Christian Fischbacher, taste of elegance since 1819

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 4 minutes

Fischbacher logo

There are companies that try to look luxury, most of them try to invent their own story, and there are companies that are true Luxury Houses. And it is the case with Christian Fischbacher. This Swiss luxury house was established in 1819 in St. Gallen, in the heart of Swiss textile region.

Last week, there was an interesting invitation to meet this amazing brand at Jelmoli Department store in Zürich. In deed, there was a celebration of the introduction of the Brand at the prestigious Department store. You can find Christian Fischbacher on the 3rd floor of the store, at the HOME department.

Fischbacher

For this event, Mr Michael Fischbacher (CEO) and Ms Camilla Fischbacher (Art Director) were there and Ms Fischbacher presented the philosophy of the brand and the new collections.

Camilla_Fischbacher

What did we learn from her presentation? She started by talking about the Art of Sleeping. Definitely we got this trend from the Scandinavians whose traditions in terms of Bed and Bed accessories travelled through time and space for our own pleasure. See here a short extract of the presentation – In German –


In this sense, we can understand the importance of materials and especially the ones that will be in direct contact with people’s skin. Ms Fischbacher presented the different key elements from Feathers to wool. Only take the best.

Christian Fischbacher presentation at Jelmoli

Part of their success is based on one strong an striking sentence: “Swiss attention to details”. Since the 19th century Christian Fischbacher is a family success story. Five generations of Fischbacher have lead the company towards a longterm business all over the world. For nearly two centuries, CHRISTIAN FISCHBACHER’s textiles and fine linens have been synonymous with Swiss quality and luxury.

Here a mood video about the importance of high qualitative materials:

The company’s philosophy can be summarised in five words: Elegance, Luxury, Quality, Comfort and Innovation. Christian Fischbacher’s designers are amongst the most innovative in the industry. Our creative teams consist of expert textile designers with deep professional experience in fashion, weaving and print. Our artists visit trade fairs and seminars around the globe to keep current with the latest international trends and developments. It is thanks to their skills and efforts that Christian Fischbacher fabrics regularly appear in notable trend-books and win prestigious textile awards, such as the Materialica Design and Technology Award.

See here Christian Fischbacher brand movie:

To introduce the new collection Bed Autumn 2012, Ms Camilla Fischbacher introduced the idea of Cocooning as a true philosophy of sleeping. Different themes were presented among them:

  • Urban nomad
  • Dreams of Yesterday
  • In the Zoo
  • Alp Lines
  • Modern Solids and Graphics

She also revealed a special theme exclusive for Jelmoli around a mainstream decoration of natural flowers, very pretty and fresh.

Fischbacher_presentation_Jelmoli

After the presentation, I got the chance to ask some questions directly to Ms Fischbacher and here are her answers.

LA: Where do you get your inspiration to create new designs?
CF: Inspirations come mainly from my travels as I travel a lot during the year. We also attend to trend cabinets’ presentations like Li Edeelkort.

LA: Do you have a team of internal Designers?
CF: Yes, we have a strong team who generates most of the designs. Sometimes we come accross a good external design and we are able to buy it and use it. Most of our designs are made in house.

LA: How many collections or themes do you create every year?
CF: There are mainly 2 themes per year. They do not follow specifically trends or seasons. They are themes that we like and that make sense to our work.

LA: Is there a theme that you always work on, that often comes back?
CF: Well, the Urban theme is always a great inspiration for designs and also the inspired by nature also as part of the classics. Of course we always find a new twist and we bring a lot of modernity.

After my conversation, I was lucky to be able to choose my preferred fabric and I will have the honor to receive my first customized Christian Fischbacher Linge du lit. I chose the Pied de Poule beige, so chic. I cannot wait to receive it!

Pied-de-Poule-369.207

Discover here a mood video about my preferred models gathered in a Must-have list:

Do not hesitate to connect to the official Brand’s website:
http://www.fischbacher.com

 

Please also note there is an iPhone App is available in which you can discover the collections and also keep in contact with the brand news.
Christian Fischbacher iphone app menu

Please feel free to discover this amazing Swiss Brand in which Quality, innovation and comfort are simply what they do at its best.
LA

 

Info sourced at Christian Fischbacher presentation at Jelmoli Zürich. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

NY fashion week: Women are simply gorgeous

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 3 minutes

Fashion Week New york

New York fashion week is beating the news. Some designers already catwalked  and others are still to come until wednesday. Here are the top 3 most interesting designers this year so far:

  • Jill Stuart
  • Alexander Wang 
  • Derek Lam

Fashion week became during the years a big machine. Reserved initially for a business clientele (buyers make their orders to the fashion houses), now it is a live show in which professionals, stars, amateurs or basically every person get more or less connected. This year the 2 New york fashion weeks will generate more than 860 million dollars and around 230,000 visitors will come to the city.

