Rainforest walkway by Marks Barfield

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 2 minutes

The architect agency Marks Barfield conceptualized a 6,4 £m project of a futuristic walkway in the heart of Amazonian Rainforest. The project will be located in Xixuaú Xiparina, a secluded region of untouched forests in Roraima, Brazil. It is a region at 790km north away from Manaus, between French Guyana and Venezuela.

roraima-brazil

The project represents a light, airy and modern walkway in the middle of the rainforest in Brazil. This will allow scientists but also the public to discover the Amazonian canopy.

walkway-rainforest-brazil

Marks Barfield became an international well know company thanks to different projects they have been accomplishing around the world and one of the most important ones is London Eye.  Here we feel the aim to blend to the natural environment and at the same time it brings and very vegetal structure with a hint of modernity.

walkway-rainforest-brazil

Structures with different terraces will allow the visitors to explore the rainforest canopy in different levels and angles. The philosophy of this creation is a sort of sustainable, pleasant, innovative and functional structure. The goal is also the perfect symbiosis with the natural environment, so that bird watchers would also be able to explore the different birds of the region. More than 6 miles throughout out the wild  forest.

David Marks of the practice believes bamboo can be used as the primary construction material. The design already incorporates solar energy. Of the forests fragile ecosystem, Marks says: “It doesn’t support a lot of people in the natural state. You have to be very careful about what you bring in.”

For once, it is not a project for privatizing the forest or to explore from a pharmaceutical point of view the different resources. This is a project to present the Forest to the world.

For more details check here

Interesting.
LA 

 

65,000 Swarovski crystals for Marylin by Claire Milner

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 2 minutes

Diamonds are a Girl’s best friend but Swarovski crystals are definitely a temptation that any women would accept. Claire Milner is a Global artist who’s work have been highlighted through amazing celebrities portraits made of true Swarovski crystals. Her latest work: A portrait of Marilyn Monroe for RnB Artist Rihanna.

claire-milner-marilyn-portrait

Claire Milner is a British artist. She started her career as Graphist and freelancer illustrator. From her background, we could feel that color and texture become 2 leitmotivs. So it was quite natural that she decided to leave illustration towards a more multi-sensorial approach of art. She developed an interesting technique with paper collage, mosaic and Swarovski crystal portraits.

claire-milner-marilyn

After doing different celebrities portraits from Obama, to Amy Winehouse up to Laurel and Hardy, last year her work got to a different level of notoriety thanks to a special order from RnB singer Rihanna. A huge portrait of Marylin Monroe done with 65,000 Swarovski crystals, all glued one by one by hand. Four month of hard and artistic work for a quite surprising result.

marilyn-monroe-claire-milner

After a lot of research on the life of such a beauty icon, Claire Milner succeeded to capture this edgy idea about how glamorous exactly Marilyn’s life was. Behind all the glitters and the spotlights, we could feel a sort of sadness. I was a long and quite hard way to transform the young Norma Jeane Baker to the iconic timeless myth of Marilyn Monroe. Behind the lipstick and blond mask we knew there was something more cruel about it. Her character was basically made by men and during her entire life she needed to live with that. Was she happy at least once? This is a big question and Claire Milner portrait plays on this duality: from glitters and light to darkness.

Marilyn-monroe-claire-milner-detail

Someone said that the eyes are windows to the soul. And here all the work between the crystal texture, their colors and the play with light and shadow give an interesting deepness to Marilyn’s eyes. Beautiful, impressive and truly emotional.

From all celebrities portraits, here the artist touches something more intimate, personal and almost truly.

Visit the artist official website and learn more: http://www.claire-milner.co.uk

Simply breath taking.
LA

Info sourced at behance.net, claire-milner.co.uk, and from the Artist emailing. All pictures are copyrighted by their authors.

