Can you believe the futuristic Cassina Ombra lounge chair is over 50 years old?
Indeed it is, designed back in 1953 in Tokyo by Charlotte Perriand for her husband’s house. It’s an easy chair, with a choice of polished chrome plate or painted black steel frame/legs, supporting polyurethane/polyester cushions within removable covers.
Simple, stylish and still ahead of its time – you can grab one in black or white for around £2,400.
Find out more at the Nest website
French and English Confectioner’s is a couture shoe shop that takes all its design inspiration from eras in popular culture. While that may sound a little contrived, upon sight you can see that shoes are much more than just functional and pretty.
Each retro pair is handmade in a limited run of up to just 20 pairs, meaning you’ll be almost guaranteed never to step out in the same pair as anyone else in a room. Each pair is made in a secret London workshop too, adding a quirky mystique to shoes that will never appear ordinary.
The CD Diner 2 is a miniature replica jukebox in the style found in 1950s diners.
It features a front-loading “in view” single CD player along with an MW/FM radio. Admittedly in these days of MP3 players and digital radios, it isn’t the most technologically advanced, but its charm is in recreating that Fifties diner style. As with the models it is replicating, it can sit table top or be wall mounted.
It costs £157 and can be bought online from Liberty Games.
We’ve already featured a couple of items from Orla Kiely’s furniture range for Heal’s, and whilst the furniture pieces are truly beautiful, they certainly come under the “big purchase” category. Fortunately, the furniture collection has now been joined by the Orla Kiely for Heal’s Storage Range, which contains items that we can all afford to buy.
Consisting of magazine boxes, CD boxes, box files and various sized storage boxes, the collection features two of Kiely’s prints. The Tulip print is a bold retro pattern in olive colours whereas the Rowan Tree is a more understated, resembling flock wallpaper in purple shades.
Prices range from £22 to £40. Visit the Heal’s website to view the whole collection.
We don’t like to get too technical, nor do we like showing off things you can’t buy, but we really can’t resist this newly-unveiled Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera.
For ease of explanation, let’s just say that Micro Four Thirds is the latest high-end camera format, removing the traditional mirror, prism and optical viewfinder of the SLR, replacing it with digital technology – which means you get the same functionality, but less bulk and weight.
And this 60s-inspired model is the end result. It’s certainly real people-friendly and oozing style with its two tone body in brushed metal. We’re hoping it keeps the same look when it officially launches (this is just a concept). if it does, we’ll be trading in our Leica as soon as it hits the shelves.
Olympus website
Of all the classic toys of our respective childhoods, one of the most memorable images has to be that of the original Space Hopper. Remade in many forms, the classic 1970s bright orange version with a (rather terrifying) face logo and horns remains the memories of many a generation.
Debenhams have brought back the classic retro version in giant form, so it’s suitable for big kids too. Even as a piece of design, this is a retro icon, and a talking piece for every household.
It’s available online from Debenhams now for £12.
