Dutch Design Week 2017: in4nite

Posted on 23/10/2017 by Mimi Berlin Amsterdam

Dutch Design Week 2017: in4nite

In October of each year, Dutch Design Week (DDW) takes place in Eindhoven. This year; 2017, it is held from 21-29 October. Mimi Berlin Blogger Team visited and reports to you; our readers. Let us start with one of our favorite presentations so far: in4nite (as in; infinite possibilities)

For the in4nite exhibition Low & Bonar (international marketleaders and producers of high-tech performance materials) invited 10 designers from Arnhem (productdesigners, architects and a graphic designer) to experiment with Colback^®. Why only designers from Arnhem, you ask of us: well, just like Low & Bonar they all work at Industrial Park the ‘Kleefse Waard’ in Arnhem, they probably met up at the local canteen?!

3D-printed Colbak by Rick Tegelaar

Pleated Colback combined with wood for blinds by Tyn van Orsouw

Pleated Colback for the ‘Rilly Nice Lamp” by Erik Stehmann

Glass panels with burned Colback. The Ghost Collection by Charley Reijnders. In the back the work of Klaas Kuiken.

Lamps with shades made from Colback. ‘in4nite Shades’ by Klaas Kuiken

Mieke Lucia created acoustic panels made with Colback®, including the presentation of her ‘Color Colback® Research Palette’.

Colback used to create a plisseé material for chairs. ‘Pleated Seat’ by Joris de Groot

Graphic design on Colback by Dana Dijkgraaf

Anyways; Colback^® is an overall brand name for a non-woven cloth-like material which is used to support technical fabrics used in transportation, interior carpeting, resilient flooring and for decorative solutions. (read more colback-nonwovens.com)

Since the Colback^® “cloth” is never used as a visible material by itself we think it’s a smart move of Low & Bonar to invite designers who are trained to come up with products that are gentle to the eye (and brain). As L&B state themselves: “The ‘in4nite’ project enables Low & Bonar to provide relevant design solutions extrapolating the aesthetical and functional properties of the Colback Technology.”

After visiting the top floor of ‘Building TQ’, which is filled with the results, we guess L&R can say that they succeeded; most of the ‘reinventions’ and/or designs seemed useful and ready for production. We think a visit to the ‘in4nite’ exhibit is certainly worth your while! Continue reading →

The Rainbow Flag ‘designed’ by Gilbert Baker

Posted on 03/04/2017 by Mimi Berlin Amsterdam

The Rainbow Flag ‘designed’ by Gilbert Baker

Added knowledge: A flag with a seven-striped rainbow design is used in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador is anachronically associated with Tawantin Suyu, or Inca territory. Even today in the city of Cusco, Peru it is common to see the flag around the city displayed even in government buildings and in Cusco main square. The flag is inspired on the wiphala which was part of Inca symbolism and used in the Tahuantinsuyo and traces its existence to the early 1920s.

Gilbert Baker, the man who came up with the Rainbow flag in1978 has passed away

Thursday night (March 30, 2017). He was 65. “Discussing his design at a 2015 exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art, Baker said: “I decided that we should have a flag; that a flag fit us as a symbol, that we are a people – a tribe, if you will. And flags are about proclaiming power, so it’s very appropriate. Baker’s design placed meaning on each colour: Pink (sexuality), Red (life), Orange (healing), Yellow (sunlight), Green (nature), Turquoise (art), Indigo (harmony) and Violet (human spirit). It has since been reduced to six colours, with pink and indigo removed. Blue is now used instead of turquoise.” (Read more at nme.com)

The Rainbow Flag designed by Gilbert Baker

(credits: Getty Images via nme.com)

The iconic Rainbow flag, which has been created to unite the gay community, fits perfectly In the series ‘Yes, that has been designed by a person’. Sometimes, with too uber-familiar symbols, you forget that there actually was a person who designed it. Just like the designers of, for example, the smiley or the peace-sign they often stay nameless. Hence this post.

