Porsche Design

In an earlier posting I mentioned the Porsche Design mini store at my local Porsche dealership.  It's a small version of Porsche Design stores that can be found in high end shopping establishments around the world.  I've been to the one near my home at Tysons Galleria, and also to the one in Chicago at The Shops at Northbridge.

Every store has different items, their inventories change a lot, and they always have beautiful stuff on display: clothing, luggage, watches, handbags, and many other accessories.  All of their products are known for their simplicity, sleekness, and cleverly detailed European styling.  It's fun to look around inside.  Here are some of the things my family and I saw at the Chicago store:

While the brick and mortar stores are relatively recent, Porsche has been designing car and other accessories for decades.  You can find more detailed information about their history here. 

I somehow managed to get out of the store without buying anything, but my husband fell for and bought a very cool pair of Porsche design eyeglasses, that he still needs to have his prescription put in.  They're what I like to call Euro-man frames (and not hipster, thank goodness; when will that trend ever be over?), made of brushed titanium and in a subtle metallic maroon color.

Typical of the company, Porsche Design is very functional as well as being pleasing to look at.  And austere and clean, like the cars.  I was intrigued by the shoes they had for sale, some of which you can see at the online store.  However, my husband is not a fan of Euro-man shoes, instead preferring classical laced British shoe styles, such as those made by Trickers or Church's.  A few years ago we visited Northamptonshire, England and the shoe factories that remain there, which sell factory seconds-- you can't tell-- at their outlet stores.  He got some very good deals and we

trudged home with British shoes stuffed in our backpacks;  I wouldn't dare put those in checked
luggage.   With Porsche design shoes, I have to

assume that most of them are made in Italy.  Certainly a lot of the other products they had for sale were.  You can tell by the quality of the leather and other details.

It was a fun afternoon just to look around, something I don't get to do that often.  Now to get back to driving and cars.  I'll have a surprise piece on my new daily driver and something on tires coming out in the next few weeks.