DESIGN MANIACS "CONCORDE" AND THE REINVENTION OF ALMOST EVERYTHING

Plus some very intriguing shopping lists

TODAY:

→ Why you need to know Milan’s CORCORDE, and the principle of ALMOST TOTAL REINVENTION
→ Plus, CONCORDE’s duo give us their décor shopping lists (FOR “XL” SUBSCRIBERS)

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Dear Snoops,

The main issue we have with MOST “interior designer”-designed interiors is that they really kind of feel so polite – almost to a “Stepford” level. There is nothing offensive, nothing out of place. REITERATING: It is against a canvas of neutral colors (Yes, we live under the heavy weight of the Mud-and-Rust hegemony) onto which very “sweet”, or “expensive” things are layered.

As we prepare our “SWAGGER REPORT” we can already tell you that anyone without something that feels out of place in their homes has no swagger. To possess the elusive quality of Swagger is to be able to pull off something “Wrong”.

EXAMPLE FROM CULTURE: It’s why Frasier Crane’s apartment ultimately works. Everything is super duper and “just so” BUT/AND there is a f*cking “Wrong” duct-taped La-Z-Boy. The Swagger of this apartment lies in that chair (something we’ll unpack in the near future).

We kind of despise “SHOWROOM”-style décor. The best way to have all the Stuff that society tells you you want is to ALSO have something it tells you you don’t want.

For those unwilling to commit to trash, the greatest La-Z-Boy of the modern era is by L.A. DOOR and it’s here.

THAT WAS PREAMBLE.

Okay, so, whenever we encounter people that actually PLAY AROUND with things, messing around with materials and mish-mash a bunch of Stuff and STILL have it look exciting, we really perk up.

You know who does this spectacularly?
CONCORDE.

We don’t know why everyone isn’t totally freaking about them, other than AD Italia.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES:
→ Concorde is Italian, in Milan
→ Concorde is Carlo Prada and Nelly Hoffman

Special treat if you scroll down: They have graciously shared their SHOPPING LIST of thrilling and very Concordian décor.

QUICKLY INTRODUCING CONCORDE:

That’s Carlo and Nelly. (Yes, Nelly is wearing Justin Bieber tour merch.)

And, we want to explore VERY QUICKLY a principle of CONCORDE design that is totally just our observation, but it is: the near-total and complete reinvention of everything.

FIRST SOME PHOTOS of their work, then we’ll explain ourselves:

Here’s the principle:

1. FIRST: OUR OBSERVATION
   Everything in this apartment seems BOTH very serious AND very silly. And, to be honest, it also seems things are randomly placed but also very IN PLACE.

2. THEN, THE INVENTION OF A PRINCIPLE: THE REINVENTION OF ALMOST EVERYTHING
   There are things here just not as you’d expect them to be – a mesh table (surely complicated for a martini); a wall-mounted sink (so sculptural!); some really old painting hung with it’s really old dusty back exposed to us; and, just enough gothy wooden sculptures to complicate the “modern” of it.
   
   The principle is:
   Do something questionable by not overthinking what a Thing is.
   
   A Thing is totally meaningless, and should be treated as such. Shamefully, we treat décor like Currency, in that we invent stuff and then we get so f*cking serious it. And, it’s like, we made up “SINK” – let’s not confine its potential.
   
   This is NOT “upcycling”, this is NOT “DIY” (though we’ll get to taht), this is something a little less culturally “TikTok” – it’s LIBERATING décor from its categories.

And it is in this spirit that the gorgeous CARLO and NELLY find us some very radical things that can disrupt the UTTER BOREDOM OF YOUR HOME (is your home boring? be honest):