Great Scott! Jeremy Puts More Wings On Things

Jeremy Scott, i.e. the Jeff Koons of fashion, has gone and done it again. He's been let loose at smart and put his trademark wings on the unassuming little eco-friendly smart fortwo model. It's super cute but be warned; it can't really fly! I'm sure it will fly down the highway though, obvs. 

I like this concept a lot, designers from totally different industries (fashion and automobile) getting together and creating something left of field and very exciting. The wings LIGHT UP serving as avant-garde rear lights, what more could you ever want? The smart forjeremy will be launched next year as a limited special edition, best accessorised with your adidas x jeremy scott Wings 2.0. How much more fly can you get?

The Man & The Bag

It was my dear friend Jerry's birthday this past weekend and I decided to make him a present, I sewed him a tote, a man bag if you will. I wasn't sure if he'd like it or hate it, but being the outrageously positive and happy-go-lucky person he is, I knew he would appreciate the effort and tell me he loved it, even if he hated it, thought it was gay or thought it might get him beat up in his new home out in country NSW. As expected, he made a huge deal of telling me how much he loved it and put all his other gifts into the bag and toted it around the rest of night. I swear I didn't do it for the gold star. 

Jerry contrasts the metrosexuality of the man bag against the

heterosexual backdrop of a motorcycle leathers advertisement.

I have to admit I have always wondered what guys put in their bags, if they choose to use one. I'm not talking brief cases, laptop bags or sports bags, I'm talking bags purely for fashion. Usually men manage to cram everything they need into their jean pockets. If they decide to sling a canvas bag over their shoulder on the way out the door, do they reason that since they now have the opportunity to carry around more, they just do? An umbrella on an overcast day? Maybe something to read on the bus? Gum? A packed lunch? Or is the increasing popularity of the tote down to the fact jeans are just too skinny now and the wallet/phone/keys combo is just too tight of a squeeze? Because you never see a guy wearing pants with room to spare toting a tote. Hence why I won't be offended if Jerry decides to save his new bag for his trips back to the city. The male nurse with the man bag won't go unnoticed in a small country town. Happy Birthday Jerry!

The Minimalist Does Christmas

Blank is the new black.                      Less is more.                      Mini is the new super-size.

These are all catch-phrases I'm sure online designer homewares store The Minimalist would run with (I give them my full permission) (I can't claim these as my own). However they have decided to go with:

Don't buy less, buy better.

HA HA. Because obviously buying in a minimal fashion is bad for business. So buy minimally-fashioned items, but buy lots of them better! 

The Minimalist has some so-hip-it-hurts bits & pieces you really should be strategically placing around your home if you want your cool friends to visit more often. Cool people don't like clutter, Freecycle that shit already! 

Example 1: Handmade sacks to hide your scungy undies. 
Example 2: Designer light bulbs, regular light bulbs are so 5 minutes ago.
Example 3: A vase which resembles a scrunchy piece of paper, much like those German poems I composed but in a fit of writer's frustration/creative agony then tossed into the bin. Just kidding.

The Minimalist also stock the previously mentioned Sky Planters, upside-down hanging pots of plant, or, the best conversation starter since that canvas of a naked lady your mum bought and claimed was of her. My mum did.

If you are in Sydney during December you will have the opportunity to touch, feel and purchase their range of amazing home, decoration and gift options. The Minimalist Pop-Up Store will be open at blank_space (374 Crown St, Surry Hills) from December 12 - 27th. 

This one will get a chuckle and subsequent sigh from any friend who knows the perils of job hunting in the creative industries. Support good design this Christmas.

theminimalist.com.au

Hanging Plants Turned On Their Head

Hanging plants are the perfect gift. In high school, a friend and I gave a boy a hanging plant for his 16th birthday, we thought we were hilarious and 'so random'. I also once suggested to a friend she gift a hanging plant to her upset boyfriend. How can you continue to be sad if someone hands you a fern in a basket, is all I'm saying.

I'm sure Kiwi founded company Boskke were thinking along the same lines when they came up with this pretty ridiculous/amazing idea called the Sky Planter.

The upside-down planters save floor space, conserve water, purify the air, improve your health and help cook your dinner! They are a great way to grow herbs in your kitchen without taking up precious bench space. 

Boskke believe in evolved garden design. They recognise that the world's urban spaces are continually expanding and becoming more densely populated, they want living with plants in big cities to be easy, functional and good-looking. And I know what you're thinking, looks messy, but the soil doesn't fall out! A Boskke Sky Hanger comes with a nifty ceramic collar which fits around the stem of the plant, locking everything into place. 

Sky Hangers are available around the world, check out stockists here. If you're in Sydney, keep an eye out for my next post and I shall let you know how you can get your green thumbs on some of these gravity defying pots in the lead up to Christmas. 

Life's a garden, dig it. 

www.boskke.com

Invest In Colour

How do you decide which bank to trust with your money? The one with the best rates? The best products? Or how pretty their branch buildings are? If you lived in Japan, it might be the latter. I would find it very difficult to walk past one of these Sugamo Shinkin Bank branches and not go inside. I would have to join in with whatever pre-choreographed song and dance routine I imagine those cute Japanese bank tellers engage in all day, along with smiling broadly and giggling every time you deposit a cheque. Kawaii!

