House of Toogood

I didn't have time to make it to Shoreditch when visiting London earlier this year, but if I had, House of Toogood would've been my first stop. The space, founded by sisters Faye and Erica Toogood, operates as a showroom and gallery showcasing the designers' own furniture and clothing collections, as well as exclusive exhibitions and collaborations. A huge fan of Faye Toodgood's furniture designs, I was so excited to see some of her iconic pieces for the first time at The Hub General Store in Melbourne this year. Seeing more of the magic in her own London showroom would be amazing. In June, House of Toogood held a pop-up exhibition by award-winning artist Malgorzata Bany. Her sculptural pieces fit perfectly inside the minimal space and I was in awe seeing the images on Instagram around that time. You can still check them out on the @t_o_o_g_o_o_d and @malgorzatabany feeds. I've saved quite a few! 

Today I stumbled across another exhibition at House of Toogood held late last year. A solo show Nearness by by artist Sarah Kay Rodden, I just had to share these beautiful images with you. A designer at Ile Crawford, Sarah was also head of concept design at Faye Toogood between 2008 and 2012. Here is some insight into her inspiring work, which I'm so happy to have discovered.

Sarah Kaye Rodden is a slow and obsessive looker. She is an arranger and re-arranger of forms, where repetition and subtle changes in tone and texture generate meaning. Forms become subjects and groups of forms become scenes, even as they continue to speak to one another in a language that belongs only to them. Kaye Rodden's meditative practice is an exercise in coolness and patience, waiting for pictorial resolution while relishing the state of 'nearness' and the way nearness looks and feels. The sleek transcendence of Jean Arp is as important to her as the life-work of Giorgio Morandi, where a ritualistic daily search is as beautiful, and fruitful, as an answer.

Photography by French+Tye

VIEW STORY

Denfair Sydney Edition | Highlights

Our holiday in Sydney just happened to coincide with Denfair so I set aside a morning to leave the boys to some sightseeing and visit the exhibition. The first ever Denfair Sydney Edition, designed to provide a taste of the larger Melbourne event, it offered a well curated and compact show designed to resonate with the local audience. Showcasing a line-up of local and international exhibiting brands, from pre-eminent furniture and homeware retailers to established and independent designers, I've picked out a few of my favourites to share with you.

A big highlight for me, Artedomus showcased their inaugural New Volumes collection. Exploring and pushing the boundaries of a single natural material, for each collection Artedomus will select a distinct assembly of designers to bring the material to life by way of an inspiring objects. Collection 01 explores Elba, a rich complex stone 250 million years in the making. Cut by machine and finished by hand, the stone has a beautiful aesthetic that  immediately drew me in as I was walking past the stand. Ranging from smaller pieces through to furniture, the designs all have a  sculptural quality that further enhances the look of the stone. A few favourites shown here include the Spomenik forms inspired by modernist buildings by Marsha Golemac, the Hurlysi side tables by Thomas Coward and the Undara fruit bowl by Nick Rennie. Nick also designed the stunning Wyrie dining table. 

Artedomus won the Denfair award for best large stand.

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Arne Jacobsen’s most iconic designs including The Egg, The Swan and The Drop, Cult Design presented the Fritz Hansen stand inspired by the SAS Royal Hotel for which the chairs were originally designed. Awarded Best International Product for the newly relaunched Pot chair, I had the pleasure of testing it for the first time. So comfortable I found it hard to leave! 

Premium furniture brand Tait revealed a new addition to their award-winning Trace collection by leading Australian designer Adam Goodrum, the Trace Sunlounge. A collection defined by sumptuous comfort and refined luxury, the new addition will see the it bloom into an all-encompassing outdoor lounging family, offering unrivalled levels of outdoor indulgence and relaxation.

Tait was awarded Best Product for the Trace Sunlounge. 

Earlier this year I featured Maegan Brown's After—Form exhibition so I was excited to meet Maegan in person and see her incredible works in real life. The large scale pieces are truly breathtaking! Maegan also took home the Best in Gallery award. 

