Another month, another new concept in Europe’s (other) fashion capital, adding to Antwerp’s enviable list of amazing retailers with a twist, all of them featured in our previous guides: Hospital, Clinic, Walter, Furniture + Clothing Selection, RA13. This time it’s Graanmarkt 13, situated erm… on Graanmarkt 13 in a beautiful period house a stone’s throw from Rubens House. The twist is a basement restaurant, a garden, an art space, and an intimate fashion (womenswear) and design emporium.

Needless to say, in a city where concept stores are a birthright, the duo behind Graanmarkt 13 – Ilse Cornelissens and Tim Van Geloven – didn’t intend to serve us a mixed bag of same old recipes and the store is a creative partnership between the country’s finest, pushing the concept store genre to a new level (even by Antwerp’s stratospheric standards): the building was renovated by Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen, the graphic style sheet is by Base Design; in the restaurant, superchef Seppe Nobels was Belgium’s Best Junior Chef (2005) and Bob Verhelst is curator and art director of the exhibition space. Phew! It’s a bit early for a full review but we will write about the opening soon… Opens 13 February (first sketches below).

This is a great start of the year for Antwerp’s fashion and art scene. After a dithyrambic coverage in Wallaper*’s Next Dimension, the RA13 team will be showcasing a panel of homegrown fashion designers and artists at Galerie Foret Verte during Paris Men’s Fashion Week (21-27 January 2010) – a nice addition to Antwerp’s revolving presence during Paris Women’s Fashion Week (3-11 March 2010) – usually at Galerie Baudoin Lebon also in the Marais.

On a more humble scale, Turnleft Towers is putting the finishing touches to a small event that will feed cool Antwerp stuff to London media folks: on Tuesday 19 January, Turnleft and Visit Flanders will be sponsoring Schmooze & Booze, a bimonthly gathering of 100 or so young, festive London journalists (isn’t it the best name?). We will be offering a few drinks to celebrate the new year and we will run a competition with a trip for 2 to Antwerp to be won, courtesy of VLM Airlines and Hilton. The winner will take it all and our Antwerp goodie bag will include MoMu tickets, drinks at Hospital, exclusive perfume and Hospital’s signature doctor’s coat by Antwerp knitwear designer Sigi. MADE. TO. MEASURE.

That’s just us! (if you’re a journalist and would like to attend Schmooze & Booze, get in touch quickly)

Graanmarkt 13 Graanmarkt 13 (Antwerp) - RA13 Kloosterstraat 13 (Antwerp) – MoMu Nationalestraat 13 (Antwerp) - Hospital De Burburestraat 4 (Antwerp) – Galerie Foret Verte 3 cite du Petit-Thouars (Paris 3) – Galerie Baudoin Lebon 38 rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie (Paris 4) – Sigi www.sigi.eu - Schmooze & Booze www.schmoozeandbooze.co.uk - Visit Flanders www.visitflanders.co.uk – VLM Airlines www.flyvlm.com

The day had started really well: after dim sum in London with a friend, I had made my way to King’s Cross St Pancras for a quick journey to Brussels, where I spent new year’s eve with friends. We had a fantastic dinner at Jaloa, an experimental restaurant around Place Sainte-Catherine, and we had 2 house parties to go to on both side of the Canal. Now, if you’ve seen our previous guides you will remember that Turnleft always had a soft spot for this part of Brussels (often to the dismay of well-heeled Eurocrats), a district of warehouses and derelict breweries that estate agents would euphemistically describe as up-and-coming (or simply as the roughest part of town). Cafe Modele and Walvis at the end of Rue Antoine Dansaert are among my favourite places, many galleries and art spaces have popped up on both sides of the canal, and I am still looking forward to featuring the landmark Citroen Building on our newly revamped website. Yet – as I was reminded by a caring friend after the attack – this area is nicknamed Chicago for a reason…

In fairness I may have been slightly overdressed for this part of town, lost on my way to the second party at 2am. A sharp suit and tie must have been a very obvious giveaway that I was carrying expensive valuables – like having iPhone written on my forehead. As I lost my way around Comte de Flandre, a white car pulled out, 3 (4?) men jumped out of it and that’s all I remember until I found myself on the pavement with a head bump the size of a ping pong ball and empty breast pockets. After help from the police station (although they have since lost my declaration) an ambulance escorted me to a clinic on the other side of town where I sat in great style, in a wheelchair, surrounded by a motley crew of crack addicts with foam coming out of their mouth. And even in the self-appointed capital of Europe, a Frenchman can’t get a brain scan without a credit card so I was sent home in the freezing cold with painkillers and 10 euros in my pocket (and without my friends’ phone numbers)…

