Slate Auto Fastback SUV
Photograph: Joyce LeeTisha Johnson is a rarity in the car world: an automotive design leader who is not a man. Women are sometimes put in charge of the interiors or the materials, but few get to shape the whole look of a vehicle. As head of design at the EV-maker Slate, Johnson does. The pickup truck version of its EV starts at just under $25,000, making it the cheapest pickup on sale in the US, electric or not. Trouble is, cheap products are usually a compromise, and compromises rarely inspire affection. Johnson’s Slate, however, has won design awards, not just praise for its price tag.
“We didn’t want [Slate] to be a jerk,” Johnson says, “or look like a beast on the road.” That thinking shows in the truck itself—not just in its modular, add-on-friendly design (pictured here in its Fastback guise), but in the fact the EV was designed to be loved. Strong shoulders and approachable round headlamps were favored over macho arrowed surfacing. “The attraction that draws you to Slate is based on something that is lasting from inside out. It’s a deeper connection,” Johnson says. Some 180,000 reservations and counting for the Slate, along with those awards, seem to more than prove her point.
$31,950 and up at SlateAway The Carry-On: Aluminum Edition
Courtesy of AwayAway was founded in 2015 by entrepreneurs Jen Rubio and Steph Korey, both with backgrounds at the eyewear maker Warby Parker. In its first year, Away generated $12 million in sales and sold more than 100,000 stylish, reasonably priced suitcases. It has been an impressive rise, and the Softside Carry-on currently tops WIRED’s best buy list. Here however, we’ve chosen the aluminum version of the company’s handsome roll-aboard that’s built tough but perfectly sized for the overhead bin. It has a 32-liter capacity, dual TSA locks, 360-degree wheels, and an internal compression system. The signature hidden laundry bag remains a brilliant accoutrement.
$625 at AwayJelenew Mont Blanc Ultralight Long Windproof Jacket
Courtesy of JelenewCofounded by six-time cycling world champion Marion Clignet, Jelenew combines female-specific articulated shaping, recycled nylon, mesh ventilation and an adjustable hem in a windproof shell that packs into a 6.3 x 9.8-inch bag. Clignet brought elite racing experience directly into the brand’s development, with the fit shaped around women’s proportions rather than scaled down from men’s clothing. This particular jacket uses 94 percent recycled nylon, a PFAS-free water-repellent treatment, UV protection, and mesh ventilation. Generous waist pockets and adjustable drawstrings add practical detail.
$358 at JelenewTaylorMade Kalea Gold Driver
Courtesy of TaylorMadeLight, easy to launch, and forgiving, Kaela has been designed for women who want more performance than they can get from hacking a set of men’s clubs. Principal product-development engineer Michelle Penney helped lead the development of the range, with input from female TaylorMade employees, players, and and dedicated women’s advisory board. The final design takes into account the key differences in women’s swing profiles. The 460 cc carbon driver is 44 inches long, with 11.5- or 13.5-degree lofts and a lightweight 47-gram shaft intended to help generate speed without making the club harder to control.
$499 at TaylorMadeNatural Cycles NC° Band
Courtesy of Natural CyclesCofounded by CERN physicist Elina Berglund Scherwitzl, who helped discover the Higgs boson, Natural Cycles makes the world’s first FDA-cleared birth-control app. Its screenless NC° Band syncs its health readings to the app. Wear it on your wrist while you sleep and it tracks your temperature, heart rate, and movement during the night, then automatically syncs all that data to your phone in the morning. Those numbers are fed into the app’s algorithm to give you accurate—Natural Cycles claims an impressive 93 percent accuracy—daily fertility guidance. A recently announced Whoop partnership helps strengthen both brand’s offerings too.
$130 at Natural CyclesAdafruit Pimoroni Badgeware Badger
Courtesy of AdafruitLadyada, aka Limor Fried, became the first female engineer to appear on the cover of WIRED in April 2011, just six years after she founded Adafruit from her MIT dorm room. Her alias was inspired by 19th-century English mathematician and computing pioneer Ada Lovelace, which in turn provided inspiration for the brand’s name. Fried has grown Adafruit into a 100 percent woman-owned force in open-source electronics, making components, tools, and educational kits that lower the barrier to coding and hardware hacking. The company’s range spans beginner-friendly boards, wearable controllers, and touchscreens, alongside quirky maker gear such as the pictured programmable, wearable e-paper name badge.
$69 at AdafruitRaide Women’s TrailTech Cargo Tank
Courtesy of RaideMore than just another running top, this multifunctional design combines an unpadded sports bra, a vest, and much of the carrying capacity of a small hydration pack in a single 4.6-ounce layer. Five well-positioned pockets hold up to 30 fluid ounces of water, a phone, your rain shell, and up to six fuel gels, all while keeping the load close to your body to help minimize bounce. Laser-perforated chest panels add ventilation, and the fit is designed around female anatomy rather than adapted from a men’s cut. It is a neat solution for runners who want to go the distance without adding layers on layers.
$130 at RaideVacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding
Courtesy of Vacheron ConstantinThere was a time, not so long ago, when all serious timepieces had two clear traits. They were massive—we’re talking over 48 mm here, which fine if you have Schwarzenegger-sized forearms but useless for those who don’t—and they were aimed just at men. Women’s watches would have comparatively basic mechanical movements, or be quartz powered and covered in jewels.
Thankfully, general watch size trends have swung back the other way, and now small- and mid-size pieces are very much in demand. This means women with a serious eye for horology now have some truly excellent choices. This new Vacheron is a perfect example: Clocking in at 34.5 mm, this Overseas will suit both men and women very well in either stainless steel or pink gold. It’s a nearly exact shrunken version of the 41 mm model, and nothing has been dropped in the downsizing apart from the outer seconds track on the dial. The quick-release bracelet, two extra quick-change straps, 40-hour power reserve, and sapphire caseback are all present.
