Filippa K » London

London in my blood

Filippa K — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:53:22 +0000

I have just visited London with my teenage daughter Nina. London has a very special place in my heart as I grew up there from the age of two to twenty-one.

Walking around the back streets of Chelsea and Kensington bring back so many random childhood memories. A mix of skipping to tea in shiny Start-rite shoes with my nanny, to teenage memories of parties, boyfriends and absurd happenings.

London is often a city people love or hate, I have friends who don’t understand what the big deal is about and others who pine to live there. Just the other day my neighbour said ’’there’s no real culture in London! Much more in Paris!” How can you say that? How can you believe that? London has it all; you just have to know what you want and then how to find it.

There was a wonderful article by Andres Lokko in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, a couple of weeks ago. He described London so well and how this city actually demands an effort on the part of the visitor, as it doesn’t so easily seduce in the way Paris does. That, in many ways, is its particular charm. He expressed his love for London in a way only someone who really lives there can and it touched me deeply and I realized that I missed it and wanted to visit if only for a few days.

London has changed since I was young. As an even stronger force as the financial centre of Europe it attracts bankers and professional money people by the thousands. All the picturesque attractive residential areas of central London are reserved for the rich and I mean seriously rich. Gone are the days of a bohemian Notting Hill atmosphere or old fashioned Chelsea with its war veterans strolling around, nowadays everything is sleek, elegant and top of the bill. A positive effect though, is that all the lovely town houses are perfectly renovated and very well taken care of. There really are impressive homes and it’s inspiring to just walk around and daydream about owning one. I myself have a life based in Stockholm, Paris and Corsica so London is not on the radar but I can’t help fantasising as property always gets me excited…

Love from Filippa.

London

Filippa K — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:06:18 +0000

the sweetest of the sweetest

Maison Bertaux-28 Greek Street, Soho, London

Although everyone is raving about London’s East End there are still great places to be found in central London that are within a stones throw of each other. Here are some of our favourites:

Cafe Maison Bertaux
28 Greek Street, Soho, London:
Its always Christmas at Maison Bertaux with pink and purple tulle curtains held in place by glitter dipped fake roses and portraits of a young Queen Elizabeth mixed in amongst odd chairs and worn down tables decorated with bundles of fresh flowers.

The clientele is a mix of Central St Martins fashion students (the college is located just around the corner), and middle aged theatre types in the midst of conducting heated discussions with the staff.

Koenig Books
80 Charing Cross Rd London.
Koenig Books is a favourite among book shops, a place that certainly carries enough interesting titles to inspire anyone to happily spend a small fortune.

Neal’s Yard Dairy Seven Dials
17 Shorts Gardens, Covent Garden, London.
Although describing a place as utterly stacked with smelly cheeses doesn’t come across as especially inviting, trust us on this one. It’s completely worth it and you’ll thank us later.

Be sure not to miss Maison Bertaux if you’re after what we dare to call the the biggest and best cheesecake in town or just a place where you momentarily can be convinced that more is certainly more.

Magical evening

Filippa K — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:38:55 +0000

Fantastic Man+Peres Projects+Filippa K

We promised you pictures from our proud dinner with Fantastic Man and Peres Projects last Thursday in London.

Fantastic Man

Filippa K — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:16:00 +0000

our warmest recommendations

Fantastic Man is the gentleman’s style journal and brainchild of founders Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom. The magazine aims high at being an “anti-fashion” fashion magazine with an intelligent approach to to the modern man and pleasantly delivers with, as the expression goes, flying colours.

Upon our first encounter we instantly knew we both co-existed in the same realm of thought and values. Fantastic Man is, in the same way as Filippa K, about the man in the clothes rather than the clothes themselves and the refreshingly quirky approach to serious journalism is in every way satisfying.

Tonight Filippa K, Fantastic Man and Peres Projects will host an intimate dinner in London to celebrate a new season in art with a following cocktail. We can’t tell you enough how excited we are to join together if just for one night and promise to bring back pictures for you all!