week 40.
Designer mooncakes, retro scooters and this week’s collabs… this is what caught our eye.
Tekla x Birkenstock
Despite the poor summer this year, the hold that Birkenstock seems to have over the Danish public showed no signs of abatement: it genuinely appears that 90% of Copenhageners own at least one pair. And with good reason. This situation is likely to continue even into the autumn with the launch of a really rather lovely collab with Tekla who have teamed up to create a collection of re-worked and re-coloured footwear and Birkie’s first foray into sleepwear. The result is stylish and sophisticated and the perfect thing for padding around your apartment on a lazy weekend. You’ll find us doing the bakery run in a pair of slate grey, sheepskin-lined Uji sandals throughout the season…
Rimowa x Tiffany & Co
Unless you’re Joan Collins, the days of travelling with huge sets of matching luggage are long gone – it’s more a case of a squashy bag you can shove under the seat in front to save yourself exorbitant extra fees these days. But the Rimowa x Tiffany & Co collection could maybe bring back a little element of glamour to travel. Admittedly the jewellery case in a specially designed ‘Rock Cut’ pattern applied to Rimowa’s signature grooved aluminium with Tiffany blue accents is maybe a little too indulgent but the roll-on cabin case in the same aesthetic will definitely get you noticed. Expect to see it wheeled behind rock stars (or at least behind their assistants) soon.
Kenzo x Levi’s
Japan is justifiably famous for its use of indigo dyes and denim and also for its love of Americana so it only seems right that the two worlds should collide with the collaboration between iconic jeans brand Levi’s and legendary designer Kenzo, now under the creative control of Nigo. The capsule collection references both cultures by combining the trademark stitching of Levi’s with a print based on Japanese sashiko embroidery whilst bandanas mix iconography from both companies. There’s a denim blazer, inspired by Bing Crosby’s famous ‘western’ tuxedo and even a denim tie and suspenders if you want to dress up a little. A fringed jacket is maybe one step too Glen Campbell for us but the distressed trucker jacket has just the right touch of 90s.
Luxurious Mid-Autumn Festival Mooncakes
Autumn is marked across the world with festivals that herald a time of harvests, shorter days and the arrival of cooler weather but in China especially, the Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important of the year. Part of this celebration involves the eating of mooncakes – small round pastries with a thick filling usually made of lotus seed paste and imprinted on the top with traditional symbols. Never shy of an opportunity to make money, recent years have seen European luxury brands produce their own versions, usually exotically (and expensively) packaged, destined to be festive gifts across Asia. This year you can buy Versace mooncakes in a black box on a special Medusa plate or Gucci ones that come with a mini teapot and cups. Both Ferragamo and Louis Vuitton go down a more traditional route with incense sticks, candles and silk mats but our favourite though is Loewe who make the whole thing more fun by incorporating a Go game board so you can use the cakes as counters for a while first. The winner eats it all!
Haider Ackermann x Augustinus Bader
Of course, the most important factor when choosing your daily moisturiser or serum is its effectiveness and suitability but let’s face it, it has to look good on the shelf in your bathroom, right? After all, beautiful packaging has been part of the whole allure of both fragrances and cosmetics from the very beginning. Wise to this, beauty brands have been collaborating with artists and designers to produce special limited editions of their products that at the very least look pretty by the sink but on another level, elevate them by association. The latest is a very chic offering by Augustinus Bader who have worked with a darling of the fashion intelligentsia, celebrated designer Haider Ackermann. Keeping things suitably understated, he has flipped the trademark electric blue of the bottles and jars into a simple autograph that is scrawled across a silver background. The rich cream inside thankfully stays the same.
Honda’s 80s-inspired Motocompo Mini-Scooter
We’ve had many 80s revivals over the past few years – from shoulder pads to Duran Duran – but one that is more unexpected is the relaunch of Honda’s 1981 Motocompo, a folding electric scooter designed to fit in the boot of a compact car. Now catching the zero-emission zeitgeist, the latest model is a direct copy of the original that, at the time, was discontinued after only two years. For sure it is the strangest/ugliest scooter you will ever see – up there with Tesla’s truck in our opinion – but maybe there is a retro coolness to riding something that pretty much looks like a collapsible office table. It takes three hours to charge up, has a top speed of 24 km/h, has a range of just 19 km and we dread to think what it’s like with a strong cross wind but if you want to raise eyebrows on a (slow) trip to the shops, this could be the answer.
