German manufacturer Ritter makes “the optimal built-in solution to free up countertop space:” This incredible AES line of disappearing food slicers that fit into a drawer.
While they’re designed to fit within standard drawers, installing and wiring the things aren’t trivial; the company says if you want one of these put in, “it is best to contact a specialist kitchen retailer in your area.” (By which they mean Europe, as far as I can tell these aren’t offered in the ‘States.)
In recent years, beachside municipalities have made efforts to make their sandy beaches wheelchair-accessible. One solution is to install these mats that can accommodate regular wheelchairs.
Mats, however, have obvious limitations. So here’s a look at wheelchairs and wheelchair accessories specifically designed to tackle sand.
Australian industrial designer Ryan Tilley designed Gecko Traxx, a portable and affordable series of rubber wheel wraps that can be applied over ordinary wheelchair tires.
Debug Mobility Products makes a variety of Beach Wheelchairs with gigantic puffy tires that can tackle sand.
Sand Helper makes a motorized version. Their business model is to rent these out at beachside communities.
French company Vipamat has gone for a trike configuration with their Hippocampe Beach Wheelchair. They offer it in four different sizes (S/M/L/XL). Aesthetically speaking I think it’s the best of the bunch, and as a bonus, it’s submersible.
And for the DIY-minded, a company called Wheeleez offers low-pressure balloon wheels, axles and kits, so that you can adapt an existing wheelchair or create your own.
Wheeleez’s gallery of what their customers have come up with is pretty impressive:
Dezeen Showroom: founder of Spanish furniture brand Actiu, Vicent Berbegal has designed a stackable chair with a rounded backrest that extends to form two curved front legs.
Named Bee, the chair is made from polypropylene and fibreglass and was designed for use in office, contract and hospitality environments.
The Bee chair is made from polypropylene and fibreglass
“The elegance and sinuosity of its shapes make Bee a differentiated and attractive product for any architectural context,” said Actiu.
“It incorporates innovation, material science and sustainable processes into an iconic silhouette.”
The chair is available is a range of colours
Bee’s sinuous silhouette was created to provide comfort while also making a visual impact in indoor or outdoor settings.
It is available in a variety of colours with anti-UV treatments and up to five chairs can be stacked together.
Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.
Dezeen Showroom is an example of partnership content on Dezeen. Find out more about partnership content here.
Something I learned years ago in martial arts, is how to accurately describe which plane or axis something is rotating along. The terminology was useful during instruction, and may be useful to designers seeking to describe how something pivots relative to the human body.
Swiss designer Yves Behar has created an electric vehicle called Telo, which fits the passenger and cargo capacity of a pickup truck within the length of a small city car.
Telo, which is the first vehicle being developed by a US company of the same name, has a four-door, five-seater cabin and a 60-inch (1.5-metre) truck bed in a vehicle that’s just 152 inches (3.8 metres) long – the same length as a two-door Mini Cooper SE hatchback.
“Most EV [electric vehicle] cars out there are basically configured in the same way that gasoline-engine cars have been,” Behar told Dezeen.
“And so the opportunity there was to say: ‘Okay, how do we deliver a fully functional EV pickup truck with a full-size truck bed, with a large passenger cabin, but utilise a layout that will make it much more practical and much smaller in the urban environment?'”
The Telo pickup truck was designed to be practical in cities (above) and for outdoor getaways (top)
Behar and his design studio Fuseproject achieved this by taking advantage of the space efficiencies that electric technology offers.
With two small electric motors powering the car instead of a large combustion engine in the front, the truck features a significantly shorter front end, with the driver and passengers sitting much further forward than in a traditional pickup truck.
“When you don’t have a front engine, you’re given all this extra space,” said Behar.
“The size of it is extraordinary. We get these specs, which are basically the same interior space and truck-bed size as a Toyota Tacoma, but in the size, front-to-back, of a Mini.”
The pickup truck is the same length as a Mini Copper SE
Telo, which is derived from the word for “purpose” in Ancient Greek, is the first product by a start-up co-founded by Jason Marks and Forrest North, a former Tesla engineer. Behar is head of design and is also an investor in the company.
