Today we talking about the legacy, influence and untimely passing of the late design legend and cultural weathervane Virgil Abloh. Then, we'll get into why BMW's latest concept, the XM Hybrid SUV, is so controversial–from its heritage to its "design." Lastly, a discussion of LEGO's newest release: wooden home furnishings that look and function just like the company's toy bricks and who exactly the target audience is. We'll finish up with a quick lightning round of our favorite product news from the week.
Virgil Abloh's legacy, BMW's questionable new SUV, and LEGO makes.... wooden shelves?
Episode Navigation:
02:36 – Virgil Abloh's Legacy
20:14 – BMW's New XM Concept Design Is Questionable
33:52 – LEGO Makes Home Furnishings Now
Featured and Related:
Nick Caruso:
This is the Gear Patrol Podcast for Friday, December 3rd, 2021. I'm Nick Caruso, and I'm glad you're here. Because today we're talking about a lot of big news from the last week, starting with the legacy and influence of late design legend Virgil Abloh.
Nick Caruso:
Then we'll get into why BMW's latest concept, the XM hybrid SUV, is so controversial. Hint, it's a lot of reasons. Then we'll end that portion of the discussion with a new release from Lego. Yes, Lego. Lego has just introduced wooden home furnishings that look and function just like their little toy bricks.
Nick Caruso:
After that, we'll do a lightning round of our favorite product news from the week. By we, I am referring to Platforms editor, JD DiGiovanni. JD, what is good?
JD DiGiovanni:
The view from my window actually. It's great. It's looking very James Terrell, a lot of different shades. It's very pretty.
Nick Caruso:
Glad to hear that. Yeah, you overlook Park Slope Brooklyn, which is a enviable view. Looking certainly at a different part of the is editor John Zientek, who's calling in from California. Hello, John.
John Zientek:
Hey, Nick. Right here from Omicron Persei 8, the beautiful Bay area.
Nick Caruso:
That's dark. Yeah, hope you're staying safe out there. I have a feeling that it's not the last we're going to hear about that variant on our shores. Ever the trail blazer, John. You're on the cutting edge.
John Zientek:
It's a beautiful place to be.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. Hope everyone out there is safe, particularly if you are in John's area. Not just because he's dangerous, but because there's a lot of risks right now. It's a busy time of year for everyone, right? Just in normal life.
Nick Caruso:
We however, work in editorial media, and it is an insane cirus the end of the year. Hopefully you guys are holding up okay. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedules to talk about some product news. Let's get going.
Nick Caruso:
We start this week with some very product related, but also quite sad news, about the untimely passing of fashion and design icon, part-time DJ, craftsman, and cultural weather vein, Virgil Abloh. Abloh was only 41 when he succumbed this week to a rare form of cancer, surprising everyone he had been fighting in secret.
Nick Caruso:
He was a first generation Ghanaian, and a hugely successful and prolific figure. His career rise was essentially rocket powered from his early work with a Mr. Kanye West on various projects, to his own fashion brand Off White, to collaborations with almost innumerable other brands like Nike and Ikea, Mr. Porter, and many, many others, to his latest, very expansive role with LVMH, which is Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy, touching all of its brands with his advising and managing of their design.
Nick Caruso:
He was a powerhouse. We of course have covered his work for many years and constantly throughout. John, we're lucky to have you this week. As a writer and editor working on style, you've touched most of the news in the Virgil Abloh space and will have the most insight into his work and legacy. Can you take that torch and run with it? Can you describe his influence on products, the product world, and perhaps on you personally, whatever other you have on his work?
John Zientek:
Yeah, for sure. It'd be my pleasure. You can't understate the importance of Virgil and what he has done in not only the fashion world, but in the design world as a whole. As you mentioned, he was a multi-hyphenate, designer, DJ, artist, entrepreneur. He's basically a modern day Renaissance man in the truest sense of the word.
John Zientek:
One of the things that carried through all those things he did was this very clear design language, where you could see something that he had his hand in and immediately know it was him. Whether it was a pair of shoes, a rug, or packaging for water bottles, something similar.
John Zientek:
Some people really liked his design language. Some people really didn't. But the clear, focused perspective he brought to things was welcome in a time when basically so many other designs are a mishmash of perspectives.
John Zientek:
As you said, he was a weather vein of sorts. His fans bought his stuff out immediately, but his detractors loved to hate on his pieces. But it's that way with any artist who has a clear language. He's not shooting for the middle. He's producing what he wanted to produce.
