type here...

Tag: italian

Iceage

On the spot LuxuryActivist -

They'd hate me for saying it, but Danish four-piece Iceage are the sexiest thing to happen to punk in forever. The band play loud and fast, with the violent, trance-like body-flinging of frontman Elias Bender Rnnenfelt seeming the all the more vital when backed with the understated stage presence anddeft musicianshipof Johan Surrballe Wieth, Dan Kjr Nielsen and Jakob Tvilling Pless. Iceage's new albumYou're Nothingis a wildly diverse and unexpectedly catchy ride through post-punk, hardcore and experimental noise with strikingly imagistic lyrics that hit like a bullet. In the remarkable new track 'Awake', Elias launches from throbbing riffs into an unsettling deeply-intoned monologue:"The walls began to crack/ They launched the guns at their sons heads."

Much has been made of the supposedly fascist undertones the of the band's work:Wieth has a tattoo of equally controversial80s neofolk bandDeath In June's Whip-Handlogotheinterlocking letters of their ownband symbol form a cultish geometry.At Iceage gigs, collected fans pump their fists atRnnenfelt – as attendees of punk gigs have done at every show since1978.If Iceage's first albumNew Brigadewas their statement of intent in 2-minute throttling blasts, thenYou're Nothingis the sound of the band widening their view and finding just as much fear, hope, and lust. And while theirvision is often unpretty - even sinister - it's far from the F-word.

A lot of the time anger is directed inwards. But onYou're Nothing,for every lyric like"If I could/ leave my body then I would/ Bleed into a lake/Dashing away/ Disappear"there's an optimistic payoff, like in 'Ecstasy', where Rnnenfelt sings of being"adorned in carnal ecstasy… A mere blow of wind could turn me into light."There's an urgent and ever-quickening pulse beneath the bloody knuckles as they self-assuredly articulate their message. Iceage are a band to believe in - you can even buy the pinbadgeto declare it.

DD: Your new album's calledYou're Nothing. Who's that sentiment directed at?

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: Both the way you see other people sometimes, but also how things can feel like nothing in a certain light. It's written from a personal point of view. It's not pointed at a specific person, it's more of an emotion.

DD: My favourite track on the album is 'Morals'. The use of piano is new for the band.

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: I don't know how conscious it was. There's not really any boundaries when you write, and sometimes it goes in unexpected places. That song is inspired by an old Italian singer called Mina. I can't remember how I found out about her, but I was listening to a lot of old Italian music, and I found a song of hers, and 'Morals' is kind of based on the piano that song.I think she might be singing "someone like you", which is a lyric in the song.

DD: Do you think there's a lack of morals in society, or in people you observe?

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: Yeah, just in surroundings. It's not necessarily written from a political view, but more of human view. It's more about self-respect, when people are insincere and stuff like that. I write most of the lyrics but we all contribute.

DD: I love the monologue in 'Awake' -"The fire broke out, we were running the night" -and then there's the sound of glass breaking.

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: It's partly about society, but also that lyric is also very much about imagery. Those lyrics are quite theatrical. We were trying rock opera. [laughs] I guess it's our 'Bohemian Rapsody'.

DD: Is it tongue-in-cheek?

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: No.

Dan Kjr Nielsen: I guess the lyrics are a bit about the walls of society, however that may sound.

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: Just the boundaries and stuff. Not actual walls. The state, and institutions in general.

Dan Kjr Nielsen: If we need to smash a glass to have a revolution…? It's a big question to answer. We're not really a political band.

DD: I read that you refer to your fans as victims. How come?

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: That's a thing that keeps getting misinterpreted again and again. We get asked about it a lot, but people don't really seem to get it. On a blog ages ago, there was a friend of ours who got pushed into a pit, and got seven stitches or something, and he had a picture there that said "Victim". It's not anything that we thought that much about. Obviously we don't see our fans as victims.

DD: Do you feel differently about this new album to your first,New Brigade(2011)?

Dan Kjr Nielsen: Yeah. I think there's more going on. We've tried to do more things, and not to be restricting ourselves.

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: I think it's much better.

DD: Is it true that you took your name from the Warsaw song 'Living In The Ice Age'?

Dan Kjr Nielsen: No. We were brainstorming words.

