Meet the Eccentric

We all know one - he is an individual who does not conform to the thoughts, beliefs or styles of others. He is often considered strange, but in reality he is often more accomplished than those who follow the norm.

When we think of the Eccentric, we think: Oscar Wilde, C S Lewis, John Lennon, humorous, tweed, tartan and argyle, dark leather accessories, quirky prints.

In our next installment, meet the English Rose.

Meet the Sloane

With the recent Olympics, London has been on everyones radar. It just so happens that our next winter range is being inspired by this great city too!

We have created a series of moodboards that reflect the characters who inspire the collection.  First up we have 'The Sloane'.

The Sloane is the fashion conscious, young, upper-middle-class woman (or man) living in the more expensive parts of West London.

She is generally public school educated, and her most popular university choices are Oxford, Bristol or Edinburgh.

Her family own homes both in London and the country.

In the late 90's the Sloane would not be seen without her pastel pashmina!

When we picture the Sloane, we think: sharp and chic, cream and gold, neutral knits, city style, expensive fabrics and metallics.

Stay tuned for our next character: The Eccentric.

September promotion

If you want pretty nails like us, pop along to one of our Citta Design concept stores during September, spend $75 or more on Citta Design product and recieve a Glitter make up purse* and Orly mini nail lacquer!

* Glitter make up purse also available in black & gold.

Summer Holiday!

I am heading off to Europe and Greece for a short summer holiday next week and have been trying to get my brain out of winter mode and into summer mode!

I need a few key items for lounging at the beach and exploring the sights, so have put together a collection of my favourite summer essentials. Its a colourful yet practical selection, and is definitely helping to get me in the mood. I can feel the excitement of the trip starting the build!!!

Posted by Carina / Citta Design Team

100% Middle-earth 100% Pure New Zealand

Check out this amazing new ad for Tourism New Zealand that Jess' talented partner worked on as a creative and copywriter




The beautiful locations featured are:
Mt Alfred in Queenstown, Waitomo Caves in Waikato, Kerosene Creek in Rotorua, Onemana Beach in Coromandel, Vineyard in Wanaka, Donut Island in Coromandel, Kaikoura in Canterbury, Mt Hikurangi in Eastland, and of course Hobbiton in Waikato!

VIVA FRACTURE!

Did you spot our awesome web designers in Viva this morning?

Spotted!

A New Zealand based sneak peek on Design Sponge with Citta Design cushions - yay!

It great stumbling across photos of our cushions living in real homes.

1. Habana knitted cushion cover from our 'Viva Cuba!' Summer 2011/12 collection.

2. Pepo cushion cover from our 'Summer loves Mexico' 2010/11 collection.

3. Dori cushion cover from our 'An Indian Soiree' Winter 2010 collection 

4. Pintura cushion cover from our 'Summer loves Mexico' 2010/11 collection.

We would love to see photos of your favourite Citta Design product/s being used in your home. Send photos to cittadesignnz@gmail.com or post to our facebook page.

Moda Barcelona

Open publication - Free publishing - More barcelona

Spanish style lunch special!

In celebration of our new season collection arriving in store, Cool Food cafe (our neighbours at BLOC) are joining in the fun and giving away a glass of delicious sangria (yum!) when you purchase their Spanish lunch special with sweet Churros (double yum!) tomorrow.
The Citta Design team will be popping over and taking full advantage of this delicious special!!

Moda Barcelona goes live!

Check out our new season range Moda Barcelona online now!

New look!

Our Citta Design shop ladies will be looking lovely and bright in their new season aprons. Come visit them in store next week and shop the first pieces from our new collection!

What's cuter than a birdhouse? A BEEHOUSE!
I came across these little bee houses today made from machined oak and rusty steel. They're teeny weeny, only 35x35x100mm in size. According to alllovelystuff.com where you can buy them, they encourage solitary bees into your garden. I have no idea how it works but I like it!

Posted by Emma / Design Team

MODA BARCELONA / INSPIRATION

It's our favourite time of year with our new summer 2012/2013 collection Moda Barcelona poised to hit stores in August.  Imogen Tunnicliffe, our senior designer, talks about what inspired our design team this season.

Barcelona is a wonderful mix of relaxed and energetic – it is full of vigour and personality and has a light heartedness that often comes with cities built next to the sea. Bustling urban life blends easily with the relaxed seaside vibe. 
We were inspired by the way the Catalan people live their daily life. They are relaxed, open, social, warm and expressive - spirited, hard-working and passionate with a proud history.
Visually, Barcelona is a cornucopia of inspiration. The Modernist influence in the architecture – Gaudi’s whimsical structures permeate the city and parks –reflect the mood of the people and the character of the city.
Equally arresting though is the romantic gothic architecture in the old city, the unique graffiti around every corner – narrative and illustrative in style, the wonderful produce markets, the town squares and the vibrant street life.
The Catalonian modernist movement has heavily influenced Barcelona visually and atmospherically, and these ideals underlie much of our collection this season.
The modernist ideals are characterised by curved lines and organic shapes, botanical motifs, over the top ornamentation, bright colours, and a disregard of symmetry.
The overall effect is a dynamic, colourful and very human – which kind of sums up Barcelona..
As well as obviously being inspired by the city and the people, this season we invented two muses to be inspired by and to help further immerse ourselves in Barcelona daily life.
Elena and Katarina Moreno, native Catalans and mother and daughter. We created stories focussed around their daily life routines – loves, home style and sartorial style. 
Elena’s style is casual, uncomplicated, modern bohemian while Katarina’s is classic, modern, elegant and effortless but with an ethnic twist.
Africa is a big influence in Spain, being in such close proximity, and we wanted to acknowledge this in our designs this season.

One thing that struck us about Barcelona was the way the live their daily life and how it differs to our daily life here. It is a city where you can cycle or walk easily around, they live much of their life focused around placas (town squares) where they eat, drink and socialise and often have festivals and celebrations, much of their life is focussed outdoors. They have a relaxed attitude towards food; eating is a very social experience. Barcelona is dotted with fantastic produce markets where locals shop daily.

The collection focusses on an average day living in Barcelona, specifically we chose four themes to illustrate – the influence of Modernisme as you stroll through the city, local Festivals – there is barely a day without one in Barcelona, the wonderful Markets of every kind and the unique Urban Street Art. The colour palette this season consists of warm, active colours that are slightly off beat, like Macaroon, Watermelon, Olive Oil and Bark, and fresh, confident colours such as Spring Green, Tomato and Lemongrass, along with hot Mediterranean hues like Paprika, Bougainvillea, Fuchsia and Pesto. We have used some unexpected and unusual colour combinations this season that we feel reflect the city’s personality.

Moda Barcelona is a fun, colourful, expressive collection – a little bit of Spanish sunshine for your home this summer!!

New collection online from 13^th August 2012