Borsalino Helmets And Hats: The Most Stylish Way To Protect your Noggin

above: the Black-Gold helmet by Borsalino

Although all of Borsalino's products deserve a looksee, it's their crash helmets for motorcycles, snowmobiles, and more, that first caught my attention. The luxurious materials and elegant design are almost enough to make me take up Polo. Almost. Take a look:

Notorious:

Alligator:

Tweed Summer:

Tweed Black:

Panama Orange:

Panama Ecru:

Panama Tobacco:

Lapin White:

Lapin Brown:

Snow:

Polo:


Some Borsalino Background And Other Hats:


Two Italian brothers, Lazzaro and Guissepe Borsalino began their hat manufacturing company in Alessandria, Italy in 1857. Since that time, Borsalino has a deep, rich history of respected hat making that stayed in the family for generations until the last Borsalino heir left the company in 1979 at which time Vittorio Vaccarino became president.



Originally best known for their fedoras and hats made of felt and straw, they now make all types of hats and more.




They have continued to grow and now, in addition to stylish men's and women's hats, they make clothes, ties, watches, bicycles and helmets of all types. You can find Borsalino products in stylish department stores like Barney's, Neiman's and Harrod's amongst others. They have 15 points of sale in Italy, one in Paris and one in Shanghai.

Some of their women's hats:





Some of their men's hats:



Their hat museum in Italy:

above: MUSEO DEL CAPPELLO (museum of the hat)
Via Camillo Cavour n°84
15100, Alessandria


BORSALINO GIUSEPPE & FRATELLO S.P.A
Zona Industriale D5
15047 Spinetta Marengo (AL)
Tel +39.0131.214211 Fax 39.0131.619052

For other great crash helmets, see these by Ruby Atelier

High Color High Gloss High Performance Turntables from Rega

Rega Research Ltd. is a high-end audio equipment manufacturer based in the UK. Founded in 1973, the company's name was formed of the initials of its two founders (RElph & GAndy). Historically Rega are best known for the Rega Planar turntable, but in recent years the company has diversified into a range of other hi-fi products.

They have just released their P3-24 turntable in several fun high gloss lacquered colors.


available colors:


The p3-24 received WHAT HI-FI? product of the year in 2007 and WHAT HI-FI? product of the year in 2008.

You can purchase the above Rega turntables here


or the above special color versions of their P1 turntable for Free City here

A little Rega history:

Roy and a partner registered "Rega" (Tony RElph, Roy GAndy). In 1973 and for a couple of years Roy stayed at ford and made turntables in the evening, helped by his partners: mum (who agreed to help out for two weeks and stayed for fifteen years!) and a succession of lads. The first turntables were sold through Cosmocord in the UK and a year later under the Rega name in West Germany, Denmark and France.

In 1975 the Planar 2 was developed and quickly took its place in the market as the finest budget turntable. In June 1977 HI-FI News and Record Review announced the Planar 3 saying 'The complete unit is worth a look'! Rega's usual blaze of non-publicity.

By 1980 Rega employed thirteen staff, exported to twelve countries, had twenty UK dealers.

A new factory was built in 1992 on the Temple Farm Industrial Estate in Southend-on-Sea under Roy's design and guidance to house the production of loudspeakers and amplifiers and to ensure room for further developments.

Since this time, Rega has introduced a whole new electronic equipment range together with an exciting new range of loudspeakers. It has been very difficult to improve on products like the original Planet CD player and Ela loudspeaker but we feel we have achieved this. You can find elsewhere on this website all the information you require on these exciting new products, many of which are already receiving critical acclaim in the worlds hi-fi press. A plethora of other new products are imminent or well into the design and development stage, including more loudspeakers and electronic products. The company now employs fifty-five people and continues to grow.

Rega website

Into cool turntables?

Then feast your eyes on Montegiro's Luxury Turntables here.

Steampunk Meets Architecture: Habitat Machines & Factories by David Trautrimas

Canadian artist David Trautrimas has a series of digitally enhanced composite photographs entitled Habitat Machines. A little bit steampunk, a little bit post apocalyptic and a lot of drugs (just kidding), and you've got some very imaginative art. These are compositions of residences made from everyday machines like coffee pots and sprinklers. Prior to the Habitat Machines, he created a collection of factories (as opposed to residences) called Industrial Parkland, those are included in this post as well.