John Zientek:
One of the most interesting things about him is a lot of his works were referential. He would not only reference himself, he would not only do certain things looking back at his own work, but he'd reference other designers. A lot of times he would take something very familiar, and just modify it a little bit. He called it his 3% rule, where he could change something 3% and call it new.
John Zientek:
For a lot of people, that was controversial. But at the same time, it did create a style, and something very unique to him. He likened it to hip hop artists sampling music. For those who don't know, hip hop artists would go in, grab different types of clips of music, smaller, bigger, manipulate them, create beats out of them, and produce new songs. He was doing that with fashion, with chairs, with other types of design, which really revolutionized what we think of as collaborations in fashion today.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. Beautiful summary. The 3% rule is so integral, inseparable, from who Abloh was as a designer and a thinker. I can, I guess I want to say empathize, with people who find that irritating in some respect. But also I respect it entirely, and I love so many of his designs. I guess I probably like it myself.
Nick Caruso:
JD, how about you? Do you have a favorite collaboration, or a moment, or some element of Virgil Abloh's [inaudible 00:08:13] that you care to share?
JD DiGiovanni:
It's been interesting over the past week or so since the news. It's maybe not been quite a week yet. But Virgil really came from and represented a part of the fashion and product world that I actually often tune out. The stuff that gets very, very hyped, that becomes really inaccessible, and is often desired not just because of the creativity at its core, but because it symbolizes access to wealth, and a kind of access to stuff that other people don't have that is exclusive.
JD DiGiovanni:
For that reason, I think I'd always noticed it, seen it, taken a mental note, but never really actually formed much of an opinion. Because so much of that stuff that circles around those types of products and people just turns me off.
JD DiGiovanni:
But I think that what's really impossible to ignore, reading a lot of the pieces about him, and about his life, and about what he came to symbolize and mean for black creators and people of color in the world of fashion, was just how white hot the creativity and lust for life that he had, and how much fun he seemed to have with a lot of the stuff he was doing.
JD DiGiovanni:
I think that's ... I don't know. When you read stories about people like Virgil passing, it definitely makes you think about what it is we're all doing, and why we're doing it? I think there's a meandering answer to it, to a certain extent.
JD DiGiovanni:
But I think what I'm getting at ultimately is that regardless of how you feel about his work, because I frankly never formed too much of an opinion on it, it's really impossible not to look at his life, and what he accomplished, and not be inspired. To some extent, take a break or a beat, to think about what it is that is driving you, and why it is that you wake up and do what you do every day?
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. That's a beautiful way to put it, too. I've been reflecting on this, and I was looking through the many obituaries, and tributes, and summations of his career. He essentially came out his school, and then was immediately successful in the industry, and was plucked, and spread his talent and genius far and wide and never stopped.
Nick Caruso:
School meaning college, so young 20's, and he was 41? That's 20 years, and he did an insane amount of successful designing, of so much of the space, and touched so much of that luxury world, and influenced culture profoundly in such a short amount of time. Every cliche applies. It's a star burning bright. Really pretty wild.
John Zientek:
I think one of the really special things after he passed was listening to all the stories. It seems like everyone in the style, design, music space, had a story about him, and a story about when they interacted with him, and how kind and giving he was. How he basically, if he was reaching out to them about a project, about how he made them feel that their perspective and opinion was not only valued, but very important in the space. He inspired them.
John Zientek:
If he was mentoring someone, it was about finding that own genius and talent in them, and encouraging them. The amount of stories that I've listened to, and read, talked with colleagues about, in the past week ... It was like almost when Bourdain passed. Everyone in the restaurant industry had a Bourdain story.
John Zientek:
But this is completely different in the sense that it's not just limited to one industry. DJs, musicians, sculptors, people working in street wear, people working in former mall brands. Everyone had a Virgil story, and every one of them spoke to his quiet, humble, incredibly encouraging spirit.
John Zientek:
For someone who is, he's a workaholic, he's burning bright, he's going through everything, to take the time to nurture and care for all these relationships, and make all these people feel not only inspired, but also like they matter, and like they can give as much as he's giving, is truly a legacy and truly important.
John Zientek:
I think that the amount of people he touched, and inspired that way, and the paths that he paved for not only young black men and women, but other creatives, it's an incredible example. He lived many lifetimes in those 20 years. But damn, so young.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. But damn, is a good summation. JD?
