Lulu Guinness Installation – London
The British fashion designer Lulu Guinness OBE is famous for her exquisite and witty handbag line which she launched in 1989. She has recently however forayed into the world of art by commissioning a full body pin art installation, located beneath London’s St John’s Gate. The installation puts a smile on your face, and will for many be reminiscent of one of their favorite childhood toys. As you can see from the pictures below, countless passersby have interacted with this outstanding Lulu Guinness creation.
You can keep up to date with Lulu Guinness on Twitter, on Facebook or at luluguinness.com.
[Via]
Milan Office – Fornari Fashion
The Fornari Group has had their Milan office redesigned by Giorgio Borruso Design, a Californian architectural firm. The Milan office is located in the Navigli section of the city and measures at around 35,000 square foot. The building previously housed a historical porcelain workshop. The Fornari Group is a family business turn Italian fashion power house, they started out in the 40s manufacturing footwear. In the late 90s they then went on to become a fully fledged fashion, design and lifestyle brand.
The office is open plan, maintaining an airy and welcoming feel. This is partly achieved by the embellished rounded corners and curved edges, yet the soft wavy structures are tempered by the hard concrete floors and partly exposed steel. The designers also had the intention of making the walls, floor and ceiling inter-mesh to such a degree that they weren’t clearly distinguishable, so that where one ends the other begins. According to Giorgio Borruso such a design gives the “illusion that there is no gravitational force; that you can walk on any surface; you can rotate the system ninety degrees, and it still works.”
Net-a-Porter New HQ – London
Online retailing is going from strength to strength, with an ever larger portion of the population purchasing items over the internet. But in recent years this trend has been especially pronounced for the online fashion industry which has traditionally stayed with the store front model. And why not? You get to shop for the latest fashion items, with no queues and usually better deals – all from the comfort of your home! Net-A-Porter has cashed in big on this booming trend, making it a force to be reckoned with in the last 10 years. So much so that they have recently moved to larger offices. The new HQ is located at the top of the well known Westfield Shopping Centre, and is by all accounts huge. The office design specialist behind this amazing office was Studiofibre, having also designed Net-a-Porter’s old offices.
Visitors are greeted by large black wooden doors, which lead onto a runway-themed reception. The reception features white leather upholstery and glossy black surfaces. What’s more, for informal meetings there is a bar which is decked out in high-gloss and American style diner stools. There is also an innovative touch-screen that visitors can use to browse the Net-a-Porter website while having a drink. The meeting rooms are also fully enabled to allow conference calling with the Company’s office in New York. All-in-all Net-a-Porter’s new HQ is what all offices should be; functional, well designed and a pleasure to be in!
Diane von Furstenberg Studio Headquarters
In the mid-70s Diane von Furstenberg made her name with the iconic wrap dress. From there she set about building her business into what it is today, a luxury fashion house with international reach. The company’s new headquarters are located in the ultra trendy Meatpacking District in New York City. The HQ occupies a six storey building, which is topped off by a jagged edged glass sphere which makes up part of the penthouse suite. The design was headed by WORK Architecture who aimed to maximise natural light and interblend the historic surroundings with contemporary design. Thus according to them, “instead of hiding new elements behind the historic facades, the project is conceived of as a dialogue between contemporary materials and the renovated elements.”
[Pictures via WORK Architecture]
Longchamp – New York City
Creating an undulating landscape seen through a large glazed core cut on the building’s facade, Heatherwick beckons customers from street level up a waterfall of rubber and steel ribbons. The gorgeous incline up to Longchamp’s Soho Flagship Store is a striking work of art, and marks a radical departure from the brand’s traditional image, and has solidified itself as a landmark in creative design solutions.
[Via Hongkiat]
Twitter Stockings
These “Follow Me” Twitter thigh-high stockings ($18) are on sale at the Etsy shop post. Sexy! Though perhaps not the best choice of clothing when avoiding stalkers.
[ Article Source: LikeCool ]
Fur is back – and this time, it’s USB
“The Modern Amulet is a collection of USB keys. It is part one of two concepts for Kopenhagen Fur’s competition; The Golden Fur Neadle. The project from Magnhild Disington’s MA project Deviated Evolution where she worked with the relationship between humans and their portable electronics, and the lack of emotional appeal these products provide. With The Modern Amulet she tried to balance the emotional value between the information we carry and the objects we use to carry them.”
Pointless fashion accessory? You might think the last thing you want to do to a computer chip is to keep it warm – but this makes a nice dongle for design conscious laptops and potentially quite an item for the glitterazi elite – without stirring a big animal rights lashback, I say this one is for the win.
