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Created in 2004 by Gwenaëlle Chassin de Kergommeaux as an artistic outlet, GCDK De.Sign is an unconventional furniture design company started in Paris and is now based in Beijing. Chassin de Kergommeaux bases her work on careful research of aesthetics and materials, using eggshells, silk, gold leaf, sharkskin, mother…
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Antiques and fashion take flight in two Dalston boutiques
London’s East End is globally renowned for playing host to some of the world’s most stylishly eclectic fashion houses, art galleries and bars. But it’s the small gems you won’t necessarily hear about—unless you’re a local—that continue to fuel this reputation. Launched in 2010, Pelicans & Parrots is one such treasure. Nestled on Stoke Newington Road, just a short way from the beautiful chaos of Ridley Road Market, it’s a visual paradise, brimming with everything from vintage designer handbags through to antique leather armchairs. CH caught up with owners Ochuko Ojiri and Juliet Da Silva for a quick chat about antiques, aesthetics and avoiding the usual retail pitfalls.
We chose Pelicans & Parrots because we like the juxtaposition of the elegant parrot and the awkward—but beautiful—pelican.
Our stock comes from all over the world. Our furniture and objects are a mixture of new and vintage and come from different antique fairs and markets across the UK and EU. Much of our newer pieces are from the US as well as other areas of Europe. All our clothes are vintage and about 80% are sourced in Italy.
Hahaha! We often argue whether or not we want to sell an item! I’ve currently got a rather nice hunting jacket that I’m very reluctant to part with and I seem to recall Juliet carrying a pretty special YSL bag!
Being a pair of creatives in the middle of a recession we felt we had no choice but to try our own thing. We had nothing to fall back on, and bills to pay. I think we have been able to survive as we both come from a strong design and retail backgrounds. We decided early on to concentrate on creating a beautiful space filled with things that we love that also have heritage and longevity. We are constantly sourcing and putting our own twist on current trends and this is something we think sets us apart from every other store.
Finding the money and convincing people that—although we do love them—there’s life beyond the Pound Shops. On the flipside, it’s a great and rare privilege to have one’s taste and indulgences validated. We also get to meet some fantastic characters!
After living in the area for many years we could see that Dalston had a fast-growing social scene and nightlife that had migrated from Shoreditch. But, there were no shops! We took great delight in being described as “Dalston’s first proper shop”. We basically created what we ourselves needed. We want both shops to create an aspired spectacle. Whether it’s our life-sized caged flamingo in our first shop or the anthropological chic we employ in P&P Black.
I would tell them to visit Ridley Road Market in Dalston, eat at Rochelle’s Canteen in Arnold Circus E2 and shop at Afrique Fabriks on Kingsland Road, Dalston.
Pelicans & Parrots
40 Stoke Newington Rd
Dalston, London, N16 7XJ
Tel. +44 20 3215 2083
Pelicans & Parrots Black
81 Stoke Newington Road
Dalston, London, N16 8AD.
Tel. +44 20 7249 9177
Flash sale site culls rare finds from the Internet’s largest one-off marketplaces
It all started with a search for a pair of whalebones—two of them, between five and seven feet in length—to be mounted on a wall. Michael Moskowitz wanted to display the rare pieces to spark discussion of conservationist efforts, but found them exceedingly hard to come by. With all the flash sale sites around, he was surprised that there remained no options for curating Craigslist and Ebay, the Internet’s largest gold mines for rare and one-off finds. So he started Bureau of Trade, a newly launched website for unique items at remarkably low prices.
Currently in beta, the space features around 30 finds per day with plans to up the output to 150 in the near future. Among the treasures are a trillion dollars in Zimbabwean currency (valued at $500), a block of petrified lightning and a 19th-century French fire helmet. Tailoring to the anti-IKEA masses, Moskowitz selects the goods based on what he sees would peak the interest of a discerning collector.
