name, the project – which uses a drop model and celebrates a roster of esteemed brands – is in media strategy terms, genius. But, media strategy does not figure in Japanese designer Kei Ninomiya’s vocabulary: he rarely gives interviews, is underactive on Instagram, and doesn’t have a website… so who is this incognito designer who favours a monochromatic black colour palette? He studied fashion at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, began his career as a patternmaker at Comme des Garçons and launched his namesake label Noir Kei Ninomiya with Comme des Garçons in 2012. His first show in Paris last March made major waves. And now here he is, collaborating with an Italian outerwear stalwart.

For Ninomiya, colouring the collection black, ‘as my brand’s name Noir Kei Ninomiya suggests,' was an obvious choice. ‘I am trying to push the boundaries, and limiting colour opens the door to infinite possibilities,' says the 34-year-old designer.

From the darkness, the snow white feathers of down padding were at his disposal. ‘As I had never crafted duvet before, it was a new experience,' adds Ninomiya, who set about studying the basic designs of Moncler in his research process. ‘Then I focused on experimenting with the volumes that duvet can give.'

The collection features 40 pieces, all coloured in Noir Kei Ninomiya's signature black

The process of finding those new volumes proved highly complex. Described as ‘wearable geometry', many of his garments are composed of multiplied modules, like a cell reproducing itself in crescendo. ‘Usually I conceive the smallest motif and put several pieces of them together. Then they develop into a certain shape gradually,' he says of the organic process behind his meticulous, puzzle-like creations.

Visually, his work recalls the mathematical op art of Victor Vasarely, who calculated diminution and enlargement of motifs analogically. Sound-wise the right reference could be the music by Michael Nyman or even JS Bach: a shower of evolving refrains composing a melody. ‘I’m shaping a kind of seamless garment by putting small cells together instead of sewing yokes.'

His obsession with ‘modules' is not only about the construction of the pieces: each of the designer’s collections is based on an assemblage of fragments. ‘Each piece is important and an indispensable member of the whole collection, it’s not possible for me to pick out one particular piece as a reference,' he explains. 'When I work on one garment, I think about the proportion of the whole look or the entire collection at the same time.'

The sculptural creations are made of shiny nylon, which for Ninomiya represents the most idiosyncratic material of the house. Leather and knitted yarn join the nylon. For certain pieces, duvet-stuffed tubes are braided as knitwear. The surface of the puffer jackets evoke flower fields or quilted French bedspreads. The pleated, gathered or quilted skirts — whether in nylon or leather — evoke giant bells. Innovative, enchanting, magical… in Moncler 6 Noir Kei Ninomiya, his unique technique takes on a new dimension.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Moncler website and Dover Street Market website

Tom Binns’ idiosyncratic blend of playfulness in jewellery design is the subject of a new exhibition at Dover Street Market. The pieces, from previous collections including ‘Radical Exquisites’, ‘Assemblage Eclectique’ and ‘Contempt of the Familiar’, are on show together for the first time.

‘I have always thought of my approach as being more conceptual,’ Binns’ says of his take on jewellery design. ‘Although these designs are wearable, I see them more as objects of adornment for the curious. They are a dare.’

His designs often take the form of mundane items – a child’s toy, an animal figurine, a rubber tyre – and play with ideas of innocence. Taken out of context, their meaning is warped, and though faintly disconcerting, the impression is not unpleasant. Innocence may have been corrupted, but there is still an element of beauty, and in them, Binns sees positivity and a constant evolution; the antithesis of hopelessness.

The marriage of the everyday with the surreal, the precious with the prosaic, is seductive – ‘Chance Encounters’ comprises a cracked iPhone cover, incongruous against gilded twigs, swinging gently from a golden chain, while a plastic head, human hair, copper, vintage pearls and crystal make a discomfiting amalgamation in ‘See Horse’.

‘What is precious?’ Binns asks. ‘Memories are precious. Objects have history, which makes them precious, so it’s a whole new take on what we regard and value. What you gain in life is the love you leave behind. That is truly what is precious.’

