PinWall N°11: March-April 2022

WELCOME TO

Harper‘s Pick N° 11

A SOPHISTICATION focussed selection of trends

The March/April 2022 Edition

Bookology

From Strength to Strength

Author: Arthur C. Brooks
Published: Portfolio, 15.February 2022

The roadmap for finding purpose, meaning, and success as we age. The author draws on social science, philosophy, biography, theology, and eastern wisdom, as well as dozens of interviews with everyday men and women. By refocusing on certain priorities and habits that anyone can learn, such as deep wisdom, detachment from empty rewards, connection and service to others, and spiritual progress, we can set ourselves up for increased happiness.
photo@amazon via Portfolio

The Flames

Author: Sophie Haydock
Published: Doubleday, 17th March 2022

We know the four women in The Flames, as pictures by the Austrian artist Egon Schiele. The Harms sisters, Adele and Edith, who both fall under the spell of the charismatic artist, Gertrude, Egon’s wild sister and Vally, his muse, as guarded as she’s uninhibited.
Set in a bohemian Vienna that will be torn about by World War One, The Flames, is a stunning story of love, art and betrayal.
photo@doubleday

The Walls of Delhi

Author: Uday Prakash
Published: Seven Stories Press, 2016

One of India’s most original and audacious writers, Uday Prakash, weaves three tales of living and surviving in today’s globalized India. In his stories, Prakash portrays realities about caste and class with an authenticity absent in most English-language fiction about South Asia. Sharply political but free of heavy-handedness.

The Duchess Countess

Author: Cathrine Ostler
Published: Simon&Schuster Ltd, April 2021

When the glamorous Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston, Countess of Bristol, went on trial at Westminster Hall for bigamy in April 1776, the story drew more attention in society than the American War of Independence. However, Elizabeth refused to submit to public humiliation and retire quietly. She embarked on a Grand Tour of Europe, being welcomed by the Pope and Catherine the Great among others.

Spending Spree

The most expensive diamond ever

The De Beers “Cullinan Blue” is an extraordinary natural treasure and one of the most valuable blue diamonds ever to be offered at auction. This extraordinary 15.10-carat step-cut diamond has been cut from an exceptional rough stone discovered in April 2021. The diamond goes to auction in April at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong. It is estimated at $48 million.

Vice & Vogue

Blahnik x Birkenstock

Shoe designer Manolo Blahnik and Birkenstock have unveiled a collaboration that reimagines two classic styles from the German brand. The two-strapped Arizona sandal and Boston clog mule have been transformed by Blahnik in three colourways, including two new designs that replace the standard leather and suede that Birkenstock wearers are used to with plush velvet in fuschia and sapphire blue.
photo@birkenstock/harpers bazaar

Return of the Bandage Dress

Christian Juul Nielsen, Hervé Léger‘s new designer has updated the original silhouette-with pants! He styled them as a layer underneath dresses and skirts and designed some trendy bike shorts as well. However, a question remains does today’s bandage fashion allow one to properly digest a hamburger? photo@celebfirst

LBD

1926 Coco Chanel introduced the first Little Black Dress and democratised elegance and sexiness. LBD was always in high fashion during times of great societal change, like the golden Twenties, or the introduction of “the pill”. No wonder it is back now, as we reclaim streets, restaurants, theatres and bars after months of lockdown. photo@sheknows/sag awards

Ethical Beauty Boom

A significant number of emerging dynamic brands are accelerating new futures in beauty with innovations in local ingredients, waterless formulas; even aiming at carbon neutrality. What makes these brands so right for these times is their holistic approach to beauty’s problems and their understanding that seemingly separate issues such as product formulation, social justice and environmental protection are fundamentally interlinked and connected. Purpose-driven beauty companies weave sustainability throughout their whole business, from sourcing and formulation through to independent product certification and paying employees a fair, real, living wage. photo@Lush

The Insider

Pritzker Prize 2022

Francis Kéré becomes the first African to win ‘The Nobel Price of architecture’. He not only transformed his village but other communities across Africa with his socially-minded designs. The 56-year-old has now been named among the greats of his profession.

Milan‘s Garden Inspired Restoration Project

The ancient amphitheatre in Milan is being turned into a green archaeological park under a 1.5m-euro restoration project. City officials plan to turn this long-forgotten ancient site into a major attraction. Many bushes will be planted in the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre.

Picasso family feud

The worlds of art history and crypto art collided in dramatic fashion, when DJ Florian Picasso and his mother, Marina Picasso, announced plans to mint the world’s first Pablo Picasso NFTs. The family opposed this idea. Any such “Picasso” NFT, the artist’s estate proclaimed, would be counterfeit.
Florian, the Cubist master’s great-grandson, attempted to rebrand the “Man and the Beat” drop as a sale of his own original NFT work in an effort “to clear the air.” photo@instagram/pablopicasso_arty image nft manandthebeat.com

Take Away

“It’s not enough just to be against something any more. You really need to be making a difference.”
Jonnie Hatfield, LUSH