• KASTHALL x ILSE CRAWFORD

    Written by Fashion Tales

    At the Salone del Mobile in Milan this spring, Kasthall will be launching its design collaboration with the British designer Ilse Crawford. The collection, called Grönska, consists of two tufted and three woven rugs. Crawford drew inspiration for Grönska from the Swedish landscape around the Kasthall factory in Kinna, Västergötland.

    The design collaboration, which began in spring 2017, consists of three woven rugs, Fåra, Glänta and Äng, as well as the hand-tufted rugs Täppa and Åker. Crawford and her team, in collaboration with Kasthall Design Studio, explored different weaving and tufting techniques in order to reflect the rythm, irregularity, and diverse tones of the different types of landscapes throughout the year. These qualities are infused into the rugs – and in turn into the homes and public spaces where we live and spend time. Developing the right greens was a challenge. For example Kasthall Design Studio together with Crawford and her team started experimenting with a new dyeing method for melange hair yarn. It was important to make sure that dynamic, natural colour shifts in the wool shone through. The result was a yarn with new depths. This yarn is an important component of two of the new rugs, the woven rug Äng and the tufted rug Åker.

    The Grönska collection will be displayed in a retrospective exhibition of Studioilse furniture at the Kasthall showroom in Brera during the Milan Design Week.

    While Kasthall’s customers are found all over the world, each rug crafted by the international brand is custom made in Kinna. Kasthall does not keep stocks of rugs and they are not transported to and sold in shops. In this way, unnecessary consumption of materials, dyes, resources, energy and transportation are kept at a minimum. All rugs in the Grönska collection will be part of Kasthall’s permanent collection, except for the rug Åker, which is being produced in a limited edition of 50 rugs in total.

  • Vestiaire Collective X Byronesque

    Written by Fashion Tales

    Vestiaire Collective collaborates with Byronesque to reveal rare archive capsule collection. Inspired by a shared ethos to modernise the perception of vintage clothing and drive reuse in fashion, Vestiaire Collective and Byronesque are partnering to bring Vestiaire’s global community an edit of exceptional rare archive pieces, curated exclusively by Byronesque. Celebrating some of fashion’s most influential designers, the digital pop up will offer 200 one-off pieces, from an era when designers broke the rules and reinvented the fashion industry.

    More relevant today than ever before, Byronesque’s edit pays homage to some of the most iconic moments in fashion history, from Punk to the mid 2000’s - each piece telling a story beyond the boundaries of fashion. The collaboration marks the launch of the Archive Series on Vestiaire Collective, which will focus on showcasing unique vintage collections. Demonstrating Byronesque’s eye for looking beyond obvious vintage trends and sourcing the unobtainable, the collection will include seminal pieces from Comme des Garçons, Yohji Yamamoto, Maison Martin Margiela and Helmut Lang et al, but also hard to find and unexpected pieces from Jeremy Scott, Ghesquiere’s Balenciaga and Sex and Seditionaires pieces authenticated by the Westwood company.

    Key pieces include the iconic Vintage Maison Martin Margiela Semi-Couture dressmakers bodice apron, from his 1997 collection, one of Jean Paul Gaultier lesser known belted trench coats from 1998, and the Comme Des Garcons show robe from 1986, which became a cult inspiration in the 1980's when Rei Kawakubo took the idea of the atelier lab coat and made it hers. Also key in the collection, there is Jeremy Scott’s logo trench and bomber, now the height of contemporary-vintage fashion, and the Maison Martin Margiela “Fragile” bag from S/S 2006, where Margiela questioned the fragility of fashion. 

  • Designer Martin Bergström x Lapponia

    Written by Fashion Tales

    Designer Martin Bergström joins the respected group of Lapponia designers with his first ever jewelry collection for Lapponia. To be launched in April this year, The Kuu Collection –  a collection named after the Finnish word for moon - is a manifestation of Bergström’s eye-catching style, and a perfect fit to Lapponia, known for its convention-breaking designs. Pale moon and dark Nordic skies are the inspiration behind Bergström’s collection: “I’ve always been attracted by the Moon - this mystical element that greatly affects our daily lives. the Moon orchestrates a constant circle of tides, seasons and moods that affect Life on Earth more than we realize”, states Bergström.

    The Kuu Collection is a crossover of organic shapes and contemporary fashion. “The collection is composed of several separate pieces, all combinable in multiple ways. I want the consumer to give the final touch to the collection by deciding how to wear and combine it.”, says Bergström. The Kuu Collection includes e.g. five separately sold and freely combinable earrings. The collection also includes Lapponia’s signature chain, originally designed by jewelry artist and sculptor Björn Weckström, who originally developed Lapponia’s unique design language. “With this selection, I wanted to pay my respect to Lapponia’s heritage and the work of Mr. Weckström.”