French-born Japan-based Emmanuelle Moureaux is the architect wizard-ess behind these candy coloured buildings. Employing the idea of shikiri, a made-up word which translates to 'dividing and creating space through colours', Madame Moureaux likes colour to be more than just a surface finish. In her opinion, colour is three-dimensional. A Moureaux-designed bank branch "creates the sensation of being in a magical forest" and "prompts you to take deep breaths, refreshing your body from within". When was the last time your bank did that?

Sugamo Shinkin Bank Shimura Branch

Sugamo Shinkin Bank Niiza Branch

Sugamo Shinkin Bank Tokiwadai Branch

www.emmanuelle.jp

Oh Me? I'm a Deltiologist

I've never been a collector. I've not had the desire to accumulate a whole bunch of anything. I did have lots of Barbie's when I was little, but that doesn't count, because I trashed those poor girls. You can't brush their hair and countlessly marry them off to your one Ken doll if they are still in their boxes, obviously.

The other day I pulled a postcard off my wall which I'd blu-tacked up there a while back and turned it over, it read:

'Deltiology is the study and collection of postcards.'

Interesting. I'd pulled this postcard off a wall which was surrounded by countless other postcards, I also had a gold shoe box stashed away which was full of postcards from my travels. I had been collecting postcards from each location I had visited and writing about my time on the back. I thought I was being very clever. An A6 summary of my time in Siena, Ios, Naxos, Granada etc. Genius! If my mother's memory is anything to go by, I won't even remember I went to those places in 20 years, let alone what I actual saw, ate, did there. 

'Worldwide, [deltiology] is thought to be the largest hobby after stamp collecting and money collecting.'

Ok, so I'm not very unique, but the good news is next time I get asked that age old dinner party question "And what do you do?", I have a fairly unique answer.

A few of my overseas acquisitions. 

Sculpture By The Sea

Once a year Sydneysiders flock to an annual outdoor sculpture exhibition dotted along the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk where everybody, including yours truly, can indulge in the role of amateur art critic. The perfect occasion to mark the beginning of summer (the best time in Sydney) Sculpture by the Sea combines stunning location with engaging art. From Imel Sierra Cabrera's adorable pink penguins to Staccato's vibrant and charitable poom, Alex Richie's mesmerising kaleidoscope cube and Dave Mercer's cheeky view tm, it's all a bit of a visual overload. Set against a backdrop of wide blue skies and deep blue ocean, it's hard to know whether it's the sculpture, or the sea, which really captures people's imagination.  

Now in it's 16th year, Sculpture by the Sea has become something of an institution in Sydney's events calendar. If you are in Sydney and you still have not had a chance to wander through the 2km temporary sculpture park, it's on until Sunday 4 November; and it's free!

It's events like Sculpture by the Sea which make me really happy to be back home. 

Greer Taylor transition

Mark James Emery bamboo waves

Alex Richie kaleidoscope cube

Rachel Couper & Ivana Kuzmanovska mirador (detail)

Lulu & Asia getting amongst Gaye Jurisich's playpen

www.sculpturebythesea.com

Fresh Out Of The Oven

Cake Wine pop-up bar is now open for the entire month of November on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, which is great news because today is Thursday November 1st! Get down there! Who's going to join me for some Merlot??

199 Cleveland St, Surry Hills
More details here

Let Them Drink Cake

'Wine is always a good idea' said everybody always. My sentiments exactly, it is delicious and good for you *antioxidants* and makes you look all-knowing if you hold the glass just so.

Cake make wine, not cake. They support culture and creativity. They adorn their bottles in beautiful art. They like music too, they donate 25 cents from every bottle sold to FBi Radio. This is good news, because drinking wine is now an act of charity. Cheers. To. That.

Cake also do pop-up wine bars. This past weekend they tucked one behind the Cleveland Street Theatre in Sydney, and it was the opposite of lame. You could eat jaffles, you could look at art, you could listen to FBi's live broadcast and you could drink Cake. Sadly the pop-up bar is now no more, it hung around for 3 days only. Cheer up but, there is sure to be another soon, and in the mean time you can appease your musical sins (illegal downloads) with the purchase of musical indulgences. 

You can have your Cake and drink it too. 

Yes, I like puns.

Without thinkers, there are no ideas.

Without film-makers, there's no escape.

Without musicians, there's no soundtrack.

Without designers, there's no colour.

Without writers, the plot is weak.

Without artists, the canvas is blank.

Without fans, there's no festival.

Without photographers, we'd never stand still.

Without doers, there's no culture.

cakewines.com

BREAD For Boys

Bread is like a black t-shirt; a staple. Unlike a loaf of bread however, a basic black t-shirt can be difficult to come by - sans shitty graffiti print. Guys can't find wardrobe basics, I've been told this.

The good news is a chap from Melbourne has decided to do something about it. And that something is called BREAD. You can now get your black t-shirt anyway you want it; basic, tall, long sleeve, scoop, with pocket etc. And then you can get that same t-shirt in white, grey and perhaps an olive or light purple. Sorted.

