lifeiscarbon®

Fashionable Icelandic Austerity

It’s time for us to make another confession. It’s easy to see that lifeiscarbon® falls in love a lot but what’s more difficult to work out is exactly what it is that causes it. We have to admit that we often can’t work it out ourselves. At times it can be the product itself, at other times it's the story behind the brand, sometimes it's the company’s website or, as is often the case, it’s a combination of things far less tangible.

Such is the case with our newest love, the Icelandic fashion label and boutique, Spaksmannsspjarir; we simply can’t decide what we love most about them. We love their clothing of course but we’ve also fallen for their wonderfully austere and minimalist store in Reykjavik and the excellent photography they consistently use to showcase their collections.

Founded back in 1993 by the designer duo Björg and Vala, Spaksmannsspjarir (which means Wise Men's Clothing) make highly individualistic clothing for women that manages to combine elements of classical men’s tailoring, feminine cuts, nostalgic shapes and highly modern materials.

For us, Spaksmannsspjarir have not only reflected the dramatic nature of the Icelandic landscape in their designs but have also somehow captured the history of the country and it’s people, despite the modern looks of their range. Perhaps that’s why we love the incongruousness of wise men’s clothing for women.

Everyday Life On The Move

We’re finding it hard to keep up with the rate with which our Danish design favorites Normann Copenhagen launch new products. Not that we feel compelled to write about everything they launch, it’s just that they keep making such highly desirable objects.

Move, is Norman Copenhagen’s new range of personal accessories from designers Rikke Hagen and Marianne Britt Jørgensen. Made of brushed steel and bright orange rubber, the new range currently includes a keyring, wallet, cardholder and pillbox (coin holder). Move has been inspired by today’s urban lifestyle, in which everyday essentials such as wallets and cardholders are an important part of what defines personal style.

Move is certainly an interesting step for Normann Copenhagen who up until now have only created stylish everyday items for inside the home. We hope the range is a success and look forward to the possibility of even more functional but stylish products for everyday on the move. Who knows where it will lead: accessories for iPods, luggage, clothing perhaps?

Steinunn Loves Black

Steinunn Sigurd grew up in the far north, where the midnight sun, endless twilight, northern lights and crystallized snow are all part of growing up. As a child playing outside in the dark winter days, the stars and universe never seemed to be far away, and during the summers the midnight sun made days endless. The textures of the northern landscapes, the magical feeling of snow and the mythical obscurity of fog can all inspire a child’s imagination. Iceland inspired the young Steinunn Sigurd to dream of studying abroad and she eventually studied at Parsons School of Design, fell in love with New York and ended up staying for 13 years. Having moved back to Iceland, these days the amazing landscape and dramatic weather are the main inspiration behind the STEiNUNN fashion label.

lifeiscarbon® love STEiNUNN. It’s difficult to get closer to our Scandinavian design ideal given the monochromatic color schemes (...we love black), the minimalism of the designs and the seemingly impossible combination of the austerity of the Icelandic landscape with the rock’n roll of New York.

Rocking Elk Recliner

Play maybe fun but it’s also serious business in Scandinavia. It’s believed that children not only need challenges in order to help them learn but they also need healthy and fun activities that cheer them up and provide rest and relaxation.

Zoosie is a newly designed rocking horse, that not only provides fun but also functions as a chair. Designed by Fredrik Torsteinsen from Norway, Zoosie has been developed to encourage an ergonomically correct sitting position and to help motor training. The new design features a number of clever touches that not only make Zoosie multi-functional but also ensure that it will continue to serve a useful purpose as children grow.

Got Milk?

Until this week, we were perfectly happy to have our white iMacs sitting on white Muji desks flanked by white MiniPod speakers. That was before Danish entrepreneur Søren Kjær and the Danish furniture company Homris Hansen teamed up to introduce the world to Milk, their new iPod inspired desk. Not that it’s just going to look good with iMacs, it’s pretty much going to look good supporting any Apple product. Despite severe looks and minimalistic lines, the new desk is packed full of useful features like adjustable height, desk top storage boxes, paperwork filing slots, hidden cable guides and a build in cable exit to avoid disrupting it’s hard edge looks with unsightly wiring.

One look at the Milk website and we were sold, until we started looking for some essential information like when, where from and how much. Hopefully these will be announced soon. However, we’re not going to let minor details like that put us off daydreaming about upgrading from Muji to Milk.

