In Memory of British Textile Designer Lucienne Day

On January 30th, 2010 designer Lucienne Day died at age 93. She was one of the foremost British textile designers of her period.

Born Désirée Lucienne Day (January 5, 1917) she was the wife of furniture designer Robin Day. The Days, considered by some to be Britain's most celebrated designer couple of the post-war era, were married from 1942. They are often compared to their American counterparts, Charles and Ray Eames.

A graduate of the Royal College of Art, Lucienne and her husband set up their design practice in 1948, but it wasn't until the Festival of Britain exhibition in 1951 that the true extent of their design vision was recognised. Many of Day's printed fabrics were made in long production runs, which kept the price affordable. She made the link between mass production and fine art.

She was deeply influenced by European abstract painting. Her recurring motif of organic forms and geometrics remind us of the art of Paul Klee and Joan Miró.

Image shown above is Day’s popular Calyx print & Miró’s Upside-down Figures.

New York Gift Fair Names Accent on Design Winners

Five Accent on Design exhibitors were recognized this week for design excellence, with awards for product design, overall excellence, best collection and best new designer.

The Winter 2010 Accent on Design award-winners are:

Excellence in Product Design: Areaware (New York, N.Y.) for "Shovel Birdhouse"

Excellence in Product Design: j-me® (London, England) for "Float" magazine rack

Best Collection: Pablo (San Francisco, Calif.) for ambient, hybrid and task lighting

Overall Excellence: Eastern Accent (Sudbury, Mass.)

A+ Best New Designer: Jung-woo Lee of EK DESIGN (Seoul, Korea)


The ‘Best Collection’ winner Pablo Pardo is worth reviewing in more detail. This month as SFMOMA is celebrating its 75th anniversary, the existing museum-store will soon mark ten years since the store doubled in size expanding to 6,000 ft. sq. With that was a decision to showcase furniture and lighting and Pablo was the featured lighting designer.

For this award his designs were recognized for ambient, hybrid and task lighting. The collection, which is both innovative and traditional, includes LED task lighting and energy-rated incandescent or halogen ambient lighting. The judges recognized Pablo’s high design, quality and technology in a diverse line of lighting.



www.pablodesigns.com

www.nyigf.com

www.SFMOMA.org

And the Award goes to….

The Wallpaper* Judges' awards celebrate the best of the creative crop from the past twelve months. In my January 8th post I narrowed two categories down from five choices to two of my own ‘finalists'. Well, what do you know… my prediction was correct for both awards.


Best domestic design
Slowcooker, by Margriet Foolen, for Royal VKB


Furniture designer of the year
Konstantin Grcic- various projects including a Thonet / Muji collaboration

The complete list of 66 winners including restaurants and specific pieces of new furniture can be found through this link:



http://www.wallpaper.com/news/design-awards-2010-the-winners/4212/

Diane von Fürstenberg announces launch of Home Collection

-NEW YORK

The legendary fashion designer and one time German Princess, Diane von Fürstenberg has signed with Springs Global to design a line of home furnishings including, bedding, bath, and tabletop that will debut in spring 2011.

For Springs Global it is the first high-profile licensed program the company has had in many years. It is well known for its Wamsutta and Springmaid brands of bed linens. This week Springs launched a new luxury linen brand called the Court of Versailles at Maison & Objet. It’s a licensed collection made in partnership with the Palace of Versailles foundation.

The DVF program will debut with a collection targeted at the department and better specialty store channels. Von Fürstenberg said she had waited a long time to do a home line like this, holding on for the right moment and the right partner.

"Since my business is so textiles driven,” she said to Home Furnishings News, “this is a natural for me. But what had held me back is that the distribution of home products is so odd.”



www.Springs.com/


www.dvf.com/

Moss Gallery Re-opens with New Format

-South of Houston St., Manhattan

Buyer’s headed to New York for the Gift Show at the end of this month should be sure to head down to SoHo and see the recently renovated space at Moss. This gallery and retail shop has been recognized by the International Herald Tribune as "the most important design store in the world". It's a Mecca for modern design objects and home furnishings. After 15 years the tall cube fixtures have been replaced by new low corian platforms and the floor plan and flow has been improved.

