Via the blog of minor details, a newish "children's interior consulting firm" and "imagination agent" based in Brooklyn, comes word of Babyhome, a slick, euro-looking line of aluminum and tech fabric baby gear.
Babyhome is the creation of Barcelona-based industrial designer Marc Navarro, who you may know from such laptop bags as the Vax Guell. In the spirit of Bugaboo, Mutsy, and a pile of lightweight camping equipment, the Babyhome gear places an emphasis on the gear. This is aluminum as design and performance, not as dollar store cost-cutting.
Which is important if you're charging 295 euros for a Dream Minicot bassinet [which comes with convertible wheel, rocker, or stationary foot base attachments]. Or 100 euros for an Onfour Hammock on wheels.
Actually, that wheelie seat is kind of awesome, like the modern euro equivalent of a papoose or cradleboard, just without the forehead deformation. Slap a shoulder strap and a 5-point harness on that thing, and you could find yourself with a major, hip-supported paradigm shift in baby mobility. Maybe you could stash a laptop in the back, even? Hmm?
I can't find Babyhome distributed anywhere outside of its Catalan hometown at the moment, but that's fine when your hometown also has a rather excellent design store, like Vincon.
Babyhome Dream Minicot, EUR295 including VAT [vincon]
Babyhome Onfour hammock on wheels, EUR100 w/VAT [vincon]
Babyhome on Marc Navarro's portfolio site [readyfordesign.com]
As it happens, I'm actually in Barcelona this week, so thanks for the tip. Do Catalans pronounce it "Barthelona"? I haven't noticed. I just thought that was a Castillian thing. Speaking of Vincon, I was gonna write to tell you about it. Holy crap, that store is amazing, not to mention H U G E. One thing they have going on at the moment that is really cool is the "Hypermerc'Art", which displays and sells local artists' work at very reasonable prices (100 to 200 euros) on supermarket shelves. Help yourself. There's an artist here that does a lot of cartoonish cars, and he did a sweet picture of a DS, which is the car you should be buying instead of a Civic wagon.
[no, it's only a Castillan thing, just trying to be funny, and not expecting any actual accountability from people on the ground, at least not so quickly. -ed.]