Czech It Out

While the clearest memories we have of the Czech Republic involve absinthe and catwalks, it seems our Slavic neighbors to the east actually do have more going on than expat fratboys and bad puns. The 100 Design Icons exhibit, just closed in Bratislava and opening later this year Stockholm, Prague, and Brighton, shows the design side of what we only experienced as the dark underbelly of tourism lite. Metropolis rounds up the best items, and throws a little cultural-historical criticism in for good measure.

Despite the obvious drawbacks, this lack of choice strengthened the Czech people’s collective sense of nostalgia. If there’s only one iron or phone on the market–the ETA 211 iron or the T65H phone–it’s going to make a massive visual impact. The same goes for the Botas Classic Trainers of the 1970s, which were pretty much the only sporty footwear option at the time. The fact that the designers also got through some genuine styling is a bonus.

Deep.

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