Keel's diary by Taschen

Have you ever kept a diary?

a) yes, and now I am laughing my heart out when I read it;
b) no, but I have always wanted to keep one - didn't have the time and courage to do it;
c) nooooooo, it is too cheesy and gay.

No matter which one is your answer, tadaaaaaam: Keel's Simple Diary by Taschen. A sweet little book with funny questions that one should fill in. A page for every day, taking not more than 2 minutes of your time and giving you some moments of fun, wisdom and comfort.

Well, to be honest, people need this kind of things. In a world where products are out as soon as they are in, where even our accessories need accessories...we need simple tools. Slowly, we start admitting our need to conquer busy life and actually live. Keel's diary published by Taschen is a book that helps us look inside because we are overloaded outside.

The author, Philipp Keel, so adept at asking questions in his search for understanding who we are and why we do what we do, also provides some compelling, philosophical and witty answers in his new work.

The diary will be released on 2nd of May, so stay tuned! It will be available in various colours, so one could choose the one that best fits his personality. You can buy it for yourself or give it as a present. I had a sneak preview ;) It is lovely!

Imelda May

Johnny got a boom boom oh yeah/Johnny got a bamm...He's got ya in his hands/Gonna make ya wanna /Make ya wanna ohh...

I am still under the influence of Imelda May's concert last night in Apolo/Barcelona. She is addictive, she makes you wanna dance and sing along, reminding me of my rock'n roll sessions as a child - meaning listening to music on the record player and dancing in the living room.
Her music goes deep under your skin and runs through your veins. It has some kind of magic that only live beautiful voices like hers can do it.

Coming from Dublin, she shared stages with everyone from Van Morrison to the Scissor Sisters and now she is reviving retro music, mixing in a fresh and cool sound jazz, blues and rockabilly.

Everything fits just perfect. Her voice with her clothes, the haircut, her body language on stage, her laugh and giggling. She gives you the shivers! Imelda May is the new sound that is taking the London music scene by storm. She definitely is the one to watch for 2009.

eat fashion

I know that fashionistas without shopping are like humans without air. Moreover, for them, shopping or any item of a wardrobe can substitute food or can drive away hunger (either because one is too tired to eat or because one doesn't have any money left to buy it) but I never saw this idea so good depicted like in a boutique from Lisbon/Bairro Alto.

Here, bags and caps are "fresh meat". Can it be more clear than that? The visual merchandising manager gets a 10 for this! The display is very funny. You never expect to see accessories for clothes in meat refrigerators. Anybody wants to go for a "dinner"?

FABRICA

Benetton is taking the future to the next level. FABRICA is the name of their creativity laboratory, a talent incubator, where artists from all over the world develop innovative projects in fields from design, music and film to photography, publishing, visual communication and the Internet. It is the most creative initiative I've seen conducted by a fashion house that dares to conquer other fields while still making a fashion out of it.

Apart from the brilliant idea of the project I very much enjoyed my time in the store from Lisbon. Some of the cool products are available to people in the FABRICA Features spaces. So, the 4th floor of Benetton's building is not only a shop but an art gallery, a music center, a stationary exhibition, a cool place where one should make wishes. Yes, that's right, you have a special place with a sweet view over the city (even if it was raining at that time) where you should make a wish. Mine came true so the place has the good vibes. Definitely a must see!

P.S. I like Colors Notebook/blog.FABRICA/the sketchbooks and the special collections.
Special thanks to Ruxi with whom I share the same bag design now :)

the shop experience

We are overcoming the materialist state in a way because we started to appreciate the uniqueness of things, the one time events, the feeling that a shop gives you, the buying experience in marketing terms, the spiritual experience. This trend started around 4 years ago with the happening shops like Swatch Instant Store and it is now developing fast in most of Europe's capital cities.

I was last week in Bucharest, my hometown, and I was amazed by the quantity of newly opened concept stores, boutiques and experience shops. Kombinat is mainly a clothes shop but as the name says, they combine this with photography, good music played on the record player/tea - you can sit back and relax on a vintage sofa and drink your cup of tea while looking at the old stove with the Romanian classical kitchy porcelain toys decorating it/books - most of them on feminist themes, don't know why?!/paintings, pins/Berlin they say - maybe because it is now the coolest city in Europe; urban stuff and lots and lots of vintage influences.

Moreover, the owners are very friendly and nice people so, it is worth to go there enjoy the atmosphere, buy some cool clothes and have a talk with them. Hurray for Bucharest and quality shopping!

back to the roots

Catalan designers (and not only) presented their collections at 080 Fashion Barcelona, making a very good impression on their perception and inspiration in the textiles that should cover our body.

Many talented young designers inserted in their clothes next season's trend: less function more fiction/closer to nature/design inspired by vegetal world/loose fitting.

It is nice to see that in a world where we are consuming all the time without thinking of the consequences, they found a way to return to the roots and get closer to nature by using recyclable materials and nature motifs.

The conclusion: blend with the environment.