Deliberating on how we might encapsulate the year in design for the cover of the Wallpaper* February 2025 issue – dedicated to the annual Wallpaper* Design Awards – we quickly settled upon the joyfully imaginative work of Isabel + Helen. Isabel Gibson and Helen Chesner met while studying at Chelsea College of Arts, London, and, since graduating in 2012, the pair have taken their kinetic performance sculptures to festivals and design fairs, photo shoots and runways.
The easy appeal and readable artistry of their work is the very embodiment of light relief. This year has been a big one for the London-based duo, who took their Power Suits – ‘wearable energy generators’ – to Vienna for Cartier; collaborated with Chanel and Porsche; and conducted a ‘human firework’ workshop with students at ÉCAL in Switzerland.