Glowing in the gallery's front window is a light sculpture called ‘Illuminated Crucifix’ by Czech designers: Michal Fronek and Jan Nemecek. The piece is made to order with pricing available upon request.

Using religious symbols for commercial purposes is not new but there’s nothing like a little controversy to draw attention.

For example, a few years ago Madonna’s appearance standing on an enormous crucifix in concert was condemned with calls from Roman Cardinals for her excommunication. Of course we all know about her converting from Christianity anyway as well as those record ticket sales.

Then there is the UK's graffiti artist Banksy who has made a living poking fun at establishments both political and religious. In the piece shown here SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE he portrays religious figures on their knees worshiping either a good deal or mourning a return to regular priced merchandise. The oil painting was sold at auction last fall for $230,500.

Socrates and Anaxagoras were put to death for impiety (against ancient Greek gods). Only since 1952 the US Supreme court decided that the laws against sacrilege were unconstitutional. The interesting source of this issue actually came from a Fellini and Rossini film called “The Miracle”. The story line disputes the biblical story of the immaculate conception and portrays Joseph as the real bio-dad.

Well, I do not expect any protests out on Green Street. It will take more a florescent cross to offend resilient New Yorkers. However for those needing some real spiritual help Moss also sells an Our Lady Of Guadalupe cross for $110, and a porcelain crucifixion scene designed in the 18th c. for $12,500, the latter worthy of a place inside the Vatican Museum.


Moss Photograph by Davies + Starr

Opening Soon- Bloomingdale's Outlet Stores

Following up on a December 10th, 2009 post.

Macy’s confirms details of Bloomingdale’s Outlet store concept this year.

The outlets will offer a range of apparel and accessories, including women’s ready-to-wear, men’s, children’s, women’s shoes, fashion accessories, jewelry, handbags and intimate apparel.

According to a company statement, the plan calls for the opening of four Bloomingdale’s Outlets this year—in Bergen Town Center in Paramus, N.J., Dolphin Mall in Miami, Potomac Mills in Woodbridge, Va., and Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Fla.

If this roll out is sucessful we will most likely see a home store version to follow.

Bunching Onion- A Winter Wonder

Los Angeles is not known for its varying seasons however the cooler nighttime temperatures that start in November combined with fewer hours of sunlight do slow many plants down and they go dormant. One plant that defies the cold weather and continues to thrive is the Japanese Bunching onion or Allium fistulosu. They are also known as 'scallions', 'green onions', or 'spring onions'. However, these names are ambiguous and may also be used to refer to any young green onion stalk. When compared to their shorter and skinnier cousins, chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are an attractive plant -even more so in bloom, but often die back in the cooler weather.

Growing bunching onions is very practical and convenient. They are simple to start from seed as one may be challenged to find the plants anyway. Spacing is important as well as thinning of seedlings as they have a high germination rate and one 6.0 gram packet contains over 2,400 seeds.

They can be harvested at a number of stages, depending on whether you want the tender, early green shoots, or the mature, white flesh of the lower stem. It is advised to not over cook them as they might become bitter.

In most bowls of miso soup this is the traditional green herb added with the seaweed.

Since 1917 The Kitazawa Seed Company based in Oakland, California has responded to the ever increasing demand for Asian vegetable seeds. They sell bulk quantities and have been producing the same traditional individual illustrated packets for almost 100 years. An full catalog is available by mail and they also offer wholesale collections for retail shops.

There are over 250 rare heirloom varieties alone so labeling is essential especially with the more exotic leafy greens in order to recognize Molokhia from Mugwort.


www.kitazawaseed.com/

California Gift Show Welcomes Buyers with Music & Champagne

-Los Angeles Convention Center

With low attendance at many of the nation’s trade shows, perhaps the management of the California Gift Show knew they had to try a little harder this year to make this a better experience than usual.

