Designs by Ulrika Hydman-Vallien

Afficiandos of fine art glass will not have to travel all the way to Småland this summer, where the so-called Kingdom of Glass is located.  For the first time ever, all eight of Kosta Boda’s main designers are jointly presenting their work at NK department stores in Stockholm and Gothenberg.   One of my favourites is Ulrika Hydman-Vallien, whose delightfully decadent works will be shown in the bookstore on the third floor of NK Stockholm. Photo: Niklas Dahlskog

Veronica Maggio sings for Ivana Helsinki

Ida Pyk

The Media Rocks Group of the USA has previously arranged  spectacular shows in London, New York and Rio de Jan de Janiero.   On June 25-26, for the first time ever in Scandinavia, a Fashion Rocks show was held  beneath the giant chandeliers of 146-year-old Berns Salonger. The main  sponsor was Max Factor.

The basic concept for these events is brilliant— to combine some 10 or 12 different live music acts with as many hot labels .  There were some surprising combinations.   The pop/singer September, wearing a prehistoric stone-age woman outfit (and lizard-lenses in her eyes), performed alongside Ann-Sofie Back’s models, who were all wearing gruesome leather masks.  Popular singer Veronica Maggio made a mellow fit for Ivana Helsinki, while a kick-ass performance by the dynamic Harlem James Gang from New York nearly stole the show from the Danish designer  Islaet.
It must be a big logistical challenge to wed a different live act with each designer.  There was one glitch which I spotted, when there was a unintended delay between two designers, and supermodel Lydia Hearst, who acted as presenter, was left to fend for herself  for several long minutes.  That might have been OK, but Lydia was wearing a minimal red corset at the time, and seemed to be freezing.

Profiled at the event were   Ann-Sofie Back, Dagmar, Ida Sjöstedt, Ida Pyk, Islaet, Ivana Helsinki, J. Lindeberg, Nikolaj d’Etoiles, Rickard Lindqvist and  Tiia Vanhatapio.  

I enjoyed the show tremendously:  How can one not, when interesting live music is combined with strong fashion?  One novelty for the Stockholm fashion show scene is that there was no guest list.  Anyone could buy a ticket to the entertaining event.  All photos by Hege Edvardsen www.hege-e.com

Isalet

Ida Sjöstedt

Ann-Sofie Back

Performance by September

Tiia Vanhapatio

Lydia Hearst

Swedish-American artist  Marcus Mårtenson showed his works last night at  a VIP pre-party held in a suite at Berns Hotel: open bar with Campari cocktails,  DJs, burlesque girls in bondage attire, a pirate flag waving outside over the beautiful Stockholm skyline, and good vibes. None of us were feeling any pain.  Mårtenson, who often works on panels of scrap wood, makes raw, vibrant,  primitive visions .   He frequently collaborates with his colleague Valerie Montti Colque, who also does performance art.

“We just got back from Washington, D.C. where we did an installation at Sweden House(large cultural institution),” he said. ”We were working with inner city school kids aged about 6-12 years old. We recycled junk and made a big phoenix.”   

 To see more: www.marcusmartenson.com

This was the scene at Sergels Torg, the central square in the Swedish capital shortly after people learned about the death of music legend Michael Jackson.   Fans lit candles, brought red roses, a sequinned glove, photos of the star as well as a copy of tabloid Expressen, whose first page declared “Dead Last Night.”   News travels fast.  Many people in Sweden learned about Michael’s passing  within seconds of people in Hollywood.  I was  drowning in text messages and phone calls all saying the same thing: ”Have you heard? Michael Jackson is dead.”   Last night, on the dancefloor at Berns,  the crowd roared and  smiled each time a Jackson tune came up, and they came up a lot.  In the end, it seems Jackson will be remembered for his music–not his eccentricities or all the lawsuits.  That feels right to me. Photo: David

A few days ago I dropped by Beyond Retro’s giant vintage clothing emporium behind the Åhlens department store in downtown Stockholm.  I was impressed.  The way the garments are displayed, the styles and the music made the shopping experience very pleasant.   As it says on its website, this London-based chain provides “vintage clothing for the sartorially obsessed.”  A sense of the store’s attitude can possibly be detected in this fuzzy photo I took of two of the staff.   When I got home I discovered that the sleeves on the  Western-style shirt I bought were too short for me.  How could I have missed that? My personal stylist has disappeared, lost in the Bermuda Triangle together with my clothing budget.  Photo: David

Berns nightclub manager Martin Kling, guest manager Payman Dejdez, Nizar and David get together for a planning session in the 2.35:1 Club.

