Bring a little of today’s automated restrooms home with this Hands Free Soap Dispenser ($40). An infrared sensor detects when your dirty mitts are under the nozzle, and then dispenses an amount of soap that you set via a switch. Its stainless steel body will look great in almost any bathroom, and you won’t have to be constantly refilling: it holds up to 7 1/2 oz. of soap.
Hubwear: Aspiring entrepreneurs often ask us for ideas that don’t require hundreds of thousands of dollars, euros or pounds to get started. Look no further than the burgeoning arena of t-shirts. Bearer of profiles, of lists, of any kind of self-expression really, the humble t-shirt continues to bestow riches on creative entrepreneurs, or at least guarantee some low-risk entrepreneurial fun. So here’s yet another cool t-shirt start up: Hubwear. Its t-shirts display a wearer’s favorite travel routes, in airport codes (think JFK, AMS, MIA, HKG and so on). More »
Denim doctors: Jeans can now go into therapy. Yes, you heard that right — New York’s Denim Therapy restores, rejuvenates and injects life into worn-out, tattered jeans. Playing on the fact that many consumers have an emotional attachment to their jeans, the service repairs jeans with unwanted holes, denim that’s worn, tattered or just plain falling apart. Using a unique reconstructive technique, Denim Therapy places existing denim fabric into the jean to replace the holes. More »
Mormor: Nostalgia. Design. Generation C. Storytelling. Knitting. Senior citizens and baby boomers. All these ‘trends’ beautifully come together in Danish Mormor.nu, an online store that sells baby and children’s wear from the time when grandma herself was a wee lass. (’Mormor.nu’ is Danish for ‘Grandma.now’). In fact, the company’s employees stem from an era when everything was made by hand, the youngest employee being 68 years old. All products are handmade, from pure wool, alpaca wool or cotton. More »
Culturally sensitive sportswear: Designing headscarves that can be worn for sports and play, Nike and Capsters are offering Muslim girls and women a practical alternative to the traditional hijab. Created by young Dutch designer Cindy van den Bremen, Capsters are sleek head coverings made from comfortable, stretchy fabrics, and come in a variety of styles to match different activities and sports look. More »
Shoes for good: While traveling through Argentina, Blake Mycoskie came across canvas shoes that his feet took an instant liking to. He took the alpargatas–comfortable utility shoes that resemble espadrilles–reworked them a bit, and started TOMS Shoes. Not just casual chic slip-ons that were spotted all over L.A. this summer, TOMS Shoes give new meaning to ‘two for the price of one’. For each pair purchased (USD 38), TOMS gives a pair to a disadvantaged child in South America. More »
Vending that kills the frizz: Born out of frustration from hearing their female friends complaining of frizzy hair, entreprenuers Richard Starrett and Neil Macka took it upon themselves to devise a solution. They came up with the Straight Up machine. Trading under the name Beautiful Vending Ltd, the two men realised there was a gap in the market, since English weather can turn perfectly styled hair to frizz, ruining a night out for women fixed on having pin-straight hair. More »
Wearing your profile on your sleeve: Here’s something that captures the zeitgeist in a novel yet simple way: Canadian t-lists are t-shirts that list the owner’s top 5 for *anything*, from five worst movies or five most admired musicians, to five best products ever, or five things he or she will never eat. More »
Niche-niche skincare: Created by UK native and long-time vegan Leesah B, and based in New Jersey, Inky Loves Nature produces products from community traded and traditionally extracted exotic butters and oils from Africa, biodynamic herbs, and other minimally processed plant based ingredients. Exclusively vegan and packaged in funky, eco-friendly and recyclable containers. With names like Warrior Queen Cleanser and Nappaliscious Nutritious Scalp Butter, the company wants its products to “call out to the culture-craving brown skinned urbanista.”More »
Nail taxi: Regular readers of Springwise will know that we’re a big fan of mobile concepts; they’re easy for entrepreneurs to set up, and so very convenient for consumers. Quick spotting from the world of beauty: Nail Taxi, based in the greater Washington D.C. area, provides nail care at customers’ homes, offices, hotel suites, hospital rooms. They’ll send a professional nail technician wherever a manicure or pedicure is needed. More »
Bold for bald: As a dedicated head-shaver, Abe Minkara tried every shaving product on the market, but none of them worked as well as he wanted. Discovering an underserved segment in the growing male grooming market, Minkara developed his own formula. His new company, Bold For Men, specializes in innovative skincare products for head-shaving men.
