THE DEATH OF GLAMOUR
Culture
the trouble with modern art
Who decides what great art is — the artist, the critic, or the market? We explore the fragile authority behind the modern canon, tracing the tangled relationships between originality, repetition, expertise, and commerce — and asking whether the occasional sceptical museum-goer might sometimes be asking the right questions.
THE ART OF NONCHALANCE
In an age allergic to trying too hard, effort has become the ultimate faux pas. We explore the way in which looking effortless became fashion’s most enduring strategy, migrating from courtly codes to contemporary cool — and why studied indifference now signals authority, influencing everything from the red carpets to the political stage.
HOW WE PERCEIVE LUXURY
Luxury, once synonymous with opulence, became in the twentieth century a language of restraint. Today, it’s increasingly a language of narrative. We look at the way in which cultural power shifts from craftsmanship to concept, from atelier to algorithm, and ask whether the rise of the “creative curator” signals decline — or simply a new logic of status. If everything is singular, who decides what’s exceptional?
PEOPLE
TRACES THROUGH TIME
We speak with Pierre Yovanovitch about the evolving language of design, from the legacy of Andrée Putman to his stewardship of Écart International. As historical references move from rediscovery to recontextualisation, the conversation turns to authorship, taste, and how a contemporary sensibility reshapes what it means to preserve—and to edit—design history.
SHAPING THE VISUAL UNIVERSE
We asked figures from the worlds of art and design — including Nicolas Schuybroek, Halleroed and Sophia Roe — to name the influences, tangible or abstract, that have shaped the way they see the world.
ELEGANCE IN REVOLT
In conversation with Edgar Jayet, design emerges as narrative, craft as philosophy. Every object, every interior gesture is deliberate — a dialogue with history, literature, and human scale. Spaces unfold with subtle intelligence, where beauty and thought converge, and furniture and interiors become vessels for reflection, emotion, and the enduring resonance of creation..
TRAVEL
At Sloane
Upon entering the burnt-brick hues of the hotel’s Neo-Greek lobby, one quickly loses all sense of the outside world, entering a richly layered mise-en-scène, a throwback to a golden age of luxury. Beguiled by its inherent charm, I met the designer, François-Joseph Graf, for a tour, after which, we discussed his influences and inspirations, the decorators he most admires, and more pressing concerns, such as where to get the best steak tartare and frog legs in Paris.
Atmospheric intent
“Hotel Château Voltaire is anything but a decoration,” explains Thierry Gillier, “It is a place of today to be experienced today by people of today.” With that in mind, we spoke to Charlotte de Tonnac and Hugo Sauzay of Festen architecture, not only about their design for this 32-room five-star Paris hotel, but also their likes, dislikes and, in the case of the former, a long-harboured desire to moonlight as a dancer.
Home Away From Home
We spoke to Andrea Bokobsa, co-founder of Pied-A-Terre Paris, about his passion for art and design (in part inspired by his mother, a former designer for Baby Dior and Bonpoint) and where he hopes to take the company in coming years
ARCHIVE
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PEOPLE
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