Out Of This World
The space race between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos is only one aspect of our love of all things extra-terrestrial this season. Whether it is Space Adventures offering two weeks holiday on the ISS Space Station (from $120m) or heading to French startup Orbite for a luxury space camp (from £29,000) we are all going to be looking to the skies in 2022. The influence is also spreading to the art world. We’re all looking for something bigger than ourselves and the key themes (adventure, exploration). Our current favourite is Brendan Murphy’s exhibit Dreams Matter at The ARX in London, a one of a kind 19ft tall, three tonne, chrome coated spaceman sculpture stepping forward into uncharted territory.
Price on application. TheArx.com
Gorpcore is dead. Long live “Bookcore”.
Following 2017’s Gorpcore (where everyone on the catwalk looked like they were en route to Kilimanjaro), now everyone seems to want to dress like they are an elderly guest at a reading. Think Nineties sportswear, blazers, wide legged trousers, chunky sneakers and big glasses. Coined by Derek Guy from DieWorkWear, he defines them the archetypal figure as: “The person who listens intently to an author talk about Victorian fashion, Tibetan pottery, or the renegade anthropologists who reshaped our understanding of class in the 20th century.”
Soho House opening in Brighton is going to be a very big deal
We will need co-working spaces for creatives more than ever before. As such the Soho House Brighton outpost is particularly welcome: not least because the area has long needed an injection since building works began in 2018. Bonus: good access to the World’s Oldest Aquarium in the basement (which you are not going to get at either the West Hollywood nor Nashville branches).
Little Beach House Brighton is set to open this spring. Sohohouse.com
Warm water swimming
Bored of hearing about yet another broadsheet writer discover the thrill of wild swimming? Friend evangelical about the benefits of plunging into sub-zero waters around the UK with only the swans and the occasional untreated sewage for company? We have the perfect riposte. First espoused by Andrew Tuck in Monocle, he advocates the “warm-water swimming movement, which will pack away its towels and goggles every winter and reconvene come summer on Greek beaches.” Finally a campaign we can all get behind - particularly if it involves a stay at the new Lesante Cape hotel, set to open on Zakynthos in May 2022.
lesantecape.gr/
Your TV could now actually become a work of art
Samsung’s The Frame, first launched in 2017, established that carefully chosen artwork, rather than an enormous black oblong was a preferable choice in most living rooms. The new model, showcased recently at CES in Las Vegas, is even better thanks to its anti-glare, avoids fingerprints and anti low reflection panel technology. Second only to seeing it in a gallery, the device will showcase whichever digital art (or NFT) of your choice showing up to 85”
Set to launch in 2022. samsung.com
Father Of Pearl
According to Pinterest, pearls for all genders are on the rise: whether on gowns, necklaces or wedding favours. Naturally the more progressive style figures - A$AP Rocky, Harry Styles, Lil Nas X - have all embraced the opportunity to experiment. If you're looking to follow suit we would recommend the new Comet Plus necklace from Tasaki, in yellow gold with Akoya pearls.
£7,240, tasaki.co.uk
Surroundings with personality
We no longer want to live in bland featureless environments devoid of personality. A blank canvas is only appropriate if you’re planning on showing at Frieze this year. Consider the affluent emptiness of Kanye West’s former home (which he described as a “futuristic Belgian monastery”) with the subtle signs of life in Jay Z’s new office, designed by Willo Peron.
Invest in photography that changes your perspective
Over lockdown, many of us have longed to virtually travel and escape the uncertainty of restricted movement. As such, many have invested in art that helps us consider familiar locations in a different light. Online gallery Subject Matter Art reported growing interest in the otherworldly works of Teresa Freitas, a 32 year old Portuguese artist whose pastel shades are both calming and charming in equal measure.
From £345. subjectmatterart.com
Matthieu Blazy for Bottega Veneta is one to watch
After the unexpected departure of Daniel Lee, Bottega have enlisted one of the most highly regarded individuals in fashion: former men’s designer for Raf Simons, Maison Martin Margiela RTW, senior designer at Celine and RTW designer at Bottega since 200. He is that real rarity: both a safe choice and an inspired one.
Blazy’s first collection will be shown in February 2022. bottegaveneta.com
Flying ethically could become the standard
As international travel recommences once more, both Google and Skyscanner are now offering data which show which flights are lower in emissions. Think newer more efficient planes, fly economy, take direct flights, longer trips. Even so there is work to be done: it was recently revealed that Brussels Airlines has operated 3,000 empty or near-empty flights this winter to avoid losing take-off and landing rights at major airports.
