Thread: Smeg Makes Good!

...noted forum personality Smeg leaves mother's basement:

This $50,000 Refrigerator Could Be the Star of Your Next Dinner Party

Smeg and Dolce & Gabbana’s Frigorifero d’Arte isn’t practical, but it sure is pretty.

By Matthew Kronsberg (Bloomberg)
June 15, 2018, 6:00 PM GMT+7




Smeg and Dolce & Gabbana’s Frigorifero d’Arte refrigerator. Photographer: Jessica Pettway for Bloomberg BusinessweekWhen it comes to iceboxes, as with people, it’s usually what’s on the inside that counts. But with the Smeg Frigorifero d’Arte, it’s also about the outside. The 70-year-old Italian appliance company joined with design house Dolce & Gabbana to create a series of $50,000 compact fridges, hand-painted with folk motifs inspired by the brightly colored carts of co-founder Domenico Dolce’s native Sicily. The shape takes its cues from the past, with a single door, a height of almost five feet, and a rounded 1950s profile.

THE COMPETITION

To be fair, there aren’t a lot of rivals in the $50,000 novelty refrigerator market. Still, another cooling device with personality is the $44,000 Dacor Atelier Edition, which has a painted porcelain interior glazed with an aramid fiber used in bulletproof body armor. Meanwhile, the $3,700 Alfresco fridge, explicitly built for outdoor use, is 7.2 cubic feet and made of stainless steel. An optional beer-dispensing tower easily converts it into a keggerator.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Choosing one of these is more like shopping for fine art than for an appliance: This design, by artist Michelangelo Lacagnina, is inspired by the tarantella, a traditional Italian dance. It’s not suited for day-to-day family use—an internal freezer compartment needs occasional defrosting—but it’s perfect for keeping the bubbly chilled by the pool. $50,000; smeg.com