What’s Happening: The public’s tolerance for spectacle, ranging from the likes of Schiaparelli’s faux animal heads at couture week to Balenciaga’s major marketing misfire, seem to have reached an all-time high leading up to Europe’s fall/winter fashion shows. This season, the standouts are focusing more on their clothes than 15 seconds of fame.

The Download: Just five months ago, in late September, Fashion Month made strides to finally pick up where it left off pre-pandemic. Runway shows returned in force, complete with front rows and catwalks piled high with A-listers. So too did the uproarious party scene that accompanies a fresh season. Veterans noted how the first fashion season “back” was thrumming with a manic fervor unseen even before the pandemic.

It was a weird year on runways, too: at couture shows earlier in the year, Casablanca and Chanel put horses on their catwalks, while Alessandro Michele sent 68 pairs of identical twins strutting down Gucci’s in September. Then, in November, a scandal caused by “a series of grievous errors” rocked Balenciaga to its core. Once beloved for its embrace of “provocation” and “stunts” to critique the fashion industry, the creative director Demna told Vogue last month that Balenciaga’s Paris Fashion Week showing will focus on “making quality clothes—not making image or buzz.”

Like logo mania and teeny-tiny handbags, using a runway show to stage a viral marketing “moment” seems to be on the outs this season. Just last month, Schiaparelli sparked backlash when it sent a faux lion head down the runway at its couture show. For the house’s first ready-to-wear runway show later this week, creative director Daniel Roseberry is more focused on showing couture clients that the house is equipped to dress them for everyday life, too. “We’re not trying to break the internet with this collection,” he toldWWD.

Indeed, “stealth wealth” was the prevailing theme at Milan Fashion Week. Gucci’s collection was designed by its studio team as they await the arrival of incoming creative director Sabato De Sarno; its biggest standouts were sharply tailored wool overcoats—sequins and barely-there bikinis be damned. At Ferragamo, recently appointed creative director Maximilian Davis found his footing for fall and winter with voluminous three-piece suits and captivating coat-dresses that channeled the elegance of ‘50s Hollywood.

A fresh focus on the clothes themselves seems to prevail in these early days of Paris Fashion Week, too. At Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello paid homage to the defining characteristic of ‘80s power suiting with sky-high shoulder pads, pairing curtain-like blazers with cashmere leggings and sheer silk capes. For Gabriela Hearst’s second year at the helm of Chloé, the creative director channeled the romanticism of renaissance fashion and the sartorial proclivities of Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the period’s defining painters.

In Their Own Words: “I never think about trends. If I hit a trend it’s a complete accident,” Hearst told the Guardian. “I inherited my mum’s wardrobe, my daughters take their denim from me. Quality is everything. People ask why my clothes cost so much. It is because the fabric and construction will last your lifetime and beyond.”

Surface Says: Maybe a renewed focus on craft will quash influencers’ taste for gate-crashing.

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Join Surface and Blu Dot on Wednesday, March 8, to celebrate the award-winning furniture brand’s new Miami showroom. Guests are invited for an evening of music, cocktails, and light apps, as well as the opportunity to meet Blu Dot’s founders and peruse the new store.

Name: GISELLE

Location: Miami

Designer: Tristan Du Plessis

On Offer: Perched on the rooftop of Miami’s megaclub Eleven, Giselle melds the glossy aesthetic of South Africa-based interior architect Tristan Du Plessis with a diverse menu offering Asian, Mediterranean, and French flavors. The design scheme spans global, from the Paris-made alabaster lights and outdoor furniture crafted in Cape Town to the graffiti-covered bathrooms that echo the vibes of nearby Wynwood. The central dining space is the whimsical, French lace-inspired Dream Room, adorned in a baroque 3D wood-carved installation and equipped with a digital work by local filmmaker Frank Kelly. The Calacatta Viola Italian marble festooned throughout is as ubiquitous as the caviar bumps ripping through Miami.

At Stockholm Design Week, the 115 year-old heritage brand debuted two new collections: a run of nesting tables by Hans J. Wegner and outdoor furnishings by Danish architect Alfred Homann. Available now, both channel the heritage brand’s sleek and timeless appeal, with an emphasis on functionality and harmony with their surroundings.

When: Until March 25

Where: Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles

What: Barbara Kruger, Pussy Riot’s Nadia Tolokonnikova, the Guerrilla Girls, and Ed Ruscha are just a handful of the artists whose power to spark social change is charted in Subliminal Projects’ latest exhibition. The artist- and activist-run gallery teamed up with dealer-curator duo Coates & Scarry to organize the survey, which charts the impact of protest art as it aims to push society to change for the better. Key themes include abortion access, racial equity, the fossil fuel industry, and climate change.

Our weekly roundup of the internet’s most preposterous headlines, from the outrageous to the outright bizarre.

Teacher Charged After Crypto Mining Operation Discovered in School Crawl Space [Gizmodo]

Roald Dahl Threatened Publisher With “Enormous Crocodile” If They Changed His Words [The Guardian]

What on Earth Are We Supposed to Do With the Outrageous Art of CumWizard69420? [Artnet News]

Tipsy Visitor Falls on Do Ho Suh Installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia [The Art Newspaper]

German Ice Cream Parlor Offers Cricket-Flavored Scoops [AP]

Dallas Morning News Fires Reporter for Calling Mayor “Bruh” on Twitter [D Magazine]

TikTok Parents Apologize for Video Showing How to Sneak Toddler on Disney Rides [Huffington Post]

President of Mexico Says He Has Proof of “Mystical” Woodland Elf [Unilad]

There’s a lot going on with Pegasus, the concept superyacht envisioned by Jozeph Forakis as existing in total harmony with nature. Spanning nearly 300 feet long, the futuristic vessel is virtually invisible thanks to a silver-metallic finish that mirrors the sea’s motions and colors. Cladding the exterior hull and superstructure is a 3-D printed lightweight mesh framework that minimizes its environmental impact compared to traditional shipbuilding methods. Ditto for the solar panels embedded in the exterior’s reflecting glass, which is angled toward the sky in order to convert seawater into hydrogen and electricity, ensuring Pegasus can continue cruising without a hitch.

The overall effect is otherworldly—not a quality often associated with superyachts, which can often seem imposing and indulgent. “Sailing is a beautiful way to be close to nature, yet motor yachts have become synonymous with reckless exploitation of resources,” Forakis tells Forbes. “The challenge I give myself is to achieve a holistic ecosystem of ideas and expression, as balanced, essential, and poetic as ecosystems in nature. I’m interested in addressing humanistic needs in harmony with the environment.”

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Studio PCH is a creative studio located in Venice, California, that designs warm, exciting, and sophisticated spaces, with a focus on high-end hospitality. Encompassing both architectural and interior design, Studio PCH has completed recent projects such as Nobu Los Cabos, which was shortlisted for a World Architecture Festival award.

Surface Says: This California-based studio, led by French architect Severine Tatangelo, continues to bring the characteristics of home to hotels, restaurants, and commercial spaces.

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