Have a nice day! xoxo Mimi

The Fashionable Selby

Posted on 19/09/2014 by Mimi Berlin Amsterdam

The Fashionable Selby

Virginia Bates

Andrew Logan

Julie Verhoeven

Elie Top

After Tod Selby published his books on interior “The Selby is in Your Place” and “Edible Selby” it was time for him to portray the “Fashionable Selby” he did so in March 2014, not a new book, so why this post, you ask of us? Well, we at Mimi Berlin, just bought it, and we’re enjoying it to the fullest, just sharing that… “The next installment in the bestselling “Selby” series, Fashionable Selby explores the kaleidoscopic world of fashion, featuring profiles of today’s most interesting designers, stylists, haberdashers, models, shoemakers, and more. The subjects include a mix of the avant-garde, the traditional, the must-haves, and the totally unexpected. Chapters on individual artists bring readers inside their studios, workshops, and homes, and include Selby’s signature photographs and watercolors of not only the artists and their environments, but also the things that inspire them, the materials they use, their creative process, the people who work alongside them, and the final pieces. From the showroom of one of the Antwerp Six to the studios of Central St. Martins in London to a punk knitter in Brooklyn, Selby captures some of fashion’s biggest names, rising stars, and best-kept secrets.” -the selby. (images courtesy of the selby.com)

Mimi Beijing

Posted on 28/09/2013 by Mimi Berlin Amsterdam

Mimi Beijing

Mimi Berlin Blogger Team has been split up into two bloggers. One is Mimi Berlin as you know her and the other one is Mimi Beijing. You can follow her stories at the SALON/ blog until the 5th of October 2013. At night Mimi Beijing is visiting several ‘design vernissages’ at the Beijing Design Week (BJDW). Below she just left her tag (big time) at the opening party of the Amsterdam Guest City of BJDW which was held the 28th of September in “The Tank” an abandoned gastank situated in a former industrial area. On show was an introduction to Dutch designers and architects.

xoxo_mimi_berlin_beijing

Thanks to Martijn den Boer for coming up with the title; Mimi Beijing.

The Dutch at Beijing Design Week

Posted on 25/09/2013 by Mimi Berlin Amsterdam

Beijing Design Week, China’s biggest design event, has Amsterdam as it’s partnering city this year. Highlights of the Amsterdam Guest City “Design Goes Dutch” includes:

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam It present a preview of the retrospective of Amsterdam-based designer Marcel Wanders which will open in 2014 in Amsterdam. Accompanied by 5 recent projects by Benthem Crouwel Architects at Beijing’s Capital Museum. Starting Something is an exhibition that opens up an active dialogue between alumni of the Sandberg Institute, Dutch designers and students of CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts) in Beijing. The Made by US project launches during Beijing Design Week in partnership with the China Museum of Digital Arts. Peking Express. An exhibition of work by students from China Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA) and the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology (BIFT) produced under guidance of renowned Dutch fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe. Towards 2050 is bringing together Dutch and Chinese professionals in the field of urban development from both private and government related organisations. SALON/BJ Various Dutch designers, like Mimi Berlin, will be interacting with local colleagues, public and spaces by showing and/or creating their work in the Dashilar area of Beijing. Rubber Duck (Beijing), designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is a gigantic 26-metre-high yellow rubber duck, will be floating in Beijing.

Beijing Design Week 2013, will be held from September 25th trough October 5th.

Let me be your teddy bear

Posted on 03/03/2013 by Mimi Berlin Amsterdam

Let me be your teddy bear Fall/Winter Fashion shows: Runway Report from Mimi Berlin:
For Max Mara the cashmere warm, cosy beige coat is a trademark. Max Mara really is the best this season! They are the number one Teddy Bear makers.

All the above: Max Mara

Antonio Marras

TopShop Unique

Christopher Kane

Marc Jacobs.

Celine, a dress in fur….

Fendi

Calvin Klein Collection

Felder Felder

Pink cashmere Teddy Bear at Carven

Saint Laurent (all runway photo’s from style.com)

Miu Miu

Remarkable how much fur was used this F/W 2013 season, and not only by the Italian designers. And not only for coats. Accessories, embellishments, dresses, tops etc etc can be find in fur allsorts.