Taking place on Illa del Rei, home to an outpost of Hauser & Wirth gallery, the collection was inspired by Catalan architecture and featured a collaboration with artist Sophie Wahlquist. Here, founder Lesleigh Jarmanus tells Wallpaper* the story behind the unique show.
The tiny island of Illa del Rei, located in the port of Mahon, Menorca’s capital, has gone through various incarnations across the centuries. It was the landing place of King Alfonso III in 1287 during the reconquest of the Balearic Isles (hence the name, which translates to ‘King’s Island’); the home of a military hospital for troops during the British occupation in the 18th century; and, over a millenia before – as was discovered by chance in 1888 – the site of a 6th-century Palaeo-Christian basilica. The shards of the mosaics found – depicting deer, birds and twisting vines – are now safely ensconced in the Museu de Menorca.
An altogether more contemporary temple to art now stands on the island: an outpost of the Switzerland-founded gallery Hauser & Wirth, occupying the former hospital and surrounded by serene Mediterranean gardens by Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf (the entire project, and outdoor sculpture trail, was overseen by Paris-based architecture studio Laplace). It was within this bucolic scene that Illa del Rei entered yet another incarnation this past week: the setting for a fashion show, with the Australia-based label Alémais choosing the island to present its Resort 2027 collection on Wednesday evening.
‘We followed the signs here,’ Lesleigh Jarmanus, who founded the resort-wear brand in 2021, tells Wallpaper*. ‘We started the collection in January with a design trip through Spain – it rained the entire time, with the sun coming out only twice. Once when we first met our artist collaborator Sophie Wahlquist at her Mallorca studio, and again when we found our show location on Menorca’s Illa del Rei.’
