BLUE CRUSH
Fab stylist Nike Felldin in a blue leather Acne floppy hat, a blue Rodebjer coat and copper tone brass bubble ring, also by Rodebjer. The two later in store now!
Image courtesy of Jak & Jil.
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Cecilia
The Ravarino Trip
First colour sample from Stone Island
As agents for the brand Stone Island for the whole of Scandinavia our commitments are many and can be described as someone once wrote about the label itself: Stone Island seeks to break through old boundaries to establish new possibilities. Creating wearable and durable sportswear pieces with eye-catching hues created in their unique dyeing process, Stone Island is truly striving to create a new vision of the future of fashion. This is none the less emphasized by its owner and father Carlo Rivetti; it is precisely in these choices that the spirit and DNA of Stone Island can be found: intuition, innovation and a love of research. Bearing this in mind as agents we try to represent and convey the message of the brand at all times and as one step in this direction we arranged a trip down to Stone Island country and headquarters (including the archive, a dream come true for many) for our most loyal customers to try and recreate the path the company once took, pass on the passion of the brand and to expand the knowledge of the brand and its unique and continuous success to research and innovation both in the fabrics and processes. In short you can be told something but to be a true believer you have to experience it at first hand.
Our trip started at the break of dawn at the Cityterminalen Bus station in Stockholm, taking us to Arlanda airport and later on to the city of Bergamo.
Upon arrival in Bergamo we had our own bus and driver waiting for us up and continuously throughout the trip at our disposal at all times. We loaded up the bus with the ten of us and set off to Ravarino, a small village with a population of seven thousand people in the province of Modena, about 2.5 hours away.
The whole group gathered for lunch
In Ravarino we had arranged a meeting with Sportswear Company owner Carlo Rivetti and some of his colleagues for a long and extremely tasty Italian lunch. Tortellini, penne, locally baked bread gnocchi with trimmings of cream cheese and prosciutto, but also the sweet nutella, accompanied by a sparkling red wine, another local specialty. Filled to the brim and assuming the meal was over, the double decked dessert cart came out with all sorts of sweets to the joy of our friends from Denmark who joined us in Ravarino.
We made our way to SPW's headquarters accompanied by Mr. Rivetti, walking us through the whole tour. We started at the dying facilities inside the headquarters which is used for prototypes and experiments. One crucial fact concerning the company and the work process is that approximately 70% of the employees work with product development and experiments.
Mr. Carlo Rivetti
Garment production at HQ
Carlo told us of working on the correct dying formula for example regarding pigments and water temperatures for their down jackets which took almost three years to complete. Once the experimental phase is completed and documented the process of industrial production is sped up. Many of the machines and equipment used in the experimental phase at the headquarters are custom made, and usually world exclusive.
Carlo explains to us that they work with A1 a water offset, which is drinkable water, instead of A2 water offset which is the lowest EU regulation.
Dyeing facilities at HQ
During the dying process they “boil” the garment often at a degree of 95’C, which means that a lot of time is spent working with materials and dying formula to ensure that the completed and originally white garments will shrink as planned and dye in the right colour.
99% of the garments are completed with only the badge missing in neutral white before going through the dying process, instead of using dyed thread like most other companies, which enables the company to produce garments in such vibrant and lively colours.
After leaving the dying facilities we went to the famous historical archive where Stone Island has over 40 thousand pieces of garments from the years back to 1982 when the company was founded. It also contains never released garments that are stored for eventual release later on. The overall impression of the group was overwhelming, we all wanted to stay behind after dark to work through the archive, feeling and trying on the garments.
Historic archive
Then a short visit to where most of the knitwear samples are produced and developed. This part of the company is like dream to the design team as they can create something from beginning to end without sending it back and forward to factories, allowing them to correct mistakes and rethink designs during the process. A finished sample could be produced within a day’s time, in order to be rushed down to the dying experiments to ensure everything is at standard. Once again several of stations in the room contained original or rare machines in the industry.
Knitwear sample production
We continued on to the fabric archive where they make sure to check the start, end and also the middle of a fabric to see how it reacts to the treatments making sure that in production there is no difference between a garment produced from the start of the fabric roll or end. Here they store fabric samples from the last five years so they can go back to them if necessary.
Fabric archive
The whole crew on the trip except for our Danish friends who managed to sneak away
The tour was soon over except for some general questions and chit chat. We headed back to our hotel for some freshening up before we met up with parts of the Stone Island company for a dinner in the fine village of Ravarino. Imagine a setting in the southern states of America ca 1850 and you'll get the overall look of the village, although we didn't spot any outlaws with their guns blazing. After another fine meal we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the next days events, this time we would set of to Tintoria Emiliana.
