This pillow is 16" square, 100% woven wool and exclusive to BASE and CH. It has the word Life on one side and Love on the other and is available in two color combos. All profits from the sale of these pillows will go directly to UNICEF's fund for children infected with HIV. Make someone happy with the perfect gift and know that you have done some good!
$98, Buy it at BASE
These 100% resin money-banks were cast from a demised piglet (we're assured it died of natural causes)! A large cork stopper under the belly should holds all the treasure in. Available in fuscia or white. The Pig Bank is part of Reality, the first series of Harry Allen Products that consists of objects whose form is 'sampled' from existing sources. Literal, ironic, intelligent and functional!
$120, Buy it at BASE
Skulls might be last year's thing but to me they transcend fad, and I know I'm not alone. This little mouse skull is made of oxidized silver and cast from a found original. Crafted in Brooklyn by Andrea Gentl and India d'Arthenay of Thorn, it comes on a 22" chain.
It's $218 from Active Endeavors, but if you enter the coupon code: COOLHUNTING you'll get 20% off this or anything else they're selling.
Tokyoflash has always brought us great gadget watches flexing new time-telling muscles, but this time, you'll rip flesh trying to determine how late you are. The all-stainless steel Biohazard Alien Detection Watch has an advanced multi-color LCD display. The top row has 12 helix bars, each lit for the hours of the day, the bottom row of blue blocks represent five minute increments, green are one minute each and, more than just a gimmick, the animated "Alien DNA" calculation in the middle determines the date by the percentage shown (12.04% = December 4th). With free shipping, the ¥15900 price converts to approx $138 US. Fun for the whole spacefleet!
Everyone has a T-shirt wearer on their gift list. These picks combine eye-catching original design with high-quality cotton shirts for tees a step above vintage reproductions and wink-wink-nudge-nudge one-liners.
This mesmerizing Dots Tee (pictured left) is made by Brooklyn based T-shirt designers Rise and Fall. The cotton T-shirts are hand-printed and custom-dyed making each one unique. Available for $38 from Urban Outfitters.
The Elio-Tree T (pictured center) has a asymmetrical screen-printed design inspired by traditional Japanese graphics. The 100% cotton T-shirt is available in women's small, medium and large online for £23 from More T Vicar.
Momimomi, one of our favorite tee companies that aims to treat the t-shirt "as a billboard for the body, not the other way around" is offering a new monthly T-shirt subscriptions service that they're calling Tea Party. Subscribers will receive a original custom-dyed silkscreened t-shirt in the mail once a month. Subcriptions are available for 3 months ($120), 6 months ($210) or 12 months ($360).
You chose that board as much for the beautiful graphics as for its ability to carve up powder, right? So this is for those boarders who get really sad when they have to put their board away after getting home from the slopes. Vitamin Living’s Powder Seat is a great way to display your board all the year round, not to mention a space-saving way to store it during off-season. The Powder Seat is simply a base that suckers onto the underside of the board making it into a sturdy seat. There are two different base designs available, the Trident, with two sleek metal tripod legs (pictured), or the Blade, which is a streamlined single metal structure. £99 from Vitamin Living.
Minus the mania of other traffic-heavy NYC hoods, Atlantic Ave is Refinery29's current front-runner for civilized gift-getting. Plus, you don't technically have to live here to shop here—many of the proprietors offer e-commerce as well as shipping options, so that one perfect thing in Brooklyn can be yours in L.A., too. At Bark your gift-giving journey may come to a halt. Stocked with so many eclectic housewares (funky flasks), accessories (Gerard Tully rings), and cool gadgets, you're sure to be stumped over what to get grandma. Our pick: Winter warmth to be found in their colorful, luxe blankets (from $170-$780). To order call Bark at 718-625-8997
Over a year in the making, this Chain Tape from Salvor Kiosk will add an extra sense of security to your gift wrapping. The "paper bondage" tape comes in two additional designs, Rope and Webbing, and is available online from Salvor Kiosk for $13.
Also on Cool Hunting: Salvor Kiosk: Mexico, Salvor Kiosk .
