FAB28

17 May 2013
SMEG news: WEST ELM  and SMEG

There is something magical about New York. For many, a year with the Big Apple in their face is one of life’s rites of passage. And little wonder why: there’s 800 languages spoken, 9 million global citizens of the world, Time Square, MOMA, Wall Street, saltbox and art deco buildings, skyscrapers, innovations which become phenomenon at every step, and a skyline that will indelibly leave a mark on your mind. Forever. And don’t forget Broadway, where music, entertainment and design –  iconic and avant garde -  call home.

Enter Smeg’s FAB fridge - the Italian icon of cool - displayed in one the States’ top retailers of home furnishings and gourmet products, West Elm. Smeg’s FAB28 fridges and top-line freestanding cookers have been invited into 20 of the 45 West Elm stores filling its shop fronts and interior displays with a strong presence of colour, Italian design and synergy. West Elm makes up one of the five brands under the Williams-Sonoma name - indisputably the country’s top retailer in home living - and is a hot spot for lovers of global design and innovations to meet face to face with Smeg.

15 May 2013
SMEG news: Chilled out tunes from Norway with FABulous Bass Cabinet

SMEG50style interviewed a pretty chilled out FAB28 in Norway to reveal how he may be well on his way to being the next big hit out of Scandinavia since ABBA:

Mamma mia, I was minding my own business waiting to have some minor alterations down to my frame when an acquaintance of mine, Bjorn, who turns out to be a pretty crafty guy - and die-hard muso - asked me to be in his band, The Powerpack. To be honest, I pretended to be cool about it but my shelves were shaking with excitement. I knew I had what it took to break into the music industry  but someone just opened my door to a life in music. The rest, as they say, is history… "

Bjorn said he didn’t want me to take centre stage after hearing my voice but he then came around and said we could become a duo producing some chilled out bass sounds with him, as bass guitar supremo, and me, as the FAB bass speaker with 4 fitted 10" Celestion BL10-150 8ohm speakers (for those who get my pumping muso lingo). It was too good to turn down so I said ‘yes’ before I knew he was  going to take to me with the router and power saw and to create my new “vocal chords”. Afterwards, I was fitted with sheep’s wool inside to make my range deeper than Barry White’s -despite my white exterior- and I was finally ready to play my first gig.

I’ll keep you all updated on how our first session goes and we may even add to the FAB family on tour as I hear  Bjorn has conjured up a radical concept to transform my cousin, FAB10, into a sub woofer system as well. At least we can then hang and chill out together on tour…”

22 October 2012
SMEG news: Life, a fridge and a cow

Bob Perry is the exact opposite of us city types. Bob is a tough cookie. Just as well, because if you're not willing or able to do what you can to get by in the place he lives in, you won't last 3 months. Cow Bay is one of the wildest corners of Australia, home to a rainforest which sees  4 cubic metres of rainfall every year and completely lacking in electricity. Oh, and there isn't a single police officer among the 700 souls who live there.

On turning 40, Bob gave up on civilisation and travelled around Australia for a bit. When he found his own little corner of paradise in Cow Bay, he moved there straight away, setting up a garage which doubles as a community hub, scientific research centre and pub. With a bit of imagination and a whole lot of practical skill, Bob takes care of all the community's technical needs. He builds PVC masts so that three-bar mobile signals can be received in the depths of the rainforest; he collects electric batteries and recycles them into diver weights; and he built a system for producing biodiesel all by himself. Bob mends, fixes and invents ad nauseam.

At the end of every long and arduous day, Bob's callused and dirty hands reach for the door handle of his pastel green Smeg fridge.
He proceeds to crack open an ice-cold beer which, incidentally, tastes a whole lot better in the company of four friends sitting comfortably on upturned milk crates. Sorry? You must be joking, right?
Wrong. True, Bob is as hard as nails and his humble abode is a cabin sans doors, windows and walls protected by a sheet of tarpaulin, but even he is unable to resist a little (large) aesthetic quirk. And why should he? A nice little FAB in the middle of the tropical jungle powered by biodiesel is just the ticket. So when you think about it, even us soft city slickers have something in common with Bob. 

4 January 2012
SMEG news: Smeg & Italian Chambers to celebrate 150 years as a united nation

The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Sweden chose Smeg products to enrich and contextualise the exhibition space dedicated to prestigious brands which carry the flag for Italian production to mark the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy.

Stockholm central station, a nerve centre for the city and the main arterial railway line for all of northern Europe, was chosen as the special location for the event, which took place in October.

 

 

27 October 2011
SMEG news: Smeg50style and Plant Art: an exclusive design-mix

The world of trend setters has once again declared its passion for 50’stylosophy. Ubisoft, the most important French videogame company, wanted to decorate the relax room at their HQ on the outskirts of Paris, using design products with a strong aesthetic impact that unite form and colour.

Two items from the Smeg 50’s Retro Style range (a FAB28 and an orange Fab dishwasher) were among the various furnishings which were specially requested by the company. To complete the look of the relax room, an 18m² vertical garden created by Amaury Gallon (a pioneer of botanical art, who for years, has combined innovation with plant design) was inserted. The garden further flatters the sinuous forms of the products and the result is a perfect design-mix that has given Ubisoft a convivial, original and stylish ambience.

7 September 2011
SMEG news: The FAB’aholic restaurant

A red FAB28 was requested to complete the interior decoration of Cherdak, a renowned restaurant owned by the chef Arkady Novikov, a popular figure with high society Muscovites. Located on the top floor of one of the most antique palaces of the Meshchansky district, a prestigious area that is also home to the headquarters of a number of different government agencies as well as the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The restaurant has an original décor that is characterised by a style that unites elements of the traditional Russian dacia with pieces of vintage design. The menu is well researched, and the restaurant welcomes all of its clients into a “fairytale” setting that at the same time has an “alternative” atmosphere in which the unmistakable FAB stands out.