The good thing about fashion weeks is that you can see big names, small names, new names or old names trying their comeback. In every corner in the city there is a fashion show going on and black limousines are driving all over the place. This year, the New York Fashion week for Spring/Summer 2013 showed a delicate, positive and elegant vision of women. At LuxuryActivist we picked up 3 brands, not only that we like but because they symbolizes what is the NY fashion week at its best.

JILL STUART

Jill Stuart spring summer 2013 1

Jill Stuart is one of a kind. She was still 15 years old when she sold her first collection of necklaces to Bloomingdale’s. And since then she built up her style and she anchors her success on a vision of a modern woman. Elegant, sexy yet sophisticated with style. This year, she presented a great collection for S/S13. Full colour looks from black and white towards skin colors. An elegant vision of 2013 femininity. Check the designer website for more news: http://www.jillstuart.com.

Jill Stuart Spring Summer 2013
photos: Imaxtree

 

ALEXANDER WANG

Alexander_Wang_ss2013

Alexander Wang is a pure New York prodigy. After learning his art while working for great names such as Marc Jacobs or Derek Lam, he launched his first collection in 2009 thanks to a prize won at Vogue’s contest. Since then, he wrote his style into a cutting edge design. The cut of his scissors is precise, plays with the feminine anatomy and brings a modern vision of women’s silhouette. This Spring and Summer 2013 reveals a strong woman. Also black and white colors reveal shapes, curves, lines and attitudes. The 2013 Wang’s woman is a power woman. For more information about Alexander Wang, check the official website: http://www.alexanderwang.com

Alexander_Wang
photos: Imaxtree

 

DEREK LAM

Derek_Lam

Derek Lam has the sense of classicism with a downtown new york style. We can see that his first years at Michael Kors in the 90’s brought him to redefine modern elegancy. His cut is clean and reveals a timeless femininity. His fantasy plays with colors, textures and amazing blends from color-blocking to traditional tweeds, jerseys or just an accurate vision of the new york girl! Here is the official Derek Lam website if you wish more information: http://dereklam.com

Derek_Lam
photos: Imaxtree

Great shows and a great modernity into style. That’s why New York will always be New York.
LA

 

Info sourced at nymag.com and official designers websites. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

 

Signature Vacation Rentals, holidays with style.

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 2 minutes

What makes perfect holidays? Sometimes when you travel for holidays you have enough of crowded hotels and you just want to relax in a very elegant ambiance. That is exactly how Signature Vacation Rentals can help you.

arizona_lodging_experts_logo

Part of Arizona Lodging Experts, this rental service acts in Arizona, one of the most beautiful and wild regions of the US.

arizona

The idea is simple. In order to please the needs of a high class clientele, Signature Vacation Rentals offers a amazing selection of Houses in which you could spend the perfect holidays. All houses are owned by private people. As they do not really live in these houses all year long, by renting their homes, brings an interesting way to make money and keep the houses “alive”.

arizona_lodging_experts

All accomodations are top level and are all complete with furniture with taste.

arizona_lodging_experts_inside

arizona_lodging_experts

Rent prices can go from 500$ a week up to 5’000$ per week. Of course i depends on the number of rooms, the different installations and services. At Signature Vacation Rentals, the reservation department is already the first step into a marvelous and adapted experience. According to the company:

“Our reservation center is professionally staffed and here to take you calls to help you choose the perfect home for your stay. As you speak to our agents you are able to view the actual properties on our website with photos of interior and the exterior of the home. There is never a bait and switch. What you see is what you get. Bottom Line is that from the moment you start working with us you will enjoy the service and professionalism that separates us from the others.”

Here a very interesting video about one of the houses. You can see and undestand that their mission is above all high quality which is equals to high satisfaction.


