Vuarnet Ski Goggles: Sporty with style

Vuarnet is a French Eyewear company founded by the skier Jean Vuarnet, Gold Olympic medal in 1960 in the men's downhill, the first medal won on metal skis. That same year, Roger Pouilloux asked Vuarnet to collaborate in founding the legendary Vuarnet Eyewear company. 

I found a really cool vintage Vuarnet in a shop in London and I was curious to know a little bit more about this company. I really appreciate some iconic models, but I particularly liked these ski goggles. They have a lovely retro style with an additional contemporary verve which makes them absolutely unique, chic and cool in a subtle way. I am probably a bit nostalgic, but I love the logo. It might need a little refresh, but ... less is more and I absolutely love it! It also reminds me of the French National Ski Team by Moncler in the early '70.

vuarnet.com

Vuarnet VK1101, online shopping vuarnet.com/men

Moncler's uniform worn by the French National Ski Team, 1970

Image source: icon.panorama.it

Edgar Restaurant & Hotel

If you are going to Paris, why not spending a night in this awesome hotel! Every room has been designed by a different couple of designers, artists, architects whose outputs are incredibly different and fascinating. Do you want to enjoy an authentic, relaxing, bohemian night or maybe enjoy a Nordic room, or what about a classy, french, bourgeois mood? Well, only need to do is to book your favorite!

www.edgarhotel.com

Malmö By Proxy

Andréason & Leibel

works.andreasonleibel.com

Ola Wihlborg

www.olawihlborg.se

Oskar Ek

www.oskarek.se

Season Lamps I & II by Jomi Evers Solheim

Season Lamps is a project that relates to the long and cold nordic winter. Inspired by snow lanterns the lamp shades are molded in snow. At the right temperature snow offers great construction properties, but it is a impermanent material so I developed a technique to preserve the final shapes. In the workshop, the profiles are inverted in plaster molds and casted in porcelain clay to gain a permanent form. The translucent porcelain has a warm glow when illuminated from the inside, much like the winters snow lanterns.

www.jomi.no

Synapse by Alexandra Denton

Synapse Storage is inspired by our grey matter. Divided in two hemispheres, left and right, a clever structure where each part has its fundamental role: shaping forms and connections, storing information and collecting memories.
Every element that lives in our brain influences our unique interpretations of the world, and that is my fascination. What would you store, how and in what order? What don’t you want to store?
 A physical ritual to the mystery of ourselves.

http://www.alexandradenton.com/

Studio WM

studiowm.com

Federica Bubani

Nordic Lamp by Federica Bubani is a white clay table lamp. What mostly impressed me is the material of this lamp. The base and the diffuser have the same vase-like shape, but with the two wooden arm it is given a new functionality to these two pieces. I would love it as a suspended lamp!

www.federicabubani.it

Farming pouf by Liene Jakobsone

Farming is a series of handmade furniture by Liene Jakobsone. These little stools are an evolution of a traditional piece of furniture that mutates into something else which can recall a natural or an animal shape: these simple poufs seem to become alive.

www.design.sampling.lv

Memories by Vanessa Redondo Design

A memory is one instant, without boundaries or definition; it is as personal as our feelings and unique. I intend to produce that instant by creating an imaginary scenario where images and senses  recall upon the past unexpectedly. Nowadays we've become more digital, each time further ephemeral. We load information in computers and we are no longer aware of it, we accumulate for no reason. I have developed a collection of USB memory sticks in an attempt to bring value back to the everyday digital tool. In the end it is an object without apparent importance beyond carrying information, and know it has become a delicate piece with personality, to keep memories.

NAiF by Carina van den Bergh

Seeing the magic in everyday objects and letting your imagination run wild is something we mostly do as children; as we grow older our imagination slowly disappears behind a layer of seriousness. Carina van den Bergh has gone in search of the naive thinking she did when she was little. She has made a line of furniture for grownups based on the unaffected vocabulary of a child: Naif. Five pieces of oak furniture to play and discover with. They contain some of the recognisable elements of standard furniture, but they are anything but standard. A chair becomes a cabinet when you turn the seating over, a leg grows into a lamp. And when you slide them together, a completely new image emerges.

http://cargocollective.com/carinavandenbergh

WoodRope Stools

Nicola Dalla Costa is a young Italian designer passionate about mountain sports which he connects with his profession of designer. WoodRope Stools is a collection of glue-free wooden seats whose structure is assured by a mountain rope. Nice and simple style between sporty and contemporary. 

