Not simply content with making your surroundings beautiful, designer Gregory Nelmes has now turned his attention to your person.  A natural extension of his existing Bermuda-themed line of soft furnishings and accessories, the Bermuda Bag is made of sturdy cotton canvas with contrasting navy inserts.  A classic duffle shape, the bag is the perfect size for travel or toting your things to the beach or gym.  It has rolled leather handles for a comfortable grip, a roomy main compartment and two internal pockets ideal for stashing important items.  As a finishing touch, the bag can be personalised with the addition of a monogram.

The Bermuda Bag is available from Gregory Nelmes Home.

Image  |  island*atelier

Eddie Borgo, who we know better for his jewellery, has designed this tough but sweet bag with a metal slatted flap and geometric, expandable construction.  Made in Italy of Italian calf leather, the Colt bag has a rigid flap which is secured by a triangular push bar lock and triangular handle.  It is available in four different colour/metal combinations. 

As 2015 rapidly comes to a close, we realise we haven't been as prolific with our local posts as we have in previous years. This follows an impressive twelve months in 2014 so to remind you of what we have done, here are a few of our favourite posts to date.

Image  |  West Elm

Just different enough, this copper cutlery from West Elm has an electroplated stainless steel core which makes it durable as well as attractive.

Image via Mary Katrantzou

The art scene on the island has been incredibly active recently what with the Charman Prize being awarded at the beginning of the month, the upcoming City Arts Festival which will be held in Hamilton and the Artwalk in St George's.  Last week also saw the opening of Zack Marshall's first solo show in Bermuda entitled 'Early Years'. Marshall (who also had a piece in the running for the Charman Prize) is displaying his work at a pop-up gallery which is open at its Reid Street location for the month of October only.  A recent graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, the exhibition is a showcase of the skills he learned and the techniques he employed during his studies, as is evidenced by the wide variety of pieces rendered in different media.  Many of the works are highly symbolic and complex compositions featuring overlapping elements.  Our favourites included the colourful nudes rendered in oils and monochromatic inks on paper.    

The October Gallery is open until October 28.

Living on an island surrounded by water such as we are, a buoy is a really familiar feature and that's what probably drew us to this pendant lamp designed by Cathrine Baekken in collaboration with Standard Socket.  Called Booi, the lamp was inspired by mooring buoys found in the coastal towns of Norway. A mixed media piece, a glass globe is affixed to a hand-finished Maple wood handle which in turn is suspended from a rope-like cord.

Image  |  island*atelier

Last Friday night, in the midst of all of the excitement over the launch of the America's Cup World Series races in Bermuda, there was a quieter launch of different kind as jewellery designer Alexandra Mosher released the 2015 version of her Splash Collection ornament.  Previous ornaments have had a Bermudian theme and included a sand dollar and the rare murex shell.  This year's design is based on the traditional Bermudian fitted dinghy, a small sailboat used locally for racing the history of which dates all the way back to the 17th century.  Featuring six tiny sailors, the boat is cast in Sterling silver and its characteristic triangular sails are set in pink Bermuda sand.  The ornament can also be worn as a statement pendant and comes hung on either a piece of hand-torn silk chiffon ribbon or an Omega chain.

We aren't really trainer people (for a start we should probably call them sneakers) but something about the stitching and tassels on these immediately caught our attention.  The shoes aren't new, having been released as a collaboration between Adidas Consortium and designer Yohji Yamamoto a decade ago, but they're new to us.  With the Y’s Super Position, Yamamoto reworked the classic Adidas Superstar using premium materials and created a subtle but striking shoe.  The Y’s Super Position has suede lace stays, premium grain leather and a hand-stitched three stripe detail.

By way of the Virgin Islands comes KASS swimwear, small line from New York-based designer and photographer Keiann Corlise which focuses on the contemporary, global woman.  The current collection features a limited number of styles in a similarly limited palette of black, deep green and aubergine.  We like the simple, flattering cuts and interesting touches such as the corsetry on the bikini and the metal tabs on the straps.

The new collection will be released early next year.