The brand is aimed at what Behar calls “urban adventures”, people who want a car that’s practical to drive in the city where they live and work but can also be taken to the beach or into the country at weekends.
“It’s very practical in urban and suburban environments – very functional there – but it’s also a great truck to take on weekend adventures,” Behar said.
Telo can be reconfigured in a variety of different ways
The car, which Behar describes as “a workhorse”, has been designed to be as flexible as possible for a variety of work and leisure uses.
The partition that separates the cabin from the truck bed can be folded down to expand the truck bed so that it can fit 4-foot by 8-foot (2.44-metre by 1.22-metre) sheets of plywood or a 9-foot (2.74-metre) surfboard with the tailgate up, something much larger vehicles would struggle to achieve.
A lockable roll-up tonneau cover ensures that items stored in the truck bed can be secured.
Alternatively, Telo can be specified with a cap to extend the cabin, turning the vehicle into a small minivan or camper van, with the truck bed replaced with either a third row of seats or space for sleeping.
The lack of a central driveshaft allows for a storage compartment behind the back seat that runs the full width of the vehicle and can be used to stow suitcases and other mid-sized items.
Telo can be specified with a cap to turn it into a small camper van
This flexibility is achieved “without compromising performance”, according to Behar.
The two electric motors will produce 500 brake horsepower (bhp), enabling Telo to hit 60 miles an hour in four seconds and reach a top speed of 125 miles an hour.
The truck will be powered by a newly developed 106 kilowatt hour (kwh) battery pack, which the company claims will be able to deliver up to 350 miles of range while taking up less space than current batteries on the market. This enabled Behar to maximise the cabin space.
“The battery system is much more compact in height, which gives us the ability to have headroom in the vehicle that is quite generous,” he said.
Cooling for the batteries is provided by a single vent on the front of the car, with additional air intake coming from the wheel wells, which exits through side vents on the doors.
Telo is aimed at “urban adventurers”, according to its designer
According to Behar, the short nose of the car was a challenge to design, providing a much larger surface when viewed face-on than a traditional car with a longer, more gently sloping hood.
To create character, he added six slanted vertical headlights with a slim pill-shaped form, a motif that is repeated throughout the vehicle, including the door handles and air vents on the side of the car.
“The shortening of the front end was a big design constraint but also an opportunity to create a larger face with more identity,” Behar said.
“The front signature was very important and I spent quite a bit of time sketching that. I think the six headlights are quite different, quite unique.”
Telo has been designed for both work and play
Overall, Behar strived to achieve a design that would appeal to a wider demographic than traditional pickup trucks.
“Clearly, the look of pickup trucks has traditionally been aggressive, oversized, with a very large front grille,” he said. “A number of articles have come out about how dangerous that is, but it also really only speaks to one type of customer.”
Telo is already taking reservations for the new car. It unveiled a full-size visual prototype this week, plans to have a driving prototype ready later this year and aims to have the truck on the road within three years.
The company plans to achieve this quick turnaround by using contract manufacturers. This has only recently become possible in the automotive space, partly due to technological developments and partly due to the relative mechanical simplicity of electric powertrains and the third-party components that they use. Behar believes it is a game-changer.
The front of the car features six distinctive vertical headlights
“The Telo truck will be contract manufactured in the US, so it will be built locally, and this is the big change in car manufacturing,” he said.
“In the past, it would have cost between $2 and $3 billion dollars to build a car factory from the ground up. But now we have contract manufacturers that allow smaller EV companies to launch and build their cars much faster.”
“What this means is that, like we saw with consumer products over the last 30 years, we will hopefully see more new concepts, new types of vehicles, which don’t require the very large and very expensive infrastructure of the past.”
Telo unveiled a full-size visual prototype of the pickup truck this week
Telo will initially launch in the US, where pickup trucks are an extremely popular vehicle choice. But Behar hopes to expand into the European market too, which is less fond of the traditionally bulky vehicles.
“Pickup trucks are the best-selling vehicle type in the United States and they would probably be better selling in Europe if they were designed differently,” Behar said.
“If you’re in a city like London or Lisbon, or really anywhere in Europe, anywhere in an older city, large vehicles are really a terrible burden,” he added.
