Balmain Paris completely lost it with the Army of Lovers campaign. Super disappointed!

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 3 minutes

From all amazing French Fashion houses, Balmain is one of the most beautiful jewels. Well, up to now. They revealed a new campaign called Army of Lovers. It features Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Frankly Balmain: red card!

Balmain is a temple of elegance

The story of Balmain is written with golden words. After the war, 2 French luxury houses shaped the 50’s. It was Christian Dior with the “New Look” and Balmain with its’s “Jolie Madame“. Balmain was the luxury house for iconic stars, from Marlene Dietrich to Katherine Hepburn. After Pierre Balmain’s death in 1982, the heritage of the Brand was kept preciously decade after decade.

Olivier Rousteing, the captain on board since 2011

Olivier Rousteing joined Balmain in 2009. After an interesting parcours from ESMOD via Roberto Cavalli, Olivier learned the true meaning of elegance during the time he was leading the Women’s wear design studio. In 2011 he was appointed Artistic Director of Balmain for all collections. Rousteing’s style is fresh, modern and yet respectful of the timeless Balmain cut.
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Army of Lovers ad campaign with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Rubbish.

This year Balmain revealed a new ad campaign featuring Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. The campaign is called Army of Lovers and according to Olivier Rousteing this is the representation of the modern couple.

Army of Lovers Balmain
According to the Artistic Director of the Brand this new campaign is capturing a moment of love, it is capturing the image of modern couple. Well, probably something went wrong at the briefing session. Not really sure that this is really the personification of a modern couple. If we remember well, Kanye West wrote a song about his wife called “My Bitch” and Kim Kardashian… Well, the only talent she has is her family money and eventually to dare showing off her private life to tv cameras. So not sure anyone should see them as the epitome of modern couple.

Kanye West kim balmain

Balmain Army of lovers campaign ad

Balmain kim kardashian Kanye West
Shooting the new campaign by Mario Sorrenti was probably a good idea and despite of the models choice, the atmosphere of the campaign was pretty well done. Olivier Rousteing brought a certain modern sophistication to the timeless elegance of Balmain. This blend placed the French luxury house among the current top brands. This new campaign makes everything cheap and vulgar. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West can do whatever they want with their lives. Frankly nobody cares anymore. But by throwing the Balmain name into the dirt, Olivier Rousteing leveled down Balmain. Even H&M is doing a better job. Red card.

LA

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Info sourced at Balmain’s official communication and Instagram account. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

Victoria’s Secret, the ultimate Haute-Couture show?

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 5 minutes

Every season, the Victoria’s Secret fashion show is one of the most expected runway of all. It is probably the biggest fashion show of all. The lingerie company found the perfect concept and gave a complete new meaning to bras and panties. They are now an object of desire. Each female model is chosen among the most popular top models. It is a dream team called the “Angels”. For sure their look is out of this world. Victoria’s Secret fashion show is probably the last true haute-couture catwalk in the world by the means put in place and the aim of fulfilling the entire concept to the end!

Victoria’s Secret, from California to the world

The world famous lingerie company was founded in 1977 by Roy Raymond in San Francisco, California. So Palo Alto is not only the land of modern internet, it is also the birth location of the sexiest brand alive. The company sells lingerie, womenswear, and beauty products through its catalogs, website and stores. What was the motivation of Roy Raymond, an university student to build Victoria’s Secret? Well this one is easy: to bring sexy back!
Victoria's Secret 1977
After the first year, the American brand made $500,000 which was sufficient to build a HQ and start its conquest of the world. Today, the company’s sales reaches more than $6.5 billion with more than 1,000 stores across the US only. Present in 5 continents, it is probably one of the most flourishing fashion business of all.

The Victoria’s Secret fashion shows, the epitome of female sexiness

The annual fashion show featuring and presented by Victoria’s Secret is an edgy moment that helps the lingerie brand to market in a very high profile its products. The show features some of the world’s leading fashion models. They have introduced the concept of Victoria’s Secret Angels to describe the top models catwalking for the brand. During the years the models ended up to wear true Angel wings, which makes to show even more … Divine. Currently, Victoria’s Secret Angels are Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Doutzen Kroes, Behati Prinsloo, Candice Swanepoel, Lily Aldridge, Libdsay Ellington, Elsa Hosk and Karlie Kloss. Here is the last show held in London this month:

The first show was held at the Plaza Hotel in 1995. It was the start of a dream come true.
Victoria's Secret 1995 show
Every year celebrities, entertainments and other public characters would participate to the show. In 1999, during the US Super bowl final, Victoria’s Secret announced a 72 hours countdown for the fashion show, this time web-broadcasted. It was a massive hit as more than 2 million people have followed the live show broadcasted online. Since then, the Victoria’s Secret fashion fashion became one of the biggest live webcasts in the world and every year the numbers are higher and higher. At the beginning, the video quality was not that good and fans from all over the world complained about it. Today things have drastically improved even though we still expect from this brand, always the best.

Victoria’s Secret, the last true Haute Couture fashion show?

