Looking back at some of the most iconic ads of the 2000s, as Taschen’s latest compendium in its All-American Ads series does, reveals early clues about the direction consumer culture was headed.

It was an era when prestige TV and reality shows ruled, celebrities were hocking everything from Moët to milk, and rapid advances in personal tech, photography and the World Wide Web were on the verge of reshaping life as we know it today.

Sex, scent and celebrity: Taschen’s All-American Ads of the 2000s

Within its pages – divided into chapters on alcohol, tobacco, cars, travel, entertainment and more – are sections devoted to fashion and fragrance. Here, the 2000s truly emerge as a decade when the phrase ‘sex sells’ reached provocative new heights in a growing attention economy.

Few understood this better than American designer Tom Ford. In particular, All-American Ads highlights his 2007 For Men fragrance campaign, in which perfume bottles were cheekily placed, tongue-in-cheek, over glistening, naked bodies to preserve a semblance of ‘modesty’. Earlier, during his tenure at Yves Saint Laurent, Ford was responsible for the infamous Opium advert. Shot by Steven Meisel and released in the year 2000, the image showed a nude Sophie Dahl in ecstatic repose. It drew hundreds of complaints and was ultimately banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, but the controversy meant that it remains one of the most iconic perfume adverts in history.

The book also charts the rise of the celebrity perfume brand, which, alongside celebrity beauty lines, is a hotter commodity today than ever before. While Elizabeth Taylor arguably pioneered the trend with her 1987 Passion fragrance, it was the massive commercial success of her White Diamonds line, which launched in 1991, that popularised the trend of celebrity-branded perfumes. ‘Everybody jumped on board,’ Jim Heimann, editor of All-American Ads of the 2000s, tells Wallpaper*. ‘David Beckham, Michael Jordan... And Paris Hilton, who just seemed to be everywhere, selling her products. Celebrity endorsement with perfumes is so indicative of advertising trends in the 2000s.’

All-American Ads of the 2000s features Taylor’s 2003 scent Gardenia, alongside Jennifer Lopez’ 2002 advert for Glow. And, it even highlights Donald Trump’s 2004 cologne, Donald Trump The Fragrance, where the current POTUS is depicted beside a beaming Melania. In other full-circle moments, designers like Ford and Marc Jacobs star in their fragrance ads. Jacobs’ 2010 campaign for Bang, shot by Juergen Teller, sees him nude, save for a giant bottle of the scent strategically covering his crotch in an unmistakable nod to Ford’s visual language.

‘One of my bellwethers for this kind of sexuality in 2000s advertising is men’s underwear,’ says Heimann. ‘You see virtually nothing between the 1950s and the 1970s. Then, in the 1980s, Calvin Klein changes everything: you’ve got a guy, seven storeys high in the middle of New York, wearing only his underwear.’

Alongside the aspirational messaging that one must smell, dress and eat like a celebrity, a striking theme within All-American Ads of the 2000s is the recurring lure of ‘individualism’. How can the average consumer become more than ‘average’ and ‘stand out from the crowd’ through the products they use?

The 2000s helped lay the groundwork for today’s digital age, where the iPhone is ubiquitous as both a status symbol and a tool for proliferating the same ‘individualism’. Social media influencers and the impact of viral, user-generated TikTok trends, particularly in the beauty sphere, now rival – or even eclipse – ‘traditional’ forms of advertising. (It’s worth noting that in All American Ads of the 2000s’ chapter on tech, there are some striking examples of early Apple adverts, bearing its tagline of the time: ‘Think Different’).

From this temporal vantage point, there’s a palpable sense of a new era dawning – and, one coming to an end. ‘It’s all online now, and so print is just slowly getting choked off,’ says Heimann of why this will likely be the final Taschen book showcasing American ads by decade. ‘I don't think it’ll go away completely, because you look at newsstands, the ones that are left, and there are hundreds of magazines there. So there’s still space for traditional ads on those pages. But online, everything’s so peripheral. It’s there for a moment – and then, boom, it’s gone.’

All-American Ads of the 2000s , £30, published by Taschen is out now.

taschen.com

Wallpaper’s beauty products of the month is an edit of the make-up, skincare and haircare loved by our resident beauty editor.

Today (1 February 2025) this includes Celine’s expanded lipstick range, Chanel’s S/S 2025 make-up collection and Mantle’s jellyfish mucin serum pads. Plus, Frédéric Malle’s quintessential perfume Portrait of a Lady by Dominique Ropion, dressed up for its birthday in a red lacquered bottle.

The best beauty products of the month recommended by Wallpaper*

Make-up

Chanel’s limited edition make-up collection for S/S 2025

Chanel’s limited edition make-up collection for S/S 2025 has been designed by Ammy Drammeh, one-third of the house’s Cometes Collective alongside Valentina Li and Cécile Paravina. Naturally, the offering is a celebration of colour and texture, with unconventional shades of Ombre Essentielle solo eyeshadows, or Stylo Yeux waterproof eyeliners. (This season, they come as duo sets in hues of mauve, pink, green and nude). Le Vernis nail polish in creamy pastels, and Jeux de Lumieres highlighting powders, complete the house’s offering.

Chanel S/S 2025 limited edition make-up, price varies, chanel.com.

Celine’s expanded lipstick shades

Celine Beauté’s debut lipstick Rouge Triomphe, which inaugurated the Le Rouge Celine collection, has now been joined by 14 others, each in the same hydrating, long-lasting satin texture. Orange Clea is a sultry red; while La Peau Nue is a classic nude, first featured on the S/S 24 Celine runway. There’s also an array of warm, rosy hues: from Rose Palace, through to cooler pinks and purple tones including Zou Zou (also the name of a fragrance launched by the house last year). Nightclubbing, which takes its name from a perfume as well, is the darkest shade of all – a deep inky violet.

Celine Le Rouge Celine lipstick, £62, celine.com.

Dior’s PH-activated lip balm

Dior Addict Lip Glow, a recent launch from the house of Dior’s make-up line, has been made with a pH-reactive formula, so the sheer wash of colour it provides will morph into a distinct, personal hue upon contact with the skin. It also comes in both warm and cool undertones and is intensely hydrating, containing both cherry extract and shea butter.

Dior Addict Lip Glow lip balm, £33, dior.com

Skincare

Omorovicza’s healing blue serum

Omorovicza’s Blue Diamond Super Serum – an addition to the Blue Diamond Surfacing Peel and Blue Diamond Supercream – focuses on eliminating senescent cells to regenerate skin at a deeper level, with ingredients including diamond peptides, tetrapeptides, hyaluronic acid and Omorovicza’s patented healing concentrate derived from the thermal waters of the brand’s native Budapest.

Omorovicza Blue Diamond Super Serum, £350, omorovicza.com

Mantle’s jellyfish mucin pads

Mantle’s Hydra Serum is powered by the combination of jellyfish mucin (said to bind water three times better than hyaluronic acid), and deep sea algae. Together, these ingredients form the Scandinavian skincare brand’s patented mPelagic2 Complex, which is now also found in its Hydra Pads alongside lactobiotic acid, providing exfoliation and intense hydration in just a few swipes. Keep them in the fridge for an additional de-puffing and cooling effect.

Hydra Pads by Mantle, £49, mantleskin.com

Haircare

Dyson’s automatic hot tool

The beloved Dyson Airwrap received an update in 2024 in the Airwrap i.d., a tool that wirelessly connects to an app via Bluetooth. Here, you are able to create your own profile and styling programme, adapting heat, timing and airflow depending on your particular hair type. Then, at the push of a button, the Airwrap i.d. will carry out the sequence. (Last month, it received a makeover in the form of a limited edition colourway called Jasper Plum, which compliments the packaging of its Chitosan products).

Dyson Airwrap i.d., £480, dyson.co.uk.

Fragrance

Frédéric Malle’s Portrait of a Lady (in red)

Frédéric Malle's Portrait of a Lady was created by legendary nose Dominique Ropion in 2010. Ropion is often referred to as ‘the master of flowers’, a title that he demonstrated with aplomb in Portrait of a Lady, where two variations of concentrated Turkish roses meet with notes of blackcurrant, raspberry, patchouli and amber. To mark its 15th anniversary, the fragrance is dressed up in a limited-edition red lacquered bottle, accompanied by a portrait series by photographer David Sims.

Frédéric Malle Portrait of a Lady eau de parfum, £290, fredericmalle.co.uk

Acqua di Parma’s interpretation of a classic

Colonia Il Profumo by Acqua di Parma is an intense reinterpretation of the Italian maison's original Colonia. Opening with the citrus notes, Acqua di Parma is renowned for, including Italian bergamot, grapefruit, blood orange, and petitgrain, the heart of Colonia Il Profumo features rosemary and ylang-ylang. Going deeper still, vetiver and patouchli provides the scent with a richness quite unlike any other from the brand.

Acqua di Parma Colonia Il Profumo, £264.00, acquadiparma.com.

Dior’s olfactory lucky charm

Christian Dior was a superstitious man. One of the couturier’s lucky charms, a piece of wood he would carry with him to bring good fortune, is the inspiration behind Bois Talisman, a new fragrance by Francis Kurkdjian for La Collection Privée Christian Dior. Kurkdjian, sharing M. Dior’s superstitions – including keeping a sugar cube as a charm – crafted a perfume symbolising the blend of wood and sugar. This scent is an olfactory exploration of cedarwood and vanilla, with multiple extraction methods enhancing the richness of vanilla.

Dior Bois Talisman eau de parfum, £380, dior.com

Tom Ford’s rose exposé

An unconventional composition of florals and leather, Rose Exposed by Tom Ford has been created to ‘capture the ephemeral beauty of a rose at its peak bloom’. It achieves this through an exclusive co-distillation of rose absolute and rose water. Rose Expose is more complex than it first appears, however: white pepper, pink peppercorn, bergamot, and curcuma give a warm and spicy element. A ‘tactile black leather accord’, as the brand describes, is comprised of sandalwood olibanum, and cashmeran.

Tom Ford Rose Exposed eau de parfum, £222, tomford.com.

Beauty and fashion are close bedfellows. But in 2024, this relationship got even cosier, with a litany of turbocharged crossovers between the two disciplines.

The year began with Pat McGrath’s viral porcelain doll make-up for John Galliano’s tenure-defining Maison Margiela Artisanal S/S 2024 show. Later, during September’s S/S 2025 show season, Olivier Rousteing welcomed the much-anticipated Balmain Beauty. (As well as releasing a line of perfumes called ‘Les Éternels’, the Balmain runway collection included clothes and accessories directly referencing the fragrance bottles, alongside yet-to-be-released products such as lipsticks and eyeshadows).

In October, Celine debuted its first-ever beauty line, with a red lipstick called ‘Rouge Celine’, designed by Hedi Slimane. (Slimane announced his departure from the house soon after). During the same month, Matthieu Blazy unveiled a collection of Bottega Veneta fragrances in Murano glass bottles. Last week (12 December 2024) it was revealed that Blazy would be stepping down from Bottega Veneta and into the role of creative director at Chanel. The day before that, news broke that John Galliano would be exiting Maison Margiela.

If one is to believe fashion’s rumour mill, there are more major changes yet to come in the new year. But if the past 12 months have taught us anything, beauty is going to be a huge part of whatever these changes may be. Here, Wallpaper* takes a closer look at a selection of key fashion-meets-beauty moments, which set the tone for 2025 and beyond.

How 2024 brought beauty and fashion closer than ever before

Beauty on the runway, from Maison Margiela to Marc Jacobs

Even if you still haven’t seen the videos of Maison Margiela Artisanal S/S 2024, where John Galliano’s cast of models (including the likes of Gwendoline Christie) staggered beneath the arches of the Pont Alexandre III in Paris, dressed as dolls plucked straight from Émile Zola’s demi-monde, you’ll have seen the make-up. Or, perhaps the endless reproductions of it across Instagram and TikTok at least. After all, almost immediately after the Pat McGrath-created look appeared on the runway, the internet was ablaze with beauty creators trying to decode the secret formula to the waxen, porcelain skin.

The hubbub around the look reached such a fever pitch that McGrath eventually weighed in herself, sharing the lengthy list of products – including a dizzy combination of peeling masques layered and dried directly on the skin with a hairdryer – that it took to achieve. (Ever the savvy entrepreneur, though, Dame Pat also revealed that her empire-scale beauty business, Pat McGrath Labs, is in the process of developing an all-in-one product for fans eager to get the look).

If there’s another fashion figure who won big in the beauty stakes this year, it would have to be Marc Jacobs, who collaborated with McGrath on a limited edition ‘MatteTrance’ lipstick to mark the 40th anniversary of the American design’s namesake brand.

On the runway, however, it was the S/S 2024 40th anniversary Marc Jacobs show, held in March, which saw the likes of Alex Consani and Kaia Gerber transformed into living dolls (a key theme this year, it would seem).

Strutting out from beneath large-scale Robert Therrien sculptures, their clumped eye make-up by Diane Kendal was offset with hectic 1960s-esque bouffants from Duffy. The label’s second show of the year for A/W 2024, which took place in July, pushed the all-pervasive doll theme yet further, with models sporting cartoonish overblown pastel eyelid covers, sewn from fabrics and trimmed with spidery faux lashes.

Beauty-inspired collections, from Balmain to Abra

But runway beauty went the extra mile in 2024, with collections even taking direct inspiration from beauty products themselves.

At Balmain, Olivier Rousteing used the house’s S/S 2025 show, staged in September, as an opportunity to toast a new line of perfumes called ‘Les Éternels’ and tease yet-to-be-released Balmain Beauty products. Flacon-shaped clutches, trompe l’oeil lipstick heels and eyeshadow palette pochettes figured alongside dresses embroidered with depictions of scarlet tinted lips and lacquered nails. (In 2022, Balmain partnered with Estée Lauder to bring Balmain Beauty to life. William P. Lauder, grandson of Estée and chairman of executive chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies, watched the collection unfold from the front row).

Elsewhere, independent label Abra leaned into beauty-inspired design for its A/W 2024 show, presented over Paris Fashion Week in February. The brand was founded in 2019 by Abraham Ortūno Perez, who has worked with Jonathan Anderson on footwear for both JW Anderson and Loewe. In particular, Perez is responsible for the former’s giant chain mules and the latter's surrealist sandals for S/S 2022, which included heels in hyper-realistic broken eggs, bars of soap and bottles of nail polish.

For the Abra collection in question, make-up brushes were transformed into necklaces, while lipsticks and mini eyeshadow palettes became earrings and brooches. There was also an oversized white T-shirt dress, which appeared as though the model had wiped her hands on it after applying foundation.

Beauty launches, from Celine to Bottega Veneta

2024 was as much about what landed on shop floors as what we saw on the runways, with the year bringing a glut of beauty launches from brands and houses.

One of the most memorable is Celine’s first-ever make-up product, ‘Le Rouge Celine’, a classic satin-finish scarlet hue that comes in an exquisite gold case, developed under the direction of Hedi Slimane. The entire cosmetics line, Celine Beauté, is set to continue under his successor Michael Rider, with more products such as eyeliner, eye pencils and more coming next year.

Elsewhere, Victoria Beckham’s booming beauty empire expanded further, with a collaboration with Augustinus Bader on a concealer pen, which contains the science-led skincare brand’s patented TFC8 technology. Augustinus Bader, which was founded by its namesake biomedical scientist and CEO Charles Rosier, is no stranger to fashion partnerships, having previously teamed up with the likes of Haider Ackermann. (On another note, Ackermann joined Tom Ford in September 2024, drumming up intrigue around the direction the French-Colombian designer will take its revered fragrance and beauty line, which recently put out a lipstick campaign starring Angelina Jolie).

Victoria Beckham Beauty debuted ‘21:50 Rêverie’ – a scent inspired by a twilight dinner she and her husband David once had in the Javan rainforest – by perfuming the designer’s S/S 2025 show space with it. (This wasn't the only time that scent was seen on the runway this year, with Burberry perfuming its A/W 2024 show space with ‘Ivy’ by Perfumer H).