“So the ability to do so much in such a small size means that we see a lot of opportunity to launch it in Europe as well.”
A beautiful piece of furniture can complete a room. It can be the final piece that makes a space come full circle, building a comfortable and cohesive haven, rather than a random area. Furniture pieces make or break a home, they add on to the essence or soul of a home, hence one needs to be extremely picky while choosing a furniture design. The design should be a reflection of you, and what you want your home to be. When you place a piece of furniture in a room, it should instantly integrate with the space, creating a wholesome and organic environment. We’ve curated a collection of IKEA-worthy furniture designs that we believe will do this! From a bookshelf with a plot twist to a chair with an innovative joint solution – each of these pieces is unique, well-crafted, and made with a whole lot of love, and the love really shines through in the fine detailing and workmanship. We hope you feel the love too!
1. The Peach Easy Chair
The Peach Easy Chair was designed by Annabella Hevesi to introduce and experiment with a new and innovative mechanical joint. The intriguing chair features a unique mechanical joint solution that enables the foam to be shaped in a new and refreshing manner.
Why is it noteworthy?
The joint enables the foam to be shaped without cutting or casting – the first method creates a lot of waste, and the second method is quite expensive. Instead, a new ‘tufting’ technique was employed to distort the foam and create the shell out of the chair.
What we like
Not only reduces waste but also offers a mechanical connection between the components, eliminating the need for glue
What we dislike
The chairs offers a slouched posture, which may not be ergonomic for the user.
2. The Drum Stool
Designed By Teixeira Design Studio, The Drum stool is a minimal, clean, and stackable stool design that is also super sustainable. Although it looks like an adorable little wine cork, you will realize it offers so much more, once you take a closer look.
Why is it noteworthy?
Materials such as cork and wood were selected by Teixeira to build the stool, instantly making it a sustainable design. Cork was utilized to build the seat, while wood was used to create the legs.
What we like
The cork seat is comfortable and inviting and provides a grip while handling, so the stool is quite easy to move around and place in different positions
What we dislike
The wave pattern of the trimmed cork seat seems uncomfortable to sit on for long durations
3. The Centenniale Coffee Table
Joanna Laajisto designed the Centenniale coffee table for the Finnish brand Nikari. The sturdy and minimal coffee table was built using 100-year-old wood, and it was designed with the intention to embrace the cracks and imperfections of the old timber.
Why is it noteworthy?
The entire coffee table was constructed from a single piece of wood, and it features a sharp-edged and elongated tabletop that is supported by blocky and chonky legs with rounded edges.
What we like
The different elements of the table beautifully showcase the unique and versatile variations and textures in the timber
The table features a rather low-profile which adds magnitudes to its overall character and personality
What we dislike
Aesthetics are a bit simple and unassuming
4. The Cheviot Side Table
Designed by Ylisse, the Cheviot side table is built from sturdy steel featuring a long-lasting, heat-cured powder-coating finish. The finish offers resistance to everyday wear and tear. The table can be procured in two combinations – elegant walnut to match the black base, or iconic cherry to complement the white base.
Why is it noteworthy?
The Cheviot side table is a sophisticated and comfortable piece of furniture, with a simple and contrasting shape that perfectly complements modern homes. It features a mix of textures and contrasts which provide depth to our contemporary living spaces and supports a streamlined aesthetic.
What we like
Compact + space-saving design
Minimal and clean aesthetics
What we dislike
Colors may change over time, providing the wood with a more amber color – which may not be preferred by some
5. The Blu Dot Port Dining Chair
The Blu Dot Port Dining chair is a comfortable and stylish chair with a sculpted wood seat featuring elegant contours. The well-designed piece of furniture maintains a graceful aesthetic, while also managing to be functional and practical.
Why is it noteworthy?
The dining chair features a shapely and cozy bent plywood and back, which provides enhanced comfort during meal times. It has been equipped with a solid wood frame and legs, which is excellent for interacting with guests and spending time with family
What we like
The plastic glides on the feet prevent the floor surfaces from getting scratched or scraped
What we dislike
Aesthetics are a bit boring and unassuming
6. The Bower Studios Melt Daybed
The Bower Studios Melt Daybed is the ultimate daybed to relish and enjoy the lazy summer afternoons. The cozy bed has been equipped with soft cushioning wrapped around a solid wood frame, which serves as the perfect space for relaxation.