 

 

Tod’s No_Code capsule by Jefferson Hack

LuxuryActivist
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1
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Tod’s launched a capsule collection with Dazed’s co-founder Jefferson Hack. The collection is called No_Code. Contemporary and still loyal to the Brand “Made in Italy” heritage.

tods-no-code-capsule

Jefferson Hack is a well know person because he is not only Kate Moss son’s father, but also the co-founder of the fashion Magazine Dazed & Confused. Since his studies at the London College of Printing, his path through the Fashion world brought him to a specific vision of what is modernity. In this specific work, we can see that the collaboration between him and Tod’s creative teams brought a fresh wind into the luxury house history. No_Code is not only a capsule, it is a stylish work showing that modernity can always be reinvented and that tradition is a rich treasure that can create future lifestyles.

nowness-no-code

So the creations here are supposed to be for both Men and women. It is not really an unisex collection, but more a stylish selection of designs, colors and shapes that highlight the person who is wearing them as natural as possible. According to Jefferson Hack, this collection is about mobility and energy. He imagined it for active people who is traveling, moving, dancing… so basically looking for a certain balance between comfort and style. The movie that illustrates the collection the campaign was shot by American photographer Roe Ethridge. It was a logical choice as Ethridge photography style is quite coherent with what Jefferson Hack tried to accomplish here. Ethridge has a direct style inspired by the world and his experiences. So a very vivid, colorful and full of details graphic style that fits well these specific capsule collection.

In the mood video, we can see the 2 models, Meghan Collison and Christian Brylle. These 2 are definitely “hot” right now. Megan is one the top female models of the moment, considered as in the top 10 newcomers, working for Vogue, Dazed, W and for Brands like Topshop, Marc Jacobs, Prada or Louis Vuitton. Christian worked for Mario Testino but also for magazines like Vogue, V, Dazed and GQ. They represent a aesthetic vision of youth but also a kind of modern life, free of pre-concept judgements and still faithful to a heritage. The way the video was shot is quite interesting. Although each scene is aesthetically well executed, we have a play between inside shots, showing all the product details, and exterior footage, showing the products into action. So it goes from a photoshooting to real life. Interesting.

Where can you find this collection? It will be available in all Tod’s Stores of course, but also in avant-première in:
– Dover Street Market in London
– 10 Corso Como in Milano
– My Theresa in Munich
– Colette in Paris.

For the concept store in Paris, there is even some special models made with the special “Colette Blue”. Chic of chic…
jefferson-hack-x-tods-colette

For more details, do not hesitate to check the Brand official website: www.tods.com.
Here are some of my preferred shots from the campaign:
Tods_No_Code

tods-no-code

tods-no-code

So, this summer get the right energy…. with style.
LA 

 

Info sourced at tods.com, thefashionisto.com, acquiremag.com, fashionfevernews.blogspot.com, chaussure-de-luxe.com, dazeddigital.com, viacomit.com 
All images copyrighted by Roe Ethridge for Tod’s and Colette.

How to Have a Luxury Lifestyle on a Budget

LuxuryActivist
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Reading Time: 3 minutes

Ferrari-luxury-cars

While you may wish to experience the luxurious side of life, you may not think you have the budget to make it possible. The good news is that there are ways to get a taste of the high life without clearing out your bank account. You just need to be a bit clever and think of less costly ways of indulging.

Hire or rent

You’ll probably be aware of the fact that limousines and supercars can be hired for special occasions, but you might be surprised to learn about some of the other luxury items it’s possible to rent. Always fancied having a yacht? You might not have the wherewithal to purchase one, but you can rent a night on a luxury yacht and experience the tranquillity and opulence for yourself. If you like the thought of having some diamonds, you can hire expensive jewelry and designer watches by the day, and the same is true of designer dresses and suits. Have a browse on the web to see what is available for hire or rent close to you, or at your destination if you are traveling. You can also rent art and sculpture by the week to give your home a touch of refinement. Renting an apartment in a stately home could be a way of getting the prestigious address and the feel of living in your own mansion, at a more affordable price.

