Popcorn for the gourmand

Hand-made by San-Francisco based husband and wife team Jean and Andy Arnold 479° Popcorn is the trad cinema snack gone posh. 479 stands for the perfect popcorn popping temperature and the brand's gourmet flavours include Fleur de Sel Caramel, Ginger Sesame Caramel, Black Truffle + Aged White Cheddar, Madras Coconut Curry + Cashew and Alderwood Smoked Sea Salt.

Performance Couture

British artist Kirstie MacLeod makes her début at Dubai Art Fair. The collective name for Kirstie's couture performance dresses is Dreaming Dresses, she also accepts bespoke commissions and designs and hand-stitches gowns for any occasion. Wear this to the Crillon ball and you will outshine all and any debutnate. She did a brilliant performance piece at the Viktor & Rolf show at the Barbican last year too.

This dress is 10 metres wide and was completely hand-made.

There wasn't much room in Kirstie's flat when these dresses were being made!

Bag lady

These new bags are made from tear-proof, water-resistant Naoron - a type of paper developed by super-designer Naoto Fukasawa with a traditional Japanese washi company Onao. The range is called Siwa

Minamalist Luxury = Minimalux

Phenomenally successful British design brand Established & Son's co-founder and Design director Mark Holmes will launch a new desk and table accessories brand at this year's Salone. The brand is called Minimalux - minimalist designs with luxury materials - 22 carat gold.

New heavy-weight design brand to launch at Salone

No-one thought a cracking recession would herald one of the biggest new launches in furniture. But when Renato Preti's new design brand SKITSCH launches at Salone this year it will make big waves. It's entering the market with no expense spared and supported by big backers such as the president of MDF and 27 big name designers together with upcoming talent get ready for something exciting. Designers such as Fernando and Humberto Campanas, Maarten Baas, Front, Dovetusai, Konstantin Grcic, Xavier Lust, Bertjan Pot, Paolo Ullian and Philippe Nigro among others will unveil 45 projects at this year's Salone 2009 in the new super-brand's permanent home - a huge flagship store on Via Monte di Pieta.


Here's a preview of five of the 45 projects to be presented.

Cubist recliner by Jeffrey Bernett

Hidden Bookshelf

Table by Philippe Nigro

Chair by Konstantin Grcic

Scratch

Italian Cappelini like sybillants. Last year they launched Adam Goodrum's playful Stitch chair and this year they will unveil the "Scratch". The decidedly unitchy "Scratch" is designed by Patrick Norguet and is made from solid ash-wood slats. This is a pre-Salone 2009 sneak peak.




S

3 Kilos too much...

These chocolate African stones are made by Barcelona-based Chocolat Factory. These weighty 3 kilo chocolates are made from Mangaro cacao from Madagascar. They have great packaging but it has been commented that these lumps of chocolate do resemble (albeit delicious!) dinosaur poo. I'd stick to other products from their range.

Video killed the Radio Star (and gave birth to the Youtube star)

It's not an ipod, it's a godsend for avid youtube uploaders who want to share their home-crumping moves. Japanese Amadana have designed SAL, a compact video recorder that looks like an ipod. It records in MPEG4.

Uploading videos is easy! Just plug the USB into your computer

You can share videos with each other by just plugging into each other. This couple feel a bit naughty doing it.Via Mocoloco

Taxi Driver

This rug collection for Asplund by Swedish design trio Claesson Koivisto Rune was inspired by none other than taxi in Tokyo.Love it but there are only 30 to buy in the whole world!
From this....

To this...

From this..

To this...

Play Card, Work Card

Oh,to work at Lego and be Melissa Wallace or Fiona Wright - you'd get a business card like this! Via Trendhunter

Business card(front view)

Business card (rump view)

Speak(er) Easy

Light sabre? Outdoor heater? It's actually the new 6ft Sony Sautina speaker. It's only $10k.Via Engadget

Case Study

For classic tennis shoes French Bensimon is great. They do other stuff for the home too like the cool "Wall Case".

Come Dine With Me

Lots of people steal from restaurants. Unlike the poor coffee spoon thief/diner that was victim to chef Tom Aiken's wrath back in '04, most people don't get caught. British restaurant chain Canteen's must-have offering is a table - only the more advanced shoplifters among you need apply. Designed by new design group Very Good and Proper.Go legal and buy it from it's sole stockist Twenty Twenty One

Hey Hey with the Monkeys!

These pot-bellied monkeys hail from Denmark and were designed by a silversmith named Kay Bojesen in 1951. Manufactured by Rosendahl they are hand made from timber and teak and have become a design classic. A mini one will set you back about £120 but how could you say no? They're super cute, super friendly and hang from anything including a desk light arm to cheer up a glum office day!

We snapped Mr. Mads just before he got over-excited and indulged in a chest-beating frenzy!

Our daily bread..

Has the new Hovis advert made you run to the shops for a loaf of wholemeal? If the marketing team behind the English brand has got their wicked way you probably are. But where to store your carb-laden purchase? This bread box by German design collective Side by Side will do the job. The lid doubles as a bread board (double fun!) and is designed by Andreas Ulbricht -one of 15 freelancers in the collective. Side by Side are also ethical and employ 120 disabled workers.

Love this wooden ironing board that Side by Side were commissioned to do for American Design Within Reach, a brilliantly edited retailer of both design classics and of their one off collaborations with off the radar designers.

A pert upright view of the trivet

Switched at birth

UK designer John Caswell has unwittingly made Mr. Switch in the likeness of a certain film agent representing UK directorial talent at the biggest agency in the UK's capital city. Via Design Spotter

Scent of a Woman

I got some orange flavoured Prada biscuits the other week. I found out it was just a little something to titillate the tastebuds before the run up to Prada's new perfume "Infusion de Fleur L'Oranger". The scent will be launched in March and has notes of orange blossom, tuberose and jasmine. The line will include a body lotion and shampoo and will be on limited sale for 4 months only.

The packaging references a dress that was on the runway in its A/W 2003 collection

Stair master

Put a spring in your (coloured) steps like Japanese art director Tamotsu Yagi. Love the geeky touch of the Pantone system graphic. Via Apartment Therapy

Fashioning a housewife chore

Fashion designers are dipping into the world of washing and making laundry room chores just wonderful. I particularly want Alberto Aspesi's detergent and softener designed by Dirk van Dooren from London-Berlin based creative collective Tomato.

Lucien Pellat-Finet who has changed cashmere's demure appeal with his outlandish designs has also come up with a cashmere shampoo - the perfect product to wash his purchases in.

Not for fatties

This bench is only for the super-slim via Fffound

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