Why is it noteworthy?
The comfortable daybed features a little bump rest for your head or arm, so you can always lie down and relax in a cozy position. The Melt Daybed measures 86″ by 32″ by 23″, providing you with an ample amount of space to unwind and chill, or read your favorite book.
What we like
Availability in a variety of colors and finishes, so you can pick a style that complements your home decor
What we dislike
Bulky + space-consuming design
7. The Flow Single Sofa
This minimal, elegant, and chic-looking armchair is called the Flow Single Sofa and is part of SUNRUI’s FLOW Collection. It literally looks like the Queen’s Chair if you look closely enough!
Why is it noteworthy?
The armchair has a bulky, space-consuming, and yet deeply elegant form that manages to represent, as well as downplay, the stoicness of the sofa. It has been equipped with spiral armrests that provide the sofa with a sophisticated and classy air. The spiral armrests add an interesting and artistic element to the sofa and also quite amusingly resemble the Ionic Order. The Ionic Order is one of the orders of classic architecture and is defined by twin volutes or spiral scrolls.
What we like
Meets the needs of humans and pets alike
Creates a shared space where the owner and cat can spend some quality time together
What we dislike
If your pet pees or poops inside the armrests, it could be challenging to clean up
8. The Scissor Side Table
The Scissor Side Table features a round metallic tabletop that is supported by a bright red infinite metal tube. The metallic tube and its bold color instantly command attention, and the tube also functions as a useful handle to hold on to, if you want to move the table from one room to another.
Why is it noteworthy?
The Scissor side table’s innovative handle makes it a portable + easy to carry-around design, that you can conveniently transport from one place to another. Much like its name suggests, the Scissor side table does look like a scissor indeed, providing it with a stark metallic appearance, and a bold personality.
What we like
Portable and flexible design
What we dislike
Since it is a concept, we wonder if the lightweight tabletop may tilt if heavy objects are placed on one side
9. The Pessoa Table
Minimalist desks are great at sneaking organizational features into hidden nooks and crannies, but this striking work table has those compartments and spaces hiding in plain sight.
Why is it noteworthy?
Given the desk’s simple yet beautiful appearance, it might come as a surprise to learn that its form is actually inspired by three very different people with very different personalities. Or, to be more precise, the desk is named after the famed Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa, whose different “heteronyms” (he doesn’t want to call them pseudonyms) have different and sometimes extremely conflicting ideologies. But almost like a metaphor for that situation, the Pessoa table still retains a unified appearance and beauty, just as all of Pessoa’s seventy-five heteronyms spring from the same man.
What we like
Minimal + vintage looks
Features two containers that float in the back panel
What we dislike
Space-consuming design
10. Plot Twist Bookshelf
Prolific German furniture designer Deniz Aktay has recently introduced the Plot Twist Bookshelf. It’s a piece of furniture that features four separate twisted wooden elements. They are connected to each other, shaping and creating a stable form.
Why is it noteworthy?
The bookshelf’s design allows it to be accessed from every side. As with most of Deniz Aktay’s product designs, this bookshelf is oddly satisfying. The curves are present as with the designer’s other projects. In addition, most of Aktay’s works have undergone some bending or twisting, as with the Wavelet, the Tie Stool, and The Pet Table.
What we like
The shelves can accommodate similarly sized books for a clutter-free look
The translucent, wavy facade of China Philharmonic Concert Hall by MAD is revealed in these construction photos, which capture the building nearing completion in Beijing.
Located next to the Workers Stadium, China Philharmonic Concert Hall will become the first permanent residence for the country’s philharmonic orchestra.
The two-storey, 11,600-square-metre building will house both a main concert hall and rehearsal spaces for the musicians.
The China Philharmonic Concert Hall will be located in Beijing
Designed as a “tranquil space”, it features an undulating, translucent facade that MAD described as “reminiscent of a piece of jade”.