Ultimately though, the jewellery is humorous, a sly wink at those who take life too seriously. Binns concurs: ‘There is a sense of irony and humour and a sense of questioning and irreverence, so hopefully that comes across. Most of the artists I admire have that sense of playfulness that portrays a feeling of depth, and also lightness.’

INFORMATION

Tom Binns’ exhibition is on view until 19 October 2018. A smaller selection of pieces will be on display until the end of the year. For more information, visit the Dover Street Market website

ADDRESS

Dover Street Market
18-22 Haymarket
London SW1Y 4DG

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Unravelling the ever-fraying seam between the worlds of fashion and industrial design, Jijibaba is the new ‘not-fashion’ menswear label from furniture designers Jaime Hayon and Jasper Morrison. To mark its mixed-medium identity, the collection has launched two times over, in different contexts – during London Fashion Week at Dover Street Market and again as part of the London Design Festival exhibition Design Frontiers at Somerset House.

‘I don’t really think of Jijibaba as fashion,’ says Morrison, listing the practical differences that set the brand apart from traditional fashion labels. Chiefly, rather than launching with seasonal collections, there will be one, evolving range of items. The opening gambit, aptly called ‘Items 1 - 38’, includes 19 items created by each designer. As time goes on, that number will rise as Jijibaba takes on new design collaborators. There’s also a lightheartedness to the range, emphasised by the name (which loosely means ‘grandmother/grandfather’ in Japanese, chosen purely for its ‘silliness’, says Morrison).

The salon-style presentation at Somerset House strengthens the label’s design orientation. Hung on a newly-designed modular rack designed by Hayon, the items are seen amid an array of the duo’s pre-exiting furniture, including Morrison’s 2016 range for Vitra, and Hayon’s ongoing collection of designs for Fritz Hansen. Visitors are invited to lounge, peruse and enjoy in what Morrison refers to as ‘the best room in the house’.

Morrison had his eye on Somerset House’s most impressive hall, complete with a sweeping, white archway, since visiting two years ago. He booked in the space even before he had a project to fill it. ‘We weren’t even sure if we would get the clothes made in time,’ he explains. But with the help of their partner, Phaidon’s Richard Schlagman, ‘who’s very much on the business side of things’, the ambitious project came together in a busy 18 months.

Both Morrison and Hayon have carried their existing aesthetics and design sensibilities into the new project. Hayon, no stranger to discipline-hopping, makes things ‘for people, to be used by people’ – an ideology folded into his highly wearable, functional pieces. Also featuring his signature sense of humour, Hayon’s designs feature snappy colours, patterned with smiling faces. Morrison, on the other hand, stays true to his steadfast ethos of ‘invisible design’, with a rich yet understated palette of burgundies, navies and creams. Though imagined separately, both offerings exude a quiet confidence and quality that makes them read as one, cohesive collection.

Fans of Morrison’s furniture needn’t fret – his feet remain firmly planted in that camp. ‘I have no ambition to become a fashion designer,’ he says, ‘though I have found it really interesting to deal with soft stuff instead of the usual wood, metal and plastic. I spend most of my life thinking of things to sit on so it’s good to turn my attention onto things to wear.’

Rather than thinking of Jijibaba as a new frontier, Morrison prefers to see it as a middle ground. ‘I think most people in the design world will see Jijibaba as a big jump across a wall, probably fashion people will too,’ says Morrison. ‘But it isn’t really – it’s something in-between.’

INFORMATION

Available exclusively from Dover Street Market. For more information, visit the Jijibaba website

Since taking charge of the house in 2007, Gaia Repossi has delivered jewellery collections that not only prove globally influential, but also continue to evolve. This month, she offers a sleek continuation of the brand’s cult 'Antifer' line – originally designed for the launch of Dover Street Market New York – with a capsule collection of rings for the store, titled 'Antifer En Chute'. ‘[DSM] love to challenge me,’ she says. ‘The Antifer Classic 1-Row ring was born for them, designed from their logo. This newly modified piece has a twist, giving it an elliptical illusion.’

Repossi takes an architectural approach to fine jewellery design, using the body as a structure with which to craft her pieces around. The effect is evident in her signature creations: diamond pavé cuffs that mirror the curvature of the hand and conjoined hoops that seem to hover above the ear’s helix. Refined yet disruptive, her aesthetic is poles apart from the classically flamboyant creations that populated the Italian family firm during the 1970s and 80s.

