Terry O’Neill, possibly one of the most celebrated English contemporary photographers of our time. “Terry O’Neil- Reworked”  will debut at the Rook and Raven Gallery between 9 March – 31 March.

O’Neill achieved his success documenting fashion, style and many celebrities of the 1960’s in the most candid and unconventional settings.

The debut will feature O’Neill’s most iconic images reworked by an eclectic mix of contemporary artists along side the original photographs.

Artists include: Pam Glew, Curtis Kulig, James Marshall, James Dawe, Daniel Lumbini, James Mylne 

Skive has been lucky enough to be invited to the private viewing on the 8^th March, how very exciting. This is definitely an exhibition worth visiting yourself, however, if you cant make it, we will be sure to give you a detailed account of the event on here. Watch the space.

More information available at http://www.rookandraven.co.uk/

Picture taken of a courtyard in East Berlin

Our team at Skive would like to wish everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR and all the best for 2012!

Having had the opportunity to interact personally with some of our customers at our recent pop-up store, it has become significantly apparent that the love for great design is the chief common denominator that closely bond us with our customers.

Our customers have a great appreciation for beautifully designed products with intricate details; therefore Skive is consistently searching, exploring and improving our product designs to satisfy this need. We understand that well-designed products have personality; it helps our customers identify a real person behind what they buy and creates a memorable emotional connection with us.

We believe that design is the most powerful expression of a brand and that, ultimately bringing powerful ideas to life through design is the best way to create a lasting link between us and our customers. Helping them put some aspect of their lives into a slower motion in a faster moving world. Great design should be noted and celebrated.

So, here at Skive HQ, we have decided to dedicate a column on our blog to commemorate the greatest designers ever lived. We are going to be bringing you a series of great designs and the masterminds behind them throughout 2012. We hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we will enjoy writing it.

There is no better way to start this series than with a remembrance of the works by French born designer Raymond Loewy (November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986). The Shell logo. The Greyhound bus. The Coca-Cola Bottle. The S-1 locomotive. The Lucky Strike package. The Coldspot refrigerator. The Studebaker Avanti. These and many other modern design icons we still see all around us today were all created by Raymond Loewy, "the father of industrial design."

Arguably one of the most influential designers of the 20th century, Loewy has been called the "man who shaped America." He has left his mark countless times on our everyday culture from household products, to transportation to corporate identity.

Loewy was one of the first designers to understand the link between design and the economy. 'The goal of design is to sell, and to drive the point Home’, he added, 'the loveliest curve I know is the sales curve', bridging the connection between great design and consumption- the intangibles of supply and demand.

Raymond Loewy’s design genius was innate. His works and ideologies continue to be a great ambassador of the design principle and has helped shape and revolutionize the design industry today.

Popping up for a limited time only in the heart of Shoreditch on Redchurch Street. The Skive Pop-up store is going to be situated next to the new Box Park and around the corner from Shoreditch House. This is one event not to be missed.

The Skive pop up store will give you a chance to indulge in a pleasant shopping experience where you can purchase our Autumn/ Winter range as well as exclusive styles which are available only at the pop-up. You can also have a chance to interact with our design team and find out more about our shoes.

Open for 10 days only, you will need to be quick if you want to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and get yourself something special for the festive season.

Note:

Opening times:
Monday to Saturday: 11am - 7pm
Sunday: 12pm - 5pm

Event time: Friday at 11:00am until Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 7:00pm
Location: Neu Gallery London, 30A Redchurch Street E2 7DP

Check out the official events page:
http://www.facebook.com/events/194657933951448/

Tucked away, just up the street from Skive HQ, custom furniture store ‘East London Furniture’ is unfurling its wings. Founded by Christian Dillon, the products can be summed up as, individual, characteristically simple, urban chic.

‘East London Furniture’ creates custom made furniture from pallets and other materials found around the streets of East London. This unique furniture company came about at the beginning of 2011 when Dillon collaborated with a group called ‘out of the ordinary’ to set up a workshop. They made a range of chairs, benches and tables with materials found on the streets of East London. Upon the success of this workshop Dillon and his team were invited to exhibit during the Clerkenwell Design Week, where they collected 51 pallets and made 21 pieces of furniture.

The raison d'être of this success story is in their unique products. Every piece of furniture made is given a sole number, where one can trace back to the origins of the materials. Going as far as providing a photo of the pallets used and the exact location it was found.

East London Furniture succeeds on the simple concept that underpins all their products created: using materials that already exists, up-cycling them through simple design and craftsmanship, and within proximity to the place where the furniture is made. This concept has been met with huge enthusiasm and support, and the company continues to grow from strength to strength.

Dillon’s sheer passion for design can be undoubtedly felt in every piece of furniture in store.

Check out their web site:

http://www.eastlondonfurniture.co.uk/ 

Postmodernism is probably one of the most controversial movements in the history of art and design. So when Skive heard there was an exhibition on this particular topic at the V&A we had to make a trip down and see for ourselves how this heavily debated topic would be presented. It was certainly an exhibition worth seeing, a thought provoking experience where you can see the development of the postmodern movement from the early 1970's through till the late 1990's.

The exhibition was a combination of artwork, from architectural blue prints to music videos to fashion pieces from various postmodern artists in order to translate this complicated topic to visitors. The common concept for the artist was a profound escape from the modernist’s utopia of style, art and design through motions that were sometimes confrontational, often funny and infrequently incongruous. 

