The Return of the Fiat Cinquecento

Fiat 500, Cinquecento, 1957

The Fiat Cinquecento, originally designed by automotive designer Giorgetto Giugiaro–famous for the De Lorean and Alfa Romeo–was recently introduced to the American driving public. The Fiat 500 originally hit Italian streets in 1957 and was the quintessential Italian driving machine. www.fiatusa.com

tobias wong / BULLET PROOF

Bullet Proof Rose Broach

Arguably contemporary design's most nimble provocateur, Tobias Wong staged his debut in 2001 and continued — until his untimely death at age 35 in 2010 — to produce an extraordinary body of work he designated "paraconceptual" and "postinteresting." Drawing inspiration from various anti-art practices, Wong probed and subverted design's complicity with the culture of late capitalism, exposing its smoke and mirrors while exercising his own sleight of hand. With a unique mix of critical intelligence, courage, sincerity, and mischief, as well as a cadre of talented collaborators, Wong steadily pursued his obsession with the interplay of anxiety and consumerism in the years following 9/11. The allure of luxury goods; the cult of the celebrity designer; the stubborn failure of objects to provide the benefits demanded of them: these are among the concerns he explored across a protean body of work that encompassed objects, furniture, lighting, jewelry, installation, and performance. This is the first in-depth presentation of Wong's work in a museum and will be presented alongside an exhibition drawn from the permanent collection called ParaDesign. On view till June 19, 2011 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern art. www.sfmoma.org

Totally Bananas: The Footwear Creations of Kobi Levi

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SlingShot3_Kobi_Levi

Kobi Levi's heels are "wearable sculptures" that verge on fetishistic with an ironic, seemingly dadaist, wit. If Roger Vivier, 20th century French fashion designer credited with revolutionizing the stiletto heel, is considered the "Fragonard of the shoe," than you might call Kobi Levi the the "R. Mutt of the shoe." R. Mutt is of course the name signed on Dada artist Marcel Duchamp's iconic and ridiculous 1917 ready-made sculpture entitled "the fountain" - which was simply a found urinal. Is it genius or asinine? Levi, like Duchamp, is certainly making a statement. Levi's pieces are "...humoristic with a unique point of view about footwear." Throughout the history of civilization, women's fashion has taken turns as bondage and liberation.  Levi's constructions might be both, or the handiwork work of a batty sculptor with a foot fetish.  From semi-blatant sexual innuendo to slingshots to banana peels, Levi's shoes are cartoonish, bombastic, and in their magical kitschyness there is a beautiful complex brilliance which makes them insanely cool. www.kobilevidesign.blogspot.com

Exotic Regrets by Aoi Kotsuhiroi

I received an image over the weekend of the fascinating first chapter of sartorial sculptor, poet, and conjurer Aoi Kotsuhiroi's new collection entitled Exotic Regrets. As in past collections, Kotsuhiroi, based in the South of France, releases imagery of her new collections in chapter's to express gravity and anticipation. www.aoikotsuhiroi.com

LittleDoe

Invoking the Jazz Age. "Limited edition freshwater pearl chain headpiece with raw crystal geode by little doe exclusively for [I Don't Like Mondays]....hand made in NYC." Proceeds go to Designers Against Aids. Find it at www.idontlikemondays.com