Boston area entrepreneur Johnny Earle started his label Johnny Cupcakes as a total joke. These days he’s laughing as he crisscrosses the globe promoting his products and brand. Johnny Cupcakes stores are designed as a kind of trickery with classic bakery motifs, but no buns are in the ovens here — it’s silk-screened shirts and hats that are for sale (a similar concept to the Happy Pills candy store we wrote about back in 2007) .
Every now and then, products, rooms and installations catch our eye, and we find ourselves thinking, “WTF?” We’ve rounded up eleven of our favorite “What were they thinking?” items for an end-of-year WTF extravaganza.
Ghost Urns
Yes, these are what they seem: ghoulish ghost-shaped urns for ashes — actual ashes. Designed by Anna Marinenko, they’re fitted with a glass test tube compartment for the ashes, and the interior walls are done in pretty pastel hues. Definitely for those with a morbid (healthy?) sense of humor.
David Saunders, more commonly known as David David, began with a fine arts background and eventually moved into fashion in 2005. Well known for his geometric patterns and graphic prints, the London artist began his foray into fashion by hand-painting t-shirts for himself. People began to take notice and he eventually digitized his designs for production. In addition to his clothing, he features his designs on umbrellas, prints, notebooks, and scarves, just to name a few, and often collaborates with other designers and companies.
Nuptus is the new Spring/Summer 2012 collection by Sylvio Giardina. Inspired by the idea of veil and cloud, the sculptural silhouettes feel airy and almost liquid-like. Made from polyethylene foam and jersey that works together to embrace the body, some of the pieces feature Swarovski crystals – added to create drama. The addition of the military-inspired jackets, pants and dresses add a more intense and rigid structure to the whole collection. I love the orange bubbly dress above – it’s like being embraced by a pillow.
This week, Society6 has a fantastic special: Save $4 on all art tees – they were $22 and now they’re only $18! In honor of this awesome special, I added two new art prints to The Design Milk Dairy that make for great tees:
First… who doesn’t love David Bowie and zombies? So, why not Zombie Bowie?
I live most of my life in t-shirts because, as a work-at-home blogger, there’s no need for me to really get all jazzed up to sit around all day. My dogs don’t care what I look like. I love me a well-designed t-shirt, and these laser-cut shirts from PERF are so super cool. Ladies: don’t forget to wear something underneath!
Last night officially kicked off New York Fashion week! So I thought it appropriate to post this new project from Jungeun Lee of Studio Koya called Nuue, named after a Korean word that means cocoon.
If you recall, I spotted Paper No. 9 in NYC at Model Citizens 2011 during ICFF. They collaborated with designer Sylvia Heisel on a new garment that looks like a paper bag but is so much more.
All You Can Get is a feature by photographer Ryan Yoon for the premiere issue of Virgine Magazine that uses the most unusual, everyday objects to create high-fashion.
