Just when you think you’ve got Mini Moderns licked, they up their game and surprise you again. Their latest project, Remix, is a collaboration with a group of designers who have each taken a Mini Moderns pattern or colour and made it their own, resulting in a vibrant range of products that are very Mini Moderns, but in a very new way.
With the strap line “Made in the UK by nice people,” Mini Moderns founders Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire are nice people too, people who invest time in mentoring through projects like Boost and the confessions of a design geek Bursary, people who care where their products are made and by whom, and people who attract other nice people to them. Looking around the launch of the Remix project at the East London Design Store last week was actually quite moving. Here was a group of people of people who’d trekked halfway across London on their last free evening before the London Design Festival to support Keith and Mark. They were the perfect hosts, welcoming people like long lost friends, making sure everyone had a drink (Rosie Lee‘s Earl Gray martinis no less) and introducing people to each other. Keith spent most of his evening ushering designers to the same spot as their products for me, so I could snap the pictures above! It’s no wonder the cream of London’s design talent wants to work with them – and with fantastic results. Nice is underrated in my opinion.
From top to bottom, left to right:
- Patrizia Sottile, one half of Urban Upholstery, with Keith Stephenson and the UU 0044 JosphineB Chair in Pavillion fabric. Patrizia and Andrea Simonutti founded Urban Upholstery in 2007 – they recycle existing furniture to create new pieces. UU 0044 JosphineB Chair uses Mini Moderns’ Pavillion fabric together with other high quality fabrics.
- Mark Hampshire with the uber-cool Daniela Gargiulo aka Ivy Arch and a shelf of C-60 accessories. Keith and Mark met Daniela through twitter, which led to the creation of these lavender bags and purses inspired by the Mini Moderns C-60 wallpaper.
- Matt Sewell, who Keith and Mark also met through twitter, designed these adorable little birds and painted them with the Mini Moderns recycled paint in Lido, Harvest Orange, Mustard, Pale Verdigris and Bitter Chocolate – fittingly they are made from FSC certified and re-appropriated wood. They are part of a limited edition set, each of which is signed, dated and numbers by Matt.
- Leonard Pfeifer designed this Darjeeling M1309 Drinks Bar and the Cee Dining Table which just has a tiny accent of Lido Mini Moderns Environmentally Responsible Paint. Leonard told me that he’s had to overcome his shyness when talking about his work, because it comes from his soul and so feels like a part of him – he believes it’s up to other people to judge it, not for him to tell them how great it is. Luckily this is so gorgeous it sells itself!
- Group Design, founded by Jeremy Schotte and Richard Wells, is behind the MMG Lighting Range. The form of the steel frame is based on Mini Moderns Pavilion fabric, the frame colours are based on the recycled paint range and the shades are all Mini Moderns fabrics. Keith said: “When we had an idea to launch a lighting collection, there wasn’t really anyone else we wanted to work with.”
- The Darjeeling Window Film is by Brume, who Mini Moderns previously collaborated with on the Whitby Window Film. Karen Lansdown, one of Brume’s directors says: “I really enjoy working with Keith and Mark – they are fantastic designers and always so enthusiastic.”
- Mini Moderns has a long-standing relationship with Rimmington Vian from exhibiting together at trade shows and sharing studio space, through to the production of the first Mini Moderns bone china range. The collaboration for Remix has seen Kevin Rimmington and Philip Vian constrasting the Darjeeling pattern’s complexity with simple, almost laboratory-like forms and applying it just to the bottom creating the perfect tension between restraint and excess. (Can you tell I really love these?!)
- Next is just the UU 0044 JosphineB Chair again without Patrizia sitting in it, so you can get a proper look!
- I’m such a big fan of Zoe Murphy (I interviewed her for my book), so to see her use a Mini Moderns pattern in her unique brand of upcycling was really exciting – the Buddha of Suburbia Drawers are really special.
- And last but by no means least, Benjamin Boyce‘s Colour Accent Furniture uses Mini Moderns paint colours as subtle accents.
Make sure you go and see Remix at the East London Design Store during London Design Festival – there’s even a customer event on Saturday 21st September 2013, where you can meet the designers.