Acolytes of Matthieu Blazy’s Bottega Veneta were blessed with scented candles in volcano-glazed pots and five perfumes including ‘Come With Me’ and ‘Acqua Sale’, all inspired by Venice, the ultra-luxe label’s home city. Each was housed in glass bottles that echoed the texture of handblown Murano and perched on a miniature Verde Saint Denis marble plinth.

Beauty and fashion in 2025, from Dries Van Noten to Miu Miu

Keeping track of the developing relationship between the worlds of fashion and beauty in 2024 was truly a head-spinning task. This year also saw Dries van Noten take a final bow as creative director of his brand, after almost a decade at its helm. (On 9 December, it was revealed that Julian Klausner would succeed him).

However, Van Noten will continue to work on its beauty and fragrance division, stoking excitement around how its offering could develop. As the designer told Wallpaper* in the December 2024 issue: ‘My life changed quite a lot this year,’ he says. ‘It’s an exciting time. We had some storms, with big trees falling over, so there is more work to do in the garden and some thinking to be done.’

Perhaps the launch to look out for next year, though, is the arrival of Miu Miu beauty. Launching by way of a licencing agreement with L’Oréal, the new line expands the Prada Group’s beauty foothold, which was first established in 2023 with Prada Beauty, under the creative direction of Lyndsey Alexander.

It is also worth keeping an eye on Chanel. Although beauty and fragrance will not be under new creative director Matthieu Blazy’s direct purview, it will nonetheless be interesting to see how his creative vision informs and interacts with this vital and storied branch of the French house.

Angelina Jolie was announced as the new face of Tom Ford’s ‘Runway Lip Colour’ campaign back in August (2024). Photographer duo Mert Alas and Marcus Pigott captured the actor, humanitarian and entrepreneur wearing shade ‘16 Scarlet Rouge’ and smoked black eyeliner.

Today (12 November 2024), the brand – which recently appointed Haider Ackermann as its new creative director – has released the accompanying campaign video, also by Mert + Marcus, in which Jolie pays ‘cinematic homage to feminine beauty and its power’. Here, she plays a version of herself studying for a role behind the scenes of a movie set, rehearsing lines on a script and getting into character with hair and make-up.

Watch: Angelina Jolie in Tom Ford’s cinematic new beauty campaign film

Set to the dreamy 1965 hit ‘Strange Effect’, written by The Kinks’ Ray Davis and performed by Dave Berry, the film also nods to this era with the flickering sound of a rolling 16mm film camera playing simultaneously. (There are echoes of brand founder Tom Ford’s work as a director, too, which includes A Single Man starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore and neo-noir Nocturnal Animals, with Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal).

Playful, up-close shots of the Academy Award winner smiling and laughing meet with moments where she’s immersed in her work, placing a red-manicured finger into her mouth in concentration, or slinging a sharp cream blazer over a black bralette whilst stage lights glare and footage projects on the wall behind her.

Tom Ford Beauty describes the campaign film as ‘a portrait of a woman who makes everything in her gaze her own, drawing confidence from the power of her signature [lipstick] shade.’ The entire ‘Runway Lip Colour’ collection of 18 creamy and hydrating shades (ten existing and eight new) marks a refresh of the signature ‘Private Blend’ lipsticks, which debuted in 2010.

As Guillaume Jesel, the brand’s president and chief executive officer, told WWD in August: ‘The connection to film and the cinematic aspect of the visual imagery that he created for this brand set it aside from anyone else and has been integral to our DNA ... Lip is the ultimate fashion accessory, it’s a carrier of the brand DNA, and it is at the core of the brand identity.’

tomford.com

Weeks after Peter Hawkings announced his departure from Tom Ford after just two seasons, the brand – which was acquired by Estée Lauder for a price of 2.8 billion dollars in 2022 – has announced his successor, Colombia-born French designer Haider Ackermann.

Though he has collaborated with both Canada Goose and Jean Paul Gaultier in recent years, the appointment marks something of a return to fashion for Ackermann, whose eponymous label held its last runway show during the A/W 2020 season. He also was briefly creative director of Berluti from 2016 to 2017.

‘It’s with tremendous pride that I will seek to honour the legacy of Tom Ford, a man I have long admired and have the utmost respect for,’ the designer said in a statement.

‘I have long been a great fan of Haider’s work. I find both his womenswear and menswear equally compelling,’ adds Ford. ‘He is an incredible colourist, his tailoring is sharp, and above all he is modern. We share many of the same historical references, and I could not be more excited to see what he does with the brand. I suspect that I will be the first on my feet to applaud after his show in March.’

Indeed, Ackermann’s insouciant, sensually charged vision of glamour – which often employed cut-outs to reveal the line of the model’s body – certainly has plenty in common with Tom Ford’s own designs, before he exited the label to pursue film projects in 2023. Both also drew inspiration from Yves Saint Laurent, where Ford was creative director in the early 2000s.

That said, Ackermann, who studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp – the birthplace of the Antwerp Six – has a more avant-garde approach to design, oftentimes achieved through unexpected pattern-cutting and offbeat use of colour. His longtime muse is Tilda Swinton; it will be intriguing to see how she will fit into the Tom Ford world.

Tom Ford will not show during the upcoming S/S 2025 fashion week, which begins in New York on Friday (6 September), with Ackermann instead making his debut during the A/W 2025 shows in February.

tomford.com

It goes without saying that waterproof make-up is essential for hot weather; not only for languorous swims on balmy holidays, but also for simply existing during a heatwave. And, although perspiration is seemingly the must-have accessory of late (thanks to Luca Gudagnino’s Challengers, and the erotically charged tennis matches played by Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist), when sat sweltering on public transport during the commute home from work, it can feel decidedly less stylish.

From the luxury of a creamy yet immovable Chanel eyeliner and smear-safe Dior lipstick, to the dressing table staple of a Kryolan fixing spray, the below beauty products will see you and your face through any torrid climate this summer.

The best waterproof make-up for hot weather

1. Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof

With its Stylo Yeux Waterproof eyeliner, Chanel has created a product that not only packs a huge punch when it comes to colour payoff but also has a creamy yet budge-proof formula. Resisting water, humidity and sebum, the eyeliner is packaged as a slimline retractable pencil (plus it has an integrated sharpener so you never get caught out with a blunt tip at inopportune moments). The liner itself contains silicone resin and softening waxes, whilst film-forming properties mean that it sets quickly. So, to work deftly with a waterproof pencil liner such as this, time is of the essence when it comes to application, particularly if you want to smudge it around the lids, rather than creating a precise line.

Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof, £27, is available at Harrods.

2. Tom Ford Emotionproof Mascara

As someone with oily and hooded lids, I need waterproof or tubing mascara year-round, lest I end up with product transfer up to my eyebrows and also down half of my face. So of course, when a heatwave arrives, it is a non-negotiable. The issue with many waterproof formulations is that they can feel quite drying and spidery on the lashes. Tom Ford’s Emotionproof Mascara, however, has remedied this issue with a lengthening, creamy, carbon black product that contains olive oil, alongside all the ingredients that make it stay on throughout sweating, showering, or indeed, crying.

Tom Ford Emotionproof Mascara, £40, is available at Fenwicks.

3. Estée Lauder Double Wear Concealer

The Estée Lauder Double Wear range was introduced by the storied beauty brand in 1997, a time when matte make-up was highly coveted. Unlike many other products on the market, Double Wear foundation and concealer allowed for a natural and soft finish, rather than a cakey and chalky appearance. Today, the formulas are still incredibly long-lasting, with the foundation still contained in the same matte glass, gold-topped bottles, in an incredibly diverse range of shades. In general, I tend to forgo a heavy base when I apply make-up, relying on concealer buffed into the skin with a brush to even out stubborn pigmentation or cover blemishes. So, in warmer weather, I will always switch over to Double Wear Concealer, in either a liquid or cream formula.

Estée Lauder Double Wear Concealer, £31, is available at Selfridges.

4. Dior Rouge Dior Forever Lipstick

Dior’s Rouge Dior Forever is the first 16-hour transfer-proof lipstick from the house in a bullet, rather than liquid formula. Launched in 2022, under the direction of Peter Philips, the lipstick is resistant to water and even to fabric transfer, meaning there is no risk of it melting off or staining the light hues of summer clothes. Created in the Dior Beauty laboratories via meticulous research and testing, the blend of ingredients means complete colour uniformity and suppleness on the lips (a rarity when it comes to kiss-proof lip products). There are 30 colours available, my favourite being the classic 999 Rouge Dior, a shade that dates back to 1953.

Rouge Dior Forever Lipstick, £37, is available at Selfridges.

5. Shiseido WetForce Sports BB Cream SPF 50+

Again, as someone who prefers a lightweight make-up base erring on the dewier side, Shiseido’s WetForce Sports BB Cream SPF 50+ is the ideal solution, with the benefit that it has been specifically formulated for working out and contains a high level of sun protection. It harnesses the brand's WetForce technology, meaning that when the UV protection is exposed to water or sweat, it actually increases in potency, rather than washing it away. In addition, amino acids lock moisture into the skin, where white pearl powders serve to highlight facial contours.

Shiseido WetForce Sports BB Cream SPF 50+, £36, is available at Harrods.

6. Kryolan Fixing Spray

Not all setting and fixing sprays are created equal. And, they all serve different purposes. Where certain make-up mists can aid in ridding an overly powdery finish, or refreshing it throughout the day, a true setting spray will fix make-up in place, creating an invisible, transfer-proof film on the face, and delaying the deterioration of the products beneath. The brand Kryolan was founded in post-war Berlin in the mid-1940s. Its products soon became a make-up artists’ staple for film, television and on-stage productions, known for its incredible performance under the heat of lighting, and in scenes involving water, or sweat. The Kryolan Fixing Spray is one of my must-haves for hot weather, as it even works on body make-up if I want to set concealer I use to cover up the odd bruise when going bare-legged.

Kryolan FixingSpray, £10.80, is available at Guru Make-Up Emporium.

7. NARS Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder

Alongside a fixing spray, a translucent powder goes hand in hand with setting make-up in place. NARS Light Reflecting Powder is one of my favourites, as it never feels too heavy on the skin, but also prevents excessive shine in humid environments, with a soft focus, and luminous finish. (Its Photochromic Technology also ensures that there won’t be any dreaded flashback in photos). While the product comes in both a loose powder and pressed powder formula, I prefer the pressed, due its compact and transportable packaging with a mirror attachment, ideal for touch-ups during a sweltering day. I dip a triangular-shaped powder puff into the product and apply it across my T-zone in a rolling motion to ensure I don’t disturb any of the make-up underneath, and use a soft, smaller make-up brush for the corners of my nose and mouth, and under my eyes.

NARS Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder, £34, is available at Space NK.

The A/W 2024 show season finally came to a close last week (12 March 2024), with Celine presenting its latest collection via film (it had been shot across several different art deco locations in Paris). The house also announced the imminent arrival of its first-ever beauty line, Celine Beauté, designed by Hedi Slimane; a pale pink lipstick in the shade ‘La Peau Nue’ was applied to models by Aaron de Mey, providing the perfect teaser of what’s to come.

Prior runway collections, which were staged across February and early March in New York, London, Milan, and Paris, also brought forth a wealth of stand-out beauty moments, of course. They saw designers reuniting with long-time collaborators across hair and make-up – Guido Palau, Anthony Turner, Lynsey Alexander, Peter Phillips, Pat McGrath, and Diane Kendal included – and also pairing up with skincare and nailcare brands, such as 111Skin, Augustinus Bader, MyBlend, and Biosculpture.

Here, we recap A/W 2024 beauty highlights, from curly grey wigs at JW Anderson to gilt eyeliner at Chanel, and perfectly manicured nails at Hermès.

1. The Skin

16 Arlington

16Arlington paired up with 111Skin for A/W 2024, with products providing the models with a discernible glow, before make-up was applied. (Any bare-faced beauty look, created by make-up artist Lauren Parsons in this instance, requires a meticulous, skincare-first approach). Prep began with mini facials, featuring lymphatic drainage to tackle the all-pervasive fashion week puffiness and fatigue, which was then combined with the Harley Street-based brand’s ultra-hydrating yet lightweight Y Theorem Repair Serum Light NAC Y2 serum, which is scientifically formulated to repair stressed-out skin.

Isabel Marant

At Isabel Marant A/W 2024, the runway was treated to the coveted ‘Glow by Bader’, with Augustinus Bader, responsible for skin prep backstage. Facialists from the Paris-based Académie des Facialistes worked with hero products such as The Face Oil, The Cream, and The Rich Cream (which all contain the brand’s patented Trigger Factor Complex, a cell-renewing technology featuring a blend of natural amino acids, high-grade vitamins and peptides) before key make-up artist Lisa Butler took care of product application.

2. The Make-Up

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten’s A/W 2024 show (which turned out to be his final womenswear collection, after the designer announced that he would be leaving his namesake brand in June 2024) saw Lucy Bridge create ‘strange’ but beautiful make-up looks, which combined unusual colour palettes – such as grey and caramel-toned lipstick and bleached false lashes - using products from the Dries Van Noten beauty line.

Chanel

Chanel A/W 2024 by Virginie Viard drew inspiration from Claude Lelouche’s 1966 film A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme), starring Anouk Aimée. In it, Aimée wears a make-up look emblematic of the time, with winged liner and false lashes framing her eyes. Make-up artist Lisa Butler nodded towards this in the beauty for the A/W 2024 show, creating statement liner with a contemporary twist, using Chanel Beauty products in hues of pink, pale blue, orange, and gold to mirror the clothes.

Dior

Peter Phillips, creative and image director of Dior Beauty, combined pared-back, dewy skin (using the brand’s latest product Dior Forever Star Filter and the Dior Forever Skin Glow Foundation) with painterly pops of raspberry pink pigment in the corner of the model’s eyes, for Dior A/W 2024. This was inspired by the palette that Marc Bohan used in his collections for the house, and provided visual contrast with the latest, designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, which comprised a neutral palette of black, white, beige, and blue denim.

Rabanne

At Rabanne A/W 2024, Diane Kendal (who has been heading up the fashion house’s beauty line since it launched in 2023) created glossy finishes on eyelids and lips, using moisturising products such as Rabanne Beauty’s tinted lip balm, which contains hyaluronic acid and pomegranate to moisturise and plump. The final effect was beautifully subtle, with lashes heavily coated in the brand’s deep black Famous Volumising 5-in-1 mascara to add definition to the model’s faces.

3. The Hair

JW Anderson

In line with Jonathan Anderson’s vision of British suburbia for the JW Anderson A/W 2024 collection – which included riffs on thermal underwear and subtle nods towards curtain twitching – Anthony Turner created a series of curly grey wigs that referenced the ‘blue rinse brigade’; the sort of styles that were once hugely popular by women of a certain age. To bring the look up to the present day, Lyndsey Alexander used a velvety, matte lipstick in the orange-red shade Vermillion from Merit Beauty’s latest range.

Loewe

Guido Palau worked with colourist Antonia Cometa on the hair for Loewe A/W 2024, which took the shape of futuristic bowl cuts inspired by anime. Using extensions that were dyed black, red, turquoise, and blue, with a single plait at the back of the head, Palau set the looks with one of the new products from his Zara haircare range, a delicately scented, fine mist hairspray that leaves barely any residue.

Issey Miyake

‘For this show, I was looking at a picture of how the fabrics were dyed. They twist them and they twist the twists around themselves. I want to bring that into the hair, twisty and knotty but very fluid and beautiful. Enveloping and beautiful,’ said Anthony Turner of how the clothes at Issey Miyake A/W 2024 influenced his concept for hair. Using Dyson’s new ‘Supersonic r’ hair dryer ensured that strands (first prepped with mousse and treatment oil) were sleekly blow-dried, before being sculpted into knots using a weaving needle and secured with kirby pins.

4. The Nails

Roksanda

For Roksanda A/W 2024, session manicurist Georgia Rae worked with Biosculpture – the cult nail brand used by professional nail artists, which has the staying power of a hard gel but simultaneously strengthens and cares for nails. The models’ fingertips were matched to their make-up look, designed by Sharryn Hinchcliffe using M.A.C: either a dark berry and black twist on a French manicure, or a nude shade tailored to individual skin tones.

