back	March 15, 2010 RSS

Country Design - Johnny Rotten escapes to the country

Isn't that...? Yes, it's Johnny Rotten, lead singer of the Sex Pistols and erstwhile enfant terrible. He still has his shock of red hair, but these days is happy to don a tweed suit for a television commercial. He has been smitten by Country Life, the British butter brand. And he's not alone: more and more urban trendsetters are discovering the delights of life in the country while designers rush to provide the appropriate attire. Karl Lagerfeld has designed country-themed, dirndl-look dresses for Chanel; the Nendo design team from Tokyo have created the "Antler" armchair made of oak, leather and woollen felt in a modern take on hunting furnishings; Belgian label Moooi under Marcel Wanders commissioned a smith to create rustic-style candlesticks; and the "Bavaria" furniture collection by Studio Job features naïve inlaid work depicting stylised tractors and cows. If you don't want to fill your home with countrified style, you can always opt for a weekend escape in a timber-clad hideaway such as the Haus Berge hotel in the Chiemgau region of Bavaria or the Hotel Grand Tirolia in Kitzbühel, Austria: places where the urban elite can wave goodbye to their isolation and alienation and sample life as part of the wider world. Read the full story by Cornelia Haff on the new-found passion for country life being embraced by trendsetters and designers in THE MINI INTERNATIONAL