Autumn is my favourite season. It’s the season when coats, scarves, gloves, chestnuts, red wine, real fires and misty walks start happening in a big way. I even like the dark mornings. Being such a fan, I’ve always wanted to go to New England to see it done properly. I’ve already started planning what to wear (think I’ll add tights, though, silly Carven model).
Coat, Carven. Annie head wrap, Toast; New England forest scene, Bob Atkins; Oynx Pom Pom Ryland bag, Gryson.
Dolce & Gabanna bag and Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder painting. Libra depicted in a 13th century stained-glass window in Chartres Cathedral and Oscar de la Renta earrings; Kim Novak and Miu Miu bag; Lulu Frost earrings and Anna May Wong; Bulgari bag and All About Decorating by Dennie Houghton Carter and the editors of 1,001 Decorating Ideas (1971); Elizabeth I and Janis Savitt earrings.
Accessories images via style.com.
Where did my love of black and white begin? On the sofa, aged 11, watching Twin Peaks. The stylist on this shoot in the August issue of US Elle must have had a similar experience. That is damn fine flooring.
Images via Damn Fine Coffee (set shots); Welcome to Twin Peaks (Elle shoot).
I love the surreal composite campaign photography of Paris-based duo Tania and Vincent. Especially little Anita Ekberg emerging from an oil slick.
Via trendland.
French acting icons in their prime have been made into illustrated ads for Michel Henau‘s ‘lunettes modernes’ spectacles. Clockwise from top left, Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michel Colucci and Brigitte Bardot.
The Thonet bentwood bike I saw the other day (and seeing their chairs being made at Design Junction) reminded me to take a moment to appreciate this wonderful company, which has been creating its elegant pieces for 190 years. As well as pioneering the bending-by-steam manufacturing technique, it was also an early adopter of flatpack – 36 disassembled chairs could be packed into a box measuring only one cubic metre. That meant the pieces could be exported easily and cheaply to North and South America, Africa and Asia. Hence chair 214’s presence in cafes around the world.
Another Thonet fact: With more than 50 million pieces sold before 1930 alone, chair 214 (formerly 14) is not only the most frequently produced chair in the world, but it’s the most successful industrial product of the 19th century.
The top two black-and-white images (by Ralph Schubert and Maria Scarzella Thorpe) were part of a photography competition run by Thonet to celebrate the 214’s 150th birthday.
This stainless-steel centrepiece by Pierfrancesco Cravel for Alessi takes its inspiration from the glacial landscape of Liconi Lake in the Valle d’Aosta region of Italy, 2,400m above sea level (bottom left). Beautiful.
I loved London-based Studio Jenner‘s vision for Eurostar, but providing high-style at the opposite end of the design spectrum is its new store for Diptyque, in London’s Victorian Leadenhall Market. It’s a jewel-box, maximalist example of Gothic revival. Elegant marquetry, bright glass fretwork, handmade walnut cabinetry and glowing metallic paintwork – it’s part mini cathedral, part showcase for genius craftsmanship.
Images: Michael Franke
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