Coperni

In keeping with the codes of Coperni, which tread the line between sci-fi fantasy and real-world technology – nail artist Marie Rosa used huge acrylic tips, painted matte black, to form alien-like talons for the Parisian brand’s A/W 2024 show. Opening with John Williams’ score for Stephen Spielberg’s 1977 film Close Encounters of The Third Kind, models carried sealed ‘Ziploc’ bags with ‘top secret documents’ contained within them – as though they were clutched in the grip of extraterrestrial life forms, running away with the evidence of their arrival on Earth.

Molly Goddard

Pleasing  partnered with Molly Goddard on the A/W 2024 show, with nail polish shades that provided a strong cohesion between the vividly coloured collection (described by the designer as ‘smushing, blobs upon blobs, two become one’). The look, created by Saffron Goddard, was based on the idea of trialling out multiple nail polishes at once, with two different hues painted abstractly on fingertips. This included ‘Borgonha Acai’, a glossy burgundy, paired with ‘Beach Ball’, a deep, opaque, and ‘Syrupberry’ (a vibrant pink) placed on top of ‘Don’t Lady Bug Me’, a rambutan red.

Hermès

At Hermès, nail artist Anatole Rainey created an impeccable, clean manicure, using polishes from the house’s beauty line. Products included Les Mains Hermès enamel base coat, followed by two shades of delicate pink (one slightly deeper than the other) before finishing with a Les Mains Hermès enamel top coat. A soupçon of Les Mains Hermès complete hand care cream, which contains white mulberry extract, moss and passiflora precious oil, and a plant-based emollient complex enriched with Pistacia lentiscus L. sap nourished the skin before the runway show began.

5. The Scents

Burberry

Burberry’s A/W 2024 show was held in a vast and dimly lit tent in London’s Victoria Park, adorned with dark green matting that was designed to look like grass. Daniel Lee had said that the collection was inspired by ‘Burberry’s heritage of the outdoors’. To enhance the verdant ambience, Perfumer H (the British perfume house founded by nose Lyn Harris) scented the space with its Ivy fragrance, which evokes an English garden in autumn, through notes of red berry, rose, frankincense, and musk.

Tom Ford

Tom Ford’s fragrance Vanilla Sex – which is described by the brand as a ‘beguiling, deeply seductive scent of vanilla resinoid, mahogany wood accord and roasted barley’ – set the olfactory tone of Peter Hawkings’ sophomore collection for the American brand, and was sent to guests with the show invites. Such names included the likes of Alec Wek, Uma Thurman, Dominic Sessa, and Sharon Stone, who sat front row as the show opened with the Basic Instinct soundtrack playing.

Jacob Cohën

At Jacob Cohën’s latest presentation in Milan, a sprinkling of snow fell from the ceiling of the Teatro Lirico and onto the model’s heads. As owner and creative director Jennifer Tommasi Bardelle let Wallpaper* know from the sidelines, each piece of the paper snow had been spritzed with Jacob Cohën’s signature denim scent, mixed here with a transporting note of pine, recalling Alpine forests.

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

Top 10 beauty and grooming features of 2023

01. Prada introduces ‘ugly beautiful’ debut beauty line

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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06. How Tom Ford changed the beauty industry

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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During the festive season, there is a collective tendency to overindulge in glitter-based items. From gaudy sweaters to interior (or exterior) decor, while a bit of sparkle can be fun, there is a limit that is so often exceeded.

When it comes to make-up and hair, avoid this issue entirely by playing with a subtle nod to glittery textures, here and there. Focusing on individual parts of the face or body, can be all you need to provide any social situation with a suitably celebratory yet sophisticated aura.

Here are five beauty products that give glitter a grown-up spin, from hairstylist Guido Palau’s new Zara Beauty collection, Chanel’s iridescent Coco Mademoiselle gel lotion, and Giorgio Armani’s shimmery liquid eye tint.

Five sophisticated ways to wear glitter make-up textures this winter

The lips

Tom Ford once quipped that ‘glamour is something more than what you put on your body. It has to do with the way you carry yourself and the impact you have on others’. Whilst being correct in this assertion, this glitter lip balm by his namesake brand (now owned by Estée Lauder) provides a little help along the way. Formulated without parabens, mineral oils, and silicones, and described as a product that ‘mimics the look of a lustrous sunset over the sea’, a slick of this lip balm over the top of a matte lipstick, or simply worn alone, is a decidedly elevated approach to pulling off glitter make-up.

Tom Ford, Soleil de Feu Lip Spark Balm, £44 at Harrods.

The eyes

The versatility of this liquid eyeshadow by Giorgio Armani knows no bounds: it can be used as a shadow, liner, or even highlighter. With a polymer formulation that is both smudge and sweat-resistant, yet creamy and blendable, the liquid tint (which comes in several runway-inspired shades) is enriched with pearlescent pigment and finely milled glitter particles. It can be applied as a solo, sheer wash of colour over the lids, or densely smudged around the entirety of the eye and smoked out with powder for a sultry finish that is rather reminiscent of make-up looks worn by the likes of Amber Valetta and Nadja Auermann in Giorgio Armani’s 1990s campaigns by Peter Lindbergh and Paolo Roversi.

Giorgio Armani Eye Tint, £30 at Selfridges.

The cheeks

In September 2023, Apple TV+ released a documentary on the life and work of legendary make-up artist and photographer, François Nars. Called Unknown Beauty, it takes a look at his inner world, following the trajectory of his career from the 1970s to 1990s New York. Narrated by Charlotte Rampling, the documentary opens with a shot of Romy Schneider the 1964 film L'Enfer by Georges Clouzot, her face entirely covered in glitter. This became one of Nars’ most ensuring inspirations, so it’s no surprise that products in his namesake make-up line often focus on this texture. This limited edition cheek palette from the brand’s latest holiday collection contains buildable hues of its signature Light Reflecting Blush in cinematic shades titled ‘Silver Screen’, ‘Vertigo’, ‘Sabrina’, and more.

NARS, All That Glitters Light Reflecting Cheek Palette, £59 at Harvey Nichols.

The hair

Earlier this month (December 2023) Zara Beauty released a holiday hair collection in collaboration with Guido Palau, the hairstylist behind runway and campaign looks ranging from Marc Jacobs, Prada, Versace and Fendi. Called ‘Glitter in Gold’, the range of products includes a ‘Give Me Glitter’ hair make-up spray and ‘Give Me Gold gel’, to provide your locks with a luminous lustre. With extra fine textures, they can be applied sparingly or layered liberally, depending on how editorial you want your desired look to be. The set also includes a gold-tone styling comb and set 12 bobby pins, for a playful and practical finishing touch. ‘We’ve developed a bobby pin that doesn't fall out of your hair,’ says Palau. ‘It's the most simple hair accessory, but I wanted to make it more aesthetically pleasing.’

Zara Beauty by Guido Palau hair holiday set, £35.99 at Zara.

The nails

As with everything Dior Beauty produces, thanks to the masterful eye of creative and image director Peter Philips, this limited edition Dior Vernis nail polish (as part of a collection called Atelier of Dreams) brings the world of Parisian haute couture right to your fingertips. Infused with extracts of peony and pistachio, the formula is gentle and protective, whilst providing a mirrored gel-like finish. Whether worn alone or as a top coat, this polish provides any manicure with just the right amount of festive pizzaz. Once your nails are dry, finish with the brand’s silky multipurpose balm product, Le Baume, which is the ideal protectant against winter temperatures as you make your way from holiday party A to holiday party B.

Dior, Dior Vernis The Atelier of Dreams Limited Edition nail polish, £27 at Harvey Nichols.

The chest

Wallpaper* reported on Chanel’s latest Coco Mademoiselle campaign in February 2023, which stars Canadian actress Whitney Peak. The now classic fragrance, which first launched in 2001, has been described as an ‘ode to youth’; the younger relative of Chanel No.5, if you will. This body gel, imbued with the scent, is a playful take on this dynamic, and is distinctly Parisian take on body glitter. The shimmering formula with its suspended pearly particles inspired by ‘Mademoiselle's penchant for pearls’. It illuminates the skin whilst being fresh, subtle and lightweight. For off-the-shoulder cuts, this product is the ideal finishing touch when worn on the décolletage. (When pairing it with backless garments, you may require a little assistance in application).

Chanel, Coco Mademoiselle Pearly Body Gel, £85 at Selfridges.

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

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

Café Rose by Tom Ford

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

tomford.com

Rose by Perfumer H

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

perfumerh.com

Elisabethan Rose

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

penhaligons.com

Rosa Carnivora and Raving Rose by Dries Van Noten

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

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

driesvannoten.com

Odeur Du Théâtre Du Châtelet by Comme des Garçons

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



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

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

comme-des-garcons-parfum.com

Eau de Parfum Eau Rose by Diptyque 

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

spacenk.com

Rose 31 by Le Labo 

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

harrods.com

Georgette by Vyrao

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

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

selfridges.com

Young Rose by Byredo 

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

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

cultbeauty.com

Doll by Mondo Mondo 

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

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

mondo-mondo.com

L'Heure Osée by Cartier

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

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

net-a-porter.com

L’Homme À La Rose by Maison Francis Kurkdjian

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

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

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

franciskurkdjian.com

Rose & Cuir by Frederic Malle

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

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

libertylondon.com

Unrequited by Bel Rebel 

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

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

belrebel.com

Celtic Rose by Alexander McQueen 

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

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

harrods.com

Tom Ford – featured in the Wallpaper* USA 300 – revolutionised fashion with his glamorously sexy A/W96 collection for Gucci. Ten years later, he did the same for beauty, launching his eponymous brand one year after leaving the Italian fashion house.

Now, Ford is stepping down from the brand, with his longtime colleague Peter Hawkings announced as its new creative director.

Ford aimed high from the get-go and, by 2014, he had built his beauty brand (not including his label’s fashion divisions) into a multi-million-dollar behemoth. And while his assertion then that he wanted to build it into a $3bn business might have seemed a reach too high, it turns out he was right on the money: last year, Estée Lauder made one of the biggest acquisitions in industry history by purchasing Tom Ford for $2.8bn.

As with fashion, the key to Ford’s success in beauty was his ability to make a relatively rigid and tired industry sexy again. As journalist Bridget Foley writes in her seminal book Tom Ford, ‘Ford’s greatest achievement is that... he fulfilled a basic goal, the one that had drawn him to fashion in the first place: to make women and men look beautiful.’

His first launch under his own name was ‘Black Orchid’, a now iconic fragrance made from one of the darkest, most elusive flowers on earth. He then moved into cosmetics with lipsticks – still the bedrock of Tom Ford make-up – charging a then nearly unheard of $50 for a single shade and dubbing them with names such as ‘Crush’ and ‘Ensnare’.

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

tomford.com

This article appears in the August 2023 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

Luxury scented candles can transform the ambience of a space with one strike of a match. The Wallpaper* edit takes into consideration both intriguing scent profiles and designs, spanning from sleek sophisticates to colourful creatives, and everything in between.

For the former, think Celine’s collection of candles crafted by the house from faceted black glass and black wax. For the latter, Bottega Veneta’s recently launched range has one-of-a-kind volcano-glazed pots that can be kept and re-used once the contents have burned down. No matter which from our ongoing list is your preference, this advice remains universal: do not forget to trim the wick.

Luxury scented candles to intrigue the senses, as selected by Wallpaper*

Celine

Celine’s candles are undeniably chic, with their faceted black containers and candle wax, which is created in-house by the Maison’s own wax maker. His dual training in perfumery (something of an anomaly in the trade) provides a unique understanding of how fragrance and wax work together to saturate a room. Like the brand’s perfumes, all of the candle’s scents are designed by creative director Hedi Slimane. Each one is a crowd-pleaser but we have a soft spot for ‘Illuminations’ (a blend of incense and resinous rockrose that is inspired by Rimbaud’s poetry) and ‘Nightclubbing’, based on Slimane’s memories of Paris after dark, with white orris butter, patchouli, tree moss, vanilla and musk.

celine.com

Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta candles come in a one-of-a-kind volcano-glazed clay pots, that are designed to be reused around the home when the wax has burned down. For a gentle scent, try ‘Raintree’, which is inspired by a hot Italian sun warming fresh fig leaves. There’s also ‘Redstone’, a richer scent with notes of plum nectar and woody tobacco leaves. While ‘Lantern’ makes for a slightly more subtle option with notes of suede rose and woody vetiver roots.

bottegaveneta.com

Tom Ford

Tom Ford perfumes have gained a cult following thanks to their opulent, distinctive and overtly sexy scents. His candles are no different. And, although they come in relatively streamlined packaging, their scents pack a punch. If you’re having trouble deciding which one to get, we recommend trying ‘Fucking Fabulous’ which lives up to its name with a heady blend of leather and amber-hued tonka bean.

tomford.com

Diptyque

Part of the Dipgtyque’s summer fragrance collection, the ‘Citronelle’ candle is full of zest, with lemongrass, verbena, neroli and orange blossom. It’s currently available in a limited edition design, featuring playful illustrations by artist Alexandre Benjamin Navet. The candle is ‘an instant reminder of balmy summer nights’, and has the added benefit of warding off any bugs and insects that might interfere with the mood.

diptyque.com

Trudon

In a list of luxury scented candles, it would be remiss to exclude Trudon, a storied fragrance house that once made candles for Marie Antoinette. (A recent collection even paid olfactory tribute to Versailles). The brand’s ‘Ernesto’ candle – a blend of tobacco and leather – is the most classic choice. If you prefer a slightly less heady fragrance, however, then ‘Abd El Kader’ is decidedly refreshing, containing slightly spicy notes of Moroccan mint tea, tobacco and ginger. Or, there’s ‘Carmelite’, a woody incense-tinged scent inspired by the mossy stone walls and silent chapels of medieval convents.

trudon.co.uk

Harriet Allure

Harriet Allure is a niche Stockholm-based candle brand created by childhood friends, Freddy Mackensy and Alex Adu. Each of the brand’s four candles is inspired by the founder’s friends and family and is intended to conjure up the feeling of ‘home’ from anywhere one might be in the world. The most impressive scent in the collection is perhaps ‘Faiyaz’ which blends tobacco with violet, saffron and pine cedar. But ‘Amu’ is the perfect option for those who prefer the slightly sweeter fragrance of apple and cardamon.

harrietallure.com

Loewe

Loewe’s plant and vegetable-inspired scented candles have become icons of the genre, inspired by Creative Director Jonathan Anderson’s own garden. There’s ‘Mushroom’, ‘Luscious Pea’, ‘Beetroot’, and the now quintessentially verdant ‘Tomato Leaf’, to name but a few, each housed in colourful terracotta pots based on the design of a 5th-century BC Greek mug.

perfumesloewe.com

Acqua di Parma

The Acqua di Parma ‘Chapeau!’ candle is a brand collaboration with designer Dorothée Meilichzon. Infused with the notes of Luce di Colonia: orange, lemon, petitgrain, neroli, patchouli and vetiver. Crafted from ceramic, the candle weighs a total of almost 2,000g, with a two-in-one design inspired by the Art Deco forms of Acqua di Parma fragrance bottles. The glazed top (in the signature house colours of either yellow or blue) slots onto a matte white base, revealing itself as a small candle in itself once removed.

acquadiparma.com

Cloon Keen

Cloon Keen is an Irish fragrance brand that has garnered a devotional following among those in the know. Brand founders, Margaret Mangan and Julian Checkley have curated a range of phenomenal scents inspired by their home country. ‘Aesthetic Lily’ pays homage to Oscar Wilde, blending the delicate freshness of lily with spicy ginger and Egyptian jasmine on fine, carved mahogany.

cloonkeen.com

Le Labo

A candle from cult fragrance brand Le Labo is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Its three-pack discovery set is a great way to find out which is your favourite. But fortune favoures the bold. So don’t hesitate in taking the plunge with ‘Ambroxyde 17’, a candle infused with synthetic molecule Ambroxyde, which produce the scent of ambergris or ‘floating gold’. This alluring ‘can’t quite place it’ note is paired with musks, woods, and jasmine for a heady, distinctive scent.

