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Microsoft builds a Surface for the world makers
Microsoft | 19 October 2026

Microsoft builds a Surface for the world makers

Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra film shows the machine from the inside and closes on the new claim: made for the world makers.

Tesla and SpaceX build the last best driver's car
Tesla & SpaceX | 15 October 2026

Tesla and SpaceX build the last best driver's car

Tesla presents the Roadster as its last best driver's car, the one manual model in an autonomous line-up, built with SpaceX thrusters.

Oatly goes all in on matcha green in Berlin
Oatly | 2026

Oatly goes all in on matcha green in Berlin

Oatly fills a Ku'damm pop-up with one shade of matcha green, a Cee Cee Creative concept in which colour stands in for the logo.


Apple Music opens its own concert hall in London
Apple | 21 September 2026

Apple Music opens its own concert hall in London

Apple Music competes in a category where everything ships in an update. Its answer is a 600-seat building that nobody can ship.

Louis Vuitton makes its departure-board watch permanent
Louis Vuitton | 8 September 2026

Louis Vuitton makes its departure-board watch permanent

Louis Vuitton adds five Tambour Spin Time watches to its permanent collection, each telling the hour like a departure board.

Heinz and Heineken make their first pairing official
10 June 2026

Heinz and Heineken make their first pairing official

Heinz and Heineken launch their first collaboration, a limited six-pack of five beers and one ketchup bottle timed to the World Cup.


Rolex tells the Oyster's century through its wearers
Rolex | 12 May 2026

Rolex tells the Oyster's century through its wearers

Rolex marks 100 years of the Oyster with a 23-minute film that argues the case for the watch through the people who wore it.

Aesop designs its first lighting collection in Milan
Aesop | 24 April 2026

Aesop designs its first lighting collection in Milan

Aesop presents its first lighting collection, Apose, during Milan Design Week 2026 with architect Rodney Eggleston.

Polestar plans a bold evolution of its design
Polestar | 18 February 2026

Polestar plans a bold evolution of its design

In its strategy update, Polestar's new head of design Philipp Römers keeps the brand's face recognisable and makes it more emotional.


Volvo shows the EX60 driving non-stop on stage
Volvo | 21 January 2026

Volvo shows the EX60 driving non-stop on stage

At Artipelag, Volvo reveals the EX60 as a car that never stops driving, turning its 810 km range into the message of the launch.

Aesop's hand wash becomes an unlikely status symbol
Aesop | 1 November 2025

Aesop's hand wash becomes an unlikely status symbol

Aesop's Resurrection Aromatique Hand Wash has become an unofficial status marker in upscale bathrooms worldwide.

Trade Republic follows its mission into private markets
Trade Republic | 15 September 2025

Trade Republic follows its mission into private markets

Partnerships with Apollo and EQT put private markets in the app at a one euro minimum and move the brand into wealth management.


Nothing, KEF and the Headphone (1)
Nothing | 1 July 2025

Nothing, KEF and the Headphone (1)

Nothing launches its first over-ear headphones with British hi-fi maker KEF, whose name appears on the earcup as Sound by KEF.

Loewe reissues the Puzzle bag for its 10th year
Loewe | 29 May 2025

Loewe reissues the Puzzle bag for its 10th year

Loewe marked ten years of the Puzzle bag with 19 archive reissues, a new Confetti design, and a full digital retrospective.

Roger Federer designs his first collection for Uniqlo
Uniqlo | 12 May 2025

Roger Federer designs his first collection for Uniqlo

Seven years after leaving Nike for Uniqlo, Roger Federer co-designs his own collection with creative director Clare Waight Keller.


Jaguar reimagines the leaper for Exuberant Modernism
Jaguar | 19 November 2024

Jaguar reimagines the leaper for Exuberant Modernism

Jaguar reimagined the leaper and introduced a four-symbol identity system built on 'Exuberant Modernism.'

Nothing lets its fans design a phone
Nothing | 30 October 2024

Nothing lets its fans design a phone

Nothing presents the Phone (2a) Plus Community Edition, whose finish, wallpapers, packaging and campaign were designed by its fans.

teenage engineering makes a medieval sampler
teenage engineering | 6 August 2024

teenage engineering makes a medieval sampler

teenage engineering turns its EP-133 K.O. II into the EP-1320 medieval, with hurdy gurdys, witches, a dragon and Latin labels.