Images courtesy of Denfair

VIEW STORY

The Kinfolk Entrepreneur: Ideas for Meaningful Work

An inspiring new book for Kinfolk readers and anyone looking to forge their own professional path, The Kinfolk Entrepreneur arrived on my doorstep late last week, perfectly timed for the weekend. Visiting more than 40 creative business owners from 16 countries across the globe, the beautiful book offers an inspiring in-depth look behind the scenes of their lives and their companies. Pairing insightful interviews with striking images of these men and women and their workspaces, The Kinfolk Entrepreneur highlights the personal side of the business.

With profiles of both budding and experienced entrepreneurs across a broad range of industries (from fashion designers to hoteliers) in cities across the globe (from Copenhagen to Dubai), the book provides an insight into how today’s industry leaders handle both their successes and failures, achieve work-life balance, find motivation in the face of adversity, and so much more.

Included in the press release from The Kinfolk Entrepreneur publisher Artisan Books, I received 'A Conversation with the author Nathan Willliams' which I enjoyed reading prior to getting stuck into the book. Director of Kinfolk, Nathan is also author of international bestsellers The Kinfolk Home and The Kinfolk Table. Here's an excerpt from the interview.

What inspired you to write a book about entrepreneurship?

Examining quality of life and the balancing act required to sustain it is a core tenet of Kinfolk. The Kinfolk Entrepreneur was conceived as a natural extension of one of our editorial cornerstones: work. We've studied the working life through many different lenses in our magazine, and our readers continue to show a strong interest in the topic. our Spring 2015 Entrepreneurs Issue remains one of the most well-received and top-selling issues to date.

How did you decide who to feature in the book?

The entrepreneurs range from up-and-coming fashion innovators like Damir Doma to experienced architectural icons such as Sophie Hicks and Joseph Dirand. We compiled a roster of the individuals who speak most directly to our own entrepreneurial drive as a team, while ensuring that each profile would illustrate how the pursuit of meaning and passion, and the experiences of disappointment and defeat, can motivate both professional success and a balanced quality of life.

In the Kinfolk Entrepreneur you say "becoming a successful entrepreneur extends beyond the strength of one's ideas and the ability to profit from them." What are the other important markers of success for you?

The first layer of a successful entrepreneur is practical: the ability generate profit from an idea in the marketplace. The second, more elusive layer is relational with one's self and the surrounding community: to offer design solutions that improve living, to continue a heritage brand as family legacy or to simply find a creative way to sustain one's self doing exactly what they dreamed of doing. The Kinfolk Entrepreneur introduces readers to visionaries from around the world who have achieved more markers of success by creating a profitable business with a deeply personal connection to their work.

Interior stylists Alessandro D'Orazio & Jannicke Kråkvik in their Oslo store Kollected By 

The book is divided into three categories; A Single Vision, The Power of Partnership and Creating a Community. The first shows how creative success can be highly personal and businesses can be established form a passionate singular thought leader. Profiles include Sophie Hicks, who, once an esteemed fashion magazine editor in the UK, combined her industry experience and artistic leanings with an architecture degree to become revered as "Fashion's architect", and Maayan Zilberman, a successful lingerie designer turned confectioner and founder of sought-after New York shop, Sweet Saba. The Power of Partnership includes some incredible creatives from the interior world who I have long admired. They include Alessandro D'Orazio & Jannicke Kråkvik of Oslo creative studio Kråkvik&D'Orazio and retail store Kollected By, Jeremy Anderson & Gabriel Hendifar of acclaimed New York design studio Apparatus, and Mette and Rolf Hay who founded the eponymous Danish furniture and accessories company Hay.

The stunning New York office of Jeremy Anderson & Gabriel Hendifar of Apparatus Studio

Creating a Community profiles business owners who have taken creative risks for the sake of building a community around shared interest and ideals. 

Rashid & Ahmed Bin Shabib of Brownbook, a bimonthly Dubai-based periodical 

Copenhagen-based Futurist Angela Oguntala 

Tokuji Motojima of Seven Uniform in Tokyo, Japan

The Final section of The Kinfolk Entrepreneur includes invaluable tips and resources on important topics like How to: Lead People and How To: Manage Mistakes, as well as notes on suggested reading, desk essentials and even must-have workday snacks. To finish, The Last Word features ten entrepreneurs giving their single-most important pieces of advice.

