If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

Louis Vuitton Creatures Made Of Small Leather Goods By Billie Achilleos.

above: detail of a Chameleon, made completely of Louis Vuitton's small leather goods.

Recently, Louis Vuitton tapped Chameleon Visual and the incredibly talented propmaker/puppeteer/artist Billie "Fingers" Achilleos for a second time*. In this instance, it was to create four bespoke animals made from Small Leather Goods for their AW11 Press event, which was held in Paris this week.

The Chameleon - for colour:

The Grasshopper - for sounds of zips and press studs:

The Beaver - for functionality:

above photo only, courtesy of tumblr

And the Armadillo - for the materials strength:

Imagery Provided by Louis Vuitton Press Department, via the artist

*Earlier this year Billie Achilleos, the self-proclaimed "Maker of Things" was approached by Chameleon Visual to produce some very unique creatures for the debut windows of Louis Vuitton’s New Bond Street Maison. Each of the 20 bespoke animals was carefully constructed out of genuine Louis Vuitton bags, purses and accessories and resented in dome jars.

The windows were such a success, they did it again for the New York store.

Here's a few images of those, courtesy of the artist:

above left: the window of the Bond Street store and right, in New York.

Bond Street, frog:

Crab and Fish:

New York:

Snake and Rooster:

The talented Billie Achilleous:

Louis Vuitton

All The Opus Watches (1 through 11) From Harry Winston & Various Horologists.

In 2001, Harry Winston launched the Opus series. The Opus concept was based on the idea of creating an exceptional timepiece each year in partnership with a gifted independent horologist. The partners work together as equals and collaborate to produce innovative and groundbreaking luxury watches.

The AMPLIFY chandelier’s aim is to put the Swarovski crystal effect into the hands of more people through the simple construction, easily accessible light source and sustainable materials.

Designer Yves Behar and his Fuse Project designed 6 different shaped lamps, each one carefully crafted to maximize refractions on the inner surfaces. This effect can be seen on the faceted shade material, thus emulating the cut and reflective nature of the crystal inside. Each chandelier becomes its own large glowing crystal.

While the Fuse Project's previous large scale lighting sculptures have showcased the crystal in a grand scale, with this latest project they wanted to bring the notion of accessibility and sustainability to crystal lighting.

Traditional chandeliers are made of numerous lights and crystals, they wanted to change this equation: 1 crystal + 1 low energy LED light + a faceted paper shade = AMPLIFY.

Resulting in multiple beautiful reflections and rainbow color bursts… Just what is expected from crystal, but this time the effect is amplified to get the most out of just one crystal.

AMPLIFY is a beautiful single crystal light, or it can be grouped to create a bigger effect.

Each of the six chandeliers will be available in production from Swarovski in the next year. To continue to amplify the concept of accessible crystal, each of the six unique lantern shapes are housed in a flat package that echoes the shape of the chandelier it contains:

The packaging graphics are simple and illustrative to reflect the different shade shapes and components contained inside.

Fuse Project
Swarovski

The Matreshka Russian Nesting Doll Light Changing Chair.

Russian Nesting dolls continue to inspire design in everything from housewares to furniture. Way back in 2008, I wrote a post about Matryoshka Madness and the glut of items honoring the traditional Russian dolls. Then again, in 2009, I followed it up with another Matryoshka related post. As I was getting preparing to publish yet a third, I came across this.

The Matreshka Light Chair by brothers Georgi and Peter Slokoski is a patented innovative product that combines functionality, comfort and whimsy. Inspired by the form of the emblematic Russian doll Matreshka (also referred to as Matryoshka, Babushka or Russian Nesting Dolls), the chair, made of fiberglass, was just introduced this month and will be available for pre-order in May.

The soft curves of the female body come to life in the form of fiberglass in two main colors – white and black:

Not only is the chair a unique shape, but, it's a functional lamp, too. The built-in LED RGB lighting in its upper part can be remotely controlled (and it fades in and out) and allows thousands of color combinations, including white for reading. The base allows endless 360° rotation in both directions.

The chair invites and embraces you, it enhances and dominates your emotions. Touching the chair is a discovery – you subside into a harmony of immaculately chosen materials, skillfully amplified by comfort and functionality.

Beginning next month (May 2011), you can pre-order the chair here
all images and info courtesy of Slokoski.com

The Transport Series. Furnishings & A Pet Bed Inspired By 20th Century Vehicles.

above: The Wallace Pet bed designed by AvroKO can be used as storage, too

Manhattan based AvroKO is a full service integrated design and concept firm that develops environments, lifestyle brands and products. Retail store design, hotel design and restaurant interiors are just a few of their many disciplines. Their own initiated projects include such hip New York eateries as Public and The Stanton Social, and hotel designs for the Starwood group to name a few.

above: the four principals at AvroKO; Greg Bradshaw, William Harris, Kristina O'Neal and Adam Farmerie

But amongst the talented group's designs lies a small line of furniture called The Transport Series. The collection was inspired by cars and motorcycles from the early 20th century and includes a lounge chair and ottoman, a desk lamp, an adjustable table, a stool and even a pet bed, most crafted of cold-rolled steel, walnut wood and leather.

Sophisticated and clubby, with industrial touches from the Machine Age, the furnishings are simultaneously masculine and elegant.