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Resting Pavilion, Osaka Expo 2025: MIDW Turns Excavation Into Architecture
Fact File Project: Resting Pavilion, Osaka Expo 2025 Location: Yumeshima, Osaka, Japan Area: 248 m² Architects: MIDW Structure: Jun Yanagimuro Structure Design, Toshiaki Kimura Furniture: Studio arche Year: 2025 Photography: Benjamin Hosking Yumeshima, the artificial island hosting Expo 2025 in Osaka, sits on reclaimed land with inherently weak ground conditions. Any construction on the site required the removal of a volume of soil equivalent to the weight of the proposed bui

Style Essentials Edit Team
Apr 103 min read


Phong House by Milimet Vuông — A Family Home That Listens to Its Village
Hòa Vang sits at the edge of Da Nang where the city has not quite arrived yet. The plots are wider here, the pace slower, and the feel of the village is still present in the way people move through their days even as new construction steadily fills in the gaps. For a young family building a home in this kind of place, the question is not simply what the house should look like but what kind of relationship it should have with everything around it. Architect Võ Văn Thành and th

Style Essentials Edit Team
Apr 103 min read


Elena Salmistraro - Bridging the Gap Between Design and Dreams
Based in Milan, the practice moves easily between product design, art, fashion, and illustration, refusing to prioritise one discipline over another. Salmistraro’s work is driven by an architectural understanding of form and a deeply emotional approach to objects, where colour, texture, and narrative are not applied as surface treatments but embedded into the design process itself. Her objects often feel animated, expressive, and intentionally imperfect, shaped by cultural re

Style Essentials Edit Team
Apr 15 min read


Product Review: Moondew Mogra Toner & Glow Getter – Gotukola Face Serum by Dusky India
I received the Moondew Mogra Toner and Glow Getter – Gotukola Face Serum from Dusky India and have been using them together for a few weeks as part of a simple morning and evening routine. The pairing is positioned as a two-step ritual designed to refresh the skin, restore hydration, and support the barrier using plant-based ingredients rooted in traditional formulations. The first product I incorporated was the Moondew Mogra Toner. The mist is lightweight and settles quickly

Style Essentials Edit Team
Mar 203 min read


Garden in Woods by Intent Made: A Marquetry Collection by Designer Swetha Vegesana
Intent Made is an Indian furniture brand whose work is built around solid wood and the craft traditions that have developed around it, and the Garden in Woods collection, designed by Swetha Vegesana, is the most complete expression yet of the direction the brand has been moving in. The collection consists of center tables and side tables, all made from solid timber and featuring marquetry work on their surfaces that takes considerable time to appreciate, as the more you look,

Style Essentials Edit Team
Mar 143 min read


Loop by Ethimo and Elena Salmistraro: An Outdoor Sofa Previewed at Salone del Mobile. Milano 2026
Salone del Mobile. Milano returns in 2026 as one of the most anticipated events in the global design calendar, drawing designers, brands, architects, and industry professionals from across the world to Milan for a week that consistently sets the direction for where furniture and interior design are heading. The 2026 edition continues that tradition, with previews and launches arriving from some of the most established names in Italian and international design, each using the

Style Essentials Edit Team
Mar 143 min read


Product Review: REFINE Beauty's Collection Just Landed on Our PR Desk and Here Is What We Actually Think
The REFINE Beauty collection arrived at the Style Essentials PR desk, and the first thing we noticed was the packaging—egg-shaped, compact, and more considered than most makeup at this price point. The brand was launched in 2024 by co-founders Firdose Ghauri and Mahima Kotwal, and the story behind it is straightforward—two friends who looked at the Indian makeup market and felt that most of what was available was either too serious, too repetitive, or too generic for skin ton

Style Essentials Edit Team
Mar 143 min read


Archana Aggarwal Timeless Jewellery: The Bulbul Collection and the Craft Behind It
Archana Aggarwal Timeless Jewellery has introduced a new collection of rings, hand chains, necklaces, and bracelets, with the Bulbul as the centerpiece around which the broader range is built. The collection is available at the brand's flagship showroom at Ambawatta One, Mehrauli, New Delhi, and through the brand's website. The Bulbul is a piece that the brand describes as its emblematic masterpiece, and the new collection draws from its material and visual language to create

Style Essentials Edit Team
Mar 142 min read


Häfele Horizon Digital Lock: What the Evolve Range Brings to the Front Door
Häfele has introduced the Horizon Digital Lock as part of its Evolve Range of Digital Door Locks, a line the German hardware brand has developed for contemporary residential spaces where the entrance door is expected to carry both security and design considerations without one coming at the expense of the other. The Horizon operates across multiple locking modes, including auto locking, passage locking, privacy locking, and double authentication mode, giving the homeowner the

Style Essentials Edit Team
Mar 142 min read


Ateliers Auguste: Why Laurent and Xavier Valembert Chose Precision Over Fashion
Paris has long recognized that genuine luxury often speaks softly. It manifests in balance, restraint, and the understated confidence of enduring creations. Within this tradition, Ateliers Auguste has established itself as one of the most intriguing independent leather houses of its time, not through flamboyance, but through dedication. Brothers Laurent and Xavier Valembert founded the Paris-based brand in 2018 as a counter to the fast-paced cycles of modern fashion. Their am

