Matthieu Blazy’s Kate Moss obsession, Nike brings together local artists, Florence Pugh joins the Valentino roster, and Woolmark celebrates Joan Jonas.

Here is what you need to know this week…

MATTHIEU BLAZY IS OBSESSED WITH KATE MOSS, JUST LIKE US

Matthieu Blazy and Bottega Veneta have delved into the rich Kate Moss archive to create the ultimate #1 fan club zine. Reminiscing about his teenage years, and printing out his favourite pictures of the supermodel, the designer has delved into his own archive to create a love letter to Kate Moss that looks back at her illustrous career.

Blazy shared “Kate Moss was my first Google search. She’s the first photo to be printed on the family printer. Whenever I hear a modem, I think of Kate, because I mainly looked for her pictures as a teenager. It’s a sound I will forever relate to her. She became a personal icon. It was, for me, a very serious teenage activity that became an everyday term at home. If I was doing my “Kate Moss”, it meant I was in the middle of collecting pictures. This hobby became a sort of education. This fanzine is a tribute to Kate and the pages of a binder that defined my coming of age. She was my first.”

NIKE BRINGS ITS RE-CREATION PROGRAM TO LONDON

Bringing the next instalment of their dead-stock recycling programme, Nike are coming to London, aiming to collaborate with local artists on creating more solutions towards a zero-waste future, whilst creating collections that continue to support athletes in their performance. In this London chapter of the project, Nike is collaborating with local design project Greater Goods, founded by London-based creative Jaimus Taylor. Converting locally collected obsolete product, fabrics are re-created into wearable condition and locally distributed, aiming to serve the local communities in an exclusive drop.

More so, after launching in May 2022 in Los Angeles, the initiative has become more and more global, with the project heading into Paris later in the summer, in collaboration with local Parisian designer Sarah Moh.

The Nike Re-Creation London collection will launch at NikeTown London later this month with a one-of-one capsule collection of 25 pieces, and a wider collection to follow.

BRITISH ACTRESS FLORENCE PUGH IS VALENTINO’S NEWEST MUSE

British actress Florence Pugh has become Maison Valentino’s newest muse. Coming together in her first campaign for Pierpaolo Piccioli, Pugh is seen to take on the multiple personas and entering the Valentino world of values, that aim to honour and celebrate personal identity, and a specific kind of fierceness that make the actress perfect for her new role of a DI.VA (Valentino’s very own title that represents the multifaceted identity behind the character).

The campaign, shot by the very Steven Meisel sees her take on a whole different language of emotions - screaming, crying, laughing, in a series of of portraits that draw us closer to Pugh’s magnetic charm. Seen in hand with the new iteration of the Rockstud aesthetic, the new Valentino Garavani Rockstud23 bag brings a sense of punk that honours the iconic past, whilst kicking off the exciting future.

ARITSTS JOAN JONAS, TAYLOUR PAIGE AND LOYLE CARNER JOIN WOOLMARK IN CELEBRATING THE 2023 INTERNATIONAL WOOLMARK PRIZE

The iconic American visual artist Joan Jonas has joined the Woolmark Prize 2023 finalists in creating a performance dialogue that touches upon and unlocks the very core of the creative process. This year’s finalists, in the face of A. ROEGE HOVE, Bluemarble, Lagos Space Programme, MARCO RAMBALDI, MAXXIJ, Paolina Russo, R H U D E and Robyn Lynch all have worked on creating special pieces in collaborating with Woolmark that touch upon the very beginnings of the creative conversation, and the openly honest discussions around how we can all contribute towards the consciously circular future in fashion.

The film titled DIALOGUE was created utilising contemporary re-staging of one of Joan Jonas’ most iconic works, Delay Delay (1972). A cast of young creatives, including actor Taylour Paige and musician Loyle Carner appear alongside Jonas with the signature props to create unexpected rhythms of space and scale on the coast of Marseille.

“Years ago I would not have participated in a project like this,” says Joan Jonas. “But I’ve since become very interested in how people interpret my work, how they might be influenced by it and how it might change the way they view their own work. Delay, Delay was performed outdoors in the Lower West Side of Manhattan in empty lots. Those places don’t exist anymore in New York, in that way. The fact that Woolmark found a site near Marseille in France to restage parts of it, and that the work would be transformed by younger people — I find very interesting.”

Celebrating all of the designer finalists, the finale will take place in Paris on May 15th, where the 2023 winner of the International Woolmark Prize will be revealed, alongside the winner of the special Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation.