Precise and conceptual, the first womenswear collection designed by Masataka Matsumura for Giuliano Fujiwara leaves no space for casualness: it looks deeply rooted in  the ancient Japanese tradition of origami, whose key elements are interpreted through a contemporary and personal vision. Expert cross contaminations between eastern sensitivity and western culture turn this first ladies collection into the full and coherent expression of the brand’s evolution, as well as of the young creative director’s personal training.

The collection is extremely focused: it includes 20 ready to wear items , 7 shoes styles, 9 bags styles and 8 jewellery pieces.

As in the origami, the volumes of each garment are unusual, with extremely structured cuts and pleats that help defining them with precision and geometric rigour: at times strips of fabric line the skirts, strips of leather extend the shoes silhouette, as if they still had to be folded to turn into the actual items women will wear. Proportions meet and cross, in a harmonious alternation of opposites, tiny skirts are worn over extra long jumpers, whose hems sneak out of the skirts that, in this way, look like belts at a first glimpse. The focus is on the shoulders, important, geometric, often enhanced thanks to the addition of pleats.

Knitwear is super soft and feminine, thus contrasting openly with the rigorous silhouettes of the outerwear. In the materials range, technical fabrics with a thick and consistent texture, wool crêpre, leather and a very light silk/cashmere blend are outstanding.

Accessories, following an unusual creative path, are not perceived as a mere complement, but rather as  central elements of utmost importance, around which the whole womenswear project rotates: the origami concept blooms in the bags collection and develops through the shoes collection, where pleats and overlappings give shape and structure to each and every item, and includes also the jewellery collection, where metal is folded to contain extra bright and extra big crystals.

The colour palette is essential, and perfectly in tune with the brand’s philosophy: only black and dusty pink for the clothing line, for the accessories black is mixed with a light shade of grey and a warm champagne tone.

The exhibition 18 YEARS OF PLAYING at The Design Museum in Gent, Belgium will be the biggest, but more important the nicest, retrospective about the work of Richard Hutten Studio, which was founded oktober 1991.

Richard Hutten, a self declared Homo Ludens, will show a cross section of his work of the past 18 years, varying from his well know pieces such as the Table-chair and the Dombo/Domoor mug up to relative unknown and recent work, such as This chair and the Book-chair.

In the playful setting, which is also designed by Richard, you can see unique, unknown pieces, limited editions, mass produced work as well as a selection of interiors. The exhibition will be up and running between 26 February and 6 June.

Claesson Koivisto Rune was founded in Stockholm in 1995 as an architectural office but soon added furniture and product design to the practice. Books and exhibitions about both the buildings and the furniture design have been made previously. But for the first time, the smaller objects; things that can be put on a table, have been gathered and presented.

With photos by Anthony Hill and graphic design by Gabor Palotai the exhibition took place at Hotel Skeppsholmen during Stockholm Design Week.

From manga to anime to music, Japanese soft power, also known as “Cool Japan,” has captured the world’s attention. In the fashion world as well, the profound creativity of Japanese products has great potential on the international market. As a way of broadcasting Japanese fashion culture to the rest of the world, the government supports the Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo (JFW). Now in addition, tokyoeye has been established to further strengthen Japanese fashion businesses in the world’s fashion capitals.

tokyoeye is a project for supporting Japanese fashion brands in their expansion outside Japan. Taking “Cool Japan” and filtering it through a Tokyo perspective, several fresh, modern Japanese fashion brands have been selected for exhibition in either Paris or Shanghai. In cooperation with local showrooms and press, they will have the opportunity to appeal directly to buyers, press, and consumers.

The goal is to support brands with potential that are planning to extend their business overseas.

Together with a showroom in Paris and industry press, creators will have the opportunity to show their collections directly to professional buyers, to the public and to the press. Several brands already successful in Japan have been chosen by the selection committee.

