Welcome to the World of Moooi

International design brand Moooi, defined by its CEO and Cofounder, Casper Vissers as ‘a serious company with a smile’ has opened the doors of its first permanent showroom & UK headquarters in London at Portobello Dock. 

After opening showrooms in Antwerp and Milan earlier in the year the Moooi crew have now sailed to the UK, one of the company’s leading markets, a timely arrival to coincide with the capital’s celebrations for the London Design Festival.

The event represents the realisation of the company’s dream. ‘London breaches history with English habits. It’s a liberal city that offers the best of the world in each department: culture, architecture, museums, restaurants and last but not least, people!’ Casper Vissers, Moooi CEO

The World of Moooi is revealed to London under the creative direction of designer and Cofounder Marcel Wanders. The new canal side residence is located at The Dock’s distinguished ‘The White Building’, a Grade II listed stucco house dating back to the late 1900s, (and most recently home to the Virgin Group HQ).
Joining Moooi in the 250m² ground floor space, is Dutch resin flooring specialist SENSO, who are marking this event with the international debut of ‘Impressions’, a unique range of flooring designed by Marcel Wanders, with a print true to the style of Wanders’ ‘new classics’, giving the spectator a playful three-dimensional illusion.

With 75% of the Moooi’s UK turnover generated within the contract market, both Moooi and Senso share a like-minded approach to creative and innovative business. Through their combined energy and vision the London showroom is set to become a user-friendly environment for the nation’s architectural and design industry, part of The Dock’s design hub-alongside Tom Dixon’s showroom.
‘Moooi is just in the beginning stages in London, to grow further we need the visibility of the product that will allow the team to work more closely with our existing and potential clients’. Casper Vissers, Moooi CEO.

The permanent showroom will house Moooi’s design icons in coexistence with the new products launched at the Salone del Mobile 2010 in Milan. The introduction’s include the new Monster chair by Marcel Wanders, the tenderness and grace of Nika Zupanc’s 5 O’ Clock table & chairs and the exotic elegance of the Emperor lamp by Chinese designers Neri & Hu - all seen for the first time in the UK. Amongst the iconic products on display will be the extraordinary Smoke collection by Maarten Baas, the inventive Brave New World lamp by young talents British duo Fresh West, Skai table tops as an addition to Marcel Wanders’ successful Container Table collection and the soft glow of Raimond Puts’ LED lamp, last year’s star.

Almost 1000m2 of Senso’s seamless Castfloor will be installed throughout the White Building and The Dock, demonstrating the range of colours and the beautiful finish created with its use in retail, showroom, restaurant and office spaces. The co-operation between both brands, Moooi and Senso, couldn’t be cleverer.

‘Moooi items need a charming floor to stand on and Senso floors look nicer in an inspiring location & setting. The perfect partnership!’ Casper Vissers, Moooi CEO. 

Kelly Hoppen by Welton Parfums

When internationally-renowned interior designer Kelly Hoppen decided to develop her own range of fragrances for the home, it was only natural for her to call on John-Paul Welton. Creator of tailor-made perfumes John-Paul Welton dreams up his future fragrances in the perfume capital of Grasse, on the French Riviera. The WELTON LONDON range of fragrances have already won over a very up- market international clientele.

For Kelly Hoppen, John-Paul Welton has created notes that are full of character, in tune with the famous interior designer’s personality and her world. Throughout her career, Kelly Hoppen has known how to lead the field, to be a trend-setter. Thanks to the various products in the KELLY HOPPEN by WELTON PARFUMS home fragrance range, everyone can create their own scented world and give their interior a chic Kelly Hoppen designer touch.

The KELLY HOPPEN by WELTON PARFUMS range is available as scented candles in three sizes and a home fragrance diffuser.
Fragrance I Aromatic - Woody - Spicy
Fragrance II Woody - Spicy - Fruity
Fragrance III Floral - Powdery
Fragrance IV Woody - Citrus

Riva 1920 - Le Briccole di Venezia

Riva 1920 is an Italian manufacturer founded in, you guessed it, 1920.  What is so remarkable about the company is that they have remained a company after 90 years.  Unchanged.  Dedicated. Family. Quality Artisan Woodwork.  Green.



The Riva family was green before green was hip.  Long known for their quality, solid woodwork, the Rivas realized that their final product was only as good as their materials.  Their material needed to be protected as a resource.  All of their wood has been approved by the Forest Stewardship Council, an internationally recognized non-governmental organization dedicated to the control of woodland products.  The certification of the council guarantees that the material is from a well-managed forest.



