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A R O U N D T H E W O R L D L I V I N G I D E A SIn
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ENTERTAININGPLACES TO GO- AROUND THE WORLD\\ Plus interview with the people
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© 2014, 2013 OUTCAST
All rights reserved, No part of this publicationmay be reproduced, distributed or transmittedin any form or by any means, including photocopying or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the editor, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the editor, addressed “Attention: OUTCAST. Permissions,” at the address below.
OUTCAST328 NE Failing StreetPortland, Oregon 97212Telephone : 503-946-8400
Printed in CanadaPublication Design by Evi JayantiCover Photograph by Evi Jayanti
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ARCHITECHTUREH o m e To u r s - To k y o
FOODE s s a y & A r t i c l e - C o r n , G o c h u j a n g
ENTERTAINING IDEAST h i n g s To D o - P i z z a P o t l u c k
PLACES TO GOC a f é - S a n F r a n c i s c oC i t y G u i d e - B e r l i n
C i t y G u i d e - L o s A n g e l e sVa n c o u v e r
FASHION & STYLEM e n ’s We a r - U n i f o r m Wa r e s
FASHIONA r t i c l e - L o n d o n C a l l i n g
A R O U N D T H E W O R L D L I V I N G I D E A S
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THE OUTCAST HOME TOURS: THE SELF-MADE MODERNIST
Photographs by Hideaki Hamada Translation by Tina Minami Dhingra
IN THIS SPECIAL SECTION, WE GO BEYOND THE WELCOME MATS OF A DOZEN HOUSES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. THESE SPACES ARE BOUND TO INSPIRE YOU AND OFFER VARIATIONS ON THE MANY WAYS YOU CAN LIVE WITHIN YOUR OWN SPACE.—
THE SELF-MADE MODERNISTSuginami, Tokyo, JapanResidents Mariko Hirasawa and her husband KoheiOccupations Mariko: illustrator. Kohei: music label repre-sentativeType of house Modern Japanese homeYear built 2013
Although her tiny Tokyo house has a modern facade, Mariko has made a concerted effort to use natural materials in the building process, referencing her
nation’s past and preparing it for the future. “I’m looking forward to five or ten years from now. When it comes to trees, plaster and iron, time is not the enemy: It works to our advantage instead,” she says. Just as the materials lend themselves to an eternity of enjoyment, she has kept her home personal and current by bringing together objects from people around her.
She asked her friends to contribute various parts of the project, turning it into “a home built with everyone’s love.” The entire blueprint was designed by one of her dear friends from college, and the kitchen, bathroom and studio space were constructed by an architect she’d always admired. It was made using shikkui plaster, which is popular in traditional Japanese homes, to keep the summer humidity out, as well as a significant amount of wood to create a certain kind of softness.
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Like the average Tokyo home, it isn’t exactly spacious, with rooms stacked on top of each other like Jenga blocks. Featuring an atelier at the top of their slanted staircase (where Mariko spends most of her day) and plenty of floor-to-ceiling windows, they take advantage of letting as much light as possible flood into their little space. Although her kitchen is similarly small, Mariko likes the way it allows her to have a conversation face to face while prepping a meal for visitors.
“There’s also a large tree you can see from the windows, so it feels good to do kitchen chores,” she says. “That feeling of comfort and ease must show in the food I cook as well.” Just like anyone who’s crafted their own home from the ground up, she has learned a thing or two about how to construct more than just walls: “Creating a home is about really knowing what makes you feel good. Would you like your room to have sunlight pour in or is it about having a place you can relax at night?” she says. “It’s about knowing yourself and what your priorities are: That is what’s important.” (Source : www.kinfolk.com)
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CornA CURIOUS CULTIVATION
Words: Richard Aslan - Photos: Tim Robison
THE IMPORTANCE OF MAIZE IN THE AMERICAS AFTER THIS TIME CAN HARDLY BE OVERSTATED. BY THE TIME THE AZTECS
ROSE TO PROMINENCE IN THE VALLEY OF MEXICO IN THE 14TH CENTURY, ALL OF MESOAMERICA, MUCH OF ANDEAN SOUTH AMERICA, AND LARGE AREAS OF THE MODERN USA
WERE HEAVILY RELIANT ON IT
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I n the Americas, as in Africa, more maize is grown than any other crop. Along with wheat and rice, it forms the great global agricultural troika of the 21st century. While this grain – also known by the more generic
term corn – is undoubtedly vital to our way of life, for the inhabitants of ancient Mesoamerica, urbanisation simply would not have been possible without it. In a landscape characterised by infertile soils and sparse moisture, hunting, gathering, and subsistence-scale agriculture was only able to sustain a small mobile population, most probably made up of family groups. All this changed around 2,000 BC in Mexico, and slightly later in the Mayan cultural areas of Yucatán, and modern-day Guatemala. Quite suddenly, the previously empty countryside was scattered with agricultural settlements made up of square, thatched huts and supporting inhabitants in their hundreds – not dissimilar from the villages of today. From these beginnings, the foundations were laid for the efflorescence of the great Mesoamerican cultures, the Maya and Aztec best known among them. While this new agricultural prosperity centred on maize, the grain had been domesticated far earlier – up to five thousand years earlier, in fact – along with the other main Mesoamerican food crops such as chillies and chia (Salvia hispanica, a seed crop related to the mint family). Herein lies the mystery; something happened around 2,000 BC that radically altered the ecosystem’s capacity to support high concentrations of human population. In order to try and work out what that change could have been, we need to start at the beginning.
