Cool Hunting

Needled: Tattoo Shoe
Needled recently found J. Shoes' leather slip-on with designs by tattoo artists that are hand-etched into the shoes and then burnished with oils and tattoo inks. Driving moccasins for the rockstar set?...

Interview with Maarten Baas
The most talked about exhibition during the Salone del Mobile was that by Maarten Baas. Set within the chaotic mess of a working auto garage in the Zona Tortona, the show covered works to date, along with a preview of new collections for Contrasts Gallery and Established & Sons Limited. The choice of space initially felt to me like a commentary on the hyper-produced...

Farm
Staged in an immaculate, white gabled space in the Navigli neighborhood in Milan, Studio Job recently previewed their latest monumental work in conjunction with the Eindhoven-based designhuis. The installation, called Farm, draws inspiration from traditional farming economies of the Dutch lowlands, and is composed of twenty-four cast bronze objects and six pieces of Palissander wood furniture. Continuing the leitmotif developed in last year's Homework...

Joost & Kiki: reCollections
While the Italians were rightfully celebrating their design legacy at the Triennale with an exhibition called "What is Italian Design?," I find it worth noting that once again, Dutch design was proving to be the most radical, poetic, soul-searching work at the Salone del Mobile. On the last day of the fair, I doubled back to the Zona Tortona to see “reCollections,” an exhibition...

The Pyramids of Makkum
For years, Royal Tichelaar Makkum, the Netherlands' longest extant company, has quietly mounted the most impressive displays of ceramic ware during the Milan Furniture Fair and this year is no exception. Two years ago, they released a hugely successful collection of biscuit ware with Studio Job; last year they launched a unique office collection with Dick van Hoff, which turned the ornamental into the...

Hidebumi Yamaguchi: IMAnoWa
With all the press and buyers swarming around Milan's Salone del Mobile, I was so happy to wander into a seemingly inauspicious exhibition called "Shapes of Japanese Style." The group show was tucked into the gallery's basement and, like many exhibits of its kind, felt a little thin. That was until my eyes landed on Hidebumi Yamaguchi's IMAnoWa collection. The concept, to encourage users...