No. 56
The NIRVANA Issue
ON THE COVER
Mexican fashion designer Patricio Campillo’s dreamy collections—full of linen, embellished denim, and structured leather—draw from his personal experiences growing up in Mexico City and spending time at his parents’ ranch. Written by Rachel Gallaher, photographed by Andres Navarro.
ISSUE 56 HIGHLIGHTS: First Look On the Rise Genesis Changemaker Architecture Interiors Contract High Transportation See the digital Issue Subscribe
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NIRVANA
The GRAY edit of transcendent design. Lavish spaces and sumptuous décor from Europe to Mexico and beyond.
MARC DOMAGE
Designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, a striking architecture intervention—a 30-foot-tall concrete chamber—in the center of Paris’ historic Bourse de Commerce building is part of a forthcoming art museum.
FIRST LOOK
ART + DESIGN
Five years ago, the mayor of Paris gave French billionaire and businessman François Pinault a 50-year lease on the historic Bourse de Commerce building in the heart of the city. An avid art lover and collector, Pinault put forth a plan to transform the former Chamber of Commerce and Industry building into an exhibition space for contemporary art, including pieces from his private collection. To create the museum without impacting the edifice, Pinault tapped Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who is known for using empty space to represent the beauty of simplicity. The resulting architectural intervention—a round, 30-foot-tall concrete chamber nested into the building’s domed rotunda—creates a visual dialogue between old and new that is as emotionally arresting as any work of modern art. »
PATRICK TOURNEBOEUF
REFLECT AND
REDEFINE
An exhibition more than two years in the making, Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America, will open on February 27 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Part of the museum’s Issues in Contemporary Architecture series, the exhibition, which features a set of commissioned case studies and runs through May 31, is an investigation into the intersections of architecture, Blackness, and anti-Black racism in the American context. “This exhibition, from the start, has been one of transforming the ways in which we imagine ourselves in public and private spaces, while recognizing the indelible presence of Black individuals and spaces in the formation of our cities, our landscapes, and homes,” says Sean Anderson, associate curator in
MoMA’s Department of Architecture & Design. Each of the projects proposes a design intervention in one of 10 cities across the United States, ranging from freeways to front porches and everything in between.
Felecia Davis. Fabricating Networks Quilt. 2020. Digital print on cotton broadcloth, copper-coated, ripstop nylon, copper tape, cotton thread, stainless-steel conductive thread, LilyPad Arduino microcontroller board, speakers, and battery
COURTESY STUDIO NOON
STAGED
TO SELL
Galerie Philia—an international contemporary design gallery with locations in New York, Geneva, and Singapore—is set to debut an exhibition co-curated by designer and architect Pietro Franceschini and gallery leadership. Opening February 15 (and running through June) at the iconic Walker Tower in Chelsea, the show will be staged in a two-floor loft-style apartment and will feature a selection of more than 70 pieces of furniture, art, and lighting
by emergent and established creatives from around the world. “While objects and artworks have plenty of space to express themselves, they are nevertheless in constant communication with one another,” Franceschini says. “This tension between ‘being displayed’ and ‘being functional’ shaped every decision we made and eventually set the mood of the entire exhibition.” »
INTEL
RADICAL
ARCHITECTURE
There have always been two camps of architects: those whose work is rooted in practicality and those who break every boundary, and rule in the book, to make seemingly impossible designs a reality. Certainly, there is crossover, but architecture curator and critic Beatrice Galilee’s new book, Radical Architecture of the Future, is focused solely on the latter. Released in January, the publication celebrates some of the most experimental and forward-thinking design practitioners of our time as it explores diverse new ways of seeing, understanding, and building our environment. From a power plant in Copenhagen that also functions as a ski slope and public park (designed by Bjarke Ingels Group) to Ensamble Studio’s monolithic installations at the Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, each project is a mini escape into a world of possibility.
—Rachel Gallaher
©RASMUS HJORTSHOJ; ©IWAN BAAN
FROM TOP: Both a waste-to-energy plant and ski slope, CopenHill was designed by Bjarke Ingles Group in 2019, and is one of the tallest structures in Copenhagen. The Plasencia Auditorium and Congress Center in Plasencia, Spain, designed by Selgas in 2017, is wrapped in a translucent skin that allows light to enter the building’s interior.
NIRVANA
ON THE RISE
PRIDE OF PLACE
Patricio Campillo’s clothing line celebrates history, heritage, and his deep reverence for traditional Mexican horsemen.
By Rachel Gallaher
Photographed by Andres Navarro
Looks from Mexico City–based clothing brand the Pack’s Resort 2021 collection.
t the age when most children hastily throw on whatever clothes are available in their closets—matching or not—
before rushing out the door to play with friends, Patricio Campillo was giving his mother specific alteration suggestions for his outfits. Like many before him, the future fashion designer had already discovered that the key to a successful garment is, first and foremost, its fit.
“I always knew what I wanted things to look like in terms of clothing,” says Campillo, who launched his clothing line, the Pack, in 2016. “Here I was, five or six years old and I would be like, ‘No, no, no, this doesn’t fit right,’ or ‘These are not fitted enough, I need them fixed!’ I’ve always been interested in fashion, but it wasn’t until more recently that I thought of it as something I could do for a living.”
Raised in Mexico City by a father who worked in politics and an economist mother, Campillo moved to Spain after high school and landed an office job with a government agency. He struggled to fully engage with the work, which didn’t allow him to flex his creative muscles; as a result, he spent most of his time flipping through fashion magazines at his desk. One day, his boss said, “Patricio, you spend all your time looking at magazines and watching fashion shows. Maybe you should consider doing something in that field.”