Habitat Machines, 2008

Waffle Iron Heights:

Iron Apartments:

Sprinkler House:

Oil Can Residence:

Vacuum Tower:

Hole Punch Flats:

Coffee Pot Towers:

Space Heater Place:

Stand Mixer Mews:

The Fishing Complex:

The Measurement District:

Razor Cooperative:


Industrial Parkland, 2006-2007

Film Projector Factory:

Cooler Factory:

Organ Factory:

Match Factory:

Lamp Factory:

Drill Factory:

The Sewing Machine Factory:

The Bicycle Factory:

Automobile Factory:

Oscillating Fan Factory:

Stapler Factory:

Toaster Factory:

Television Factory:


The artist, who just last year received the Ontario Arts Council Emerging Artist grant:

above photo courtesy of Ion magazine

Habitat Machine prints on archival paper are available here from Photo Eye Gallery. Others can be found at Arteriors and you can purchase most all of the above as prints here at LE gallery.

You'll be able to see David's work in VISUAL MORPHOLOGY, a group exhibition at KlompChing Gallery, Brooklyn New York opening tomorrow, Thursday March 5th, 2009.

Only One More Month: David Byrne's Bike Racks & Rackumentary

Talking Heads' David Byrne and the New York City Department of Transportation, in conjunction with New York art gallery PaceWildenstein, unveiled nine unique bicycle racks designed by DB and installed in various locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn last April. The racks will only be up for 364 days, so you've got one more month to see them in person -- or, see them all here.

Known as the force behind Talking Heads and later as creator of the highly-regarded record label Luaka Bop, David Byrne’s recent musical works include Grown Backwards, Byrne’s debut for Nonesuch Records; the Talking Heads box set; the Knee Plays CD/DVD from Robert Wilson’s 1984 stage piece the CIVIL wars; music from the HBO’s series Big Love; and Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, a collaboration with Brian Eno . Byrne is currently working on a number of upcoming musical projects including Here Lies Love, a song cycle with Fatboy Slim based on the life of Imelda Marcos.

For those of us who do not live in the New York area and did not get to see these, here are images of them, their locations, David's original sketches and his 'rackumentary' video.


above: David Byrne with his Villager rack

An avid bicyclist for almost 30 years, Byrne was invited to join the panel of jurors selected by the DOT to judge a design competition for outdoor and indoor bicycle racks. Inspired by the city's initiative, he submitted some original design ideas of his own named after specific locations and neighborhoods, which the DOT enthusiastically agreed to install for a period of 364 days.

The nine racks — in shiny red, black and silver — are intended to promote bicycling, which has been a main emphasis of the current transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan.

The Bike Racks in situ:


above: The Villager
Powder-coated steel, 2008
LaGuardia Place in front of AIA, NYC

above: The Chelsea
Powder-coated steel, 2008
West 25th Street b/t 10th & 11th Ave (in front of PaceWildenstein Gallery), NYC

above: The Jersey
Powder-coated steel, 2008
NW corner of 9th Ave & 39th Street, NYC

above: Olde Times Square
Powder-coated steel, 2008
South side of West 44th Street, west of Seventh Avenue

above: The Coffee Cup
Powder-coated steel, 2008
West side of Amsterdam Avenue, between West 110th and 111th Streets

above: The MoMA
Powder-coated steel, 2008
South side of West 54th Street, east of the Avenue of the Americas New Project, Brooklyn, NYC 2008

above: The Wall Street
Powder-coated steel, 2008
North side of 82 Wall Street, west of Water Street

above: The Hipster
Powder-coated steel, 2008
West side of Bedford Avenue, near North Sixth Street, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

above: The Ladies' Mile
Powder-coated steel, 2008
West side of Fifth Avenue, north of 57th Street (in front of Bergdorf’s)

map of locations:


David Byrne's drawings of the bike racks:



above: all nine sketches for the project by DB, Pen and ink, 2008

Photos by: G.R. Christmas / Courtesy PaceWildenstein © David Byrne
and special thanks to David Byrne, Wallpaper magazine and the New York Times for additional photos and info.

A rackumentary by David Byrne:



David Byrne's site.
PaceWildenstein gallery
NY City Department of Transportation (DOT)