Frab’s Advent Calendar: # 1 Blumenhaus

Elegant, majestic and at the same time delicate, of an almost fragile, ancient beauty. Blumenhaus is a French magazine that in its second issue has already conquered the hearts of readers from all over the world, so much so that we at Frab's have been literally inundated with your requests on what we do not struggle to consider one of the best magazines released in 2021.

Happy, therefore, to inaugurate this special advent calendar with a magazine that arrives just in time to celebrate Christmas with us, a magazine that has an important task, essential even if we had never realized it before: studying relationships between art, fashion and botany. Lowest common denominator? Beauty obviously, which translates into good taste and therefore common sense which, these days, never hurts and must always be trained.

To welcome us in this second issue still so green that it frames the face of a girl and an out of focus flower in the wonderful shot by Zoé Kovac, chosen as the cover photo. The illustration on the back is by the talented Marina Siero and the spine, yes, the spine that alone is worth the whole magazine, comes from a pattern created by Indian Namasté Fabric.

Stopping at the covers might be enough, especially if your purpose is to use this coffee table magazine literally and leave it there, on a surface of your living room to make your guests envious, but it would be a real shame not to delve into its interiors which, in addition to be of a sublime grace, they are also particularly interesting and lead us to discover cultures in different corners of the world following the red thread of one or a hundred flowers.

Together with Josh Taylor we discover the essence of English gardens and the obsession with gardening, considered an act of imagination and rebellion, of joy and kindness, a way to stimulate one's curiosity and help make the world a better place. I assure you that after reading his words, you will never look at a garden the same way again.

We meet the artist and ceramist Polly Fern and get lost in the shots of the Soft Drama project by Tim Van Der Most, who with a taxidermist's gaze creates still lifes with flowers that look like anatomical studies.

Then there is the story of Anna Atkins' very delicate and enchanting album, a document dated 1850 which is much more than a scientific find and which could make you want to collect and document plants and flowers too.

Among the pages of Blumenhaus, including fashion photos and illustrations and art, you will also find tips and some practical guides, such as the one for making beautiful bouquets of dried flowers or the one that immerses us in the Japanese culture of Ikebana. In order not to miss anything, there is also the interior design, which pinch is enough to make you dream from here to eternity of living in a house furnished by Luke Edward Hall.

But perhaps the article I liked the most is Pia Riverola's photographic reportage among the Jamaican flower markets. I loved it for its authenticity and also because the markets, those of flowers, but also those of fruit and food in general, always speak a lot about the culture of a place, seeing is believing.

Once again Isabelle Laydier Kristensen and Camille Gressier, founder of the magazine, fill our eyes with 192 pages of pure wonder. December, you couldn't have started with a better magazine!