Yii - Milan 2010

lace plates by designers Ching Ting Hsu and Tsun Jew Lee

Another exhibition I am very sorry to have no seen in Milan, was the one of the Taiwan Craft Research Institute. A collection of their last products, a mix od taiwanese craftmanship and design, carefully curated by Dutch Designer Gijs Bakker, was presented last april, under the new brand name of Yii.

I am extremely intrigued by this Coocon chair by designer Rock Wang.

Wang weaves bamboo strips together by hand to form the organic underlying structure for his “Cocoon Plan” furniture. This intricate process takes about five days to complete. Then he hangs the chair in the air by running a line through the circular openings. These openings also serve as handles for moving the rather large chair around. Wang then allows silk worms to spin a natural cocoon around the form for five days, creating a stunning chair covered in silk. Beutiful!

Formafantasma - Milan 2010

I did use these grey days - yes it is again grey in here! - for browsing the net in search of the most interesting concepts of the last Milan Fuori Salone.

I was really glad to see how the italian designers duo Formafantasma is growing and showing really NICE work. Their products were presented at the Rossana Orlandi Space. Here you can watch the exhibition video and the designers interview. The designers explain the Autarchy title as follows : "AUTARCHY OUTLINES A HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIO WHERE A COMMUNITY IS EMBRACING A SERENE AND SELF INFLICTED EMBARGO WHERE NATURE IS PERSONALLY CULTIVATED, HARVESTED AND PROCESSED, TO FEED AND MAKE TOOLS TO SERVE HUMAN NECESSITIES. “AUTARKY” PAYS HOMAGE TO THE UNCOMPLICATED, THE SIMPLE AND THE EVERYDAY."
I love the attention for the detail of these objects and the simplicity of the installation.

Back!!!

Dear Idee Blog friends,

yes I am back! how are you? did you visit Milan Design Week? did you spot the newest of the newest?

Well I was a bit scared to not be part of the Milan circus for the first time in years, however my socio-cultural trip through Cuba did open my eyes. Yes, I can survive withouth design furniture, believe me!

It was great to be in a new cultural enviroment, meeting creative people who are not afraid to express their emotions. I did learn a lot and I am now full of energy, inspiration and idea's.

One of the first change is the content of this space, I will share with you also fashion and photography stuff, two of my other interests.

Hope you will visit me here soon!!!

Thanks

Anna

Flips flops and wild hair - but not in Milan

Dear Blog Friends,

while the crazy design world will meet again in Milan next week, I decided to run, run away from all this for a little while! I need sun and a place where my hair can be curly and wild with no fear, where I can wear flips flops the all day. I need a place for thinking, get inspired and see things from a new angle.
I will not be in Milan, for the first time in nine years. I will miss it, in the begin, but I will survive, in the end. For the one of you going, try to not take design stuff too serious - have fun - enjoy Italy, my beautiful country! I will meet you again here, in a couple of weeks.

Anna

Eugenia Minerva

Interesting piece of furniture designed by Eugenia Minerva of Me(design) studio.
It is a console with a twist, storage space for our nowdays stuff. More new work of Eugenia will be the coming week in Milan, at the Salone Satellite, do  not miss her space.

Happy Easter break

photo by me

Hi,

 I am still alive, just VERY busy with the usual pre-Salone del Mobile of Milan crazy days.

I wish you an happy & sunny Easter break!

Anna

Barbara Munsel

So, you know those days, when you cannot find anything to wear? Well in those days I would like to have one of the pieces designed by Babara Munsel. You can buy her beautiful garmets in Antwerp, by Juliette Bogers.

Claire Basler

Dream away to beautiful enchanted forests and fields of flowers, you do not need to go far, it is possible just observing the work of french artist Claire Basler.

Viktor & Rolf with Studio Job stage decor

image courtesy of Style.com

Dear fashion addicted around the world,

the last Viktor & Rolf F/W show was again amazing. The Glamour Factory - this was the show title & collection theme - was the combination of the giant shoulders of the 90's and a theatrical performance. The designer were first stripping the models from the various layers and then re-dressing them.
The designers explained: "This time around, we want to show that something can be both wearable and extreme at the same time. It goes beyond a mere idea; it is literally ready for production."
Please notice the beautiful stage decor designed by my dear friends of Studio Job, Job Smeets en Nynke Tynagel, an incredible complicated print of industrial pieces.
This is a clear example of Dutch creativity at his best!!

Daniele Michetti

foto via Stylisti.com

.......since we are talking about fashion I would like to show you this amazing designer.

Daniele Michetti did win the "Whos is next" italian award for the accessories designer category, and you can see why, these are incredibly beautiful HANDMADE shoes, like (if I may say so) only italian craft can make!

Moi Multiple - Anna Ceccon

On the new and re-designed website of Vogue Italia I read about a young italian fashion designer, Anna Ceccon. She is busy since 2008 with her brand Moi Multiple and she has just presented the last F/W collection during Milan Fashion Week, getting lots of positive reactions. In her web you can read  more about her vision: " It is a though over the contemporary society transition. The individual is more and more prismatic and with a multiple identity. The woman roles evolved and develop asking several aptitudes, competences and personalities. The brand wants to reflect the woman’s different personality thanks to a transitory stylistic identity, always changeable."

I like her approach, so I hope to see her clothes around soon.

                                         

                                         

Francesca Grilli

a still form the video Gordon 

Video artist Francesca Grilli mixes video techniques, photography and performance all in one. The results are particularly poetic videos about family relations and the space around us. In Gordon you find a special portrait of her relation with the grandfather, she says: "The aim of this work is to consider heritage, secret identification and distance in the human relationships. I ask my grand-father, Giordano Bruno, a man of eighty-seven years, to play (bocce)bowls with me, an activity that he plays every day. we play with new rules, keeping the winner and the colour of the play unknown , using many bowls and possibilities." See the video and more Francesca works on her website.