On the 24th of January inspirational force Maison Kitsuné will take up residence at number 68 rue Condorcet (9th arrondissement) in hometown Paris. Listed on the Inventory of Historical Monuments, the building in which the boutique will house was built in 1862 by the French architect Viollet-le-Duc. Conceived by Emiliano Salci and Britt Moran, of DIMORESTUDIO, the 70 m² venue welcomes both the men's and women's collections as well as a Café Kitsuné. Inspired by the universe of Maison Kitsuné and by a shared passion for detail and the mixing up of genres, DIMORESTUDIO unveils a warm and functional space where complimentary colours and textures, simple lighting and materials, symmetrical lines and volumes are core concepts. Shades of lapis blue and carmine red are given pride of place; the walls, floor and doorways are swathed in a satiny aluminium. Tables are rendered from stratified wood, blue and ivory, while the chairs in the Café Kitsuné are finished with amaranth fur. The all-dominating wood, in a variety of species and dimensions, has been recuperated and re-modelled to measure, creating an elegant environment in perfect Kitsuné style. We can't wait to visit! [ Continue reading ]
In October of last year the biggest and most ambitious private museum of Paris opened its doors for the first time. The new institute named Fondation Louis Vuitton aims to become a monumental contemporary-art museum, housed in a building designed by the legendary Frank Gehry and commissioned by the LVMH director Bernard Arnault himself. In the first months visitors could tour the building, view sketches and maquettes of Gehry's design, and discover a rotating selection of artworks from the Fondation's own impressive collection. In December the very first art exhibiting was opened, featuring tremendous new work by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson named 'Contact'. Like 'Riverbed', which we were lucky to visit at the end of 2014, Eliasson once again created a highly immersive world, but instead of a rocky riverbed he takes the visitor on a virtual space odyssey after which one is intermittently plunged into darkness, making the exhibition a dark opposite of his exhibition at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. [ Continue reading ]
We have been obsessed with the finer scented candles from all over the globe for some years now, with more and more traditional fragrance specialists entering into the growing field, creating more and more elegant options to choose from. Since our little trip to Copenhagen, just before Christmas, we can add another gem to our favorites: Calming Park's Black Edition candles, which we found at the ever-inspirational Storm boutique. The capsule collection of three candles is a collaboration between the Grasse, Swiss-based perfume candle house which was founded by Olivier Rohrbach in 2007 and Danish creative studio Homework. It is no secret that we are still in our Black fase, although there is an obsession shift coming up very soon, nevertheless making the appeal of the elegantly designed collection very likely not coming as a surprise. The candles show a minimal elegant aesthetic, with the three fragrances of the collection given the three-letter names OUD, NOW and HYT. This beautiful collaboration between Homework and Calming Park is based on their shared passion for beautiful products and designs, which we in response can only applaud, hoping for more of these inspirational joint operations. [ Continue reading ]
Last week marked the first great release of 2015: Journal de Nîmes Nº 11 was officially launched at Tenue de Nîmes, with many more releases and projects laying ahead in this exciting year. The all-yellow issue resolves around The Future and although this seems the case with every new Journal, feels like another step towards the next level. To tell the story on how we see the future, a narrative was created which examines both past and future, based on the idea that if you want to look ahead, you can not do so without finding the roots from where progression will grow. In Nº 11 the brands are presented, which capture everything that we feel is required to be successful in the 21st century. On the one hand this resulted in a story on one of the biggest brands of the last ten years, Acne, but also Porsche is featured through a story on Ron Dickinson, founder at Singer Vehicle Design shot by Thomas Tukker. Our favorite Hancock is to be found as a prime example of a brand translating traditional techniques to the 21st century and also the first introduction of the Tenue de Nîmes Private Label is here, searching for timeless appeal and quality in all its designs. Our upcoming adventure into the world of optics named Mottainai is also presented for the very first time ever, implementing elements from the past into a futuristic concept. We will dwell on those thrilling projects in the near future, when the time has come, until then enjoy Tenue's exclusive vision for the future. [ Continue reading ]
Berlin-based Lunettes Kollektion translates iconic frames from fashion history to create modern classics. Designer and founder, Uta Geyer’s, philosophy stems from the concept of honoring the past while living in the now. As child of an artistic family Geyer regularly tagged along with her sculptor father on trips through thousands of museums and historical buildings, training her eye for shape and form. In 2006, Geyer opened the Lunettes Selection store in Berlin, which quickly gained a large following. Lunettes also developed as a go-to source for theater, television, and film productions, as well as fashion shoots, and its global following grew among those in-the-know thanks to Geyer’s online shop. In 2009 Geyer opened a second Lunettes Selection shop and launched the premier collection for Lunettes Kollektion, blending a fashion-forward thinking with the annals of style. Recent collaborations with rising names in fashion like Louise Gray, James Long, ODEEH, Christopher Shannon and Michael van der Ham show the brand's deep connection with the best European design, promising a lot for the future. Make sure to keep an eye on the brand. [ Continue reading ]
Joe Cruz is a very talented artist, illustrator and textile designer, which we have been following since we discovered his work some years ago. In this period he has been consistently creating very strong images, distinctly using a toned down color palette and collage techniques. Joe was born in London in 1988 from a multi-cultural background: with roots in France, Spain, Austria and Morocco. He graduated from Norwich University of the Arts in 2010 with a BA in Graphic Design, specializing in Illustration after which he worked on commissions for clients such as Mary Portas, Stussy and Nokia, next to his free work which seems to have been influenced by his eclectic background in one way or the other. We were very happy to collaborate with Joe in Journal de Nîmes Nº 9, for which the artist created an extraordinary collage using vintage photographs out of the Tenue de Nîmes private collection named 'Denim Anonymous'. Having been inspired by Joe's incredible work for all this time, we now ask him what inspires him in life. [ Continue reading ]
Last September the design studio of Jeroom Jansen and Bertel Grote; Grand & Johnson, celebrated the opening of their beautiful studio and a brand new accompanying store in the Amsterdam West-based new creative area named De Hallen. The area, a former tram depot, has been transformed into what is in the process of becoming the creative centre of that area of Amsterdam, housing a mix of cultural, culinary and creative initiatives like Filmhallen, Hallenstudio, House Of Denim and Foodcourt. Next to a great selection of Mendo books, the store offers Grand & Johnson's own designs, next to custom-made baths, cupboards and dressers. A beautiful selection of special and unique items which were hardly available in The Netherlands before, selected from around the world from places like Japan, Canada and Denmark. [ Continue reading ]