Obviously I am still in shock but I won’t let that alter my outlook on travel. As I sat in the Eurostar on the way back to London reading Wallpaper* Next Dimension, I realised that their coverage of Europe’s next best things included many references to concept spaces, artists and fashion designers that Turnleft had championed a few months before: Antwerp’s RA13, Andrea Cammarosano or Alexandra Verschuren were all featured as part of our work with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. I also noticed that Rotterdam and Berlin were on their city watchlist for 2010, and again these cities have been a fixture of Turnleft over the past 2 years (and they are covered in depth on our new website, due imminently). So I started smiling, grateful that my muggers didn’t steal my vintage Tiffany’s cufflinks and realising that 2009 had been an amazing year for Turnleft after all, with more than 250,000 posters published, new cities initiated and amazing prospects for 2010. And despite a permanent headache, I made the mental note that maybe this attack was just an unfortunate occupational hazard for a travel publisher that thrives on boho-chic gauche caviarism (and we had caviar that night), roaming the underbelly of Brussels with platinum jewelry and a phone device the price of a scooter. Maybe this was Turnleft’s equivalent to Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of Vanities.

This is a very convoluted way to wish you a happy new decade and I would like to bring a more upbeat perspective on 2010: which cities are on our radar screen. To be honest a first list had been compiled before New Year but my near death experience (maybe I exaggerate a little here) left me longing for different destinations: safe Nordic and Swiss cities, Munich or Tokyo (incidentally Monocle’s favourites)  - places where presumably one doesn’t get mugged for an iPhone. But after a day in London I am back to my old, good-spirited self, getting really excited about cities where I could easily be hit by a crowbar for my wallet. C’est la vie.

The new website will be launched next week with a new structure and a series of architecture walks covering Amsterdam, Antwerp, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, New York, Parisand Rotterdam. We have been looking at Shanghai ahead of Expo 2010 and I hope that I can convince our creative consultant that Tokyo needs him next summer. The new website is on the experimental side and it will develop over the next few months with new architecture walks as well as fashion, design, art and food resources, and hopefully mobile applications. Watch this space and we welcome new contributors.

New cities on our radar screen include Palermo – we hope to cover the architectural regeneration of the Old Town // Warsaw – I am not a great fan of gay prides but Europride is a significant step for the city, which needs better press than queer bashing (coverage starting this spring) // I have my fingers crossed for South Africa, which will host the World Cup this summer, and I hope that Turnleft will cover Cape Town later this year // But after this week’s attack I may leave that trip to my colleagues and focus instead on Swiss cities – hopefully Basel and Zurich – and hopefully 3 new Nordic capitals besides Helsinki: Copenhagen, Stockholm andReykjavik (coverage starting this spring – Copenhagen and Helsinki start this winter).

And with a bit of luck (and time)…

Istanbul is European Capital of Culture 2010 – not that it needs it (its art scene has had everyone buzzing for years) //All the people that have been to Beirut recently came back excited about the youthful energy of the city, its clubbing scene and street culture. Beirut39 in April is an extension of the Hay Festival // Liberal Tel Aviv deserved a better 2009 – its 100th birthday should have been a source of celebration – but the growing coverage of all things Bauhaus and new low-cost flights should be favourable to the city // And surely when we all end up Marrakeched out, we will realise that Casablanca is Morocco’s true pulsating heart – its Art Deco district puts South Beach and Havana to shame.

If you have more ideas let us know. Have a great year!

I was discussing a number of Turnleft iphone apps with Peter Robinett (you should check Coffeeshoppr on your next trip to Amsterdam) when he forwarded a link to Bluenity, the social networking site set up by Air France KLM. According to the disclaimer Bluenity is a community site for travelers, enabling members to communicate at the airport, during the flight and at the destination. Now call me a cynic but I know a hook-up site when I see one and inflight flirting is one hell of a concept considering that WiFi will be on board most aircrafts over the next few years – in fact Turnleft had been entertaining the idea for a while (but restricted to the most Orthodox followers of our radical chic, Dries Van Noten trenchcoat & 4 am Currywurst dianetics)…

In what seems like a distant prehistoric past, foreign brides were ordered by post. So after a good look at Bluenity I gave the concept a serious thumbs up and could only marvel at how far meet (meat?) markets have gone over the past ten years, to the point where an airline feels compelled to launch its own mile-high club and to allow seat 10C to flirt with 19E on the Amsterdam-Sydney (or even better to let them sit together).

