Lee Broom at Mandarin Oriental Mayfair

The British designer is known for everything from domestic lamps (like the cute and portable ‘Chant’) to public installations during design fairs and other events – don’t miss his brutalist sculpture Beacon, currently on view as part of the Southbank Centre’s Winter Light festival. At the Mandarin Oriental, he tells a story of poetic brilliance through a site-specific installation.

At the heart of the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair’s emblematic ming green marble staircase, Broom suspends time with a stately chandelier specially designed for the occasion. ‘I wanted this sculpture to converse directly with the hotel’s architecture and to enhance the guest experience,’ he explains of the RSHP-designed property.

Made from brushed anodised aluminium and hand-blown reeded glass LED fittings, the piece casts a gilded glow over the lobby and Atrium Restaurant, which has recently refreshed its menu. ‘When the teams at Mandarin Oriental Mayfair and Mayfair Design District approached me about this project, they were immediately drawn to my idea of creating something entirely different to the traditional Christmas tree for the festive period,’ Broom says. And while a tree is still in place in the hotel, the star of the show is undoubtedly the designer’s Hail Chandelier.

Also on display at the rooftop Hanover Bar, London-based Studio Waldemeyer delivers another whimsical exercise on light design, true to its technology-forward ethos. Inspired by its collaboration with the Mythos Mozart Museum in Vienna, the Amadeus installation transforms light into melody. A constellation of LED candles flickers like a musical phrase, tracing the bar’s curved architecture in a choreographed display.

Both installations continue the hotel’s recent partnership with the Mayfair Design District, which curates a periodic display of art and design at the hotel under the theme ’Elemental Resonance – Nature Reimagined’.

Mandarin Oriental Mayfair is located at 22 Hanover Square, London W1S 1JP, United Kingdom.

‘Moiré’ – referring to a kind of shimmering or rippling visual effect produced by the superposition of two similar patterns – is a technique that has been used in art and design for centuries. In this project, visitors might notice a similar effect produced by the criss-cross of metal mesh in the central stair's railing, which led to the apartment’s name.

Tour Moiré, a Brasília apartment with drama at its heart

The 294 sq m urban apartment was designed to be the main residence in town for a doctor and a lawyer, and their small dog. ‘We sought to enhance the existing space while meeting the specific demands of the clients, who wanted a guest kitchen integrated into the living room, but also a more private kitchen for everyday use,’ explain the architects. ‘Furthermore, the request for three suites, a guest bathroom, a TV room, and an office evidences the concern for creating a functional and integrated space.’

The apartment was designed to accommodate the client's brief, while also leaving the concrete beams and pillars exposed, to infuse a sense of rawness and material honesty into the space. The predominant style is modern and contemporary, with the main staircase (an existing feature, but now with its new metal railing and handrail) at the apartment’s core.

The honeycomb ceiling is a subtle yet intriguing design element. The greys of its metal grid and the surrounding concrete contrast with the warm, darker tones of the staircase and wood. ‘The apartment was based on the desire to create integrated and functional spaces, reflecting the client's needs and preferences. The search for harmony between practicality and sophisticated design was the guiding principle for the firm in conceiving the project,’ say the architects.

Two kitchens were carefully designed to fit their respective purposes: one is more formal, integrated with the living room for entertaining, while the other is fit for daily use. Some spatial swaps were needed as part of the renovation, including moving a powder room. Say the architects: ‘One bathroom was converted into two, and a new powder room was created, which [allowed us to] expand the living room.’

The design's material palette spans from the feature wood panelling in the entertaining area to the dynamic honeycomb ceiling, the sleek metal staircase and the Guatemala marble kitchen countertop.

Each bathroom has a distinct personality – there’s the primary suite, a green suite, and a blue suite. The second-floor balconies connect the main bedroom to an office and a secondary bedroom. The result throughout is a timeless, understated residence that balances bespoke, contemporary living while offering a warm environment for both entertaining and relaxation.

coda.com.br

RIBA House of the Year 2025, RIBA.org

Caochan na Creige by Izat Arundell

The first project to be nominated is a self-build project, built on a remote site in Bay of Harris in the Outer Hebrides by Eilidh Izat and Jack Arundell of Izat Arundell. The duo, partners in work and life, designed and constructed the modest one-bedroom house on a rocky site overlooking the sea to the island of Rùm.

At just 85m2, Caochan na Creige is one of the smallest projects to be nominated for the House of the Year. With a timber structure and local stone cladding, there’s also an exposed concrete ring beam to add additional texture to complement the rocky site. Inside, lime plaster walls and polished concrete floors are paired with Scottish larch ceilings and bespoke beech joinery made by Izat’s furniture maker brother Alastair.

Caochan na Creige (the name means 'little quiet one by the rock') is intensely personal, not just because of the physical labour required to build it but because every nook and cranny has been shaped to cater to the couple’s possessions and artworks, as well as the views across the sea and glen. The constructed process also involved working with many local artisans, helping foster stronger community ties for this small practice.

IzatArundell.com, Izat.Arundell

Hastings House by Hugh Strange Architects

The house, which was also shortlisted for this year RIBA Stirling Prize (losing out to Appleby Blue Almshouse by Witherford Watson Mann) follows on from earlier domestic projects like the house reconfiguration in Peckham, South London.

In Hastings, however, Hugh Strange and his team were tasked with updating a 19th-century detached house in the heart of the town centre, with a precipitous level change across the site. The main house has been retained and restored, with special focus given to original features like mouldings, stained glass, fretted barge boards and decorative clay tiles. The real shifts in perception come at the rear.

An existing extension was replaced with a series of galvanised steel units that step the multi-terraced rear garden. Each of these news rooms is given large timber sliding doors, while the existing retaining wall is paired with a new concrete slab yet retains the scars of use over the centuries. It’s a series of interventions that enhances the original house without scouring the site of its history, with contemporary materials and details providing a strong contrast to what went before.

HughStrange.com, @HughStrangeArchitects

Located on the property's East Wing, once home to the stables and workshop, the Conservatory opens follows a meticulous restoration that added an impactful glass ceiling and stone floors that connect the interiors to the outdoors. Flooded with natural light, the space is imagined as a 'skylit garden' featuring olive trees punctuating the dining space.

The interior also offers guests views of the adjacent 14th-century St Michael's Church, a further testament to RH's commitment to the location's heritage.

The unveiling of this new space follows RH's recent opening of its Paris gallery, set on the Champs-Élysées and with contemporary interventions by Foster + Partners, presenting the American company’s unique blend of design, art and hospitality in a grand environment.

The Conservatory will become a dining destination within the Aynho Park location, expanding on the culinary offering first debuted at the Paris Gallery. Guests can expect dishes inspired by RH CEO and Chairman Gary Friedman's travels through an unfussy menu that features novel takes on classics from mini baked potatoes to salads and steak frites.

The Conservatory at RH England, Aynho Park: light installation by Anouska Hempel

The Conservatory's centrepiece is a light installation by designer Anouska Hempel, a dramatic chandelier inspired by traditional hundi lanterns found in luxurious interiors in 19th-century India. The lighting design features 19 glass orbs, hand-etched and suspended from a hexagonal frame made of burnished brass.

'Gifted with the canvas of RH's inherently strong architecture, our goal was to complement with an installation that is both whimsical and deeply romantic,' says Hempel. 'We achieved this by weaving our signature bell glass jar lanterns through a bespoke tiered hexagonal brass structure – this marriage of strength and softness was informed by the principles of Sir John Soane and the rich history of Aynho Park and RH. This piece is a devotion to light, legacy, and levity.'

rh.com/gb/en/england

‘Forever Is Now 05’: art and the Giza Pyramids

Each formation by Proba curves towards the horizon in a sequence of soft, continuous gestures: a portal, an abstracted Eye of Horus (an ancient Egyptian symbol), a shallow concave plane. Carved from marble, onyx, travertine and quartzite, the sculptures register the day’s movement through shifts of translucency and tone in the heat and light, making the work a collaboration with the Earth itself.

'These stones already hold millions of years of emotion in their veins,' she says. 'My role was not to impose colour but to listen to it, allowing the forms to flow with the rhythm of each stone’s pattern.'

The compositions hint at ancient emblems, yet Proba approaches form through intuition rather than symbol. Circles and continuous curves recur across her practice as shapes that feel inevitable in themselves, free of overt reference, gestures with emotional resonance that remain open to interpretation. 'I’m drawn to forms that feel alive,' she explains. 'The viewer can decide whether they’re stepping through an eye, an orbit, a horizon or a memory. That ambiguity is part of the invitation.'

Working in stone altered the energy of her visual language. What is often playful became slower and more contemplative. 'The softness remained,' she reflects, 'but the weight of time gave it a new gravity.' Standing before the Pyramids also reshaped her approach. 'The Pyramids made me want to whisper rather than be loud,' she notes. Her aim was not to compete with scale, but to place something that felt as though it belonged, as if it had emerged from the desert itself.

To bring these gestures into monumental form, Proba collaborated with Solid Nature, the Amsterdam-based stone specialist known for its experimental work with OMA and Sabine Marcelis.

Under CEO David Mahyari’s direction, the fabrication became an exercise in structural problem-solving. The sculptures appear to hover lightly above the sand, yet the installation weighs around 20 tonnes. Achieving this visual lightness required an internal construction hidden entirely within the stone. 'The challenge was letting the forms seem to float without altering Alex’s design,' Mahyari explains. 'We had to find ways to counter the natural weight of the material, especially in the portal and the lashes of the Eye of Horus.'

Because nothing could be built directly on site, all components were pre-fabricated. Transport limitations meant hollowing parts of the stone from within to reduce weight, producing some sections fully off-site and shaping others for final assembly in the desert. Each sculpture is composed of two major stone parts bonded around a central support structure. The adhesive had to withstand an extreme climate, expanding and contracting with the desert’s dramatic temperature shifts while holding the overall mass securely. Beneath each form lies a custom-engineered steel platform, buried under the sand to distribute weight across the uneven ground. The platforms had to remain visually discreet yet structurally decisive.

Material selection was equally exacting. Blocks were chosen without natural fault lines or cavities, preserving the fluidity of Proba’s forms. Travertine was cut across the grain for strength, resisting the stone’s natural tendency to split along its layers. For the onyx at the centre of the Eye of Horus, Solid Nature selected a cross-cut orientation, revealing a cloudy, organic pattern that echoes Proba’s curves and sits in quiet dialogue with the geometric precision of the Pyramids.

These decisions underscore the project’s conceptual core: a meeting between geological time and contemporary gesture. Proba often describes stone as memory made visible. 'Memory here is very literal,' she says. 'The veining, the fractures, the mineral patterns are traces of millions of years. Carving becomes a continuation rather than a rewrite.'

Working with a material that may outlast countless generations reshaped her sense of design’s lifespan. It also introduced an ecological dimension that felt clarifying. 'Making sculpture from the Earth’s own material changes how you think about impact,' she notes. 'It feels more responsible, more connected.'

As the sun moves, the sculptures act as instruments of measure. The portal frames the pyramids from certain angles; the Eye of Horus abstracts ancient symbolism into a contemporary flow; the concave plane receives the horizon as though holding it in its bowl. Proba describes seeing the sculptures arrive on site as a moment of recognition. 'They looked as though they had grown from the desert sand,' she says. 'As if the site had been waiting for them.'

At Giza, Echoes of the Infinite sits with a calm that belies its complexity. The three sculptures align with the three Pyramids as though the site had anticipated their arrival, yet their presence rests on months of blue-sky engineering: hollowed stone, concealed steel, calibrated joints and surfaces tuned to heat and wind. What emerges is a study in how mineral colour, geological time and contemporary form can meet without strain. The work holds its place airily, as though carved from the desert, its origin reading as geological, its logistics effectively invisible.

‘Forever is Now .05’ is on view until 6 December 2025,
Giza Plateau, Cairo

It started this process with a dedicated EV, the hugely impressive Taycan, before following on with the first ICE model to be transformed into an EV, the Macan. Now it’s the turn of the model that provided Porsche with its bread and butter throughout the noughties, the Cayenne SUV. Admittedly, bets are still being hedged, as ICE and hybrid versions of both the Macan and Cayenne will continue to be available for the foreseeable future.

However, the Cayenne Electric certainly ticks the boxes marked innovation, quality and performance. Debuting with the ‘regular’ Cayenne Electric and more sporting Cayenne Turbo Electric, Porsche is throwing out stats like 2.5 seconds to 62mph and a range of 398 miles. Please note, as always, that in the world of electric cars, these two statistics are very much mutually exclusive.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some big strides being made in efficiency and convenience, not least in charging speed. The top spec model can cope with 400kW fast charging, capable of taking the new 113 kWh battery from 10 to 80 per cent in under 16 minutes. According to Porsche, a ten-minute charge at a suitable power point could provide enough energy for the regular Cayenne to travel 202 miles (196 miles in the Turbo).

Most interestingly of all, the Cayenne Electric will be the first Porsche to offer support for inductive charging at rates of up to 11kW. The new Porsche Wireless Charging system is activated by simply parking above the floor plate ‘charge pad’ for the process to start automatically.

Visually, the new Cayenne follows the cleaner aesthetic set up by the smaller Macan, with a horizontal emphasis on the lights, front and rear, more pronounced wheelarches and cleaner lines.

The most notable elements are the pronounced crease on the lower half of the doors, setting up a shadow line that blends into the rear wheel arch. Below this, a raised sill detail offsets the car’s balance, giving it a more forward-focused stance and reducing the overall bulk. The Cayenne Turbo is distinguished by the vertical air vents behind the rear wheel arches, which add to the sense of width and give the car a more sporting stance.

As well as the wireless charging system, there’s the usual long list of Porsche options, ranging from ceramic composite brakes (not strictly necessary in a car that’s said to do 97 per cent of its daily braking requirements via the electric motor regen system), to rear-axle steering, active suspension and a package of enhancements that beef up the Cayenne’s ability off-road.

Inside, the cabin is an evolution of Porsche’s class-leading interior design, with a scattering of analogue controls alongside a veritable cliff face of screens. These are mitigated slightly by the clear, sober graphic design of Porsche’s HMI, while the driver display features a prominently curved OLED screen. Also available is an AR-equipped heads-up display

Interior mood lighting has become more interactive, while there’s also a liquid crystal panoramic roof, similar to those used by Lotus and Audi. To keep HVAC energy consumption down, the heating system doesn’t just warm the seats but also armrests and door panels.

Petrolheads might grumble at the cultural appropriation of their beloved forced induction, but the new Cayenne Electric Porsche has well and truly doubled down on the use of the word 'Turbo' to denote a performance EV. The real question is whether an all-electric Cayenne can be the same kind of economic saviour as its predecessors.

Porsche Cayenne Electric, from £83,200, Cayenne Turbo Electric from £130,900, more information at Porsche.co.uk, @Porsche

Keith Haring's carousel – one of Luna Luna's most notable exhibits – has inspired a playful new furniture collection with Gufram. The radical Italian design house has worked with the Keith Haring Foundation to reissue two of Haring's original fairground seats, The Dog, and the Crawling Baby, which will soon be available to buy.

The new seats capture Haring’s renowned two-dimensional line drawings in sculpture form. His pop-art visual language is reproduced in polyurethane with a Guflac finish (a proprietary paint which leaves a leather effect, developed by the Italian design brand).

The park's inaugural opening was in 1987 in Hamburg, Germany and attracted around 300,000 people in three months. It was Heller’s dream to get the park on tour, yet it never managed to make it to New York.

The theme park originally featured around 30 rides designed by artists such as Joseph Beuys, Sonia Delaunay, Rebecca Horn, Salvador Dalí, and David Hockney, in addition to Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kenny Scharf.