The 70’s, the 80’s and late 90’s brought a certain craziness into the Haute Couture world. Fashion Designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Thierry Mugler or Jean-Paul Gaultier would rock the catwalks with their amazing creative universe. If you were lucky enough to attend to one of their shows you would feel like if everything was possible.
Thierry Mugler fashion show 1997
There were no limits to creation and the star was both the clothes and the women who would wear them. It was the rise of modern top models. The years 2000 had its own burst of creativity with fashion designers like Alexander McQueen or John Galliano for Dior. Unfortunately it did not last. Today haute couture became more “serious”, more cost effective probably and somehow not so risk taker. Some fashion houses like Chanel or Hermes keep some amazing know-how alive but it is more and more unique.
When you look to a Victoria’s Secret fashion show, we get the magical of the haute-couture back. Every single detail is at its best. Best places, best live music performances, best hot top models, best scenography and each look is taken care with a high level of details. This year, the golden wings of the 2014 “Angels” were real feathers covered with true 18carats pure Gold.
Victoria's Secret Gold AngelsVictoria's Secret Gold wings
The result was mind-blowing as it really looked like true Angel’s wings.
Another amazing moment was the reveal of the Fantasy Bras. Top models Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio had the pleasure to reveal the amazing fantasy bras, this year inspired from Middle-East beauty and richness.
Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio

Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra
Victoria’s Secret is an amazing brand and story. They have successfully captured the idea of “feeling sexy” when you are wearing one of their outfits. Women feel empowered of a sort of sassiness and attitude. You can visit the brand official website in order to discover the entire catalog of products but be careful, you might be tempted to purchase something.
https://www.victoriassecret.com
Victoria’s Secret found the way to lift up the image of lingerie and they have set the modern standards. The brand name itself is already a promise frm which every customer will benefit from. The American brand definitely brought sexy back!

LA

Info sourced at the brand official communication, website, wikipedia, youtube and the New York times. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

2015 Pre-SIHH, what to expect from Geneva watch show next january

Sebastien Eich
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2
Reading Time: 9 minutes

Every year, Geneva SIHH gathers some of the most iconic and beautiful watchmakers in the world. The Richemont group as well as some invited brands reveal their new creations to an audience of professionals buyers and the press. The next edition will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the trade show. 40’000m2 and 16 watchmakers will constitute the 25th SIHH in January 2015. Here is a sneak peak of what await us next january.

Cartier, no Skeletons in the closet.

Cartier has developed since the 60’s a true know-how in Skeleton watches. The concept of a Skeleton watch is an interesting challenge for watchmakers. All of the moving parts are visible through either the front of the watch, the back of the watch or a small cut outlining the dial. True ‘skeletonization’ also includes the trimming away of any non-essential metal on the bridge, plate, wheel train or any other mechanical part of the watch, leaving only a minimalist ‘bare’ skeleton of the movement required for functionality. Often, the remaining thinned movement is decorated with engraving. This can be with or without a dial face that allows the user to see through to the movement. Next January, Cartier is going to present 2 amazing and unique models: The Skeleton crash and the Rotonde AstroTourbillon Skeleton.

Cartier Skeleton Crash

Cartier-Crash-Skeleton-front

Cartier-Skeleton-Crash-back

A Skeleton watch is already a true challenge for a watchmaker, so imagine a “crashed version”. The Crash here translates the irregular shape of the watch that requires a different distributions of the different elements in order t allow the mechanism of the watch to work. This 950/1000 Platinum case limited edition will be presented at the 2015 SIHH by Cartier and will be available only in 67 units for a Recommended retail price of $62’500.

The Cartier Rotonde Astrotourbillon skeleton

Cartier-Astrotourbillon-2015 Cartier-Astrotourbillon-back-2015

Launched in 2010, the Cartier Rotonde Astrotourbillon was an amazing launch as Cartier brought a strong innovation in watchmaking with its’s tourbillon that made a complete revolution around the dial. Next January, Cartier will explore a level further by adding a skeleton version to the Astrotourbillon. In a very elegant white-gold version, only 100 units were produced for this outstanding piece. Visit the official website of Cartier to learn more about Cartier watchmaking know-how:
http://www.cartier.com/collections/watches

Piaget, slim is the new black

Piaget-Altiplano-Chronograph-2015 Piaget-Altiplano-Chronograph-back-2015 Piaget-Altiplano-Chronograph-profile-2015

Piaget next January will introduce an amazing timepiece called the Altiplano Chronograph. After the revelation of the Altiplano mechanical with the outstanding movement of 3.65mm (the thinnest movement ever made), Piaget proves once again its mastery in such thin movements by launching the Altiplano Chronograph. With its 4.65mm movement, it is the thinnest chronograph ever made. Visit the Piaget official website here for more information about this amazing brand: http:www.piaget.com.

Baume & Mercier, 20 years in the Hampton

Baume-et-Mercier-Hampton-2015 Baume-et-Mercier-Hampton-2015-backview

Celebrating the 20th anniversary if its iconic line Hampton, Baume & Mercier is adding a new timepiece to the famous collection. The new Hampton Automatic models differ for the dial: blued hands and silver numerals for reference M0A10155 or gilt hands and gilt numerals for reference M0A10156. In both cases, the sword-shaped hands stand out very clearly against the off-white background. You can visit the website of Baume & Mercier for more details on the brand unique universe: http://www.baume-et-mercier.ch

Officine Panerai, black ceramic is chic

Panerai-PAM580-Luminor-2015- Panerai-PAM580-Luminor-2015-backview

 

Officine Panerai always distinguished itself from competition thanks to an unique design and mastery in watch-making. With the new Luminor 1950 that will be presented next January, The Swiss brand has come to an outstanding combination between the P.9100 manufacture chronograph movement and a high-tech Ceramic watch case. The overall look of the watch is very subtle with different elegant elements displayed in a very precautions way. Visit the brand official website for more information:
http://www.panerai.com

Audemars Piguet, pushing the boundaries of watchmaking.