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Though the history books are loathe to admit it, the gaps in our understand-ing of the processes of cause and
effect that have built our modern world are vast, and knowledge of our agricultural past is no exception. The early history of maize domestication and cultivation is still only partially explored, and scientific and historical opinion remain divided. However, by taking a broad sweep of the theories available, a coherent narrative begins to emerge (the caveat being, of course, that coherence is no guarantee of veracity). Maize, like the banana, is a cultigen. In its broadest sense, this term refers to any crop which has been significantly affected by human selection.
In its narrower sense – the sense employed here – a cultigen is a crop without a readily identifiably wild counterpart. In the case of maize, the route from wild grasses of the Zea family, to cultivated maize with its char-acteristic cob and tassel, is far from clear. The oldest archaeological finds of maize cobs date back to around 6,000 years ago in the rugged southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Older finds have been radio carbon dated to an earlier period – around 9,000 years ago – but the actual dating process was carried out not on the kernels themselves, but rather the material found alongside them. As such, compelling as it may be, this evidence must be regarded as inconclusive. More recent molecular dating and genetic mapping, however, suggest a similar date, but a different location; the Balsas River valley where the states of Michoacan, Mexico, and Guerrero meet, known for its high seasonal rainfall and seismic activity.
A date of 9,000 years ago also fits in nicely with the received wisdom which places the earliest domestication horizon for any crop in Mesoamerica at a maximum of 10,000 years before the present. The Balsas River region also happens to be the area where maize’s closest wild relatives, the teosintes, are found in greatest abundance. All this feels very neat, but if we lay an ear of teo-sinte next to an ear of cultivated maize, the differences are striking. The wild grass is no longer than a finger and many times more slender – hundreds of times less massive than the maize ear. Its few seeds,
just ten to fifteen in general, are encased in hard, woody husks, and are stacked one atop the other, slightly skewed. It’s almost impossible to imagine how this wispy out-line could have transformed into the hefty cob with its succulent, buttery-yellow ker-nels. A transitional form between the two has never been attested, so scientists can only conjecture as to how the early Mexi-cans managed to induce such a dramatic and fortuitous change. Maize and teosintes can interbred. Hybrids are common on the boundaries of maize fields in Mexico and Guatemala, and successive generations of hybridisation certainly go some way to explain the make-up of the modern crop. The process of Vavilovian Mimicry, whereby weeds such as teosintes take on the char-acteristics of the crop they grow alongside, has also resulted in more maize-like char-acteristics among certain species.
Older finds have been radio carbon dated to an earlier period – around 9,000 years ago – but the actual dating process was carried out not on the kernels themselves,
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To muddy the waters further, some researchers claim that the teosinte is not the wild vector of maize at all, but rather a hybrid itself, of maize and a less closely related grass called Tripsacum, with even fewer maize-like characteristics. Beguiling as this might be, we are still no closer to answering the question of the origins of maize, and neatly find ourselves back at square one. (Source : www.cereal.com)
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1 GochujangTHE FIERY RED PASTE SET TO STEAL SRIRACHA’S CROWN
Words: Charlie Lee-Potter - Photos: Luisa Brimble
THE FIRE IN GOCHUJANG COMES FROM CAPSAICINS IN THE HOT PEPPER POWDER. A DAB ON THE TONGUE PRODUCES A ROUND, RICH HEAT THAT LIGHTS UP THE MOUTH, WITHOUT TWEAKING THE NOSE AS WASABI DOES.
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Gochujang is a Korean condiment but it should be a colour. Its intense, carnelian red hue is as much a part of its allure as the deep, rich, fiery taste. Henri
Matisse would have painted pictures with it, Alexander McQueen could have designed a tartan with it. What I’d really like are some gochujang shoes and a fountain pen filled with gochujang ink. Gaping at a container of gochujang paste is as good for the spirits as a stroll in the sun. I can vouch for that, because I’ve been staring into my large tub of it, wondering how best to capture its particular beauty in words and I feel a lot better already. Like chicken noodle soup or a cup of strong tea, gochujang provides comfort to the glum and the weary. It’s also about to become achingly fashionable to a much wider audience.
Gochujang dates back to the 17th century. Large earthenware pots, or onggi, of red pepper powder, glutinous rice powder, soybean powder, salt, and water are fermented in the sun to produce what has become the most adored Korean condiment of them all. Most gochujang is now made commercially, but there’s a growing interest in making it at home, with blog posts and video clips online of enthusiastic cooks wrestling with vast saucepans and hefty wooden spoons, smiling happily as they recall the gochujang of their childhood. Its aroma provokes nostalgia with its distinctive, comforting overtones of fermented malt. Gochujang inspires fanciful language. The Korean American chef David Chang of Momofuku fame has virtually turned gochujang into a fable. He says that if you combine gochujang with doenjang, they
produce a ‘love child’. This offspring is called ssamjang, the spicy bean paste vital for making bossam, delicious parcels of pork wrapped in Boston lettuce leaves. Chang’s inventive take on bossam includes extra quantities of gochujang than usual, and who can blame him? As he puts it, his kind of cooking is like having “one foot rooted in tradition and the other foot kicking it forward”:
“There is a great line from Emerson that sums up my perspective perfectly. ‘Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views ¬which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books.’”
