Strolling around the small little booths of the upcoming designers, we found this amazing gem: Ricardo Campa from Santa Muerte. An amazing leather craftsman who got us really excited with his unusual creations that range from briefcases to decks and that are all handmade in Mexico. They will soon be up for display at www.tusantamuerte.com but until his site launches, which should be soon, you’ll have to make do with the images that are available after the jump…
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Check out these ultra cool computer gadgets with the distinct pattern from the Finnish Design company Marimekko. An absolute must have for the Marimekko addict. More pictures after the jump…
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The multifunctional coffee table Lynch from Swedish David Design can be used in many ways; as a bar, pot holder or even a magazine rack… Its all about your imagination. We love the play with geometrical shapes and the contrast between the airy and fragile feet and the substantial and solid top. It is available in natural walnut or in white and black. A unique and beautiful contemporary designed table, that pays homage to the tabletop bars of the 50’s and 60’s.

Clever folks like Melanie and Dana Harvey make us smile. The dynamic duo has created what are perhaps the most durable purses known to womankind. And the story behind them is as interesting as the purses themselves. While installing seatbelts in their 1950 Buick, they were struck with a genuine “aha!” moment. Why not make Melanie a matching seatbelt handbag? While toting her one-of-a-kind design around town, she attracted such insanely jealous stares from strangers and positive feedback from neighbors that the couple decided to make a business of it. “Never satisfied with the status quo,” they experimented with new colors and styles. The couple’s one car garage in California became their factory, but they quickly traded it in for a 12,000 ft. design studio in Santa Ana where they claim every Seatbeltbag is lovingly built to exact specifications. We love the MADDbag, a charitable collaboration between the Harveys and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). A portion of proceeds benefit the organization.

This is just a real brief series of images from the show outside Ed Hardys booth, where girls wearing Ed Hardy T-shirts got a special finalizing treatment - it was fun to watch…

Eastpak created quite a stir at their booth because they not just presented a whole bunch of new bags, but also a range of old favorites with new designs. They have been into patterns for a while now, but the Jacquard style bags were all the rage at the fair, in bright lime on green or vice versa. They also had live body painting sessions going on, some of which you can see after the jump. But don’t run to you nearest store today, these wont be anywhere near until fall 06.
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Yes there were tons of t shirts on display at B&B, but very few actually impressed us, we have told you about Pasta form Italy already, but the other T’s we really liked came from apartment where we had a quick chat with Adam Wood, the CEO of the Vancouver based company, and he gave us the low down on his limited edition ‘Amor de Madre’ (Love of Mother) series, designed by Ivan Hurtado a well known Colombian painter, whose paintings are featured around the world, and the t shirts that Adam calls a perfect blend of art and style. In any case, when they launch you should act quickly, because they only have 200 of each model… Next to the T’s Adam showed us his amazing belt collection, which is all the rage in Japan - and we could see why, and some beautiful shirts and tops that we can’t wait to see in the store… But we have to be patient, this was for fall/winter 06/07… Nevertheless you should really check those guys out, they were really impressive. More images after the jump.
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Brazilian über surf brand Reef presented some really nice pieces, but the actual attraction was out side their booth. Stephane Carricondo and Jerk of 9eme concept were painting some of their well known imagery on canvas outside of the reef booth. For those of you who haven’t heard of 9eme concept, they are a Paris based collective of 12 graphic designers, illustrators, painters, photographers, tattoo and graffiti artists who blend the boundaries of the individual areas of expertise and create something much more fascinating. You might have seen some of their work for Heineken or Reef or potentially some their events, of which they have between 3 and 4 in any given year. Be sure to check them out, they are a very impressive creative hot shop.
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We had a good chuckle when we saw this on the Thonet booth… Known for their quintessential chairs, this is quite a bold move into a new area, but it’s not a new area at all as we learned. Thonet has been manufacturing sleighs for more than 100 years, though this model in particular is brand new, and was designed by Holger Lange, who has been instrumental at DeSede and now inspires the team at Thonet, who designed this for his daughter. We love it for it’s simplicity and elegant lines.

The scene was obscene, there were literally hundreds of people waiting to get onto their booth and we met Alessandro for almost an hour, casually talking about his plans of coming to the US, good T-shirt graphics, cheap labour and the resulting mediocre quality of shirts, and a million other things. So we are so happy to present PASTA to all of our readers. Great graphics, created by artists from around the world on perfectly made (italian) shirts with the softest fabric available in Rome… Unfortunately their site isn’t up yet, but you should book-mark it already because they will be ready to go once the fair is over…
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