Pharell Copies Noke Cortez but Badly with Louis Vuitton ButterSoft Sneaker's.

 

It's fair to say that Pharrell's tenure as Louis Vuitton's creative director has attracted a lot of criticism. While mainstream media has been towing the party line and clamouring with effusive praise, smaller independent commentators have been largely negative.  Observing a profound lack of creativity, and generally ugly releases.

It's not hard to see why this position has been taken.  Virgil Abloh, who Pharell took over from, revolutionised fashion by introducing industrial design cues, and an entirely new wave of pared down styles.  He brought that creative energy to LV, and while some pieces were a bit formulaic, there was genius and brilliance in every collection.

Pharell so far only seems to be re-releasing collabs, such as the Murakami, and now, an "original" sneaker release from the brand under his direction, is effectively a Nike Cortez sneaker in leather.  Worse in fact, as the stubby, ugly toecap mean that a simple leather Nike Cortez would be a better choice.

These will be £900 a pair on release, and we suggest looking elsewhere, perhaps towards Hermes Quick trainers if you want a luxe sneaker.  Or, you know, just buy some Nikes.

Bottega Veneta x Lorenzi Milano Collaborative Collection.

 

There are many brands in the world of luxury which quietly tick along, surviving for decades, or even centuries, doing very-well-thnakyou, with the majority people never even knowing they exist.  Sometime's, they are unceremoniously brought into the spotlight, and suddenly everyone want's a piece. Goyard is an excellent example, of this.  Most however just continue, enjoyed by the small loyal luxury consumers who know them.  

Lorenzi Milano is just one such brand.  Founded in 1929, this Italian luxury homeware's brand has been producing high-end pieces, with a penchant for horn, with a brand update in the last decade.  This update has brought them to the attention of some of the larger luxury houses, and, as often happens, we see the first collaboration with a mainstream well-known brand, Bottega Veneta.

The collaboration has produced three items.  A shoe horn, travel comb, and manicure set.  The items are made by Lorenzi Milano, and the leather comes from Bottega. With prices staring from £270 for the comb.

We think this is a perfect collaboration.  Bottega, despite being owned by the Kering Group, manages to retain what made it excellent, which is exceptionally well crafted leather goods, with an emphasis on their intrecaiatto leather.  While Lorenzi Milano bring what makes them shine, their horn and high quality accessories.  We hope to see more from the pair, and hope the potential exposure and success doesn't result in Lorenzi Milano being bought out, and loosing what makes them special. 

Bottega Veneta Release Uninspired Odyssey Cabin Luggage.

 

All brands seem to want to cover every possible product category, to have as broad as possible appeal, and capitalise on possible profits.  Bottega Veneta's new attempt at hard-sided luggage is yet another demonstration that "stay-in-your-lane" isn't an insult, or an attempt to diminish, but rather, it's a prescription to avoid ridicule.

Bottega Veneta are known for high quality leather, with a complicated woven pattern, called "intrecaiatto", Italian for intricate.  For their hard sided luggage they've made a black plastic case, with a vague attempt to recreate this woven pattern.  We think it's a failure.  Indeed, we go futhrt than this, it is in fact not an appealing prospect.  It's very small, at just 21.5" x 13.8" x 8.3", with only a 7lb capacity, meaning it can barely carry a couple of outfits.  It also costs £2,300.

For just £300 more you can purchase Bottega Veneta's Weekender in canvas and genuine leather, with considerably more carrying capacity.  Alternatively, you can pick up two Rimowa Aluminium carry on's with double the capacity. 

We suggest this offering looks cheap, and poorly put together. The wheels and locks for example look like throwaway luggage you would buy when the check in desk say you\re overweight and you need an emergency buy.  It's  also heavier than most cabin luggage on the market, such as the aforementioned Rimowa Aluminium luggage weighing 3.1kg against the 3.2kg of this, and is woefully overpriced.  If It weren't already available for pre-order we would say it's another attention getter.  An intentionally bad product to get tongues wagging.  But it's not, and we suggest avoiding it.

Burberry COMME des GARCONS Trench.

 

Last year Rei Kawakubo collaborated with Burberry to produce a most unusual piece, of a hybrid tartan and fur trench.  They've come together once again this year, with this rock-n-roll trench.

This comes of course as a product of Burberry's new creative director, Daniel Lee, wanting to create statement pieces that get people talking, and to show he's taking the brand in a new direction.  It's pretty unlikely anyone will wear this, as it looks faintly ridiculous.  Not to mention being impractical, and overpriced at £3,500.

