My friend Tatjana Kotoric is the founder and designer behind the label Tatjane. This weekend she presented her 2nd collection. I love her designs and the quality of the fabrics. I like the chic appeal of the items and the fact that they’re great for everyday use as well as evening wear. I wish her all the best with her new Label!
London-based Alphabet Bags was created in 2008, starting simply with 26 bags with the letters A-Z. The bags are made using 100% heavyweight cotton and are stitched and screen-printed in the UK. They’ve now come up with other products and styles, but I still like my original L and M bags and use them as a sign for my atelier space.
I recommend staying at www.townhallhotel.com or at least sipping something cool in their bar http://viajante.co.uk. Say hi to Rasheed, the superb barkeeper who mixed us a couple of specials that weren’t on the list.
Start the day with a walk through www.broadwaymarket.co.uk. Such a great atmosphere and plenty of good shopping, cafes and just wonderfully friendly people! On the way to Brick Lane, pass by the V&A Museum of Childhood www.vam.ac.uk/moc in a beautiful old building with a huge collection of toys… For lunch, try a crispy pizza at www.storydeli.com. Right next to them are some great shops and, a little later in the day, www.cafe1001.co.uk for dancing and clubbing from five in the afternoon ;)
Always a must is Tate Modern, especially at the moment with Ai Weiwei’s installation “Sunflower Seeds” in the Turbine Hall. Take time to watch the making-of movie shown right next to it www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/unileverseries2010/default.shtm
After a nice dinner at www.smithsofsmithfield.co.uk and a quick look at Fabric (building and staff are nice but the crowd is not), we joined an amazing warehouse party (thanks to Marie-Laure) organised by a group of guys – if you want to know more, come up with a very good reason and maybe I’ll let you know…
Yay! I got my www.MAGAZIN.com – perfect for snuggling up on the sofa when the weather’s bad and scrolling through all these beautiful Things. It’s a fab collection of well-designed, well-made products. You sense that the selection’s been carefully thought through, and that you can trust its quality and ethical credentials. I could buy everything, and if anything’s missing I’m sure I’ll find it at www.manufactum.de! Manufactum and MAGAZIN both have the tradition to tell the stories behind their products – I think more and more that’s what makes the difference in our consumer world – to know where and from whom it comes from…
www.MAGAZIN.com
www.manufactum.de
The Thing I like: Their recommendation to subscribe for www.damnmagazine.net!
By chance Christian took me to the opening of the new NOMOS Glashütte store in Zurich. What a wonderful surprise for a Friday night – dropping in and discovering such a fantastic product. NOMOS is a manufacturer of beautifully designed and very fine watches.
As I learnt…
A mechanical watch is powered by its movement, also known as the ‘calibre’. This is what determines the skill of the watchmaker. Generic movements can be sourced from specialist manufacturers or designed and made in-house, which is what the brands with the highest reputations do – including NOMOS Glashütte. NOMOS is responsible for generating between 75 and 95 per cent of the value of the calibre in its own workshops in Glashütte, birthplace of the German watchmaking industry.
NOMOS now has a good-looking store at Spiegelgasse 13 in the old part of Zurich. I’ll definitely have to go back for a closer look at all their timepieces – I must admit that I was rather distracted by the yummy wine they were serving… I recommend the Schieferterassen Riesling from www.heymann-loewenstein.com!
What do you give friends when they have a baby? I had this idea for a special cloth for babies. It can be used around the head, around the neck, or simply as a bib. It has a buttonhole so it can be threaded back through itself and tied, or simply hung up on a hook when not in use.
The kerchiefs are fashioned from 100% sateen (a cotton fabric with a lustre resembling that of satin) and are edged with blue or red bias tape. The kerchiefs are made in a workshop for disabled people in Zurich and can be ordered from me.
Aren’t they a great idea? These anchors – designed by Andreas Saxer for Fidea Design – can be used anywhere for storing shawls, belts, caps, anything. They can be hung from each other to form a chain, which saves space in the wardrobe. Fashioned from powder-coated steel, they come in five colours.
The guys behind Wald-Haus say: feeling good starts with the small things in everyday life.
They design and create high-quality furniture for the living room. I think it’s really clever to leverage a process or material you’re familiar with (like they are with the production of the Indiana Skateboards see #12) for use in a different context – it means you end up with something new. The Wald-Haus ash veneer lampshade is so thin that the light shines through and imparts special warmth to the surroundings.
The Thing I like: the use of formal simplicity and high-quality materials to create a product you’ll buy once and always want to keep.
I know Indiana Skateboards through my friend Kevin www.frieszumbuehl.ch who used to come to school on his. That’s some time ago, but when we were looking for products to take to the Designers’ Open, I thought this brand could do well. Indianas are classic handmade boards; they started up in 1989. I had the opportunity to see their production facility and was amazed, not only because everything is handmade, but because a lot of thought has gone into the products. Indiana are now leveraging their slalom material and processing know-how to create a new line of products under the Wald-Haus brand name.
The Thing I like: the thought of getting a walnut Indiana for myself and getting into skateboarding…