During university, Campillo took that advice and began tailoring his assignments to focus on fashion, which in turn led him to fashion journalism. In 2011, Campillo moved to Paris, where he secured a job as the assistant to the editor-in-chief at the Reality Show magazine, a position that opened up the back doors to the industry. “All of a sudden, I was going to all of the shows and the backstage re-sees,” he recalls. “I really fell in love with the clothes and after that, there really was no going back.” »
A
OPPOSITE: Campillo employs local artisans, who craft details such as the hand-carved buttons on this look from the Resort 2021 collection.
ABOVE: Models wear pieces from the Resort 2021 collection. Like much of designer Patricio Campillo’s work, the collection takes cues from his childhood experiences on his parents’ ranch.
Campillo takes inspiration from charros—traditional Mexican horsemen—for his collections.
ABOVE: The Pack’s Resort 2021 collection is the brand’s first foray into footwear; the collaboration with Cruda Cruda Shoes features embroidered mules in both linen and leather. Campillo is also starting to experiment with upcycling—the leather for the shoes comes from old airplane seats.
Campillo spent the next couple of years doing freelance styling and art directing, but it was in 2013 that his real breakthrough came. A close friend, womenswear designer Lorena Saravia, asked him to design a small capsule menswear collection. “I immediately locked myself up in my apartment for two months,” Campillo says. “I didn’t know anything about designing at the time, but I quickly discovered that that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
Two years later, Campillo was back in Mexico and ready to launch the Pack. Imbued with strong pride for Mexican history, heritage, and craftsmanship, the brand presents a masculine-leaning but still highly androgenous collection of clothing inspired by nature, Campillo’s family’s ranch, and charros—traditional Mexican horsemen.
Campillo grew up immersed in charro culture: Both his father and grand-uncle were charros, and his parents own a ranch a couple of hours outside of Mexico City; the Campillos’ house at the ranch holds a collection of antiques related to charro culture including chaps, saddles, ropes, and whips. Campillo recalls learning to ride around the age of three or four—someone would tie him to the saddle and give the horse a slap to get it trotting.
Campillo’s hunger to explore his own stories began about two years ago, during Paris Fashion Week. After watching designer Virgil Abloh present his first collection for Louis Vuitton at the Palais Royal, Campillo walked away feeling disillusioned—the event seemed to be more about who was attending and which celebrities were sitting in the front row. “It was about everything but the clothes,” he recalls. Later that week, he attended an intimate show for Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto, who presented his collection at the same venue he’s been using for the past decade. It was a breakthrough moment for Campillo, who recognized that with Yamamoto, it wasn’t about movie stars or social media fame—it was all about the clothes.
“After that, I turned everything I was doing around,” Campillo says. “I skipped a season and took time to look into my childhood and the things that give me a unique voice. I isolated myself from all exterior references and spent some time at my parents’ ranch.”
The resulting collection was a spirited mix of structured jackets, sleek trench coats, high-waisted trousers, and flared leather pants. It was sophisticated and sexy, with strong silhouettes.
Campillo has a razor-sharp focus on detail (bone buttons are hand-carved, embroidery is hand-sewn by local artisans), and the fabrics he works with are sustainable or made from natural fibers. “From the very beginning, when I thought about the brand, I knew I wanted to do something that would give back to society in an organic way,” he says. “I didn’t want to have a social-responsibility program tacked on; I wanted the core of my business to function as a benefit to society.”
Last month, the Pack dropped its Resort 2021 line, which includes, for the first time, shoes and jewelry. “I went a lot deeper into the artisanal process,” Campillo says. Airy oxide-dyed linen shirts in earthy tones, and white washed-denim jackets serve as a backdrop for river-stone pendants and hand-embroidered, pointed leather mules. Silhouettes are more relaxed than in previous collections and the layered looks exude sensual escapism— one imagines wearing them to watch the sun sink behind the horizon at the end of a hot summer day.
Although Campillo says that he doesn’t think about the future that much, he does hope to see the Pack becoming an international brand—one that will always be manufactured in, and inspired by, Mexico. “I see myself going deeper,” he says, “and working on making something unique that feels like a continuation of this story.” »
Patricio Campillo.
“FOR ME, IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO PORTRAY THE BRAND WITH A MASCULINE AESTHETIC, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT IT’S SPECIFICALLY FOR MEN. WHOEVER RESONATES WITH MY AESTHETICS AND THE STORY I’M TELLING, THEY CAN WEAR IT. WE ALL HAVE A FEMININE AND MASCULINE SIDE.”
PORTRAIT: DORIAN ULISES LÓPEZ MACÍAS
—PATRICIO CAMPILLO,
FASHION DESIGNER
“The Resort 2021 campaign is a story of a journey that begins with physical death and ends with ascension into another plane of reality,” Campillo says. It was shot in Zacualpan de Amilpas, an area south of Mexico City in which the designer spent time as a child. Although his clothes have a masculine edge, Campillo says that they aren’t necessarily gender- specific.
AUTUMN/WINTER 2020 COLLECTION: DORIAN ULISES LÓPEZ MACÍAS
Courtesy Tolu Coker and O.G Studios
For Autumn/Winter 2020, Campillo opted for tailored looks that enhance the angles of the body—boxy shoulders nod to the 1980s, while hip-hugging flared-leg pants make legs look longer. Durable materials such as denim and lambskin find elegant forms in this collection.
“I DON’T KNOW WHERE IT’S GOING TO TAKE ME OR WHAT THE CLOTHES WILL LOOK LIKE IN FIVE YEARS, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO CREATIVITY, I THINK SELF-REFERENCE IS IMPORTANT.”
—PATRICIO CAMPILLO, FASHION DESIGNER
ABOVE: “Replica isn’t going to represent every single person,” says Coker. “But through the documentary, I saw people’s very distinct differences, but also so many similarities. Even tho