fashion – nina melin

Weekly Winners – Women Wonders

It’s of course all about women makers and shakers this week.

1.Nothing says spring as blooming Magnolia trees. Actually it’s one of my favourite “flowers” and if I had a daughter there’s a big chance one of her names would be Magnolia.

Last weeks heat wave gave nature a super boost and the wonderful pink and white buds began to open up. I took a few branches indoor to enjoy this short time of the year to it’s fullest.

The woman behind the vase (not in the photo though;-)) is my favourite Swedish designer Carina Seth Anderson. I will soon write a post about her new store in Stockholm. (Unfortunately she has no webbshop and I haven’t found a British reseller online.)

Pallo vase size Small from Skruf’s glassworks, 3000 SEK, Artilleriet.

2. Since I discovered L.A-based brand Building Block some years ago it’s been on my bag brand radar.

Founded by sisters Kimberly and Nancy Wu back in 2011 they do their own take on minimalistic chic. Add a touch of playfulness and utility style and you pretty much got it.

A good showcase is this new ETC Sling, made of two small detachable bags that also can be used separately.

And as it happens it fits perfectly into the new trend with XXS and XXL bags. But this sling is a little bit bigger and more practical than the 5,2 cm high fingerbag “Le Mini Chiquito” by Jaquemus’ that’s been the talk of PFW.

Unfortunately this special edition of the ETC Sling is just available through Building Block’s own US web store. That means a hefty charge for customs and taxes as always when buying from the States (in this case $80). But I think it’s worth it this time.

It also comes in a black version that will be available from European resellers.

ETC Sling, Special Edition, $295, Building Block.

3.Yes, it was lamp love at first sight when I spotted this Uplighter lamp by London based ceramist Paola North.

She makes lamps, tiles and vessels inspired by antiquities like Greek and Roman pottery that’s been exposed to the test of times. Rough surfaces and primitive shapes are her trademarks.

Paola’s other designs are also worth checking out at Alex Eagle’s concept store. She’s another creative woman who’s personal mix of fashion, interiors, arts and craft sent her store straight into my London Black Book.

Paola North, Table Up-lighter Lamp Long, £395, Alex Eagle

4.I stumble upon New York-based artist Brooke Holm the other day when visiting COS’ new store at Coal Drops Yard. It’s the new shopping destination at Kings X here in London that I wrote about earlier this year. Every month this COS store features different artists.

On display right now are some of Brooke Holm’s striking photos from her Sea Lake series. These are large, aerial photographs of Lake Tyrell, one of Australias largest salt lakes. The colours and patterns of the lakes are beautiful in a calming, almost meditative way. The landscape looks like an abstract painting.

Sea Lake by Brooke Holm.

5. This time of the year my skin is as far as you can get from a glowing post-holiday tanned one. When I try to pull my face up from the trenches every morning there’s a little bottle and a stick that somehow always does the trick.

The Magic Foundation and the Magic Away Concealer from make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury are the new cornerstones in my routine on days when I wear make-up. Starting with the foundation and then continuing with the concealer under the eyes my face transforms without looking like I got a thick cake layer on. It’s looks quite natural and fresh.

The redness I got on the cheeks nowadays and those dark circles they covers very well and normally the cover lasts all day. You can apply a little bit more to the areas that needs more cover and much less where it’s not needed.

As the last base step and later in the day as a quick touch-up I also apply a tiny amount of her powder on the nose and eye-lids to prevent shine.

Magic Foundation, £32, Magic Away Concealer, £24, Airbrush Flawless Finish, £34, Charlotte Tilbury.

Budget Buy – Beige Buddies

Let me introduce my new favourite soft work uniform for SS 19. Comfy as can be and casual it works just as well for a lazy sofa Sunday or a stroll in the park.

The set comes from Zara’s younger label TRF. It’s made of comfy ribbed cotton in a beige fabric. The joggers has an elastic drawstring waistband, cuffed hems and, thank God – side pockets!

The matching long sleeve top has a V-neckline and front button fastening. I took one size up on both for a more loose fit.

I will wear the pants with an oversized sweatshirt when chilly. And maybe I’ll try them in a combo with a long dress or tunic.

Textured button-up cardigan, £12.99, Zara. Textured joggers, £12.99, Zara

Dream Ticket – The Cover star Coat

As you know by now, I love a good bargain as long as it’s ticks my style and sustainable boxes. But on the other side of the spectrum you have the investment pieces that comes with a sometimes sky high pricetag, but has all the specs of a long-term key investment.

So now I’m introducing a new weekly category. Got to have something to dream about and get inspired by, right?

Photos Acne Studios

The off-white trenchcoat from Acne Studios are just the kind of garment that my coat dreams are made of.

It has a wonderful town scene print. It’s made from a sumptuous silk blend. It’s oversized. And the colour combo with off-white and the brown pattern fits my palette just perfect.

I would wear it just like in the pics, accompanied by an all low-key white assembly to let the coat be the cover star.

Whatever the mood. Whatever the day. This has you covered.

Printed Oversized Trenchcoat, £2335, Browns.

