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Six Picks: Thomas O'Brien of Aero Studios & Copper Beech

Six Picks: Thomas O'Brien of Aero Studios & Copper Beech

Thomas O’Brien is an interior and home furnishings designer and author based in New York City and Long Island. He is the founder of Aero Studios, one of America’s leading design firms, and the creator of popular home furnishings from lighting, furniture, and carpets to tableware and unique ranges of accessories. At heart, he is a lifelong collector who brings together things old, new, and from all parts of the globe, as a shopkeeper in his own stores. In 1992 Thomas opened Aero, his original store, as the retail extension of his studio. In 2016 he and his husband, designer Dan Fink, opened a modern country general store and gourmet market, Copper Beech, in the seaside Long Island village of Bellport. Equal parts hometown, nautical and classically French in inspiration, Copper Beech celebrates the pairing of home and travel in a hand-picked assortment of goods, gifts, and culinary favorites for the household, kitchen, and garden.

Six Picks, Shoppe OnlineHillaryDecember 14, 20204

Soft & Sumptuous

Soft & Sumptuous

What would we do without the warp and the weft? What would we sleep in, dress up in, or curl up by the fire in? What would we dry ourselves off with, and what soft surfaces would we walk upon? Without these two basic ingredients that fashion thread or yarn into fabric, what would we make our beds with, cover our cushions in, or rest our silverware upon? Seriously – textiles define practically everything we love and rely on in our daily lives… from our underwear to the drapes that give us privacy, from the macrame objet that dress up our walls and hanging plants, to the ubiquitous masks we now wear upon our faces. This week we celebrate all things woven, spun, knit or loomed, stitched, crocheted, knotted and tatted or felted and braided, with a special appreciation for the conscious effort to develop sustainable production practices that support both the planet and the maker, in soft and sumptuous harmony.

Textiles, Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryDecember 13, 20204

Six Picks: Michele Varian

Six Picks: Michele Varian

Michele Varian is a designer and shop owner based in New York. Having launched her first shop in SoHo almost 20 years ago, she recently moved both her shop and fabrication studio to Brooklyn's Atlantic Ave, where she joined a robust community of independent, owner operated design and retail businesses. She designs her own collections of textiles, lighting, wallpaper and furniture, which are made locally.

Six Picks, Shoppe OnlineHillaryDecember 12, 20204

Charmed Life, Jewelry Forever

Charmed Life, Jewelry Forever

Wearing jewelry is more personal and imbued with more pleasure and sentiment than anything else we put on our bodies. Humans decorated themselves with beads of shell and bits of bone long before wearing clothing, and the meanings, symbols and reasons behind wearing jewelry still resonate today, more than 100,000 years later. To adorn oneself with jewelry can be a ritualistic act of creating beauty, like painting or composing, on an intimate scale. Jewelry carries love, culture, belief, protection, memory, accomplishment, worth, esteem and so many of the things that drive and connect us in our human existence. Whether knotted, beaded, metal, gemstone, bright, bold, rare, sculptural, discreet, expensive, costume, or purely sentimental, we can’t get enough of jewelry. Never have, never will.

Jewelry, Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryDecember 11, 20204

Six Picks: Paul Niski of GOOD

Six Picks: Paul Niski of GOOD

Paul is a former Creative Director and Design Consultant, with a background in architecture and graphic design. He has worked in-house for Bloomingdale’s and the Gap Inc. And has consulted on numerous design projects across the globe including Mulberry (London), Anthropologie (Philadelphia), Gucci, Trussardi, (Italy), Wave (Bangkok), and Crabtree & Evelyn (London/CT). A native of Chicago, he has always had wanderlust, and through his extensive travel, has searched for beauty and design inspiration in the cities, towns and places that he has lived in and traveled to. When he came to Boston from NYC on a one-year design project, he could never imagine that we would be living here 20 years later — deciding to leave corporate life for a smaller more intimate project of his own. Over time the design history of New England drew him in, and influenced his design approach, aesthetic and the current evolution of his shop “good”.

Six Picks, Shoppe OnlineHillaryDecember 10, 20204

Modernist Forms, MGG Studio

Modernist Forms, MGG Studio

“All of my pieces start with an idea or a form that’s compelling to me, something that buzzes in the back of my mind until I figure out how it’s supposed to transform into jewelry. I’m always working to create pieces that are not only visually compelling but that also feel like they belong on the body – they should just feel good when you wear them. My favorite part is the wax carving process. It requires a combination of vision, technique and patience that challenges my abilities in a way I find very satisfying. I love putting the final smoothing touches on a wax original before sending it off to my caster to transform into recycled bronze, silver, or 14k gold.”