Its white curtain wall diffuses daylight into the building, which will have a lobby with a grand spiral staircase at its centre.
Glazing was used to make the building appear “white and pure” and will be lit from within to create a light-box effect at night.
MAD created an undulating exterior for the concert hall
“The lighting devices are installed parallel to one another on the main steel structure and longitudinal structure to illuminate the translucent membrane surface from behind and softly brighten the facade through secondary reflection,” the studio explained.
The lighting will be gradually reduced from the building’s east side to create an ethereal lighting effect when seen from far away.
Inside, the grand concert hall will have a “vineyard-style” arrangement with serried rows and floating terraces to accommodate 1,600 people.
China Philharmonic Concert Hall will also have a 350-seat rehearsal hall for the musicians.
To enhance the acoustics, the concert hall will have curved wooden walls. A ceiling informed by lotus flowers will hold white sound reflection panels that can be angled and adjusted to help the sound reflect across the space.
The building has a glass facade
The concert hall will also house an 88-pipe organ designed by specialist Casavant with different heights and mouth positions to resemble a “field of bamboo”.
“The China Philharmonic Concert Hall will become a pure and sacred oasis in the middle of the city, providing a state-of-the-art performance venue that fosters cultural exchange and stands as China’s new locus for classical music,” MAD said.
The photography is by CreatAR, Zhengdong Li and Xu Chen
Project credits:
Principal partners in charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano Associate partners in charge: Liu Huiying, Kin Li Design team: Zheng Chengwen, Wang Qi, Fu Xiaoyi, He Xiaokang, Xiao Ying, Zeng Hao, Wang Shuobin, Wang Yiming, Hu Jinchang, Jacob Hu, Brecht van Acker, Wang Deyuan, Dora Lam, Ben Yuqiang, Zhang Long, Deng Wei, Connor Hymes, Chen Yien, Shen Chen, Yan Ran Client: China Philharmonic Orchestra Executive architect: Radio, Film & TV Design and Research Institute, Beijing Homedale Institute of Urban Planning & Architectural Design Structural engineer: CCDI Group Facade consultant: RFR Shanghai Interior design: Beijing Honggao Architectural Decoration and Construction Design Co., Ltd. Lighting consultant: SIGN Lighting Landscape architect: Palm Design Co., Ltd. Signage design: Zheng Bang Creative (Beijing) Brand Technology Company Limited
The Vivo X Flip checks most of the right boxes but now faces even stiffer competition even in its home market.
The market for foldables is still marginal, but the demand for foldable phones is steady, backed by the number of sales. 2023 seems to be a year for foldables phones, with iterations of foldable phones from familiar brands and inaugural foldables from big and not-so-big brands. Vivo released its first clamshell foldable Vivo X Flip in China along with the second generation of book-style foldable Vivo X Fold2. We checked out the Vivo’s first attempt at a flip phone.
Vivo X Flip sports a large 3.0-inch horizontal cover display. With bezel extended to the entire back of the device horizontally, the cover display is nicely integrated into the design, rather than the vast cut-out of display we’ve seen in the OPPO Find N2 Flip. The design also gives you the illusion of the cover display being bigger than it actually is.
On the left upper corner, sitting atop the cover display, is a circular camera bump adorned with a Zeiss logo. The circular camera bump design echoes Vivo’s other foldable released on the same day, the Vivo X Fold2. Vivo did not compromise aesthetics for the form factor. Unfortunately, the rather big, attention-seeking Vivo logo placed on the bottom spoils the sleek and premium design of the phone.
X Flip comes in three color options: Rhombic Purple, Silk Gold, and Diamond Black. While each colorway offers unique charm and character, the eye-catcher of three is Rhombic Purple, with its quilt-like vegan leather cover inspired by luxury bags.
More subtle Silk Gold and Diamond Black variants feature a glass back cover. The Diamond Black we got is beautiful with a small diamond pattern reflecting light, but we find the shiny, glossy glass attracts fingerprints and smudges. The phone comes with a transparent plastic case, but that, too, is a fingerprint magnet.