Weekly Winners – Going Green

My quest for green always reaches a peak late winter. So this week I’m going Hulk in every way.

1.Conservatory Archives, my favourite London florist is growing. The tiny shop on Hackney Road now has spun off at Lower Clapton Road.

Here you can linger in an abundance of greenery. There’s also a little café cum deli that serves up delicious Matcha and Chocolate mousse-like cheesecakes.

Quirky details, vintage furniture and lighting adds to the charm.

A must for every greenery and plant lover.

Conservatory Archives, 3-5 Lower Clapton Road, London.

2.Italian fashion deluxe brand Bottega Veneta is making waves with new Artistic Director Daniel Lee. He previously held the position of director of ready-to-wear design at Celine, a protégé of Phoebe Philo. So he knows a thing or two about timeless, sophisticated elegance.

In the autumn of 2017, I visited a Bottega Veneta event at Chiswick House, London, where craftsmen and women where showcasing the brands high level of craftsmanship. It’s one of the few fashion houses that has stayed true to the artisanal heritage, when many other ones these days goes for a quick fashion fix. It will be interesting to follow Lee’s approach in this matter.

The new collection of oversized bags with their classic Intrecciato leather pattern now blown-up to XXL proportions and the are close to this years hottest bags so far in MHO. Some of the styles sold out straight away in their webbshop. So seems I’m not alone here…

The first AD-campaign has also created a lot of buzz with it’s modern, cool attitude and perhaps foremost for the fusion of fashion and some desirable furniture. (The armchair with leather armrests, yesss please!)

These green sporty, oversized leather shorts is the perfect mix of cool and elegance. A timeless dream ticket that never goes out of style.

Shorts in green nappa, £ 2095, Bottega Veneta.

3. Every morning I’m waking up on the green side with a wheatgrass super green shot. It comes packed with vitamin A and C, which help to maintain healthy vision and contribute to normal brain function.

It also helps the immune system, antioxidant protection and skin rejuvenation. The wheatgrass is produced with minimal processing.

Cheers and Good Morning to that!

Organic Wheat grass powder, Green Origins, £5.99, Ocado.

4.On my wishlist for some years now, LA-based ceramist Eric Roinestad’s work has it’s own, unique expression.

He mixes the spirit of California folk modernism with the designer’s own Scandinavian heritage. I think I could decorate a whole room with one of his pieces as the starting point.

Ceramics, Eric Roinestad.

5.Normally I’m quite beige and boring when it’s comes to eye make-up.

But this dark, moody green shadow from Danish, organic beauty brand Kjaer Weis had me thinking outside my usual greige box.

Photos Kjaer Weis

The refill system is brilliant and part of the brands sustainable philosophy. The range is free of parabens, silicones, petrochemical emulsifiers and synthetic fragrances.

Made in Italy, almost all of the products have been Certified Natural or Certified Organic by Italian standards.

Cream Eye Shadow Sublime, €43, Kjaer Weis.

Budget Buy Serpentine Sandals

The latest design collab from the folks at H&M was one that instantly caught my interest. This time they’ve teamed up with the new, also Swedish, shoe brand Eytys. Its been on my ( and many others) radars for a while. Theirs chunky sneakers has turned into a success and last year they opend a store here in London.

The unisex collection’s highlights for me are the jeans and trousers. And these sandals, a fun take on the Eytys aesthetics. The padded foot strap is made of leather with an embossed snake pattern. The soles are slightly higher and has a textured-patterned rim and the inside is moulded so it’s more comfy than a flat sandal.

One of my sons, who also happens to loves cool packaging wants to put the shoe box on his so called “Nerd shelf” together with his other finds like Japanese soft drink cans and candy boxes.

Always a nice little bonus when the package can be re-used.

Sandals, Eytys x H&M, £17.99, H&M.

Think Pink, Valentine

First I want to say it’s not that I don’t like to give or receive gifts. But I never been a big fan of general gifting days when you supposed to give presents. Christmas, Fathers, Mothers, Valentine’s days and so on.

On a given day the social etiquette dictates that you must give a present. So you run around trying to find something. It’s a little bit crazy, don’t you think?

I really enjoy giving people I love gifts. Birthdays and anniversaries I’m all in.

But isn’t it also a wonderful thing to give someone a little something when they least expect so? That expression of genuine surprise and joy on his or her face is worth it alone I think.

Instead of a mandatory gift. What about an unexpected present on a gloomy, dark winter Wednesday?

That said I’m seeing the colour pink everywhere right now. And I quite like it. There’s something fresh, youthful and springish to it that is most welcomed this time of the year.

And as it happens it’s also the perfect colour for Valentine.

Pink and the sink. Kitchen cabinet maker Devol’s showroom in London.

Photo credits: 3/4/5/6/7/8/9. Other photos my own.

The Weekly Winners – It’s all in the Mix

It’s an eclectic bunch, the five little things lighting up this grey February week.

1.When it’s love at first sight and you’re totally hooked. Then it doesn’t matter that your son points out that; ” We don’t have long umbrellas”.