The decoration chosen by this new and exclusive location strengthens and encourages a shared attitude, upheld by local and International celebrities, who, in order to give an ulterior character and style to the interior décor of their homes they choose Smeg 50’s Retro Style appliances.

7 September 2011
SMEG news: FAB conquers Moscow

Passion for FAB&Co has arrived in Moscow!

The lounge bar of the Ararat Park Hyatt Hotel is by no means the last in a series of exclusive locations in the Russian capital to have bought Smeg 50’s Retro Style appliances. The bar is an active part of the 5-star superior hotel designed to attract luxury globetrotting clientele who demand privacy, and excellent service. Situated in the centre of Moscow, the hotel is strategically positioned between the main historical-cultural sites such as the Bolshoi theatre, the Red Square and the Kremlin, and the most exclusive shopping malls such as GUM and TSUM.

The Conservatory Lounge & Bar is located on the top floor of the luxurious building and has recently been reviewed by the respected interior design magazine Architectural Digest who describe it as one of the most beautiful licensed premises in the world. Besides the uber-modern decor and the delicious menu there is also a distinctive veranda from which clients can enjoy magnificent views of the entire city. It is in this extremely popular exterior space that they have placed a FAB28 branded by Veuve Cliquot. It marries perfectly with the style of the hotel bar and lends the veranda a wonderful touch of retro allure.

The choice to enrich the décor with this object of design is not the result of chance, but derives from the belief that the FAB itself embodies the essence of the Conservatory - a luxury product that has a huge aesthetic impact.

28 July 2011
SMEG news: Top Chef

Smeg Holland recently renewed their collaboration with the TV program Top Chef, a working relationship that first began back in September 2010, when they supplied all the cooking appliances for the show, amongst others 8 iconic FAB28’s in Black Velvet. The first show, inspired by the American format of the same name, was transmitted on Dutch TV in the autumn of 2010, followed by a second serie throughout Spring 2011. It follows a group of amateur chefs performing various challenges and being judged by a jury of well-known Dutch chefs; Robert Kranenborg and Julius Jaspers. Every week the challengers were each put to the test at a Michelin star restaurant, such as the Librije and Beluga.

The popularity and the success of the show last year made the producers of the program specifically request Smeg products for a second year running to install in the individual kitchen zones in which the young chefs show off their skills each week. This winning choice not only helps to characterise the set, but at the same time it guarantees excellent performance.

The new season of Top Chef will start in September 2011.

28 July 2011
SMEG news: Lady Chef

The FAB28 was the protagonist of the 22nd edition of Lady Chef, an annual contest organised in Belgium that, in a shortlist of kitchen professionals, rewards the person who proposes the most distinctive menu judging both taste and creativity. This year the expert jury awarded the title of “Lady Chef” to Yanaïka Skrzyszkowiak who at just 22 years old took up the position of Chef de Cuisine in the Exquisa restaurant in Hasselt, Belgium.

Besides celebrating art and female culinary skill, the initiative promotes high quality gastronomy created with first class raw materials.

Smeg was considered the ideal partner for the event because the company not only supports the principles of “Made in Italy” and industrial design of domestic appliances, but it also expertly combines aesthetic style with excellent performance in order to achieve perfect cooking results, not to mention superior conservation of foods.

12 July 2011
SMEG news: FAB28 in Transformers 3

The FAB28 refrigerator appears in TF3, the third movie of the Transformers series. The film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, directed by Michael Bay, sees Optimus Prime and his loyal Autobots conflict once again with their enemies the Decepticons, who want to avenge the defeat that they suffered in 2009's film Revenge of the Fallen.

In TF3 the Decepticons are involved in a perilous space race between the United States and Russia, and Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) the Autobots' human friend, is called to the aid of the robots against a new and terrible enemy: Shockwave, the tyrant of Cybertron, conqueror of the home planet of the Transformers.

The FAB28 appears in the kitchen of Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), the on-screen girlfriend of Sam, the films star. The film was previewed to a worldwide audience on 29/06, and, since its release 2 weeks ago it has already made more than $645 million dollars at the box office.

http://www.transformersmovie.com/

Chilled out tunes from Norway with FABulous Bass Cabinet
15 May 2013
SMEG50style interviewed a pretty chilled out FAB28 in Norway to reveal how he may be well on his way to being the next big hit out of Scandinavia since ABBA: “Mamma mia, I was minding my...
The art of Stuart Semple (and those of you who believe that fridges are for storing food)
5 April 2012
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1 February 2012
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Two Italian Jobs, two Different Actors
10 January 2011
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6 May 2011
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8 January 2011
Smeg created the 50’s style retro line in the mid-90’s. The first product, the fridge, was an immediate planetary success due to its indeterminate appeal, it is a fridge that does not limit...
WEST ELM  and SMEG
17 May 2013
There is something magical about New York. For many, a year with the Big Apple in their face is one of life’s rites of passage. And little wonder why: there’s 800 languages spoken, 9...
FAB10 tests the new Jaguar XF Sportbreak
10 December 2012
SMEG50style interviewed FAB10, our specialist test pilot, trackside. FAB10 was enthusiastic: "The control on the bends is wonderful, it was a great thrill even going slow in lower gears....
When style, design and good food make you reach for the sky.
23 October 2012
The Smeg philosophy has always been to stand head and shoulders above the rest in terms of design quality, style and excellence. So it should come as no surprise that we jumped at the...