Soul Mate
Stepping out in these styles will make the others want to walk in your shoes.
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The baby Rolls
If you see your garage as a super-sized wardrobe and your vehicles as
your "carments", the Rolls Royce Phantom would be the tuxedo and the
new "baby Rolls" is the sports jacket – both from the same bespoke
tailor. That's how designer Michael Markefka describes his new car.
Codenamed the RR4, the new car looks less imposing than its bigger
brother and will be more affordable. Nonetheless, it still feels just
as plush and luxurious inside with its extensive use of high quality
wood veneers; thick, luscious wool rugs and supple leather seats. It
still gives its occupants the sense of importance, especially when the
rear coach doors swing outwards. Despite its smaller dimensions, cabin
space is still an asset in this car – leaving no room for complains
from passengers.
Under the bonnet, the RR4 eclipses the Phantom's power output with its
newly developed 6.6-litre turbocharged engine that produces over 500bhp
delivered through an eight-speed automatic transmission.
If you prefer something more understated to suit the times – ¬without
missing out on the good life – the RR4 will certainly be the perfect
fit in your mechanical wardrobe.
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Home time
For the watch obsessed, there’s another way to display your horological passion: By hanging it on the wall.
The Piaget clock pays tribute to the Polo, the emblematic round watch that was launched in 1979 and celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Then, the watch distinguished by horizontal stripes across its case was a favourite among the jet-set celebrity pack. It’s fitting, then, that the clock version sports three timezones of key cities on the subdials, namely Geneva, Hong Kong and New York.
In line with the modern aesthetics of its timepieces, this sleek creation in aluminium and steel will fit right at home in contemporary abodes. The wall clock is available by order only at Piaget boutiques. Our only gripe is that we can’t customise the city sub-counters to suit our travelling preferences. Still it won’t hurt to have this new face around.
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Retail form
Founder of local furniture brand Air, Nathan Yong, was named Designer of the Year at The President’s Design Awards 2009. He tells us what it takes for home grown designers to achieve commercial success.
Designers have to understand themselves first, then choose their direction before anyone can help them raise their profile. You need to know your target group — you can’t market yourself as a flamboyant designer like Karim Rashid and sell to a minimalist Japanese retailer like Muji.
‘Commercial’ is not a dirty word. In order for manufacturers to want to produce your designs, you must be driven to self-promote and not see it as a sell out. And working with the commercial aspects of design in mind will help improve your works, thus making it easier to be produced.
This includes approaching design as a creative process, rather than simply a form. It is pointless to start with a form that is not suited to a certain character of material and subsequently find the materials and construction method to achieve it. In my opinion, using metal to create an organic form is not impossible but one must question the aim of the designer in doing so.
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 May 2009 Issue
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