Girl Power at GroovyQ

by Evan Orensten

Does your bed need a makeover? GroovyQ has just launched their newest Dirty Linens patterns, Girl Power and Vice. A provocative addition to their Tom of Finland toile. All patterns are also now available on boxers, lounge pants and wrapping paper in addition to bed linens.

Reader Survey

by Josh Rubin

It's survey time again. They help us learn more about you and that's useful for two reasons. Firstly, it helps us to continue bringing you the content you want to see. Secondly, it helps us tell prospective advertisers about you, which means you continue to get that content for free.

This year, as an incentive, we're offering prizes to be randomly awarded to survey participants. The Cool Hunting camonano, developed in collaboration with Colorware. This is not a sticker on a nano; it's a new custom casing! We only made 10 of these and 3 will be given away to survey participants. We also have 25 Pair-o-deez decks to give away.

Thanks for reading Cool Hunting. We appreciate your help in continuing to make it the best site possible. Please take the survey here. It won't take more than a few minutes.

Josh, Evan, Ami and the Cool Hunting team.

This Week at Refinery 29

by Josh Rubin

This Week at Refinery29, political activism gets fashion-wise thanks to Downtown for Democracy. Specially-designed shirts by fashion visionaries including Francisco Costa, Peter Som, Patricia Field, and Project Alabama stole the show at a recent event proving you can wear your political philosophy on your sleeve. Yoko Devereaux (no relation) shows us the perfect mix of downtown cool and uptown sophistication, with a little L.A. glamour thrown in the mix. L.A.-based jewelry designer Pade Vavra is inspired by organic materials and makes shark's tooth and coral-covered jewelry that looks like it came straight from the earth. And last but not least, that Houndstooth you’re wearing has a history that extends further than last season. This playful check has been in style all the way from Braveheart-era Scotland to Coco Chanel.

Peyton's Podcast

by Evan Orensten

Our friend Svenja noticed in this week's episode of the WB's 'One Tree Hill' that Peyton, one of the main characters, recorded her thoughts on a podcast. In the show's credits, after the usual 'songs you heard in this episode' promotion, viewers were invited to link to iTunes. There, as this week's feature, you can subscribe to a season of Peyton's teen angst. We'll be curious to see how WB succeeds to take on UPN and Veronica Mars' on-line shared desktop...

This Week in Tropolism

by Josh Rubin

It was all about elevated public parks. Visiting the High Line (getting oh so close to stepping on it), while seeing some great art. Visiting the press junket for 55 Water Street, a park we designed in 2002. And, visiting the lovely new park at 55 Water Street to see what actually got built. We also visited upon a fellow blog an earnest question mark about inspiration, using Lord Norman as an example.

Pierre Marcolini Chocolatier

by Evan Orensten

Wondering what to get us for the holidays? Our birthdays? Any days? We're obsessed with the chocolate craft of Pierre Marcolini, an artisian chocolatier in Brussels (with shops in Tokyo, London, Paris and New York).

What makes Pierre Marcolini chocolate so good? Like Blanxart they make their own chocolate from scratch, an increasingly rare art. They primarily use Criollo cacao beans grown in Venezuela, considered to be the world’s best. Butter comes from France. Vanilla from Madagascar. Almonds from Portugal.

The cocoa beans are processed and large blocks of chocolate are made. The origin of the beans and the percentage of the chocolate is stamped on the blocks, which are then used to make pralines, bars, and palets fins (thin, filled chocolate squares).

It’s all amazing, but we tend to go for the luxe square bars in their black and white packaging. They make many different bars, most from specific locations or of different cacao varieties. Our favorite is the Incrusté Cacao des Caraïbes au Nougat Torréfié (72% Carribbean chocolate with small crunchy bits of Pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts and almonds).

Available at Pierre Marcolini shops.

Andreas and Kostas Murkudis Meet Schiesser

by Ami Kealoha

Andreas Murkudis is yet another can't miss Berlin standby tucked in a courtyard in the Mitte district. It carries high-design objects and clothes and is one of the few places in the world to carry former Helmut Lang designer Kostas Murkudis' clothes (the two Murkudises are brothers). The shirt pictured here is a standout in the Fall men's line, a long-sleeved cotton piece lined with either grey or pink paint in the shape of a v-neck tee, subtly poking fun at the classic design and adding a unique minimalist accent to an otherwise plain garment. Other highlights include a three-year old unisex line called Haltbar that incorporates durable work wear fabrics with contemporary styles.

The latest venture, AM3, a storefront that opened last December on the same block as the original stores, features the famed Schiesser line of underwear that's known for it's old-school styling and soft mercerized cotton. The 130-year old label still packages it's goods in boxes, but has updated styles in recent years and will make the luxury leap this December when a line designed by Kostas hits stores in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Milan.