Make Way for the Emerald Faerie
I simply can’t believe there is a designer named Emerald Faerie and that she makes such dainty beautiful things. It combines my love of emeralds, which is quite intense, with the woodland sprite elfin identity I’ve embraced since my teen years. (Are you an elf? If you are, you know what I mean. Some of us are just elfin? Prince, you out there?)
The “Trifid” (divided into three parts) lamp (above) and her “Cinderella’s Revenge” chandelier (below)
Emerald Faerie will be at ICFF at the end of the week and you do want to make sure you get a chance to check out her booth: Stand 2417
Jacob Javitz
11th Ave at 38th St
Designer Fiona Gall works out of her studio in East London
Image credit: Julian Abrams
0 CommentsMela Boev Kubik Soft Cubes
At 40 cm x 40 cm these softly washed fabric foot stools are the perfect studio or office accessory. Even if I didn’t have the exact same toenail polish on right now that she has in these pictures, I would still say I love Mela’s sensibility. She plays with geometry to create unexpected elegantly playful solutions. Last year she showed her “Soft Symphony” collection in Milan – triangles of fabric that you button any which way to make a patterned pillow or quilt or seating arrangement. We need more furniture and home accessory designers with this sense of play here in the U.S.. Let’s see what ICFF brings.
price : 160 £
See more of her textiles, illustration and styling at www.melab.co.uk
0 CommentsBefore the Thaw – Women Bursting Into Spring – House of Hackney
House of Hackney makes fashion look short-sighted; Why stop at your body, when you can just swathe your whole bedroom in unadulterated loveliness? Frieda Gormley and partner Javvy M Royle create the world I want to live in.
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Before the Thaw – Women Bursting Into Spring – Maison Objet
The new Donna Wilson “Bertha” chair which debuted at Maison Objet last week from SCP. You can see a lot of Donna Wilson’s work at Future Perfect in the Noho store (NYC).
The maker of the drink-klip, a metal clip that attaches to a surface to hold a drink which I first discovered when I met her at LDF 09, debuted a new series of wallpaper, a commanding (if not entirely comfortable looking ) chair and tableware made from Hanji (traditional Korean handmade paper) at Maison Objet this past week as well. Her name is Been Kim and she was selected as a Next Generation Design Leader of the year by the Korea Industrial Design Promotion in 2006 and in 2009. The collection is called Meeet.
And according to Maison Objet, one of the biggest best design shows on the calendar, and definitively Parisian for better or worse, this is the season of the Sweet Freak. Out with the serious and stressed vibe of the past, in with the nutso crazy. (When did the nutso crazy ever leave France?)
In other news, Moss, that old institution of design retail in New York, is closing. It may be the end of an era in design in New York but hopefully it’s a chance to usher in something new – a city where design environments with a sense of whimsy and warmth can thrive. Moss was a bit too musn’t-touch-it for the immersive hybrid retail of the future.
& let me leave you with Clouds rug by Elise Fouin of Chevelier Edition

Links:
Chevalier Edition (Paris)
Designers Block (London)
Future Perfect (New York)
SCP (London)
Beeen (Korea)
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What Women Make Sustainable Gift Guide 2011
For all price ranges and passions (the full post on Tythe.com)
1. COOKING
Epicurean Designer Cutting Boards Though this Duluth, Minnesota run company …
2. HELPING
Nomi Bags Nomi network produces recycled bags that fight human trafficking.
3. INDEPENDENT DESIGNERS
I’ve always loved the spunk of Junk Prints owner / designer Chanel Kennebrew.
4. GLOBAL DESIGN CULTURE
Yoshii Shirt Stripe Towels – Towels have a strong significance in Japan.
5. CRAFTSMANSHIP
Stacking Vessels by Pia Wustenberg – As I see it, design is art and worth the price to celebrate the human ability to transform materials for use in our everyday lives.
-Chauncey Zalkin
0 CommentsSunday Discovery: Central Saint Martins Textile Futures 10th Anniversary Video
Carole Collet created the textile futures course at the famed Central Saint Martins School. The course celebrated its 10th anniversary with two exhibits, one in London earlier this summer and another during Milan Design Week in April.
Highlights from the show as seen in this video include using air as a material, exploring the manipulation of DNA to produce products and how that will effect manufacturing in the future, digital skins (which needs more explanation) and a plea to come back to our physical senses, the importance of touch.
One student describes her work as a biological atelier – the mutual explorations of the scientist, the designer, and the craftsman a theme to which all projects seem tied. All of the work explores the tension between past and future, lo-tech and high-tech, explains Collet.
You will notice that the voices represent a breadth of nationalities. Beautiful provocative stuff.
video via Jotta
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Design Spotlight: Favorite Female Designer Pieces From SCP
*Paula Arntzen “Grand Trianon” large chandelier made out of post-consumer coated Tyvek
I just got word from one of my favorite stores, SCP, that they will be at the New York International Gift Fair. SCP is one of the best of British design companies and has featured designs from luminaries such as Tom Dixon, Established & Sons, Jasper Morrison and sculptress Rachel Whitread.
Here are some female-led designs of SCP that I particularly love:

Rose Trivet / hot pad by Anouk Jansen (withstands heat of up to 220 C / 428 F)
and her teapot. I love this use of color against gray. It feels like a Goddard movie.

Then there’s this “Fold Unfold” tablecloth made with color creases by Margrethe Odgaard

an Anna Castelli Ferrieri’s Componibili round (which we happen to have in our apartment full of pots and pans in our pretty but small apartment)


and last but not least, a creation from Spanish design pride Patricia Urquiola here with Eliana Gerotto, a Cabochhe suspension light. The clear version is available through SCP, this gold one is available through Foscarini (Not 100% sure of this. Please check with both stores for details.)
photo via StyleCrave
You can see their 2011 collection at
Booth 3858 in ‘Accent On Design’
From the press release: We have some new designs by Donna Wilson; Bora Da, a range of throws and cushions, the Eadie armchair and the lovely Frank, Ernest and Henry pouffes in a new colourway, Treecloud Blue. Also on show are Lee Kirkbride‘s Calvo side table in walnut and Pelutho low table, as well as Kay+Stemmer ‘s Otto side table and Maude low shelves. And last but by no means least, paper-cut artist Rob Ryan has designed a charming height ruler. It measures up to 7 foot so suitable for adults and children alike.
SCP was founded in 1985 by Sheridan Coakley as a manufacturer and retailer of modern furniture. Inspired by the designs of the Modern Movement, Coakley decided to start selling classic and hard to find pieces and also try his hand a producing new designs in the same spirit. Over two decades from its inception, SCP is firmly established as one of the UK’s most innovative and internationally respected manufacturers and suppliers of contemporary design. SCP is also an acclaimed and award winning retailer, regularly voted as one of London’s finest design shops.
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