Ergonomics
Vivo X Flip size varies slightly between the colorways, but the largest Rhombic Purple measures 86.40mm x 75.25mm x 17.56mm when folded or 166.42mm x 75.25mm x 8.19 mm when flipped open. It is practically the same size as the OPPO Find N2 Flip. The Vivo X Flip closes all the way flat and has absolutely no gap when closed. When unfolded, the phone looks and feels like a regular smartphone. The crease is barely noticeable for the eyes and very subtle for the fingertips thanks to the 5.3mm waterdrop hinge structure.
The phone feels comfortable to hold in your hands. The build quality of X flip feels premium and gives you satisfaction each time you open and close the phone. The Vivo X Flip is certified by TUV Rheinland to endure up to 500,000 folds, so there is no need to worry about durability.
The X Flip can stay stand steadily on its own at the range of somewhere between 60 to 120-degree angle. Try to sit the phone at an angle wider or narrower than that, and it will slowly close or open.
Performance
Vivo X Flip is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and comes with 12GB of ram that can be expanded by up to 8GB and either 256 GB or 512 GB of storage. It’s not the latest high-end Qualcomm chip, but plenty powerful. The clamshell runs Origin OS 3 on top of Android 13.
The X flip features a 6.74-inch screen with a 2520 x 1080 resolution. It has a 21:9 aspect ratio and an LTPO 120 Hz refresh rate. No official peak brightness figure is provided, but the main screen is bright enough under harsh sunlight. Unlocking the phone can be done using the impressively fast and accurate fingerprint sensor on the side.
As for the 3.0-inch cover screen, it offers a broader range of possibilities compared to Samsung Z Flip4 or OPPO Find N2 Flip. You can swiftly access quick settings, check notifications, make and receive calls, take pictures and videos, record audio, check the weather, and set a timer. You can use WeChat with full keyboard input, use a navigation app, watch videos, or even lock/unlock your car on the cover screen. But these are limited to Chinese apps. Vivo didn’t give X Flip the freedom to run any app on the display screen, and it may not be a big issue since this is a China-only phone, at least for now.
However, it feels like a missed opportunity for the phone to have a large 3.0-inch of canvas to play with, yet we’re limited in what we can do with it. If Vivo wanted it, we could run the entire phone without ever having to open it.
It’s no secret that foldable phones lag behind premium camera phones when it comes to mobile photography. But Vivo’s well-regarded improvements in imaging software in recent years are present in X Flip, and the clamshell can produce excellent pictures. X Flip boasts 50MP main camera that employs IMX 866V with 1/1.149”. It has an f/1.75 aperture and features OIS. The 12MP ultrawide camera with f/2.2 aperture also is equipped with autofocus. And there is a 32MP selfie camera.
Ultrawide
Wide
2x Zoom
X Flip’s main and ultrawide angle capture images with nice details and great dynamic range. The color rendered is on the warmer side, but nothing unnatural. Green, notably lighter green, tends to be more vibrant than it actually is. Zeiss mode produces images with softer green.
Normal 1x
ZEISS 1x
Normal Macro
ZEISS Macro
Low-light photos the X flip capture are impressive too. Vivo employs aggressive shadow brightening while ensuring good white balance and color saturation. Different light sources are adequately exposed, and the details are retained. It seems Vivo is proud, and rightly so, of its night mode and decided to apply it to low-light photography by default.
Regular Mode
Night Mode
One advantage of a flip phone is that you can prop it up as its own tripod or let your subject see the framing as you take photos. And you can see Vivo puts significant consideration and care in this area. The preview mode shows the cropped view of the framing. Vivo added a dual-preview letting your subject see the cropped picture along with the entire framing by splitting the cover screen into two. This lovely function allows your subject to check the whole composition of the photo and not just the zoomed view of the photo you usually get with flip-cover displays.
You can take selfies with the rear cameras by launching the camera directly from the cover screen or switching to Rear HD Selfie mode from internal camera mode. You can access camera settings like camera timer, aspect ratio, and shutter release mode. For Portrait and video, filters and beauty modes can be applied via the cover display. What’s fun is that you can pinch in to access the ultrawide’s 0.6x on Portrait and Photo via the cover display.