Indeed attending the winter show was a new experience. The following are some details that were unexpected after walking the summer & winter versions many times.

The registration area was heavily staffed- Buyers were escorted to smaller lines depending on their paperwork or special needs. The front line team seemed to enjoy their work and produced badges quickly with a smile.

As I walked up to the main hall Friday morning at about 11.00, I was scanned in and also welcomed by a group of people offering catalogs. A ribbon cutting ceremony was underway in the first row with press and video cameras. Glasses of Champagne were passed around by a team of people wearing tuxedos while Frank Sinatra was being played through the public address system. This sort of treatment is more fitting for what one would expect at the VIP lounge at Maison-Objet Show in Paris.

The look and feel of the wider aisles was also new. White felt carpeting helped bump up the lighting significantly and every few aisles offered some open seating- modern cardboard chairs and desk equipped with lap-top computers provided by Twitter.

An all day TWITTER workshop was going on, packed with Buyers and shop owners wanting to jump on board the social media frenzy. Lastly in the middle of the hall was a large cocktail lounge with full bar and deep sofas certain to be the center of activity later - or sooner depending on how well the order writing goes.

With such added attention it was a welcomed shift in both attitude and outlook. As far as new product being offered, individual post to follow with some of my highlights.

Bombay Company Re-launch

Just eleven months after their liquidation The Bombay Company announces it will re-emerge in the US.

This should be good news, however when companies re-launch so quickly one can not help but think first about the collateral damage from the bankruptcy and closure. With 400 some odd locations, the warehouses, employees, vendors, and landlords someone must have been shortchanged in these deals - to say the least.

The company’s website BombayCompany.com announces: “The Future Home of Bombay Brands”. An Adobe flash presentation reveals slick modern photography and youthful models in lifestyle shots overlaid with old nostalgic British Colonial imagery. The text promises us the following: “Bringing tradition, warmth, romance, great taste (etc.) to Home Décor…et al.

This may be a no easy task as this is the same Bombay Company whose stores I recall were full of fussy dark veneered rubber-wood nesting tables and brass monkeys. The announcement of re-hiring their head merchant who left the company in 2007 is also a surprise.

The re-launch plans include a three tier distribution strategy; high-end department stores & specialty gift stores, mid-tier home retailers, and mass discount chains.

I remain optimistic but I’m not sure the merchants at Bloomingdale’s or Neiman Marcus are ready to stand behind a brand with Bombay’s product history until the new product ranges are revealed. One way into these better retailers would be to buy the floor space with a shop-in-shop build-outs and offer well designed high quality furnishings. Today many luxury brands cross over and offer mass merchant collections, but this one certainly will be a tougher sell as they need to trade up, not down.

Shopping at New York’s Conran Shop During their relocation

-New York, NY

The ConranUSA.com website will be fully functional during the store’s clearance sale, temporary closing and relocation. The current shop on E. 59th Street is scheduled to close in March.

While awaiting the new location opening in April customers can also place orders by telephone. The customer service line is open during standard business hours during the week.

ConranUSA.com ships in-stock products from their New Jersey warehouse. Some furniture items are made to order and those larger oversized items that can not travel by Fed EX or UPS will ship via freight truck.

The user-friendly website is organized into the categories listed below and offers every detail necessary to make a well informed decision. Intelligent copy with the designer credit, materials, dimensions, inventory availability and/or lead time for future orders and delivery information is spelled out clearly. One of my favorite features is being able to shop by designer name, however note the alphabetic list features some designers by his or her first name. During this sale period some designers may be listed but no product currently available for sale.

• Furniture
• Lighting
• Outdoor
• Entertaining
• Bath
• Kitchen
• Gifts
• SALE

Meanwhile we will look for news on opening festivities and event annoucements from ABC Carpet.

