Leather designer Cecilio Castrillo hand-modelled the pink face mask that American singer Lady Gaga wore with a laser-cut Iris van Herpen dress at the MTV Video Music Awards this year.

Based on the shape of a gas mask Castrillo‘s design was strapped to Lady Gaga’s head with buckle and had goggle-like frames around the eyes with a mesh-covered hole for the mouth. The chin piece was decorated with curved cables that protrude in different directions.

“When I designed this piece I got inspired by gas masks, but wanted to make something a little bit different, so I included cables and I left free the eyes area with a big opening,” Castrillo told Dezeen.

“That’s because when I designed it I was thinking to be worn by a woman, so she could show the eyes enough.”

To contrast with the gas mask’s more sinister connotations, Castrillo hand-made the mask from a bright pink leather material.

“My work is always inspired by horror films as it was my favourite entertainment when I was a child,” he explained.

“The concept was something industrial, a bit gothic, but still different as that kind of colour reminds me of something sweet. I like mixing different concepts as in this case, a gas mask, that is something scary with a concept of something visually sweet.”

The pink mask was paired with a technicolour dress made by fashion designer Iris van Herpen from laser-cut multi-coloured duchess satin, which was hand-stitched onto a corseted body.

“The otherworldly gown radiates in fringed coils that drip off Lady Gaga’s body like raindrops,” said Iris van Herpen.

Lady Gaga wore the ensemble to accept her artist of the year award, as one of five outfit changes she wore during the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) on 30 August.

Castrillo, who has previously made designs for Madonna and Marilyn Manson, said that as face masks become a more common part of everyday life due to the coronavirus pandemic, they are in turn becoming seen as a fashion accessory.

“I remember when some years ago saw people on the underground wearing masks I thought, wow, so strange ,” he explained.

“We are all wearing masks, covering a part of our faces,” he added. “We all need them to protect ourselves and others, so I think definitely it’s now a fashion accessory.”

Other examples of masks made to be fashion accessories include a design with detachable chains plated in silver and gold, which German jewellery designer Saskia Diez created to appear less medical, and an expandable and reusable face mask Petit Pli made from recycled plastic bottles.

Photography courtesy of Iris van Herpen.

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I can’t be the only person who’s hung on to a nice metal package like this. This was gifted to me years ago, has long since been drained of its contents, and now lives in my shop as a storage object.

I like plastic for some things, but metal containers always seem more valuable, both to me and to society. Metal is recycled often, although the rates admittedly vary according to what the product was. The Aluminum Association, a lobbying group, reports that “More than 90 percent of the aluminum in building and automotive parts is recycled at the end of use,” whereas the EPA reports that aluminum containers and packaging came in at just 32.8%.

That’s still way better than the dismal 8.4% of plastic that was recycled in 2017, as reported by the EPA. As a result, “Nearly 75 percent of all aluminum produced in the U.S. is still in use today,” according to the Aluminum Assocation. Steel also does well: The Steel Recycling Institute cites an overall recycling rate of 86% (though their stats are from 2014).

Verity, a California-based packaging supplier, has taken a hard look at the statistics and come to a decision: Metal’s the way to go. Now they’re on a mission to convince manufacturers of personal care items, those plastic bottles and jars that clog our supermarket shelves, that their metal packaging is a better alternative.

“The long term vision for Verity is to make reusable packaging approachable for any brand size because in the end they know that reuse is the gold standard for a more sustainable future,” the company writes. “Offering metal packaging elevates a brand and user experience through aesthetics, form, and function and will actually get recycled at the end of its life. Verity’s packaging solutions can be integrated seamlessly in any product portfolio and the options to customize their solutions are endless.”

If you’re a designer in a position to spec packaging, check out Verity’s offerings and see if you can find a fit.

Products fair: Belgian studio Muller Van Severen has designed a serices of soft, doughy sofas to resemble fashion brand Kassl Editions’ Pillow Bags.

Aptly named the Pillow Sofa, the seating design by Hannes Van Severen and Fien Muller of Muller Van Severen was created with the aim of recreating Kassl Editions bags as pieces of furniture.

