There is no argument among Ecthomites that the classic weaponized jewlery of yore is gorgeous. Yet owing to its antiquated nature, bits and bobs of the destructive ilk can be both difficult to acquire and fragile (once the former issue is overcome).
Jewelers Digby and Iona seek to skirt this problematic issue with their Fall line featuring the above piece. While inoperable as a weapon of elegant destruction the ring is none the less a fearsome addition to any finger.
If digit-weaponization isn’t your thing Digby and Iona also have a moustache pendant available (among other quaintly curious adornments) for all your moustache emergencies.
Much as we enjoy shedding light on the many wondrousworks brought forth by today’s designers, be they of the walled interior or clothed exterior variety, the sad fact remains that many of the pieces posted are either conceptual or prohibitively pricey. Unfortunately most of us aren’t sewing machine maistros, and as such the aforementioned delights remain as pieces of a beautifully bedecked dream.
However, thanks to ERNTE Fashion Systems’ upcoming release of their E.S.P. line we dreamers can obtain a bit of our woolgathered wardrobe on the cheap. The official site launches on May 15th but you can peer into their wondercloset for a peek at their pre-release offerings.
Well, you tell me. How could this line have gone under our radars, mine and Q’s? A googling reveals nothing but a Tribe page and links to these Flickr photos.
Before you is the culmination of all my post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk fashion dreams. Oh sure, my compatriots and I clothe ourselves in all manner of garb designed with futurelust in mind, but not a stitch of those epic high-collared wardrobes is really functional. We’re simply playing dystopian dress-up.
But with this piece by Tim Smit — made of neoprene, lined with kevlar, and seemingly designed with my ilk in mind — we’re really getting into the business of being the no-nonsense, disaffected futuretots we’ve always known ourselves to be.
While it’s not specifically stated that this is just a conceptual design I can’t imagine it’s anything but. Yet simply knowing it exists helps to soothe the hurt of being unable to rush out and buy my first piece of Apocalypse Couture.
Hit the jump for a few more shots of this exquisite design.
The struggle, as a young, poetically destitute city-dweller, to decorate the microscopic studio apartments we inhabit in a manner befitting the forward-thinking futurists we know ourselves to be is, at times, a hopeless quest. Dreaming of sleek, modular cubes or soft round-cornered bits and bobs amidst a tangle of thrifted, “borrowed”, mis-matched furnishings is an all too common practice for we that wish beyond our meager means. While I offer no respite from seemingly perennial poverty, I do bring new scenery for your interior dreamscape.
Would not something such as this piece, named the Eclosion, fit perfectly in a cramped, cyber-bohemian apartment? Would not your friends award you plaudits in recognition of your superior design sense and knack for procuring the obscure? Indeed they would, were this actually for sale. Sadly, this piece by Olivier Gregoire, like so many other furniture-lust inspiring designs is conceptual. If nothing else your wallet is spared the grievous injury designer furniture is guaranteed to cause.
The constant struggle against the ever-mounting morass of wires, culminating in a cyclical orgy of power strips and extension cords, is familiar to all of us engaged in the painfully plodding progression of technology. While the number of cords snaking their way throughout our humble shrines to technology decreases exponentially, there are still all manner of power cords that remain, for which you have Edison and his thuggish sense of competition to thank.
While there have been several power strip designs that either attempted to consolidate or obfuscate your Gordian knot of cabling, they simply end up only slightly improved versions of their forebears and the dream of a organized domicile is shattered once more. However, designer Joris Laarman has approached the problem from a different perspective. Instead of developing another means to do away with as much cabling as possible, he has integrated the frustrating coils into his design, a stroke of genius resulting in the Wirepod.
Now this is normally the part of our program where I regrettably inform you that whatever item I’ve been rambling incoherently about is simply a conceptual design and thus unavailable for purchase. But not today my friends, oh no. It is my exquisite pleasure to inform you that Arctecnica will be releasing the Wirepod as part of it’s new line of products, called Wiremore, that seek to expose, rather than hide, our collective rats’ nests. So whether you’re the type that appreciates the decidedly cyberpunk look of cabling criss-crossing the vast expanse of a dank apartment floor, or you simply want a bit of art-snob design added to your abode, Arctecnica have you covered.
The gasmask is an integral part of any space-hobo’s fashion arsenal, and while there’s a nearly infinite number of stylistic permutations from which to choose the mask that best suits you nearly all of them are drab militaristic affairs. Hardly surprising considering they’ve never been intended as anything other than tools to avoid taking lung-fulls of poisonous gas or air swirling with microscopic debris during a siege.
Thankfully an enterprising designer, Diddo Velema, saw the gaping couture void in post-apocalyptic style and decided it needed a good filling, creating high fashion gasmasks, studded in diamonds and logos, thus cementing her place in the annals of fashion history.
Personally I prefer the understated elegance of the Vuitton, but if gaudy is your thing there’s more than enough Gucci analog to go around. Hit the jump for larger versions of the masks.
The tales of my horrific black thumb are something of a family joke among my clan, but in spite of all that I acquired a pair of plants from a good friend whose green-thumbed acumen puts Mother Nature herself to shame. I promptly killed one of them, an ivy, which I had thought indestructible, and the other, which I had previously thought lost, survived, admirably in fact.
My newfound skill as an amateur horticulturist has piqued my interest in the wide array of habitats available for indoor plant life. Discovering the Local River, a conceptual design by Mathieu Lehanneur, has only served to fuel that interest.
This incredible piece serves two functions; one being a fishtank in which freshwater fish are bred for consumption and the other being a place in which to grow fresh herbs. The ingenuity in the design is astounding, with the plants absorbing nitrates from the water the fish’s environment remains pristine, and it would be just as perfect in a polished Manhattanite’s loft as it would in a mad (environmental) scientist’s lab.
I know I’ve been a bit heavy handed with the Ecthomo posts lately, and I had decided to try and stop myself from filling the front page with my fanatical ramblings on furniture and clothes, but then I saw this lamp by Christian Maas. I couldn’t keep these from you, my faithful fashionista army, and still slumber peacefully, dreaming of smooth lined minimalistic interior designs. I mean really, who among you wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to have an IV-bag styled lamp?
One of my favorite things about scouring the internet for fantastic furniture with which to fill my meagerly furnished home (or as is more often the case, bemoaning the lack of dosh that prohibits me from doing so) is analyzing the pieces that catch my eye and making mental notes of how they are constructed so as to attempt my own (far less expensive) reproductions. Such is the case with the Reel Rocker.
How Reel Furniture can charge $870 for this in good conscience is beyond me. It’s simply a massive wire spool converted to recliner/rocking chair, and to be honest looks a bit uncomfortable. But I’m an enterprising young fop, and don’t balk at the idea of a bit of work to replicate (and improve) on a design, so away it was filed as a possible project should I find myself with time and the scraps I need.
Granted, this design might not seem appealing as it is, but imagine a few coats of stain or paint, a bit of burgundy brocade upholstery, upgraded stops, polished fixtures over exposed bolts and suddenly this otherwise laughably expensive piece becomes something you can be proud of. Keep in mind I’m no enemy of craftsmanship, some hideously expensive pieces are justifiably priced, but making obscene gestures at my wallet by way of overpricing is a sure fire way start my gears to turning.
Colloquial wisdom has it that the first thing a woman descries on a man is the color and caliber of his shoes, which is why Friends of Dorothy know that their ruby slippers must strongly proclaim their lack of interest in the gender.
Needless to say, then, Qais is frothing at the bit that this incredible Electric Light Shoe is not available for purchase. Designed by the Onitsuka Tiger footwear company, the Electric Light Shoe contains an entire cityscape, pulsing with rainbow neon lights and even containing a rampaging kaiju near the heel.
Actually, I take it back. Fashionologically conservative as I might be, I would proudly wear such a shoe. Unfortunately, it’s not for sale, and at three feet long, the only feet it would fit would be Eliza’s, and she’d still have to whittle off her big toes.
Ecthomo is our answer to interior design and fashion writing, an attempt to bring Ectomo into the home if you will; brought to you by Octobee’s very own sequin-bedecked dandy. If you can recline luxuriously on it, wear it, lust after its aesthetic, or resent the wealthy that can afford it, then on Ecthomo it belongs.
