A member of the niche bespoke community in NYC, men's store Lord Willy's recently upgraded to larger digs from their humble storefront in New York's NoLita neighborhood. As the shop shuffled next door to a 2,500 square foot space, proprietors Alex and Betty Wilcox decided to turn the old...

Among the focused components of the 2012 WantedDesign event calendar, 12x12 stood out as an inspiring exhibition of upcycling and repurposing. The idea was simple—supply 12 designers with timber from 12 demolished New York City buildings to create a piece of furniture. While the work presented by a juried...

Today's laptops, tablets and smartphones have enabled workers to be more flexible in defining when, where and how they get their jobs done. While offices are still quite important for many, the way they're set-up is ripe for evolution. An increased emphasis on community and teamwork is also at...

While stopping by Cafe Intramuros at this year's Wanted Design, we stumbled across "Espress Yourself", a line of espresso cups fashioned by a collective of NYC designers. The group of five created their cups in a mere two months leading up to the show, using a combination of rapid...

After a well received debut last year, WantedDesign is back again at NYC's Design Week with an even more impactful exhibition showcasing both new and known international designers and architects. This was the break-out year for WantedDesign for its fine curation and product presentation, and while it was a...

The endless stream of information available on the web can easily get clogged with an overload of messaging. To simplify your daily surfing sessions, former Google Creative Lab Creative Director Ji Lee—with the coding help of Cory Forsyth—has come up with the Wordless Web, a simple browser plug-in that...


 LuxeFinds, the online luxury shopping engine for women, has produced a mobile shopping app that searches the web for lifestyle goods based on color. By taking a picture of an article of clothing or selecting a color from a color wheel, shoppers can find an exact match from...

Just released as a follow-up to the diminuitive Jambox speaker, Jawbone presents Big Jambox, a scaled-up version of the wireless speaker setup. In part a nod to the boombox speakers that gained popularity in the '70s, the device delivers full sound in a portable package. The speaker pairs automatically...

As a follow up to the LunarGrand Wingtip, Cole Haan is launching a line of LunarGrand Chukkas at their SoHo store in NYC this week. The shoes sport a nubuck upper that is paired with Nike's Lunarlon sole for a combination of classic style and modern functionality. The ribbed...

For years TED has fulfilled their mission of spreading ideas and inspiration through conferences, media and research fellowships. Taking this a step further and in the direction of generations to come, today TED launches a new TED-Ed initiative to assist educators and students worldwide. Understanding the evolutionary role of...

Even the savviest of frequent travelers can fall into the miles trap, letting their rewards go unclaimed or worse, losing entire days strategizing how to cash in for a free ticket. Superfly is a relatively new engine that simplifies the process of shopping for reward travel by storing membership...

Having navigated the uncertain world of online made-to-measure services, we were delighted to receive the fruits of our recent test run with J. Hilburn. The men's clothier was one of the pioneers of online MTM, and their experience shows both in the quality cut and professional level of service....

As a cross between illustration, philosophy and paper engineering, Sara Fanelli's most recent children's book "The Onion's Great Escape" challenges the limitations of reading as an interactive experience. Following the quest of an onion as it attempts to escape its apparent fate of death by frying, the book's perforated...

Making a name for herself by way of her "domestic trophies", Rachel Denny reinterprets the impact of human contact with the natural world in her sculptures. Her wool and cashmere-coated faux-taxidermy creatures represent our instinct to remake that world in our image, an extension of carefully groomed gardens and...

One of our favorite talks from TED this year, Chip Kidd delivers a great message in a most relaxed and humorous way. The talk, just posted online, reminds us about the importance of print in the digital age: "Much is to be gained by e-books: ease, convenience, portability," explains...

Leading up to the New York International Auto Show Land Rover celebrated 25 years in the U.S. by staging an "Urban Jungle" in a parking lot beneath the High Line in Manhattan. Decorated with buried taxis and vintage Rovers, the course features hills, holes, mud and ruts that show...

Always one to challenge the norm in lifestyle and performance outerwear, NYC-based Isaora has once again taken a conventional piece and transformed it into something truly their own. With the 2.5-Layer Tech Blazer with removable Pertex Insulated Vest Isaora reworks the traditional sport coat for a tech-driven alternative. The...

Having tried a number of wood backs for iPhone in the past, we were interested in the custom-engraved option from Material6. Not an adhesive layer applied to the glass back of the phone, but actually a replacement back all together, the wood is mounted in a frame identical to...

