ELLE DECOR November 2022

Welcome to our Cities Issue. It’s true that the theme of this issue—like the ones before it on the same topic in 2020 and 2021—is a rebuke of the pandemic-era predictions of the death of cities. But this edition of the magazine is so much more than that: It’s also dedicated to the global metropolis as an incubator of design genius, decorative delight, and boundless intelligence. Today’s cities are about resilience, and optimism, in a time of upheaval and uncertainty. When it comes to delight (and no small dose of genius), our cover story, on the Milan home of Caterina Fabrizio of the Italian textiles titan Dedar, leads the way. Her apartment has a rare private garden in the center of Italy’s capital of design, fashion, and commerce. Here, Fabrizio has…

OSAKA KIRIKO ROCK GLASSWARE Kimiko Yasuda employed the traditional Japanese craft of kiriko in designing these hand-cut patterned glasses. 2” dia. x 3” h. and 3” dia. x 3.5” h.; $460 to $1,400. rwguild.com NEW YORK CITY MANHATTAN BOXES The glamour of the Art Deco movement lives on in Georg Jensen’s recently introduced stainless steel containers, defined by their idiosyncratic shapes and accented with leather details. 3” dia. x 2” h., $69; 8” w. x 3” d. x 1” h., $79. georgjensen.com MARRAKECH DRINK TRAY Influenced by the folkloric tales of the Thousand and One Nights, designer Laura Gonzalez brings her creative fantasies to life with this pomegranate-hued, lacquered serving piece featuring Arabian stars. 22” w. x 15” d. x 5” h.; price upon request. lauragonzalez.fr RIO DE JANEIRO PALEAE BRASILIS FRUIT BASKET Inspired by Oscar Niemeyer’s distinctive Sambadrome, Brunno Jahara’s…

1 IF YOU LOVE: VERDANT HUES TOWNHAUS GREEN BY SHIRO MUCHIRI The leg configuration, distinct surface, and lush lacquer finish would make this a standout in any home. Look: Chanel. 142” l. x 39” w. x 29” h.; price upon request. soshiro.co 2 IF YOU LOVE: VAMPY GLAMOUR ARCHES BY ATELIER OÏ A solid marble table, like this one from Fendi Home with an architectural base, will never go out of style. Look: Fendi. 63” dia. x 29” h.; price upon request. fendicasa.com 3 IF YOU LOVE: CLEAN LINES PLANE TABLE BY JAMIE McLELLAN Give your dining room a minimalist vibe with an oak beauty that’s all right angles. Look: Sacai. 95” l. x 39” w. x 30” h.; $9,800. resident.co.nz 4 IF YOU LOVE: RED AND GOLD 001 BY CASEY McCAFFERTY Art lovers will gravitate toward this sculptural piece in scarlet ash. Look:…

ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN TO AN ART FAIR KNOWS THAT THE FASHIONS WORN by the attendees can be as eye-grabbing as the works on display. Louis Vuitton’s limited-edition Artycapucines handbag collection blurs that line even further with wearable art that pairs some of the world’s greatest creatives with an iconic design; this fall sees the release of the latest group of handbags, reimagined by six global names with vastly different practices. Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone makes the case for aristocratic absurdity with his hand-beaded take on the house’s classic Capucines bag, named for the Paris street where Vuitton opened his first store in 1854. “I took two archetypal symbols that I often use in my work: the clown and the rainbow,” Rondinone says. His Artycapucines harlequin design nods to his…

ELTON JOHN SAID IT BEST (WITH A LITTLE LIFT FROM KIKI DEE): DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART. Tiffany & Co.’s newest introduction aims to be something of a safeguard against just that: heartbreak, lost love, and general emotional turbulence. You might, in fact, regard the Tiffany Lock collection as a totem of togetherness. The design is an archival motif for the brand dating back to the late 1800s, when the American jeweler created actual locks meant to secure dog collars and diaries. Fittingly resuscitated in the 1990s with the “Heart and Key” pendant, a silver heart-shaped padlock that featured a gold keyhole and key, the lock has become part of the Tiffany design vernacular. Now it’s being revisited with a focus on function as much as form, with a new…

THE WORD LIMBO HAS MYRIAD MEANINGS, FROM RELIGIOUS TO secular, but all relate to a sense of being in between. The same goes for architectural limbos, according to Haitian-Ghanaian designer Dominique Petit-Frère. With Limbo Accra, the spatial-design studio she founded in 2018, Petit-Frère takes structures suspended in interim states and explores their creative possibility. Most of Limbo Accra’s projects, as the studio’s name suggests, are realized in the Ghanaian capital, along with other developing cities. Accra is fertile territory for Petit-Frère’s explorations: It has a rich, and troubling, architectural history (the centuries-old coastal fortresses once used for gold export and later for the enslaved immediately come to mind) and a yet-undefined modern architectural vernacular. “Most of the people building here are Ghanaian, but they carry a foreign aspiration,” Petit-Frère says. “I’m…