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Apr 12 2022
Surface
Design Dispatch
FKA Twigs plays with Noguchi, rare Moss works land at Design Miami/, and unpacking the Euphoria effect.
FIRST THIS
“My goal when entering a blank canvas is to sprinkle some individual shades of niche flirtatiousness in each unique painting.”
HERE’S THE LATEST

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FKA Twigs Plays With Noguchi and the Woolmark Prize Finalists

What’s Happening: FKA Twigs shows her affinity for Noguchi’s play structures and avant-garde choreography as the star and director of a film that celebrates the finalists of this year’s International Woolmark Prize, which honors emerging fashion talent showcasing the versatility of Australian Merino wool.

The Download: Avid followers of FKA Twigs have likely noticed her recent affinity for group choreography. The lauded British artist has pursued pole dancing as a powerful visual component to her boundary-pushing music—her instructor once said that she’s a bona fide prodigy—on the critically acclaimed 2019 album Magdalene, and recorded a video fending off unseen forces through dance for the single “Don’t Judge Me.” Her latest outing, the buoyant mixtape Caprisongs, sees Twigs embark on a “journey back to myself” through collaborators and friends—many of whom move confidently with her in playful clips shared to Instagram.

Twigs dives even deeper into dance with PLAYSCAPE, a short film she directed alongside Zak Kyes to formally launch the next chapter of her “Avant Garden” collective and celebrate the seven finalists of the International Woolmark Prize, the annual accolade honoring emerging fashion talent showcasing the versatility of Australian Merino wool. The film opens with an empty gallery of play structures by Isamu Noguchi, the late Japanese sculptor who conceived “playscapes” that helped radically redefine physical and social interaction with artwork in the 20th century. An ensemble cast of characters, donning garments by prize finalists, soon enters an imaginary landscape where they follow choreography by Juliano Nunes, melding elements of ballet with hip-hop, contemporary dance, and punk rock.

The finalists of the 2022 prize include Ahluwalia, EGONLAB, Jordan Dalah, Peter Do, Saul Nash, RUI, and MMUSOMAXWELL. This year, they were asked to present Merino wool collections focused on play as a mode of creative exploration. Each finalist is up for three accolades—the titular prize, the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation, and the Woolmark Supply Chain Award—that will be selected by a panel of judges including Carine Roitfeld, Naomi Campbell, Marc Newson, and Riccardo Tisci. The winners will be announced in London on April 26.

It’s not the first time the Woolmark Prize has presented its finalists under the halo of a cultural powerhouse. Last year, the prize collaborated with Solange’s creative agency Saint Heron on a like-minded film where dancers flowed gracefully across theatrical backdrops that felt like an extension of her world-making practice. The movements this time around feel chaotic but calculated—an authentic mirror of Twigs’s evolving creative expression, which embraces happy accidents and merges influences from fashion, art, dance, and music.

In Their Own Words: “For some, play is best left to children,” Zak Kyes said in a statement. “But it’s through play that creativity is sparked and new perspectives are created. Our vision for the Woolmark Prize is to create a playground for the next generation of fashion talent to collide with dance, art, music, and design. FKA Twigs was the perfect collaborator because of her polymathic practice and singular voice. We are indebted to Noguchi for providing the inspiration to take play seriously.”

Surface Says: Twigs and Kyes clearly listened when Noguchi and his Slide Mantra said “come play!”

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What Else Is Happening?

Check-Circle_2x UNStudio fashions a speaker-like building for a major K-Pop agency’s headquarters.
Check-Circle_2x Derrick Adams will start a database that documents Baltimore’s thriving Black culture.
Check-Circle_2x Sou Fujimoto Architects unveils visuals for a nature-driven community center in Japan.
Check-Circle_2x A Spanish muralist may be fined for his unauthorized revamp of an historic chapel.
Check-Circle_2x The Guggenheim Foundation announces the 180 recipients of its 2022 fellowships.
Check-Circle_2x According to the UN, nearly everyone in the world is breathing poor-quality air.


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DESIGN

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Rare Works From Moss Land at Design Miami/

Few design galleries can say they’ve ever attained international cult status, but Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell earned bragging rights shortly after opening Moss, a collectible design destination in the heart of SoHo, New York, in 1994. Throughout their gallery’s 18-year run, the charismatic duo championed sculptural works by the likes of the Campana Brothers and Maarten Baas while hosting the occasional Tupperware party and selling Nymphenburg figurines. Though it no longer has a physical footprint, Moss is firmly engraved in the design world’s consciousness as the first truly influential design gallery and—as the story goes—was inspired by MoMA’s design program only to be later referenced by it.

Now, a decade after Moss bid the design world adieu, its owners are teaming up with Design Miami/ to showcase 40 collectible works from their private collection that are now available for purchase. Spanning 20th-century classics to hallmarks of space age design, the eclectic range embodies the unexpected trove of objects one might encounter at Moss during its heyday. Among them are a Spaghetti Lamp by Gaetano Pesce, a Roma Chair from Marco Zanini, and a Monumental Vase made for Moss by Hella Jongerius.

BUSINESS OF DESIGN

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The Euphoria Cast’s Fashion-World Takeover

Fashion But Make It Euphoria: Season two of the wildly successful HBO Gen Z drama, which wrapped in February, was a coming-out party for the show’s cast, viewership, and impact. Collectively, the stars of the teen series have amassed more than 180 million Instagram followers and materialized into a marketing powerhouse.

