T's Feb. 21 Women's Fashion Issue

Highlights

Spring’s Sharp Lines and Bold Shapes
Fashion’s rebirth is raw and beautiful, defined by strong silhouettes, negative space and joyous touches of sparkle.
By Mert AlasMarcus Piggott and Carlos Nazario
CreditPhotograph by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Styled by Carlos Nazario
Arts And Letters
Once Overlooked, Black Abstract Painters Are Finally Given Their Due
In the 1960s, abstract painting was a controversial style for Black artists, overshadowed by social realist works. Now, it’s claimed its place as a vital form of expression.
By Megan O’Grady
CreditJon Henry
For Spring, Protective Layers That Are as Vivid as They Are Joyful
Distinctive headpieces, puffed-up evening gowns — and other armorlike fashion.
By Rafael Pavarotti and Jacob K
CreditPhoto by Rafael Pavarotti. Styled by Jacob K.
The Activists Working to Remake the Food System
They’re committed not just to securing better meals for everyone, but to dismantling the very structures that have long exploited both workers and consumers.
By Ligaya Mishan
CreditPhotograph by Nydia Blas. Set design by Beth Pakradooni. Set designer’s assistant: Harry Smith.

An Artist Exposing Fascism Through Provocation
Paul McCarthy has spent his career cultivating a visual language of depravity and scathing critique. After half a century, we still can’t turn away.
By M.H. Miller
CreditJoyce Kim
Arts & Letters
How Japonisme Forever Changed the Course of Western Design
In the late 19th century, Japanese aesthetics and craftsmanship overtook Paris, inspiring a movement that would radically transform Europe’s visual culture.
By Nancy Hass
CreditPhoto: René-Gabriel Ojéda, Musée d’Orsay, Paris © Paul Burty Haviland and RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource NY
In and Around Guadalajara, Homes Like Sanctuaries
As the Mexican city has grown into a creative epicenter, architects have built on the legacy of Luis Barragán, constructing residences that encourage introspection.
By Michael Snyder
CreditAnthony Cotsifas
Where the Rare Citrus Grows
For French chefs and perfumers, a government-run grove on Corsica — home to some 900 varieties — has become a place of pilgrimage.
By Zoey Poll
CreditFrançois Halard
Transportive Fashion for Fantasy Getaways
Spring’s nostalgic prints, geometric patterns and soft textures are a vacation for the senses.
By Justin French and Haidee Findlay-Levin
CreditPhotograph by Justin French. Styled by Haidee Findlay-Levin

Why Are There So Few Monuments That Successfully Depict Women?
There’s still very little thought paid to how women are represented — as bodies and as selves.
By Megan O’Grady
CreditFebruary James
Notes on the Culture
A Manhattan Apartment That Pays Tribute to the City’s Jazz Age
Inside an early Art Deco building, the designer Martin Brûlé has created an understated homage to New York’s vibrant past — and his own pioneering vision.
By Tom Delavan
CreditAngela Hau
By Design
The 19th-Century Church One Artist Calls Home
For the painter Angel Otero, a former place of worship in upstate New York is a sanctuary in which to live and work.
By Alice Newell-Hanson
CreditEmiliano Granado
Home and Work
The Designer Couple Revitalizing Jil Sander
The husband-and-wife duo Luke and Lucie Meier share the influences behind the brand’s modern, minimalist aesthetic.
By Lindsay Talbot
Credit© Olivier Kervern
Profile in Style
The Makers Keeping the Ancient Art of Weaving Alive
Through thoughtful collaborations with Mexican artisans in Oaxaca and elsewhere, contemporary designers are helping to evolve — and protect — one of the world’s most enduring handicrafts.
By Michael Snyder
CreditPhotograph by David Chow. Prop styling by Todd Knopke
Traditions

First of Its Kind, Last of Its Kind
A Watch That’s Shape-Shifted Its Way Across a Century
The Cartier Tank, already a departure from more traditional round watches when it was first introduced in the 1930s, gets another playful update.
By Lindsay Talbot
The Thing
A Majestic Collar Worthy of a Superhero
Forged from gold and adorned with tourmaline cabochons in dark pink, grass green and sky blue, this Bulgari piece is all strength.
By Nancy Hass
Market Report
Woven, Versatile Bags for Spring
Basket-inspired accessories made for carrying everything from lipstick to lunch.
By Mari Maeda and Yuji Oboshi
In Studio
Subtle Ceramics, Modeled After the Simplest of Forms
Inside a former bottling factory in Brooklyn, the artist Danny Kaplan creates hand-thrown lamps and objects that feel at once ancient and modern.
By Alice Newell-Hanson
In Fashion
Spring Designs That Will Have You Tickled Pink
The season’s fashion is flush with a hue that can intimate — and challenge — notions of gender and identity like no other.
By Osma Harvilahti and Nell Kalonji
Surrealist Jewelry That Mimics the Human Form
Two new collections, from Schiaparelli and Sophie Buhai, find their inspiration in the corporeal realm.
By Leslie Camhi
A Spring Fashion Issue for an Optimistic Future
Let us greet the new year with enthusiasm, without forgetting the lessons of the old one.
By Hanya Yanagihara