Bally, London

Through the magic of the Internet we are reporting both from London and Berlin.  Incredible, hey?  In the meantime checking out the latest scheme from Bally along Bond st.,.....where did that Summer go?  We are already, it seems, stocking up for an icy Winter and Bally are leading us there.  Of course, here we have these gorgeous bust forms from Proportion>London's Raw collection and these very convincing icy boxes within which the product is contained.  We are loving what these guys are doing here right now. Incredible quality, incredible luxury and seemingly effortlessly produced (we know these things take a huge amount of work to make these things look so effortless) store windows. 
We are not happy about the use of fur however.  Just telling it like it is.

Markets, Berlin

Further scouring of the markets here in Berlin revealed a huge amount of gramophones and music boxes.  This flea market situated next to the Berlin Ostbahnhof subway station was one we came across simply by travelling around.  How these trends may or may not filter through to retail environments we don't know.  However, there do seem to be rather a lot of them around being sold by individual stalls.  We also can across this replica Moaning Lisa.  A dreadful and very kitsch copy, however there is a concept here ready to explore.

Gant, London

We really like what the guys at Gant are doing based on their last several schemes.  These micro environments or tableaux create a whole new feel to the space within which they are contained.  If one steps back from these spaces which are actually placed within original Regency buildings, the schemes here so take us on a journey to a time and place beyond a Grey London.  We mentioned the tiny trophy skulls with horns in our earlier entry and here we can see a brilliant example of identifying trends in places such as the Berlin markets to implementation on the London and global high street. 

Markets, Berlin

We've been scouring the markets in Berlin this weekend in search of some of the latest trends and looking for inspiration for new concepts.  We're seeing a lot of toys, cameras, tiny mounted skulls with horns and tonnes of Silver and particularly Pewter.  There are of course the most delicious finds of original 1940's and 50's pieces of Bauhaus influenced tubular style furniture.  We only wish we could bring it all back, but part of the pleasure is just in the viewing.

Hugo Boss and Evelyn Brandt, Berlin

We mentioned about a week ago this scheme at Hugo Boss in London and that we are rather weary of seeing clocks used in window schemes displaying various time zones.  Here in Berlin we have the German version (as well as the stock Hugo Boss version that's gone global but not shown here).  It is interesting to see the localised version of this scheme, although it doesn't make it that more interesting.  Not 100m away from this scheme along the Friedrichstrasse is the Evelyn Brandt version.  OK, well Hugo Boss clearly have the massive budgets and this is probably a local brand, but what a copy hey?  Can you now understand why we are so tired of seeing the repetition of clocks in window schemes?  Everyone else is doing it too.

On the Streets, Berlin

We came across this in the foyer of a building here in Berlin..... don't know what this is..........but it looks interesting..!

On the Streets, Berlin

As in Rome, Berlin and to a certain extent in London we are seeing these padlocks appear attached to our famous bridges.  Where has this trend come from?   We found the below explanation at http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/24/novel-lovers-padlocks-bridges-moccia

 'Federico Moccia's bestseller Ho Voglia di Te (I Want You) features a young couple attaching a lock to Rome's Milvian Bridge as a sign of eternal love.'

'The thousands of sweethearts who have decided to imitate this touching gesture are among the 2.5 million readers of the book, which charts the romantic entanglements of brooding young Romans who hang out in the upmarket streets of the Parioli district'.

'The 2006 book was a follow-up to Moccia's first blockbuster romance Tre Metri Sopra il Cielo (Three Metres Above the Sky), which bombed on its release in 1992, only to become a cult hit with Roman students 12 years later.'

'Tapping into the kind of tortured adolescent passion that has made the Twilight series so successful in the US and beyond, Moccia's career went stratospheric when Italian teen heartthrob Riccardo Scamarcio was cast to play the lead in the books' big- screen adaptations.'

'But not everyone is happy about this new fad, with Italian officials claiming that the love padlocks are damaging stonework, and daily newspaper La Repubblica calling the locks on the Rialto bridge in Venice "vulgar".'

"That seems really excessive," said Moccia. "If you go to Venice, you'll find that they have bigger things to worry about."

On the streets, Berlin

We're beginning to see images as above happening more and more in Europe.  Lovers attaching their padlocks to bridges and throw the keys in the river.  Eventually, of course as we mentioned previously with the Ponte Milvio bridge in Rome where we first saw this,  some of the posts were so heavy with padlocks that its posts have collapsed.  Anyway, it seems that this will eventually be illegal because of the damage of attaching these locks do to historical bridges.  We're just wondered what our descendants will make of the hundreds of keys that must be on the riverbeds of these European rivers.

