July is the Progressive Appliance Brand Bringing Cool Design to Air Conditioners
Created with a clean, millennial aesthetic and a breezy install, July’s A/C unit might actually keep you wanting to stay indoors this summer.
Lip kits, coffee mugs, and NFTs—what could three seemingly-alien objects have in common? In today’s market of small batch, highly-coveted desire shopping, they’re all super limited in availability (and with waitlists that might drive your refresh button crazy). Now, thanks to New York-based brand July, you can now add air conditioning to that, too.
Launched last year by Erik Rauterkus and Muhammad Saigol, the direct-to-consumer studio seeks to redefine the cooling experience from the air up, with millennial-friendly, design-forward A/Cs that are as easy on the eyes as they are to install. Each unit is created in a contained batch, meaning if you missed the pre-order this spring or the tight window now, you might be sweating this summer.
“It’s a space that has been forgotten about,” Rauterkus says about the the air conditioning market to L’OFFICIEL. “Over the last few decades, manufacturers have tried to find every which way to make A/Cs cheaper without listening to what consumers actually want. The A/C takes such a prominent space in your home. To lose your window to such a forgotten product was crazy. So we thought we could reimagine it and add value back into it without breaking the bank.”
Everyone decorates their spaces differently and yet they were all buying the same style model that looked the same even though nothing else in the houses were the same.
So the duo, who worked previously together as consultants helping large companies launch startups, decided to launch one of their own. A precursor to July, the goal of their first company was to learn everything about the air conditioning installation process: what to do and—more importantly—what not. “It was a great opportunity to speak to people and understand the user experience,” remembers Saigol, who purchased mass-produced appliances from a now competitor and self-installed the machines with Rauterkus. “We saw everything that needed to change. For example, traditional units don’t have hand holes underneath them to be picked up—you have to quickly jumble your hands around to set it down. And many have exposed backs with wires hanging out.”
In the first two weeks that year Rauterkus and Saigol sold almost $50,000 worth of air conditioners to customers across New York, which perplexed and interested the two. “Going into peoples homes, you understand that everyone has very unique styles and tastes,” continues Saigol. “Everyone decorates their spaces differently and yet they were all buying the same style model that looked the same even though nothing else in the houses were the same. We realized we need to build a piece that had a nice design, but that could be customized, too.”
Enter July’s trophy unit, a minimal machine that integrates seamlessly into any space, and has the capabilities to be as subtle or as vibrant as its owner desires. Designed by Box Clever (the same team that worked on Caraway’s coveted cooking set), the window A/C is the peak of clean, uncomplicated design. Available in two sizes—small (6,000 BTU’s, perfect for New York-sized spaces) and medium (8,000 BTU’s, which covers approx. 350 square feet)—the patented appliance is anchored by a sleek, egg-white frame that allows a simple slide in to lock the machine into place. WiFi-controllable, the device features built-in air cleaning filters and uses a state-of-the-art R32 refrigerant that is 3 times more energy efficient than most other window A/Cs. Lastly, its front is decorated by a customizable panel via snapping magnets, allowing customers to pick options from Mediterranean green to classic wood to suit their space.
July’s popularity is largely due to an overall increased attention on our personal spaces. “Even before the Pandemic, people have realized how much time we’re with these objects,” agrees Rauterkus, who plans to continue to expand the company’s air line before branching off into other categories in the future. “They’re going, ‘Wait a minute, I use my pots and my pans more than I wear my nice shoes.’ Or ‘I spend a lot of time in my bedroom and this ugly thing just sits in the window?’ We all realized it doesn't need to be this way. Design shouldn’t be unobtainable."
