The Enduring Elegance of the Wardrobe: From Medieval Garderobe to Maarten De Ceulaer's Pile of Suitcases

In a Wallpaper* magazine essay, design critic Hugo Macdonald explores the cultural and historical significance of the wardrobe, contrasting its dignified elegance with the modern fitted closet. He traces the term 'wardrobe' to the French 'garderobe,' a medieval room dedicated to guarding garments, which later evolved into a piece of furniture with a lock and key as wardrobes became more common. Macdonald argues that the wardrobe possesses a magical quality, serving as a portal for transformation, and notes its role in setting limits on consumption, unlike the modern 'rail' favored by Gen Z, which exposes clothing and can collapse under excess. The essay highlights Belgian designer Maarten De Ceulaer's 2008 graduation project at Design Academy Eindhoven, titled 'Pile of Suitcases,' which reimagined stacked suitcases as a functional wardrobe with near-infinite configurations. The piece was quickly acquired by Nina Yashar of the Milan gallery Nilufar, and its legacy inspired a shift away from flimsy MDF closet systems toward more respectful storage solutions. Macdonald, who is a design critic, curator, and co-founder of Bard gallery in Edinburgh, also mentions his role as design critic at Wallpaper*, where he is covering for Rosa Bertoli during her parental leave. The essay appears in the September 2026 Style Issue of Wallpaper*.