A statement piece is more than just an accessory; it’s a powerful form of self-expression. Whether it’s a bold necklace, a distinctive watch, or a dramatic cocktail ring, these items can be a great way to define and add individuality to an outfit. In a world of fast fashion and fleeting trends, investing in a unique, eye-catching item can elevate your personal style and make a lasting impression.
What Is a Statement Piece?
A statement piece in jewellery or watches is defined by its ability to stand out. With striking design, unique craftsmanship, or rich symbolism, these pieces grab attention and instantly elevate any look. Oversized rings, intricately detailed watches, and bold necklaces are all classic examples.
More than just fashion, a statement piece reflects the wearer’s individual style and personality. Whether avant-garde or vintage-inspired, the best ones balance boldness with elegance. They should enhance, not overpower, your look; serving as both conversation starters and personal expressions.
Elevating Your Personal Style
Adding a statement piece to your wardrobe can instantly lift your look. Even simple outfits such as a plain dress or a tailored suit can be transformed with the right accessory. Think dramatic earrings, a standout cuff, or a classic watch with distinctive detail.
These pieces also highlight your confidence and character. Whether you favour minimalism or bold glamour, the right item allows you to show your style on your own terms. A well-chosen statement piece can even become your signature; subtle yet unmistakably you.
Storytelling Through Accessories
Statement pieces often carry personal meaning beyond aesthetics. They can mark milestones like birthdays, anniversaries, or achievements, or be tied to a loved one or memory. A bespoke bracelet or inherited watch holds emotional value that makes it truly unique.
Such accessories can also tell cultural or artistic stories, whether through traditional motifs or modern design. When you wear a statement piece, you’re sharing a piece of your story.
A Smart Investment
Many statement pieces retain or increase in value over time. High-quality watches and jewellery from timeless brands like Rolex or Cartier are both stylish and collectible, making demand consistently strong. Meanwhile, iconic designs by Gerald Genta for brands like Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe, for example, have become solid investments.
Limited availability, superior materials, and a heritage craftsmanship give these pieces lasting worth, both emotionally and financially.
Versatility & Longevity
Statement pieces aren’t only for big events, they can also be part of your daily look. A bold pendant or unique watch can add personality to everyday outfits without feeling overdone.
The key is versatility. Look for designs that complement multiple looks or settings. With thoughtful styling, your favourite statement piece can easily transition from the office to an evening out.
Curating a Balanced Collection
A great jewellery or watch collection mixes everyday staples with a few standout stars. Statement pieces should enhance, not clash with, your core items.
Pair bold designs with more minimal accessories for a refined contrast. Over time, you’ll develop a collection that offers variety, suits different moods or events, and truly reflects your personal style.
How to Choose the Right Statement Piece for You
Choosing the right statement piece means thinking about your wardrobe and routines. A gold cuff may suit warm skin tones, while a platinum watch flatters cooler ones. Consider how often you’ll wear it and where. For formal events, try a vintage brooch or luxury watch; for casual settings, gemstone rings or leather straps work well. Try different options to see what feels natural and expressive.
Materials That Make a Statement
Materials affect a statement piece’s look and feel. Rose gold, ceramic, pearls, or gemstones all offer different styles. Bold types might prefer onyx or chunky silver, while others may opt for brushed gold or subtle diamonds. Lightweight materials suit all-day wear, while heavier ones feel more substantial. Consider sustainable options like recycled metals or lab-grown gems if ethics are a priority.
Caring for Statement Jewellery and Watches
To preserve your statement pieces, store them in soft-lined boxes to avoid scratches. Keep them away from perfumes, moisture, and direct sunlight. Clean metals with a soft cloth and have watches serviced regularly. When in doubt, consult a jeweller to ensure your favourites stay brilliant and long-lasting
Gina Birch’s mom is 96 years old, and she goes to see her every week. Just the other day, she visited with her younger daughter, who asked Birch – The Raincoats co-founder, artist, and feminist rock icon – if she had heard the new Lorde album. When she would drive home from seeing her mom, Birch used to pass by a Chinese restaurant with a red sign that said, in gold letters, “Happiness.” The sign looked ruined, but one day she was disappointed to find it replaced with something “like Big Eats, or Yummy Tummy.” That was the inspiration for ‘Happiness’, the second song on her second solo album, Trouble, which follows 2023’s I Play My Bass Loud. That track and ‘I Thought I’d Live Forever’ open the album – which finds Birch reuniting with Killing Joke’s Youth as producer – in a probing, introspective place, but their quiet defiance immediately feeds into ‘Causing Trouble Again’, its communal, rambunctious lead single. Birch’s diaristic sense of humour and playfulness keeps shining through even in Trouble’s darkest moments, its punk spirit infused with dub and electronic experimentation. “Today I choose to be happy,” she intones on the absurdly uplifting ‘Doom Monger’, anything but oblivious to the destruction around her. It’s not a loud declaration; if anything, it’s rather faint, even as she repeats the final word. But if nothing can take its place, that’s a good sign.
We caught up with Gina Birch to talk about Kim Gordon, painting, Bella Freud’s fashion podcast, and other inspirations behind Trouble.
Women in Revolt! Exhibition at Tate Britain
I got into painting, and suddenly I was working with Third Man on I Play My Bass Loud. Lindsay Young asked if she could show this film I made in 1977 that had never been actually shown before; I never showed it when I was at art school. I really didn’t quite know what I’d done, but I showed little bits of it, and this curator had seen some of it at a Raincoats show and told the other curator about it. So Lindsay Young approached me and asked me if she could see the three-minute scream film, and I showed it to her and she said, “Oh yes, I love it.” And then she kept asking for a different resolution, and I kept saying, “Look, if you’re showing it on a little monitor in the corner of the gallery, it’s fine.” And she said, “No, I want to project it at two-and-a-half, three meters wide.” I was like, “Oh my god. That’s incredible.” And then the next email I got was, “Can we use a shot of it for the poster?” So, not only had I made an album unexpectedly for Third Man, I was suddenly this great big image on the front of a favorite art gallery of mine. [laughs] It was incredible.
