Colette Art-Drive

December 5, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

At level 5 of the Herzog & de Meuron’s parking building, for only one week you’ll find 24-7, a selection of products from artists as diverse as a beach towel or a mug, a signed and numbered print, a pair of sunglasses, a Rolex watch or a puzzle. Zaha Hadid, Daniel Arsham, Jose Parla, Toilet Paper, Kitsuné, Luis Morais, and Thom Browne are among the artists and brands that participate to the project. Many exclusive products will be available: a set of Chrome Hearts Ketchup & Mustard Lids , a colette blue Andy Warhol wallpaper, a Julia Chiang pin’s, a box of Ladurée macaroons by Will Cotton! And that’s all happening at Art Basel Miami… Colette now does an artistic version of McDonalds!

Berlin: Acne Studios

November 8, 2013November 8, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

Acne is a Swedish label known for great denim, jackets and shoes that are always kept in a sporty but chic way. The Munzstrasse boutique of Acne Studios is a tiny space that has an amazing installation on the celling ( I think it’s a light bulb spider!) and a lightly constructed, pastel pink table on which the clothes are kept. My favourite piece was the AW13 shirt with this artsy print on… The Berliner style is just up here!

New Alaia Store Opening

September 30, 2013September 30, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

The long-waited store of Alaia have just opened close to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris. And this is a great occasion because within the day of the opening, Mr. Azzedine Alaia had his amazing exhibition too presented in the Palais Galliera on the same day. The master of perfect dresses that show the sexiest parts of women body, has a really winning year… Now wonder why- he is a real fashion icon, and it’s not a surprise that the designer who has a privilege to show his new collections whenever he wants, is having a second store in Paris opened. The first was his house/studio were you could meet him and see him work ( I was once lucky to have a chance of saying bonjour Mr. Alaia!) on Rue Moussy, and now it’s just next to all these big houses, few meters from Av. Montaigne. And the new boutique is amazing- the design, the colours, the CLOTHES… Simply, I want to Paris!

Simple. Proenza Schouler SS14

September 11, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

For me, the Guggenheim Museum in New York is a place for inspiration hunting. Not only art there makes your imagination work, but also the architecture of this building- the spiral, white interior of Guggenheim is one of the most beautiful thing in NYC. And, I don’t know why, but it feels to me that the Proenza Schouler designer duo had their beautiful collection influenced with this magnificient place! The show venue of the collection of PS SS14 collection was happening in a typical NY loft. It started with delicate leather coats, then changed into some very Proenza prints and ended up with metallic skirts and tops. I should say I really like the mature version of Proenza Schouler- the 10 year old label changes dramatically from a toxic-coloured-and-neon-printed-amazon-frog-girl into a beautiful, New York lady that adors to walk every morning to Central Park and fancies a dance in one of the New York’s hottest lobster bars… In other words, the clothes, shoes (that are pretty funny) and bags from that Summer collection at Proenza Schouler are simply beautiful! This is the New New York Look!

Rick Owens “Pre-History”

September 1, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

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.