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Audemars Piguet will present next January a 8 years long project called the Royal Oak Concept Acoustic Reseach. The idea behind this new timepiece is to achieve the perfect minute repeater sound. The volume of the sound should the the perfect one. The new generation of minute repeater has the interesting capability to be shared with others. The entire watch case is made of Titanium which gives a very modern and edgy look. Visit the brand official  website for more information about Audemars Piguet:
http://www.audemarspiguet.com

Ralph Lauren passion for Automobiles

Ralph-Lauren-Automotive-Chronograph-details Ralph-Lauren-Automotive-Chronograph

In the next SIHH, Ralph Lauren will present a very interesting piece called The Ralph Lauren Automotive Chronograph. This new watch is completely inspired by the instrument panel of Ralph Lauren’s legendary 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe, the Automotive Chronograph represents the height of legibility and beauty cars. The movement, self-winding caliber RL751A/1, runs in 39 jewels, beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour, and offers a 65-hour power reserve. The Côtes de Genève and perlage movement finishing is a special decoration exclusive to Ralph Lauren. Visit the brand website for more information about the amazing universe of Ralph Lauren Timepieces:
http://www.ralphlaurenwatches.com 

 Parmigiani Fleurier, nothing to hide.

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Parmigiani Fleurier will present in the next 2015 SIHH a new transparent version, skeleton, of its iconic Tonda 1950. The masculine version has a pure transparent dial with a perfect sapphire dial. Its metallic edge allows to hide the different attachment points  between the movement and the case. The feminine model is equipped with a translucent Sapphire glass dial. This veil reminds the white grained dial of the iconic original watch.
The PF705 caliber animates this new Tonda 1950 and it is also equipped with a micro-rotor plate visible from both sides of the watch. It has been decorated on the dial side with a clean iconic Parmigiani Fleurier motif. Please visit the brand official website for more information about the amazing elegant Parmigiani Fleurier universe: http://www.parmigiani.ch

 A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia

A-Lange-et-Soehne-Saxonia-packshot A-Lange-et-Soehne-Saxonia

The SIHH 2015 will be an opportunity for A. Lange & Söhne to unveil three new versions of classic watches from the Saxonia range whose dial was redesigned for the Geneva show. Saxonia is the iconic line of the brand and this time will seduce new customers thanks to the different variations.
Discover more about the brand universe by visiting the official website:
http://www.alange-soehne.com

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Calendar

Jaeger-LeCoultre-Master-Calendar-zoom Jaeger-LeCoultre-Master-Calendar

Jaeger-LeCoultre is launching an astonishing watch in which the dial is made of meteorite! This is a new addition in its Master calendar collection. Here with the display of the moon phases. According to the Swiss manufacture, the meteorite comes from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Particularly difficult to work because of its iron content, each reference will thus have a dial unique design carved from a meteorite block. Inside the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 866. You can visit the brand official website here:
http://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com

Vacheron Constantin, Maître Cabinotier Astronomica. A blast!

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Vacheron Constantin is one of the most wonderful brands of Swiss Watchmaking. Proudly based in Geneva since 1755. Based on the caliber 2755-B1, this new Maître Cabinotier Astronomica offers 15 complications thanks to its 839 different pieces. On the dial side, in addition of hours and minutes, Vacheron Constantin proposes 11 complications  including minute repeater, tourbillon, equation of time (which measures the difference in minutes between solar time and legal and universal time), perpetual calendar (change of date each 400 years), date, day of the week, month, leap year, power reserve, indication of sunrise and sunset. In the back side, this amazing timepiece has 7 functions: sky map, solstice, equinox, sidereal time, age and phases of the moon, the seasons and the zodiac signs. You can discover more about Vacheron Constantin here:
http://www.vacheron-constantin.com

IWC, overseas with the Portugaise Yacht Club Chronographe Ocean Racer

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IWC, the watchmaker from Schaffhausen in Switzerland will present during the 2015 SIHH a new version of its iconic Portugaise: the Yacht Club Chronographe Ocean Racer. The Luxury watch brand is for the 2nd year the official timekeeper of the Volvo Ocean Race regatta. For this occasion, IWC will launch in 2015 a Flyback chronograph as a limited edition. See more about IWC by visiting the brand official website here:
http://www.iwc.com.

Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Date Automatic, less is more.

Montblanc-Meisterstuck-Heritage-Date-Automatic Montblanc-Meisterstuck-Heritage-Date-Automaticzoom

Montblanc is a beautiful brand. One of the rarest multi-product manufacturer that reached an amazing watchmaking legitimacy. Everything is about elegance and luxury details. Completely inspired by its  writing Instruments collection, Montblanc unveiled on the occasion of his 90th birthday a range of classic and elegant watches bearing the evocative name of Meisterstück Heritage. This elegant and minimalist collection was firstly revealed during SIHH 2014 and now the collection increases towards some specific functions. Within the collection we can find a perpetual calendar, moon phase indicator and even “monopoussoirs” chronographs. You can discover more about the amazing world of Montblanc by visiting the website here: http://www.montblanc.com

Richard Mille, the RM 33-01, Richard Mille at its best.

