ikea at pfw | an all-encompassing design debut

For Ethan Gaskill, a passport is more than a record of places visited; it’s a collection of moments, memories, and transformations. As a lifestyle creator, design storyteller, and founder of ‘Elsewhere Fragrances‘, Gaskill has built a devoted audience through a distinctly cinematic approach to modern living, weaving together fashion, interiors, fragrance, and personal growth with equal parts beauty and intention.

Rooted in a philosophy of emotional awareness and thoughtful ritual, his work explores how place shapes identity, whether through the atmosphere of a Paris apartment, the scent of a childhood memory, or the quiet routines that anchor everyday life. Through ‘Elsewhere Fragrances’, he has transformed those ideas into tangible experiences, creating scents inspired by memory, emotion, and the feeling of belonging somewhere or longing to be there.

If we flipped through your passport, what would the earliest stamps tell us about who you were becoming?

I’ve always felt a little alien in my family and where I grew up. I didn’t have a ton of friends; I sort of always existed in my own world and found a sense of escape through my creativity. This has been a through line in my life. I’ve always done my own thing and worked unconventional jobs that allowed for a lot of independence. I always knew I’d need to leave where I grew up, not from a place of me disliking it; I just knew it wasn’t my forever.

I remember one distinct “aha” moment in 7th grade where we did a career exercise that required us to pick out a career path, a place where we’d live, etc. I always knew I loved cameras and storytelling, so it was in that moment that I decided to choose the career of a movie director living in Hollywood. It sounds comical, and I even remember my teacher finding my choice amusing, but it was the first time in my life I crafted somewhat of a vision for myself. Everything I’ve done since has stemmed from that initial aspiration, and even though it’s evolved, I still see myself as somewhat of a director and do intend to follow through on that dream of writing and directing my own projects.

What was the first true “departure” in your life? The moment you left behind one version of yourself and stepped into another?

It’d be 100% leaving my hometown in 2021 and moving to LA. I always knew I was meant to live here but couldn’t afford it for a long time. I saved and waited for the right moment… so, when it came up, I took it and never looked back. This city has changed (and challenged) me in ways I’d never experienced if I had stayed in North Carolina.

Attending Paris Fashion Week with Dior is its own kind of cultural experience. What did that experience unlock for you creatively?

It was the first fashion show I’d ever attended, so it certainly set the bar high. I can’t compare that experience to anything else in my life because it was truly indescribable. The guests, the music, the clothing, the venue… It just all felt so surreal to think about where I was even just a few years ago, to where I stood in that moment. I don’t think I would have ever believed I’d one day be in that room. The collection itself was unexpected and inspiring. I’m a huge Jonathan Anderson fan, so being able to attend one of his shows was a moment I’ll never forget.

Which cities have most shaped your aesthetic eye, and what did each teach you about restraint, beauty, or the art of living well?

As someone who is quite the homebody, I find I’m usually inspired by what’s immediately around me. I’ve always lived by the beach both in North Carolina and California, so there’s a laid-back, almost effortless nature that I love to imbue in whatever I produce. I also love the eclectic nature of Los Angeles specifically. One of the most beautiful parts of living in LA is that you’re always surrounded by different cultures and viewpoints. I never like my style to feel super linear. I think the unexpected nature of this city guides my creative eye. Going back to my hometown of Wilmington, NC, reminds me that beautiful things don’t always need to be grand. I try to remember these things when writing, taking pictures or planning a space or even picking out an outfit.

If your interiors journey had its own travel log, where would it take us — minimalist Scandinavia, cinematic Paris, coastal Italy, modern Los Angeles?

This is a really interesting question. Growing up, my family never really travelled. A lot of my earliest inspirations for what I wanted my room or home to look like came from movies and TV shows. I did, however, spend my childhood with a mom who loved to take me along to shop for bedding, drapery, and decor. We were always in home stores, the thrift, flea markets, etc. My mom was always really into that and impressed upon me the importance of having a home that truly feels like home.

