Cool Hunting

13 September 2009 - 19 September 2009 week before | next week view all from this month
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Yuketen Double-Ring Boot
We've seen a lot of these double-ring boots lately but our favorite thus far has to be this version by Yuketen. Featuring a sturdy cream-colored Vibram sole, you can be rest assured that it will eat up any type of terrain this fall. Sewn into the stable sole is an oiled moccasin upper that is soft and supple providing comfort. The double-ring system pulls...
Next Black Backpack: The Timbuk2 Q
A black backpack is part of my daily life and needless to say I have very specific requirements—after a few weeks testing, the Timbuk2 Q has become my new standard. Constructed from durable ballistic nylon, the pack is designed to offer "swing around" access to its padded laptop sleeve, but also offers easy reach for its other compartments. The main pocket is roomy enough...
Lissitzky+ Project
The Van Abbesmuseum in Eindhoven, Netherlands is set to open a three-year exhibit on the Soviet visionary El Lissitzky, dubbed the Lissitzky+ Project. The first of three one-year installments opens 19 September, 2009, giving up an entire floor to a man whose career was marked by contradictions. Interestingly, he alternately worked to preserve Jewish heritage in the former Russian empire and as a polemicist...
Artist Karen Kimmel
As creative as she is altruistic, artist Karen Kimmel leads stencil workshops geared for children that she calls Art of Exchange. The L.A.-based artist has been stressing the importance of creating art and helping kids make "some sick stuff" from California to New York, setting up workshops at Creative Growth in Oakland and Arizona's Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in addition to partnering with...
The Bethlehem Beard Corporation
Signed to Swedish label Flora and Fauna, The Bethlehem Beard Corporation consists of a 15-year-old melancholic Swede. Here at CH we’ve been listening to his latest disc When the Beards Met in Bethlehem on a regular basis, enough so that we contacted our good buddy Jonas at the Swedish Model to get some interview questions over to the artist. See his answers below. I...
Peace Frog x Indian Motorbike
Founded in 1901, Indian Motorcycles is traditionally known for producing big, loud bikes, but Bike Exif put us on to this skinnier model. A customized Indian, we love this bike for what it's not. Stripped off all superfluous parts we're drawn to the minimalist, lightweight look. The customization comes out of a small shop in Kumamoto, Japan called Peace Frog. Originally unveiled at the...
Standard Finery Spring 2010 Collection
A whimsical blend of combed cotton and wispy silks, Standard Finery's spring 2010 collection inspires weekends at the beach and casual urban strolls. With items like bustiers and bloomers, this season the Brooklyn-based label added a '50s feeling to their repertoire of dainty dresses and free-flowing separates. The anything-but-standard collection will be available this spring in urban independent boutiques, to see their current fall...
Milkmade Ice Cream
Another NYC winter awaits us just around the corner, but cold weather doesn't mean the end of ice cream cravings thanks to a novel new ice cream delivery service. Saving New Yorkers from a trip outside, Milkmade, a full-service start-up, delivers their handmade ice cream right to your door every month. Subscribers receive a menu of five seasonal flavors, each a blend of produce...
Who Shot Rock 'n' Roll: A Photographic History, 1955–Present
by Tamara Warren Long a critical part in spreading the look, attitude and emotion of a burgeoning culture to the masses, the new book "Who Shot Rock 'n' Roll" helps define rock photography as a genre of it’s own. Historian and author Gail Buckland captures the depth and breadth of the field’s most talented purveyors in her twelfth book of photographic examination, which Knopf will...
Designing Obama
Would you like to own a record of the most successful grassroots campaign in presidential election history? A sprawling collection of art from the historic campaign, "Designing Obama" features over one hundred artists whose works contributed to a nationwide branding effort that helped inspire a nation. With collaboration from Scott Thomas, the Design Director for the Obama campaign, and featuring forewords by Steven Heller and...
Cool Hunting's Fall 2009 Playlist
As summer hanging makes way for classes and meetings, the changing season calls for a soundtrack of syncopated digital beats and rock 'n' roll jams for setting a productive mood. Of course, fall wouldn't be fall without shedding a small tear for the parties that had to end, romances that seem frivolous in fall and trees losing their leaves, which all feels most satisfyingly...
Meilleur Ami Scarves and Bags
by Zeva Bellel Launched November 2008, Meilleur Ami makes niche men's accessories in Paris whose name is their promise—designs that behave like best friends. So strict is founder Fabien Larchez' BFF criteria that only two designs, the perfect bag and the perfect scarf, made it in the current collection. "A good accessory can very quickly become your best friend," says Larchez, while modeling his ingenious...
Sun N0º1 Solar Activated Shirt
The initial design in a series of intelligent shirts combining fashion with technology, Moondial's Sun Nº01, limited edition zebra print tee, takes full shape a sunlight-activated image. Heat hitting the shirt reveals a lavender zebra head, lending an interactive element to an otherwise static graphic. Headed up by Sabine Seymour—Parsons professor and author of the book Fashionable Technology—Moondial created the dynamic shirt in combination...