The fire in gochujang comes from capsaicins in the hot pepper powder. A dab on the tongue produces a round, rich heat that lights up the mouth, without tweaking the nose as wasabi does. Of course, all the greatest inventions invite imitations, or at least adaptations. Maesil or Asian plum (the ume of umeboshi) gochujang is one of the most popular evolutions. It’s hot like its parent, but with a sweet, more acidic, vinegary taste. While claims have been made for gochujang’s health benefits, beyond its low fat and calorie content, they appear to be inflated. Suggestions that consuming capsaicins promotes weight loss are at best unproven, and in any case they miss the point – the true glory of gochujang is its taste, colour, history and poetry.
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One of the most popular uses of gochujang is in bibimbap, the wonderfully named Korean dish of rice and sautéed vegetables, as well as in tteokbokki, the essential street food made with rice cakes. It’s also possible to stray from traditional Korean cuisine and get startlingly good results. Yellow pea soup with a trail of red gochujang on its surface and a scattering of finely chopped green chives is a culinary triumph, as well as a work of art worthy of Sir Terry Frost. A tomato and butter bean stew is pepped up perfectly with a spoonful of gochujang. A little more prosaically, fried bacon trapped between two slices of bread is exquisite with a little lettuce and a scarlet slathering.
Just as there are countless variations on the colour red, there are innumerable varieties of chilli sauce. Raking my eyes across the top shelf of my fridge, I find gochujang, harissa, Sriracha and Tabasco. In the interests of research, I line up spoonfuls of all
four. Gochujang has a paste-like consistency similar to harissa. Without the cumin and the coriander, however, it has a much cleaner, fresher flavour. Sriracha is easier to pour or to drizzle, but gochujang has a much more developed, sweet flavour. Tabasco, on the other hand, is like an irascible politician – explosive heat and fury without much complexity. If I could only pick one, I would choose gochujang every time.
In case you hadn’t noticed, I admit to being a little obsessed with gochujang. I have a small bowl of it on my desk as I write this, and my children have been puzzling as to why I keep staring at it. I think it’s because it appeals to the five traditional senses. I love its look, its aroma and its taste. Even its sound as it’s dolloped onto a crispy bacon sandwich. Touch though? I’m afraid it’s let me down there. But a resounding four out of five is good enough for me. (Source : www.cereal.com)
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P I Z Z A P O T L U C K
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Don’t feel like making pizza dough from scratch? You can get really good fresh store-bought ones now or you can use spelt English muffins, focaccia with sun-dried tomatoes, baked polenta drenched in Parmesan, olive oil and sea salt or fresh pita bread instead.
PIZZA POTLUCKPhotographs by Joanna Han Words by Gail O’Hara andTaylor Stark
HAVE YOUR FRIENDS OVER FOR A PIZZA POTLUCK PARTY! YOU SUPPLY THE CRUSTS, AND LET THEM BRING THE TOPPINGS. COMBINE AND DEVOUR.
Potlucks are a great way to bring the people you love together. Each member is able to contribute some-thing thoughtful to the table. Instead of asking guests to bring a completed dish, let the gathering begin with communal preparation. There is much conversation to be had in the kitchen, so throw on your aprons and bring out the flour.
Begin your potluck endeavors with a pizza party. It’s a simple, interactive dish that encourages each guest to share his or her favorite recipe. As the host, provide the dough for the crust. We suggest if you are going to make it from scratch, prepare the dough ahead of time so that it is ready to roll when everyone arrives. Ask each of your guests to bring enough ingredients to top one pizza. Feel free to serve up some beer to compliment the pies.
1. Mushroom, Radicchio and Fresh Pepper Sauté chanterelle mushrooms with fresh pepper. Sprinkle fontina cheese over an olive oiled crust. Throw on some radicchio along with the mushrooms and it’s ready for the oven.
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We have a few recipe ideas for you to try out if you’re not inspired to create your own masterpiece.
2. Goat Cheese, Rose-mary, Potato and Fig Cook some purple pota-toes in a saucepan with boiling water until soft. Thinly slice the potatoes and add some salt and pepper. Spread some olive oil on the crust and add goat cheese. Place the potatoes on the pizza with fresh figs and rosemary.
3. Meyer Lemon, Brussels Sprouts and Pancetta Combine olive oil, meyer lemon juice, whole-grain mustard, garlic, salt and pepper to make a vin-aigrette. Sauté brussels sprout halves and panc-etta in this sauce. Top the crust with a Parmesan/mozzarella mixture. Add the sprouts and pancetta. Finish with some lemon slices on top.
5. Leek, Red Onion and Calamata Olives Caramel-ize leeks and red onions. Spread a tomato base or marinara sauce on the crust. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and add leeks, onions and a few calamata olives.
4. Fennel, Sausage and Cayenne Pepper Throw chopped sweet onions and sausage in a pan to sauté with salt and pep-per. Top the crust with olive oil and ricotta. Add onions, sausage, fresh fennel and a little cay-enne pepper to taste.
Don’t feel like making pizza dough from scratch? You can get really good fresh store-bought ones now or you can use spelt English muffins, focaccia with sun-dried tomatoes, baked polenta drenched in Parmesan, olive oil and sea salt or fresh pita bread instead.
