Tal R has celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Egg Chair by recovering it with patchwork fabrics from his collection.

The Israeli-born artist has created handmade looks for the armchair that was designed by Arne Jacobsen for the Danish company Fritz Hansen.

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If you don’t have a shoe obsession but you can’t resist a brand name pair on sale or you have a collection of high heels in your closet for “special occasions”, then Shoetube is for you!
(Well you all know that while I adore being comfortable, my passion for shoes is no mystery!)

There, you can get your daily dose of trends, opinions, criticisms, suggestions and discounts. If you join the community, you can share videos, photos and even post.

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Have you ever been to Ikea on a Sunday afternoon?

You know, design - even at a low cost - can give a modern touch to a sad-looking home. All the more reason to resist the attack masses production.

I read about a blog that shows how to “hack” Ikea furniture! 

By dissembling, cutting, removing, adding and re-assembling, you can personalize those standardized Ikea pieces.
These fans of “Made in Sweden” who, just like me, are against cloned houses, post their unusual ideas and explain how they modified Ikea furniture and turned it into something else.

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In recent years, food has had more of a following than the arts (unfortunately for our bathroom scales!). Italian museums are joining the Tate in London and the Guggenheim in Bilbao and are offering delicious haute cuisine menus.

If you like design, then at the “Bovisa Triennale” in Milan you can enjoy specialties and watch events while sitting in the Bistrot Bovisa, which is actually a glass cube.

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Hi, my name is Roberta. I work in Mandarina Duck’s communications office, specifically for the travel and business products division.

I’d like to tell you about the shoot for our Spring-Summer 2008 catalogue, which will soon be available in our shops!

It all started with casting calls, many debates and desperate telephone calls in makeshift Spanish. It was a big job but we did it in only three weeks, which of course is relative considering how much we had to organize it all. But we managed it!

5 am:
The alarm clock rang; I automatically jumped out of bed and was immediately ready, so I stared out of the window while waiting for the taxi to take me to the airport. I got there and waited for Francesco (our communications director) and then we were ready to go!

7 am:
Flight to Madrid followed by transfer to Leon. The photographer, stylist and digital assistant from Milan were waiting for us in Madrid. The rest of the group was local.

11 am:
We loaded our stuff into our vehicle, everyone was in a good mood, the only thing missing was Jean, the model.
We waited for him in the labyrinth of the Madrid airport (very beautiful btw) and, I must confess, I was a bit nervous.
When you choose a face without seeing it in real life, you can end up with an unpleasant surprise.
Anyway, we were lucky. Jean arrived and turned out to be a happy, fun guy!  Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Friends,

After long and painful meditations, I took the decision of selling the Duck!

I brought her to this world, grew her and did my best to teach her how to face life.
Now the time has come for me to set her free to fly. It is a bit like growing a child: you must understand when the time has come to let her face life on her own.

Warm best wishes to all Mandarina Duck’s friends, everywhere.

Paolo Trento

Cameras and lenses will all pointed on the capital city of Italy until 25 May for Rome’s International Photography Festival.

The event, entitled “La Finestra di Fronte”, presents a selection of images by new photographers showing glimpses of everyday life, corners of the city lost in urban frenzy and improbable truths hidden behind veils of appearance.

The most interesting photos sent to La Repubblica - a popular Italian newspaper - have been selected by Marco Delogu, art director of the event, and are being shown at the Exhibition Centre along side professional masterpieces.

I’m sure that they’re not making a bad impression!

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