Design
Teenage Engineering's OB-4 collab with Off-White honors Virgil Abloh
The collab features a bright orange remixed OB-4 and its own carrying bag, alongside a pricey apparel collection.
Teenage Engineering and Off-White are teaming up. The first collaboration between the two companies at the top of the design game comes in the form of a remixed OB-4 loudspeaker. The bright “luminescent orange” version of the OB-4 was made in honor of the late influential designer Virgil Abloh.
Heavy collab — Teenage Engineering said the collab came about when they asked Virgil Abloh for his take on the OB-4’s disk mode. The portable hi-fi loudspeaker already had the unique feature of memorizing everything you play, but the disk mode is a multi-function experimental “research space” with three current modes including ambient, karma, and metronome. The end result from Abloh’s contribution is an OB-4 with a bright orange exterior and Off-White branding, and a disk mode that features gyil music from sk kakraba.
The gyil is a traditional instrument from Ghana, where Abloh’s parents immigrated from, and sk kakraba is one of the last remaining masters who can build and play the xylophone-esque instrument.
The collab also introduces a capsule collection of apparel designed by Off-White that goes perfectly with the bright orange OB-4. The collection includes t-shirts and hoodies in white and orange, along with a white bomber jacket and cargo pant set that are loaded with custom pockets for all your Teenage Engineering devices.
This collab is another design home run for both companies, but it’s not surprising given the Swedish company’s product track record and Off-White’s reputation. Teenage Engineering has already worked with Ikea for a party-inspired lineup of furniture and with Nothing on the Ear (1) wireless earbuds. And well, Off-White is Off-White.
Double the price — It shouldn’t come as a surprise since Off-White is involved, but the limited-edition OB-4 costs $1,150. That’s nearly double the price of the original OB-4 magic radio that was released in 2020 for $599; Teenage Engineering currently sells the regular black OB-4 (with remote) for $649. But the Off-White collab OB-4 comes with a transparent orange carry bag with Off-White branded straps. The new OB-4 is currently available on Teenage Engineering’s site in very limited quantities with a one-order-per-customer limit, but it will undoubtedly sell out fast like its Computer-1 PC case.