Explaining design philosophy through examplesfrom @frontoffice.co

Transcript

Hey. So this is the Rico shirt designed by Ahmed Leon Dore. For this shirt, right? It sells out almost immediately after it's released. And if you wanted to, you could buy that at a reseller site for 20 times the retail price. And no, of course, every menswear brand has their take on this open knit shirt. When something is so universally loved, so commercially successful, and so widely imitated, what would be the point in some other brand doing their version of things? You could only do it worse. Okay. So this is a toilet roll. You've seen this before. Now we have accepted that this is the universal design for a roll of toilet paper. Right? No real innovations have happened. So I'm reading this book. It's called Designing Design. And, it's by Ken Yahara. No he's a prominent designer, and he's designed for brands like Muji in Japan. And the early part of this book is detailing a design project he's overseeing, and more than like an art exhibit. And he challenges designers to redesign everyday household items. So he gives the project of a toilet roll to Shigeru Bad, and he redesigns it to be a square shape. And because it's square, it sort of rattles when you pull on it, so you're always conscious about how much paper you're using. And because it's square, it's easy to transport in bulk and makes it more efficient to transport large cartons of it. And the reason why he comes up with these ideas is because he is a an architect that has a passion for how we use natural resources. And it made me realize that when you're redesigning things that have already been designed before, even though it's something so iconic, you can't help but bring your own DNA to it. You can't help but tell the world what you find important. So when Armand Leon d'Or designs their shirt, it's actually not their design. It's a recreation of a shirt from a movie. And that movie is about crime on the streets of New York. And because being part of New York and references to pop culture is so much part of their brand identity, that's what they believe in. No when Zara and industry offered this shirt for a really cheap price, they believe in offering classic designs from other brands for an accessible cheap price, albeit at the expense of fabric manufacturing and working conditions. Okay. So I run a fictional football club, and I make clothes for them. And it's a ridiculous idea, but I balance that funny idea with really traditional, manufacturing methods. And the idea, the contrast is that the fake football club has very legitimate clothes made by people who have been doing it for generations. And we don't make all kinds of fabric here in Australia, at least not anymore. So you have to look far and wide for people who have been doing it for generations. And this fabric, this is 100% cotton knit, and it's made from a fabric mill in Osaka. They don't do this all the tier, but if you put an order in, of a significant amount, they will do it. And this is for a series of shirts that I'm calling the off season collection. It's when my players go on holiday. So this is what it looks like. It's this is a large, six foot tall, and it is meant to layer over a singlet that we're also developing. So this is the shirt. Right? The shirt is actually made in Australia, which is not cheap, but valuable things often aren't. And I believe in classic menswear shapes that you can wear often and for a long time. I'm really excited about the work we're doing. It's a good shirt.