Everyone loves Instant Pot. No doubt many, many Instant Pots will fly off the (virtual) shelves during the Black Friday sales, but one that you will have to pay full price for is this unique collaborative effort from Instant Pot x RHUDE. RHUDE, as you no doubt already know, is an upmarket street fashion brand from the USA, from whence Instant Pot and its parent company, Instant Brands, hail. Some of RHUDE's clothes are on Mr Porter with a pair of jersey shorts setting you back £490. So their branded Instant Pot could be considered very reasonably priced at just $300.
Seriously though, while Instant Pots are a fantastic way to rustle up meals, via pressure cooking, slow cooking and an ingenious set of smart meal presets and timers, they do have one serious problem: they look dowdy as hell. Well, no longer.
As well as bringing the gift of intense yellowness to the Instant Pot, RHUDE's creative leader Rhuigi Villaseñor has worked his design magic on other Instant Brands products, with some seriously eye-catching Pyrex cookware, a set of plates for Corelle Brands and a very bold 'heritage chef's knife' for Chicago Cutlery.
Rhuigi Villaseñor head honcho, with his RHUDE kitchen collection
Launching today (November 1) exclusively at Instant Brands and RHUDE's online stores, the Instant x RHUDE collab is some of the least drab cookware I have. ever seen. If you like the primary colours and bold logos, you may find yourself drawn to it even if you've never heard of Mister Villaseñor or RHUDE menswear. I have to admit, I had not.
Formulated in LA in 2015, RHUDE has dressed the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg and A$AP Rocky. And now it's dressing Instant Pot and Pyrex, which are perhaps just a teensy bit less cool than the aforementioned hip-hop artistes. Seriously, this is such a crazy and unlikely partnership – almost akin to Nutribullet teaming up with Off-White, or Burberry designing toasters for Russell Hobbs. Or, I don't know, Balenciaga applying its branding to a Tefal air fryer.
“We are very excited to partner with Rhuigi and the RHUDE team on this collection,” says Ben Gadbois, President & CEO of Instant Brands. “As an expression of gratitude to all our consumers and the loyalty they’ve shown us for decades, we wanted to wow our fans on an entirely new level. And through this collaboration, we hope to inspire a new generation of fans at the intersection of fashion, lifestyle and cooking.”
The main tone used is RHUDE's 'signature yellow', which 'radiates throughout'. It's particularly striking on the Pyrex glass bowls and food storage boxes, as Pyrex has always been synonymous with the colour red. Red, and the colour, erm, see-through, obviously.
Instant Pots are usually a boring silver grey but the Instant Pot x RHUDE Electric Pressure Cooker changes all that. The 6-quart Pro model is made over with a bold/massive RHUDE logo and big splashes of yellow.
Designed for large families, the 6-Quart Pro has 10 cooking modes. These include (deep breath): pressure cooker, slow cooker, sous vide, sauté pan, rice/grain cooker, sterilizer, yogurt maker, food warmer, cake baker and steamer. 28 customisable cooking programs makes meal creation as simple as touching a button. The auto-sealing lid has added heat protection and there's an 'upgraded' gentle steam release switch, providing you with less noise and less splashing on your counter top.
The genius of Instant Pot is that it's easy to use, yet can create some genuinely stunning dishes. They've brought the art of pressure cooking back into fashion… and now they look exceedingly stylish as well, thanks to RHUDE.
Having said that, possibly my favourite part of the Instant/RHUDE collab is this Chicago Cutlery x RHUDE Heritage Chef Knife. Now that is a knife.
“I feel privileged that my designs and the beauty I am able to bring to the iconic portfolio of Instant Brands can be part of 'together moments' when people use these products to cook and enjoy food with loved ones,” says RHUDE man Rhuigi Villaseñor. Can't argue with that.
Instant Brands x RHUDE: pricing and availability
The capsule collection is on sale in the USA (online only) from 9am PST. We don't have pricing or availability for the UK or Australia as yet.
Instant Pot x R H U D E Electric Pressure Cooker $300
Pyrex x R H U D E Gift Set (Glass Food Storage & Glass Measuring Cups) $100
Pyrex x R H U D E Glass Food Storage $60
Corelle Brands x R H U D E 16-piece dinnerware set $270
Chicago Cutlery x R H U D E Heritage Chef Knife $600