Lindsay chose a lot of artists who were largely unknown. Some were known, like Linda Sterling who did the Buzzcocks cover, and Caroline Coon a little bit, the Neo Naturists. But a lot of the artists hadn’t really been shown hardly ever, so it was a really special thing. But when the exhibition opened, we didn’t really get to know each other because we’d all brought our friends. I tried to build some kind of community between us, but it was quite difficult because we were all very spread out. Some of the women were getting quite elderly by then, and you know, didn’t really want to engage much with me on the phone. Anyway, I decided that I would try and make a piece of work where I would get all the women from Women in Revolt to give me a few names of women who’d inspired them, and then I’d make a kind of mountain of inspirational women. And then I thought it should be in a song too, so these things were running in parallel.
I went about contacting Lindsay; I didn’t directly contact the women because people’s privacy seems to be very important these days. I found that a little frustrating. So, indirectly I contacted all the women and most of them either didn’t get the email or found it too difficult or thought, “I’ll do it later,” you know, one of those things. Time passed, and I then invited artist friends of mine and other people to give me names like Anna da Silva and all sorts of people, musicians and artists. When it came to making the video, I chose a whole lot of other women because I had to choose women who were in London, who could get to this film studio, and it was a bit out of town. So there’s so many layers of different women there. It’s not a very exciting story, but it was quite an exciting journey, actually. I suppose you find this when you’re trying to track down people to interview – sometimes it takes a lot of emails back and forth. Managing to contact and get 30 women to come to the film studio – I felt quite proud of myself.
Painting
You said you’ve been taking painting very seriously over the past decade, and I’m curious what that investment looks like for you.
Prior to this major work with I Play My Bass Loudly and then a period after, I was in my studio all the time. I haven’t managed to get there very much in the last kind of six months, so I’m feeling a bit abandoned by it – or I’ve abandoned it. But as soon as I’ve done my show on the 16th, I’m going to be back in my painting studio, bringing everything back to life, giving it some love and care. It’s been such a lovely journey, and I’ve felt so inspired by painting. I’ve felt so inspired by just a canvas that you can tell a story on without perspective, without hierarchy. Anything could appear there. It’s not like a film. You can make the painting on your own, and the story that you tell within it can be many-layered. It’s a beautiful thing. I love putting different ideas within the canvas.
It’s been a very exciting rediscovery because I was painting when I was at school, but I’ve not painted since. I didn’t paint when I was at art school. I made films and did crazy performance stuff and did everything else but painting. So coming back to painting as I got older, I just fell in love with it again. I think when I was at school, it was just one of the things I liked best doing – that and maths, actually. But when I rediscovered it when I was older, it just felt really important to me.
What’s the story behind the painting on Trouble’s cover?
It’s a brutal story, really. It’s been through many incarnations, that painting. There’s probably about 20 paintings underneath because that’s just a small corner of the painting. It was a story of, I suppose, things that happen to young women at parties; maybe with drinks that are spiked or just drinking too much. It’s not a nice story, but I just really liked the Dada quality of it, the red in the red, and not seeing the whole story. I did at one point think I would use the whole painting for the cover, but it’s too brutal.
I hear that redness, that brutality and blurring of the body, evoked in ‘Cello Song’.
It was written as I was painting, not that particular painting, but it was written as I was painting. The thing is when you’re painting, people appear and disappear and and lines appear and disappear, and paint drips, and it just feels very evocative of life and fame and fading, so many people who move up and then fall down suddenly, who are full of joy and despair. I can’t really articulate it right now. [laughs] I think you’re too serious and deep for me right at this minute. I’m like, “Oh my god, I think I need to do this in the morning.”
Bob Dylan
I know that the ‘Causing Trouble Again’ video was inspired by ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ and that line, “a white ladder all covered with water.” I’m fascinated by how inspiration sometimes works by way of singling out a single detail that your mind obsesses over – it’s not even the song that’s necessarily inspirational, but this one thing.
I know – not even covered with water. [laughs] I just became obsessed with white ladders. I had this idea of a kind of choreography with ladders. We never quite got there, but there’s some interesting things that happen. I’ve got lots of different footage of us with ladders and projections of me with ladders. In the actual edit of the film, I didn’t put much of that in, but when we play live, I’m going to use quite a bit of that for the projections behind us.
The obsession is odd. I mean, I am quite obsessed with listening to Bob Dylan of all phases, and I don’t know why that one white ladder thing just stuck in my head. I couldn’t get rid of it. And then I kept thinking about snakes and ladders ascending; I suppose it was a little to do with claiming your power a little bit. But then, of course, it’s the journey from Earth to paradise as well, Jacob’s ladder and all that. It’s funny how so many things, if you obsess over them, the references are quite numerous. When I was getting obsessed, I didn’t know why. And then a bit later, I’m like, “Oh, that’s interesting.”
Were any of the recent films centered around Bob Dylan fresh in your mind?
The most recent one came out after I’d finished the record, and I loved it so much. I felt it really captured the spirit. I mean, obviously, it’s not a perfect rendition of what happened, and the representation of the women isn’t as brilliant as it could have been. There were flaws in it, but I just love being in that world. I love him visiting Woody Guthrie and all those things. For me, one of the things is trying to be a bit more adventurous with lyrics, because I can be a bit on the nose. [laughs] The more I listen to Bob Dylan, his lyrics are so funny and heartfelt and sometimes deep and obscure and strange. And in that way, they’re kind of liberating, but I haven’t found my liberation with them yet. Maybe a tiny bit in ‘Cello Song’. I tend to write more logically, and I’d like to get away from that.
Kim Gordon
She was obviously an early supporter of your work, but what’s interesting to me is that she released her first solo album in 2019 and then worked with the same producer on its follow- up, like you did.
She’s definitely a fellow traveler, but I feel like she’s a notch up there. I feel much more homey, and she feels very sophisticated. I know she likes my painting, and I know she likes what I do. But I really admire what she does in terms of just her intellect, really. She is a great thinker, and I’m probably a bit more of a feeler. [laughs] She has this capacity for analysis and thought and digging into things and exploring the ideas in them in a way that I definitely couldn’t do. She’s the other half of what I’d like to be. She’s got a really analytical, clever, witty side to her that I find unreachable. I know she’s been through really tough times with her marriage splitting up, but she’s really thrown herself into her work in a way that is so powerful.
And then the video that she made for ‘I’m a Man’ – that’s so funny and so clever. It’s unexpected and intense and brilliant. She’s written quite a lot about masculinity and rock, and that’s something that would never have occurred to me to try and write anything about.