Check their website for more information:
http://www.arizonalodgingexperts.com 

 

Here is one of their monthly highlights:
arizona
http://www.arizonalodgingexperts.com/el_dorado_lanai_suite_214_%282.2%29.php

 

So, now you know how and where to spend the perfect holidays.
LA

 

Info sourced at official brand communication. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

Jelmoli, new brands 2012

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 3 minutes

logo_Jelmoli

Jelmoli, the luxury department store in Zürich, is a true “House of Brands” as its slogan says. Every year, new brands, services and products are introduced so that the customers will have interesting discoveries and surprises for the pleasure of senses.

This year, there are some interesting new Brands that will be present from this Fall on.

Du Rhône Chocolatier

Du Rhone chocolatier

The Famous Chocolaterie from Geneva choses Jelmoli for its Swiss-German presence. In deed the Department store got the exclusivity for this Brand for the entire german area of Switzerland.

Du Rhone Chocolatier

Since 1875, Du Rhône Chocolatier has forged a strong reputation on the art of Chocolate creation. A name found in the most prestigious guidebooks such as California’s Goldbook or Gault & Millau, which has awarded us their Prize for our moccas glacés. It may be because, from the subtle care we take in preparation right up to the final touch, we spare no effort in our quest for perfection.

The ingredients are selected meticulously, as shown by our refusal to incorporate chemical additives and preservatives at the heart of such a smooth creamy paste.

Jelmoli offers here a true brand for Connaisseurs and a perfect selection of fine chocolates. Check the Chocolatier website to discover the Brand’s universe: http://www.du-rhone.ch 

Here a nice video made by Du Rhône. Yummy!

 

Pompidou

pompidou

Stylish, glamorous and trendy. Since August 18th, you can find at the ground floor an unique range of Pompidou jewelry at every price level.
An interesting choice picked up around the world and gathered at  Jelmoli. A true exclusivity in Zürich. Some of the exclusive labels are Chan Luu from Los Angeles, Ben Amun, from New York, Amsterdam and from Van Ryke Poggi Paris.
You can also find more about Pompidou work at the brand website:
http://www.pompidou.ch

Other brands are also interesting to discover like 3LAB, ANANNE, SEPAI, JURLIQUE or MARVIS. Also note the arrival of DERMATOLOGICA, a well-known “Doctors” american brand at the Ground floor.

dermatologica

At Jelmoli, there are also different events that makes you discover the Department store differently. They are special occasions just made for you. Here are the incoming dates:

October 24th: Night of the Brands

  • VIP cocktail
  • Fashion show
  • Night-shopping until 22H
  • More surprises

October 25th: Ladie’s night

  • Personal styling with Editor of SI Style
  • Styling event with Rowena Downing

October 26th : Men’s evening

  • Under the eye of BoleroMen, a perfect evening for men’s fashion
  • Make the right choices to be a perfect elegant man.

October 27: Family day

  • Family breakfast
  • Fashion Academy
  • Family photo-shooting activity
So this fall, your agenda is full booked with Jelmoli. You can’t miss it!
LA
Info sourced at official press release. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

La Vie est belle by Lancôme, nothing to report…

José Amorim
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1
Reading Time: < 1

la-vie-est-belle lancôme

I will not speak about the Lancôme new fragrance called La Vie est Belle by Lancôme.  The french brand is desperately looking for the next big hit after Trésor (1990). After Poême (1995), Miracle (2000), Attraction (2003), Hypnose (2005) and Magnifique (2008), now they are launching La Vie est belle (2012). I am not sure we will remember this one as probably we do not remember most of the ones in my above list.  By using Julia Roberts, they probably also expect to please the Tresor client (40 years and more) because I am not sure young women would remember her. The “Pretty woman” generation got old.

Then what stroke me was some similitudes to Givenchy Ange ou Demon movie. Of course the Lancôme one is more politically correct but I found some interesting parallels with the dress, the decoration, some characters, scenario and camera moves. It is like if the “Tresor woman” met the “Ange ou Demon girl”.

ANGE OU DEMON BY GIVENCHY

What do you think?

LA

 

 

Info sourced at youtube. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

Top 10 best Swiss Facebook pages.

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 2 minutes

We just got the ranking of the top 10 best Swiss Facebook pages. This calculation is made in terms of number of fans but also in terms of “People Talking about” which means the viral power of a page and the engagement rate too (number of actions out of the number of impressions).

In terms of number of fans, here is the top 10 most important Swiss pages. We can see that Nespresso is by far the biggest Swiss page with its 1,72 million fans. Of course it is also a global page with a global brand.