lelabofragrances.com

Maison D’Orsay

Maison D’Orsay was founded 200 years ago by French aristocrat (and inspiration for The New Yorker’s top-hatted mascot) Alfred d’Orsay. The brand’s range of candles are inspired by romantic meetings, with names corresponding to the time and place for each. ‘02:45 Enfin Seuls’ is a blend of incense, burned birchwood and rose inspired by a fireside conversation that goes on until the early hours; ‘23:15 À l’abri des regards’ is a heliotrope and lavender fragrance that pays homage to incognito rendezvous late at night; ‘21:30 Sous les draps’ is a spicy, floral blend of cumin, rose, patchouli and moss; and ‘06:20 Où tu sais’ combines linden flower, acacia wood, and hay, designed by celebrated perfumer Olivia Giacobetti.

dorsay.com

Haeckels

Fans of Haeckles natural skincare will want to extend the love to the Margate-based brand’s candles, too. The collection sees its cult perfumes become home fragrances in the likes of ‘Dreamland’ (a singular mix of rose and charred wood inspired by the 19th-century amusement park) or the ever-popular ‘Pluviophile’, which evokes the smell of rain hitting coastal pebbles. Repackaged in recycled sandblasted containers made by UK glass manufacturers, the containers are also emblazoned with coordinates from the Kentish coastline.

haeckels.com

Ormaie

Haute parfumerie Ormaie has made a name for itself with some of the most beautiful, modernist-inspired perfume bottles (and perfumes) around. It’s no surprise, then, that their candles are equally as elegant. Five of the brand’s scents can be purchased in gold-toned refill containers, held in a white porcelain vessel. When it comes to choosing between them, we have a soft spot for ‘Pain Perdu’, a blend of bran, cedar, and tonka beans meant to evoke the smell of an after-school snack in a French kitchen.

ormaie.paris.com

Perfumer H

Perfumer H’s candles come in elegant hand-blown glass containers that can be endlessly refilled in-store after purchase. Scents conceived by brand founder and Grasse-trained nose Lynn Harris include ‘Smoke’, a deeply intense blend of burnt cade, smoking birch tar and frankincense that smells like scorched wood in a dense forest. Or, there’s the the gentler ‘Dandelion’, created to evoke the first waves of a childhood spring, with green leaf, basil, honeysuckle, tagete, neroli, oak moss and vetiver.

perfumerh.com

Earlier this week, American designer Tom Ford – who rose to fame with a successful stint at Gucci in the 1990s – showed his final collection for the eponymous brand he founded in 2005. 

Made up of archival pieces from the close to two decades he has spent honing his signature – a sensual, confident glamour – it was released in a film shot by longtime collaborator Steven Klein, starring a phalanx of Tom Ford muses, from Amber Valletta and Karen Elson to Caroline Trentini and Karlie Kloss. 

Pieces spanned his career and featured hallmark motifs: sliced-away mini dresses, constellations of sequins, plunging necklines, animal print and sharp, 1970s-tinged tailoring. The film ends with the models all in black, as if in mourning.

Tom Ford shows final collection

His exit comes in the wake of a $2.8 billion sale of the business to Estée Lauder in November 2022, in part due to Tom Ford’s highly successful cosmetic and fragrance arm. ‘Estée Lauder Companies is the ideal home for the brand. They have been an extraordinary partner from the first day of my creation of the company, and I am thrilled to see them become the luxury stewards in this next chapter,’ he said at the time of the deal, which purportedly made the designer a personal billionaire.

Yesterday, the brand announced a new executive leadership team as the deal was finalised and Estée Lauder became the sole owner. Guillaume Jesel became president and CEO while Peter Hawkings took over Ford’s role as creative director of the brand. A longtime fixture at the house – previously he was senior vice president of Tom Ford menswear – Hawkings has worked alongside Ford for over 25 years. A portrait released of Hawkings depicts him in a pair of black-framed tinted sunglasses and a black suit – an homage to Ford’s perennial uniform.

‘In Peter Hawkings the brand has found the perfect creative director,’ Ford said in a statement. ‘Since the creation of Tom Ford menswear, Peter has been instrumental in the success of the brand. He is an incredibly talented leader with tremendous industry experience, and his appointment gives me confidence that my commitment to creating fashion products with the highest level of design and quality will continue.’

In a separate statement, Ford also revealed his own post-fashion plans, saying that he will be returning to film with production company Fade to Black. Both 2009’s A Single Man and 2016’s Nocturnal Animals, which Ford wrote and directed, were produced by the company. ‘Following the sale of the Tom Ford brand, [he will] concentrate on film projects in development via his production company,’ it read.

Texas-born Ford began working at Gucci in 1990, having previously worked for Chloé in Paris (he took a year off his studies at NYU for the role) and American sportswear designer Cathy Hardwick. He rose quickly in the Italian house, becoming creative director in 1994 and transforming the then-ailing fashion house with sexually charged collections which captured the zeitgeist (perhaps one of his most memorable pieces was a thong with a double-G metal clasp). Matched with an impeccable eye for cut and silhouette, they remain some of contemporary fashion’s most influential – and continually referenced – collections. The first issue of Wallpaper* featured two models wearing his designs for the house.

When he left, in 2004, sales had risen 1,200 per cent to nearly $3 billion dollars. Ford started his eponymous label the year after and opened his first store in 2007. He leaves fashion as one of its most influential – and widely-recognised – names.

tomford.com

Tom Ford Timepieces has released its third series of watches, the N°003. The new Tom Ford watch collection builds on the company’s 2018 move into horology with a sporty rethink of the clean form of the first designs. The new piece, available in polished stainless steel with a black, white or chrome coloured dial, epitomises clean simplicity; its uncluttered dial eschews numerals and indexing in favour of a minimalist face. The rectangular style measures in at a compact 31.5mm x 53mm in size.

‘The N°003 exemplifies the craftsmanship and simplicity I was looking for in the next evolution of Tom Ford Timepieces,’ Ford says. ‘I wanted to bring the focus back to the elegance of the watch face by stripping back the numerals and emphasising the clean, sophisticated design.’

An easy strap-change system invites personalisation, with customers able to choose from more than 50 straps, from braided, pebbled grain and stitched leathers to alligator, pony hair, calf and woven grosgrain. The straps, slotting into the case, are effortlessly changed and make a chic complement to the classic watch design.

The new Tom Ford watch joins last year’s Swiss-made Ocean Plastic Timepiece as part of Ford’s rethinking of ethical luxury. The model, made entirely from plastic collected from the ocean, the coastline and uncontrolled landfills, was the equivalent of 35 bottles of plastic waste. Carefully considered details ensured the timepiece contained no virgin plastics. The material’s journey to Switzerland was a carbon neutral one, and the creation process once there was powered by solar energy. For every 1,000 watches sold, 490lb of plastic is permanently removed from the ocean.

To coincide with the launch, Tom Ford partnered with 52HZ for the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize, which seeks a replacement for thin-film plastic bags. The winning submission will be announced in 2022, and the winner will work together with the Tom Ford team to make their product available to the public as early as 2025.

INFORMATION

tomford.com

A house insired by the neo-noir 2016 Tom Ford film Nocturnal Animals, Maple Place perches on a hillside of West Vancouver. Created by HLYNSKY + DAVIS Architects, interior designer Sophie Burke Design and landscape architect Paul Sangha, this Canadian home was commissioned by a private client with a vision to build a home that would feel like a natural part of the landscape but also draw on cultural references and the modernist architecture of the 20th century. 

The architects composed a material palette that creates a discourse with the surrounding nature – using natural stone and wood, while grounding the structure with a elegant, yet solid base of cascading paved terraces and wide steps inbetween its lush gardens. A strong sense of indoor/outdoor living was important, as was making sure the surrounding forest and mountains in the distance were beautifully framed through strategically placed openings at every turn. 

Helping to achieve this, ‘the kitchen extends outdoors with an adjacent cooking area on a covered deck,' explain the architects. ‘The bathtub in the master ensuite sits almost outdoors, flanked by large opening glass doors and a screened courtyard. The transom windows at one end provide complete privacy while framing the mountain scenery. In the family room, the window sill is set at the height of the green roof so that the foreground is a garden with a mountain backdrop. Meanwhile, the cars and garage remain hidden.'

The landscaping and garden design around the house were critical in creating the right base and atmosphere for this home. ‘The client pulled inspiration for this project from the house used in the film Nocturnal Animals,' says Paul Sangha Creative's founder, landscape architect Paul Sangha. ‘Similar to the film’s setting, the home is situated upon a stunning bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.'

Connecting with the site's existing terrain informed the landscaping decisions, so that the result feels natural and entirely of-its-place. Taking advantage of the spaces and connections created by the architecture of the home was a key goal, explains the landscape architect. At the same time, the team wanted to create ‘a magnificent arrival experience by revealing the architectural design incrementally through the use of strategically placed foliage and landscape elements.' The client's love for South California life was another critical factor in the design decisions.

‘On the South side of the property, which receives greater solar exposure, a sun-loving garden was created with a unique blend of textures and colours that pop against the exposed concrete of the home without overpowering,' continues Sangha. ‘Soft colours – the silvery green of the solitary Olive Tree, dusty rose blooms of Panicle Hydrangea popping up behind the stairs leading to the upper deck, pale purple spikes of lavender – were used to avoid harsh varietals that might steal attention from the remarkable architecture of the house or the stunning the ocean view. The result is a calming simplicity that provides a nod to California.'

Linking the ocean and the mountains, the blue water views and surrounding green forest, as well as physical and cultural references of past and present, no doubt Maple Place is a showstopper; a bridge between the Canadian and Californian coastal landscapes that birthed it.

INFORMATION
paulsangha.com

hlynsky.ca

sophieburkedesign.com

Almost one year since the coronavirus began ravaging through New York City and upending life as we thought we knew it, it is eerily apt that the A/W 2021 season of New York Fashion Week marked an equally transitional time in fashion and beyond as the world as a whole teeters between hanging onto old ways and embracing the new.

Spread over five days, but lacking the return of some of the city’s heavyweights, including Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors, who instead will celebrate his 40th anniversary with a presentation in April, the subdued impact of this season’s official calendar epitomised some of the issues that New York Fashion Week has been suffering from for years. New York’s brighter talents tend to have a habit of jumping across the pond to show in Europe, while those who do stay rebel against the established systems and traditional venues to show on their own terms at their own time. In the latter respect, this mostly virtual season was no different.

With designers hedging their bets for the most attention by showing both before (The Row presented its collection in January) and after the traditional season (Tom Ford closed the season from LA over a week later), this season New York Fashion Week felt especially disparate. Two of the city’s most exciting forces, Telfar and Pyer Moss, did not show at all.

Amongst those who did reveal new collections at New York Fashion Week, tapping into the trends of 2021, there was a strong message of simplifying and reducing silhouettes to the essential, while at the same time elevating the pieces that one would wear and depend on in an effort to bring a sense of hope to everyday life. Proenza Schouler, for example, favoured long, lean silhouettes and languid, midi-dresses, ranging from sumptuous jerseys to tactile knits, that offer a soft, in-built geometry, compared to the overt attitude and angularity the label usually puts forward. Showcased in a film that saw models stride past and pose against the Herzog and de Mueron-designed Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, the collection elegantly addressed the inherent duality of life in these times – suited for cocooning oneself in while staying, yet perfectly poised for ultimately venturing out when the time does come.

Khaite, another favourite, similarly put forward an abundance of easy-wearing silhouettes, including draped jersey dresses in cream and olive tones, oversized puffer coats in quilted patent leather and chunky, hand knit jumpers brandishing an exaggerated texture (all in cashmere of course) – all designed to both comfort and flatter. To inaugurate the collection, creative director Cate Holstein teamed up with director Sean Baker on a short film in ode to the crazy, frenetic nature of New York City. Screened at a drive-in theatre, complete with views of the Manhattan skyline, the cinematic venture celebrates the enduring nature of New York, especially at such a pivotal time.

‘New York feels raw and exposed now, up for grabs in a way I’ve never seen before. It can be frustrating and even feel hopeless, but it’s also exciting, and to live here is to cycle through these emotions, rapidly,’ says Holstein, who with Baker, drew from New York in the late 70s and early 80s for inspiration. ‘In talking with Sean, we both traced the intensity of this time to what first drew us each to New York — the intrigue, the edge, even the peril. No one moves to New York to play it safe.’

New York was also front of mind for Tory Burch, who had her latest collection photographed at The Odeon restaurant, a true New York institution. Inspired by ‘New York City, both the dream and reality of possibilities [and its] opportunities, creativity, diversity,’ she notes, Autumn/Winter 2021 is grounded in the way women want to dress: seasonless layers that are comfortable yet put together, and can be reimagined in their own way.

Embrace of the digital medium hit a particularly exuberant note at Collina Strada, who’s experimental Gif lookbook showed a diverse cast of models morphing into hybrid animal species. To realise the images, Collina Strada’s Hillary Taymour worked with illustrator David Mattingly, multimedia artist Feeka Tet and the original artist behind the cult sci-fi video game and book series, Animorphs, to creatively address the intertwined relationship of human civilization and the environment. As always, sustainability is at the collection’s core. Taymour has not only continued using deadstock fabrics from Ghana’s Kantamanto Market, but also partnered with luxury resale site, The Real Real to upcycle and transform used items into new garments – the first partnership of its kind, and a big stride forward. 

Left to right, pet bag, by Prada, H95 headphones by B&O, chain necklace by Louis Vuitton, room spray by Byredo

‘Every season, I always look for color and prints when sourcing for materials, anything that looks fun. It feels selfish to create new garments, but we must keep creating during this time,’ Taymour says. ‘Upcycling is the perfect way to continue the Collina Strada platform, so I was excited to have access to the TheRealReal archives and give new life to pieces that have emotional and sentimental value.’

Sustainability was also top of mind for Gabriela Hearst, who continues to be a carbon neutrality partner with Eco Act. This season, Hearst contributed to the Chan Nuoi Biogas Project, which enables families across Vietnam to use human and animal waste to generate clean and sustainable energy. Her Autumn/Winter 2021 collection draws inspiration from Saint Hildegard of Bingen, a composer, philosopher, mystic and botanist, who was born in 1098 and believed in the interconnectedness between science and art, and of the individual and the world – sentiments not only embodied in the collection’s aesthetic, but in the company’s pioneering commitment to the environment as well.
 
This demonstration of brands using their voices as a platform beyond the realm of fashion was equally evident in the show of solidarity for the Asian-American community, especially since the start of the season coincided with the spike of hate crimes against Asians across the country as well as the start of Lunar New Year celebrations this year. Designers including Phillip Lim, Prabal Gurung and Jason Wu, lead much of the discussion in the fashion world, which counts many Asian Americans from New York, in its midst.
 
With the coming year still standing as a gaping unknown, the fierce optimism that grounded Tom Ford’s new collection is something we should all be working towards. Ford, who ‘began designing a few months ago, thinking that by Autumn, I would be in the mood for very extravagant materials and finishes’ after a year of cozy dressing, ‘ultimately ended up taking the upper halves of handmade, almost couture-like pieces, and cutting them into jackets and tops, and putting them together with cut off jeans,’ he says in his collection’s statement. Decadent with a hint of practicality (or as close to it as Ford comes,) the top-focused offerings are well suited to both Zoom meetings and the world beyond.

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

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

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

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

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

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

INFORMATION

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

byredo.com

With the fashion industry as a whole navigating unchartered waters in 2020, there was an extra level of unpredictability to New York Fashion Week this season, especially since as the one-time the epicenter of the global pandemic, the city still moves slowly towards reopening and recovery.
 
In a bid to control the limbo state that things are currently hovering in, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) unveiled a new digital platform, Runway360, designed not only as a portal for the season’s new collections, but a tool that will continue into the future that complements in-person events and shows. Still, many of New York’s heavyweight names – Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch and The Row, to name a few, remained noticeably absent.