Diptyque Opens New York Flagship

- New York, NY

Diptyque the Parisian fragrance maker that has been in business since the 1960s just recently entered the US retail market with three free standing shops. One is in San Francisco, one in Greenwich Village New York, and now their largest flagship location opened this winter on Madison Avenue near 76th Street.

Up until 2007 a limited range of the perfume, personal care, and candle products could be found at better specialty & department stores. Otherwise one would need to travel to Paris. Walking into the boutique on Boulevard Saint Germaine is like stepping back in time. Like many shops in Paris there is an air of formality here but once invited to sit down and test the scents the experience is quite enjoyable and relaxing. The simple and elegant black and white design of the space does not in any way take away from the focus on the products. The offering consists of about 50 different ranges. On my last visit there I chose a bottle of Eau d’Elide with the pan god figure illustration on the front – it’s a limited edition man’s fragrance no longer available combining bitter orange, lavender, and musk.

A brief history of modern home fragrance

Home fragrance is an important category for many retailers and has evolved very quickly in the past few years. For a long time potpourri when made correctly, was a very popular and an effective way to deliver a localized scent. Then at the end of the season you could just replace it. However when the market shifted toward heavy synthetic scents and garish dyes it feel out of fashion.

Natural or naturally inspired aromatherapy candle pillars and votives were all the rage for a while. Then the candle’s container became the new focal point, glass and ceramic jars, little tins for traveling. There was a quick flash of gel candles that offered a modern new look but some of those created a literal flash with safety issues and then vanished.

Smokeless soy-based candles signaled a revolutionary shift in the candle industry. This was a welcome trend and still offers the best choice for clean and even burning; the softer compound will not hollow out as quickly as wax does.

Once the fashion designers got involved in the candle business we saw some crazy pricing appear in the $100 and above range. These are gifts for the person you do not know very well-wrapped up in outrageous silk packaging and ribbons. I suspect that these are one of the most popular re-gifted or returned items that just get passed on and on perhaps never to be opened.

Most recently the arrival of the reed infuser category has exploded. It’s flameless and when you compare the hours of scent delivered quite economical. These are very popular and have a place in public washrooms and airport lounges, but the smell is much too powerful for me. Perhaps there is a brand out there that can offer a more subtle perfume but I have not found it yet. The benefit of burning a candle is that you light it for a few hours and then blow it out – it can release a feint scent afterwards unless it’s covered. However the idea of an open bottle of perfume that continuously evaporates into the air in an enclosed space is far from appealing. Frequently corking the bottle and saving or discarding the reeds seems impractical. My goal is to find an mild pleasant essential-oil based diffuser product and report on promptly. Suggestions are welcome.

Lastly I mention a new technology of battery operated flicker type candles that offer the illusion of real flames but only from a distance. The addition of a vanilla or other scent was a very bad move. I find these a bit depressing like anything pretending to be something it is not and are more suitable for commecial spaces where open flames are prohibited.

More about Diptyque
Somewhere in the range of mid to better quality soy blended candles is Diptyque. The scents are sophisticated and can trigger an emotional response to memories or naturally occurring fragrances. Diptyque uses only natural ingredients when composing fragrances and is proud to never have used synthetics. The packaging is a clean black and white its signature style; a playful broken line text spelling out the names in an old-world font. The standard 6.5 oz hand poured candle with a cotton wick and 50 hours of burning time sells for € 40 or about $60 US- special, but not too high for self purchase.

The popular Philosykos and Ofresia scents were created by world famous nose Olivia Giacobetti. She is know for creating fragrances for Guerlain, Hermès, the Costes brothers, and Penhaligon’s. She recently opened a little shop inside the Hotel Costes, Paris.


www.DiptyqueParis.com

Best of 2009 List Fatigue…Not Yet !

One week into the new year and the best of lists keeping pouring in.

There is something that compels us to at least glance through these often daunting lists. Perhaps it is the deep psychological need to be associated with something that is the deemed to be the best. For the reason behind this we might look to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid. Right before self actualization is the “Esteem” level, a measure of our success and status.

