Speaking of this notorious neighborhood. I came across a most amusing and pleasant surprise late last night. Fashion designers may be giving the brothels a run for their money. In a  bid to rid out organized crime from the neighborhood the city started an initiative to weed out shady businesses by seeding the area with local fashion talents. Throughout the district you could be cruising for that special someone and then find yourself checking out an art/fashion installation. Unlike the working brothels your relationship to the fashion designers is strictly voyeuristic as the former brothels have been converted to ateliers. Picture me peeping in windows and snapping up photos while prostitutes bang on windows above until they realize I am not interested in them but rather their new neighbors. Ladies of the night can rest easy as this unique program was intended for only one year and will end in few weeks. Check out redlight design amsterdam to learn more or redlight fashion.  Click on the image for a link to learn more about the designers.

Standing in front of ignoor's studio front, all I wanted to do was beat down the door to get my hands on one of these bags but instead I tried the buzzer to no avail.

Redlight Fashion Amsterdam the movie from THNK HTNK on Vimeo.  On many occasions I came across artists and designers who planted themselves throughout the red light district with out the help of the government.

There is an old joke that you know you are an Amorello when you can't walk by a construction site without slowing down. I may have made that up but I am an Amorello and know it to be true. So I took a peak around to watch workers jack into the foundation of this building. If my web search serves me right, W139 is a gallery and this is home to their new exhibition space...???? My web wandering found this site for W139.

I caught one of the artists from this collective working on a piece out front of studio weltevree at Oudezijds Achterburgwal 123 and offered to throw some euro's his way for his time showing me around and to pick his brain about where to head next. The studio/atelier/gallery has different works from all kinds of active streetartists but contains a steady viewing of the x-streets collective! And is also the home and graphic design studio.

I came across Capsicum on one of my nightly strolls and made a mental note to return to drool over all the ikat fabric on hand. When I asked the staff if they felt a surge in interest due to the recent popularity in the Southeast Asian textile, they claimed little notice of it. Capsicum has been in the business of creating, importing and selling hand-woven fabrics since 1975 so they have seen the trend ebb and flow over the years. After patting up the dribble on my chin I asked to snap a few shots to wet the appetite of designers back in Dubai.  Ja!

Around the corner and maybe over a canal...oh.. who knows anymore... this is the type of city where you can always find your way home but when trying to find a new address without a map you could lose hours of your life... ok... I admit even though the city is not so big your head space is a huge factor too.  Good thing I was searching out Droog Design, being one of Holland's best exports, people kept pointing me in the right direction. Unfortunately for my budget I was repeatably distracted by other great establishments along the way. Take 1953 Retro en Chic at 2 Staalstraat for example... I walked out of here with a brown, leather, pilot's cap and a purse stamped with hieroglyphics from the Egyptian tourist trade of yesteryear. Both pieces date from circa 1920's! It is a tiny shop so I felt like a bit of a pinball but Kim, the original owner and collector's daughter, was super friendly and helpful. A little more time and space I could do some serious damage.....Amsterdamage perhaps...?

In 2006 I had only been living in Doha, Qatar a few months when I was ready to bail. That was until I heard about the Tasmeem Conference hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University in Education City. I saw a glimmer of hope for a Doha life. In 2007 the theme of the conference was sustainable design and they invited all types of designers, including architects, fashion designers and graphic designers from around the world. I had the opportunity to hear co-founder Gijs Bakker speak about Droog and the future of design. I have been a fan of the company ever since. Droog translates as "dry" or "wry". Droog co-presented the Redlight Design Amsterdam jewelry designers project. 

So when I asked them when they would be opening a shop in Dubai they balked and asked how I knew about it already. It was simply wishful thinking. I got the sense that when NYC is totally up and running they will set their sites on Dubai. I couldn't wait so I picked up anything that would fit in my suitcase. FYI click on any image and you will be directed to the Droog site where you can purchase most of their goods. I would think twice about the tree trunk bench as it goes for a whopping 11,000.00 euros before shipping.