For the labels that did choose to present new offerings, the spirit behind many of the collections was a clear reiteration of ‘New York Tough’ – the popular adage of New York governor Andrew Cuomo that he constantly repeated during his pandemic briefings. Many designers crafted love letters to New York. One of the week’s opening highlights, Jason Wu, transported a small number of in-person guests to the sandy beaches and lush jungles of Tulum (albeit on the rooftop of Spring Studios.) With models meandering through tropical greenery and panoramic glimpses of the city skyline, Wu’s carefree collection of pleated dresses, crisp tunics and easy, tailored blazers, provided all the joy of an escape without actually needing to go anywhere.

Continuing in this uplifting vein was Ulla Johnson, who created her own ‘I Love New York’ moment by choosing the Louis Kahn-designed Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island as the setting for her latest collection. By juxtaposing the stoic serenity of the park with the dynamic vistas of the city, standing tall from across the water, Johnson’s sensual and voluminous collection, which was inspired by ceremonial dressing and featured shibori printing, boro patchwork and hand-loomed graphic elements, conveyed a power and strength in its femininity.
 
Maria Cornejo paid tribute to the raw energy, enduring resilience, and cultural diversity that makes New York, New York in choosing a pared back, industrial rooftop looking over Brooklyn as the backdrop for her newest collection. Her label Zero has long been locally made in New York, and this season, she renewed her commitment to ecological and responsible design by incorporating upcycled fabrics, using sustainable printing techniques and sourcing materials made from natural fibres and replenishable sources to create her sophisticated, geometric pieces – matching masks included.

Khaite S/S 2021

Elsewhere, designers articulated the change of the times by grappling with what fashion means now in a changed reality. Khaite proved that there was innovation to be found from adversity. In lieu of a physical show, designer Cate Holstein sent industry insiders a large box that deconstructed the show experience. The first component, a large hardcover book, was filled with imagery of the new collection, shot by photographer Hanna Tviete, with fabric swatches interspersed along the way. Aided by AR technology, scans of the book’s pages further enabled viewers to experience new footwear designs virtually in 3D. Designed by the creative studio Chandelier, the box also included a 7” vinyl record to set the mood, and a scented candle, created in collaboration with Regime des Fleurs, to complete the atmosphere. A folio, made from Khaite’s signature leather, additionally held a set of postcards, which could also be scanned to view the collection’s brooding video.
 
Collina Strada also seized the opportunity to push its vision into a new dimension. Pulling from its community of creatives, both old and new, designer Hillary Taymour constructed a colourful, multimedia utopia featuring the work of artist Alicia Mersy and floral illustrations of Sean-Kierre Lyons. Set to a psychedelic soundtrack and modelled by Taymour’s friends, classic Collina Strada silhouettes were presented in a colourful, virtual world of tie-dyed cornfields, floating gardens and a rainbow waterfall that together continued to reiterate the brand’s purpose of being a platform for social change.

Developed by the Institute of Digital Fashion and Cattytay, Tinnitus is a series with characters and narrative, seen here in progress

For Tom Ford, the king of glamour and current president of the CFDA, working through the pandemic and lockdown proved to be incredibly difficult. ‘Designing Spring/Summer 21 was a nightmare,’ he says with a refreshing honesty in the video accompanying the release of the new collection’s lookbook, ‘I could try to pretend it wasn’t, but it was an absolute nightmare,’ he adds, while detailing the restrictions on production and health and safety protocols that had to be followed in order to produce the images. ‘It was very hard to be creative.’
 
Ford’s response to the direness of the times was to create ‘clothes to have a bit of fun in.’ Simple dresses and generous caftans were rendered in boisterous florals and animal prints. Slouchy knitwear and button down shirts, worn with sporty trousers in acidic pinks, blues and purples, brought a high-octane energy to comfort dressing. With one eye on the work of the fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez and the other on the make-up styles and icons of the 70s, Ford’s vision of the future is optimistic and hedonistic. ‘This is what the collection means for me: the hope of a happier time.’

For Theory, a label that has always been known for workwear, renewal and rebirth was at the forefront of its newest offering. In images shot by photographer Ethan James Green, the label unveiled new silhouettes that blur the boundaries of work and life. Relaxed tailoring, knitted ribbed trousers and A-line dresses were utilitarian in detail, yet inviting, thanks to the use of tactile materials such as suede, knitwear and flat twill, and ideal for wearing both in public and private.
 
Possibly the most uplifting of all were the moves being made to support and champion Black designers within the industry. From Harlem’s Fashion Row’s style awards and fashion showcase which centred around the theme ‘Black is the New Black’, to the announcement of designer Telfar Clemens’ new collaboration with Ugg, the glass ceiling appears to have been broken. The approach of Aaron Potts’ unisex label Apotts – suitable for all genders, sizes, ages and seasons - was particularly on point, with its array of artfully oversized tunics, shirts and long tiered skirts. 

Best of all was the revelation of Pyer Moss’ Kerby Jean Raymond’s new venture, Your Friends in New York, which has earned the backing of Kering after Raymond met with Kering CEO Francois-Henri Pinault in 2019. Encompassing an incubator program, an events and experiences arm, philanthropic initiatives and a merchandise label, while aiming to create and empower a community of new talent and innovation, the platform is poised to be the beacon that will lead the way forward. 

With sustainability an issue at the forefront of our minds, an assortment of brands have been quick to respond with ethical products that both look and do good.

Tom Ford Timepieces have become the latest to unveil a creative solution with the launch of the Tom Ford Ocean Plastic Timepiece. The Swiss-made watch is made entirely from plastic collected from the ocean, the coastline and uncontrolled landfills. Each watch is the equivalent of 35 bottles of plastic waste.

For Ford, ethical luxury is key; he points to the amount of plastic in the ocean as one of the most pressing concerns we are currently facing and is keen to acknowledge the responsibility we have to address it.

Details are carefully considered – the timepiece will contain no virgin plastics and everything that is used will be traceable to the collection source. Their journey to Switzerland is a carbon neutral one and the creation process once there is powered by solar energy. For every 1000 watches sold, 490lbs of plastic will be permanently removed from the ocean. The watch is on sale now.

To coincide with the launch, Tom Ford has partnered with 52HZ for the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize which seeks a replacement for thin-film plastic bags. The winning submission will be announced in 2022, and the winner will work together with the Tom Ford team to make their product available to the public as early as 2025.

INFORMATION

tomford.com

Tom Ford wants you to smell the back of Cary Grant’s neck. At least, that’s what he told this writer at the launch of his new men’s fragrance, Beau de Jour. It might seem strange, but really the sentiment couldn’t be more quintessentially Tom Ford.

Like everything he creates, the fragrance, and the story behind it, suggests an underlying intimacy, a brazen masculinity, and a kind of sumptuous glamour that hasn’t been seen since the golden days of Hollywood.

The top notes of Beau de Jour are punctuated by a sharp herbiness – basil, rosemary and mint- tempered by the warmth of lavender and oakmoss. The result is a crisp, clean fragrance, evocative of a newly laundered shirt and clean shave. Overtime, however, this initial impression of freshness evolves into a rich, earthy musk of patchouli and amber. The end result is something charmingly cool yet unexpectedly dark, much like Mr. Grant himself. And while none of us will ever get the chance to cuddle up with the Hollywood legend, we can, at least for a moment, pretend.

INFORMATION

tomford.com

Scene setting: After seasons of showing in the storied setting of the Park Avenue Amory, Tom Ford decided to move everything downtown to a decommissioned subway station on Bowery. Certainly a departure from his previous well-heeled soirees, the newly inaugurated president of the CFDA lead guests down a staircase admist crumbling tiles to a subterranean subway platform (complete with transit workers in uniform), where the show was set.

Mood board: Presented against the subway signage, Spring/Summer 2020 took on a rebellious, punk-inspired vibe with the opening looks teaming jewel-toned ballgown skirts with t-shirts and rolled-up sleeves. From the shiny blazers worn with hot pants and seamed nylon tights, to fluid culottes and slinky  v-neck jumpsuits, it was clear that Ford was feeling in an 80s mood. The menswear offering, which Ford  showed simultaneously, was equally boisterous with colourful animal prints, leather baseball jackets and nehru collars all getting a look in.

Finishing touches: The retro feel of the collection carried over to the season's accessories, which included foiled leather stiletto heels with ankle ties, sleek all-white leather boots, structured handbags with hardware and angular sunglasses. Best of all might have been the glossy, sculpted breastplates, which toed the line between jewellery and lingerie.

Tod's: Set in the grounds of the grand Villa Necchi Campiglio, Tod's presented a collection of fine menswear staples, giving each a luxury makeover. The collection was titled 'The Ride' and consisted of pieces fit for a man who travels but also likes the exhilarating high driving a classic sports car gives when hitting top speed. A classic biker came in super soft tan leather with contesting racing stripes racing down its front, while a field jacket and vest came with multiple pockets making them perfect utility travel companion. Elsewhere, a tech fabric printed with graphic geological map lines was used for windbreakers and board shorts, and a car coat cane in lightweight suede. As always footwear was key – the classic Gommino was updated with an espadrille sole and sneakers appeared with suped-up soles reminiscent of the sleek lines of a sports car.

Versace: The alerting refrain to The Prodigy’s Firestarter announced the start of Donatella Versace’s tribute to Keith Flint, the band's eccentric frontman who died this year. Models aggressively strode around a black rotating sports car covered in flowers by artist Andy Dixon in classic Versace ensembles. The opening section paid homage to the codes Gianni dabbled with in the early 1990s – fringed biker jackets were worn over T-shirts printed with vintage Versace fragrance ads, while narrow leather trousers came with laces up their sides. Elsewhere, sharply cut blazers were spliced together – one side black, the other great, and lurex track pants looked fierce in leopard. The tempo revved up further in a series of pieces that featured a car motif printed on denim jackets and outlined in crystal on shirts.

Bally: The brand took us on a fashionable hike this season, tapping into its Swiss heritage. A neat boxy cut jacket was printed with motifs from the Bally archive, while a silk shirt bloomed with mountain flora and fauna. Elsewhere, a minimalistic navy trench came with suede belt fastening cuffs and bright orange bomber carried multiple 3-D pockets reminiscent of a foraging vest. An innovative pleated leather technique developed by the brand was used to startling effect on an overcoat, tee and pair of shorts.

Church’s: Stepping out at Church's this season is an update of the brand's classic ‘Shannon’, this time appearing in a vintage guise with an artistically worn toe. Elsewhere, a women’s leather cross strap sandal was reworked for men with tiny silvers studs outlining the sole. These were shown alongside debut styles including a retro sneaker in nylon and suede, a British military inspired boot in canvas and leather deck shoe.

Alexander McQueen: Sarah Burton was in a reflective mood for S/S 2020, reminiscing on the frequent trips the team, lead by the late Lee McQueen, made to Japan in the Nineties. She was also thinking of how to translate the reconstructed, cut up and pieced together technique used in her women's A/W 2019 collection to menswear. Magnified flowers blossomed over sharply tailored suits, while crystal and metal embroidered birds sat regally on jacket fronts. Mystical dragon printed silk back panels added an exoticism. Elsewhere, a beige cotton gabardine trench appeared with silk bomber sleeves, and a frock coats lower half entirely constructed from shredded strips of insider fabrics from previous seasons.

Valextra: In an ongoing series of yearly interior overhauls, Valextra's Milan flagship store has been reimagined by architect John Pawson for its third incarnation. A pristine concrete space made up of graphic lines showcasing the brand's kaleidoscopic bag range. S/S 2020 sees a new collaboration with Moncler on a collection of three bag styles – a boxy utility satchel on a nylon fluffy pillow strap, a weekend bag and an oversized tote. Finally, a new customising service will launch allowing customers to have their initials made into a repeated pattern that can then be printed onto a bag base.

Canali / Black Edition: This season sees the debut of Black Edition, a 31 look apparel collection that will run alongside the tailoring-focused main brand. Relaxed cut jersey blazers were teamed with matching track pants, while zip up anoraks in tech fabrics and fine gauge knitted polos continued the sportswear theme. For the main collection suits in lightweight fabrics exuded an easy elegance.

Brunello Cucinelli: Spending time with Silicone Valley’s tech giants, Cucinelli was struck by their casual, laid back style. The designer is known for his smart, elegant clothes but for S/S 2020 the codes were relaxed and less formal. The collection was based on comfort, inspired by men who do not wear suits to get big business done. Suiting was more deconstructed in linen fabrications, trousers had a sportier fit, lightweight nylon jackets were cut with a lapel. The classic Cucinelli camel cable knit worn underneath suit jackets was swapped for a ‘Be courageous’ logo Tee.

Santoni: The Italian accessories label has never followed presentation convention and this season was no exception, with the brand holding an exclusive Cineclub in the grand setting of Palazzo Gallarati Scotti. Guests were invited to sit back and watch four short films, each of which had inspired the collection. Derby and loafer styles came in soft nubuck, while desert boots appeared in unlined suede. Elsewhere, deck shoes with an ultra-light sole, cross strap sandals and espadrilles carried handmade details and the brand's trademark double buckle. A new retro sneaker style with a gum sole completed the collection.

CP Company: For S/S20, the brand is looking back to look forward. Downstairs in the recently opened Milan flagship, archival styles including a rare battered tan suede down jacket from 1979 are on display alongside a mini lab, which hosts a special custom dyeing process. The season marks the start of an ongoing project with Too Hot Limited; customers can bring in their own pieces to be valued and swapped for credit to spend on something new. Urban sportswear with no nonsense and high-performance.

Etro: An X-wing starfighter was casually parked at the entrance to Etro’s S/S20 show. Framed by a set of the Italian house’s iconic patterned luggage, it marked the arrival of an exclusive collaboration with Walt Disney Pictures’ Lucasfilm. In anticipation of the ninth episode of the Star Wars saga, The Rise of Skywalker, motifs taken from the films’ history were printed onto the front of genderless staples. Hoodies, sweatshirts and a bomber featured graphics from 1977’s A New Hope. Blue striped shirting popped with familiar pictures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and R2D2. A Star Wars logo t-shirt was worn beneath an exquisite bejewelled paisley blazer in an otherwise quintessentially elegant, nomadic collection.

Brioni: The Brioni S/S20 collection explored off-duty formality. Design director Norbert Stumpfl ushered in a down-time, relaxed attitude but still with impeccable style. ‘I wanted our guy to go on a rendezvous, a dinner,’ he said. ‘He’s out of the office.’ We know the Brioni man in the office, but what about other scenarios? The look was effortless, easy and expertly finished. A grey, washed silk trench was trimmed with leather. ‘If this is normally in the hands of somebody who doesn’t know what they’re doing it’ll look like a hot mess,’ he said. Track pants were in tailoring fabrics, t-shirts finished with aloe-vera. Double face blazers had the lightness of pocket square. ‘It’s like air,’ Stumpfl smiled.

Ralph Lauren Purple Label: Ralph Lauren took to the sea in a nautical inspired collection for S/S 2020. Seafaring troupes were updated in bold, graphic colour combinations – a wind sheeter came emblazoned with spliced together yacht flags inspired by an archive scarf print, while a lightweight intarsia knit jumper carried the motif of a lighthouse and ship. Eveningwear suits appeared in a riot of vibrant hues cut from decedent silk shantung, contrasting fine-gauge turtlenecks offered an air of ease. The seasonal ‘Ralph Suit’, inspired directly by the designers personal take on tailoring – a broad shouldered double-breasted jacket with neat waistline fastening at the bottom button – looked Italian Riviera ready in pale grey.

Giuseppe Zanotti: The distinctive blabber sneaker morphed into fresh iterations for S/S 20 – starting from minimalist black and taupe suede (with a clear rubber sole) all the way up to bright metallic gold. It came studded and in pearlescent leather too, for that extra Zanotti flourish. New for the season was a tie-dye story; Chelsea boots, moccasins and low-top sneakers in patterned canvas.