RM33-01_FRONT-full

Richard Mille is revealing a new chronograph called the RM 33-01. We have written a specific review about it. You can read all details here:
http://luxuryactivist.com/watches/richard-mille-pre-sihh-2015-rm-33-01-automatic-watch

 Van Cleef & Arpels, poetry in watchmaking

VCA-Article-PoeticAstronomy-02

From all the brands presented at SIHH, Van Cleef & Arpels is probably the most romantic and poetic one. Every watch has a story and every watch is manufactured with a high quality of details. We look forward to see what Van Cleef and Arpels have to present us as we are all going to be seduced as each year. Like as with the Poetic Astronomy, which we might see more development in 2015. To see more about Van Cleef and Arpels you can check its official website here: http://www.vancleefarpels.com

The list above is not completely extensive but it gives already what await us in 2015. When talent meets passion only great things can be accomplish. Next stop: Geneva.

LA

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Info sourced at the Pre-SIHH official communication release, thewatchobserver.ch, cartier.com, parmigiani.ch, timeandwatches.com, wikipedia, SIHH.com. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

Amazing Smoke Personalities Portraits by Octavian Mielu

José Amorim
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0
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Romanian artist Octavian Mielu releases a new series of incredible Smoke portraits. From Marilyn Monroe, to Michael Jackson or Che Guevara, Octavian portraits reveal an original emotion and expression of these iconic personalities.

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Octavian Mielu has chosen some of the most iconic personalities of the past 100 years, from multiple domains and eras. It is a sort of tribute to a certain humanity legacy . All personalities are universally well known and all represented something important in their own domain.

Octavian-Mielu-collection-2

It is interesting to see how Octavian Mielu was inspired by very different famous people. It is a very rich selection. From Mickey Mouse to Marilyn Monroe, it is a whole world that separates them. Several sizes are available which would allow interesting displays organization.

Octavian-Mielu-display

When you ask Octavian Mielu about his work, he explains that he uses different smoke photos and techniques in order to bring this misty impression of famous portraits. The ephemeral, unpredictable and fragile nature of smoke represent a challenge and an interest for the artistic wok. You cannot control everything precisely so the beauty of this work is even more interesting.
When you wonder why Octavian Mielu used smoke, this is what he replies: “Because the lines are beautiful, the transparency forms different shades of black and grey and the lines of smoke make striking portraits.”

A lot of these personalities vanish in their own personal history like smoke. Octavian Mielu captured these precious moments and faces expressions for ever in his work. Well done.

LA

Jimmi-Hendrix-portrait-smoke-Octavian-Mielu

Info sourced at Octavian Mielu communication release and Indiegogo platform. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

Longchamp opens an amazing flagship store in Champs-Elysées Paris.

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 4 minutes

Longchamp opened a new Flagship store in the prestigious address of Champs Elysées in Paris (France). This new store represents all the Brand savor-faire at its best. It has a surface area of 500 m2 spread over two floors. The store presents all of house’s collections, including ready to wear and shoes as well as men’s collections, luggage and all of Longchamp’s iconic bags. This new space continues many of the themes and materials seen in Longchamp store openings across the world since 2010.

Longchamp, a tradition that builds the future of luxury in France.

Longchamp was founded in Paris in 1948 by Jean Cassegrain. The company is still owned by the founder’s family which makes it unique in today’s luxury business. At the start, Longchamp was a Tobacco company selling leather accessories. In 1971, when the company launched the first handbag, it settled the initial steps of a success story. Still in 1971, Longchamp launches their first nylon bag. The “Xtra-bag” was considered revolutionary and would serve as the precursor to Le Pliage.

Longchamps-Le-Pliage-bag

In 1978 was the end of all smoking accessories. After selling more than one million pipes around the world, Longchamp decided to refocus its activities into more fashionable leather bags and accessories. From there, the French luxury brand developed an amazing path, from international expansion to a wider range of products in the Longchamp catalog. The Pliage bag became an absolute icon, easily recognizable every where in the world. Today, Longchamp is distributed in some one hundred countries through a network of around 1,800 retail stores, company-owned boutiques and franchises, department store concessions, multi-brand fine leather goods dealers, airport shops and on-line sales. The group directly manages 236 Longchamp Boutiques through 18 distribution subsidiaries. France is the biggest market which represents around one-third of sales. Longchamp is managed today by the 2nd and 3rd generations of the family:

  • Philippe Cassegrain, President
  • Michèle Cassegrain, Director of Boutiques
  • Jean Cassegrain, Chief Executive Officer
  • Sophie Delafontaine, Artistic Director
  • Olivier Cassegrain, Director USA Boutiques

Champs-Elysée, the new Longchamp temple of fashion and elegance

Longchamp-Elysees-ground-floor

In common with Longchamp’s other flagship stores, the Champs Elysees store features a specially commissioned artwork. From a series called “Cloud Illusions”, the sculpture by Danish artist Astrid Krogh is bending light and texture and forming a focal point of the store.

Longchamp-Elysees-inside-store

When you walk around inside the store, you recognize the artistic universe of the brand and you feel comfortable as there is a perfect balance between wide spaces and small corners. Having the split between two floors, it also makes you feel inside a very stylish house or loft. Everything is very modern, bright and highlights the beauty of the products.

