Wonderful afternoon yesterday in Christina and Staffan Lund’s private home by the sea at Kyttinge, on Lidingö Island. Their company Provisa is the co-owner of our magazine Form, and we gathered for our yearly strategic meeting with the board Mangelgren Magazine AB, the editors of Form and our communication manager. We are all very happy with the way Form is developing, finally finding its form. Our main topic this time dealt with the new digital channels and how they can be developed. Once a month we give out our English report FormDigest, and we have also started a pod cast FormRadion.  How can we interact even more with our fast growing digital target groups. Also how can we give more value to our subscribers and our advertisers. All this was discussed in a pleasant surrounding, the sound of water against the wooden porch and the sun setting. Another boring day at work.

Stockholm is now lucky to have the large exhibition THE FASHION WORLD OF JEAN PAUL GAULTIER – FROM THE SIDE WALK TO THE CAT WALK where over the summer, until September 22, in the Center for Architecture and Design, (formerly the Museum of Architecture) our closest neighbour here at Skeppsholmen. Some of the early punky key collections are displayed from the rebellious years, and also later collections, all displaying the couture quality, the exquisite craftmanship and the understanding of body movements. Some of the mannequins are presented as live projections, with moving eyes, smiles and voices, giving an almost surreal dimension. He wanted to give life to the show, and it sure works. He also shows his love for Abba and Eurovision – with three of Petra Mede’s dresses on display.  It was the director of the Center, Lena Rahoult, who saw the exhibition in Montreal a couple of years ago, and made it possible to come  get it toafter Rotterdam. After Stockholm, I believe it continues to New York and London. This is by far the largest and most expansive show since the museum/center got since the new start in 2009. Congratulations!

Here are some snaps from the exhibition by our collaborator Karin Wiberg (project manager of Ung Svensk Form), who is also a talented and sensitive artist, now showing her clay and ceramic sculptures at the So Stockholm Gallery . Figures, animals and people, in a mythical landscape together with photography by Vincent Skoglund and fashion installations by Jenny Grettve, also from Malmö. Really moving.

Karin Wiberg is our project manager for Ung Svensk Form – Young Swedish Design, but also a talanted and sensitive artist and sculptor in her own right. From Friday June 14th, with opening party from 4 – 8 pm, at Gallery So Stockholm in Kungsträdgården. Karin will show some works together with fashion designer Jenny Grettve and photo artist Vincent Skoglund. Music: Min StoraSorg – My great sorrow. Please come and join! Name of the exhibition: The Forest within me.

Last week I visited The Swedish newly started Bed Linen Company Dirty Linen, and one of its co-founders, Jonas Magnusson, at the offices of the PR bureau Planeta, also involved in the company, with the copy and packaging. The brand is built around the need for trendy fashionable people who want a premium quality bed linen, yet informal and close to fashion brands like Whyred, Acne etc, and priced in the middle. Today, if you want to find more exclusive sheets, you only can choose Lexington or more luxury brands. Here is a space to be filled -we look forward to find it in some special stores from August hopefully.

And yesterday, the CEO Barbara Borsari of the small prestigious Italian brand Vittori Martini, created in 1986 visited Stockholm and Svensk Form, together with Mirco Ferrari, to investigate the Swedish Market opportunities, believing that the Nordic design philosopy with high quality items for everyday use, attention to detail and tactility, premium but yet affordable, would be a perfect match. Perhaps creating events, shop in shop or a shop of their own in Stockholm. They have created tools for architects and designers since 1866, such as drawing pens, rulers and measurement tools with greatest perfection, today in the new technological era, they have had to transform with time, and while still including the values of their history, best craftmanship, producing new objects suited to our time and needs. I helped them with some contacts and ideas, and wished them good luck!