JD DiGiovanni:
I am curious John, I kind of follow men's fashion and high fashion pretty loosely. If you could sum up what his impact was in a tight ... Because one of the difficulties for me, and I'm sure for others listening maybe who are aware of him but maybe not as familiar with the specifics around what he did, and why he's so revered, I'd be curious to hear your take on what his impact in that sphere was in a more particular way?
John Zientek:
He's the one who brought, he hated the term, street wear and that perspective to the luxury space in its highest form. Basically, Supreme was out there, all these other brands, that were working in that space. But the major fashion houses were still toying around with the ideas of that.
John Zientek:
But he's the one who broke down the barriers and said that what is being done in that category of design is as important as high fashion and in fact is high fashion. Which is revolutionary in a sense, because there was such a divide between what is sneaker culture, and printed hoodies, and the ateliers in France crafting handmade clothing.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. Truly, I think people would identify his work in fashion as his crowning achievement or headline skill. But this latest position he took with the LVMH brands, it was in April, I think, or June, something earlier this year. It was so expansive. It was 75 brands or something under that umbrella, and it's everything from of course drinks, and fashion, to you name it.
Nick Caruso:
One other thing that of course caught my eye, for perhaps obvious reasons if you have listened to me ever, is that Maybach from Mercedes-Benz, is their ultra luxury sub-brand, and he had partnered with them in a before undisclosed project to make this supreme, luxury off road grand tourer. It's beautiful, and wild, and weird.
Nick Caruso:
The ability, like you said John, to take a philosophy and apply it wholesale to anything you touch was his thing. That's how I have thought of him. Fashion first, but he's able to take whatever that brain is, and turn it, and point it in any direction and come out with something amazing. Whether it's something you love or not is another thing, but amazing. Truly [crosstalk 00:18:11].
John Zientek:
He was an artist. Through all of these things, he applied his perspective. He was a lover of Marcel Duchamp, and the idea of the ready made, and would reference anyone from James Baldwin, to Kierkegaard in his works.
John Zientek:
He had this lust for knowledge, and for sharing that knowledge. He wouldn't beat you over the head with it. He'd just drop these little things into what it was, so that if you were interested, you could dig a little deeper and take away something new. If you liked the fact that there's a little tongue in cheek term with some quotes on it, and that's special to you, then you could take it at face value as well.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. That was one of his signature design flourishes, was to have short phrases and quotes as the sole design on some clothing, so people may have a mental image of that from their past.
Nick Caruso:
Also true, I think it's really great, particularly JD that you bring up, your take on the type of product that he was so influential on, that sphere of unattainable wealth-driven stuff, to incorporate that into our memory of his inevitable talent, shall we say. So, sad loss, but such a huge career. We've had a blast covering his stuff for years and years and years. Thanks for everything, Virgil.
Nick Caruso:
Let's move on and talk about some more design stuff, in fact. Controversial in different ways for the nerdy car people among us. This is the latest [inaudible 00:20:17] in automotive circles is courtesy of BMW as I mentioned up top.
Nick Caruso:
Their new, the forthcoming, XM hybrid performance SUV has been very polarizing since it leaked out and weekly debuted a few days ago. First, the undeniable good. There's a twin turbo V8 engine with a high performance electric motor putting out 750 horsepower, 737 pound feet of torque. That means there'll be a small EV-only range. That's the good. Depending on your own personal POV, the next bit is either the bad and/or the ugly.
Nick Caruso:
The looks of this vehicle are jarring. There are so many wild weirdly angular body panels, and air dams, and shapes, and points and dips, and curves. Most poignant, the truly massive take on BMW's signature twin kidney grill, they're known for those two shapes on the grill called kidneys, they're massive. They look like they're about 20 inches across, which is far larger than a kidney.
Nick Caruso:
It's also important to mention this is the first BMW product that will be an exclusive to the brand's M performance division for decades. The last was the M-1 super car of the '70s. Anyway, there's a lot going on in this concept.
Nick Caruso:
JD, I wonder if you have initial thoughts on the design here? It's crazy. A lot of cars are wild looking these days. This seems to take that a step further. But I don't know. What do you think?
JD DiGiovanni:
Yeah. Looking at this car, and looking at a lot of the reactions to it, I think my main takeaway was that designing cars seems really hard. You got to make it so it moves, and it's safe, and looks cool and distinct, but doesn't totally deviate from people's preconceived notions about what a car should look like.
