Heading into this fall, there is a cloud of uncertainty in the air. We’re feeling grateful that we found ways to reconnect with loved ones and enjoy this summer while trying to remind ourselves we can get through what’s next. In many ways, it feels like we’ve been here before. And as always, we’re looking to artists to lead the way, naming this our first-ever Inspiration Issue, which you can download HERE.
As is typical for the season, we’ve got a major focus on fashion, having conversations around sustainability with emerging designers like Zero Waste Daniel and Mia Vesper. They are carving a new model and space for themselves in the industry. We also look to houses like Hermès and Stella McCartney as they embrace materials such as mycelium to replace the waste and cruelty associated with leather.
Looking to the art market, we talk with gallerists including Ebony L. Haynes (of the new David Zwirner space 52 Walker) and Destinee Ross-Sutton, who are changing expectations of how to show and represent artists. We also deep-dive with the team behind Designing Motherhood, who through an Instagram account, book, exhibitions, and programming have created a reckoning for our understanding of reproductive objects and the experience of birth through the lens of design.
This issue is also full of examples of inspiring collaborations, like Lady Gaga creating a new queendom in Champagne with Dom Pérignon designers Zanellato/Bortotto adding their latest vision to the Louis Vuitton “Objets Nomades” collection, as well as artist Jamie Nares lending her dynamic brushstrokes to the haute couture of Pierpaolo Piccioli with Valentino Des Ateliers.
Finally, we take some time to revisit old friends, speaking with artists like George Condo, Ai Weiwei, and Yoshitomo Nara for the first time in close to a decade. The experience of the past year and a half, in response to the roller coaster of the ongoing pandemic, impacted each in a different way. And we see that in their artistic practice, creative output, and reflections.
We don’t know what the next few months will look like, but we are feeling inspired by the renewed sense of purpose and resilience from so many creatives. And we’re holding tight to that little bit of light.