Material Archive

My Custom Wildhagen Hat

I was out shopping one day 2 weeks ago when I saw a girl wearing the most charming hat. Usually, when I approach another woman about an article of clothing she's wearing, she'll tell me she bought it in Paris two seasons ago or at an antique market – leaving me with no chance of finding one for myself. Luckily, this particular girl, named Jade, proudly told me that she had made the hat herself and directed me to Wildhagen.

Already familiar with the brand after buying several hats from the Canadian company over the years, I beelined over and ordered a custom "Miniçoise" from Cheri Wildhagen herself. I chose the hat material and grosgrain ribbon and presto, a week and a half later, I picked up a made-to-measure (for my larger than average melon) lovely chapeau! A fun experience that I would recommend to all.

Naoto Fukasawa: Designing Accessories with Paper

If you read this blog with any regularity, you already know that I love it when objects are designed with unexpected materials. I'm particularly fascinated with the idea of clothing or accessories made with paper. The items above were created by famed IDEO industrial design master Naoto Fukasawa – who is known for his collaborations with Muji, B&B Italia, Driade, Magis, Artemide, Danese and Boffi.

Here he has created a line of items called Siwa in collaboration with Onao, which are made with traditional Japanese washi-paper that can withstand moisture and over time becomes softer and takes on the patina of leather without the heat or weight. "Soft Naoron", as it's called, is a type of paper developed from wood and polyolefin fibres, which is derived from recycled polyester fibres, plastic bottles and repurposed textiles.

I recently bought the handbag at the top from Mjölk. Loooooooove it.