  1. Nespresso with 1,72 million fans
  2. Axe Effekt with 288,431fans
  3. My Switzerland  with 281,000 fans
  4. Ricola with 174,000 fans
  5. Sony Mobile DE with 168,000 fans
  6. Bally with 138,365 fans
  7. Migros Ice Tea wit h133,270 fans
  8. Swisscom with 129,575 fans
  9. Swiss International Airlines with 126,345 fans
  10. Ok- with 112,790 fans

Now, in terms of “People Talking about” which mesure the relevancy of the content of the page to the fans and the interactivity generated by them (based on the last 28 days). Here we can see that Victorinox Swiss Army is the most interactive private brand in Switzerland as the number 1 My Switzerland being the tourism office.

  1. My Switzerland with 20,668 interactions
  2. Victorinox Swiss Army with 18,169 interactions
  3. Bally with 17,804 interactions
  4. Axe Effekt with 15,723 interactions
  5. Nespresso with 12,617 interactions
  6. Playboy Fragrances Deutschland with 9,888 interactions
  7. SBB CFF FFS with 9,286 interactions
  8. SRL Ministries with 7,261 interactions
  9. Swiss International Air Lines with 5,653 interactions
  10. Audi with 5,211 interactions

If we take a look in terms of growth:

Top 5 growing pages by day:

  1. Victorinox Swiss Army with +3,879 new fans/day
  2. Bally with 2,909 new fans/day
  3. Playboy Fragrances Deutschland with +2,362 new fans/day
  4. My Switzerland with +1,285 new fans/day
  5. Axe Effekt with +613 new fans/day

Top 5 growing pages per week:

  1. Bally with +18,222 new fans/week
  2. Playboy Fragrances Deutschland with +11,592 new fans/week
  3. My Switzerland with +8,780 new fans/week
  4. Victorinox Swiss Army with +7,351 new fans/week
  5. Axe Effekt with +3,431 new fans/week

Top 5 growing pages per month:

  1. Bally with +45,533 new fans/month
  2. Victorinox Swiss Army with +38,903 new fans/month
  3. My Switzerland with +33,302 new fans/month
  4. Axe Effekt with +31,863 new fans/month
  5. Playboy Fragrances Deutschland with +14,258 new fans/month

source: socialbakers.com

Get connected!
LA

 

Info sourced at socialbakers.com. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

 

Russian luxury market, so what?

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 4 minutes

Since the ex-URSS disappeared, many brands, especially the luxury ones have been trying hard to make good money in Russia. Luxury shopping malls in Moscow were built and many companies installed subsidiaries there. But are they really making money? What is the luxury industry status today?

luxury in Russia
photo: russiablog.org

Until the global financial crisis of 2009, the luxury market in Russia was at the level of 8 billion dollars. Since the crisis stroke hardly many of the industrial countries, this figure was basically cut by half.

Since the Perestroika, luxury brands developed and built local owned-flagship stores in Moscow and St. Petersbourg. With the crisis many shops closed down and most of the brands regrouped in one or 2 big department stores.

Gum Department Store

2 main luxury import distributors have shared the internal market since the 90’s: Mercury and Bosco di Ciliegi. They also control TSUM and GUM department stores respectively.

TSUM department store

But the real problem is how to keep russians to buy locally instead of traveling abroad for shopping?

One of the clues is about global recognition. In deed, russian shoppers want to have the same products than anybody else in the world. No local adaptations. That’s why they travel. They want to be sure they buy the real products as in the international magazines. Some limited editions might be possible if there is a specific theme but it will not be the foundation of an annual business.

russian luxury girls
photo: prlog.org

Another interesting point is the lack of qualitative distribution throughout the country and the growing wealth of certain interior cities. According to russian administration, cities like Sochi will grow in the luxury consumption by 8%, Kaliningrad by 4,5% and cities like Krasnodar, Permj or Kazan by 5%. Although Russians are not really fans of “Russian themed products”, Brands will need to adapt to regional tastes as there might be differences with the big cities.

russian luxury taste
photo: ITAR-TASS / Mikhail Fomichev

Around 80% of total luxury shopping done in Russia takes place in Moscow and this rule applies since 2005.

With its 140 million of inhabitants, Russia has 291,000 millionnaires or multimillionaires. These people groups a purchase power of almost 3 billion dollars. So yes, Russia is interesting for luxury brands.

Russia is the 4th biggest country for luxury, just behind the USA, Japan and China. Until the financial crisis, the russian market grew by 10% each year and experts say that the luxury growth in Russia will be between 5% to 10% until 2015.

