Swooning over Henri Bendel 1895

I just can't get enough of Henri Bendel 1895. The website is so alive and energetic. Eye candy for my day - and the brown authentic print, L-O-V-E. Packaging speaks louder than words. Between the brown stripes and Izak's illustrations I could be gazing all day. Stop by the store as well. Everything is better in person.This is the most visually stimulating sitemap I have ever seen!{images from Henri Bendel website)

Snowy Weekend in Vermont

This weekend I was able to escape the honks & sirens of New York City and get in some skiing with friends. While at the mountain I couldn't help but remember these advertisements from last year. The clean, simple, witty message gets right across to the skiier! Sudafed hired a great team to design these. This year nothing on the slopes compared to last year's winning campaign.While I was on the ski lift, the snow was gently falling, and you could see the meticulous details of each and every snowflake. It reminded me of this beautiful book that just came out, The Art of the Snowflake: A Photographic Album that I recently flipped through at the bookstore.

Button Up at Chanel

Hands down the coolest image I saw last week. Catching up on my Thursday Style sections and didn't want to forget this article/image. CHANEL REDUX Karl Lagerfeld leads models back into the “Chanel jacket.”

"Of course—how could I forget to mention it?—the hub of the show was a 75-replica of a Chanel cardigan jacket, made from wood and painted to resemble concrete. The enormous braided jacket was certainly kitsch—a Big Boy on the Seine. But the style is also iconic, and Lagerfeld’s idea was to show that the jacket was only the best-known of Chanel’s creations. She designed a lot of styles, some of which, as he pointed out in the studio, looked as if they came from nature. The models got dressed inside the replica jacket, which revolved slowly during the show, and then returned to the dressing area through an opening made by a flap in the jacket."
-Cathy Horn for NY Times

Window Wednesdays: Macy's, Anthropologie & Gap

Macy's wasn't really wowing me with their windows this week. Circles? Eh. Anthropologie has some great hand skilled visual display employees that covered all those circles and cylinders! I think the cylinder idea would be a great idea for a party. The sandy beach theme was warming on such a cold day. So has anyone else been bothered by these Gap windows? The BLUE packaging boxes with the one YELLOW box mixed in-but the YELLOW one says BLUE. I've been thinking about this a lot. Hey, in a city where there is a Gap on nearly every corner it starts to get to you. A designer would question-
1. Did they not want to pay another set up fee to have the YELLOW box also say YELLOW?
2. Are they mimicking color theory & trying to pull eye tricks on us? I see that is says BLUE, but it is YELLOW.
Are we supposed to question this? Ok I'm glad I got that out. I wonder what you think?

However, the kid's Gap windows are adorable. A nice little homage to Andy Warhol. Love. I'd hang that poster in my apartment. I also have to check out the new freepeople store in NYC. They blogged about their windows & store!

Macy's 34th Street Windows
Anthropologie, NYC Windows
Gap, NYC Windows{Window photography taken by sarivictoria for adesignaffair}

Waterfalls for New York City

Yes it's true we are getting several waterfalls this summer in New York City. Designer Olafur Eliasson has designed these public art pieces to be displayed in the waterways & under the Brooklyn Bridge this summer. After the success of 'The Gates' - this project tries to follow in its footsteps. However, this doesn't excited me as 'The Gates' did. The magical element of 'The Gates' was the interaction of people, discussions it brought up, and the activity it created in Central Park. It was very tangible and the human interaction was in close quarters. If you haven't see the documentary done about it - it is a must. This exhibit will be spread out and I am unsure it will bring the same response. We'll just have to wait and see.{Images taken from Olafur Eliasson website}

27 Dresses

I was 'doing some typeface swooning' when I first saw this poster! What a brilliant idea - anything with a human touch gets my approval. Maybe now readers & passerby will read the names of everyone who worked on the film. I wonder who or designed this poster? If I were them I'd be overwhelmed by all the great portfolio pieces to 'show off'. Check out the 27 models in graphic dresses!

Charles and Ray Eames at the US Post Office!

The U. S. Postal Service is scheduled to roll out this set of stamps next summer, honoring the great contributions of Charles and Ray Eames. The USPS art director and designer Derry Noyes designed this marvelous project. I can't wait to stock up on them & make them 'my stamps' for 2008.

from the United States Postal Service:
“In recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, manufacturing and photographic arts, designers Charles and Ray Eames will be honored next summer with a pane of 16 stamps designed by Derry Noyes of Washington, DC. If you’ve ever sat in a stackable molded chair, you’ve experienced their creativity. Perhaps best known for their furniture, the Eameses were husband and wife as well as design partners. Their extraordinary body of creative work — which reflected the nation’s youthful and inventive outlook after World War II — also included architecture, films and exhibits. Without abandoning tradition, Charles and Ray Eames used new materials and technology to create high-quality products that addressed everyday problems and made modern design available to the American public.”