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JIL SANDER NAVY IN DAMERNAS VÄRLD
More recent press clippings with stuff from Nitty Gritty! This fantastic ed can be found in Damernas Värld, the new issue out just now (No. 7/2011). Supermodel Caroline Winberg in Jil Sander Navy dress and Iosselliani set of 4 rings. Hot hot hot!
Photographer: Ewa-Marie Rundquist, styling Fia Tegnér, make-up Kristina Kullenberg/LundLund and hair Carina Finnström/Mikas Looks.
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Cecilia
Hiroki Nakamura of Visvim
An interview with Hiroki Nakamura of Visvim courtesy of Hypebeast
THE END AT BECKMANS
I was at the graduation show of the renowned Beckmans School of Design today, titled The End, and oh my - I was so impressed by their talent and not the least craft skills. Can´t post images of all creations, but these four really caught my eye among the fashion graduates:
Tini Andersson - Sennudå
If my memory doesn´t fail me, this is a boiled (!) leather dress. And rusty clogs to match.
Alexander Krantz - Alike
Fur and hair pins, totally incredible look. Picture doesn´t do it justice. And look at the work of this purple piece, just wow:
Tove Jansson - The Illusion of Conslusion
I loved her imagery, too. The sheer, intricate details really stood out in this lighting, though extremely hard to re-capture with the crappy camera I carried with me:
Ellinor Kellner - The Standard
So extremely well-tailored and those shoes...
Principal Tom Hedqvist asked the students why they named their graduation show The End, and he got a quick response saying that the end is always a new beginning.
True.
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Cecilia
NEW YORK
A few New York pics, some with Brooklyn chicks.
Spread the word: Tell your friendsGREETINGS FROM CROATIA #3
Have to share another pic from yesterday, our last. We stumbled upon this amazing restaurant/bar to have lunch right on the beach, in the natural shadows of the trees... Can´t get much better than this, if you ask me. And the summer season is just about to start in Croatia, so it always felt like we had the place more or less to ourselves... So very peaceful. Priceless.
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Cecilia
GREETINGS FROM CROATIA #2
Can´t believe it´s already time to go home... Tomorrow´s our last day here. Croatia definitely earned it´s place in our hearts, it´s been a wonderful trip, everyone has been super friendly and this coastline of crystal clear Mediterranean waters is just irresistible. Pebble beaches though, Maxine´s been trying her best to eat them up - without any luck on her part might I add. The children´s pool at the hotel provided a safe haven for mummy and daddy in that regard, phew! And she´s been making new friends by the minute, flirting with every German tourist around - and that´s quite a few, ha ha ha.
I´ve been wearing a straw hat from Paul Smith and sunglasses by Karen Walker every single day (in store now). Love. See you on Monday!
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Cecilia
Nitty Gritty Music - From Japan to Santa Fe
This week the Japanese brand Visvim is in focus. We have received some new shoes, t-shirts and a jacket that's worth killing some buffalos for! I did a soundtrack to the news letter. thats's nothing really to it, just a bunch of proper songs. Enjoy. Nitty Gritty Music - From Japan to Santa Fe
If you have any question or complaints don’t hesitate to contact me at eric@nittygritty.se
Tracklist:
Hank Williams - Cherokee Boogie
Roy Rogers - I'm Gonna Gallop to Gallup New Mexico
Neil Young - Albuquerque
Gabor Szabo - Michael From Mountains
Japan - Canton
Maher Shalal Hash Baz - Touring
Pastels, Tenniscoats - Modesty Piece
Bad Boy Warren - Santa Fe
Sam "Lightnin" Hopkins - Santa Fe Blues
Indians - Earth's Breath
GREETINGS FROM CROATIA
A virtual postcard from the Makarska Riviera in Croatia. It´s beautiful here! We´re on family vacation and very busy with taking it very easy, ha ha.
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Cecilia
Latest Posts
- Snickeriet Launch, May 16th By Nitty Crew
- ON THE MANNEQUINS, May 16th By Cecilia
- Nitty Gritty Music - Dr Dee , May 15th By Eric
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Nitty Crew
67 posts
Nitty Gritty
Krukmakargatan 26,
Stockholm -
Marcus
22 posts
Marcus Söderlind
Owner,
Nitty Gritty, Stockholm -
Hugo
18 posts Hugo Bergström
Creative Director,
Nitty Gritty, Stockholm -
Eric
79 posts
Eric O Nordstedt
Audio Connoisseur,
Nitty Gritty, Stockholm
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Cecilia
307 posts
Cecilia Steiner
Womenswear Buyer,
Nitty Gritty, Stockholm
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