Sometimes we get the feeling no one really wants us here in Leipzig. Not that we are complaining - or at least not when avoiding our company means sending us to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair and New York City. From May 14th until May 19th your (smow)blog team will bring you all the important stories, new products and general lunacy from Vitra, Kartell, Magis, Tom Dixon and all the other exhibitors at North America's premier designer furniture trade fair. And not just from
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As a quick info for all smow customers outside Germany - Friday May 1 is a public holiday in Germany and as such the normal (smow)service will be a little disrupted. Apologies in advance for any inconvenience.
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It's almost time. The exhibition halls are half-empty, the beer fridge in the press room half-full and the hold of our Lufthansa plane back to Leipzig is being waterproofed on account of the 6 kilos Italian rainwater we are now carrying with us. It's been a fun week - and a heart-felt thanks from us to all who made it possible and who made it what it was, both here at the exhibition centre, but also Superstudio, Zona Tortona and all the off-site shows and exhibitions. But although we are
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They say that in every life a little rain must fall. The amount that has fallen in Milan in the past 24 hour is however ridiculous. And unjust. We don't know what the Milanese did to annoy Tlaloc, BUT WE WEREN'T THERE!!!! And had we been, and had we seen what the Milanese were doing we would have tried to stop them. As it is, however, we were forced to flee our tent at 3.15 this morning - enjoyable as the water bed effect through the tent floor was, we have an awful lot of state of the art
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Leipzig is famous for many things: Bach, Neo Rauch, Bach .... and Graffiti. We may not have as much as our neighbours in Halle, but ours has the superior quality and a higher degree of originality. Much like our designer furniture. And so when a delegation from smow paid a visit to Vitra this week it was natural that they shared this particular element of Leipzig's cultural identity with their hosts. Aside from defacing Vitra's walls, the (smow)team also visited the Vitra offices, and
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smow prides itself on only dealing in new, officially licensed products from internationally renowned producers such as Vitra, Kartell, USM Haller and Moormann, amongst others. As an internationally active retailer, smow, however, also has a regular supply of shop display items and exhibition articles which cannot be sold as "new": For just as a car that has travelled more than 40 kilometres can't be sold as new, so a chair that has been sat on more the twice also can't be sold as new. And
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March in Leipzig means Book Fair. One of the oldest and most important in Europe the 2009 Leipzig Book Fair ran between March 12 and 15. And attracted over 147,000 vistors. The Leipzig Book Fair prides itself on being more than just an industry meeting point, and during the Fair over 500 public readings took place as part of the “Leipzig liest” festival. And we at smow joined the fun. On the evening 14.03.09 our Leipzig (smow)room once again hosted a reading with subsequent discussion. Guest
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The bed “Siebenschläfer” from the Moormann (Design: Christoffer Martens, 2007) is beloved for the simplicity with which it can be constructed. The individual frame elements needing only to be slotted into one another. However, what happens when the carpentry firm responsible for cutting the parts holds the plans back to front? – Then one gets an unplanned innovation, albeit one that causes several “Am I being stupid?” moments for smow customers. Those who are quick of the mark, however, can
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It may be a few months old, but as relevant as ever: The International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film. During the festival in November 2008 smow sponsored, in conjunction with Vitra, the Industry Lounge. Within the festival hub – the Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig – industry visitors, VIps and the media were offered a quiet and relaxed atmosphere in which to hold business meetings, hold – or overhear discussions – or simply to relax and unwind. The Industry Lounge
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With the design for his „Wallflower“ wall unit for Jonas & Jonas Designer Markus Honka has placed the emphasis not only on a flowing, functional form that presents an almost transparent effect, but also on a quick and simple assembly. The units can be assembled without any tools: No screws, no drilling, no problems. Wallflower is composed of one or two supporting legs and "Elastic-buffers" on the rear side to provide stability. The "Wallflowers" are perfectly suitable for today’s
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The discussion around originals and plagiarisms in designer furniture it is not only a dialectic excercise but a real problem for many produces and retailers of licensed furniture. In the previously mentioned article "The Original" by Rolf Fehlbaum we provided a gentle introduction to the theme: That the problem is very real can be seen in the regularity with which cases are heard before various courts. In 2006, for example, an Italian furniture company was banned from calling the
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Occasionally, just occasionally a curious glance at the price of a piece of designer furniture is enough to take your breath away. Chairs, lamps and sideboards from Fritz Haller, Philippe Starck, Nils Holger Moormann et al are not always something that can simply be casually paid for out of the “housekeeping“. However, once one recovers from the initial shock one has time to reflect that a high quality piece of designer furniture is not to be understood only as a luxury accessory to
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Welcome to the (smow)blog. Why are we blogging? For us at smow this blog is an opportunity to present new information, exchange ideas and experiences and to offer an informed, behind the scenes view of us, our suppliers and designers. Many of our designer furniture pieces are established classics with which their owners have grown-up, matured, loved, lost and loved again. At the same time the dynamic in the designer furniture market is such that new products are continuously being presented
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