1. Mushroom, Radicchio and Fresh Pepper Sauté chanterelle mushrooms with fresh pepper. Sprinkle fontina cheese over an olive oiled crust. Throw on some radicchio along with the mushrooms and it’s ready for the oven.
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SAN FRANCISCO: DANDELION CHOCOLATEWords & Photographs by Joanna Han
WE HEAD TO THE MISSION DISTRICT TO VISIT SMALL-BATCH CHOCOLATE COMPANY DANDELION CHOCOLATE.
T odd Masonis and Cameron Ring never dreamed they’d be running a chocolate factory. The Stanford graduates come
from computer science backgrounds and spent their initial post-college years working in the tech industry. We ask Todd a few questions about their space, which triples as a coffee shop, chocolate shop and factory in a busy part of popular Valencia Street.
How did Dandelion Chocolate come about?Originally Cameron and I were just playing around with cocoa beans in a friend’s garage, roasting them up to see what flavors we could get. Within a few months, we shared our creations with friends and family and were overwhelmed by the response. They encouraged us to make more chocolate and share it widely. We started going to local markets and seeing what strangers thought. Again we were blown away by the response and realized we needed to turn this into a company.
What kinds of beverages do you serve?We serve Four Barrel coffee drinks as well as chocolate specialty drinks like European drinking chocolate, house hot chocolate and the Mission hot chocolate, which is a spicy, foamy hot chocolate with almonds and Mexican spices. It’s very popular and delicious. In fact, they’re all quite delicious. The most unique drink is our cacao smoothie, which is a cold beverage made from the pulp of the cacao plant and we’re probably the only place serving it. It’s refreshing and tastes a little like lychees.
Can you tell us about your pastry menu?We have a wonderful pastry chef, Lisa Vega, who makes fresh pastries daily for our café. Our current menu includes a brownie flight, each made with one of our current single-origin chocolates. It’s unique and really interesting to taste the distinct chocolate flavors in each brownie. We also offer a dulce de leche bar, a nibby scone, nib toffee brittle, nutella cookie (with homemade nutella), fresh s’mores and a chocolate malt cookie. Lisa also changes the menu seasonally, and currently we’re selling a crème fraîche cheesecake with blood orange gelée and candied kumquats.
Can you briefly go over the chocolate-making process?Our process starts with finding great tasting cacao and doing as little to it as possible to bring out the best flavors. We lightly roast the beans then crack and winnow them to create nibs. Once we have nibs, we grind them down and put them into a melanger, a spinning bowl with a stone bottom and stone rollers which crushes the cacao, then add sugar. We leave the melangers running for about three days, tasting the chocolate periodically for flavor and consistency. Once the chocolate is ready, we form it into bars using a tempering process to ensure the perfect texture, including the all-important snap of the bar.
Do you make trips to growing regions to source beans yourself? What kind of relationship do you have with the farms at origin?We strive to visit all of the origins of our beans, and in some cases we start working with the cacao to ensure it is something we are excited for before making the trip there—in other cases, we need to visit a country to find sources of good cacao in the first place. The relationships with the farms vary as much as the farms themselves. Some of our cacao comes from larger farms while others come from co-ops and still others from small businesses that buy freshly picked cacao and ferment and dry it themselves. We’re dedicated to ensuring that each person in the value chain is receiving appropriate compensation, especially the farmers.
How is a bar of chocolate from Dandelion different from chocolate from a larger industrial company?The difference between a small-batch producer and a large industrial one is mostly a question of priorities. The large guys—and this is how it has been for the past few decades—focus on consistency and low cost. It’s a miracle of industrialization that an industrial bar can be so inexpensive and taste the same everywhere, but that comes from using lower quality beans, roasting them very heavily and adding flavors or flavor maskers. We take the opposite approach: We source some of the best beans, roast and process them very lightly and only add a little bit of sugar. This way we can highlight the individual nuances of each bean.
Do chocolates made with beans from different growing regions taste noticeably different from each other?Absolutely! There are four main factors that go into the flavor of cacao: genetics, terroir (similarly to wine, the local environment heavily impacts flavor), fermentation (where many of the actual flavors develop) and drying. Each of these can be tuned individually. We’ve tried amazing examples of beans tasting dramatically different (from strong chocolate flavor into sweet fruity flavors) just by a change in the fermentation. We try to create a set of flavors that complement each other and highlight the flavor from the actual bean itself. One of the best compliments we’ve received is when a farmer could identify the chocolate made with the beans they’ve grown—it means we’ve retained much of the original character that made that bean unique.
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The layout of your space allows guests to see the whole production process. What other considerations did you take in designing and building the café and factory area?Since even self-proclaimed chocoholics often don’t know much about chocolate, we wanted our space to also be educational. We’ve put everything on display. You can come in, get a hot chocolate and watch the entire process from bean to bar. We even offer classes about chocolate and trips to origin. We’ve had customers visit us because they like brownies, who have now traveled to Belize with us and have become chocolate experts in their own right.
Your chocolate bars are packaged so nicely that they’re almost too nice to open. What was the inspiration behind the branding and aesthetic of your company? Where does the name Dandelion come from?We felt like there were many fancy chocolate shops making jewelry store chocolate. We wanted to create a business and space that was warm and approachable, something that was still beautiful and thoughtful, but without any pretension or unnecessary ornamentation. We felt like the name was a nice mix of childhood nostal-gia and was beautiful without being fancy and captured our upstart vibe.
