Today was extremely windy with winds @ 40km/h! It felt like I was going to blow over @ any minute...biking was worse and I should have ridden backwards seeing the winds as strong as they were. Besides the weather, it was a relaxing day, therefore being ondsdag, select museums and galleries were free of entrance and therefore I headed out to the Dansk Design Center. Unknowingly, there was an soirée going on. It happened to be the opening evening for the "Muuto-Business i Design" exhibition.Muuto is a Danish company of collective designers producing design products, just like Italian's Alessi. The crowd was a usual mix of creative minds- designers, buyers, fashionlites, djs and surprisngly, parents with their kids, nonetheless the parents looked and dressed as if they came out of a Scandinavian label's lookbook. Kids @ a design exhibition opening? Explains why they are so design conscious. There were some standout products such as this storage system above by Pil Bredhal. It's an ever changing system, allowing for a wide variety of needs and composition, and best of all, it is easy to transport since every cylinder fits within another! design + practicality= danish.
Then off to the smaller halls was another exhibit, "The Danish Gift", which displays a vast variety of design products deriving from Denmark. Walking through the exhibit, I realized that much of the products I saw were the products being used in my host family's home and that many of them are stocked in design stores back in the states. Practically everyone in America owns a piece of Danish design, can u guess what it is?
It's the last week of February...and you know what that means...
As far as I am concerned she has won the battle of words, besides she's on home turf...
Anyways if anyone noticed, there's a big gap between the first post to the more recent ones...that's because I never updated ever since I left for the month long winter vacation.
So, in the upcoming days, I will begin to post up stuff starting from the Christmas week all the way up to the end of January...sorry for the confusion and the mixed entries...but, hey, you asked for it!
So, I'm here procrastinating working on a presentation for my Danish language class, and what better distraction than watching Danish MTV?
I came across this song that I have heard several weeks ago but yet not seen the video until now.
Its a Unicef ballad, you know the kind of song that asks what's going on in the the world while images of kids from Africa roll through the video...
Except this one has mixes in images of Danish kids and what looks like scenery from around Copenhagen.
Honest to say the song is catchy even though I dont understand much of it, except that the title translates literally to "What Now If"...
it's sung by Danish artist Alex and features the popular Danish R&B duo Nik & Jay...honestly what do they really contribute to the song besides prancing around and spitting out a couple of words?
Anyways take a look for yourself...its probably one of the few times you will hear Danish sound this pleasing...
Better yet...look for the lyrics and sing along...haha...
Hey it's been a week since I came back from Berlin...and let me say...it was DAMN cold!
Nevertheless it was an exciting trip to a city full of history, tragedies and life.
It was a mere high of 4 degrees and a low of -5 during our stay. But I always imagined Berlin as a cold city, fostered by the its dark history. However the city was beautiful, a diverse mix of the old and the new, particularly the modern architecture in East Berlin.
The Jewish Museumby Daniel Libeskind exhibited the vast history of the Jews. The building itself didn't do much for me but rather the various rooms and interiors were more effective. There were few spaces that offered solitude and contemplation by the use of light/darkness, confinement/openness, and noise/silence. We had lunch at the top of the Rechistag Building by Sir Norman Foster, which had great panoramic views overlooking the city. It was kind of weird since it was the parliment building and you can see the politicians in session while walking through the building, transparent democracy anyone? Mies van der Rohe's Neue Nationalgalerie was my personal favorite as it was a fine specimen of his work: detailing, glass and steel. It housed a vast array of modern artwork from Dali to Mondrian. A visit to Berlin wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Berlin Wall. Most of it is gone now (either taken after the fall by private individuals or sold in gift shops!) but a section of it remains. Covered in layers of painted murals it serves as a memorabilia of the Cold War.
TheStasimuseum by far was the most interesting museum. Located in the headquarters of the old organization, the Stasi was the secret police of the East German government. Just learning about the extent of how a government AND its people can possibly spy on its citizens was shocking. To end the trip we went to Sachsenhausen, a former Nazi Concentration Camp. No doubt it was an eery experience walking through the old barracks and execution trench but yet one I will not forget.
Overall Berlin is a very much a contradiction of old and new, which is why I will have to return.
Well I'm heading off to Germany tomorrow. Its roughly a 2 hour ride to the south of Denmark, then a 2 hour ferry ride, and then another 2 hour ride through Germany into Berlin. I'm excited to see the infamous city and how it is today compared to its somber past. I'll be there until Saturday night... In the mean time, enjoy this image i stumbled across this week...
Evoking some sort of space-age-underwater theme with mannequins strutting out with eye length green bangs, Henrik Vibskov once again doesn't dissapoint.
Waiting for nearly an hour and a half out in the freezing cold outside of the venue @ the Gra Hall in Chirstiania, the only thing that kept the spirits up of the attendees to the show was the free beer and vodka shots.
The theme of the show seemed to revolve around mint, either the color or illuding to the "mint plants" of Christiania, men and women in lab coats with the emblem "Mint Institute" spread across their backs. Neverthless, they were boozing up the crowd with mint vodka shots in the ambiance of weed in the air.
Being the A/W collection, the color palette remained tamed relatively to the past collections (ps some of the last remaining pieces of the candy colored SS08 collection is on sale @ the Krystalgade shop). Suits and shirts all were beautifully crafted, with Scandinavian twists on the construction like puffs, pleats and volume.
When a piece seemed too traditional, Vibskov threw in a splash of his signature pattterns (i.e. his infamous purple-blue checkers) in the form of shawls, blankets, leggings, and socks.
After the show, the hall was turned into the official afterparty, where even Mr. Vibskov came out and partied with the guests( I have to admit, he was quite the drummer as he has been playing it since he was 10). More complimentary beer (Tuborg Gold to be exact) and mint vodka shots were provided for the guests.
Great music, and even better dressed attendees. If you were to dress to impress, shoes were definitely your best bet. Patent leather LAM oxfords and O.C.'s charcoal plimsolls were highlights of the night.
While Vibskov is being deemed as "King of Denmark", Copenhagenistas, Manhattan urban hipsters and stockists in L.A. are swallowing up his work, the majority of Americans will not follow suit. Just keep an eye out for this rising Jutland designer.
Day 3- SPOTTED today around 16:30: Mathias riding on his bike around tivoli and radhuspladsen, (and yes, the SCAR gave it away)
Mathias last night @ Bruuns Bazaar
i'm still left wondering....is miss Beha in town? maybe she'll be @ Norreport along with the other journalists/editors roaming about town this weekend...
Will they be back in their hometown for the all the hoopla and festivities?...
beha klint lauridsen laursen
AW08 Copenhagen Fashion Week officially kicked off yesterday but things wont start to pick up until tonight and tomorrow. With all the shows and after "fetes" happening across the pacific, CPHFW is relatively tame to its older well-heeled sisters. As for these four Danes of high-end editorial fame, chances are they will be in New York doing the rest of the weeks shows...but who knows...maybe Beha will take the red eye to do the H.V. show (i.e. SS07) or Klint will boozing it up at NASA...
Today was extremely windy with winds @ 40km/h! It felt like I was going to blow over @ any minute...biking was worse and I should have ridden backwards seeing the winds as strong as they were.
There were some standout products such as this storage system above by Pil Bredhal. It's an ever changing system, allowing for a wide variety of needs and composition, and best of all, it is easy to transport since every cylinder fits within another! design + practicality= danish.
