With Packaging Like This, I Don't Care What It Smells Like - Shigenobu Twilight

Shigenobu Twilight by Anicka Yi & Maggie Peng

This is the first handcrafted scent by NY artist Anicka Yi and architect Maggie Peng. The fragrance is inspired by the Fusako Shigenobu, former leader of the Japanese Red Army, who was believed to be in exile in Lebanon for many years after orchestrating some of the group's most political statements.



Yi and Peng have chosen cedar wood as a central theme of this fragrance's narrative, as cedar is highly regarded in Lebanon as a national emblem. The scent uses three different kinds of cedar wood as its base note, along with violet leaf and nutty heart notes, and top notes of yuzu, shiso leaf, and black pepper. The packaging for this hand-distilled fragrance is made of raw cedar wood, each bottle uniquely (and painstakingly) hand-cut by the creators in architectural geometry, encasing a 10ml glass bottle of liquid within.



all info courtesy of oogabooga

Shigenobu pics by Noah Sheldon.

$160.00 a bottle, with refills for $80.00
buy it here.

FLOWmarket, Next Generation Luxury In A Can.

Just prior to their product launch, I wrote a large post on the selling of consumer awareness via an unusual retail store concept called the FLOWmarket.


above: God in a can? And for only $19.97? That's a deal.

Here we are, over 2 years later and it's time for an update. FLOWmarket is a temporary or pop-up store that travels around the world, selling what they term" new generation luxury".

Previous stores:
Zurich, may 2005
New York, june 2006
Taipei, jan-march 2007
Shanghai, july-sep 2007
Singapore, jan 2008
Seoul, may 2008
Copenhagen, 2005 - 2009

At current there are no brick and mortar stores, but their collection of products can be purchased online. However, the items available are different than when I first wrote about them.




Whereas the items in their pop-up stores are in diverse packaging, like those shown above, they now sell 73 different items online, but each is a single small can costing $19.97 USD.




Here are a few examples:






In their own words:

FLOWmarket is a store that materializes our immaterial needs. FLOWmarket is about next generation luxury. FLOWmarket is designed from the notion that change happens when we as individuals change our mindset. FLOWmarket has due to its simple and universal form been able to succesfully cross cultural boundries between Europe, US and Asia. FLOWmarket is often asked by journalists if they should label it as design, as art, as business or as activism. FLOWmarket have had temporary stores open in Copenhagen, Zurich, New York, Taipei, Shanghai, Singapore and Seoul. FLOWmarket opened its first store in 2004. FLOWmarket is created and designed by Mads Hagstrøm.

Shop FLOWmarket here.
Product photography by Niclas Jessen.




To read about their original project and philosophy, the FLOWinstitute and more, go here.

Funky Find of The Week: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea designed by Paolo Orsacchini

Here's the fantastic new Italian limited commemorative edition of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea designed by Paolo Orsacchini. It's printed on waterproof paper and enclosed in a clear pouch filled with real sea water. Collectors can either bust it out of its original packaging, dry it under the sun, and enjoy a classic read, or they can preserve this limited piece in all its designed glory.



Unfortunately I cannot find if it's available for purchase, so you'll simply have to marvel at the concept for now.