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: It sounded like a band name. We thought it was kind of stupid to call ourselves Ice Age, 'cause we don't wanna be associated with the Ice Age! So we spelled it in one word.

DD: Elias, your presence onstage seems quite trance-like. Does it feel that way to you?

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: Sometimes. If it's a good show, I guess I sometimes forget about what I'm doing.

DD: There was a lot of body contact too, it seemed like an intimate experience

Dan Kjr Nielsen: We're working together. We have a brotherly relationship.

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: We've known each other for a really long time. I started hanging out with these guys since I was 11 or 12 or something. We just grew up in the same neighbourhood.

Dan Kjr Nielsen: Johan was in my class since we were six years old.

DD: What were you listening to at six years old?

Dan Kjr Nielsen: Kids' music. Michael Jackson. Me and my mother shared a Spice Girls CD, but I would only listen to it when she put it on.

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: I don't think I cared that much for music back then.

Dan Kjr Nielsen: My father taught me to like KISS, but I mostly just looked at them.

DD: Well, KISS put on a great show. Is it important to you to put on a great live experience?

Dan Kjr Nielsen: Well, if itisa great live experience! Sometimes it is pretty shit. We're not a band you can rely on. Sometimes everything falls apart and it's nothing, and sometimes it's like we're the greatest band in the world.

DD: Who's your dream band to play with.

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: Ah, we like to play with our friends.

Dan Kjr Nielsen: (deadpans) KISS!

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: We decided one time to do support shows for Fucked Up, but we weren't really into it. We'd rather do our own thing and maybe play for less people, but at least we're playing forourpeople.

DD: Elias, what your influences in terms of literature?

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: I like writers like George Bataille, The Story of the Eye. There are a couple of references to that in our lyrics. I think I was reading it around these guys - we all took turns to read it.

Dan Kjr Nielsen: (grins) It's a pretty dirty book.

Elias Bender Rnnenfelt: Yukio Mishima, and Jean Genet is awesome. I've read The Thief's Journal and now I'm reading The Miracle of the Rose.

Girls Names – The New Life

On the spot LuxuryActivist -

On their second album The New Life, Belfast four-piece Girls Names move away from the garagey-pop of their debut Dead To Me and delve into post-punk shadowplay. Their Tumblr makes for a pretty good soundboard of their new touchstones: favourites include the bleak, Berlin-born masterpieces of Bowie's Low and Iggy Pop's The Idiot. They haven't done away with the tunes though on this excellent headphones record, and gloom often turns out to be the perfect foil for their deft pop hooks and spacey swooshes.

Back in October, the band released the 8-minute-pushing title track of the record to introduce their new noir landscape which plays with textural darkness and is finds depth in the experimental recesses of audio. On new songs like 'Occultation' and 'The Olympia', computerised oscillations and piston-like pulses rough up the edges of the earworm melodies and washed-out guitars. In terms of a band upping their game, it's a bit like when Deerhunter followed Turn It Up Faggot with Cryptograms. Alongside Dazed Digital's exclusive stream of the record, we caught up with singer Cathal Cully to find out more.

Dazed Digital: Why did you call your album The New Life?
Cathal Cully: The New Life was the name of the newest song and subsequently first single off the record. It just seemed to ring through with everything we were doing. It kind of rolled off the tongue and stuck, it made sense to call it The New Life. I don't know exactly what the new life is yet but hopefully will find out some day soon.

DD: Where was the album recorded, and over what kind of time period?
Cathal Cully: We tracked the bulk of it over a two-week period back in June last year at Start Together Studios here in Belfast. Then I returned sporadically every now and then tweaking mixes and generating new ideas until about the middle of October. Then myself and Ben, who engineered and mixed it, spent a pretty intense week finishing it off.

DD: Since the release of your last album Dead To Me you've added a new member, Phil. How have things changed since he joined the band?
Cathal Cully: We've become a much better live band to listen to and watch, something we were struggling with for a while.

DD: In your song 'Occultation', a bright jangly riff comes in just as the song is beginning to fade out. Do you consciously try to keep a lid on the janglyness?
Cathal Cully: Haha! Yes, I like the idea of that. I think I may want to get rid of guitars all together.