Designer Spotlight, Shoppe Online, At The ShowHillaryDecember 3, 20204

Daydream Weaver’s Sara Titone

Daydream Weaver’s Sara Titone

“Knotting and weaving have been passions of mine dating back to my friendship bracelet making days in grade school and the love of sailing growing up with my dad. I’ve always been fascinated by nautical knots and the designs that can be created. Daydream Weaver started as a creative and therapeutic outlet for me and has quickly shaped into a stylish collection of accessories. Choosing shapes are the starting point and where my knotting will evolve. I lean towards bold shapes to give my pieces a modern look so my knotting will either compliment or contrast to stand out. My color palette is chosen seasonally which is always fun (and a bit stressful) to find. My favorite part by far is the prototyping of the knot design to create the piece and to see where the pattern unfolds.”

Designer Spotlight, Shoppe Online, At The ShowHillaryDecember 2, 20204

Trouw's Coastal Cliff Creations

Trouw's Coastal Cliff Creations

TROUW by Kate Trouw is a collection of elegant yet playful statement pieces which can be worn every day. Made by hand in our cliff-top studio in Scotland we use non-precious materials to make jewellery inspired by our coastal location. It’s important to me that what I make is wearable and accessible – I don’t want to make art jewellery that no one can afford, but at the same time I want to be experimental and try new things, so its about getting a balance between the two. The end product has to be something that I can make in volume and a wide enough audience will want to wear! I make everything by hand here in my studio. At the moment my favourite thing is pairing up pieces of sea glass from the beach to make the Found collection earrings. A coating of resin brings the glass back to life and the colour combinations are ace.

Designer Spotlight, Shoppe Online, At The ShowHillaryDecember 1, 20204

Thank You, Shop Small

Thank You, Shop Small

If gratitude had a shape it would be a spiral — and we’re lost in a labyrinth of appreciation for our Shoppe Object community. This Small Business Saturday and everyday, we’re thinking of our independent brands, our inspired makers and artists, our peerless retailers, and everyone among us who works to keep the wheels of creation, commerce, and gift giving spinning. We’re so thankful to have enough and more, so that our spirals can expand outward to spread love and cheer this season. Give, receive, turn, turn, turn.

Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryNovember 28, 20204

Six Picks: Howard Thornton of SFMOMA

Six Picks: Howard Thornton of SFMOMA

Pollock had his first show here, as did Gorky — and some of our favorite brands for home and gift have gotten their start or made their way into the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s famed Museum Shop over the years. Known for being one of the most imitated and pace-setting museum stores in the country, the shop carries an extensive array of complementary souvenirs to the museum’s collection of more than 33,000 pieces of contemporary masterworks, as well as the best selection of brands and designers from around the world. SFMoMA and the Museum Store are both open now, with COVID precautions and limited capacity in place, so book a time and enjoy the serenity of social distancing if you’re local. We’re always keen to know what catches their buying team’s eyes at Shoppe Object, so we’re pleased to present six standouts from the Shoppe On Marketplace selected by SFMoMA’s Interim Museum Store Director Howard Thornton.

Six Picks, Shoppe OnlineHillaryNovember 24, 20204

The Giggles

The Giggles

It’s Sagittarius season, and we need all the comic and carefree relief we can get. Take a cue from the archer’s signature hilarious, IDGAF and ready-for-anything traits, because when the world’s turned upside down, there’s no better soul medicine than laughter. From chortles to roars, laughter is up there with diet and exercise for optimum health, so we’re comfort-watching reruns of old sitcoms and finding solace in Twitter’s wittiest quips as part of our self-care this week. Winks and clever nods across cards, novelties and grin-making shapes are just what the doctor ordered.

Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryNovember 23, 20204

Super Kawaii

Super Kawaii

Ok, “cute” can be an offhanded insult when used dismissively to undermine someone, but sweet stuff makes the world go ‘round – especially when it comes to things for our little ones. Tiny and delicate or squishy and puffy, wide-eyed and smiley, fluffy or feathered, there’s something about loveable goods that make us smile and keep us in positive vibes. Take a cue from Japan where kawaii is culture, and add a dash of adorable to any and everything.

Kids, Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryNovember 19, 20204

Teach Your Children Well

Teach Your Children Well

We’re all homeschool teachers now! There’s never been a better time to make the right investments in all the books, toys and creative tools that help our littlest ones in any and all ways to learn and grow. Almost everything children do is a learning experience, and because that state of wonder and hyper absorption is so fleeting, it’s even more important to make those experiences count. Books that influence and inspire, act as mirrors and also expose them to new things are precious lessons each. Provide them with toys to treasure that are made to last and spark imaginative play, with craft kits for them to go crazy and get messy with, and with all the things they’ll love and love.