Modern Swedish String

There are many reasons why String, a shelving system from Sweden, is so popular - they’re practical, they’re light weight, they’re stable, they’re simple to mount – but we suspect the biggest reason is that the design is so timeless. At the Stockholm Furniture Fair of a few weeks ago, String was once again shown as part of the ALLRUM, an exhibition of Contemporary Swedish Design. Contemporary? That’s quite a compliment considering that String was introduced over 50 years ago.

It’s the framing that gives String its discreet but distinctive character: a refined ladder climbing up the wall. This economical and unpretentious design very quickly became a favorite when it was introduced in 1949 and was a must have in every fifties home. Back then teak shelves were all the rage and in the eighties demand was greatest for black shelves on a black frame. These days everyone wants white on white…..and you know us….we love white.

The Swedish architect and designer Nils Strinning, who designed String, was among a group of mid-twentieth century designers that helped to build the foundations of what we now call Scandinavian Design.

New Danish Butterfly

Don’t get mad at us but we have to write about our favorite Danish design company yet again. Actually it’s been a few weeks since we last mentioned Normann Copenhagen but we love the simplicity of their latest product and wanted to let you know about Butterfly.

Designed by Marianne Britt Jørgensen and Rikke Hagen, Butterfly is basically a very minimalistic though user-friendly can opener (or tin opener, if you prefer). Here’s how Rikke Hagen explained the new product: “A tin opener is a kitchen utensil that everyone uses and which we can never find when we need it. We have now given it a shape and a color so that it no longer gets lost in among knives, forks and spoons. The idea behind the tin opener’s grip function is a butterfly nut. It incorporates a multi-grip design because we all grip tin openers differently.”

Butterfly comes in eight different colors and will be in the shops in March. Enough said…..it’s only a humble can opener after all.

Tony, Harold And Teenage Lust

It’s Wednesday, so it must be time for another launch party of a yet another new magazine. This time it’s the turn of our friends at Cederteg Publishing in Sweden, who are celebrating the launch of their new magazine Harold.

Cederteg, which was founded by Editor-In-Chief Tony Cederteg, describes itself as a ‘publisher of zines, books and photography of great kind’. Their new offering Harold, is a free fashion magazine in English that will be available in selected stores in Stockholm, New York, Berlin, Copenhagen, Paris, Melbourne, Tokyo and London. The first issue features photography by Bernhard Willhelm, Gerhard Stochl and Tony Cederteg himself together with interviews with Nakkna (SWE), Opening Ceremony (US), Best Shop (GER) and Beneath (SWE - R.I.P).

Denmark Versus The World

Magazines We Love: Part 7

Call us fickle, but we’ve fallen in love again. Vs. is a gorgeous large format fashion and culture magazine, based in Denmark but with a strong international perspective. Their first two issues have simply been stunningly beautiful from start to finish, especially the monochromatic covers with day-glow cover lines (see below for a preview of selected pages). Published twice a year and distributed worldwide, Vs. is the only Scandinavian magazine distributed in multiple language editions, in English, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian.

Drawing from a broad resource of global talent - photographers, illustrators, artists and journalists - Vs. is clearly aiming to be the definitive international window onto all that’s stylish in Scandinavia. Credit for the creation of Vs. goes to Editor-In-Chief, Jakob Forup Stubjær and Executive Editors, Marie Louise Tüxen Barfod and Carla Christine Bruus Strube.

To celebrate the publication of their second issue, Vs. are having a party The Parlour in London this coming Thursday (15th February). If you’re deemed to be worthy, you might still be lucky enough to get your name on the guest list.

carboncollective™: Sannah Kvist

It’s time for the third part of carboncollective™, the series in which we are showcasing the work of some of the best Flickr photographers from Scandinavia. We’ve hand picked some of the more interesting photographers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in order to show you a selection of their work on lifeiscarbon®. In our eyes, all of the photographers we've selected demonstrate a strong sense of Scandinavian aesthetics in their work and, as a collective, their photography spans a broad range of styles and subject matter.

Our third photographer is Sannah Kvist (Born 1986) from Stockholm. After dropping out of photography school in Sunne, Värmland, Sannah moved to Amsterdam as an intern with the renowned artist Melanie Bonajo before eventually returning to Sweden and setting up home in Stockholm.

Money, Money, Money

It’s taken Anders Wendin quite some time to find the perfect way to express himself, first in the mid-nineties band Superwed, and then in one of Sweden's most popular live acts, the intense ska-punk band, Monster. It’s only in the guise of his alter ego Moneybrother (basically Anders with his backing group The Panthers) that he finally seems to have found his true voice.

