Meatpacking District Design 2008

by coutorture Finnish designers had their own space during Meatpacking Design District 2008. Hardcore New Finnish Design showcased a wide variety of Finnish talent in industrial, furniture, graphic and even fashion design. We gravitated towards Anna Ruohonen a Finnish fashion designer currently working in Paris. In her designs Ruohonen aspires to provide an alternative to the ever-changing fashions in clothing. For her a garment is not made just for one season, but rather it should be able to withstand time. Ruohonen’s philosophy is reflected in her work on show in HARDCORE, where she presents her designs under the title Black Classics a selection of the designer’s own favorites since the year 2000. Her emphasis on timelessness comes out in the quality of the construction and the fabrics The Swedes aren't the only Scandanavians dedicated to denim. The Finns apparently have a yen for the top notch stuff as well. koneHELSINKI (the Finnish word ‘kone’ means ‘machine’ in English) is a design company founded by Finnish fashion designer Kalle Kuusela. The philosophy behind the line centers on the "sameness" of traditional denim. Jeans are often a piece of clothing that has a tendency to look like mere variations of the same theme - despite small changes in fashion, every pair looks basically the same. koneHelsinki’s jeans, on the contrary, show that even jeans can be uniquely captivating in their design. We aren't sure how well they succeed from the small set of samples we saw but we do like the philosophy nonetheless. Our favorite piece however came from watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva. Son of the prominent Finnish jewellery designer Pentti Sarpaneva, he comes from a family with a long heritage of craftsmanship. He first graduated from The Finnish School of Watchmaking then moved to Switzerland to further his studies at WOSTEP. The Sarpaneva watch on show in HARDCORE is titled Time Tramp. It is a pocket watch made of the used kickstart pinion of an old Harley Davidson motorbike. "The idea was to make something simple and a bit brutal, but beautiful…like life in Finland.” said Stepan Sarpaneva in a QP magazine interview. We were certainly smitten, along with every man we have showed it to so far. Clearly a pocket watch is only appealing to a man if it strays as far away from its foppish history as possible. And it is pretty hard to get anymore "hardcore" than a kickstart pinion from a Harley. For More Meatpacking Design District 2008.

by coutorture Massimo Bizzochi, best known for their cult menswear, played host to The Nought Collective. Specializing in the design and production of contemporary carpets hand-knotted in Nepal, The Nought Collective recently launched its debut collection, titled etu. With four colors, Tracey Sawyer created subtle color changes and hypnotic luminescence dependent on the reflection of the light on the natural materials. Impressive individualized suiting, the hallmark of Massimo Bizzochi, and hand-knotted carpeting go better together than one might think at first blush. The goal of the Nought Collective is to match the collective with the individual in their forms, blending the personal and the universal. Deeply individual pieces that work across aesthetics and cultural norms can apply to both rugs and fine suits. Just as a well dressed man must blend into his environment and yet stand out so too do the Nought Collective carpets. For More Fashion and Design click here.

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Stuffing intricately designed and extremely expensive footwear into a tiny box of a closet has always felt like a crime to us. Apparently Carlos Miele and Jeff Miller feel the same way, along with quite a crowd of well wishers, shoppers, and design fans

Miele's 14th street boutique hosted Jeff Miller's newest design work for Baleri Italia. The sleek rounded and stackable boxes made for perfect shoe display and storage. They beautifully integrated into Miele's current retail aesthetic thanks to their curving comfortable lines. And they made us pay a lot more attention to the shoes which is good for everyone!

For More Meatpacking Design Week Fashion and Design click here and for Carlos Miele's Fall Runway click here.

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Adam Lippes kicked off the first of the retail openings at Meatpacking Design Week. The installation his store on Hudson street hosted was entitled Much Assembly Required. An "ego" lamp collection and other works by Viktor Jondal, a Swedish, New York based product designer were strategically placed throughout the store, giving customers a chance to go from the lamps in the entryway to a video installation in one of the back dressing rooms.

Viktor Jondal was born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden. His education includes one year of Art-History in France, one year of Fine Art in Sweden and a BFA in Product Design from Parsons School of Design. His background has already very much included the fashion set with product design work for Keihl's, MAC and Reebok.

The subtle "ego" lamps went well with Adam's sometime minimal aesthetic. Someone was clearly paying attention to the details of collaborative installation, as we were impressed just how well Jondal's gray, purple, and black paintings merchandised with Adam's purple spring dresses.

For More Coverage of Fashion And Design Meet: Meatpacking District Design Week