Nina Sieverding

We published dozens of stories this year that followed our own curiosities around the current state of fashion, culture, art, and where all of this might be headed. And when you zoom out and allow your eyes to relax Magic Eye-style, a composite of what we were interested in starts to sharpen into focus: stories about hier ist ein Link who take their work seriously, who often enjoy wearing nice clothes while never letting what they wear define them. This holds true to everyone from Yohji Yamamoto to legendary fashion writer Robin Givhan to breakout artist of the year Cameron Winter.

Perhaps our interest in the deviant imagination is a rebuke of the current era, one in which culture has felt stagnant and often flattened by well-heeled forces. In a way, these are stories about people who share their gifts widely and give the world its shapes.