If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what famous people add to their carts. Not the JAR brooch and Louis XV chair but the hair spray and the electric toothbrush. We asked Felix Burrichter — the founder, editor, and creative director of PIN-UP Magazine, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a legacy sale of past issues — about the potato peeler, bike helmet, and sheets he can’t live without.
I ride Citi Bikes all the time — I have a membership. I wanted a helmet that looked a little cuter than the normal ones. A lot of them give your head a really unflattering shape that reminds me of Mars Attacks!. I found this weird but beautiful helmet at Walmart of all places. It makes me look like I’m sitting on an Arabian horse. It’s cheap, too. It is so nice-looking that I got one for everyone in my office. I got it in black for myself — black looks the most elegant. I don’t think the visor actually does much to shield my face from the sun. But it does make the helmet look cool.
Gummy candy is my worst vice. I love it all, but Haribo gummy bears the most. I’ll take other brands if push comes to shove, but my preference is Haribo. Maybe it’s because it’s German? I stock up when I go back to Germany to see my family. Germany has such a wide variety of gummy candy and I think the gummy bears are actually kind of better there. I can’t explain it. I basically binge when I go to Germany. I will get like five big bags, then continuously eat gummy bears until I run out.
I’m obsessed. It’s German and it was the peeler we had growing up. I use it for anything that needs peeling — potatoes, apples, carrots, orange skin for Negronis. No other peeler feels as good as this peeler. It’s the way it sits in your hand.
Editor’s note: Manufactum lists all prices in euros, so the price shown is an approximate conversion in U.S. dollars.
Magniberg has an insane range of colors and patterns. I came to it looking specifically for black sheets. Some black sheets can look a little tacky — like very satiny and as if they would come with a pair of handcuffs and maybe a whip. What’s special about Magniberg’s black sheets is they’re a very deep black with a matte finish. It’s a beautiful color. They’re all cotton, so they’re very soft to touch and silky smooth.
Editor’s note: Magniberg lists all prices in euros, so the price shown is an approximate conversion in U.S. dollars.
This fragrance is Comme des Garçons, but it’s a collaboration with Artek, a Finnish design company. Artek was founded in the 1930s by architect Alvar Aalto. He mostly worked with wood and bentwood; I believe Finland is the biggest wood producer within Europe. This has a very strong wood scent and is the only fragrance I have never grown sick of. I usually use a perfume for one season. After a few months, I can’t go near it again. I’ve worn this for years and have yet to get tired of it. I have bought other fragrances since I started using this, cheating on it just a little bit, but I always go back. Hats off to whatever nose developed it.
My friend Tony Jackson, also known as Skype Williams, gave this to me. I had this stupid little Bose speaker that you stick your phone onto, but I didn’t really use it because, as I said, it was stupid. Tony is a musician and when he noticed I didn’t have a portable speaker, he got this for me for my birthday. The speaker changed my life. The sound is spectacular. One small detail about it that I really love is that its two ends bounce — it’s hard to explain, but when there’s a strong bass, the speaker jiggles with the music. It’s very subtle, but it’s so cute. It almost feels like it’s alive.
I’m obsessed with cordless lights. They’re the future. I have several in my house, but this is the one I use the most and probably my favorite of all because it has a dimmer. You benevolently lay your hand on it, almost like a priest would put his hand on someone’s forehead, to change the lighting. It goes from really bright to super-moody — it’s very surreal. The lamp is a little taller than a beer bottle and looks a little bit like the classic Arne Jacobsen salt-and-pepper shakers, which I think is why it’s called a salt-and-pepper lamp. A cute reference, if it’s in fact true. When I take a bath, instead of a candle, I use the lamp. I place it on a little table next to my bathtub. It’s great for reading because it’s not super harsh. I use it in the kitchen. I sometimes leave it on at night because it’s a very low light. I’m sure this makes me sound like a next-level nerd, but I really love this lamp.
I use coconut oil for so many things. I cook with it. I smear it all over my body, especially in the summer, so I don’t dry out. I put it on right after I shower, while I’m still sort of wet. I also put it on my cutting boards, which is my favorite trick. You rub a little bit of oil on the board and let it sit overnight. Then, right before you use it, you quickly wet the board a little bit and it will be more resistant to staining. A friend told me about this trick a couple years ago, and it’s one of those things where when you do it, you’re like, “Man, I can’t believe I didn’t know this.”
We felt like our 15th anniversary was a good time to open the archives and make some of the rare back issues available. We had a hard time letting certain issues go because they’re so meaningful to us. So we made some of them expensive in the hopes that they would only go to people who really wanted them and are dedicated fans. For our latest Legacy Issue, we did multiple covers. One features Frank Gehry, who only gave us two minutes to photograph him. He walked in, sat down, smiled for the camera, and left. Another is a Milan cover for Milan Design Week — it comes out September 1. There is a whole inside feature on Milan, so it felt right to do a cover for it, too.
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