Style Essentials Edit Team
Mar 93 min read


Democratising Beauty: Inside Mila Beauté’s Rapid Rise in India’s Mass Market
At a time when the Indian beauty market is expanding at a pace that often prioritizes scale over calibration, a new generation of brands is attempting to address consumers who exist outside the traditional frameworks of luxury and budget positioning. These are consumers who are informed, routine-driven, and increasingly attentive to formulation, shade relevance, and long-term usability, but who remain conscious of value. Mila Beauté is among the brands that have emerged in th

Style Essentials Edit Team
Mar 65 min read


Product Review : 2% Alpha Arbutin Depigmentation Serum by Proven Honest Derma
I received the 2% Alpha Arbutin Depigmentation Serum from PHD and have been using it consistently for a little over a month, applying it once a day as suggested. My focus was straightforward: a few lingering dark spots from older breakouts, uneven tone around the nose, and mild tanning that never seemed to fade completely even with regular skincare. The first thing I noticed was the texture. The serum is lightweight, almost watery, and absorbs quickly without leaving behind a

Style Essentials Edit Team
Mar 62 min read


Volare Gets a Rethink: Ulisse Narcisi's Restyling Previewed at Fuorisalone 2026
At the ARAN Cucine Milan Flagship Store in Porta Nuova, during Fuorisalone 2026, designer Ulisse Narcisi showed a restyled version of Volare—one of the brand's most established kitchen designs and a model that has been part of the ARAN Cucine portfolio for a considerable number of years. The preview was part of Milano Design Week 2026, and for a kitchen that has gone through several evolutions already, this particular rethink feels like the most considered one yet. Narcisi, w

Style Essentials Edit Team
Mar 63 min read


Black Pottery and the Return of Material Attention: Nimmit’s Expansion into Clay
Black pottery has always carried a certain weight in the Indian craft landscape. Its surface is not decorative in the conventional sense. It absorbs light rather than reflecting it. It records touch. It reveals process. With its latest collection, Nimmit moves into this material territory, extending its existing work in textiles and object design into pottery. Founded by Manish Shah, Nimmit has so far been associated primarily with textile-based practices such as block printi

Style Essentials Edit Team
Feb 273 min read


Ar. Abhinav Goel—Principal at RMJM- Milano & Mantova, Italy
Ar. Abhinav Goel, Principal at RMJM, belongs to a generation of architects whose practice has been shaped by movement across geographies rather than allegiance to one. His work sits at the intersection of technology, narrative, and place, informed by early experimentation, international collaborations, and hands-on exposure to diverse architectural cultures. In this conversation with Alisha for Design Diary International, he speaks about finding direction during uncertain beg

Style Essentials Edit Team
Feb 2715 min read


Jason deCaires Taylor: The Sculptor Who Let the Ocean Finish the Work
The first thing you notice about Jason deCaires Taylor’s work isn’t scale, or novelty, or even the uncanny experience of encountering human figures beneath the sea. It is restraint. His sculptures do not compete with the ocean. They wait for it. Over time, they soften, darken, and disappear into growth, allowing marine life to overwrite the artist’s hand. Where most monumental art insists on permanence, Taylor’s practice is built around surrender. In an exclusive interview wi

Style Essentials Edit Team
Feb 274 min read


The Hungry Caterpillar: A Bamboo Pavilion by Ar. Apoorva Shroff at Ashoka University, India
At Ashoka University, a new bamboo pavilion titled The Hungry Caterpillar introduces an alternative way of thinking about campus infrastructure, material responsibility, and everyday student spaces. Designed by Apoorva Shroff, the project takes the form of a pavilion rather than a conventional building, allowing it to function as both an architectural intervention and a lived-in environment. The pavilion spans approximately 650 square meters and is constructed entirely from b

Style Essentials Edit Team
Feb 272 min read


Book Review: Begum Qudsia Rasul: A Memoir
Begum Qudsia Rasul holds a distinct place in India’s political history as the only Muslim woman who was part of the Constituent Assembly. Her memoir, first published in 2001 and later reissued by Roli Books, documents her life across princely India, the years leading up to Independence, and her role in the making of the Indian Constitution. The book is structured as a personal and political record, tracing her journey from an aristocratic upbringing to active participation in

Style Essentials Edit Team
Feb 272 min read


Falmec Previews Virgola Comfort Cooker Hood with Integrated Acoustic and Condensation Control Systems
Falmec has introduced updated versions of its Virgola under-cabinet cooker hood, presenting the Virgola Touch Comfort and Virgola No-Drop Comfort models. The new versions focus on acoustic performance and vapour management while retaining the compact integrated format designed for concealed kitchen installation. The Virgola Comfort models incorporate a soundproof chamber within the hood structure. This chamber is lined with noise-absorbing material positioned around the motor

Style Essentials Edit Team
Feb 242 min read


Häfele Introduces Classic and Design Aluminium Door Profiles for Contemporary Interior Applications
Häfele has expanded its interior fittings portfolio with the introduction of the Classic and Design Series aluminium door profiles, developed for use in wardrobes and cabinet systems. The new profiles extend the company’s existing range of structural framing solutions, offering additional material finishes and surface treatments suited to residential interiors. Aluminium profiles have become widely used in wardrobe and cabinet construction due to their dimensional stability a

Style Essentials Edit Team
Feb 242 min read
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