'Antifer En Chute' ring in rose gold and pavé diamonds

The distinctive Antifer design comes set in black, rose, copper or solid gold and is available plain or with a partial or full set of diamonds. The challenge, she notes, was to ‘create a ring with an optical twist in an easy yet fun way, but which can remain visually interesting once worn’. And she has succeeded, with a subtle but striking band that bends sharply on the phalanx of the finger, as if folded by gravity.

While Repossi counts Japanese minimalism as an overall influence, she insists that there are ‘no specific references’ behind the designs this time. Instead, she speaks of the impulse to ‘create a new style, like a drawing on the hand – a ring that simply follows the curve of the hand with a line’.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Repossi website and the Dover Street Market website

London’s St James’s has traditionally been seen as the stiffer, stuffier, more masculine mirror of its neighbour – the glitzy, ritzy Mayfair. It is home to barbers, gentlemen’s clubs and shirtmakers, and its borders are marked by such storied institutions as The Ritz, Fortnum & Mason, and Clarence House.

Until recently, the area’s eastern edge was little more than a rat run for black cabs, but now it’s playing catch up. Dover Street Market transferred from Mayfair to Haymarket this March, and the area’s newest addition is St James’s Market, incorporating restaurants, retail and offices. A partnership between the Crown Estate and Oxford Properties, the new complex was designed 
by Make Architects as a set of contemporary, sinuous structures framing a central square.

The Crown Estate also worked with cultural strategists Futurecity to invite artists and designers to participate in the scheme. Among these, London-based practice Studio Swine was tasked with designing outdoors benches and temporary seating for events. ‘We were amazed by how tangible the area’s history is,’ says Alexander Groves, who founded Studio Swine with Azusa Murakami in 2011. ‘You can go to shops like tobacconist JJ Fox and see the armchair that Winston Churchill smoked his cigars in, and at shoemaker John Lobb, they have the wooden lasts of Queen Victoria.’

The designers immersed themselves in the area, talking to the makers that reside here, and exploring the stores and local archives. The result of this research is four bench designs, ‘Shirt’, ‘Shoe’, ‘Pipe’ and ‘Tie’, each dedicated to a different craft rooted and still practised in the area, as well as the colourful ‘St James’s Market’ chairs and stools (which will be used for events), inspired 
by the looms used to weave silk for shirts.

‘Something that struck us about the local shop interiors was all the mahogany joinery with brass handles and the parquet floors,’ says Murakami. ‘We used this warm, dark palette for the benches to create a sense of place for this new development.’ Taking the wood and the parquet pattern 
as a starting point, the pair added elements informed by illustrious local traders, such as laser-cut steel legs and bronze inlays shaped after a John Lobb shoe pattern, or a red powder-coated base inspired by Turnbull & Asser’s classic red pinstripe fabric, giving each piece its unique character. ‘In comparison to other European capitals, such as Paris and Rome, London can lack the decoration and sense of refinement in public design,’ says Groves. ‘Our benches bring the workmanship and history of St James’s bespoke craftsmen into the public realm.’

This will be one of the Crown Estate’s main objectives as it continues to redevelop the area. Anthea Harries, who manages the St James’s portfolio, sums it up: ‘We like to think of it as redefining the refined.’

As originally featured in the September 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*210)

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Studio Swine website or the St James’s Market website

Photography: Philip Sinden

Its talismanic qualities may be steeped in classical myth but contemporary jewellers, from Ileana Makri to Delfina Delettrez, have set their sights on the Evil Eye. Their new variations augment obscure notions of throwaway beach trinkets by using precious materials to heighten the ubiquitous symbol’s graphic potential and emotional pull.

Ileana Makri was one of the first designers to unveil the modern potential of Evil Eye jewellery. The symbol appears across her collections: in bomb rings with ghoulish veins, crying eyes with exaggerated tear drops, and delicate chains with a more traditional take on form but with uncommon colour variations.

