I've moved on...
...to a different domain. Why, what were you thinking? The truth is, I just woke up one day and decided it's time for a change—a metamorphosis, if you will; or, in layman's terms, if Britney can shave her head, then maybe so can I? Nevertheless, it's been a rather handsome 10 years of talking to you, and thank you for putting up with all my moodswings and terrible dad jokes. Fear not! The hormonal imbalance and jokes are more terrible on CUBICLE, see you there.
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Created for
The oompa loompas, who else.

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I am currently in a 10-hour flight as I write this, wedged awkwardly between a man clearly too bulky for his seat (*cough*my other half*cough*) and a makeshift stack of deflated pillows in vain attempt to cushion the plastic wall. One pillow, in particular, looks incredibly disgruntled with very apparent embossing of my rear-end from the first three hours of flight on its face. Still seven hours to go, and these photos depicting downright comfort, tease with gusto.

Bed – Next. Pillow & duvet cover – Yves Delorme. Grey cushion & Bedside table – West Elm.

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Pink towels – Yves Delorme.

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Our new flat came unfurnished, and the old one detained all furniture – so for three weeks in March we retired each night, to an air-mattress on the floor – in a barren room – and contemplated more times than once, moving to the local train station/under the bridge due to ass-coldness. The very day the broadband was hooked up, we searched for affordable bed options, and found this upholstered double bed at Next with a Pocket Sprung Cool Mattress and decided to end this first world problem. Of course, if I had my way the new bed would be equipped with an in-built furnace and a hug-machine, but this grey beauty was the next best thing/ Turns out, the memory-foam mattress is now the source of the ‘Ahhhhh’ at the end of each day. A creamy duvet & pillow covers came next – and the towels. Pink, of course (a la everything else so far in the new flat), from Yves Delorme. And one by one, the flat became a home – one under-bed drawer with leftover pizza, at a time.

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And one by one, the flat became a home – one under-bed drawer with leftover pizza, at a time.

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Dress – Topshop Watch – Karl Lagerfeld via The Watch Hut

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Karl Lagerfeld do watches!?

I’ll admit, when it comes to ‘arm party’ it pretty much takes the same form as any other ‘party’ in my life: sparsely attended, digital, and most likely borrowed from the boys. A feminine character may jazz things up from time to time but I’m generally seen with one partner in crime that can both tell the time and play ding-dong-ditch with me after one too many beers and tacos. Plainly speaking, my accessorizing routine typically consists of sliding on a watch, followed by one golden bracelet of some sort. Rings, only if I haven’t snoozed more than three times in the morning, otherwise au naturel and fingers crossed my manicure is intact. This Karl Lagerfeld number from the Watch Hut is one of my latest accomplice, one I picked out for its sporty vibe but also sort of looks like a batmobile and that tickles me somehow. I swear I must be a nine-year old boy at heart. (Certainly have boobs like one.)

In collaboration with The Watch Hut. All views and opinions mine. Photo assistance: Simon Schmidt

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Shirt – Next. Corset – Glamorous. Watch – Karl Lagerfeld via The Watch Hut

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Jumpsuit – Next. Shoes – Valentino

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Top & bottom – Pyrus

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“Take vitamins. And wear a cardigan – you look cold on your blog” . “Hiii mum.” This year I am 27, going on 28, and that is still the opening line to my weekly phone calls with dear mother. So this feature, essentially, is visual proof for her and the world that I am indeed consuming Vitamins, a more liquid – aka exciting – version of it, in fact. Well, at least on days I forget to choke on a fistful of baguette-sized tablets that is. This is just like when I had to put up a series of food pictures (#didyoureallyeatthat) (#yes) because one day she said “dear you look malnourished”, although thinking back, I really should’ve just have photoshopped a salad into every shot. Next up, cardigans.

This indeed is an editorial partnership with V Water – a relatively new zero-sugar drink that’s packed with Vitamins (B, C and E) and no artificial gunk, sweetened from the natural extract from leaves of the Stevia plant. My favourite taste is the Ginger and Mango that contains a bit of zinc for a boost as well. I had so much fun shooting this – CMYK and all, although this colour scheme happened completely accidentally. As a graphic designer however, one could say that CMYK is never an accident, but a lifestyle. And you gotta read that last bit in your best hipster Morgan Freeman voice.

