Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Helen Frankenthaler
"There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about." -Helen Frankenthaler
-From Habitually Chic...
-From Habitually Chic...
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Mats Gustafson's Stockholm Apartment
As I have already confessed by love for everything that is Swedish there is no doubt that I adore their life style, their houses, their practical way of thinking and many other fantastic things they owe. My Swedish experience marked my whole life and I will always be grateful to my Swedish friends who have helped to become what I am today.
The images of this elegant and stylish apartment located in Stockholm reminded of all these great things related to Sweden. The apartment, designed by Fernlund + Logan belongs to the artist Mats Gustafson and is a place that is characteristic to the Nordic people. Its simplicity, sobriety, refinement, classic style and the vintage accents are features that can characterize Scandinavian people. They love modernity but at the same time they adore and try to keep their traditions.
Mats Gustafson’s apartment with its classic decorated ceilings, the vintage wood pieces of furniture but the gorgeous XL paper pendant lamps, the chairs with furs, the paintings on the walls or the presence of other objects of art create a marvelous refined space.
The nuances of gray and brown are contrasted by the white walls and add elegance and sobriety to this artistic design apartment. Although you might think that sobriety dominates all the interiors there is the big amount of light and the white walls that make of this apartment a warm and peaceful place.
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Monday, December 26, 2011
Alessi
Project: 90018 - Neapolitan coffee maker
Architect, designer and university lecturer, Dalisi (Potenza, 1931), who has been defined by Mendini as "the mind behind design in the South of Italy" has sent us, from his city, one of the longest-running project developments in the history of Alessi. During the nine years the project lasted (1979-1987), over 200 different prototypes in tin were made. They are now housed in the Alessi Museum and are much sought-after for design exhibitions throughout the world. The project was for a small series, which aimed to recall an old-fashioned type of coffee pot which had been the household model in Italy before the arrival of the Moca or Espresso versions in the 1950s. Research into the Napoletana, which made wide use of historical, anthropological and poetic sources, is described in R. Dalisi, La caffettiera e Pulcinella, Alessi, 1987.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Christmas Eve Menu - Cheers!
Veuve Clicquot
Lobster Catalan
Spaghetti with little neck clams and shrimp in spicy fresh tomato sauce
Chilean Sea Bass with sautéed peppers
New York Chessecake
Wine - Stags Leap 2004 Cabernet
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Wichy Hassan
The news of Wichy's passing is so sad. The world has lost a creative genius and gentle soul who brought us one of the great fashion brands of our time...
MILAN — Wichy Hassan, creative director and co-founder of Sixty SpA, died on Friday at 56, after a battle with cancer.
Tirelessly industrious and passionate about his work, Hassan contributed to shaping Italy’s denim and sportswear industry, launching jeans specifically designed for women, for example.
Diesel chief Renzo Rosso knew Hassan for years, the two having met when Hassan sold Rosso’s wares at his Energie store in Rome. “He always had a smile on his face and was extremely professional,” recalled Rosso. “There was never any tension or competition between us in all these years. It’s a big loss for the fashion world, we will all miss him.”
“He adored women and wanted to make them more beautiful, feminine and sexy,” said his friend Andreina Longhi, founder of Milan-based communication agency Attila & Co., recalling how Hassan was a pioneer in designing “jeans that would enhance a woman’s curves.” Over the years, those figure-hugging, sensual looks drew several A-list celebrities to the Miss Sixty brand, from Demi Moore and Christina Aguilera to Jennifer Lopez.
Hassan started his career as an artist and a painter and his printed T-shirts were also successful, Longhi added, noting that the designer went out of his way to help out young artists. “He was very sensitive and adored his company. He was a fighter, was always positive and very ironic.”
Other friends recalled how he used to laugh about himself, saying: “I am short, black, a Jew and gay.” Hassan became actively involved in equal rights movements. The global recession put a dent in Sixty’s success over the past couple of years, but Hassan had the benefit of perspective and maintained a positive view of the future for the company he founded in 1989.
In a 2009 WWD interview, Hassan recalled his family’s flight from Libya in 1969 after Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow of the monarchy. He was a child when the family was forced to leave home and fortune behind.
“My parents had to literally start all over again here. I’ve seen worse,” he said, in his sprawling terraced apartment adorned with carefully selected art works and a stunning view of the Roman skyline.
Elio Fiorucci said the word “designer does not really explain Hassan,” whom he defined as “the soul of Miss Sixty.”
“He received outside information and translated it into a new way of dressing. He was one of the biggest influences in the sportswear arena,” said Fiorucci. “Wichy was well-informed and extremely curious and traveled around the world because he was thirsty for knowledge. We would catch up at different events, I remember a Madonna concert a few years ago, for example — he was always eager to find out about new happenings and things.”
