Blog, Consultancy, Shop
Thanks a lot to Gautier Chiarini, designer and founder of the ChairMan, for donating his Excelsior Chair, to the charity auction tomorrow at Mesa with proceeds going to Free Lunch for Children. Made in Jingdezhen, Chiarrini calls the Excelsior “a tribute to the Chinese millenary craft of porcelain making with an anachronistic foreign concept of space. It is a prototype of a series of numbered chairs to be released this spring.”
The grand opening of Mesa on March First will be Beijing’s first dazzling party in the Year of the Snake (sorry Dior!). In addition to free flow wine, cocktails, beer, tapas and desserts, the event features a live jazz performance by Phillipe Mege and a charity auction with proceeds going to Free Lunch for Children. Bidding is on items donated by the Four Seasons Beijing, D-Sata, the Chair Man, and others local designers, wine distributors, and retail outlets.
Stylites gets a mention in this WSJ piece and the accompanying News Hub video. Interestingly, this is the photo they chose to represent Beijing street style. Some of my friends seem to think that this was just an earthier version of Tokyo (土版的东京).
Thanks to journalist Christina Slattery for the coverage.
Stylites Partner Suzy will have photos on display at a event called No More Mono. It will be a great chance to see photos from this blog in printed form. Mono is short for Monoculture. More information here, from Douban.
The opening aperitif is tomorrow (Friday, Feb 22) at 19:00 in the LD Design Center (东四åæ¡94å· ). Tasty, locally produced and “as organic as possible” food from Laura Fanelli’s ‘The Veggie Table’ will be served as well as one of the only very good cheeses made in Beijing by Yang Liu’s ‘Le Fromager de Pékin’.
Photos: Eric
My dear friend photographer Eric Gregory Powell, famous for his work for Monocle, Wallpaper and other major publications, joined Jeffrey and I for some drinks at Jeffrey’s bachelor penthouse the other night. Jeffrey made some delicate gin cocktails including the Aviation and Last Word. It’s good to have a friend who always has Maraschino and Chartreuse on hand.
Eric decided to shoot a few images of Jeffrey in his Senli and Frye suits. The one above is in Shandong silk that works nicely as a separate, something that cannot be said for many suit coats. Jeffrey also has a suit like this in rust.
Stocks in Swiss watch brands plummeted yesterday as the Chinese government “banned advertising for luxury brands”. The luxury brands are again a scapegoat for the government. There have been several big announcements like this over the last couple years. Above all, these produce a great deal of confusion for both consumers and the luxury brands because they are never well-defined and that reflects the reality that they are more of publicity stunt than anything else. The comments online seem to mostly be mystified. No one except the owners of stock in Swiss watch brands seems sure of what a “luxury good” is, for the purposes of this law. I think last time it was advertisements in public spaces that were prohibited. I still see them in airports and other somewhat higher end locations, so I’m not sure what it means. This new regulation applies to TV and radio. I saw that some the reports in Western media didn’t seem to make this distinction. There was no mention of print and online. The online commentary I have read in Chinese was predicting a continued switch into these realms by LV and all the rest.
Release inner rainbow with this Paul Smith swirl molded case made just for that brand new iPhone 5 available here. The grained leather coating with the designer’s iconic stripes will show the owner to be as playful and quirky as his phone is functional. This is the perfect Valentine’s Day Gift for the man who has everything including a naughty little child trapped inside of him.
Just another update: We have the technical team working on the site and the viruses and no-comment situation should be resolved within the next week. Thanks again for your patience and Happy Year of the Snake! Here is a perfect gift idea for this occasion.
I just wanted to tell all our loyal readers that there will be progress soon. We have a web specialist working on trying to resolve the glitches on the site and things should be up and running soon. In this period, we are also trying to imagine new directions for the site over the next few years.
In other news, Stylites has a feature, photographed by Suzy, in Aritzia magazine. These are some great profiles of the kind of bohemian Beijing girls that have been appearing here over the years. These bold girls are not afraid of color.
Also, please “like” the new Facebook page of LifeStyle magazine.
My apologies for the site being somewhat dormant of late. We are in the process of trying to find out what the next major stages will be in its development. There are also a few problems related to comments and spam overload that still have to be worked out. We will keep you updated. Have a good time over the holidays!
Come by Senli and Frye this Saturday (12/7) afternoon for some mulled wine and a look at our latest coating fabrics!
If you still don’t have that bespoke cashmere/wool overcoat that will last forever, now is the moment. Most of winter remains.
Our shop is also about to be renovated, so if you have some urge to say goodbye to its current outdated form or give your thoughts on what it could look like, come by.
Please RSVP (tailoring (at) stylites (dot) net) if you will be attending!
MovingCities, commissioned by Dutch Design Fashion Architecture, recently released two extremely comprehensive reports on fashion and design in China. A made a very minor contribution of an essay and photos, some of which can be seen on this recent notification they put up for an event in Shanghai.
These guides, essential reading for anyone interested in design or fashion in China, can be downloaded here. You will be an expert after reading these.
Stylish people are a bit tired of iphones. Their seeming inescapability has started to grate. T2, a polished Danish smartphone in stainless steel and glass, might be a good alternative for those hungering for something that combines functionality with aesthetics.
The universal remote control lets users operate electronic equipment at home at a range of up to 20 meters and T2 can even recognize user’s gestures, meaning menus can be navigated by just a wave of the hand holding the device. Audio by Bang & Olufsen ICEpower® is also top of the line. By electronics design firm Lumigon and operating with Android, T2 will be available in selected markets in Europe and Asia by the end of 2012.
Founded by designer Jackie Villevoye, Jupe by Jackie is a new Amsterdam-based brand that specializes in ties and bow ties.
Relying on India’s expert hand-embroidery needlework, Jackie focuses on individuality, quality, and subtlety rather than loud prints and patterns; classic silhouettes in impeccable color combinations are simply embellished with minimalist designs like flowers, lines, and borders.
You can get Jupe and Jackie at this website and now at Colette in Paris.