Luxury-Lifestyle

Buying smart

If you are looking to buy rather than hire, make use of resale websites where an amazing array of top quality products, including clothes, are often available at bargain prices. You might not have the cash to splash on a Bentley or a McLaren supercar, but you can pick up a very nice used Polo Vivo for example. An older model of a more prestigious make is going to make you feel a lot more special than a brand-new bargain basement vehicle.

Bargain bookings

There are luxury packages to be had for a bargain at some five-star hotels and restaurants, where you can buy a pre-set hotel room/excursion package for a reduced price, or book a set menu. You can also compare prices for bookings made out of season, or very early and last-minute bookings. Sunday nights are often the quietest of the week to see if a restaurant you’ve always wanted to dine in has any special offers. The same goes for holidays to exotic locations, with some websites specializing in finding bargain luxury trips. Don’t be afraid to sign up for alerts on daily deal websites, as they often have luxury goods, spa treatments, weekend breaks and specialty trips available at greatly reduced prices for limited periods.

Everyone deserves a bit of luxury, and there are opportunities to experience the better things in life even when you don’t have a massive income. Who knows, the chance to find out how it feels to live the lifestyle might be just the motivation you need to change direction in your life!

Carol

Info sourced by the author for luxuryactivist.com. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. Images are for illustration purpose only. 

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Louis Vuitton Parfums, a new journey.

José Amorim
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3
Reading Time: 4 minutes

louis-vuitton-logoIn the Fragrance industry we can have historical Fragrance houses, the Cosmetic brands, we have the fashion houses, the jewelers or even very “marketed” brands. And now we have Parfums Louis Vuitton. This french luxury house is at the same time a summary of the entire luxury industry. A great heritage, a timeless elegance and a sexy creativity either thanks to their Artistic Directors but also with great artistic collaborations. And now they are going to have Fragrances.

Since Marc Jacobs took the artistic responsibility for Fashion and fashion accessories at LV, the french malletier just took off with the brand territory extensions. In moments in which some rumors are talking about the departure of Marc Jacobs to Dior as their new artistic Director, we got the official news that Louis Vuitton has now, officially, a Fragrance division. This news is crystallized on the arrival of Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud as Master Perfumer in-House. He arrived on the 3rd of January 2012 and since then, everything is going on fast and in a realistic way. I heard about a fragrance project at Louis Vuitton at least 10 times on the past 15 years and frankly the french House never really had any interest to go on that sense. Today, with the arrival of such a magnificent perfumer, things are different.

Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud is a French perfumer born in Grasse on January 24, 1962. He worked for the Swiss Fragrance House Firmenich since 1990. Since then, he has designed fragrances for many major luxury brands:

– L’Eau d’Issey, Issey Miyaké (1992)

– Classique, Jean-Paul Gaultier (1993)

– Opium for Men, Yves Saint Laurent (1995)

– Pôeme, Lancôme (1995)

– Code Sport, Giorgio Armani (2011)
After so many years of loyal service at Firmenich, Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud is joining the prestigious luxury house Louis Vuitton. So LV is part of the small exclusive Brands which has its own in-house perfumer. Here are the different Big Fragrance houses with in-House perfumers:

– Chanel with Jacques Polges

– Hermès with Jean-Claude Ellena

– Cartier with Mathilde Laurent

– Jean Patou with Thomas Fontaine

– Guerlain with Thierry Wasser

I could also speak about François Demachy but his transversal role at LVMH cannot be associated to an in-House perfumer, in the traditional definition, but more like a super  Technical-Creation Director.

According to LV CEO, Yves Carcelle: “Louis Vuitton, since its foundation in 1854, always had the ability to hatch and grow new businesses. Luggage, leather goods, fashion, accessories, shoes, watches jewelry and now Fragrances. For the french house, fragrances is an invitation for dreaming, to travel and explore the senses.”