Kids, Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryNovember 14, 20204

Le Bain

Le Bain

Begun by Indus Valley peoples, Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, bathing has been a treasured, sacred and spiritual rite of civilization for thousands of years. Cold, hot, and every temperature in between, cultures and religions everywhere value bathing for reasons hygienic, ritualistic and transcendental. With family members in a Hinoki soaker in Japan, a social, thermal dip in the magnesium-rich waters of a Palm Springs resort, or just an hour of alone time in a shallow fiberglass tub in your apartment, one thing’s certain; bathing is special. Pamper, indulge and make bath time better with all the accouterments for an amazing bathroom sesh; think candles, books, salts, scrubs, herbs, brushes, rubber duckies, soaps, oils, lotions, mellow tunes or sweet silence.

Wellness, Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryNovember 13, 20203

High Times

High Times

To be frank, we’re totally onboard with the theories about Cannabis Prohibition being some larger evil scheme to keep wellness away from the people. And worse, we know the federal ban of cannabis in the US was directly related to the influx of Mexican immigrants to Southern states after the turn of the last century, who brought with them a cultural tradition of smoking marijuana in cigarettes and pipes for medicinal purposes (Americans had up until then mainly been using oil or hashish orally). So basically this fear-of-other turned into a vilification campaign of both Mexicans and cannabis (they threw hemp in there too, thanks to a W. R. Hearst-led mission to stamp out this cheaper and more eco-sound alternative to wood pulp…

Wellness, Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryNovember 8, 20203

Close Call

As the season of giving approaches (how did we get here!?), just a note to remind you that tons of brands on Shoppe On’s The Marketplace have oodles of product available to ship within a week of receiving a confirmed order (some caveats apply). We’ve compiled a handy and extensive list of who’s got the quick ship goods for your shopping pleasure… Don’t forget our many made-to-order makers, also standing by now with enough lead time right to prepare orders of lovely goods for your shops.

Shoppe OnlineHillaryNovember 7, 20203

Supernatural

Supernatural

Earth lovers and practitioners of magick celebrate Samhain today, marking the end of harvest and the welcoming of the dark half of the year. Allhallowtide begins, as does Dia de los Muertos. Cultures have agreed for centuries that tonight, the veil between the spirit and physical world is at its thinnest - if you’re of the mind to honor and commingle with ancestors, angels, saints and lost loved ones, now’s the time. Throw a full, blue Hunter’s moon into the mix and you’ve got a doozy of an energetic night for celebration, revelation, wish making, question asking, vibe gathering, healing, recalibration and letting go. Decorate accordingly.

Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryOctober 31, 20203

Dear Diary

Dear Diary

The days are getting shorter and I’m already nostalgic for the late-night sunsets and elastic days of summer. Coffee when it’s still dark out really gets me down, but I’m determined to stay positive. I’m trying hard to stick to a routine of writing my thoughts here, and keeping all of my To Do lists, big and small, jotted down on paper in journals and even pads so I can really see the day, months and even years ahead. Diary, there’s so much I want to accomplish. I know I’ve got to take small steps every day to reach any of my goals, no matter how lofty. Oh, I started dream journaling too – they got so crazy in quarantine, I’m trying to find some patterns. Fact is, I’m anxious about the future, but it helps to write it out. Right?

Ever yours,
Me

Stationery, Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryOctober 27, 20203

This Season’s Greetings

This Season’s Greetings

This year, maybe more than ever, we’re looking forward to the escapist, tender, warm and fuzzy feelings that the holidays bring. We need the Silent Nights, the O Holy Nights, and yes, Justin Bieber’s Mistletoe too. We love the songs, the mittens and stockings, the boughs and branches, the sparkle and the lights but what we really need right now is connection with our loved ones. Big, in person holiday celebrations might not be possible this season, so we’re planning our most thoughtful packages, carefully written notes on gorgeous cards or tags, and all the beautiful ways we can express our hope, warmest wishes and love from near or far away.

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Stationery, Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryOctober 26, 20203

Noted!

Noted!

While our ever increasing addiction to our smartphones may not be any indicator, we still firmly believe in the time-honored tradition of jotting things down. Science seems to agree. Studies show that tasks that have yet to be done can cause us stress, but even identifying them, say, by recording and formulating a plan of attack, can ease anxiety. Simply writing things down will make you feel better and will actually make you more effective. So move beyond iCal and those apps for list-making, and return to the simple tools we’ve always relied on; pen and paper. From gorgeous journals, thoughtful planners, stylish pads to have at the ready and the writing instruments for letting it all out, we’ve got the goods.

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Stationery, Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryOctober 24, 20203