I:di themes and trends in the news:

HideTech
The Wooden USB memory sticks by Dutch design studio Oooms were
introduced in early 2006 and became a sleeper hit this holiday
season. Literally a wooden stick, sourced from deadwood on the local
forest floor, the sticks are drilled out, trimmed, sanded and
polished and a standard USB drive is inserted. Part of the product's
success is due to the striking contrast between the sleek ubiquity of
laptops and a rough-hewn piece of nature.
www.oooms.nl/usb/

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Renegade Craft
In New York City, the Museum of Arts & Design features "Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting" an exhibition scheduled from January 25 - June 17, 2007
Image credit: Cat Mazza, Comfort Room
www.madmuseum.org

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Cabinet of Curiosities
"A fascinating place of artful oddities" is how one British visitor
in 1928 described Deyrolle, a Parisian taxidermy shop, founded in
1831. Located in townhouse on the fashionable rue du Bac, the
enormous collection of stuffed and mounted animals, insect-filled
shadow boxes, perfectly preserved skeletons and other strangely
compelling decorations is worth spending several hours exploring. For
those who prefer to spend their time in Paris shopping for a
different type of artifact, the collection is now available on line,
including a fascinating selection of antique scientific and
anatomical prints. Think this is all a bit "too out there" for the
mainstream? Deyrolle.com was recently picked by Lucky magazine as one
of its favorite websites!
www.deyrolle.com

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Iconoclastastic

We've been spotting lace in all kinds of places and in all kinds of
renditions as it moves along the trend curve. Here one of the new
Young Guns of design, Stella Bugbee has dressed up the most
indispensible component of every shipping room.
www.stellabugbee.com