We may be living in the most design-saturated age ever, where every product or invention, in order to succeed, must look cool/great/new. Yet, the how and why and art of design still remain a mystery to most of us mortals. Which is why Scott Dadich, the former editor in chief of Wired, created Abstract: The Art of Design. Season One featured luminaries such as Nike shoe god Tinker Hatfield and photographer Platon showing viewers how the magic happens. Season Two, which has just dropped on Netflix, is even richer and more revealing. With Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter, artist Olafur Eliasson, and others, each episode delivers what amounts to an intimate, fascinating studio visit with the individuals who are truly shaping our world and what we see in it. (netflix.com)

For Chef Corey Chow, chef de cuisine at Per Se, there’s no city he loves more than Lyon. As he says, “Daniel & Denise is an awesome restaurant with classic Lyonnaise fare. My favorite meal there is the tripe à la lyonnaise. I love tripe, and, for me, this dish is comfort food. Probably because Chinese dishes feature a lot of tripe, and so this dish is not only delicious; it also reminds me of my culture and home. Daniel & Denise Saint-Jean is in the heart of old Lyon. And here’s the bonus: it’s next to a lovely little pottery store. My wife and I have collected almost all of the animals that they make.” (daniel-et-denise.fr )

Let’s talk about socks. Why, in 2019, when seemingly everything in the clothing space can be customized, are socks still sold as one-size-fits-most? We all know that when we buy a pair with that “Fits 7–12” sticker on it, we will inevitably be stuck with something that’s either too big or too small. Even worse: after you’ve spent good money on a great pair of shoes, a pair of crappy socks can be a buzzkill. Enter the geniuses at Kane 11. Like all great companies, they’ve come up with a simple and needed solution: socks in your exact size. Want a size 6? They’ve got that. Size 12? No problem. Need them in women’s? Done. Men’s? They’ve got you covered. Best of all, each sock is made with merino wool, so they keep your feet sweat-free, no matter the season. Trust us on this. (kane11.com)

As Tesla has proved, there is one other great advantage of electric vehicles: without a gigantic engine block, car designers are free to entirely rethink not only what automobiles look like on the outside but how they are structured on the inside. Canoo, a California-based start-up that aims to launch in 2021, recently revealed its plans for a seven-seat, all-electric vehicle that is just about as far from a drab minivan as one can get. It’s like Minority Report hacked a soccer-mom-mobile. Or, as the company likes to say, this is a “loft on wheels.” Which probably means we have to provide the D.J.... (canoo.com)