Brand profile | Vanessa Bruno

Dear reader,

Throughout the fall we will give you brief presentations of the brands we represent at Blender Agency. First out is one of the latest additions to our brand portfolio, Vanessa Bruno. 

Parisian Vanessa Bruno launched her own brand in 1992, only 24 years old. She came from a modeling career, but had fashion and design in her blood as a child of a danish supermodel and her italian father who founded french fashion house Emmanuelle Khan.

Vanessa Bruno is known to create fresh, feminine, sofisticated collections, but they also have very strong basics. The brand consist of main line, which is part of the official program of Paris Fashion Week, and the complimentary line Athé which was launched in 1995.

Blender Agency started to represent Vanessa Bruno from Spring-Summer 2009. Today, Vanessa Bruno is available at fine retailers throughout Scandinavia. Contact us at info@blender.as for more information. 

Best,

Blender Agency

James Perse

It seems like our favourite t-shirt maker, mr. James Perse, has been in a sporty mood lately. Last fall he introduced a cruiser bicycle, and this time around it's the classic ping-pong table that gets a threatment from the king of jersey.

"The custom James Perse Ping Pong Table is branded with the Malibu beaches graphic. The table is durable for both indoor and outdoor and is weather resistant. It's designed with a fold and roll design for easy storage and with adjustable feet for leveling the table. The frame is made of steel with a composite and warp free top. James Perse Ping Pong Paddles branded with 1972 logo and James Perse" Ping Pong Balls branded James Perse Los Angeles are also available."

Price and availability on request from James Perse

Happy Monday!

BA

Marc by Marc Jacobs | London

If you are going to London anytime soon, don't miss out on the new Marc by Marc Jacobs store. Housed in a 19th century building, once home to a bank, the store is perfect model for the image of the Marc by Marc line. In addition to a great exterior and interior, the store stocks the specialty products that our friend Reed is responsible for (see Travelogue # New York). The store is situated at 56 Audley Street, London, W1

Pictures from Dazed Digital. 

While we were in New York, we met Peter and Flavio from Common Projects. Peter was wearing the Common Projects x Moscot collaboration, and we must say we were quite amazed of how sturdy the frame seemed and how thorough the finish was. If you are going to buy one pair of wayfarer-ish sunglasses this summer, we suggest you buy Type One from Common Projects x Moscot (more on Moscot below the pictures).

MOSCOT Eyewear and Eyecare Since 1915 has been a New York City institution for nearly 100 years. The MOSCOT optical roots were first planted by great grandfather, patriarch, Hyman Moscot, who arrived from Eastern Europe via Ellis Island in 1899 and began selling ready-made eyeglasses from a pushcart on Orchard Street on Manhattan’s famed Lower East Side. In 1915, having establishing himself in the neighborhood as the “go-to” guy for glasses, Hyman opened what would become MOSCOT’s first retail space at 94 Rivington Street.

Hyman’s son, Sol, began helping his father in the store as a young boy. This would mark the beginning of Sol’s passion for people and opticianry. Sol’s expertise developed quickly and he soon took over the family business and Sol Moscot Opticians, as it was known then, was officially established.

From its original location on Rivington Street, the business changed locations until 1951 when it settled at 118 Orchard Street on the corner of Delancey Street, where the retail store and the MOSCOT Museum remain today. (Bio from Moscot.com)


We got familiar with Moscot last year, when Scott Morrison and the peeps at Earnest Sewn created a Moscot pop-up store inside the Earnest Sewn store at 821 Washington Street, NYC. The Moscot pop-up store was in good company, as other projects at the ESW store have included the likes of Repetto, Malin+Goetz, Trovata and Rogues Gallery.

The Common Projects x Moscot collaboration will hit Scandinavia in July, and you will be able to grab a pair from either Secret Society (Oslo), ParisTexas (Cph), Nitty Gritty (Sthlm)and Tres Bien Store (Malmö).

Enjoy the weekend,
BA

Travelogue # New York

Last week a bunch of us went to New York. Kyrre, Magnus, Erlend, Mats and Fanny (of Secret Society) escaped Oslo for a few days, for some business meetings, and some pleasure. Besides meeting with our partners from Helmut Lang and Alexander Wang, we had a few beers with Flavio and Peter from Common Projects (and their better halfs), BBQ'ed at Scott Morrison's flat (founder of Earnest Sewn, now CEO of Evisu), met our friend Reed from Marc Jacobs, and had lunch with Brendan Babenzien (Supreme, Aprix). In addition we met a few brands that we might start working with in the near future, and stumpled upon a magazine shopping Alex Wang on the street. Below if a few photos from the trip.

Hudson River view, from Maritime Hotel. The new Apple store in Meetpacking. Pop Burger is a favourite of ours.

Standard Hotel New York. Erlend and Kyrre "strolling" in Meetpacking

We don't represent Earnest Sewn anymore, still we have to admit that their stores are some of the best retail spaces around.














Pastis, a Brooklyn-ized London cab, Brooks Brothers' Black Fleece store, and the Jack Spade store at Bleecker Street.

















Various moods from our hotel, The Maritime Hotel.













Fanny and Erlend's breakfast at La Bottega (Martime Hotel).












BBQ at Scott's place. Scott is now the CEO of Evisu, and tried to persuade us that our bottoms were looking a whole lot better with the Evisu E all over.














