What’s Happening: Six years after exiting Celine, the elusive designer debuts her own label with a wardrobe tailored for the modern woman—and a vision for shattering fashion-industry paradigms.

The Download: The collective gasps of fashion insiders were audible when, in July 2021, the elusive Phoebe Philo shared she would soon put her name on an independent clothing and accessories line. It happened almost six years after the beloved designer departed Celine, the LVMH brand she helped transform into one of the world’s most influential thanks to her freehand approach unbound by signatures or constraints. She perfected that style at the Parisian house Chloé, where she shrugged off convention and leaned into uncomplicated looks in pursuit of liberating the modern woman. Maintaining that freedom was vital—and cultivated a mythos propelled by an obsessive following of “Philophiles”—but fronting a brand wore on her.

Now, two prolonged years after news of her namesake label arrived, its hotly anticipated debut is finally here. As her acolytes predicted, Philo is letting the work speak for itself—she declined all interviews, refused a runway show, eschewed advertising, and only invited select editors for a preview. She organized her brand around the wardrobe: “a seasonless, continuous body of work,” per a quick press note, which translates to a cohesive collection with a distinct point of view that one can continue building on as styles evolve. The intial collection, called A1, comprises an edit of 150 pieces; a second will follow in the spring.

The clothes themselves carve a path forward from an unusual time some are calling the “Recessionary Twenties,” especially as return-to-office picks up steam. There’s a look for just about every occasion—an ivory silk satin dress with built-in bodysuit, high-waisted wool trousers with a provocative zipper up the back of each leg, an army-inspired olive-brown coat and matching baggy pants, and voluminous black leather jackets that are as bold as they are original. Almost every style lacks ornament, but one would be remiss to deem this “quiet luxury.” The message is loud and clear: Phoebe Philo is back and ready to build up her vision of the modern woman without interference. (And just a little help from LVMH, of course.)

In Their Own Words: The famously tight-lipped Philo said little of her collection upon launch, but The Cut’s fashion critic Cathy Horyn ended her review with ample food for thought. “Twenty-five years ago, Philo helped to create the industry’s new paradigm of young talents pouring their ideas into outworn brands. After seeing her free-thinking new collection, I now wonder if she’s about to destroy that paradigm.”

Surface Says: Is this enough proof that Phoebe Philo exists?

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Since picking up from New York and decamping to the Ozarks to restore a former seed mill into their live-in studio, Assemblage founders Heidi and Christian Batteau have elevated wallpaper into fine art. To hear Heidi talk about her practice is to listen, rapt, as she speaks of hand-troweled marble and mica plasters, delicate application of precious metal leaf, silk-screening, ink, and resin. In a single commission (Assemblage uses a handmade-to-order manufacturing process), the Batteaus and their team of artisans can combine many techniques, including some of their own creation.

The studio’s newest collection, Euclid, is available exclusively at Holly Hunt and brings this interdisciplinary fine art ethos together with patterns and textures Batteau found in nature: totems of freestanding tufa limestone, radial imprints reminiscent of Petoskey fossilized coral, the parchment-like face of birch bark. Hand-applied mica wax finishes gently catch light without an aggressive shimmer or sparkle.

Every fragrance enthusiast knows there are only so many ways to reuse the vessels that once held a beloved candle. Anyone who has had to seriously contemplate the quantity of the French parfumerie’s 6.7oz classic candle jars they can justify stashing will be thrilled to know that designer Cristina Celestino and Olivia Giacobetti have teamed up with Diptyque on a new collection of 9.5oz refillable candles. Celestino’s glass vessels come in smoky hues of sage, tamarind, and berry, and correspond to Giacobetti’s evocative, custom-crafted scents of Forest Dreams, Golden Lands, and further gardens of earthly delight.

By creating dream-like renditions of masculinity through “acceptable” interactions like a football tackle or a bro hug, the L.A. designer-turned-painter explores the intimacy interwoven in the male experience through his own perspective as a trans man.

Here, we ask an artist to frame essential details behind one of their latest works.

Bio: Ryan Robichaux, 29, Los Angeles

Title of work: Lean (Study).

Where to see it: Schlomer Haus Gallery, San Francisco, until Dec. 2.

Three words to describe it: Pensive, nuanced, layered, intimate.

What was on your mind at the time: Maybe explicitly, brotherhood, but in reality so many things, and it all comes back to intimacy, really—all the different types, platonic and non, direct and indirect, even the perception of it. We all have different barometers for what we define as an intimate moment. It’s fascinating that one person can experience a shared moment or touch so differently, and that perception is subject to who we are and our background.

When: Nov. 2–5

Where: Park Avenue Armory, New York

What: The 2023 edition of the art show for dealers and gallerists coincides with the 130th anniversary of the Henry Street Settlement, the 35-year-old event’s longtime philanthropic partner. This year’s outing brings a strong presence of 78 member galleries, including ADAA newcomers like Perrotin and Ortuzar Projects. Highlights include a showcase of Sheila Hicks’ new works by Sikkema Jenkins & Co. and Castelli Gallery’s exhibition of paintings, sculpture, and collages by Roy Lichtenstein, and Eric Firestone’s tribute to boundary-breaking museum exhibitions of African American art through the works of Ellsworth Ausby, Joe Overstreet, Anderson Pigatt, Thomas Sills, and Paul Waters.

From the very beginning of her practice, Judy Chicago has employed transfixing colors in her paintings and installations that turn a critical eye to women’s roles in culture throughout history. It’s fitting, then, that her work makes a different kind of incursion into the domestic sphere in the form of a collaboration with illy’s newest art collection. Collectors can acquire an enight-piece set of either cappuccino or espresso cups and coordinating saucers, both realized in the kaleidoscopic hues that have become a Chicago signature. From $170

Suite NY is a midcentury modern and contemporary furniture showroom open to the trade and the public. The brand’s 8,000-square-foot showroom in New York City’s NoMAD district displays a meticulously curated collection of iconic European designs alongside pieces from up-and-coming international designers.

Surface Says: Bringing together international designers across all disciplines, Suite NY’s curated showroom puts forth the very best of the best in midcentury modern and contemporary design.

How did a ghosting act become the default ending to so much interaction?

A series of unfortunate events have surrounded this painting of a young girl.

John Jarnestad translates Nobel Prize–winning ideas into easy illustrations.

Has the onslaught of millennial meme marketing reached its breaking point?