JD DiGiovanni:
I think this one maybe failed on that last bit. From my perspective, it's not that attractive. It's very angular. It looks huge and sharp. The grill, this tendency of BMWs to have their grills expand and expand and expand, is I think unfortunate. From someone who's maybe not that much of a car guy, but as someone who appreciates good design, I think they're straying a bit far.
JD DiGiovanni:
I do take some solice in the fact that they're calling it a concept, right? It almost feels more like a trial balloon. Concepts are supposed to be a little out there. In some ways, if you want to put a good spin on this, it's good that a company as big as BMW is willing to take risks, and try to explore what a car, and push what a car should look like.
JD DiGiovanni:
I think what I've seen a lot of folks respond to with this, is that it looks like it's taking some design keys from the cyber truck. It's very angular, it's big. I'm not a fan of the cyber truck either. I don't know, I'm finding myself in a weird place where I both don't want to totally write this off as a complete failure, but also want to register that I don't find it that appealing.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, that's very fair. Your point about concepts is well taken. Fewer and fewer ... A couple decades ago, car companies, that was what an auto show was, "Look at all these wild, weird, out there concepts. This could be what you see in our cars." That's fallen off a little bit. When there are concepts, they're often pretty to what we end up seeing. It'll be really interesting to see how this shakes out in the flesh, so to speak.
Nick Caruso:
Your point about not deviating from the norm with a new design is a good one. I think there are a lot of examples where automotive design have as deviated from the norm, but if you're going to do that, it's got to be really good. This is, as you said, unappealing in a harsh way to a lot of people. John, what do you think? You got a good eye on you. Any opinions?
John Zientek:
Man, I have some. The other day is driving across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco to Oakland. I was in the far left lane in my Subaru and I was passing a Lamborghini Urus in the lane next to me. I was like, "Man, the SUV super car." It was this moment of, someone dropped, whatever, $300,000 on this incredible SUV. I enjoyed that. We were all stuck in about 25-mile-an-hour traffic. It was something to appreciate.
John Zientek:
The people in the car with me discussed the merits of Lamborghini producing that SUV that looked not like what they would expect from Lamborghini. There was a lot of opinions. But it's nothing to say that it's not a pretty cool SUV.
John Zientek:
Now, this XM from BMW, BMW's swinging for the fence. It's different. BMWs and Mercedes go back and forth a lot with what they're doing model wise. You're like, "Well, what's comparable in the Mercedes line?" It's probably, what, GLS class?
John Zientek:
But even then, the GLS class, it's bigger, boxier, has the flat front on it. But it's not a hyper luxury car. It's just a normal luxury SUV. Even though it's six figures, the MG GLS 63, their V8 still has a four door car look to it.
John Zientek:
The Mercedes GLS 63 does have 603 horsepower, so we already know BMW's going above that. They're going for, what, 750 horsepower, they're going for a more angular, weirder thing. Which then, you're like, "Okay, what is it looking at?" It's not Lamborghini doing the Urus.
John Zientek:
The first thing I thought of was the bigger, boxier luxury cars, the Rolls Royce Cullinin, but not so much that. That's more big, old money luxury. I'm talking about Bentley Bentayga, and the maybe toned down BMW version of it. The Bentayga puts out 770 horsepower. It's mega, freaking SUV with its V8.
John Zientek:
BMW's trying to get close to it. Big ass, boxy front on it, weird looking, makes people turn their heads, doesn't really look like what's in the rest of their line. Hey, good on them. If you're going to drop $200,000, $300,000 on a car, I really hope it doesn't look like a $70,000 car, and it sure as hell better not perform like one.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. I guess you do have some opinions, John. Interesting enough, how's this for tying it together? This is quite a humble brag, I'm aware. The last time I was driving a Bentley Bentayga was over that very same bridge you were stuck on. How about that?
John Zientek:
Synergy.
Nick Caruso:
Impressed? What color was the Urus, the Lamborghini?
John Zientek:
It was is yellow, I don't know.
Nick Caruso:
There was a yellow one in Brooklyn not long ago. It's a terrible front to the census. But you raise a interesting point about actually the Urus itself. This is Lamborghini's SUV. It is the same general underpinnings as the Audi Q7, and the same as I believe the Volkswagen, whatever the big thing is. They share architecture.
