So very exciting to see my designs on both furniture and fabric for Vivense Home & Living. They are a wonderful modern furniture and lifestyle brand based in Istanbul, Turkey. It was a joy working with them to select these vibrant designs for their new home collections, which are now available on their website as well as in their showrooms. Here are just a few items available in store now.
Delpozo Resort 2017
I always look through Vogue.com's Latest Shows section to see what trends, colors and design elements are shining through. I love to see what things plant the seeds for a designer's creativity.
I stopped at Delpozo's 2017 Resort collection and the article read: "I touch with the eyes," as quoted in his collection notes and attributed to sculptor, Anthony Caro". Caro, as well as Georges Méliès (of 1902 silent film Trip to the Moon) were inspirations for this collection. I like that the inspiration isn't blatant, but that you can still feel both the sculptural and fanciful, spacey elements in his collection.
For fun, click here to see the 14 min film Le Voyage dans la Lune. And see examples of Caro's sculpture here. Do you see the connections?
All images are from vogue.com, photos: Del Pozo
May Instagram Fave - Lily & Hopie Stockman
Made my May Instagram pick just under the wire this month! I just love Block Shop scarves and one of the sisters behind the company is Lily Stockman. I thoroughly enjoy her images of her colorful studio, paintings, her dog, and her travels. Take a look at her site and feed and enjoy!
And if you want a double dose of awesome images, her sister Hopie's feed is equally wonderful. If you love textiles, color and travel both feeds are worth a follow.
All images are © Lily Stockman
Oh Vienna...
I so wish I was heading there now. My friend invited me to join her on a trip to Berlin, Vienna and Budapest (happening next week)—but unfortunately I had to bail. I had hip surgery recently and wouldn't be able to handle that flight, let alone be mobile enough for sightseeing! What a bummer. Boo hoo for me.
Anyway, since my grand hopes of viewing any Weiner Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop) art or textiles I could find there have now been dashed, I resorted to an internet search instead. There are many works of art from that company of artists, and the range and scope is incredible—from art, to postcards, to textile and furniture. My eyes are happy.
Weirdly Wonderful
This is just too cool not to share. Zeitguised, a design company based in Berlin, Germany offers so many captivating things that are different from anything I've ever seen. Check out their website here. It's worth a look around.
Some info on the video below as described on their website:
“Void Season” is a simulated fashion project.
Part dreamlike theatre, part lateral cargo cult hustle, a quick succession of bold garment designs acts as an ersatz runway show. In a minimal set of solid backdrops, radiant colors and oblique choreography second the exquisite design of costumes that have been entirely artificially generated.
A wealth of custom procedural surface detail emphasizes the uncanny rift between the realistic presence of the guises and the abstract vacancy of the digitized human movements.
I find these clips weirdly genius.
Katja of Sweden
I love that I am following in the steps of another Katja in textile design and I also love that her designs resonate so much with me—their bold patterns and bright colors really speak to my own design aesthetic.
Katja was born Karin Hallberg in Sweden, and later lived in NYC, where she went to Parsons School of Design. She created wonderful patterned fashions and later designed home textiles as well.
I didn't realize the connection before, but I have a picture of myself standing in front of a Katja Bedding display in the window of NYC Macy's. The picture was taken in the early 80s and I'm pointing to the large sign of her (and my) name in the window display. It was the first time I'd come across my name anywhere in the United States. I was very excited about it and now I know whose designs they were advertising! I later bought some of her towels and sheets for my dorm room in college. Funny to think of that now. I wish I could find that photo to share with you.
You can read some more about her here.
Lisa Smirnova
Pretty cool wearable art from Lisa Smirnov, a Moscow-based textile artist. You can read and see more on Jealous Curator here.
Images from Jealous Curator
Latest Guildery Collection - Beaufort
On the heels of yesterday's CountryLiving feature, I have more Guildery news.
It's blue and green forever! Two of my all time favorite colors together in my latest collection Beaufort. I hope you enjoy all the new items that are now available on Guildery.com. You can always search KATJA and you'll find all of my collections in one spot! They recently added some new products such as wrapping paper and table linens. I ordered some paper for the holidays and it is GREAT quality. Go there and get thee some and enjoy!
Pastel Pretties
Airy pastels have been all over the runways and there is something about these colors and fabrics that makes me feel very relaxed.
DelPozo, Gucci, Elie Saab, Gig Couture
Printed Fabric Production
If you are curious to know how a fabric ended up at your local fabric store, this is a a fascinating 15 minute look at the creation of printed fabric from start to finish. From the point when the gray goods are delivered to the factory, until the rolls are sealed in plastic and ready to ship off, this video gives a very detailed and informative look behind the scenes at a printing production factory in China. You can see just how many steps are involved in the process for both flat bed, and rotary screen printing processes.
You can also see that it's quite an intense job involving lots of chemicals, solutions and dyes. It's hard to for me to imagine working in an environment like that day in day out and it makes me appreciate the more eco-friendly approach that many companies are taking nowadays.
YouTube video by Richard Gross