Scoping Out Customization at the New Balance Factory

From the 998s to brand new NB1 3000v3 baseball cleats

Stepping onto the production floor of New Balance‘s Lawrence, MA factory reveals two important pillars of the brand. First, they employ hundreds of skilled workers from Lawrence and the surrounding towns to produce footwear stateside. Second, customization really is done by hand—at times by hand on technologically advanced machines, but hands touch every step of the process. Not all New Balance sneakers are made in …

Colette Jaffe’s Colorful Home Collection

Textiles, bedding, homewares and more from the Minnesota-based designer

“There are no rules in the bedroom,” says designer and entrepreneur Colette Jaffe. After 20 years working in the exquisitely detailed, luxury end of the bedding and bath market for Pratesi she found herself craving things that weren’t being made. Everything was beautiful, but it wasn’t exciting. Like so many faced with this challenge she decided to take her extensive industry experience, knowledge and contacts …

Sailing Around Seattle in a Sauna

There’s nothing quite so invigorating as stepping out of a hot sauna and jumping into brisk waters. Unless, of course, the sauna happens to be a fully motorized vessel traveling around those cold waters. A successfully funded Kickstarter project by goCstudio, the floating sauna traverses both Lake Union and Lake Washington in Seattle. Guests, who include those who built it and those who backed it, …