Wallpaper Magazine’s best of 2009 lists are broken down into various categories with five nominees each. Next month’s issue will announce the winners. That’s one way to keep circulation up. The two groups that are of particular interest to me include; best domestic design and the other is furniture designer of the year.

I’ve narrowed the best domestic design to my two semi-finalists and we can see how my predictions fare.

Kitchen Tools for Men- by Mitsunobo Hagino for Prince Kogyo.

The tool set is comprised of 5 basic utensils. The manufacturer has avoided the use of rivets but rather welded each stainless steel part together to increase durability coated in a matt black heat resistant fluorocarbon polymer. Currently available from UK and Japanese retailers only.

More info. http://
www.nico.or.jp/hyaku/english/

Slowcooker- by Margriet Foolen for Royal VKB.

This product was launched in Paris at the 2009 Maison & Objet trade show. It is a simple reversible terracotta cooking pot with silicone pads that allow it to be placed directly onto a tabletop. Various web retailers show the item as sold out ‘til February.

A 30 second clip shows the simplicity of cooking:
aplusrstore.com/product.php?id=492


Furniture Designer of the Year
With only photographs of the designers faces and a description I immediately knew which two I would focus on for this post. James Irvine and Konstantin Grcic both worked on collaborations with MUJI and THONET. The reason why this is a brilliant idea is that in many ways Muji epitomizes what Thonet set out to do; streamline the production of reasonably priced products. Both channel a vision of simplicity and durability into an end result of timeless design.

Irvine created a series of chairs supported by one single bowed back panel and Grcic designed a collection of office chairs and desks for the Japanese company. The office collection is not for sale yet and both are currently on display in the Muji shops in New York.

www.muji.us/

ABC Carpet's new Conran Shop in Shop

New York, NEW YORK

My recent post about Milan’s la Rinascente department store including a Conran Shop may now read as a precursor to the latest news out from the British restaurateur, designer, author, and specialty retailer Terrence Conran.

The New York Times reports that after 10 years of operating on the far east side Manhattan the Conran Shop will close its doors and open a shop-in-shop at ABC Carpet in Union Square. The 8,500 square foot shop will open in April 2010.

Operating at about 50% of its original size the shop will focus on what the company is calling its more “masculine” categories of merchandise including furniture, lighting, kitchen, and under-glass products. The most noticeable categories that will be eliminated are textiles, bath, children's, stationery, and travel items.

For those who cannot do without a specific Conran item ‘til April they do deliver from the UK with complete instructions on the company website- www.conranshop.co.uk. In the most polite British manner would-be shoppers are instructed to call for details regarding freight, import duties, and taxes that may be incurred from packages headed for America.

The London and Paris Conran Shops were and still are very important travel designations for merchants seeking trends and sources while attending the winter and fall trade shows. I consistently found at least one key item in the gardening or kitchen departments. So, when Sir Terrance opened this business in New York I must admit I was a bit disappointed. This was another sign of globalization that affected me personally. As a California based merchant the unique treasures discovered here would now be much more accessible to other buyers who never even visited Europe.

I expect this may become the busiest area inside ABC Carpet and come this spring the downtown crowd will not have to trek all the way up to barren neighborhood of the Queensborough bridge to shop the latest Conran collection.

Sign of the times- Department stores entering the discount outlet business.

At the close of each month we all see the comparable store sales numbers. Looking back at the last year it’s clearly the off-price business that consistently outshines any of the regular priced retailers. I suspect December will be no exception. Both The TJX Co.s and Ross Stores are bucking the trend, reporting positive numbers and sometimes reaching double digit increases over last year.