As a close friend, Fiorucci recalled Hassan’s “generosity, great sensitivity and kindness.”
Starting out as a retailer in Rome in 1983 with a store called Energie, which carried cool, hard-to-find and international brands, Hassan built a fashion conglomerate with the help of co-founder Renato Rossi. In addition to the Miss Sixty, Energie and Killah brands, the two friends took control of the RefrigiWear and Murphy & Nye brands in the Nineties, followed by accessories label Roberta di Camerino in 2008. The brands are available at almost 11,000 points of sale, and count more than 380 stores in more than 90 countries in the world.
Sixty’s offices are located in Rome, but its manufacturing plant is based in Chieti, Italy.
Hassan had a soft spot for America and for seven seasons held a Miss Sixty runway show during New York Fashion Week, which he had to grudgingly forgo for budget reasons in September 2009.
“It was not only a cost-cutting issue, but a sign toward our clients and our company workers,” he explained at the time. “We can’t be detached from the reality and the catwalk felt unnecessary and presumptuous.”
Going forward, industry sources are speculating about the future of the company, as a new production and distribution partnership with Chinese manufacturer Trendiano Co. Ltd. was announced hours before Hassan’s death.
MILAN — Wichy Hassan, creative director and co-founder of Sixty SpA, died on Friday at 56, after a battle with cancer.
Tirelessly industrious and passionate about his work, Hassan contributed to shaping Italy’s denim and sportswear industry, launching jeans specifically designed for women, for example.
Diesel chief Renzo Rosso knew Hassan for years, the two having met when Hassan sold Rosso’s wares at his Energie store in Rome. “He always had a smile on his face and was extremely professional,” recalled Rosso. “There was never any tension or competition between us in all these years. It’s a big loss for the fashion world, we will all miss him.”
“He adored women and wanted to make them more beautiful, feminine and sexy,” said his friend Andreina Longhi, founder of Milan-based communication agency Attila & Co., recalling how Hassan was a pioneer in designing “jeans that would enhance a woman’s curves.” Over the years, those figure-hugging, sensual looks drew several A-list celebrities to the Miss Sixty brand, from Demi Moore and Christina Aguilera to Jennifer Lopez.
Hassan started his career as an artist and a painter and his printed T-shirts were also successful, Longhi added, noting that the designer went out of his way to help out young artists. “He was very sensitive and adored his company. He was a fighter, was always positive and very ironic.”
Other friends recalled how he used to laugh about himself, saying: “I am short, black, a Jew and gay.” Hassan became actively involved in equal rights movements. The global recession put a dent in Sixty’s success over the past couple of years, but Hassan had the benefit of perspective and maintained a positive view of the future for the company he founded in 1989.
In a 2009 WWD interview, Hassan recalled his family’s flight from Libya in 1969 after Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow of the monarchy. He was a child when the family was forced to leave home and fortune behind.
“My parents had to literally start all over again here. I’ve seen worse,” he said, in his sprawling terraced apartment adorned with carefully selected art works and a stunning view of the Roman skyline.
Elio Fiorucci said the word “designer does not really explain Hassan,” whom he defined as “the soul of Miss Sixty.”
“He received outside information and translated it into a new way of dressing. He was one of the biggest influences in the sportswear arena,” said Fiorucci. “Wichy was well-informed and extremely curious and traveled around the world because he was thirsty for knowledge. We would catch up at different events, I remember a Madonna concert a few years ago, for example — he was always eager to find out about new happenings and things.”
As a close friend, Fiorucci recalled Hassan’s “generosity, great sensitivity and kindness.”
Starting out as a retailer in Rome in 1983 with a store called Energie, which carried cool, hard-to-find and international brands, Hassan built a fashion conglomerate with the help of co-founder Renato Rossi. In addition to the Miss Sixty, Energie and Killah brands, the two friends took control of the RefrigiWear and Murphy & Nye brands in the Nineties, followed by accessories label Roberta di Camerino in 2008. The brands are available at almost 11,000 points of sale, and count more than 380 stores in more than 90 countries in the world.
Sixty’s offices are located in Rome, but its manufacturing plant is based in Chieti, Italy.
Hassan had a soft spot for America and for seven seasons held a Miss Sixty runway show during New York Fashion Week, which he had to grudgingly forgo for budget reasons in September 2009.
“It was not only a cost-cutting issue, but a sign toward our clients and our company workers,” he explained at the time. “We can’t be detached from the reality and the catwalk felt unnecessary and presumptuous.”
Going forward, industry sources are speculating about the future of the company, as a new production and distribution partnership with Chinese manufacturer Trendiano Co. Ltd. was announced hours before Hassan’s death.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Borsalino
Crushable, water resistant, stylish felt fedora in charcoal(my new hat of choice for the work week)...
Friday, December 9, 2011
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