In The Driver's Seat: Autodromo
Take a moment to look around your immediate surroundings. Go ahead, take a nice long gander, we’ll wait. You probably just saw quite a few products with varying design appeal; some with stellar and inviting design and others with a purely mediocre presence. Bradley Price, the founder of Autodromo, only deals with the first kind. With his NYC-based brand, he channels his love for vintage cars, driving and timeless design into an elite collection of watches, sunglasses and gloves. This is a brand that truly aspires to world-class standards. Read our interview with Bradley below:
Can you tell us about the inception of Autodromo – how did it come about?
Autodromo was a way for me to marry my lifelong passion for vintage cars with my professional background in product design. I was doing consumer electronics and appliances as well as furniture for about ten years and decided that it was time for me to do something that related to the central passion in my life, which is automobiles. The idea to do watches inspired by instrumentation came to me in a flash one day while I was driving through the woods.
How did your affinity and love for cars begin?
My interest in cars is something that began from an extremely early age. My dad had an old Austin Healey in the garage, and I think I was utterly fascinated by it before I could even walk.
Would you consider Autodromo watches to be for niche watch lovers or do they appeal to a wider market?
Based on customer feedback, I would say that our watches have found fans from a wide array of backgrounds and interests. Of course car lovers are the core customer for us, but we have people – both men and women I might add – who love our products simply because they happen to love the designs and recognize the quality of the finished product. In short, you don’t have to love cars or motorcycles to love Autodromo. It really comes down to a love of design.
The Autodromo sunglasses have a very unique design. Can you briefly tell us about the design inspiration and their manufacture process?
I am chiefly interested in creating objects which can oscillate between looking vintage and contemporary depending on how you look at them. I don’t want to just make something that copies the past, but I am also not looking to make something wild and futuristic. I like things that you think you might have seen before at first glance, but then it invites you in, and you realize it’s totally like nothing you have ever held. I find that to be a thrill. Like finding something in an antique shop that you have never seen before. In the case of the glasses, I was very concerned that they would look appropriate when worn in a vintage car, but that they didn’t look out of place in a brand new car. I think the use of the tortoise acetates gives the glasses a classical look, but the silhouette of the glasses is super minimal in fact. So in this case, the shape is modern, but the acetate choice and the chrome accents I added put the glasses into a different mental context so they appear more vintage. The glasses are produced in Japan where the frames are tumbled for 2 weeks, and then hand finished. They are a really top tier product that I am very proud to put next to any brand at any price.
To date, what’s the most satisfying compliment/remark you’ve received about your watches/sunglasses?
I think the most satisfying compliment was when I was introduced to the design director of a very well known manufacturer of supercars. And before I could say anything to him, he said “Oh, you run Autodromo? I am a big fan of your work!” I think I floated on air for two days after that.
Back to cars, what’s the favorite car you currently own and what’s your absolute dream car to own?
I was fortunate to recently acquire one of my dream cars: The Alpine-Renault A110. This is a legendary French car made famous for winning the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally. It’s mechanically a very interesting car, combining a fiberglass body with steel backbone chassis and rear engine. It is sort of a cross between a Lotus Elan and a Porsche 911, but with a French flair for unusual design. I happen to think it’s drop dead beautiful, too. My all time dream car would be a Maserati A6GCS Coupe. These cars combined the best of sporting technology with the best of style at their time. Utterly fantastic to behold but sadly beyond the reach of mere mortals these days.
Switching to fashion, is there such a thing as “driving style” – do you have a preferred uniform for long leisurely drives?