Of course, you can shoot selfies with the internal camera. But with the ability to take selfies with the superior rear cameras, the internal camera will likely be left for video calls only.
As for video recording, Vivo X Flip can shoot up to 4k 60fps with the main camera and up to 4k 30fps with the ultrawide. Both the main and the ultrawide camera are equipped with stabilization. Weirdly, the preview on the cover screen is not available for video. And what is more puzzling is that recording selfie videos with the cover display is limited to 1080p 30fps, and no stabilization is available.
Macro
Vivo X Flip packs the largest battery for a flip phone at 4,400 mAh and supports 44 W wired charging. The battery is more than enough to get you through the day. Unfortunately, it does not come with wireless charging capability or an IP rating.
Sustainability
While many smartphone manufacturers are putting efforts into being environmentally responsible, it seems they throw it out of the window when it comes to foldable smartphones. Sadly Vivo is no exception here. For example, Vivo makes no mention of using sustainable or recycled materials on the flip phone or its package.
That said, the X flip is built well and rated to withstand at least 500,000 opens and closes, so it won’t die on you too early. At least if you’re careful. No formal IP dust and water resistant rating is given, though, so you’ll need to take extra measure to keep it away from risky environments. It would be great to see Vivo leading the area of sustainability in this form factor segment, but that doesn’t seem to be on its radar yet.
Value
Currently only available in China, Vivo X Flip is priced at CNY 5999 ($838) for 256GB of storage and CNY 6699 ($936) for 512GB storage. The X Flip has a lot to offer as there are only a few competitors for flip phones out there, and X Flip can be one of the top picks when it was launched. But now, with Motorola Razr+ and its larger, fully functional display, as well as the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip5, the competition is getting stiffer. No global availability and limitations on cover display functionality are major drawbacks that won’t help the situation.
Verdict
Even though the limitation on what apps you can run on the cover screen has left us disappointed, Vivo has done so much right with X Flip. With its sleek design, highly customizable Origin OS 3, excellent camera experience, bright main screen amongst flip phones, beefy battery, and a large and responsive cover screen, Vivo certainly left a mark on the clamshell segment. It’s timing, however, leaves something to be desired, and it will be facing tough rivals in the coming months, even in its exclusive Chinese market.
Very few wristwatches deserve as much adoration—and continued discussion—as the Breguet Type 20. This flyback pilot chronograph, which debuted in 1954, was designed by the horological maison to align with rigorous specifications laid out by the French Ministry of Defense, and then offered to aviators of the Air Force and Naval Army as part of their equipment package. Demand led to the introduction of a civilian model, the Type XX, and widespread acclaim and ravenous collectors soon followed. In Paris last week, impeccably refreshed Breguet Type 20 and Type XX models were released—the latest in a line of legendary timepieces.
Anyone familiar with previous iterations of the Type 20 and Type XX will understand that the Breguet design DNA informed these two new models, the Type 20 ref. 2057 and Type XX ref. 2067. That said, both of these stainless steel watches (with bidirectional bezels) have an increased diameter size—42mm rather than 38.5mm—which complements the expanded watch thickness of 14.1mm. It’s an appropriate ratio and that’s clearly reflected on the wrist. Each also incorporates a date window on the dial at 4:30—a useful albeit unexpected addition that doesn’t disrupt legibility.
From an aesthetic standpoint, the two models bifurcate in several ways. The military-inspired Type 20 features two subdials, syringe hands and mint green lume. Its bezel is fluted—and it incorporates an onion crown. The civilian Type XX incorporates three subdials, alpha hands, an ivory-colored lume, coin edging and an oversized crown. The former benefits most from a nato fabric strap, while the later pairs well with calfskin leather. Throughout their reinvented composition, both have adopted different vintage attributes and updated them for the present day.
Of greatest importance, both the Type 20 and Type XX are powered by new self-winding movements that took four years for Breguet to develop. This explains the expansion of case size—as the Type 20 and its Calibre 7281 movement, as well as the Type XX and its Calibre 728 movement, incorporate a column wheel and vertical clutch. Further, a highly durable silicon balance spring and an inverted in-line lever escapement with silicon horns have been utilized in both for magnetic resistance. It’s through these advancements that Breguet reinforces their reputation as a pioneering watch manufacture.