Two commercial events are scheduled : the “corner” of Colette from February 15th to 27th, 2010 and TRANOÏ SHOWROOM from March 4th to 11th, 2010.

During the Stockholm Design Week David Report stayed at the newly opened Hotel Skeppsholmen. Situated only a stone’s throw away from the city centre – on the green and lush islet skeppsholmen, animated by art, culture and busy maritime activity. combined with the surrounding water and the view over scandinavia’s capital this is a truly unique place. It also seems like the international design community will find Hotel Skeppsholmen. During our stay prominent guests like Jasper Morrison, Ross Lovegrove, Karim Rashid, Inga Sempe, James Irvine and many more could be seen at the hotel.

Hotel Skeppsholmen is modern and of minimalistic design, but Erséus Architects together with Claesson Koivisto Rune keep its swedish heritage with beautiful antique floors and great embrasures. the hotel, earlier known by locals as “the long Row” has functioned both as barracks for karl XII:s personal elite force and a hospice for the poor people infected with the plague during the early 18th century.

– Naturally this has put exceptional demands on the renovation, says ola Rune, architect at Claesson Koivisto Rune. we have put an enormous amount of time and energy into creating perfection. we have kept a lot of the buildings character and used traditional materials such as soaped wood floors and linseed oil-based paint on the timber, but also a reception desk in solid, brushed aluminum. showers with glowing water droplets, magical sinks and a seven meter long dining table from Botswana. our design influence has been something that appears between sea and land – ‘fog’.

Hotel Skeppsholmen offers a nice and relaxed atmosphere. Almost like you are staying somewhere far away at the countryside.

Ping Intressant.se

Swedish Moto Boy is launching his latest single “The Heart Is A Rebel”. It’s the first song to see the light of the from the forthcoming album “Lost In The Call”, released March 3. Download “The Heart Is A Rebel” for free on the new Moto Boy site.

We have written about Moto Bo before here.

Henrik Otto, senior vice president of Electrolux, launched an interesting new kitchen concept last week at DesignBoost in Stockholm. Imagine never having to use pans or pots again, never having to worry whether the ingredients are fresh or never having to look up a recipe in a cook book. Heart of the Home, as the concept is called, is a thought provoking vision of the kitchen of the future – an integrated solution functioning as a kitchen table, cooking surface and bar all in one.

In a matter of seconds, thousands of lives and dreams were destroyed in Haiti. Following the tragedy, aid came from many quarters, in all shapes and forms. The global PechaKucha community is coming together with Architecture for Humanity to lend a hand in rebuilding Haiti and establish long-term solutions. There will be a global event on February 20 with 20 images x 20 seconds, 200 cities, 2,000 presentations, 200,000 people. Rebuilding a nation 20 seconds at a time. All of the 2,000 presentations generated from the one-day event – in what could be the world’s biggest single-day globally distributed conference – will be posted on the PechaKucha website, where visitors will also be able to make monetary donations to each presentation. 100% of proceeds will go to Architecture For Humanity which operates globally, and was instrumental in getting projects built after the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

Swedish designer and architect Jonas Wagell got the commission this year to make the design for the Design Bar and the VIP lounge at the Stockholm Furniture Fair. The Design Bar was made of 150 sheets of chipboard, 200 liters of paint, 350 sqm of carpet plus 300 balloons. The conceptual theme for the Design Bar and the VIP lounge were ‘Forrest’ and ‘Industry’. Like a tribute to raw material, craftmanship and refinement, which constitute the backbone of the furniture industry. Jonas Wagell describes his idea like this:

TRADE FAIRS ARE TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTIONS QUICKLY BUILT AND TORN DOWN A FEW DAYS LATER. THIS PROJECT AIMED TO EMBRACE THE TEM- PORARY BY CREATING A SPACE WHICH WAS INFLUENCED BY STAGE DESIGN AND GRAPHICS RATHER THAN POLISHED ARCHITECTURE.