Archive for February 2006

17-year-old rookie Morgan Pressel has signed a deal with fashion giant, Polo Ralph Lauren. This is Polo’s  first endorsement of an American female athlete. According to Associated Press, days before her much anticipated pro debut at the SBS Open, she forgot to bring to Hawaii 15 hand-selected shirts by her new sponsor. Luckily, her aunt sent the shirts to Hawaii through Fedex. Morgan received them a day before the pro-am and two days before Polo announced she would appear in its splashy new advertising campaign to begin in April. Lucky her…

PGA Tour

Jaime Salm is a Columbian native and an industrial design graduate from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts. In 2001,  Jamie founded MioCulture on strong principles of sustainability and eco-intelligence, his products demonstrate responsible thinking and environmental advantages. Like the reusable tiled wall-paper made of waste or the multi-use Bale chairs. The climb has been steep and rough– but today MioCulture boasts of an impressive portfolio having designed for Bloomberg and Anthropologie. Jinal Shah interviewed Jaime for ECO.psfk.com

Interview

A new wave of thinking has gained more tangibility in 
recent years and everyone is jumping in to find a way
to contribute to this Viridian culture. Whether it is 
Steven Speilberg’ and Tom Hanks driving Toyota
Prius’s, magazines like Elle and Vanity Fair producing
green issues or designers like Jamie Salm adapting a
sustainable, responsible approach to his products –
for once, joining the trend and going where the river
flows is not a bad idea.

We first met Jamie Salm at a Dan Pink speech in
Philadelphia last year. A soft-spoken youth, with
piercing intelligent eyes, Jamie’s face or name
(pronounced as Hay-me)is hard to forget.

A Columbian native and an industrial design graduate
from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, Jamie
started MioCulture in 2001. Founded on strong
principles of sustainability and eco-intelligence, his
products demonstrate responsible thinking and
environmental advantages. Like the reusable tiled
wall-paper made of waste or the multi-use Bale chairs.
The climb has been steep and rough– but today
MioCulture boasts of an impressive portfolio having
designed for Bloomberg and Anthropologie.

Eco: Were you always environmentally conscious?

Jamie Salm: No. Not in the sense I am now.

Eco: What changed you? What made you re-consider your
options and decide on your current design philosophy?
Was there a defining moment?

Jamie Salm: There were many defining moments. All
economic acticity has ecological impact. There were
several projects I did as a student in school that
made me realize the very importance of sustainable
design in our daily lives. (His college thesis was,
“furnishings made of waste-paper)  And after that, it
was just a matter of common sense. You know? When I
was thinking what am I going to dedicate my design
to… it was a obvious choice that it had to be
eco-friendly. That it had to be responsible.

Eco: Has it been difficult to sustain your business
because of your philosophy? Were you ever forced to
compromise?

Jamie Salm: At times it is difficult to explain to
people my ideas and what I am doing. But I understand
that people haven’t had the opportunity to look at the
world the way I have. My education, my experiences….
So it becomes a matter of working within their frame.
Its not as much about telling them what they are doing
is wrong, but its more about encouraging them to do
right.

Eco: There has been a major shift in the collective
consciousness of the design and architectural
community about sustainability and responsibility in
the last couple of years. What caused it?

Jamie Salm: We opened shop in 2001 and our first
collection of products featured in 2003. During tha
time, there was not as much retail-based interest in
sustainability. There are several reasons why this
shift has occured. First off, it has to do with the
perception of value of a thing. When designers are
designing something, they think, how do I add value to
this? It is possible to create anything today– the
challenge lies in how we create it, in asking.. why
should we make it? Ethical questions about the
products have become more important than the product
itself.

Ofcourse function plays an important role but now
designers are thinking — if I can choose to make
something, why not make it better? why not make it
eco-friendly?

And it’s not about feeling guilty, it is about making
your contribution.

….. whats your contribution?

MIOculture

Interview contributed By Jinal Shah

A German automaker will introduce an ultra efficient car called the Loremo LS at the Motor Show 2006 in Geneva next week.

The Loremo LS is powered by a 2 cylinder Turbo Diesel engine with 20 hp and 160km/h top speed. With its low weight of 450kg, it only needs 1.5l per 100km - I4U calculated that is approx. 157MPG!

Loremo AG plans to sell the Loremo LS for less than 11,000 Euros ($13,000). They also plan to offer the Loremo GS with a more powerful engine (50 hp, 2.7l/100km) that reaches top speeds of 220km/h.

Loremo Homepage

The Independent’s Kate Finnign spent a week trying out ethical livingto see just how practical it really is Independent Newspaper

According to the Boston Herald, Reebok (which was recently aquired by German sporting goods giant Adidas) will make its first attempt at developing competitive swimwear in the U.S. for both sexes and a casual men’s line. Both swimwear collections launch in April.

Boston Herald

Raf Simons showed his first women’s collection for the Jil Sander label in Milan. The New York Times reports Change Capital Partners, a London-based private equity firm, announcing it would buy Jil Sander from the Prada Group. The firm emphasized a high value on the role of designer by
giving equity in the company to Mr. Simons, along with two top managers.

NYT

This little monkey is Apple’s latest accessory to fit your iPod life. Just 17 inches wide, the iPod Hi-Fi promises:

From pumping bass to bright treble, iPod Hi-Fi delivers natural, room-filling sound. Close your eyes and you’d think you were listening to a huge stack of speakers.

But this is where we think they missed a trick: where’s the video-out port for your TV? Then, this boombox and Video iPod would become your in-home entertainment system!

Apple - iPod Hi-Fi

Integrating technology into clothing has been an ongoing trend since
the popularity of the ipod. Pink, known for its luxury shirts and
accessories in London, has designed a limited edition commuter that
features a pocket on the reverse side to hold a iPod Nano or MP3
player. The tie also has an extra fabric loop to keep headphone wires
out of sight and close to your body.

Pink