Global luxury brands have suffered alot with the crisis in Europe and in the US, so investments have been reduced and they focused on the new eldorados like China or India. So it is hard to be everywhere and Russia was probably left over.

Another point is about importation. Try to import a luxury product in Russia. It is very complicate, takes time, have its own risks and you need to work with efficient local agents who trust the markets. This does not motivates brands that prefer to go to Middle East, Latin America or Singapore.

But when you talk with the successful brands who have their own flagship stores in Russia, they all grow this year by 40% in terms of sales. So the efforts are worth it. Louis Vuitton, Prada, Fendi, Dior, Chanel or Hermès have an interesting growth with their flagship stores, even brands like Valentino, installed inside Tsum in Moscow also get to harvest the fruit of their efforts.

LouisVuitton flagship store russia

Last but not least, Brands should invest more in local events, inviting the best customers. Most of the time russian customers have the feeling that luxury brands invest less in the customer relationship there than in Europe. So the feeling of lack of consideration also make them travel in order to aspire to get a little piece of the glittering life.

До скорой встречи (see you later)
LA

 

Info sourced at http://luxurysociety.com and study, CPP-Luxury.com and Wikipedia. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

Paul Gauguin at Kunsthaus Zürich

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Kunsthaus

Paul Gauguin is considered as one of the fathers of modern painting. What we know less is that he also made a lot of artistic works on woodcuts.

Paul Gauguin

From September 28th 2012 to January 20th 2013, The Zürich Kunsthaus, or Museum for Modern art, will display an exhibition with almost the entirety of Gauguin’s work, with around 60 plates of supreme quality.

While Gauguin’s paintings could express the peaceful and bucolic landscapes and ambiances of tropical countries, the woodcuts were more focusing on the unfathomable, nocturnal and demonic aspect of the tropical paradise.

Museum

Kunsthaus Zürich
Heimplatz 1
CH–8001 Zurich

Tel: +41 (0)44 253 84 84
Fax: +41 (0)44 253 84 33
E-Mail: info@kunsthaus.ch

Sat/Sun/Tues 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Wed–Fri 10 a.m.–8 p.m.
Closed Mondays

Check the official museum website for more updates:
http://www.kunsthaus.ch

Art is food for thought.
LA 

 

Info sourced at the museum website. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

Celebrity fragrances, how much?

José Amorim
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1
Reading Time: 2 minutes

While in Europe we tend to think that Celebrity fragrances are not really a good business, you can ask the american industry. They have made millions of dollars with this new segment. Here some figures.

The first ever celebrity fragrance to be a big hit was White Diamonds by Elisabeth Taylor with Elisabeth Arden group since 1991. Lately we got Glow by Jennifer Lopez in 2002. Only the first year it generated 60 million dollars of sales and still today it is on the top 10 most sold celebrity fragrances. And since then, many others tried some of them being a success for a long time.

So here is the 2011 ranking of celebrity fragrances made by Forbes magazine:

#1 White Diamonds by Elisabeth Taylor – 1991
54 million $

KUTA-XAKE-GEM8-8KUK-UCPE-DEVY-JAAP-RB6N-M4GG

#2  Driven by Derek Jeter – 2010
27 million $
derek-jeter-driven

#3 Heat by Beyonce – 2010
21 million $
HEAT BEYONCE

#4 Unforgivable by P.Diddy – 2006
18 million $
unforgivable p diddy sean John

#4 NYC by Sarah Jessica Parker – 2009
18 million dollar
NYC Sarah Jessica Parker

#4 Fancy by Jessica Simpson – 2008
18 million $
jessica_simpson

#4 Harajuku Lovers by Gwen Stefani – 2008
18 million $
harajuku lovers

#5 Usher by Usher – 2010
16 million $
usher by usher fragrance

#6 Glow by Jennifer Lopez – 2002
12 million $
glow_jlo

#6 In Bloom by Reese Witherspoon – 2009
12 million $
reese-witherspoon in bloom

And soon we will have the next big hit, Fame by Lady Gaga. For sure it will represent millions. They started a huge advertising campaign that will be followed by a massive distribution program. Here is the advertising:
lady-gaga-fame

Who are we missing? Here my top list to come (my bet):

– Kim Kardashian
– Kayne West
– Justin Bieber
–  Robert Pattinson

Any bets ?
LA

 

Info sourced on Faces and Forbes Magazine. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

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