DD: What's your favourite work of visual art?
Cathal Cully: At the minute it's Pyramid of Light (1964) by Heinz Mack, a founding member of Group Zero who were based in Dsseldorf. Group Zero's work and their ideals were a massive influence for me when it came to making this album and naming it, and this piece is on permanent show at the Ulster Museum which is less than a 10 minute walk from my house so it's a lot more tangible to me.

DD: A reviewer once said that he would like to drown to your music. Do you think of your music as dark or morbid?
Cathal Cully: I honestly didn't know that. Poor guy or girl. No it's not morbid at all, though it has dark and nervous sounding tendencies for sure. It does entertain the darker notions of the mind which is only natural, and there's nothing wrong with that. I find it more shocking that people can make happy-sounding music and that no comment is passed about that. Most art as a form of expression is usually down to some sort of need to cathartically expel the ideas locked inside and therefore to create something new. Otherwise you're just in the entertainment business.

DD: You said around the time of your last record that "Dead to Me literally was dead to us by the time it was committed to wax." Did this record feel like an exorcism as well?
Cathal Cully: Totally. Like I said, It was a real cathartic process making this album. There's a lot of weight lifted now it's out there. It was a particularly challenging and draining experience but a great one all the same. I learned so much from it.

DD: Do you think that indie is in a good place at the moment?
Cathal Cully: No. 'indie' music and this notion of 'guitar music', that I keep hearing about that's making a resurgence is a terrible notion that needs to be stamped out and eradicated. Independent music however is very healthy with ideas and a lot of talented people and artists. My only fear is that it isn't all getting out there to enough people.

DD: You pressed the album on transparent vinyl. What's the best thing to look at through it?
Cathal Cully: I want to say someone in particular but I haven't had the chance to do that yet so possibly that person.

DD: The title of your song 'Pittura Infamante' is a reference to the Italian Renaissance genre of defamatory painting. Who did you have in mind, and who would you like to paint a defamatory painting of?
Cathal Cully: Since you've asked, It was mainly myself in mind but no one in particular. David Cameron should be made into a 'Pittura Infamante' although he does a good job of it himself by just opening his mouth and being some sort of walking talking idiot buffoon.

DD: Were you sad that the production of MiniDisc players is ceasing?
Cathal Cully: I'm not sad but yeah I had one, still do somewhere. They were great actually at the time - the idea you could have 3 CDs on one disc half the size of your walkman. My A-level years were transformed. When me and Neil started the band I used to record our demos on my MiniDisc player, and bounced down an old 4track because that's all the gear we had and couldn't afford anything else. Come to think of it, the demo we sent to Captured Tracks that basically got them interested in doing our first EP was made in this way.

DD: What's your favourite filter on Instagram?
Cathal Cully: I've never used Instagram but just did a quick Google. Nashville.

DD: What are your Top 5 favourite girls' names?
Cathal Cully: 1. Helen, 2. Ann, 3. Cara, 4. Claire, 5. Anne.

Get The New Life here.

Follow Owen Myers on Twitter here: @Owen_Myers

Androgynous Models

On the spot LuxuryActivist -

Girls who are boys

They can switch up their look and transform from a man into a woman in the blink of an eye. They model men’s and women’s clothes and on stage you hardly know that the super sexy woman model is, well, actually a male. Andrej Pejic, Lea T. and Tilda Swinton are just few of the androgynous models. The boundaries between men and women were never so blurry.

In the 21st century it seems like boundaries no longer exist. Internet and smart phones bridge gaps of place and time, unisex clothes blur the differences between male and female. When it comes to fashion, designers and photographers are a crucial part of this tendency. Not only do they create fashion items that can fit both men and women, they are also using androgynous models that dare fashion visions and axiom as we know them.

Biologically speaking, androgynous is a human being who has both a male and female reproductive system. Androgynous models manage to ignite the imagination of many fashion designers and photographers.

Andrej Pejic is one of the most successful androgynous models out there. He was born in Serbia and always had a very unique and gentle look. Though his first steps in the fashion industry weren’t so easy, nowadays you can see him on the runways and on a plethora of fashion magazine covers.

Whereas other androgynous models specialize in modeling women’s or men’s wear, Pejic is most famous for his ability to model both genders. In January of 2011, Pejic walked for Jean Paul Gaultier during Paris Fashion Week dressed as a woman, and in Marc Jacobs’ show he modeled menswear. He also participated in Burberry Prosum fashion show and looked gorgeous on the runway surrounded by beautiful female models. Lately Pejic has been leading a campaign for a mega push-up bra for the Dutch company, Hema.