Longchamp-Elysees-accessories Longchamp-Elysees-stairs-view Longchamp-Elysees-store-firs-floor

Longchamp CEO, and grandson of the House’s founder, Jean Cassegrain says of the opening : ” This store opening is marking a big step in our history and is particularly exciting for us on an emotional level. Paris is our home. It is where the Longchamp brand began and is an important part of our heritage. In many ways the personality of Paris is also a reflection of Longchamp – vibrant, stylish, elegant, ever-changing yet constant, exciting and surprising.”

If you wish to visit the store, here is the address. Do not hesitate to call if you are looking for a specific product, so you will be sure to find what you might be looking for:

Longchamp – Flagship store Champs Elysées
77, avenue des Champs-Elysées
75008 PARIS
France
Tel : (+33)153762776

Do not hesitate to visit the official brand website as well, in which you will discover the entire brand universe and product catalog. They also have an entire section of the website dedicated to ideas for gifts, which might be quite valuable during this holiday season: http://www.longchamp.com

Longchamp is a French luxury brand that is a true ambassador for the country everywhere in the world. The Brand represent the timeless elegance that you would expect from a luxury house. More than never, Longchamp is at the front line of modernity and fashion.

LA

Longchamp-Elysees-Front-store

Info sourced at the Longchamp official communication release. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

JM Weston reopens the Brand store in Paris, La Madeleine.

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 4 minutes

JM Weston has an amazing history and a great heritage in which Michel Perry, the Artistic Director of the Manufacture, draws his inspiration. Michel Perry not only creates all the product collections but he is also completely invested into the stores interior design. The French luxury house has been revamping its stores in order to rewrite the Brand universe into a more contemporary and adapted environment. In September JM Weston reopened its store in Geneva and this time, it is the Madeleine – Paris store that got a new look.

JM-Weston-boutique

JM Weston, the temple for elegance.

Every JM Weston boutique has its own universe and its own story. Michel Perry, tries to be inspired by the city in which the store is located and by the spirit of the store itself. His ambition is to bring a true elegant ambience to each location, transforming the existing stores in true contemporary temples dedicated to elegance. Different elements are important to the eyes of the Artistic Director. First, the materials used to build the interior design. Each material will remind the universe of the brand: leather, wood, glass, metal… It is the perfect place to display beautiful shoes and leather accessories.

JM-Weston-Madeleine-Store

JM-Weston-store-detail

JM Weston La Madeleine, the Parisian spirit.

According to Mr Cédric Dauch, head of Communications at JM Weston, the Madeleine store universe was reshaped as a stylish Parisian Haussmanian apartment. You can see the ceiling moldings, the interesting volumes and of course the interior decoration. All elements that translate the French chic with a touch of timeless modernity. We can sense that every space was created with a specific purpose and in general, there is a soft atmosphere that welcomes you in a very elegant and gentle manner.
JM-Weston-Ground-floor

JM-Weston-Indian-Inks-Michel-Perry

JM Weston is doing a great work in reshaping different stores around the world. Part of this remodeling allows each store to welcome a better space for the “Special orders”. It is a VIP space dedicated to bespoke shoes. Customers have the access to an almost endless sorts of combinations between different types of leather, colors, shapes and different other details. A pair of JM Weston shoes will last you a minimum of a decade, so it might be worth the investment to a personalized choice. So if you decide to treat yourself as it should, here are some figures that might convince you:

  • 180 different leathers
  • 46 colors
  • More than 100 customizable shoe styles
  • 7 lining colors and 20 types of soles
  • 25 perforation motives

JM Weston bespoke shoes

After choosing all the options, your perfect pair of shoes will be carefully manufactured at the Limoges (France) Manufacture and it will take 10 weeks to have it done. It is less than 3 month which is pretty outstanding when you know there are hundreds of steps to make a perfect shoe. This is the know how of JM Weston and this is why they are so proud to highlight it in their stores.

JM-Weston-boots

Between a private lounge and a curious cabinet, from the first minutes that you will enter the store you will feel the pleasant and yet exciting ambience of a true universe. To visit the store, here is the address:

J.M. Weston
1-3, Boulevard de la Madeleine
75001 Paris

You can also visit the brand official website to learn more about the brand and about the product catalog. Here is the url:
http://www.jmweston.fr

Customers can enjoy the space decorated by Michel Perry as they design the shoes, leather goods of their dreams, immersing themselves in a brand backed by unparalleled know-how.

LA

JM-Weston-Store-outside

Info sourced at JM Weston official communication release. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

Richard Mille Pre-SIHH 2015: RM 33-01 Automatic watch

Sebastien Eich
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1
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Richard Mille is a brand about true watchmaking. Before Christmas we have a little window over the 2015 new collections and here is the review of the RM 33-01 automatic watch.

Richard Mille, a story of watchmaking

After some marketing studies in Besançon- France, Richard Mille joined a small company called Finhor in 1974. It was his debuts in watchmaking. In 1981, the company was bought by Matra and Richard Mille became the manager for the watch business. After a while, Matra’s watch activities were sold to Seiko and Richard Mille decided to quit the company in 1992 with the idea of building his own brand.

