For years, DSCENE Magazine has returned to design as a core language, not just as an aesthetic, but as a way we understand culture, ambition, and the world we move through. For this new issue, that conversation sharpened into something more urgent. Together with DSCENE’s Katarina Doric and the team we kept thinking about the pressure talent works under today, the pace, the scrutiny, the expectations, the economics, the constant demand to produce, evolve, and stay visible. That is where this issue begins, and why we titled it DESIGN UNDER PRESSURE. It is a statement, but also a question. What does pressure do to craft, to integrity, to imagination, and what does it reveal about the people who keep showing up for the work anyway.
We were thrilled to create two major shoots in locations where design is not a backdrop, it is the point of view. At the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport, design lives in every corner, honoring the original architecture and furniture by Eero Saarinen, whose work shaped some of the most iconic terminals in the United States. Being there, inside a space that treats modernism with respect and care, made the present feel even more complicated. We are watching another of Saarinen’s terminal designs face the threat of destruction, a reminder that preservation is never guaranteed, and that cultural memory can be fragile when it meets development and politics. In that setting, our cover story comes to life with Georgia Fowler, beautifully photographed by Gary Lupton, with styling by Daniel Jacinto and Giulia Scharppe, a story that carries both glamour and clarity, and understands that fashion and design are often at their strongest when they hold tension rather than escape it.
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Our second cover story features breakthrough star Meredith Mickelson, shot at the headquarters of Villa Albertine, the Payne Whitney Mansion on Fifth Avenue. The mansion’s presence is unmistakable, and the experience of working there felt like stepping into a living archive of New York’s cultural history. Villa Albertine will also celebrate this issue with us during Oui Design Days as part of NYC x DESIGN, a week that continues to prove how much energy, experimentation, and dialogue this city can hold when design is given room to lead. DSCENE Magazine is proud to be a media partner of NYC x DESIGN, and proud to be in conversation with the people and institutions shaping what comes next. The shoot itself leans into a more whimsical register, photographed by Mylena Saza with styling by Amandha Gaio, a reminder that play is not the opposite of seriousness, it is often where the most precise ideas begin.
Beyond our cover stories, this issue is built around a wide spectrum of designers and creatives who are committed to their craft, even as the industry asks more from them than ever. You will find work from London-based designer Saul Nash, Made by Astronauts, New York-based Aisling Camps, Finepianta, Maria Koshenkova, Emilie Luc-Duc, Kilian Vos, So Koizumi, Mexico City-based Atra, New York-based fashion designer Pipenco, Christine Kalia, NM3, Yani Shi, Coco Montes, Teo Abihdana, Atelier Biagetti, and Dirk Schönberger. Each brings a distinct approach, but what connects them is discipline, and the decision to keep making work that holds its shape under real-world conditions.
We also feature designer Salehe Bembury, responsible for some of the most memorable sneaker design in recent years, who created a special cover story for DSCENE. Elsewhere, actress on the rise Bethany Antonia appears in a portrait series captured in London, a quieter counterpoint that still carries intensity, the kind that does not need volume to land. And from Southeast Europe, breakthrough star Filarri takes us back to Belgrade in a striking story photographed by Luka Stepanovic with styling by Manda Javorina, a reminder that geography does not limit ambition, and that some of the most compelling images come from scenes that are building their own momentum.
Design comes in many forms, and it shapes our daily lives more than we often admit. Pressure is here, and it is not going away. What matters is what we choose to do with it, how we translate it into our next steps, and how we protect the beauty, the craft, and the human side of the work while we move forward. This issue is our way of acknowledging the weight, and celebrating the people who still insist on making something meaningful inside it.
Words by Editor In Chief Zarko Davinic.