What kind of workshops and classes you host?We offer a monthly Chocolate 101 class, which is an all-around introduction to chocolate. Chocolate 201 is where you can make your own small batch of chocolate. We also have free tours a few times a week at our factory, and events around holidays such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. We have a lot going on. Finally, our Chocolate 301 is a trip to a cacao-growing region. It’s open to the public and our next trip to Belize is sold out!
The layout of your space allows guests to see the whole production process. What other considerations did you take in designing and building the café and factory area?Since even self-proclaimed chocoholics often don’t know much about chocolate, we wanted our space to also be educational. We’ve put everything on display. You can come in, get a hot chocolate and watch the entire process from bean to bar. We even offer classes about chocolate and trips to origin. We’ve had customers visit us because they like brownies, who have now traveled to Belize with us and have become chocolate experts in their own right.
Do chocolates made with beans from different growing regions taste noticeably different from each other?Absolutely! There are four main factors that go into the flavor of cacao: genetics, terroir (similarly to wine, the local environment heavily impacts flavor), fermentation (where many of the actual flavors develop) and drying. Each of these can be tuned individually. We’ve tried amaz-ing examples of beans tasting dramatically different (from strong chocolate flavor into sweet fruity flavors) just by a change in the fermentation. We try to create a set of flavors that complement each other and highlight the flavor from the actual bean itself. One of the best compli-ments we’ve received is when a farmer could identify the chocolate made with the beans they’ve grown—it means we’ve retained much of the original character that made that bean unique.
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Why did you decide to open in the Mission District?We felt like the Mission, and 18th and Valencia in particular, was sort of ground zero for food in the city. We’re surrounded by amazing places including Four Barrel, Craftsman & Wolves, Bi-Rite Market/Creamery, Tartine and Mission Cheese and we feel right at home here.
Anything exciting on the horizon for Dandelion?We’re getting ready to open up a kiosk in the Ferry Building and are now trying to figure out ways to expand. We’re maxed out on our current production capacity and have a waiting list for chocolate that’s larger than our customer list!
“We’ve had customers visit us because they like brownies, who
have now traveled to Belize with us and have become chocolate experts”
740 Valencia StreetSan Francisco, CA 94110
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Words by Joanna Han Photographs by Sandra Juto
BERLIN: DO YOU READ ME?!
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BERLIN: DO YOU READ ME?!
WE NEVER LEAVE BERLIN WITHOUT A STACK OF NEW READING MATERIAL
FOR THE FLIGHT HOME FROM DO YOU READ ME?!
When it first opened its doors in 2008, this popular Mitte magazine shop presented a modest collection of 100 titles. That number has since grown to a thousand, and just as many fans can be spotted carrying the shop’s bright-white graphic
tote bags around the world. We asked owners Jessica Reitz and Mark Kiessling to tell us about their shop and success.
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Why did you decide to open a magazine shop?Jessica: We wanted to create a place where you could get your hands on all these publications we were always bringing home after traveling. We wanted to create a place to hang out, get inspired and meet other magazine people—something like your most beloved bookstore, but upside-down, with a focus on contemporary magazines and reading.
43How did you come up with the name of your store?Mark: As the idea of a magazine store was in my head for quite a while, the name popped up one day and we played around with different fonts and packaging materials at my design studio and one thing added to the other.We love how graphic it looks on your bright white tote bags.Mark: We had no idea on how crazy people would be about the tote bags. They were ini-tially only thought of as an extra service for carrying home your findings.
How did you two meet? What are your backgrounds?Jessica: Mark is a graphic designer who has been running his studio design studio Greige for almost 14 years. And I’ve been a bookseller for more than 15 years, with an additional background in marketing. We met in the south of Germany, where we’re both from. We were working together on a corporate publishing project.
What are your most popular titles?Jessica: Five years ago both of us would have been able to answer this question more easily, but now, having new magazines in our hands every day, it is almost impossible to answer that question without being biased…
In 2010 you opened the Reading Room. What’s the purpose of this separate space?Jessica: The Reading Room is very different from our store on Auguststrasse; it is quite spacious and has a large table for sitting, browsing and spending time. The selection at the Reading Room is an extract from the assortment in the main shop, but we also have an ongoing project displayed there called “What Do You Read?!,” where we ask designers, edi-tors, curators, filmmakers and so on to name their favorite reads. We gather and display those titles in something you could call a research library, along with takeaway reading lists. Some of these titles are for sale while others are out of print and can only be read directly at the Reading Room. Apart from that, we host numerous events ranging from magazine and book presentations and exhibitions, usually accompanied by talks, discus-sions, interviews and the like.
Have any events from the past been particularly memorable?Jessica: The events are quite diverse and each one has its own little magic. For example, we had a Juergen Teller book signing together with Zeit Magazin and had more than 300 guests. We had a more intimate talk with the Plant Journal extending into a four-week installation of Maranta flowers in the store window, and our event with German literary magazines Edit and Reportagen turned into a long evening full of stories.
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Describe Berlin’s art and literary scene.Jessica: It’s quite diverse and always in flux.You’re located in Mitte in the heart of the city.
