Conran Foundation Collection 2002 – Gijs and Renny go shopping

Every year Terrence Conran, the director of The Design Museum in London, allows a famous designer to shop for £30.000 worth of products of his or her choice that consequently are turned into an exhibition and added to the collection of the Conran Foundation afterwards. In 2003 the ‘famous designer’ was Droog. Renny Ramakers and Gijs Bakker decided to make strictly separate lists of favorite products and then combine those into one.
Among the pieces chosen by Ramakers was a 1988 Afghan carpet that, true to local tradition, was woven with symbols from daily life in Afghanistan, but instead of birds and vases, it was emblazoned with Soviet guns and helicopters. She also choose a silver French fries fork designed by Sophie Lachaert. Her comment: ‘Sophie Lachaert is Belgian and in Belgium you find the best French fries in the world. It’s worth eating them with a silver fork.’
A remarkable product chosen by Bakker was the Bling Bling, designed by Frank Tjepkema: a golden necklace with a cross compiled of logos. Gijs Bakker’s comment: ‘worshipping logos all crucified together’. He also picked the Birthday calendar by Richard Hutten. Both Gijs and Renny choose a poster waste bin by Jos van der Meulen.