Our Style Issue celebrates the mood of escapism and fantasy which permeates the S/S 2024 collections with a round-up of contemporary style that draws inspiration from around the world and invites us on a journey of discovery.
Our newsstand cover is by photographers Melanie + Ramon and our fashion & style director Jason Hughes, who were granted exclusive access to Balenciaga’s history-steeped haute couture salons to capture Demna’s latest transformative couture collection. The Georgian designer also opens up to Dal Chodha about instilling a feeling of modernity into this most traditional of mediums. (Fans of the house should also see our review of ‘Cristóbal Balenciaga: Master of Tailoring’, currently on show in Atlanta.)
Our limited-edition cover, meanwhile, available to subscribers, takes a more classic trip, seeing the season’s most transporting looks photographed across the otherworldly volcanic landscapes of the Canary Islands.
There’s also the return of the Wallpaper* Glossary, our essential guide to this season’s defining codes, which revels in the art of dressmaking, combining feats of craft with flights of imagination. Elsewhere in the issue, we distil the new season’s escapist mood down to 12 key pieces and objects to covet.
Rem Koolhaas talks us through the drama and fantasy of the runway show, bridging the worlds of architecture and fashion, with a look at the dramatic sets that OMA/AMO has created for Prada over the last 25 years. As Vésma Kontere McQuillan writes, ‘It has revolutionised the fashion show as spectacle and pushed the boundaries of what is expected from a runway presentation’.
In Tuscany, writer Scarlett Conlon delves into Ferragamo’s rich atelier and archive to discover how Maximilian Davis, the brand’s brilliant young creative director, is exploring the storied Italian house’s ultra-sophisticated heritage in order to inspire its future.
A specially commissioned neon light sculpture by Welsh artist Cerith Wyn Evans hangs in the foyer of Saint Laurent’s new flagship store on Paris’ Champs-Élysées
(Image credit: Lorenzo Meloni)
In Paris, meanwhile, we’re granted a glimpse of Saint Laurent’s new flagship Champs-Élysées store, designed by creative director Anthony Vaccarello, which features marble, concrete, dark wood, Donald Judd chairs, a Cerith Wyn Evans neon sculpture and seating by Rudolph Schindler – a true vision, and a clear sign of architectural direction from the house.
Finally, an enormous thank you goes to Jason Hughes, Jack Moss and Tracy Gilbert, our much-travelled fashion team; you have truly made this a Style special to remember. We hope you enjoy the trip!
Sarah Douglas
Editor-in-Chief
The March 2024 issue of Wallpaper* is available in print from 8 February, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today