Angelina-Jolie-Louis-Vuitton

campagnes-louis-vuitton-sean-connery

To carry out this mission, they have choosen Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud, one of the best perfumers of his generation. For several years, he scouted the world for the best raw materials, the most interesting qualities and he always developed the fragrances from Grasse in the south of France. According to Jacques Cavallier: “Because it is in Grasse and nowhere else where you can find the best know-how in the world”.

jacques-cavalier-belletrud

So to accomplish this new brand territory extension, Louis Vuitton will acquire a historical building in Grasse to install the Fragrance branch.

Grasse-France

All this looks really exciting but the real question is: What should Louis Vuitton looks like as a Fragrance Brand? With Hermès, Guerland, Chanel or Cartier, there is not so much “space” for a new concept. Should they capitalize in Travel? Hermès is. Should they focus on raw materials? Guerlain and Cartier are already… not an easy task to do.

What you may not know is that Louis Vuitton had fragrances already more than 20 years ago. But as it was not a priority to the Brand, it just get lost in the dust of times. Here is one out of many, called Eau de Voyage.

Louis-Vuitton-Eau-de-voyage

Too late, we probably have issues with Hermès with Voyage. Let’s see if the Brand has the passion and the capability to produce their Fragrance as the next big hit in the fragrance industry.
LA

 

Info sourced at http://pretaclicher.blogspot.com and http://elisadefeydeau.wordpress.com.All images are copyrighted and no reproductions should be tolerated.

Chanel Chance, 3 new videos

José Amorim
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0
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Chanel launched 3 new videos about Chance, Chance Eau fraîche and Chance Eau Tendre. 3 fresh and interesting spots with a smile on top.

chanel-chance-sigrid-agren

We can see the top model Sigrid Agren. She is half french-swedish and she has worked for many top fashion houses as a model: Chloé, Lanvin, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Stella McCartey…  She totally represents the innocence of Youth in which everything is possible, you just need to cease your … chance! She is 17 years old, still continuing studies and she is a perfect example of Chance.

Of course we need to mention the huge work of creation of Jean-Paul Goude for translating the fragrance concept into film and pictures. His eye is always there behind the camera and he is today one of the biggest creative forces in France.

The challenge is that from all Chanel fragrances, Chance is the less “Chanel-conventional”, so the Brand DNA needed to be a little challenged here. The entire line franchise is represented: Eau de Parfum, Eau Fraîche and Eau Tendre.

 

It is nice, elegant, cleverly done and gives you the smile without any complexity. That means that the work is done well. I am not sure that Chanel will build up its future on Chance, certainly not, but they are happy to support this creation with high qualitative content… which is not that common in these days.

According to Jean-Paul Goude: “Chance? You need to be ready for Chance, otherwise your chance will just walk by you and you never get it“.

So, feeling lucky?

LA

 

info sourced at Chanel.com. All images are protected by the laws of Copyright. No reproduction allowed. 

TED Talk: Future of e-Commerce pick and pack

LuxuryActivist
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0
Reading Time: < 1

Here is a very interesting video about the future of E-commerce and especially the “pick & Pack” processes in a warehouse.

This video is part of TED program and was presented by Mick Mountz, CEO of a company founded a couple of years now called KIVA SYSTEMS. They propose a full integrated robotic approach of the warehousing. Looks amazing.

As productivity at that level means better costs, this becomes a true solution for many companies with thousands of Sku’s and small recommended retail prices.

What do you think?
LA

Info sourced at TED.com . All images not free of rights for reproduction. 

Miss Dior Chérie, Marketing wins…

José Amorim
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3
Reading Time: 5 minutes

It is official, The Fragrance Brand Christian Dior has decided to call Miss Dior Chérie as simply as Miss Dior. But what happens to the 1947 Miss Dior? Well, it becomes now Miss Dior “Original”. What should we think about it?