Camper, Berlin

In the shopping district of Charlottenburg we came across the Camper store.  Initially, the scheme here does appear like blood stained bales of hay, however if you are able to see past this, these bales of hay work really rather well as kind of plinths from which the product is raised a little higher towards eye-level.  Here we have them placed in a repetition format with very little product placed upon them - a clear indication of the strength of a brand.   These stores tend to be quite simple and therefore these are also a welcome relief from the monotony of large volumes of product which are not fighting for attention.  Simple and clean and thoughtfully produced we think.

DnA Factory, London

Images Courtesy and Copyright DnA Factory

PLUSARTPROJECTS.COM PRESENTS ‘NEON + VINYL’ AT LONDONEWCASTLE PROJECT SPACE

From Thursday 6th October until Thursday 20th October 2011.

Open from 10-6pm every day at:

Londonewcastle Project Space

28 Redchurch Street

London

E2 7DP

Time Out’s First Thursdays: Thursday 6th October 2011 until late

Frieze week Party: Friday 14th October 2011 until late.

 

Plus Art Project’s Alternative Frieze show ‘Neon + Vinyl’ is exhibiting new art works by over 30 leading artists including Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Mat Collishaw, Gavin Turk, Franko B, Mark Titchner, Mustafa Hulusi, Regina Silveira, Amanda Eliasch, Peter Lamb and Paul Hoskin, Dave Woods, Peter Ainsworth, Alex Baker, Phil Wilson-Perkin, Warren McLachlan, Tim Bromage, Mark Croxford, Morag Myerscough, Kim Fielding, Dominc Allan, John Tiney, Jason Davidge, Stik, Melville Mitchell, Nick Kennedy, Will Strong, John Close, Will Marshall and The DnA Factory amongst others.

The show is unique in drawing together such a wide range of creative talent to work with media traditionally associated with street level advertising and industrial processes. We are challenging artists to subvert these media and find new ways to communicate.

 

Curated and produced by neonist Kerry Ryan, artist Declan McMullan and Jessica Temple, ‘Neon + Vinyl’ is the fourth Frieze week show from Plus Art Projects.

Social lubrication will be provided by live bands and a bar.

For more information, please contact:

info@plusartprojects.com

www.plusartprojects.com

There's more info about it here too:

http://www.londonewcastle.co.uk/home/events/neon-vinyl

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/dealers.../Plus+Art+Projects+/20578.html

DnA Factory, London

Images Courtesy and Copyright DnA Factory

We've mentioned the Uber cool DnA Factory on several occasions on this site as we are very much huge fans of their work.  We even have our own small piece of their work which is absolutely treasured and in pride of place in our own personal environment.  In conjunction with The New English, the guys from DnA factory have produced more pieces to add to your collection.  These guys are so fricking hot that if you don't have these pieces already then what are you doing?  We can see these pieces being sold in the coolest places. (if they are not already).  Bergdorf Goodman (NYC) should be snapping up these little pups', Galleries Lafeyette,  Selfridges, Harrods (maybe).  These are too fabulously risque for the malls of Dubai, but the cutting edge cities such as London, Paris, Berlin, New York  should be snapping this stuff up - you heard it here first. 

Meltin' Pot, Berlin



Image Copyright Flavio and Frank

Further to our earlier entry today.  If you happen to be in Berlin too, check out this Pop up Meltin' Pot store, Weinmeisterstrasse 2, Mitte, Berlin.

Image Copyright Flavio and Frank

Meltin' Pot, Italy

Image copyright Flavio and  Frank

If you happen to be spending any of the European Summer along Italy's East Coast, you could do no worse than visit this incredible new Denim brand 'Meltin Pot'.  With its cool new flagship store just recently opened in Riccione, in the Rimini Province it is always so refreshing to visit, explore and try a new brand.  The bonus of Meltin Pot is that its not currently on every single high street just yet around the globe -  always a refreshing relief.  This pilot flagship 'houses their complete denim collection for Men and Women' and what we particularly like about it is the clearly defined strong personality within its interior space 'using wood and steel combined with innovative technology'.  The combination of these elements with the cool lighting levels really does help create this incredible ambiance.  If you want to take a look yourself, head for the Palariccione Complex in Riccione or alternatively their Pop up Store currently in Berlin, Weinmeisterstrasse 2, Mitte.

Image Copyright Flavio and Frank

Image Copyright Flavio and Frank

Image Copyright Flavio and Frank