As I’ve gotten older and have had opportunities to travel, I’ve realized I’m really drawn to French and old English design. I love homes that have a bit of history behind them. I don’t like anything that feels too new. I love large quilts, vines crawling up the side of a house, cottages, stone fireplaces, super tall ceilings, old wood floors, and art hung in unexpected places. Spaces you’d love to be sitting fireside in on a rainy day. I love homes that show signs of evidence of who the person is that lives in the space.

At the same time, I can also get behind a more stripped-down and simplistic aesthetic. I think I’m still figuring out who I am and the space I want to exist in. It’s evolved throughout the years. I also grew up around the water, so there’s always been this coastal influence in the back of my mind too. My grandfather was a fisherman, and I remember loving the feeling of his home when I was little. Maybe one day, as an homage to him, I’ll own an old cottage on the beach that I can escape to.

‘Elsewhere Fragrances’ feels like a passport in itself, with each scent being tied to memories and emotions. If we collected them as stamps, what destinations would they represent?

Well, a lot of the scents are directly inspired by or named after the locations they represent. Some are a little less direct, but if I were to assign a destination to each one…

Astral: sitting on a rock, floating through outer space.

Chainlink: a park in Brooklyn at 7:15am.

Country Club: the valet line at Chateau Marmont in the 1960s.

Eden: my mother’s garden when I was 8 years old.

Film Grain: sneaking into the director’s tent on a movie set when I was working as a PA at the age of 18.

Still Life: an old, dreamy lake house.

Gospel: a Baptist church 30 minutes outside of town in North Carolina.

What was the first scent that transported you somewhere emotionally; the moment you understood fragrance as a portal rather than a product?

One of my earlier jobs was working at a retail store in my hometown called Oliver. It’s a men + women’s boutique that carries really cool clothing brands and happens to have a pretty solid assortment of niche fragrances. I remember smelling some of the candles that we carried from the brand D.S. & Durga and thinking to myself how magical it was that they were able to recreate distinct moments in the form of scent. There’s one candle they make called “Concrete after lightning,” and it literally smells like electricity and pavement. Even though I personally don’t have a specific memory attached to that smell, it did really open my mind up to what was possible in the realm of fragrant storytelling.

I also remember spending all the money in my bank account on a blind buy of Maison Margiela perfume called “Wicked Love,” which advertised notes of gunmetal and roses. I thought “no way this actually could smell like that,” and, well, it did. I love niche fragrance. The worlds you can build and stories you can tell really are endless.

All ‘Elsewhere’ candles are hand-poured in Los Angeles. How does producing locally shape the “place identity” of the brand?

Yes! Our perfumer and team is all based here, and it was important to me to have basically everyone be local for the most hands-on, tactile experience while building this brand. LA is the city of stories and the epicentre of entertainment. I feel if there’s anywhere to start a fragrance brand rooted in narrative and inspired by my time working in film, where better than LA?

If you could create a fragrance inspired by a single city’s atmosphere — its air, its architecture, its rhythm — which destination would you stamp next?

On my most recent trip to Paris, I went to the flea market and genuinely couldn’t believe how much cool stuff existed out there. I’ve always loved the smell of older wooden cabinets + wardrobes, worn-in leather…  That antique store kind of smell. I think it would be cool to create a scent inspired by that experience: Aged woods, a whiff of cigarette smoke carried over by a cool breeze, warm pastries and black coffee. I’d love to relive that every day.

Ritual is a recurring theme in your work. What is your personal daily scent ritual — the one that grounds you no matter where you are?

Strangely, I am very inconsistent with my scents and even the act of applying scent. Sometimes I want a perfume, sometimes I want an oil, sometimes I want to smell like the beach during winter, sometimes I want to smell like nothing at all. It really does depend on my mood and whatever I’m getting into that day, but one consistent is that I’m always leaving bottles around my house. I’ll randomly spray here and randomly spray there. My favourite thing is when I go to put on a piece of clothing, and they carry a lingering mixture of various scents applied over the course of multiple wears. That always smells the best to me.

You speak openly about mental health and personal evolution. How has that inner travel changed the way you define success?