Delfina Delettrez, meanwhile, has played her part in reviving the Evil Eye with her quirky takes. The distinct Surrealist vibe of her celebrated Anatomik collection, adding lips and noses into the design mix, has done much to revive the Evil Eye as the jewel symbol du jour. 'My reference is more romantic, it comes from the lover’s eye,' she explains. 'Women used to sew small delicate eyes into their husband’s clothes, to be protected from betrayals. Like a third eye who watches over their love.' Delettrez’s new interpretations are modern and playful with variations in glitter and enamel.

The motif is also to be found in more graphic guises with designs from Indian jeweller Amrapali. Its Dover Street Market line is all the more powerful for its straight take, avoiding a figurative interpretation in favour of form and colour. The gesture of the Evil Eye is there but it’s so subtle you’d not necessarily be aware that is what you are looking at.

Lebanese designer Noor Fares takes a similarly understated view, alluding to the Evil Eye in a secretive way. Her new ‘Eye Do’ collection of geometric wedding and alternative engagement rings hides the tiniest of Evil Eyes on their reverse. She admits that the talisman effect is something ‘that was passed onto me by my grandmother, who told me that it offers protection to whoever wears it.’

Natalie Kingham, buying director at Matchesfashion.com, believes the current taste for Evil Eye jewellery is not a transient fad but instead indicative of a growing appreciation amongst customers for the stories behind fine jewellery. ‘My personal take is that there’s a wider awareness of their spiritual meaning, though the designs by Makri and Delfina are done in such an elevated way that the Evil Eye remains eternally chic.’

‘It can’t just be jewellery; it has to have something extraordinary about it,’ says Sacai’s Japanese creative director Chitose Abe of what first attracted her to the sculptural designs of Danish jeweller Sophie Bille Brahe. The pair met casually in London last year during mutual stockist Dover Street Market’s 10th birthday celebrations.

Abe was already a client of Brahe’s and on the Copenhagen jeweller’s next trip to Tokyo the idea for a capsule collection was cemented. Building upon Brahe’s Croissant moon and Elipse spear designs (already owned by Abe), the pair’s 10-piece earring project coined ‘sacaisophiebillebrahe’, debuted on Sacai’s S/S 2016 Paris fashion week runway.

Together, Brahe’s diamond and pearl designs were reconditioned with 18 carat gold chain fringe, exploring the notions of deconstruction and movement. ‘When a person wears Sacai and moves, a new element is discovered,’ explains Abe, who’s renowned from transforming the familiar into the unfamiliar. ‘I think that is the clothes’ strongest merit,’ she adds of her 16-year-old brand, founded after a decade at Comme des Garçons. ‘With regards to Sophie’s jewellery, I think it has the same element.’

For Brahe – whose business is currently transitioning from that of a ‘bright young thing’ to her well-earned status as a founding member of the powerhouse contemporary fine jewellery category – working with Abe widened her eyes to new creative and commerical possibilities. ‘As a small business, it reassured me to trust my gut, as Chitose has been so successful doing just that.’ Embodying that spirit, here two cult labels became one.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit Sophie Bille Brahe’s website

New unisex footwear brand Primury puts a sartorial spin on the classic plimsoll that's been a British sporting staple since the 19th century.

Working with leather, striped elastic or stitched uppers and rubber soles, Primury (coined from the word primary or first), offers an avant-garde twist on fashion's current slip-on sneaker phenomenon, which is no doubt why they are exclusive to Dover Street Market for their debut A/W 2015 season.

'Collection Zero is inspired by early memories of exploring boundaries and innocence,' says co-founder Ben Read. 'Over time these become hard to recall or forgotten. Primury revisits the traditional plimsoll as it takes on elements and ideas from these early memories through the three core styles - Curio, Fabl and Basal.'

The London-based collective, helmed by Read, Paul-Anthony Smith and Solene Roure, looked to the hazy black and white photography of Japanese lensman Daido Moriyama for the collection and accompanying campaign. 'Moriyama captures grainy moments as if part of a memory,' Read explains. It's a fitting reference to the original sandshoe's far-reaching legacy, having first washed up on England's pebbly beaches in the 1830s, before being adopted by the nation's school children for physical education classes.

Harumi Klossowska de Rola has just launched her latest fine jewellery collection at Dover Street Market. This year she has also embarked on another high jewellery collaboration with revered Swiss maison Chopard.

