Here, Andrew from Riiska Design is seen in action working on his Dragon Table. It’s an amazing fourteen feet long and beautiful.  I can’t wait to have dinner at it!

We had a great time in spite of the rain!  LA’s got a reputation for being full of sugar babies but our friends proved that to be myth.  Thanks for everyone that showed up!

our bartenders - just getting started...

Inside 722

Ben & Willard

Mary...

A little two-on-one foosball

Kimmy handling the Genevas

100x better in the house

Greg Bergere from GO Build Studio

Stukin / Debro sandwich

John and Chris

Ludwig's Mike D.

Mrs. Mike D.

Willard and Mark - rock, paper scissors?

fashion

Andy Riiska

Nick and Bret from Cerno

Adem and Chris - No Smoking On The Premises!

Tanya Aguiniga

they look guilty...

Bear with Panda/Bandit

Geoff multi-tasking

Our bartenders at the end of the night. Thanks, Izze!

Ford&Ching is extremely happy to add Tanya Aguiniga to their roster of designers.

Tanya has designed a beautiful, tactile line of pillows available exclusively through Ford&Ching that exemplify her organic modernist approach to design.

Fold Pillow Closeup

Using a process called nuno felting, raw wool is naturally adhered without adhesives to hand-died gauze.

Loop Pillow Closeup

Those familiar with Tanya’s Wool Lace Necklaces will recognize the technique used on the Loop Pillows.  100% wool yarn hand laid to create a lacy/loopy pattern then stitched to retain its shape.

Gauze Pillows

The Gauze Pillows also utilize nuno felting combining natural raw wool with hand-died and pulled gauze.  These are really beautiful in person.

Tanya’s pillow line is launching at the next Ford&Ching event at the Kim Sing Theatre on Saturday, March 6th, 8 – 11pm.  Tanya’s line of handmade pillows is available through Ford&Ching for $180 each and soon at other select retailers.

Kengo just got back from fighting in Japan (victorious) to unpack a huge shipment of samples to share with you at our Spring Launch on March 6 (rsvp early as it will be packed). If you cant wait until then or want a more intimate preview, please call 310-800-3999 or come by open hours on Wednesday or Saturday.

Warehouse Staff

To Be Discovered

Watching Kengo Work

Almost Done

See the online catalog for RS Barcelona here.

722 FIGUEROA is the showroom that reps LUDWIG. I own it with Chris Josol, former domestic sales manager at LUDWIG. Alongside LUDWIG we wholesale HUFFER, SLVDR, REBEL8, 9GRAND, KEEP, ATELIERS ARTHUR, ACROPOLIS, and AMPAL CREATIVE. The showroom has been gaining steam as the place to sell your brand on the West Coast, mostly for our friendly, laid back, and competent presentation. Ever wonder what makes us so special…well, it’s puppies. Loads of them.

Bandit was on my desk helping out with Quickbooks.

And what does this have to do with F&C? Absolutely nothing…enjoy!

Cody is very fashionable so matched his coat and shoes to Elizabeth.

Brutus stole Richie's lunch money.

Bandit stealing Adem's identity.

Spook tells Geoff he'll make more sales if he stops smoking cigarettes.

GENEVA SOUNDSYSTEM MODEL - S

Our Swiss friends at Geneva have done it again.  This little beauty puts other ipod docks to shame and makes them look (and sound) like toys.

TOUCH LIGHT CONTROLS

The Genvas Sound System – Model S is the smallest hifi ever.  It puts out serious sound and it’s priced at an affordable $299.95.  At less than 6″ with full-sized high fidelity.  It’s got an optional (but included) stand, programmable digital alarm clock, digital radio and power dock for your iPod/iPhone.

You can try out the new S model as well as the full Geneva line at our showroom at the Kim Sing. (bring your iPod and rock out with your dock out)

posted by Andrea on February 4th, 2010 in Uncategorized

Check this out…

disappointing

Overcooked poached eggs, lumpy polenta and maple donuts crumbled with bacon that you couldn’t taste.  Willard always complains about not having decent food choices when he comes up to SF, so this is what downtown LA has to offer?  Come on!

