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‘I’m an everythingist’: How Es Devlin became the go-to for Beyoncé gigs, fashion runways and the Olympics

The Londoner is the set designer big names turn to for eye-popping spectacle. As a new retrospective opens, she gives the Guardian a glimpse at her studio Four years ago, the V&A East Storehouse in east London got in touch with Es Devlin. The museum’s curators wanted to invite the British artist and designer to respond to a 100-year-old theatrical backdrop by the Russian artist and designer Natalia Goncharova. For a 1926 London production of The Firebird by the Ballets Russes, Goncharova had painted a fortified Muscovite cityscape festooned with onion domes and spires, rust-red and golden against a deep-blue sky. Devlin didn’t know much about Goncharova. But alighting on the term she had favoured for describing her kaleidoscopic approach to art-making, Devlin realised she’d found a kindred spirit. “She called herself an ‘everythingist’,” Devlin says, a smile in her eyes. Works in pro

Image from linked report: ‘I’m an everythingist’: How Es Devlin became the go-to for Beyoncé gigs, fashion runways and the Olympics
Image from the linked report: ‘I’m an everythingist’: How Es Devlin became the go-to for Beyoncé gigs, fashion runways and the Olympics.Credit: The Guardian Thumbnail shown with attribution and outbound source link; VINI does not claim ownership or republish the original article body. Image source Image shown with attribution and an outbound source link; VINI does not claim ownership or republish the original article body.
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Why it mattersCulture

The Londoner is the set designer big names turn to for eye-popping spectacle. As a new retrospective opens, she gives the Guardian a glimpse at her studio Four years ago, the V&A East Storehouse in east London got in touch with Es Devlin. The museum’s curators wanted to invite the British artist and designer to respond to a 100-year-old theatrical backdrop by the Russian artist and designer Natalia Goncharova. For a 1926 London production of The Firebird by the Ballets Russes, Goncharova had painted a fortified Muscovite cityscape festooned with onion domes and spires, rust-red and golden against a deep-blue sky. Devlin didn’t know much about Goncharova. But alighting on the term she had favoured for describing her kaleidoscopic approach to art-making, Devlin realised she’d found a kindred spirit. “She called herself an ‘everythingist’,” Devlin says, a smile in her eyes. Works in pro

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According to The Guardian’s source item, ‘I’m an everythingist’: How Es Devlin became the go-to for Beyoncé gigs, fashion runways and the Olympics, The Londoner is the set designer big names turn to for eye-popping spectacle. As a new retrospective opens, she gives the Guardian a glimpse at her studio Four years ago, the V&A East Storehouse in east London got in touch with Es Devlin. The museum’s curators wanted to invite the British artist and designer to respond to a 100-year-old theatrical backdrop by the Russian artist and designer Natalia Goncharova. For a 1926 London production of The Firebird by the Ballets Russes, Goncharova had painted a fortified Muscovite cityscape festooned with onion domes and spires, rust-red and golden against a deep-blue sky. Devlin didn’t know much about Goncharova. But alighting on the term she had favoured for describing her kaleidoscopic approach to art-making, Devlin realised she’d found a kindred spirit. “She called herself an ‘everythingist’,” Devlin says, a smile in her eyes. Works in pro

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Culture file for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-09-27T09:00:00+00:00.

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Primary source: ‘I’m an everythingist’: How Es Devlin became the go-to for Beyoncé gigs, fashion runways and the Olympics via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

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