Trussardi Archive + Now3: Now in its third instalment, Trussardi's project Archive + Now invites creatives to reinterpret and evolve the brand's house codes in a seasonal collection. This time round designer Giorgio Di Salvo of streetwear brand United Standard was in the driving seat. Trousers and shirts were cut in butter soft leather giving a fluid feel, while a waistcoat was given multiple pockets. Elsewhere, sweatshirts and t-shirts were adorned with the brand's synonymous greyhound motif. Images and a film by cult artist Cali Thornhill DeWitt showcased the collection.

Serapian: For S/S 2020 Italian leather specialist Serapian launch its special 'Mosaico - Signed by our Artisans' collection of bags. Each item uses a unique technique developed by the brand's founder, Stefano Serapian, that involves braiding soft nappa stripes by hand to create geometric patterns reminiscent of Byzantine mosaics and Japanese origami. Oversized totes, compact crossbody and clutch bags find there signature monochromatic surfaces interrupted by coloured stripes woven in by the brand's master artisans.

Tom Ford: Tom Ford took a more minimalist approach this season in a pared down collection that played with classic silhouettes in subversive fabric combinations. Sharply tailored jackets were teamed with torso skimming shirts and fine gauge roll necks, while oversized coats where nonchalantly thrown over lean cut suits to emphasise the slim silhouette. Black leather was key – a neat biker and longer length blazer embossed in alligator added a touch of danger, while a classic sportswear zip up and track pants were given a luxurious makeover in perforated leather. Elsewhere, a series of pop coloured evening wear jackets came in a glistening leopard and zebra jacquard fabric. Bags in exotic skins came with concealed zips and robust hardware, angular sunglasses and a new square toed ankle boot expanded Ford's accessories range.

Scene setting: As the first veteran designer out of the New York Fashion Week blocks, Tom Ford is consistently under scrutiny over what he'll put forward, season after season. Perennially the epitome of chic, Ford set the stage for his collection with a blush pink runway and towering plinths filled with branches of white blossoms, while ushers (outfitted in Tom Ford) plied guests with champagne and sparkling water.

Mood board: Instead of his usual sultry silhouette, Ford's newest collection was comprised of mostly trousers for women, and in a straight-legged cut too. This borrowed-from-the-boys aspect carried over to sharply tailored suiting (in leather or pinstripe wool), puffer jackets and slinky hoodies, albeit worn under fur jackets no less. Presented in a palette of black, caramel, dove grey, burgundy and sugar pink with hits of red and fuschia in between, Ford's vision of streetwear dressing remained fabulous nonetheless.

Sound bite: Ford says: ‘While last season was decidedly feminine, this season is more about tailoring and a certain boyishness.' He adds: ‘A softer palette seems right to me this season, [especially when] worn together in a fashion that is reminiscent of the way colour was used in the 18th century or by the American designer Charles James.'

Mood board: A blending of the masculine and feminine was the order of day for Tom Ford, who presented both his menswear and womenswear collections at the Park Avenue Armory this week. With women donning sculptural leather jackets and tailored blazers paired with languid lace and chiffon skirts, and men matching slim fitted silhouettes with Cuban heel boots, the divide between both genders seemed to almost disappear. Awash in a sea of nude-coloured tones, both collections were punctuated with hits of lilac, blush pinks and warm whites for a fresh, yet sensual feel.

Finishing touches: The contrasting of hard and soft elements carried over into the season’s new accessories too. Handbags were roomy, unlined and unstructured, thus allowing the nature of the leather to shine, while elegant satin shoes boasted slender metal heels and a matching toe cap for an added edge.

Sound bite: ‘This season I decided to take some time to think about why I wanted to become a fashion designer and what it was that I loved doing and consequently what I feel men and women really want in their lives,’ says Ford. ‘I became a fashion designer because I wanted to make men and women feel more beautiful and to empower them with confidence. A feeling of knowing that they looked their best and could then present their best selves to the world.’

Wearing his watch over a shirt cuff was Fiat heir Gianni Agnelli’s trademark during his heady reign as the Rake of the Riviera. So personal was this alpha-male flourish that no one has displayed enough swagger to pull it off since. Enter Tom Ford, who has applied his tastemaker’s eye to his first Swiss-made watch design, a classic rectangular timepiece of such well-considered proportions as to perpetuate Agnelli’s stylistic legacy in a thoroughly modern manner. The arched-back caseback makes it simple to change the strap (there are 50 leather options to choose from, as well as two sizes and four finishes), while proving a snug fit on the wrist – or cuff. §

As originally featured in Precious Index, our Watches & Jewellery supplement (see W*230)

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Tom Ford website

A.N. OTHER is the new perfume brand refusing to hit the nail on the nose. It runs behind a very simple concept: to provide the blank canvas for famous perfumers to express – without limits – their creative force and imagination. There is no specific brief and no budget, but only one challenge to the perfumer: absolute freedom.

‘Our story is not a fragrance story. It’s a simple story about the broken fragrance industry,’ explains founder Gilad Amozeg. Governed by huge profits and marketing, with only a small percentage of profit actually in the fragrance within the bottle, for A.N. OTHER the ‘secret is simple’. It has stripped down perfume production processes to the absolute essentials. The perfumer and the fragrance itself provides very high quality, ethically sourced, eco-sustainable perfume at a fair price.

Under this umbrella, A.N. OTHER called upon four renowned perfumers to create fresh, woody, floral or oriental scents, which ‘painted’ four completely different images of what a perfume could be.

Firstly, Carlos Viñals (who has worked with the likes of Marc Jacobs and Dior) created a fresh perfume – FR/18 – inspired by gin cocktails and the energy of people getting together, with notes like melon, grapefruit, juniper and metallic musk.

Next, Nathalie Benareau (Victoria’s Secret and Laura Mercier) created a floral perfume – FL/18 – full of surprises, inspired by the story of a close friend with an electrifying personality, with notes like saffron, jasmine, leather and labdanum.

Then, Patricia Bilodeau (Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica) created a full-of-light woody perfume – WD/18 – that paints the image of driftwood caught on the stream of the river, in the sunset, with notes of Sandalwood, cardamom spice, violet leaves and cedar.

While David Apel – the nose behind Black Orchid for Tom Ford – with his oriental contribution, OR/18 challenges our perception with surrealist impressions of a cannabis cupcake, with notes of rare cannabis accord, incense, chocolate and coffee.

The packaging and bottle, developed by London based Socio Design, follows a minimalist concept, stripped down to the absolute essentials. The grey box contains a couple of cards with information about the perfumer and perfume. The bottle is plain but well made, with a heavy magnetic lid and a fine sprayer. There are no expectations here, other than the ones allowed by the small, blank label that – like a rare wine – reveals only the release year, concentration and type of perfume.

You are struck straight away by the originality and quality of the scents. The fragrances develop layer by layer; each one inviting you to write your own stories and memories on its blank canvas.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the A.N OTHER website

Mood board: if the extravagant textures of Tom Ford’s men’s show was anything to go by, his collection for the fairer sex was bound to be just as much of a treat. More is more seemed to be the mantra for Ford this season as he turned out an 80s, disco-infused collection that had sequins, colourful animal print fur, wet-look leggings, metallic blazers and crystal beaded hoop earrings all vying for attention. The silhouette was sexy as always, but notably more relaxed than usual, possibly due to the fact that Ford is now based in Los Angeles. From sky-high hems and lingerie-like necklines to the aforementioned leggings worn with oversized fur jackets, there was a tongue-in-cheek, West Coast candour to things that didn’t go awry. 

Best in show: outerwear proved to be the collection’s strong suit this season. Festooned in animal print fur and eclectically patchworked in an array of natural and vibrant colours, oversized biker silhouettes and angular-shouldered coats helped to bring back the 80s in only the best ways.   

Finishing touches: the boisterous aesthetic of the clothing carried over to the collection’s accessories as well. Last season’s stilettos were replaced by a more modest kitten heel, albeit made just as feisty with jewelled embellishments, zebra stripes and a ‘pussy’ logo. Handbags followed suit in quilted metallic leather, chain link straps and clashing prints for a vibrant, maximalist finish.

Mood board: Tom Ford’s panache for overt glamour and self-assured sex appeal was in full force with his latest showing. Filled with an array of pastel colours, sumptuous textures and gilded finishes, the new collection featured brocade suiting, heavyweight parkas, structured leather pieces and plenty of sharp tailoring that each played to a different facet of today’s Tom Ford man.

Scene setting: Staged within the epic Park Avenue Armory, (which will also host the designer’s womenswear show in two days), Ford drenched the historic space in plush ultraviolet carpeting, while hints of his Tobacco Vanille fragrance wafted through the air - palpable both as burning scented candles and the perfumed models as they passed by. The chic setting was enhanced by an elegant cocktail bar, conveniently situated by the entrance, that doled out champagne and cocktails as guests entered. With the show marking a decade in Tom Ford menswear, this well-heeled, all-encompassing fantasy is just what we need more of in life.

Finishing touches: While there was certainly lots of great fodder on offer, Ford’s new accessories were particularly exciting. A sporty, trainer-tassled loafer hybrid, adorned with punches of neon, proved to be as suitable for a slim suit as jeans, while glossy block heeled boots in metallic leather and python catered to those with more exotic tastes. What got most guests hot under the collar though was the reveal of a new underwear line, which models donned with socks to close the show. Comprised of seven nude shades and a bevy of metallic animal prints, there’s not much more one could ask for.

If you know Tom Ford’s vein of aesthetics – which he layers into all aspects of his outputs as a designer, film director and beauty mogul – it will come as no surprise that his first ever stand alone beauty store not only sets a new benchmark in beauty retail, but also defines glamour.

Tucked between the columns of the historic Covent Garden piazza, in the heart of London, Tom Ford Beauty houses its comprehensive range of fragrance, make-up, and skin care products for both male and female modern day groomers. The store is made up of six specialised rooms concocted from grey glass, marble counters, mirrors galore, and the high(est) tech possible.

The glamour and technology combine to elevate beauty buying to an unprecedented experience. Mirrors that record your make-up tutorials and email them to you in chapters – check. Virtual lip-stick trialling – check. Interactive perfume counter with vast LED screens – check. Exclusive men’s grooming room – check.

On the ground floor, a colour room to try on the hottest new launches with augmented reality, an intimate make up room with personalised how-to services and a fragrance room with Mr Ford’s personal scent lab to explore exceptional scents, even offering ‘dramming’ services in case you’d like to trial a scent after an in-depth exploration has revealed your olfactory preferences.

On the lower level – by appointment only – in the store that makes all your beauty dreams come true, personal consultations in make-up with highly qualified specialists, fragrance customisation and a superbly appointed space for men where you can partake in a whole bevy of treatments in consummate comfort.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Tom Ford website

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Tom Ford Beauty
3 The Market Building
London WC2E 8RA

Scene setting: No one can accuse Tom Ford of doing things in halves. Pitching up within the Park Avenue Armory to stage his spring/summer 2018 runway show, the designer transformed the mammoth exhibition space into a seductive, all-pink lounge, complete with pink carpet, two expansive bars, mirrored walls and a gleaming dance floor, poised for post-show revelry.

Mood board : Synonymous with sexiness, Ford’s latest collection treads the line between seduction and exhibitionism. For runway purposes, he pulled no punches, teaming plunging necklines with daring open backs, high cut bodysuits with low slung trousers, and sequinned dresses boasted hemlines that skim the bottom. Individually though, each expertly tailored piece displayed that easy wearability and glamour which Ford has become known for. Rounded out with sharp shouldered suit jackets and boxy trench coats, the collection brings new meaning to the idea of power dressing.

Finishing touches: An elegant line of cap-toed stiletto pumps accompanied all the looks, providing hits of mismatching colour to potent effect. Shown in fuschia, vermilion, bright yellow and blue, the heels were finished with frayed, lace-like edges, delivering a ladylike sophistication and a youthful energy at the same time. 

Some of the largest architecture projects in the world are taking shape in a ground-floor atelier tucked away in London’s King’s Cross. Thomas Heatherwick set up his studio in 1994 after studying at Manchester Polytechnic and the RCA, and over the years he gradually scaled up its output, creating everything from furniture and installations through to buses, bridges, art museums and whole city blocks. Heatherwick now works alongside around 200 designers, 130 of whom have architectural training. The studio output is focused on big buildings. These include one of the largest mixed-use projects in China, a key component of a vast US private development, a California office for a tech colossus, and a new bridge for London, all of which are at various stages of planning and construction.

Despite this mega-structural ambition, every Heatherwick project can be infinitely zoomed into, right down to the smallest design component. This combination of scale and detail comes out of an absolute commitment to process, something that becomes evident the minute you sit down with Heatherwick to talk about his work... Read the interview in full here

In 20 remarkable years we have come across, written about, examined and exhumed a lot of remarkable people. On the following pages are 20 of them. This, though, is not a simple ranking of power and influence. These are stories that resonate, with which we find common purpose and cause.

Here are people who have sometimes stuck bloody-mindedly to a course, sometimes pivoted, re-examined and pushed in new directions, who have defied expectations and even open derision. They have shown courage under fire and grace under pressure.

They have transformed – from girl group popette to one of the fashion industry's smartest operators, for instance – and, over the last 20 years, have had a transformative influence in their field. Here are architects who build with a sense of the immaterial, artists who want to talk to everyone, experimentalists and food engineers, fashion designers who defy fashion and bob and weave like prize fighters, tech titans who have changed the way we do almost everything. One reinvented the hotel industry, another presents it with an existential threat. There is also a man who wants to save the world – or take us all to Mars if that doesn't work out. Either way, we'll be along for the ride.

Victoria Beckham’s transformation from pop celebrity and tabloid icon to the force behind a covetable fashion line is an extraordinary one. Indeed, when the Spice Girls burst onto the cultural landscape in 1996, it would have seemed unlikely that 20 years later she would be presiding over a label now fêted for its sleek, restrained lines.

But to hear Victoria Beckham tell it, she didn’t have ‘any grand expectations’ when making the transition from music to fashion. ‘I was just focused on creating clothes that I felt proud of and passionate about,’ says Beckham of launching her eponymous line in 2008. ‘The fact that the brand has since taken off in the way it has has been very humbling.’

Now, the label boasts its own handsome flagship store on London’s Dover Street, counts Net-A-Porter, Liberty and Barneys among its many stockists, and recorded a turnover of £34m in 2014.

But the signals that Beckham had an affinity for design were there at the start. She was the stylish Spice Girl who stood out amid her flashier bandmates. As her and her husband David’s fame grew, they embraced their roles as fashion plates with a mutual fondness for Gucci and Versace... Read the interview in full here

The year Wallpaper* launched, a 28-year-old Jonathan Ive was appointed as Apple’s design director. ‘Our goal is figuring out how we can bring meaning to objects,’ he told us a year later. He ticked that box. ‘Think of Apple as a product company whose primary goal is to make the very best products we can,’ he told us back in 2010. But six years is a long time in technology, and services, software, apps and interaction arguably play a far greater role in how we use our devices today. The intuitive elegance that has marked Ive’s designs is now harder to achieve...

The year Wallpaper* launched, a 28-year-old Jonathan Ive was appointed as Apple’s design director. ‘Our goal is figuring out how we can bring meaning to objects,’ he told us a year later. He ticked that box. ‘Think of Apple as a product company whose primary goal is to make the very best products we can,’ he told us back in 2010. But six years is a long time in technology, and services, software, apps and interaction arguably play a far greater role in how we use our devices today. The intuitive elegance that has marked Ive’s designs is now harder to achieve.

Hard but not impossible. ‘Far from being mutually exclusive, technology and craft are not at odds,’ he says. Apple knows this like no other, and that’s largely down to Ive’s status as a titan of exceptional user design. ‘Much like beauty and utility,’ he says, ‘[technology and craft are] all the more powerful in combination.’ Ive and Apple are another such supercharged blend

Most people steal things from hotels. Few try to steal an entire hotel. But that’s what happened to Ian Schrager. Just weeks after he opened the Edition in Waikiki, the owner of the building turned up in the middle of the night, changed the locks on the front doors and told the staff they worked for him now, not Schrager’s company. The episode neatly, if rather dramatically, sums up the man who has transformed hotels.