Image  |  island*atelier

Image  |  Faux/real

The Running Late/No Breakfast Bangle made of rubber and 14k gold-plated brass from FAUX/real combines contrasting shapes and materials artfully to create this unusual statement piece.

We're loving these wire baskets which are a collaboration between french department store Colette and Hugo Matha.  These colours are part of their Spring/Summer 2016 collection and are available for pre-order now.

The 2015 Charman Prize was awarded last Friday at the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.  Always a popular event, it brought more than 100 established and emerging Bermudian artists together in one arena.  After the show was held in 2013, the organisers announced that the event would take place biennially ostensibly to improve the quality of the submissions.  There are a number of problems that changing the event in this way did not necessarily resolve, including the fact that as the artists must use Bermuda as their muse and inspiration, the same tropes appear year after year.  Some artists, such as Alan C Smith with his entry Big Naked Gombeys, appear to recognise this fact and embrace it with humour and irony but overall the result is that Bermudian flora and fauna and landscapes and architecture continue to be well represented.  It is inevitable therefore that the artists who manage to portray iconic aspects of Bermudian culture in new or different ways such as Stratton Grant West Hatfield's concrete rendering of a palm leaf made the most impact.  

When the same tropes reoccur, the other differentiating factor is proficiency and in the end the most technically proficient artists tend to take the top prizes.  The main award this year went to Chris Dawson's Three Queens, a well-thought-out and executed piece that referenced life in Bermuda but still managed to be universal in its appeal.  Similarly, Jacqueline Alma received the Masterworks Collection Prize and one of the judge's choice prizes for her panoramic portrayal of the island's electricity company, a subject that was undeniably local although not traditionally so.

The Charman Prize runs until January 8, 2016.

This solid leather clutch from PONS has an unusual triangular shape anchored by a pagoda tree wood fixture. The bag is inverted with the opening on its underside and the contents are accessed via a simple metal zipper.  The interior of the bag consists of an undivided space with mounted leather lining and a flat zip pocket.  The bag comes with a detachable, adjustable shoulder strap.

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Let's close our review of fashion month with this sweet, very literal look at Spring 2016 from Moncler Gamme Rouge.  The lightweight dresses had nipped in waists or empire silhouettes, exposed zippers, floral lace or mesh fabric that were covered in sprigs of delicate flowers.  Flowers even turned up on the trainers that were paired with the clothes and saved the looks from being too overtly feminine. 

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A romantic, feminine collection from Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen that was inspired by the arrival of Protestant Huguenot refugees in London in the late 17th century.  The clothes featured frills, layers, ruffles and pleats that all still managed to evoke the feeling of armour.  Despite the romanticism, edginess could still be found in unfinished hems and heavy metallic body jewellery that adorned the models.

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Cultural appropriation?  Maybe so, but perhaps it can be excused if it's done well.

Here, designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli looked to the continent of Africa generally as inspiration.  The clothes were maximalist with intricately embroidered bibs, beading, feathers, gathers, fringing, woven mesh, grommets and leather all combining to great effect.  The looks were restrained by being grounded in fairly simple shapes and a subdued palette of mainly black, nude and ochre.  We didn't think everything - such as the muddy-looking tie dyed pieces in the middle - worked but on the whole the collection was both striking and directional.

Image  |   Alessandro Lucioni /Imaxtree

Iris van Herpen sent stilt walkers down the runway in shoes that were developed in collaboration with Finsk.  The collection was inspired by plants and van Herpen showed sheer lace trousers studded with square crystals, banded waists and mesh for Spring.  Our favourite piece was a simple coat dress with gossamer protrusions.

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We are pretty surprised to see Stella McCartney's show here, but to give her credit where it's due, the show was pretty good.  McCartney's clothes were  minimalistic and sleek with a heavy emphasis on asymmetrical sportswear.  We liked the sheer, layered stripes and simple shapes as well as the flowing micro pleats. The show closed with swirling, textured prints and eyelet embroidery.

Image  |  Daniele Oberrauch/Imaxtree

Let's close out fashion month with a quick look at what Paris has to offer, starting with this feminine collection from Giambattista Valli featuring delicate florals and ruffles.  The collection definitely had a 70s feel with billowing sleeves, shorter hemlines and A-line silhouettes.