What’s daily life like there?Jessica: The neighborhood has various faces really. Formerly located in East Germany, it went through rapid changes since the early ’90s—you probably know all about it. Nowadays it’s a vibrant district full of galleries, smaller shops, bars and restaurants, loved by Berliners and tourists alike. At the same time it has the character of a village with people who have lived there for a long time, knowing each other and make it a library neighborhood. It’s a good mix of old and new.
What are the two of you currently reading?Mark: I finished the Murakami’s Die Pilgerjahre des farblosen Herrn Tazak recently.Jessica: I’m currently reading Arbeit und Struktur by Wolfgang Herrndorf.
How does your subscription service work?Jessica: It’s quite simple. You either tell us a topic and a budget and we will deliver the newest titles in whatever interval you like—or, you know what titles you’re interested in and whenever a new issue is out, we’ll reserve a copy for you and send you a note or directly the magazine. Both versions are totally flexible and can be extended or reduced at any time.
What’s next for your shop?Jessica: We’re currently putting together the new assortment for our Satellite Store at the Vitra Design Museum to accompany the exhibition by Konstantin Grcic at the end of March. Besides that, we are arranging for some Satellite branches in Berlin, together with cultural institutions, but it’s too early to tell… And we will continue our “What Do You Read?!” projects with some new personalities worth asking.
“We wanted to create a place to hang out, get inspired and meet other
magazine people”
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LOS ANGELES: INDIVIDUAL MEDLEYWords by Hannah Mendenhall Photographs by Chantal Anderson
THIS LOVELY SHOP IN THE ATWATER VILLAGE AREA STOCKS PRETTY CLOTHING, ACCESSORIES, GIFTS, CARDS, BEAUTY PRODUCTS AND HOME GOODS.
Stocking a well-chosen selection of items from brands such as Filson, Mast Brothers and others, Individual
Medley also hosts local events such as flower workshops. We spoke with owners Monica and Justin Boyes about how the shop came to be.
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What was your vision when you opened the shop?
Our vision was to offer a selection of goods for the whole family. We envisioned a
convivial community space where visitors feel welcome and where talented makers
can come and offer workshops and pop-up events.
Individual and medley are interesting words to choose for your shop name.
We wanted to choose a name that had meaning for us and spoke to our overall vision. Justin swam competitively for 17 years and his best race was the IM (the
Individual Medley), which is the one race where you combine the four swimming
strokes together. It seemed like the right name for what we were trying to convey: both a shop that speaks to the individual
with the right mix of brands, and a center for the community. Together, these things
are a whole—an Individual Medley.
What characteristics does your shop and product selec-tion have that sets your shop apart?We pride ourselves on hav-ing created a distinct feeling of comfort and warmth in how we laid out the store and our carefully edited selection of products we use and love. We strive to make the shop welcoming and familiar for all—one where you find what you’re looking for and want to linger in.
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How do you select products for the shop? Do you test brands or have a brand standard?We explore online and in person, and people reach out regularly. When sourcing new items for the store, we take many things into consideration: what the product is, where it’s made, what kind of textiles or products go into the item, if it works with our current product offerings, the retail price and overall aesthetic. Then we do our best to research the quality and process so that we can fully stand behind the brand. We can say with certainty that we love every line we carry.
“We pride ourselves on having created a distinct feeling of comfort and
warmth in how we laid out the store”
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Who is your customer and what are your top sellers?
Atwater Village has embraced us and we do
see a large segment of our customers from here but certainly have customers
from the surrounding community. The
demographic of people that shop at our store ranges
from the littlest of kids buying temporary tattoos and sparkle rocks to their
grandparents, and everyone in between—folks from all walks of life…and I think of our customers as friends. I get to meet them and talk
to them on a regular basis, watch their kids grow and be
there for lots of laughs and sometimes tears, it’s been
an amazing opportunity and the best part of it all.
Your shop has been described as a “Portland shopping experience.” Was this intentional?While it was intentional to offer things inspired by nature, we’re flattered that people compare us to a place in the Pacific Northwest. We love Portland, and though we have only visited the Rose City a couple times, it’s one of our favorite places to vacation.
What inspired your shop design?We are inspired by the outdoors, the desert, mountains and ocean. We both grew up in California and it’s these natural landscapes that continue to inspire us.
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future?We love doing
what we do, and when we think
of the future we hope that we’re able to
continue to offer something that
our customer loves as much
as we do both in person and one
day online.
3176 Glendale Boulevard
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VANCOUVER, BC: FORTRESS LAKEWords by Jessica Comingore Photographs by Zachary Ayote
IN A REMOTE VALLEY OF THE CANADIAN ROCKY MOUNTAINS IS THE SPECTACULARLY BEAUTIFUL FORTRESS LAKE, HOME TO SOME OF THE LARGEST BROOK TROUT IN THE WORLD.
This past summer, five friends went on a back country trip to Fortress Lake at the base of Fortress Mountain in British Columbia. They traveled 15km
on bike and 9km hiking (including crossing a big river). They brought all of their food in with them, and came up with a meal plan ahead of time (which required catching fish, and they did) and distributed everything among the bunch. They camped on the beach, cooked on the fire and for a brief half hour in the afternoon, they swam in the ice cold water. For three days, they enjoyed the beauty of their Canadian surroundings and didn’t see another soul.