These new movements were designed to power a flyback chronograph function—which allows a wearer to reset the sweeping timer function with the push of one button (rather than having to press a pusher to make it stop, and then pressing it again to reset). This watch complication is coveted by pilots and was an original requirement for the Type 20 in the ’50s. Both new timepieces feature an exposed caseback that acts as a window into their movements. Visible through this exhibition feature, a DLC-coated oscillating weight and column wheel offer contrasting visual texture—as does the meticulous hand-finishing on other internal components.
Of the two introductions, the Type 20 is our preference. From the mint-colored luminescence atop the black dial (with galvanic treatment) to the “big eyes” design of the side by side subdials, it manages to be both intriguing and assertive, balanced and bold.
When the Type 20 was initially introduced in the ’50s, Breguet was uniquely positioned to develop a flyback pilot chronograph—having deeply understood the need of aviators. During a tour of the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace du Bourget in Paris, hours in advance of our hands-on time with the new Type 20 and Type XX, journalists were guided through the Breguet family’s interwoven history of horology and aviation—from Louis Breguet’s aircraft development organization founded in 1911, Société des Ateliers d’Aviation Louis Bréguet, to the 55,000 planes it would develop during wartime efforts in Europe. It is the spirit of this heritage that imbues the updates to these two new models with something informed and extraordinary.
A three-tiered diving board stands next to a metallic palm tree inside this pop-up shop that designer Willo Perron has created for Kim Kardashian‘s lingerie brand SKIMS in London.
The brand’s first physical retail space in the UK, at the Selfridges department store in London, follows the same formula as its debut shop in Paris. Here, surfaces were coated in panels of glossy plastic with gentle thermoformed curves to suggest the shape of the human body.
SKIMS has opened a swimwear pop-up in Selfridges
But for this temporary summertime pop-up, Perron abandoned the brand’s typical fleshy colour palette in favour of a pale blue hue reminiscent of a heavily chlorinated swimming pool.
The resulting plastic panels are so glossy they look almost wet as they form everything from mirror frames and bench seats to wall panels and the shop’s monolithic till counter, which is embossed with the SKIMS logo.
A three-tiered diving board sculpture forms the centrepiece of the store
A huge replica of a three-levelled diving board stands at the heart of the store, with a stepped base and springboards formed from lengths of the same baby-blue plastic.
Shiny chrome tubes act as handrails and are repeated throughout the store in the form of gridded partitions and clothing rails, curving around the columns of the Grade II-listed department store.
Rounding off the poolside atmosphere is a matching metal palm tree sculpture, integrated into the long bench set that runs along the shopfront.
To display stacks of rolled-up nude-coloured SKIMS towels, Perron also added two smaller freestanding platforms with the same steps and chrome handrails as the diving platform but minus the springboards.
Thermoformed plastic panels in glossy blue glad most of the interior
Taking over Selfridges’ ground-floor pop-up space The Corner Shop until 8 July 2023, the shop will offer the brand’s core collection of swimsuits and bikinis alongside limited editions and seasonal colourways.
Customers will also be able to buy ice cream to match their swimwear, stored in baby-blue freezers courtesy of London gelato company Chin Chin Labs.
A metallic palm tree decorates the store
“I’m thrilled to bring SKIMS Swim to London for the first-time ever and take over The Corner Shop at Selfridges with our most conceptual pop-up experience to date,” said SKIMS co-founder and creative director Kim Kardashian.
“We have followers all over the world,” she added. “As we enter the next phase of SKIMS retail, I look forward to connecting with these customers through innovative shopping experiences on a global scale.”
A metallic palm tree completes the poolside atmosphere
Returning for its second year, SKIMS’s swimwear offering is pitched towards providing various levels of coverage for different body types and modesty requirements.
This is an extension of the brand’s drive to create inclusive underwear and shapewear that works for people of different sizes and abilities, following the launch of its Adaptive Collection last year.
Over the next three years, the brand is planning to open a roster of freestanding stores across the UK and EU.
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