Ariane Dutzi designs these beautiful burlap bags, which are handmade by local crafts-women in the Yucatan. I’m not totally sure if she repurposes burlap bags, with their existing graphics, but if so, I like the project all the more.

Love KG + AB’s little porcelain figurines. They’re made from vintage molds and are all charming. Dancing bears, nuts, Chihuahua heads, guns…good stuff! It was great to see her clean display – it totally complimented her work.

Also always awesome when it comes to display and great work – Nervous System. They brought their new Cell Cycle jewelry, and it’s beautiful.

My friend Betty sent me a link to Daydream Nation – a collaboration between Kay Wong and Jing Wong. Both apparel and jewelry designers, it was the simplicity of their jewelry that caught my eye. Worth a look, for sure!

Salone del Mobile is coming up soon (the 22nd to the 27th of April) and we’ve been getting all kinds of emails about all the good things going on there this year. One of the exhibits that caught my eye is the Stuffed exhibition – a presentation of works inspired by the historical collection of animals belonging to the Milieu Educatie Centrum Eindhoven. The exhibition statement describes Stuffed as “a journey though the world of taxidermy, skin, living environment, the beauty of life and death, appearance and science.”

“The MEC owns a large collection of objects. What started as a bird collection grew to become a broad assortment of more than 70,000 pieces. Most of the animals are from the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant and have historical value. During the year only a few of them are exhibited while the rest remain a well-kept secret to the public. This consists of mammals and birds which are being carefully preserved in dozens of closets in the attic, insects are drawn up perfectly in glass frames, there are drawers full of eggs, and somewhere, you’ll find a lost amphibian in preservation liquids; Together they form a perfectly preserved biotope. This historical archive formed the basis of the exhibition that will be presented at ‘Dutchness’.”

Marjolijn Mandersloot’s Makeover sculptures. I can’t tell if these pieces are made from animal hides or if they are made from bronze – her website seems to indicate most of her sculptures are made from metals, but it sure looks like hide to me. As much as I don’t really like the idea of taxidermy, this particular project would be a lot more compelling if it were an interpretive sculpture of the animal, fabricated from its own hide.

My personal favorite – Anne ten Donkelaar’s Wittenoord jewelry – creepily preserved insects in glass bubbles.

Below is Peep – Raw Color, by Daniera ter Haar & Christoph Brach. Peep is a photographic series that plays with our perception of stuffed birds, by graphically overlaying the sounds that each bird makes, over its taxidermied body.

Sneaker Dot Hoodie by Adidas features some nice colors and dot work. The latter inspired by the dimple outsole of the classic Stan Smith. Too bad it doesn’t come in black.

Giia emailed me about her neckware a few weeks ago and I’ve finally had a chance to check out her amazing work. I love the boldness of the jewelry, and how with some of the pieces the line is blurred between jewelry and neckware/scarf.

Giia is an Italian interior architect/product designer and I think her architectural training definitely shows in her work. Check out her shop here.

As always, Nervous System is on the cutting edge with their new 3-D Radiolaria rings, which they will be premiering at ICFF this year. These images are of prototypes that they had printed using SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) by Shapeways to test out the material strength, size, and feasibility. I think they’re pretty gorgeous!

Champion Hoodie Remix is a design widget that lets you create your own custom color and pattern hoodies in the hopes that it will garner enough votes, for the top 50 to go into production. It is a fun little tool and they have a lot of patterns and colors to choose from.

Some new Tees from Lakai. Following in the grand tradition of skewing popular imagery, the Lakai or Die takes the Join or Die image of the 13 original colonies and gives it a twist.

I can’t tell if I like this Love Explosion Ring or hate it. It’s so gaudy and over-the-top but I think I like it because it’s so super-bling. And it reminds me of rock candy, and who doesn’t like rock candy?