The exclusive collaboration between Gufram and Luna Luna, in partnership with the Keith Haring Foundation, is an ode to the artist’s legacy. It will be available soon from lunaluna.com

As enjoyable as it is to marvel at the application of high-end craftsmanship and methods to low-tech pixellated pop culture graphical forms, it’s even more entertaining to speculate exactly who commissioned this car – all we know is that it’s a tech entrepreneur. With its plethora of 8-bit infused details and hidden Easter Eggs, this Ghost is an arcade machine on wheels.

Colour us unsurprised that this is the ‘first-ever Bespoke Rolls-Royce inspired by vintage video game culture’. Maybe it’ll be the last, but it’s certainly a testament to the Bespoke department’s ability to go above and beyond a creative brief. Quirky bits and pieces abound in this thoroughly bleeped up Ghost Series II, including seat embroidery reading Players One to Four, and what the company calls a ‘Cheeky Alien’ exterior Coachline motif, hand-painted of course. The main body is finished in Salamanca Blue with the upper body in a shimmering Crystal over Diamond Black.

According to Joshua McCandless, Bespoke Designer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, ‘the unique privilege of working within Rolls-Royce Bespoke Design is the extraordinary breadth of ideas we’re asked to bring to life. This brief was particularly exciting.’ The Bespoke team immersed itself in the art, culture and games of the early arcade era.

Retro gaming is having another one of its period moments (this week’s launch of the Analogue 3D console, for example), and Rolls-Royce is keen to position gaming culture as a ‘rapidly emerging space in the contemporary collectables landscape.’ It’s certainly a step up from NFTs.

As you climb into the car you step of four Bespoke illuminated treadplates, with the same low-resolution font seen on the seats. Each treadplate bears a familiar arcade game prompt: ‘PRESS START’, ‘LOADING…’, ‘LEVEL UP’ and ‘INSERT COIN’. However, if you’re going to go with such a quirky motif, why not go all in? Why not build in actual gaming consoles into the rear screens? (Perhaps this is a job for Love Hultén, following on from his synth-equipped Lagonda project?).

We also reckon Rolls missed a trick by not adding a playable Space Invaders in the Starlight Headliner. Instead, there’s a not-completely-unrelated pattern called ‘Pixel Blaster’, consisting of ‘a formation of 80 bitmapped battlecruisers’. Instead of shooting stars, there’s laser fire. Up front, the illuminated fascia gets a special ‘Laser Base’ pattern, with a gunship flying through a starfield that appears to be animated.

If all this sounds like the very best bits of the electronics section of the Sears or Argos catalogues circa 1983, then you’ll have some empathy with the person who commissioned the Gamer Ghost. ‘We wanted the client to feel that the motor car itself was an immersive experience – and that every time they stepped inside, it would recreate the same thrill they felt when they pressed ‘start’ on an arcade machine for the very first time,’ says McCandless.

We know not how many 8-bit side quests the owner had to undertake to be in a position to commission this one-off machine. We will probably never know, but suffice to say it taps into a very distinct era of video games that would place them squarely in Gen X. However, even Douglas Coupland’s most prescient tech hallucinations didn’t foresee a world where the superrich amuse themselves by painting aliens on a Rolls-Royce. What’s next, a Minecraft or Fortnite Edition? How about a Spectre with upholstery made from Labubu fur? To infinity and beyond, for sure.

More information on Rolls-Royce Bespoke at Rolls-RoyceMotorCars.com, @RollsRoyceCars

Born and raised in Manchester, the fashion designer developed a trophy concept that pays tribute to the city, which will host the Brit Awards for the first time, in a switch from its regular home at the O2 arena in London. Inspired by his roots, his design is characterised by an amber-toned resin that nods to the honey of a worker bee, the city's mascot, while the figurine stands atop a sphere representing 'the global reach of British music'.

Williamson follows celebrated creatives who have shaped the awards' trophies over the years, including Yinka Ilori, Es Devlin, Zaha Hadid and Tracey Emin.

As the new trophy is unveiled, we speak to Williamson ahead of the Brit Awards 2026, to find out about his design and his connection to the city of Manchester.

Brit Awards 2026: trophy by Matthew Williamson

Wallpaper*: What have the Brit Awards meant to you over the years?

Matthew Williamson: I have such fond memories of watching The Brits as a child. I remember being excited in the run-up to it, and watching it at home in Manchester with my family was a TV highlight of the year. I always found it so exciting to see the red-carpet arrivals and the presenters and performances. I’ve watched every year since then and still love to see the spectacle of it all.

W*: What moments of the awards’ history have been memorable to you?

MW: Like most, I remember the presenters' blunders, and of course Madonna’s cape malfunction, but perhaps my favourite performances have been by Adele. She sang 'Someone like You' in 2011, and in 2016, 'When We Were Young'. I loved the magical set and her dress in that performance. It seems like a night to let go and express yourself. I remember one time many years ago dressing Cat Deeley in a pink lace dress, and on stage she was shot out of a cannon. I guess anything goes at The Brits and I love that sense of freedom and self-expression it represents and encourages.

W*: What are the main elements of your trophy design?

MW: The trophy this year sees the iconic Britannia figure cast in an amber-toned resin to represent golden honey. It came from my idea to reflect the city of Manchester and I used the worker bee logo as my starting point. I was keen to keep the form recognisable but change the plinth to a sphere to represent the globe. I imagined winning the trophy and feeling on top of the world; [also] the music the winners create is globally accessible in the blink of an eye.

W*: Tell us about the materials and manufacturing.

MW: The trophy was created in honey-pigmented resin. It was moulded using a pattern produced from a 3D render of the original visual. Once removed from the mould, it was cured in an oven, then polished and given a high-gloss lacquer finish.

W*: How important is the trophy’s connection to Manchester?

MW: Manchester is my birth place. I grew up there, was educated there and now visit as often as I can. I love the city and have seen it go from strength to strength over the years, largely due to the people. My parents and sister still live there. I was keen to make the award have a true Manchester connection and the worker bee and its honey sprang almost immediately to mind once I got the call. I wanted the Mancunians to feel proud and in some way this trophy is a tribute to them and their city.

W*: The ceremony is in Manchester this year – why is this important for you?

MW: When I was growing up in Manchester, the music scene was such an important part of defining who I was as a person. I listened to the Stone Roses, New Order, The Happy Mondays, The Smiths and more. Such great musicians hail from Manchester, so this location for The Brits feels very fitting. Manchester has contributed so much to the music we all listen to. My style, my identity, work ethic and general outlook on life have all come from my formative years in Manchester.

W*: What makes the city special for you?

MW: It’s really developed for the better over the past few years. Earlier this year, I took my partner, sister, daughter and my Mum to see Billie Eilish at the Co-op Live, incidentally where The Brits is being held next year. We had the best night! I think the people make the city. It’s perhaps a cliché, but it’s also true that the people there are so warm, friendly, kind and funny. A Mancunian will have your back – [they are] down to earth, resilient and just good people to be around. I'm really proud of the trophy I’ve designed and I can’t wait to be back in Manchester to reveal it as it couldn’t be more fitting. It’s a great milestone moment for me as a person and for my career.

Mubi announces ‘Let’s Eat! A Film Feast’

The Cinema at Selfridges alongside production company and film distributor Mubi have teamed up for an all-day immersion into food on film, held on 20 November and aptly titled Let’s Eat! A Film Feast. The programme spans screenings, food-focused talks and a pop-up exhibition.

Across the selected screenings, audiences can revisit cult favourites and contemporary gems alike, including The Lunchbox (2013), First Cow (2020), Babette’s Feast (1987) and Raw (2016). For those wanting to dive deeper into cinematic appetite, Little White Lies will explore Big Night (1996); the Mubi Podcast will dissect Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread (2017); and Notebook magazine will delve into Peter Greenaway’s sumptuous and savage The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989). In addition, Sandwich magazine will host a playful, palate-teasing quiz to round out the day.

Every ticket includes popcorn, complimentary Campari-partner cocktails, and free pizza from 2.30 pm. As evening falls, a bespoke menu created by chef and culinary artist Heal Goblin (Nil Mutluer) will be served.

If you’re not in London, Mubi extends the festival online. From 27 November, the new Mubi Podcast season spotlights cinema’s most memorable meals. Besides, a collection of food-led films – including La Cocina (2024), Flux Gourmet (2022), The Taste of Things (2023) and Dessert for Constance (1981) – brings the festival to your living room.

The Cinema at Selfridges is located at 40 Duke St, London W1U 1AT, UK. Tickets for ‘Let’s Eat! A Film Feast’ are available here.

Analogue’s products – which include the Game Boy-emulating Analogue Pocket – take the dark art of emulation to another level. For the Analogue 3D, this has required four years of work recreating the original Nintendo N64 hardware to ensure 100 per cent compatibility with the nearly 400 games available on the original system. Introduced in 1996 and discontinued in 2002, nearly 33 million N64s were sold before it was replaced with the GameCube.

Thanks to timing, software tie-ins and the 64-bit system’s inherent laser-focused playability – a time-honoured Nintendo trope – the N64 is embedded in Gen X’s core menus. Excellent multiplayer capabilities – around 70 per cent of all games released for the console had a multiplayer function – made gaming more social than ever before.

Although the Analogue 3D faithfully replicates the tech, can it also evoke the tug of nostalgia? Supplied in a hefty box with four wireless 8BitDo 64 controllers and a selection of four classic titles (for copyright reasons you’ll need to use original game cartridges).

With The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye 007, F-Zero X and Super Mario 64 on hand, covering every base and genre, we paired the Analogue 3D with the latest version of the Sky Glass smart TV.

As expected, the Analogue 3D makes a formidable retro machine. For a start, there’s 4K output, ably managed by the new hardware with a plethora of graphic controls that allow different levels of upscaling, screen stretching for modern TV formats and even emulation of the warm glow of a cathode ray tube.

Simple black and white menus allow a deep dive into the console’s settings, whilst the game carts remain plug and play like the original. Analogue reckon the 3D will handle most third-party cartridges – the internet is awash with unofficial ‘flash carts’ – but their focus has been on ensuring 100 per cent original compatibility.

The hardware itself is robust and low-key, evoking the form factor of the original (with four original controller ports) plus a few useful additions – Bluetooth connectivity, an SD card for game saves and updates, Wi-Fi, USB-C for power, etc.

Plug the Analogue 3D into the Sky Glass via HDMI and fire it up, and within seconds you can be playing a game; Nintendo and its trusted army of developers were masters of gaming simplicity, streamlining menus and ultra-addictive gameplay.

Many of the original games ran in just 320 x 240 pixels (although the hardware could handle double that) for smooth gameplay and framerates. Given that the iPhone display in your pocket has around 50 times more pixels, older eyes have a fair old time trying to pick out the details on what was once considered the crispest, most HD gaming display available.

For the most part, this doesn’t matter, because what the 3D manages superbly is the feel of these iconic titles. It was an era before bloated software, vast armies of developers and Hollywood-rivalling budgets. Instead, the 3D provides picture-perfect replicas of the N64’s myriad and enticing game worlds.

You’ll enjoy masterfully designed levels, split screen multi-player action and pixellated carnage, soundtracked by the throaty crunch of chiptune music and sound effects. The new controllers mimic the look and feel of the originals while also bolstering known weak points, and deliver fluid movement and accuracy.

As well as being a true plug-and-play machine, the Analogue 3D is also pitched at those keen to look under the hood of old technology. Updates and enhancements are planned, with scope for a burgeoning community of Gen X nostalgics to assemble and trade war stories from back in the day.

There’s a big games library out there and unlike today’s blockbusting AAA titles, with their time-sapping 100-plus hours of gameplay, the earlier console generations were about casual, social gaming experiences. For fans of the original – especially those with a few cartridges stashed in the attic and an untapped well of muscle memory – the Analogue 3D is an exceptionally fine example of retro tech that balances fun with nostalgia.

Analogue 3D, $249.99, 8BitDo 64 controller, $39.99 each, Analogue.co, @Analogue.co

Inside Teatro della Cometa

The theatre was originally designed in 1958 by architect Tomaso Buzzi and Countess Anna Laetitia ‘Mimì’ Pecci Blunt. Now the theatre has lifted the curtain on its new visual identity by Studio Sonnoli, reflecting its diverse offering and contemporary approach to musical performance.

For the interiors, Tudisco worked alongside Poltrona Frau’s Custom Interiors branch, specialising in designing and producing custom seating specifically for shared spaces such as auditoriums, performance venues and hospitality establishments.

Wanting to reclaim the building’s original beauty and functionality, Poltrona Frau worked on a solution that was inspired by its own ‘TLT’ model (a seating plan originally designed for historic theatre settings), which was expertly tweaked to accommodate the theatre's distinct layout.

Across the stalls and two balconies, three different seat heights were implemented, positioned in a way to give every viewer optimal sightlines. Each armchair was designed to match the building’s original 1950s interiors, while the inclination of the seats and backrests were set to enhance visibility and performance.

The chairs were upholstered in lavishly rich red Rubelli fabrics, injecting elegance and old-world opulence.

‘It is a privilege for us to contribute to the restoration of Teatro della Cometa,’ says Nicola Coropulis, CEO of Poltrona Frau. ‘Through our Custom Interiors Business Unit, we collaborate on some of the world’s most distinguished auditoriums and theatres, yet contributing to the rebirth of such a historic Roman landmark holds a truly special significance. This project reflects Poltrona Frau’s ability to unite craftsmanship and technical innovation, bringing new life, value, and beauty to a symbolic place of Italian culture.’

That hasn’t harmed the tactile experience of the ‘unboxing moment’ in any way, shape or form, nor has the gradual increase in recycled materials in the products themselves. For example, the MacBook Air enclosure is 100 per cent recycled aluminium, as is the Mac Studio, with the Air also using 100 per cent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets and 100 per cent recycled copper in the main logic board.

However, much of this important work is necessarily out of sight and out of mind for the consumer – recycled aluminium looks no different to the virgin material, while rare earth elements are buried deep within the devices. But there are other areas where material innovation, savings and efficiencies can play a major part, as well as help shape design.

Enter the Apple Watch Ultra 3, the newest flagship Apple wearable with material innovation that’s proudly laid bare. For the first time, the case of the Ultra 3, and that of the titanium Apple Watch Series 11, are made entirely via 3D-printing, using 100 per cent aerospace-grade recycled titanium powder.

The end result is a spectacular demonstration of how multiple strands of design and research came together to create change. First up, the 3D-printing process – devised and productionised by Apple’s own metallurgy team – uses half the titanium of previous generations of Watch Ultra, where the case was milled from a solid billet of the metal.

Instead, the Ultra 3 uses high-grade powdered recycled titanium, meaning there’s barely any wastage and what remains goes back into the production cycle. On top of this, the energy efficiency of the process has been dramatically reduced.

Focusing on a small element of a very premium product might appear to be a lot of effort for relatively minimal overall benefits. However, according to Sarah Chandler, vice president of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation at Apple, ‘we are now at the point where we are solving the hardest problems – we need to take some really big swings’. What starts with Apple Watch could soon be rolled out into other devices, with correspondingly larger savings.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. ‘We have a long history at Apple of designing with the environment in mind – it's one of our core values,’ says Chandler. Chandler and her team have devoted huge amounts of research and development into realising the new cases, describing the project as a ‘tremendously innovative 3D-printing process’.

‘Our hope is that [this] can really change the system, change the approach, change how products are made, and help lead the way for others,’ Chandler says.

Her colleague Kate Bergeron, vice president of Hardware Engineering, describes it as a ‘multi-year journey’. ‘In fact, if we want to go back to the nascent 3D-printing industry, I would say it’s been decades,’ she adds. In essence, the titanium powder is placed on an outline in layers of 60 microns.