Nick Caruso:
BMW doesn't really have to do that, which in this case is, I think, pretty good. they make cars for themselves, and don't share like Ford and Lincoln do, or Toyota and Lexus do. But your point about if you're spending money it should be wild in a lot of ways, is a good one, too. I think that speaks to, there's a lot of "controversy" about this following in the footsteps of the iconic M-1 super car, which is beautiful, and boxy, and very '70s, but super desirable.
Nick Caruso:
Can this hold a candle to that? On the scale of no, to outlandish, if that's how you measure it, this probably registers pretty high. I don't know. What else? The interior of this, I think, is really beautiful. [inaudible 00:30:40], it's suaved in this dark chocolate brown leather. It's normal inside, and weird outside. You guys take a look at the photos of the interior?
JD DiGiovanni:
Yeah, all these interiors are looking nuts, at least more expensive than any other furniture I even passingly look at. The leather and the touches are all nice. I can't help but thinking about kids spilling Cheerios all over it though.
Nick Caruso:
Or worse.
JD DiGiovanni:
Which actually brings me to a question I have, so the Urus is one of the best selling cars Lamborghini's ever made. In general, these SUVs are in incredibly popular, the luxury end of SUVs, too. Where is that coming from, and how recent of a trend is that? Because I'm a little lost on it, being in general, ignorant to cars.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. I don't know if you could peg a specific date, but over the last about the last two decades, which may be generous, as the crossover started to pop up on roads everywhere, kind of like the promise of blending the best of all the worlds, the size, and space with the driving dynamics of a sedan. A raised, wagon body style sounded really appealing. It was basically a minivan that didn't look like a minivan.
Nick Caruso:
I think that best of both worlds mentality really worked on the public, and it is a desirable shape and form. That's why several years ago now, three, four years ago, Ford stopped making sedans. They just don't make them anymore. They make the Mustang. It's the only car that they make anymore.
Nick Caruso:
That was, I thought, like a death nail for the smaller car category across the board, in addition to this trend of we've talked about a lot, luxury trucks. Trucks are huge. The For F 150 is massive in its standard trim, much bigger than it ever was, and still sells like hot cakes. You can get one that cost over a $100,000 easily because they're so luxurious and these really beautiful places to be.
Nick Caruso:
I think that is because auto manufacturers knew they were selling those vehicles a lot, so they wanted to give them a come up, and make them even more appealing. But also it's easy to make a bigger space more luxurious. It's harder to make small bits.
Nick Caruso:
There's a lot of practical reasons too, but the long story short is the last 15 ish years have really seen that trend escalate. It's only going to be worse. It's the homogenization of the vehicle, which so many vehicles just look the same anymore.
Nick Caruso:
That is one reason why this XM stands out to me, because it doesn't look like anything else out there. I think it looks horrible, but it doesn't look the same as everything else. It's the best of both worlds in that sense, too. But I don't think that [crosstalk 00:34:26] going anywhere.
JD DiGiovanni:
I think American car buyers should get more comfortable, this is my opinion here, which means nothing, but with drop with minivans. Minivans are great, man. You can fit a lot of stuff in there. You don't worry if your kids get Cheerios all over them. You can acuate up. It's all good. Good safety rating, still [crosstalk 00:34:44].
Nick Caruso:
Sliding doors.
JD DiGiovanni:
Yeah. Flip down the seats, have a party. It's all good.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, for sure. Certainly, I got that old Jeep. I like the higher riding position, but I don't need a truck. It's much more practical to have the space and the utility. Yeah, the minivan probably is the ideal car, but no one's ever going to admit that, except for you apparently.
JD DiGiovanni:
No shame.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, right? Well, be proud. I'm proud of you for expressing that. All right. Well, we'll see what comes of the XM. No doubt will [inaudible 00:35:26] and Tyler Duffy on our motoring desk ... Well, I know Tyler wrote up the whole thing as a news piece, I think yesterday, day before. We know his opinions on it, but no doubt they're still eager to drive. It'll be wild regardless of what actually comes about.
Nick Caruso:
Speaking of wild stuff, really weird stuff, the third story we want to cover is from Lego and I am a self-professed Lego enthusiast. I love Legos. I like building the sets. I like collecting the sets. I have spent too much money in my adult life, and time arguably, on building Legos.
Nick Caruso:
But for other fans of the brand and of the toys, we have this home furnishing story from the brand. Plastic building bricks, they've just revealed this series of wooden home furnishings that are shaped like humongous versions of the bricks, the toy bricks. All the pieces are hand assembled, they're fashioned from this red Oak that's FSC certified so it's more sustainable than not. Available in two finishes.