Perhaps you didn’t have a chance to check out Steve Powers' Street Art show on the corner of West Broadway and Prince Street last month. The artist, graffiti writer and book author sometimes known as ESPO had a sale of his art on the street along with all the other vendors. His “booth†was between the hot dog and scarf stands. You can’t get much more street than that! He still has a few prints left, including “You and Me†(pictured) and “Puzzle,†both limited editions of 50 that cost $1,000 each. Order from his site before 20 December 2006 to get them in time for the Christmas—a perfect gift for the graffiti aficcionado.
Refinery29 takes us to the Brooklyn outpost for men, Hollander and Lexer where shopping for the most stylish guy in your world is a cinch. Those at the top of our wish list are a classic H and L tweed tie ($75) or decide between some of the best men's bags in town like the Billy Kirk Leather satchels (pictured, $325). To order call 718-797-9190.
Launched earlier this year, the limited edition version of the Signat Attaché Case, a collaboration between Samsonite Black Label and British fashion designer Matthew Williamson, is finally available online just in time for gift giving. Also re-released in orange, yellow and pink (see images here), the effort celebrates Samsonite's classic 1960's Signat Attaché Case. For the limited edition version, Williamson accented the cream exterior with a silver and flourescent pink leather sleeve for over the shoulder carrying. The interiors follow the same color scheme mixing pastel colors with fluorescent pink for contrast and combines two prints, one floral and one geometric. Both patterns were designed by Williamson and were featured in his Fall/Winter 06/07 apparel collection. Featuring an organized divider, an interior cosmetics pouch and a key charm, the limited edition bags (only 250 will be sold) are available online from Samsonite for $360.
Sometimes the best gifts aren't made to last. Everyone appreciates a useful consumable gift that won't add more clutter to their lives. This Soap Rock has the beautiful color and shape of a geological specimen without the permanence. Made from all natural ingredients, extracts and minerals the hand hewn soap rock is available in Amethyst, Turquoise, Aquamarine, Aqua Geode, Watermelon Tourmaline and Lapis Lazuli styles for $12 each online from Auto.
The delicate floral design of Joseph Schmidt's Chocolate Bowl may look like fine tableware but it's actually completely consumable. Made from dark chocolate with a hand-painted white chocolate interior, the Chocolate Bowl is great example of Joseph Schmidt's artistic innovations in the medium. Available exclusively from Dean and Deluca for $45.
What better way to say "Peace on Earth" than with this Hand Signal Candle? Also available in other hand signals, such as "rock horns" and a much less polite gesture ("bird"), the candles are $16 Urban Outfitters.
The French Lessons Panties from the erotic boutique Kiki De Montparnasse (covered in Haute Sex II) are printed with suggestive French phrases (and their English translations in fine print). The instructional panties read mange-moi (eat me), Balse-moi (fuck me), aime-moi (love me), fesse-moi (spank me) and attache-moi (tie me up). Screen-printed on white cotton panties with a delicate black trim, these French lessons are perfect for that person aiming to expand their repertoire of French word beyond the "Voulez-vous coucher…" cliche. Available online for $325, including complimentary gift wrapping.
Today's Refinery29 pick for CH's 2006 gift guide comes from Butter, a Brooklyn boutique renowned for their well-edited collection of hard-to-find designers. A trip to Butter makes scoring the right gift for the ladies in your life a piece of cake. The vintage coral studs are an affordable luxury, and one of Butter's braided wool hats designed by Local ($98) is the perfect marriage of function and fashion for the frigid months ahead. To order call Butter at +1 718-260-9033.
If you've ever seen a plucky dog make its way on three legs then you'll appreciate the affectionate humor of this I Heart Tripods tee. The shirt is part of New York-based writer Sonia Zjawinski's efforts to raise funds for her dog Lulu's bone cancer treatment. (Click image for detail.) Designed by a friend after Lulu lost her leg to the disease, the proceeds will go toward her ongoing chemotherapy treatments. Eventually, Sonia hopes to raise more than she needs so that she can start a fund for other dogs with the same condition who also can't afford treatment and she's blogging her experience here. Printed on Alternative Apparel's incredibly soft heather grey PE tees, I Heart Tripod shirts cost $40 and the design is available on a tank top and a tote bag as well. For an extra $10, you'll get a mix CD of music about animals or by bands with names that reference animals.
