We are highly fascinated by the story of Pietà, a fashion label born in a prison of Lima, Peru. At the start of the project only one prison of Lima was involved, but at this point it successfully developed to two other prisons, two male-only and one female-only prison. Each Pietà collection is entirely produced in these prisons without any external help. Even the lookbooks are shot with models who have nowhere to go but inside the prison walls. Next to producing appealing collections, Pietà also allows inmates, often left to their own devices, to independently generate an income and develop their skills allowing for a faster rehabilitation. Every single Pietà piece is created in the fashioning, knitting, and leather workshops of the different prisons where the prisoners produce the garments, which are signed by the craftsman, making one wonder about what story lays behind every single piece. [ Continue reading ]
We really like the first publication by Independent publishing house Zioxla named 'Strange Plants'. The book is a celebration of plants in contemporary art featuring the work of 25 artists: from oozing paintings of rotting cacti to eerie, mesmeric photos of the leafy kudzu vine, and discusses the role plants play in the artists’ personal lives. For the book, editor Zio Baritaux brought together eight artists whose work focuses on the natural world: Erik Parker, Helene Schmitz, Paul Wackers, Lee Kwang-Ho, Taylor McKimens, David Axelbank, Stephen Eichhorn and Aiyana Udesen. In-depth interviews and articles are presented alongside images that showcase the instinctive and unique ways plants are represented in the artists’ works. [ Continue reading ]
We love this insane project by the Japanese artist Makoto Azuma named Exobiotanica. Two weeks ago, in the week that NASA was celebrating the 45th anniversary of the first moon landing, Azuma pioneered a new kind of space endeavor by sending plant life to the edge of space. The result of this enterprise are some of the most beautiful surrealistic, extraterrestrial images since Apollo 8′s famous Earthrise imagery was shot. Using GoPro and Fuji Film cameras, the florist-turned-artist got both film and still shots of the entire process as the plants lifted off from Black Rock Desert in Nevada and traveled to almost 30 kilometer above the earth’s surface, the ceiling of the giant helium balloons used to propel their ride towards the perfect backdrop where these tremendous images were shot. [ Continue reading ]
It is a really good year for one of Amsterdam's more visible entrepreneurs: Casper Reinders. After opening a beautiful new gallery earlier this year, this month he opened yet another restaurant, his tenth, named Nacional. The bistro style restaurant, which is a collaborative effort of Reinders and partners Dobson and Uzcudun, aims to give new élan to one of the more sleazy squares of Amsterdam's city center, the Leidseplein, offering French cuisine with a modern New York-twist. Nacional's spacious interior, somewhat in line with the new Libertine Gallery, shows an eclectic mix of vintage, art and design, among which is a tremendous huge specimen of Piet Parra's beautiful Cold figure, which was released by CASE STUDYO in miniature size last month. The restaurant can handle as many as 140 guests with its surface of 460 m², making Nacional a little piece of New York right in the middle of Amsterdam. [ Continue reading ]
Last week the official release of the first collaboration between Tenue de Nîmes and our friend Jason Denham was finally here. With combined forces a special Double Dutch limited edition varsity sweatshirt was created. Triggered by vintage Japanese denim and chambray monogram fabrics, the Tenue de Nîmes ‘cross’ log is represented on the sweater alongside Jason's 'scissors’ and Amsterdam’s triple X logo as a tribute to Japanese textile. The sweatshirt’s design features a subtle twist that employs unconventional single-jersey gussets beneath the arms to increase comfort, movement and breathability. Overall spoken a clean, with subtle repeated grid pattern sweater was created for both men and women celebrating excellence in denim from Amsterdam. [ Continue reading ]
Recently the first issue of Modern Design Review saw light, a great new magazine that offers a considered and curated insight into modern product and furniture design, art directed by Graphic Thought Facility and under Editor-in-Chief Laura Houseley. In the launch issue of Modern Design Review an insightful overview is given of the state of design today. Published twice a year and distributed internationally, Modern Design Review covers the best of the product, people and theory at the effervescent tip of the contemporary design world. The publication offers a considered and curated insight into modern design: original and creative storytelling, plus numerous of contributions from photographers, writers and designers, are what distinguishes Modern Design Review. The focus lays on ideas and themes, whether they are central or peripheral, committed to exploring modern design with the creativity and curiosity that the discipline deserves. [ Continue reading ]
The Italy-based jewelry label Loha Vete, which was founded by Max Zubari in 2012, is inspired by crime, by taking this rather large associative concept and creating unique and beautifully crafted items in their italian atelier. We still particularly love their most recent, and possibly final, Autumn/Winter 2013 collection which includes a skeleton hand ashtray, a smashed glass bracelet and a bootlace knuckle duster. The equally striking lookbook depicts illustrated people wearing the jewelry, perfectly conveying an aesthetic connotated to crime, which was created by the Paris-based fashion designer and illustrator Evelina Romano. [ Continue reading ]