Snog, Labbits and Potted Handbags

Here's some photos of a recent trip to London.

Of notable toy/design interest was the pop-up shop of Kidrobot in Selfridges with the wonderfully inflatable Kozik Smorkin' Labbit (want one) and their window displays with lots of mini labbits (want them too).

I also bumped into a heavily Japanese design-influenced frozen yogurt eaterie called Snog - in South Kensington - where I sampled the green tea frozen yogurt (super yumm) and had to negotiate round a giant Kubrick Bear and several American students. I particularly liked their seating stools which were made of plastic but looked like heavy lace.

Last creative mention goes to the amazing vintage dress store in Kingly Court 'Fur Coat, No Knickers', where I was knocked out by the quality of these dresses which would not look out of place on Audrey Hepburn or Miss Dita (but unfortunately had nasty price tags), they are utterly stunning and it's was lovely to see such appreciated dresses in a suitably lovely setting (including their handbag window boxes which were potted up with roses).

Mr Jago - friend & co exhibition

The wonderful Mr Jago has a home grown exhibition at Friend & Co on Wednesday 11 February; which I'm pleased to here is a little different as the artwork will be attached to the walls he's covering in the gallery. So the only thing you can buy will be a print of the artwork, which will be available by pre-order.

I hope to provide another report at the end of the week!

What we're watching - Feb 09

Still loving FOP - for it's bargainous choices.

I heart snow

For those of us in the UK.

Subway Art - 25th Anniversary

One of those things that will make you feel old, is a book that you used to see and covet when you were a kid. A book that helped spread the word.

This May, Chronicle Books will published a beautiful new deluxe edition of Subway Art – long considered the bible of the worldwide graffiti and street art movement, this sumptuous large-format book will include 70 additional images, and new introductions and an afterword that highlights where many of the artists and taggers in the book are now.

Winter

Ron Asheton - The Stooges

Another tribute to Ron Asheton, but it really can't be stressed enough the importance of MC5 and The Stooges who's musical risk-taking brought us the indie-punk-rock music of today.

When I heard about The Stooges reforming after all these years, I thought it was such a dreadful idea, but we then decided to see them at a special one-off show at London's Hammersmith Apollo (their first London performance since 1972, and only their second London show ever), performing their entire Fun House album followed by songs from the first album and Skull Ring. The show, which was the first in the All Tomorrow's Parties-organised "Don't Look Back" concert series - was great.

Another fabulous picture find from Susi a.

And checkout those outfits!