Klossowska de Rola is the daughter of the French-Polish artist Balthus and has been designing jewellery for almost 20 years, following a stint working for John Galliano's design studio. Her Dover Street collection is defined by a carefully considered combination of materials, including various woods, yellow gold and diamonds.

Her Chopard collection, meanwhile, follows the house's tradition of creating a menagerie of jewelled animals. A blackened white gold snake that curls around the neck and sinks its fangs into its tail is a standout piece.

We caught up with Klossowska de Rola on a recent trip to London to find out more...

Wallpaper*: You come from a rich art tradition. Why did you choose jewellery design as your medium?
Harumi Klossowska de Rola: My passion for precious stones began when I was a child living in Italy [at the Villa Medici in Rome]. Inspired by the many mosaics there I began creating sculptures using tiny pieces of green glass which I would give to my mother and father. They usually ended up in the bin, but I'm obsessed by drawing too - I sketch all my own designs in pencil, often while I am travelling by train. Then I finish them in watercolour.

What influences your aesthetic?
My husband, my children and I still share the family home with my mother in Rossinière in Switzerland, where we are constantly visited by friends. Because they tend to be artists, all kinds of ideas are exchanged. I'm also half Japanese so my mother taught me a lot about the Japanese aesthetic, particularly the concept of wabi-sabi. The notion that irregularity is part of an object's beauty, and that beauty does not have to be brand new and shiny, but can be very subtle. My own jewellery designs are imperfect and simplified. I work with different woods, living materials, as well as precious stones - I think the combination appeals because both are simultaneously hard and fragile.

Working with an international fine jewellery maison must present unique challenges?
It's like working in a wonderland, as you have so much craftsmanship at your fingertips. It does take time to build up a relationship with the craftsmen - at least one or two years. They soon let you know if some things are technically impossible and I work with them to understand their point of view. But there have been times when they have thought something was impossible, but with a little push we managed it.

Tell us about the snake neckpiece?
The snake took two years to create - it was a monumental process. You can wear it as a belt as well as a necklace, which is hugely complicated. We even blackened gold for this collection to reflect the animals' colours. I make jewellery that has a life to itself, even when it's not being worn. Everything I make is handmade and unique.

What's your next step with Chopard?
Next year Caroline Scheufele - the artistic director and co-president of Chopard - and I plan to work on designs that are more eco-friendly - accessories maybe, but not high jewellery.

Do you like the notion of applying your fine jewellery skills to other métiers?
I've always been interested in creating objects, even with my jewellery pieces, so I'm also developing a furniture line with Parisian company Astier de Villatte in honour of my father. The focus is on simple tables, chairs and lamps, made with natural materials.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the revolutionary retail concept Dover Street Market, the original London store reopens its doors this week after 72 hours of Tachiagari ('beginning' in Japanese) reinvention, kicking off a month-long calendar of special projects, limited edition products and installations.

'Tachiagari is part of Dover Street Market's DNA,' says vice president Dickon Bowden on the store's signature mode of creative flux that's seen artists and set designers dream up infinite concept spaces over the years, 'It continues in everything we do.'

This birthday facelift includes the expansion of the ground floor's fine jewellery space (remodelled by English artist Tom Price), an enlarged rooftop Rose Bakery café, the global launch of G I R L (Comme des Garçons' fragrance collaboration with Pharrell Williams), and Tokyo's Good Design Shop's basement residency.

'Rei [Kawakubo] has always been very inspired by the energy and the clashing of different people coming together within markets, which ultimately resulted with this beautiful chaos idea,' explains Bowden.

The celebrations technically began in late August with Louis Vuitton's first DSM concept space (the brand has historically only been available through its own boutiques and department store partners) debuting Nicolas Ghesquière's A/W 2014 collection, housed on the first floor until 14 October.

Equally as anticipated is this week's erection of a series of 'Market Street Dover' themed stalls scattered around the store, selling reasonably priced DSM souvenirs that have been either curated or created by DSM founder and Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo, along with exclusive products fashioned by designers from Simone Rocha to Rick Owens and Giambattista Valli.