Over the past 30 years, Schrager has reinvented hotels and then reinvented them some more, and each time he has done so, his rivals, big and small, have stolen his ideas wholesale. At Morgans, the Royalton, the Paramount and the Hudson in New York and, along the way, the Delano in Miami, the Clift in San Francisco, the Mondrian in LA, and St Martin’s Lane and the Sanderson in London, he created the boutique hotel. It got the name not because it was small, but because it was curated with a strong attitude and aesthetic, like a fashion boutique.

The key ingredients are the lobby scene, the go-to bar, the must-book restaurant for guests and locals alike, the signature scents, the hot staff with clothes more expensive than the guests’, the cool nightclub, the sense of an urban resort, the CD collection and the baffling taps in the bathrooms. There’s scarcely a hotel on the planet whose design or service has not borrowed some or all of these elements. ‘They pickpocket my ideas,’ Schrager says. ‘I still get annoyed by it, especially when I see things that we laboured and agonised over that have now become standard. The bed with the low headboard with the light behind, it’s everywhere...’ Read the interview in full here

Airbnb confounds for many reasons, though the most obvious one is that its success is based on a business model that ignores one of the first lessons we learn at our mother’s knee: don’t talk to strangers. We can only imagine what the first few investor meetings in 2008 must have been like.

And yet, fast forward nine years and the website – essentially a match-making service between home-owners and visitors looking for an alternative to hotel rooms – has already hosted 123 million nights. It’s also in the midst of seeking additional funding, valuing the company at $30bn – making it the second highest-valued start-up in the US behind Uber.

And like Uber, Airbnb has become a poster-child for the sharing economy, that nebulous but extremely valuable intersection between commerce and human connection. It has recast the idea of privacy, security and personal space. And all because Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky, two graduates from the Rhode Island School of Design, found a way to take the components of trust between people who had never met, and design for it. ‘We didn’t come up with anything new,’ says Gebbia, now chief product officer. ‘There were many websites like ours. Why did ours take off? Luck and timing played a part. The 2008 recession led people to consider new ways of earning supplemental income. But I believe the key difference was design...’ Read the interview in full here

Therme Vals was completed in 1996, the same year this magazine was founded. It was clearly a good year. Two decades on, Peter Zumthor’s genre-defining spa in the Swiss canton of Graubünden remains a place of pilgrimage for architecture enthusiasts the world over. And Zumthor is now one of the world’s most sought-after architects.

Zumthor is not your typical internationally-operating, Pritzker Prize-winning architect, even if there is such a thing. He has no offices in London, New York or Zurich, preferring instead to base himself in the tiny Swiss hamlet of Haldenstein, where he has lived and worked for more than 40 years. At his atelier, staff are not found glued to shiny Apple Macs but gathered around physical models of buildings – working prototypes lifted up on stilts to eye level – while beyond those models, breathtaking wraparound views stretch out across the Grisonian Rhine Valley. The practice is small, deliberately limited to around 30 people, making it a necessity to be very choosy about the projects it takes on. Which is what makes it really different.

Looking back over the last 20 years since Therme, the projects Zumthor has designed have been dictated not by commercial opportunity, but by where architecture can make a real difference to the human experience. Where architecture can bring joy, peace, insight or energy. You know you’re in a Zumthor building not because you notice any trademark shapes or materials, but because of how it makes you feel... Read the interview in full here

It is now the norm for fashion designers to dabble in other forms. Hedi Slimane, Rick Owens, Karl Lagerfeld and JW Anderson are all serious, serial dabblers. This is the age of the new polymath, the cross-disciplinary curator, the imperial taste-maker. But there is one designer who has gone much further; who, over the last 20 years, has relocated fashion, pulled it out of its self-referential loops and plugged it into a larger, more powerful network of ideas and influences.

Raf Simons originally trained in industrial and furniture design in Genk, Belgium – the country where he was born and raised and where his eponymous menswear line is based. After interning with Walter Van Beirendonck and then watching a Martin Margiela show in Paris, which Simons has described as nothing short of a revelation, he turned instead to fashion. He founded his own label in 1995.

That unconventional start explains Simons’ mould-breaking approach to designing clothing. ‘I always wanted to find other ways, explore other ways,’ he says. Focusing on menswear, Simons has subtly and insistently proposed new ways of dressing men. His radicalism has not only affected the way entire generations of men dress, but how generations of fashion designers create their clothes. The designs of youthful labels like Hood By Air or Off-White are tied up with ideas Simons has explored over the past 20 years... Read the interview in full here

Alessandro Michele’s Gucci is a harbinger of change in the fashion industry. In barely 18 months, his work has perceptibly moved goalposts and his impact is hard to overstate, certainly when it comes to recent fashion. Indeed, you’d have to dive back to the 1990s to find anything similar. Ironically, if you do so, you’ll find it was once again at Gucci that the status quo shifted, under the tenure of Tom Ford. Exactly 20 years apart, both used the Italian leather goods behemoth to ring in the changes, to provoke, challenge and ultimately seduce. Both have proved, within the space of mere seasons, to be the dominant fashion stories of their respective periods.

Michele and Ford’s visions for Gucci, on the surface, are polar opposites. Indeed, Michele’s obsession is with elaborating his surfaces, in homage to the Italiano eccentrico styles commonly associated with designers like Walter Albini, the interwar couturier Elsa Schiaparelli or the Milanese fashion editor Anna Piaggi. It stands in stark contrast to Ford’s midcentury modern-tinged minimalism, the sartorial equivalent of an Eames lounger, of lean tailoring and jersey evening dresses with insets of metal. Slick was the word most often used to describe Ford’s vision for Gucci, from the shiny polished catwalks of his biannual shows through to the glistening double-G insignias dripping from bags and belts. There’s nothing slick about what Michele does – it’s more sick, a mix of oddball references and strange proportions that have some beauty to them, to hamfistedly paraphrase Sir Francis Bacon... Read the interview in full here

Towering above his employees and most of his guests, with flowing locks and a beard as white as his linen trousers and moccasins, Brazilian mining magnate and modern-day Medici Bernardo Paz looks a little like God as he goes about his mission of building heaven on earth.

In Paz’s contemporary garden of Eden, Inhotim, every detail has been designed to reset the way visitors live their lives. The sprawling utopia, an hour from his home town of Belo Horizonte and designed as a perfect marriage of art, nature and architecture, is much more than a playground for an eccentric millionaire. It’s Paz’s gift to the world – a beautiful, peaceful place from a man whose name means peace. Mines, as the inhabitants of Paz’s home state of Minas Gerais know only too well, are a finite resource, and the Mineiros, as the locals are known, have seen their riches shipped off to the world for nearly two centuries – with all too little to show for it.

Paz has turned the concept of one-off extraction on its head, using the wealth accumulated from gouging iron ore from the mountains that surround Belo Horizonte to plant the seeds of a contemporary crop, one he believes will bear fruit ‘for a thousand years’. The profits – more than $250m – generated from shipping three million tonnes of iron ore a year to mills in Brazil and China, are ploughed into his dream.

‘I want to create a state of mind,’ he says. ‘The hardest thing is to change the way people see the world, but beauty changes people’s lives...’ Read the interview in full here

By the early 1990s, Kazuyo Sejima already had experience at Toyo Ito’s office, her own studio and a Young Architect of the Year award from the Japan Institute of Architects under her belt. But it was after setting up SANAA (with Ryue Nishizawa) in 1995 that her career really took off, upscaling to major cultural commissions which transformed her into an international go-to choice for mesmerisingly barely-there, ethereal architecture.

Her signature style of strong shapes and clean lines that at the same time appear flowing and delicate has helped define 21st-century Japanese architecture. It is all about the experience for Sejima, although priorities have shifted somewhat since her early days in practice. ‘Our designs are not driven by what you can do with architecture itself, but by an interest in the way people experience space as a relationship between programme, city and surrounding landscape,’ she says. ‘In the past, I would try to understand the overall character of a building’s environment and use this abstract idea to develop a design. Today, I try to create spaces that are more precisely adapted to the variable character of a neighbourhood...’ Read the interview in full here

There was a time when Japanese food meant exactly the same thing wherever you were, whatever the occasion and budget: sashimi, teppanyaki, sushi, teriyaki and tempura. In the 1990s, however, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa changed all that when he launched his deliriously inventive spin on classic Japanese tropes layered with nuanced South American influences, Peruvian specifically – yellowtail sashimi jalapeño and tempura eel, for instance.

From the start, a strong stylish streak has run through all of Matsuhisa’s projects. When the first Nobu opened in New York in 1994, he tapped David Rockwell for the interiors. ‘I explained to David the importance of the flow of the kitchen and the connection between the kitchen and the sushi bar. He understood both what I wanted and my style of cooking, and was able to translate my vision into a beautiful restaurant.’

It’s a formula that Matsuhisa has repeated over the years with great success. Within a few months of the first issue of Wallpaper*, he partnered with Robert De Niro, restaurateur Drew Nieporent, and Singaporean hotelier Christina Ong to open his first European outpost in London’s Metropolitan Hotel. Nobu London was the proverbial instant success. Every night, the deliberately austere dining room was mobbed by the city’s beau monde – every table swooning over the celebrated (and much imitated) black cod and miso. Within a year, it owned a Michelin star... Read the interview in full here

Illustration: Eoin Ryan

To paraphrase Sinatra, 1996 was a very good year. Wallpaper* was launched, Richard Geoffroy was promoted to chef de cave at Dom Pérignon and, very appropriately, that year produced an extraordinary vintage that, two decades on, is still talked about. ‘Normally, the great wines come from the fine sunny weather. It was the wind that year,’ Geoffroy explains. ‘It drove the dehydration of the grapes and concentrated the juices to produce something baffling, energised, constrained and infinitely youthful.’

On paper, Geoffroy’s credentials are impressive enough – born into a champagne-making family, he is a trained medical doctor and an influential oenologist. In person, he is articulate, smart, jovial, disciplined and passionate about the art of winemaking.

His extraordinary niceness makes it easy to overlook the fact that Geoffroy is an industry powerhouse. He says his relationship with Dom Pérignon is so intimate a line cannot be drawn. ‘We share the same sense of playfulness, completeness, complexity and serenity. Our fundamental core is one of harmony, which is expressed in the tension between winemaking and blending. But we are not flash or ego-driven...' Read the interview in full here

Co-founder of Google with Sergey Brin, CEO of Alphabet and the man behind Mountain View’s ongoing and relentless diversification into every single stratum of our tech-centric lives, Larry Page can lay claim to some serious data. Google is, of course, named for a number – a very big number – so it’s appropriate that any stats culled from the company’s day-to-day operations are suitably mind-boggling. Here are the facts and figures that prove Page will influence our intelligence for decades to come. The man behind the world’s biggest tech influencer conjures up serious stats. See them here...

It’s not a coincidence that, as Hussein Chalayan was presenting his first collections, the first issue of Wallpaper* was also taking shape in London. The designer has been vocal about the impact the magazine and the city had on him from the start. ‘For me, Wallpaper* was where all the different disciplines and facets of lifestyle merged,’ he says. ‘It was a publication that really gelled that together. My interests already included interiors and furniture, so I understood straight away its role in creating a synergy between fashion, interiors, food and travel. They were more isolated before, and I think the magazine is responsible for creating these bridges.’

London in those days ‘was about different creatives working together; there was a very distinct correlation between music and fashion’. Chalayan often collaborated with the singer Björk, who modelled in one of his early shows and famously wore a piece from the designer’s Airmail collection on the cover of her album, Post. ‘In terms of what inspired me, it was mostly music and cultural history...’ Read the interview in full here

Working with Ai Weiwei was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. Partly because we had barely a year to make a major exhibition at the RA, but mainly because he’s a profound, uncompromising and heroic individual whose humanity and humour are never far away.

Outside his studio in Caochangdi – a kind of artists’ village in Beijing – the street is lined with surveillance cameras, each one festooned with a red Chinese lantern by Weiwei, the most gentle of subversions. A bike was chained to the lamppost outside the main door – and it had a fresh bunch of flowers in its basket every day until he got his passport back. For most of the time we were working together, it seemed unlikely he would be able to come to London. I went to Beijing five times over the year and every trip I’d ask whether there was any change in attitude from the Chinese authorities. ‘I always remain optimistic, but every time I think the police might return my passport I am disappointed. Perhaps I am naive,’ he told me.

I remembered his exhibition at the 2013 Venice Biennale, soon after his release from prison, where his mother had come instead. Would she, I wondered, be able to come to London if he were unable to travel. ‘She’s too frail now,’ he said. ‘How about your son?’ I asked. ‘I know he’s only six, but maybe he would like to come.’ ‘My son hates London,’ he told me, rather devastatingly. ‘When I was imprisoned I didn’t want him to know details, so he was told Daddy is in London...’ Read the interview in full here

When it comes to supporting the arts, few patrons have made as big a name for themselves as the Miami-based real-estate developer Jorge M Pérez. Founder of the Related Group, part of the property powerhouse behind ambitious urban development projects such as New York’s Hudson Yards, Pérez has not only played a huge part in shaping the modern Miami skyline, but also left his mark on its cultural landscape as well.

In 2013, Pérez’s name became a talking point during the relocation of the Miami Art Museum to a swanky, waterfront home designed by Herzog & de Meuron. Along with its expanded, $220m building, the museum also unveiled a new name: the Pérez Art Museum Miami, an acknowledgement of the $40m donation from the billionaire. Although the naming was unorthodox, PAMM (as it’s affectionately known), has evolved from a municipal-level arts institution to a respected fixture in the international arts scene. Shows have included Ai Weiwei, Julio Le Parc, Jean-Michel Basquiat, the Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes and the New York-based Jamaican artist Nari Ward. Works donated by Pérez, largely by Latin American artists, are also on display... Read the interview in full here

In 1996, Elon Musk – and we realise how quaint this now sounds – did his first million dollar deal. The software company he started in 1995 with $28,000 of his father’s money picked up a $3 million investment and his remarkable career, from software to space via PayPal and sustainable propulsion, was off.

Along the way he has destroyed decades of received wisdom and borrowed business practices and, despite all that, his smartest rivals still think the world of him. As CCO of Aston Martin, Marek Reichman knows a thing or two about building beautiful, cutting-edge cars. It’s thanks to Musk, he says, ‘that our industry is now engaged in a radical rethink of how we create and deliver transportation’... Read the interview in full here

Illustration: Eoin Ryan

Rare now is the fashion brand that doesn’t do art in some way, does not sponsor, show, collaborate or co-mingle with artists and galleries. It can look like a crushing embrace. But one designer has been doing it for longer and with more sophistication and commitment than any other.

Miuccia Prada, who trained as a mime artist before joining the family operation, established the Fondazione Prada in 1993 and began collecting art; seriously and with serious intent. The Rem Koolhaas-designed New York Prada store, or Epicenter, which opened in 2001, was more gallery and performance space than glittering showcase for product. But Prada has been careful to compartmentalise the fashion brand and the Fondazione. It has its permanent curators, commissions as well as collects, and puts on museum-standard shows.

Last year, the Fondazione Prada campus, also designed by OMA, opened in Milan; twice the size of Renzo Piano’s new Whitney in New York and twice the fun. It has redefined what a private gallery can and should be. It’s an engaging new cultural hub for a city known more for commercial thrust and will be Prada’s real legacy... Read the interview in full here

Modesty almost forbids, but only almost. In fact, space doesn’t allow a complete list of our many advances and upshifts, our constant refinements and occasional reinventions over the last 20 years. Here’s just a few to be going on with: establishing the Handmade exhibition as the showcase of contemporary craft and design; creating the perfect pocket-sized travel guide; civilising e-commerce with the W* Store; curating a long-running series of artist-designed covers and back-page artist’s recipes; the encouragement and advancement of wave after wave of young designers and architects; and, of course, smuggling more dubious double entendres onto our covers than any magazine ever.