I used to be very destination-focused and (still am) idealistic about the way everything in my life needed to go. Through time and experience, I’ve realized that enjoying the process is single-handedly the most important thing you can do to live a more fulfilling life. It’s simple, but it really is a choice. You have to find the joy along the way while getting to where you’re going. Not only has this shift really helped take the pressure off, but it’s also allowed me to be more flexible and give myself grace as I move through life.

Your content feels intentional and curated in a world that tends to feel oversaturated in digital spaces. Is that a conscious rejection of constant movement — choosing depth over endless destinations?

That’s really sweet. It’s always interesting to see how people perceive my content, especially because I do beat myself up for not posting more or showing up on every platform like some of my peers do. I think a lot of this stems from my time working in film, where, of course, time is of the essence, but it’s also incredibly important to have a quality outcome of whatever project is being worked on.

It’s also just important for me to like what I’m making. Anytime I’ve sacrificed my own standards for the sake of trying to post more, it’s almost always left me disappointed and not really resonated with my audience. I feel like I have a good cadence now with my content and content output. I know that I’d probably grow quicker if I posted way more or played into trends, but I’d rather show up authentically for the people who care vs. do anything for growth and views.

If the next decade earned its own passport stamp, what would you want it to symbolize: expansion, stillness, legacy, or a completely new frontier?

Evolution, maybe? Not in the way of becoming someone completely different, but returning to the parts of myself that originally made me feel the most creatively alive. I’ve sort of Benjamin Buttoned my career. I began working in more “serious” creative spaces around the age of 18, spending 15-hour days on film and television sets, running a marketing agency for nearly seven years, and eventually ending up as a content creator on social media, which is probably the most absurd job I’ve had, but also the one that’s required the fastest thinking and most relentless output.

As grateful as I am for where I am now, my goal is for this next chapter to feel less about how much I can do and more about how well I can do it. I’m craving a slower pace where I can work on projects that feel creatively satiating. Right now that looks like writing my first screenplay, reimagining Elsewhere into something more refined, and hopefully buying a home here in LA, which I’ll redesign and document for my social channels.

Maybe “evolution” isn’t the right word. I’m not trying to become someone different. I’m actually trying to return to who I used to be, back when I functioned in a more instinctual way. Let’s call it reconnection.

Learn more about Elsewhere Fragrances at elsewherefragrances.com and follow Ethan Gaskill’s interior-led TikTok at @ethancgaskill.

photography. c/o of Ethan Gaskill
editor. Kelsey Barnes

Muuto.

For two decades, Muuto has built its identity around the idea of new perspectives. Since its founding in 2006, the Danish brand has become known for reshaping the language of Scandinavian design through objects that balance clarity with experimentation, functionality with feeling. To mark its 20th anniversary, Muuto celebrates at this year’s 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen with a selection of limited-edition works that explore materiality, atmosphere and emotional presence through craft-led design. Among these is ‘Inner View Object’ by Danish artist and designer Lise Vester, a sculptural mirror that transforms reflection into something less fixed and more exploratory.

The collaboration builds on Vester’s ongoing ‘Reflections’ series, an experimental body of work exploring how mirrors can shift our relationship to space, movement and perception. Across her wider practice, the designer has become known for creating sensory objects that encourage emotional awareness and a more attentive relationship with everyday environments, a sensibility also present in works like her sculptural ‘Dream View Bench’, which similarly explores perception, presence and the emotional experience of space. For the designer, the appeal lies partly in the instability of reflection itself: the way an image changes depending on where we stand, how we move, or what catches the light. “A three-dimensional mirror is not an ordinary commercial typology,” she explains. “It’s more playful and exploratory.”

Working with Muuto allowed Vester to push those ideas further while grounding them within a functional object intended for everyday life. Releasing the piece as a limited edition also felt important to the artist conceptually. Produced in 150 individually numbered editions, each mirror carries slight differences in colour, shape and reflection, preserving the individuality of the hand-making process and the craft traditions behind it.

Muuto.