Our friends at RS just launched their new website www.rs-barcelona.com here you can find detailed information about all the different products in their catalogue and a broad selection of images.  This is just the first phase and more are on the way: but we just couldn’t wait to show you.

Look for more from RS at Ford&Ching in the coming weeks.

Our new intern, Eric Ornstein, has gotten past the mutual 30-day probationary period, so we thought it was time to introduce him.  I know, tough crowd…  Seriously though, we’re super happy to have Eric on board.

I met Eric at 225 Bush Street in SF while he was fielding countless numbers of random emails and calls as the Product Support Specialist and while I was navigating the shallow waters as a Buyer.

For our first employee lunch in LA a few weeks ago, we decided on Philippe’s.  It had been a while since the last time I was there, and I think I’m good for a bit.

berry pie, pickled eggs and a french dip

Before we snatched Eric up, he was traveling in Southeast Asia.

love the shoes...

Aside from making sure the showroom looks spiffy, that the collateral is printed, and the doors are open… we’ve assigned Eric the task of updating our facebook page.

writer's block

I’m not worried.  Eric seems to be pretty good at juggling.  When he’s not here at the KimSing, he’s helping out his mom at FOOD, a market/cafe/caterer.  Yum!

10571 PICO BLVD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90064

Our next event is this Thursday, December 3rd.  Be sure to make Eric feel welcome and give him a big hug!!

Everyone who comes by the Kim Sing Theatre knows Bear and Hank. This weekend Bear was visited by Berta and Jack. I was displaced from my bed by two sets of couples visiting so was on the floor with the dogs. I was not amused when Bear tried to sit on my face and Berta was trying to hump me (Jack was a lookout). Here’s a few pictures of the daytime action.

Berta meets Ike and Tina

Bear

Berta wants to eat them

Bear and Jack

I’ve been following Queen Kwong for a bit now. Carré Callaway (car-ray) is the talented and beautiful front-woman. She plays multiple instruments, and writes all the lusic and lyrics. She’s smart as they come. And she loves cats. Follow her to the top.

http://www.queenkwong.com

For whatever reason (nice beginning, huh?), DWELL has always supported FORD&CHING (and before that FORDBRADY). Maybe it’s because we support up-and-coming designers, or maybe because they love our collection, or maybe they just feel sorry for us…whatever the reason we’ll take it. The support has come from the top down staring with big boss Michela O’Connor and owner Lara Hedberg Deam, sales guru Angela Ames, LA-based bigwigs Esther McColloch, Michael Sylvester and NPR host Frances Anderton, editor Sam Grawe, and their super capable and helpful staffers Christopher Bright, Jordan Kushins, Brendan Callahan, etc. Anyway, this is a big thank you to them for their support and guidance and general good attitude. Look out for a big presence for FORD&CHING at the next Dwell on Design this coming Summer. We’re vying now to be their party place so look out for an invitation in the future. Now go buy DWELL or do something else useful…

IN another awkward offering, FORD&CHING principal Willard Ford welcomes all to STRONG SPORTS MMA. Space is very limited (you’ll understand when you see the place). Fees are reasonable and the environment is nothing less than revolutionalry for an MMA gym: friendly, clean, fun. Make it down…you won’t regret it. Open classes Tuesday and Thursday at 730PM and Saturday at 200PM for the “Technique Exchange.” All hours key-in for advanced levels. Mike, Willard, and Kengo will be there to help you out.

Here’s an article that appeared in ANGELENO about the gym:

The things you do for friends…

When you receive a wedding invitation out of the blue from a friend you haven’t seen in five years and haven’t spoken to in at least two, it’s curious, to say the least.  My dear friend, Lorri Jones, left San Francisco and the web that she wove here for over 10 years to blaze some new territory (or old) by heading back to her hometown of Mocksville, NC.  This was an event I was NOT going to miss.  I was bound for NC to visit an old friend and some new ones at Skram Furniture (but that’s another story).

I’m not sure if she was surprised, but I think she was genuinely happy to have four misfits from her previous life in California there to share her day.  We hadn’t all been together since Lorri left, so we were expecting a reunion!