For the first time ever in the Swedish capital, a non-stop party lasting for two days (June 26-27) will be held at the 2.35:1 nightclub at Berns.  We will be taking part in the festivities, with the premiere of a special Cool Stockholm video scheduled for viewing at midnight on Friday.

Nightclub boss Martin Kling got the idea for the monster party when he made a field trip to Berlin to check out the club scene.

“I felt that something crazy had to happen in this city. No one has ever organized a two-day party in the city.  Guest manager Payman Dejdezi and I promise that it will be unforgettable,” Martin says.  There will be a new DJ nearly every hour,  art experiments, smoke machines, interactive videos, a breakfast with Red Bull, as well as some X-rated surprises.  DJs including  Zoo Brazil, Tiger Stripes, Tony Senghore, TonyTouch, Intergaláctico, Kornél Kovacs and  Petter will blast away with 50,000 Watts loudspeakers.

One can expect to see plenty of fashion slaves on the basement club’s dance floor, since Berns Salonger will also be hosting Fashion Rocks —a two day fashion/music extravaganza, during part of the  same weekend, June 25-26.  That ticketed event will combine edgy live bands with runway shows of Scandinavia’s top labels- including Ann-Sofie Back, Dagmar, Ida Sjöstedt, Ida Pyk, Islaet, Ivana Helsinki, J. Lindeberg, Nikolaj d’Etoiles, Rickard Lindqvist och Tiia Vanhatapio.  The sultry, vampy style of Vanhatapio to the music of the Skull Defects.  Yeah, I can get behind that. Photo: Tekla Severin

Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir – Lights (Photo: Per Plougmann Povlsen)

If you are a fan of  large-scale outdoor sculpture gardens, the place to be right now is Denmark.   An Australian project called Sculpture by the Sea—now entering its 12^thyear—inspired the Danes to create what appears to be an amazing exhibit of some 60 sculptures on sand, shoreline and water along the Bay of Aarhus. It isn’t hard to figure how the Danes picked up the idea, since their Crown Princess Mary hails from Australia.

On June 16 Queen Margrethe checked out the sculptures during an unofficial visit to the Bay of Aarhus:  She walked almost the entire 3 kilometres of the sculpture route.

The exhibit ends June 28.

Phil Price- Morpheus

Randi and Katrine: Shawarma House Photo by Ole Pedersen

There seems to finally be a shift away from the cold-hearted hotel rooms we’ve seen in recent years with all the white-on-white charm of hospital hallways. Berns Hotel has in its 17 new rooms opted for warmth, color and personality rather than snobby minimalism. Berns CEO Yvonne Sörensen Björud, together with architect Franz Hardinger, have created unique and sometimes playful rooms which have a “homey” atmosphere. A vintage rug contrasts with modernistic graphic art; are those Josef Frank prints we see on the fluffy pillows?

A major advertising campaign questioning the existance of God has blanketed the Swedish capital all this week. 
In full page-ads in the largest newspapers, on billboards in subway stations and even on bus shelters,  the message is trumpeted: “God probably doesn’t exist”  (Gud finns nog inte.)  The message is accompanied by flag images which symbolize the three main monotheistic faiths: Christianity, Judaism and Islam.  Its been rainy and cold all week, with dark skies and heavy winds:  I guess the man upstairs is pissed off, or not.

The provocative ads created by the Swedish Humanist Association (Humanisterna) prompt you to visit to a sophisticated  and somwhat manipulative website www.gudfinnsnoginte.se, where your opinions about issues like abortion, religious schools, gay marriage and similar topics are tested in the light of religious views.     The ads and website test are meant to highlight and diminish the impact of religion on public life in this generally secular society, raise money for the Humanists, and recruit new members.  
Photo: David