DESIGN DISPATCH

Dover Street Market Gets Creative With Felix Art Fair Merch, and Other News

Our daily look at the world through the lens of design.

Parley for the Oceans x Jenny Holzer tote bag. Image courtesy of Felix Art Fair and Dover Street Market

The Design Dispatch offers expertly written and essential news from the design world crafted by our dedicated team. Think of it as your cheat sheet for the day in design delivered to your inbox before you’ve had your coffee. Subscribe now

Have a news story our readers need to see? Submit it here

Dover Street Market Gets Creative With Felix Art Fair Merch

Attendees of next week’s Felix Art Fair at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel can anticipate seeing much more than blue-chip art on the walls. Dover Street Market is teaming up with the fair to offer an exclusive lineup of apparel, accessories, and footwear that matches a star-studded roster of visual artists with the high-fashion retailer’s range of labels. The collaborations, set to be released daily throughout the fair, are nothing short of compelling. David Hammons teamed with Denim Tears on a pair of Converse that fuse his African-American flag design with Marcus Garvey’s pan-African flag. Parley for the Oceans teamed with artists such as Jenny Holzer and Julian Schnabel to produce limited-edition tote bags made from ocean plastic. Perhaps the biggest draw: Comme des Garçons’ transient Black Market will make its fourth appearance outside Japan inside an Oscar Tuazon intervention located in the hotel’s ballroom. —Ryan Waddoups

Rendering of the Colburn Center at the Colburn School in Downtown Los Angeles. Image courtesy of Gehry Partners

Gehry Partners’ transformative Colburn School expansion will start construction in April.

Gehry Partners’ $335 million Colburn School campus expansion, now known as the Colburn Center, will break ground in downtown Los Angeles nearly six years after its announcement. The project, in collaboration with Nagata Acoustics and TheaterDNA, will add 100,000 square feet of performance, rehearsal, and education spaces, including a 1,000-seat concert hall, a 100-seat theater, and four dance studios. The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for April 5, with construction anticipated to reach “substantial completion” in early 2027. 

Seven proposals have been unveiled for London’s upcoming Fourth Plinth Commission.

The Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group announced the shortlist for the 2026 and 2028 Fourth Plinth Commission, comprising seven artists including Chila Burman, Gabriel Chaile, Ruth Ewan, Thomas J Price, Veronica Ryan, Tschabalala Self, and Andra Ursuţa. Their proposals, which are currently on view at London’s National Gallery, vary widely but share a humanist and anti-monumental ethos. The winner will be announced in March. The competition was initially aimed at finding a permanent sculpture to occupy an empty post in Trafalgar Square since 1841, though artist Rachel Whiteread has called for the commission to end. 

Tyler, the Creator in a look from his spring 2024 men’s capsule collection for Louis Vuitton. Image courtesy of Louis Vuitton

Pharrell Williams taps Tyler, the Creator to design a capsule collection for Louis Vuitton.

Pharrell Williams has enlisted Tyler, the Creator to design a capsule collection for Louis Vuitton, marking Tyler’s first standalone collaboration with the French luxury brand’s creative director of menswear. Drawing on their shared colorful aesthetic, the collection, titled Craggy Monogram, features hand-drawn motifs on clothing and accessories, including a grass-effect fleece jacket and a special edition Courrier Lozine 110 trunk. Scheduled to hit stores on March 21, the line blends Tyler’s “preppy sophistication” with Williams’ “elegant dandy dressing,” reflecting a merging of their creative visions. The collaboration continues Louis Vuitton’s string of high-profile collaborations, building on past outings with figures like Rihanna and LeBron James.

Heatherwick Studio will transform London’s Grade II–listed BT Tower into a new hotel. 

Heatherwick Studio is poised to transform central London’s 581-foot-tall BT Tower into a hotel after its acquisition by MCR Hotels, known for projects like the TWA Hotel at JFK airport. The Grade II–listed communications tower was originally completed in 1964 as the Post Office Tower and was London’s tallest building until the NatWest Tower was completed in 1980. MCR Hotels aims to honor the tower’s history and consider proposals that respect its architectural legacy. 

Critics flood the British Museum’s Instagram with comments demanding repatriation.

Critics took to the British Museum’s Instagram over the weekend to demand the return of Hoa Hakananai’a, a statue from Easter Island. Prompted by Haitian-Chilean influencer Mike Milfort, users flooded the museum’s posts with calls for repatriation, leading the institution to limit comments. Despite political support from Chilean President Gabriel Boric and ongoing pleas from the Rapa Nui people, the museum cites the British Museum Act of 1963 that prevents it from removing objects from its collection, even if they were stolen from other countries. 

Brian Eno with his “Turntable II” (2024). Photography by Luke Walker, courtesy of Paul Stolper Gallery

Today’s attractive distractions:

Brian Eno’s luminous new $25,000 turntable does more than spin records.

Teen subcultures are fading as TikTok’s “aesthetic landscapes” are surging.

Beyoncé’s new country schtick is driving sales of cowboy-inspired wear.

This Qatar museum features a WonderSphere net playground for children.

All Stories