Fritz Hansen is one of the top manufacturers of modern luxury furniture in the world. But despite this reputation I’ve neglected to feature their work on Design Crack. Why? It’s called laziness. I’ve been really lazy in tracking down images of their furniture. Finally, I’ve nicked a couple from their site, and I will now present to you the Space Lounge Chair. This is what I refer to as the Fritz Hansen equivalent to the Eames Lounge Chair. It’s classy, thin, comfortable, curvaceous, and incredibly expensive. Both chairs belong in science fiction movie where men in silver lame jumpsuits and extremely shiny hair products stand around drinking space age martinis while the chairs sit demurely in the center.

Anyway, I’ve got to go run some errands now. Today is the day I clean pigeon poop from my house. God, I wish I could be transported into the world of a Fritz Hansen marketing  photo shoot.

I’m not sure why I’m attracted to the MP3 by Piaggio. I just am. I think it has something to do with the fact that it’s a scooter with three wheels, but three wheels instead of two means that it can stand upright without assistance. I have two quick points about this machine, and then I’m done. First point is I don’t know if I’m excited or baffled by the two wheels on the front of the scooter. As far as I can tell, the two wheels are simply for balance at low speeds to stop. At high speeds, three wheels slow you down because the added wheel adds friction. When this vehicle turns, the wheels have to twist in and out to properly maintain contact with the road. Surely, all this technology was expensive to develop and for what? To add an extra wheel seems pointless when two wheels are already so perfect.

And then there is the name. The MP3. I just don’t think it’s very inspiring. It seems to me that Piaggio is hoping to get sales from the MP3 by unsuspecting music listeners clicking on the wrong search result. At least MP3 sounds better than its Italian name which is Fuoco. In Italian, Fuoco means fire, but here in the U.S. it sounds too close to the name Buttafuoco, as in “Joey Buttafuoco“. I think this fact alone would keep me away from a product named fuoco.
called fuoco in italy

Object: Track Bike

Designer: Mercian and Paul Smith

URL: www.mercian.com

Category: Sports and Recreation

Price: $4,000

Lust Factor: Hot

Description: The Paul Smith Bike manufactured by Mercian is true design crack. Paul Simth is what I consider to be the Tommy Hilfiger of the UK. That is, he takes an interesting fashion concept, like the bold, multicolored vertical stripe, and beats you over the head with it until you never forget it. The Mercian manufactured bicycle is in this stripey extension of design heavy-handedness.

There is no doubt that the craftsmanship is absolutely beautiful. The handmade, vintage lugs and paint job of the bicycle is stellar. But, I live in a town where sexy fixed gear bicycles are a dime a dozen. This one barely stands up on the coolness factor. For instance, this bike has a break. Weak! Anyone who is going to glom onto the fixed gear bicycle trend better pay homage to why people find them cool in the first place. People appreciate their stripped-down simplicity and the fact that they require a highly skilled riding technique. That’s what makes them unique.

Also, the pricepoint on this bike feels a bit like brand-zealotry to me. People who love Paul Smith will buy this bike even though a very good comparable fixed gear bike goes for 25 to 50% of the Paul Smith sale price. This is a crack dealer in action.

Object: The Spikey Hairclip

Manufacturer: Laura Murray

URL: http://www.lauramurray.co.uk

Category: Fashion

Price: $75

Lust Factor: Warm

Description: Laura Murray is the mistress of feather design. Her handbags, in particluar, are fantastic, colorfull, highly crafted, and extremely unique. However, I’ve included this beautiful hairclip in the site simply because it would take a seriously good party to wear it.