Sound engineering and retro aesthetics come together in the new Dyson x Porter collab We discussed this with Jake Dyson, Chief Engineer at Dyson

The collaboration between Dyson and Porter was born almost by chance. Almost, let’s say, because Jake Dyson has been a fan of the Made in Japan brand for a very long time. «I've had their bags for 8 to 10 years, they're all handmade in Japan and I love the story of their company», the Chief Engineer at Dyson tells us. YOSHIDA & Co, founded by the craftsman Kichizo Yoshida, has been creating luggage since 1935, and the name Porter is a tribute to the hotel porters who know luggage like the back of their hands. «I just love their bags, and when I was designing the OnTrac headphones we were looking at customisation. I just happened to be in Tokyo, I went into their flagship showroom and I happened to meet the designer», says Dyson. From that meeting came the new bag for the Dyson OnTrac headphones, a collaboration that merges Dyson's technology with Porter's craftsmanship, the vintage aesthetic Jake Dyson is passionate about, and the intentional savoir-faire of YOSHIDA & CO.

«There's a really interesting history behind who they are and their philosophy», adds Dyson, diving deeper into his fascination with the world of Porter and YOSHIDA & CO. In particular, Dyson says he appreciates their thoughtful approach to problem-solving in luggage design: their creations are always fashionable, he explains, «but in a slightly understated, underground way for street culture». The set, produced in a limited edition, includes the Dyson OnTrac headphones and a custom-made shoulder bag, available in 380 units worldwide. Handmade by skilled Japanese artisans, it is made of water-repellent materials: seventy-seven different parts carefully assembled, including a headphone support designed for safe and practical transport.

As Dyson points out, the collaboration represents a special page in the history of the British company. «Since they're all handmade, Porter only produces 5000 to 10 thousand bags a year. We're so lucky to be able to have 380». The uniqueness of the collaboration goes beyond production numbers: the headphones, equipped with customizable elements such as the pads, match the bag, which echoes the device’s orange, blue, and yellow tones. All elements, from the palette to the very silhouette of the headphones and bag, contribute to the retro-futuristic design bridging the late '80s and early '90s that Dyson has always been passionate about. «They really stand out when you wear them on the street, there's something simple yet fun and well-engineered about them. I guess these three things create a retro feel that's also contemporary», explains Jake Dyson, adding that the union between high tech and aesthetics has always been an integral part of the electronics company’s DNA.

The Dyson OnTrac headphones represent a new chapter for the company, a champion in the creation of quiet home appliances. In this case, the device lives outdoors, on someone’s body, and the audience it addresses is completely different, as Jake Dyson explains. «But we like to look at making things better», he adds, «we've developed very advanced noise canceling for a purification headset device, and managed to cancel out a motor noise right next to your ear». Other key features of the OnTrac include the music range it supports, from high treble to low sub-bass, and of course its metal construction, contrasting with the plastic increasingly found on the market. With more than thirty years of research in soundproofing behind them, Dyson is now betting everything on sound, with the addition, this time, of a fashion-forward design object like the handcrafted Porter bag.