Competition is now surfacing for that value driven customer in the near future from a very unlikely source. WWD reports that Lord & Taylor, the oldest upscale department store in the United States is entering the outlet business. The first will be a 15,000 ft. sq location in Elizabeth, N.J. It may come as no surprise after the retailer has struggled with a series of ownership shuffles, store closures, and it's new identity. This is the same Lord & Taylor that for decades advertised through fashion illustrations when everyone else was using modern photography. At one time couture fashion designers such as Balenciaga, Dior, Chanel, and Givenchy were on display in the Lord & Taylor 5th Avenue flagship. Now just a few of these names remain in the Bridal assortment and the dress department is made up of very modestly priced ready-to-wear pieces from American names like Calvin Klein and Ellen Tracy. As for those new price points ads targeting a younger shopper- seems like they took their cues from Old Navy.

This news comes as Macy’s acknowledged that they are also looking into the possibility of opening outlet locations but have yet to announce any specific sites.

In an interesting move Simon Property Group announced in a December 8th press release that it would buy out 22 new mall locations from Prime Outlets for a price of $2.3 billion. This acquisition will result in a total of 63 off price centers for Simon comprising approximately 25 million square feet.

Burt Tansky, the Chairman & CEO of Neiman Marcus recently acknowledges that the “Last Call” outlet stores were out performing the regular price locations. He said the number of outlets would be expanding beyond the current portfolio of 28 and they are working on finding "more central locations" as well.

Some free advice for these retailers entering into this new territory; Do not open more locations that you can adequately stock and do not supplement the merchandise assortments with lower quality goods that would never be sold in the full prices stores. I was a bit shocked to see this trickery from one luxury outlet when it was quite clear that this retailer would have never sold a rough poly-blend dress shirt but yet here it was piled high posing as an over-stock with a very inflated comp. price. This could really turn off the more affluent educated shoppers who will not return unless the bargains are real and honest.

Much of this shift is really about the consumer re-evaluating what prices should be. With so many prestige brands being offered up at mass retailers it leads us all to question the rational of why name brands are at such inflated prices. Many retailers have been hitting the discount panic button so quickly. First through a sale of 20-40 off, then 50% and higher discounts sometimes just weeks after arriving in shops.

I foresee that all of these changes could result in better shopping experiences in off price location and outlet malls. They may start resembling some of the better shopping mall formats. They could be built in more convenient areas where people actually live and work. They will include welcoming landscaping & convenient parking facilities (valet maybe?). The architecture will be more appealing and might incorporate children’s recreation spots and spacious seating areas, and maybe nice, healthy restaurant choices. If all of that happens, the whole business model and price structure of retail could change dramatically.

As we go into this new decade change is in the wind and it’s certainly not going to be business as usual anymore.



www.WWD.com

A New Year's Resolution for the Design Community

I met with an investor from one of the so-called “eco- friendly” retailers who was considering hiring me as a consultant. In the meeting he asked me to basically look at Pottery Barn's catalog covers for the past five years and copy the styles with a spin toward his new brand. I ended up offering some friendly advice and did not take on the project, suggesting instead that the company could do much better with original ideas and products.

Now as economic woes continue the collateral damaged may include such sameness that seems to pervade the home industry. So, as we approach a new decade what will home furnishings look like in 2010 as both consumer and corporate budgets get slashed?

To answer this question I have two approaches.

Let’s start with Dieter Rams the industrial engineer most closely associated with Braun. Many of his designs have a home in the permanent collections of museums around the world. Thankfully Rams offers us his ten principles of good design.

Note to designers;
Please print this list and post this where you can read it every day.

• Good design is innovative
• Good design makes a product useful
• Good design is aesthetic
• Good design helps us to understand a product
• Good design is unobtrusive
• Good design is honest
• Good design is long-lasting
• Good design is consequent to the last detail
• Good design is concerned with the environment
• Good design is as little design as possible


What really makes Braun and other Rams designs stand out for me the most is number 7; the long-lasting qualities. I have a number of Braun products that are twenty years old that work and still look great.

The second place we go for inspiration is Japan- by way of the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan.

The Japan External Trade Organization or JETRO set up a section of the ICFF trade show in New York this year. The International Contemporary Furniture Fair features furniture and accessories and also displays a number of student design projects that have not yet made it to production. JETRO curated an exciting and innovative presentation of items and offered a catalog that explained how they were chosen.