BREAD doesn't complicate things with prints or branding or bullshit. They do free shipping & returns though, and it's affordable. And it's Australian. Stop buying over-priced American Apparel!

breadclothing.com

Mixie. It's a Mutated Fixie.

I'm not going to pretend I know anything about bikes. I don't, not really. But the Mixie? Well, it's good looking.

I first came across Mixie Bikes at the Bread & Butter fashion trade show earlier this year, part of Berlin Fashion Week 2012. Along with hundreds of German and international fashion labels, Mixie Bikes were invited to show off their wares in a huge former aircraft hangar at Flughafen Templehof.

I think the point here is, bikes, at fashion week.

I'm not going to go on about how the Mixie has 20" wheels, or that it features a "flip-flop free-fix-wheel hub" (what?). However, I will say that you have the option of a faux crocodile skin saddle, thank goodness! And that I'll take one in Mint.

www.mixiebike.com

Textiles by Marimekko

And from Norway over to Finland...

Marimekko is a Finnish textile and clothing design label I discovered in Berlin's Mitte last November.  In the same way I was drawn into David David, Marimekko beckoned me in with promises of sunshine, joy and happiness screen printed onto cotton. Founded over 60 years ago in a post-WW2 climate, Marimekko captured everyone's attention then, and still now, for their bright, fantastic, original textile prints. It has grown from a mere brand to an outlook on life, covering everything (literally) from clothing to interior design to flat textiles, all in that signature style.

I was very excited to read yesterday that Sydney will welcome 300sqm of Finnish love, the first Australian Marrimeko store, at 66 King St on November 1st. Get ready to wrap yourself in the below and like.

It makes you wonder... if the Finnish, some of whom have to bear winters lasting 7 months, are so into this, why do Sydneysiders wear so much black?

Marrimeko's latest news & catalogue here.

www.marrimeko.com

The Only Way Is Norway

Once upon a time there were three Norwegians; Knut, Henrik and Thomas. They were hip and young and often engaged in social activities popular with the youths of today such as dancing to loud music, drinking akevitt and talking to girls. 

These three Nords were pretty bright (most likely beautiful too). One morning after dancing too much, drinking too much akevitt and talking to too many girls, they had a conversation which went exactly like this:

Knut: "I am soooooo hungover!"
Henrik: "My skinny jeans are giving me a hernia"
Thomas: "I can't find the tracky dacks which match my hoodie!"

And just like that, the OnePiece was born. A solution to every problem EVER. The perfect garment to wear while nursing your sore head, to wear while the skinny jeans are in the wash, and a fool-proof way of always being coordinated; head to toe. 

Not to mention, very fetching.

onepiece.com

Berliner Nächte (Berlin Nights)

"If you can think of it, it's here."

Berlin is a city with no rules. You can do pretty much anything you like, you can be anyone you want to be. It's a city of contrasts, it's difficult to find anyone in Berlin who is actually from Berlin. People arrive for different reasons, I'm not even sure anymore what moved me to move there. But I did. I lived there for 5 months. It was lonely and damn cold at times but it was also the most liberating, eye-opening, exciting experience of my life. If you've heard the rumours about Berlin's nightlife, let me assure you, they are all true. One of the first German's I ever met in Berlin told me "If you can think of it, it's here". Upside-down bars with entire living rooms glued to the ceiling, ear-splitting electro trance clubs hidden in old war bunkers, a retired double decker bus with beer fridge and Nintendo 64 up top, 2 euro wine buffets and bouncers that request you check your pants in at the door. Seriously. 

Maxime Ballesteros and his camera have managed to infiltrate Berlin's nights, no small feat considering most places have an enforced 'No Photos' rule. His portraits are as beautiful as they are revealing, a peek behind the doorways you may never cross, but maybe have always wanted to. 

www.maximeballesteros.com

Wear Your Art on Your Sleeve

Recently I was in London and happened across the David David store and gallery. I spied the incredible blocks of colour from across the street and ordered my two friends to delay their search for the comic book store for a bit while I investigated. David David create and sell screen printed t-shirts and art. The beauty is in the simplicity. Bold colour and graphic prints you can wear and hang on your wall. Cool.

www.daviddavid.co.uk

Love You, Man

"I am talking about complex things like love" 

If you are ever feeling a bit sad, just google Steve Powers and become euphoric and all glowy knowing there are people out there who can turn the mundane into great, great things. Powers and friends spruced up 50 walls in his home town of Philadelphia with big and bright sign writing all about that universal thing called LOVE, it became The Love Letter Project. 

www.aloveletterforyou.com

Welcome To The World (Wide Web)

Hi there! My name is Allyce. I have just returned home after a year of travelling Europe, with stints in New York and Hong Kong too. It was the most amazing year of my life. Now I face the new but equally challenging task of staying still, living in one place for a while and settling into the city I know so well, Sydney. 

A blog seemed like a great place to write about some of the incredible places and things I stumbled across. I love great design, I studied design, so why not write about it?