DOMO have released an exclusive new leather furniture collection including this beautifully crafted, hand sewn swivel armchair. 

The Swiss de Sede swivel armchair was first designed and manufactured in 1971 and is meticulously crafted from the highest quality leather producing a smooth buttery finish. We adore this classic design that would fit seamlessly into a modern lounge environment. Make sure you call into a DOMO showroom and view the entire range.

Designer Gail Sorronda has created a bold range inspired by pantomime Pierrot the Clown and silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

The collection, Oh My Goth!, carries Gail Sorronda’s typical black and white theme with highlights of bold accentuated colour. We love the styling and cut of this seasons range coupled with the gorgeous accessories. Make sure call into Shoe & The City in Port Melbourne to view the extensive range.

For further information visit gailsorronda.com

Well worth viewing is Josh Goot’s beautiful SS12 range. We especially love the vivid florals, exquisit tailoring and kaleidoscope inspired print. 

The Josh Goot range can be found in Melbourne at David Jones, Green With Envy, Paloma Bleu , Cactus Jam and Lacquer.

Designed and constructed by Canny, this Hawthorn home creates a workable harmony of clever design and functional family living space.

The initial client brief was to create a home that would allow independent living zones for the needs of the growing family. With three teenage boys the home allows ample breakout spaces for the children to be active and yet still enjoy the togetherness of combined family areas. The clients required a new home with a traditional façade to the compliment the streetscape, yet a more contemporary feel as one moved through to the rear of the home. The front rooms took on a traditional feel, whilst the rear presented more modern attributes. 

The rear of the home showcases a distinctive curved pool house with expansive pool outlook. Dual outdoor entertaining areas with canopy skylights and recessed alfresco heaters allow for continuous enjoyment throughout all seasons. All of these elements were carefully integrated and designed with the landscape.

The highly detailed cellar is perhaps the standout feature of this residence. Complete with 2,000 unit wine storage, Vintec wine fridge, tasting bench, sink and luxe wooden joinery, the room carries an understated opulence and serves as a unique entertaining area for intimate dinner parties and tastings.

Canny’s in-house design studio of twelve is comprised of architects, interior designers and experienced draftsmen. For further information visit www.canny.com.au or call (03) 8532 4444.

Melbourne-based brothers Alex and Tim Britten-Finschi of FROM BRITTEN P/L have created a tongue-in-cheek nod to youth sub-culture with an intriguing juxtaposition of tailored suits and active wear garments.

The Spring collection ‘LADS’ is worth checking out at their Flinders Lane customer store. For further information visit frombritten.com.au

Designer Karla Spetic has created a wonderful range of cotton separates, floral suits and lace dresses this season. We especially love the layering of sheer fabric and half-and-half design, very quirky indeed. Karla referenced her own state of mind when designing the light as air range, we’re sure she would be plenty of fun to be around!

The Karla Spetic range can be found at both Green with Envy and Fat 4 Melbourne. For more information visit karlaspetic.com

Melbourne architects Hassell have create a beautiful space for sushi bar Deba. Shielded by heavy white cyprus battens, the space is quiet and contemplative. The use of gloss white tiling edged in timber emulates the cleanliness of a Japanese bath house, while the Koi fish mosaic and noren curtains evoke the serenity of a Japanese tea garden.

Deba, derived from the Japanese carving knive, Deba bocho, is designed for strength and precision. Like exquisitely executed sashimi, Deba is intricate, intimate and crafted beautifully.

Make sure you visit Deba for yourself to get a feel for the space. Located at the entry of Yarra Lane, South Yarra. 

Earl Pinto is a Melbourne based design studio crafting signature furniture and lighting combining new technologies with traditional hand craftsmanship. Along with a growing range of products, Earl Pinto custom design and make for both commercial and residential markets. Earl Pinto is a unique collaboration between two designers who create with a pallet of solid timbers, plywood, acrylic, polypropylene, brass and steel. 

