Archive for July, 2009

The brainchild of two architects, Coolhaus offers ice cream sandwiches named after design icons. Their prefab flavors include Frank Behry, Mies Vanilla Rohe, Richard Meyer Lemon and IM Peinut Butter, product specs can be found online. Currently available only to those in the L.A. area, founders Natasha Case and Freya Estreller update customers regarding their traveling ice cream truck’s whereabouts via Twitter.

Coolhaus has been featured in Dwell, where I found a photo to use. Other pic via Good Magazine.

1. Narcisco Rodriguez F/W 09, chain mail-print dress, image from Style.com. The styling? What with the white tights and booties — not cute, at least not very excellent. Available — and, I think, much better styled with black tights — at Neiman Marcus // 2. High the Moon Chair, Shiro Kuramata. Japanese designer, Shiro Kuramata, was best known for how he translated workaday industrial materials such as steel mesh and lucite to create architectural interiors and furniture // 3. Stella McCartney S/S ‘09, acrylic mesh dress. Image from Style.com.

I just want to find a pair of slouchy bottoms that won’t make me look like a little daikon radish. And I wantonly covet a Margiela slouchy hobo.

1. Possibly tailored enough to be work appropriate, Ilaria Nistri. Available at ForwardForward // 2. Mary Meyer Sahara pant, these might be them. At Oak // 3. Slouchy shorts, would work as long as the material is not too stiff, Oak. (Bought and returned, too stiff) // 4. Rolled cotton shorts, a guilt-free alternative to those AWang shorts — inexpensive enough that they could end up as gym shorts, FreePeople. (This ended up a dud as well. While I didn’t feel like a radish, I looked like a pumpkin) // 5. Maison Martin Margiela would never make me look like a slouch. MMM slouchy hobo, available at Saks // 6. Or this MMM hobo, in the perfect shade of grey.

You can’t sit on Swiss-born artist/designer Rolf Sachs‘ wobbly rubber Can’t Sit Still or Spineless chairs, but that’s part of their kooky charm.

1. Untitled (Ground Nr. 9). German-born Uta Barth is a photographer that lives and works in Los Angeles. Barth’s work are experiments in depth of field, focus and framing; her photographs are suggestive rather than descriptive // 2&3. Erdem Fall ‘09. Erdem has been getting a lot of press lately. Paired with black tights and weighty shoes, the abstracted floral prints are less romantic, more urban. And while they probably won’t go into production, I desire the shoes // 4. I have nothing but love for the work of illustrator Cecilia Carlstedt. Art Department // 5. Erdem Resort ‘10.

Gabriella Gustafson and Mattias Ståhlbom of TAF believe that everyday objects by their very commonness can be made uncommon. The Swedish architects aim to make life less ordinary through subtle but effective changes in how products and architecture appear and function.

For their Soft Parcel Collection for Rossana Orlandi, pieces of foam are wrapped with fabric, in a similar way one would make a parcel. The wrapped packages are soft and work as modules to build different comfortable seating possibilities. Even a trolley becomes an easy chair when loaded with parcels.

|| Via Design Yearbook | TAF ||

Color generator.

Hussein Chalayan + JBrand

It may seem odd that a well-established avant-garde designer would be partnering with a denim company. Less odd, when the avant-garde designer in question is Hussein Chalayan. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time he made news this year for a clever partnership. About the collaboration with JBrand, Hussein Chalayan — who’s Spring 2007 show featured clothes that transformed on a woman’s body and climaxed with a model’s dress disappearing into her hat — has said, “The idea that interesting or avant-garde things have to be inaccessible is really old-fashioned.”

The capsule collection offers three styles — the Legging, skinnies; Circuit, a capri; and the Beau, a straight-leg boyfriend jean.

|| Hussein Chalayan + JBrand capsule collection image scanned from US Vogue, Aug ‘09 | Chalayan’s F/W ‘07 LED dress. ||

Bright doesn’t have to be obnoxiously trendy, not when it’s when set against austere grey or stark white. In minimal interiors, just a small touch of color packs a punch. Dressing in brights follow the same principle. I’m of the belief that a hint of tangerine-orange or punch-pink, say under sheer white, is more effective than full-on Rainbow Bright. When in doubt, I just ask myself, “What would Helmut do?”

1&3 Images from Bristish designer and stylist, Abigail Ahern’s Atelier. Via Elle Decor // 2. Arne Jacobsen’s mid-century classic Swan chair is pretty in pink, Hive Modern // 4. Perfect shot of color in an all-white kitchen. Contrast silicone and porcelain beaker by Royal Copenhagen // 5. Proenza Schouler PS1 Bag, Barneys // 6. Malin+Goetz Lotus Root Eue de Toilette, at Barneys // 7. Throwback? Retro? Nostalgic? Sure. Iconic Timex 80 Watch, at Oki-ni.

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

What is style? I’m sure we’d all like to be thought of as stylish, but what does it actually mean? Firstly, let us differentiate style from fashion. Where the latter is whimsical, readily available and consistent only in its inconsistency, style is enduring. It’s about personal choice. To be stylish is not to be anti-fashion, rather it’s an edit of what’s out there in order to create a look that’s individual. It’s the difference between dictated-must-have and love-it-but-prefer-it-in-another-color. In short, having style is knowing who you are, what makes you feel good and sticking to your guns no matter what! If you love it, that’s all that matters. —Michelle Ogundehin, Editor of UK Elle Decor (Oct ‘06)

The energy of imagination, deliberation and invention — these are the ingredients of style. And all who have it share one thing: originality. —Diana Vreeland