LABB by Noomoon

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LABB by Noomoon

The mad scientists behind Noomoon bring heritage luxury up to date with their self-fastening watch strap...

Discerning devotees of design and innovation, and they who are famed for fusing those two things so frequently — namely our Cupertino cousins, Apple — listen up, and cast your cultivated eyes on the game-changing phenomenon that is LABB.

LABB by Noomoon and Benjamin Hubert, Brasport Group

Short for ‘Loopless and Buckleless Band’, the folk behind LABB are keen to revolutionise the way we wear our Apple Watches; and, to a further extent, the way we think about watch-straps in general. In their eyes, it is time to wave goodbye to bulky loops, buckles, and ill-fitting straps; and stand in awe of their robust and simple fastening system, which immaculately blends technology, design and functionality.

Put together in collaboration with highly-regarded British product designer Benjamin Hubert, who at 32 years old already has a string of honours to his name (from places like Design Museum’s Designs of the Year; British Design Awards; Red Dot; Blueprint Awards; and a raft more), the LABB is meticulously-designed, with details almost undetectable by the human eye. Hubert has previous with hiding clever technology behind beautiful design, his studio Layer having recently created a collection of ceramic tidy-trays that boast an integrated charging system allowing tablets and mobile phones to be powered wirelessly; here he’s the creative force behind a watch strap that’s a mere 1.73 millimetres thick. For those trying to envisage what that looks like: it’s microscopic.

LABB by Noomoon and Benjamin Hubert, Brasport Group

But what of the laborious R&D that surely lies behind the façade of simplistic design? Those behind LABB are Noomoon, a newly-formed (and fifth) brand from Brasport Group, a Swiss watch-strap manufacturer with serious pedigree, and laborious their R&D has been — if you’re already thinking of Marty McFly’s self- lacing Nikes (I am), Brasport’s phrasing of ‘Mad Scientists’ when referring to their development team should further stoke your futurist fervour. Great Scott!

Established in 1946, Brasport’s La Chaux-de-Fonds headquarters is a place of innovation tradition and 100% Swiss-made quality assurance; Noomoon will serve as their avant garde arm, and its high-tech high-design inaugural product is testament to that desire to challenge convention. Made from fluoroelastomer (a special purpose fluorocarbon-based synthetic rubber), LABB’s singular make-up has been dubbed ‘when Lego met Velcro’. Supple, soft to the touch, odourless, waterproof, skin-friendly and Mad Scientist-certified (Doc Brown was unavailable for comment); Noomoon’s bold debut brings heritage luxury bang up to date.

LABB launches on Kickstarter today, with some exceedingly special offers available for its backers; ‘super’ early birds (350 units, available for just 12 hours) can pick up their strap for $47 — a saving of 39% on its $77 retail price — whilst another 700 units make up the ‘early bird’ offer, where you’ll pay $52 instead of $77.

This story has been produced in collaboration with Noomoon; all words and opinions remain those of We Heart.

@noomoonswiss
@benjaminhubert1

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