Mouth-blown in Murano and finished using traditional hand-silvering techniques, ‘Inner View Object’ subtly distorts the surrounding environment through its convex form. Reflections stretch and soften. Familiar rooms appear slightly expanded. Movement becomes part of the experience of the object itself. Craft remains central to that experience. In an era increasingly shaped by speed, screens and mass production, Vester is interested in objects that retain traces of the human hand. Tiny air bubbles, tonal irregularities and subtle differences in the glass are left visible rather than refined away. “Handcraft brings traces of the human hand and decision-making,” she says. “It brings individuality, story and intention.” For Vester, the long history of Murano glassmaking adds another layer of meaning to the piece, connecting contemporary experimentation with techniques practiced and refined over generations.

That balance between Scandinavian restraint and emotional depth is also what made Muuto a fitting collaborator. While the brand’s design language has long prioritised clarity and functionality, its anniversary projects feel like a natural extension of something Muuto has always understood – that atmosphere, feeling and perception are not afterthoughts, but part of the object itself. “Like Muuto, I’m interested in rethinking design through the lens of our current lives and needs,” Vester tells us. “For me, it’s about keeping the clarity and integrity of Scandinavian design, while adding new sculptural functional qualities, perception-based experiences and emotional layers.”

Launching the work during 3daysofdesign feels particularly fitting. Each year, the Copenhagen-based festival transforms the city into a shared space for dialogue and experimentation across architecture, craft and contemporary design. “3daysofdesign is a context where people come to explore and to be inspired,” Vester explains. “That makes it the perfect place for an object like this – one that rewards curiosity and invites you to slow down.”

Discover Inner View Object here.

photography. courtesy of Muuto
words. Amanda Breeze

Alex Upton.

Finally, a Mayfair hotel where you don’t have to worry about the mini-bar charges – mostly because they won’t actually let you sleep over.

At 28 Berkeley Square, the Louis Vuitton Hotel has staged a takeover of a grand London townhouse, transforming it into a layered odyssey through 130 years of the monogram’s reign. London has always been the brand’s favourite ‘home away from home’; it was the site of Georges-Louis Vuitton’s first shop outside Paris in 1885, making this temporary residency feel like a long-overdue homecoming. Guests are greeted by a lobby dedicated to the iconic Keepall, where the 1930s spirit of travel takes flight – no boarding pass or luggage rack required.

Annabel Elston.

Ascending to the first floor, Café Alma blends the geometric, sharp edges of Art Deco with the chic allure of the Place de l’Alma. Here, champagne accompanies British patisseries during afternoon tea, while a two-course luncheon provides a seasonal sanctuary for those ‘exhausted’ by the sheer luxury of it all. For the non-committal, Monogram Moments allow for a spontaneous coffee and a quick soak in the brand’s history without the need for a formal reservation.

The second floor leans into the mid-century obsession with rapid transit in the Speedy Room – likely the only hotel suite in Mayfair where you’d rather steal the decor than jump on the bed. Next door, the P9 Safe Room glitters in metallic gold, housing Pharrell Williams’ latest vision. Each vault-dwelling bag required 180 individual steps to complete, reflecting a level of craftsmanship that remains central to the label.

Annabel Elston.

At the top of the house, the Neverfull Gym pokes fun at its own physics; mirrored racks highlight the fact that a bag weighing less than a kilogram can famously carry a hundred. If you prefer your heavy lifting in liquid form, head to the basement. Bar Noé is a champagne haunt inspired by a 1932 design request for a bucket bag built specifically to transport five bottles of bubbles – four standing and one tucked cheekily upside down in the middle.

As the sun sets, weekend DJs turn the townhouse into the ultimate Mayfair destination. Devoted collectors can even drop their own leather goods at the care area for a ‘spa day’ to ensure they last another century. With exclusive patches and hot-stamping services found nowhere else on Earth, the residency is a rare bird. Better move fast as the doors stay open until late June, marking a brief, brilliant chapter in London’s love affair with the LV monogram.

Annabel Elston.

Discover more here. 

photography. courtesy of Alex Upton, Annabel Elston
words. Gennaro Costanzo