Mocksville’s a small town in a dry county about 50 miles west of Winston Salem and according to the latest census data, has a population of 4,178.  I probably don’t need to say too much more.

While Lorri was whisked off to her honeymoon, the reception at the Family Life Center left the four of us with something to be desired and we were in search of a better backdrop for our reunion.  We jumped in our cars and headed back toward Greensboro and landed at a place called the Sagebrush Steakhouse and then went to a local Applebee’s.  We were desperate.

Enter Marty McKinney.

After a mini-tour of some local Greensboro spots, we headed ‘Elsewhere’ for a party/fundraiser celebrating Andy Warhol.

artist collaborative / living museum

The story behind Elsewhere begins in 1939, when Joe and Sylvia Gray began selling furniture imports at 606 and 608 South Elm Street in downtown Greensboro, NC. Following WWII, the business made multiple transformations, from Surplus Store to catalog company, mending used army goods and selling them to Boy Scout troops across the country. After Joe’s unexpected death in 1955, Sylvia began to stock surplus fabric, clothing, and eventually general thrift items such as toys, books, housewares, and knick-knacks, and for the next 40 years, added to the increasingly unmanageable mass stored in boxes and piles throughout the three-story building.  We took a tour of the attic which hints at what the seemingly chaotic heap looked like at Sylvia’s death in 1997.

Sylvia’s grandson , George Scheer, was inspired by the potential for these “found objects” as artistic resource and went on to recruit fellow artists and friends to begin excavating Sylvia’s old store in May 2003..  The reorganization of Sylvia’s collection took form and local support increased.  Today the space houses an artist-residency program and living museum created by a collaborating community of artists where the rule is “…nothing comes in and nothing goes out.”

Upon entering we were each handed our Warhol glasses.

Marty got a little greedy

She looked like she "belonged" there.

One of the gems.

a local

My favorite room in the house

I realize that I probably won’t be seeing Lorri for a long time and I miss her, but if Lorri invites me back again, you can bet I’ll be headed back to Elsewhere.

Anti-FORD&CHING

At FORD&CHING we try to be accessible to everyone…well, maybe welcoming is a better word. Soon we will be accessible with public hours (Wednesdays and shortly thereafter Saturdays as well), a doorbell, a sign by the internal gate…the works. You will be allowed to bring pets, take photos, touch anything you want, use a stroller with kids in it, ask questions, eat, drink, etc. We won’t be wearing tiny spectacles and black mock neck sweaters. Nor will we be working on Macintosh G5 computers or chattting on our iPhones. I know this is a cheapshot at MOSS, but they’re big and we’re small and they will hardly notice the critique of an ant like me. Besides, our old friend Dane works over at MOSS and he is a great guy. And I love many of the products at MOSS as well. And…well, we will be open to the general public soon enough.  Stand by…

Samuel Moyer Furniture released these modestly priced coasters (yet to be named) in direct response to the slowing economy. Made from felled trees, the center-cut gems are finely finished and come four to a set from one section of branch to they stack perfectly. Even Mark Schlosser at Ludwig had to buy some because they match his hunting cabin-inspired decor. Pictures of Mark’s place to follow.

Polite company uses coasters, even if the glass has a girl giving you the finger.

Sometimes you need a coaster for Dunagrit Bunnag’s coffee table.

Generation one was thicker.

These are the latest ones. Available at FORD&CHING for $75/set. Worth every penny.

Kengo Ura has worked at the Kim Sing Theatre longer than anyone. He’s a professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter. I know this is a far cry from design-related blogging, but I have a lot to share since I now have a second blog (see my Ludwig blog). Anyway, Gene Lebell, the greatest looking man in the world and the man who choked out Steven Segal and fought Muhammed Ali in the first MMA fight, gave this golden ear pin to Kengo for knockout of the night at the Long Beach Fight Night.

Some day I want to be as cool as Kengo.

For the first time since opening the building in 2005, the largest retail space is available at the Kim Sing Theatre. This is a great opportunity to benefit from the social and professional opportunities provided here. The small pop up shop will also be available shortly.