Last weekend I took a little journey to a small town up the coast called Girona. Roughly 100km northeast of Barcelona, it’s only 40 minutes by train. Having lived the majority of my life in California, this is an extraordinary feeling, the luxury of traveling without really doing much.

The city itself is quaint, playing host to centuries old Roman structures, massive walls and fortifications, as well as one of the best preserved Jewish quarters in Europe. It was incredible to freely walk around and explore these ancient spaces, know that in the past, Girona underwent twenty-five sieges, and had been captured seven times. And they filmed Game of Thrones here.

In contrast, Girona is also home to El Celler de Can Roca, a restaurant run by the brothers Roca, which has been awarded three Michelin stars. Joan, Josep, and Jordi, have a lot going on Girona, clearly they love it there immensely. In addition to El Cellar, they have Casa Cacao, a chocolate making endeavor, as well as Hotel Casa Cacao, which features 15 rooms and a stunning rooftop terrace. Kyle and I enjoyed their rooftop brunch offering, a three course meal that also included a tower of chocolate delights, with the sun shining on us the entire time. It was a magical trip.

📌 — The big news last week came was the surprise appointment of Pharrell as Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director. Not sure anyone really saw this one coming, as rumors had circulated that the gig was potentially going to Grace Wales Bonner or Martine Rose, among others. For me, this feels like a marketing-based stunt (similarly, Jacob Gallagher’s piece for the WSJ reads the same).

Instead of finding fashion designer at the top of their game they’ve installed someone with a literal name brand, who’s cult of personality is the driving force. Don’t get me wrong, he is one of, if not the best, producers of the last two decades (I was obsessed with N.E.R.D. and The Neptunes back in the day). And he has plenty of experience in streetwear, creating Billionaire Boys Club with Nigo back in 2003. And that last part is what fascinates me. Nigo was installed as creative director of Kenzo (another LVMH brand) in September of 2021, so this to me doesn’t feel like a coincidence.

Where I get hung up is whether or not Pharrell will create haute coutre, or will the brand be wallowed in imitation streetwear? Virgil was a deeply analytical creative who sought to find the balance between streetwear and high-end goods, to create an alchemy between these worlds to produce something fantastic. Pharrell certainly has a unique point of view, which he’ll bring to the runway next June during Men's Fashion Week in Paris. My gut feels like the collection will be a candy-colored kaleidoscope of weirdness, akin to what Alessandro did with Gucci, but more Japanese inflected than Italian-inspired. I plan on keeping an open mind, the proof is in the pudding, you know?

That all said, I believe Robin Givhan, fashion critic at The Washington Post, summed it up best for me in her piece titled, Louis Vuitton, Pharrell Williams and the loss of fashion magic —

The shift has taken a bit of the magic out of fashion. It has removed any pretense of intimacy and limited personal expression. It’s all about product and messaging. The creative director has been absolved of needing design training. Times change. Fashion moves along, too. But with the selection of Williams, fashion deflated just a little bit more. Not because he is untalented, but because the choice is uninspiring.

📌 — Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon claiming that we’re seeing the “end of blanding,” a term coined to describe the move way from sans-serif branding into a place where we see more ornament and decoration in branding and graphic design. This may be true for fashion though when I look at design broadly, we’re still all over the map in terms of styles.

I found a great example of a design agency who are walking the line between beautiful, ornate typography paired with an overall clean look and feel to the work. They’re called Bangal Dawson, a studio based in Tokyo and New York, who specialize in branding, art direction, and graphic design, primarily in the fashion and beauty industries. They’ve been able to find this lovely balance, creating brands with charm and character, while at the same time still feeling quite polished and refined.

📌 — I’m always so impressed when I check out what the dudes from Sawdust have been up to. Rob Gonzalez and Jonathan Quainton are a London based design studio who make work that I would describe as futuristic and high-tech feeling. They dabble in lettering, motion graphics, 3D, with all of these elements coming together to create works unlike any you’ve seen before. I’m a big fan of these numerals they created for Which? Magazine, type design made for Wired, and this wild mark for Tesseract Icons.

📌 — Last fall, when I was in Los Angeles for a couple weeks, I came across this clothing brand called Corridor. What stood out to me was their incredible knit shirts, some appearing quite blanket-esque, with the most beautiful colors and patterns. I ended up buying quite a few (sorry about that credit card!) but one of the shirts I bought, a melange of white and blue that looks like a Japanese dyed indigo pattern, gets compliments constantly.

Their newest collection SEFIROT dropped recently, and again, the knits are out of control, and some of the patterned shirts are quite lovely as well. If you’re looking for some unique pieces to update your wardrobe, this is a great place to start.

🍃 — The folks at Typetopia put together a handy guide of Instagram content sizes and resolutions for 2023. It’s an especially fickle place to design for as they seem to change shit every month, hopefully this saves you some stress.

🍃 — I was torn whether or not to post this, so I’m putting it here in the quick links instead — 7UP received a redesign from the team at Turner Duckworth. Sadly, they use terms like “moments of UPliftment” to describe the new direction 🤢 That said, soda is horrible for you, causing diabetes and obesity. Some nice looking creative for a horrible product.

🍃 — If you’re in New York please visit The Orchid Show: Natural Heritage, open until April 23 at the New York Botanical Garden, curated this year by the landscape artist Lily Kwong. So many stunning flowers to admire.

🍃 — I love Margaret Howell and the clothes she produces, not to mention the overall vibe she creates in her creative universe. Wallpaper* interviewed Margaret recently, and she divulged her love of Levi’s ‘Big E’ jeans, and her best piece of advice: Buy only what you really need. 

🍃 — Such a fan of the over-the-top world of John Wick, and the fourth installment seems to continue the wild party even further. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet you should watch it now.

🍃 — It’s rare to read a space described as “minimal” without imagining a bland, white box filled with an $8k chair and a Donald Judd book. When in fact, you could make something like 51Tras, a minimal café in Singapore designed by SILO which feels warm, cozy, and inviting.

🍃 — Geoff McFetridge has a new show titled Return to Stoner Forest, a show that was inspired by work he made over the last 20 years, filled with lots of yetis and sharks. The show is up at One Trick Pony until March 18.

🍃 — Mildly obsessed with Bard, a Scottish gallery and shop with the most delectable collection of home goods and artworks. The product curation, paired with the stunning product photography, makes for an irresistible combination.