Sonically, too, I was wondering if The Collective was an influence on songs like ‘Don’t Fight Your Friends’.
I shouldn’t really tell you this, but when I first met up with Youh again, I said, “Have you heard the Kim Gordon album?” And then he listened to it and he started playing me all these tracks, and they were terrible. I hated them. They weren’t like Kim Gordon at all, but then he played me this one track that was like, “I really like that. That’s beautiful.” I had a song piece, and we slowed it right down and fitted it in. It was finding the common ground between me and Youth with a Kim Gordon diversion on the way. I have to say it was slightly inspired, but when I said to Youth, “Have you heard of Kim Gordon?” I wasn’t meaning, “Shall we recreate Kim Gordon?” We were just chatting about things we’d heard. So then I think he felt obliged to explore that more than I had anticipated. [laughs] I was like, “You don’t have to do that, I’ve got these songs.” Because all the other songs I took with me to Youth’s studio, but that one I just took a vocal melody, so we were looking for a way to fit that with some backing. And then he came up with this piece.
When we play live, we’re not doing it like that. We’re using the drum track and bass all the way through and me, Jenny, and Marie are all singing. It’s like a call-and-response thing, and then we all sing the chorus. What we’re working on right now is translating the work into a live context, which is really interesting because the album was largely written either on my computer at home or in the studio at Youth’s.
Mad Men
My dad was absolutely lovely, but he was expected to be the patriarch and the breadwinner and the one in charge – the buck stopped with him. My mum kind of let him be that, and she always cared about her appearance and her skin and whether her clothes were right. She was very clever, but she never explored that side of herself. And then you think about Betty Draper and how she kind of gave up everything for this marriage and how trapped and sad it is. It does feel like whenever we go to the Draper household, I maybe project my own sadness onto her from my childhood. I know when I would get home from school, my mum would be kind of depressed and unfulfilled. Women at that time had very few choices. For me, the history of women’s – emancipation, I suppose, is a word that can be used – runs through madmen. In a way, the stories of the women are very interesting. The stories of the men are a bit more blah.
Bella Freud’s Fashion Neurosis podcast
There’s even one where Cate Blanchett talks about portraying Bob Dylan.
That’s hilarious because she says that when she was playing Bob Dylan, she was wondering about her physicality and her stance. A friend of hers said, “Try putting a sock down the front of your trousers.” And she said it worked wonders. It just gave her a kind of sense of having a masculine moment. I remember once when I was playing a gig in Brighton and I went and got a tattoo transfer – it was only a transfer, and it was on my arm and I had bare arms when I was playing. And it made me feel really strong. [laughs] I know it sounds crazy, but just the idea of having a tattoo – I know now everyone has lots of tattoos, but at the time, tattoos were a lot rarer, and it was incredible the effect psychologically that this tattoo transfer had on my psyche. And I expect a pair of socks down the trouser – or a sock, not a pair, that might be a little over egging it. Those things make a big difference.
Are there any other episodes that stuck out to you?
I like this Es Devlin – she’s a designer for fashion shoots and films and live bands. Her journey for me was really interesting, dealing with spatial awareness and how you might make things happen and teams of people working. I liked the ones where she’s talking to different types of people more than when she’s talking to musicians. Although I quite liked the Lorde one she did recently. Obviously, Bella Freud is a designer and she was like, “Who is your inspiration?” And she was like, “I just like people who wear very ordinary clothes, like Phil Collins.” [laughs] It was so kind of anti-fashion, it was really funny.
It’s interesting because Lorde is also exploring gender identity and fluidity on her new album, Virgin. Have you heard it?
No, I haven’t. I watched her at Glastonbury on telly, and that was beautiful. And I heard the podcast, but I haven’t listened to the album yet. My daughters both love Lorde. My younger daughter was at my mum’s last Sunday, and she went, “Have you heard Lorde’s new album?” And then something happened, but I was expecting her to say, “I really don’t like it!” The way she asked, I was thinking maybe she doesn’t like it, but I couldn’t say that’s actually what happened. But they loved her earlier albums. It’s interesting to see what my kids think of it.
How did Bella Freud herself inspire you?
I’ve read a lot about her relationship with her dad and her as an artist model, and she’s also had an awful lot of therapy. When she’s talking to her clients or interviewees, she’s sitting in a chair and they’re lying on the couch, and she treats them so gently and beautifully. She also shares her experiences and feelings and her relationship with her father, and it just feels very tender in the way that she exposes herself as well as finding things from her clients. Sometimes if I’m thinking what to do, I’ll imagine – because she asks some of the same questions to each person each week, like, “Was there an item of clothing when you were a child that made you feel special?” – and sometimes, I’ll answer that question for myself. I find those things quite interesting in terms of probing oneself for one’s own narrative, because I think you forget a lot about your life, don’t you? And then when you think about a pair of party shoes or something you wore at a certain time or what happened in a certain situation, and you’re like, “Oh my god, yes, that.”
It’s revealing, and it’s a bit unraveling, and that’s kind of how I write my songs. I don’t know if that bit came across, but the lyrics in some of the songs I write could have been written on a couch. I could have been lying on a therapist’s couch and saying: I remember the day I came back from my mother’s and we went past the sign where the Chinese restaurant that had the ‘Happiness’ sign outside of it had gone. Every week I came back from my mother’s, I’d arrive in London, and I would see the sign: red and gold, very faded because it had been there too long, saying “happiness.” I was welcomed back to London with this beautiful, slightly decaying sign, and it made me feel like home. And then one day, it was gone, and that was terrifying. It was upsetting. There was a plastic sign with something horrible written there, and you wonder, what is the significance of being so upset by that?
I decided to write the song ‘Happiness’, which was inspired by that moment, and “It comes and goes and comes and goes” – I had a circular pool that I put up sometimes in my garden, and we have a noodle, it’s called, and you run round and you make a whirlpool, and then you jump on your noodle and you’re spinning around, and everybody’s laughing. That’s one of the happiest times I can remember: sitting around in a whirlpool on a piece of rubber. [laughs] That’s the child in you as well, I suppose, and the dizziness.