1947 Miss Dior represented the uniqueness of Dior with its new look. The war was over and everybody was looking for something new, something exciting… a renewal. And since then, Miss Dior parfum was a big hit. This beautiful classical chypre with its green, floral and woody notes, became part of the fragrance legends.

With the launch of J’Adore in 1999, lot’s of things changed at Dior. The Fragrance Brand was not anymore a historical reference, it became one of the world market leaders. We could also talk about the Poison saga, especially with the latest Hypnotic Poison or the Dior Colognes for men, but the real big commercial hit after J’Adore was Miss Dior Chérie.

Remember the 2005 ad shot by Nick knight with the grandchild of Elvis himself? At that time the concept was a rock-little sister of Miss Dior. Naughty but still innocent.

Everything on the product mix was well done. Perfect fragrance as a clear modernization of a Fruity-Chypre (I love the beautiful Damascene Rose there), perfect flacon (classical but with a hint of modernity and youth) and above all the perfect communication.

Then, we got the arrival of Sofia Coppola and the concept evolved from rock-little sister to…. little sister. Remember the TV ad?

The music was Brigitte Bardot “Moi je joue”. Perfect.

After a while, Dior got into contract with one of the top ten best actress, oscar winner Natalie Portman. And this became a big hit for sure and the communication evolved.
They got one of the big fashion photographers for the occasion. Tim Walker. You know him because basically his presence in Vogue magazine over one decade made him one of the most important fashion photographers of his generation. His sense of colors, of “mise-en-scène” and his stylish and glamor impression, makes him the perfect photographer for Dior and Miss Dior Chérie.

So, as Dior is definitely making sales with Miss Dior Chérie, the question comes from a marketing perspective: “What should we do with Miss Dior?”. The answer from Dior was simple, let’s blend the 2 lines and we keep the 1947 Miss Dior somewhere there for the nostalgics.

So now, I invite you to check the Brands official website. You will discover that there is only one line called Miss Dior. Inside the line, you have Miss Dior (which is Miss Dior Chérie) and Miss Dior Original (which is the 1947 Miss Dior). See here the new TV Ad:

As you can see, they tried to bring a more timeless elegancy. The white swan is there, as in the original 1947 Miss Dior first Ad. All the Fragrance flacons you see in the movie is with the label Miss Dior Chérie but now it is Miss Dior. Brigitte Bardot, one of Serge Gainsbourg lovers was replaced by his official first wife, Jane Birkin with the famous “Je t’aime, moi non plus”.

In their dedicated mini-website you can read that Mr François Demachy did Miss Dior. Of course they meant Miss Dior Chérie but as it is now called Miss Dior, now we get this chronological mistake. We could also mention that the real “nose” behind Miss Dior Chérie is Ms Christine Nagel. Originally Swiss, she worked for beautiful Fragrance houses like Firmenich, Quest International (where she did Miss Dior Chérie) and then Givaudan. Now she is working for Mane&Fils and she is based in Paris.

As all the commercial efforts are made on Miss Dior “Chérie”, we are probably watching the programmed death of Miss Dior. I wonder why did they do this. Miss Dior Chérie entire concept was a perfect positioning, no need to change that. It is like Coco and Coco Mademoiselle from Chanel. The “little daughter” from the mother line.

I found this completely disrespectful for what Mr Christian Dior did. Marketing and sales should not take it over creation. Probably one should be working for Chanel or Guerlain to figure it out. It is a pity because the story was even more interesting than the Coco-Coco Mademoiselle one.

So probably now the “Miss Dior” customer should say: “Give me the green one or the pink-salmonish one. Or even worst, a Miss Dior Chérie customer looking for her Fragrance in a Perfumery store will not find it.

After a real concept evolution and now this positioning change, we are already nostalgics from Miss Dior… By cutting-down the heritage of the past you end it up by burning the wings of your future.