During the weeks leading up to the holidays, everyone's To Do list is as long as their To Buy list, and too much to choose from can often be as paralyzing as too little. Refinery29 has taken the guess-work out of holiday shopping by priming Cool Hunting readers with the coolest and most diverse gifts—short and sweet—to be found in one of our favorite new neighborhoods, Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.
First up is unconventional greenery from Dig. It might seem simple, but the right plant just screams festive, and it's just the thing for the impossible to please. Dig doesn't specialize in standard wreathes; instead they've made topiary holiday dogs (from $100-$280), aromatic rosemary trees, and offbeat Poinsettia arrangements the new host gift (and you'll need plenty). Call 718-554-0207 to order.
LaCie's new Huby USB and FireWire Hub hooks up your computer with plenty of ports for your cup warmer, ultrasound and Availabot, chargers, drives, cameras, music players and other gear, and keeps them all at arm's length on the 8 flexible arms. It also comes with a fan to keep you (and your gear) cool. Designed by Ora-Ito (aka Ita Morabito), it adds a bit of style to the clutter. Available for $80 from LaCie.
The Multipot (below left) is a light that doubles as a storage bin for all of your chargers. The cables that connect to your devices fit neatly through a cut out in the top of the pot, keeping all of the clutter hidden away, with just a single cord to plug into the wall. Designed by Dante Donegani and Giovanni Lauda for Rotaliana, the Multipot helps solve the problem of where to put—and charge—all of your devices. Available for $179 in multiple colors from Design Within Reach—the silver version has the added bonus of reflecting back its surroundings making it "invisible." Visit the Multipot site for more details and vendors outside of the U.S.
Harry (above right) keeps your gear organized by gently grabbing it with its flexible coated wire hooks. Mount it next to your door and you'll never forget your kit on the way out. Available for $30 from Formila.
Winifred Burkeman started to sell her handmade beauty products after all her friends kept asking what she used on her flawless skin. Named after her mother, her two year-old line of products, McBride Beauty, uses the same natural blend of ingredients that her mother had made years before to keep her sensitive skin healthy. Winifred makes the essential oil-based face and body natural beauty products at her home in Brooklyn using entirely natural ingredients—no chemicals or artificial colors—and they are not tested on animals. Now everyone has a chance to have beautiful and healthy skin like the McBride ladies.
For Cool Hunting readers, Wini is offering a great deal. You can get a set of all five of the products: Avocado Oil & Wheat Germ Night Créme, Rose Water & Vitamin C Face Créme, Grapefruit & Sandalwood Astringent, Cucumber Body Lotion and Milk & Honey Soap for $90 instead of the usual $120, if you mention Cool Hunting to her when you order by emailing wini [at] mcbridebeauty [dot] com. Otherwise, you can find McBride Beauty products at Steven Alan, Bird, Bark and other stores around New York City, at The Darling Room in Kansas City and online from New London Pharmacy.
If anything is going help you have a good yule this year—and more importantly for years to come—this "essential viewing" film about the threat of global warming is the one. A year ago no one would have believed that a film about a slideshow could have proved such a big hit with audiences around the world, but thanks to the persuasive powers of Al Gore, director Davis Guggenheim and producer Lawrence Bender, An Inconvenient Truth got made and is now a box-office phenomenon. This recently-released DVD includes an interview with Al Gore who updates the film with the latest available research about Global Warming. The more people that see this film the closer we get to understanding how to help our planet. Al Gore says, "The DVD is a vital way for us to continue the conversation about global warming, as more and more people understand what's at stake, they become a part of the solution, and share both in the challenges and opportunities presented by the climate crisis." Be part of the solution.
An Inconvenient Truth is available from Amazon.
