Each week, our inbox runneth over with news of gear, apparel and tech releases from around the world. In this feature, we’ll parse through the best of it. Today: Calpak comes out with a new soft-sided cooler, Opinel gives us what we want in the way of new chic dinner knives and Le Labo drops an exclusive scent.
Expanding its ever-growing line of protective sunbathing balms, retro pool brand Vacation is now offering a handy face stick sunscreen. Using the brand’s WaterGlide technology (“for a non-waxy, tug-free glide”), the all-new Super Stick goes on smooth and clear, and joins a lineup of other new Vacation offerings: Shake Shake SPF 50 and Studio Tone SPF 50.
New York is the greatest city on earth. Or, rather, it’s about to be the greatest-smelling city on earth. Cult grooming brand and mainstay in hot people’s bathrooms Le Labo just announced the NYC-exclusive fragrance, TUBEREUSE 40, a “harmonious medley of bergamot, tangerine, and orange flower” that evolves to “unveils a heart of white florals intertwined with cedar, sandalwood, oak moss, musks, and ambrette absolute.” The jury is out on what that means, exactly, but you’ll smell way better than 34-Harold Square Station does.
Just in time for summer, Calpak — the brand that makes all of our favorite good-looking travel gear — launched an equally sexy soft-sided cooler. Available in six different colorways, the water-resistant bag keeps drinks and snacks at the ideal temperature, and conveniently includes outer storage pockets for hauling non-refrigerated items.
What do you get when you combine a British dedication to craft with an irreverent, innovative force in a century-old sport? We’d wager something quite like the Mr Porter G/Fore collab. A stroke of technical brilliance, the 12-piece collection features ready-to-wear apparel, two of G/FORE’s signature golf shoe silhouettes (the Gallivanter and the Gallivan2r) and a variety of slick accessories for bossing the green. It’s all available now — along with an in-house golf capsule — at Mr Porter’s webstore.
Modeled on the folding knife Joseph Opinel invented in 1890 in the French Alps, the steak knives in this four-piece really cut the mustard — and anything else. Packaged in a craft gift box, the knives measure almost nine inches total and have four-inch stainless steel blades. Designed to stay put when placed on the table, the wooden handles are available in ebony, olive wood, ash wood and laminated birch.
An excellent Brooklyn-based bitters brand, Faccia Brutto is re-releasing the barrel-aged version of their Centerbe liqueur (which is like an Italian take on Chartrueuse). Aged in white wine barrels for a year, then rested in stainless steel for a few months before a final step — the adding of a tincture of lemon leaf and saffron — is one is herbaceous and not too sweet. Ideally suited for a Naked and Famous.
This one is for the stainless steel freaks. Rimowa and La Marzocco, the Rolls Royces of hard-sided luggage and espresso machines respectively, have teamed up for a visionary version of the latter’s Linea Mini professional-grade compact espresso machine, crafted in Florence and decked out in the former’s signature grooved aluminum. It’s enough to make minimalists giddy and the designheads overcome with latte-induced ecstasy. The collab launched earlier this week at Milan’s Design Week, is available for pre-order now.
After selling out its debut UFC drop this fall in three weeks, Pacsun is stepping back into the Octagon with a new collection inspired by UFC300. Featuring both men’s and women’s apparel, the new capsule collection offers UFC-branded premium tees as well as styles designed for some of the fighters on the biggest card in MMA history including Alex Pereira, Weili Zhang, Justin Gaethje and Bo Nickal. Priced from $25-$50, Pacsun’s new pieces are real knockouts.
As someone who’s become obsessed with air purifiers in the last year (see: the pandemic), I’m on board with a personal and portable air purifying device. Hale, recently crowdsourced on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo, fits in a cup holder and provides a directional flow of cool, HEPA-filtered air. Given its emphasis on personal space and ease of carry, it might be ideal for car rides.
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