29.11.14

Downtown Discovery

Earlier this month I ventured to Los Angeles to explore the city’s burgeoning creative scenes setting up in neighbourhoods from East to West across the city. Contemporary art and design activity have been attracting much attention in recent years with artists and designers relocating to LA’s expansive environment of not only matter, but of mind.
Before swapping London’s bitter chill for standard Californian fare of blue skies and November highs in the sun-kissed 80s, I made an appointment to visit a new retail destination located in the city’s urban quarter that is Downtown.  
Please Do Not Enter is a new-level concept store whose name would have been fitting only a few years ago when little life could be found in Downtown after working hours, let alone life-style. Riding the wave of the district’s renaissance, French founders Nicolas Libert and Emmanuel Renoird established their boutique-cum-gallery earlier this year and have been tempting customers to its penthouse headquarters filled with unique and exclusive contemporary art, design and fashion by international artisans and designers ever since.



As part of my continuing contributions of hotspots from the worlds of art and design, my visit to Please Do Not Enter is now available to discover on Melting Butter.



Look out for a more in-depth interview with Nicolas and Emmanuel who will feature on Melting Butter’s Curator’s Guide profile where they will discuss their meticulous collection and curation of art and lifestyle goods as well as their personal take on the cultural highlights of the city they now call home.
 
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I Am Packed

The conceptually pragmatic blog for travellers and OCD-ers alike, I Am Packed recently featured the contents of my luggage before I headed to Los Angeles earlier this month. The site features an array of global travellers represented by their effortless compositions of belongings. From the monochrome to the multicoloured, I Am Packed is more methodical beauty rather than last-minute packing madness. Not to mention a little shameless display of one's wares - yes, that is a Jeff Koons beach towel. 
Find out what’s inside my luggage between LHR and LAX at I Am Packed and look out for future posts reporting on my visit to LA where I explored the alternative art and design scenes across the city here on the blog, my Twitter and Instagram