De som deltog den 30 maj var:  Lennart Eng, Svenska Tecknare (tillika värd), Ewa Kumlin, Svensk Form, Anna Bellander, Svensk Form, Catherina Fored, Sveriges Arkitekter, Jacob Sahlqvist, Sveriges Arkitekter, Daniel Byström, Sveriges Designer, Robin Edman, SVID, Stiftelsen Svensk Industridesign, Christine Sundberg Carendi, ASFB, Association for Swedish Fashion Brands, Mio Schlegel, KHVC. Övriga som anmält att de vill vara med i fortsättningen: Johan Wingestad, KRO/KIF, Åsa Hermansson, Sveriges Designer, Jenny Lindahl Persson, Svenska Tecknare, Jessica Bjurström, KOMM, Lotta Ahlvar, Moderådet och så Jonas Olsson som vill delta som observatör från Centrum för Arkitektur och Design.

Happy that we could all gather again, within the various Swedish organisations for Design and Fashion, if not for anything else than to exchange information and get to know eachother in our informal network SDS – Swedish Design Cooperation. It started back in 2007, with one of the aims to form a new National Design Policy (looking at the example of Denmark and others). After the new meeting place for Architecture and Design was formed in 2009, the coordination role to connect the organisations was also presumed to go over to the museum. It did not happen, and now Svensk Form took the initiative to call to a renewed start of SDS on May 30th, with our communicaitons manager Anna Bellander, acting as the main coordinator. First meeting was held on May 30th, at the Swedish Illustrators’ main office. Looking forward to next meeting in October – the spririt of COLLABORATION was very strongly felt.

Baren öppnar 19.30, första talare går på 20.20 prick. Gratis inträde för Svensk Forms medlemmar, 50 kr för andra.

Welcome to join us for our 40th PechaKucha Night Stockholm at Berns kammarsalen on Thursday June 13th – bar opens 19.30, presentations start at 20.20 sharp.

SPEAKERS:

Farvash Razavi – från den konceptuella designduon Very Very Gold,www.veryverygold.com
Filipe Balestra – socialt engagerad arkitekt från TISA – The Informal School of Architecture

Nina Tolstrup – designer och kreatör från Londonbaserade Studiomama,www.studiomama.com

Maria Forssén – Mrs Trendgalan, So Stockholm och Shenet, med mera,www.sostockholm.se

Erik Andersson – prisbelönt arkitekt, gillar broar, erikandersson.4ormat.com

Brewing Költur – bryggeri med tag line: We brew beer and culture. What do You brew? www.facebook.com/brewingkoltur

Hanna Gustavsson – illustratör och serietecknare från Konstfacks masterprogram Storytelling, www.hannagustavsson.com

Frida Erson – möbeldesigner från Malmstenskolan som utmärkte sig med ett gesällprov – en rakspegel – och ett skåp tillverkat tillsammans med Martin Eckerberg

Ann-Sofie Stjernlöf – tapetserare Malmstenskolan, använder röntgen i konserveringsarbetet

Karin Sandin – Malmstens, om ett väldigt speciellt vax-projekt…

PechaKucha arrangeras i Stockholm av Svensk Form och uppfanns av Klein Dytham architects i Tokyo 2003. Nu finns PechaKucha i 600 städer världen över.

The recent happenings in Stockholm suburbia, with violence and burning cars in Husby, has brought the world’s attention to Sweden, what happened to the Swedish Model? The image of the flourishing democratic, equal society is falling apart. Today we see new emerging poverty, segregation and increasing lack of jobs and housing. How will the society cope with the new needs of a changing urban development? Our editor Salka Hallström Bornold worries about the increased segregation in Stockholm in latest issue of Form, and I have also continued on the same subject, looking back into our own history in my monthly text for Dalarnas tidningar. What will democratic design look like in the next 20 years to come?

If you want to find the Swedish soul past and present, the exhibition Stockholm New at Thielska Galleriet is worth a visit right now. Britton Britton The founders of Stockholm New Magazine celebrates their 20 years of creative production in a generous book and exhibition, where nordic traditional painting mixes with contemporary fashion photography in absolute natural nordic symphony of melancholy, nature, beauty… and all the elements connected to this image.

Will Sweden pitch to become the main partner of Business of Design Week BODW in Hongkong 2014? The key person of Hongkong business and design community, Victor Lo, visited Sweden again in a short time to  investigate the possibility of partnering up with Sweden for BoDW in 2014. Some of us key actors met up at Svensk Form to discuss the possibilities. We are all positive to this initative, but the Government has to decide if and how much money they are willing to invest in this large networking and branding event.