
Design for Travelers: Boutiques, Objects & the People Who Make Them
Design is how we read a city, and the person behind the counter usually has the best tips. So we cover it through people: Dzmitry Samal on the Paris boutiques he actually visits, Berlin's vintage archives walked rather than listed, and a Danish lounge chair you can actually sit in.
Design through the makers
The way I use glasses is nothing to do with my eyes. Eyewear changes a face; it is the fastest piece of design a person can wear.
Berlin's vintage archives sit on the ground floors of apartment buildings, which is why the good ones are found on foot.
Shops worth the detour
Eight concept stores across four cities, each checked against its live listing — addresses, opening days, and what makes it worth the walk.
Not-so-obvious picks
Two of our most-read editorial deep dives in this category.
Teenage Engineering's wooden Choir: the gadget you don't need until you hear it
Eight wooden dolls that sing — each a voice, together a choir. Made in Stockholm, useless in every practical sense, and one of the few objects that makes a room go quiet when it starts.
Fashion · Travel objectMartine Rose's foldable bag — fashion's DHL moment
A bag designed to be flattened and shipped, then unfolded on arrival. The kind of object that belongs in a hub about travel and design equally.
- Martine Rose foldable bag
- Ferm Living Rico lounge chair
- SAMAL DESIGN eyewear
Follow us for field notes from the road
Photos, places, and short dispatches from our writers — between articles.
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