Billowing, marine-life inspired gowns, luxe geometric tile, and a new Champagne bar that’s got us bubbling over with joy.
Courtesy Iris Van Herpen
Iris Van Herpen SS20 Couture Sensory Seas
British fashion designer Iris Van Herpen did not disappoint at Paris Haute Couture Week this past month. Regarded for her 3D-printed, structural gowns that collide nature and technology, Van Herpen’s collections straddle the line between fashion and wearable sculpture. This season was no different. On January 20, the designer put marine life under a microscope with her womenswear collection, Sensory Seas. Showcased at Paris’s Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione, the 21-piece collection took inspiration from scientific illustrations by Spanish neuroanatomist Santiago Ramón y Cajal and deep-sea creatures like Hydrozoa. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the billowing gowns that bubbled like water, a dress constructed with vein-like dendrites, and numerous pieces with revealing scalelike flaps.
–Claire Butwinick, assistant editor
House of ‘Pagne
The bar of my dreams has finally arrived in Seattle. Oh so cleverly named House of ‘Pagne, this bubbly-focused tasting room offers 30 different sparkling options by the glass, as well as champagne flights. Although it opened last fall, I didn’t discover this gem until January. The decor is a mix of feminine glamour and punk rock edge (think a black, pink, and gold color palette, chandeliers, and graffiti-inspired branding). There’s nothing more festive than the sound of a cork popping, and at House of ‘Pagne that’s the soundtrack put on loop.
–Rachel Gallaher, deputy editor
Liaison Mulholland Tile by Kelly Wearstler for Ann Sacks
We are finally (finally!) redoing our late 1920s-era master bathroom and bedroom. While they have their charms, the relics have seen better days: multiple coats of poorly applied paint, yellowing landline phone jacks affixed to chipped baseboards, a possible DIY floor restaining gone wrong. You get the picture. Our Seattle- and Dallas-based design firm Pulp Design Studios, helmed by interior designers extraordinaire Beth Dotolo and Carolina V. Gentry, proposed nothing but elevated gorgeousness, including this luxe geometric tile from Kelly Wearstler’s Liaison collection at Portland-based Ann Sacks. The blend of blue limestone and Calacatta Zebrino marble is slated to make its grand entrance on the bathroom floor and inside the shower niche. Will I ever leave my bathroom once it’s finished? Remains to be seen.
–Lauren Mang, digital editor
The Best Things We Saw is a monthly roundup of places, spaces, and things that stopped GRAY staffers in their tracks. Herewith, our picks for the best of the best in January.