In this week's Thursday Styles, Critical Shopper Mike Albo explores one of those love-it-or-hate-it stores, Pylones, the French based purveyor of gadgets and gewgaws. Mike deconstructs the chain's appeal and shortcomings, pointing out its usefulness when faced with obligatory courtesy gifts or tokens for kids. In fact, if one has the patience to look closely, there apparently are some interesting items there for grown-ups that don't look look they popped out of Pee-Wee's Playhouse, but in a culture where there is just too much stuff around he is quick to recognize one of its major failings:
Browsing here can feel overwhelming. As you walk around the store, you
may get that queasy feeling of remorse about our overproductive
consumer culture. (Annie Leonard, the environmental activist and
creator of the popular 20-minute Web documentary, “The Story of Stuff,” would burst into flames here, too.)
We know that feeling, or maybe it's just the store's overabundance of adorable little items, none of them able to exist simply for their own purpose. A whisk has to be a jellyfish, too. A purse has to look like a chicken and so on... When does clever design become cloying, precious and twee? It happens at Pylones, folks. Enter at your own risk.
Critical Shopper | Pylones: That Is Too Cute! No, Really. By Mike ALbo (NYTimes)
Pylones 69 Spring Street between Crosby and Lafayette Streets, SoHo and other locations
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