Google renames Bard to Gemini
Google | 8 February 2024

Google renames Bard to Gemini

In 2024 Google retired the Bard name and unified its consumer AI under a single brand, Gemini, matching the model that powers it.

The adidas Samba leads a terrace sneaker revival
adidas | 1 February 2024

The adidas Samba leads a terrace sneaker revival

The adidas Samba becomes a fashion phenomenon, leading a terrace sneaker revival driven by collaborations and the brand's own archive.

A million wait for Trade Republic's mirror card
Trade Republic & Visa | 9 January 2024

A million wait for Trade Republic's mirror card

A broker's first physical object draws more than a million people onto a waitlist, and pays 1 percent of every payment into a savings plan.


Nothing starts selling clothes
Nothing | 12 October 2023

Nothing starts selling clothes

Nothing launches Nothing Apparel, a clothing line developed with Teenage Engineering that turns its transparent design into a lab coat.

Nothing starts a second brand called CMF
Nothing | 3 August 2023

Nothing starts a second brand called CMF

Nothing announces CMF by Nothing, a cheaper sub-brand named after colour, material and finish, with its own team and its own look.

Polestar and Candela build a flying boat
Polestar | 23 May 2023

Polestar and Candela build a flying boat

The Candela C-8 Polestar edition takes Polestar's battery, colours and design onto the water, on gold hydrofoils that lift the hull.


Polestar builds an SUV coupé without a rear window
Polestar | 18 April 2023

Polestar builds an SUV coupé without a rear window

The Polestar 4 swaps its rear window for a roof camera and a digital mirror, and turns a convention of car design into a brand statement.

Google closes Stadia after three years
Google | 18 January 2023

Google closes Stadia after three years

Stadia arrived as Google's entry into gaming and closed three years later, refunding hardware and game purchases but not subscriptions.

Rolex puts a guarantee on second-hand watches
Rolex | 1 December 2022

Rolex puts a guarantee on second-hand watches

Rolex announced its Certified Pre-Owned programme on 1 December 2022, attaching a new two-year guarantee to watches it is not selling new.


teenage engineering sells a choir of singing wooden dolls
teenage engineering | 10 November 2022

teenage engineering sells a choir of singing wooden dolls

teenage engineering releases choir, eight singing beech dolls at $249 each, an object closer to an art piece or a toy than to an instrument.

Ferrari Purosangue and the refusal to say SUV
Ferrari | 13 September 2022

Ferrari Purosangue and the refusal to say SUV

Ferrari reveals its first four-door car as the Purosangue and insists it is not an SUV, defending its positioning through naming and language.

Nothing lights up the back of its first phone
Nothing | 12 July 2022

Nothing lights up the back of its first phone

Nothing launches the Phone (1) with the Glyph Interface, a subway-map layout of lights and dot-matrix type that carry the brand.


teenage engineering builds its field series around the OP-1
teenage engineering | 12 May 2022

teenage engineering builds its field series around the OP-1

teenage engineering launches the OP-1 field at $1,999 as part of its field series, turning a cult synthesiser into a premium product family.

Omega lends the Speedmaster to Swatch
Omega | 26 March 2022

Omega lends the Speedmaster to Swatch

OMEGA let its sibling brand build a plastic Speedmaster for a fraction of the price, and sold more of the original because of it.

Rick Owens and Aesop create a fragrance called Stoic
Aesop | 21 March 2022

Rick Owens and Aesop create a fragrance called Stoic

Fashion designer Rick Owens and Aesop release a candle, travel kit, and fragrance called Stoic in March 2022.


Nothing and teenage engineering make see-through earbuds
Nothing & teenage engineering | 27 July 2021

Nothing and teenage engineering make see-through earbuds

Nothing launches the transparent Ear (1), designed with founding partner teenage engineering, and finds the visual signature of its brand.