In honor of their 90th Anniversary, Riva 1920 invited designers to work with ‘Le Briccole di Venezia.’  The briccole of Venice are the wooden oak poles sunk into the seabed to provide navigation information to boats along the lagoon. These posts last an average of 5-10 years, after which they are replaced.  During that time the posts are exposed to microorganisms, the sea, and marine flora and fauna. Riva 1920 has obtained these briccole and is re-claiming them, producing a series of sculptures, bookcases, tables, stools, and art.  The finished pieces place emphasis on the history of change of the material: wear and tear, wood worms, all are still visible in the transformative nature of the designs. The wood is unsealed- it will continue to change, stain and patina as it used and ages in its new environment.




Slice of Briccole _Slice of Venezia _ by Starck
RIVA 1920 in collaboration with the creator PHILIPPE STARCK wishes to do something practical for the City of Venice.
RIVA 1920 and Philippe Starck are supporting the Fondazione MaterDomini
(MaterDomini Foundation) Centro Tutela del Bambino Onlus
(Centre for the Protection of Children).
For the entire duration of the exhibition “TRA LE BRICCOLE DI VENEZIA”, 26 August to 26 September, all funds from the sale of the set of table mats designed by Philippe Starck and produced by RIVA 1920 will support the Fondazione MaterDomini – Centro Tutela del Bambino.
The price of each 6-piece set of table mats is 60,00 euros (including V.A.T.)



Fondazione Materdomini – its aims and its actions:
Since 1993 the Fondazione MaterDomini has been organising not-for-profit activities in support of disadvantaged children and families, concentrating particularly on cases of mistreatment and sexual abuse against minors.
The Foundation seeks to help families in situations of great difficulty and distress, and sometimes involves taking victims of mistreatment, abuse or serious neglect into care. We are convinced that it is poverty and marginalisation that prevent these families from bringing up their children as they have a right to.
The Foundation’s operations are organised in three interconnected specialist sections: Educational Communities for under-16s, of which there are two; the Clinical Section and the Centre for Research and Training. The Communities take on the role of “Temporary Home”, offering the child a welcoming and caring environment where confidence and trust in adults can be rebuilt.
This work benefits from the psychotherapeutic support of the Clinical Section and the residual resources of the families themselves. The Sunflower Community (“I Girasoli”) is home to 6 adolescent girls, while the Daisy Community ( “Le Margherite”) is home to 8 children under the age of 12. These children are taken into the Foundation’s homes having first been separated from their families by Court Order arising from neglect, mistreatment or sexual abuse. Finally, it is the aim of the Centre for Research and Training to promote a culture of child protection and strengthening of the family.



An exhibition showing the work of 29 important figures in the world of design, of art and of fashion, animated by ecological concerns connected with the re-use of an object that is an iconic part of the Venetian scene: the Briccole, the oak mooring posts that rise out of the lagoon. Eroded by the tides, the posts are given new life in the projects of these designers and transformed into objects of art by Riva 1920.


The Exhibition
Design, art, handwork, ecology, re-use of wood: these are the elements Riva 1920 would like to show through the display “Tra le Briccole di Venezia” (“Among the posts in Venice”) at the Arsenale North in Venice, held during “Passion 4 Clean Ideas” exhibition, in occasion of the 90th anniversary of Company RIVA 1920.
Following the experience, belonging to the designing culture of the company, with the Kauri wood, come to light after more than 30.000 years, research keeps on with the project “Briccole Venezia”: designing new shapes and functions, without undermining natural balances.
Contemporary architecture and design therefore support sustainability. The challenge of Riva 1920 is to combine the yearly trend to use natural and ecologic elements with modernity and research for beauty at the highest level.

The so called “briccole”, the posts in chestnut oak on which Venice is built, are used for docking gondolas and as beacons. They are at least ten meters (32.8 feet) high and once driven into the lagoon, they have an average life not longer than 5-10 years. Their section affected by tide rise and fall becomes the natural home for microorganisms as well as sea flora and fauna, but once corroded, they are completely replaced.
The idea is simple: to reuse these posts once their “life” in the lagoon is over.

This is where this initiative originates from. On one side to recover these “briccole”, the high chestnut oak dolphins, you can still clearly see along the lagoon rivers; on the other side the work of those designers invited to reinterpret this extraordinary material, full of history, that water has turned into real “natural sculptures” during the years.