This vintage Fornasetti umbrella plate belongs in our Edwardian house’s hallway. Period.

Umbrella stand, “Test Antiche”, Piero Fornasetti, 1950s. Auctionet.

2.Right now I’m on the hunt for a replacement table or generous desk for our living room. The one we had there ended up in my study.

On the claim list: Dark wood with some nice carving work. And of course it should be a vintage one. Both for aesthetics and sustainability.

When I spotted this, it was exactly what I had in mind and that also goes for most of the styling. Maybe not the grass. It’s was close to a “grass fire” on social media #interiors last year so I think I had my dose. Otherwise this is pretty much the look I’m after.

Found at Apt 34 via Automatism.

3.These boots where made for sauntering. Had my eyes on these really tall, tan boots all winter. But I couldn’t see myself running around in them in wet winter London.

So when I spotted them on 50% sale this week and realised it was the last pair in that store and it was my size. Well, then it could only end in one way.

I’ll be wearing them with my ecru coloured jeans tucked in. And together with my cream and beige coloured midi dresses they will be another spring/summer tonal combo.

High leather tan boots, now £99, at &Other Stories.

4. “I never fell in love with fashion, I liked the pace of making collections but I never felt passionate about it in the way I feel about sculpture”, says the former designer turned artist Nicole Farhi to Wallpaper Magazine.

So no surprise, she sold her fashion label and left the fashion industry seven years ago to pursue her passion for sculpture. Last week her exhibition “Folds” opened at gallery Beaux Arts.

It’s a serie of female torsos that are utterly sensual and beautiful.

Fahri’s Studio in Northern London. Photo: Louise Long for Vogue.

“FOLDS is my antidote to the world of fashion. I believe there is beauty everywhere, and wanted to show parts of the body you don’t even know you have. The fold of the back, for example, is so beautiful and harmonious, the lines become abstract. And the works are sensual, too.”, Nicole Fahri told British Vogue.

FOLDS by Nicole Fahri, 31 Jan- 2 Mar at Beaux Arts, London.

5.The season for one of my favourite fruits, the blood orange, is in full swing. That reminded me to share one of my heavy rotation albums of the latest half year or so.

The fourth album by British-born musician Devonté Hynes under his Blood Orange artist namn is a fusion of funk, soul, R&B and jazz with warm, glossy electronics.

A vitamin well for every season.

Negro Swan by Blood Orange, Spotify.

Mood Board – Winter Whites

Winter whites never goes out of style. It’s timelessness is part of it’s appeal. But for me it’s also about adding a contrast to the dark default setting of winter.

And going out head to toe in white on a greyish and wet winter day almost makes you feel like the queen of light. The untouchable one that just don’t care about wordly things as dirty spots, puddles or ongoing fashion trends.

And when not going head to toe, just a dollop of white like a pair of boots or a chunky sweater brightens a dull winter day.

Knits from Esteban Cortazar, Matchesfashion.

Cover photo Laurel knit, Goop. Gallery one: From top left: Kimono coat, Rodebjer. Ceramics, Naomi Bikis. Jewelry, Renasala. Handbag, Loewe. Gallery two: Sweater and skirt, Raey, Matchesfashion. Sculpure Britt Ignell, The Modern Scandi. Shoes, Jill Sander, Matchesfashion. Tuxedo, Arket. Coat Laureen Manoogian, Alex Eagle. Vase, Malgorzata Bany, The New Craftsmen.

Forever Summer Classics

Some years ago, probably 2014 or 2015, I was scanning the market for wide leg trousers. Not flares, not palazzo. Just classic wide leg, high waist ones. At that time they where quite hard to find. So I was even more happy to come across these big checkered ones. White with dark blue pattern they have since been on my summer rotation list. As a true statement piece should, they set the tone for the whole outfit and you can just add a basic sweater, t-shirt or what I like the most, a simple, classic tank top.

Sandals, sneakers or high platforms works just as well. But in summer I mostly find my self opting for the open sandal. Free the feet, when you got the chance, right?

The tank top is also worth some attention here. When I got my first child I started to buy both baby basics and ditto for myself from French, classic label Petit Bateau. And up to this date I honestly havn’t found a better brand when it comes to quality basics at that price point. I still wear the tanks and t-shirts that I bought 10-15 years ago. Worth every penny and the fit also lasts!

Finally, the hand bag has also become the summer go-to work bag. It’s designed by Swedish Cecilia Eduards. Back when I had my Swedish design store her leather bags and accessories where some of our bestseller.

Her signature braided pattern in combination with the sculptural shapes makes up for the perfect mix of retro boho meets modern minimalism. It think you can tell from her designs that she’s also an architect. No fast fashion frills here. Just a classic line of beautiful, functional bags that she updates with new takes every year.

Made of high quality leather from classic Swedish Tännsjö Garveri it’s made to last and the patina it get’s over the years just makes it even more beautiful I think. So it’s a long-term investment that really pays of.

Checkered trousers from Zara 2014-15. Ink blue tank top, £17, from Petit Bateau. Braided leather handbag £399, from Swedish brand Eduards Accessories.