Richard-Mille
Photo: Hautetime.com

 

After a short passage by Mauboussin, in which he built its watch business, it was in 1999 that Richard Mille SA was founded. And in 2001 the first model was launched: the RM001. What describes Richard Mille know-how? We could define it as a true passion for watchmaking and this strong idea of innovation. Every model of Richard Mille’s collection is a state of the art in watchmaking. The precision in terms of details, the innovative combination of techniques and the cutting-edge design makes it unique, rare and probably one of the kind. Richard Mille manufacture is based in Switzerland and everything is done at its best. The new RM 33-01 is completely aligned with this philosophy.

The RM 33-01 automatic watch, best in class

RM33-01_FRONT-full

The new creation embodies all the elegance of a Richard Mille watch with a sporty spirit. Here are the key elements in order to understand this watch. The new skeleton RMXP3 caliber represents the heart of the watch. It has an amazing off-centered platinum micro rotor and this architecture reveals a grade 5 titanium movement. The movement itself is sand-blasted and electroplasma treated which provides a satin-finished look. Something quite remarkable is the hand-made anglage of the piece. As for all Richard Mille movements, the RMXP3 caliber went through several tests in order to provide the best reliability despite of any condition of use.

RM33-01_BACK-full
The watch case has a diameter of 45.70mm and a thickness of 9.20mm. It is mounted on a high-resistant rubber strap secured with a filding clasp in grade 5 Titanium. You will recognize the Richard Mille style in the 5 Titanium spline screws displayed in the watch face. The watch will be available in 3 precious metals: Titanium, Red Gold and White Gold. Here are some interesting specs for this new amazing watch.

RM33-01_FRONT-detail

  • Power reserve: 48 hours
  • Baseplate, bridges and Balance cock made in Titanium
  • Monoblock Titanium Micro Rotor
  • Free Sprung balance with variable inertia
  • Date Display

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RM33-01_FRONT

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To show you how detailed is the manufacturing of a Richard Mille watch, the positive engraving of the name “Richard Mille” takes at least 45mn per case. And every single detail is taken care in ways that only Richard Mille does.

RM33-01_BACK

With this new model, Richard Mille “colors” the new year with audacity and style. It seems that the next SIHH will be a good one for the Swiss watchmaker. You can check the official website to learn more about the watchmaker universe: http://www.richardmille.com

LA

RM33-01_FRONT-full

Info sourced at official Richard Mille communication release, wikipedia and the brand website. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

Victorinox Christmas selection by LuxuryActivist.com. Black is the new black.

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 4 minutes

Victorinox, the makers of the original Swiss Army Knife, became a global brand. In the past 130 years, the family owned company from Ibach in Switzerland, developed the best goods in different product categories:

  • Swiss Army Knives
  • Cutlery
  • Timepieces
  • Travel Gear
  • Fashion
  • Fragrances

Victorinox stands for Quality, Innovation, Functionality and Iconic Design. These values are completely in line with the Swiss heritage of the company. Therefore, Victorinox is the perfect ambassador for Switzerland in the world. At LuxuryActivist.com, we have put together an exclusive selection for the Holiday season and our angle was: Black is the new black.

Victorinox Swiss Army Knife – Nail Clip 580, iconic

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Victorinox produces probably the best knives in the world. More than knives, the pocket tools gather several functionalities in the smallest space possible. This nail clip is the perfect translation of this philosophy. Several colors are available and we chose the black one. Low profile and every day useful, this pocket tool will be your perfect companion. The several functionalities:

  • blade 
  • nailfile with
  • -nail cleaner
  • nail clipper 
  • serrated-edge scissors 
  • tweezers 
  • toothpick 

Victorinox Black Ceramic Carving knife, performance and luxury

Victorinox-Black-Ceramic-knife

For the kitchen cutlery collection, Victorinox developed a special line, based on Ceramic knives. You have 2 colors: White and Black. There are 4 different sizes and shapes: 8cm, 12cm, 15cm and the Santoku 17cm. The usage of ceramic in the kitchen is an interesting topic with several advantages. A ceramic knife manufactured in the state of art, will procure you the best efficiency in terms of cutting. It will also have an incredible resistance through time. Last but not least, the Ceramic material has also the capability to not transfer tastes from one ingredient to another. This means that you can cut onions for example and then meat without having any transfer. he Victorinox ceramic knife is manufactured from high-purity zirconium oxide (to a percentage of almost 100%). As a result, the knife blade is almost as hard as a diamond. The blade remains sharp over a very long period and has an impressively high cutting quality.

Victorinox Swiss Army Alpnach Mechanical, men style

Victorinox-Swiss-Army-Alpnach-Mechanical

Each watch has a story. Each watch has a starting point, a special inspiration that will lead to a specific design and functionality. The Victorinox Swiss Army Alpnach has a great one. Inspired by the legendary Cougar AS 532 helicopters of the Swiss Army, Alpnach is also the name of one of the top military bases in Switzerland. So this mechanical watch has a cutting edge look, and we picked up the full black look here. Black dial and full black PVD treatment on a stainless steel bracelet. Here is a nice video by Victorinox showing the parallel between the watch and the helicopter. Welcome to a man’s world.

 

Victorinox Spectra 2.0, high-tech travel.