The Euphoria High aesthetic—cat-eye glitter makeup, dainty cut-out dresses, ‘90s-style sets, retro skater comfort—has captured the fashion world’s consciousness, boosting the profile of cult independent brands such as the edgy Australian label I.Am.Gia, a favorite of Kendall Jenner; Instagram-centric Omighty, known for sassy embroidered tees and loud prints; and Naked Wolfe, a Spice Girls–chic footwear brand out of Hong Kong whose sky-high platform boots and trendy chunky sneakers have earned influential fans like Ariana Grande. (Sydney Sweeney’s character, Cassie, flaunts a pair of the Mercy Heels in the seventh episode of season two.)

Cassie also inspired the tonal palettes and feminine silhouettes in the Fall/Winter 2022 collection of JoosTricot, L.A.–based writer and stylist Natalie Joos’s sustainable body-con knitwear line. Meanwhile, Miu Miu’s Spring 2022 collection caught attention with pleated micro-mini skirts and belly-exposing cardigan crop tops that would be right at home in the halls of East Highland High School. Miu Miu, along with luxury names Jean Paul Gaultier and Roberto Cavalli, appears in season two as part of a noticeable shift toward upscale labels.

Cat Eyes: Euphoria’s vibrant, fantastical makeup styles are one of its defining attributes, spawning a new era of maximalist glam. Australian-born South Asian makeup artist Rowi Singh went viral on TikTok thanks to her series of Euphoria-themed looks featuring bright eyeliner and bejeweled motifs. Her facial accessories company, Embellish By Rowi, has been shouted out by the likes of FKA Twigs. The high-fidelity beauty movement has proven so popular that the show’s in-house makeup artist, Doniella Davy, debuted a range of face stickers with Face Lace and is set to unveil her own beauty line, Half Magic, in May. On the website, its “layered” formulas are teased as designed for “space cowboys, glitter queens, and neon boys next door.”

Fresh Faces: Beyond shaping the look and feel of the contemporary fashion zeitgeist, Euphoria’s cast members have become darlings of big-name luxury houses. Zendaya (Valentino, Bulgari), Barbie Ferreira (YSL Beauty), Hunter Schafer (Prada), Sydney Sweeney (Savage Fenty, Tory Burch), Angus Cloud (Ralph Lauren Fragrances), Jacob Elordi (Boss, Calvin Klein), and Maude Apatow (Ami) have all starred in major campaigns and were a ubiquitous sight during this year’s fashion month. Launched congruently in January with season two, Schafer’s Prada ads garnered $16 million in earned media that month alone.

Quotable: “Hopefully the show is inspiring not just young people, but people in their 30s and 40s, and whoever wants to try a Maddy cat-eye or wear something a little more risqué than they normally would,” says costume designer Heidi Bivens, whose work on the show has garnered two Emmy nominations.

DESIGNER OF THE DAY

Whether she’s envisioning exuberant color-blocked apartments or Judd-esque furniture for her design shop, Darkroom London, Rhonda Drakeford infuses every project with her colorful personality to arouse excitement and spark positive vibes. Her latest, new headquarters for London communications firm Zetteler, is a vision of what a post-pandemic office for a small company could be—one with an open door and memorable effervescent touches that provide a welcome antidote to the antiquated “9-to-5” mentality.

DESIGN DOSE

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Lisa Sundin for Minted: Spring Is in the Air

Dreamy abstraction springs to life in the artworks of Swedish artist Lisa Sundin, who celebrates the season’s freshness in this pastel paper collage. She photographed a moving paper collage in motion, much like an Alexander Calder mobile. “I believe that it’s often the simplest of objects and compositions that can have the largest impact on us, leaving room for interpretation, and for us to create our own story,” says the Los Angeles–based artist, who believes “anything is possible.”

The piece was created for the design marketplace Minted’s first annual Independent Artist Day, an event that highlights the world’s independent creatives. As Minted’s founder Mariam Naficy says: “In future years, we hope to celebrate this day with others who share the same appreciation.” Today, Minted’s community has grown to include more than 16,000 artists from 100 countries.

ARCHITECTURE

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ICYMI: Architecture Is Having a Reckoning Over Poor Working Conditions

Early-career architects often face a tricky proposition: work demanding and poorly paid jobs around the clock or risk not appearing “dedicated” enough. The profession’s fraught work culture was the topic at hand during a recent roundtable hosted by the famously transgressive architecture school SCI-Arc, in which architects and faculty members Margaret Griffin, Marrikka Trotter, and Dwayne Oyler advised undergraduates on professional norms. Some of the advice—to accept longer hours and lower pay in exchange for working at a more prestigious firm—irked students, who criticized the comments as tone-deaf and out of touch with demands for fairer working conditions and healthier work-life balance.

THE LIST

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Member Spotlight: Studio Plow

Studio Plow is a San Francisco–based architecture and design studio known for an aesthetic that’s restrained, yet warm and soulful. Each project is seen as a new opportunity for discovery, resulting in completely bespoke design. Working in collaboration with clients, the studio crafts a narrative that uncovers the soul of each space, mapping its full potential.

AND FINALLY

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Today’s Attractive Distractions

Two notebooks by Charles Darwin that were reported stolen have been returned.

Spain is investigating someone’s taxidermy collection of more than 1,000 animals.

Heron Preston is sick and tired of the near-constant deluge of brand collaborations.

AnonyMouse unveils a mini-museum and arcade in the gutters of Malmö’s streets.

               


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