A record by Patti Smith, Run-DMC or Marvin Gaye, a dandelion in a glass, filigree earrings, a mottled fruit bowl, soy wax candles, a polaroid camera, a kineograph, a travel guide to Brittany, postcard, notebooks, fine photographic prints, and flower seeds – visitors entering the concept store Nouvel Été in the St. Johanns-Vorstadt will discover a world of lucky finds and stories. But how do all these multifarious pieces come together?
The answer is simple: Nina Sommer and Daniel Infanger, who together run the store and the online shop that goes with it, have enjoyed a pretty colourful life. Daniel grew up in the mountains, and originally trained as a car mechanic; he was also a ski instructor. Then, after several years working as an assistant to various photographers, he won a photography prize himself, used the prize money to buy his equipment and set up on his own. He has been working as a freelance photographer and filmmaker for 30 years now. Nina first completed a commercial apprenticeship with the Swiss Post as a marketing specialist and then later trained as a florist. She opened and ran her own shop; was the manager of the museum shop at the Kunstmuseum Basel; now works as an entrepreneur, florist, and photographer; and has dedicated herself intensively to the art of cyanotypes over the last few years. A glimpse into Nina and Daniel’s multifaceted store is also an insight into their varied lives and to what unites them: a love of beauty. A love of travel (again and again to their favourite destination, Paris); of analogue photography; music on vinyl; of design, literature, and art.
From a break in Paris to the store in St. Johann
The fact that this couple’s lives now also revolve around Nouvel Été is the result of a creative break three years ago. The two of them were living and working in an artist’s studio in Paris when new ideas began form. “What we wanted to try out, to find out, was whether our passions could be combined in the form of an online-shop," Nina tells me. Although neither of them had much experience in e-commerce, they drafted an idiosyncratic but deeply authentic concept; Nouvel Été was born.
Back home again, they concentrated intensively on building up their online store – in addition to all their other projects and assignments, it should be noted. Daniel’s main job is still as a photographer, even now. Nina designs her own jewellery collection, arranges floral displays, and makes photographic prints. Her aim of telling the individual story of every single product that has been photographed, requires many long hours at the computer and in the photographic studio. At the end of 2023, nouvel-ete.com went online. “And then for a while at the beginning there, nothing happened at all," laughs Nina. But knowing full well that things are always difficult at the beginning, they decided to grin and bear it.
“Our work-life balance? Intense, but fulfilling.”
“Not long after we launched the website, I noticed the empty shop in St. Johann. We hadn’t planned to have an actual store so quickly but ...” Nina shrugs her shoulders. “It’s just part of my nature that I like to have more than one iron in the fire.” So now, in addition to all her other projects, she mans the store, takes care of the purchasing and arranging the product lines. Daniel photographs the products, creates content for social media and curates the musical items with a fine selection of vinyl records and record players. He is also the person to ask about anything to do with analogue photography.
“Are we working now or is this pleasure?”
What catches the eye as you enter Nouvel Été is its wealth of well-designed, harmonious, and uncommon items. Beautiful pottery, decorative soaps, exquisite illustrated books, and cool socks. If it tastes good and is artfully packaged, a simple tomato sauce can even make its way into the array of products. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays they also have fresh bouquets of flowers on offer – if they have the time. “In that case, at 6 o’clock in the morning we drive to the flower market…” says Daniel. “It’s a lovely part of our job.” adds Nina, who arranges the bouquets. They both print their own postcards as well, on an old Japanese printing press, a risograph. You can buy them in the shop, along with Nina’s jewellery and the photographic prints. On selected weekends, the two of them also run workshops in Daniel’s photo studio to share the magic of the cyanotype. “We have crammed all our passion and skills into Nouvel Été,” is how Daniel sums it up.
But all the joy and inspiration aside – it is also a feat. “Nouvel Été never stops, it challenges us anew every day,” is how Nina describes it. “Our work-life balance? Intense, but fulfilling," grins Daniel. “We often ask ourselves, are we working now or is this pleasure?” “We inspire each other creatively," is how Nina sees it. Their passion and authenticity are the essential ingredients of their success. And it is impossible to resist the charm of the eclectic variety of wares, which are nonetheless always precisely presented with care; useful, unusual, and enchanting objects in the shop and the workshop.
