The Salone del mobile is great fun, overwhelmingly huge and a place of pilgrimage for enthusiasts of design and furniture. But when the Campari, Grappa and Espresso have been drunk, the gelato sampled and even the occasional solid food considered, what is there to be learned from rubbing shoulders with more than 2,500 manufacturers and half a million visitors? The daybed above, is ‘Jeanne’ together with corner unit ‘Belisaire’. The day-bed is in “moss” velvet with “praline” leather mattress, corner arabesque backrest upholstered in turquoise velvet and brocade with large motifs of “chocolate” and “moss” palm leaves. It is extended by a corner seat covered in same brocade, with arabesque backrest upholstered in turquoise velvet and “praline” leather decorated with a “passementerie” cord holding two tassels. And where does such confident, opulent design come from? Well it is a collaboration between a certain Mr. Christian Lacroix and equally legendary Italian Glass Mosaic Artists SICIS. It will be in their showrooms from July.
These are my musings from Milan .
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There are a handful of manufacturers we admire for having re-invented themselves when business slowed down in order to garner attention from new audiences and re-kindle the fire in existing clients. Standing at the same trade show display with a fishbowl for business cards and wondering why sales are down is lethal in this Darwinian environment. So aside from reaching out to new markets by engaging in social media and taking a much more proactive role in accommodating new marketing platforms like blogs and digital catalogs we want to salute manufacturers who are reaching out of their respective boxes to cross boundaries into other markets. Today’s example is SICIS who have gone from a simple collection of glass mosaics, to customizable glass mosaic blends, to art on walls, to glass mosaic area rugs to furniture and now to jewelry. Continue Reading…
Opinion is split on tubs. Some people imagine that they are unhygienic ways of sitting in your own grime. Others know that they are the epitome of luxury as they relax in a warm soapy tub sipping a cup of tea and munching on toast. Maybe that’s just the Brits. Pictured above is one of our Transatlantic friends doing something glamorous with a bottle of champagne. Good girl!
The bath is the Amalfi from Victoria and Albert. They describe it as ‘A slipper bath for the twenty first century’. We think it would also look good inside a bathroom.
We were going to publish a picture of Tim in his tub reading his paper, drinking his tea and admiring his ever expanding physique, but there is such a thing as good taste!
But actually, that’s the glory of a tub. It can be glamorous or cosy. Comforting or exciting. Even if you insist on a shower for getting clean, surely you need a tub for wallowing? And if you don’t have a tub, where do you keep your rubber duck? Continue Reading…
