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Bec and I found a picture of the Uten.Silo over at Covet Garden. (You should totally read Covet Garden, if you haven’t already, btw!) It was in this issue.
Dorothee Becker and her fella invented the Uten.Silo in 1969. That makes it 41. Almost 42. I don’t think you would find a more streamlined, useful, pockety 42 year old. If you know of one, do let me know.
In the mean time, let’s talk about Dorothee. Born in 1938, in Germany, Dorothee travelled the world with her beau (and husband) Ingo. After jaunts in Paris, London and the US, Dorothee and Ingo returned home to Germany and opened their own little shop selling useful, awesome things. And they designed things too.
Dorothee and Ingo came up with the idea of the Uten.Silo together in the late 60s, investing a small fortune in it’s manufacture. It sold like hotcakes and then fizzled out during the oil crisis when plastics were out of favour. Luckily it was later re-issued and manufactured by the Vitra Design Museum. Hurrah for Vitra!
The Uten.Silo also sold in the US under the moniker ‘Wall-All’. It seems plasticky pockets inspire totally cute names, huh? Dorothee never trained as a designer or artist, but she made really great stuff, so there is hope for us all, right?!
You can still buy the Uten.Silo in two helpful sizes. You can find out more about Dorothee and Ingo here. Thank you to Covet Garden for the tip off!
xx Pip
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