The Beautiful World of Anne Black

A few years back, I celebrated my birthday in a Danish summer-house by the sea with my closest friends and family. It was one of the best weekends of my life. Some of my friends gave me a beautiful sushi set and a pair of earrings from the Danish ceramic and jewellery designer, Anne Black. I instantly fell in love with her designs and her style has inspired me ever since.

Anne Black is an interesting person and the more I have learnt about her, the more I am drawn to her designs.

If nothing else, go on to her website to be mesmerised by the absolutely beautiful video and music that greets you as you enter.

Visiting her website is akin to visiting any shop selling her products. Looking at her designs gives you a sense of the ambience and sensibility of her universe.

The sushi set that I was given, is from her collection "Black is Blue" which has been hand painted on the inside. This, Anne says, is to show that beauty comes from the inside. Adorable.

Whilst I am generally not a fan of outsourcing the arts/crafts, I think that if you are going to do it, you should do it the way Anne has done. She is co-owner of a small ceramics factory located outside of Hanoi, Vietnam in a joint venture with a Vietnamese partner, Mrs Hang. This was established with the ongoing support, supervision and guidance of the official agency DANIDA, the Danish Institute of Development.

The working environment has been developed with assistance from international experts and is comparable to Danish standards. Therefore, the production is monitored and continuously developed in relation to the working environment, health, social rights, external environmental load and technical competencies. What's more, the company's approach is decidedly personal, fair trade and earth-friendly. Nice work, Anne!

You can find Anne Black products in selected shops throughout the world but unfortunately it does not seem like she has a UK retailer.

But fret not, you can buy her products online right here.

Alternatively, treat yourself to a weekend in Copenhagen and visit her recently opened concept store, Black, on Gl. Kongevej 103 DK-1850 Frederiksberg, Copenhagen.

Love love and kys kys from SkandiHus

Lollys Laundry

My wonderful fiancé recently gave me this beautiful scarf from one of my favourite shops: Lollys Laundry, which inspired me to do a blog post about this amazing Danish brand. I love the simple, yet strong look that the designer, Kamilla Byriel, created back in 2007 when she launched Lollys Laundry. You will probably quickly note from my various blogs that I am a big fan of affordable goods which are nevertheless well designed and of good quality. This brand is no exception.

Kamilla's philosophy was to create a brand where quality and price are woven together, resulting in strong collections that let you style your look up or down, depending on whether you are into classic romanticism or the tough rock chick look. Since I own quite a few of her pieces, I can vouch for this and the quality too.

From the Spring/Summer 2014 collection, I am particularly fond of this fun bird print t-shirt. It's both stylish and cool. I would wear it with black skinny jeans, black Nike trainers and a black leather jacket. A very Danish look, yes, indeed.

Raw Materials - Wood and Leather

I have always loved the use by Scandinavian artists and designers of natural materials such as leather, wood, stone, metal and clay. I can't think of anything more aesthetically pleasing than the mix of raw materials and sharp light airy designs. The Spanish Chair 

One of my favourite pieces is the Spanish Chair designed by the Danish furniture architect Børge Mogensen as seen in the photo to the left (borrowed from Manks).

This chair is especially close to my heart as we had one in our summer house in the North of Denmark when I grew up. I have spent many hours of my childhood sliding around on the leather seat whilst watching one of the three TV channels available or perched on the arm rest next to an older sibling who had claimed the chair for the evening (and this was probably more often the case as I am the youngest of four).

Legend has it that upon returning home from a holiday in Spain in 1958,  the furniture designer Børge Mogensen created the Spanish Chair. He had fallen in love with an old chair in Andalusia with a leather seat and wide arm rests.

The use of leather and solid oak gives the chair a strong masculine character and the natural materials cause the chair to become increasingly beautiful as time passes. The buckles can be tightened as the leather naturally stretches over time. This way you can sit comfortable in the chair today, tomorrow and for generations to come. Clever.

I admire Børge Mogensen for more than just his beautiful designs. His philosophy was that beautiful objects for the home should be affordable to the people of Denmark. During the 40s, 50s and 60s, he created some of the most well known furniture classics in Scandinavia.  He would probably be quite sad to know that 40 years after his death, his pieces are not exactly "affordable" to the ordinary person. Still, they are so beautiful that I would almost dare to say that they are priceless. Almost.