Vienna Insight by Karin Sawetz, publisher Fashionoffice (1 December 2014)

Cookies, porcelain and fashion, furniture and a new magazine

Last Saturday, I followed the invitation to 'Sharon's Cookies' at dining culture and design store Stamm in Vienna. It was the first Advent-weekend and the shopping boulevards and even the small lanes of the inner city were filled with masses of people. The air carried the scents of Xmas - and this means in Vienna high percentage rum punch with orange and cinnamon.

fig. right: Inside the store, Sharon Ehrlich (owner of Sharon's cookies) and Marcus Fried (CEO of Stamm store) welcomed the guests with a coconut Christmas drink 'Coquito' from Sharon's homeland Puerto Rico and American cookies with white or bitter chocolate. I took one of Sharon's cookies with bitter chocolate which was perfect for my taste as it wasn't too sweet.

fig. below, clockwise: I walked with Marcus Fried through the store and he explained some of the pieces which attracted my eyes such as Paul Smith's version of 'The Guest' by Jaime Hayon for Lladró. The porcelain figure has been interpreted already by several artists and appears also in darker styles such as in outlaw-look. Paul Smith's version is covered with confetti and expresses optimism, fun and happiness. The store is full of Jaime Hayon designs such as 'The Lover Explosion' which was also created for the Spanish porcelain manufactory Lladró. The shoes of the figures are inspired by Camper shoes; Camper is another collaboration partner of Hayon. The table on view on the photo of Sharon and Marcus is another Jaime Hayon product; it's from the collection for furniture producer BD Barcelona Design such as the armchair and sofa - last mentioned are from the 'Showtime Collection' by Jaime Hayon for BD Barcelona Design; Showtime is inspired by classical MGM musicals. The furniture items are depicted at the last image showing Marcus Fried with the first issue of 'Stamm'-magazine which is about the store's current range. One article made us laugh: it was about the cost per use of a Baccarat glass (per day/lifetime of the glass); Sharon calculates this way the costs of her shoes.

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