I wish there was more of such a thing as motoring style in this country. The majority of male sports car owners dress like teenagers when they go for a drive. They often wear tacky driving shoes (usually brightly hued suede), a branded hat or t-shirt to match their car, and shorts. The prevalence of wrap-around shades is pretty regrettable, too. I think it’s a real let-down to see a beautiful car pull up and a guy get out who has no style. It’s like he is saying, “I wrote a big check for this car, so I have the right to not care what I look like.” I think this is a very American attitude, and would love to see that change. When I started out designing Autodromo products, I wanted to create items that I would want to wear myself. I wanted to offer something for the people out there who like understatement, elegance, and refinement. What I tried to do was to make accessories for those of us (of all ages) who like to feel like a grown-up when we drive. If you look at photos of the old Grand Prix drivers of the 1950s and early 1960s, they dressed so well, both inside and out of the cars. I love Mike Hawthorn, who raced wearing a bow tie. Or Graham Hill with his impeccable moustaches. I think when technical clothing for sporting applications came into its own in the 1970s, that was really the end of elegance in sport, whether it be motorsport, or skiing, bicycling, etc. Before that, most sporting clothing was essentially a variation on what people normally wore. So in the 1950s, racing drivers often had simple loose cotton pants, plain cotton polo shirts, and dress shoes. If Fangio could win 5 world championships driving in dress shoes, then why does anyone need to drive on the road in red suede racing boots?
How would you describe your own personal fashion style?
I really love the simple sporting elegance of the late 1950s, and when I drive or race my own 1959 Alfa Romeo, I try to dress in a fitting manner, without being too costume-y about it. I think a nice pair of breatheable thin cotton pants are the best thing to drive in. Until I develop my own driving shoes, I have a preference for Keds, because they have a nice thin sole and a narrow fit in the pedal box. They can also dress up or down depending on the rest of your outfit, and they can also look vintage because Keds have been around a long time. I like a polo or a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and of course my Stelvio sunglasses and stringback gloves. I usually finish the outfit with vintage jackets that match the time period of the car I am driving. I am not against wearing some branded accessories if you are a big fan of the car company, but you should never wear more than one item of such clothing at a time. When you see a guy wearing Ferrari Pumas, Ferrari shirt, and Ferrari cap, as well as red pants, it just looks horrific. I think wearing a branded item of some sort is fine to do as a way to say “I am part of the community” but I think it becomes vulgar when overdone. Driving gloves are another important detail. I created my own line of stringback driving gloves because they are a classic design you sometimes see in Europe but there was no place to buy nice quality ones here in the States. I said, “Well, I could be the guy making the best stringback gloves you can buy in the states.” And now 2 years later, I am! To me, the key thing about driving gloves beyond the fact that they improve your grip on the wheel is that they give every drive a sense of occasion. I think that is an important thing. Driving a special car should be an occasion, every single time, and what you wear should enhance that feeling.
The Autodromo Instagram page is beautiful – do you spend a lot of time curating it and how important is social media in your marketing strategy?
Thank you for saying so! I don’t curate anything. All the photos I post on Instagram are pictures I personally take of things I see during my day, and at car events or my mechanic’s shop. The only thing curated is an occasional vintage photo, or an occasional press photo I will put up on a slow day. Once in a while, I will regram something from one of my followers or a friend if I think it is totally awesome and should be seen by a wider audience. Instagram is a key component of creating the visual world of Autodromo. But it is also a form of transparency: It’s evidence that the brand is alive. I live and breathe this stuff, and you can’t fake that. There are a lot of BS brands out there lately made up by marketing agencies to “sell a lifestyle.” I think my instagram is a way of showing that for me, Autodromo isn’t a “lifestyle” it is a way of life; it’s my life.
Lastly what are the expansion plans for your brand – do you plan to offer more accessory categories/clothing?
Watches will always be the cornerstone of the brand, and the thing which really drives the conversation at Autodromo. However, I would love to continue to add additional items of interesting apparel and accessories beyond the sunglasses and gloves I currently offer. I would love to develop a few more wearable products, as well as some soft goods. We will never be a huge company with hundreds of products. I believe in doing a few things very very well.
For more information, visit www.autodromo.com and follow their Instagram: @Autodromomedia.
Bradley Price is wearing the Plaid flannel shirt, Quilted fragment jacket, Dot jacquard shirt, Herringbone blazer and Bedford chino from the Onassis Fall 16 Collection. These pieces can be purchased at Onassisclothing.com.