 

Grace Jones in a maternity dress designed by Jean-Paul Goude and Antonio Lopez, 1979

Hans Hollein, façade from Strada Novissima, The Presence of the Past, 1980. Biennale of Architecture, Venice.

The exhibition runs through three main rooms at the V&A where the show mirrors its subject. The key concept of postmodernism is a contradiction of modernism’s simplicity and clarity- described simply in a few words as “complexity and contradiction”. It is meant to reject the usual conception of style and authority.

Martine Bedin, Super lamp prototype, 1981. 

However, by the 1990, postmodernism became obsessed with consumption, and ‘over-consumption’. A brilliant illustration of this in the exhibition is a representation by New York artist Jenny Holzer, where she rented the New York times square’s bill board normally served for commercial use and illuminated the words: “Protect me from what I want”. The phrase described by her as an all purpose admonition to self and others, where commodity culture was felt by so many during the 1980’s. Another good example of the emphasis on money and consumption is the artwork done by Andy Warhol in 1981, a blown up image of the American dollar, showing human obsession with ‘cash’ in postmodern time. Martin Amis best sums it up with his quote, which is blown up and covers one of the walls at the show- “Money doesn’t mind if we say it’s evil, it goes from strength to strength. It’s a fiction, an addiction and a tacit conspiracy”.

Jenny Holzer, 1990

Andy Warhol, Dollar Sign, 1981.

The question is: Have we evolved past this phase of commodity culture, where marketing and branding of goods are heavily driven by consumption and over-consumption at a time where our resources are limited and the population is growing at a rapid rate. Have we entered an era of post post-modernism? What is going to come of this human reflection of desire and its causes and effects and the whirlwind of commerce that surrounds it? Food for thought…

 

Flip-flops. Usually picked up at a low price and worn by very few Londoners, either around the park or perhaps on a sunny day if you feeling particularly incapable. They are probably the least cared-for footwear item in one’s closet and not deserving of much reverence.

However, Los Ageles artist David Palmer seems to think otherwise. A pair of Chipkos flip flops hand painted by the artist will set buyers back an astonishing $18,000 (£11,125).

Nonetheless, it is for a good cause. By purchasing the one of a kind Chipkos flipflops, the proceeds go to help protect 100,000 square feet of endangered rainforest land. If you interested in Palmer’s artwork, this would be a good opportunity to combine the love of art with an eco conscious emphasis. Talk about leaving a green 'footprint'.

With technology today moving at an unbelievably fast pace, it’s inevitable for the trend to move to fashion. Artist Gabriel Dishaw has brought an electric sheen to the Nike Air Max 2011 trainers with upcycled material. The parts in the shoe includes a typewriter case, metal strips, USB port and many others.

Here at Skive, we regard great design as one the most important element in any product. Thus, we are incessantly striving to reach improved levels of innovative design. However, on this subject of exceptional design, no one is more of a pioneer than the one and only Dieter Rams.

Widely regarded as one of the most influential designers of our time, German designer Dieter Rams’ designs are more than a revelation. His iconic works and innovative ideas have helped shape the contemporary design culture of today. Head of Braun’s design team for over 40 years, Rams unique and inimitable style is so innovative and inspirational that even today’s greats such as Jonathan Ive (senior vice-president of design) and his team of designers are heavily influenced by Rams’ work and design ethos of ‘Less but better’.

Famously known for his ‘Ten principals of good design’, the ‘Less and More’ exhibition is currently taking place at the San Francisco Museum of modern art through February 2012. The exhibition includes more than 200 models and objects designed by Rams. The title of the exhibition is a cleverly play on Rams’ central design ethos of ‘Less, but better’.

If you are lucky enough to be in the US and attend the exhibition, you will catch a glimpse of what truly makes a design great. If not, pop down to any apple store, and you can too experience Rams design genius, which heavily influences every product.

Go to http://www.sfmoma.org/exhib_events/exhibitions/434 for more details on of the show.

Last Thursday Skive had the pleasure of attending the expansion celebrations for Meliá White House at Regent park, London, it was one spectacular event. Meliá White House Hotel is a 4- star Spanish owned deluxe hotel situated in the heart of London nearby major places of interest for tourists as well as easily accessible to the City- London’s finance district. Impressively built and lavishly decorated both on the outside and inside gives any guests a feel of old world charm.

It was a fabulous event. The guests enjoyed the master chef’s impressive presentation of his own unique creation of gazpoch sorbet, with frozen tomato ‘popcorn’, all made with liquid nitrogen. Spanish Tapas was served all night from the hotel’s award winning restaurant L’albufera. The delicious and well-presented cuisine was served alongside Sangria; Cava and fine Spanish wines. The event was a great success in presenting Meliá group’s authentic feel as well as celebrating Meliá International brand name change.

The hotel staffs were welcoming and continental, where every piece of information was available in both English and Spanish. What was most impressive about Meliá was not just the beautiful aesthetics but the authentic Spanish feel. This is thanks to the warm and friendly staff who were all so passionate about the hotel which they referred to as a space just like ‘home’.

The Meliá group includes city and resort hotels in locations around the globe. Wherever the location, every Meliá hotel boasts international prestige and Spanish authenticity. Meliá Dubai will be opening in October 2011, located in the heart of dubai with easy access to shopping and commercial districts. It will feature 164 contemporary rooms, boasting a variety of 3 restaurants; 4 bars; SPA and health club and roof top swimming pool. Check out their website: http://www.solmelia.com/ . Meliá white house London: http://www.melia-whitehouse.com/en/melia-white-house.html

A special thanks to Katch PR (http://www.katchthis.co/) who helped host the event.