A laser solidifies each layer before more powder is added, and the process repeated. ‘We have 900 layers in the UltraWatch, which is just insane,’ says Bergeron, pointing out that ‘we had to invent how we were going to make the parts and invent the material at the same time’.

The other challenge is scale. 3D-printed metal is not uncommon, but applications tend to be very high-end and specialised – think aerospace, military, Formula 1 – so to make the process work on ‘Apple scale’ is a big deal. Naturally, this new additive process has resulted in the same levels of surface quality that Apple Watch owners expect, but what they won’t be able to see are the innovations made possible by the new process.

‘In the Ultra, one thing that we were able to incorporate this time around was additional water sealing,’ says Bergeron. ‘We were also able to make the antenna windows interlock more effectively with the titanium, which we couldn't do using machining. I would say our industrial designers are already thinking about crazy and exciting things they can design that we would never have been able to make before.’

This same process is also being deployed under the skin in the iPhone Air, where a new titanium USB-C port enclosure was 3D-printed using the same method, helping achieve its impossible silhouette.

Apple is keen to stress this is systemic change, not just technology for the sake of it. ‘We are trying to find something that can really be an unlock,’ says Chandler. ‘We don't want to just do something once, we want to do it because it becomes the way the whole system works.’

‘We wouldn't develop anything like this as a one-off solution,’ Bergeron clarifies. ‘We look at 3D-printing as a roadmap to the future and so we are absolutely excited to take this technology and apply it in other places where it will make sense. Now that we have this in our toolkit… we can turn it into the next level of innovation.’

Apple Watch Ultra 3, from £749, Apple.com

Apple iPhone Air, from £999, Apple.com

And that’s just the past few years. Concepts like the 1984 Peugeot Quasar, the 1986 Proxima, the 2006 908 RC or the 2012 Onyx seemingly came from another planet and certainly not from a humble carmaker best-known for its small cars and family-friendly saloons and SUVs.

Now there’s another Peugeot Concept in town, the Polygon. A compact electric city car, it continues the out-there DNA of its predecessors, with vast gullwing doors and a spongy, geometric interior.

Industry watchers are calling the Polygon a preview of the next-generation 208, which is currently a competent, likeable but not earth-shattering entrant into the small EV market. Two things could set its successor apart, both previewed by the Polygon. The first is more than a hint of retro style, harking back in particular to the evergreen 205, a 1980s icon that still looks fresh today.

The other innovation is a drive-by-wire steering system that does away with intrusive mechanicals, freeing up interior space and allowing a new low-set dashboard design. There’s also the return of the Hypersquare wheel seen on the Inception concept; paired with the new steering system, it should mean less effort to turn, which is perfect for a small city car.

And there’s a third thing, albeit not one that’s directly connected with design. Peugeot has debuted this new concept in the frantic, violent and Day-Glo world of Fortnite, joining a roster of other carmakers who have used the online game as a place to showcase new design. In fact, Fortnite seems to be taking over from Gran Turismo as the new virtual venue for car design.

In addition to Lamborghini, which has delivered virtual recreations of the Urus, Huracan, and Countach in the game, Porsche has also popped up in the game world. The sandbox-style shooter is a globally accessible online venue for live music shows, launches and product placement, and the game's essential vehicles are the perfect platform for way out car design.

In fact, Fortnite is now a veritable auto showroom, providing a captive audience of teens and pre-teens ready to learn about brand image, styling and the relative values of supercars Vs sports cars.

Peugeot worked with developer Gameloft to deliver the Polygon into the Fortnite universe, adding not just the car itself but a whole Peugeot realm, Polygon City Island, styled to resemble a giant Hypersquare steering control.

Players can enter the map, get hold of a Polygon and even personalise the colour, trim and decals. Perhaps it’s a step up from creating concepts that never see the light of day, but we still prefer car designs that manifest themselves in the physical world.

Peugeot.co.uk, @Peugeot

Located in Chennevières-sur-Marne, roughly 15km outside the capital, the single-storey property exemplifies the modernist architecture ideal of harmonising the built environment with nature. Set on a 220 sq m footprint, the house sits within a tranquil, green environment, withdrawn from the main road and approached via a private lane. Chennevières-sur-Marne itself offers a leafy escape from the city, close to the banks of the Marne.

Shaped in an L-plan, the house clearly delineates day and night spaces. The living wing consists of a generous living room with an alcove, a kitchen with a pantry, and a bathroom – all opening directly onto terraces and a landscaped garden. A hallway distinguished by built-in storage and its original wooden ceiling leads to the sleeping wing, which includes a master suite with a private bathroom and two further bedrooms, each with its own bath or shower room. This area also features a dressing room and an additional bathroom.

The home is an instructive case study in both the Wogenscky’s style and the modernist movement at large. The movement champions functionality, material honesty and integration with the landscape, and this home checks all the boxes. Materially, the structure blends textured concrete, brick, glass and wood, creating the modernist interplay of geometric rigour and warmth. Here Wogenscky’s personal sensibility shines through, with interior spaces shaped by subtle variations in colour, texture and atmosphere – always anchored by functional intent.

In terms of environmental integration, the property features a green roof terrace and expansive bay windows, its western exposure further amplifying natural light. The layout physically and visually binds the interior to the outdoors, with many of the spaces enjoying direct access to the terrace and garden.

Wogenscky (1916-2004), a long-time collaborator of Le Corbusier and his chief assistant from the post-war years until Le Corbusier’s death (in 1965), played a key role in France’s post-war reconstruction. Wogenscky’s body of work – spanning industrial and administrative complexes, schools, hospitals and transport infrastructure as well as private residences – combined technological innovation with site sensitivity. His career was defined by a quest for harmony between architecture and nature, guided by humanist values and a commitment to social progress.

A modernist architect to the core, Wogenscky carried forward Le Corbusier’s legacy with conviction, and this house stands as a testament to that lineage.

The André Wogenscky home is on the market for €880,000 with Architecture de Collection

‘When you're out there at sunset it's like a colour dome — it's just this rainbow of colours from east to west,’ he says.

Franklin channelled all that vibrancy into a recent body of work created with Kohler’s MakerSpace artist residency program. Specifically, he made ceramic fish — hundreds and hundreds of them — which now hang in mesmerising arrays in Kohler showrooms and even the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

A funny thing happened when Franklin was developing glazes for his next school of sturgeon, walleye and trout: he helped invent Kohler’s newest finish, Pearlized.

It all started when one of the workers in the Kohler factory decided to stick some pieces of ceramic into a PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) machine, a multi-million-dollar device that’s usually used to put metallic finishes on faucet parts. The piece came out as gleaming as bullion. Franklin wondered, could they do the same for his fish?

After a period of trial and error, Franklin and the Kohler team managed to create a hypnotic pearlescent coating which exuded a rainbow-like gleam not unlike the artist’s treasured vistas of Puget Sound. ‘It captures both the iridescence of a fish, but also the water at sunset,’ he says.

The company liked the experiment so much that a cluster of Franklin’s shimmering fish became the centrepiece of Kohler’s booth at Salone del Mobile last year (according to Franklin, CEO David Kohler even kept a ceramic fish on his desk). ‘People were so excited about it,' Franklin remembers. 'I think the reaction showed that, wow, there is something here.'

Pearlized will make its official debut at Design Miami this December as part of a special installation designed by Harry Nuriev of Crosby Studios at the fair. The centrepiece of the installation will be a limited-edition Derring Carillon sink in the Pearlized finish. With its iridescent coating, the sink appears like a gleaming abalone shell, something straight from a mermaid's dream house.

While Kohler doesn’t have plans to expand Pearlized into other products just yet, the debut hints at more innovations to come and the company’s ongoing commitment to artist collaborations, one that was especially valuable to Franklin:

‘It was incredible to have carte blanche to play in the factory like that,’ he said.

Pearlized will be on view to the public at Design Miami from 3-7 December.

This is the central thesis underpinning the Costume Institute’s 2026 spring exhibition ‘Costume Art,’ which will run from 10 May 2026 until 10 January 2027. The landmark annual show, whose prelude is the star-studded Met Gala every first Monday in May, will display garments from the Costume Institute’s collection alongside artefacts and objects from the greater museum as an ode to and exploration of the human body.

‘“Costume Art’ is a celebration of the body in all of its strengths and weaknesses; its resiliencies and continuities; its perfections, Its imperfections, its idiosyncrasies and commonalities; and, above all, its sublime beauty, its wondrous complexity and its glorious and miraculous diversity,’ Bolton said at a press conference this morning.

The exhibition will unfold in several sections, including chapters titled the Naked Body, the Abstract Body, the Aging Body, and the Pregnant Body, in an effort to highlight ‘those that have traditionally been overlooked,’ according to the exhibition press release.

‘Costume Art’ also promises to create surprising conversations across the Met’s collections, which comprise 5,000 years of human history. At the preview, a 16th-century engraving of Adam and Eve by Albrecht Dürer was displayed alongside a 2009 bodysuit by Walter van Beirendonck printed with a full-frontal outline of a naked man (the back reads: Get Natural, Get Naked). A glimmering silver ‘Delphos’ gown designed in 1938 by Mariano Fortuny, meanwhile, towered above a seven-inch terracotta statuette of the goddess Nike from the 5th-Century BCE.

Other works that will be on display include a bustle designed by Charles James (the subject of the Costume Institute’s 2014 exhibition); a bulging gown designed by Rei Kawakubo (the star of the 2017 show); and a delicate tulle dress designed by Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy cinched at the waist with a belt made from bone-like metal pieces.

‘Although we can only show a few pairings today, they demonstrate a wide spectrum of connections that will be featured in the exhibition,’ Bolton said.

Typically, Costume Institute displays have been site-specific, taking over galleries with glittering fanfare (‘Heavenly Bodies,’ the Costume Institute's 2018 presentation, even extended uptown to the Met Cloisters). But ‘Costume Art’ marks a singular milestone: it will inaugurate a brand new, 12,000 sq ft gallery adjacent to the Met’s Great Hall.

The galleries, designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Paterson Rich Office, are named for Condé Montrose Nast, the 20th-century publisher whose magazine company publishes Vogue and is the project’s lead donor. By placing the Costume Institute’s galleries quite literally at the museum’s threshold, the Met is further elevating fashion’s profile within its holdings.

As Max Hollein, the Met’s director and CEO, noted, ‘We are expanding our long-standing commitment to collecting and presenting fashion within the context of our vast global collection.’

Set within the former location of George Nelson’s studio on Park Avenue South (a location that has served as the company's public space since the 1940s), the showroom embodies MillerKnoll's mission to preserve its design legacy while connecting its audience with contemporary creativity through innovative design conversations.

'This space underscores the company’s commitment to using design as a catalyst for human connection,' reads a note introducing the reimagined showroom, and the inaugural exhibition reflects this vision.

For the gallery's debut, the company chose a project originally presented at Triennale Milano in 2024: Walking Sticks and Canes is an exhibition curated by Japanese designer Keiji Takeuchi, who invited designers to create a walking stick that answered the question: 'How can we change a stigma into a purposeful product that makes you want to go outside and walk with your friends again?’ 

Takeuchi asked 19 designers to reinterpret the walking stick, 'not as a tool but as a gesture of movement and connection.' The group includes Herman Miller collaborators Jasper Morrison and Cecilie Manz alongside international designers such as Julie Richoz and Marialaura Irvine.

'Our role is to open doors to design experiences that aren’t always accessible,' says Kelsey Keith, Creative Director at MillerKnoll. 'Bringing Walking Sticks & Canes to New York connects people to these designers’ work and draws a line from very big questions to detailed, tactile answers. We’re also rethinking our showrooms as spaces where design becomes a living, evolving practice: something to experience.'

This focus on design for living is all the more poignant as it sits within MillerKnoll's creative ecosystem. Set over 11 floors and more than 77,000 square feet, this is the first space in the United States to combine contract showrooms and retail stores from Knoll and Herman Miller, as well as brands from the group that include, Muuto, Maharam and Hay.

MillerKnoll, 251 Park Ave S, New York, NY 10010

Composed of womenswear, menswear, accessories and beauty, the Ludovic de Saint Sernin x Zara collection sees the Paris-based designer bring his luxury brand to a wider audience for the first time.

The beauty component is an extensive range of makeup and skincare that equals the impressive quality of the Zara haircare designed by Guido Palau. A moisturiser and skincare tools are designed to create a healthy base for the makeup, which includes a dual-wand mascara, a lightweight but high-coverage foundation, and hydrating lip gloss, for a solid base that can be amplified with metallic colour sticks for eyes and lips. It is a toolkit for a fresh-faced look, one that complements the slinky glamour of the collection’s fashion.

As a designer, de Saint Sernin is best known for his sensual, gender-fluid designs that often feature lace-up and metal eyelet details. For the Zara collection, de Saint Sernin wanted to retain those foundational elements with looks both sensual and easy to wear, transitioning from day to evening, uptown to downtown, subway to limousine.

The brand’s signature metal eyelets are reimagined as polished chrome studs that embellish everything from leather trench coats to minidresses, stacked belts and gloves. While party-ready halterneck tops, mini skirts and body-hugging gowns come in a lightweight metal mesh material. Both the menswear and womenswear features an array of leather and denim trousers and jackets that can be paired with the collection’s fuzzy coats or tank tops woven with glittering thread.

For de Saint Sernin, who used to shop at Zara growing up, the collaboration is a dream come true ‘What we’ve created together is my idea of the perfect wardrobe: pieces crafted with incredible quality that I want to wear, that I want my friends to wear, that I want everyone to wear,’ he says. ‘The most incredible aspect of working on this collection was knowing how universal it would be. Thanks to Zara, people across the world will have the chance to access the Ludovic de Saint Sernin universe.’

zara.com

'The relentlessness of our phones, the digital noise, the pace that we are expected to maintain at every hour of the day – I think all of that makes analogue experiences feel like a breath of fresh air. '

'In the digital age,' she points out, 'you no longer need to use paper for everyday things, you choose paper, when the situation asks for it, and so you must think about that choice and use the right paper.'

For Cooper-Wright, that means sustainably made notebook and diary pages that are a joy to write on. As Mark+Fold reaches its tenth anniversary, that instinct feels well founded. To celebrate, the brand has opened its first-ever pop-up shop on London’s Brick Lane.

The Shoreditch space marks a decade of the brand’s steady rise. Since 2015, Mark+Fold has carved out a place among discerning stationery lovers for its considered design, meticulous production values, and a belief in the simple, grounding act of putting ideas on paper. The pop-up will showcase the full new collection – including the 2026 diary range – alongside the brand’s core products.

And that's not all. A programme of talks brings long-time collaborators into the fold. Writer Huma Qureshi, who drafted her memoir in a Mark+Fold notebook, will discuss process and the ritual of choosing ‘the right’ notebook. Patrick Grant, fashion designer and Great British Sewing Bee judge, joins Cooper-Wright to explore craftsmanship, sustainability, and their shared ethos of honest, local production. Textile artist Margo Selby will launch a new edition of Mark+Fold notebooks featuring her Shuttle II design, bringing her bold geometric language to the brand’s signature minimal, tactile format.

In addition to the main collection, the anniversary will spotlight a rare series of ‘Editions of 10’ – small-batch, hand-bound books produced in collaboration with Wyvern Bindery in Hackney. These continue Mark+Fold’s longstanding tradition of championing skilled makers, from bookbinders to marblers, and sit within the brand’s ongoing commitment to preserving endangered crafts.

The 2026 diary, developed with Swiss-German typographic designer Catherine Nippe, also takes centre stage. Clean, flexible and understated, it’s available in a special linen-bound edition with a debossed foil ‘26’ and cotton ribbon – a nod to the brand’s obsession with detail and longevity.

For Cooper-Wright, the pop-up is a chance to gather the community that has grown around a shared love of paper, precision, and the power of a crisp blank page.