“They enjoyed the beauty of their Canadian surroundings and didn’t
see another soul”
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MINIMAL BRITISH WRISTWEARWords: Robbie Lawrence - Photos: Rich Stapleton & Mark Sanders
FROM A DESIGN PERSPECTIVE, OUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN MAKING FURNITURE HAS BEEN PRETTY KEY IN INFORMING THE AESTHETIC OF OUR WATCHES. THE
MANUFACTURING PROCESS IS ACTUALLY VERY SIMILAR, EXCEPT THAT WATCHES ARE OBVIOUSLY MICRO SCALE. WE KNOW HOW MACHINES WORK AND IT'S A MATTER OF
GETTING THE BEST OUT OF THEM
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since German nobleman started wearing portable, spring-driven clocks in Nuremberg during the 16th
century. That said, Patrick Bek, one half of Hackney based watchmaker Uniform Wares points out that “the industry can still be noticeably archaic”. Now four years old, Uni-form Wares, founded Bek and Oliver Fowlesm encapsu-lates the visual permanence of the traditional craft, while retaining the clean, streamlined practicality of contempo-rary design. Previously furniture makers, their entrepre-neurial approach to watch manufacturing, with unyielding attention to detail, results in an aesthetic synergy that runs through each of their ranges. The utilitarian nature of their various models speaks of a staunchly British value for the understated, by combining this with a functional-ity driven by mechanics from Switzerland and Japan, the men from Uniform Wares have created a wholly unique and innovative product. I sat down with Patrick to talk about how the brand was formed, their process, and their upcoming project, 12 Details.
When did you both sit down and come up with the idea of developing the brand? What was the initial path you took? Patrick: At the time we were working together as furniture designers on different projects, but we got to the point where we realised that we wanted to start our own brand based around the idea of a series of small products that make up your every day uniform. It could be a pen, a mug, a watch, a belt, a wallet, something very personal, something very small, with a kind of gift element to it. We also wanted to control the entire manufacturing process from beginning to end, which is why we wanted to work with a small product, one that we could design, store, distribute with complete autonomy. In terms of choos-ing what product that would be, we began by looking at goods that we were both interested in. We started by asking questions about what we both wanted, what was missing in terms of our daily uniform. We have always been passionate about watches, and realised that there was nothing on the market that really appealed to us or our peers. That was when we first started initial plans for the 100 series.
How did your previous experience as furniture designers help inform your aesthetic?Patrick: From a design perspective, our previous experience in making furniture has been pretty key in informing the aesthetic of our watch-es. The manufacturing process is actually very similar, except that watches are obviously micro scale. We know how machines work and it’s a matter of getting the best out of them. Again, with watches, react-ing to what products were already on the market was a major catalyst in the development of our look. We were trying to produce something that we believed needed to be there, to merchandise that we believed would sell. When making products, you’ve got to think about that the whole time, it’s not just about indulging in your whims.
71How did your previous experience as furniture designers
help inform your aesthetic?Patrick: From a design perspective, our previous experi-
ence in making furniture has been pretty key in informing the aesthetic of our watches. The manufacturing process is actually very similar, except that watches are obviously micro scale. We know how machines work and it’s a mat-
ter of getting the best out of them. Again, with watches, reacting to what products were already on the market
was a major catalyst in the development of our look. We were trying to produce something that we believed
needed to be there, to merchandise that we believed would sell. When making products, you’ve got to think
about that the whole time, it’s not just about indulging in your whims.
he style of your watches is incredibly meticulous, and at the same time, quite nostalgic, we at Cereal love the little
pieces of history you add to the story of each watch. Tell us about the process of creating a Uniform Wares watch, from
conception to productionPatrick: The design process always starts off with a bit of
a debate. We sell to retailers who often ask; “What’s new? What’s next?” and we don’t want it to be about that, we’ve learnt a lot since we started working within the watch and
luxury industry. Some companies will spend a long time developing a model, and they will stick by that model – maybe for the next twenty years – our process begins
with that similar idea of creating a certain permanence in the model. Once we are happy with the case design, essentially it stays the same and runs right through the
process. That is the way it always has been, I suppose be-cause it shows belief and trust in the idea. When we have
the sketch ready, it goes on the computer and we run some ergonomic tests, put it through 3D software, work out prototype dials, address problems. We have people
walking around the office with plastic watches on testing functionality and comfort. This whole process takes a long
time, but when it is finally completed we sit down and start considering who would actually wear this product:
What are they into? What else do they wear? This is a par-ticularly exciting part of the journey because it brings the case to life. We then move on to prototypes, make a few
final tweaks and its ready.
How did your previous experience as furniture designers help inform your aesthetic?Patrick: From a design perspective, our previous experience in making furniture has been pretty key in informing the aesthetic of our watch-es. The manufacturing process is actually very similar, except that watches are obviously micro scale. We know how machines work and it’s a matter of getting the best out of them. Again, with watches, react-ing to what products were already on the market was a major catalyst in the development of our look. We were trying to produce something that we believed needed to be there, to merchandise that we believed would sell. When making products, you’ve got to think about that the whole time, it’s not just about indulging in your whims.
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What materials do you use? Tell me how you go about sourcing them.Patrick: As long as the material suits the function of the watch then it doesn’t matter where it is from. It is im-portant that the particular element – whether it’s a strap from Germany, or movement mechanisms from Japan – is the best for that particular series.