Moskowitz’s background ranges from foreign policy analyst to IDEO designer, but he admits Bureau of Trade is informed by his personal experience searching the globe for rare collectibles. “If you’ve spent months scouring Bermondsey Market, and continue to hound Brooklyn and Alameda Fleas, travel to Kathmandu for sandalwood neckties, to Tel Aviv for illicit Afghan war rugs (don’t ask why they end up there), to Buenos Aires for pure silver goucho spurs from the 19th century, and correspond with teenagers in Tripoli to secure Qaddafi propoganda posters, I think you have at least some small trace of credibility to make a site like this work,” he says.
The site mashes up the tastes of a number of influences: effortless shopping à la Mr. Porter, humorous and informative copy they model on the writing of The Daily Show, visual appeal of Haw-Lin and the sensibilities of Brooklyn Flea shoppers. Succinct and entertaining descriptions limit product blurbs to tongue-in-cheek “suitable for” and “not suitable for” designations. Users can browse by category or world geography, which ranges from “American West” to “The Orient.”
While Bureau of Trade is a free service, users are still asked to register. “We want to keep things exclusive,” says Moskowitz. “There shouldn’t be three, five or 50 Walrus skin attachés carried around Manhattan at any given time—at least prior to the Mayan apocalypse.” In the future, Bureau will offer a subscription service to help customers find specific items as well as alert them when preferred merchandise becomes available.
Contemporary crisis and mythical inspiration in a Greek design collection
by Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi
When one thinks of Atlantis, a phantasm of decadence and splendor floods the senses, harkening a city at the height of its glory. For the “Atlantish: quite like Atlantis” collection, design collective Greece Is For Lovers (GIFL) turned to the present to communicate the allegorical allure of the past through modest design classics synonymous to Grecian culture. GIFL designer Thanos Karampatos says he wanted to “play with the idea of how the current and the antique are often blurred.” The ubiquitous and somewhat nondescript styrofoam water cooler is peppered throughout fishing docks and port cities across Greece, while disposable paper cloth adorns the tables of provincial tavernas all over Greece. Yet with Greece on the brink of a financial crisis, these objects possess a nostalgia quite like Atlantis, symbolic of a bygone era of innocence.
In that vein, as an ode to the historical vestiges of Atlantis, a plastic water cooler was sculpted into a luxe red earthen clay pot while trite tablecloths were turned into precious silk twill scarves emblematic of the lost city. The end result straddles the line of calculated irony and metaphoric reverence, with neither evoking a retrogressive aesthetic. At the same time, utility and integrity are not lost in the beautifying process. “Our products always have a utilitarian aspect but we insist on giving priority to emotive qualities and metaphors,” reflected Karampatos. Indeed, both recreations are sensitive to the distinction of Atlantis, but in their functionality do not capitulate in addressing the present. Karampatos feels this mirrors his current country’s plight in that Greece “obsess over the glory of the past rather than firmly focusing on the problematic present and future to come.”
“Atlantish: quite like Atlantis” had a recent unveiling at the 2011 Tent London design trade show and the metaphorical significance of the collection resonated among fair-goers. Despite standing as one of their more opinionated pieces of work, Karampatos comments that “this is by no means a campaign for Greece. Of course the Greek crisis has been an inspiration factor around this in a symbolic way of how Greek people interpret the chasm between the glorious past and the bleak present.” In keeping with the ephemeral beauty of Atlantis, the limited series of just seven ceramic decanters sell for €350. The scarves, on the other hand, will be a permanent part of the GIFL product range and will be available soon online.
Ten antiques less than $200 from the online destination for vintage and modern homewares
Founded in 2006, VandM (Vintage and Modern) is a membership-based online sales site with a passion for treasures from the past, specializing in unique and original furniture, household goods, jewelry and textiles. VandM provides insightful editorial notes to inspire and educate members about most pieces available for sale. While browsing VandM’s wide selection we selected 10 of our favorite antiques priced less than $200.