Published by Artisan Books, The Kinfolk Entrepreneur is a wonderful resource and beautiful addition to the Kinfolk Book Series. 

Images courtesy of Kinfolk

VIEW STORY

News from Kinfolk

Kinfolk have introduced some exciting new changes including updates to their already beautiful magazine, a new website and gallery space. As an avid fan I was thrilled to receive the press release with details of the news and redesign, and I couldn't wait for my copy of Kinfolk Twenty-Two to arrive in the mail. Yesterday it turned up and right away I noticed the larger size. Flicking through the pages I was immediately taken with the elegant new layout which features a new mix of papers, formats, features and sections, including a special themed section in each issue. With a goal to to create a more immersive and dynamic reading experience, Kinfolk have certainly delivered.

Alex Hunting, a London-based award-winning art director and Kinfolk design director  gives further insight into the redesign...

“Kinfolk is an iconic and beloved title, and this redesign looks to evolve its aesthetic while retaining the magazine’s sensitive approach to photographic art direction. The new larger size and 12-column grid allow for more flexibility within the layouts and help vary the pace throughout the magazine. We’ve also introduced a coated paper for the feature section to celebrate the exceptional longer form photographic pieces"

A Work Special, Kinfolk Twenty-Two revisits one of their most popular subjects: work and the entrepreneurial spirit. Alongside a regular mix of thoughtful lifestyle content, they dedicate the pages of the new section to finding out what makes a job meaningful and why qualities such as ambition, passion and motivation can lead to a balanced quality of life.

Captivated from cover to cover I also loved reading about Ben Gorham, the Swedish perfumer and founder of Byredo, and a day in Copenhagen with fashion designer Stine Goya. Both so inspiring, I've long admired their achievements, as well as their homes and interior style! There's also a visit to the London home and studio of former fashion designer Nicole Farhi. Here's a peek at a few more pages. 

Kinfolk.com has relaunched with a dynamic new design by London agency Six, and a daily roster of exciting, original content. A natural extension of the print magazine, the new Kinfolk.com also offers an immersive reading experience, delving even deeper into the art of living and how life can be individually shaped and inhabited.

Along with a selection of free-to-view stories from the print magazine, Kinfolk are producing a daily stream of timely and diverse content just for the web: event coverage and travel tips, as well as intimate interviews, home tours, thought-provoking essays, conceptual photo essays and more.

Last but by no means least, here is a look inside the beautiful new Kinfolk Gallery designed by Norm Architects. Located in the heart of Copenhagen, the gallery is a collaborative and multifunctional space where friends and partners come together to share ideas and showcase their work. Co-created in partnership with some of the world’s leading interiors brands, the Kinfolk Gallery is available to host a variety of events, such as art exhibitions, pop-up shops, guest lectures, fashion shows, workshops, dinner gatherings and photo shoots. Understated elegance at its best, I love the neutral palette and soft textures, clean lines and warm wood elements. How incredible it would be to attend an event here in Copenhagen! 

Photography by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen

Images courtesy of Kinfolk

VIEW STORY

BON Ceramics

BON is a brand new online store offering a carefully curated selection of ceramic objects from the world's best designers. Founded in Berlin as a reaction to the renaissance of the ceramic arts, BON presents the best of these new talents under one roof, shining an overdue light on the medium and its artisans. This is great news for us ceramic lovers, especially when you see the beautiful range which is made up of 50 unique, handmade ceramic products from 26 international designers. These include up and coming names such as Ian Anderson from the US, Kirstie van Noort from the Netherlands and Rimma Tchilingarian from Denmark as well as prolific ceramists such as Nicola Tassie from the UK and Akiko Hirai from Japan. Although diverse, the collection has a minimalist collectiveness; sophisticated forms in toned-down earthy colours, often allowing the raw material to speak for itself.

The unique shapes and textural finishes of these ceramics get my heart racing! Beautiful to look at, I'd also have no problem finding uses for them around the home... in fact I'd love to pick out some to style in every room. Here are a few of my favourites from the extensive collection. 

Photography by Antti Pulli and Haw-Lin Services

BON is also proud to lead the way in representing small-scale sustainable production and offers worldwide CO2-neutral shipping. Shop the full collection here. 

Images courtesy of BON

VIEW STORY