Living in the cramped quarters of the typical city-dweller, Graham Hill founded LifeEdited, a website focused on reducing one's non-necessities to live a more efficient life. His latest space-saving trick comes in the form of ThinBike, announced today at the PSFK Conference. This modified fixed gear features fold-up MKS...

Made among the Green Mountains of Vermont, Ursa Major skin care launched in late 2010 to provide men with a healthy and effective alternative to chemical-laden products. By favoring organic over synthetic, Ursa Major promotes a "super natural" regimen of face wash, toner and shaving cream, and a newly...

As one of the more useful designs in Apple-specific accessories we've seen of late, Henge Docks offers a smart and sleek way to connect your Mac laptop to a desktop monitor or TV. The standup dock secures multiple cords and cables in place to make connecting to external devices...

From Josh Guyot—Motrr co-founder and designer of Snow Peak's SnowMiner headlamp—comes Galileo, a 360° degree panning and tilting mechanism for iOS devices. With multiple potential applications, Galileo-mounted devices can be controlled remotely by swiping the screen of a secondary device to pan and tilt. The spherical platform allows for...

Generally considered the arbiter of denim, Self Edge recently took a trip to Greensboro, North Carolina to visit the world's oldest denim mill and document the making of Roy's new denim. Designed from warp to weft by Roy Slaper himself, the custom denim also marks the first unsanforized fabric...

Combining superfood favorite quinoa with delicious organic coca nibs, Venice Beach-based YogaEarth presents Keen-Wah Decadence. The nutritious bar offers yogis and other health-minded people a gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO snack on the go and, in addition to quinoa, includes cacao, chia seeds, almonds, almond butter, coco nectar and Himalayan sea...

As a 2012 TED Fellow and teacher at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, interactive video artist Gabriel Barcia-Colombo is deeply involved in the cultural and artistic exploration of communications technologies. Working primarily with video sculpture the ITP alum has long been interested in memorialization, and the urge for one to...

Offering Flying Circus fans a behind-the-scenes look at "Monty Python & the Holy Grail" (now out on Blu-Ray), the just-released companion iPad app "Monty Python: The Holy Book of Days" covers the epic film's 28-day shooting schedule with previously unpublished content sure to please Python aficionados and pillocks alike....

Decorating the foyer of San Francisco's new ultra-luxe high rise Millennium Tower, Yoram Wolberger's "CA Mission" depicts California's iconic Spanish missions in an 18' x 14' model. The nod to the state's former architects plays off of notions of mass production and cookie-cutter repetition with a body made from...

Professor Vijay Kumar from GRASP, the robotics laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, just wrapped up a fantastic TED Talk on his robotics work. Using custom-built quad rotor nano-copters, Kumar's team demonstrated the agility, versatility and programmable awareness of these small drone-like devices. Kumar's work is focused on creating...

The C6, a new low-cost abode by LivingHomes unveiled today at the TED conference in both Long Beach and Palm Springs, California, makes a substantial leap forward in green building. Designed with the hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans in mind, the pre-fabricated structure fulfills the requirements for...

Originally unveiled in 2006, Nike+ has grown to a committed community of over six million digitally connected users. To build upon this concrete foundation Nike has today announced the Nike+ basketball and training shoes embedded with pressure sensors and accelerometers to collect previously unmeasurable, movement-based statistics across multiple levels...

As the most innovative company in athletic equipment and sporting lifestyle, Nike rarely leaves a year's calendar unmarked by groundbreaking product launches. This time around the brand has just unveiled a slew of Olympic-focused, sustainably-driven innovations for the upcoming 2012 summer games in London. Of the products announced the...

While the purity of a lo-fi outdoor adventure can be a blissful experience, innovations in on-mountain tech offer enhancements that increase both fun and knowledge. Last week in Whistler I channeled my inner cyborg and tested three devices that are making the future now by informing, recording and entertaining...

On a recent trip to Whistler, we had the opportunity to sample the vodka from Pemberton Distillery, a fledgling outfit nestled in the Pemberton Valley of British Columbia. Within their unassuming walls, the distillery employs copper stills to create a line of locally sourced, organic liquors. Designed as a...

On a recent trip to Vancouver, British Columbia we were pleased to discover Alex Fairbairn's line of finely made leather goods, Wülf Work at the new shop Much & Little. The Swedish hardware on buckles and fasteners complemented the fine leatherwork, all of which is crafted under the company's...

