Tired of generic gift guides? We’ve got you. As is our annual tradition of doing exactly one fun thing a year, here is our 2024 gift guide.
1. Bottega Veneta Perfumes
We’ve all but given up on pretty much anything major luxury brands put out, but we loved the new Bottega Veneta perfumes. Their scents straddle a fine line between softness and intrigue, enough to do a double-take. We also love the undulating bottle design. And if you deem buying a perfume too risky of a gift, we recommend their beautiful candles. (Bottega Veneta)
2. Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness Vinyl
This gorgeous vinyl set of the Pumpkins’ iconic double album – comprising four 180 gram vinyl discs, a lyrics booklet and another of original artwork, was first released in 2012, promptly sold out, and was reselling for hundreds of dollars. It has now been reissued and we highly suggest buying a copy, as the reissue will undoubtedly suffer the same fate. (Smashing Pumpkins)
3. Aesop Gift Kits
Including an Aesop gift kit has been our venerable tradition, and this year is no exception. The brand switches it up every year in terms of package design and contents, and this year our favorite is Screen 2, which includes some of our favorite products in Aesop’s Geranium Leaf range. (Aesop)
4. Sruli Recht Omni Incense Holder
One of our favorite creators has been gradually re-releasing some of his most iconic products. What we love about Recht is the way he completely reimagines everyday objects. OMNI is an incense holder like no other. It looks like a mini altar made of quartz sand. It is gorgeous and unusual, and will make a fantastic gift. (Sruli Recht)
5. Sono Hand-Knit Sunny Scarf
Sono has become one of our favorite brands as of late. Their considered practices, their enveloping, cosy designs, their natural fabrics are all pluses in our book. This hand-knit scarf is a perfect example of the kind of softness-in-everything the brand takes. (SONO)
6. Boris Bidjan Saberi Perfumes and Candles
Earlier this year Boris Bidjan Saberi released two new perfumes, Tann and Angir, for which he teamed up with the esteemed Berlin-based perfumer Geza Schoen. Tann is inspired by raw materials and processes that Saberi does in his studio – think leather and industrial glue, while Angir is based on something completely different, namely Moscow Mule cocktail, with notes of ginger beer and fig. If all of these ingredients sound weird, that is the point with Saberi, and you’ll have to trust us that both perfumes are bigger than the sum of its parts, which is also part of Schoen’s genius. The pair of scents also comes in a candle and body wash. (Stockists Vary)
7. Martine Sitbon – Alternative Vision
The younger audience may not know her, but in the ‘90s Martine Sitbon was a rocking designer, part of the new guard of conceptual designers that seemingly came out of nowhere, meaning not from the fusty Parisian establishment (though she is a Parisian), and made the decade the most exciting one in the history of fashion. She is due for rediscovery, and in any case, any student of fashion should know her work. Last year Rizzoli published a monograph on Sitbon’s work, and it must have been some kind of public service, because the book retails for a cool $25. How, we don’t know and we don’t care. (Rizzoli)
8. Faliero Sarti Custom Blankets
Faliero Sarti is not just a venerable Italian fabrics manufacturer, but also StyleZeitgeist’s favorite purveyor of heavenly soft scarves. And now their otherworldly fabrics are available as blankets. But wait, that’s not all – they are also customizable. Just send in your favorite photo in 200dpi, and in a few weeks you’ll get a blanket. We’ve already ordered ours, certo. (Faliero Sarti)
9. To My Ships Deodorant and Fragrance
To My Ships is a personal care brand “inspired by the Iliad and clean armpits.” Don’t ask us to explain this connection, but what we can tell you is that the brand is the brainchild of Daniel Bense, formerly Head of Commercial at Aesop. And the Aesop school shows in everything the brand does, from the quality of ingredients, to the beautiful scents, to the brilliant and fresh-feeling branding and packaging done by Formafantasma. We recommend diving straight into their gift editions. (To My Ships)
10. The Cure – Songs of a Lost World
It has become terribly rare that a favorite band puts out a great album in the autumn of their years. So when the Cure put out Songs of a Lost World, we were not expecting much. Boy, were we wrong. The album blew us away with its beauty, melancholy, and the infinite sadness. Obviously we recommend it on vinyl, and we know you wouldn’t have it any other way. As usual, our only ask is that you stay away from Amazon, and the band has made it easier by releasing a different color vinyl for indie record shops. And if you can hold out for the double LP printed in blood red on 180 gram vinyl, and which includes instrumental versions of the songs, please do. It will ship after Christmas, so kind of defeats the purpose, but you don’t expect true goths to celebrate Christmas, do you? (The Cure)