Unless you’ve been on the other side of the moon (or married) dating fads cross the Atlantic and the Channel at the speed of light, uniting Paris/London/New York singletons through speed dating, boardgame dating, 7 to 1’s, silent dating, dating dans le noir, lock & key parties and red-amber-green stickers (shag tags really). That was until the Internet decimated all forms of social interaction. Then all conversations shifted to Match.com, Meetic, Gaydar, Asians4Asians or Totally Jewish profiles. Recent revolution came in the form of Grindr which, according to my iphone, signals that based on GPS triangulation [name withdrawn] is 127 meters away and ready to chat. Grindr nickname: the gay sat nav. Bluenity is obviously the next best thing for international romance – the Friendsreunited of the 2010s for the global generation: you can be on your way to a Ny-Lon relationship on Friday night and have a side fling by the time you’ve landed at JFK.

And just when I was about to wrap up this post on a high note, a Turnleft follower is dumped by her Swedish beau. By SMS. 100 characters tops. Just before Christmas (“hello [name withdrawn]. i have had feelings for someone and thought it wasn’t mutual. i was wrong. sorry. take care”). That’s one sms to frame and it strikes me that the paradigm shift in the Naughties wasn’t so much with dating but with the art of dumping. If for the previous generation a break-up over the phone would have been a breach of manners, a landmark moment was reached in the 1990s when a LA actor dumped his French actress girlfriend by fax – saving himself the hassle of a first-class flight to Paris. It’s been downhill since and there’s something almost romantic about Carrie Bradshaw being dumped with a post-it note. Now a phone call or a fax would seem courteous compared to a Facebook message (I’m guilty as charged), a late-night status update (you know who you are) or a misspelt sms.

So back to Air France KLM’s Bluenity, well done. And hello Seat 5A on the AF003 to JFK. You look good and I have just finished Wallpaper*. Free seat next to me. U up 4 121 NSA? Bring drinks. Bluenity status: offline. Twitter: omg seat 5a is fit lol. Facebook message: hi [name withdrawn] i’ve just met someone on the AF003. sorry. take care.

Apart from his imminent flight to Helsinki, Johannes also mentioned some ongoing trend forecasting work with a Hong Kong-based clothes manufacturer and it hit me that we should launch a clothes line for the World Cup, something fresh and different that would target football widows (TM thank you – I coined it) and those that feel alienated by football culture but that will still revel during the Cup. In a bout of naughties nostalgia the closest thing that came to mind was my old fcuk football tee-shirt and how daring it felt at the time.

For some reason we then talked about Mademoiselle Agnes, Paris’ eponymous fashion observer. I am not her biggest fan but Johannes – whose brains are permanently in overdrive – dared suggest that her style is the embodiment of Dada philosophy applied to the fickle world of fashion. I’m still pondering.

From there our discussion could only lead to how overrated most fashion bloggers are, and how ephemeral their influence will be in the realm of fashion, even if a few of them made it to the front row. Instead we analysed a range of new magazines, including Candy – the first transversal style magazine dedicated to transvestism, transexuality, cross-dressing and androgyny by the fabulous Luis Venegas, of Fanzine 137 and Electric Youth fame. With Bruce Weber and Terry Richardson as contributors, we gathered that magazine publishing isn’t on its last legs.

And that was it, another Turnleft brainstorm in the shadow of Trellick Tower!

E&O 14 Blenheim Crescent - Books for Cooks 4 Blenheim Crescent – Rellik 8 Golborne Road - Les Couilles du Chien 65 Golborne Road

(needless to say you won’t find a copy in front of your seat – they’ve been recalled).

I suppose that the flipside of trying too hard  is to not try hard at all. And so off I was a few weeks ago for the launch of Kisses From Paris, a film sponsored by the French tourist office aimed at showing a new side of Paris and at creating a “viral buzz” on the Internet. Thanks for the champagne and the petits fours but Le Nouveau Paris? I don’t think so. Uber-Parisian film director Yvan Attal – who has bored us rigid with Parisian cliches for the best part of this decade (Ma Femme est une Artiste anyone) – delivered the most annoyingly Parisian film ever while trying to tell us that Paris is not what we think it is. Well is it, Yvan? Because judging by this dull Doisneau a la Youtube, it does look like Le Same Old Paris to me. And if I may say so, I wasn’t necessarily expecting burning cars in the Montfermeil banlieue but this is as white as a Ku Klux Klan recruiting advert. Now there’s a broader point that needs to be made about city branding: do tourist offices really know how to showcase a city as vibrant as creative? And doesn’t it happen at a more grassroots level? I let you judge… Try not to fall asleep!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Our discussion is definitely worthy of a blog. On many accounts. The first one is that I love The Montebury (formerly known as GCulture), an online men’s luxury fashion magazine. In fact it is the only online fashion magazine that I read and I love how each edition is produced and laid out individually, like a luxury print publication should be. In contrast Wordpress seems like battery publishing. The Montebury being so fashion focused, we decided that it was time to join forces, starting with a Turnleft contribution to be featured in their new Ephemere section.