But that's not the point, the point is to encourage precisely what is happening now, attention to be paid.  It is however always interesting to see what these brands do in attempts for relevance and interest.  Especially when it's a "new-broom" type situation. 

Disagree?  You're wring, but you can buy it now if you really want to.

Rolls Royce Cameo Decor Piece.

We love tasteful home decor pieces, and if they have some touch that makes them unique and stand out from the crowd, we like them all the more.  Roll's Royce's new miniature car sculpture, the Cameo,  definitely falls into this category.

A classic car sculpture always works.  The Amalgam company has come from nowhere with an exceptional range of them, which sell for five figure prices in some cases.  However, while they're listed edition's, they don't have the unique cachet that the Cameo has.  Because in order to purchase one of these, you need to own a Roll's Royce.The models are only sold in Private Office Boutiques, and only to customers designing a car.  Meaning that this will get seen by fellow owners, and will be a genuine IYKYK moment.  

Furthermore, the models are made from the very same materials that go into the cars.  Oak, aircraft grade aluminium, and a charming 3D printed interior designed by Grace White.  All in all, a charming little piece, with some elements that make it a real head turner. 

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Eleven Headphone's Claim Superior Tech to EX in Same Body.

 

Bang & Olufsen have released a new set of in-ear buds, the Beoplay Eleven.  We don't want to sound like we are wearing a tinfoil hat, but we are somewhat skeptical.  It's entirely possible that these are, substantially, the same product.

Allow us to develop this argument.  Both the EX and Eleven share the same body, same charging case, and, precisely the same technical audio features.  Don't believe us?  Check Bang & Olufsen's own compare page, which we've screenshotted for you here.  

The items impossible to question, IP7 water resistance, microphones, and Bluetooth 5.2, are the same.  The only measurable differences are in the battery life, 6-8 in the EX, and up to 28 in the Eleven.  Yet, an entirely unquantifiable element of the product is claimed to be superior.  The Eleven states it's Active Noise Cancellation is "2X better", and Transparency mode is "1.8X better".

This is not persuasive as far as marketing goes, and while we wouldn't go so high a outright claiming B&O have simply upgraded the battery, and released the same product, until an independent professional website like Rtings test the ANC, and prove it is superior, our eyebrow's are firmly raised.

Flos Model 600 Bottega Veneta Edition.

 

Originally designed in 1966 by Gino Sarfatti, the Flos Model 600 was an unusual beast, that could only really come from the 1960's in respect of its design DNA.  If we think of the 60's as a decade of design, we find numerous examples of pieces with slouchy, relaxed, almost melting into nothing-like touches.  A couple of examples are Lava Lamp's, and just on the other end of the decade, Michel Ducaroy's Togo sofa's.

The Model 600, with it's leather bean-bag base, it absolutely a product of this period, and after Flos acquired Sarfatti's company in 1973, and all it's designs, the Model 600 wasn't made anymore in the 80's, as it was just to 60's to work.

Now we live in an era where decades are meaningless, and as time blurs into one long stream of nothingness, the Model 600 is back.  However, a relaunch in our time wouldn't be complete without some type of collaboration.  Here it's Bottega Veneta, who have clad the leather base in its signature intreccatiato  leather.

We have to be honest, it's not that bad.  It's pretty innocuous, and is certainly unusual. It's a pity we cant' have any original designs, but as we all know, everything is mostly creatively bankrupt.  Models available now from Flos, and Bottega, starting from £1,050 for small models, up to £3,100 for large ones.

Bose Purchase both Sonus Faber and Mcintosh Luxury Audio Brands.

In Martin Scorcese's "The Departed", Matt Damon's corrupt police officer lives the high life, and one signifier of this is exceptionally expensive Mcintosh audio equipment.  Now this brand, along with Sonus Faber, a company that sells loudspeakers that retail as high as $750,000, have been taken over by Bose.

This marks Bose's intention to move into the luxury audio market, currently occupied by Bang & Olufsen, and Devialet, and few others.  By acquiring two of the most prestigious audiophile brands in existence, this seems an attainable goal.

It remains to be seen how Bose will translate this into actual workable products.  Will they shutter the two brands?  And release a "prestige" line of Bose products?  Or take a different route, of simply running the businesses and profiting from them?  Only time will tell.

One thing is clear however, Bose's mid-high level approach to the audio market has clearly won the day, and put them in a position to dominate the competition.  While neither Mcintosh or Sonus Faber were failing businesses, people don't generally sell their companies unless they are failing, or simply can't compete.  That's pretty obviously what's happened here.  Mediocrity has won the day.  Let's hope they don't degrade the firms they now own.