Filed Under: Los Angeles Exclusive

Into Leather

03 / 05 / 13

From cufflink boxes to duffels, to belts and gloves and briefcases, Pickett offers a dizzying array of fine leather accessories. All of Pickett’s leather goods are thoughtfully designed and handmade in England. Though many items are available in a variety of colors (including less traditional hues like violet, lime green, or baby blue) Pickett designs are simple and classic, echoing the traditions of much older marks. Founded in 1988 by Trevor Pickett, the house prides itself on maintaining the highest level of craftsmanship and offers furnishings to complete every gentleman’s wardrobe. A selection of Pickett goods, including their leather bound flasks, games, and journals, are available exclusively in Los Angeles at ALTAI.

On Point

02 / 25 / 13

The oldest known board game, backgammon was invented 5,000 years ago, and evidence of its popularity can be found in cultures around the globe. As long as one player has a fair pair of dice, a board and pips could be devised with as little as a piece of paper and a handful of coins. Designer Alexandra Llewellyn takes a decidedly more luxurious approach. Handcrafted by a team of artisans, Llewellyn’s exquisite backgammon boards are made with exotic woods, metals, and semi-precious stones. This particular model features a bevy of feathers in place of half of the traditional triangular points. Alexandra Llewellyn’s series of backgammon boards is available exclusively at ALTAI in the United States.

In the Shadows

02 / 20 / 13

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In 1970, Japanese designer Issey Miyake opened Miyake Design Studio, designing couture and prêt-á-porter for women. By the early 1980s, he was enacting extensive experiments on fabrics, using heat and pressure to alter the structure of the threads. These interventions into the behaviors of traditional fabrics like silk, wool, and cotton jersey eventually led to Miyake’s famous body of work known as Pleats Please. These garments were cut, sewn, folded, and placed between protective paper sheeting before being subjected to a heat treatment that transformed the folds into permanent pleats. As in his Pleats Please designs, Miyake focused on folds for his collaboration with renowned Italian lighting design house Artemide. Known as IN-EI, Miyake’s series of floor, ceiling, and pendant lamps are complex volumes made out of a material derived from recycled PET plastic bottles. The folds are engineered in such a way that no internal frame is required for their structure, and the lamps can be folded down for storage and then expanded again for use. Named after the Japanese word for “shadow” or “nuance”, the IN-EI series of lamps cast a beautiful glow from their eloquently sculptural forms. IN-EI lamps are only available in Los Angeles at ALTAI.

New New Wave

02 / 19 / 13

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Italian designer Ennio Capasa founded CoSTUME NATIONAL with his brother Carlo in 1986. Based in Milan, the label reflects Italian traditions such as the careful selection of fabrics, the use of fine leather, slim cuts, and close attention to details. In the early 1980s, Ennio Capasa worked as an assistant to Yohji Yamamoto, and the designer’s avant-garde sensibility can also be seen in CoSTUME NATIONAL’s modern look. This melding of the old and the new keeps CoSTUME NATIONAL’s work thoroughly grounded despite its high-concept style. The spring collection features pieces fitted with buckles, folds, pleats, and straps hearkening back to early 1980s New Wave, while the monochrome palette keeps things simple and clean. When CoSTUME NATIONAL closed its Los Angeles store, those of us who can’t get enough of the label hung our heads. Good news: Costume National Homme will now be available at ALTAI.

The Hansen Family

02 / 15 / 13

Born in 1981, German-Danish designer Gesa Hansen lives in Paris. Raised in a family of architects, carpenters, and designers, Hansen went on to study at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany and the University of Arts in Nagoya, Japan. Before founding her own design house in 2009, Hansen spent time at the venerable Nippon Design Center, one of Japan’s largest design firms, and worked with Jean Nouvel and H5 in France. Hansen’s low-key, high-concept work reflects the various places where she has lived. Melding elements of the rustic Danish vernacular, the disciplined creativity of the German design tradition, the humble elegance of Japanese design, and the urbane whimsy of contemporary Parisian style, Hansen ties these influences together with strong lines and simple forms.

Hansen’s furniture is made at the highest level of craftsmanship. Primarily made of oak, every Hansen Family piece is handcrafted from wood sourced in German forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council for environmental sustainability. The wood is selected with great care and worked with equal attention to color, texture, and grain. Hansen’s practice allows elegance to emerge from her materials. Recalling Herman Miller designs from the 1950s, Hansen’s forms have strength and heft without being burly or overbuilt. Her pieces are a laid back and a little bit down home while also being polished and grown up. Adding color here and there, Hansen deploys bright hues to add humor and fun without diminishing her work’s seriousness, often using a palette that recalls the graphic punch of design from the later 1970s.

Already the recipient of numerous design awards for her furniture, Hansen has also worked on graphic design projects and has collaborated with Kitsune, Surface to Air, Steven Harrington and now ALTAI. In 2011, she opened Hansen Feutry Interior Design with Pascaline Feutry. The Hansen Family furniture is available exclusively in Los Angeles at ALTAI.

Heavy Love

02 / 13 / 13

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English industrial designer Benjamin Hubert opened his acclaimed studio in 2009. At locations around the world, Hubert oversees a team of designers working in furniture, lighting, consumer goods, architectural installations and art direction. Having already received many of the industry’s top awards, Hubert is now known internationally as a leader in the field. Hubert’s process is rooted in research and driven by materials, resulting in innovative, high-functioning, concise objects that are thoroughly contemporary. Often requiring years at the drawing board and in testing, Hubert’s work is reductive but not stark: materials like cork, terracotta, marble, leather, and wood keep his forms grounded in the natural world. Hubert’s series of lamps entitled Heavy, for instance, combine slip-cast concrete shades with wood stands and red fabric-covered cord in a simple, striking composition that balances a high level of craft with an organic feel. With the Quarry series, Hubert has remade the simple pendant lamp over in thinly turned marble that, when switched on, exudes an otherworldly glow. Feats of engineering, Hubert’s chairs prove that a deep engagement with materials and process yields elegance: the unique shapes of his chairs are derived from ergonomics research but are anything but institutional in style. Available in Los Angeles exclusively at ALTAI.

The #2013 Laurel: Amaryllis Knight for ALTAI

02 / 04 / 13

With our prototyping studio in the back of the house, we are able to design and fabricate custom furniture on-site in the ALTAI atelier. Our first editioned piece is the #2013 Laurel coffee table, designed for ALTAI by Amaryllis Knight. Echoing grand 1930s design in scale and recalling a particular brand of 1970s luxe minimalism, the #2013 Laurel coffee table is made to measure. Practical in every sense, this piece was conceived as a clean solution to the problem of displaying and stowing books in a formal area of the home. The #2013 Laurel features two parallel planes of marble set into a metal armature, creating space for large and small volumes in between. Made from a selection of rare marbles and a choice of stainless steel or aluminum, the organic patterns of the marble contrast with and soften its strong geometry. The #2013 Laurel is available for order through the ALTAI showroom.