The Mark + Fold pop up is open to the public from 12 to 25 November 2025 at 228 Brick Lane, London E2 7EE

Presented through six modular ‘officescapes’, the project reinterprets the logic, structure and psychology of work using the USM Haller system – the celebrated modular furniture first developed in 1961 by Paul Schärer and Fritz Haller.

Conceived shortly after May’s move to New York last year, the project draws on the city’s density, energy and intellectual charge, and most pointedly on the building in which it was developed: 161 Water Street, home to May’s own studio. Once the AIG headquarters, the Emery Roth & Sons-designed tower was built in 1982 , amid the high-gloss, high-ambition corporate boom of the era. This historical backdrop set the tone for May’s investigation into how spatial design can reflect, support and evolve with today’s working patterns.

'The needs of modern work are fluid, constantly redefined by technology, geography, and personality, ' explains May, who is known for his sleek and minimalist aesthetic. 'Using the adaptability of the USM Haller system, my approach was to create environments that are not prescriptive – spaces that can adapt to the evolving patterns of creative and intellectual life. Each officescape is designed to encourage clarity of thought, calm, and self-definition – qualities that, to me, define the new architecture of work.’

The six 'officescapes' each embody a specific archetype of working intelligence: the 'Collector' is curiosity and research, the 'Strategist' speaks to structure, the 'Editor' represents precision, the 'Maker' – experimentation, the 'Archivist' – order, while the 'Observer' is an exploration of contemplation. Designed between eight and 12 linear feet, each is a fully functional workspace intended to function independently or as part of a connected spatial network.

Photographed within WSA’s glass-fronted third floor, the 'officescapes' use the building’s neutral architecture as context and subject. The project marks the beginning of an ongoing, global study by May and USM into typologies of work, with future iterations planned in response to different cultures and cities.

One configuration, 'The Collector', will be on view at Basic.Space NYC – an invite-only event run by social commerce platform Basic.Space in downtown Manhattan – until 16 November 2025.

3000 copies of the vinyl will be available worldwide. In addition, Rough Trade stores will hold 500 coloured vinyl records and 500 limited-edition CDs featuring a live performance at Brixton Electric.

'What drew us to work with David is the dark sense of humour in his pieces,' the band tell Wallpaper* 'And that he’s sick as fuck!'

Lambrini Girls have had a momentous year, receiving nods from punk elders Iggy Pop, Kathleen Hannah and Carrie Brownstein and critical acclaim from publications such as The Guardian, Rolling Stone and NME – the latter calling their ferocious debut album 'loud, raw, and impossible to ignore'.

Phoebe Lunny and Macieira-Boşgelmez of the band gained a following with their outspoken politics, both in interviews and their music. Their debut record takes on the far-right, gentrification, toxic masculinity and trans rights.

The new vinyl, titled Slutcore Version For Kids Who Can't Read Good captures their humour and DIY ethos – a perfect pairing between two of Brighton's subversive creative forces.

What began as a modest artist exchange has evolved into a community of more than 400 contributors spanning 40 countries, united by colour, process and a commitment to slow, human-centred communication.

The 100th issue, titled Risottopia, marks the project’s most ambitious edition yet. Instead of focusing on a single city or theme, Marcella has invited three of the most influential figures in modern design – Nathalie Du Pasquier, Peter Shire and Barbara Stauffacher Solomon – to contribute new artworks. These are designers who have profoundly shaped Marcella’s own practice, and whose impact stretches across movements, decades and continents. The result is a vivid visual conversation between Memphis, Los Angeles, the Bay Area and Glasgow: a utopian meeting place conjured through ink, shape and pattern.

For subscribers, Rottopia arrives as a limited-edition pack of hand-printed postcards, mailed exclusively throughout November. As ever, the process is defiantly analogue. 'Every month we print, fold and ship the work by hand,' says Marcella. 'It’s labour-intensive, but it’s an act of love – a reminder that design can still travel slowly, beautifully, and surprise.'

Alongside the anniversary edition, Risotto is planning a public retrospective for 2026 and will launch a digital Riso Club Atlas, mapping the project’s global reach and the hundreds of artworks produced so far. Together, these initiatives underscore the studio’s dedication to sustaining a print culture that values tactility, imperfection and exchange.

At a moment when digital images circulate effortlessly, Riso Club’s commitment to ink, postage stamps and physical connection feels almost radical. Its 100th issue is not only a celebration of print, but a reminder that correspondence – something shared, held and kept –will always have the power to move people.

Non-members have until 30th November to secure their pack at risottostudio.com

The listing recognises Southwark station’s architectural and historical significance, highlighting it as a striking example of late 20th-century design. Architect MacCormac Jamieson Prichard along with engineers Babtie and LG Mouchel & Partners designed the station, which was built between 1994 and 1999. Its dramatic appearance sets it apart from the other five Jubilee line stations built at the same time, despite using the same stainless steel and polished concrete material palette.

Inside, the station plays with natural and artificial light, creating what lead architect Sir Richard MacCormac described as ‘alternating experiences of confinement and spatial expansion’.

Key architectural features that contributed to Southwark station’s Grade II designation include the circular ticket hall, a drum-shaped entrance recalling the classic art deco stations of Charles Holden, such as Southgate and Arnos Grove. Notable interior elements include the 630-panel blue glass screen by British artist Alexander Beleschenko, inspired by Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s set design for Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and the distinctive steel-panelled tunnel at the lower concourse.

Heritage Minister Baroness Twycross has said that she is ‘thrilled’ that the station will now be protected, describing it as a ‘great reminder of the extraordinary breadth of our country’s architectural heritage’. Historic England’s co-chief executives hailed it as ‘a high point in a long tradition of excellent design and engineering throughout the Underground network’, while conservation groups including Save Britain’s Heritage and The Twentieth Century Society have also welcomed the news.

The Grade II-status protects the station from redevelopment. That said, Southwark council has granted planning permission for two high-rise blocks to be built above and alongside the station; TFL has promised that these will ‘sensitively’ complete MacCormac Jamieson Prichard’s original vision.

‘Exhibition of Old Rope’ consists of ten tonnes of discarded rope – roughly 20 miles in length – intensively cleaned and piled high in the Mayfair gallery. Shrigley spent eight months collecting it from seaports, climbing schools, tree surgeons, offshore wind farms, scaffolders and shorelines around the country.

To be fair to Shrigley, he’s not seriously suggesting that the rope is worth £1 million. The price tag is deliberately provocative, literally embodying the idiom ‘money for old rope’. The Turner Prize-nominated artist is known for his deadpan, self-deprecating work, and the exhibition is intended as a commentary on the contemporary art market and the nature of artistic value.

That said, there may be some genuine artistic value to be found here. Much of the rope is made from synthetic polyester and nylon, materials notoriously difficult to recycle. In this respect, the exhibition addresses a pressing environmental concern – an estimated 640,000 tonnes of discarded fishing gear and marine rope enter the oceans each year – and explores the transformative potential of giving discarded materials a second life through art.

Shrigley’s work has long explored absurdity and humour, slyly questioning the arbitrariness of artistic value. In 2016, he created Really Good, a massive, brightly coloured sculpture spelling out these words. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK (2003-2004) displayed this slightly unsettling reassurance on a billboard, while Brain Activity (2007) featured crude, childlike sketches depicting bizarre or frustrating human scenarios – people trying to squeeze toothpaste back into a tube, awkward social interactions and nonsensical mechanical inventions.

Piles of discarded materials have become something of a trope in conceptual art, and Shrigley’s work takes an established idea to its literal, ridiculous extreme.

Bentley’s use of the ‘Super Sports’ name actually dates a century to the 1925 3 Litre Super Sports model, 18 of which were built with an uprated engine and lightened chassis. Famous as the first Bentley ever to exceed 100mph, the Super Sports appellation didn’t reappear until 2009, when the first-generation Continental GT was given a ‘lightweight’, high power makeover to create a truly driver-focused Bentley. It was followed by the 2017 version, a generation two car with the famous Bentley twin-turbo W12 engine delivering 710 PS.

Like its two predecessors, the newest Supersport pretty much doubles the top speed achievement of the 1925 car, but it’s about so much more than hitting the high numbers. In fact, the stats that matter here are weight, not power.

Impressively, this new model is being cited as the ‘lightest Bentley in 85 years’, and comes in at almost half a tonne less than the luxury-stuffed Continental GT. That’s less than 2,000kg, which might seem hefty in comparison with other ICE machines (an Aston Martin DB12 S is around 1,820kg), but it’s near miraculous for a modern Bentley.

This crash diet has been achieved via a ruthless pruning of componentry and materials. The most dramatic difference between the standard car is the revised powertrain, which not only switches out the hybrid system for a pure ICE set-up, but in the process becomes rear-wheel drive – the first RWD Continental GT, traditional an all-wheel-drive car.

A test car, dubbed Project Mildred after a typically fearless Bentley owner, aviator and endurance racer from the 20s, Mildred Mary Petre, provided swift proof of concept and the new Supersports was born.

Other key weight saving contributions come from a new carbon fibre roof panel, replacing the aluminium original, and the complete deletion of the rear cabin and seats. This is something of a big deal, given the Conti GT’s reputation as big, fast GT car with ample space for four. No longer; even the onboard sound system is now focused to the front cabin, with the removal of rear sound insulation.

In the front, there are two bespoke sports seats, with plenty of colour and trim options and Bentley’s Mulliner division can provide further personalisation. The ‘Nightfall’ launch scheme shown here combine Anthracite gloss exterior paint with Camel accents and striping and an interior in Beluga, Camel, and Bronze.

Externally, Bentley has gone all out on a new aero body kit, aping the work of certain aftermarket suppliers without stooping to their level of ostentation. It’s no shrinking violet, however – the company acknowledges that it’s ‘the most aggressive Bentley Grand Tourer ever’. A lot of carbon fibre has gone into new front bumper and splitter, a laser-cut aluminium grille, new side sills, rear diffuser and fixed rear spoiler.

As a result, there’s more downforce, a more dynamic weight distribution and despite a power drop to ‘just’ 666 PS, the new Supersports promises to be even more dramatic and engaging than its predecessors. Bentley will build just 500 numbered examples of Supersport Mk4, with production starting late next year. The price is yet to be revealed.

BentleyMotors.com, @BentleyMotors

The pair was reunited last week in New York as part of a special temporary exhibition staged by the Italian fabric brand Dedar. The company had recently reissued a collection of Albers’ textile designs, and Rudolph's experimental Modulightor residence in Midtown Manhattan (now the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture) was the perfect venue in which to debut the collection to a US audience.

Both multihyphenates trained in the Bauhaus tradition but continuously challenged its orthodoxy. They pushed past the austerity of 'high' modernism, advocating for a stronger focus on the artistically-expressive and culturally-responsive potential of materials and complex forms.

Dedar’s Weaving Albers collection (first debuted during Milan Design Week this April) comprises a comprehensive range of designs created over 50 years. Albers’ textiles often stemmed from her extensive travels and rediscovery of long-overlooked craft traditions. Take a design like En Route — an abstract representation of the geologic forms you can observe outside an airplane window. Developed in close partnership with the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, the offering also includes designs like Ancient Writing, a geometric translation of prehistoric Native American texts.

The Modulightor building, Rudolph's final project, reflects a similar mastery of depth and willingness to experiment. The enigmatic building is defined by its intersecting open-structure rectangles, extending from the facade through to a matrix of open-plan interiors. It just so happens that the all-white I-beams used throughout lent themselves well to the hanging of textiles, as conceived by stylist stylist Akari Endo-Gaut.

'My approach for designing this exhibition was deeply rooted in a desire to weave together three worlds: architecture, the designs of Anni Albers, and the fabrics themselves,' Endo-Gaut says. 'The iconic building by Paul Rudolph [functioned] as a loom.'

Nearly 90 years later, the Gropius House continues to attract crowds; It’s been open to the public as a museum since the 1980s and is one of the most popular tourist sites run by Historic New England, the nonprofit that maintains the five-acre property. Tours frequently sell out.

There was, however, one thing that let the modernist icon down: its public toilet.

For years, the only outdoor facility available to guests has been a single portable toilet that abutts the Gropius family garage, which presently functions as a small visitor's centre.

‘It’s the standard-issue, off-the-truck, porta potty – it serves its purpose,’ says Vin Cipolla, president and CEO of Historic New England. ‘It's unexpectedly in the spirit of the house, in a way: it's highly functional.’

Still, Cipolla and his team knew they could do better. Today (13 November 2025), Historic New England has announced a juried architectural competition to design a new outdoor restroom at the Gropius House, one that improves the visitor experience by prioritising accessibility and blending in with the aesthetics of the site (much like the recently added facilities at Balkrishna V Doshi’s 1959 Institute of Indology in India, for example). Design professionals and students alike are encouraged to enter, as are interdisciplinary teams across architecture, landscape and industrial design.

‘The idea of inviting the design community into the conversation felt very compelling to us,’ Cipolla says. ‘It's too cool an opportunity to give up.’

Gropius and his second wife, Ise, moved to the United States in 1937 after the architect accepted a teaching position at Harvard. By then, the Bauhaus school he had founded had been shuttered by the Nazis, who deemed his teachings as degenerate.

A local philanthropist provided Gropius with the land and funds in Lincoln, Massachusetts to construct a home for his family. Though the home was modest in scale, ‘it fit our life like a glove’, Ise later recounted.

The house has four indoor bathrooms, one of which is available for tour guests to use. But the set-up has been less than ideal for visitors waiting for their tour slot, or for those exploring the landscaped grounds.

Competition entrants are encouraged to be creative (Cipolla is even amenable to modular, porta john-like ideas) but submissions must check a few boxes: there must be two toilets and two wash stations; it must remain near, or be an extension of the garage; it must abide by ADA regulations; and it should evoke the Bauhaus spirit of innovation. The winning team, set to be announced in March 2026, will receive a prize of $5,000, have their work included in the Gropius House archive and be given an exhibition on the site.

Gropius never set out specific tenets for the design of a commode, but the competition’s organisers hope that participants will be flush with Bauhaus-inspired ideas. To paraphrase the master himself: ‘A public toilet is like an umbrella: it functions best when open.’

Entries are due 6 February, 2026. For more information and deadlines, visit gropiuscompetition.info

For 2026, Alcova will return to the design city (after two editions in Varedo, north of Milan) and revisits its former venue of the Baggio Military Hospital as well as Franco Albini's Rationalist Villa Pestarini.

'Together, these two locations form an architectural dialogue between preservation and reinvention,' say Alcova founders, Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima. 'Within this framework, Alcova will once again host a constellation of designers, studios, companies, and institutions: a temporary microcosm of the creative voices shaping design culture today.

Villa Pestarini

Franco Albini's Rationalist gem Villa Pestarini dates back to 1939, when the architect was just 33 years old. The restrained geometry of the villa's architecture once again serves as a domestic background to the Alcova displays (after two years within the modernist environs of Villa Borsani).

Featuring a white rectangular structure, glass-brick facades and floodlit spaces, the villa has been preserved over the years by its owners who have honoured Albini's vision.

'The house remains an almost miraculous testimony to Albini’s unique balance of discipline and poetry, and one of the most authentic expressions of recurring themes in his work,' reads a note accompanying the announcement. Among the house's feature are an effortless marble staircase, sliding room partitions and original custom-made furnishings that contribute to a combination of 'discipline and poetry.'

Baggio Military Hospital

Visitors to Alcova 2022 may remember the Centro Ospedaliero Militare di Baggio, a former military hospital whose abandoned spaces perfectly embody the design event's radical approach to the city's architecture mixed with innovative design concepts.

