Plinio il Giovane at Salone del Mobile 2012

There are three key words for the new collection that Italian brand Plinio il Giovane will present at the Salone del Mobile 2012. New products will be agile, lightweight and environmentally friendly; inspired by the nomadic life of modern times, which requires furniture that is versatile and easy to carry.

HBL Blog of the Week: Taste of Runway

Taste of Runway links food to fashion, with dishes that are creatively put together to resemble an outfit hot off the catwalk. Italian founder Miranda describes the blog as "a story of happiness, between an outfit and a recipe".

Blind Passengers by Julian Appelius and Karen Olze

Designed by Julian Appelius and Karen Olze and produced by muse.creativ industries, Blind Passengers is a collection of tongue-in-cheek car window shades adorned with some of the most famous faces in the history of art.

We Make Carpets: Consumer culture flooring

Clean Carpet by We Make Carpets

Staple carpet

Dutch design studio We Make Carpets' latest works build on their signature "contemporary temporary" philosophy for flooring, which sees full-scale carpets made from ephemeral materials including pasta, cotton wool buds and plasters.

FLIP for kids by Marco Hemmerling

Previewed at Cologne's Passagen last month, FLIP is a collection of playful kids' furniture which has been designed by Marco Hemmerling to be exceptionally lightweight and interactive.

MINI Let’s Spring! Exhibition

MINI Hong Kong

To welcome in and celebrate the Chinese New Year, British auto brand, MINI let out four cars to the students of Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University – who used traditional Chinese artwork – to dress as Chinese Lions.

Arbelogy

WGSN-homebuildlife takes a look at the hand- and computer-drawn illustrations of Javier Navarro, founder of illustration brand Arbelogy.

Collect 2012 preview

Double-Walled Bowl (2011) by Thomas Bohle at Sarah Myerscough Fine Art; photo by Kurt Dornig

British craft show Collect returns 11-14 May, when 31 galleries from 11 countries will take over London's Saatchi Gallery. This year will also see ten large-scale installations, commissioned specially for the show, as well as a preview of the Crafts Council's next touring exhibition, Raw Craft. WGSN-homebuildlife profiles some of the exhibitors to look out for.

Hip Hop by Calia Italia

Calia Italia has launched the Hip Hop sofa - a sectioned, interchangeable design made up of a chair, chaise-longue and footstool. The design can be rearranged quickly and easily to suit the shape of the room, different social scenarios and the owner's preference.

Union Jacks by Blacksheep

British design agency Blacksheep has completed its sixth project with celebrity restaurateur Jamie Oliver: a diner-style concept situated in the heart of London and serving a distinctly British menu, created by Oliver in collaboration with US pizza specialist Chris Bianco.

HBL Book of the Week: Mathieu Lehanneur

Mathieu Lehanneur, Copyright Gestalten 2012

Innovative French designer Mathieu Lehanneur is the subject of a new book, due out on 15th February and published by Gesthalten. The monograph is the designer's first, and will track a selection of his projects from conceptual sketches through prototyping to their use in context, giving the reader an insight into his wider inspirations and philosophy in the process.

Club Monaco, New York

Club Monaco, New York

Retailers approach the new season by subtly updating classic VM strategies. The perennial VM prop, the book, is reinvented at Club Monaco in New York - with open books pinned to the wall to create a textural backdrop. Further interest has been added with folds and bends or by lightly burning the edges of pages.