Victorinox-Spectra-travelgear

Victorinox became in the past 20 years one of the top 5 best brands for luggage and travel gear. From professional and business travelers to lea sure and personal holidays, Victorinox has everything you might need. With this special collection called Spectra, Victorinox crosses the standard rules of design and proposes a futuristic look for an amazing ultra-light luggage. Providing extra capacity on a short journey, this ultra-light, wide-body case is constructed of break-resistant 100% pure Bayer polycarbonate and meets most global carry-on regulations including IATA.

Victorinox Guardian Vest, outdoor with style.

Victorinox-Guardian-Vest

Victorinox has developed recently a full line of outdoor wear. Blending comfort, functionality and style, Victorinox fashion translates the ingenuity of the Swiss Army knife into apparel. Here displayed is the Guardian Vest. With the grey camouflage interior, it redefines the gentlemen outdoor vest. Christopher Raeburn is the Artistic Director and he understands the spirit of the company and its heritage.

Victorinox Swiss Army Altitude Eau de Toilette, the sky is the limit

Victorinox-Swiss-Army-Altitude

Switzerland has a natural landscape that you probably cannot find something equivalent in the world. Pure landscapes with the Alps, forests and lakes represent an endless source of inspiration. In terms of Perfumery, Victorinox brings you the best Switzerland can offer in terms of perfumery creation. They seek inspiration in the natural landscapes in order to bring a specific signature in such a competitive industry. With Victorinox Swiss Army Altitude represents a fresh, yet masculine fragrance in which the flacon silhouette represents the oxygen bottles the Swiss Army carries when the soldiers go up to the top of mountains.

As you can see, Victorinox is an amazing and surprising brand, always ready to supply you with the best products you can get for the right level of price. For more details, you can check the official brand website: http://www.victorinox.com 

LA

Victorinox-Christmas-selection-black

Info sourced at Victorinox official end of the year communication and LuxuryActivist editor’s choice. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

Aesop, the Guild of Artisans, beautiful craftmanship – Video

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Guild of Artisans, pay respects to materials frequently employed in Aesop spaces: ceramic, leather, textiles, copper, timber, and marble. They also honour historic craft guilds, and those who spend a lifetime honing the knowledge and techniques that enable them to excel in their respective crafts. Aesop released a new video that highlights this amazing inspiration for the end of the year christmas sets.

You can read our review about the Guild of Artisans gift sets here:
http://luxuryactivist.com/beauty/aesop-new-giftsets-for-the-holiday-season-inspired-by-the-guild-of-artisans 

Aesop by honoring the Guild of Artisans, opened a page of history. Firstly emerged in the middle ages, guilds of artisans were a way to perpetuate and preserve hundreds of years of know-how and transmit it to the incoming generations. The 13th, the 14th and the 17th century were amazing moments in history that developed generations of artisans across Europe, Britain, the Ottoman Empire, India, Japan and China. By the 19th century, many guilds had succumbed to economic and technological change; but their founding spirit remained in the philosophies and practices of advocates such as Ned Ludd, William Morris, and George Katsutoshi Nakashima.

Here is how Aesop translated this theme in the giftsets:

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AESOP-GIFT-KITS-2014-2015-guild-artisans

Aesop-giftsets-timber

Aesop is an amazing brand that manufactures, markets and creates products with high standard of quality. Everything they do, they do it with taste and with the precision of details. Connect to http://www.aesop.com to learn more about Aesop.

LA

Aesop-The-Guild-Of-Artisans-aesop

Info sourced at Aesop official communication release. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

Friday Chronicle #11: Brands are not enough, welcome to a trip to the moon

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Reading Time: 8 minutes

The years 2000 represented a tremendous shift in the way people wish to interact with brands. Being a powerful brand is not enough anymore. Several examples has showed that empires of one day were completely washed away the next day. People want to interact with Brands in ways that we would never imagine and the luxury industry needs to be ready for a real revolution. Otherwise, as a luxury brand, you might see it coming.

Remember Kodak? This is how they lost everything

kodak-bankruptcy

When Georges Eastman founded Eastman Kodak in 1888 in the USA, he was far to imagine the amazing empire he was about to develop. During most of the 20th century Kodak held a dominant position in photographic film, and in 1976, had a 90% market share of photographic film sales in the United States. The company’s ubiquity was such that its tagline “Kodak moment” entered the common lexicon to describe a personal event that demanded to be recorded for posterity.
For several decades, Kodak was a very powerful brand, used by families to immortalize amazing heart-full moments as well as used by professionals in Fashion or in any other visual arts industry. It became almost a part of your life. So nothing could go wrong with this empire. Well, until all went wrong. By 2012, the company had a revenue of $4.11 billion and still that year Eastman Kodak went bankrupted. Most of analysts and experts said the company did not embrace the digital revolution. The fault was on technology. I tend to believe that the fault was on the company leaders that missed the most important thing: what your company stands for?
Here is an interesting fact. That same year, 2012, Instagram was bought by Facebook for $1Billion. This happened only 2 years after Instagram launch. As you know Instagram is a mobile app and a social platform allowing users to take pictures, apply cool and trendy filters on the pictures and share them accross the Instagram platform and beyond. Guess which graphic filter was the most popular at that time on Instagram? Polaroid.
So what we learn from this is that Kodak was not about technology, cameras or even films. It was about the experience they were providing to millions of people around the world. Instead of celebrating the user experience, Kodak focused on technology and technology killed Kodak. This shows that it is careless to have an iconic product and a strong brand if you do not cultivate what is important for your customer.