For this new edition, Alcova welcomes its guests to new and unseen spaces within the complex, including a church and historic archive, offering a multilayered experience to those visiting the exhibition. 'Over time, the complex has continued to evolve, poetically weaving the built and natural landscapes together into an ever-changing ecosystem that blurs the boundary between natural and man-made,' says a note introducing the building.

With body art that contains a veritable basket of Easter Eggs, we can’t hand on heart call the Project Viva an aesthetic success, especially as the 750S starts life as a very beautiful, purist kind of supercar. The scattering of gambling and race-related imagery covers every square inch of the complex carbon fibre surfacing, from dice to cards, the race grid to the roulette table. There are also plenty of nods to the city’s history and identity, as well as the signatures of McLaren’s F1 drivers and nods to the team’s many successes.

This particular car probably won’t spin a (regular) wheel in anger, ending up as a prized item in someone’s collection, but MSO isn’t just about the application of dazzle-pattern like artwork. To find out more about MSO, we dived deep into the world of the McLaren owner and even got to sample the MSO process in person.

A big day out at Pure McLaren Silverstone

Like almost all high-end car makers, McLaren has a thriving community driven by activities and experiences, not just the simple act of ownership. One of the key dates in the McLaren calendar is Pure McLaren Silverstone, a gathering beneath the kinky-roofed grandstand and fast-cornering track of the famous home to the British Grand Prix. For a fee, owners can take their car on track, receive one-on-one tuition from a professional coach and generally bask in the McLaren experience.

If you’re lucky enough to own a track-only McLaren, the day is expanded to take in input from the company’s technical team, in addition to coaching and all-round immersion into the McLaren world.

Owners have been known fly their cars in from around the world to experience this track, and the car park is a rippling sea of jazzy colours and carbon fibre accoutrements. Black and orange are still the dominant aesthetic, as is technical sportswear bearing the swoopy McLaren crest.

Ultimately, Pure McLaren is Comicon for the Uber wealthy, only the superpower they are cosplaying is the ability to drive really, really fast. Some even dress the part, with their own race suits, shoes and helmets, a carefully assembled costume that mimics their icons in Formula 1 or endurance racing.

Just like Comicon, it’s a community of like-minded people, lured by similar tastes and interests and cemented by their spending ability. It’s a chance to explore the brand’s greatest hits and see what’s coming next, as well as explore the limits of their very, very fast cars on Silverstone’s famously quick circuit.

A supercar is designed to be seen in as well as driven, but the assembly of so many dramatis personae slightly diminishes the effect of a single McLaren against a backdrop of regular traffic. So how can this (largely male) community express itself above and beyond the ‘standard’ machine?

This is where McLaren Special Operations comes in. As the company’s in-house granter of over-and-above requests from owners, from special paint colours all the way through to unique, one-off cars, MSO will happily push the boundaries of taste in the pursuit of customer satisfaction.

Jonathan Simms is the new head of MSO, having joined the company from another British manufacturer with a long history of elaborate customisation. This is Simms’s first Pure event since joining the company and it’s given him and his team an opportunity to showcase MSO’s skills.

Wallpaper* specs its own (virtual) W1 hypercar with McLaren Special Operations

Today’s canvas is the McLaren W1, the newest member of McLaren’s Ultimate Series of multi-million-pound, limited-edition hypercars. Just 399 are being made, all of which are spoken for, and all of which involve some level of MSO involvement. Luckily for us, today we can pretend to be putting down a hefty deposit and get walked through MSO’s specification tool to conjure up our dream W1.

‘A McLaren is a statement of passion,’ Simms acknowledges, explaining that MSO’s role is not just to elevate levels of personalisation but also to give customers a greater insight and involvement into the process.

More often than not, they’ll visit the MSO operations centre, counterintuitively located on a nondescript Woking industrial estate that’s a far cry from the architectural precision and drama of the Foster-designed McLaren Technology Centre and factory. ‘We do find that a lot of clients love our location,’ says Simms, adding that it seems to lift the lid on the company’s ‘skunkworks’.

The MSO team typically come from McLaren’s design and engineering divisions, so they know full what’s possible and what’s not, as well as having an innate sense of style, colour and sophistication.

‘Before we meet them, the bespoke relationship manager will have developed an idea of what their clients might want,’ says Simms, ‘although very often what tends to happen is that a client comes to us with something outrageous and apparently unachievable.’ MSO’s job is to divine what exactly has inspired the request and work out a way to make it happen.

Actual one-off cars are much rarer beasts, with one emerging from MSO every 2 to 3 years or so. Perhaps 75 per cent of all such enquiries don’t actually proceed, perhaps unsurprisingly given the enormous investment required to re-body a car. ‘We always want people to have something that is a genuine part of McLaren’s history,’ Simms says, and the team is constantly liaising with design and engineering to explore what’s possible. That’s not to say that MSO can’t move mountains.

From the outset, the W1 was designed to be enormously reconfigurable, with bodywork, panels and sections of interior trim and detailing that can all be individually specified. It’s an infinite decision tree, and one that requires careful navigation. ‘We recognise that what we do is make the car more usable for a specific person and use case,’ says Simms, ‘we don’t need to interfere with aerodynamics or A-surfaces.’

While a relationship manager is essential on the more complex jobs, many clients come to MSO via their local dealership. The tools of the trade are a sophisticated visualisation system that generations an image of the W1in real time, allowing colour and material combinations to be explored before a set of bespoke renders are created.

It’s a system that doesn’t just benefit clients. ‘MSO is a car designer’s dream,’ says Simms, ‘they can put pen to paper and have a car specification completed in six months, not three years.’ At any one time, around 30 to 40 cars are in build at the MSO HQ, ranging from full restorations through to the application of custom graphics.

When it comes to our turn to specify a (hypothetical) W1, we take the aesthetic high road – not for us the Day-Glo ‘Papaya’ orange or gaudy graphics. Instead, the car shown here is a symphony of sober colours, with subtle blue bodywork and aero combined with a tan leather interior. For brightwork and technical details we’ve gone for polished bronze, while the wheels are nicely understated with a dark finish.

In conclusion? As thrifty-minded (virtual) billionaires, we’re hoping the spec doesn’t add too much more to the W1’s £2m starting price, nor will it impact the inevitable increase in value that accompanies all of McLaren’s Ultimate Series models.

The next few years will see McLaren double down on the extremely profitable activities of MSO whilst it also upgrades and consolidates its production car line-up. Right now, the company is riding high in the world of motorsport, with McLaren-Mercedes winning its second consecutive Constructors' Championship (and tenth overall) and Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri currently sitting in first and second place in the drivers’ championship (although there’s still a lot to play for).

On the road, things are a little less successful, with sales dipping and losses mounting. Somewhere deep in the heart of the MTC a comeback plan is being formulated, and rumour has it that it’s shaped a little bit like an SUV.

Whether this new car will damage or merely dent the supercar-maker image McLaren Automotive has worked so hard to cultivate remains to be seen. Whatever the outcome, MSO will still be able to make it even more outrageous.

Cars.McLaren.com

MSO McLaren Special Operations

Click for more information of McLaren’s Pure Silverstone experience

The house’s newly reopened store on London’s New Bond Street is equally tactile, beginning with its street-level façade, which is rendered in crisp travertine marble and granite. Inside, the focus is on warmth and touch: Loro Piana says they want to evoke a ‘home away from home’ in the inviting collage of materials – from rich oak panels to silk-covered walls and accents of woven straw and brass, while upholstery comes in the house’s signature understated shades of beige, deep blue and burgundy. Ridged Carabottino wood display cases add further layers of textural interest, while other furnishings include cocooning armchairs, glass cabinets and silk carpeting adorned with abstract motifs (lighting, say the house, is ‘soft’).

Stretching across a single expansive floor (the renovated space takes over the former Rimowa store next door), visitors to the store will enter through a main accessories room, where open vitrine-like cabinets are based on those which would have historically been found in early Loro Piana stores. Adjoining rooms feature menswear and accessories, while a room for VICs is designed for privacy, evoking the cocoon-like intimacy of a walk-in wardrobe (adding to the mood of exclusivity, a series of one-off products will be on display only in this VIC room).

To coincide with the store’s reopening, Loro Piana will stage two installations: the first in the Bond Street space, titled ‘Master of Fibres’, and the second at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, ’Fragments of an Exhibition’. Drafting British curator and exhibition-maker Judith Clark once again, they act as a sequel of sorts to ‘If You Know, You Know: Loro Piana’s Quest for Excellence’, which was held at Shanghai’s Museum of Art Pudong earlier this year.

‘When I was looking in the archive, there was always a sort of double message; there was one that was not only of lightness, because of course the fabric is light, but light-heartedness and so lightness felt key,’ Clark told Wallpaper* at the exhibition’s opening, which was conceived to celebrate Loro Piana’s centenary year. ‘Then there was something about the striving for the lightness and the quest that came with it. Everything came with a superlative, but not in a grandiose way, [rather] in a literary and poetic way. It felt like a kind of allegorical tale and that stuck with me.’

As such, the installation at the Royal Academy of Arts features ‘fragments’ of the Shanghai exhibition, with a series of objects representing the various thematic ‘rooms’ of ‘If You Know, You Know’ – from a number of looks chosen to represent Loro Piana’s superlative savoir-faire, to a transporting film that traverses the plains of Inner Mongolia, Loro Piana’s Italian factory, and Clark’s own London studio. To provide the soundtrack, a bamboo flute scored by Chinese composer Guo Wenjing, which reflects the journey of cashmere, from meandering goats to the ‘rhythmic’ thud of knitting machines. A to-scale model of Loro Piana’s factory in Quarona, Piedmont – the spiritual home of the house – sits in the centre of the Weston room space.

Meanwhile in the store, cashmere takes centre stage: at its entranceway, a display of raw cashmere invites guests’ touch, while a variety of historical objects – sourced by Clark on a trip to the house’s Archivio Storico in Varallo, Piedmont – include a rare sample book from 1926, two years after Loro Piana was founded. ‘The historic display puts the current collections in a new light,’ says Clark, who has forged a line from present day to the house’s beginnings. ‘[We have] traced the savoir faire that is brought to every garment back to the earliest sample book.’

Loro Piana, 153 New Bond Street, W1S 2TD

loropiana.com

The ecosystem works well but there was room for another piece of kit. Enter Reform RX, manufacturer of upscale Pilates machines and now newly acquired by iFIT. Co-founded by Yvie McGaffin, who becomes the new director of Product Marketing for Pilates at iFIT, the company will build on its model portfolio with two new versions of the Ultra series smart reformers, the Ultra 1 Reformer and Ultra 1 Reformer RX-S.

Drawing on the company’s experience building commercial-grade Pilates reformers, the new Ultra models are sleek, compact and finished with high-end materials to complement a variety of interior schemes. Naturally, they also feature the signature screen through which users can access the full range of iFIT workouts, training sessions and progress tracking.

According to iFIT’s CEO Kevin Duffy, the new NordicTrack Ultra Reformer Series is ‘about unlocking a new way to move. We are bringing the Pilates studio experience home and expanding what’s possible for our members through expert instruction and workout personalisation on our reformers.’

Wallpaper* spoke to McGaffin about the new machines and what it’s taken to bring them to market.

Wallpaper*: What design decisions had to be made to transform the Reform RX experience into the home?

Yvie McGaffin: When we began designing for the home, our goal was not simply to shrink a commercial reformer. We wanted to reimagine what the experience could feel like outside of a studio setting. In a studio, reformers live in shared spaces filled with movement and energy. At home, it becomes something more personal. It transforms into a space to slow down, connect with your body, and focus on each movement with intention.

Every material, line, and interface was chosen to integrate naturally into a home environment. It needed to look as beautiful sitting still as it does in motion. The Ultra 1 Reformer is quiet, sculptural, and designed with the care you would expect from a piece of fine furniture, balancing form and function in equal measure.

W*: Is it a matter of altering the scale and materials to better fit home studios?

YM: Scale and materials were part of it, but the real change came from rethinking how a reformer should live in someone’s home. When we created the Smart Spine system and push-button resistance, we were not just making it more functional. We wanted to make the experience simpler and more inspiring. These innovations transformed the way people interact with the machine, both visually and physically.

The maple and walnut wood detailing and chrome accents on the footbar and toggles were intentional design choices. They celebrate craftsmanship and precision, showing that performance equipment can also be beautiful. Our goal was for users to feel how seamless and intuitive reformer Pilates could be when thoughtful design meets innovation.

W*: What are the key innovations of the new model?

YM: The Ultra Reformer Series redefines what Pilates equipment can be. The Smart Spine system replaces traditional exposed springs with an enclosed, intelligent design that enhances both safety and aesthetics. It senses and responds to movement through iFIT’s connected interface, allowing every session to adapt to the user in real time.

The push-button resistance feature builds on that same idea of simplicity and control. With one touch, resistance adjusts automatically when the carriage is safely docked. It keeps users focused on movement and rhythm instead of mechanics.

We also engineered the glide to be nearly silent. That quietness helps users find full concentration and connection in their practice. True innovation in Pilates, in my view, should make movement feel effortless and technology should support you without distraction.

W*: How does Reform Ultra fit into the iFIT model? Is there cross-compatibility with other machines in terms of how workouts are structured?

YM: Becoming part of the iFIT family has opened up incredible possibilities for Reform RX. This launch expands the Ultra product line and introduces Pilates as a key part of iFIT’s connected ecosystem.

Each Ultra Reformer session connects to iFIT’s digital platform, adapting to the user’s progress and creating a personalised experience. Pilates now sits alongside iFIT’s most popular modalities, such as treadmills, bikes, and rowers. This allows users to move between workouts while maintaining one continuous and cohesive training journey. It is an exciting step that brings together thoughtful design, advanced technology, and the artistry of mindful movement.

W*: What are the key challenges behind designing a machine for this kind of Pilates in terms of safety, structure, strength, and aesthetics?

YM: Designing the Ultra was about finding the right balance between power and precision. Pilates is such a thoughtful and controlled form of movement that every design choice had to respect that.

Safety was always the first priority, but beauty was never an afterthought. The enclosed Smart Spine, the smooth glide, and the blend of wood and metal were all created to feel stable, supportive, and elegant.

The biggest challenge was making something so technical feel completely natural. The goal was for the equipment to fade into the background so the focus stays on movement. When a reformer moves with you rather than against you, that is when design truly serves its purpose.

W*: Will Reform RX continue to supply commercial machines?

YM: Yes. The commercial line continues under the Reform RX name through Freemotion Fitness, an iFIT Inc. brand. The Ultra 1 Reform RX-S is designed for professional studios and gyms but can also be used in home settings for those who want a studio-level experience.

NordicTrack Pilates Ultra Reformer, more information at NordicTrack.com, @NordicTrack

‘Villa Giulia’ features a captivating mix of furniture and accessories designed by Sultana and painted by Ruspoli. The collection includes side tables, a coffee table, guéridon tables, a series of mirrors, and several box designs crafted from oak and vellum with bronze detailing. Each piece draws inspiration from the elegance of the Mediterranean and the refined geometry of modernist villa interiors. The pair were particularly influenced by the work of French artist, writer and filmmaker Jean Cocteau – notably his decoration of Villa Santo Sospir on the French Riviera – as well as Pablo Picasso’s murals at the Château de Castille in Provence and Henri Matisse’s drawings on the walls of his studio near Nice.

Each object in the collection features graceful, fluid inlaid drawings of Ruspoli’s distinctive silhouettes of young men and androgynous figures, inspired by Ancient Greece and Rome. The artist’s work merges the classical fresco traditions with minimalist, gestural line work to evoke timeless human and mythological forms. In ‘Villa Giulia’, these inlays appear in a palette of Greco-Roman-inspired hues – azure blue, turquoise and oxblood. ‘For this collaboration, I have inspired myself from the collection of Etruscan engraved mirrors of the archeological museum of Villa Giulia in Rome, interpreting them with a modern twist,’ says Ruspoli.