$26,600 at Vacheron-ConstantinDreame Miracle Pro
Courtesy of DreameAI is drying hair now, or more specifically, adjusting temperature, heat, and airflow automatically. Dreame’s dryer also includes a conditioning essence atomizer and red light therapy to take extra care of your scalp. The 1,400-watt dryer monitors temperature 1,000 times per second to keep the airflow ultra consistent. The dryer also comes with four magnetic attachments: nozzles for styling, smoothing, and defrizzing, plus a diffuser. Snap one on, and the Miracle pro senses which one you’ve attached and adjusts the dryer’s power and heat for the best possible results.
$280 at DreameMusic Man St. Vincent HHH
Courtesy of Ernie Ball Music ManAnnie Clark, aka art-rocker St. Vincent, sketched the original shape for her signature guitar using angles that combine midcentury retro-futurism with the bold triangular tuxedo worn by avant-garde performer Klaus Nomi. She then worked through around 20 prototypes to get the weight, balance, and feel for the design just right. Despite the sharp lines, the body is heavily beveled with an exceptionally narrow waist, and Clark explicitly designed it to sit comfortably against a woman’s torso. Built from lightweight okoume wood, it weighs around 7.5 pounds, with a roasted maple neck that offers easy access to the upper frets (where the shredding happens). The three custom DiMarzio mini-humbuckers are controlled by a five-way selector.
$3,200 at Music-ManKiwiCo STEM Kits
Courtesy of KiwiCoChemical engineer and mother-of-three Sandra Oh Lin founded KiwiCo to make hands-on science, engineering and creative projects fun, practical, and easy to tackle at home. It offers kits for babies, kids, teens, and adults, with age-appropriate builds (and yes, we wouldn’t be surprised if the kids’ stuff was more advanced than the adults’) ranging from simple sensory play and mechanical grabbers to animatronics, marble roller coasters, and working desk lamps. Available individually or by subscription, everything that’s needed to build each device arrives in the box, with clear instructions and explanations of the ideas behind each project.
$24 and up at KiwiCoIDA Helia Pro
Courtesy of IDA SportsInformed by biometric data from professional women soccer players, IDA builds high-performance boots around women’s feet, combining specific fit with lightweight materials. Cofounder Laura Youngson started the company after seeing how poorly existing boots served women players. The Helia Pro packs in the tech with a lightweight mesh upper, a highly responsive soleplate made from Pebax thermoplastic, and a soft foam insole. There are also female-specific flex zones throughout the shoe, and shorter, rounded cleat studs laid out in a unique pattern that’s designed for firm ground and artificial grass.
$260 at IDANew Balance Fresh Foam Cremorne Toe Safety Shoe
Courtesy of New BalanceLooking closer to a pair of trail runners than conventional safety footwear, these are proof you don’t need to be clodhopping around in heavy boots to stay protected on the job site. The composite toe guards shield your piggies from impacts without the weight of steel, an anti-perforation layer protects the sole of your foot, and a reinforced heel support adds stability when you’re lifting loads. Its grippy outsole is designed for wet, slick, or oily floors, and offers antistatic protection while also being able to withstand temperatures of at least 572° Fahrenheit for 60 seconds. The shoes borrow foam cushioning and a springy polyurethane insert from New Balance’s athletic footwear to make long shifts easier on your feet.
$137 at AmazonCircular Smart Ring 3 Slim
Courtesy of CircularWe’re not quite at the point where smart rings are indistinguishable from jewelry, but the gap is closing. At just 1.9 grams, and with a noticeably slimmer profile than the second-generation model, Circular’s Ring 3 Slim blends in well, yet still tracks sleep, heart rate, blood oxygen level, skin temperature, daily activities, and heart-rate variability. It now adds NFC for contactless payments and practical vibration alerts and alarms. There’s also a larger Ring 3 Pro, which adds FDA-cleared electrocardiogram sensors for detecting signs of atrial fibrillation. Blood-pressure trends and glucose insights are planned for a later update.
$TBD at CircularPosedla Joyseat 3.0
Courtesy of PosedlaFinally, a saddle that actually fits. Posedla sends an at-home imprint kit, then uses sit-bone measurements, riding position, and algorithmic modeling to 3D-print bespoke padding precisely profiled for your posterior. The resulting Joyseat is not merely made in a chosen width. Its shape and stiffness are individually generated too, using a custom TPU lattice rather than stock foam. Width can be specified from 130 to 170 mm in one millimeter increments, and Joyseat will also take into consideration the bike you use and what sorts of riding you do—whether you’re a racer, a weekend tourer, a bike camper, or a long-haul commuter.
$399 and up at PosedlaLiv EnviLiv Advanced Pro 0-AXS
Courtesy of LivBonnie Tu, chair of the company behind Giant bikes, founded Liv after struggling to find bikes that fitted properly. Liv designs from women’s biometric data, giving every frame size its own geometry, then applies its findings to a collection that includes city, gravel, commuter and elite bikes like the EnviLiv Advanced Pro. Its carbon frame, handlebars and stem are shaped using computer modelling and wind-tunnel testing to reduce drag, while 50 mm-deep carbon wheels and SRAM Force AXS wireless electronic gears complete the race-ready build. More importantly, fit is treated as a complete system, with stem length, handlebar width, crank length and saddle choice all selected to suit the rider rather than added later as generic components.
$7,800 at Liv