Nick Caruso:
They're big versions of the bricks, and the collection comprises floating shelves that Lego enthusiasts would recognize as 6x1 bricks. There are also tabletop storage units, bricks. I don't know, they have little drawers, there's a cube, and a rectangular one. There are 1x1 round bricks that can be installed on walls, like coat hooks. There are picture frames, and they're all made out of wood.
Nick Caruso:
Lego used to make their bricks out of wood originally, but haven't for about 60 years. They're committed recently to more sustainable practices and materials. But this is being heralded as this return to that original wooden structure. The coolest thing arguably, is that because they are shaped like Lego bricks, all of these pieces actually fit together like Lego bricks.
Nick Caruso:
In theory, you could take your picture frame and your coat hooks, and your jewelry box, and build a fort out of it. I'm not really sure. John, are you a Lego guy? Is your house a Lego home?
John Zientek:
Let me tell you, Nick. When I was young, I mean pre-elementary school, elementary school, early elementary school, the one item on my Christmas list that I never got, and still haven't got, was a Lego pirate ship from Toys R Us that costs $100. Back then, $100 was a lot more than $100 now. It was their most expensive flagship ship. Like many people of who grew up during that time, I had a tub of Legos, many different sets, would build, would mix, would match. Legos have a special place in my heart.
John Zientek:
The first thing I thought of when I saw this was, is this modular furniture for nostalgic millennials? Is this the version of pieces fitting together, nodding back to a time when things were more innocent, and maybe easier?
John Zientek:
That said, I could see maybe a piece or two in my house. I think the hangar is the most functional one, if I was not going to do a modular Lego build out in my house. Throw the hanger up by the door, it works. It wouldn't necessarily weird anyone out because there'd be coats on it, or anything like that.
Nick Caruso:
You can hide your shame.
John Zientek:
It's repressed, never getting that ship, coming out in the form of a wooden coat hanger. But it's novel, and odd. I don't know if I would buy any though.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. They're definitely whimsical. JD, you were nodding when J-Z was talking about modular millennial retro furniture. What was on your mind?
JD DiGiovanni:
Yeah, I had a similar response to John. First off, let me say it's very tastefully done. I think they look for great, and it's cool to see. There's a version of this that sucks. It's bad plastic, or it's bad woodwork, and it looks terrible.
JD DiGiovanni:
I get the vibe that this is best suited in the child play room of the kid who has bought designer clothes that they grow out of in six months. Someone's willing to drop some coin on something very tasteful for their kid that maybe isn't as much of a fit for them. I don't know.
JD DiGiovanni:
I think there's a lot of this type of stuff. It's aimed squarely at what John defined, as being that nostalgic soft spot for millennials with disposable income. I in general am a little allergic to it because what I get from it, if I want to get in my little therapist arm chair, it's a fear of growing older, and an aversion to loss, which part of the whole deal about being alive is that you things come into your life and they leave them.
JD DiGiovanni:
I think that there's a bit too much of a tendency among millennials, our generation, to become adults and buy toys, childhood stuff. In my personal life, I'm a little averse to it, but I think this rides that line where it's well done enough that it avoids the trap of being too infantalizing.
JD DiGiovanni:
I think that reasonable people can disagree with me on this, and it's worth taking it with a grain of salt. Because not too long ago, I was yo-yo-ing competitively, so who's really the grown up here?
Nick Caruso:
That's right. We're going to find the videos on YouTube.
JD DiGiovanni:
Please don't.
Nick Caruso:
That's good. Your point about how well done this is, is very, very good. They are objectively very good looking, I think, in terms of ... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, that's not an objective thing. But in terms of what we consider to be good design and good craftsmanship, these are looking pretty good.
Nick Caruso:
One of the many articles I found and shared with you guys about this story was from Design Milk, who pointed out that because of the neutral tones, these can fit in with any decor. I took issue with that for most of the same reasons you highlighted JD. Even if they do melt into the background because of that neutral palette, they're still very striking things. They still look like big Lego bricks. I just don't know if that would fly in anywhere else other than that kids' playroom in the Brooklyn townhouse.
Nick Caruso:
I don't mean to disparage my girlfriend at all, but I know that she would be very anti these being in the home that we share. It's pretty polarizing, I think. But for specific use, could see it.
JD DiGiovanni:
Is it like Herman Miller does PeeWee's Playhouse?
Nick Caruso:
Cherry?
JD DiGiovanni:
Cherry cost $10,000.
