// website update //

Probably you did not know that, but we run a label for fashion accessories,Gabriel & Schwan.


We updated our website and our new collection is now online...

::pimp your walls::

Sharmila Banerjee is a Cologne based Illustrator and Graphic Designer. Her colourful world is full of little animals and odd creatures in phantastic landscapes.


She made illustrations for the RheinDesign Flyer and now you can purchase some of her work as wallstickers, available at tapetenagentur.

I really like her work because it reminds me of some artists that create vinyl toys. The mister and I are totally into collecting these little characters...

little people

Via modernieteter I found out about Little People.

It is so brilliant! I always wondered what to do with this tiny figures from the toy train shops. I really had a good time watching all the installations they made.
You can also buy prints of their pictures.

Abfallaufwertung...

Generally I am not a big fan of recycling fashion or design, but some people just know how to do it!
I came across the works of Stuart Haygarth earlier, but since all that eco-discussing has started, I can put it in another context.


His chandelier is huge (150 cm diameter) and made from empty plastic bottles and containers and basically anything else that is kind of transparent.
When i was looking for other recycling artists/designers i came across this site: Superuse. Different artist or designers propose how to re-use stuff - or better how to give garbage a new meaning.
The follwoing two examples I liked most...

This is a bedroom in a former pipeline in an old industrial building. Click on the picture to see a bigger version (of course you did know that).
The Architects of Lot-ek did a good job restyling this bulding into a beautiful loft. Be sure to visit their website.

The other items are slightly smalller...
...old knives turned into bottle openers. They look so oldfashioned in a french way (cannot explain, but i know you understand). Made by cuttingupknives, unfortunately the website does not work - maybe you are lucky. But you can buy these via Pension für Produkte. A nice website btw.

There is a nice book of Superuse, too, by 010 publishers.

Pastel Shades

I simply love Audrey Kawasakis art. I love the way she paints and what she paints. I love the fact that she paints on wood, which gives her paintings immediately a kind of vintage attitude. Her paintings are innocent on the one hand but with a slight hint of erotism on the other. Also it reminds me of some Art Nouveau tableaus while her depictions are sometimes even surrealistic.

I picked out two paintings that have that twenties thing going on.

The first one reminds me of Marlene Dietrich (which makes it of course a bit more a thirties thing).

trying to be positive about the weather...

... so i show you some swimsuits of kymare. It is a dutch brand and owned by Kim Wormgoor who also studied in Arnhem. (Well i come across arnhem fashion designers very often in the last couple of weeks... coincidence? NO!)


We visited her studio in Arnhem lately and I was lucky to get a hold of a bikini of an older collection. yeah, my first bikini who deserves to be called a bikini - sorry h&m!

Zeigt her Eure Beine...

Meike Diedeling has dedicated herself to the design of stockings... Most of them have a text printed on them, but my personal favourites are these ones:

Little bags spread over your legs! They come in different colour combinations but I stick to the always fresh and classy red and white combination.

comuun

...just posting some pictures of a friend of mine...
Kaito Hori has a very refined style and i love the graphic appearance of his designs. They have this special "ZEN thing" about them. A great contradiction to my last post and to what I have seen in Arnhem in general - my eyes just needed some rest.

Arnhem Fashion Biennale

On saturday we went to the Arnhem Fashion Biennale. As I studied in Arnhem it was a nice opportunity to get an idea of what is going on in that little town I left two years ago. Saturday was the last day of the exhibition so we were lucky to get a package of pappabubbles candies when we purchased our tickets. HAPPY FASHION was the motto of the biennale.

I decided to show you the following designs, because of what I saw they were the most striking.
Yoshikazu Yamagata in collaboration with knit artist mafuyu knitted and crocheted dresses as an allegory of his hometown. A very poetic approach to create something that can be worn, used as a product or that is just something to play with.


Bas Kosters could be called an all-round-designer more than just a fashion designer - he even makes music nowadays. His installation in Arnhem resembled a white-trash-trailer-park, except for the trailer was not a living space but a kiosk.