celebre-crap or the rise of the celebrity ”designer”

Yesterday we celebrated a fashion designer who has successfully applied his skills to furniture.

But most of the time we here at The Colonies are much more cynical about celebrities or fashion designers who turn their hands to industrial design.

I chatted with The Colonies’ uber-design-conscious friend, Lauren Howey.  Our conversation had me rolling on the floor with laughter. Here’s how it went:

Lauren: [After referring to the Jason Wu faucet/tap.] Fashion collaboration has gone hilariously too far. Yeah, my faucet is by Jason Wu. And have you seen my Versace disposal? The piping in the wall is Tom Ford…

Me: I saw that tap – I hate that I don’t hate it. What’s next, Kate Spade ballcocks? Have you read about Justin Timberlake’s homewares line for HomeMint? *

Kate Spade’s ballcock would be pink and polka-dotted.

Lauren: Justin Timberlake and homewares. Because when I think Justin Timberlake, I think plates and vases. That’s hilarious. I don’t hate the Jason Wu faucet either. But he just took a normal faucet and  turned it black. Ta-da! Though I suppose I don’t want a fashion designer to actually redesign the faucet and it’s mechanisms – what would Wu know about plumbing??

Me: You’re so right! But we are okay with Kelly Wearstler doing fashion right? RIGHT?

Lauren:  Well that’s because Kelly Wearstler can. do. no. wrong. Even when she’s charging $900 for a brass star bookend, she’s the queen!

I guess celebrity interior lines is the next frontier. I mean, when Kanye West is debuting a collection at Paris fashion week, the celeb fashion line has jumped the shark and they all need something new to claim they “designed”!

My favorite though was when I was watching Fashion Police on E! (a fact I would not admit this to many people…) and one of the hosts said, “You know Brad Pitt has a background in design.” So apparently shopping at Design Within Reach means you have a background in design. Just kill me.

 

*I won’t be linking you to JT’s range. It is every kind of wrong.

 

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Say WHAAAAAT???

Three words. Rick Owens Furniture.

Why didn’t I know about this before?

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Mad Sconcery

Sconces are the new black. You heard it here first.

Check out these mad and magical creations – like hats for your wall!

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ebay treasures i’ve got my eye on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

all images from ebay

 

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When husbands shop.

I set my husband loose a few months ago to buy a desk lamp for himself (note: this usually doesn’t end well).  He found a vintage Anglepoise that he liked on ebay and spent about £70 on it.  I love Anglepoise so I thought this was really promising.  It arrived and I thought it was…

heinous (it’s sponge painted!).

A few weeks later I went for a visit to the V&A museum and while looking through their collection of lighting I noticed a vaguely familiar Anglepoise.  It looked very similar to the one my husband purchased.  Equally as heinous.  But I was convinced it couldn’t be the same one.  My husband is not a purchaser of museum quality items.

Recently I came across the same exact Anglepoise on 1stDibs and, low and behold, I had to admit defeat.  My husband did in fact manage to purchase himself a museum piece worth $750 (about £465) on ebay for £70.  Lucky bastard.

I’ll let him keep it.

image from 1stDibs

 

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I Love Lamp

SAT prep / The Colonies trivia question of the week:

Megan is to lamps as Jess is to ….

Answer: chairs.

This beauty is from Graham and Greene.

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Just…Wow…

The Dallas home of intensely creative mother and daughter bloggers.

Photos by Douglas Friedman for Nowness.

 

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Staircase Monday

these stairs make me happy.

images from here

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