The Vintage Terracotta Head and signed Op-Art abstract photograph stand out in the art and photography section. The unglazed bust seems at once rustic and mysterious, while the signed 16″x16″ print—dated 1969—shares a similar color palette to work by famed Danish designer Verner Panton.
An elegant pair of Willy Guhl Dietker & Co chairs by the Swiss architect and furniture designer were produced by Deitker & Co. in 1959, and for just $200 for the set represent an excellent deal. Juxtaposing the classic mid-century style is a industrial work station on wheels, with cast-iron legs and wooden shelves for $185.
Falling under the category of “found object of industry,” this large, 1950s-era botanical chart ($200) from Dr. Louis Auzoux offers easy-to-read scientific illustrations of nine intriguing species of flora. On the other hand, the Op-Art bull’s-eye-patterned velvet pillows—only available in the 20″x14″ size for $180—hail from the bold-design era of the 1960s. Each cushion is hand-sewn in Zurich, Switzerland with premium vintage fabric.
This Swiss-made adjustable table lamp and Wilhelm Kienzie-designed metal storage box follow the Bauhaus design mantra that form should equal function, and each is beautifully crafted for maximum use. Both items retail for $180.
With the characteristic flare of its country of origin, the single statement-making vintage Italian glass lamp, priced at $195, remains in excellent condition. A set of antique Bakelite flatware features classic two-tone color combination of opaque honey and translucent dark teal. Dating back to the 1940s, this stainless steel set serves six and comes in its original box for $145.
Handpicked Americana style for the home now available online
ByKenyan‘s Kenyan Lewis has more than an exceptional eye for antiques. Together with his partner Grace Kelsey, the two live and breathe the Americana lifestyle—from their beautifully rustic home and interior design projects to prop styling and selection of collector’s items discerningly sourced from around the U.S. For those looking for a dose of their style, you no longer have to be a ByKenyan client to achieve it. An assortment of these one-off rare finds now sell online from Gargyle, along with a forthcoming video series featuring the handsome twosome as they “shop for the goods.”
Products currently up for purchase span a 1920s oil field workers’ tape-measure divided into 10ths, glass apothecary vessels, a Russian “Amepnka” (America) letterpress stamp and 1940s Marx dump trucks—which you maybe have seen on display at our ByKenyan-designed holiday pop-up shop for the Gap last year.
The Gargyle selection will rotate monthly, but for those who don’t want to wait to see what’s up next, ByKenyan also offers a personalized furniture shopping and home merchandising services. To see where Kenyan and Grace find some of their classic decor, tune into the upcoming episode of HGTV’s “My Favorite Place” which will air 30 July 2011 at 6pm.
A Parisian artist channels her passion for natural history and evoking the past with a series of unearthly collages
by Isabelle Doal
An archaeologist-turned-anthropologist-turned-artist, Parisian Gaelle Faure uses collage to tell her own version of history. She forages flea markets for antiques and second-hand items, such as old photographs, dolls, dried butterflies and other hidden treasures, which she combines with anonymous letters, postcards and diary entries from old journals in order to give the past new life. Formerly specializing in funeral rituals, Faure’s interest in evoking memories by resurrecting forgotten stories seems a natural fit for the curious creative.
The daughter of sculptors, Faure discovered a passion for uncovering the past through her grandfather, a scientist who used to collect skulls, bones and old academic medical books.
Through a combination of thoughtfully-positioned artifacts placed in frames, her anachronistic microcosms reflect her overall sense of humor. For example she illustrates the literal translation of “rack your brain” which in French translates to “to dig one’s head” with a series of headless images culled from a 20th century magazines.
Faure is currently working on the re-construction of an old photo album, which she found in a flea market. The photographs are taken from the album, scanned and scrambled into a humorous picture, to create what she calls “a poetic omelet.”
Her interest in found objects also extends to furniture like lamps and chairs, which she customizes and sells upon request.
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