Retro Futuristic

What was avant guarde in our forgotten past is now the optimism that is missing from our future

Andre van Hoek is the preservationist and force behind Retro Futuristic. His background as a cabinetmaker and his love of all things old have allowed him to bring the retro back into the future.

We are a custom shop located in NYC, whereby we do custom renovation & restoration of vintage motor homes & trailers. We have various retro american classic trailers & motorhomes for prop rentals and for photo shoots & film industry. After Airstreams we have many one of kind American Beauties.

To view of our efforts view a New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/25/garden/home-away-from-home-with-andre-van-hoek-a-life-in-brooklyn-takes-a-wide-turn.html

To view some of our capabilities of fabricating using vintage and distressed artifacts view our eye wear showroom featuring a unique collection of industrial vintage eye wear and goggles:  http://a.vanhoek-retro-optics.com/locations/show-room-gallery.html

If you are interested in purchasing vintage house wares from our collection, you can visit our Etsy page here.

WHO WE ARE NOT... 

This is a terrible video. Granted, it was an impromptu recording of an RV show a year or so after the 9-11 tragedy .  Prior to 9-11 this bombastic Limo was called the "Sheikh".   Like true Capitalist Slavers bringing human cargo from Africa into the Americas.  After 9-11 these limo owners decided to rename the Sheikh to the Patriot with brazen waving flag imagery- complete with midget waiters...decadent and exclusionary.  Nothing could be more opposite and philosophically different than the meaning of our work and restoring vintage Americana.  Every time, people/ passersby  "pirate"- a look inside these restored mobile Americana, collectively they cannot help but wonder the excitement of how they too need to explore America.  Our vehicles are metaphors for exploring with timeless style.   The $400 per hr rate of the Sheikh/Patriot is not worth the human currency, I gained from all the people who graced the insides of these mobile showcases, many sharing stories how their grandfathers or uncle who worked in various industry and took pride in their jobs future adding depth and sinew to the meaning  built to last was an american standard.  

Currently we are in a cultural nadir, Seemly less and less is built in America.  As an activist social protest, restoring these icons presses the issue we built with pageantry, pride, build to endure these qualities are encrypted in our past. Retrofuturistic means we see our future as told in our past.