This year marks British fashion destination, Browns, 40th anniversary. The store has been credited for launching the careers of many top name couture houses including Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, and Rei Kawakubo’s Comme Des Garcons. To celebrate the store’s anniversary, a number of high end designers from Martin Margiela to Christian Louboutin have created exclusive pieces famous from their past and current collections for the fashion retailer. Some newer names that have made a mark with Browns include Nicholas Kirkwood who created a fantastic “butterfly” shaped shoe using his gravity-defying signature heel, and a structured LBD created by Scandinavian house, Acne.
Joan Burstein created Browns with her husband Sidney in 1970. Once a small boutique housed on the ground floor at 27 South Molton Street, Browns rapidly became one of London’s most important fashion destinations and grew quickly, expanding through five connecting townhouses with number 23 being exclusively for men. Joan Burstein is credited with discovering such talents as John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan and Commes des Garcons. Her talent for spotting future fashion super stars, “is nothing more than a hunch, “it just happens”, she says. “People say, ‘How can you tell?’. It’s a gut feeling. It’s a gut instinct.”
Their complete anniversary exclusives can be found here:
BoConcept hails from Denmark, and so does this duo: Quadron.
Quadron (Copenhagen,Denmark) was born when Robin encountered Coco at the suggestion of a friend. Already a name within Owusu & Hannibal and Boom Clap Bachelors, Robin was ready to continue his collaborations with some new adventures. In the ingénue of Coco he saw a female muse, influenced by Jill Scott, Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill, and the group was born.
Robin creates melodies with lush orchestration and deep beats, intellectual and crisp. Coco layers these with her voluptuous timbre, together completing the sound of Quadron. Five years have passed and Coco s sweet soulful voice now perfectly accents Robin s instrumental skylines. They are lush, lyrical and sophisticated. Quadron reminds us of the future, creating classics we ve never heard before but remember like our hearts knew them yesterday.
After the duo, who are also members of the soul collective Boom Clap Bachelors, enjoyed the accolades of the collective s debut Kort Før Dine Læber (2008); Robin and Coco began work on their own debut recording for Quadron. This lead to the release of their debut, Quadron in Denmark (August 2009). The record found it s way into the hands of Anthony Valdez, a DJ at the influential radio station KCRW. He immediately began playing the record and the rest of the DJ s followed. Since the end of 2009, Quadron has been a constant fixture in KCRW s Top 10 and this led to the duo signing to the Los Angeles label, Plug Research, whose roster includes Bilal, Dntel, Flying Lotus, Daedelus and more.
Robin has already enjoyed a long list of collaborations with the likes of Aloe Blacc, Om mas Keith, Buraka Som Sistema, Wally Badarou (Talking Heads, Level 42), Erick Sermon and others as well as being able to site such notable fans as Pharrell Williams (N.E.R.D.) and James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem). Now, along with Coco, Quadron becomes his next spectacular story!
Seattle’s Five Ply Design has an impressive resume of multi-discipline design concentrations that distinguishes them from their competitors. Founded in 2006 by Peter Benarcik, the firm’s projects include furniture, interiors, architecture, graphics, and instruction (design education). The firm integrates the talents of each of their specialized designers to form cohesive solutions for their project needs.
Coveted doll designer turned presidential couturier, Jason Wu, will be hosting an evening tomorrow night at Nordstrom’s flagship store. The designer will be welcomed by couture sales staff as well as the store’s top customers who will be treated to a fabulous private shopping event of the designer’s select pieces. Wonder if Michelle Obama will be at the reception as well?
JASON WU PERSONAL APPEARANCE Thursday, April 15, 1pm-3pm Downtown Seattle Seattle, WA 98101 In Collectors, on Two. For more information or to RSVP, please call (206) 628-2111, ext. 1350.
Modern, natural, and sustainable, Method Homes designed by Balance Associates Architects. With styles ranging from the humble cabin styles suitable for the suburbs to the DADUs (modern minimalism at its finest!), Method Homes has a variety of styles to simplify your architectural experience. Their website also has a comprehensive list of pricing all under $300,000 for stylish new home.
Time to welcome spring (feels like winter was just yesterday) with one of my favorite landscape/garden projects, Tadao Ando’s Awaji Yumebutai botanical gardens, memorial, and conference center, Awaji 2000. Via.
Festival Bo:m 2010 catalogs by Korean minimalist design team Sulki & Min (Sulki Choi and Min Choi). The international festival celebrating ground-breaking artists is being in held in Seoul from March 23 to May 4, 2010. Participating artists include The Forsythe Company, Chris Kondek, and William Kentridge just to name a few. Tickets, however, have all sold out. We anticipate festival updates from those fortunate enough to attend.
This veteran collagist channels the bold energy of graffiti and his experience of growing up in New York City during the 1980’s to create a unique style of hand cut paper collages. Lamarche’s work incorporates an array of typography to create original artworks that blurs the line between graphic design and fine art. Each piece takes a painstakingly amount of time to create as Lamarche strictly uses reclaimed vintage paper that is often collected years before the final piece is created. The outcome is a dynamic pastiche that features abstracted letterforms, vibrant color, bold wit, and always fresh style. Greg Lamarche was born and raised in Queens and still resides in New York City.
