Hasta La Ideas

It’s been ten years since Poketo burst on the scene with a line of cheap, cheerful, and highly collectible vinyl wallets emblazoned with art by the likes of Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, and Jillian Tamaki. “Having a Poketo wallet is like having a traveling art show with you at all times,” say founders Ted Vadakan and Angie Myung (pictured), whose thriving e-store and Los Angeles shop now offers an ever-changing assortment of must-have goods, from colorful pens and perfect planners to apparel (we suggest the socks) and homegoods (check out the Japanese enamel saucepan). As they packed their Tyvek totes with the latest and greatest Poketo wares to show at NYNOW, the home and lifestyle tradeshow that opens Sunday at the Javits Center, we asked Myung to tell us more about the origins of the company, memorable moments, and what’s been flying off the virtual and physical shelves this summer.

1. How did Poketo come to be?
We really didn’t mean to start a business when we started Poketo in 2003. It was a total accident. We didn’t come from a business background. Ted was a filmmaker and I was going to school for graphic design. We were throwing a lot of art shows with friends who were artists in San Francisco. They were always a lot of fun but none of the art sold as we just couldn’t afford them. So, one day, we decided to make something that was affordable, and that’s when the Poketo Artist Wallets were born.

We had another art show and along with the original art on the wall, we sold wallets with the same artwork. The wallets were an instant hit and we totally sold out that night! We walked home that night with butterflies in our stomach and couldn’t wait to release another series. Gradually, Poketo took up more time. In the beginning, we worked different jobs and it wasn’t until two years later that we were working on Poketo full time.

2. How did you come up with the name “Poketo”?
Poketo (pronounced poh-KEH-toe) got its name through my Korean grandmother’s mispronunciation of the word “pocket.”

3. If you had to describe the Poketo aesthetic/philosophy in just three words, what would they be?
Fun, colorful, and modern
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It’s been sixty years since Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton founded The Paris Review, and the storied literary magazine is celebrating the big soixante with a fresh take on beach reading: smashing swim trunks that feature cover art from issues past. Created in collaboration with Barneys New York and Orlebar Brown, the quick-drying trunks are awash in the work of (pictured clockwise from top left) William Pène du Bois, Donald Sultan, Kim MacConnel, and Leanne Shapton. Each pair—limited edition, bien sûr—comes tucked in a Paris Review-branded, waterproof drawstring bag and includes a one-year subscription.

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Sure, Francois Nars‘s formulas are great, but Fabien Baron‘s rubbery matte black packaging and assured Helvetica Neue identity for the makeup artist’s eponymous line helped it zoom to enduring global glory (and eventually earn Nars a mega-payout from Shiseido, which acquired the brand in 2000). Marc Jacobs is going shiny.

The designer—and Nars buddy—is angling for a piece of the wildly competitive color cosmetics market with a 122-product line created in collaboration with Sephora, owned by longtime Jacobs-backer LVMH. On August 9, Marc Jacobs Beauty will arrive in Sephora stores and select Marc Jacobs emporiums in packaging designed by New York-based Established.
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Who says print is dead? The world’s appetite for Moleskine jotters remains unquenched, Paperless Post is doing a brisk business in tangible notes as well as e-pistles, and over in Europe, IKEA is piloting a vast array of affordably-priced papergoods (the “VÄXTGLÄDJE” notebooks are described as “handmade by a skilled craftsman”). Now online digital printer MOO, the company that brought you Sagmeister & Walsh’s continuum of flattering to insulting business cards, is expanding its Luxe family of products to encompass “premium business stationery,” including customizable (and ultra-sturdy) notecards, postcards, and minicards. “Here at MOO we want to make beautiful design more affordable and accessible,” said Richard Moross, MOO founder and CEO, in a statement issued Tuesday. “With Luxe notecards we’re re-booting stationery, the original high-impact communications tool, by using new technology to make super-high quality print available to our customers for a fraction of the cost.”

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Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell shuttered their gallery-cum-emporium in February of last year, and the design world is still experiencing withdrawal symptoms–until now. Moss Bureau, the “design advisory services” company formed by the duo in the wake of the store closure, has sprouted a retail arm and launched an online design store. Meet mossPOP. “The name says it all,” says the team behind the new venture. “We’re exploding with gifts, broken into gender-appropriate lists, for every gender we could think of. Sales so sudden, even we don’t know when they’ll happen. And since we’re mobile-optimized for iPhone and Android, we’re popping up all over town.”

Pop on over for a selection of design objects (classic and contemporary), watches, jewelry, books, furniture, and lighting on pages sprinkled with designy quotes from everyone from Mies Van Der Rohe (“I don’t want to be interesting. I want to be good.”) to…uh, Nicole Richie (“I am extremely involved in the design process of both my brands.”). We suggest starting with the mossPOP Selects section, in which Murray himself opines on some of his favorite objects with the curatorial verve that made the catalogue for his October Phillips sale such a treat. Not in the market for a $65,000 beeswax amphora? Pop for a wearable souvenir of the original Moss: a t-shirt that reads “please do not touch.”

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