What’s bright, colorful, cheap, and fun? Pamela Anderson? No, it’s not silicone and saline resurfacing this season, or even latex heels; instead it’s polyethylene, Teflon, and PVC that’s turning up in fashion lifestyle accessories. Beyond the computers, turntables and dishwashers that have existed in our homes for decades, modernist design from purveyors such as Magis Design offers everything from doghouses to briefcases, and from plastic bookshelves to chairs by designers including Ross Lovegrove, Marcel Wanders and Joseph Forakis. On the street, cellular phones are battling for design edge with the cheekiest entry from Xelibri. 6,(in the shape of a compact) and 8 (their slickly designed plastic phone with no buttons) are the names of their phones-still not available in the States, but popular across Europe and Asia.

The incorporation of plastic into fashion has been given a boost via accessories such as those from Branie, a recent winner of a Japanese Good Design Award for their urban belts. Comme des Garcons’ soon-to-be released Synthetic range of scents appear to embody the feeling of plastic, in the scent and in the packaging, while the Fuse Project designed Perfume09 for Hussein Chalayan is all rubber packaging that “addresses the hazards of modern travel.” Lara Bohnic’s curvy plastic jewel box is a design breakthrough. And to offset the stuffiness of the tailoring trend at the Paris men’s collections, suits were shown with bright colored PVC shoes at Dries Van Noten, Udo Edling, and Helmut Lang. Karl Lagerfeld mixed clear and neon pink plastic rectangles with pearls for a futuristic luxury effect at Chanel for fall. At Premiere Classe, Walkthatwalk and Amaterasu made unexpected uses of the synthetic materials. The former used a plastic strip on the front of flat loafers while the latter used PVC to create an entire pump. And Laurent Heart and Yazbukey both showed strong kitschy plastic jewelry. Why are plastics so fantastic? They’re low cost materials that can easily ascend into luxury goods, especially with a sprinkling of concept and great design. It’s a trend that’s sure to stick.


-Michael Cohen

Photos: Xelibri shot by Rankin
Amaterasu shoes