And although the DSM concept has now expanded to Ginza, Tokyo and New York, initially, it was inspired by London's famed Kensington Market. 'She used to love going there,' continues Bowden, referring to the three-storey indoor market on London's Kensington High Street. The bohemian enclave catered to almost all of Britain's sprawling sub cultures over the years, from the hippies to the ravers, via the punks, before it closed its doors in the 1990s.

'Each one has its own personality,' continues Bowden of the three stand-alone emporiums. 'London is the original and it's the soul of Dover Street; Ginza is a beautiful, beautiful store; and New York encapsulates the chaos very aptly.' Indeed the latest edition spans seven floors, east of Midtown on New York's Lexington Avenue.

And despite the fact that this milestone is being celebrated under DSM's forward-focused 'The Next Ten Years' campaign, we couldn't help looking back at some of the stellar collaborations from fashion brands and artists that have transformed this London space over the years, as talents like Matt Moser-Clark and Gary Card have each let their imaginations roam wild to fuel pure merchandising magic.

'They give so much freedom to experiment and make things the way I intend them,' says Card of his interactions with the brand. 'I'm a strong believer in the first instinctive idea being the best, and Dover Street are so open to that, they are extremely receptive to strange ideas, yet nothing is strained or forced.' The set designer's most ambitious project included an installation of 40 clown heads displaying 40 pairs of glasses, each one lovingly sculpted from 100 roles of masking tape, which toured all branches.

Moser-Clark shares the sentiment: 'Working as an artist, you quickly learn how fast the world turns, and then working with DSM I learnt how much faster fashion moves. The whole thing is an experience not a shop.' The first project he worked on was a window piece called 'The Ship of Fools' back in 2011. 'It was as you might expect, a sort of fishing trawler decorated with ice cream sundaes,' he says of the work that was about the same size as his studio at the time.

'You'll be doing a window at 3 or 4 in the morning and people are stopping and taking pictures,' reflects Bowden on their unexpected displays that wink out from one of Mayfair's poshest addresses. 'That's hugely satisfying.'

ADDRESS

17-18 Dover Street
London W1S 4LT

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London's Institute of Contemporary Arts was founded in London in 1946 as an exhibition space and talking shop, a radical and initially itinerant counter-point to the Royal Academy. It moved into its first permanent home on the first floor of 17-18 Dover Street - what is now Comme des Garçon's fashion emporium Dover Street Market and had once been the home of Horatio Nelson - in 1950, until it transferred to its current site on The Mall in 1968.

This month, the institution prepares for a multi-celebration, with a series of events and exhibitions that pay tribute to its history and the people who were part of it. The catalyst for this is a book, unveiled this week, that looks back at the ICA's first two decades (and a bit). 'Institute of Contemporary Arts: 1946 - 1968' is a retrospective gathering of images, original documents and anecdotes by art historian Anne Massey and the ICA executive director Gregor Muir.

Exploring the history of the institution also inspired an exhibition in its original Mayfair HQ. London-based design studio (and Wallpaper* collaborator) Julia was enlisted to stage a friendly take-over of the building, working with the archive material from the ICA's Dover Street stint to develop a visual history that twists through the store's six floors. Posters, notes and artwork are scattered around the store's displays, and the staircase features a typographic timeline of the exhibitions and events through the years in the building.

The book and exhibition narrate an exciting time in the institution's history: the modernist architect Jane Drew, with a little help from Eduardo Paolozzi and his student Terence Conran, designed the member's room and it became the maternity suite of Op Art, Pop Art, the Independent Group and Brutalist architecture, among other things. Artists, architects and writers met in the space, which also hosted the first London exhibition of Jackson Pollock and the first institutional solo show of Francis Bacon's work.

A key character resurfacing from the ICA's history is British artist Richard Hamilton, an important figure in the early days of establishment and on the British artistic panorama. Hamilton was a driving force for the book's creation, having been involved with the ICA in an all-encompassing manner since 1950 - his contributions ranged from setting up exhibitions to curating shows - and his relationship with the ICA and its members was key to his artistic career.