Could we possibly not go in here? Juicy Couture was our first major brand at Blender Agency, and it is still doing very well in our market. It may not be the new black anymore, but it still tastes like sugar. Great store at Bleecker Street.















We got to know Reed at the opening of the Marc by Marc Jacobs Copenhagen store, in 2007. Since then, we have met him while visiting New York, and this time he invited us to his home. Reed is the guy behind all the special items (value for money products) you find in most Marc Jacobs around the world (wallets, rubbet boots, umbrellas, etc). Quite an interesting position in the market of today. Along us were also Jamie, who's Fanny and Magnus' friend from back in the days. Jamie has got a master in New York nightlife, so she came in handy on several occasions.
















Sunday in Willamsburg, Brooklyn.

















Kyrre and Brendan, having a beer and discussing business at Juliette's in Willamsburg. Brendan, by the way, is married to Norwegian actress Sofie Cappelen, and spend his summers in Kragerø.

So long,
BA

Sample sale

Our sample sale has come to an end. Thanks to everyone that dropped by, and hopefully we'll see you around next time. Here's a few pictures from the event. Enjoy the weekend.

Wanja's doing here thing!

Skull & candy couture?

The prince of Blender keeps it real.

Here we go!

Marianne is getting the showroom back in shape!

Let them eat couture is one slogan from Juicy Couture. We had to draw a line.

Stine and Mats chatting about the weather, and giving props to green bottles from Denmark.

About a bike

D2, the lifestyle insert from the Norwegian business daily Dagens Næringsliv, asked for our thoughts of bicycles in general, and this limited track bike from Our Legacy, especially.

Read the full story here!

Best,
BA

Preparing for sample sale

Eye candy from Juicy Couture

Peppe all dressed up. Mr. Margiela in persona? Peppe is making splendid coffee at Oslo's coolest coffee shop, Kaffefuglen. Check out the original 1960's interiour in the latest issue of Monocle.

Magnus aka mister price guy!

Is it? Yes it is - Current Elliott. A few pieces, get here quickly.

Erlend - business as usual!

Wedding season is setting in - this is an amazing tuxedo shirt from Martin Margiela, heavily discounted.

So long,
BA

Hero

Hello.

While our day to day operations are quite busy, the frequency of updates on our blog has made us rather embarrassed. Let's try one more time. We tend to start out zealously, and then fade out after a while. But not this time around. It's time for a change.

The picture above is of Hiroki Nakamura (Sir, you are a hero), the founder of a brand called Visvim. They produce probably the most innovative shoes in todays street-/high-end market, with an amazing dedication to quality of materials and the heritage of craftmanship. The picture was taken in January at the Visvim showroom in Paris, where Kyrre was looking at the Fall 2009 collection for Secret Society.

Stay tuned for further updates on the mighty Blender Agency blog.

Enjoy the weekend!

BA

Lagersalg

CdG

There's a few brands out there that we would love to work with, and CdG is definitelly one of them. But, as we can't do them all, we get our CdG dreams fulfilled through Secret Society. Head over to the new blog of Secret Society. The store will open in the end of March.

Best,
BA

Martin Margiela 6

From FW07, you will find Martin Margiela collection 6 (MM6) in all major cities in Scandinavia. We are very excited, and the collection looked very strong. Send us an email if you would like to know where to find MM6 from the coming fall. info@blender.as

We love Goyard!

Hello,

First of all, it is time for a concession. To be quite honest, this blog project hasn't been all that. We are currently too busy for our own good, and blogging doesn't seem to be our number one priority. But, in the end of the day, it is not too time demanding to publish a few pictures from Picasa, so we will try to get our act together.

Today we just want to tell you that we love Goyard. The French packaging case and trunk maker, has been in business since 1853, and is a real bastion within its field.

The last few years rising demand for Goyard, has been supported by the co-op with Japan's Mastermind (only sold through Loveless, Tokyo). Moreover, Colette will be doing a co-op to support their 10 years anniversary. If you don't know Goyard, head over to Goyard.com, and educate yourself.

Best,
BA

While we are waiting....

While we are waiting for the full clothing range from Earnest Sewn, here is a peek at their store in NYC: An Earnest Cut & Sew.

The cut and sew collection will hit Europe for the FW07 season, so look out for some beautifully crafted pieces. If you are going over there any day soon, the collection is already available at:

An Earnest Cut & Sew
821 Washington St
New York, NY 10014

 

Surface To Air Paris

Our friends at Surface To Air Paris, have updated their website. Take a look at their brilliant work for Loveless, Tokyo. Their AW06 collection is in store now, and the SS07 collection looks awesome.

NYC

In May, the Blender crew went to NYC to gather inspiration, shop and attend a few business meetings. We stayed at the cool Maritime Hotel in Meetpacking District, and cleverly enough only a few meters from POP Burger. Pop 'til you drop! Stine and Mats finally got to see the trading post of our friends at Earnest Sewn, An Earnest Cut & Sew, and they got to catch up with their good friend Simen, who's spending his days at W Hotels HQ's. Shopping-wise, Stine got here beloved Stam bag from Marc Jacobs, and the boys all bought themselves those white Varvatos Jack Purcell's. Thank you Scoop!

A nice trip to New York, and in the aftermath, a few new brands were signed together with our Swedish partner, MnO International.