I never outgrew my childhood obsession with toy food. Somehow everyday edibles become magical when rendered in delicately painted wood and—unlike the real stuff, not to mention most other toys—these wooden objects are made to last for generations.
German toymakers Haba and Erzi offer the most extensive collections of wooden kitchen play toys. From great basic sets like the gift basket by Haba which includes an assortment of fruits and vegetables, bread, dairy and chocolate ($19 from Moolka) to more obscure items like Sugar Cubes ($6), Noodles ($4) and Canned Pineapple Rings ($28), Haba's intricate details are irresistible. The Cheese Roll Cutting set from Erzi ($15) is a child-sized cutting board, knife, cheese and roll with halves that velcro together to make that satisfying real-life sound when "cut."
American toy makers Amazon. For children with more international tastes, the Wooden Sushi Set ($20 from Genius Jones) is a wooden bento box that comes complete with chopsticks, wasabi, ginger and soy sauce.
Handmade from repurposed billboard vinyl, the debut line of Geopanic for its confetti-like abstraction of CMYK colors with red stitching, but you can see all her designs here. All pairs cost $75 and, true to the cause, $5 from every sale goes to the environmental organization, Conservation International.
Made from vintage Nixie Tubes (old-school electronic displays) reclaimed after sitting for 30-60 years in Russian warehouses, the exquisite K7 Klok Kit will win over DIYers and design geeks alike. Industrial designer Mike Mayberry custom fabricates the limited edition, aircraft aluminum housing that he sells along with the tubes as a kit for home assembly. The beauty of the ten layered electrodes glowing orange with overlapping dimension can only be appreciated when it's right in front of you. See more info and a link to a video here.
The K7 starts at $129 and tops out at $295 for the largest size tubes and can be ordered through Klok Modern—supplies are limited, so act quickly!. A few more parts are required, which Mayberry provides links for here.
Jewelry designer and sometime actor Waris teamed up with French label A.P.C to create these Waris Tear Pins. Part of a new line he designed for the brand inspired by "love and heartbreak" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird," the all-silver pins make understated accessories and are an unconventional gift. They come two to a set for $77 from A.P.C.'s site.
Trees For the Future (TFF) works with local communities to help reforest degraded lands and teaching local people agroforestry—how to grow, plant and tend to trees. The trees minimize soil erosion, provide foliage for animals and fuel-wood for the people. TFF also creates income generating schemes by helping communities produce timber and non-timber forest products.
For a work associate, your crunchy environmentalist cousin, or to send a message to a friend who drives a big gas-guzzling car, get them a veritable grove of 1,000 trees for $100 (or 450 trees for $45). Not only will the trees help to offset the greenhouse gasses that we produce as a byproduct of driving, or flying, these trees will help developing communities in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Best of all, you don’t even have to plant them.
Beautiful Decay recently released the latest in their superior line of artist-designed T-shirts just in time for gift giving. The new designs include Kyle Thomas' manic stream-of-consciousness "Scribble" (pictured left), toy design duo Friends With You's whimsical "Black Magic" (center) and Rob Thom's ode to monkey faces and short-shorts "Tennis Club" (right). As always Beautiful Decay's designs are printed on custom-cut, custom-dyed, 100% cotton T-shirts using a "discharge" method for increased softness. Click the images for detail.
Available for $30 from Beautiful Decay Shop.
Also on Cool Hunting: Beautiful/Decay Tees andBeautiful/Decay Tees: Aya Kato and Jonathan Nicol.
For perfectionist tea lovers on your list, these beautifully designed teacups (on CH here last month) are now in production. The work of British designer Laura Bethan Wood the bone china cups are £35, come with a saucer and are all hand finished. This product challenges the assumption that use—i.e. scratches, discoloration, wear and tear—is damaging or bad. Designed to improve through use, the inside of the cup is treated so that it is more susceptible to the staining that results from tea drinking. The more the cup is used, the more the pattern is revealed and, over time, the intensity of the pattern will increase—the speed depends on the owner’s personal tea drinking habit. Contact Laura through her site to purchase.