Exhibitions: Leigh Bowery! at Tate Modern and Martin Green and James Lawler’s Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London
It’s funny because when punk ended – it did seem to end, because Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979, so punk was still in full flow then, but her impact became stronger and stronger, and suddenly, the whole idea of money became very visible. I think I kind of confused, like, Duran Duran’s music videos and with New Romantics – in my mind, it was empty, money-driven rubbish, she says very carefully. [laughs] So I missed a lot of the good things that were happening. I thought it was superficial, and I suppose I’d been looking for the revolution in punk, and then it felt like it just became all about clothes. It was almost like, “Well, that didn’t work, so we’ll try this.” And it didn’t feel enough for me. But I didn’t explore it enough before I kind of rejected it. One of my best friends from art school was working at the door at Taboo, and she said, “Come down. You’ll love it.” I went down and stood in the queue with a couple of friends, and then we didn’t even go in.
But years later, I was sharing a dressing room with Leigh Bowery when we were doing Fete Worse than Death, and it was just this incredible presence. He had his partner naked, but in red paint with her head in his crotch, and then he put on this satin bodysuit, and then a dress, and then very high-heeled shoes, and he went out onto the stage to perform. And then he leant back and gave birth to Nicola. And I was like, “Wow. This guy is incredible.” I began to explore more and more about him, and I saw him out and about occasionally and he’d have these drips coming down his head. And then I went to the Tate exhibition, a lot of his clothes were there. Suits and strange bits of clothing, lots of films and bits of painting. I popped in three times, actually, just because the atmosphere there was great.
Martin and James’ exhibition was also amazing. They managed to gather a lot of the clothes from the original participants; Martin was a DJ , and he had a lot of friends who were out and about partying at that time. So they managed to put on this incredible exhibition of all these amazing clothes. And it made me realize you must always look and listen and think – don’t just dismiss things because of where your head’s at. But maybe you have to do that sometimes. Maybe you just have to say, “Enough. I’ve got no space for that right now. It goes against everything I’m thinking and feeling and hoping for.” And in a way, that’s what happened to me at the time, and it’s only now that I can look at it with great love and admiration.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
While Milan, Paris, London, and New York dominate headlines as always, several rising fashion weeks are injecting fresh energy and creativity into the global circuit. Here is our guide to those lesser known fashion weeks that we should pay attention in the world of fashion.
Lagos Fashion Week – Nigeria
Dates: October 29 – November 2, 2025
Venue: Lagos, Nigeria
Why its significant: Lagos is a capital of African style and creativity – essentially advocating for bold prints, storytelling through culture, new luxury brands emerging & sustainable practices & supports next next-generation talent to expand the global fashion narrative that we so love.
Georgia Fashion Week – Georgia
Dates: June 14-16, 2025 (Fall/Winter)
Venue: Tbilisi, Georgia
Why it matters: Trades are becaming known for evolving avant-garde, genders fluid, experimental design elements understood widely amount the Eastern European heritage. Tbilisi Fashion Week always reflects emerging revolutionary collection and narrative craftsmanship eventually .
Auckland/New Zealand Fashion Week – New Zealand
Dates: August 25 – 30, 2025
Venue: Auckland, Shed 10 at Queens Wharf.
Why it matters: The signature fashion event in Aotearoa, is now bringing strong Pacific and Māori voices to the event. Indigenous excellence and creativity, ethical production, and cultural innovation will be the centre of the week through events like the Pacific Fusion .
Seoul Fashion Week – South Korea
Dates: September 4-7, 2025 , for Spring/Summer 2026 collections
Venue: Seoul , South Korea
Why it matters: A hybridisation of technology and runway/street-style, a hybridisation of sustainability and technology. Again continues rather rapidly to rise in relevance in the conversation about global fashion .
Tokyo Fashion Week – Japan
Dates: September 1-6, 2025, for Spring/Summer 2026
Venue: Tokyo, Japan
Why it matters: Tokyo also continues to be a lively incubator of experimental and avant-garde fashion, and a strong supporter for new designers internationally who are combining technology with tradition and theatricality together.
As we enter the second half of 2025, the European fashion calendar is heating up as a new series of shows bring a renewed sense of energy, creativity, and excitement. From Milan’s luxury and craftsmanship, to the unmatched extravagance of couture in Paris, let’s look at the fashion weeks ahead – and why each is worth paying attention to.
Milan Fashion Week – Men’s Spring/Summer 2026
Dates: June 20–24, 2025
Location: Milan, Italy
Milan kicks off the summer runway season with its famous men’s fashion week. Why is this one to keep an eye on? Fashion in Milan is the perfect mix of time-honoured Italian tailoring tradition with daring, modern innovation. This is what we love as fashionistas. Definitely expect to see an exciting collection of sleek suits, experimental textures, and unexpected details that redefine menswear. This season promises to push boundaries, while demonstrating Milan’s very own craftsmanship. Men’s fashion will have a new outlook next year, something sharp, something sophisticated, and something completely creative.
Paris Fashion Week – Men’s Spring/Summer 2026
Dates: June 24–29, 2025
Location: Paris, France
Paris is unarguably the heart of avant-garde fashion, and the men’s fashion week is no exception. Where elegance meets the avant-garde, dramatic silhouettes paired with a subtle sense of rebellion. Whether you are drawn by history or modernity, Parisian designers inevitably emerge with clothing that tells stories, honouring tradition while maintaining fresh perspectives. New collections this season are guaranteed to spark new trends seen in color, form, and attitude. This is a must-do if you have any level of interest in menswear that combines luxury with the fun and thrilling courage of art.
Berlin Fashion Week – Spring/Summer 2026
Dates: June 30-July 3
Location: Berlin, Germany
Berlin is quickly becoming the bold sustainable fashion city. Berlin’s fashion week will showcase emerging designers who will take us out of our comfort zones ethically utilizing sustainable materials with inclusive design. Each of the designers above will offer magic so gender-bending you’ll want to set it to music, or exciting fabric manipulation that screams possibilities for the future. The combination of thrilling, gritty urban context in Berlin limbs to thoughtfulness, defaults to welcoming new creative fashion voices.
Paris Haute Couture Week – Fall/Winter 2025
Dates: July 7-10
Location: Paris, France
If fashion is art, then Paris Haute Couture week is the gallery and filled with some of the most beautiful, dispossessed garments you will find in the world. This haute couture season will feature exquisite craftsmanship and extraordinary details throughout collections of masterful design. Fashion as an art form is when garments transcend clothing, become life as a fantasy, become narrative pieces in their own right. For every fashion lover-this is the welcome gift of the season to witness the height of creativity and artfulness we can enjoy in the retail space, dignity in craft and artistry – by every stitch, embellishment, and bead lives dignity.
