“A” yacht by Philippe Starck

Phillip Starck has  recently joined  with Martin Francis to design a motor yacht for Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko. Built by Blohm+ Voss,  Motor Yacht A is 119 meters long and weighs approximately 5500 tonnes. The name ‘A’ is a tribute to the billionaire’s super model wife Aleksandra Nikolic. (via SlamXHype)

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Berlin Bauhaus Exhibition

Berlin´s biggest-ever bauhaus exhibition is currently taking place at the Martin-Gropius-Bau exhibition hall.  Till 1933 Bauhaus was regarded as Europe’s leading art and design school, the works of its students and teachers are now considered part of a art history with a movement held in as high regard as any. Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau brings together the biggest ever exhibition of works from the school, and its movement, with the exhibition starting 22nd July. There’s huge cultural impact of this movement and its return to Berlin, meaning this exhibition can be viewed in so many lights, important as an art movement but also a cultural one.

via SlamXHype and NYTimes

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LV X Murakami Stuffed Animals

Takashi Murakami and LV have collaborated on the plush version of their iconic characters.  The line was released in Japan end of April with big opening events and for those occasions the French luxury goods brand and the Japanese artist also worked on some special limited edition plush toys and plush toy key jewelry, that was only given out at the launch event.

(via High Snobiety)

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Legalize (and design) it!

The ongoing debate to legalize, or not, Marijuana in the US continues daily-  on one hand, the taxes and licensing fees to sell it could be a huge benefit for state and federal income, but on the other hand, it is a narcotic and obviously “bad.”  That did not stop Print graphic design magazine from getting 4 top design agencies to design their idea of what packaging for pot could look like.

See all the designs and descriptions at Fast company

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Alice and Wonderland (Tim Burton) Trailer

Here it is… finally… the long awaited trailer for the upcoming Tim Burton version of the classic Alice in Wonderland.  We showed some images from the film a while back and had a huge response to those- I am sure the reception for the actual trailer will be just as strong.  Unfortunately we cannot embed the clip yet so here is the link to watch it on Apple´s trailer site.

Watch the trailer here

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Steppe Magazine

The Moment blog highlighted a very interested independent magazine today called Steppe which biannually covers Central Asia.  ”
Talk about narrow and deep: Steppe focuses exclusively on the cultural universe of seven places — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Xinjiang. While Afghanistan and, more recently, Xinjiang, have been in the news, this is an obscure part of the world for the vast majority of people. Which is what makes Steppe so much fun to read. Stories range in subject matter — from western Kazakhstan’s oil boom to the great Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov to the pottery of Istalif, Afghanistan — nearly all of it surprising. Steppe also covers exhibitions, books and restaurants around the world, and in each issue includes a few recipes for Central Asian dishes. And if the writing can at times be dry or amateurish (naturally, the tight focus means qualified writers are often academics, NGO workers and the like, not trained journalists), the photography is often stunning and the magazine as a whole is well designed and thought out.

Maybe it’s just because I’m curious about nearly every place in the world, but I think Steppe is really worth checking out. After all, where else are you going to learn everything you ever wanted to know about Tajikstan’s water supplies or the early-20th-century explorer and spy Carl Gustaf Emil Mannherheim or Uzbek ikats?”

Monocle, eat your heart out.

Images courtesy of Steppe

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Travel Sample Sales?

Gilt.com, the online retailer of bargain-priced sample participated in the Racked forum on the future of retail recently and described their next big development. Jaunted reported that “Alexandra Wilkis Wilson of Gilt divulged their plans to move beyond selling discounted designer clothing overstock and into the world of selling hotel rooms, vacation home rentals, and trip packages. They will be luxe, of course, and “ski chalets” were especially named.

As far as we know, the Gilt Travel site isn’t even in Beta, but when it is up, how will they manage to balance the daily time-sensitive sales with a healthy stock of alluring and super discounted vacation packages? Perhaps they’ll go the special occasion route, such as releasing a sale on so many Valentine’s Day packages, or New Year’s. And there’s always the temptation of an all-inclusive weekend in Paris.

There’s potential for greatness in this idea, considering how Gilt already has over 1.2 million members and manages to sell $12,000+ diamond jewelry sight unseen and with no returns allowed. Don’t get your AMEX out just yet though, the travel site has no release date; we’re just giving you the heads-up that change is afoot in the way we go online to purchase travel.

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Balenciaga for Air Tahiti

Balenciaga, the fashion house best known for leather saddle-inspired handbags and expensive clothing, has just completed a joint project with airline, Air Tahiti.  According to Luxist, “The airline commissioned Balenciaga to design new uniforms in honor of its 10th anniversary. There are twenty new uniform styles in total, including those for pilots and ground personell.  One is a more traditional flight attendant outfit, a suit or suit-like affair, rendered in a solid ocean blue and a lighter “lagoon” blue, sort of an aqua. It’s pretty, if not envelope-pushing (and I’m not completely sure I see the Balenciaga look to it) but the good news you only see it when you’re boarded and de-planing, in-flight, because sometime after take-off the cabin crew does a take-off of their own — they slip into something more comfortable.

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World Cup for the Creative Class

The 8th annual FANATIC soccer tournament—a sort of World Cup for the creative class—took place this weekend at the Chelsea Waterside Park in NYC. Teams included were from local shops (Opening Ceremony, The Smile), labels (United Bamboo), and the art scene (Chinatown Soccer Club, which has included Ryan McGinness and Mark Gonzales, and its offshoot team, the Krauts).



The Krauts
“We wanted a truly authentic feel, on the off chance that someone might actually mistake us for a real team.” —Gerhard Stochl, team captain



United Bamboo
“We just wanted to make our uniform as simple/classic as possible, with a little detail to make it a bit unique. This time we’ve decided to sew our crest onto the body. I’ve been a fan of Valencia FC’s uniform (though not the team) for a long time, so I must say our inspiration comes from their uniform as well.” —Daisuke Ito, team captain.

(via Men.style.com)

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Parra coming to Pool Gallery, Berlin

Dutch artist, Parra, will be opening a solo show at Berlin Mitte´s Pool Gallery.

Hosted by Arkitip, the info says: “32-year-old Dutch illustrator and designer Parra has decorated the Amsterdam underground with his playful, bizarre graphics that span a broad base of themes, from introspective to audacious and bawdy. The mostly self-taught artist channels vintage forms, yet with a decidedly modern, post-pop approach and a distinctive, hand-drawn feel. His vibrant images and typography can be seen on prints in various exhibitions around the globe, on a flyer for a club near you, on the sleeve of a record, or on limited-edition tees and sweaters.

Parra’s characteristic style has also extended into his music career with electro-rock group Le Le. Their most popular track “Breakfast” features Parra’s typography and imagery set in motion to the song’s pulsating beats and comical (and slightly naughty) lyrics.”

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