A young Richard Hamilton worked on the very first installation at Dover Street and two of his later Dover Street installations, 'Man, Machine and Motion' (1955) and 'An Exhibit' (1957) are now being shown at the ICA to neatly coincide with the major retrospective that the Tate Modern (which is also home to the ICA's Richard Hamilton archives) is dedicating to his work.

New year shopping sprees came early for fashion fans in New York, with the opening of Rei Kawakubo's Dover Street Market in the Big Apple. Occupying a neoclassical building on 30th Street and Lexington Avenue, the New York iteration of the cult, multi-brand emporium has spread itself over seven floors and boasts even more curated treasures than its siblings.

Like its London and Ginza outposts, Dover Street Market New York brings together a host of creative expressions in poetic cacophony. In addition to carrying the full Comme des Garçons range, the boutique stocks a clashing mix of brands (many of which have created special collections for the store), ranging from niche favourites like Yang Li, Casely Hayford and Visvim to big names like Prada, Alexander Wang and Saint Laurent, with some fresh gems, such as Andre Walker and 1205, thrown in as well. There are several specially commissioned artworks, ranging from sound sculptures by Brooklyn artist Calx Vive to wall murals by Japanese artist Enomoto Koichi, interspersed throughout the mammoth space.

The store's unusual location on a less-trodden street in Midtown East Manhattan not only makes sense once the majestic building comes into view, but brings an alluring sense of discovery to the well-loved brand. Previously inhabited by Touro College, the building was empty for four years before the fashion company got its hands on it. The premises were completely gutted and designed by Rei Kawakubo, whose design included installing a 64 square-foot glass elevator that runs through the core of the boutique.

In addition to the reappearance of familiar features like the corrugated metal huts, vibrant use of polka dots and an outpost of the beloved Rose Bakery, Dover Street Market New York has especially amped things up with a different site-specific installation around each of the three columns that traverse the ground floor space. The research-based art practice London Fieldworks has covered one with a frenetic assemblage of wooden boxes, 'yarn bomber' Magda Sayeg has tackled another with one of her signature knitted constructions, while the third has been transformed by junk sculptor Leo Sewell with recycled objects to dizzying visual effect.

Despite the fact that Kawakubo carefully oversaw most details of the boutique, many of the store's inhabitants, including Prada, Sacai, Rick Owens and eyewear brand Moscot, have been given creative license to design their own retail space, resulting in a colourful pastiche of aesthetics. In a released statement, the elusive Kawakubo said, 'I want[ed] to create a kind of market where various creators from various fields gather together and encounter each other in an ongoing atmosphere of beautiful chaos; the mixing up and coming together of different kindred souls who all share a strong personal vision.'

Adrian Joffe, president of Comme des Garçons and husband to the enigmatic designer added, 'The whole idea behind Dover Street Market is to provide a new, stimulating and fun shopping experience. For New York, we wanted to create a contrasting feeling to the complex vibrant city that is New York. Kawakubo's main idea was to do the opposite of sophistication; a humble rendering of the respect for nature by using only one material: wood.'

The debut of Dover Street Market New York coincides with the reopening of Comme des Garçons' Chelsea boutique, which has been refurbished for the first time since it opened in 1999. The iconic, undulating space has been covered with gold. With furniture, light shades designed by Beirut's .PSLAB and two sculptural installations by artist Kohei Nawa all realised in the auspicious hue, the space is truly a sight to behold.

A neoclassical New York building at the corner of 30th Street and Lexington Avenue has been remodeled for Rei Kawakubo's latest concept store. Previously inhabited by Touro College, the building was empty for four years before the fashion company got its hands on it

Despite the fact that Kawakubo carefully oversaw most details of the boutique, many of the store's inhabitants, including Prada, Sacai, Rick Owens and eyewear brand Moscot, have been given creative license to design their own retail space, resulting in a colourful pastiche of aesthetics.

Prada's concept space has been developed around the store's glass elevator shaft and will be an ever-changing installation in itself. For the opening, special mannequins have been exclusively painted by Gabriel Specter, one of the mural artists involved in the decoration of Prada's S/S 2014 Milan show space

ADDRESS

Dover Street Market New York, 160 Lexington Avenue at 30th Street, New York

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To celebrate reaching the grand age of 60, Fred Perry has teamed up with Dover Street Market to present a special collection of one-off shirts. The British brand charged sixty of its most valued patrons and cohorts with reimagining the original 1952 Fred Perry shirt. The result? A collection that is as eclectic as its creative collaborators, which include photographic power duo Inez and Vinoodh, painter Horace Panter, graphic designer Neville Brody and local fashion label Sibling.

