The Wall Street Journal Magazine - 11.2019

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: F. MARTIN RAMIN, STYLING BY ANNE CARDENAS (2); CRAIG FORDHAM; MEI TAO; F. MARTIN RAMIN, STYLING BY ANN

E CARDENAS

WHAT’S NEWS

MATERIAL WORLD

HAPPY HOME

Production designer and creative director Stefan Beckman has

created fantastical runways and sleek ad campaigns for labels like

of Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton and Tom Ford. Now he’s started

his own brand of housewares and accessories, called Lateral

Objects, to bring his style home. The collection off ers a range of

playful, useful items, from pop-inspired towels in mesh pouches

($195/set) to textured rubber coasters ($40 for four) to handmade

gradient glasses in tropical colors ($40 each). lateralobjects.com

BUY THE BOOK

France’s postwar answer to Charlie Chaplin, fi lmmaker and actor

Jacques Tati was known for his slapstick sendups of modernism.

Jacques Tati: The Complete Works, a fi ve-volume book designed by

Paris studio M/M, gathers together stills from features and shorts,

notebooks, sketches, production shots and interviews. $225; taschen.com

THINK AGAIN

F

OUR YEARS AGO, the London-

based industrial designer

Benjamin Hubert closed his

namesake practice, re-emerging

soon after as the head of a new strategic

agency, Layer Design. Today, Layer is a

fi rm of around 30 creatives with expertise

across industrial, experiential and digital

design. The studio’s clients range from

Vitra and Braun to Nike and Google. “On

one end you have highly crafted, lifestyle-

driven product and accessories,” explains

Hubert, 35, of the company’s output,

“while on the other you have super-

strategic industrial design or branding

work. We bring together the softness of

the former and the rigor of the latter.”

From a 3-D-printed made-to-measure

wheelchair to a wearable cryptocurrency

device, Layer products exude a tactile

futurism. Recently, the fi rm worked with

Panasonic on fi ve health- and wellness-

focused objects that elegantly fuse

Japanese craft and high-performance

technology. Another of the fi rm’s latest

projects is Move, new app-controlled

seating for Airbus. Debuting in the next

fi ve to 10 years, the seats adapt to each

passenger’s needs. The lightweight

frames, meanwhile, reduce the aircraft

weight, improving fuel effi ciency. “It’s

a win-win for passengers, for the airline

and for the environment,” says Hubert.

layerdesign .com. —Natalia Rachlin

LONDON FIRM L AYER DESIGN

IS RE-ENVISIONING EVERY-

THING FROM WHEELCHAIRS

TO AIRPLANE SEATING.

54 WSJ. MAGAZINE

NEXT IN TECH

Made in a

limited edi-

tion of 85, the

Hourstriker

Phantom

is Ulysse

Nardin’s col-

laboration

with speaker

brand

Devialet. A

high-tech

update of the

pre-electricity

striking

watch, it can

be set to

sound on the

hour and half

hour.

For details see Sources,

page 150.

SEAT LINES

Known for its Breton-style shirts,

fashion brand Kule has joined

forces with St. Louis furniture

gallery Forsyth on a series

of reupholstered vintage pieces.

Done in an Italian navy-and-

cream wool blend, they include an

early Eero Saarinen Womb chair

($12,800 with ottoman). kule.com