I love stripes!

I love the tissues from the basque traditional manufacturer Artiga. Actually, in my house all my curtains are made out of Artiga tissues! They also have some ready made products like bags, espadrilles, bread baskets and oven gloves for example. Their summer collection came up the other day and  it really makes me long for lazy summer days in those striped deck chairs!

Another well known basque brand is Jean Vier. They make absolutely stunning tissues in both vivid colours and more restrained colour schemes.

True for both brands is that they use traditional techniques and only sell high quality products - at a price.  The stripes were originally seven and represented the seven regions in the Pays Basque.
Photos from their web sites.

Cool basque clothes

The fierce basques have of course created their own cool clothes brands. If you like bull fighting or rugby or T-shirts with colourful prints, have a look!

Quinze is a clothing brand created by the famous rugby player Serge Blanco. The clothes are especially appreciated by bigger sized men, like the handsome rugby players. They are mostly in a casual style, but you find dressy suits and pants too.

Another rugby brand is Eden Park. The name comes from a mythical rugby arena in Auckland, New Zeeland, where the first Rugby World Cup was played. It is also the home arena for the team All Blacks. The founder of Eden Park, Franck Mesnel, played that first World Cup in 1987 when France met New Zeeland. He belonged to a group of five very talented and mischievous rugby players who liked to attract attention. One of their many pranks was to put on pink bows at every final game, which is why the brand uses a pink bow as a symbol.

I must mention that these two brands are the two favourites of my husband. He likes rugby and he likes the clothes. Big parts of his wardrobe come from these two brands.

The founder of Paseo, Jacques Siaud, is born in the astrological sign of the bull. He created his brand with a stylized bull as a symbol, with a link to the corrida and the basque culture. My husband has several nice shirts of this brand. Jean-Marc, the graphic designer for Paseo, quit Paseo to create his own brand, Ruedo.

The brand 64 was created in 1977 by Denis Wargnier and Olivier Mauroux to make T-shirts for their friends. Their original and funny prints pleased more than their friends and the brand quickly grew to a million dollar industry. The brand name 64 refers to the number that identifies the Pyrénées Atlantiques region, for example on the car registration plates.

The brand Kukuxumusu – the flea’s kiss in basque - was created in Pamplone during the bull festival 1980. Three friends got the idea to sell souvenir T-shirts to earn some extra beer money. They thought the T-shirts on the market were not very fun and a main identifier for the Kukuxumusu brand is their fun and crazy prints.

Biper Gorri was created in 1999 by Helene Mendibour, a young woman of 28 years, who already had experience from the textile industry and from marketing. Biper gorri means red pepper in basque and it is often used as a spice in basque cuisine. The brand quickly gained in notoriety, a lot thanks to a very original packaging: the T-shirts are put in preserve tins and the baby clothes in milk powder pots. In the design you often see pottoks, the basque mountain horses.

Clogs are here again!

When I was a little girl in Sweden, many years ago, we all had clogs. Pretty clogs with hand painted pattern of flowers on top, or maybe little hearts. Last summer I got a pair from a Swedish friend and I was surprised to see how easy it was to start using them again... first at the house, then with a pair of jeans... and now I see that they are The Hype for spring, with clogs in Chanel, Vuitton and Miumiu versions, just to mention a few. Feels funny to see something so attached to my childhood come back again as a fashion item!

Handpainted details

My friend Anna, who lives in Biarritz, imports real authentic Swedish clogs, so I just got myself another pair. Sand nubuck - with heels! Now I'm waiting for the temperature to rise just a tiny bit so I can get to use them! I feel pretty confident they will look cool with jeans or maybe a skirt....
Check out the Swedish Hasbeens if you want to see some real high heel clogs!

Check the link La Petite Suédoise to see all the model's that Anna is selling and send her an email at annasoron@hotmail.com to see if she has got your size! Prices from 39-49 euros.