Almost every picture I take for Cool Hunting stories is shot with my Nikon D700 so today's unveil of the D800 is welcomed news. An expected follow-on to last month's D4 announcement, the D800 brings a bounty of new features ranging from a massive full-frame CMOS sensor to dual...

It all started with a search for a pair of whalebones—two of them, between five and seven feet in length—to be mounted on a wall. Michael Moskowitz wanted to display the rare pieces to spark discussion of conservationist efforts, but found them exceedingly hard to come by. With all...

To commemorate the life and work of Joe Colombo, Italian design company Kartell has reissued his iconic 4801 chair. Designed in 1965, the 4801 was the first of 12 objects that Colombo created for Kartell until his premature death in 1971. In conjunction with the new release, Kartell is...

Designed by Marc Newson, the K-01 from Pentax is the most photogenic camera I've seen in awhile. Until now, the design-driven segment of mid to high-end cameras has been dominated by vintage-inspired units like the gorgeous Fuji X Series. Newson's signature style distinguishes the K-01 from the rest with...

Jumping ahead of the current trends in men's footwear, Cole Haan's LunarGrand wingtip is a classically designed full brogue dress shoe updated with an ergonomic outsole for unmatched comfort. Launching 10 February 2012, the LunarGrand has been "engineered to conquer the streets of New York City" by combining a...

To rethink the process of American-made goods and reinforce the values of domestic production, former Chrome bags President Bayard Winthrop founded American Giant, a new line of high-quality menswear. Focused on the basics, the first line of affordable garments includes five variations on the sweatshirt made with an exclusively...

Roughly translated to ski driving, skijoring is a Scandinavian-originated snow sport where a skier is towed—typically behind a horse or dogs. My introduction to the sport earlier this month came as an invitation from Bentley and Zai to join them in Gstaad for a less conventional interpretation. In caravan...

Solid construction, clean lines and a no-frills approach to design drive LA-based bag brand, Ignoble. Centered on the assertion that the black backpack represents the true "essential carryall for the modern man," Ignoble makes their own with a focus on thoughtful design, style and personality. The current collection comprises...

On a recent trip to Gstaad with Bentley (more on that next week), I had the pleasure of meeting the team from Zai, the high end, handmade Swiss ski manufacturer. Patrick, Daniela and Thomas (pictured here) all happened to be wearing incredible ski suits. As it turns out, Zai...

Premiering last night, HERE is a dreamy short film produced by Waris Ahluwalia for The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts. A romantic treasure hunt of sorts, the film stars Agyness Deyn, whose journey takes her halfway around the world following clues that lead to her mate. Directed by Luca...

While augmented reality interfaces have had their moment on smartphones, the automobile windshield is a potentially more useful place to overlay contextual information. Mercedes' Dynamic and Intuitive Control Experience (DICE) offers a look at how the manufacturer envisions getting everything from traffic data to information about passing landmarks. The...

Driven by a lifetime of poor vision and years spent behind uninspiring frames, former vintage menswear dealer Jason Pollak founded Deja Vu Refinery to supply those like him with an iconic frame of the highest quality. From what he describes as a "closet full" of antique frames, Pollak drew...

Best known for their waterproof cycling rucksacks, San Francisco's Mission Workshop has taken their material knowledge and redirected it into the Eiger field jacket, a limited-run waterproof parka from their Advanced Projects Series. We were lucky enough to get a hands-on preview of the Eiger, and can attest to...

From Yves Béhar of fuseproject, the design mind behind the "XO" laptop for the One Laptop per Child program, Jawbone UP and Jambox, comes Sabi, a line of medication vessels aimed at bringing beauty and efficiency to an everyday necessity. The "Vitality Line" includes holsters, crushers, choppers, folios, shakers—in...

After coming across a bag by a defunct '70s company in a Brooklyn vintage store, accessories designer China Young set out to reengineer the Dubbel Duffel's multipurpose charm to high fashion and quality standards. Delving into the history, Young found 1970s- and '80s-era comic ads and a cheeky character...

As nostalgic as we are for horology, the developments in wearable digital media platforms are introducing some thrilling competition. Down at CES, tech heads were treated to a selection of accessories with intelligent interfaces, understandably weighted toward the fitness market, where pocket-less fashion necessitates uber-mobile technology. Below you'll find GPS-tracking,...