It’s an oft-repeated “ism” that, in most design disciplines, there is nothing new under the sun. At its worst, that manifests as knocking off and copycatting to make a quick buck everywhere from the high street to the highest price points. At its very best, however, it can be the indescribable giddiness that arises from decoding the influences at play in a designer’s newest collection.

Industry folks will always have an eye for the muses, mentors, and biggest runway wins that designers and their teams revisit and reinterpret. For audience members whose reference points are steeped more in the city’s museums, galleries, artists, and performers, the runways of Adeam, Carolina Herrera, Proenza Schouler, Rachel Comey, and Ulla Johnson offered a glimpse into the cultural touchpoints that bring joy to those behind the brands.

For Adeam’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection, CEO and creative director Hanako Maeda channeled the brutal athleticism of ballet. As the costume designer of New York City Ballet’s 2015 Fall Fashion Gala, Maeda is well-versed in the discipline’s balance between structure, fluidity, romanticism, and precision. While there were a few wrap sweaters and tulle skirts, the collection largely avoided the pitfalls and stereotypes of balletcore.

“I like playing with opposites,” Maeda says. “This collection had that femininity, but it also had that punk mood from last season with the jewelry, the piercings, and also the styling.” Indeed, the show’s strongest looks gave silk satin, organza, and tulle evening-wear an edge by styling it with punk-inflected piercings and Doc Martens. “As a younger designer, it’s very important to create something that feels like it’s innovative, and new to the eye.”

Maeda also hosted Tiler Peck’s New York Fashion Week debut, commissioning a mid-show performance choreographed entirely by the New York City Ballet principal dancer. Those who frequent David H. Koch Theater more often than fashion week were given a unique opportunity to see Peck nod to the company’s founding choreographers Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine in a composition entirely her own.

Other highlights came in the form of runways at the Whitney and Phillips Auction House, and elsewhere, prints attributed to Joan Jonas and Shara Hughes. Surface spoke with Wes Gordon, creative director of Carolina Herrera, along with Proenza Schouler founders Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez about how the art world inspired their runways this season.

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Tomèf has transformed the London base of Spring Studios, a 25-year resident of a revamped paint factory near Camden Town. The redesign of the editorial hub’s state-of-the-art film and production studios strikes a tasteful blend of vintage and modern, with sculptural furniture and vivid textiles invigorating workspaces and communal areas. Notable accents include custom scalloped sofas inspired by Piero Portaluppi, Josef Frank fabrics and Art Deco cabinetry in the CEO’s quarters, and visually arresting wallpaper from Los Angeles artist Marco Lorenzetto. “Our design,” says Tomèf founder Tommaso Franchi, “celebrates the vibrancy of the agency through colorfully rich materials and textures, respectfully balancing history and the building’s role in nurturing young talent within the creative industry.”

When: Until Feb. 11

Where: The Blanton Museum of Art, Austin

What: Author and curator Jeff Goodell’s latest show aims to deepen the climate change conversation by blending art, science, and literature, featuring nearly 60 works and commissioned pieces from top climate writers like Elizabeth Colbert and Amitav Ghosh. According to Goodell, the exhibition ventures beyond the science of climate change and into its cultural, political, and psychological dimensions. The show also highlights Texas’s dual role as a fossil fuel producer and a leader in renewable energy.

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

The Vandal Who Desecrated a Chinese Terracotta Warrior Vows to Sell His Sneaker Collection to Pay Restitution [Artnet News]

600,000 Gallons of Red Wine Flow Through Portuguese Town After Spill, Triggering Environmental Warning [New York Post]

Coast Guard Arrests a Man Trying to Run a Giant Hamster Wheel Across the Atlantic [NPR]

China Authorities Arrest 2 for Smashing Shortcut Through Great Wall With Excavator [AP]

Benedict Arnold Burned a Connecticut City. Centuries Later, Residents Get Payback in Fiery Festival [Toronto Star]

A Yoga Class in Corpse Pose Was Mistaken for a “Ritual Mass Killing” [Washington Post]

Last week, collectors, curators, and artists flocked to the Guggenheim for The Armory Show’s Collectors’ Soirée to celebrate the art fair’s 29th edition. The crowd of collectors and creatives mingled in the museum’s luminous lobby and wandered up the rotunda to explore works by Sarah Sze and Gego while sipping cocktails crafted with Yola Mezcal and Tequila Herradura.

When was it? Sept. 6

Where was it? The Guggenheim Museum, New York

Who was there? Nicole Berry, Adriana Farietta, Candice Hopkins, Javier Mora, Mariane Ibrahim, Nazy Nazhand, Rafael Prieto, Brian Thoreen, Yola Jimenez, and more.

Bob Ross never cared to brag about his creative prowess; rather, he painted to show how good of an artist you, the viewer, could be. Throughout the run of The Joy of Painting, which aired on PBS for 31 seasons across more than 400 episodes, the late art instructor’s dulcet instructions cosseted viewers as they completed oil paintings of serene landscapes along with him or simply watched for the ASMR of it all. Now, the Minneapolis gallery Modern Artifact has listed Ross’s painting A Walk in the Woods, featured in the first episode of his show, for sale at $9.85 million. You may want to act fast—most of his works remain stored at Bob Ross Inc., the company overseeing his intellectual property, and rarely pop up at auction.

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The James Webb Telescope finds an exoplanet surface covered in oceans.

Coca-Cola launches Y3000, a new flavor made using artificial intelligence.

Work has already invaded evenings and weekends—should we also be texting?

Studio Ghibli’s whimsical Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro is coming to life.