Copenhagen Fashion Week – Spring/Summer 2026
Dates: August 4–8
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen, an emerging fashion city destination and although the fashion week theme will be all about clean lines, smart sustainability, and nordic minimalism that doesn’t lose its punch. You can expect collection after collection of purposeful designers committed to eco-friendly practices that both style and innovation. These collections will be lively and exciting. They will exemplify how the design community can both responsible and visionary while remaining aware of consumer appetites. Copenhagen is the literal tie to sustainability, with a roadmap of sustainability as an industry best practice to influence fashions future.
Where the world accelerates, she slows us down—with intention, with breath.
In Soft Acts of Resistance, interdisciplinary artist Siyuan Meng presents a trilogy of works that cross screendance, photography, and live performance—each tracing the sensing body as a site of ritual, perception, and quiet transformation. Through minimalist gesture, elemental material, and the aesthetics of slowness, Meng builds poetic spaces that resist spectacle and invite presence.
The trilogy—Porous, Body Trip, and Balcony Whispers—unfolds across mediums yet remains rooted in a single artistic inquiry: what does it mean to dwell in the body, softly, in a time of structural acceleration?
In Porous, performed on a drifting canal boat beneath the glass towers of East London, the performer moves within a skeletal shelter made of branches and gauze. Her gestures—leaning, folding, breathing—become a soft interruption to the hardness of the urban landscape. The performance is less choreography than attunement: to water, to wind, to the silent nearness of strangers. Porosity becomes a political stance—a willingness to remain open in systems designed to harden us.
Body Trip, a screendance film, traverses interior and planetary landscapes. The camera follows the figure through rituals of repetition, walking, and emotional resonance. Here, embodiment is not a fixed state but a fluid field of memory and return. Drawing from Daoist non-duality and diasporic experience, the work moves beyond narrative into cycles of becoming.
Balcony Whispers, the final and most intimate piece, is a photographic meditation on the feminine body in stillness. Set in the liminal space of a balcony, a solitary figure—clothed in lace and shadow—engages in micro-rituals of rest and attention. The images capture not performance, but listening. In this held space, stillness is not passive—it breathes.
Across all three works, Meng proposes slowness as resistance. These are not spectacles to consume but spaces to feel through. In a world oversaturated with image and urgency, Soft Acts of Resistance reminds us of the radical potential of pause, breath, and embodied care.
Science-fiction once imagined doctors waving sleek “tricorders” over patients to read every vital sign in seconds. Today, anyone with a smartphone can capture an ECG, count breaths, or schedule a virtual visit on the commute home. What changed so quickly? Rising consumer expectations for on-demand care collided with hospital digital-transformation roadmaps, while COVID-19 pushed remote monitoring from novelty to necessity. As demand surged, healthcare mobile app development companies quickly became essential partners in delivering responsive, secure, and scalable solutions. The sections that follow trace key milestones, uncover current obstacles, and spotlight the professionals shaping tomorrow’s digital care.
Turning Ideas into Apps: Milestones in Healthcare Software
Early mobile health looked modest—step counters and calorie logs that felt closer to gaming than medicine. Yet each iteration brought the industry closer to clinical relevance.
First smartphone accessory approved for clinical diagnostics
2014
Apple HealthKit & Google Fit launch
Unified data hubs for third-party health records
2016
Bluetooth Smart wearables standardize pairing
Simplified sensor integration across brands
2020
Global telemedicine surge during lockdowns
Accelerated reimbursement models and user adoption
Behind each headline stood at least one healthcare app development company capitalizing on new building blocks:
Cloud infrastructure lowered hosting costs and offered elastic scaling for peak appointment loads.
Interoperability standards such as HL7 and FHIR unlocked secure, structured data exchange between apps and EHRs.
Sensor ecosystems multiplied, from blood-glucose patches to spirometers, exposing rich APIs for developers.
Modern teams favor agile sprints, but speed never overrides safety. User-centered design interviews with patients and clinicians uncover pain points early, while automated CI/CD pipelines run HIPAA or GDPR compliance checks with every merge. The result: apps that feel simple yet pass audits on encryption, audit trails, and consent management.
Linking Clinics and Code: Modern Challenges in Medical App Development
Any medical app development company that builds software influencing treatment decisions operates inside a strict framework shaped by patient safety and data protection. Continuous validation sits at the core of every release cycle; each product update must demonstrate parity with clinical-grade equipment under ethical-review oversight, not just pass a routine regression test.
Parallel to this scientific scrutiny runs a multi-layered regulatory process. In the United States, the FDA’s Software as a Medical Device pathway evaluates intended use, risk classification, and cybersecurity posture, while in Europe the Medical Device Regulation adds post-market surveillance obligations that persist long after launch.
Safeguarding personal health information increases the technical stakes. Encryption keys live in segregated vaults, tamper-evident logs record every data touch, and detailed provenance chains prove exactly how a reading travelled from sensor to clinician dashboard. Heightened security does not exempt artificial-intelligence modules from full transparency either.
When algorithms flag arrhythmias or predict admission risk, teams expose training datasets, bias-mitigation methods, and performance metrics so that auditors and physicians can review them as critically as any pharmacology study. Meeting these expectations without slowing releases demands modular codebases, automated threat modelling, and documentation that maps each change to regulatory clauses, creating a traceable thread from commit message to bedside benefit.
People Behind the Screens: Developers Crafting Patient-Centric Solutions
Successful digital therapeutics emerge from multidisciplinary squads that think far beyond code syntax. Full-stack engineers translate clinical workflows into Swift or Kotlin while applying FIPS-validated cryptography to every network request. User-experience researchers run accessibility audits against WCAG 2.2, interview stroke survivors about font legibility, and refine navigation to suit one-handed use. Data scientists compress on-device models so they keep predicting blood-pressure trends even during a subway blackout, then visualise cohort adherence for clinicians within days of rollout. Clinical advisors line-up each feature with evidence-based protocols, flagging edge-case symptoms that the product team may overlook. Together these professionals share FHIR sandboxes, design-system tokens, and anonymised datasets supplied under strict Data-Use Agreements with partner hospitals and insurers.
