June's hot picks / Global
Inventory no.24
Things we've got our eye on this month: Pijama sleeves for sleeping laptops, nice white footwear from Sweden and Mallocran salty treats.
Pijama - Luggage
Laptop sleeves get a much-needed re-styling thanks to Pijama, an Italian label started in 2006 by designer Monica Battistella and architect Sergio Gobbi. The pair make pouches in vintage wool and cotton fabrics that sport smart tartan and check prints, ensuring you’ll get approving nods when you pull out your MacBook Pro in public. Inside, there’s neoprene padding, cotton jersey lining and a secure Velcro closure.
pijama.itSylotee & Polish - Toothpaste
For the heavy smokers, coffee drinkers and red wine quaffers among you this tooth polish is a godsend in the quest for pearlier whites. Japanese dental cosmetics company Dr Bee’s tooth-whitening kit comes with a soft silicon “tooth eraser”. Just apply the mint-flavoured bee polish to the eraser tip and start buffing for the Queen Bee effect.
bee.co.jpErik Schedin - Trainers
Swedish designer Erik Schedin’s white trainers are logo-free in line with his minimal website. This distinctive e-shop started life selling only three products – white trainers, spectacle frames from American Optical and Pledge wax. Schedin says, “I chose items in different areas that could give the visitor a taste of what I stand for.” Schedin has since added two nautical tote bags to his online collection.
erikschedin.comFlor de Sal - Salts
Premium salt sounds a sprinkle pretentious to us, but then we seasoned a Mediterranean dish with one of Flor de Sal’s lightly blended flavourings and we were hooked. Farmed from the sea on Mallorca’s southern-most tip of D’Es Trenc, Flor de Sal is sold plain or combined with ingredients such as oranges, lemons or black olives. The founders are also working on a salt-based cosmetics line.
gustomundial.comHiroko K - Fragrance
Match your LOHAS lifestyle with a fragrance from Japanese Hiroko K. The eco-certified perfumes were created with Tokyo’s Mandarin Oriental hotel and are made from 100 per cent organics. Sandalwood Clove is our particular favourite.
hiroko-k.comMalmberg - Mineral water
Four generations of Malmberg’s have been divining, dousing and drilling for water at the Yngsjö well in south east Sweden. This family-owned water business, which is currently known for heavy industrial well drilling and waterworks, launched its eponymous lightly carbonated mineral water drawn from a spring discovered on the company premises in 1976.
malmberg.seAwagami - Stationery
Traditional washi paper company Awagami dates back 200 years and is still going strong. Its latest range of “Kamon” stationery embosses traditional gold Japanese family crests onto contemporary notepads (using Awagami’s hand-made paper) and geometric pencil cases.
awagami.or.jpSerrote - Notebooks
Lisbon couple Nuno Neves and Susana Vilela make limited-edition notebooks for scribblers and collectors of typographical treasures. Printed on vintage Heidelberg Windmill presses, their graphic design is inspired by items from popular Portuguese culture such as tablecloths found at traditional luncheonettes and a painting of a football pitch.
serrote.comSisley - Sun cream
Applying Sisley’s sun cream half an hour before you hit the sun deck is the best way to guarantee a flawless tan in the Ligurian sun. This French family company has formulated cosmetics since the bronzed age: 1976.
sisley-cosmetics.com