Samsung reorders the Galaxy naming system
Samsung | 12 February 2020

Samsung reorders the Galaxy naming system

Samsung adds Galaxy Z as the name for its foldables, then folds the Note into the S Ultra tier, tidying a portfolio built by accretion.

teenage engineering makes party speakers for IKEA
teenage engineering | 2020

teenage engineering makes party speakers for IKEA

teenage engineering designs FREKVENS, a modular party speaker and light range for IKEA, in IKEA stores from February 2020.


Uniqlo names its activewear Sport Utility Wear
Uniqlo | 2020

Uniqlo names its activewear Sport Utility Wear

With Sport Utility Wear, introduced in 2020, Uniqlo sells activewear for the gym and the street without turning itself into a sports brand.

teenage engineering makes a Rick and Morty Pocket Operator
teenage engineering | 28 May 2019

teenage engineering makes a Rick and Morty Pocket Operator

teenage engineering opened the Pocket Operator to Rick and Morty in 2019, then to Street Fighter, Mega Man and a Google Pixel app.

teenage engineering puts a crank on the Playdate
teenage engineering | 22 May 2019

teenage engineering puts a crank on the Playdate

teenage engineering designed the Playdate for Panic and gave the yellow handheld its crank, while the name on the console stayed Panic's.


Google+ closes after eight years
Google | 2 April 2019

Google+ closes after eight years

Google+ was meant to become the social layer beneath every Google product, and instead became a lesson in forcing a brand on people.

The North Face brings its Japanese Purple Label to the US
The North Face | 23 January 2019

The North Face brings its Japanese Purple Label to the US

Purple Label, made in Japan by nanamica and Goldwin since 2003, went on sale in the US for the first time in January 2019.

Volvo turns Polestar into a brand of its own
Polestar & Volvo | 17 October 2017

Volvo turns Polestar into a brand of its own

Volvo's former racing and tuning partner returns as a standalone electric performance brand, with its own cars, retail and logo.


Loewe's designer starts a line with Uniqlo
Uniqlo | 2017

Loewe's designer starts a line with Uniqlo

In September 2017 Uniqlo launched its first collection with JW Anderson, whose designer also led Loewe: British classics at Uniqlo prices.

Volvo puts an electric motor in every new car
Volvo | 5 July 2017

Volvo puts an electric motor in every new car

In 2017 Volvo declared the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car and tied electrification to a brand built on protection.

BYD gives its cars a dragon face
17 April 2017

BYD gives its cars a dragon face

BYD hired former Audi design chief Wolfgang Egger and built a dragon-inspired face that gave its cars one recognisable look.


Pixel makes Google a consumer hardware brand
Google | 4 October 2016

Pixel makes Google a consumer hardware brand

The Pixel was the first phone designed and sold entirely under Google's name, turning the software company into a hardware brand.

Apple and Nike take their fitness pact to the Watch
Apple & Nike | 7 September 2016

Apple and Nike take their fitness pact to the Watch

Apple and Nike launched Apple Watch Nike+ in 2016, extending a fitness partnership that began with Nike+iPod a decade earlier.

Loewe's 2016 fragrance box opens like a book
Loewe | 1 August 2016

Loewe's 2016 fragrance box opens like a book

Jonathan Anderson named Loewe's first fragrance 001 in 2016 and packaged it in a book-like box designed with M/M (Paris).


teenage engineering launches a $59 synth with Cheap Monday
teenage engineering | 22 January 2015

teenage engineering launches a $59 synth with Cheap Monday

teenage engineering launched its $59 Pocket Operators with Cheap Monday, a jeans label, and took its look far beyond musicians.

The Puzzle bag becomes a Loewe signature
Loewe | 2015

The Puzzle bag becomes a Loewe signature

Loewe's Puzzle bag, designed under Jonathan Anderson, turned leather craft into a modern signature and anchored the brand's revival.

Apple Watch: the first all-new device of the Cook era
Apple | 9 September 2014

Apple Watch: the first all-new device of the Cook era

In 2014 Apple introduced the Watch, its first new category under Tim Cook, and positioned it as the most personal device the company had made.


adidas relaunches the Stan Smith through scarcity
adidas | 2014

adidas relaunches the Stan Smith through scarcity

adidas withdrew the Stan Smith, then relaunched it in 2014 using scarcity to turn an old tennis shoe into a fashion phenomenon.

adidas turns Boost into a branded technology
adidas | 13 February 2013

adidas turns Boost into a branded technology

adidas launched Boost in 2013, a cushioning technology developed with BASF that became a branded ingredient across its shoes.

