by Chris Force | Jul 15, 2021 | News
The first big auto show of the year is on in Chicago. The 2021 Chicago Auto Show, which normally happens in February, runs for 5 days (down from 10) from July 15 to July 19. and is about half the size. I ran through a quick preview today, and it’s easy to call out the... 
by Chris Force | Jun 22, 2021 | News
Tai Xiangzhou (泰祥洲) is a Chinese ink painter from Beijing. His current exhibition, Cosmoscapes, is on view now at the Art Institute of Chicago. It’s fantastic. Tai was born in 1968 in Yinchuan. He earned a doctorate degree from Tsinghua University—a school many refer... 
by Chris Force | May 6, 2021 | News
Many of us now find ourselves fully vaccinated and are busy plotting our exhilarating return to our pre-pandemic lifestyles: hangs with family and friends, eating out, exercising out, drinking out, partying out—a long list of anything and everything that can be done... 
by Chris Force | May 3, 2021 | Design
Jannik is a 24-year-old German student pursuing his master’s degree in business law who happens to have perhaps the oldest streetwear influencer in Europe as a grandfather. In 2014, bored and on a whim, he asked his grandfather, retired glassmaker Alojz Abram, to try... 
by Chris Force | Apr 29, 2021 | Design
After a 230-plus trophy career racing motocross Dirk Oehlerking changed the format of his passion for motorcycles—he went from racing them to customizing them. Since 1985, when he became the German champion and went to the World Cup in Spain, he’s built Harleys,... 
by Chris Force | Apr 26, 2021 | Travel
I walked over a 4-foot snowbank and threw a leg into a 2020 Lincoln Aviator Reserve. The press wranglers had just dropped it off, and I had a week to kill and another chunk of Chicago winter to escape. I decided to head to Sarasota, Florida—one of the warmest cities... 
by Chris Force | Mar 8, 2021 | Travel
The world is still out there, ready to be explored. From Shaharut, Israel to El Chaltén, Argentina, here are some of the best designed hotels in 2021. 1. Camp Sarika in Canyon Point, Utah Ten tented pavilions brilliantly engineered by Tom Avant at Iron Rock... 
by Chris Force | Jan 12, 2021 | Travel
In between the southern stretch of the Great Plains and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains lies Vermejo Park Ranch—558,000 acres of wilderness now owned and cared for by 82-year-old media mogul Ted Turner, the third biggest private landowner in the US (John Malone,... 
by Chris Force | Jan 8, 2021 | Design
“I’m always in a three-piece suit,” Niels van Roij says. “They’re tailor-made with fabric from cars I’ve worked on.” The 36-year-old designer’s studio specializes in coachbuilding, a throwback to the days when cars were sold as a rolling chassis and the body was... 
by Chris Force | Jan 6, 2021 | Design
“I have a very creative mind. I don’t sleep much,” says Dave Kindig of Kindig-It Design, a premium custom car shop and the subject of the reality TV series Bitchin’ Rides, now in its seventh season. Dave built a special ’58 Lincoln Continental named Maybellene. “It’s... 
by Chris Force | Dec 28, 2020 | Design
Eny Lee Parker grew up in São Paulo and moved to LA when she was 13 years old. There she was reunited with her Korean mother who didn’t speak Portuguese, but with the help of friends she learned Korean and then English. “I had a typical immigrant experience in LA. I... 
by Chris Force | Dec 25, 2020 | Studio Tours
Dominic “The Shoe Surgeon” Ciambrone is a high-end shoe customizer. If you’ve not heard of that profession before, it’s likely because Dom largely created the genre, taking name brand gym shoes and skillfully customizing them. His work can easily cost into the six... 