Spotted by Karol Rosolen, ESAMC Coolhunt ‘10, Brazil.
The company Stone Island was set up in the 1970’s but has continually managed to keep itself fresh and on the cutting edge. Inspired by harsh work environments the clothing has a certain aesthetic that appeals to the need to be functional and protective. The Ice Jacket is a new idea in a reinterpreted package. The jacket changes color when the temperature outside is between 10 and 15 degrees Celcius. As the Italian Wait Fashion notes, it’s a beautifully cut. It changes colors through the liquid crystals.

Spotted by Juliana Oliveira, ESAMC Coolhunt ‘10, Brazil.
The D*Light is a pillow and a light in one. The by Diana Lin designed pillow shows another aesthetic and another design sense at work. It can be functional and cozy at the same time. After making its initial splash as a supposedly novelty item, therapists have now been recommending the pillow to their patients who suffer seasonal affective disorder and depression. The LED’s used in the pillow also makes sure that it doesn’t burn up and through the fabric. There have been complaints by some that the shape and hardness of the LED cocoons within the pillow are a bit off putting and do not make it all that comfortable, we can however see the innovative thought process at work here. The designer put forward another way of look at lights, at pillows and how we use light for our own well-being.

LifeGem Company is specialized in creating diamonds from the ashes of your dear deceased ones. This is done by extracting carbon during the cremation process. The ashes from composer Ludwig van Beethoven have already been immortalized. The small diamond of 0.56 carats will be auctioned on eBay to raise funds for charities all over the world.

London Undercover is run by designer Jamie Milestone. His umbrellas  have a convincing touch of “Martin Parr” Britishness. They are bold, eccentric and colorful, but never loud. Essentially British.

The Yes Men is a collective of performers and media guerilla specialists who deliberately enact fake news launches and other staged performances to trigger public opinion on sensitive issue. Like climate change, for instance: the Yes-Men fed Reuters with a fake press conference announcing a historical turning point in the US adoption of carbon footprint reduction measures. Also: their newest movie ’The Yes Men Fix the World‘ is definitely worth to watch. 

On a regular Sunday morning in São Paulo, one of the most aggressive concrete expressways in the city, commonly known as the “minhocão” or “big worm”, was invaded by 22 people and transformed into a huge canvas. In order to stay within the law and keep the city graffiti-free, whitewash was used to paint a variety of flowers on the asphalt, creating a truly beautiful work of art when seen from above. The author of the masterpiece is artist and photographer Felipe Morozini (along with 21 friends), who lives on the top floor of a building that faces the Elevado Presidente Costa e Silva (the official name of the minhocão).

Yolande Dominguez is a Spanish artist who always expresses here art in a polemic and provocative way. One of her last artistic interference was a “post debate”. She stuck orange posters all over Madrid downtown, where people could read: “Young and good looking girl offers herself to”. Then comes a list of traditional “female obligations”, like getting pregnant, taking care of the child, being elegant and nice at social events or pretending not to see the husband infidelities. So this is the offer of the young and good looking girl. However, please, also have a look what she asks in return. That makes also a long list: a pair of Loewe purses every year, 3 pairs of Prada shoes, a Chanel dress, a Dior coat, a Cartier ring, a Mercedes SLK car etcetera.

Yang Maolin, Taiwanese artist, transforms himself and superheroes like King Kong, Godzilla and Peter Pan into Buddhist deities, assigning each of them a position in his new pantheon. The new superheroes play their roles as door-guardians, for instance. Or they protect us all while standing on ferocious beasts. Or they take a more harmonious position within lotus flowers like bodhisattvas –while there is a manga look and feel over it all as well.

The city is rapidly becoming the human being’s natural habitat. The city’s pollution, disorder and anonymity however are points that people all over the world complain about. Many of us have however learned to love our city regardless. It is our city, so robust, so hectic, so fascinating, and after 9/11 so fragile as well. There is a loving concern for the city. Throughout the findings of our cool hunters and Trend Filters an affectual connection to the urban dwelling was noted. The city has become the place where we live our lives and meet the people who become our extended families. Where we find our favorite coffee corners or bagel shops tucked away in the neighborhoods we have gotten to know like the back of our hands over the years. We appreciate the city. (Click on Read Why it is Cool for more)

Design is in this world to make us happy. Full stop. Sometimes its greatness lies in making transparent what contemporary life means, and at the same time making this life more easy, more elegant, more efficient. Like the example above. But also look at the bottom of these written words: two more examples of transparent cool design. Transparent indeed!

In a recent, popular series of blog posts, Italian journalist Dario Olivero articulates his impressions of a travel across Japan. During these travels he is seeking the places, the flavors and the emotions of Haruki Murakami‘s literature. Nobody evokes Tokyo as a metropolis of mystery in the way Murakami does, and most of his readers “feel” they know the city well through his books. Murakami’s novels are often a suspension of disbelief between magic and dream, where mysteries unwind in parallel narrative lines. Set in a Japan that comprises the animistic tradition of ghosts and yesterday’s pachinko game halls, Murakami’s stories are indefinable and undefined. They however are built on the tension of storytelling from the first to the last line, and it is through the power of words, only words, that such miracle of aesthetic - and sometimes ecstatic - sensation is achieved by the Japanese master. Basic implication: Storytelling is the fine art that holds the key to tomorrow’s media content.