Designer Amelia Ursashe teamed up with entrepeneurs with stores on Regeringsgatan (Government Street) on Saturday to stage a fashion show at Nalen, the well-known entertainment venue which is also located on the same Stockholm street. The event spotlighted canine fashions from Chic Dog, hats by designed by Mon Bibi’s Lisa Norin and women’s fashions by Ms. Ursache.  Light, frilly and romantic outfits inspired by  La Belle Époque were  complemented with a Masai inspired look.  Photos: Elisabeth Moore

Inside the gallery, a performance could be seen of two people slowly moving to whimsical music in a hypnotic setting.

Because of the incredibly nice weather, most of the party  gathered outside where Anders Trentemøller was playing while guests drank beer in gold cans and enjoyed the electro beats. Henrik himself joined Trentemøller behind the turntables later in the evening as the sun was setting; that was just extra icing on the cake.

The book is available for purchase now for $50 USD at the Gestaltan online shop. Text: Samira Hersom

The  image of an artist named Amaris was reflected as  a giant shadow on one end of the vaulted chamber from the 1750s as she played an eerie tune on a saw.   Guests in various stages of dress and undress lined the candle-lit sides  of the room, and frolicked in the pool.

Wallenberg did double duty as a veiled water nymph and as an outer-space apparation in a bouyant  polka dot costume.  Another attraction was a troll-like gent who performed baptisms, and a pair of naughty nurses who called themselves the Evil Sisters.  Yet another performance was done by   a trio of  pretty young women (one of whom was blindfolded) who did something obscure in the water with a severed head.  There was also moody  electronica music by Farida (which reminded me of The Knife).

Wet Pic-Nic was in other words an amazing  heathen happening, which will hopefully be the harbinger of a fantastic summer.

Photos courtesy of Jenny Farida Thåström

I met Mattia on Friday evening after an underground art event  called the Boiler-Room’s Spring Exhibit, held in the cellar of an apartment block.

"I'm not very fashion oriented in my street photography but of course I enjoy interesting characters that stand out a bit from the crowd and have a uniqueness to them," the photographer explained. "For these pictures I asked the people to pose for me, which I normally don't do as I want to capture people as natural as possible."

“Fashion Week Syndrome is a form of mental illness. Symptoms include jealousy, exhilaration, despair, delight, hysteria and excessive vanity. A fever burns in the minds of fashion zombies who have travelled to Copenhagen for the annual fashion week.  We are packed like wiggling, live sardines on the stone stairs of City Hall, shivering and stamping our feet on the coldest night in Denmark in over 20 years. We edge upwards a few seconds at a time.

Is Fashion Week Syndrome an airborne disease or perhaps genetic? I may have inherited t from my mother, who was a buyer for Bloomingdales department store in New York City.  It seems to be a seasonal disease, reaching its apex during the Spring and Fall, in conjunction with the fashion weeks in Stockholm and Copenhagen.”

If you live in this country, you should pick up a copy of the magazine, which is on the newstands now.  Its a great bargain at only 49 kronor!

The Scho label by designer Susanne Johansson made its debut in February 2010, and will be available this fall in the new Awesome Rags department store. Photo: Janusz Dabrowski

Less than 100 days prior to the Summer Olympics in London, the Swedish national team has unveiled their official uniforms.  The collection designed  by Li-Ning of China in collaboration with Swedish designer Eva Christensson looks like leftovers from a K-Mart 70 percent-off sale.

One of the most striking pieces is a  turquoise-and-yellow striped shirt that will have spectators reaching for their sunglasses. Blogger Johan Hurtig aptly dubs the fluorescent garment “Preppy by Timothy Leary.”

The social media is packed with acidic comments. One person suggests that the Olympic clothing next year should be designed by Lidl, the German discount supermarket chain.  Another predicts that this year’s Swedish Olympic look will appeal to people staying at camping sites.

Erkki says on Facebook that the Olympic collection reminds her ”of something a hungover executive from hell sketched back in the 1980s.  If we don’t win any medals, we will know why.”

This high-tech fashion accessory contains GPS and GSM positioning technology. If a person jogging in the woods or walking in a dodgy part of town gets into trouble, they can trigger the alarm by pulling the bracelet, which sends an SMS message immediately to several friends or family members.

Included in the alarm message is a link to a web app with a map showing your position.

Photo: Elisabeth Moore

Safety device: Malin Nilsson wears a bracelet which has a special function.

Stockholm’s very cool meatpacking district, a ka “Slakthusområdet” was the scene on Thursday  evening of the opening of Crude Oil, the biggest exhibit and auction of street art and graffiti in the Nordic region. Among the big international names represented were Bansky,  Taki 183, and Futura 2000.   The auction, which will remain open on Internet until May 3, was arranged by Lauritz.

The event drew a lively crowd, including rap artist Jackie “Mapei” Cummings, who I found chilling in on a lounge chair in puppy dog sneakers designed by Jeremy Scott for Adidas.

My friend Marcus and  I joined some of Sweden’s heaviest street artists afterwards for some beers at a pub on the south side of town called Harvest. Two of the guys at our table were Gothenburg-native Dwane and his mate Ziggy, who used his cell phone to show me an amazing painting he once did which incorporated a sex-satiated woman and a scary succubus.

It is possible to view all the art works and bid on them here.

Marcus Mårtenson is wearing a white suit by Bonelli he picked up on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, an embroidered shirt by DePalma

Stockholm-based artist Marcus Mårtenson creates bright, visual essays from the flotsam of daily life in the 21st century:  conspiracy theories, horror movies, cocaine and plastic surgery.  We can recognize the landscape of the artist’s universe and his apprehensions as our own.

The largest solo exhibit ever by Mårtenson is currently under way at the Angelika Knäpper Gallery, with over 60 works represented.   In conjunction with the “Stay Motivated” exhibit, a beautiful and thick catalog has been published.

Elisabeth Moore took this photo of the dapper artist at the gallery opening on April 12, which was packed with hundreds of art lovers.