Not Your Grandmother's Lladro (Thank God)

above: Jaime Hayon's Clown lamp for Lladro.

I've been known to describe my own personal hell as having to spend eternity in a room decorated with LeRoy Neiman paintings and Lladro sculptures, as Dixieland music plays and I am made to to eat Ambrosia Fruit Salad.


above left: Ambrosia Fruit Salad, right: LeRoy Neiman's Tiger

But every once in awhile I am forced to reevaluate my own strongly stated opinions. Lladro's 2007 spring collection has me rethinking my previously formed opinion of this highly popular, ridiculously overpriced line of decorative figurines.

Below is a picture of Lladro's "A Grand Adventure", priced at $34,000.00


Now, don't get me wrong. I still can't stand the majority of their muted-colored elongated people frozen in sappy moments illustrating bygone stereotypes of professions and family roles. While I can respect the craftsmanship, I simply can't stand neither the style nor the subject of their 'collectibles'. You'd actually have to pay me MORE than the price tag to display their $34,000 "A Grand Adventure" train scene in my home.

But Bodo Sperlein's Re-cyclos Collection, new this spring, is not the Lladro I grew to know and hate. (By the way, Bodo Sperlein designed the ever-popular omnipresent blog favorite Red Berry China Collection, some pieces of which can be seen below):




The Lladro 2007 Re-cyclos Collection, to be released this Spring, is created in porcelain with matte white and/or black finishes. The pieces are fundamentally modern in their design and are functional as opposed to decorative. The bottle stoppers, hanging lights, wall sconces, bud vases, jewelry and candle holders are sensuous in form and feel, and frankly (dare I say it) attractive.

Don't believe me? See for yourself:


above: bird ring from Lladro's 2007 spring collection


above: candle holder from Lladro's 2007 spring collection


above: Buddha HeadII from Lladro's 2007 spring collection


above: Winged wall sconce from Lladro's 2007 spring collection


above: Butterfly chandelier from Lladro's 2007 spring collection

above: Bird cuff links, porcelain and sterling silver, from Lladro's 2007 spring collection

above: Flower tapestry bud vase from Lladro's 2007 spring collection

above: Butterfly pendant lamp from Lladro's 2007 spring collection

above: Open necklace, 18k over sterling and porcelain, from Lladro's 2007 spring collection


above: Bacchus Ram bottle stopper from Lladro's 2007 spring collection
So, I guess from this day forth I will have to describe my own personal hell as being forced to eat Ambrosia Fruit Salad while listening to Dixieland, held captive in a room decorated with LeRoy Neiman Paintings and.... Hummel Figurine


UPDATE:
Since this post, Lladro has continued to contemporize their line with the RE: Deco line and wonderful works by Jaime Hayon and other contemporary sculptors and designers:





Visit the entire collection of Lladro here.

Who Says Chandeliers Can't Be Hip? Not Rock And Royal.

Rock and Royal describes themselves on their site as such:
"Rock and Royal was established in 2005 as a trademark of Mothership. Rock and Royal’s core business can be described as “providing personalized advice to help you with your choice of exceptional chandeliers and photo realistic mosaic designs.”

Goodbye Fanny Pack, Hello Koffski! The Hip New Man Bag

Call it the Man Bag for the New Millenium, or the long overdue replacement for that famous fashion faux pas; the fannypack.



But finally there's something for men to wear on their belt that isn't an eyesore and will hold everything from their keys and wallet to their cellphone:


The Koffski is available in both full size as well as a junior version. Also available are shoulder straps or belts with it.



It offers customized design in a thoroughly practical form and is extremely comfortable to wear. This bag for men (we know, an odd thought) is reminiscent of a gun holster and has room for a wallet, your mobile, a bunch of keys, your Montblanc pen, enough documents to have you travel once around the globe and plenty of credit cards to pay for your Martinis (shaken, obviously...).



The junior version of the Koffski is assembled in a traditional leather manufacture in Solingen (famous for the knives usually...) using leather from the heart of Tuscany, a little village called Santa Croce sull'Arno, in between Florence and Pisa. The leather is left in a much less refined state and has a less dense surface, prone to aging in a different way than yesterdays version, more like traditional saddle bags. The metal parts are exposed to a spezial galvanization process, resulting in a matt appearance, resembling old silver...

This version isn't numbered, but has a branded logotype, that reminds you of the manufacturing process. It's available for purchase here.

A :15 second giggle

As "hip" as I may proclaim to be, every once in awhile, something that ought to be on a site called socuteyouwanttovomit.com really gets me.

Here's one of those examples:

Ever wonder what a baby panda's sneeze sounds like?
Well, even if you didn't, it's worth a listen.