www.nicoladallacosta.com

Trends / Production machines

Low-Tech Factory by 

Anaïs Benoit Dignac, Arthur Didier, Edrris Gaaloul

ECAL's students

Exploded Rituals by Ricardo Carneiro

Stool production unit by Thomas Vailly

Inner fashion by Laura Lynn Jansen

Trends / Copper

Alberto Fabbian

Committee / Bits & Bobs / Established & Sons

Ola Whilborg / Ash and copper

David Darksen / Copper Lights

Jamie Hayon / Tudor Chair / Established & Sons

Dante Good & Bads / Epilogue

Jeremy Murier & Daniel Martinez / Signs

Walking around the design week, you probably pass in front of thousands of products and, I have to be sincere, after a bit, you just go ''love it'', ''don't get it'', ''hate it'', ''i want it''... but it is nice to see how some trends are evident! Some people say design shouldn't be about trends, but I believe it is impossible to think that there are no trends inspiring the thousands of designers that exhibit during the design week. A big one this year was copper. Copper material, copper finish, copper layers, copper color, copper and copper... 
Here some of the projects I spotted!

PINWU

The Salone of Milan is almost over and every year there is something beautiful that catches my attention. This year I was pretty busy with the exhibit and packing stuff to move to London, but there are some things I would like to share. I was amazed by the Lù table by Pinwu. Not new to our blog, read previous post, Pinwu comes from china, but he is able to mix the magical and seducing oriental lines with a contemporary and high quality style. The mix of nicely worked wood with a ceramic top make this object an evergreen: simple and elegant.

www.pinwu.net

Novemberdesk by Louise Campbell

I would like to know how many desks came out in the last two years ... it is a trend that I don't understand. Do people actually buy all these expensive desks? I got to the point where I just don't look at them anymore. Or you catch my attention, or I won't spend more than 30 seconds to question why this desk should exist. Well, I think I just posted a couple of them when they start coming up, then I just gave up. But, I stumbled upon this desk the other day and I really liked it. Designed by Louise Campbell who has been invited by Nikari to take part of the Design for Nature Project, which involves 12 designers, one per month. Louise chose the ''miserable'' month of November, ''where the objects we surround ourselves with indoors are more important than at any other time of the year.'' This little maple desk is intended for moments of peaceful concentration.

www.louisecampbell.com

Suzie by Gong

From Gong's Abyss collection the Suzie white pleated silk Ceiling lamp is a fine example of originality, style and beauty offering your setting a timeless elegance and a dazzling light. The Suzie has a drape of pleated silk on the inside of the shade which give it a subtle and radiant luminescence. This is the kind of light that does make the difference in an interior. Great materiality, big, but with a softness that reminds of a drape, or a jelly fish. I would love to see it on a wooden table.

www.gong.co.uk

Perfumery Tools @ Milan Design Week

Perfumery Tools will be part of the exhibition Why Not? Under 30 Design at Spazio OCA, Officine Creative Ansaldo, Via Tortona 34, during Milan Design Week, 9-14 April. Pass by and discover all the selected projects by Sopa Design Studio.

See you there!

Fan Optics

When I was snowboarding this winter in the French Alps... ooh la la! haha All was fancy fine until I was bombing it down the slopes and landed on my face.... urrr and glasses.  I've had this pair of frames for the last couple years and felt like they were becoming my identity... the idea of getting a new pair was not overly exciting as I can be very picky when it comes to things like this.  But.... unable to see I had to bite the bullet and hunt around for a new pair, while wearing the broken ones taped together which wasn't really the London look I've been pushing.  So close to Covent Garden there is a wondrous candy store for optics called McClinktocks and low and behold I found my pair.  I was introduced to the brand Fan and fell in love with the Brock frame.  Its a British based company that makes all their handmade frames in England.  The brand was created in 2010 by graphic designer, Sarah Coburn and product designer Guillaume Furminger, since then the Fan Optics aesthetic has been formed with longevity in mind, focused on bringing quality, high finished and most crucially design led product to the independent eye wear market. SOLD!  fan optics

Julius Andersson and Sara Hellgrens's house

Rum Interior Design, Marzo 2013

The owners of this fantastic house is a young couple, Julius Andersson and Sara Hellgrens. Unfortunately, I found this article in a Danish magazine and I can't read it, but wow this house is supercool! The furnitures are wonderfully chosen, between classic and modern, romantic and contemporary. But, most of all, I was extremely impressed by the Ikea lamp on the top picture: it looks just perfect! Well done!

Painted wooden ceiling

Rum Interior Design, Marzo 2013

I think this is my dream studio! Love the painted wooden ceiling and the white all around. It looks like a cozy shelter, or a tree house or a fantastic attic. A little place where to think, work and let the mind go.