#11 w-report loves craft. Artisans (and royals) in Romania + secret addresses in Laos
Our favorite design shop In Berlin? International Wardrobe! The owner Katharina Koppenwaller is a fellow traveler and has the most amazing eye for crafty treasures.
ON THE HUNT FOR CERAMICS + TEXTILES IN ROMANIA
Here at the w-report, we love craft. We live for making an out-of-the-way detour to track down a skilled artisan, from a rattan artist working in a tiny village outside of Pátzcuaro, Mexico to a master mask maker in Mas, Bali. Our husbands rolls their eyes every time we return from somewhere with another handmade ceramic object yet each piece is a physical memory of a special trip and place. Drinking a coffee from a ceramic mug I picked up in Luxor, painted with a palm tree, allows me to be transported there, just for a few minutes, before I walk the dog and start work. And when Antje is eating her Vollkornbrot from a striped plate she found in Porvoo, Finland, it takes her from her all-day life back to that cute little village.
Which is why both of us Ws adore International Wardrobe, a really special showroom and shop, renowned among design insiders, on the fringe’s of Berlin’s Mitte neighborhood. Just to give you an idea how well it’s curated: Axel Vervoordt, Europe’s most respected antique dealer and designer, was recently here buying objects for an upcoming exhibition and it supplies Svenskt Tenn in Stockholm with pottery.
Owned and run by the very well travelled art historian, ethnologist and stylist Katharina Koppenwallner, in 2011 she opened this very cultish small showroom in Berlin: a small storefront jam-packed with handmade beautiful treasures, from Romanian peasant tops to handcarved candles from Oaxaca, Mexico and and woven banig mats from the Philippines. Every object has been handpicked by Koppenwallner on her many travels and carefully transported back to Berlin.
Antje and I paid her a recent visit to speak to her about her favorite craft-related travels and discoveries and she shared with us some of her latest treasure hunting secrets from Romania. (And a floating villa she recently discovered in Laos).
KATHARINA SAYS: Romania is the country I travel to the most; it’s the place that inspired me to open my shop. I have been there dozens of times in the last ten years. I always deal directly with individual craftspeople so it requires that I build trust. The thing I love about Romania and Eastern Europe in general is that there are still so many treasures to find. The infrastucture is very rural, so you need to have a car to get around.
One of my favorite flea markets is the Târgul de la Negreni, one of the largest and oldest of its kind in Eastern Europe, which takes place twice a year—in June (this year from the 13th-16th) and the second weekend in October— about an hour’s drive from the city of Cluj. It’s in the middle of nowhere in the countryside and a train track runs through the market.
It’s fantastic for textiles. You can find hand embroidered Romanian peasant-style dresses and blouses, also rugs and pillows and handmade cloths used in the churches to protect special objects. It’s often hard to sort out the provenance of the things, but I always find such beautiful treasures here.
For ceramics I have always gone to Horezu, a region in the south of Romania. Horezu ceramics have been designated an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Men and women usually work together; men tend to select and make the clay that produces the red pottery that the region is known for, while women often decorate the work with traditional patterns. I buy work from Horezu but I have also worked with local craftspeople to evolve their designs to make more modern motives - when you leave a few things out, it transforms into something more modern.
PARIS ALERT: When in town between March 26th and April 24th head straight to Koppenwallner’s Pop Up at Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche.
KATHARINA’S TIPS FOR ROMANIA
FAVORITE BASE: Sometimes I rent an apartment in Cluj, but often I stay at the Schuster Boarding House in Brasov. An Art Nouveau house owned and run by a lovely Saxon family, it is really well located near the Carpathian mountains and Sibu. I have come back here now for years—I love checking in with the family and I always eat well here which is not something to take for granted in Romania.
FAVORITE VILLAGE: In the 12th century, King Géza II of Hungary, invited German speakers to settle remote Transylvania (at the time part of Hungary) and they—dubbed Transylvanian Saxons—built various villages, seven of which are designated UNESCO world heritage sites partly because they boast some of the country’s best preserved fortified churches. Of the seven, Viscri is considered to be the most special thanks to the beautiful restoration work done by the Mihai Eminescu Trust, a foundation supported by King Charles.
FAVORITE MUSEUM: There is a lot of research involved in finding beautiful things and understanding if things are real or not. One of my favorite places to research craft is the award winning The National Museum of the Romanian Peasant in Bucharest. It also has a really excellent museum shop that sells antique objects.
FAVORITE SUMMER TREAT: In the summer I love picking up tomatoes at the Obor Market in Bucharest. So delicious. I swear the tomatoes in in Bucharest are better that the ones in Sicily.
