Design

Kitchen Cool

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The products that’ll make your kitchen exude class and cool. Tefal Jamie Oliver Professional Series, £53-£62 These pans prove that you don’t need to spend the earth to get quality. Apart from the weighty aesthetic, the heat distribution of this cookware is excellent, with even cooking and consistent results. These pans also have exceptional wear resistance – but only if you treat them lovingly (always hand wash and dry). The pans are supremely comfortable, despite being a little heavy; their sturdiness is reassuring and never become too hot to hold. We were even shocked to prefer this Tefal model over a number of higher-end brands.   Magimix Pro 350 deep…

Up In Smoke

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When I was growing up, my family had a monthly tradition, irrespective of any plans, holidays or otherwise. You all attended the family dance. Dispel the thoughts of a debutant occasion with formal evening wear. This was a working-middle-class gathering of 50-somethings coming together to dance to the classics, drink excessively (but respectably) and catch up with family, friends and the community at large. My longest-enduring memory of the family dances was my grandfather sat in his dinner jacket, drinking a glass of scotch and smoking a King Edward cigar. Now, my grandfather had spent time in Canada, the US, Egypt, and Africa, serving with the RAF and Royal Navy….

Leather Bound

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There are constants in life. Some of which are present to such an extent that they become overlooked – taken for granted if you like – and therefore, their importance dismissed. The presence of leather in luxury goods is an example of this. Leather is deeply rooted in the luxury market, and rightly so. Although, historically, leather production has become industrialised and readily available to the working man, there’s a world of difference between a finely-tanned hide crafted from Hereford beef stock and those being mass-produced for the commercial market coming out of the Far East and India. Chalk and cheese. I spent a couple of days in September wandering…

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

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Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1868 -1928, by James Clarke Charles Rennie Mackintosh has always intrigued me. Odd, given that while I appreciate the nuances of the Nouveau movement, I’ve never really been swayed by it – preferring instead, the boldness and opulence of Art Deco. Perhaps it’s Mackintosh’s defiance in the face of adversity that I admire? The son of a Glaswegian police superintendant, and one of a brood of eleven, he was fortunate to have the opportunity to nourish his creativity and pursue his passion in design and architecture during the late 1800s. Following his apprenticeship as an architectural draftsman at John Honeyman’s practice in Glasgow, he went on to…