Tags
Design, Detroit, manufacturing, Shinola, USAMade, Watch making
Have you all heard about the new Detroit-based design company, Shinola? I’ve heard some news about what they are doing~ and of course I was interested. But it wasn’t until I visited their flagship store in TriBeCa this past weekend (after setting up for NYG) that I got hooked.
I just loved everything about it–the story, the product, the retail space, and most of all, the idea and what they stand for– reclaiming American industry, but doing it in a modern way.
It started with the watch…they went to Switzerland and brought back the technical skills to create a watch factory in the shell of a building from Detroit’s manufacturing past. And that watch factory led them to look around the Mid-West for other factories that still made authentic goods, and who could provide the backbone for this new vision. These products including chic bicycles, small leather goods, and journals.
I was so inspired I just had to buy a piece of it–a piece of this new American Dream… and so left with this cool new watch, and with a monogramed iPhone cover as well…
And beyond that, I left with a refreshed appreciation for my own connection to old New England jewelry factories–the many hours I’ve spent looking at their old samples and machinery, the fabulous chains and findings we source from them, the incredible resource in our own backyard!
I’m so excited to take another trip up north, and to continue this legacy of renewal and reinvention.
Post Script: Two days after I wrote this, I was a little deflated to read in the New York Times that this ‘homegrown enterprise’ is actually the brainchild of the man who created the global Fossil brand! But give credit where credit’s due–it’s still a do good/feel good/look good idea and I still love my new watch~ John.
NYTimes: The Next Branding of Detroit
Related articles
- In Bankrupt Detroit, Shinola Puts Its Faith In American Manufacturing (forbes.com)
- T Magazine: In Store | Made-in-Detroit Design, Now for Sale in New York City (tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Shinola – New York – Tribeca (internationalvisual.wordpress.com)