    For Bergström, it always begins from hand-drawing; two-dimensional surfaces and shapes inspired by the weirdness of Nature. Roots, decomposition and organic elements develop in his hands into breath-taking abstract forms that have become Bergström’s signature. The Designer works with several international brands in the fashion and interior industry, creating intriguing prints and collections for them. 

    The Kuu Collection is available from selected Lapponia Jewelry retailers and www.lapponia.com from April 30. For items made by order delivery time is 6 weeks.

  • SVENSKT TENN'S SUSTAINABILITY PHILOSOPHY

    Written by Fashion Tales

    Svenskt Tenn has reviewed its range of products from a sustainability point of view, investigating the environmental impact of manufacturing processes and materials. The results are presented in a booklet, Svenskt Tenn’s Sustainability Philosophy, which is available in the Stockholm store as well as online.

    Svenskt Tenn works towards the vision of contributing to society in as many ways as possible. For example, manufacturing goods locally helps to keep Swedish craftsmanship alive and it creates jobs. The surplus generated from the sales of the design products benefits important research within ecology and medicine, through grants from the foundation that owns Svenskt Tenn. But CEO Maria Veerasamy wants to go even further:

    ”We are proud of our contribution to crafts and research in Sweden, but we want to become even more sustainable as a company, and raising the knowledge levels is an important aspect of this. This review is a starting point. A source of knowledge that will help ourselves, our suppliers and our customers along the way”, she says.

    To assist in the review, Svenskt Tenn has retained Renée Andersson, one of Sweden’s most experienced experts in sustainable production and human rights, with an honorary doctorate at Lund University. In the auditing process, Renée Andersson has worked her way down the chain of suppliers and subcontractors to identify the materials’ origin and how they are processed in the creation of the final product. The reader can learn about such things as ”conflict minerals”, processes used in the production of linen, cotton and tanning of leather, and how a combination of barium and zinc has made the production of crystal glass more friendly to the environment than using lead – just to name a few examples.

    To read the sustainability review in full - go here!

  • & Other Stories present art brand The Ode To

    Written by Fashion Tales

    & Other Stories proudly presents a collaboration with art brand The Ode To, through an exhibition on the 18th of April and a pop-up exhibition in store the 19th to the 22nd of April.

    The Ode To was founded by Helena Carlberg Anna Lakins, with the vision of creating a space where unique and creative work can be found for those wanting things that not everybody else has. Limited prints and handmade art objects for reasonable prices makes it possible for art enthusiasts to express their personal style in their homes. Several creators from & Other Stories’ network are now a part of The Ode To, not to mention Helena Carlberg.

    Since their launch in 2013, & Other Stories have supported female creativeness. Carlberg and Lukins share the same passion, as the majority of the brand’s work is created by female artists in order to balance the underrepresentation of women in the design and art industry.

    For more information, check out the webbpage: https://www.theodeto.com/

  • Arper : KIIK design by Iwasaki Design Studio

    Written by Fashion Tales

    Islands for gathering. Constellations for activity. Kiik is created for the spaces between entry and departure, between waiting and doing. This modular collection of seating, tables, ottomans, and consoles creates moments for working, gathering, or relaxation in graphic forms with myriad
    configurations.

    Kiik has been created to address the needs of waiting rooms, university lounges, workspaces, meeting areas, and mixed-use spaces. Its modular nature and material finish specification options make it a complementary addition to any context. Kiik’s fundamental structures can be created with seats with and without backrests and tables in triangular, circular, square or rectangular shapes and completed with ottomans and low or raised consoles. Upholstery options in a variety of textures and colors create a unique expression appropriate to the space. Combine diverse configurations together for a dynamic effect, or create patterns with a repeated form. Kiik is ideally suited for any contract use to create bespoke spaces, to pause, to work, to meet.

    Kiik is a modular system consisting of frames of various dimensions which can be combined with pads, available with or without a 63x63 cm backrest, and a seat height of 45 cm. Kiik tables come in different shapes and dimensions (rectangular, square, triangular, quarter round) thus allowing linear and L-shaped modules (120° and 90°). The collection is complemented by a console with a 252x40 cm top in three heights: 58, 72 e 105 cm, and by a 126x157.5 cm ottoman with a seat height of 36 cm.

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