Stylish Eccentricity. Flipping through the latest The New York Times Style Magazine, (Mens Fashion Fall 2007) we immediately recognized the off-beat designs from the British company, Established & Sons. We've covered many of them here on AT Jasper Morrison's Crate Series, Sebastian Wrong's Font Clock and Richard Woods' Wrongwoods. In the article, The New Establishment, we get a glimpse at Alasdhair Willis, the CEO of Established & Sons. We learned that he is married to Stella McCartneyand that he was one of the founders of Wallpaper magazine and Winkreative with Tyler Brule...










I went to the Established&Sons website to take a look at that clock but was foiled once again by Flash. God, designers love Flash. I'm so glad AT is not a Flash site.
view nerdpita's profile
Why do you guys dislike Moss so much?
view brific's profile
@ nerdpita... I'm a designer, and I HAAAAATE Flash. It's not so bad on the E&S site, but it can be pretty awful.
And that font clock is still fugly.
view shani-o's profile
I remember reading a comment (I think it was from notmydesk.com) that said, "The 3 sweetest words in the English language are 'Skip Flash Intro'." I wish that every flash webpage had that option.
Unless I realllly want to look at something, I just don't bother with most flash sites.
view ami's profile
I don't hate Moss...it seems there is an unwritten rule that something isn't successful unless it is in Moss - which I disagree with.
view Aaron's profile
I hate the word "fugly."
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
I do kind of hate Moss. Or at least the way they merchandise. I get the whole "design as art" concept, but sorry, the whole point of "design as art" is that the art is tangible and concrete, not that the design object is inaccessible behind glass.
I don't think I could spend $2000 on a chair if it was on a pedestal and I couldn't sit in it first, or see what it looked like in the context of a room rather than a gallery.
view the opoponax's profile
Have you ever asked to sit on a chair at Moss? They will let you. There are stairs just for that right under the pedestals. Also, I think the whole point of Moss is to appreciate the object before you go jumping on it or grabbing it.
view 1971MI's profile
p(too): it IS a fugly word.
view shani-o's profile
my point isn't so much that they wouldn't allow me to test drive a chair, but that the items feel too inaccessible. I don't want people to come to my house and feel like they shouldn't sit on the furniture. So why would I buy something from a store that displayed everything as if it was for looking and not touching?
I don't fault anyone who shops at Moss, or anyone who likes that approach. Someone said 'what do yall have against Moss?' and I let fly with the obvious answer. The things that go in my home are for using as well as looking at, and the folks who are in charge of product merchandising at Moss clearly feel the opposite. Thus, regardless of tax bracket, I'm unlikely ever to want to buy anything there.
view the opoponax's profile
Um, don't you buy clothes off a hanger?
And I once bought a $65 stainless steel bowl at Moss. Not all of it is a gazillion dollars.
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
I like Moss. I don't get all the design blog hate for Moss, especially since no one ever says gives a reason as to why they hate Moss. I think it's like hating a song or a band once it becomes popular.
I personally find Matter and that other totally overhyped store in Williamsburg (can't remember the name) to be much more annoying.
view fiona's profile
The price range has nothing to do with it.
What I dislike is their approach to product merchandising. I go in. I'm completely uninspired.
Thus I don't go anymore, and even if I someday had $65 to spend on one bowl, I still probably wouldn't see anything that really jumped out at me. I'm just a tactile person that way, I guess (I also hate those boutiques where the clothes are displayed so that you can't touch them or pick them up easily).
Oh, and Future Perfect (that "other totally overhyped store in Williamsburg") gets me feeling the same way, due to their similar gallery approach. And some of their stuff is even occasionally vaguely close to my price range -- it's not a money thing, it's the approach.
view the opoponax's profile