Out of office: from Loewe loafers to volcanic views, the Wallpaper* editors' picks of the week

What the Wallpaper* team have been eating, seeing, wearing and crucially, enjoying, this week

Wallpaper* Editors picks of the week
(Image credit: Future)

Fashion and Creative Director, Jason Hughes

Loewe loafers

(Image credit: Loewe loafers)

WEAR: 'This week I’ve been wearing these loafers by Loewe: with their curved flipper shape, they capture the playful, idiosyncratic approach of creative director Jonathan Anderson (you can also get boat shoes, biker boots and sneakers in the same distinctive silhouette). I might have been inspired by the brand’s Juergen Teller-shot S/S 2025 pre-collection campaign, which stars Ayo Edebiri, Drew Starkey and Leo Woodall, alongside armour-clad knights, rowers and leather daddies. As expected, it took over my social media feed.'

Hugo McDonald, Global Design Director

Hugo McDonald

(Image credit: Hugo McDonald)

'I’ve been busy sharing the wisdom of our design expertise at Wallpaper* onstage over this past week, first at Almería in Spain for Cosentino’s Next Designer’s conference, and then for the Design Leadership Network’s annual retreat, which took place this year in Edinburgh. Wearing a wireless headset mic will never not make me feel like Britney. '

Tianna Williams, Editorial Executive

Mangal II cookbook

(Image credit: Mangal II)

READ: 'This week I had a browse through Mangal II, the debut cookbook from the Turkish East London restaurant of the same name. Flipping through the pages, I was intrigued by the intimate stories about food and creativity from the Dirik brothers, who have followed in the footsteps of their father, Ali Dirik, who opened the first restaurant, Mangal I, in 1994. I have already bookmarked the pages and am excited to make the Tahini Tart and Baklava this weekend.

Lauren Ho, Travel Director

Lauren Ho, Travel Director at Wallpaper*

Travel Director, Lauren Ho at the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

(Image credit: Lauren Ho)

STAY: 'Earlier this week I was in Bangkok and stayed at the Mandarin Oriental, one of my favourite hotels in the world. Perched on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, it's the best spot for jet-lagged nights, when you can sit by your bedroom window and easily lose hours by the mesmerising sight of tugboats, ferries and longtails criss-crossing the water. Back in Hong Kong, I attended a red carpet event at the Four Seasons Hotel, which was held as a thank you to friends for our support throughout the year.'

Sofia De La Cruz, Travel Editor

Rovi

(Image credit: Sofa De La Cruz)

DINE: 'I recently visited Rovi – the Fitzrovia restaurant by Ottolenghi – to meet its new head chef, Andy Frantzeskos, and try its refreshed seasonal menu. Before sitting down for a fresh, plant-led lunch, I had the chance to check out the restaurant’s urban garden located in North London’s Wolves Lane, where a team of local growers grow seasonal produce and engage in regenerative farming practices. I highly recommend savouring the new menu’s grilled hispi cabbage, served with a smokey porcini and chestnut butter, and finishing things off with the punchy beetroot and ancho chilli fondant dessert – a treat to the senses.'

Jack Moss, Fashion Features Editor

El Diablo Lanzarote

(Image credit: Future)

GO: 'One of the highlights of a recent trip to Lanzarote was the Timanfayo National Park and El Diablo, a 1970s restaurant designed by utopian Canarian artist César Manrique on top of an active volcano. As surreal as that description suggests, it is like a restaurant hovering at the edge of the world: curving floor-to-ceiling windows in the circular dining room look out onto Mars-like landscapes, food is barbecued using the heat of the volcano, and the numerous empty laid tables (and their checkered tablecloths) are appealingly strange.

I also visited the César Manrique Foundation for the second time, housed in the artist’s former home outside of Arrecife. Constructed in the natural bubbles of a lava field in the 1960s entirely to Manrique’s design – complete with a subterranean swimming pool and custom space-age furnishings – it is one of my favourite galleries in the world.'

Melina Keays, Entertaining Director

Blade Runner film still

(Image credit: Blade Runner)

WATCH: 'The clocks are changing this weekend - as the nights grow longer I’m going to dive into Marcio Kogan’s selection of the 50 best films of all time. Some of these I first saw decades ago and re-viewing them through the prism of time and experience adds another level of interest, not least the understanding of how profoundly they affected me the first time around and became embedded in my mental landscape. For instance, at least once a week I think about The Shining (hotels; relationships) and Blade Runner (boiling eggs, going to any specialist doctor) Re-visiting these films is like a highly enjoyable stock-take of influences and inspirations.'

Hannah Silver, Art, Watches an Jewellery Editor

Lee Lozano Not Working

(Image credit: Press)

READ: 'This week I really enjoyed reading a study of American artist, Lee Lozano. 'Not Working' is an overview of her career in twentieth century New York, from her abstract paintings and sculptures to her final conceptual artwork, Dropout Piece, where she left the industry entirely and boycott other women until her death. A brilliant spotlight on a radical, troubled and talented artist.'

Charlotte Gunn, Director of Digital Content

Menton France

Menton, France

(Image credit: Charlotte Gunn)

TRAVEL: 'A sizeable birthday for my partner prompted a soujourn to the French Riviera. La Merenda remains a favourite dinner choice in Nice (rustic French fare in a cosy setting) and the sun popped out, on an otherwise rainy weekend, for a train ride up the coast to Menton with its colour palette of pinks, reds and ochres.

Nice's Museé de la Photographie is currently hosting a Vivian Maier exhibition; the incredible 'amateur' photographer who worked as a governess, capturing over 100,000 photographs in New York and Chicago in the 50s and 60s. Tight purse strings meant she never developed the bulk of her film, which were found in an estate sale after her death. The unearthed archive can now been seen in all its glory, cementing Maier as one of the greatest street photographers of the last century. There's a documentary about her life – Finding Vivian Maier – which I shall be watching.'

Sophie Gladstone, Photography Editor

Face Time portrait photography book

(Image credit: Thames & Hudson)

FIND INSPIRATION: 'I’ve been travelling the world this week (via my emails) as I converse with photographers ahead of our especially global January issue for some very special portraits. The book, Face Time: A History of the Photographic Portrait, has been present in my mind.'

Ellie Stathaki, Architecture & Environment Director

Escalators on the Elizabeth Line

(Image credit: Hufton + Crow)

'Last week I attended the 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize dinner, the UK's biggest architecture award event of the year. It has everything you'd want it to have - glamour, relaxed architectural chit-chat, suspense, great projects to celebrate and discuss, and a great venue, the Roundhouse in Camden. Congrats to the winners, the team behind the Elizabeth Line!'

TOPICS

Bill Prince is a journalist, author, and editor-in-chief of Wallpaper* and The Blend. Prior to taking up these roles, he served for 23 years as the deputy editor of British GQ. In addition to editing, writing and brand curation, Bill is an acknowledged authority on travel, hospitality and men's style. His first book, ‘Royal Oak: From Iconoclast To Icon’ – a tribute to the Audemars Piguet watch at 50 – was published by Assouline in September 2022.

With contributions from