According to the literature all these items on display had high Kansei value, or emotional and physical appeal to the user.

Kansei is manifested in three ways:
1. Hyōjō - The expression of an object or its appearance. This includes material, color, texture; all the qualities visible to the eye.
2. Dōsa- The creator’s gesture or intent or how the body physical response to the object; for example how it feels to the touch.
3. Kokoro- The emotion an object evokes. This psychological dimension is the most abstract but most prized by Japanese designers.


All photographs copyright Vitsœ.



www.JETRO.org/

www.ICFF.com/

The Rebirth of the Department Store- Italian Style

- MILAN, ITALY

A visit to Milan is certain to include a walk around the Piazza del Duomo. One of the key anchors in this enormous walking and shopping area is La Rinascente, the upscale department store founded in 1865. (This is the place where Giorgio Armani got his start- dressing the windows- but that’s another story.)

Shopping there in the past was similar to visiting a Macy’s suburban C-store – the absence of better name brands and lacking the luster or modernity of say what you find at Harvey Nichols or Neiman Marcus. I even recall the lighting and visuals used to be quite compromised and outdated.

This past July La Rinacente unveiled what is being called a "design supermarket”. I visited in September, walked the lower level shops and saw an exciting combination of home and design objects that rivaled The Conran Shop. A modern bustling café circles the escalator's open architecture; a wall ‘sculpture’ in itself. Many of the goods are featured in a modern art museum-shop fashion. These include sophisticated dustpans and vases as well as notebooks and mugs by fashion designer Paul Smith. There is even a Conran shop-in-shop down there as well, the first I have seen. It makes sense since Sir Terrance does not have any of his own retail shops in Italy. Kartell and Wallpaper* magazine also set up shop there which definitely adds to the cool factor.

There was no sign of a recession here on a busy Saturday afternoon. The store was full of people and gave off a party atmosphere- interesting music that changed in each area. Large scale theatrics in cosmetics; it was teeming with dozens of fragrance models and cosmetic artists in action. Many of the major international designer and top luxury brand names were visible right from the sight-lines of the up escalator.

In 2005 the company recruited the CEO who was credited with turning the ailing Selfridges department store around. Vittorio Radice who was also the Managing Director for Habitat UK is responsible for this resurrection. When I worked with Vittorio on furniture product development at Conran’s Habitat he was constantly pushing the merchandisers to go after a similar visual approach- a ‘fresh from the market’ look in the shops. He wanted to see towering stacks of new dinnerware filling large baskets that may have just been cracked open from a crate, as well as goods on dining tables that looked like they were just stocked up.

How appropriate that La Rinascente is derived from rinascita - means "rebirth" in Italian. Perhaps this is the inspiration the management team used to make such a bold new business introduction and major remodel in such a troubled economy.

We will have to watch the sales and earnings of La Rinascente in the future but the launch of such fresh and new idea seems to have paid off from the glimpse I saw in the high foot traffic and number of shopping bags heading out the door.


www.DesignSuperMarket.it/

The most beautiful garden book

- New York, NY

A quick call out today for Dominique Browning's list of the top ten new garden books of the year for the New York Times - Book Review (12/06/09).

In praise of Anna Pavord's book, BULB, Browning said, "This is the most beautiful garden book of the season", offering us as readers happiness and hope. She also notes a warning, "...[it] is enough to induce lust in the most abstracted Zen gardener."

In her other picks it is worth noting that she mentions but does not recommend any of the how-to titles which will no doubt be piled up on a feature table in your local book seller. Four of Browning's books fall under the category of Japanese Gardening suggesting that we should probably make our vacation plans now.

Full link to the section of the NY TIMES below as well as my earlier post about BULB from November 2, 2009.

www.nytimes.com/pages/books/review/index.html/


GARDEN- Bulb Season



With all the buzz about growing your own rooftop produce there are still more flower gardeners out there for one simple reason; sunlight. Even those with out an outdoor space can turn a small windowsill into a miniature flower garden, but most vegetables do require about six hours of sun or more.

