Category — Design Inspiration

'home within home'

‘home within home’ is do ho suh’s solo newest solo showcase. The exhibition gallery of leeum samsung museum of art has been decorated with suh’s thread-and-sheer-fabric-drawn representations of the places he has lived –Seoul, New York and Berlin.

The thread and fabric installation examines suh’s idea of “home” as the skeleton that creates boundaries, protects us and causes us to inhabit a place.

North Wall 2005

Though I respect his concept and inspiration, what blows me away is the scope and intricacy of his work. Not to mention I always seem to be drawn to old school handwork and technique. Drawn work is so old it becomes fresh and new. The detail is amazing. As well as the thought and planning for each piece is beyond compare.

Blueprint 2010-2012

From suspended buildings, to roomscapes and floating perspectives- this is a masterpiece.

3 corridors 2011

Reflection 2005-2011

348 west 22nd street, new york, NY 10011, USA–apt. a

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Remember your Trapper Keeper? The middle schooler’s must- have back in the day. It was every girl’s perfect depositary for all her Lisa Frank paraphernalia. As I was working my musings about Design Bloggers Conference ( BTW-Amazing- look for tomorrow’s post) I had a fashion distraction that conjured up all those Trapper Keeper memories for me. The distraction? Jeremy Scott’s sticker corset.

image via Go Runway

Scott must have had his own personal Lisa Frank moment that resulted  in this sticker bustier paired with signature LF star leggings that went down the runway at Bryant Park last month. Scott is known for his eccentric designs bordering on sensory overload. His A/W 2012 collection didn’t let up with metallic techno fabrics, disco pants, rainbow fur, light-up bindi  combining for some outrageous looks. My fashion distraction will play out in a scrapbooker’s dream window treatment using a mashup of stickers, papers and embellishments. Design should be fun. Oh and BTW- Lisa Frank is still designing and selling; just in case you’re in the market for a rainbow unicorn dancing with kittens.

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This year’s trend theme is Montage. Montage is made up of the four themes of Color Riot, Dark Lux, Craft

Industry, and Split Clarity. Restlessness, anxiety, curiosity, desire for design all signal a C change globally and Montage exemplifies that shift.

Colors play a leading role at the Heimtextil 2012 Trend Show: “We use intensive colors to set decisive accents. In the new season, rich, fresh shades will act as channels for emotions”, ex­plains Claudia Herke of bora.herke.palmisano, the design agency respon­sible for the concept of the Trend Show and fabric selection.

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Julia Roberts does it, so does Cameron Diaz, Sarah Jessica Parker, and  others. We’re talking about knitting or crocheting. All age groups and demographics are getting into crocheting and knitting; joining the 38 million consumers who enjoy doing these crafts according to the Craft Yarn Council. Expressing creativity is the number one motivation to pick up needles and hooks. Once they learn, knitters/crocheters find it to be a great stress reliever and great for making gifts.

So with knitting immersing itself in all manner of new media mash ups, it’s no wonder we are seeing it filtering into interiors. Watch for knits in all shapes and forms to get a stronghold in the home in 2012. We’ve seen its influence on fabrics, furniture, lighting, windows and even walls.

SPOTTED 2/2012 More Knit Looks

Knit credit cards by russian artist dimitri tsykalov is his take on global financial instability

Deryn Relph, a textile designer explored the effet that color has on emotions through the kitted media in these ” Uplifting Lampshades.” Relph specializes in knitted textiles for interiors and  merges this with previous upholstery and furnishing skills to create unique and contemporary solutions to an idea.

Tired of the cold sterility of most modernist furniture — then check out these inviting knitted stools by British textile designer Claire-Anne O’Brien. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, O’Brien’s funky and tactile stools are a refreshingly clever rethinking of what form the ordinary stool may take.

FLOR rethinks  traditional cable sitiches in these Just Plain Folk modular carpet tiles in muted neutral tones of 100% recycled Nylon fiber providing visual warmth for your floors.

The ‘loop chaise lounge’ was born from dutch designer sophie de vocht‘s interest in the ‘tufting’ technique, and is characterized by a high number of tufts of yarn inserted through needles on a fabric base. Designed for italian furniture company casamania, the chair features a metal structure in which ‘over-sized yarn’ is woven through to create a softness. The main base and seat are tightly woven, gradually getting looser in their stitching along the length of the chaise lounge, eventually fanning out over the floor.

Knitted wall panels seen at M&O

Don’t forget knitting cousin, Crochet. Believe me you won’t if you see any of Polish artist ,Olek’s work  who aggressively crochets her life into her work, and  has freely admitted to spending the night in her Knitting Is For Pussies exhibit,recently at the Christopher Henry Gallery.

Award winning designer Chae young Kim creates intricate interior products by combining analogue and digital techniques. Her Knitted Room Wallpaper is created using 2D vector graphics processed through a software to create a knitted 3D effect onto a printed surface.

We first saw this at imm Cologne as part of the Young Talents exhibition and it is now in production and available through Surface View.

Check out Etsy for loads of wonderful knittted and crochets accesories, soft furnishings and one-of-a-kind pieces if you’re looking to jump on the Knit trend bandwagon.

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Textile and leather suppliers showcased their newest looks in early December at Showtime in High Point. This show gives us a sneak peek of key looks we’ll see at the April High Point Market, with upholstery manufacturers shopping Showtime for fabrics.

Key looks and color trends at Showtime included:

1. Teal and burnt orange were strong color contenders, closely followed by apple green and bright lemon.

2. The neutral grays are morphing into driftwood or raffia.

 3.Botanicals are back, particularly in silhouetted prints of trees, ferns, or gingko leaves. Figurative florals are also key.

Pierre Frey + Deyrolle

4.Prevalent patterns included paisleys, cabana stripes, suzanis, toiles, lace, and Florentine tiles.

5. Menswear designs inspired leather looks, including a houndstooth pattern on a hair-on-hide.

Kyle Bunting Hair on Hide pillows

6.Crocodile featured strongly on fashion runways this fall, and it’s back in a very big way for leather suppliers.

7.Novelty patterns included folk-art birds, postcards, scientific equations( think Big Bang Theory), china plates, round chickens, and hamsa (a palm-shaped design).

8.In trims, look for tassels to start appearing again, particularly Deco-inspired designs that step away from the traditional shapes.

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