Madame Grès : Couture as Sculpture

Last weekend The Curious Eye made a little pilgrimage to the wonderful Madame Grès exhibition in Paris. This elegant artful mid century couturier has been overshadowed by many of her contemporaries, but this exhibition has launched her amazing creations back into the fashion headlines. Mounted in the museum which houses the sculptures of Antoine Bourdelle, the choice of venue takes an already stunning collection of dresses to the next dimension .

Hurry if you want to catch this delightful show. It has been extended till the end of August.
Musee Bourdelle

Aspesi Window

This cardboard Milanese street scene graced the window of the Aspesi Clothing store in the world famous Via Montenapoleone, It is wonderfully naive and hand made and I wish I had made it myself !

Pallet Masks

These charming masks were exhibited at Promise Design , an exhibition of over 40 Israeli designer in the Ventura Lambrate area. They are made from bits and pieces of of packaging pallets, and are created by Yaacov Kaufman.

www.yaacovkaufman.com

Flip Flop Story

This is the first of a few posts on the exciting things I've seen this week at the Milan furniture Fair, all loosely based around craft and hand made.



This project by Diederick Schneemann of Studio Schneemann, presents designs made from from recycled Flip Flops, they have been washed up on the shores of Eastern Africa, many drifting in on currents from the far east, Diederick has them shipped over to his studio in Rotterdam where he sands, them cuts them into squared pieces and glues them together to create these bold patchwork designs



www.studioschneemann.com

A Pendleton Rub Down

Here at the Curious Eye we have long been fans of vintage Pendleton shirts, many of which we've purchased from Dave of Ragtop, but it was at Maison et Object that I discovered that the Pendleton Blanket came first. In fact, Pendleton started out weaving blankets for Native Americans and 'The Beach Boys' were originally called 'The Pendletones' . Pendleton have become aware of their popularity with 'style afficionados' and are now launching their homewares on the European market. We love these towels that are copies of traditional blanket designs.
Pendleton homeware

Better than Brimfield, Lilles' 'Grande Braderie'

After ploughing through endless blogposts on the marvels of Brimfield , we thought it was time to blow our own trumpet a bit. Well not exactly our own but that of our dear French neighbours. I visited northern Frances’ ‘Grande Braderie de Lille’ which is held every year over the first weekend in September and literally takes over the whole town for about 48 hours. It really is a must for all those lovers of French linens, pastel enamels and all those other typically ‘frogie’ items, that make Paris’ flea market a must on any visit to the Capital.

For this post I’ve focused in on all the fantastic graphics and patterns on offer. I was travelling by train so was not able to make any major purchases, but looking back at all these photos is almost as satisfying.

Bi-King

When we visited the world famous Central/St Martins art college degree show a few weeks back there was no that much that caught our curious eyes. The project however clearly stood out for its clever aesthetic and beautiful craftmanship.

The designer Sung Kug Kim describes the project as a 'more enjoyable and artistic way of transformation of everyday product into an art' with which we couldn't agree more. Well done Sung, you brought a smile to our faces.
www.designkug.com

Vintage Transformation

I passed this shop three times on three different days last week, before finally and excitedly finding the door open. Yves Andrieux and Vincent J Albert have been busy opening their second Parisian boutique, on the left bank. While this one which also houses their atelier is in the Rue Charlot. They specialize in transforming all kinds of vintage textiles into tempting goodies, from mens and womens wear to accessories and home furnishings.





Gaudy printed 50's curtain fabrics are contrasted with military surplus, all around the atmospheric boutique the raw materials are piled up and used to create levels to display and frame the innovative products.



These Patchwork floor cushions and tote bags are made from old army kit bags.





A collection of t-shirts with appliques of chunky vintage lace and crochet. Unfortunately (for me) they only come in womens sizes.


for more information www.yvesandrieux-vincentjalbert.com

Fooding Milan cont.

Our second foodie post from the Milan furniture fair, are these two contrasting but equally gorgeous table services. The dutch 'total table project' presents two design visions for contemporary dining,on the left by Scholten & Baijings and on the right by our friend Kiki van Eijk. To realize the designs, the Audax Textile Museum Tilburg (table linen), Royal Leerdam Crystal (glassware) and Koninklijke van Kempen & Begeer (cutlery) joined forces to present a complete table setting.

Stijl Style

It's all getting very Bauhaus at my house.

I've always liked De Stijl, but it was probably the amazing van Doesberg show at the Tate Modern that pushed me over the edge into loving it. Eleven rooms of modernist graphic masterpieces will do that to a person.

I think it's the highly refined simplicity of the work that appeals. An elevated take on the functional, pared-down industrial style that I like so much.

Which is why, more than ever I'm becoming interested in objects and furniture that combine simplicity, graphic elements and elegance.

Take this stool for example. Probably my favorite buy of the last six months, it originally came from an old mill (via Jamie at Fish Island Antiques). The proportions and the construction are as simple as you get, but it works completely harmoniously. It's the sort of object that an industrial designer could spend months trying to get completely right, so the fact that it was probably just knocked up in a few hours by a local joiner only adds to its beauty.

(in case you're wondering - it was originally lacquered brown, but I've given it a few licks of blackboard paint to emphasise its fantastic graphic quality)

My other Stijl-ish buy of recent weeks are these enamel bowls from Merci in Paris.

I've been buying enamel for over a decade now - mostly old pieces that end up being well used in the kitchen. Modern enamel rarely does it for me, it's usually too badly made or it looks like a pastiche of the original vintage style. But these bowls really give me a thrill. Everything about them is right - the depth of colour, the shape and size, the quality of the materials. They're just about perfect.

I'm sure Theo and Piet would approve.

Van Doesberg and The International Avant Garde show is at Tate Modern for two more weeks (ends May 16th).

Highly, highly recommended!

Indian Graphics