Shortlisted as ‘New Designer of the Year’ at the UK Jewellery Awards in 2012, Smith/Grey is a London based jewellery brand creating high quality, handmade objects inspired by memories, stories and traditions.
Founded by jewellery designer Birgit Marie Schmidt and creative strategist Sofus Graae, their designs are an expression of their Central European and Scandinavian background in combination with their British education and lifestyle.

Their AW collection, Bulls & Roses, is now available on their website and Twin spoke to the team behind the brand about inspiration and goals for the near future.

What was your initial idea with Smith/Grey?
Jewellery for us is a wonderful medium to communicate in as it merges the refined technical skills of a craftsman with the abstract ideas of an artist or designer. Jewellery also has the potential to carry a lot of sentiment and personal meaning (just think of a wedding ring for example) which you won’t find in any other design medium. It seemed like the perfect platform for us to exercise our desire to create and manifest ideas inspired by the world’s big and small wonders. We just jumped in and it kind of snowballed from there.

What signifies your design?
Our designs derive from a place of critical curiosity and the need to shape an idea into a physical object. We want all of our designs to tell a story, be it a surreal recreation of a memory. We also love to create unexpected juxtapositions of the wild and the romantic, the animalistic and the cultivated which you can find when viewing our textured Ivy Noir signet rings or our latest Bulls&Roses collection.

Where do you generally find inspiration?
Our inspiration has no static home – it is often a colourful mix of cultural observations, art, cinema and adventures that through time merge into new concrete ideas which we base our collections on. Coming from completely different backgrounds also allows us to look at things through the eye of an architect or graphic designer instead of being constrained to only one view of the jewellery design world.

Who is your typical customer?
Someone who looks for something special, someone who has an eye for detail and appreciates to be challenged.

What are you working on at the moment?
We have been fortunate to gain some new exciting international stockists which we are finishing orders for at the moment. It is a thrilling thought to know that our designs will be available in some of the most beautiful and exciting stores around the world.

We are also working hard on updating our website which is something that is really important to us. Of course we are also in the early days of getting together a new collection which will be very exciting as well so make sure to check back regularly!

smithgrey.co.uk

Byredo, the Stockholm based fragrance house, is launching a new perfume in September in collaboration with the two fashion photographers Inez Lamsweerde och Vinoodh Matadin.

Ben Gorham, the perfume director behind the brand, has created a modern, unique and logical approach to creating fragrances. By limiting the numbers or raw materials, each fragrance is given a clear identity and reason of being. His most rescent fragrance, Inflorosence with hints of roses, pink fresia, magnolia, lilies and jasmine, was a best seller and the perfect smell for spring/summer. But as we are approaching the end of August it is time for a less floral fragrance and so Ben Gorham together with Inez  and Vinoodh have made the ultimate autumn/winter perfume. Named 1996, it is inspired by a photograph of a young girl with the title Kirsten 1996, taken by Inez and Vinoodh the same year.

“This photo represents the work and our lives together, and Ben has done an impeccable interpretation of that for the new fragrance,” the photographer duo says about their collaboration.

From September the fragrance will be on sale on Byredo’s website as well as at Barney’s in New York.

byredo.com

barneys.com

Fast becoming the watch brand to know, Larsson & Jennings is known for its Stockholm-meets-London minimal, contemporary vibe.

Already on the radars of the cool crowd and the style bloggers alike including, Camille over the Rainbow, Shine by Three and Studded Hearts it is the underground label that’s soon to be massive.

We’ve got our eye on the very fashion RESURGENCE collection.

Available online at: larssonandjennings.com

Last week Converse UK launched their Fall 2013 Chuck Taylor All Star Rock Craftsmanship sneaker collection, offering the finest materials paired with exquisite detailing, such as combinations of studs, zippers, leather and bold animal prints inspired by rock’s rebellious attitude. And to celebrate the colourful individuals who live and breathe the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, Converse has taken over ‘The Circle’ tattoo parlour on Soho’s Noel Street for the month of August, giving fans the chance to express their creative spirit and make their permanent mark in the ultimate uncompromising manner, by getting inked.