Nick Caruso:
At least. There's a subscription element I'm sure, somewhere in there.
JD DiGiovanni:
Yeah, the little things that are alive in the PeeWee's Playhouse, they're all creative directors.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. I would kill though for that breakfast machine, that Rube Goldberg breakfast machine from his Big Adventure movie. I love that. Makes pancakes.
Nick Caruso:
You both, I know your aesthetics somewhat. The nostalgia nod that JD is talking about being somewhat allergic to, do you guys have anything along that line? Have you been suckered into like digging up your millennial nostalgia? Maybe in decor or actual toys or something else?
JD DiGiovanni:
I still yo-yo. I have a Magic 8-ball on my desk and that's it.
Nick Caruso:
Okay.
JD DiGiovanni:
I don't ask it too many questions because I'm afraid of the answer. But I think that's all I got.
Nick Caruso:
All right. John, anything?
John Zientek:
I learned to drive in a red Subaru Outback, and the car I drive now is a red Subaru Outback. That's the closest thing I can get to directly referencing something from when I was younger.
John Zientek:
As far as childhood things, I've moved so many times since college that a lot of that stuff has either been donated, sold, or in the storage back in another state. Now I've accumulated, we'll say, many things that have maybe personal connections, but maybe aren't as ... Things for my childhood that I would remember my father wore.
John Zientek:
I would maybe search out a jacket like that, or something like that, where the connection is a personal childhood connection, but it's not something made for a child or referencing something made for a child. That not saying Legos are made solely for children because they're made for everyone. But when I used them most was when I was a child.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. I feel like several months ago there was a Ghostbusters sneaker drop that I was lusting after. I was like, "I can't wait for this to happen." Ghostbusters moves me still. I started thinking about it a little more. I was like, "Maybe it shouldn't to this extent." It's always a consideration.
Nick Caruso:
But I do have several Ghostbusters Lego sets, and I'm not going to apologize for it. By that, I mean we're going to move on from this new story, and into our last segment, so thanks for your opinions there. That's it for our headlines.
Nick Caruso:
Our final segment is Today In Gear. We call it TIG internally, T-I-G, TIG, Today In Gear. Gear Patrol Publish has a daily roundup of hyper fresh product releases and news called Today In Gear. We three have done the exercise of looking through recent installments from this week, and each pluck in item that really caught our eye for a little show and tell.
Nick Caruso:
We can share, and geek out with each other, and share with you, and link below so you can check them out as well. Let's go around the room here. JD, you want to start with your show and tell with us?
JD DiGiovanni:
Yeah. Speaking of returning to your childhood, I was actually pretty struck with this Hamilton. Hamilton teamed up with the promoters of the new Matrix movie, which is going to be coming out at some point soon, essentially to rerelease an old, the PSR digital watch.
JD DiGiovanni:
I am in general a sucker for digital displays. I got really into watches not too long ago, and fell in love with mechanical watches. Quickly understood that I would be in financial ruin if I ever really tried to buy too many, and then adjusted my focus and my desires towards digital to some extent.
JD DiGiovanni:
Because I think they still can look really cool and have the same function as being notable, noticeable, neat compliments to outfits. This one is one of those rare collaborations with a movie launch that feels like it fits, which is also notable in and of itself. The watch is the Hamilton PSR MTX. It's a limited edition. They're only making 1,999 of them, which is, get it anyway.
Nick Caruso:
I get it. Cool. I was happy you picked that because I've been re-watching the Matrix movies. In fact, I watched one last night. That watch jumped out at me from when it originally appears on screen. There's another watch similar to this, and I don't know what it is. I'll look it up and link it.
Nick Caruso:
But in the movie Bangkok Dangerous with Nicholas Cage, he has this wild digitally weird watch that was also like this. They're so cool. It's such a tasteful take on a movie prop. I agree with you. I think you should financially ruin yourself and get one of these.
Nick Caruso:
John, what about you? What do you like this week from our collection of gear?
John Zientek:
One thing that stood out to me was a pocket knife from the James brand. It's a brand we've covered a lot in our best knife guides. Favorite of people, both in the office and former employees. They produced a small folding knife, so it was a two and a half inch blade, smaller than most typical three inch blade pocket knives, called the Redstone. It retails for $89.