I enjoyed a casual chat with the designers, Alex Earl and Gerard Pinto. Both Earl and Pinto design for the label as well as taking on special commissions and project work. You can check out the Earl Pinto designs in their workshop and showroom space in Sackville St. Collingwood.

What was the inspiration behind the Anise light concept?
Gerard Pinto: “The Anise light was the first collaboration between Alex and myself. The form was built up from a simple geometry study of shapes, experimenting with how we could create complicated three-dimensional forms out of flat shapes. The finished product ended up looking very natural and organic.” 

Is the pen mightier than the computer?
Alex Earl: “The short answer is no. However that doesn’t mean that we don’t sketch, we sketch a lot. More often than not however scale mock-ups and material studies have a lot more to do with the development of an Earl Pinto product than sketches do. Of course all of our pieces are computer cut, using CAD (Computer Aided Design) technology.” 

Gerard Pinto: “All ideation starts in the sketch book. Of course designs are refined through computer technologies… CAD drawings are no substitute for the understanding of form and proportion that sketching gives you. 

Alex and I often sit down together when working on a new concept and discuss various construction methods before we touch the computer.”

Who is someone that you would like to collaborate with in the future?
Alex Earl: “I’d like to collaborate with Henry Selick, a stop motion director who created scenes like the Jaguar Shark animation in The Life Aquatic. I really admire people with great imagination who create worlds that tell a story.” 

Does working in Melbourne influence/ enhance your work?
Gerard Pinto: “We sell our work all over Australia and around the world. The majority of our customers are local (Melbournians) and they do like a certain look, which is all about playful details and quality finishes. We work collaboratively with amazing crafts people in Melbourne like Thomas Burless who makes anything we need out of metal, enhancing our pieces.” 

For further information visit earlpinto.com.au

Article by Georgina Lewis

We were excited to see the new season range by Melbourne based fashion designer Alexi Freeman. His background in printmaking and sculpture is clearly reflected in his beautiful work and we are looking forward to seeing more from the label in the future.

We were fortunate enough to distract Alexi from his busy schedule and ask him a few questions recently.

What was the inspiration behind the current season?
For Spring Summer 2012/2013 I drew inspiration from palm fronds in Hawaii which loosely formed the basis of the prints, colours and accessories. I also focused on relaxed glamour, versatile silhouettes and a sci-fi feel that runs through out this collection.

What should we expect from the Alexi Freeman label in the future?
The future has not yet been written but we will be showcasing our SS1213 collection in London during Fashion Week this September. We’ve also got another collaboration in the pipeline with jeweller Tessa Blazey which will be unveiled at Craft Victoria in March 2013 as part of their Signature Style series which will also tour to a number of regional Victorian galleries in 2013.

Alexi’s top style tip for the spring/summer season.
Brights are the new black for Sping/Summer 2012/2013 so this is the season to pepper your neutrals with some dazzling shades of fluro. Orange being our highlight colour of choice but any pop of bright colour will do to get on the neon bandwagon!

Who is someone that you would like to collaborate with?
Well we’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with so many inspiring creative the last few years (Room11 Architects, Tessa Blazey , Preston Zly, The Australian Ballet, Gideon Obarzanek etc…) it’s more about buckling down and doing my own work at the moment. But if Sarah Burton (Alexander McQueen) or Riccardo Tisci (Givenchy) were to invite me to work on a project with them that would be certainly be an offer too good to refuse. 

Having completed 12 seasons, Alexi’s range is currently selling to select boutiques and private clients across Australia, New Zealand, USA and Europe.
For further information or to find your nearest stockist vist alexifreeman.com

Located on a key urban site at the former CUB Brewery, Pixel is an exciting project designed by Melbourne architects Studio 505 and one of Melbourne’s most significant and ambitious projects.

Scoring a perfect 105 Green Star points and 105 LEED points, Pixel is Australia’s first carbon neutral office building, generating all its own power and water on site.

