Archive for April 2012
April 27th, 2012
People | Zhang Xi
material girl
PLORE, SHANGHAI
I met Zhang Xi through friends at a MOCA opening in Shanghai. Chinese born but schooled in Switzerland, Zhang is a Shanghai based architect that runs her firm: EXH Design, alongside her Swiss architect husband. Staring at the great oversized clutch she was carrying that night, I also found out she designs for her own accessories line: Plore, a second company that she started with a friend.
Since I have a secret love for finding unknown bags and a passion for the ones that are stealthly functional — my idea of an “IT bag”— I asked her about it. Turns out in ancient China, they used silk for their sails because of its durability. Zhang told me she was inspired by the lesser known functionality of the material and went on to design her line as a modern interpretation of its moxie and style.
Her bag was a marriage between a Celine or Comme de Garçon zipper clutch and an Incase. Elegant and simple. What good design should be but sometimes gets caught up in itself and forgets to do. One of the better work-to-evening bags I have seen.
Photos courtesy of Zhang Xi
April 26th, 2012
Food | Coconut Water
pure goodness
LOMBOK, INDONESIA
I love the idea of having coconut water picked from a tree. I’m not sure if it’s necessarily any healthier for you but I know it’s a lot nicer to drink this way than from a not so pretty light blue box. In my mind that counts for another kind of wellness. I had this one poolside in Lombok. All things considered that’s probably the best way to have it.
April 25th, 2012
Places | Deus Canngu
easy rider
LIFESTYLE SHOP, BALI
Deus is a lifestyle brand with stores located in Australia, New Zealand, Bali and as of a couple a months ago: Venice Beach, California. However, the Canngu Bali location I recently visited (appropriately named “Temple of Enthusiasm”) is something in and of itself …
Part curated store, art gallery, artist space and garage (where they deconstruct vintage motorbikes then powder coat and rework them into mint condition) Deus Canngu is a creative commune of sorts. One building is a pristine white photo studio, opposite that there’s a shaping bay and at the front of it all, a Thai food restaurant and a bar. With comfy couches amidst all this good stuff and the Balinese lushness that abounds, it’s easy to see how this place has quickly become the local go to spot for getting together with like-minded friends.
“Deus Ex Machina” is hard to define because it’s not just one thing. I think Dare Jennings, the Australian creator of Mambo, must have conceived his love child of a brand with this concept in mind but unlike the many places that try to do: “lifestyle”, he’s one of the few that not only succeeded in doing it right; in the process he also created his own cultural hub.
April 18th, 2012
Things | Surf Screen
self made
SURF YOGIS, BALI
In Bali I came across Surf Yogis surf screen. I really loved its earthy-looking packaging — which surprisingly held up better around water than I would have thought. I was also drawn to its (almost only) natural ingredients: virgin coconut oil, bee’s wax, cocoa powder, cocoa butter and zinc oxide. I found it to be a cool alternative to all the chemically loaded sunscreens.
Favorites
ALL THE PRETTY BIRDS | AnOther | CAROLINE DE MAIGRET | CITIZEN COUTURE | FACE HUNTER | Garance Dore | HANNELI | INDOEK LOG | INTO THE GLOSS | JAK & JIL | JJJJound | leslie williamson photo | mr. newton | POST NEW | SATURDAYS | SECRET FORTS | STREETPEEPER | The Satorialist | The Selby | they all hate us | we are fresh fish