As for Sultana, he ‘[wanted] to create a collection that really encapsulated that sense of magic that Roberto captured for [him] at Hotel La Palma’. ‘His drawings are so timeless, with an innate sense of romance and whimsy that I so love,' says the designer. 'I wanted to create a capsule collection of furniture and accessories that meant that everyone could have a little piece of Mediterranean magic in their homes, wherever they are in the world.’

In addition to marking a century of Bang & Olufsen, the Beolab 90 Titan Edition also marks a decade since the speaker originally debuted. To celebrate the unconventional form factor of the flagship, the Titan Edition pares the structure back down to the bare essentials, removing the acoustic veils to showcase the hand-finished aluminium cabinet – all 65kg of it – that houses the power.

The specifications are certainly impressive; the Beolab 90 delivers 8,200 watts per speaker, thanks to its array of 18 premium drivers. ‘More than a celebration of our legacy, this edition showcases a level of craftsmanship and bespoke capability that only Bang & Olufsen can create,’ says B&O’s CEO Kristian Teär, ‘It is a bold statement of what’s possible when artistry, technology and vision converge.’

The Titan Edition also has polished base panels to contrast with the raw finish of the exposed frame, with the tweeter housing machined from a single block of solid aluminium and each individual fastener polished and engraved with ‘1925’, the year of Bang & Olufsen’s inception.

This new Atelier edition will be the first of five projects created to celebrate Bang & Olufsen’s centenary year. With the ‘standard’ speakers coming in at £141,000 per pair, the Titan Edition will no doubt add another level of expense. For diehard fans of the brand, the Beolab 90 Titan Edition represents a new peak of sound and design.

Beolab 90 Titan Edition, details on request from Bang & Olufsen flagship stores, Bang-Olufsen.com @BangOlufsen

Now, Boum presents Roum, the latest chapter in the studio’s eleven-year history. ‘From immersive spaces to fine objects’, reads an introduction to what is going to become a new permanent branch of the practice, designed by Moller and dedicated to elevating the act of gathering.

From Boum to Roum: elevated and refined objects

While Studio Boum's practice spans architectural design, set design and furniture, the team has occasionally worked on smaller objects as part of their work. 'Over time, these explorations became more regular and felt like the foundation of something more enduring,' explains Moller. 'Our work at Boum has always been about shaping how people feel when they come together. The experience does not always begin with the room as a whole, it can begin with the smallest points of contact.'

The debut collection is crafted in England and includes silver-plated candleholders and vases whose sinuous shapes are both reductive and sculptural.

'Roum lets us continue to push design at [a small] scale,' continues Moller. 'It is the same approach, brought even closer to the hand. The aim is to create objects that support real-life gatherings with care and consideration.'

The collection is inspired and takes its name from Mayfair House, the studio's London HQ, set within a 1950s Brutalist building that stands out among neighbouring Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian architecture.

'That dialogue between modernity and history is something we are naturally drawn to,' comments Moller. 'We wanted to work with English silverware as a time-honoured craft, but explore forms that feel quiet and modern in spirit. The collection was designed as a family of objects that work together across different scales of gathering, from a single stem vase to a pedestal centrepiece. Silver plate gives the pieces a soft depth, offering a different quality to chrome or polished stainless steel.'

As the Great Portland Collection launches this month, the team are already at work on the next instalment of the Roum experience: titled Bigli, it will be a collection to celebrate ‘Milanese elegance and precision’. The studio opened an outpost in the city this year, and, Moller explains, this collection is an opportunity to explore 'Italian craftsmanship in dialogue with twentieth century design. We are working with artisans whose approach to glass and metal has been shaped over generations, and we are looking to the lineage of Italian lighting and object design.'

He points out that Italian design has been an enduring influence on his work as a creative: 'A Tizio lamp [by Richard Sapper for Artemide] was a gift from my father when I was young, there are Atollo lamps [by Vico Magistretti for Oluce] in the studio, and Il Conico [kettle by Aldo Rossi for Alessi] sits in the kitchen. These Italian forms have stayed with me throughout my life. The intention is to create lighting that feels sculptural, warm and familiar, and continues to support the act of bringing people together.'

The Bangalore-based firm designed the House by the Grove to be a ‘synergy between people, space, and nature’, thanks to its use of open verandas and walkways, with living spaces raised up above the surrounding landscape.

Tour this new Indian country residence

The built-up area extends over 5,400 sq ft, with much of the accommodation contained on the L-shaped ground floor. The core of the living space is housed in the great room at the heart of the house – with soaring ceiling heights and sliding glass partitions on each side allowing the entire space to be opened up to the elements – flanked by long verandas that are covered by the steeply pitched roof.

This room houses the kitchen, dining space and seating area, a linear arrangement sandwiched between a central service core, with store, utility spaces, and the principal bedroom. In contrast to the open living area, this room is more enclosed, with a curved, open air shower area projecting out from the building line, creating a sculptural contrast with the straight concrete walls.

A similar en-suite arrangement is found at the other end of the great hall, across a patio and water feature. From this patio, an external staircase leads up to the second floor. Here, twin walkways flank the void above the great hall, leading to a library and a third en-suite bedroom.

Finally, the accommodation extends out into the surroundings courtesy of another a covered veranda, this time with a smaller pitched roof and completely open sides. This forms the entrance block, distinct from the living block, with the two different roof heights creating a distinctly domestic scale composition. All roofs are clad with traditional ridged red Mangalore tiles.

The house is inserted into a space alongside mature trees and large boulders, with the raised concrete plinth creating a sense of being a part of the landscape. The material palette is simple, with a steel frame holding up the roof above hand-finished cement walls and columns. The latter add a rhythm to the view, framing the lush green surroundings and casting shadows across the interior and verandas. Underfoot, Kota stone flooring in the living areas is paired with Sira stone in the bathrooms.

House by the Grove combines its openness with niches and nooks for privacy and discovery, as well as the contemplative water feature by the entrance. By having bathrooms that are open to the sky, the elements are even brought into the more secluded bedroom spaces.

‘The farmhouse is ultimately a place of balance – between openness and privacy, light and shade, built form and landscape,’ say architects Shalini Chandrashekar and Ar G S Mahaboob Basha. ‘It is a home designed for gatherings and conversations, but equally for solitude and retreat, where architecture and nature seamlessly converge to create a timeless and soulful living experience.’

Chandrashekar and Mahaboob Basha founded Taliesyn in 2010 and have an impressive portfolio of private houses, public spaces and retail projects.

Taliesyn.in

Audio Pro W-Generation speakers

Sweden’s Audio Pro has unveiled a new line of compact speakers, the W-generation. Consisting of 12 new speakers, ranging from the compact, portable cylindrical A10 MkII W through to the desktop Audio Pro C20 W and up to the flagship A38 W and A48 W, the overhauled range includes a new app and interface as well as expanded streaming support.

All of the new speakers can now hook into a wide range of streaming services, including but not limited to Spotify, Napster, Tidal and Amazon Music, with the capability to group speakers across multiple rooms as well. The W-Generation also includes the ability to tune each speaker to best suit individual rooms, with full backward compatibility with earlier Audio Pro products. The cleaner, less fussy design extends to a harmonised palette of colours and grille fabrics.

Audio Pro A10 MkII W, £220 (sale price £130), Audio Pro C20 W, £450, Audio Pro A38 W, £700, AudioPro.com, @AudioProSound

Node Atom Speakers

Node’s range of Atom speakers comprises the newest products from the British audio brand. Designed and manufactured at the company’s Cambridge base, the Atom range starts with two models, the Atom 525 Standmount and the Atom 650 Floorstander. Sharing the same design language, with a pronounced backwards lean, the new speakers have been shaped for maximum visual impact as well as acoustic performance.

The latter is enhanced by the internal ‘MonoCells’, a complex lattice structure located within the speaker, created through additive manufacturing and serving as both structure and acoustic damping system. The company has also developed a special textile for the Atom’s exterior, blending felt, foam and woven fabric to minimise vibrations and give the front of the speaker a smooth, flawless finish.

The speakers also feature polished aluminium detailing, creating a sculptural, architectural form factor that’s intended to complement any interior style. The new range will be available from January 2026.

Node Atom, more information at Node-Audio.com, @Node_Audio

WAF Audio SP-02

WAF – Waves and Frequencies – is a new audio company based out of New York and Ontario. Founded by furniture designer Zoë Mowat and industrial designer, DJ and audio enthusiast David Shaw, the company has now introduced its second product, the SP-02 two-way passive loudspeaker. The new speakers are made in Canada and incorporate a six-inch woofer from SB Acoustics and a tweeter from Scan-Speak.

Compact and austere, yet with infinite flexibility for colour customisation beyond the four standard lacquer finishes – WAF will accept any RAL or Pantone reference – there’s also an optional 15-inch riser for more placement options.

The company aims to ‘demystify hi-fi’, and old-school audiophiles might recognise WAF as a tongue-in-cheek but deeply sexist acronym (‘Wife Acceptance Factor’). Understandably, the new company wants to reclaim WAF as ‘something more inclusive’.

WAF SP-02, $2,600/pair, available via WAFAudio.com, @WAF_audio

Arendal Sound 1528 Tower 8 Limited 10th Anniversary Edition

Swathed in mighty slabs of rosewood, this limited edition is Norwegian manufacturer Arendal Sound’s celebration of a decade of its 1528 Tower 8 speakers. Each 143cm tall speaker has a unique piano-lacquered rosewood finish, intended as a deliberate nod to the country’s tradition of midcentury and modernist design, while under the hand-polished skin, there’s an award-winning floor-standing speaker system.

Just 25 pairs of this highly prized loudspeaker will be produced, aimed at those with substantial spaces to fill (30 sq m and up).

1528 Tower 8 Limited 10th Anniversary Edition, £10,000/pair, Arendal Sound, ArendalSound.com, @ArendalSound

Devialet Mania Opéra Rouge and Phantom Ultimate

Devialet now has new editions of its key products available. First up is the Devialet Mania Opéra Rouge, a rich garnet-red version of the French company’s portable Bluetooth speaker. Supplied with matching dock, the Opéra Rouge is part of an ongoing range celebrating the Opéra de Paris and features a gold-plated frame. Designed to supply immersive 360-degree sound, regardless of placement, the Mania has a ten-hour battery life and integrated Amazon Alexa.

The company has also recently revealed the latest version of its signature Phantom speaker, the Devialet Phantom Ultimate. Available in two sizes, 108 dB and 98 dB, Phantom Ultimate comes in several finishes, Deep Forest, Light Pearl, and Opéra de Paris (shown here).

Refined and updated inside and out, with a new app that helps shape the sound depending on the source – music, movies or podcasts – Phantom is a freestanding speaker designed to take centre stage.

Devialet Mania Opéra Rouge, €1,090 / £990 / $1,199
Devialet Phantom Ultimate 108 dB, from €3,200 / £2,800 / $3,800
Ultimate 98 dB, from €1,500 / £1,400 / $1,900

Devialet.com, @Devialet

KEF Coda W

KEF has announced the launch of its newest all-in-one speaker, the wireless Coda W. Available in five finishes (Vintage Burgundy, Nickel Grey, Moss Green, Midnight Blue, and Dark Titanium), the compact Coda W has been designed with vinyl lovers in mind. Incorporating a large 5.25-inch driver with an integral tweeter, the 200W speaker incorporates dedicated amplifiers and uses Bluetooth 5.4 for low latency.

Wired connections are also available, with an RCA (line) input for turntables, complete with integrated phono pre-amplifier for direct connection. A subwoofer output allows you to pair the Coda W with a compatible KEF subwoofer.

KEF Coda W, £799/pair, UK.KEF.com, KEF.eu

WiiM Sound

A newly launched smart speaker system, the WiiM Sound aims to go head-to-head with in-house offerings from the like of Apple and Google, as well as established players like Sonos. The 100W smart speaker is distinguished by its prominent circular display, a 1.8-inch touch screen that serves as a portal to album art, controls, custom wallpaper and even elements like a clock face.

WiiM has given the Sound full connectivity options, including both Google Assistant and Alexa, as well as access to key streaming services and Bluetooth connectivity. A separate voice-activated remote unit can also be used. The cylindrical form incorporates a four-inch woofer and dual tweeters, with WiiM’s ‘AI RoomFit’ algorithm analyses the surrounding space and tweaks the EQ to fit. Twin Sounds can also be paired for a broader soundstage.

WiiM Sound, available soon from WiiMhome.com, @WiiMhome

The Phantom V is arguably the most iconic of the Phantom’s eight generations. It came to market in 1959, and in 13 years a total of 832 were built. They were delivered to royals, rockers and rogues; King Charles III has inherited both his mother’s and his grandmother’s state Vs. John Lennon, Elton John, Liberace and Elvis Presley were all committed fans. And it had a dedicated following among dictators, including Nicolae Ceaușescu, Tito, and the Shah of Iran. They were all bespoke, but the Phantom you see here is the most unusual of all.

Like the back catalogues of the pop stars who rode around in them in their pomp, it’s been remastered. While Rolls-Royce is busy making Phantom VIIIs today down in Goodwood, a start-up called Lunaz, based in Silverstone, has turned its attention to the Spirit of Ecstasy’s vintage hits from the Crewe years.

The team will find you an old Rolls (they recently bought Jay Kay’s Silver Cloud, for example), strip the whole thing down to the paint, and rebuild it with discreet modern technology and the latest in leather and marquetry, so what you’re left with is a 1960s motor that’s basically brand new bar the chassis plate.

It’s a process that takes between 24 and 36 months. So far, Lunaz has built 15 Rolls and Bentleys on this platform, the technology for which took four years to develop. There are an additional 25 currently in build, and six more are incoming.

The novelty is the powertrain. At this point, purists may start to bleed from the teeth, but as well as restoring the car and putting in things like electric dampers, modern electric windows and windscreen wipers, USB ports and a discreet sat nav and reversing camera, Lunaz has placed a colossal battery pack under the bonnet.

In place of the original 6.23-litre V8 is a proprietary powertrain that produces just shy of 400bhp (the original only mustered 220bhp). Weight has only increased by 90kg, as it was so sumo-sized to begin with – a whale-like 2.7 tonnes. Top speed is limited to 105mph, although the car has achieved 120mph in testing. The price: more than a million quid.

So who’s in the market for this emission-free leviathan that’s 30 times the cost of a Tesla and took 5,500 hours to build? Very wealthy people, obviously, who appreciate classic lines and state-of-the-art tech, who perhaps have been put off classic car ownership before because they don’t want to break down, belch fumes or cover their alabaster gravel driveways in engine oil.

And given that a Rolls-Royce should be smooth, silent and bullet-proof, it makes more sense than any other EV out there. Another party that’s taken an interest is those extremely high-end hotels that love to have a statement piece parked out front, something truly memorable to whisk guests from the airport. Such establishments also like that this car emphasises their green credentials.

Lunaz is currently in talks with a number of properties, including the Maybourne group, which manages The Berkeley, The Connaught, The Emory and Claridge’s in London. For Wallpaper’s test drive, I was the lucky recipient of a suite at The Berkeley big enough for a Grammy-winner, just to get me in the right frame of mind.

Parked in front of The Berkeley, resplendent in navy blue, with pale hide and rich walnut veneer was a Phantom fit for the two kings – Charles and Elvis. The owner of this 1961 piece of automotive sculpture is Adar Poonawalla, an Indian biotech billionaire and Rolls-Royce afficionado who also happens to be an investor in Lunaz (something he has in common with Sir David Beckham).

Pending Transport for London’s approval, Mr Poonawalla’s car will be shared between Maybourne’s four London properties – so keep an eye out for it around the West End.