The seats of the sofas are formed from two stacked cushions that have attached loop-like sections of cushion to make them look like giant versions of the Pillow Bags. These wrap around a white padded backrest.

The sofas are made from the same oil-coated cotton from Italian textile manufacturer Limonta as the bags, but instead utilise the company’s fabric left over from fashion designs.

While the seats feature the same white, black and camel fabric colours as the bags, Muller Van Severen introduced the additional shades of green, navy and sky blue.

The Pillow Sofa is available in two different seating formats – a frontal and corner version. Its modular design means that users can keep the sofas as singular pieces, or can combine multiple seats together using the attached loop elements.

Kassl Editions was founded in 2018 as the joint venture of Graanmarkt 13 founders Tim Van Geloven and Ilse Cornelissens, fashion agent Bart Ramakers and colleague Charlotte Schreuder, and former Delvaux CEO Christian Salez.

Muller Van Severen’s Pillow Sofa can be seen in the Graanmarkt 13 store in Antwerp from 18 September, and will also be showcased at the Salone del Mobile design fair in 2021.

The Belgian design duo previously created a furniture collection from aluminium pipes lined up in welded rows, called Alltubes, which included a chair, a bench and a variety of cabinets.

The studio also exhibited a selection of their designs in Villa Cavrois – a modernist 20th-century villa near Lille, France.

Product: The Pillow Sofa
Designer: Muller Van Severen
Brand: Graanmarkt 13 and Kassl Editions

About Dezeen’s products fair: the products fair offers an affordable launchpad for new products. For more details email sales@dezeen.com.

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Goldmine for furniture designers: Ikea has scanned and uploaded every page of every Ikea catalog from 1950 to date.

I randomly clicked on just one year’s–1973–and found some interesting stuff. First off, this piece of transforming furniture upholstered in denim, whose design is straight out of second-year industrial design school:

And in addition to selling the now-anachronistic ’70s-style furniture set-ups you’d expect…

…I’ve learned that they used to sell some surprising items. Like record players and at least one funky speaker:

Vacuum cleaners:

Small, traditional workbenches:

And a discontented Swedish boy going for just 49 Swedish crowns:

“You’re getting the silent treatment until I GET MY SHARK BACK”

I found at least one piece that wouldn’t look out of place in a modern hipster apartment, this object-hanging unit:

I was also reminded of a disgusting interior design practice from the 1970s. People used to think it was cool to have carpeted floors…in the bathrooms.

Also, the catalog once served to educate consumers about the different materials that went into the furniture, like polyester foams, fiberfill and laminates.

We’re also treated to a look inside an Ikea store of the era…

…as well as a happy couple enjoying their products:

“I don’t see why it bothers you so much. If I place the bolster between us, I can rest my arm on it and more easily see my wristwatch. This is not about me being distant.”

Click through the year of your choice here.

L’artiste Sean Kenney, basé à Brooklyn, travaille avec des LEGO afin de construire des surprenantes sculptures d’animaux grandeur nature. Les briques LEGO sont un médium familier à tous, une initiation naturelle à l’art pour les enfants. Kenney n’a jamais arrêté de se servir de ce medium en combinant son expertise de dessinateur de bandes dessinées avec des plans méticuleux. Dernièrement, il a utilisé ses LEGO pour sculpter une ménagerie d’animaux pour une exposition itinérante intitulée Nature Connects. L’exposition, produite par Imagine Exhibitions, pose la question suivante : tout comme les briques LEGO s’interconnectent, comment notre monde naturel est-il interconnecté ?

Intégrant la flore et la faune, dont certains exemplaires sont plus grands que nature, l’œuvre de Kenney invite les visiteurs à redécouvrir la vie animale en rencontrant du léopard nuageux accroupi au colibri haut perché au-dessus d’un lys. Le sculpteur travaille avec une équipe d’artistes pour rechercher, planifier et exécuter chaque sculpture sur plusieurs mois. Selon sa taille, chaque projet peut prendre jusqu’à neuf mois et près de 50 000 briques.

Un projet monumental qui voudrait nous sensibiliser de manière ludique au respect de l’environnement.