The ability to pull up stakes and move as the mood strikes is nearly a necessity for those of us keeping pace with the frenetic rhythms of the 22nd century. Yes, we do harbor an appreciation for the finer things in life, but usually only so long as they can be broken down into their component parts and hastily shuffled from briefly occupied dwelling to briefly occupied dwelling with relative ease.
Today we bring you several pieces of furniture that provide just such convenience, starting with the Casulo. Created by German designers Marcel Krings and Sebastian Mühlhäuser as part of their dissertation at the Köln International School of Design, the Casulo is a stroke of modular furniture genius measuring 31″x47″ at it’s most compact. Fully disassembled (a process taking about 10 minutes with two people and requiring no tools) it provides a bed, desk, bookshelf, smallish wardrobe, and a little storage for the bits you’ve picked up in your travels.
For minimalist neo-nomads a single Casulo would surely suffice; add a second to the mix and nearly all your needs are met, leaving a bit left over to with which to get inventive. Sure, It’s a bit flimsy looking and not everyone wants to stare at chartreuse furniture everyday, but it’s an amazing conceptual starting point and the refinement of the idea in the process to market will surely result in a fantastic piece.
Hit the jump for more Ecto-approved hyper-functional, modular designs.
My friend in fashion-fecundus, Jilly, once asserted that deconstructed fashion, by and large, is in a positively woeful state; and to be perfectly honest I am apt to agree. Chopping out the neck of a t-shirt, ironing on a few patches, and sewing ribbon in a few places to effect a gathered look does not an item of deconstructed couture make.
Further, visible stitches in old olive cloth, safety pins, and runs in haphazardly stacked stockings also does not an item of deconstructed couture make. Yet otherwise observant people seem convinced that this is the way these fashions are meant to be executed, applying their incorrect opinions to work that more often than not results in something awful.
Gibbous Fashions is the antithesis to those that can not understand, creating perfect (a word I refuse to use lightly) understated, deconstructed fashions. Do the models all look like hobos? You’re god damn right they do; impeccably dressed hobos with whom I want to while away my days in ivy covered gardens drinking weak tea from chipped sets and looking fabulous in the process.
The photography of her pieces may be a bit dark, making a good gander at the high level of detail that’s gone into each piece difficult, but the items in the shop (yes, there are in fact pieces for sale that don’t cost your first born) speak for themselves. Have a look, and if you have the means snatch up any items that remain. Not to do so lands you squarely in “remiss in Ectomo Fashion Brigade duties” territory, and the penalties for that, dear reader, are high.
In your daily meanderings through the hallowed halls of Ectomo you may at some point have taken note of my odd name. I can assure you it isn’t the result of air-headed, hippie parents and in spite of my questionable ancestry and modern American nature I still have quite a bit of reverence for parts of my dubious heritage.
As such, I can’t help but love this outfit recently featured by fashion aficionado The Sartorialist. This woman is the spitting image of the pack of post-apocalyptic Neo-Bedouins that stalk across the vast expanses of my imagination. I adore the combination of flowing, layered fabrics employed as shawl and head dress, and the tight, boot strapped pants easing mobility, all of which unites to form the image of an ancient wanderer fit for a modern age.
Few things cool the white hot passions of unfulfilled lust more than the awkward search through a sock drawer for a dusty box of rubbers. For this Ectomo has no solution, but shouldn’t you be spreading the gospel of Octobee rather than engaging in filthy fluid exchange anyway?
However we are not without understanding, realizing that even the followers of Octobee need occasionally distract themselves with the myriad pleasures of original sin. While we may offer no salvation from your awkward fumblings we do offer an alternative. Why not simply scare the ever-living shit out of the object of your amorous intent with a handgun shaped rubber dispensary? They’ll either be absolutely terrified (which is likely to be more amusing than a bit of sweaty grunting in pairs anyway) or they’ll be inflamed with a passion born of the immediate threat of violence, and you’ll have me to thank for your newfound comrade in coital deviancy.
In sheer defiance of the World Wide Web Consortium's will, Ectomo was designed using a non-web-standard font. Luckily, it is included in the excellent font pack released by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, which can be freely downloaded in Mac and PC formats here. Ectomo should still look fine without it, though.