Francesco Illy, the founder of Illycaffè, invented espresso in the 1930s and the company, now run by Illy’s grandson, is looking to make a new name for itself in the global cafe marketplace. The company wants more recognition at the consumer level outside of Italy. It is expanding its Espressamente stores outside of Italy. The cafes are small, but designed by “leading Italian architects” and have cups and saucers that showcase contemporary artists, as well.
There are currently around 140 Espressamentes and Illy hopes to have 500 more within the next five years. The company expects that the consumers’ desire for authenticity and quality will support the $4.50 price tag attached to a cappuccino, in the same way that high prices are commanded by luxury fashion brands, like Gucci, Prada and Armani.
How many people would get a tattoo if it didn’t come with a lifetime commitment? I certainly would seriously consider getting inked if I didn’t have to worry about being happy with my choice in 50 years. Scientists at a company called Freedom-2 LLC have developed an ink that can be removed with a single laser treatment, making it simple to remove when you decide you don’t want that 30 Seconds to Mars tattoo anymore.
The fancy regret-free ink should be available to parlors early next year. Look for jokey, stupid tattoos to skyrocket by about 10,000,000%.
To all of our readers, we wish you a Merry Christmas
Baseball aficionados and collectors listen up. Check out this cool new Japanese cap range by designer, Ryo Fujizaki, who considers himself more an architect than a fashion designer. Indeed, Fujizaki has no fashion background which is why his caps are so cool. Using unorthodox materials such as satin or velvet, Fujizaki has created a range of caps with thermo molded transparent visors in an array of colors, which can be molded to suit your face shape. Plus the visors offer UV 400 grade sun protection.
Simple but great print ad!
Last week in downtown Vancouver the billboard you see above was exlusively powered by volunteers pedaling a single bicycle over a span of about 5 days. The advertisement was sponsored by DDB/Vancouver and BC Hydro (hydro is a Canadian term for power or electricity) to show off how energy-efficient LED Christmas lights are. While the reindeer used on the billboard was lit with about 1500 LED lights BC Hydro claims that with the traditional type of incandescent lighting there would only be enough electricity to power 120 bulbs.
While this is definitely a very energy-efficient way to power a set of LED Christmas lights the hard part is finding enough volunteers to keep the bike going. The 5 days this billboard was lit up required some 120 volunteers from DDB and local organizations so if you’ve got a large family you might want to consider this alternative next Christmas to help keep the electricity bills down. DDB Amsterdam do you have some volunteers left?
Created by Phillipe Starck for Baccarat, the Un Parfait Boxed Set is an exceptional collection of glassware. The set consists of six black goblets, each made from full-lead crystal. One of the goblets is perfect (un parfait) and is numbered and signed by Starck. Each of the others (cinq imparfaits) has a subtle, but purposeful, flaw and is inscribed with a quote from Jean Cocteau, “A l’impossible je suis tenu,” which translates to “I am obliged to do the impossible.” Price: $1,999.
Debuted earlier this month during the Art Basel Miami Beach events, Joris Laarman’s Bone chair takes its inspiration from the efficient way that bones grow (adding material where strength is needed and taking away material where it’s unnecessary). Made using a digital tool developed by GM that copies these methods of construction, Laarman says the ironic result of his biomimetic technique is “an almost historic elegancy” that is “far more efficient compared to modern geometric shapes.”