Aaron’s contention is that now is the right time to shift to a premium model and to charge readers for access. I couldn’t agree more for The Montebury, which is a periodical, and it is tempting to apply the same reasoning to Turnleft – after all most readers are prepared to fork out £4.95 for a Wallpaper* city guide (and £13.99, ouch, for a Time Out guide written 2 years ago) – yet I’m still very keen to keep things free, a legacy of my long-time addiction to Vice (now fully rehabed). And it would be odd to charge online on our new website while continuing to distribute for free when we print guides on this ridiculously expensive Swedish paper… So I’m not sure what to write and I guess that Turnleft will evolve as a freemium publication, with a commitment to free distribution where/when allowed by willing sponsors and various fee paying services such as iphone apps or limited edition posters. Send me your thoughts. And subscribe to The Montebury…

More seriously, are we so over pop-up shops (to paraphrase Johannes, our creative consultant)? Yes, these guerrilla tactics have had their day and the concept has been bastardised by too many brands trying to keep up with youth culture, but there is something resolutely grassroots about the whole idea and we certainly haven’t seen the end of it in London. Part of it is down to economics I guess – finding affordable space was impossible 2 years ago but in the aftermath of a full-blown recession, London high streets feel decimated, not just in the West End but also in Shoreditch and in the posher parts of town (I mentioned how desolate Westbourne Grove feels in a previous blog but I also spotted 2 bailiff notices stuck on windows on Saint John’s Wood High Street). It is estimated that 15 UK retail chains are on the verge of immediate bankruptcy. It is very tempting to take over say Woolworths’ huge empty premises for an experimental project because I can’t see anyone else moving in…

It reminds me of Berlin’s Zwischenmieter movement (a proper translation would be “in-between tenants”): until recently there was no shortage of empty buildings in Berlin and landlords have always been prepared to let out their space for free to desirable trendoids who can boost the cachet of an area. If a small Produzentengalerie sets up shop for free say north of Torstraße, flashing shiny Macs and ic!berlin eyewear at passer-bys, within months the area gets a media company or two, a fashion store, commercial galleries, a restaurant and designer bars. And before you know it the former no man’s land calls itself NoTo (North of Torstraße), the Bavarians move in, Berliner residents feel alienated in the Toca Rouge-Reingold-Birnbaum triangle, and the landlord laughs all the way to the bank… So there is a rationale for keeping rents low for low-key creative outfits (London and Paris landlords take note). In fact many venues in Berlin still operate on such low rents that they don’t even need to sell anything, a few even feel compelled to give things away for free. So I wasn’t surprised last year when Wedding Dress, a fringe fashion and urban arts festival, occupied three entire blocks at the very unfashionable end of Brunnenstraße in Wedding. I was even less surprised to hear that it was organised by the building landlords. And at this stage I need to disclose that the whole Carnaby Street-Newburgh Quarter is not what it used to be – the entire area belongs to the same property developer…

Back to Turnleft – I’m very tempted to coincide Turnleft SS10 guide collections with maybe a pop-up or two in various cities, where guides would be available for free, with exhibitions, social events and fantastic us making the street shiny and happening. If there are landlords out there willing to offer some space, contact us. Oh, and a drink sponsor

London (West End): Wish You Were Here Swap. Newburgh Quarter (Carnaby Street area), W1. 1-31 Oct

Berlin (Mitte): Birnbaum Bergstraße 25 – Reingold Novalisstraße 11 – Toca Rouge Torstraße 195

New York (Lower East Side): Robert James 72 Orchard St, NY 10002

Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, 19 Sep-10 Jan, Museumpark 18-20

This is a bitchy way to announce that Turnleft is back to London after a lengthy Parisian exile. This is great news because most of the team is here – we’re already working on new ideas for aw09-10, including a collection of downloadable architecture tours of our favourite cities. If I keep a soft spot for my French hometown, many things won’t be missed: among them €12 drinks in nightclubs that turn down half of your friends because they need to keep a gender balance (La Fleche d’Or being the worst offender) and mi-cuit de thon aux graines de sesame in every new restaurant… But the great thing about Paris is that anyone can dip in and out of it safe in the knowledge that things will never change: same faces on tv, same faces at parties and still the same debate on Paris v banlieues [more on this topic soon]. In contrast London already feels like the schizo mix of same old and frenetic change. The recession hasn’t helped – every second shopfront on Westbourne Grove seems empty (not that I particularly like them) – but the party continues and a few months away are enough to make me feel alienated. I will do my best to catch up!

Thankfully a few days later in London I found out that designer David Harber had just installed a public fountain in Hyde Park – courtesy of Thames Water – with the aim of sinking this unsustainable fad.