Alessandro Michele’s Gucci is a harbinger of change in the fashion industry. In barely 18 months, his work has perceptibly moved goalposts and his impact is hard to overstate, certainly when it comes to recent fashion. Indeed, you’d have to dive back to the 1990s to find anything similar. Ironically, if you do so, you’ll find it was once again at Gucci that the status quo shifted, under the tenure of Tom Ford. Exactly 20 years apart, both used the Italian leather goods behemoth to ring in the changes, to provoke, challenge and ultimately seduce. Both have proved, within the space of mere seasons, to be the dominant fashion stories of their respective periods.

Michele and Ford’s visions for Gucci, on the surface, are polar opposites. Indeed, Michele’s obsession is with elaborating his surfaces, in homage to the Italiano eccentrico styles commonly associated with designers like Walter Albini, the interwar couturier Elsa Schiaparelli or the Milanese fashion editor Anna Piaggi. It stands in stark contrast to Ford’s midcentury modern-tinged minimalism, the sartorial equivalent of an Eames lounger, of lean tailoring and jersey evening dresses with insets of metal. Slick was the word most often used to describe Ford’s vision for Gucci, from the shiny polished catwalks of his biannual shows through to the glistening double-G insignias dripping from bags and belts. There’s nothing slick about what Michele does – it’s more sick, a mix of oddball references and strange proportions that have some beauty to them, to hamfistedly paraphrase Sir Francis Bacon.

Yet there are threads that run through both, weaving these two disparate versions of Gucci tightly together. Both, for instance, are obsessed with the 1970s: Ford harking back to the clingy jersey clothes of Halston, dressing a Studio 54-roaming glamourpuss; Michele to something more downbeat, less polished.

‘The 1970s is the most powerful image, for me, for the brand,’ Michele tells me after his winter 2016 menswear show. ‘Its soul is really that 1970s moment, that jet-set. It’s something that lets you dream.’ Michele dreams of a decorated, flamboyant 1970s a million miles from Ford’s American-bred but European-polished glamour. But their silhouettes – kicked-out flares, column evening dresses, the short, broad-shouldered fur jackets known as chubbies that owe a debt to the architect of the decade, Yves Saint Laurent – are similar.

But then, Ford, after all, was Michele’s mentor, recruiting him to the label in 2002. Michele has paid overt homage in numerous ways: his first menswear show in January 2015 featured model Molly Bair in a petrol-blue silk-satin shirt with black trousers and a double-G belt, a direct throwback to Ford’s A/W 1995 Gucci show, where Kate Moss (and later Madonna) sported a near identical outfit. More recently, a bevy of Ford’s greatest Gucci hits – embroidered denim jeans, cherry-red and inky velvet trouser suits, those white jersey Halston redux dresses – has been installed, at Michele’s behest, at the Gucci Museo.

Both Michele and Ford think further than fashion. Ford’s Mario Testino-shot advertising campaigns of the 1990s weren’t just trying to hawk a bunch of clothes, but a set of ideals. Gucci may not have made the furniture the models sprawled across, but you still wanted to buy it. Later, Gucci sold branded spanking-paddles, dog-collars and handcuffs – a sexual decadence synonymous with Ford’s fashions. Michele is creative director of the Italian fine porcelain brand Richard Ginori. The latest range of Ginori plates, hand-painted with the kind of exotically plumed parrots that flock his clothes, are his postmodern spanking paddle.

Ironically, for all that aforementioned sex, there was a sense of androgyny to Ford’s Gucci. Those advertising campaigns frequently featured writhing bodies entwined to the point of gender ambiguity: guys, girls, or both? For A/W 1996, Georgina Grenville and Ludovico Benazzo embraced dressed identically in pinstripe trouser suits, shirts open to the navel. Michele’s Gucci, too, is obsessed with blurring distinction between the sexes – his A/W 2015 menswear show saw long-haired boys and gangly girls mixed on the catwalk to a point of glorious confusion.

The element that most unifies Ford and Michele, though, is their complex, consummate and complete vision for Gucci. From the brand’s boutiques (minimalist temples under Ford; maximalist boudoirs under Michele) to the clothes’ packaging (Michele’s shoeboxes roam with Victoriana jungle murals; Ford sold sheer underwear in Perspex boxes) every facet expresses a breathtaking totality of aesthetic. It’s not lifestyle they’re selling, so much as a style of life. It worked in 1996, and it’s working again today.

Tom Ford and Alessandro Michele are part of our 20 Game-Changers. Read about the other 19 here

As originally featured in the October 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*211)

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Gucci website

Agi & Sam: At the tender age of four, Agi started sketching his first clothing collection. These drawings, rediscovered on a trip back to his family home and together with a trip to his old primary school, provided a fresh burst of inspiration for the A/W 2015 collection – even down to the name,'Coolman'. Wanting to have fun with clothes - and Lego - again, bold, primary colours were cut, pasted, patch-worked and splashed onto tailored jackets and trousers that were fitted together with Velcro panels.

Woolmark Prize: New York natives Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osbourne of Public School took home 2014/15 Men's International Woolmark award at London's Somerset House. The duo initially set up Public School with the goal of manufacturing their cutting-edge sportswear entirely in the Big Apple. Their ongoing support of local craftspeople and penchant for ‘finding perfection in imperfection’ has since also earned them 2014's CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year citation

John Lobb: Paula Gerbase’s debut collection for the British book maker honed in on the house’s handmade heritage. Fusing craftsmanship and modernity, Gerbase designed a seamless boot, made from one piece of leather entirely, before updating the house’s signature single buckle – leaving it half open to hint at the house’s bespoke DNA, as another nod to its founder’s handwriting

Topman: The British high street retailer kicked off LC:M with a 1970s homage titled ‘Bombay City Rollers’, which offered up shearling coats, flared jeans, double-breasted tartan suiting, and patchwork boiler suits in its east meets west mixer. Best in show was a degrade wool Peacoat that mimicked a sunset over Mumbai’s Gateway of India monument.

Fashion week, nowadays, is about much more than just the collections. Showmanship is the name of the game, and in the meticulously executed sartorial extravaganzas, the sound space is an element that no producer or designer can afford to overlook. Music royalty - past, present and future - is enlisted to ensure a full assault on the senses. Here, we bring you London Fashion Week's catwalk mega-mix from the S/S 2015 womenswear collections.

FRIDAY 12/09

Eudon Choi
'Cosmogony' by Bjork; 'Workinonit' by J Dilla; 'Still Water' by Four Tops; 'Sir Greendown' by Janelle Monae; 'Stay Tuned' by Robert Wyatt; 'The Roadette Song' by Kilburn & The High Roads; 'Numbers' by FKA Twigs; 'Rocket Number 9' by Sun Ra; 'Valentine' by Tricky; 'Aht Uh Mi Hed' by Shuggie Otis; 'Holiday' by Micachu and The Shapes; 'Caravan' by Blur; 'Air Makes My Day' by Elmore Judd; 'Little By Little' by Radiohead
Music production: Peter Duffy

SATURDAY 13/09

Hunter Original
'Witness The Fitness' by Roots Manuva; 'Bear Hug' by 2 Bears; 'Underwater Love' by Smoke City; 'Reservoir' by Metronomy; 'Sea Of Love' by Marty Wilde; 'Only Happy When It Rains' by Garbage
Music production: John Gosling

JW Anderson
'Unfurla' by Clark; 'Get Me What You Want' by Bok Bok & Tom Trago
Music production: Michel Gaubert

SUNDAY 14/09

Margaret Howell
'Feeling Good (Nicholas Jaar remix)' by Nina Simone; 'Here Comes The Sun (Francois K mix)' by Nina Simone; 'Ain't Got No…I've Got Life' by Nina Simone
Music production: Paul Thomas

Richard Nicoll
'Aurora (Instrumental)' by Bjork; 'I Close The Door Upon Myself' by Susumu Yakota; 'Born, Never Asked' by Laurie Anderson; 'Sieben Stucke fur 2 Xylophon' by Carl Orff; 'Anjos' by Julianna Barwick; 'Little April Shower' from Bambi 2

Paul Smith
'Coplita (Instrumental)' by Chancha Via Circuito; 'Everything Belongs To The Sun' by Psapp; 'Alright To Me' by Eckoclick; 'Bad Luck' by Eckoclick; 'Everything Belongs To The Sun' by Psapp
Music production: Andrew Hale & Peter Smith

Mary Katrantzou
'Amarant 8' by Scanner; 'Trippin' With The Birds' by Stereolab & Nurse With Wound; 'Another Wave From You' by M83
Music production: Frédéric Sanchez

Jonathan Saunders
From the soundtrack of film 'Under The Skin'

MONDAY 15/09

Burberry Prorsum
Live performance by James Bay playing 'Clocks Go Forward', 'When We Were On Fire' and 'Scars'

Christopher Kane
'The Shining' by Wendy Carlos; 'In The Upper Room: Dance II' by Philip Glass; 'Can't Be Beat' by Quiet Village Project; 'Rendez Vous at 2099' by Marco Passarani; 'At The Dark End Of The Street' by Diamanda Galas; 'Can't Be Beat' by Quiet Village Project
Music production: Simon Halsberghe

Peter Pilotto
Untitled composition by Michiel Helbig

Tom Ford
'Addicted to Love (acapella)' by Florence And The Machine; 'Addicted to Love' by Theresa Miele; 'Turn Your Light On Me' by Lucy Schwartz; 'Hey Pretty' by Poe; 'Two Men In Love' by The Irrepressibles

TUESDAY 16/09

Simone Rocha
'Polonaise' arranged and played live by Cloud Castle Lake
Music production: Max Rocha

As the reconfigured Robert Palmer anthem Addicted to Love blasted over Tom Ford's smooth, salon speaker system, it was clear that we were in for a date with overtly sensual, rock 'n' roll high priestesses. The American designer may have sighted references from his own 1990s back catalogue as the season's lynchpin - indeed the bra cups and black mesh were classic Ford-era Gucci - but the Lurex flares, baby doll dresses and stretch sequins surely strode right out of a Seventies discotheque. Either way, Ford's jewelled 'pasty' flowers were obviously a contemporary addition. Striding six foot plus in their platformed clogs, spiky shag crops and kohl-rimmed eyes, these models were calling out for a stage, as their long chiffon choker scarves trailed behind. And if not for their gold leather chain embroidery dresses, then certainly for their camouflage jacquard boot cut jeans. This was not a season for the shy or even slightly self-conscious. Ford's tee-shirts were more akin to bodysuits, his evening wear  - inspired by Carlo Mollino's provocative photographs - equaling sequinned bands or harness bras floating on stretch tulle. Instead, this was a collection for the beautiful and the damned.

It has to be said that no one delivers a fashion show with the same creature comforts as Tom Ford. A glass of champagne on arrival, plush lounge chair seating for a spot of end of day reclining, and a set crafted from folded mirrored panels to allow his designs to be viewed from all angles. Yet surprisingly, Ford made a somewhat demure start with stylish black 'forever' pieces inspired by his life in London, paired back with pin-heeled cowboy boots in black velvet or sky blue crocodile, referencing his other home in the American West. A laced up, faux-bodice shift soon foretold tales of racier things to come, namely a ruby red croc laced 'blouse', as leopard and leather looks began to add more heat teamed back with hooded black cashmere knits. And then just as though Ford couldn't contain his composure a moment longer, he knocked off BBP's 'Tom Ford 61' baseball shirt, upping the game with sequins. Fur was the next flourish, leading with a short-haired white camisole, pared back with a classic tuxedo pant, before Karen Elson's flame red laser-cut fox coat bore as much envy as the designer's latest accessory entry: a long-strapped shoulder bag, sealed with a gold TF clasp that's as covetable as a Constance.

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Clockwise from top left, wallet, £300, by Tom Ford. Notebook, KRW3,000 ($2.70), by O-Check Design Graphics. ‘W1’ diary, £250, by Smythson. Sterling silver pen, £390, by Graf von Faber-Castell. Letter opener, £150 for set with scissors; leather tape measure, £25, both by William & Son. Tie, £130, by Tom Ford. Napkin, £25, by Willer. ‘Santiago’ cutlery, £4 a piece, by Alessi. ‘Black Basalt’ plate, £55, by Wedgwood. ‘Dreyfuss 500’ phone, by Wild & Wolf. Black Orchid and Extreme fragrance miniatures, full sizes from £42 for 30 ml, by Tom Ford, from Harrods. Glasses, £225, by Tom Ford. Lifestyle: Emma Moore

Apple pie may have become an American icon, but sticky-sweet pecan pie is the one everyone takes to family gatherings, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some say it has its roots in New Orleans and the meeting of French settlers with Native Americans. More patriotically (try telling the heartland that the French invented pecan pie), the Karocorn syrup people claim the wife of one of their sales directors invented it in the 1930s, and that in some Southern states it is better known as Karo pie. Whatever the truth, the poly-talented Mr Ford, a Texan who has triumphed in Paris, Milan and Hollywood, has chosen a simple, singular dish.

Ingredients
1 cup of white Karo syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs flour
1 cup pecans

Method
Beat the eggs and sugar together, add flour, then syrup, vanilla and pecans. Pour into a 9in prepared pie shell. Bake in an oven at 150°C for one hour.

Come Saturday, the fashion crowd descends on Milan to see Men’s Spring Summer 09 collections and one name will be on everyone’s lips: Tom Ford. It’s been four long years since Mr Ford vacated the creative director position at Gucci but he’s returning to Milan in timely style to open his first retail store in Europe. Fashion notables will be given a walk around the five floor, 9,000 sq ft space at Via Verri 3, on Monday 23rd, in the middle of fashion week. But we couldn’t wait till then so quizzed the man himself a few days before to find out how he feels about returning to the city where he made his name...

We love your label for its unapologetic formality. Where does your passion for formal dressing come from?

Formality feels right to me right now. At a time when fashion is getting increasingly more casual and broken down, I think that 'dressing up' shows that the wearer has self-respect and respect for the people around him. Maybe it is also a reaction against all the trends out there in menswear at the moment. Formal is just how I want to dress right now.

What inspires you?

I am inspired by everything around me.

What does it mean for you to be opening a store of your own label, under your own name, in Milan particularly, given the success you had here under Gucci?

It is great to be doing something that is purely 100% my own taste, my own vision, my own creation from the ground up. It is also wonderful to be returning to Milan which is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is not only Italy’s fashion capital, but it is also the Italian home of luxury menswear.

Do you see a progression in your work as a designer?

The progression of my work as a designer very much follows the progression of myself as a person. As I grow older, I see myself and the world differently. I have different role models and different values. Authenticity has become increasingly important to me in my life and in my work.

What bespoke services are available in your Milan store?

We will offer the same made-to-measure services in all of our Tom Ford flagship stores. It is not a bespoke service from the ground up. We work off four different bases, we take your measurements, work out which base is right for you, modify it, send it to our factory, and when it comes back we have a sample room in the store where we can do dramatic alterations. When you go to a bespoke tailor, you can have almost anything made. When you come to us, you come for a certain Tom Ford look and then it’s modified. This is a hybrid that did not exist. We offer much more customization than you can get from any other design company. At the same time, it has more of a personal stamp than Savile Row.

This is your second flagship – how many more have you planned, where and when?

We will be opening directly operated Tom Ford flagship stores in Milan, London, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas over the next 2 years as well as free standing stores in Baku, Moscow, Dubai, and Puerto Banus which will total over 100 free-standing Tom Ford retail stores worldwide over the next 10 years. We have also just opened a shop this spring in Zurich, with shops in Daslu, Bergdorf's, Harry Rosen, Lane Crawford Hong Kong and Neiman Marcus to follow in September.

Is retail design more significant now than it was 10 years ago?

Retail design has always been significant in helping to define a brand and has become more important than ever as the entire luxury industry has become more homogenised. More than ever, the brand experience is, in part, determined by the retail space.

You’ve turned your hand to fashion, accessories, beauty and fragrance. Have you any plans to branch into homeware?

For the moment, we are focusing on the existing categories and have no plans to branch into homeware.

What single thing would improve the quality of your life?

More time.

Describe Tom Ford in three words.

Loyal, shy, perfectionist.