The 29 big names that “sign” the items of the display “Tra le briccole di Venezia” are a real pride as well as a further confirmation of the unique character of this project:

Antonio Citterio (booth), Terry Dwan (console), Michele De Lucchi (bookshelf), Mario Botta (small table), Matteo Thun (table), Pininfarina (model of Cisitalia 2020, antique car), Luca Scacchetti (table), Helidon Xhixha (table), Aldo Cibic (table), Enzo Mari (sculpture), Erasmo Figini (lamp), Paola Navone (installation), Karim Rashid (small sofa), David Chipperfield (bookshelf), Pierluigi Cerri (table), Marc Sadler (totem), Franco and Matteo Origoni (stool), Riccardo Arbizzoni (bank), Elio Fiorucci (painting on wood with female legs), Luisa Castiglioni (shelf), Angela Missoni (hammock), Claudio Bellini (console), Thomas Herzog (small-tables), Philippe Starck (wooden plates), Aldo Spinelli (table), Pinuccio Sciola (totem), Davide e Maurizio Riva (stool).



Venice, the dolphins, their life into water: a way to mark the passing of time, the memory, but mainly the future. To go over and beyond contemporary trends, looking for brand new shapes in a sort of conscious ready-made, taking design to slow down and finally consider environmental issues, linked to the reuse of natural materials. Wood is alive and its life is renewed thanks to designers and their ideas.

   

Exhibition at Selfridges

London
09 Sep - 09 Oct

Originally launched at the Milan art fair, designers involved in Briccole di Venezia include David Chippenfield and Paolo Pininfarina whose pieces will be exhibited at Selfridges London over the coming month.
Briccole are the posts made out of chestnut oak that arise from out of the Venetian lagoon, used traditionally for docking gondolas.
Affected by tide rise and fall, Briccole become the natural home for microorganisms as well as sea flora and fauna and once corroded are completely replaced. The idea behind the exhibition is to reuse these posts once their life in the lagoon is over and transform them into pieces of furniture.
Visit Selfridges London, Fourth Floor, between 9 September and 9 October to view Briccole di Venezia.

mysqueeze video competition

‘mysqueeze’ is an exciting design collaboration between mydeco and Alessi – the dons of Italian product design. The search is on to find a filmmaker who can create the most enticing cinematic counterpart to this quirky piece of design- selected by ‘Mr Lemon Squeezer’ himself – Philippe Starck. Are you a budding filmmaker or a product design freak? Read on an enter your idea before September 20.




In 2009 Roland Kreiter won mydeco.com’s ‘Pure Creativity’ competition. Picked by judge Philippe Starck, Kreter’s design for a juicer is manufactured using 3D rapid prototyping by renowned manufacturer Alessi. Not only did Starck give Kreiter a prestigious internship working at the designer's Paris studio, he also picked up the phone to Alberto Alessi and told him he'd found his next iconic juicer. The 'mysqueeze' forms part of Alessi's 2010 Object Bijou collection.

"This seemed to me like a worthy tribute to "Juicy Salif" (1990), the most controversial Citrus-squeezer of the twentieth century." Alberto Alessi



With the launch of mysqueeze at the end of October 2010, mydeco are planning to release a series of videos showing mysqueeze being used in creative ways.

“The object itself is not immediately self-explanatory and we want to see some creative uses for it. What is it? How would you use it? Is it an object or is it kitchen equipment, who knows? mysqueeze is a blank canvas.” Daniel Nelson from mydeco.com

Requirements and prize:

We want your ideas for a short film (anything from 5 seconds to 1 minute) that teases as to what the mysqueeze is.


At this stage we’re simply looking for your idea and you can communicate this to us however you feel most comfortable. Whether it’s a storyboard, a few scamps, a written explanation or even a test shot, we’ll accept your idea in any format.

Once we have your idea, mydeco will choose 5 filmmakers to create 1 film each that will go on to be used in the international publicity campaign to promote ‘mysqueeze’.

Each film-maker will be provided with a small production budget and will receive £100 prize for their work as well as being fully credited.

How to enter:
Email your idea to Daniel Nelson - dnelson@mydeco.com
==
 
Key dates:

Tight, tight, tight!

Competition opens: Monday 6 September 2010
Deadline for Entries: Monday 20 September 2010
5 winners are then chosen to make their films.
All films must be completed by Monday 11 October 2010

Notes for entrants

Each winner will receive a prototype of mysqueeze to use in their film. mydeco will be on hand to help with the production of each film, however bear in mind a small budget for each film - no Hollywood scenes!