And what a voice! Moneybrother’s fusion of soul, reggae, pop and scrappy rock is all centered around Wendin's powerful vocals that seem to range from a soulful Marvin Gaye to an angry Joe Strummer. At times we’re reminded of Van Morrison whilst at other times the band border on an over exuberant and slightly chaotic sound that’s akin to Dexy’s Midnight Runners.

Our Kind Of Girl

Kind Of Girl are an interesting new Pop/Rock/Indie band from Denmark and the latest lifeiscarbon® favorites. The Copenhagen based band comprises of Sissel Olander (Vocals and Guitar), Rune Buhr (Bass), Joel Gjærsbøl (Guitar) and Emile Carlsen (Drums).

The band claims to draw inspiration from a wide range of artists such as the Cardigans, Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Aimee Mann, and Garbage but during their heavier moments they remind us of our favorites, the much missed Cocteau Twins. We've totally fallen for the band's love forlorn lyrics and Sissel's wonderful voice.

Swedish Hocus Pocus

Ladies and gentlemen, may we present Ladies & Gentlemen.

Our friends at Manolo.se have an interesting post (in Swedish) about one of our favorite rising young stars of the Scandinavian fashion world. In 2003, the Swedish born designer Alicia Rissler cleverly managed to graduate from Escuela Superio de Diseño, in Barcelona at the same time as obtaining a Degree in Fashion from the the University of Southampton in the UK. A year later, in 2004 she started her own label Ladies & Gentlemen, and launched her first collection during the Barcelona Fashion Week (Pasarela Gaudí) to favorable reviews from the press. Since March 2006 Alicia has been living and working in Stockholm and is currently busy preparing for next week’s Style at Sthlm.

Unsurprisingly given the label's name, there are Ladies & Gentlemen’s collections for men and women. Both are very much inspired by classical mens’ tailoring and somehow manage to strike a delicate balance between urban culture of today and the elegance of more classical lines. The latest collection (for SS 07) is called Hocus Pocus and is based on multi-functional garments featuring unexpected solutions and playful yet elegant contradictions - hoodies with extra collars, shirts with asymmetric collars and t-shirts with extra sleeves. Take a look at a selection of outfits below...

Quirky Furniture Solution

Not that we’re suggesting we have any, but what little credibility lifeiscarbon® has we may well blow with this next post. However, we’re a sucker for a good story behind a company, we love to try our hand at different sports and we’re always on the look out for quirky items of furniture. Given all of that, how could we resist writing about the Finnish company ESLA (or E.S.Lahtinen Oy, to give it it’s proper name).

ESLA make kicksleds. "What’s a kicksled?" we hear you cry. Kicksleds are in common use in Norway, Sweden and Finland, especially where roads are not sanded or salted, and they often serve as a winter substitute for a cycling. What’s our fascination with kicksleds? Firstly as a ecological and fun means of travel - once you’ve tried one you’re hooked. There’s no better way of moving from village to village in the far north of Scandinavia. Secondly, we’ve come up with the crazy idea of using some bright red traditional kicksleds as meeting room chairs. But first we need to share some history with you….

Tubes, Booths & Hot Pots

Some of us at lifeiscarbon® have worked in some amazing looking advertising agency offices in London, New York, LA and Tokyo and all of us enjoy visiting innovative office interiors all over the world. Many of the spaces we’ve visited invest huge amounts of money to build environments that help maximize creativity (or perhaps to simply appear as though they do). For our money you can’t find a more creatively inspiring space than the average Scandinavian kindergaten. It might be to do with the scale of the furniture, the bright colors or the overall sense of organized chaos, or perhaps it’s simply that it reminds us of the inherent creativity that we all had in ourselves as kids. Perhaps this thought is the inspiration behind much of the work of Bosch & Fjord.

At Ordrup School in Gentofte, Denmark, the Danish design team of Bosch & Fjord have abandoned the idea of traditional school interiors and instead created a variety of spaces for differentiated teaching and creative thinking. In it you’ll find heightened window seating for watching the world outside, concentration booths, green platforms with red hot pots where discussion can buzz and bubble and large upholstered tubes for hiding with a good book or for spending some time alone.

Based on the premise that all people are different, think differently and learn differently, Bosch & Fjord have created a complete and challenging learning environment. Their design for the school is separated into three individual areas with distinct functions - Peace & Absorption, Discussion & Cooperation and Security & Presence – and by separating the activities and creating varied rooms they have created a space for both teaching and play, in which learning is optimized.