design

The Dining Room Of Chateau Solevig from Jansen: Acanthus Press

Maison Jansen was just about the most haute of Paris based decorating housing in the 20th century with a client list that ranged from the Duke and Duchess Of Windsor to the President and Mrs. John F Kennedy to the Shah of Iran. And obviously if you were a client of theirs, your decorating budget tended to be on the far end of the no-limit scale with awe inducing spectacle a key ideal for your interiors. So what's modern or relevant about that? The work of Gaston Schwartz who became the President of Jansen in1928 is . He's the one responsible for the decoration of that eccentric concept: a modern country house reveling in Arte Moderne glamour.
The house in question, Chateau Solveig in Switzerland looms incongrously in Jansen oevure in that it departs radically from the firm's solidly traditional aesthetic. Chateau Solevig's interior is a beautifully contained exploration of what was then modern, played out in decadently luxurious materials. There was tons of mirrored glass veneering, a dramatic foyer in matching bronze panels and a three story central staircase of white marble with hand railings and balusters of clear crystal.

Chiffre Rouge A0 Series: Dior Homme

Of all the very good products Hedi Slimane left behind at Dior Homme, our favorite will always be the Chiffre Rouge A0 watch line. It is inspiring us to be completists and get them all, before its too late. The one's with the quarter scatter of diamonds are especially hot, no? Betting the house that 10 years from now these rigorously thought out, "sportif" yet refined timepieces will rank as modern classics. Ranking...hmmm now there's an idea.

Mogollon 2007 Promo Logo

What or who could possibly be next in the super-sped up world of design and art direction? Putting a vote in for the Brooklyn based design/art direction/motion graphics/internet radio team of Mogollon comprised of Francisco Lopez and Monica Brand. Minimal they're not but that's important because as much as we sense the chill of a retro-minimalism brewing in the image trade, the curling excesses that computer assisted design can give you is an important counter-balance. Their CV is very Absolut Vodka, Le Book, PS/1 Moma as well as Tokion (where we discovered them) and Matador Records. The style is versatile and funny and quirky and well worth tracking to see if fashion clients bite. And wouldn't you know, they're already slinging prints, T-shirts and fonts. Viva ambition.

Peter Saville's legendary Mayfair pad. The "woman" is a live in plastic mannequin

Matali Crassett is HOT!

Paris Fashion Week, Sept 30th - Oct 8th.

Inventory/Inventoire

Who misses the controlled extravagance of the M/M (Paris) pages of Paris Vogue? Who didn't buy extra copies of V Man 1 to archive that landmark "Alphabet Story" that turned the leading male mannequins of that moment into letters of the alphabet? . The Imagist is guilty on all counts and is planning to pay penance by buying Alphamen,a limited edition box set of 27 one colour silkscreen prints (in an edition of 26 at aprx. $8,000). That is, unless you beat TI to the punch. If you do we're just going to have to settle for the book Inventory/Inventoire (multiple edition at aprx $20).