Art Direction Park & Cube. Photos by Kris Atomic. Shoot assistance Simon Schmidt. In Collaboration with V Water

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Top – Topshop Unique. Trousers – Zara.

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Bikini-top – Victoria’s Secret. Straw bag – H&M Home. Paleo – Tallulah & Hope. Necklace – Monica Vinader

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La RÉsidence des Cascades
Soma Bay, Egypt | www.somabay.com/

“Well this is perfect”, I said – the minute we stepped into Soma Bay’s La Résidence des Cascades lobby – in a voice best sounding like my father. Then I gave my apple-scented e-cigarette a long drag and tottered around patting my beer belly. You see, my father’s a classic Korean middle-aged man who keeps an emergency golf club in his trunk – not for roadside mischief or helping the neighbour’s boy retrieve his basketball from under the car – but for practicing his downswings in the car park before the next meeting. One of the larger hotels on the Soma Bay strip, the Cascades, in its terracotta-orange walls and latticed-corridor goodness overlooks a vast 18-hole par-72 championship golf course. It’s dad heaven. Don’t ask me what those numbers mean because for the past fifteen years I’ve waved off golf lessons for club sandwiches.

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Top – Mango. Leather shorts – H&M. Bag – L.K.Bennett Rosamund. Watch – Larsson & Jennings. Rings – Monica Vinader.

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It’s a classic fly-and-flop destination, especially when drab-coloured midwinter skies of London is your origin and a fiery red sunset is the destination. For those who, like me, think ‘18-hole’ is something to do with a nice big donut, will probably choose to appreciate the abundant Egyptian sun, Red-by-name-but-very-blue Sea, and a rather vigorous (?) dip in the Thalasso-tonic Hydrotherapy pool. Also if you’re travelling with buddies like Carrie and Abi you may end up spending the whole afternoon horsing off in the pool with the entire hotel’s balconies as audience…

Stay tuned for Part 2!

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Thalasso-tonic Hydrotherapy pool containing 830 m3 of sea water

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Great for: family fun, golfing, and overflowing breakfast buffet.

Park & Cube was a guest of Soma Bay, all views and opinions are my own.

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Hat – Hoss Intropia. Top – American Apparel. Floral shirt – Zara shirt worn as skirt.

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The dark knight blossoms

When it comes to flower print anything I can’t help but see sad little faces on the petals and leaves dreading the slow, yet inevitable death courtesy of the blackest thumb of all land and time: mine. This is probably the reason why the new Kris Knight update of the Gucci Flora got me hooked in the first place, because if you look closely, underneath the sugar-sweet pastel canvas of the Resort 2015 collection, there is a shadow, and a bed of botanicals that blossom in the dark. Curious little herbs with tough roots and long vines that cast roofs over eight-legged creatures… there’s almost a rock’n’roll attitude in it all. The irony is sweet.

It’s begging for exploration, which is exactly what I wanted to do in this collaboration with Gucci’s hero holiday gifts.

In collaboation with Gucci. Photography: Shini Park & Brian Leavy.
Art Direction & Graphic Design: Shini Park

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“My colour palette is inspired by the fact that I grew up in a bakery. I began tinting icing long before tinting paint…”
– Kris Knight

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Jumpsuit – Next

Dress – Alexander mcQueen. Heels – Celine. Both via Harvey Nichols

And by the way, florals? For Christmas? Amusing, if not actually ground-breaking.

Shop the gift guide

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Top – J W Anderson via Harvey Nichols | similar at Gucci. Suede skirt – Vintage (similar). Boots – Zara.

Flora Knight: the story

I love this video by Gucci, in conversation with Kris Knight on the story behind the Flora Knight blossoms. There’s something wildly satisfactory about seeing cake-icing pastel colours being used for painting. It takes a stronger man to resist temptation to shovel in a finger-full of paint while filling in a yellow dandelion.

Watch here

White trousers
Gucci

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In collaboation with Gucci. Photography: Shini Park & Brian Leavy. Art Direction & Graphic Design: Shini Park