Outcast: What is the central philosophy of Uniform Wares?Patrick: We want to be identifiable as a British brand, that’s really important. We want to be recognised as a brand that offers a kind of design, care, diligence that that you don’t often see at our price point. Also, we want to be accessible. We handle the whole process from sketching to packaging, working with retailers, customers, buyers, and we don’t use distributors.
Who influences you? Where do you look for new inspira-tion?Patrick: We are both as interested in design, and product design, as we are in fashion. Often, there is very little crossover between the two worlds, and I don’t think that needs to be the case. You often get product designers who only ever sell in design stores, but why restrict the market like that? Why can’t you sell your product in a re-ally lovely, minimal clothing store? That is one thing that drives us – whether it is in exhibitions, like our project last year 12 : 24, or fashion week shows, we love to col-laborate with like-minded creatives. This year, we are working with a photographer called Jim Norton, and he is producing a series of images for us called 12 Details. It will feature in some of our campaign imagery, and form part of an exhibition in its own right. It’s about people that share our passion for detail, whatever they do in life, and celebrating the pride they take in the little things, and how that attitude is reflected in their work.
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What is next for Uniform Wares?Patrick: Alongside 12 Details, we are launching two new product lines; we have a new incarnation of the 100 Series called the 104 Series, and we are also putting together a new series called the 351 Series, using lots of new materi-als with a slightly new aesthetic. Later in the year we are introducing a new project called UW Editions which will showcase some of our more experimental products, sold directly by us, and selected collaborative retailers.
B R E A T H E I N ,T H E F U T U R E
B R E A T H E O U T ,T H E P A S T
Photo: Paul GonzalesLondon, 2014
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KATE MIDDLETON, CARLA BRUNI, AND THE RETURN OF
THE PILLBOX HAT
PUTTING ASIDE THE CATHERINE WALKER & CO. RED COAT (SO LIKE SOMETHING
ONCE WORN BY PRINCESS DIANA) AND THAT ACCIDENTAL LEG FLASH: FOLLOWING YESTERDAY’S DESCENT
FROM THE AEROPLANE, LET US TURN TO INVESTIGATE THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE’S PILLBOX HAT. IT’S BY
GINA FOSTER, A MILLINER WHO HAS A LITTLE SHOP IN KENSINGTON WALK, AN ALLEYWAY IN EASY NIPPING-DISTANCE
FROM KENSINGTON PALACE.
by Sarah Mower
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Now, I wonder about this hat. Quite obviously, we can’t look at it without thinking Jackie O, although that terminology isn’t quite right. Actually, it was a minimal
compromise for a modern woman who didn’t like the idea of millinery at all—Jackie Kennedy’s answer to the exasperat-ing requirement of wearing hats in public when she became First Lady in 1961. It was the 28-year-old genius Halston who made the hat for her (although designer Oleg Cassini would always claim the design was actually his) while he was the resident milliner at Bergdorf Goodman. “Oh dear, it was so pleasant when I didn’t have to wear hats,” Jackie wrote to Marita O’Connor, her personal shopper at Bergdorf. “They will pauperize me and I still feel absurd in them.”
Logic—not to say, empathy—has to suggest that Kate Mid-dleton must be going through the same sort of millinery bother herself. Formal hat-wearing on public occasions is at odds with fashion—or, at least, completely outside its normal remit. How can a young woman still feel like herself with a thing on her head? The Duchess makes her own compromise with it by continuing to wear her long hair down, while keep-ing the peace with royal protocol by having the hat perched on top. That’s where the difference between the Pillbox Now and the Pillbox Then comes in. It’s the hair.
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For Jackie Kennedy, the pillbox was the perfect non-interfer-ing sculptural extension to the back of her bouffant hairdo. It set a style in the early sixties (tracked in Vogue), which was also memorably worn by Audrey Hepburn (also with hair up) in Charade in 1963, (two versions, one white, one leopard, designed by Hubert de Givenchy). In fact, the fashion had al-ready been established years before by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Christian Dior in Paris. But, as Halston himself realistical-ly—and completely accurately—pointed out to The New York Times in 1962, “Fashion is never made by designers. Fashion is made by fashionable people.”
Interesting to see, then, who’s backing the pillbox today amongst “fashionable people” of the protocol-conforming classes. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy wore a gray Dior one (back of head, hair down) with a matching gray coat, when she visited the Queen as France’s First Lady in 2008. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands coordinated a navy blue pillbox (hair down, back of head) with a navy Jan Taminiau in November 2013. Will the Duchess of Cambridge have more of the kind packed for her three-week tour of New Zealand and Australia? Maybe not. But just think of the number of hatboxes that must be traveling with the royal entourage.
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EVI JAYANTI
GAIL O’HARA
KATIE SEARLE-WILLIAMS
CARISSA GALLOGEORGIA FRANCES KING
JENNIFER JAMES WRIGHT
AMANDA JANE JONES
DOUG BISCHOFF
EDITOR IN CHIEF & CREATIVE DIRECTOR
MANAGING EDITOR
BUSINESS MANAGER
PHOTO GR APHER
EDITOR
ART DIRECTOR
BUSINESS OPER ATION
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O U T C A S T1st EDITION, APRIL 2014
