The autumn light has started to soften, and the days have drawn in — October feels like a turning point. This year, I'm determined not to allow the shift in the seasons to drag me down — this year, I'm making a choice to romanticize this time of year.
That manifests itself in how I live in my space — redressing it to be cozier, lighting an abundance of candles, re-adjusting which lamp is on which table until things feel perfectly ambient. But it's also in romanticizing the season outside of the home, too. Where it's easy to be a social butterfly in the summer months, it can take a bit of extra inspiration to want to leave the comfort of home under overcast skies.
This month's Zeitgeist Edit offers a little of everything. Some introspection, some innovation, some celebration — it's the list of what's inspiring me this month, and what's caught my eye over the last few weeks in design and culture. Here's what's going up, and down, in October.
↑ Going Up — Making Space
The title of one of Phaidon's latest releases, Making Space: Women in Interior Design, made me pause for a moment. I have no reason to think women are underrepresented in interior design, so I was interested to delve into this book for a new point of view. And, while Jane Hall's book isn't about women as a minority in this profession as such, it frames the conversation around the history of interior design as a female-oriented space, and how it transitioned into the industry it is today.
The challenge, as Jane explains, was in how the first interior designers had to "reframe interiors not just as sites of domestic labor, but also as spaces for creative potential at a time when decorating was not considered a serious pastime, let alone a professional one," Jane explains in the forward. It's such an interesting history, but one that's largely untold.
This book is worth buying for the forward alone, but it also introduces you to a world of female interior designers, some of whom you'll likely know, some you'll be less familiar with.
↑ Going Up — Sumac
I love a color inspired by a spice — they're always rich and expressive, but nuanced. We've seen, over the years, the rise of 'paprika' and golden 'turmeric' as a color trend, but the latest idea, floated by British kitchen brand Tom Howley, is 'sumac' — and it's such an interesting shade.
Where the oxblood trend sat on the red end of the scale, sumac feels defiantly brown, but with the subtle warmth and richness of red. It gives brown character and a little more liveliness. Could it be your next kitchen color?
↑ Going Up — Birthday Presents
Happy birthday, Zara. The high street fashion (and home decor) giant has officially turned 50, and to celebrate the brand has enlisted the help of 50 creative visionaries to design a piece of clothing, an accessory, or an interior object.
We'll skirt the fashion for now, but highlights in decor include a plate by Axel Vervoordt, a keepsake box designed by Kate Moss, and a sleeping bag designed by David Sim.
Unfortunately, it's mostly sold out already, but just so you know, all profits from the collection will go to "Women's Earth Alliance", a non-profit organization focused on the mission to protect the environment by empowering women's leadership (to be matched by Zara), as well as donating £20,000 each to 50 charities chosen by each creative.
↑ Going Up — Let Them Eat Cake
Marie Antoinette has been cropping up a lot in our conversations at Livingetc HQ, especially in terms of a particular style of extravagant, Parisian design we've been enjoying. However, it also might have something to do with a new exhibition recently opened at the V&A South Kensington, chronicling the lasting influence of the ill-fated queen on fashion and design.
If you're looking for somewhere to go after, London hotel The Berkeley in Knightsbridge has collaborated with legendary shoe designer Manolo Blahnik on a special tea of 'Cakes and Cocktails Fit for a Queen' that's the perfect afterparty.
↓ Going Down — Throw-Out Garnishes
I've enjoyed Maison Balzac's cocktail glasses from a distance so far, but the release of a Bloody Mary glass might be the one that finally pushes me to purchase. It's one of the brand's Cocktail Hours collection with specific glasses for specific cocktails, each with the classic garnish recreated from glass. The Bloody Mary comes with a removable celery stick, as pictured, but there's also the L'espresso Martini with a glass espresso bean, and I'm equally enamored with Le Twist, with its perfectly sculptured citrus rind twist (which I always find difficult to do). Yes, you probably want to actually add the real garnish, too, but imagine how a set of these would look on your cocktail bar.
↓ Going Down — Seeing, but Not Feeling
I've been swooning over the furniture created by Six Dots Design for some time now. The brand has been the fodder of my Instagram saves for its combination of fluid, organic shapes and raw aluminum — their pieces are designed to stand out.
However, what I didn't know until London Design Festival last month was that 1. the studio is based in North London, where it makes all its designs, and 2. that these are as much of a treat for the hands as they are for the eyes. Touching it in real life at an exhibition at Shoreditch House last month, I found that the different elements of something like the bar stool have different tactile textures, while each grind mark, scuff, and scratch tells the story of how it's manufactured.
↓ Going Down — The Wrong Hotel for the Occasion
I live life by the idea that the hotel you choose for a trip sets the tone for the kind of holiday you're having, so I'd advise against booking into the boutique Maison Souquet, a newly renovated hotel in Paris' Pigalle district, on your family holiday.
The Paris hotel and spa has found its home in a property that, some 100 years ago, was a Belle Epoque brothel in the city, reimagined by interior designer Jacques Garcia. It's romantic, moody, sexy, provocative — each room filled with decadent materials and a rich color palette.
The hotel has 20 rooms, each named after a legendary courtesan, and also three velvet-draped parlors, furnished with 19th-century antiques or custom pieces imagined by the designer. It's a transportative design, that feels as luxurious as it does immersive, but is perhaps best suited for a couple's weekend.
So that's my rundown of October, but if you want to keep an eye on what's launching each month, I also suggest you keep tabs on our ICYMI feature, a round-up of the latest releases in design across the high street and high end brands, that'll keep you in the loop of the design world, as it happens.