Career paths widen as regulations tighten. Engineers augment coding expertise with cybersecurity certifications and workshops on medical terminology, while product leads study reimbursement policy so features align with payer incentives. Throughout the process healthcare app developers remember that every pixel can influence someone’s well-being; empathy during hallway interviews or telehealth shadow sessions is as vital as flawless encryption. By weaving clinical insight, technical rigour, and ethical awareness into a single workflow, the team turns complex health challenges into intuitive tools that patients trust daily.
Conclusion
From speculative gadgets to indispensable digital therapeutics, software now accompanies patients through prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Alive ECG strips sit beside glucometer integrations, while teleconsultations replace many waiting-room visits. This progress springs from joint ingenuity: developers architect resilient code, clinicians validate protocols, and regulators supervise safety.
Emerging frontiers promise still-smarter care. Predictive genomics may warn of drug interactions before a prescription prints. Ambient sensors embedded in furniture could track gait and catch early signs of frailty. Cross-industry alliances—think wearable makers plus pharma—will refine personalized dosing apps delivered as healthcare app development services. Each advance inches everyday life closer to the future once reserved for science fiction, confirming that responsible collaboration will keep innovation safely in patients’ hands.
After starting your journey in cosmetology, your knowledge and skills will keep you competitive, but that’s not everything you need to stay at the top of your game. You will also want to renew your licence on time so it doesn’t expire. Still, it’s easy to forget to do this when trying to balance personal responsibilities, your job, and maybe even professional development efforts.
But remember that working with an expired cosmetology licence will have serious consequences. From hefty fines to the suspension of your licence, these repercussions aren’t something you want to experience at all. And while they vary in severity from one state to the other, they will obviously ruin your work experience.
Read this post to the end to learn more about working with invalid cosmetology licences and what you can do if yours has expired.
First, What Happens if You Work With an Expired Licence?
An expired cosmetology licence, at the most basic level, simply means you no longer meet the state’s requirements to continue with your practice. In many states, professionals are required to take continuing education (CE) courses torenew cosmetology licenses, in addition to paying a renewal fee before a predetermined deadline.
Failing to meet such requirements results in the expiration of your licence. This means you are no longer allowed to continue offering your services until you’ve fixed the licensing issue. Deciding to ignore this obligation makes you an easy target for serious penalties that range from fines to suspension or even revocation of your licence.
So, Then, What Should You Do If Your Licence Expires?
Now that you know there are nasty consequences of continuing to operate as a licensed cosmetologist even after your licence expires, you must be wondering what to do if your licence has expired for whatever reason. Here are the steps you should take in this regard:
1. Stop Practising
The most important thing to do as soon as you realise your licence has expired is to stop offering your services immediately. This will often require you to come up with creative explanations to cancel appointments with your customers. The good thing is that if your licence just expired recently, the renewal process won’t be complicated, thus you will be back in service in no time.
2. Determine How Far You Are Past the Renewal Deadline
Renewing your licence after it has expired can be a straightforward or complicated process, depending on how long past the renewal deadline you are. Less than one year past the renewal deadline is the optimal situation here, since all you need is, more than likely, a reinstatement application and paying the required fees.
Crank this up to one year or more, and you may have to reapply for your licence, often without taking exams. If you ignore the licence renewal for more than five years, it’s more than likely you will have to reapply for the licence and even retake your exam.
That’s why it’s so important to understand how deep you are in this mess. On the positive side of it all, these processes aren’t as exacting as they may sound at first, so don’t be afraid of reapplying.
3. Prepare the Necessary Information and Forms
After determining the additional requirements for renewing your licence based on how long it has been expired or inactive, you’ll need to gather all the information and forms required during the renewal or reapplication process. Some of the particulars you want to have with you include your licence number, application forms, and the required fees.
Of course, your state’s licensing board website is the best source of information on the exact forms and information you need during the reinstatement process. Still, you can trust information from state-recognised education providers like RocketCert.
4. Submit Your Application and Fees
At this point, you have practically everything you need for the reinstatement process. Now, all that will be remaining is submitting your application and paying the reapplication fees. You may have to meet a couple of prerequisites before sending your application, so follow the guidelines on the licensing board’s website to ensure you don’t miss anything.
After completing this step, all you have to do now is wait. In most cases, the reinstatement process takes just a couple of weeks to a few months. Cases are different, so some patience is needed here. If you feel like it’s taking too long, you can always contact the licensing board.
Avoid the Trouble of an Expired Cosmetology Licence
The easiest way to steer clear of the consequences of practising with an expired licence is to ensure your licence doesn’t expire in the first place. This is a straightforward process that only requires you to track important dates and deadlines to avoid lapses.
If you hate continuing your education since it feels like all CE courses out here are complex, we have a fantastic solution for you. Consider investing in an expertly written and fully narrated course from a top provider like RocketCert. This not only makes the process of meeting your CE requirements easier, but it also helps you understand the content much better.
At the end of Ishiro Honda’s Godzilla (1954), a forlorn scientist named Dr. Serizawa ventures to the bottom of Tokyo Bay and unleashes the Oxygen Destroyer, a doomsday machine he unwittingly invented and has heretofore kept secret from the world. While fearful that “the politicians of the world” will turn his discovery into the latest Cold War superweapon, the scientist has agreed to use it just once. A monster called Godzilla has burned Tokyo to the ground, and Serizawa’s invention is the only thing that might stop the menace. After activating his device, he cuts his air and support lines—ensuring the Oxygen Destroyer is never remade—and Godzilla is disintegrated first into a skeleton and then into nothing. In the aftermath, another scientist, played by that wonderful actor Takashi Shimura, issues a warning. Believing Godzilla to have been awakened by H-bomb tests in the Pacific, he states, “If nuclear testing continues, then someday, somewhere in the world, another Godzilla may appear.”
