H&M has pledged to make 100 percent of its products from sustainable materials by 2030. The company also aims to reduce more greenhouse gas emissions than it puts out, hoping to become climate positive by 2040. Given that H&M’s fast-fashion model is often criticized for its wastefulness and environmental impact, these are especially optimistic initiatives.
[WWD]
Armani/Casa has opened a Milan flagship, timed to the city’s Design Week. “Design is an essential part of my ideal lifestyle, and this new store gives me the opportunity of showing my entire collection for the home,” said Giorgio Armani. “It’s an imposing, though not monumental, property, which I envisaged as a studio–flexible, versatile and constantly evolving.”
[Armani/Casa]
Monique Lhuillier will present her spring/summer 2018 collection during haute couture week in Paris, joining a growing number of ready-to-wear labels moving to the schedule. Proenza Schouler and Rodarte announced that they would show during couture in January, and Vetements did the same the previous year. “In five days in Paris, you can get a lot of attention,” explained Nathalie Ours, partner at PR Consulting Paris. “You’re not in the middle of a hundred shows—you’re in the middle of maybe altogether not even fifty shows, probably 30 shows. Then it means also in the news in general, they have more space for you.”
[Business of Fashion]
Ciarmoli Queda Studio has designed “Essentials,” an installation in Milan’s Straf Hotel. The studio transformed a hall in the hotel into a living space, with the help of several specialized craft manufacturers. “Our collaboration with CQ Studio was born from our common vision on creativity, the importance of savoir faire, and communicating emotions through textiles,” said Créations Métaphores, a textile company and collaborator, in a statement.
[Straf Hotel]
In reaction to the lack of African countries represented at the 57th Venice Biennale—only seven out of 54 nations will have national pavilions at the fair—art leaders have organized the African Art in Venice Forum (AAVF). The two-day event will be held during the Biennale’s opening week. “We believe we can trigger the process that will take to the participation of more African national pavilions at the Venice Biennale,” said the AAVF’s leaders.
[Artnet]
Working together with local firm ECADI and landscape architects West 8, OMA has designed a master plan to revitalize Columbia Circle, a historic district in Shanghai. The strategy, which calls for both preservation of existing structures and new construction, is intended to make the area a thriving pedestrian center, as it was in the early 20th century.
[Archdaily]
Riga, Latvia, will host a new biennial in 2018 that will aim to elevate the status of artists from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Agniya Mirgorodskaya, who gained art-world experience in the Russian art department at Christie’s, is behind the event. According to her, the biennial will support its host city with “new commissions in carefully selected sites, and the significant proportion of Baltic and with Nordic artists represented in each edition.”
[The Art Newspaper]