Holy crap, British stroller people, what the hell is wrong with you?
The Maclaren GB Type Au is a limited edition blingwreck based on the otherwise tasty CF6506, the black carbon fiber-and-black leather stroller the company introduced last year.
It has a Maclaren clan crest embroidered on the black leather seatback, fine, but the carbon fiber sheathing is gold-colored, and there's a detachable solid 9k gold [I didn't even know they made gold so diluted.] Maclaren diamond logo on the cellphone pocket [actually, a cell phone pocket sounds nice. I always tuck mine in the folded canopy, and then it gets inadvertently catapulted into space when the canopy gets deployed.]
There are only 20 of these things, and they're supposed to sell for 2,000 pounds. Each. Presumably, the main targets are the seven tackiest football WAGs [wives and girlfriends] who already bought the gold lame Mamas & Papas strollers that didn't go to Gwen Stefani and P. Diddy; nine Galleria-prowling Heathers in Houston; one hapless pregnant celebrity guest on Ellen deGeneres' show; that trucker who just won the Powerball; let's see, that leaves one more.
If it's for you, please tell us in the comments, so the rest of us can go ahead and pretend this thing never happened.
Maclaren GB Type Au: The Luxury of Leather with the Bling of Gold [maclarenbaby.com via dt reader birgit]
How many inaccuracies and exaggerations can you find in this Gold Mac article in the Daily Mail? [dailymail.co.uk]
Previously: Mamas & Papas makes ten gold lame strollers...out of lame' [heh]
Once You Have Mac...The Carbon Fiber & Leather Maclaren
Utterly tasteless -- rivaling, even, that astonishing work in your post 'Strollers In White Satin,' except that, in this case, presumably the chassis is a reasonable workhorse.
The cheap gold trim is ugly, the decoration on the cell pocket hideous, and leather is possibly the dumbest material ever for stroller seats -- next to vinyl, of course.
9 carat gold was traditionally used for cheap jewelry -- this incarnation reeks of the same kind of faux-riche.
Did you catch the white Volo on the same page? That'll be crisp and lovely for all of three seconds. Looks like Mac has hired a bunch of designers who never saw an infant.
Love the Daily Mail article. Reportage at its finest.
posted by: Marty at March 12, 2007 10:50 AMMan, I can't imagine buying that for many reasons. You can tell it's aimed at London, put a baby in that thing anywhere with sunshine and you may as well put them in a microwave.
Plus, in most American cities you would get stroller-jacked sporting bling on wheels like that.
posted by: whit at March 12, 2007 11:29 AMGuess you can't exactly leave it in the front vestibule of Bubby's when you go for brunch.
[but with only 9k gold, maybe the logo is like mugger money: "here, take this. it's solid gold [sic]". Not that there's a lot of street crime in Tribeca, but still. -ed.]
posted by: Mom101 at March 13, 2007 10:58 AMOh yes I don't know what Maclaren are thinking half of the time, I love most of the buggys they produce but this is pretty disgusting, something the chavs might well find worthy but thankfully not likely to be seen being pushed around the local estate. Poor kid who gets put in one of those, they'll sweat, melt, how that is a child-friendly fabric I have no idea. Fashion over function all the way I suppose, though I have trouble even calling it 'fashion'!
Thankfully this isn't the general kind of taste in the UK, if I ever see one I will be afraid, very very afraid!
[nice try, Becca. We now know that this is the truest representation of British taste and culture since Benny Hill. -ed.]
posted by: Becca at March 13, 2007 6:05 PMOh, that stroller is so, so ugly, it makes me wanna puke. No, seriously, it's really disgusting.
posted by: Ana at March 27, 2007 4:05 PM