As is documented in Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski’s new book Godzilla: The First 70 Years, screenwriter Takeo Murata wrote this monologue not “thinking about a sequel.” Nevertheless, the movie’s impressive turnout (9.6 million in attendance) paved the way to a quick follow-up—Motoyoshi Oda’s Godzilla Raids Again (1955)—and, beginning in the ‘60s, more pictures starring the monster. In the course of its seven-decade history, Godzilla has appeared in entries ranging from witty satires to anti-pollution polemics; the character has been a villain, an ally of convenience, and a bona fide superhero. It has found admirers worldwide, including among Hollywood talents such as Guillermo del Toro. And in 2024, Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One (2023) took home the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Godzilla holds the record for the longest-running film franchise; such a rich and complex legacy warrants a detailed study, which now arrives in the form of Ryfle and Godziszewski’s tome.
Godzilla: The First 70 Years is the latest contribution its authors have made to English language knowledge about the movies under discussion. Both separately wrote info-packed books in the 1990s, and together they penned the 2017 biography Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. And that is to say nothing of their numerous articles, audio commentaries, interviews, etc. that have afforded western moviegoers a deeper appreciation for the films and the people behind them. Now comes this 432-page volume covering the Japanese series from its inception to the present day, chock-full of research and gorgeous behind-the-scenes photographs.
The book opens with a pair of introductions: the first by American filmmaker (and known fan of the series) John Carpenter, the second by Japanese actress Megumi Odaka, who played the psychic Miki Saegusa in six Godzilla movies between 1989-1995. Odaka’s introduction is delightfully substantial, consuming the better part of two pages as she recounts her experiences and provides insight into the men who directed her. (“[Takao] Okawara’s style was very masculine, but his work also reminded me that women’s characters are equally important.”) From here, Ryfle and Godziszewski group the movies into five sections and take us through the history one title at a time. This easy-to-navigate approach accommodates a variety of reading choices: one can read straight to the end or open a particular chapter to learn about a specific movie. As always, the authors do a wonderful job articulating the challenges endured by the filmmakers and delivering fantastic information. (Among the highlights is an unfilmed alternate denouement for 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla—completely unrelated to the movie’s infamous “double ending” myth.)
In what marks a departure from their previous writings, Ryfle and Godziszewski stray from making critical comments—not a flaw per se, merely a difference. While I admittedly missed the duo’s flair for analysis, the research and the plethora of quotes from cast and crew members make for an informative read—one that has helped fill gaps in previous genre studies. The late Kensho Yamashita, for instance, directed just one entry, 1994’s Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, and his few English language interviews were conducted more than three decades ago. Thanks to this book, we now have access to numerous translated statements from Yamashita and gain a more complete understanding of his goals when making the ‘94 movie. Some anecdotes might prove surprising (suit actor Haruo Nakajima preferred Godzilla Raids Again to its predecessor “at least for my acting”) while others touch the heart: Momoko Kochi, who played the heroine in the original movie, recalls that scriptwriter Kazuki Omori wanted her to reprise the part in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) “no matter what.”
In tackling a franchise as complex as Godzilla’s, Ryfle and Godziszewski appropriately dedicate numerous sidebars and sub-chapters to topics such as urban legends, alternate cuts, and the process of building monster suits. The book also features a pair of guest essays by biographer Erik Homenick and set reporter Norman England. Homenick has spent years documenting the life and works of composer Akira Ifukube, and here delivers an erudite piece on the 1954 Godzilla score. And England, who covered the Millennium Godzilla movies (1999-2004) for various publications, offers a personal account of still photographer Takashi Nakao, one of the unsung heroes of Godzilla lore, based on his experiences interacting with him on Shusuke Kaneko’s Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-out Attack (2001). (My correspondence with England confirmed that several of the book’s making-of photos for the Millennium films were taken by him and are appearing in print for the first time.)
On the negative side, the book’s copy would’ve benefited from an additional round of editing. Within its pages exist the occasional typo (a misspelling of director Atsushi Takahashi’s name), grammatical error (“an Godzilla attraction” [sic]), and incorrect word choice (Dr. Serizawa is described as Momoko Kochi’s “fiancée”). There are also a few instances of sloppy writing. When director Masaaki Tezuka remembers receiving the offer to helm Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000), he’s quoted: “I discussed it with my wife and decided to accept.” A nice anecdote that’s promptly—in the very next line—followed by a third-person description repeating that same information with similar wording: “[E]ven when offered the opportunity to direct […] he consulted his wife before accepting.”
Lastly, while Godzilla: The First 70 Years is a wealth of research regarding the Japanese movies, some consumers might be disappointed by the lack of coverage for the series’s Hollywood remakes. Whatever one’s feelings about Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla (1998) or the ongoing MonsterVerse saga from Legendary Pictures, they are part of the franchise—and integral ones at that, having more than once influenced the course of the Japanese series. Ryfle and Godziszewski fleetingly note their impact, but it’s unfortunate the American films do not receive the full-fledged treatment granted to their Japanese counterparts.
All in all, though, Godzilla: The First 70 Years marks another splendid achievement from the finest English-speaking historians to tackle the Japanese monster. In many ways, this book represents the sort of project I’ve wanted from these writers for some time. Steve Ryfle’s Japan’s Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of “The Big G” and Ed Godziszewski’s The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Godzilla remain go-to texts for genre enthusiasts, and for years I’ve hoped for updated editions wherein they documented their knowledge of the post-’90s movies. This new tome, available from Abrams Books, has answered that call and will be of tremendous value to casual and dedicated readers alike. It is also a must-own for contemporary researchers, those who’ve followed in the authors’ footsteps in preserving the legacy of these movies and the artists who made them.
When you think of a trophy, you might picture a classic golden cup or a shiny plaque. But in today’s world, those old ideas are getting a modern shake-up.
Artists and designers are borrowing big ideas from sculpture, turning awards into eye-catching pieces you’d want to display even if you didn’t win them.
Let’s take a closer look at how contemporary art techniques are changing the game, making trophies more exciting than ever before.
How Sculpture and Trophy Design Meet: Three Game-Changers
Modern trophy design is no longer just about metal and marble. It’s about creativity, storytelling, and pushing boundaries.
Here are three ways sculpture is changing the trophy game:
Unconventional Materials: Designers are stepping outside the usual bronze and wood. According to current trends in trophy production steps, there’s a big shift toward using glass, resin, and even recycled metals.
This move brings new textures, colors, and shapes that make each award totally unique.
Custom-Made for Each Event: Forget “one-size-fits-all.” Now, artists work closely with organizers to create custom trophies that tell a story about the event or the winner’s journey.
This creative process often involves sketching, modeling, and turning wild ideas into real objects that blend sculpture and practical award design.