W-REPORT RECOMMENDS: BEYOND DRACULA. The w-report normally encourages people to make their own way on their travels, but sometimes there’s a part of the world that is worth splurging on for a little hand holding. That is true of remote areas of Romania. Fortunately there is the excellent bespoke travel operator Beyond Dracula which is run by two very international Romanian women and a well traveled Italian gentleman who opened a very popular restaurant in Bucharest called Grano. They especially love Transylvania, are very connected there and can make a trip in the region as comfortable as possible. They also search out and support Romanian makers and can set up visits with especially skilled ones like Dumitru Sofonea in the Transylvanian village of Drăguș who specializes in embroidered sheepskin vests.
AND A NEW LUXURY HOTEL IN THE REGION: MATCA is a hilltop property with 16 rooms and suites, as well as several private villas and a spa, that opened this past fall. Our journalist friend, Alec Lobrano, wrote about it for the T List.
THAT TIME WHEN ANTJE STALKED KING CHARLES
It’s sort of a well known secret that King Charles owns several properties in Transylvania— including one in the village of Zalanpatak which includes acres and acres of wild flower meadows and fields— and usually visits the region once a year. I went there a few years ago and missed him only by days, but I did sleep in his bed (pictured below). The good news is that you don’t have to be an aristocrat to spend your vacation in the royal guest house in Zalán Valley (Zalánpatak, Valea Zălanului).
I didn’t know that much about Transylvania before I was sent there on assignment for SALON Magazine along with photographer Stephanie Fuessenich (a German living in Paris). At the time it felt like another world, one where time stood completely still. Count Kálnoky is the caretaker of the royal country house on behalf of King Charles and owns two guesthouses himself in Miklósvár, 40 minutes away. This is also where the Kálnoky hunting lodge is located, which houses an exhibition on the history and craftsmanship of Transylvania - with all its complexity but thankfully, without the Dracula kitsch.
If you want to withdraw from the world, the King’s Cottage is the place (no wifi!). When Charles first visited the region at the tail end of the 1990s, he was overwhelmed by the diversity of flora and fauna. ( I was too!) You can hike for hours without seeing a single soul. Instead of mechanized farming, the farmers use horse-drawn carts and mow with scythes. The meadows and fields reminded Charles of England during Shakespeare's time. I can relate to this, as the journey from Bucharest to Transylvania took almost four hours by car and as soon as you leave the highway, you only see meadows and forests. On the way to the village of Valea Zalanului you’ll drive along a dirt road where there are often more cows than cars and you’ll pass the man who makes cheese, a beekeeper, a woman who bakes bread and sells the hand-woven carpets you can find in your rooms. (Ask where she works and you’ll be taken to her). Delicious home cooking with local ingredients is served. And no, there is no oat milk and no gluten-free bread. You eat what's on the table. Very relaxing!
Here’s the deal (affordable!) for one of the seven rooms scattered amongst three cottages. The 'All Inclusive' price per person sharing a double or twin room includes a welcome drink, full board, a foraging hiking tour, entrance fees, and transport and taxes. Price: 180-195 Euros per person per night.
ONE MORE FROM THE ROAD: Secret addresses in LAOS
Katharina usually keeps her top travel finds under wraps but she shared two hotel discoveries with the Ws. Her favorite recent find in Laos were the floating villas that are part of the Sala Done Khone hotel on a tiny island on the Mekong River.
She also loved the Residence Sisouk, a family house reinvented as an elegant 16 room hotel in Pakse, a city in the south of Laos notable for its well preserved French colonial architecture.
You can’t really go to Laos without stopping for 2-3 days in LUANG PRABANG, so we asked our South East Asia-based friend Jason Friedman, who is there often and is behind the openings of some of the region’s most special properties, including the Rosewood Luang Prabang and Shinta Mani Wild (he often works closely with the renowned designer Bill Bensley) for his insider tips.
THE PERFECT 24 HOURS IN LUANG PRABANG according to Jason:
BEST COFFEE: Saffron Coffee
BEST PASTRIES: Le Banneton Café French Bakery
BEST MORNING CONGEE: This street side cafe
BEST NGO SHOP FOR CRAFTS: Deaf & Mute Community Center
BEST SPOT FOR AN AFTERNOON GLASS OF ROSE: Gaspard
BEST SUNSET COCKTAILS: T56 Cafe & Bar
BEST DINNER: Manda de Laos
BEST PLACE TO SLEEP: Rosewood Luang Prabang