Moulded chairs by Paola Navone – car interiors’moulding technology combined with iconic woven-vinyl laundry bags pattern

www.eumes.it

Co-founder and designer of blabla kids, Florence Wetterwald is French (living in the US), mother of Isabella,15 and Tom, 13.  She studied art and design in Paris and Florence, Italy, finishing her degree at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. She comes from a family of designers : her mother designed sweaters in Paris, which maybe explains her affinity for knitted things and contemporary design.

If you visit New York, you will unlikely end up shopping uptown. A part for a few exceptions (and great museums, Whitney, Frick collection, Met, Guggenheim), there is nothing very exciting and new above 61st street. Moreover, everything closes at 6pm; the boring side of NY, for who visits! That said, with so many families and kids living up there, things are slowly changing. The best Crew Cuts store (J Crew for children) is on Madison & 87 Street. To open this week on Lexington & 91 is Little Edit, featuring Baby Dior, Marie-Chantal, Maloles. Very Upper east side!

To the question “Maman, can lamp bulbs have a diamond shape?“, I would probably have been tempted to say “no”. But let’s not forget that this is the 21st century where everything  - almost, is possible. This lamp bulb, a 15 wt halogen, costs £24 and lasts for 2,000 hours. Shine on, you crazy diamond…

www.erictherner.com

French artist and illustrator Valérie Belmokhtar started writing and illustrating her diary at a very young age (around 8 years old). She builds a poetique, intimate and sensitive world by investigating a wide field of the visual expression (drawing, sketching, painting, collage, photomontage). Her art work has been showed in France, in the United States, in Japan and in Belgium. She has illustrated children’s book ” Desserts à lire et à croquer ” for Mango edition, and she has just received a youth literary prize. Japanese editor Paumes featured her and her work in the book “Atelier de filles 2″. Her illustrations have been published in Le Monde, Le magazine Littéraire and on book covers (Syros edition). Her drawings are our inspiration for the week end, as we are installed on the kitchen table with lots of paper and crayons!

Photos Lilian Mahieu

Valerie is gratuated from the Fine Arts School of Paris (Ensba) and Olivier de Serres (Ensaama).

This second edition of Playtime New York featured about  60 children’s brands and some maternity wear. A fair amount of excellent US brands : Dagmar Daley, Atsuyo et Akiko, Jess Brown, Kicokids, Lucky Fish, Lucky Wang, Makie, Nico Nico, Winter Water Factory, Wovenplay, as well as cool Europeans ones : Bakker made with love, Bensimon, Bobo Choses, Caramel Baby & Child, Ketiketa, Lale, Le vestaiaire de Jeanne. Among the newcomers with (on my opinion) good potential for growth, were A for Apple (Hong Kong), Esp no.1 (NY), Goatmilk (NY), Kutie Protocol (Australia, the owners are Columbian), Lamantine (France, the owner is Italian), Pale Cloud (Sweden) . I was pleased to see products from Namhee, a brand that I had seen online (and written about), but never actually seen in real life. And I thought it was great for shoe designer Nathalie Verlinden to have her collection presented on the Kicokid booth. Nathalie’s shoes are beautiful, very well made, quite unique.

A for Apple – www.aforapple.net

The brand is doing a collaboration with cult store Opening Ceremony in New York

Esp no.1 – www.espno1.com

Simple pieces + gorgeous fabrics (very heavy cotton, from Japan)

Goat Milk  - goatmilknyc.com

To see the article published on Pirouette last October click here

Kutie Protocol – www.kutieprotocol.com

A cool new denim, very creative, made in Columbia in a sustainable way, by small factories

Lamantine – www.lamantineparis.com

Very chic, very elegant made between France and Italy. The line is sold at Le Bon Marche, and Yoya New York, two great windows!

Pale Cloud – www.pale-cloud.com

Very creative ; innovative fabrics, shapes, details

When Sweet William opened in Brooklyn a couple of years ago, it was a great success. The store, created by Bronagh Staley Maguirre, a former editor at Cookie Magazine and designed by her husband Peter, artist, features an attractive mix of US and European brands. A Manhattan version opened a few months ago, ideally located at the intersection of Soho, Nolita and little Italy.

I asked Linnea, the very welcoming store employee, to show me her favorite items of the season.

Linnea has an angelic look that fits really well with the products on display at Sweet William : baby alpaca knits, flowery dresses, stuffed squirrels, feathered necklaces, etc. When not at the store, Linnea shares her free time between yoga, painting and music (her band is called Cliffie Swan). Her favorite restaurant for lunch break are La Esquina and Spring Street naturals, both just a few blocks away from Sweet William. She also recommends adult’s store Creatures of Comfort, 205, Mulberry Street (APC, Repetto, Digawel, Robert Clergerie, etc). Thanks for sharing Linnea!. [I wish store employees would be that cool and generous where I live!].

www.sweetwilliamltd.com

1. HLuv headbands
2. Winter Water Factory knight top
3. Talc wrap-around jumper
4. Linnea
   
5. Talc raincoat
6. Waldorf rainbow toy by Grimm’s Spiel and Holz Design
   
7. Nico Nico crazy dot top, HLuv necklace

Capucine is a sweet girl with lots of humour. Being the youngest (she has an older brother and sister), she’s the little dearie of the family. Muriel her mother, a former engineer, is the founder ofwww.lepingouindelespace.com as well as a blogger unetouchede.canalblog.com

Bonpoint just announced the imminent opening of its shop-in-shop at Selfridges & Co, London – 400 Oxford Street.

That’s good news, however it would be marvelous to get a bit more : a real section dedicated to designer’s labels, to balance with the massive presence of Dior, Dolce Gabbana, Burberry. Selfridges is my local store (5 minutes walk from home), but i have to go to Harvey Nichols to find exciting/creative children’s brands…a pity for Selfridges, isn’t it?