From Award to Art: Today’s trophies are designed to be just as impressive on a mantel as in an art gallery.
With bold shapes and modern finishes, some have become coveted collector’s items, blurring the line between sporting prizes and serious sculpture.
Why the Shift? Art, Recognition, and Expression
Trophies as Storytellers
Modern trophies aren’t just for showing off a win, they’re about expressing what that win means. Artists are now asked to create pieces that say something about the champion, the event, or even the times we live in.
By borrowing from sculpture, these trophies pack a big punch when it comes to emotion and storytelling. A well-designed award can spark conversation, invite admiration, and stand as a reminder of a special moment.
The Artist’s Touch
What really sets today’s trophies apart is the artist’s influence. Traditional trophies were all about making identical copies, but now, designers want each piece to stand out. They bring in sculptors, mix new materials, and let creativity lead the way.
As Trophy.com describes in their rundown of trophy production steps, this innovative approach has led to a 40% rise in custom trophy requests in just the last decade. This is a clear sign that more people want something personal and artful, instead of something you could find in any old gym display case.
How It’s Done: A Behind-the-Scenes Look
Creating today’s sculptural trophies involves more than just picking out a pleasing shape and sleek metal. Designers start with sketches and 3D models. Sometimes using computer software and a good old pencil and paper.
Next, they select materials that fit the vision, whether that’s colored resin, molten glass, or brushed aluminum. Each step is handled with even more care than traditional mass production.
Special molds are made for unique shapes.
Some parts are hand-cast like a sculpture, while others might be laser-cut for sharp details. Artists handle the finishing touches, sanding, polishing, or painting until the trophy feels like a one-of-a-kind artwork.
Where Sculptural Trophies Shine
Here are three places where modern trophies make a real impact:
Award Shows and Festivals: Forget the boring gold cups. Film, music, and tech events now hand out awards that guests can’t stop talking about—and winners proudly display their favorite art.
Sports Leagues: Custom-made trophies make championships memorable. When teams take home something bold and unique, it celebrates their journey in a way old-school awards can’t match.
Corporate Recognition: Businesses use artist-designed trophies to honor top performers, mark milestones, or celebrate creative ideas. These trophies stand out in offices, sparking inspiration every day.
A New Era for Trophies: Art You Can Win
Contemporary trophy design goes beyond tradition, blending art, storytelling, and innovation. By embracing sculptural techniques, unique materials, and custom artistry, today’s trophies turn every award into a meaningful keepsake.
These creative pieces capture the essence of the achievement and celebrate the winner’s journey. As art and recognition come together, trophies become lasting symbols of celebration, creativity, and the impact of modern design.
In a world overflowing with serums, acids, mists, and masks, one staple remains timeless in every skincare ritual: the face cream. Whether you’re a minimalist or a self-declared skincare connoisseur, the right cream, used consistently, can make all the difference.
If you’ve ever found yourself searching forthe best face creams for your skincare goals, chances are you’ve encountered a dizzying array of products promising hydration, repair, glow, or anti-aging magic. But what sets a great cream apart from the rest? And why does it matter whether you use it during the day or at night?
Let’s dive into the science, ritual, and art of daily moisturization, because a simple jar of cream might just be the most powerful tool on your shelf.
Why Moisturizing Matters
Moisturizers are more than just a final step,they serve as the skin’s daily shield and nightly repair blanket. Their core purpose is to hydrate, protect, and balance the skin’s natural barrier, which is constantly under stress from the environment, UV exposure, pollution, makeup, and even stress or poor sleep.
Without sufficient moisture, the skin becomes more prone to irritation, flakiness, dullness, and premature signs of aging. A well,formulated cream supports skin resilience while sealing in the benefits of other treatments in your routine.
Day Creams: Your Skin’s Daily Defense
What They Do:
Day creams are designed to prepare your skin for everything it will encounter during the day. These include environmental aggressors like sun, wind, and pollution, as well as the drying effects of indoor heating or air conditioning.
Key Characteristics:
Lightweight texture: Absorbs easily and works well under makeup.
Protective ingredients: Often include antioxidants (like vitamin C or E), humectants (such as hyaluronic acid), and emollients that create a subtle barrier.
SPF (ideally): Some formulas incorporate sun protection, helping shield your skin from harmful UV rays.
Why It Matters:
Skipping your morning cream can leave your skin vulnerable to dehydration and oxidative stress. Over time, this accelerates the appearance of fine lines and a dull complexion. A good day cream doesn’t just hydrate, it actively defends.
Night Creams: The Silent Repairers
What They Do:
At night, your skin enters repair mode. Blood flow increases, cellular turnover speeds up, and the skin becomes more receptive to active ingredients. Night creams are richer and more intensive because they support this regenerative cycle.
Key Characteristics:
Thicker textures: Designed to deeply nourish and form a hydrating veil.
Restorative ingredients: Peptides, ceramides, collagen boosters, and botanical extracts often appear in these formulas.
No SPF: Unlike day creams, night formulas focus on nourishment, not protection.
Why It Matters:
A dedicated night cream allows your skin to heal, recharge, and wake up with a plumper, smoother appearance. It complements your body’s natural rhythms and helps lock in the results of serums or treatments used beforehand.
How to Maximize the Benefits of Your Creams
Using a face cream seems straightforward, but a few small habits can elevate its effectiveness:
Apply to damp skin: Moisturizing right after cleansing helps seal in water.
Don’t skip the neck: The neck and décolleté show signs of aging too,treat them like an extension of your face.
Layer smartly: Apply your cream after serums but before oils or sunscreens.
Massage it in: Use gentle upward strokes to stimulate circulation and lymphatic drainage.
Matching Creams to Your Skin’s Needs
Not all creams are created equal. Consider these tips when choosing yours:
Dry skin: Look for creams with ceramides, shea butter, and squalane.
Oily or acne prone skin: Choose lightweight, non-comedogenic formulas with niacinamide or green tea extract.
Sensitive skin: Fragrance-free, soothing creams with ingredients like centella asiatica or panthenol are ideal.
Mature skin: Opt for anti-aging creams enriched with peptides, retinol (for night), and antioxidants.
Your skin may also change with seasons or lifestyle shifts. What works in summer might not work in winter, so be open to adjusting your routine.