John Zientek:
It's lightweight, but maybe the most noticeable thing about it is they've created a new grip for it. Because as those who use smaller blade pocket knives know, they maybe don't fit in the palm of your hand quite as easily and maybe aren't as ergonomic as some of the bigger knives. They've put two raised plastic, they call them islands, on the handle, both sides. A smaller one towards the hinge, and then a larger one further down.
John Zientek:
What this does, is it not only widens the handle itself so it fits in your hand a little easier, there's a space between the smaller and larger island that a finger can rest between so your thumb can basically hold this ... Your finger can sit between the islands and your thumb will create the tension needed to keep it in your hand easily, which is thoughtful design.
John Zientek:
A cool thing about it, of course it uses all the great materials that we expect from the James brand, like Sandvik 12C27 steel, but these plastic islands, I guess they're marketing this as an outdoor knife, like your hiking knife, your small camping knife, whatever, the knife you have in your shorts when you're going mountain biking.
John Zientek:
The colors on the model that they're selling are fun. They throw reference to hiking shoes and bold backpack colors. There's one where it's coral and turquoise colors. It looks almost '90s in a way. I haven't seen a pocket knife in a while that I've gone, "Oh man, that's fun." It's fun, functional design, something that we can all use, and doesn't cost a ton of money.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. That '90s design, what are you, some sort of millennial aching for a retro comeback for a style? You know what I'm saying? Like Legos?
John Zientek:
That's good.
Nick Caruso:
No? Okay, fine. Yeah. I like that, too. I was looking at the knife. Love knives. James brand's very cool. Good size.
Nick Caruso:
The thing that stood out to me this week is from possibly my favorite brand ever, Outlier. Outlier is a Brooklyn based company, makes mostly clothing and apparel, but some other goods, using super advanced materials, technology, and have this really beautiful tailoring.
Nick Caruso:
They make really simple, but very surprising pieces, that I love. I have a ton of their shirts. I need to replace a pair of their slim dungarees, which are incredible because they don't fit and it's driving me crazy.
Nick Caruso:
But their new release is not clothing, and it has a funny name, is the Alphawoollinen duvet. Alphawoollinen is one word, so goofy. But it's nifty too. It's lightweight warmth for sleeping without overheating. It's three materials, layers. There's this lanolin wool batting, which is warm, and also wicks moisture.
Nick Caruso:
Then two layers of polar tech insulation. It's alpha 60 military grade non-migrating insulation, so it's going to stay put, but really take care of the heat retention. Then the outside layer is European linen, so it's super Luxe in hand feel and look.
Nick Caruso:
It's of course new, so I haven't had the pleasure, but it looks so beautiful that I would 100% snag one of these and pop it on the bed. Especially considering their other products. It's $600, two colors. They call them washed colors, it's white and flax, which is a neutral color. One size, quasi queen size. I would love to snooze under one of these suckers. I don't know about you guys?
John Zientek:
Man, the worst thing about ... Oh, sorry. The worst thing about a duvet is how all the batting eventually will make its way into different corners of the piece itself leaving your feet miserably hot while your arms are cold. This not only solves that problem, but it solves it in a way that looks pretty darn good. I could get one of these in my place far easier than I could one of the modular Lego blocks.
Nick Caruso:
That's a good point, but they'd match.
JD DiGiovanni:
It's cool to see a brand that does tech wear do sleepwear. There's some joke about working from home in there. I'm not quite sure what it is though.
Nick Caruso:
Well, if I get one of these, I'll try to workshop one, because I would be the joke. All right. Well, that's good. Thank you for sharing those things.
Nick Caruso:
Listeners, if you're interested in many, many, many more news items from the product world, checkout Today In Gear on the Gear Patrol website. Sign up for the newsletter, too. The dispatch comes out every day. Today In Gear is very prominent toward the top of each one of those sends so you'll never miss any of that news.
Nick Caruso:
But with that, it's all the time we've got for this week. It was a lot of time, so I thank you both. JD DiGiovanni and John Zientek, thank you for your time, and your insights, and your smarts, and your opinions, and everything else.
Nick Caruso:
Like Today In Gear, listeners, information about everything we talked about is going to be in the show notes or online, if that's where you're listening or looking. Subscribe to the pod, pop a five-star review on there if you like what you hear. Hit us up on social media. It's @Gearpatrol, one word, on all the platforms. You can email us with comments, suggestions, questions, jokes, whatever, at podcast@gearpatrol.com.
Nick Caruso:
But for now, John, JD, thank you so much. I'm Nick Caruso until next time, take care.
Nick Caruso:
(silence).