The first 25 customisations are currently on display in an installation specially conceived by set designer Andy Hillman. London is the first leg of the collection's international tour, which will see it pitch up at Dover Street Market's outpost in Tokyo and the IT Beijing Market, before being auctioned off to raise money for the Amy Winehouse Foundation. In addition to the bespoke polos, British designers Simone Rocha, Giles, Christopher Raeburn and JW Anderson all had their hand in a limited edition run of shirts that will be available for purchase in store.

The anniversary exhibition at London's Dover Street Market coincided with the unveiling of the store’s 18th Tachiagari, the biannual metamorphosis of its interior that heralds each new fashion season. Saint Laurent - which picked up 'Best Rebranding' in this year's Wallpaper* Design Awards - introduced its new retail concept, designed by Hedi Slimane, to the UK for the first time. Meanwhile, Rocha contributed to the ever-extraordinary rotation of window installations, at the same time as unveiling of her first ever shop. Finally, Rei Kawabuko once again excercised her creative prowess on a re-design of the Third Floor.

We popped down to DSM to check out the newly revamped space ...

ADDRESS

17-18 Dover St
London W1S 4LT

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We knew it was only a matter of time, but we never expected to wait this long. An epic eight years since transforming London’s avant-garde fashion landscape with anti-department store Dover Street Market, founder Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons has finally imported the concept to her hometown of Tokyo. Six storeys of glass and steel prop up more than 60 fashion labels in a former office building in upmarket Ginza.

Unsurprisingly for this most hands-on of designers, Kawakubo took on the transformation herself, adding a monochrome pillar motif to the framework and carving out intriguing whitewashed niches for her fashion tenants. Her own labels, the entire stable of Comme lines, including Beatles, Homme and Pocket Comme des Garcons, get a variety of custom displays: giant metal spirals and arches and imaginative wood vitrines that envelop the merchandise.

Elsewhere, Kawakubo has given her fashion collaborators – from Alexanders Wang and McQueen to Celine and YSL - full artistic freedom. Japanese brand Visvim hired British set designer Andy Hillman to imagine its space with a patchwork wall mural and a giant fallen rose. Cultish New York menswear designer Adam Kimmel, charged with his first-ever standalone concession, commissioned a series of neon canvases by artist Dan Attoe. Streetwear brand A Bathing Ape went with Tokyo interiors mavericks Wonderwall.

Considerably larger than the London location at 1,300 sq m, DSM Ginza is what its author describes as ‘beautiful chaos’. Some long-loved London-born themes are reimagined Ginza style, like the changing-room ‘hut’, interpreted here in corrugated metal and wood, its primary-colour paint seeming to fade and rust. As in London, no distinction is made between luxury and streetwear brands – it all collides in delicious anarchy, much as it would on a frantic Ginza street.

Kawakubo treats the space like a multi-tiered sculpture garden, curating each floor with works by Coudamy Design from France and Vancouver’s Patkau Architects. Fashion designers with an itch to scratch get a dedicated event space on the ground floor to toy with. Vuitton menswear designer Kim Jones, along with sculptor Alistair Mackie, took up the inaugural task and directed a Masai-themed scene, featuring a life-sized plaster elephant by Stephanie Quayle and Vuitton’s Africa-inspired Spring/Summer 2012 collection.

The building’s winning feature, however, is a recurring installation by sculptor Kohei Nawa of Kyoto. Kawakubo, eager to obscure the ‘intrusive’ escalator bays on each floor, commissioned Nawa’s wall of giant spindles. They cut across the thrust of each escalator like arrows, directing energy up through the building. Not surpringly, Nawa has called it ‘Pulse’.

ADDRESS

Dover Street Market Ginza
Comme des Garçon
Ginza Komatsu West
6-9-5, Ginza
Chuo-ku, Tokyo
104-0061, Japan

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