House of Cards turns Netflix into an originals brand
Netflix | 1 February 2013

House of Cards turns Netflix into an originals brand

Netflix releases all 13 episodes of House of Cards on 1 February 2013, repositioning the streaming service as an original content brand.


Patagonia moves into food with Provisions
Patagonia | 12 April 2012

Patagonia moves into food with Provisions

Patagonia launched Provisions with wild salmon jerky in 2012, taking an outdoor apparel brand into food through its environmental mission.

teenage engineering shows the OP-1 in Frankfurt
teenage engineering | 1 April 2009

teenage engineering shows the OP-1 in Frankfurt

teenage engineering showed its first product, the OP-1, under glass at Musikmesse 2009, and the synthesiser went on to define the brand.

Google enters the browser market with Chrome
Google | 2 September 2008

Google enters the browser market with Chrome

Google released its own browser in 2008, securing the path to its search engine and creating a product brand with a family of its own.


Netflix makes the leap from DVD mail to streaming
Netflix | 16 January 2007

Netflix makes the leap from DVD mail to streaming

Netflix introduces the Watch Now streaming feature in January 2007, beginning the pivot that carried the brand beyond the red envelope.

How the iPhone remade Apple in 2007
Apple | 9 January 2007

How the iPhone remade Apple in 2007

In 2007 Apple unveiled the iPhone and quietly redefined what the company stood for, from computer maker to mobile platform.

iPod and iTunes remake Apple as a brand
Apple | 23 October 2001

iPod and iTunes remake Apple as a brand

A music player and a piece of software turned a struggling computer company into a consumer brand, and white earbuds did the advertising.


The North Face launches its Summit Series
The North Face | 2000

The North Face launches its Summit Series

In 2000 The North Face gave its most technical gear a name of its own, the Summit Series, developed with its expedition athletes.

Omega builds its watches on George Daniels' invention
Omega | 12 April 1999

Omega builds its watches on George Daniels' invention

In 1999 Omega brought George Daniels' Co-Axial escapement into series production and made an outside invention its technical signature.

Disney Cruise Line launches the Disney Magic
Disney | 30 July 1998

Disney Cruise Line launches the Disney Magic

In 1998 Disney launched its first cruise ship, the Disney Magic, carrying the brand's immersive storytelling out onto the open sea.


The Lion King crowns the Disney Renaissance
Disney | 24 June 1994

The Lion King crowns the Disney Renaissance

The Lion King became the commercial peak of the Disney Renaissance, an animated hit built on an original story rather than an adapted one.

adidas Predator turns a football boot into a brand
adidas | 1 May 1994

adidas Predator turns a football boot into a brand

adidas launched the Predator boot in 1994, an invention by Craig Johnston that became a defining football brand for decades.

The North Face Nuptse and New York
The North Face | 1992

The North Face Nuptse and New York

The North Face built the Nuptse for the Himalaya in 1992; within years it had become a staple of New York's hip-hop wardrobe.


Nike Air Max 1 makes the Air visible in 1987
Nike | 26 March 1987

Nike Air Max 1 makes the Air visible in 1987

On 26 March 1987 Nike released the Air Max 1, the first sneaker to expose its Air unit, designed by Tinker Hatfield.

Nike launched the Air Jordan 1 and built a brand around one player
Nike | 1 April 1985

Nike launched the Air Jordan 1 and built a brand around one player

Nike launched the Air Jordan 1 on 1 April 1985, designed by Peter Moore and worn by Michael Jordan, foundation of the Jordan sub-brand.

How the Birkin became Hermès' scarcest brand asset
Hermès | 1984

How the Birkin became Hermès' scarcest brand asset

The 1984 Birkin turned a chance flight into Hermès' defining brand asset, built on controlled scarcity rather than advertising.


Steiff launches the Replica programme with the Papa Bear
Steiff | 1980

Steiff launches the Replica programme with the Papa Bear

Steiff turns its archive into a category and reframes the teddy bear as a collectible with the Papa Bear, a limited edition for the brand's 100th anniversary.

