streets of sweden

November 29, 2009

ARTIST OF THE MONTH: SIMON “DIAMANT” SILVFERBERG

The Swedish pioneers of street wear is Sneakers n Stuff, a popular retail outlet where sneaker heads and urbanites have traveled since the store’s opening in 1999. The store is located in the southern part of downtown Stockholm, the home for artists, independent business, galleries, trendy bars and creative souls. Sneakers n Stuff has an extensive collection that includes brands such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Puma, Staple, Converse, Levi’s, and Fifty24SF, a selection offering both vintage and new styles.
Not only are they the ultimate sneaker and street wear provider in Stockholm, but in September 2009 Sneakers n Stuff explored new territories and opened up Shakes N Stuff, where shoppers with an unstoppable sweet tooth can enjoy 250 flavors of…milkshake.
Whether they are in for the sneakers or the shakes, the lounge in the back of the store is equipped with a barista and a DJ spinning the latest beats for their customers.
This Swedish street wear master recently did a collaboration with Adidas Original; Inspired by the somber skies and mellow feel of the Swedish winter season, Sneakers n Stuff designed a new sneaker model, carrying the name of their home city. The designers kept the original blue and yellow, and added to the mix the dusky color of grey. This collaboration is part of the Adidas Consortium “Your City” series and is being sold world-wide.
http://www.sneakersnstuff.com/

Illegal and unsightly activity or an important contemporary and artistic movement? You decide.
Street art is still a controversial art form, known to both intrigue as well as aggravate people, but let’s agree on one of the downsides: without unlimited time and patience it can be quite tricky to find it. A reason why it is always nice to see this artistic expression move indoors from time to time. Art-gallery owner Jonas Kleerup opened up his self-entitled gallery in 2006 and situated it in the northwest part of town, and has been drawing a steady crowd ever since. Kleerup felt the need for a gallery that moved away from the more conventional ones that dominated Stockholm at the time. Its purpose has been to function as a platform for all artistic genres; architecture, graphic design, digital media, street art, etc.
This summer the gallery attracted some well-deserved attention when it hosted a street art themed group exhibition entitled “This is Art.” The showcase featured artists like John Fekner, Faile, Lucky Thief, and Bast. A highlight was the inclusion of an undisputed grandfather of graffiti, Bronx-born Seen, who later went on to have a solo exhibition at the gallery.
http://www.galleri-kleerup.se/

After a wave of colorful fluorescent leotards, fanny packs and other “ironic” throwback trends, Burglar provides a clean slate and a new beginning. The brand has successfully bridged the gap between street wear and high fashion, giving us garments that could fit in any one’s wardrobe. The collection consists of simple staple items with extremely detailed craftsmanship. Owner and founder Sebastian Bacigalupe started the company in 2005. The journey from dream to business was long and arduous. It took him 3 years to find the perfect manufacturer, materials and staff.
The essentials of the production process lies in the use of Wakayama stitchers and wooden weaving looms- in order to produce high quality garments with the right vintage feel. Unlike many other Swedish clothing brands that look to high fashion minimalistic brands such as Helmut Lang and Jil Sander for ideas, Bacigalupe finds his inspiration in traditional American work wear as well as and Army and Navy utility garments. The inspiration is taken from the past 50 years of American subculture, has little to do with trends and more with keeping a cultural heritage alive.
The latest collection consists of versatile key pieces such as “Wien” – a melange waffled knit inspired by the classical work wear pieces to wear long johns underneath your clothes during cold seasons, produced in Japan. “Naval heritage” this is one of the brands cornerstones. It’s Bacigalupe produces an 100% Swedish version of the perfect jersey with the real softness and vintage feel inspired by the cold weather sweaters that was used by the American navy during the 40’s.
http://www.burglar.eu/

Ernesto Guerra is the antithesis of Swedish street life. As He’s a 52-year-old Colombian native, who you might not expect to see wandering the streets at night, hanging poems in various fonts and types that would drive the design conscious Stockholmers crazy, were it not for his beautiful messages written in broken Swedish. With phrases like “And now life has a rather and special taste to me, life is just deep, a substance really deep and especially good, life is endless!” and “To know you are alive can take a whole life,” he demonstrates that poetry is an unrivaled way to learn a new language. Being schizophrenic, autistic as well as suffering from prostate cancer and tinnitus, Guerra also proves that insanity is an exceptional source of creativity, and hardship as a source of joy and inspiration.

What do you get if you mix an Art Director, Musical artist, Artistic Artist, hobby tattooist and Gallery owner? You get a creative master mind with sleeping issues. Simon “Diamant” Silfverberg is moving fearlessly between all areas within the creative sphere. He turned his inability to sleep into a strength, and utilized his time wisely to come up with concepts and solutions to his everyday work.
Silverberg is a man of many talents. He is the founder and owner of Fantasimon Design group,and works with clients such as Adidas, Microsoft, H&M, and Xbox, to name a few. He’s currently collaborating with the culture department to decorate the city of Malmo. And if that wasn’t enough to make everyone jealouse- he’s contributed his illustrations to a small expo about keeping the nature and our society more green. The exhibition will travel around the world starting with the United Nations’ meeting in Denmark.
Early this year with the help of his family, Silverberg opened the Gallery “Silfverberg, Silfverberg and Silverberg.” He sees the gallery as a space to let the community take part in an artist’s greatness.
Lately Simon has felt the need to take on another real challenge, to become a tattoo artist. Other projects include designing skatedecks for Streetlab, launching fashion brand Paris 75 on a international level, and the new exhibition “Godmorgon Gomorra.” Follow this creative maniac through his blog. Check out his amazing art work to the right.
www.fantasimon.blogspot.com

Published by: The Swede Beat