Page 135 - Demo

133In the late 1970s, Brian Davis, the head of iconic Melbourne homewares manufacturer D%u00e9cor, witnessed a simple canvas bag with %u2018BYO%u2019 written on it win a design award. Perplexed that such a rudimentary design could pick up a prestigious gong, he got on the phone to industrial designer Richard Carlson. The outcome of that conversation is one of the more curious stories in Australian design history.The challenge Davis issued to Carlson was to make something better than a canvas bag. The result was a plastic unit that could hold two wine bottles, with a removable chiller that could be filled with water, frozen and then returned. Not only did this keep the drinks cool, it also held them securely in place, with the swing handle securely locking everything into position. The D%u00e9cor Wine Cooler was an instant hit. Practical and stylish, they were equally at home by the lazy Susan at a Chinese restaurant, at the beach or at a backyard BBQ. Carlson designed the coolers in a number of fashionable colours, and not only did they sell by the bucketload, they also won an Australian Design award in 1979.In 1980, this humble product won the Prince Philip Prize for Australian Design, and the dapper royal, who enjoyed the odd tipple, was apparently so enamoured of the product that he took one home with him to Buckingham Palace. Overseas success beckoned, with exports and licensing agreements in the US, Sweden and Germany. Locally, it was such a hit that in 1980 Carlson backed it up with a similar product for wine casks, which held the boxless %u2018goon bag%u2019, allowing you to not only to keep the wine chilled but to keep the brand a secret. The success of the D%u00e9cor cooler was fuelled by Australia%u2019s rather bizarre licensing laws, which prompted the birth of BYO culture in the 1960s. At the time, liquor licences for restaurants were prohibitively expensive, making it impossible to buy a glass of wine anywhere other than upmarket restaurants. Hotel associations across the country were keen to keep the supply of booze to themselves, and the thirsty politicians were always happy to oblige. The ability to %u2018bring your own%u2019 kept the pubs happy because you were still buying from them, just in takeaway form, and the consumer was happy because they didn%u2019t have to drink cordial with dinner. However, not everyone wanted to turn up to tea clutching a paper bag from the bottle-o, so Carlson%u2019s handsome unit was a winner. Sales were further boosted by the fact that Aussie mums and dads were prone to having one too many glasses of Blue Nun and leaving their wine cooler under the table, creating the need to buy another one. That%u2019s not the end of the story for this muchloved but unheralded icon. It found even greater%u00a0 fame when it was later added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York %u2013 a testament to our inventive nature, our passion for drinking and our weird licensing laws.YEAR 1978DESIGNER Richard CarlsonMANUFACTURER D%u00e9corNot everyone wanted to turn up to tea clutching a paper bag from the bottle-o, so Carlson%u2019s handsome unit was a winner.