Riva Yacht Boatyard
by Paolo Ferrarini of Future Concept Lab CH recently had the rare chance to spend a day at Riva's befitting headquarters and boatyard in Sarnico, a small village in northern Italy on the shores of the beautiful Lake Iseo. (Click on images for enlarged view.) Steeped in history, the Riva story begins with Pietro Riva, a carpenter who in 1842 moved to Lake Como and...
Bike Rides Exhibition
The upcoming exhibit "Bike Rides" brings together a global cast of artists to celebrate pedal power at a time when the developed world is reclaiming the ubiquitous two-wheeled wonder as a possible savior for our urban transportation woes. We refer, of course, to the trusty bicycle. As the sun sets on the auto age, the work in the show speaks to the increasing cultural...
Academy of Art Collection Fashion Week Spring 2010
by Ariston Anderson Standing out among the current New York Fashion Week insanity, seven talented young designers from the Academy of Art San Francisco took to the catwalk a collection of 1960s inspired womenswear, making for a Mad Men ambiance for their collaborative showcase at the Bryant Park tents. Each designer spoke to the theme, their individual collections reflecting their personal take on the era...
Cool Hunting Video Presents: Rye Rye
by Gregory MitnickChecking in with M.I.A. protege Rye Rye, this video visits the rising star in the studio working on her yet as unreleased album and at a WWD Daily photo shoot. The 18-year-old Baltimore native shares the story of how she came up, a few dance moves and what she likes to rap about....
London Design Guide 2010
Just in time for visitors coming to London next week for the city's massive annual design event, the London Design Guide comprehensively lists the places, people and resources that celebrate design. The book organizes the destinations—boutiques, restaurants, hotels, galleries and more—by neighborhood, including a map of the locale and a local's narrative through it—naturally, all with a clean, well-designed layout. Abetted by editorial features...
Olaf Breuning: Color Studies
Part of his recent ongoing Color Studies series, Olaf Breuning's current exhibit in Los Angeles' Michael Benevento Gallery uses sculpture and photography as vehicles for luminous basic colors, offsetting them with deep black and bright white surfaces to striking effect. A multiple-room exhibit, Breuning painted the gallery's first room entirely black, making the photographs depicting bright paint poured onto human figures appear to float...
Bernhard Willhelm: Keep It Unreal Collection
Extending his brand of irreverent eclecticism, Bernhard Willhelm's new line introduces his multi-referential fantasy to a sportswear collection called Keep It Unreal. Including leggings and coordinating tops covered in psychedelic radiating lines, "bad taste" t-shirts depicting images like a bikini on fire and oversize mesh tunics emblazoned with African mask-inspired graphics, the pieces stay true to Willhelm's wildly playful, boundary-pushing style while simultaneously exploring...
Anniel Sport Shoes and Bags
Originally designed for performers in Italy's piazzas, the family-run label Anniel Sport has been producing extremely pliant ballet and gymnastics shoes in streamlined silhouettes since 1976. The rubber-soled shoes gained popularity in Japan, setting off the idea of using them as streetwear and spawning even more styles and colors. Today, the collection consists of shoes and handbags in saturated jewel tones and buttery-soft Italian...
Babelgum Metropolis Art Prize 2009
Global web video hub Babelgum is hosting the world's biggest contemporary art competition, seeking out artists who speak to the spirit of their urban culture-themed Metropolis channel, where you can also find our Cool Hunting Video series. Focusing on the idiosyncrasies of a city, Babelgum's Metropolis channel covers the urban environment and its fashion, art, design and culture sectors. Open to artists of any...
Andrea: Naturally Purified Air Filter
Andrea, a natural air purification system, looks like a futuristic prop in Steven Spielberg's A.I., not something you'll soon be able to purchase online for the cost of an iPod Touch. Created by industrial designer Mathieu Lehanneur and Harvard professor David Edwards in 2007, Andrea was one of several concepts by the designer to be featured in MoMA's critically-acclaimed exhibition, Design and the Elastic...
Trunki Kids Ride-On Suitcases
by Julie Wolfson Trunki creator Rob Laws admits he never completely grew up. The childhood troublemaker and dyslexic found refuge in making things and came up with the idea for animal-themed suitcases that kids can ride on as a college design student. Struggling to find an idea in the luggage department, Laws ended up in the kids area looking at riding toys. After several stops...
Gagosian Boutique
We got a sneak peek at the new Gagosian retail space which is set to open in the next week in New York City. Designed by Dan Rowen Architect/MNDesign in collaboration with Gagosian Gallery, the spare, bright space successfully feels more retail than gallery. The space focuses primarily on the publications, posters and accessible artist editions that the powerhouse gallery creates from its many...
September 13, 2009 - September 19, 2009 week before | next week view all from this month
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