Design Versus Rain

Even with the rain (I was still shivering from being soaked this morning when I woke up), last night ended up being lots of fun. I met up with Jesper in Shibuya after work, and we walked to Daikanyama, stopping at a few places along the way. We first stopped at Collex Speakfor and Gallery Speakfor, where Swedish group Fellow Designers had an exhibition. Very nice posters, and Jesper got me interested in seeing the films of Lukas Moodysson (all the one-sheets for his films are by Fellow Designers). They were also selling a very nice book for the show, with a fuzzy nice-to-the-touch cover.

Traipsing through the rain, we then made it to the Collex Living shop, where the opening party of Nina’s Market was being held. A nice collection of objects picked/created (I’m not quite sure which, maybe a bit of both) by Swedish designer Nina Jobs. Nice drinks and hors d’oeuvres helped us recuperate from the cold and rain.

Continuing our journey (that’s how it felt), we then stopped at Zero First Design, which was the real reason we had gone this far. Jesper was to meet with Okamoto Kouichi, who is behind Kyouei (I’ve mentioned their creations in the past, and will also write a MoCo Tokyo entry on them). It was very nice chatting with him and his wife, and again, we were treated to some well-deserved sustenance. We also quickly met two members of Syjuntan, who’s exhibition at Tomorrowland in Hiroo Jesper had visited yesterday. They seem to have some nice products, and I’ll try to check out that show also.

Tired and cold, we needed some rest, and we ended the night at Office in Aoyama where we met with a few friends. It felt really good to have a chestnut shochu drink, with Stereolab playing in the background.

Today is completely ruined because of the typhoon – biggest one in 10 years – that is expected to hit late in the afternoon. All plans to go out are now cancelled, which included a visit to the Swedish embassy for the “Young Creators Day,” which would have included showings of a documentary covering the “Tokyo Style in Gothenburg” event, followed by a party, and then a Tokyo Style related event at SuperDeluxe. Oh well. Looks like we can expect some nicer weather for tomorrow and Monday.