🪆 WHEN DOLLS DRESS FASHION
Who copied whom first — Barbie or fashion? New York’s Museum at FIT is turning the question around with Doll Dressing, a new exhibition exploring how dolls haven’t simply mirrored fashion but actively helped shape it.
Curated by Dr. Colleen Hill, the show brings together more than 170 objects, pairing fashion dolls with full-size garments, accessories, videos, and artworks by names including Balenciaga, Comme des Garçons, Martin Margiela, Marc Jacobs, Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Moschino, Anna Sui, and Undercover. Dolls, after all, were transmitting trends across Europe as miniature fashion models centuries before Instagram existed — and by the 20th century, designers were borrowing right back.
From baby-doll silhouettes and paper-doll effects to hair, makeup, and even doll-like gestures, the exhibition makes a surprisingly convincing case: dolls aren’t just toys. They’re muses, prototypes, and tiny agents of fashion history.
Doll Dressing is on view at The Museum at FIT in New York through January 3, 2027.
💗 GUSTAF WESTMAN GIVES NIKE THE PINK TREATMENT
What happens when one of the world’s most recognizable logos meets one of Instagram’s favorite furniture designers? Apparently, it becomes a chunky pink ceramic object for your living room.
Swedish designer Gustaf Westman, known for his candy-colored palette, curved forms, and almost cartoonishly soft furniture, has teamed up with Nike on a ceramic homeware project. The first teaser transforms the iconic Swoosh into an exaggerated, pastel-pink sculpture — somewhere between sports branding, collectible design, and very desirable shelf candy.
It’s another sign that sneaker culture is steadily escaping the wardrobe. Why wear the Swoosh when you can decorate your house with it?
📸 RIMOWA REVIVES QUEER HISTORY WITH RYAN McGINLEY
RIMOWA is looking beyond luggage with the fifth edition of Der Eigene, its annual revival of the historic German queer publication first founded in 1896.
For 2026, the brand handed creative freedom to photographer Ryan McGinley, who turned his lens on the community surrounding his life and practice in New York. Shot across rooftops, stoops, fire escapes, and stairwells, the photographs and Polaroids are accompanied by personal texts from their subjects, creating an intimate portrait of friendship, identity, belonging, and chosen family.
Originally revived by RIMOWA in 2022 and released annually around Pride, Der Eigene is an interesting example of what can happen when a luxury brand looks beyond the obvious campaign format and instead uses its platform to preserve, reinterpret, and circulate cultural history.
🎈 JEFF KOONS PUTS A BALLOON DOG ON YOUR WRIST
Jeff Koons has spent decades turning kitsch into high-value art. His latest collaboration with Hublot takes that logic to its wonderfully excessive conclusion.
The Classic Fusion Balloon Dog watch translates Koons’ instantly recognizable sculpture into a $25,100 timepiece, complete with bulbous forms, glossy blue or red finishes, and — yes — a miniature Balloon Dog attached to the second hand.
Subtle? Absolutely not. But perhaps that’s precisely why it works. Instead of watering down an artist’s visual language for a commercial collaboration, Hublot has leaned all the way into Koonsian excess. The result feels less like an artist-branded watch and more like wearable Koons.
Sometimes more really is more.
