Grand New
SoHo hotel feature.
TMR-000727Magazine object
Wallpaper* Issue 1
Launch Issue · September/October 1996 · “Urban Modernists”
September/October 1996★ Gold Star object
The inaugural issue of Wallpaper*, dated September/October 1996 and explicitly marked “launch issue”, built its identity around the cover proposition “Urban Modernists”. Created by Tyler Brûlé and an early international editorial team, it fused architecture, interiors, industrial design, fashion, travel, food and urban lifestyle into a highly aspirational visual language.
Read the catalogue note →- Publication
- Wallpaper*
- Condition
- Very Good; original launch issue with moderate but unobtrusive age/handling wear.
- Completeness
- Main magazine appears complete from the supplied views: front cover, rear cover and interior contents page are present. No page-by-page collation has been performed and no separate supplement or premium is asserted.
- Date
- September/October 1996
Object record
Catalogue note
The inaugural issue of Wallpaper*, dated September/October 1996 and explicitly marked “launch issue”, built its identity around the cover proposition “Urban Modernists”. Created by Tyler Brûlé and an early international editorial team, it fused architecture, interiors, industrial design, fashion, travel, food and urban lifestyle into a highly aspirational visual language. The supplied contents page documents the breadth of that proposition through features on Deborah Berke, Mecanoo, Canadian industrial design, urban futures, John Pawson, Michael Young, food and travel. The issue preserves the original £3 launch-price state, ISSN 1364-4475, EAN 9771364447008 + 96, and a period Versace Blonde rear advertisement.
Why this object matters
Score and assessment method
Archive Importance: 10 / 10 · Gold Star.
This is a curatorial judgement, not a measurement accurate to one tenth or a market valuation. Read the explanation and its evidence limits together.
How Archive Importance is assessed →Inside this issue
9 selected entries checked against the photographed contents and credits. This is a partial index; page numbers are printed references, not a physical collation.
View the source photograph ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-06
Selected legible entries from the registered photograph. Single page numbers are printed starting pages; ranges reproduce the printed range. This is not a page-by-page inspection or a complete contents transcription. Only the photographed travel contents page is indexed; other sections and the truncated View from entry remain untranscribed.
News
Room Service
Writing: Jay Mattson
The contents credit Jay Mattson’s visit to U2’s Clarence hotel in Dublin.
Don’t Leave Home Without…
LA Raw
Writing: Alice Rawsthorn
Hollywood Architour
Falling for Sweden
Writing: Tyler Brûlé
The contents explicitly credit Tyler Brûlé’s Stockholm archipelago report.
Travel Resources
The Cover
Photography: Stewart Shining · Styling: Anne-Marie Curtis · Styling: Michael Reynolds
Printed credit distinguishes fashion stylist Anne-Marie Curtis from prop stylist Michael Reynolds. Their roles apply to the cover, not the travel stories.
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Connections use the catalogue’s named people, organisations and themes.
Recorded contributions · 4
- Stewart ShiningCover photographySource verified
The photographed travel contents page explicitly credits the cover photograph to Stewart Shining. Wallpaper* Issue 1 — photographed contents and credits
Find other objects with this contribution → - Anne-Marie CurtisCover fashion stylingSource verified
The photographed cover credit identifies Anne-Marie Curtis as fashion stylist. Wallpaper* Issue 1 — photographed contents and credits
Find other objects with this contribution → - Michael ReynoldsCover prop stylingSource verified
The photographed cover credit identifies Michael Reynolds as prop stylist. This is not a fashion styling attribution. Wallpaper* Issue 1 — photographed contents and credits
Find other objects with this contribution → - Tyler BrûléWritingSource verified
Falling for Sweden (p. 148). The contents explicitly credit Tyler Brûlé’s Stockholm archipelago report. Wallpaper* Issue 1 — photographed contents
Find other objects with this contribution →