2024 was a year that brought a variety of design inspiration for products that we wear and carry in our everyday lives, from items to protect us and our gear from the elements, to wearable, time-telling art. As we approach 2025, Design Milk is looking back to see what the top 10 most popular Style + Fashion posts were of 2024. Hint: Our readers love watches!
10. SIAN Design Generates Modern Fine Jewelry Using Algorithms
Digitized algorithms and 3D modeling help fine jewelry brand SIAN design precisely crafted sculpture, featuring delicate lattices forming bands, bracelets, and pendants. These exquisitely interlocking forms are crafted using 3D prints to create wax molds, which will then be used for production. Usually a very manual craft, SIAN expands the scope of technology within fashion.
9. Fashionable 80s-Inspired Photo Gear Is Having a Moment
The bright-contrast zippers and bold grid patterns that dot Long Weekend’s new line of photo gear are catching their time in the sun, an ode to the eighties and nineties. Waterproof, fun, and intentionally conspicuous, splash away with the Starter Set or the Morro Backpack to haul all of your camera gear around in style.
8. Vivobarefoot’s Weird Water Trekking Jungle Boots Glow in the Dark
The Jungle ESC from Vivobarefoot takes wilderness apparel back to its roots, using biomimetic design from flora and fauna to create a highly technical, yet highly adaptive design for even the harshest of environments. Vivobarefoot recognized that in some environments, it is impossible to keep the body dry. This boot is designed to filter out water quickly, allowing wearers to maintain accuracy and lightness without getting bogged down by protective padding.
7. These Artist-Designed Umbrellas Will Brighten Dreary Days
As winter winds loom closer, SHED RAIN comes to the rescue with their Artist Series. They highlight three artists, Lisa Congdon, Studio Proba, and Katie Merz, inviting them to express their personal take on what the umbrella should be. Plus, the reverse closure and multi-grip handle make for a highly accessible option, perfect for anyone looking to keep chic and dry.
6. The Wallet 3.0 Is Discommon’s Take on Quiet Luxury in Your Pocket
Discommon’s third iteration of their classic stitchless wallet features two pockets that can fit up to three cards each. Thermoformed leather and microsuede lining create a seamless construction. This business on the outside, party on the inside wallet is modern and shockingly light, great for the minimalist on the go.
5. ASICS and HAY Fall Into Step With a Limited Edition Collaboration
HAY proudly announced the launch of their collaboration with ASICS, blending the brand’s signature style with HAY’s spirited color choices to create a line of shoes, socks, and shirts unveiled at 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen this year. Exclusive to this launch, they come in pink, blue, and green colorways, with accent colors that contrast and complement the base tones.
4. An Architect Thought It Was About Time to Design His Ideal Watch
Subverting typical notions of what a watch “should” be, Christo Logan devised the Good + Evil Omen, his ideal watch. The off-center strap, brilliant red seconds hand, and labyrinthine face make it an interesting example of form through the lens of function, challenging our preconceptions of what we would consider normal.
3. Buy a Firmship Land Rover Defender, Receive a Matching Aera P-1 Titanium Watch
Firmship, specializing in handcrafted, highly detailed shipbuilding, collaborates with Land Rover to introduce the FS Defender, lacquered with the same treatment that bulldozers and metal telephone boxes get for an incredibly durable finish. With each of the twenty-five Defenders, a gift: a matching Aera P-1 Titanium watch, complete with the same finish as the car, a homage to the type of technical engineering that goes into car and watch production alike.
2. Ressence Takes a Graphic Approach With the Type 1° Round M Wristwatch
A unique curved lens and a patented triple motion mechanism set the Type 1° Round M Wristwatch away from the crowd, with a unique and functional way to tell time. The face rotates with the minutes, with hour, second, and weekly dials interspersed evenly throughout. With a unique winding and setting mechanism, this watch might take a bit to get used to, yet is a stunning example of what happens when a luxury watch meet considered design.
And the most popular Style + Fashion in 2024 is…
1. The Wearable Masterpieces of the Swatch x Tate Gallery Collection
Since 1985, Swatch has been using their timepieces as wearable art, with their first Swatch Art Special launching with the work of artist Kiki Picasso. Their collaboration with Tate Gallery, styled after seven of their most famous works, including Marc Chagall’s “Blue Circus,” Joan Miró’s “Women & Bird In the Moonlight,” and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s “Orange and Red On Pink,” take on new meaning in wearable form. Take these iconic works with you anywhere, a statement piece to last the test of time.
Check out the rest of Design Milk’s end of the year coverage here!
Growing up in NYC has given Aria a unique perspective into art + design, constantly striving for new projects to get immersed in. An avid baker, crocheter, and pasta maker, handwork and personal touch is central to what she loves about the built environment. Outside of the city, she enjoys hiking, biking, and learning about space.
Credit: /design-milk