Murano Glass - Carlo Moretti

Another piece from my glass collection

Finally Selfridges have come to their senses and started selling some decent Murano glass having removed it from the shelves a couple of years ago. Now, once again, you can buy Carlo Moretti and Cenedese in the glass department. Stupidly Harrods has redesigned their glass hall and now focus on the most garish pieces money can buy. They no longer sell Carlo Moretti or Cenedese. All a bit odd how the Buyers decide what to buy or not to buy in this case. One year they all sell it, the next no one sells it, then one sells it again when the other doesn’t. The only decent stuff Harrods now have is by the Czech glass maker Moser. And Moser is amazing, beautifully crafted, superb polishing all in amazing colours with the most fantastic engraving money can buy, should that be your thing. I have pieces by all of the above but thought I would share the Troncono ‘Conical Trunk’ which I bought at Harrods (before they stopped selling Moretti obviously).

On the Carlo Moretti website it says that it is a limited edition of 300. Weird, because I have number 82 / 333.

The vase is described as being ‘clear crystal with vertical stripes in turquoise and lapis lazuli with two horizontal bands in red’. Although I have just noticed, my vase has three stripes! perhaps it is a different edition. In any event, what I really like about this vase is that it feels kind of rustic and looks great with a cheap bunch of flowers. Who says luxury is all about money?

http://www.moser-glass.com

http://www.carlomoretti.com/

http://www.cenedesegino.it

Selfridge's Shoe Gallery

Shoes are big business so off I went to Selfridges to see their new Shoe Gallery. This was my second visit. I went to have a look last weekend and it was heaving. Way too many people to enjoy what is I guess meant to be a pleasurable shopping experience – even though I am not in the market for women’s shoes. So second time lucky I thought. Maybe if I went earlier in the morning it would be less busy. But sadly it wasn't, there were still throngs of people.

The idea of a gallery, in my mind anyway, is somewhere where things are shown off and displayed to their best potential. Things in galleries are prized, special and to some considered artworks. So the Selfridges Shoe Gallery is not quite a gallery in the traditional sense; not really a gallery at all. More a space where designers and luxury brands either have concessions; Christian Louboutin, Chanel, Gucci, Fendi, Repetto etc or shelf space; LK Bennett, Paul Smith, Kurt Geiger etc. But reading the Selfridges blurb about the Shoe Gallery one would imagine being transported to another dimension where Jamie Fobert has not only created shoe galleries but 'apartments' as well. What happened to plain old English. It's a shoe department in a shop! I shouldn’t be too harsh because I do like Selfridges. But I hate the pretence.

Now onto the shoes. I took a look at two ‘iconic brands’ Louboutin and Lanvin. There is no doubt that they are beautifully designed shoes. But, and there is always a but with me, they are not so beautifully made. For the prices they charge I would expect close to perfectly made shoes. Turn over a Louboutin and what is striking is the lack of symmetry of the soles.

The Lanvin ballet pumps fare no better.

Firstly they are not made in their country of origin, France, a must I believe for luxury brand manufacture unless the expertise is to be found elsewhere. But there is no expertise exhibited in the manufacture of the Lanvin shoes, well none that I could see. The stitching is all over the place. They look like they have been put together by people in a hurry. And this brings me back to this whole notion of the luxury brand. I still question the use of the word luxury to describe any of these products unless the luxury is being able to afford £300.00 + for a pair of shoes.

But price is not ultimately what luxury is about.

Do we really need to queue outside Louis Vuitton?

Fashion weeks have now come and gone, New York, London, Milan and Paris and it got me thinking about the sales. I don’t know why because they are least two months away. In any event I started to think, again, about luxury brands. As I always do. And the thought that sprung to mind was.... Why do you have to queue outside Louis Vuitton?

Surely luxury is about exclusivity. When you think about it Luxury is about exclusivity but luxury brands are not. Increasingly the products produced and indeed consumed are available anywhere and everywhere. No longer are Bond Street, Madison Avenue, Rue Saint-Honoré to name a few the shopping destinations for exclusive goods they are simply destinations where conglomerates maintain a ‘Flagship’ presence. If you want to buy Dior or Chanel you could venture to an outlet store.

So what is exclusive about these so called luxury products? It’s not really the price if you can buy them at reduced prices, nor is the actual goods considering they are mass produced and sold all over the world.Yet people flock to the stores throughout the year and especially during the sales and stand in line patiently waiting to buy something that is so readily available.The idea of exclusivity is, well quite odd. Luxury brands are now building larger and larger stores, appealing to the spectacle of shopping. These cathedrals of consumption do nothing more than encourage people to spend money on more and more things that are desired rather than needed; desire created through hype and rhetoric and nothing much else. You could join the throngs that visit the newish 15,000 square foot Louis Vuitton store on Bond Street, be pushed and shoved to see the spectacle that may be an art instillation, rather like a travelling freak show. Exclusive? I am not sure. Or you could simply wait and queue for discounts during the Louis Vuitton sale.

Luxury Glass Makers of the World

I have been collecting amazing pieces of glass for about fifteen years now. What fascinates me is the skill of the blowers. From a base of silica that is mixed with a flux that is then melted the almost fluorescent colours rise. It has to be said that some of the finest pieces I have are from Murano, some I have bought on the Island myself, some have been given to me (lucky me:)).

It is interesting, going back to my first blog about luxury and department stores, the more I think about it the more obvious it is becoming. Department stores like Selfridges and Harrods used to sell quite a lot of Murano glass by Salviati, Cenedese and Carlo Moretti. No longer, as these department stores loose their luxury lustre and focus on luxury brand diversification it is left to the smaller specialist stores like Vessel in London to showcase the work of the craftsmen. To be honest, a smaller specialist store is probably a better outlet for such amazing pieces of glass. For those who are interested I thought I would share one of my favorite pieces. The blue, orange, black and white stripes of this Salviati vase are put together using the Canna (cane) method and mouth blown into a wooden mold. This is what Salviati say on their website 'the Canna is a piece of either transparent or opaque glass that has been drawn out into a long stick (or cane). Segments of canes of various lengths and colors are laid out on a flat surface in a decorative pattern and are heated in the furnace'. For some reason the elongated vase reminds me of Brancusi's Bird in Space.

www.salviati.com

www.cenedesegino.it

www.carlomoretti.com

www.vesselgallery.com

what is luxury?

Department stores are amazing places. These cathedrals of consumption cater to anyone who loves to shop. You can find almost anything you want, from a pack of chewing gum to a diamond necklace. Both could be considered to be luxury items depending on whose buying them.

But my interest is in luxury goods that I like to define through materials, manufacture an educated view and the skill of the maker. I also often think, that when buying a luxury good, access to the maker, the design process and being able to participate in what would undoubtedly be an amazing learning experience is an integral part to acquiring a luxury product. The question I ask myself is... Is a department store a place to buy luxury goods, where what they sell is generally mass produced and mass consumed?

My intention is to look at design, materials to try to identify differences between luxury branded products and luxury goods. A challenge to say the least!