Rick Owens’s new furniture collection made in his studio in Paris, is not only special because of the label- no, more because of the materials used in these sofas and armchairs. In reality, RO chose very rare and specific materials- The 500,000 year old fossilized wood throws up subtle nuances of smoked brown and the blackened plywood provides a counterpoint to the lighter tones; alabaster, a sublime material used by sculptors in Sumerian times whose transparent pallor echoes the color of the ivory of a cow’s bone. As you see, these minimalistic, brutallic forms have much more to say that most of other chairs! Their concept is very simple, showing the beauty of natural fabrics. Dealt with in juxtaposition, the values come together and compose a three-dimensional piece that is totally relevant to the designer’s own style. He cuts and shapes a transversal and global universe, from fashion to furniture.
Chair
Fashion is Art, Art is Fashion
Fashion was and is and will be influenced by art and design. How? In geometry, form, fabric, color, flower detail, a paint spot. The Louis Vuitton SS13 was all influenced by Daniel Buren geometric installations. The most dirty punk collection of AW13- Saint Laurent- had the flower motives from Yves Saint Laurent private collection of furniture. Givenchy Pre Fall 13 collection add by the way print similarities to the CH07 by Hans Wegner armchair! In this crazy art world of trends, changes, cults, everything has it’s replacement. If we talk of Eames chairs I think of a Givenchy SS13 dress and Jil Sander AW12 coats that are so lite and delicate. Just like Ray and Charles Eames furniture! Oh, and my less known to most interest are of course furnitures and specifically- chairs!
At Kong
Kong is an architectural genius and at the same time culinary mistake! Lets start from the good site- Philipe Starck was the interior designer of Kong and he did a very good job. Hr revisted his Kartell classic the Ghost chair that is totally transparent and inspired with Old Era armchairs. He sticked on the back some amazing photos of women- a blonde European, and two Japaneese- one with purple hair and one with a elegant Geisha hairstyle! And the toilets are also fantastic! A big baby is sticked as a wallpaper in it!
And now the bad part. Service- horrible! If you put your jacket on the chair, the waiter “moans” at you “that you need to take this jacket off because it destroys the restaurants design” or when you come to the restaurant, just taking your place, from nowhere a waitress is rushing to you and asking “are you ready to order the food?”. Even if you still didn’t get the menu… Sick!
If talking about food… Poor. These were very normal European dishes, but all with wasabi, and lemon grass! Just to be more “Asiatic”. The plate of selection of rolls and tempura and meat…how was this connected? And how is it possible to spoil a spring roll? The beef carpaccio in Japanese Style… Aha. Beer Carpaccio in soya. Main course- tuna steak with… Tada, potatos, spinach and boiled carrot with ginger, wasabi and lemon grass! Horrible! :)
Design & Culture by Ed 