Converse will also pay homage to its on-going commitment to music by hosting a series of exclusive live gigs from the basement of The Circle, and the following artists will be performing:

Metz / August 7
Pure Love / August 17
Bring Me The Horizon / August 22

For further information on the gig series, ticket applications and how to get inked, visit converse.co.uk

Charlotte De Carle, Lilah Parsons and Tabitha Hal at Converse launch party at The Circle

The Scandinavian high-street store COS has teamed up with the Serpentine Gallery on its summer series of Park Night talks and events, as well as an accompanying clothing collection. The brand has created two limited edition shirts – one for men and one for women, drawing inspiration from utility, nature and the concept of the shirt itself.
“The shirt is a key staple of the Cos collection; its versatility and timelessness make it the perfect addition to every man and woman’s wardrobe,” said Karin Gustafsson, Cos’ head of womenswear design.

The shirts are available to buy online, at COS Regent Street and the Serpentine Gallery.

The store is supporting the Serpentine Gallery with a schedule of performances, film screenings and discussions on selected Friday evenings throughout the summer months, all staged in the new Serpentine pavilion – this year designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. And the next one up, on Friday September 6, is a specially commissioned performance by artist George Henry Longly, inspired by the structure of a fashion show.

Buy your ticket already now at serpentinegallery.org 

cosstores.com

Phoebe Philo, designer of the French fashion house Céline, has teamed up with the  Danish artist of FOS – Thomas Poulsen, who will be making a selection of furniture pieces for the fashion brands’s flagship store in London, which will open in September.

FOS’s recent projects includes an ice-cream stand at Frieze Art Fair, turning exhibition spaces into bakeries and watch shops and he has also been exhibiting at Venice Biennale, Art Basel, as well as at the Max Wigram Gallery in London. Together with Phoebe Philo, known for her clean, feminine and structured silhouettes but also for her unconventional designs, this collaboration will definitely have an interesting and fresh outcome.

“This marks the high point in collaborating with Céline. Design has always been a part of my artistic frame, which by its nature is part of fashion’s,” Poulsen says about the collaboration.

maxwigram.com

celine.com

Henry Holland, the British designer of House of Holland, has turned a traditional ice cream van into a bright colored flagship store on wheels. It’s a real pop art explosion and will be selling an exclusive capsule collection of accessories, jewellery, headwear and eyewear with the brand’s signature polka dots, candy stripes and acid brights.

The van (dubbed “Mr Quiffy’s”) will start its journey this Friday, and is set to pop up in London’s Covent Garden, Carnaby Street, Seven Dials and Spitalfields areas, then travel further up north to Manchester, before returning to the capital for London Fashion Week in mid-September.

If the road trip goes well, there is a possibility of taking the van to Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and the seaside town of Brighton. And perhaps the van will hit the routes again in the future, but the young designer is more eager to find the perfect spot for a stand alone store to open shortly in the capital. The project was created to celebrate the label’s forthcoming e-commerce site, which also launches on Friday.

houseofholland.co.uk

Iconic trainer label adidas and the brand’s consultant/avid collector Gary Aspden have created a sportswear heaven for all three stripe junkies in the form of the Spezial exhibition.

Comprised of 650 pairs, this show sees rarities like Yohji Yamamoto’s footwear designs sit alongside styles signed by the likes of Public Enemy, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Noel Gallagher and more. Don’t miss out on your chance to revisit the adidas archive (including the brand’s ongoing collaboration with BAPE) before the show closes this Saturday.

Spezial is on display at Hoxton Gallery, 9 Kingsland Road, E2 8AA, London until July 27.

hoxtongallery.com

Despite AW13 being her only third namesake collection, Rejina Pyo already has a number of accolades to her name. The Korean womenswear designer was hired as the first assistant designer for Roksanda Ilincic immediately after her graduation from CSM, had her MA collection reproduced by Weekday, won the Han Nefkens Fashion Award in 2012, and fused fashion and sculpture for her ‘Structural Mode’ installation at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. When this London-based creative isn’t busy working on her own label, she acts as a womenswear designer and consultant for Christopher Raeburn and a womenswear lecturer.

As far as her designs go, Pyo’s SS13 collection took on a more wearable approach to her trademark architectural aesthetic, showing a range of lightweight denim, linen and sheer organza fabrics cut into clean-lined and graphic shapes. For AW13 she delved even more into fabric experimentation: faux mink fur, twill patterned wool, silk jacquard and laminated cotton in colours of navy and burgundy offered up a luxuriously modern look. Judging by her elegant yet approachable creations, the future can only hold bright things for this young designer.

rejinapyo.com