Lunaz’s founder, David Lorenz, took me through the controls before leaving me to my own devices. At which point I put Led Zeppelin on full blast and wafted my way around Belgravia and Knightsbridge. It was Halloween, and the streets were full of witches, vampires and skeletons out trick-or-treating. This Phantom is spectral not only in name. Even without an exhaust pipe, it seems to create its own fog.

Scarier still is its titanic length, which means you have to be very careful around SW1’s tighter corners, not helped by wing mirrors that reveal almost nothing. The turning circle, David told me, has been much improved, but it’s still like getting the Natural History Museum’s biggest dinosaur out the front door.

The steering is light at speed, but the crawling pace of London traffic means you really have to put your back into it. Yet it glides with ethereal beauty and draws open-mouthed stares not of envy but respect. You could drive it over a fainted guardsman and not feel a bump.

Rolls-Royce always talks about the champagne test: can you floor it without spilling your passengers’ drinks? The torque delivery here is even smoother than Sir Henry Royce managed.

After a suitably decadent dinner at The Berkeley, I switched to the Phantom’s vast back seat and handed over the responsibilities to a chauffeur. He dispatched me to the Royal Albert Hall to see the Irish indie band Inhaler. After all, the Phantom V is the most rock n’ roll car of all time. The Albert has got to be the natural destination for a car that’s always on stage and all but guaranteed a standing ovation.

A day in the Lunaz Phantom: what I wouldn’t give for an encore.

For more information visit ByLunaz.com, @LunazDesign

The rise of AI seems to have changed all that. LG’s ThinQ series has evolved to keep pace with the shiny new definition of ‘smart’. Last year, the company released the ThinQ ON Home Hub, a centralised voice-activated device that serves a similar function to an Alexa or Google voice assistant, only with direct connectivity to LG’s suite of enabled appliances, from televisions and projectors, to lighting systems, fridges and robot vacuums.

In Seoul, LG has a popular ThinQ show home, where the voice activation powers of the system can be sampled. Crucially, the company is opening up the device’s API (Application Programming Interface) to other manufacturers, allowing for cross-pollination between other smart devices – one of the Achilles’ heels of early, so-called walled garden systems.

So what kind of future does LG envisage? Connectivity and intelligence are all very well but applying them in useful but not intrusive ways is the key to making a smart home more appealing. This ‘LG AI Appliances Orchestra’, as the company calls it, is a symphony of small smart enhancements that add up to a cohesive overall service.

For example, LG’s new range of washing machines use AI to weigh the contents of a wash and automatically select the most efficient programme – its dryers can even detect fabric type to avoid damaging clothing. Both appliances can signal progress and any potential problems via the LG app, as well as customising start-up screens and melodies to signal the end of a wash cycle.

LG’s new robot vacuum incorporates mopping and steam cleaning, as well as better object recognition and navigation. The oven can be automatically pre-heated – the ThinQ AI can even recommend healthy recipes – while LG’s new ridges can notify you when temperatures drop or the door is left open. The company has even gone beyond the home with the Spielraum concept car, co-developed with Kia, to showcase how the exact same AI assistant could be taken with you on the road.

Hubs like LG’s ThinQ ON simply offer a portal into new ways of interacting with objects that were once out of sight, out of mind and only edged into our consciousness when we actually needed to use them. That’s not necessarily progress, unless there’s a significant accompanying premium like energy efficiency or genuine convenience. Regardless, universal voice control is coming, whether we like it or not.

Hot on the heels of the ON Home Hub, LG revealed a conceptual Smart Home AI agent, a glimpse at what a future robotic housekeeper might look like in service of the company’s end goal, the ‘Zero Labour Home’. Anyone familiar with the social and technological history of domestic labour might scoff at the idea that the emotional labour of household management can be offloaded onto a cute little robot, even if ‘Affectionate Intelligence’ and empathy are its prime directives.

Whether the future is robot-driven or just app-based, companies like LG won’t stop striving for better ways to conduct their orchestra of appliances. Together, LG hopes, they’ll play a tune of greater efficiency for all.

More information at LG.com

Until now, collectible design has been an outsider at Salone del Mobile, quite literally: dotted everywhere in the city around Fuorisalone, it rarely entered the fair itself. For its 64th edition, Salone del Mobile embraces one-off designs with a new platform curated by Annalisa Rosso, Editorial Director and Cultural Events Advisor of Salone del Mobile, and designed by Formafantasma.

'We have worked to build a new design, cultural and commercial ecosystem that constitutes a concrete and valuable opportunity for both exhibitors and visitors, generating new connections and market opportunities,' says Rosso. 'Salone Raritas builds open channels of communication between realities that until very recently seemed far apart, allowing many of them a chance to meet for the first time.'

Salone Raritas aims at bridging the gap between highly-skilled creative production and the contemporary design market. The exhibition space will feature limited edition and collectible design, unique pieces, antiques and fine craftsmanship. It will cement Salone del Mobile's mission to be 'not just a commercial platform but also as a cultural infrastructure: a place where rarity ceases to be an exception and becomes a shared design language.'

Adds Salone president, Maria Porro: 'Salone Raritas was born of an awareness that is also a responsibility, which is to read the evolution of the international market and provide a response consistent with the identity of the Salone del Mobile.Milano.'

Salone Raritas: exhibition design by Formafantasma

Through Formafantasma's exhibition design, Salone Raritas is set to become a large 'architectural lantern': designers Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi imagined a space that 'puts light and rhythm at the service of the pieces. The modular, respectful design allows each gallery to express its own identity while maintaining a choral narrative, designed for both visitor memorability and for market effectiveness.'

Salone Raritas will be part of Salone del Mobile 2026, from 21-26 April at Pavilions 9-11. Fiera Milano, Rho

Founded in 1899 by the Renault brothers, Louis, Marcel and Fernand, the company has been at the heart of French industrial and cultural life ever since. Its range of small cars, continuing right up to the present day, epitomise Gallic ingenuity and innovation. The auction acknowledges this, as well as Renault’s pioneering role in EVs and its status as a garlanded player in global motorsport.

We’ve perused the auction catalogue and come up with a wishlist of 14 vehicles that embody the spirit of the brand.

Lot 13: Renault Floride Cabriolet ‘Disney’, 1960

This elegant two-seater was designed by two of the biggest names in Italian coachbuilding, Frua and Ghia. This particular example had a stint in Disneyland Paris, hence the unique colour scheme.

Lot 21: Renault 4 électrique ‘Zity’, 1991

Not an early example of Renault’s electrification history, but an example converted into an EV in 2021 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the original Renault 4 – which remained in production from 1961 all the way through to 1991.

Lot 22: Renault 5 décorée ‘police’, 1983

Another sleight of hand – this 1980s-era Renault 5 was kitted out as a police car by the team at the Renault museum. It is, however, a very late model R5 in excellent condition and as such can easily be restored to original condition.

Lot 26: Renault 4 F4 électrique fourgonnette Darty, 1985

The utilitarian ‘fourgonnette’ panel-van variant of the R4 was a mainstay of small French businesses from the 1960s onwards. This rare survivor is another EV conversion, finished in the colours of French electrical goods chain Darty.

Lot 42: Renault Twingo II Concept, 2006

In addition to reviving the 4 and 5 nameplates for its new era of small electric cars, Renault has just unveiled a new Twingo. This non-roadworthy concept car from 2006 previewed the second generation Twingo, a city car that ultimately lacked the original’s visual verve.

Lot 48: Renault Trafic Deck'Up Concept car, 2004

A conceptual blend of off-roader, panel van and beach buggy, the Trafic Deck’Up debuted at the Brussels Motor Show as a quirky preview of the incoming angular Renault house style and the new century’s search for automotive form factors.

Lot 62: Renault Spider prototype, 1998

The Spider was a cult two-seater from Renault Sport, first suggested with a concept at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show, a time when Renault ruled the Formula 1 track. Stripped down and ultra-light – the car was ultimately sold without a windscreen – this early production prototype is sadly a non-runner.

Lot 65: Renault 5 GT Turbo Gr. N, 1990

As well as Formula 1, Renault was also a fearsome competitor in the World Rally Championship. This particular Renault 5 GT Turbo rally car won Group N in the 22nd Ivory Coast-Bandama Rally in 1990, driven by Alain Oreille and Michel Roissard.

Lot 68: Renault Mégane III Trophy maquette, 2009

A rolling model of a race-spec Renault Mégane, this chiselled Mégane RS III Trophy resembles the production car on steroids. Enterprising enthusiasts will need to do a lot of work to bring this maquette to life.

Lot 100: Renault RE 40-04 Formule 1, 1983

American Eddie Cheever replaced René Arnoux in the 1983 F1 season. This car, one of several F1 cars for sale in the auction, finished 3rd at that year’s Monza GP. Cheever’s teammate, Alain Prost, is perhaps better known, as a four-time World Drivers' Champion. It was Renault who dominated the Constructors’ Championship through the 1990s its their partnership with Williams.

Lot 154: Renault Clio II 6-wheel pick-up, 2001

This Frankenstein creation started out as a Renault Clio II, before being transformed by Renault factory workers as a training exercise. Low speed use only – perfect for parades.

Lot 169: Renault Operandi concept van, 2000

This styling model of the Operandi concept van still looks fresh today, with its chunky utilitarian styling inside and out and compact dimensions.

Lot 176: Chausson P.E.R.L.E. concept car, 1989

Developed by now-defunct supplier Chausson, the Projet d'Études et de Recherches d'une Ligne Européenne was powered by Renault and first exhibited at the 1987 Frankfurt Motor Show. The concept had a brief cameo in Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World.

Lot 179: Renault 21 ex-Lévy and Goliath, 1986

Another cinematic vehicle, this time from Gérard Oury’s 1987 comedy Lévy and Goliath. In the film, this extraordinary creation results from an accidental delivery of cocaine to the production line at the Renault factory.

Artcurial Motorcars will hold the Renault Icons sale at Flins-sur-Seine, Paris, on 7 December 2025, Artcurial.com, @Artcurial__

That shared ethos is being celebrated today with the reveal of the iPhone Pocket, a clever wearable accessory from Apple and Issey Miyake. Made from a single 3D-knit sleeve, the stretchy pleated pouch is a playful way to carry your iPhone, AirPods, keys, chewing gum and other everyday essentials without the need for a bulky bag.

The limited-edition release, available in select markets online and in stores on Friday (14 November 2025), is a stylish new companion to Apple products. Depending on what length you choose, the iPhone Pocket can be worn over the shoulder, looped over a tote or simply hand-carried.

‘The way that people wear their products has been changing,’ Apple’s industrial design leader Molly Anderson tells Wallpaper*. ‘Your choice of phone and choice of accessories is a reflection of your style more and more.’

Anderson and her team had long been admirers of the Issey Miyake brand and had spent time in its Tokyo studio to better understand its philosophy and ways of making. The Issey Miyake team, too, paid visits to Apple Park in Cupertino, California. ‘There wasn't really an intention to make anything at all. We were just interested to speak to each other and see what was inspiring,’ Anderson says.

Invariably, though, a formal collaboration felt right. The iPhone Pocket grew out of a very simple question, according to Yoshiyuki Miyamae, designer of A-POC Able Issey Miyake: How can you wear an iPhone? ‘The iPhone is now present in almost every moment of our everyday life…We thought about how to make its presence more joyful and creative,’ Miyamae wrote in an email.

For its design, Miyamae and his team implemented a continuation of a pioneering concept that Issey Miyake introduced in 1998 – APOC (‘a piece of cloth’), in which garments are produced from a unified piece of 3D-knit fabric. Similarly, the iPhone Pocket relies on the APOC philosophy and resembles a long tube sock, with a slit in its middle. The simple design, though, belies the amount of R&D and experimentation required to get it just right. Everything, from the vibrant colour palette (the iPhone pocket will be available in eight hues) to the elegant translucent paper packaging, was considered.

Still, fun is part and parcel (pun intended) to the new product. As its user fills their iPhone Pocket, it will bulge, like a boa constrictor after lunch. ‘We were really charmed by this idea that it’s not only creating a shape which reveals its content, but it also allows people to peek in and see their phone screen,’ Anderson says.

Miyamae thinks the iPhone Pocket anticipates our relationship with technology in the future. ‘As we move forward, the tools and devices surrounding us will more than likely evolve towards a style that is more personal and sensory, into devices that can be easily worn,’ he said.

It’s also a way to connect both companies’ pasts with the present. ‘If Miyake had known about this project, I think he would have been delighted and said, "here begins a new possibility,”’ Miyamae added.

apple.com

An art piece in its own right, the Madison Avenue landmark — known fondly as the Breuer Building — is defined by its dramatic overhangs and protruding angular windows. For decades, it was home to the Whitney and, for the past 10 years, served as an outpost for both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection. Today, Sotheby’s is banking on the building’s storied past, quite literally, by transforming it into its global headquarters.

‘It’s a homecoming of sorts,’ says Charles Steward, Sotheby’s CEO. ‘It's nostalgic. You can talk about the Breuer as an architectural landmark. You also can talk about it in terms of art history: all of the exhibitions, artists and collectors that have been affiliated with this space over the last six decades.’

Moving from its long-held seat in an all-glass mid-rise much further east on York Avenue, the auction house is now significantly closer to Museum Mile institutions like the Guggenheim and the Met, as well as blue-chip galleries like Gagosian.

Sotheby’s tapped leading architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron (H&dM) to adapt the building. The Swiss firm felt like a fitting choice, given its deft transformation of London’s Bankside Power Station into the Tate Modern, as well as the design of other notable museums including the M+ in Hong Kong and the Parrish Art Museum in Watermill, New York. The Swiss firm worked closely with local preservation practice PBDW Architects on the careful, ‘light-touch’ renovation of the landmarked building.

‘It was a great honour but also a great responsibility,’ says Wim Walschap, H&dM senior partner. ‘One of Breuer's key projects, the building is a rare example of post-war modernism in New York with distinct beauty and clarity, specifically designed for public use. Our goal was to preserve and re-accentuate its timeless appeal and architectural integrity while adapting it for a dynamic future; respecting its original purpose and while preparing it for a new use.’

The seven story, 78,000 sq ft structure now plays host to adaptable exhibition and auction hall spaces, offices and a soon-to-open basement-level restaurant from prolific New York interiors firm Roman and Williams as an extension of their upscale Soho French bistro La Mercerie.

The few major alterations include a seamlessly integrated bulkhead extension toward the building’s rear; a newly centralized freight elevator accommodating the more frequent movement of art throughout the space; and increased ADA accessibility. Gallery spaces on the second through fifth floors were also opened up and reconfigured to host exhibitions.

In the lobby, a new technologically advanced screen was introduced above the main reception desk. Flush-to-the-wall vitrines were added off to one side to delineate a gift shop. On the second floor, a larger 1,832 sq ft open-plan area — with demountable walls — doubles as one of the main auction halls with seating for 90 to 100 guests. On the third floor, walls were positioned on either side of a central corridor so that one of the building’s iconic windows could become the main architectural focal point.

With its soaring 17-foot-tall ceilings and windows facing Madison Avenue, the fourth floor has been fashioned into Sotheby’s marquee sales room. A private mezzanine level was fitted out with double-sided mirror walls and, according to some sources, can only be accessed through a private elevator to accommodate guests that would rather remain anonymous.

Where H&dM and PBDW’s intervention truly shines is in the meticulous restoration of surfaces and light fixtures. Before Sotheby’s acquired the building, the silver bowl light bulbs of the building's famed dome pendants were mismatched, meaning they emitted different hues. A completely new suite of bulbs was introduced, re-enlivening the space with just the right amount of brightness.