Hermès renames the Sac à Dépêches the Kelly bag
Hermès | 1977

Hermès renames the Sac à Dépêches the Kelly bag

In 1977, two decades after Grace Kelly made it famous, Hermès formally renamed its Sac à Dépêches the Kelly bag, with her permission.

Loewe builds a fragrance line one scent at a time
Loewe | 1972

Loewe builds a fragrance line one scent at a time

Since its first perfume in 1972, Loewe has released a new signature fragrance every few years, building a slow, plain-named line.


Omega's Speedmaster is named by the Moon landing
Omega | 21 July 1969

Omega's Speedmaster is named by the Moon landing

After Apollo 11 the Speedmaster became known as the Moonwatch, a nickname Omega later turned into the name of the collection.

Onitsuka Tiger's stripes outlived the brand itself
ASICS | 1966

Onitsuka Tiger's stripes outlived the brand itself

A staff competition produced the crossed stripe in 1966. The brand that made it was retired in 1977, and the mark carried on.

NASA approves the Omega Speedmaster for spaceflight
Omega | 1 March 1965

NASA approves the Omega Speedmaster for spaceflight

In 1965 NASA qualified the Omega Speedmaster for all manned space missions, a verdict that later moved onto the watch's caseback.


Rolex put the name of a sponsored track on a watch
Rolex | 1963

Rolex put the name of a sponsored track on a watch

Rolex launched the Cosmograph in 1963. The name the watch carries today came off a speedway the company already sponsored.

Rolex strapped its proof to the hull of the Trieste
Rolex | 23 January 1960

Rolex strapped its proof to the hull of the Trieste

Rolex sent an experimental watch to the deepest known point in the ocean on a hull, then engraved the date on a model it sold decades later.

Volvo makes the three-point seatbelt standard and shares it
Volvo | 13 August 1959

Volvo makes the three-point seatbelt standard and shares it

Volvo fits Nils Bohlin's three-point belt as standard in 1959, opens the patent to rivals and turns safety into the core of the brand.


Rolex counts the pilots behind the GMT-Master
Rolex | 1959

Rolex counts the pilots behind the GMT-Master

Rolex answered a question no watch buyer had asked: what proportion of working airline pilots would call the GMT-Master indispensable.

Tiffany and Schlumberger create the Sixteen Stone
Tiffany & Co. | 1959

Tiffany and Schlumberger create the Sixteen Stone

In 1959, Tiffany designer Jean Schlumberger created the Sixteen Stone ring, founding a named-designer tradition the house still relies on.

Visa starts with 60,000 cards mailed to Fresno
Visa | 18 September 1958

Visa starts with 60,000 cards mailed to Fresno

Visa began when Bank of America mailed about 60,000 unsolicited BankAmericards to Fresno in 1958 and signed up shops to take them.


Omega builds its watch names around the word Master
Omega | 1957

Omega builds its watch names around the word Master

In 1957 Omega launched three professional watches in one year, and their shared suffix became the backbone of how the brand names its range.

Rolex launched the Explorer on a letter from Everest
Rolex | 15 June 1953

Rolex launched the Explorer on a letter from Everest

Rolex ran the Everest leader's testimonial letter in British newspapers and used the same page to introduce a new model at a stated price.

Rolex wins over the divers with the first Submariner
Rolex | 1953

Rolex wins over the divers with the first Submariner

The first Submariner was not sold as a better watch. It was sold as equipment for a job, and Rolex named it after the man doing the job.


Ray-Ban and the birth of the Aviator
Ray-Ban | 12 December 1937

Ray-Ban and the birth of the Aviator

Ray-Ban introduced the Aviator in 1937, a Bausch & Lomb design that turned anti-glare lenses into a brand.

Omega renames the company after its best-known watch
Omega | 1894

Omega renames the company after its best-known watch

In 1894 the Brandt brothers named a new movement Omega, and within a decade the calibre had given its name to the whole company.

Thomas Burberry invents gabardine
Burberry | 1879

Thomas Burberry invents gabardine

In 1879, Thomas Burberry invents gabardine, a tightly woven, breathable and weatherproof fabric that anchors the house for over a century.