LA

Info sourced at Dior.com, Osmoz.com. All images are not free of rights and should not be used without further notice.

TAG Heuer – Mikrogirder 2000 – Reveal

Sebastien Eich
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1
Reading Time: < 1

Before the start of Baselworld 2012, Tag Heuer revealed its new Mikrogirder 2000. You might not miss that one in Baselworld.

Tag-Heuer-mikrogirder

According to the Brand:

“Simpler, faster and more efficient than science dreamed possible, impervious to gravity and dramatically reducing isochronous error, potentially easier to manufacture and able to precisely measure time to a phenomenal 1/2,000th of a second today, and probably even more precisely tomorrow…

TAG Heuer challenges three centuries of hairspring/balance wheel mechanical regulation conventions to create a totally new mechanical regulator. The legendary Swiss brand is now unveiling a first Concept version, a 2,000th of a second chronograph beating at 1,000 Hz or 7,200,000 beats per hour!”

Tag-heuer-mikrogirder-timepiece

Interesting to see how the Brand is moving from a “celebrities-marketing” brand to a real engineering watch maker philosophy as main lead of their communication campaign.

Here is the film revealing this amazing Timepiece, you can feel the race…

For more photos and technical details, do not hesitate to check Les Rhabilleurs website.

See more at Baselworld.

LA

 

info sourced at LesRhabilleurs.com and on Tag Heuer official website and youtube channel. All images copyrighted, no rights for reproduction without further notice.

Victorinox Original Watch, How original are you?

Sebastien Eich
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0
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Victorinox-original-watch

Victorinox Timepieces launched today a cool Facebook Game. To support the revamp of their almost historical ORIGINAL Collection, they invite you to a simple and “friendly”game.

We all remember the first Original that made the first big hit for Victorinox in the watch business. Every young guy in the USA would start his “adult” life with the Swiss Army watch on the wrist!
victorinox-original-firstone

More than 15 years later, Victorinox revealed a revamped ORIGINAL COLLECTION. The spirit remains with modernity and Design on top ! 4 colors from Grey, Beige, Green and Black.

victorinox-original-collection-2
victorinox-original-collection

I would expect a Red one, especially the success of their DiveMaster500. But these colors are very elegant and rejuvenates the entire Brand. Do I want one of them? I want the 4!

So, I discovered this afternoon that they launched a Facebook game, that I must say is very nice to play and we can win these beauties.

Victorinox Original

Basically, the App download all your FB friends profile picture and you have to be quick in recognizing who is it! There is already a world ranking and we are competing in world league here. Note that you will need a Facebook account. The Facebook App was done by the Web and Marketing Agency Co&Co. They have already worked for Victorinox in different previous operations.
victorinox-original-game

About the watch itself, it is a nice, elegant piece. According to the Brand: “Easy to read, simple and direct in design and shape, the Original has, in just over twenty years, become a Victorinox Swiss Army icon. Freshly updated with very contemporary aesthetics – redesign of the synthetic compound middle case, aluminum bezel and color block treatment – the Original yet remains instantly recognizable as the authentic descendent of the line.”

victorinox-original-watch-detail

But it is not only a nice design, look here to the specs:

  • Swiss Made
  • Quartz movement (Ronda 515)
  • Mineral crystal
  • Water resistant to 100 m (10 ATM, 330 ft)
  • Ø 40 mm Nylon fiber middle case
  • Luminescent hands
  • Aluminum bezel
  • Screw-in caseback
  • Date calendar at 4 o’clock
  • Fabric strap turned into a NATO inspired strap
  • 3 years if Warranty… priceless.

So do not hesitate to check the Facebook app and maybe you will win.
Here the link for the App: http://apps.facebook.com/victorinox-originals

If you want to know more about Victorinox Watches, do not hesitate to check the official website: http://www.victorinox.com

How Original are you?
LA

 

Info sourced at the official Victorinox Facebook page and website. All images are not free for reproduction.

 

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