apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Well, at least is says "Official" on the tag. ; )

It looks like ants crawling all over it.

JyoJyO: That's exactly ehat I thought when the pic popped up!

Holy cr@p those are ugly.

they're superfug.

remember the market for those are the "Retro Ghetto"

Heavens to Betsy, that is ugly.

Way to honor great design: crappy design!

Yuck.

No Eames Lounge Chair?

I hate to say this but it looks like the perfect accessory for those who wear XXXXXXXL t-shirts and wear their pants down below their butt. Maybe throw in a be fat necklace with a gold Eames Lounge Chair & Ottoman.

awful.

Before you know it P. Diddy is going to be wearing one of those and then we're all going to have to compete with rappers for the best craigslist finds!

ACK! and im not saying that cause its Herman M...ACK

This is going to look great with my new grill! Snap!
http://www.seemygrill.com/Texas/Houston/25.html

You people have nooooooooo sense of humor.
I think it's hilarious and you're ALL getting one for Christmas.

Wow, what a bunch of pompous biotches. You never took one second to think that this fitted hat was not intended for those of you already in the "know." Perhaps the hat was made to inspire the 14-17 year-old kid who's only buying fitteds and all-over prints but is intrigued by the furniture and might just inquire further. The hat has the potential to inspire a kid or two that otherwise would never see an eames chair, doesn't know what modern design is let alone mid-century design.

It's sad that most of your comments have been focused on dissing the youth that might rock it rather than encouraging them to discover cheering on an attempt to enlighten them to good design.

Seriously? If I saw some kid with a grill and a giganto white t-short sporting one of these in my neighborhood, I'd probably wet my pants, then congratulate him. These are awesome, and I can't wait to see them in every sneaker joint.

By the way, this also reminds me when some chain store (the Gap, maybe?) was putting out screenprinted, DIY-style shirts with Edie Sedgewick on them. That was just as great to see on some random 13 year old who had no idea who she was.

The best way to "enlighten them to good design" is to do some good design targeted at the group you're trying to reach.

If you argued that it was a gag gift for people who are into
Eames, et al, I'd say it works, but you set a higher bar with your "enlightening the masses" argument. Without the ready reference to Eames, there is no irony, it's not funny, and the question becomes why does that fool have chairs on his hat, emphasis on fool not "I've got to go figure out why that chair is so special."

BTW, there's a reason 14-17 year-olds, as a group, aren't into furniture: they tend not to buy much of it.

Before you tell us to design for the group we're trying to reach get to know the whole line. Don't speak out of ignorance as it exposes your true fears which has motivated you to comment and hate.

"Why does that fool have chairs on his head?" Right there you've just exposed the fact that you're quick to judge, negative and afraid of the kid that has chairs on his head.

No they don't buy furniture. Der ralph, I'm glad we have you to to tell us this. As if the hat was trying to get 14-17 year-olds furniture... I can inspire them to inquire, dig deeper, look up design schools, become interested in design.

I'm sure you'll find some reason to not allow these "fools" to your RISDIs, Pratts and Design Centers...

Hmm, only two posts, both on this very thread... methinks Joel _fficial doth protest too much.

No doubt Joel will also tell us that their madras plaid hats are intended to get the buyers interested in gin & tonics on the yacht off Martha's Vineyard, and that the houndstooth caps introduce them to the English fox-hunting scene.

Given the obvious high-end boutique feel of their store in San Francisco, I doubt this product is aimed at ghetto kids who need a boost into RISDI. More like upper-middle-class adolescents playing ghetto, whose parents already have Eames chairs...

hahaah wende your funny..hehehe but your right.

hey joel..i dont like it ..cause the design of the hat itself is pretty wack. i have seen Eames chairs on a skateboard and that looks cool. but this hat.. is ugly.

if it had Barcelona chairs ( as much as i love them) i would still say its ugly.

dont be so defensive there buddy.

14-17 year olds...aren't thinking about furniture right now. trust me.. they are not sitting outside going " hey do you think that laccio table would look good in my room"

lol

Does anyone at AT know where the original site is for these hats? - The highsnobiety link works, but i can't find the original link to Official (the link on highsnobiety isn't right). I'd also be interested in seeing the other products that are rolling out with these hats. Where are they?

www.theofficialbrand.com

joel,

I started to leave this with the responses from melanie and wende, but you've twisted my criticism so I feel compelled to straighten it out.

First, two of your caps are posted here and my comments are directed to them and your defense of them. They should stand on their own, especially considering that I don't imagine a couple dozen people walking around each with a different hat from your collection so they can be judged as a series. Getting to know your whole line is unnecessary because I wasn't judging your line or your company.

As for the question, "Why does that fool have chairs on his head?" , you've misquoted and missed the point.

The thing that makes this hats interesting is the irony of switching out the icon that's printed on it. That's why I stopped, looked at the writeup and read the comments. I just don't think it accomplishes your stated goal and I've told you why.

Inspiring kids to dig into design is a worthwhile and admirable, but simply associating yourself with a classic chair doesn't do it. I would say you should dig a little deeper, spend more than 2 to 3 weeks on a new product (from your web site: http://shop.theofficialbrand.com/pages/about ) and lead by example...your own example. Supply and demand is not a philosophy. This sounds more like minimizing investment to make a buck than all the altruistism you're spouting.

Finally, wrt your last comment, my posting is about your hats and your self-proclaimed reason for making them. Nothing more.

Diversity in design is a real issue. Don't trivialize it by fantasizing that every critic of your hats is "the man" that controls admission through all gates to the world of design. If you're looking for reasons why people don't like your hats, I can't speak for anyone else, but I've spelled mine out.