Blockbuster Video, lack of vision

blockbuster-closing

Another interesting case study is the former video giant in the US: Blockbuster Video. Founded in 1985 as Blockbuster Video and changed in 1996 to Blockbuster Entertainment, it was by far one of the biggest successes in the US soil as owned retail model. Blockbuster would rent videos VHS, DVD, Blue-rays and even video games. At its peak in 2004, the company had 60’000 employees and 9’000 stores across USA. Blockbuster was known to be tuff negotiators but definitely they also lack of vision about the future of homevideo. In the early’s 2000, Reed Hastings, CEO and co-founder of Netflix, proposed to sell the company to Blockbuster. At that time, Netflix had started its business by renting DVD via snail-mail. People would connect online, choose the film and get it by post. Once the film was watched, the user would send it back by post as well. Netflix was struggling with the DVD system. They came at the end of a technological cycle in which well established brands were running the market of homevideo. So Netflix was loosing money. In order to maintain the company, they sent an acquisition offer to Blockbuster. The American giant of homevideo could have purchased Netflix for $50 million. Today Netflix is worth $19.7 billion.
With the arrival of online video on demand, better streaming video conditions and television being a tremendous entertainment broadcaster, Blockbuster missed the gap and completely lost it. By 2013, the entire company was ruined and all stores closed. Netflix in the same year had 40 million users in 40 different countries for $4.37 Billion sales. This shows that even if you own the last mile, which is the customer relationship, your business might be lost for ever if you miss the vision and simply technology innovation.

As we can see, lack of vision about your business, your customer’s relationship and innovation can conduct a brand from top leader to bankruptcy. Kodak and Blockbuster are 2 interesting examples as nothing could not possibly go wrong and still, both companies went down the hill. Today there are other companies that completely lost it and try desperately to survive. We could quote Sony and Nokia, 2 amazing companies, leaders in their markets and now almost at the edge of failure now.

From Advertising to Experience, how millennials are a generation game changer

millennials

Brands, brands, brands. Do we still need them? When a friend of yours send you a link to watch a nice video, do you really care about :

  • what camera was used to film it?
  • which technology was used to edit the film and even to export it online?
  • where is it hosted?

No, actually you just want to see the video, enjoy the experience sent by your friend and perhaps being able to share it as well. This means that the EXPERIENCE is the key. At the end of the day, people do not really have a need for brands and products. We have enough of them now. In many industries, we cannot really say that brand A has better products than brand B. It is all about which product will better fit your needs and what kind of experience are you looking for.
The new generation accessing the marketplace now, 18 to 34 years old, have never been so powerful in terms of game-change. The new generation has quit the phantoms of past consumerism and ideas of social success for example has evolved a lot. The new generation individuals know what they want, are hyper-connected and informed, are not necessary ecologists but eco-responsable and enjoy the possibility to live experiences. Only in the USA, there are 77 million young adults with a annual revenue above $100K (source: Forbes). These people want to enjoy life, buy products and services but above all, they want unique relationships and experiences with brands. They rather prefer to go to few music festivals and concerts but each time, they wish a VIP experience that they could share afterwards. Companies and brands who understand this new deal, will grow very fast and become market leaders in less than 4 years.

UBER, it is not about taxi transportation, it is an unique way to improve your lifestyle

UBER-TAXI

When UBER was launched in 2009, they had great ambitions for the company. Evaluated today at $18.1Billion, it became in less than 5 years, one of the biggest success in terms of business. Their idea was to bring a full disruptive approach of Taxi business. While most of Taxi companies would focus on their own assets (cars, drivers and licenses), UBER focus in one single thing: the User. By owning the users info and “wallet”, Uber can control the way people wants to experience taxi booking. They adopted a strong 2.0 approach and took over a considered business from traditional taxi companies. In August 2014, UBER is available in 45 countries and more than 200 different cities.
They redefined the way people shall experience car-hiring services and now, companies around the world need to align whereas everybody thought it was a hard market to enter. You can read more about Uber here: http://www.uber.com. Here is a private code from our Chief editor that would allow you get 10$ free: 0660u 

QUARTZ, redefining news worldwide

Quartz-news

Another interesting new company is QZ.com, Quartz. They completely redefined the way people would interact with news. The website it self adopted a more tailor-made approach with evolutive menus and basically no homepage. Just an endless scrolling of articles, like a Facebook timeline. They hired the “creme de la creme” in terms of journalists and editors. One of the main breakthroughs for Quartz is their newsletter called The Daily Briefing. Every morning subscribers receive their “first email of the day” in their email boxes. It happens generally around 06:30 AM. An experienced editor will curate news from Quartz but also from other media owners in order to provide you the best news experience ever. The website was launched in 2012 and in less than 2 years accomplished to be as big as Time magazine online. Quartz growth is exponential as it matches brilliantly what people is looking for. The quality and the relevancy of the editorial joined by the idea of an ultimate user experience, makes it the biggest news success in the past 2 years.
Read more here: http://www.qz.com.

As you can read, business models can vanish away because brands might not take in consideration the most important, which is the user experience. Millennials have very high expectancies and brands should propose experiences in which it would sound exclusive. As we say, in each project we should always target the moon because if you fail, at least you will end up among stars.

LA

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Info sourced at the different brands websites and wikipedia. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.  

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