The SSENSE 2024 Year in Review
A selection of stories that captured an absurd and often very trippy year.
As we look back on a strange, often surreal year, we wanted to share a selection of SSENSE stories that our editors were the most proud of. Here, in no particular order, are the highlights of 2024.
Eliza Brooke takes us inside the meticulous world of director Robert Eggers (), who, this Christmas, is bringing back to the big screen.
After reconfiguring his body with Harmony Korine’s EDGLRD and uploading his former self to an OpenAI GPT, The Weeknd meets his (virtual) inner child with the help of SSENSE managing editor Ross Scarano. “My ultimate superpower? Hmm, I’d say it’s my imagination! 🌟” writes a young AI-powered Abel. “It lets me create whole worlds in my head, dream up wild adventures, and even make the ordinary seem extraordinary.”
The two brands transform ’s “In The Studio” print franchise into a video series hosted by Lynette Nylander. This triptych featured designers Bianca Saunders, Mowalola, and Stanley Raffington.
Steff Yotka engages with Rick Owens’s longtime casting director Angus Munro to learn what went into the designer’s behemoth Spring/Summer 2025 show.
“I think I’m sexy because I feel sexy,” Sivan tells Trey Taylor, in a prelude to brat summer (brat everything, really). This was also the year the pop star launched his own lifestyle brand, TSU LANGE YOR.
For her summer installment of I’m Sorry, Petra Collins enlists the legendary photographer and collaborator Richard Kern to photograph the one and only Addison Rae.
A look at the hustle and work ethic of the 30-year-old model and Squid Game star who, in just a few short years, has made a name for herself across two continents. “I was knocked sideways when I met her,” Cate Blanchett tells SSENSE’s Hyunji Nam. “Her warmth and openheartedness utterly disarmed me. She is so full of laughter, enthusiasm, and curiosity, but with this incredible facility to morph into the focused, driven character Alfonso [Cuaron] was asking her to play.”
Emily Kirkpatrick on how the cable network’s brand of reality TV became a template for real life.
SSENSE Lead Editor Alex Kessler made his runway debut at Chopova Lowena’s SS25 show—here’s a peek behind the scenes.
Ten years after coining the era-defining sensibility, Delia Cai takes us back inside the K-HOLE to talk about the art of viral forecasting.
Hyunji Nam takes a rare look into the making of a modern superstar.
The UNDERCOVER designer is at the height of his powers: a legend of the Tokyo streetwear and fashion scene. And yet, as he reveals in a rare interview with Ashley Ogawa Clarke, he is not a workaholic. “I used to be,” says Takahashi. “When it’s finished I go home. As much as I can, I try to keep work short. So after, I can turn my brain off and paint.”
Emilia Petrarca’s relatively brief, entirely incomplete history of online fashion fandom.
One of the final interviews with the legendary industrial designer. When asked “How are you?”—well, this was his response: “I am very well. I am 84, my name is Gaetano Pesce. I am 185 centimeters tall. I am 85 kilos weight. The shoes: 44. I like surprise. I like not to repeat. I hate repetition. My breakfast is the same for eight years. Can you imagine? Boring. And what do you do?” And the interview continues from there.
Alex Kessler on industry darling Ellen Hodakova Larsson, who merges her rural upbringing with cutting-edge fashion, which earned her a spot as the first Swedish finalist for the 2024 LVMH Prize.
“There’s a funny, almost surrealist quality to the Gohars’s creations: Dadaism in miniature,” writes SSENSE’s Chris Gayomali. “But their creative output is compelling in that it walks a delicate line, embracing the absurdity of luxury while retaining the care and attention to craft. In that, Gohar World is a prismatic refraction of them: understated, meticulous, yet a little bit silly, comfortable with contradiction and especially its progeny, mischief.” Enter the professional bodybuilders.
Explore real street fashion at South Korea’s largest flea market, a favorite of designers like Kiko Kostadinov.
Writer Nicolaia Rips wore SSENSE’s most scandalous skirt for two weeks straight. Here’s what she learned.
Time to Shine With countless galas, dinners and red carpets under her belt, Nicky Rothschild knows her way around event dressing. Her new collaboration with Australian designer Rebecca Vallance was therefore a nearly foregone conclusion once the two women met. The 31-piece capsule centers on holiday – their favorite time of year to dress up. Indeed, there is nary a piece without a sequin or crystal. We caught up with Nicky recently to chat about her inspirations and which dress she’ll be wearing this New Year’s Eve. 