Pixel is a ‘Future Office’ - a prototype of the commercial buildings that will emerge when a carbon constrained environment demands a greater focus on energy efficiency. As a prototype, it enables an analysis of the ongoing implications of new technologies in the commercial building sector.

The most publicly visible element is Pixel’s colourful facade. A simple but intricate assembly of zero waste, recycled colour panels providing maximised daylight, shade, views and glare control.

The panels are supported by the Living Edge spandrels which create shading and grey water treatment as well as providing immediate personal greenery to every office floor. The facade wraps continuously around Pixel creating a vibrant and unique identity.

Pixel has achieved a perfect score of 100 under the Greenstar rating system, with 75 points the benchmark for 6 Star Greenstar. It gained an extra five points for innovation, equating to world leadership. Included in Pixel’s five innovation points were points for carbon neutrality, a vacuum toilet system, the anaerobic digestion system and reduced car parking.

Pixel has also achieved a perfect 105 points under the US LEED rating scheme making it the highest rating building of any yet certified for LEED anywhere in the world. It is aiming to exceed the highest score yet achieved under the UK BREEAM rating systems. To put that into context, there are approximately 740,000 buildings registered worldwide under those three rating schemes, and Pixel would be at the forefront of all of them.

A credit to both Studio 505 and the Grocon for creating such a well design and sustainable building. Fur further information visit studio505.com.au or pixelbuilding.com.au

The Bridge Hotel in Richmond has undergone a impressive redevelopment designed by Melbourne architectural group Techne.

The conceptual approach to the Bridge Hotel was to take the existing venue, characterised by its dark and enclosed spaces, and to physically carve a laneway through the building to bring in natural light and openness. Designed to minimise structural change and material wastage, a richly detailed and decorated laneway has been cut through the centre of the building. The remaining volume, bisected into two new internal facades, is further broken down into a series of differentiated ‘tenancies’, including bar spaces, a bistro and wintergarden, loading dock and stairs to first floor spaces that were imagined as apartments or studios that all interact with the central laneway.

Spatially, both the interior and the lane are intentionally a progression of intimate volumes and restricted circulation spaces. This fosters a sense of discovery as the interior reveals itself gradually. A layering of recycled and re-used materials builds a sense of urban charm, and extensive collections of found objects and installation art, which borrow further from the city’s intricate street culture. The resulting venue could be viewed as a uniquely whimsical addition to the ongoing evolution of pubs in Melbourne. 

Make sure you call into the Bridge Hotel in Richmond to view the space for yourself and enjoy a beer and meal while you are there.

For further information on Techne Architects visit techne.com.au

Fans of the fashion reality TV series Project Runway Australia may remember the much loved designs of Petrova Hammond of Lady Petrova, runner-up of the 2008 series. 

Viewing a Lady Petrova collection is a transporting experience. Created in the heart of cosmopolitan Melbourne, each item seems like a vision from another, glamourous and enchanting place. You can picture them all being crafted under a canopy of antique Chantilly Lace, at the end of a pastel hued rainbow, to a soundtrack of 60s girl groups and a backdrop of 80s teen Prom flicks.

Petrova opened her first boutique in 2007 at Melbourne Central on Flinders Lane. We would recommend calling into her store, which is an experience in itself with its oversized dollhouse counter and a hand marbled wooden floor shipped in from Copenhagen.

For more information visit ladypetrova.com

The beautiful signature print by Melbourne fashion label Kuwaii takes its inspiration from a 1970’s aerial photograph found in a dusty old bookstore in country Victoria. Designer Kristy Barber was instantly drawn to the image for it’s hazy, dream like feel that was so prevalent in photography of that era, we love it.

Kuwaii's cult footwear collection also features again with the addition of an incredible raw leather platform sandal, as well as classic styles the Darby and Esperance in new pop colours.

Make sure you call into the Kuwall store and showroom, 37-39 Glenlyon Rd Brunswick.
For further information visit kuwaii.com.au