Bush-hammered concrete walls were steam-cleaned. Bluestone floors throughout were repolished. Oak flooring in dedicated areas was replaced. The firms went through multiple rounds of approval with local community boards and the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Marking the opening of Sotheby’s new Breuer Building HQ is a robust fall 2025 program. Bolstered by public exhibitions, this year’s New York sales (taking place 18 to 21 November) will focus on the comprehensive Modernist and Impressionist collection of Leonard A. Lauder, as well as that of Cindy and Jay Pritzker. Also on view as part of an upcoming contemporary sale, is Maurizio Cattelan’s solid gold toilet, America (2016), and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Crowns (Peso Neto) painted in 1981. The work was featured as part of Basquiat’s first major retrospective, held in this very building in 1992.

As Madeline Lissner, Sotheby’s EVP of global fine art and major collections, hints, ‘There’ll be many more of these homecoming moments in our galleries’ — but for now, Sotheby’s will celebrate its own.

The exhibition’s title, chosen by curator Glenn Adamson, refers both to the drug and its etymological meaning, ‘to be outside oneself’. This provides a provocative lens through which to view Wolston’s work, which extends beyond the physical into realms of imagination and expression. The exhibition presents bold, hallucinatory objects that merge Art Nouveau, pre-Columbian symbolism and architectural exuberance.

Unfolding across four catwalks – evoking the theatricality of a fashion show or drag ball – ‘Profile in Ecstasy’ showcases creations ranging from bronze furniture with iridescent patinas to woven rattan sculptures echoing the human body (the body is a major theme in Wolston’s work, as is the natural landscape of Colombia).

Elsewhere: monumental terracotta sculptures carved from solid clay; lightweight aluminum forms cast from foam and anodized in shimmering hues; furniture animated by torch-worked surfaces; and handwoven carpets from Beni, an atelier in Marrakech, featuring warped calla lily motifs. It’s all accompanied by pulsating video works created by Wolston’s husband, filmmaker David Sierra. At the heart of the exhibition stands a luminous fountain depicting pop icon Grace Jones.

Wolston’s postmodern aesthetic results from his fusion of traditional and non-Western craft techniques with contemporary sensibilities – a dialogue he first began at the Kokrobitey Institute in Accra, Ghana, and developed further at the Rhode Island School of Design. A defining moment came in 2010, when Wolston completed a Fulbright fellowship studying pre-Columbian ceramics in Colombia. This experience led him to establish a second studio in Medellín, where he now collaborates with local artisans alongside Sierra.

An institution dedicated to presenting the most compelling art of our time, Dallas Contemporary is an ideal platform for Wolston’s boundary-pushing practice. ‘Profile in Ecstasy’ reflects the museum’s mission to engage audiences with experimental, interdisciplinary art that challenges conventional categories.

‘Profile in Ecstasy’ is on view from 7 November to 1 February 2026 at Dallas Contemporary.

Originally available in blue, the new edition has details and key elements picked out in acid yellow, the kind of vivid colouring favoured by TheArsenale for its high-profile, urban-focused installations, events, special editions and collaborations.

The Duo was first shown back at the 2022 Paris Motor Show when it was heralded as a successor to the tiny 2012 Twizy – still a favourite runabout for upscale hotels around the world.

TheArsenale’s team have paired black bodywork with yellow graphics that emphasise the angular forms of the tiny machine, as well as slogan-bedecked wheels and yellow stitching details on the seats. Like Twizy, the Duo sits passengers one behind the other, with forward-hinged scissor doors and barely any space for luggage.

Although the Twizy was a more open design – heaven help you if it was raining – the Duo is fully enclosed and feels a lot more car-like and refined as as result. It’s the first in a planned series of urban runabouts to be sold under the Mobilize sub-brand – a single-seater cargo version is also available, as is a Mobilize-branded charge point.

Like that other French foray into electric microcars, the Citroën Ami, special editions and collaborations are seen as a fine way of expanding brand recognition, building a cult following amongst the young and helping seed cities with smaller, cleaner modes of personal transport.

Mobilize Duo, €10,000, Mobilize Duo x TA edition, €12,500, Mobilize.com, @Mobilize_fr, TheArsenale.com, @TheArsenale

The output of Hultén’s Gothenburg workshop is like nothing else. Typically starting with an existing synth or electronic instrument, each build deconstructs the interface, adds layers of new ways of modulating and manipulating the sound, all wrapped up in idiosyncratic but beautifully crafted cabinets that fetishise the knobs, dials, and screens.

In addition to reshaping, rewiring and combining synths old and new, Hultén has also tackled vintage video games and even retro-fitted an Aston Martin Lagonda with a custom integrated synth set-up. Projects featured in the new book include Pink Lab, which blends a Taiga by Pittsburgh Modular Synthesizers along with a Microcosm glitch pedal and an Arturia KeyStep controller, along with analogue cogs.

There’s also the Soma Lab, a colossal wall-mounted synth that draws inspiration from the 1960s-era modular hi-fi systems Dieter Rams designed for Braun, and Charlotte, a desktop machine that combines a Moog Minitaur synth with a ferrofluid visualizer and resembles something out of Dr Strangelove.

Limited to 600 copies, the 152-page hardback monograph is an inspirational journey through the work of a true master of both analogue and digital realms.

Love Hultén, Works II, $49 plus shipping, LoveHulten.com, @LoveHulten

‘Our intention is to create the greatest fish restaurant this country has ever seen,’ Major Food Group co-founder Jeff Zalaznick said in a press release.

To create a restaurant of that calibre, Zalaznick and his team needed a designer with chutzpah. Martin Brudnizki, the founder of the powerhouse interiors firm Martin Brudnizki Design Studio, was the man for the job. Not only had he worked on two prior projects with the Bellagio’s operator, MGM Resorts, but he’s gained a reputation for interiors that balance audacity with refinement (see: the prancing unicorn at legendary London club Annabel’s).

The empty space the restaurant would occupy offered no shortage of precedent; up until last year, it housed Picasso, Julian Serrano’s pioneering fine-dining concept that not only contained authentic Picasso paintings and made a cameo in Ocean’s 11, but also brought haute cuisine to the Strip.

‘The space was famous and they wanted someone to treat it with the respect it deserved,’ Brudnizki tells Wallpaper*. ‘I wanted to pay homage to the past, but then really make it all about the future.’

Brudnizki and his team were captivated by the original tenant’s namesake, Pablo Picasso. They were drawn, in particular, to the artist’s years spent along the Côte d'Azur in Vallauris, France, a fruitful period during which he produced thousands of ceramic designs. Like those whimsical plates, vases and pitchers, ‘the space we did for Carbone Riviera is quite playful’, Brudnizki says.

The design team softened the existing blank-slate interiors by introducing a series of rounded arches echoing the Bellagio’s windows. Diners walk through an arched passageway that glimmers with a swirling mosaic-tile floor, and past an arched niche containing a seashell sculpture overflowing with lemons and artichokes before entering the grand, main dining room.

Here, Picasso’s beloved French Riviera was the muse, with an ocean-blue carpet underfoot, columns clad in more glittering mosaics and curved wine-red banquettes, where diners can choose from dishes like truffle-sprinkled scallops, grilled octopus or an arrabbiata made from a two-pound lobster. A series of snug dining alcoves feature framed artworks by Joan Miró, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and, of course, Picasso. Crowning it all is a whirling ceiling mural evoking the movement of Mediterranean waves and Picasso’s meandering brushstrokes.

Diners can also opt to sidle up alongside an onyx-topped bar, which offers a front-row view of the Fountains of Bellagio and its famous lightshow from a central window. Or, they can relax on the outdoor patio, perched upon Riviera-inspired striped cushions and take in the Bellagio’s very own Riva yacht.

In a less deft set of hands, all of these elements might feel a little, well, Vegas. But, according to Brudnizki, creating an elegant-yet-exuberant interior is ‘all in the detailing.’

‘It’s all very elevated,’ he continues, ‘and that's what makes it work at the end of the day.’

Overseen by local architects Hollaway Studio, the project is both an overhaul for the brand and a fine example of adaptive re-use, taking the bones of the original terminal structure and bringing it up to date inside and out. According to studio head Guy Hollaway, the project is a significant one for their modestly sized practice and came about due to their close involvement in local policy.

Projects like the town’s acclaimed Rocksalt Restaurant, f51, an indoor skatepark, and the Curious Brewery and Elwick Place leisure complex in Ashford and are all testament to Hollaway Studio’s engagement with architecture and urbanism in Kent and run alongside more bespoke private house projects.

‘I’m very involved in proposals for Kent and the future of Folkestone,’ Hollaway concurs, adding that his London and Kent-based practice also has a long-running relationship with LeShuttle. ‘They invited us to bid for their framework, which we won,’ he adds, a victory that has given the office responsibility over both English and French sides of the tunnel operation, with the latter in Coquelles, near Calais.

One of the catalysts for the overhaul was changing patterns of how the channel tunnel is used. LeShuttle worked with Engine, a design consultancy who dug deep into the customer profile and helped formulate the brief. ‘They broke it down into six types of customers,’ Hollaway explains, ‘from those who had all the time in the world to those who just want to fly through [as quickly as possibly].’

The modern emphasis on lingering, dining and possibly even shopping in the once liminal spaces of transit has re-shaped the modern airport and railway station. Now it’s LeShuttle’s turn.

‘Travel has changed – it’s not just about A to B,’ says Hollaway, ‘the whole experience of going on LeShuttle is part of your holiday.’ As the architect points out, this is perhaps the most sustainable way of getting from the UK to Europe with the service powered by low carbon electricity supplied by France’s EDF. All that was needed was a better spatial experience. Work has now started on site, with completion due before the end of next year.

Tasked with improving the dwell time, as well as other aspects of channel tunnel travel that don’t necessarily apply to other services, such as the facilities for pets, Hollaway Studio will expand and open up the space. ‘On average, about 1,000 dogs a day go via the tunnel,’ Hollaway notes, ‘it’s a great way to travel with a pet, so we’ve gone mad for them with a landscaped area and their own specialist space.’

In addition to new landscaping there’s also a sinuous lattice of reconstituted concrete which will envelop the refurbished terminal. This form was inspired by the microscopic structure of chalk, the material that the channel tunnel owes its existence to.

‘The tunnel is set within the sliver of chalk that runs between the UK and France,’ Hollaway explains, ‘the lattice weaves in and out of the framework of the existing building. At the end I will challenge anyone to tell that it’s not a completely new building. It’s a very sustainable approach.’ A new solar array will also cover the extended roofscape.

From the new check-in area beneath the canopy structure to a new food hall, much improved daylighting and better exterior weather protection, the new spaces should make the travel experience far more enjoyable. There will be more places to sit, better acoustics thanks to wood cladding and indoor planting, and a redesigned ticketing experience, along with better facilities for EV drivers.

‘We’ve spoken an awful lot with the client about travel anxiety and how to ease it,’ says Hollaway, who points out that the improved communications and more open, accessible feel of the space is geared towards creating a restful, less stressful state of mind. ‘It’s about creating architecture with longevity,’ the architect says, noting his long experience of designing buildings for the harsh coastal environment. ‘If you’re an architect living down here you spend a lot of time talking about seagulls,’ he adds ruefully.

Ultimately, the new building will serve as the country’s gateway to Europe (and to the UK), a 24/7 environment that will act as a beacon, both for travellers and for sustainable architectural design.

HollawayStudio.co.uk, @Hollawaystudio, LeShuttle.com

Now, the innovative brand has partnered with La Marzocco, the esteemed Italian manufacturer of high-end coffee machines (including an espresso machine with Rimowa). This can only mean one thing: expect a precise multifunctional tool crafted to elevate your daily coffee ritual.

The Victorinox x La Marzocco Barista Tool

The Victorinox x La Marzocco Barista Tool is made exclusively for use with La Marzocco machines, for professional baristas, or for at-home coffee aficionados. Throughout La Marzocco’s 90-year history, design has been a way to express Italian coffee culture with precision, just as Victorinox channels Swiss engineering into handy, functional tools.

As with traditional Swiss army knives, the tool includes blades in various sizes, screwdrivers, a corkscrew, a can opener, tweezers and a toothpick, among other ‘essentials’. It also features specialty barista additions, including a steam wand nozzle remover and a coffee spatula.

‘This collaboration is a tribute to the art of coffee and the spirit of expertise,’ says Veronika Elsener, chief marketing officer at Victorinox. ‘Working with La Marzocco has allowed us to merge two worlds – Swiss engineering and Italian coffee culture – into this one-of-a-kind creation.’

It is designed to accommodate most La Marzocco machine functions, from tightening steam wands to measuring coffee grounds. This unification of both established brands treats coffee as a craft.

‘This project reflects the essence of what we stand for at La Marzocco: a deep respect for tradition and a drive to innovate,’ adds Andrea Cobianchi, brand manager at La Marzocco. ‘Collaborating with Victorinox has been a celebration of shared values and mutual admiration. The Barista Tool is more than a product – it’s a symbol of our passion for coffee and craftsmanship.’

It feels apt, then, that the eponymous designer is lending his hand to another neighbourhood institution this festive season, conceiving the decorations for the Royal Opera House as it enters its busy Christmas programme (home to both Britain’s Royal Ballet and Royal Opera, the coming months will see productions of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, Handel’s Ariodante and Puccini’s Turandot).

Paul Smith’s festive takeover of London’s Royal Opera House

Revealed today (6 November 2025), the ‘festive takeover’ centres around a vast 18ft-tall Christmas tree erected in the Paul Hamlyn Hall, the building’s light-filled conservatory on Drury Lane (originally built in 1859 as a flower market-cum-eveningtime dance hall, it was renovated and re-erected in 1996). Thematically, Smith said he was intrigued by the idea of ‘going behind the curtain’ – as such, the tree features backstage ephemera, from ropes, tassels and swathes of green velvet, to props sourced from the Opera House’s archives (look closely and you will spot fans, musical instruments and candelabras).

‘I have had many memorable moments at the Royal Opera House, but most special was my recent visit to the props department,’ Smith tells Wallpaper*. ‘It’s incredible how much artistry goes into each production – it is very similar to my own runway shows. I love the vibrant energy of the “backstage” and being able to celebrate the craft behind the curtain in the tree design was important to me.’

The Nottinghamshire-born designer has also added some decorations of his own: namely, a series of baubles in his ‘Signature Stripe’, a longtime motif of the label. Elsewhere, a series of miniature figures of skiers and ice skaters can be glimpsed when up close (a kind of festive Where’s Wally?), while baskets of baubles and step ladders give the appearance that the tree remains in the process of being decorated.

Smith’s takeover continues on the Davies Terrace, where a series of Christmas trees appear to be bursting out of crates, like those used to store the Opera House’s props. Here, they are lined with Signature Stripe fabric, while a series of handwritten messages from the designer decorate the terrace space – ‘the hope is to fill onlookers with festive joy,’ he says.

The project marks the first such takeover at the Opera House, a testament to the popularity of guest-designed Christmas trees across the British capital – perhaps most memorably at Claridge’s hotel, where fashion designers from John Galliano to Karl Lagerfeld have designed the lobby tree for the past two decades. Last year, it was the turn of Smith, who unveiled a playful Christmas tree that aimed to bring the ‘countryside in the centre of London’ and included a menagerie of wooden animals (Burberry’s Daniel Lee will design this year’s tree; the results will be revealed later this month).

‘As with all my collaborative projects, I wanted to make sure that there are shared values between both partners and with the Royal Opera House, there are just so many,’ says Smith. ‘Besides being neighbours for nearly 50 years, we are both committed supporters of the arts. I really wanted to highlight this appreciation for craftsmanship in the tree design – you can find nods to various Royal Opera House productions combined with my own objects of curiosity.’

Paul Smith’s festive takeover of the Royal Opera House will be on view until January 5, 2025.

paulsmith.com