Two cooccurring magazine references are proof enough. Caramel is on the way! Match with strong blue. And watch out for the 70s hype….

| image from Style At Home Jan-11 |

Swedish fashion house Acne showed their S/S 2011 womenswear collection earlier this week at London Fashion Week. Since they like doing things their own way (who said Swedes are eccentric!) they chose Princess Margaret’s old apartments at Kensington Palace for their catwalk.

Reviews say they were a success. A soft and clean collection, slightly bohemian. Colour scheme is mild with a lot of beige, grey, some accents of coral and blue, and a few hints of animal patterns. And the fashion news – geisha shoes!

Now Ambition to Create Novel Expressions. The tone for the Acne brand is subtle luxury and understated items. Nothing dominating anything else, yet every piece effortlessly stylish. Cool and personal. ACNE ideas were also unfloded in this interview. Asked about his one style rule ACNE’s founder and creative director Jonny Johansson says:

Keep it simple. And go for something that is from your relatives – something that you know why you’re wearing it – and mix with something that’s contemporary. It gives you your identity. I have a brooch that I wear that’s a family heirloom.

How is that for a decor philosophy? Makes sense and is pretty easily adapted into interior design/home decor I think! Certainly the points to keep it simple, no fuzz, and: go for something that is from your relatives or something that you know why you’re having around you. Mix and be personal. Next to Jonny Johansson in the pic above is a sofa from Acne’s first collection of furniture. It’s design reference is Carl Malmsten’s 1949 Berlin Sofa. As with fashion they played with proportion, lineage and structure to create new sculptural forms – and they dressed it in indigo. Slightly more spiritual and eclectic is the floral version if you

Although I still love Chesterfield sofas, I must confess I’m having an affair with the Knoll sofa at the moment. It’s just so simple, elegant and classy that I can’t help myself! Designed by Florence Knoll in 1954, it has never really gone out of fashion – and it still looks amazingly sleek and modern today.

This sofa has experienced a huge surge in popularity recently as part of the general trend favouring mid-century modern classics (a trend still going strong!), so if you don’t want to fork out on an original (at least 8-9,000 USD), there are masses of reproductions and cheaper interpretations of this sofa out there. For example, IKEA’s very good value version, the Karlstad range. Below left in white leather for 599 GBP. Also check out Sater to the right at only 239 GBP – now that’s cheap for so much style!

Is there really a more important characteristic of a sofa than that it is comfortable? Not really, but is it also deadly cool we have more than we can ask for. These seatings below are the fiercest pieces of today. First, some seats from Italian Edra: The intriging soft Cipria, and the very organic star-fish shaped Aster Papposus.

From the Swedish comfy yet cool-louge seating market I’d like to highlight this one, Down. It’s designed by Per Holknekt, the founder of Odd Molly, in collaboration with EM Möbler. An armchair that is a hybrid between a sofa and a bed! It has a universal expression – without any explicit reference to style or trend it takes its base in function and The Human Instinct to rest.

Oh, I feel so nicely relaxed and sleepy now. Softness is key :)

It seems the British Patrioric/Union Jack trend that Henen wrote about on September 2nd ’09 is remarkably durable (it was not even new by then). By mere coincidence the other week, I was just strolling through Debenhams heading for another shop, I spot this sweet cushion, that got to accompany me to the pay desk – and now it’s happily fused with the others in the sofa cushion collection. I enjoy seeing Union Jack around, it’s nice flag and a nice decor item! It has some special edge to it.

Even more, I like the Olde’ English Chesterfield sofa. Always trendy or trend-free, a classic. Below combined with, amongst other things, a nice Union Jack cushion.

..oh, and I have to include this one, the limited edition Union Jack version the Falcon 1092 Deluxe range cooker. A statement item for the kitchen, to put it mildly.

Ruuuuule, Britannia!