What’s Happening: This year’s most high-profile Scandinavian fashion debut wasn’t at Copenhagen Fashion Week, and it’s not even for sale. Ganni wowed the industry at the recent Global Fashion Summit when it became the first brand to showcase a garment made of a bacteria-grown cellulose leather alternative.

The Download: The cult Danish fashion brand beloved by art-world types and the street-style set turned industry heads in 2021 when it pledged to phase out the use of virgin leather by 2023. The pledge raised a few eyebrows given that a fifth of the label’s 2020 sales came from leather goods alone. At this summer’s Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen, the label made a bold proclamation for its post-leather future by unveiling an ugly-chic chartreuse blazer made from bacteria-grown cellulose “leather.”

According to biomaterials lab Polybion, which worked with Ganni to create the garment, more than a decade of research went into developing the leather-like textile dubbed Celium. Not to be confused with mycelium-based faux leathers, this prototype was made by feeding agricultural mango waste to a bacteria colony, which then created cellulose from the sugars it digested. After undergoing further treatment, the cellulose was processed and tanned similarly to animal leather. In a statement, Polybion shared that it’s working with Ganni to have consumer-ready Celium garments available in 2024.

Much like lab-grown meat, bacteria-grown “leather” has long been the stuff of lore, its potential exalted in scientific circles with questionable commercial viability. A single prototype is hardly ready for retail, but according to Polybion co-founder Axel Gómez-Ortigoza, it’s the first garment of its kind to be showcased by a multinational brand like Ganni. Still, Celium has its shortcomings, the biggest involving the use of a controversial petrochemical-based coating, polyurethane (PU). Beloved by fast fashion for making faux leather products cheap to produce, PU played a key role in the downfall of the Higg index, which categorized the petrochemical-based textile as more sustainable than fabrics of natural origin.

In Their Own Words: In an interview, Gómez-Ortigoza claims Celium already outperforms mycelium-based imitation leathers and is “about 80 percent of the way [there] compared to animal leather. There’s still a road to walk to outperform animal leathers. T​​his will be achieved by a steady learning and improvement cycle of the stabilization process, the growth process, and via gene-tuning of the [bacterial] strains.”

Surface Says: Science aside, this blazer would fit right in at Copenhagen Fashion Week—just add some avant-garde footwear and a couple of statement accessories.

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The captivating Hotel Corazón stands as a testament to Mallorca’s harmonious fusion of luxury, art, and local heritage, offering an antidote to the frenetic pace of neighboring Ibiza. Situated between the Tramuntana Mountains and the azure sea, the intimate sanctuary is embodied by the carefree spirit of local artisans. The hotel’s co-founders, British-born photographer Kate Bellm and artist Edgar Lopez, collaborated with talents like Tille and Oro del Negro of Moredesign, who meticulously restored the historic 16th-century finca with the help of skilled local stonemasons, metalworkers, and ceramicists.

Each room is an homage to the ‘70s-era organic architecture movement, featuring custom textiles, furniture, and artwork crafted from local materials. An artist residency program invites creatives to contribute to the boutique property’s richness, with the first residency undertaken by Berlin-based sculptor Yasmin Bawa, who crafted a reception desk to resemble Bellm’s favorite rock on the island. The hotel shop showcases the work of local weavers and beloved ceramicists Dora Good and Grace Almazora Good while the gardens are laden with jacaranda trees and cactuses. The perfect place to take it all in: the Mediterranean restaurant helmed by chef Grace Berrow, where ingredients grown on-site are displayed in all their glory.

Mana Sazegara envisions each of her colorful creations as individual creatures with their own distinct personalities—an approach that yields chaotically chromatic mirrors, rugs, and furniture imbued with postmodern, almost frozen-in-time flair. Intended as an antidote to a high-end furniture market that tends to favor risk-averse greige tones, each piece feels memorable in its own right and reflects the sensibilities of a designer who simply wants to make furniture and homewares more fun and adventurous.

By subverting floral motifs and tropes of American domesticity, the Boise-born painter and tattoo artist unravels the deep-rooted complexities percolating in queer bodies.

Here, we ask an artist to frame the essential details behind a recent work.

Bio: Evan Paul English, 33, Brooklyn.

Title of work: Viewfound (Unentangled 2), 2023.

Where to see it: Distortion Society (Beacon, New York) until July 30.

Three words to describe it: Nostalgic, reclamatory, playful.

What was on your mind at the time: Combining the past and the present, the domestic and the public, and the heteronormative and the queer. My work is often about the tension of oppositions that live within queer bodies.

As office use hovers around half of pre-pandemic levels, cities are grappling with how to repurpose these deserted spaces. One obvious (if not complicated) solution lies in housing, but another involves agriculture. In Arlington, Virginia, Area 2 Farms is utilizing a multilevel conveyor belt system called Silo for vertical farming, reducing the need for physical labor and modifications to the existing buildings. AgriPlay Ventures in Calgary has converted part of the Calgary Tower Center into a large indoor farm, taking advantage of favorable environmental conditions. These projects not only address food insecurity and promote local food systems but also offer economic opportunities and contribute to revitalizing stagnant downtowns.

A design company founded in 1976, Magis guarantees high quality by manufacturing all its products in Italy. This is in line with the firm’s tradition, which developed from its craft and cultural roots, as well as from the evolving styles and industrial growth of the 1980s and ’90s.

Surface Says: Magis products embody daring contemporary design—from Konstantin Grcic’s Chair One to Thomas Heatherwick’s Spun chair.

Antarctica may have an otherworldly draw, but is suffering from overtourism.

The Threads logo draws comparisons to spaghetti and Homer Simpson’s ear.

The International Salsa Museum dances its way to a new home in the Bronx.

Backdrop debuts a four-paint collection inspired by classic Porsche models.