The past three years have signaled a momentous shift for Daveed Baptiste. The 27-year-old photographer, fashion designer, and visual artist is continually inspired by his Haitian-American heritage and the formative role that living in Miami and New York has played in his life. His garments, photographs, and moving image works are unflinching portraits of his intersectional identities and background. Awards and grants, like Converse’s All Stars artist program, and the inaugural Creator Labs Photo Fund Grant, have created room in the Brooklyn-based talent’s practice to focus on “creating work at the highest level possible,” alongside trusted—and properly paid—collaborators.

As applications open today for Creator Labs’ third season, Baptiste reflects on his growth, the transformative power of artist residencies, and what’s following his “Ti Maché,” his breakthrough solo show in Brooklyn.

Have awards like the Creator Labs Photo Fund Grant allowed you to get more experimental or take more creative risks?

When you receive the award, it’s a breath of fresh air. It’s validation. You feel good that people and the industry are recognizing you. More than half of my career as an emerging creative has been sustained by these grants. The Creator Lab Photo Fund has bought me freedom and the sense that I can do projects that I really care about. I’ve been able to respect my collaborators with proper pay.

You used to make your own sets for photographic projects. How has that evolved since receiving grants like this?

Last year, I was able to get funding [from the Converse All Stars Project] and I still had funding left from grants like Creator Labs. When I started, I was wearing many hats. We created amazing images, but the work could’ve been so much stronger with a team. I was building sets by myself, casting, doing really shitty lighting, and producing the shoots. It’s amazing the liberty and freedom these grants can give artists to create work at the highest level. It’s hard to do that when, by the time you get to set, you’re tired. It was like the creative energy had left my body. That’s changed a lot.

I did a residency at Silver Art Projects in the World Trade Center for a year and a half and created some of my best work. It hasn’t been released yet. For every project, I worked on building my team out with people who understood and could execute what I was trying to create. The best part is, the team was the homies—all super skilled. It felt like we were doing big stuff. I plan to show that work at a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art (MOCADA) in 2026.

What does your practice look like right now? Any upcoming exhibitions or collaborations we should know about?

I’m focusing on other disciplines, specifically fashion design. I just had a smaller fashion exhibition with MOCADA and now I’m preparing to release my first lookbook. I’m doing a residency with Material for the Arts in Queens. They started a design residency program. It’s very new and I’m one of the few designers that has had the luxury of working in that space, and I’m expected to do a fashion exhibition in the late fall.

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Tucked into a lush corner of Polanco, often referred to as the Beverly Hills of Mexico City, a boutique property infuses the colonia’s Art Deco heritage with contemporary touches. Bordered by embassy-lined street Campos Elíseos to the south, the Mondrian-inspired doors to Campos Polanco conceal an eclectic property—part guest house, part gallery.

Thanks to a thoughtful refresh by prolific interiors firm AvroKO, the 12-suite guesthouse reflects the city’s vibrancy while paying homage to the original ‘50s-era architecture. Featuring six social spaces in addition to private residences, the property showcases the work of such local makers as postwar painter Mario Rangel and Tijuana ceramic studio Perro Y Arena throughout. Private rooms are equipped with freestanding tubs tucked into Bisazza-lined alcoves and stocked with vetiver-scented products.

Alessandro Michele has only helmed Valentino as artistic director for two and a half months, but he’s already making his presence known. Yesterday, the Italian fashion powerhouse surprise-dropped the resort 2025 collection on Instagram well ahead of its planned fall debut, offering a truly all-encompassing look at his plans for the Roman couture house after spending two decades honing his maximalist claws at Gucci. Dedicated followers of his more-is-more whimsy won’t be disappointed by his maiden offering here, which hews close to his previous work while channeling Valentino’s era of ‘70s overindulgence.

That seems to be the operative word—his debut collapses decades and categories into a 260-image lookbook that he describes as a “continuous orgasm.” Belted ivory peacoats, bell-shaped capes, fringe-adorned suede bags, and ruffled turtleneck blouses are all on the menu, as are more muted looks referencing Valentino Garavani’s work in the late ’60s. “I’m deep in conversation with the clothes he created, with his life,” Michele says. “I’ve often had the impression of having him seated next to me.”

Yaniv Chen translates emotional cues from photographs, artwork, architecture, and fashion into subtle yet versatile furniture that complements all types of interiors without needlessly commanding too much attention. With a focus on craft and contemplation, the Turin- and Cape Town–based talent zeroes in on how everyday pieces can conjure feeling and transcend time—themes that inform his understated range of pieces for design upstart Lemon as well as interiors for soon-to-come residences and hotels.

When: Until Sept. 15

Where: Arthur Ross Gallery, Philadelphia

What: The traveling exhibition of the late artist, historian, and curator makes its way to the University of Pennsylvania and is something akin to a spiritual successor to one he curated in 1976 that featured his art-world collaborators. Nearly 50 years later, many of those artists—Betye Saar, Elizabeth Catlett, Norman Lewis, Charles White, John Biggers—are evaluated here through the lens of form, color, and abstraction.

Hacin is a multidisciplinary architecture firm dedicated to design excellence and client service. Working at all scales, the firm’s services include architecture and interior design, graphic design and branding, and adaptive reuse.

Surface Says: Hacin imbues its work with a strong sense of place, especially in hometown Boston. Just look at the award-winning Whitney Hotel in Beacon Hill for proof: its thoughtfully expressive design has a pinch of New England flair and exudes a casual sophistication that impeccably matches the Beantown vibe.

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