Objects of Desire

The Wick Culture - Design Hammock, MAKA

Design Hammock, MAKA

Lie back and dream away in the MAKA hammock. Created by Colombian-born Yaiza Dronkers Londoño, these handcrafted designs are a colourful revival of the country’s hammock-making tradition (from the Spanish ‘hamaca’). Her style merges a contemporary look and feel with classic weaving techniques, as demonstrated by the various designs on offer. From the Poncho design inspired by the Colombian fashion item to the Frangipani’s blending effect, the MAKA hammock brings a cheerful artisanal touch to proceedings. Whether reclining in your back garden or cocooned on your apartment block balcony, there are no limits to where your mind will travel.


Share
The Wick Culture - Design Mega Grande Ecosystem, The Urban Botanist

Design Mega Grande Ecosystem, The Urban Botanist

Your very own botanical garden – in a bottle. Bring the outdoors inside this washout summer with the Mega Grande Ecosystem. Like a mini microcosm of planet Earth in a jar, this elegant flask is filled with tropical species and natural ball moss. Perfect for apartment-dwellers and hapless plant tenderers, these self-sufficient plants require no upkeep: the sealed cork flask allows for the process of photosynthesis, keeping the contents evergreen. The jar is available exclusively with Selfridges and created by The Urban Botanist, a brand renowned for using the art and magic of nature to bring spaces to life. This design sparks in full green.


Share
The Wick Culture - Design Laurence Brabant Spiral Carafe

Design Laurence Brabant Spiral Carafe

Spiral style. Made with love, the sophisticated designs of the Laurence Brabent brand are the product of the eponymous designer and her husband, the master glassblower Alain Villechange. Known for their joyful candy-cane décor, the pieces play with colour and transparency and are made using the technique of rolling-up borosilicate glass. Giving a personal artisan touch, the pieces are completely handmade and mouthblown without the use of moulds or modifications. The result is a collection that is unpretentious, poetic and even hypnotic – lighting up even the most mundane of functional household objects. Pass the jug.


Share
The Wick Culture - Design Wallpaper, Made of Matter by Julia Bancilhon

Design Wallpaper, Made of Matter by Julia Bancilhon

‘Why should walls just be walls?’ asks designer Julia Bancilhon, founder of London-Parisian wallpaper studio Made of Matter. Following a year of lockdown in which walls have literally defined the limits of our experience, it’s a question to which Bancilhon has the answer. Her ultra-decorative patterns, inspired by the art of collage, create new domestic horizons filled with colour and joy. A bold pronouncement on the death of white-walled noughties minimalism, these designs bring the warmth back into home – and make the dreaded thought of quarantine that little bit more comforting. Long live maximalism.


Share
The Wick Culture - Fashion Mansur Gavriel x Stamperia Pascucci tote bag

Fashion Mansur Gavriel x Stamperia Pascucci tote bag

True blue. Released in line with World Ocean Day, this new partnership between Mansur Gavriel and Stamperia Pascucci presents a new range of aquatic themed bags – just in time for the summer holidays. Uniting luxury style with the artisan textiles of the two-century-old workshop, the bags are stamped out one at a time using a hand-printing technique that the Pascucci family has perfected over two centuries. The result is a limited edition, one-of-a-kind canvas bag that truly celebrates the sea in all its joy, colour and serenity – supporting the work of Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit working to protect the ocean.


Share
The Wick Culture - Book Mykonos Muse, Assouline

Book Mykonos Muse, Assouline

Mykonos Muse. In our simple longing for sea, sun and escape, it’s easy to forget that Mykonos comes too with a rich cultural and mythological history. Fortunately this Assouline publication is on hand as a reminder to whet the holiday appetite with a colourful chronicle of Mykonos through the ages. Known as the island of the winds, it’s said to represent the bodies of the gods felled by Hercules. Fast-forward centuries later, it’s also been a hideout for luminaries such as Le Corbusier and Antonis Benakis, while serving as a mecca for the gay community. Lie back and enjoy the many stories associated with the island – ideally on a beach en place.


Share
The Wick Culture - Art 'Linear Emotions' Mykonos print, Maryam Eisler

Art ‘Linear Emotions’ Mykonos print, Maryam Eisler

Few contemporary artists have captured the magic of Mykonos as elegantly as the photographer Maryam Eisler. Her work is noted for its sublime themes and dramatic effects of light, both characteristics of this recent print series, Linear Emotions. In these graphic photographs, Eisler hones in on the architectural and natural details that make the island such a special and iconic place. Juxtaposing whitewashed walls against an electric blue sky, the result is a powerfully artistic and unique rendering of this Greek hotspot in all its geometrical and formal wonders. While travel remains complicated, this print brings the holiday home.


Share
The Wick Culture - Fashion Melanie Flamingo Kaftan, Melissa Odabash

Fashion Melanie Flamingo Kaftan, Melissa Odabash

Radiate your own summer vibes with this hot pink Melanie Flamingo Kaftan. The perfect adornment to your sun-kissed glow, the Melissa Odabash design features intricate full-length embroidery, airy holed sleeves and matching fabric belt tie. Queen of the Beachwear Look, American fashion designer Odabash – whose fans vary from Rihanna to the Duchess of Cambridge – has been noted by Vogue as creating the ‘Ferraris of swimwear’, and this piece is no exception. The perfect mix of high fashion and beachwear, your getaway case isn’t packed until it’s at top of the pile.


Share
The Wick Culture - Design Mesedia Chair, Versace Home

Design Mesedia Chair, Versace Home

Bring a touch of colour and mystique to those dreamy outdoor summer evenings. In a now-iconic piece by Versace, the brand embeds its own Medusa figurehead into a climate-proof aluminium chair. The first of its kind for Versace Home, the chair was first introduced at the Salon de Mobile in 2016. ‘Versace lives through colour and pattern, breaking rules and promoting a sense of confidence and glamour’, the brand says – qualities all exuded in this piece entitled Mesedia. The chair comes in a variety of colours, from midnight blues to smokey blacks. Sink back and lose yourself.


Share