Check out some of their work at this gallery.
More 2008 USPS stamps here.

{via Oh Joy & Core77 & H&FJ}

Window Wednesdays: Homage to Great Talent

Well there are many themes running through this week's windows, but most importantly the homage being shown to great artists of our past. Bergdorf Goodman decided to honor famous writers and composers. The way they created talk bubbles out of sheet music, genius! In the other windows- I wondered how long it took to cut out all those letters. Spring has definitely sprung even though the snow has barely fallen yet here in New York City. Bergdorf's has so many windows you could take a whole roll of film. The other side of the building has the beautiful Post-it notes I {sneak peeked} at last week. Well it is all done & they even left the visual guide out for all of us to see. The designer's (notes) persay. Haha. Get it 'note'. Anyway I truly enjoyed watching them put up these windows & the end result is spectacular. Bright, colorful, and oh so very spring-y. A mix of the Mona Lisa, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Lady Libery, Lincoln, and George Washington, to name a few are all pixeled out. I wonder how they picked who's faces got displayed?

Over at Henri Bendel--can we say Modrian? Nice. Since Bendel's has only one BIG window to shine with they usually make it pretty outrageous. Wonder if a memo went around about a 'homage to art' week?

Kate went all out with color. There is no famous reference here, but the usage of an artist's paint selection is just wonderful. Ahhh it made me think of my lovely Pantone books that guide my design life. (And how there are those green dishes I want at Fish's Eddy.) I wonder if a percentage from these bags will go to Publicolor. It's a non-profit the Spade's like to contribute their efforts and talents.

Bergdorf Goodman Windows NYC
Henri Bendel Windows NYC
Kate Spade Windows, Flatiron Store, NYC{Window photography taken by sarivictoria for adesignaffair}

Illustration: Laura Cedar

Many times I will browse a card store or see an illustration I love in a newspaper and write down the illustrator's name. Today I have been googling some of these illustrators I found on looses pieces of paper. I have to write about Laura Cedar, and am so glad I didn't throw her name away today. Her work incorporates beautiful calligraphy styles with wonderful illustration. She even has an advice link that is great for aspiring illustrators.

A Painterly Louis Vuitton

I have been noticing these Louis Vuitton & Richard Prince ‘Big City After Dark’ Handbags in so many fashion spreads lately. I love the watercolor-esk logos. They are very artsy-and I am eager to spot who exactly will be carrying these around NYC? Their painterly quality will be hard to knock-off - I wonder if the Canal Street vendors will even bother trying to copy these?

The launch event looks like an art gallery. More great photographs here.

Goodbye to Old Friends

The New Year is off to a great start, but alas I must say goodbye to two old friends. House & Garden and Blueprint Magazines are done, finite, final...sad.
Blueprint you were only a baby. Only 8 issues, but such wonderful issues at that. The powers that be at Martha Stewart are taking the Blueprint brand and blogging over at Bluelines. It hasn't captivated my design eye yet. I'll miss the beautiful creative photography & design of Blueprint. Nothing can replace the feeling of holding and flipping through a magazine.

And House & Garden (which is now being directed to Domino magazine) I haven't forgotten you. Thank you for the inspiring British decor in your last issue & for going out with a bang. You deserve it! The times we spend together during college -- I will never forget. Those late nights finding inspiration for my fashion projects. Sigh:: Days like today remind me that it is ok to save old issues & tearsheets.

Window Wednesdays: Sale Madness & Shoe Rhymes

Welcome to Window Wednesdays. A big part of why I love New York City is that I get to see the beautiful store windows up close and personal. Many (blogs, designers, and tourists) captured the holiday windows, but these stores bang out beautiful designs all year round! It's amazing how much work goes into each display and then shortly afterwards it all comes down. Every Wednesday I will feature the Best of the Week's displays for all to see.

This week's recap covers: Bloomingdales, Henri Bendels, Hermes, and the Disney Store.

Seems Bloomingdales has pulled out every 'shoe' rhyme or reason and made a masterpiece with each one.
• mama's got a brand new bag(s) and shoes!
• there was a young lady who lived in a shoe, she had so many shoes she knew exactly what to do!
• never judge a lady unless you have walked a day in her shoes...all 100 pairs.
• a gal can never have to many shoes or...too many friends.
• and we cannot forget the shoegarden & shoetree! genius!
Bendel's After Holiday Sale Windows seriously put a smile on my face! We've all been there - it's a NYC sample sale gone mad! Fighting over the last pair of ________. Lately any store I've walked into has been crowded and a mess. You'd think they were giving this stuff away!Hermes went all out on musical instruments. My favorite is the ties coming out of the trombone.

Disney takes the I Love NY logo to a new branding level.{Sneak Peak} Bergdorf Goodman is going pixel with Post-it notes. I love watching window designers create the final masterpiece. Next week stay tuned for more!