Design

Hermès takes Manhattan



Hermes AW24 New York Theo Werner

My SS24 trend report picked up on the major appetite for leather, and of course Hermès comes top of the leather lust list.

Hermès just showed the second ‘chapter’ of its AW24 collection in New York – a seductive, cinematic portrayal of wearable-yet-sexy (for straight-laced Hermès) leather trousers, jumpsuits, outerwear and abundant Mapplethorpe-esque caps that some thought dominated the show, but I rather loved. (Once a stylist always a stylist.)

Dior paid a similar tribute to Manhattan recently (more…)



Quote of the day: Naomi Rea, Artnet News



Art Basel Shop tote

“Access to this world is aspirational and offering a piece of it at a more affordable price point expands the customer base significantly. Now, the casual visitors over the weekend…can say they bought something at Art Basel and can signal their membership in the art tribe.”
Naomi Rea, Artnet News acting editor-in-chief, Vogue Business (more…)



On “Mid” creativity, wild sincerity and the curse of the algorithm



Eric - Benedict Cumberbatch
I’m halfway through watching Eric on Netflix thanks to a few gushing Facebook recommendations.

I don’t watch many streamed series. A combination of shattered attention span and a default anti-hype setting means I prefer to wait till the fuss dies down and then I… don’t get round to it.

Anyway, I’m liking Eric (above), the 80s crime drama about a dysfunctional puppeteer whose son goes missing and the various sub-plots woven within. I’m particularly enjoying the early-80s New York setting, cultural references, cinematic colour grading and ace music score, along with the suspenseful pace of the storytelling.

Is it blowing my mind? Not quite. But it’s good enough. The New York Times has a coincidental opinion piece pondering the “mid”-ness of current TV. (more…)



Virginie Viard is leaving, so who’s next for Chanel?



Everyone’s got their hot take on who will replace Virginie Viard at Chanel.

While Chanel sales are up, speculation is that’s more down to price hikes and beauty purchases than Virginie’s designs (I can verify Chanel’s skincare is the best!). (more…)