The SSENSE 2022 Year in Review

The architect and founder of her eponymous design studio, Oana Stănescu organized this conversation among four of her peers—Ife Salema Vanable, Diana Jean Sandoval Martinez, Omar Gandhi, and Zeina Koreitem—about the future of their field, paying special attention to the unmeasurable, ineffable aspects of the practice. The resulting story is incisive, discursive, and grounded in deep feeling. And if you’re craving more similarly brainy conversation about designing space, this interview with Samuel Ross about connecting digital and physical retail is an excellent pairing.

Chloë Sevigny needs no introduction. Profiled by writer Thora Siemsen, the actress and style icon reflects on decades spent working in Hollywood and what she’s learned about directing from some of the most talented filmmakers in the world.

Beloved Irish designer Simone Rocha connected with SSENSE head of digital content Steff Yotka after Rocha debuted her first menswear collection at London Fashion Week. “I felt really stimulated to look at things in a technical way…. That’s where this whole almost militant uniformity was originally sparked from: very strict rules and playing with boundaries,” Rocha explained. Rocha is but one of many designers who spent time with SSENSE in 2022—be sure to read these conversations with Masha Popova, Lois Saunders, and Cho Gi-Seok.

“The attempt to think about bodies that aren’t thin in fashion is so in its infancy,” says Sinead O’Dwyer. “That’s very much my motivation to rethink and redefine how we see bodies with fat, and how we dress them.” Take a peek behind the curtain with the designer whose work is reimagining fashion as we know it.

The long-delayed and highly anticipated sequel to Breath of the Wild will be here before you know it. May 2023 is locked in. Get hyped by reading reflections from David Zilber—the former head of fermentation at three-Michelin-starred restaurant Noma—on why BotW is the greatest game of all time, and what to expect from its sequel.

Montreal-based photographer Fatine-Violette Sabiri, makeup artist Carole Méthot (Miaou, BARRAGÁN), and Shahan Assadourian of @archivings.stacks team up to explore the secret lives of objects, with a careful curation from SSENSE EVERYTHING ELSE.

Joshua P. Matthews’s perspective on not just cycling, but style, movement, and archiving, too, is essential. “While choosing to cycle over riding the train may seem small,” writes Sydney Allen-Ash, “by frustrating the boundaries around his body and space Matthews is connected to a lineage of Black artists and intellectuals who have been doing the same.” His book HARD-SHELL® explores his relationship to performance gear and gives an inside look into his vast Arc’teryx and rare bike archive. Read his conversation with Allen-Ash for more of Matthews’s story.

Despite thousands of requests, Sam Barsky won’t sell a single one of his hand-knitted sweaters. Read our interview with the trendsetting knitwear designer to find out why.

If Skiifall wasn’t included in your Spotify Wrapped this year, it’s time to run his tunes up! With tons of new music on the way, 2023 will undoubtedly be his year. Get to know the rising rapper/singer by reading Sheldon Pearce’s interview here, with photos by Isabel Okoro and styling by Janelle Ballantyne.

Senior beauty editor-at-large of i-D Magazine and self-described "reference junkie" Jawara Wauchope's roster of clients includes Bella, Beyoncé, Naomi, Rihanna, Solange. We've been blown away by his work, which has appeared across 2022's most influential ads, editorials, and magazine covers (Rihanna's “Plus One”, Mrs. Carter and Stetson the horse), and in campaigns for major labels like Burberry and Lanvin. Here, the visionary stylist speaks with Deidre Dyer about what informs his gravity-defying looks. As Dyer puts it best: "His creations are the kind of thing you have to see—but absolutely never, ever touch—to believe."

"Evolution is so much iller than a full-out rebrand," says designer Sean Brown. From settling into a space to revisiting old MTV Cribs classics, Brown shares his ideas around music, fashion, and understanding interiors.

Ever heard of "editor-in-chief syndrome?" We all know someone showing some of its symptoms: sesquipedalia (the use of very large words); insomnia (the inability to sleep due to very large words); lingering in museums; and an itch right above the neck at the back of the head. Writer, photographer, model, and editor-in-chief in the making Michael the III offers tips and reminders for the month in fashion that means the most. For extra drama, see also: Michael the III's Murder Mystery.

While developing a relationship with the tarot over the years, Chicago-based writer Khalila Douze has learned that the practice "isn’t an exercise in fortune telling so much as a game of I Spy." On how that relates to design, architecture, and elements of healing, Douze's transformative words bring light to "interior rearrangement."