Ghost Buster

"For years I kept looking for a good commode and a good night table for myself. I could never find them. To console myself, I did an evocation of one and called up the spirit of all those commodes that may have existed and that I never ran across. Something minimum, an invisibility which is nevertheless very necessary in our humble daily life." (Philippe Starck, 2009)


The Kartell catalogue welcomes yet another family of furnishings to swell its ranks - commodes and night tables. Revisited by Starck, the Kartell style commode brings to mind the classic piece of furniture brought up to date by the use of the plastic material of which it is made and by its transparency. Soft, elegant and intriguing, Ghost Buster communicates both a retro and a futurist mood.



On its surfaces solidity and air, corners and curves, straight lines and sinuous lines continue in an infinite play of perspectives and reflections that catch the eye, fascinate and spark the curiosity. Its transparency transforms it into a naked ethereal vision - a ghost - the evocation of the piece of furniture that it represents. Ghost Buster is a monobloc made from a single mould with three shelves and stands on four L-section legs.


The night table version of the Ghost Buster commode is a completely transparent small square cube on four legs. Made of plastic, like its ‘big brother', Small Ghost Buster also plays with the reflections and perspectives generated by the alternation of corners and curves over the entire surface. An iridescent little ghost that works well in any corner of the home.

We can be heroes

Around twenty years ago I made a small jewel for my then girlfriend and big love. She was very ill at the time and it was not always clear if we could become old together or not. She was, in ways more than myself, the hero of us two and one day I wanted to tell her this. Or more so, let her feel this and show it to her. I made a beautiful small pin with nothing more than four letters: hero. She was, and still is to this day, a hero to me.

For a long time I dreamed of sharing this pin with a lot of people. Co-operating with a Dutch magazine called Libelle, I did include the pin in their magazine and was able to reach 500,000 readers and so another 500,000 heroes. The Hero Pin ( translated as Held in Dutch ) was meant to inspire people exploring what their most important values are. To be able to find these, recognise them in others and let them know by rewarding them with this hero pin. A small jewel that makes people look for the qualities they value most in people.
Marcel Wanders

The 'Hero Pin' will be available for purchase from 1st September 2010 at the Galerie Louise Smit, Prinsehgracht 615, Amsterdam for 0,05 cents each.
Representing an elite range of International Artists, Galerie Louise Smit is the premier Amsterdam Contemporary Art Jewellery Galerie. Galerie Louise Smit organises group exhibitions as well as exclusive projects and is proud to partner with Marcel Wanders' 'Hero Pin' projects.

Paint it white ?

Jade Jagger shares her must-have white fashion finds to launch the Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 mini pro white exclusively on Three.

The heat is on with this seasons coolest shade of pale.  With flawless fabrics, statement showpieces and opaque accessories, white is the only shade to be seen styling this summer. 

The timeless fashion pallet dominated the collections this summer with everyone from Stella McCartney, Fendi and Calvin Klein featuring dazzling white ensembles.  The fashion elite are also well aboard the white wagon – one fashion forward trendsetter that loves this season’s most luxurious pale pallet is fashion and jewellery designer Jade Jagger.

Despite being renowned as a tricky colour to carry-off, Jade is fully embracing the simplicity of this season’s top trend and supporting the launch of the new Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 mini pro in white.

Forever in vogue, Sony Ericsson’s new Xperia™ X10 mini pro in white is exclusively available on Three.  This ‘mini but mighty’ handset is the epitome of sleek summer style that no fashionista should be seen without.  At less than 10cm long, it is perfectly proportioned to fit in even the tiniest of clutch bags, leaving you plenty of room for your other fashion essentials.

It comes with  a five megapixel camera and features Sony Ericsson Timescape™ which is basically a live feed off all your texts, emails and social media posts.

The Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro in white is  available from Three stores on The One Plan, offering 1GB of Data, 5000 texts, 2000 any network minutes, 5000 Three to Three minutes for £30 a month. 

This is a very stylish phone and in the simplest way

Jade’s white wish-list

To celebrate, Jade has given an exclusive insight into her superstar style with her 10 must-have white items.  From classic handbags, stylish sunnies and the all important staple LWD, it’s what every fashionista needs to rock the ultimate white look this summer.

Jade Jagger’s white wish-list:

1.      Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 mini pro white exclusively available on Three

2.      White RayBan sunglasses

3.      White lace sundress from the Jade Jagger collection

4.      Classic white Chanel handbag

5.      White Leighton Denny nail varnish

6.      White Jezebel Kiss necklace

7.      White Haviana flip flops

8.      White Russian

9.      White Goyard suitcase

10.  White Kate Moss Topshop shorts