We've been following the Greats Brand hype on Instagram for a minute, so we're thrilled to finally see the online shop go live. Greats is a direct-to-consumer men's footwear company promising us a high quality shoe at a fair, even "disruptive" price—no middleman, you see. Greats's site says its shoes are designed in Los Angeles, handmade in Leon, Mexico from materials from Tokyo with some soles originating in Italy—and, might we add, to be worn by influential #menswear bloggers in NYC. Greats sells The Wilson (a canvas lowtop, available in red, white, and blue) for $59 and The Royale (a deerskin upper sneaker with Italian Margam sole available in grey, brown, and black) for $99.
The Greats is live and taking pre-orders. Our advice is to order soon as Greats predicts a sell-out.
Co-founder and former director of Design Miami Ambra Medda (who also happens to be married to OK Go singer Damian Kulash) is going digital. Her latest venture is L'ArcoBaleno, a design e-commerce site with editorial features which launched June 19.
Medda, co-founder and creative director of the new Berlin-based L’ArcoBaleno, tells us ”L’ArcoBaleno will reflect the entire spectrum of design—that includes collectible objects, but also fashion, food, music, architecture, art, and technology. Our hope is that it will influence the global design conversation, and inspire and engage collectors, curators, and devotees of creative fields."
L’ArcoBaleno is obviously drawing on Medda's passion for exciting contemporary design and her well-earned connections in the design and gallery universe. The shop launched with work from presenting galleries such as Galerie Kreo, Demisch Danant and Galerie Patrick Seguin. And the site's advisory board includes heavy hitters such as designer Tom Dixon, fashion designer Reed Krakoff, publisher Martina Mondadori, musician Pharrell Williams, and gallerist Alexander Dellal.
The site specializes in modern design, offering highbrow furniture (the chaise from Poul Kjærholm, above, lists for $65,000), ceramics, and lifestyle products such as bicycles by Velorapida ($2,260), and sunglasses by Conservatoire International de Lunettes ($360). The emphasis of the Objects section is on gallery-quality design objects and furniture.
While few of us may be ponying up for a Max Lamb Poly Dining Set, we can dig into the site's magazine-style features for free. For launch, Medda interviews designer Tom Dixon, whom she's known since childhood, in the Features section. Destinations is a bit like a global gallery guide. And Designers has bios on everyone the site might be carrying from Yuri Suzuki to Humans Since 1982. The L'ArcoBaleno blog might be our favorite bit, it features a recipe from Alla Carta's Martino Gamper, and endorsements of baskets from Botswana and a studio visit with the great Ana Kras.
So far, so good.