BULB, a new book written by Anna Pavord has just been released from Octopus Publishing Group. It's been ten years since she wrote her related title, The Tulip- a history and illustrated archive of the flower from its botanical origins to Tulipmania, and to the big business it has now become.

In BULB, this time Pavord shares 540 of her favorite bulbs with a more practical approach. This alphabetical collection provides photographs, inspiration, and helpful advice.

Another book written ten years ago is still very fresh in its presentation of all forced blooms indoors; Forcing, etc written by Katherine Whiteside for Smith & Hawken. She explored all sorts of cultivated and wild flora that can be transformed with the right conditions; from branches, bulbs, even forcing acorns into tiny bonsai gardens. A Google preview of her book can be viewed at the Workman publishing website.

Paste address into browser:
http://www.workman.com/products/9780761115120/excerpt_from_book.html

Coming Up Roses – Clubhouse furniture for KENZO

- Los Angeles & Miami

Kenzo Takada’s fashion career which has spanned thirty years started appropriately in Paris. His first designs were created only from the fabrics he could afford to buy at the flea market. As a result, Kenzo had to mix many bold fabrics together to make one garment. In 1970 he opened up his first shop near the Palais Royale inside Galerie Vivienne.

His ready-to-wear is both practical in function and often outrageous in detail. Formal suit coats with large patch pockets on the back or oversized buttons, for example. Like the other top Japanese designers his clothes are loose and unstructured. However one consistent quality is that the garments are very durable and can last a life time with proper care.

In the mid nineties Kenzo joined the luxury group LVMH which would support a global expansion plan. A few years later he would step down as CEO and pass the work off to his assistants. In 2005 he would return to design "Gokan Kobo" a collection of tableware and home objects; Baccarat made the crystal pieces, Niderwiller and Manufacture Nationale de Sevres manufactured the porcelain table-top.

Now Kenzo has just entered the US market with support of the Italian company Clubhouse who also is behind the FENDI home collection. Together they have produced a wide range of furniture for sale in Miami and Los Angeles. L.A.'s Melrose location opened its doors in October and displays a wide assortment of case goods, dining room furniture, and accessories.

All the pieces are special order. The ‘Grace’ chair featured here starts at about $1,000 with a number of fabric and finish options. Contact information and photos of the FENDI collection at the Clubhouse Italia site below. Kenzo photos coming soon.



www.clubhouseitalia.com/


www.Kenzo.com/


Gokan Kobo photo courtesy of AFP © 2005

Robb Report follows up on Ralph Lauren Vault post

-New York, NY

The Home & Garden Business News post from November 18th announced Ralph Lauren's new venture into one of a kind collectible antiques for sale throuh a new division's website called The Vault.

Today's Robb Report newsletter arrived and was promoting the site just in time for holiday shopping.

Although if the sky's really the limit for that someone special, the new Hermès mega yacht by Wally is tough competition. A floating paradise for €100 million.

When I was in Monaco this summer the yacht show was just getting set up in the port at Monte Carlo but the highly anticipated unveiling had not occurred yet. The link below includes a video clip of the vessel in motion in the 'Making of' section. Daydreaming encouraged.


www.robbreport.com/enews/2009/RL.html/


www.why-yachts.com/

Update on the White House Christmas Tree

- Washington, DC

To follow up from an earlier post...

Today First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the Blue Room Christmas tree that will be accessible to the public visiting the White House.

The theme of the holiday decorating is "Reflect, Rejoice and Renew".

In an unusual turn they decided to re-use about 800 ornaments left over from previous administrations. These were re-designed by about 60 local community groups throughout the country. The groups decorated them to pay tribute to a favorite local landmark and then sent them back for display at the White House.

Bravo to the First Lady for not only recycling but for the community inclusion to the festivities this year.

Check out this year's impressive gingerbread house complete with the organic vegetable garden detail.



Photo credits; SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images