However, Andrej Pejic is not the only androgynous model you can see on ads. Brazilian Lea T. is another famous androgynous model, who Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci called “a true Goddess.” In 2010 she became the face of Givenchy and in January of 2011 she walked for Alexandre Herchcovitch during Sao Paolo fashion week. Her modeling career included several appearances on fashion magazines covers. Most controversial was the cover for Love Magazine where she was featured kissing Kate Moss.

Tilda Swinton is a talented actress and a beautiful model who easily transforms herself from female to male. She is the face of Pringle of Scotland Fashion House and inspired a full Viktor & Rolf collection in 2003. Her ability to blur the boundaries between traditional genders was evident both on the runways and on the big screen where she played the role of Mozart in the movie “Orlando”.Late top designer Alexander McQueen also noticed the exotic androgynous trend. In his last menswear collection, McQueen included David Chiang, another famous androgynous model. Chiang is the first Asian male model ever to walk for Italian label Emporio Armani. His soft skin and smooth hair along with delicate facial features caught the eyes of fashion photographers such as Steven Klein and paved Chiang’s way to many well-known fashion magazines.

Androgynous models show more than anything that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. The fashion world has more than enough room to express every phenomena and style. The question is -- can you enjoy the show no matter who walks on the runway? If the answer is yes, we can be sure -- fashion has won.

Fashion Roundup: Rihanna shines in the fashion spotlight; Mulberry debuts their ‘Del Rey’ handbags

On the spot LuxuryActivist -

Fashion Roundup: Rihanna shines in the fashion spotlight; Mulberry debuts their ‘Del Rey’ handbags

After making her way into the fashion world last week, Rihanna who was reportedly signed to produce a new fashion series with Sky's Living Channel, took an active role in one of the most spectacular events in fashion at Stella McCartney’s Fall/Winter 2012 party at London Fashion Week. (Guardian)

Mulberry launches a new Lana Del Rey handbag named after the high profiled singer. The ‘Del Rey’ debuted on Sunday (19.2) on Mulberry’s Fall show runway. (Fashionista)

Nicky Hilton, Coco Rocha, Angela Simmons and more…Celebs predict the big trends for Fall 2012- maxi skirts, less big jackets, baseball caps and a lot of leather. (Elle)

The much expected collaboration between Italian fashion label Marni and retail giant H&M was launched at a Hollywood party with an impressive guest list, which included among others stars Drew Barrymore, Mila Jovovich and Sofia Coppola, who also shot the campaign film for the collection in Morocco. The Spring collection is due to launch worldwide March 8. (Los Angeles Times)

Ralph Lauren’s Fall 2012 show at New York Fashion Week portrayed an astonishing return to the iconic Ralph Lauren look. (Forbes)

Closing our list of fashion highlights for this week, we bring you another great FashionTV video of Carolina Herrera's Fall/ Winter Show in NY Fashion Week, a fashion favorite of Lady Gaga and Nicky Minaj, taking up the designer's ladylike range to a whole other level. And the raised hair didn't hurt either.

Enjoy!

The Latest Boutiques: Chloé, Brioni & Shang Xia

On the spot LuxuryActivist -

5492_dior_milan_medium

Dior’s latest Milan boutique

Sao Paulo and Kazakstan become the newest luxury retail hotspots with the opening of luxury malls Cidade Jardim and Esentai, alongside Louis Vuitton, Rolls Royce & Valentino

5489_alex_mcqueen_london_medium

Alexander McQueen, London

Alexander McQueen has opened its first stand-alone men’s wear store on Savile Row in London. The 200sqm space was designed David Collins in collaboration with creative director Sarah Burton and will offer a high-end ready-to-wear collection, as well the new in-house bespoke service. A glass-encased exhibition space will feature regularly changing artworks curated by the London gallerist Sadie Coles.

Website: alexandermcqueen.com
Source: WWD

5500_berluti_osaka_medium

Berluti, Osaka

LVMH’s Berluti has inaugurated a mono-brand flagship store in Osaka at Umeka Hankyu’s shopping centre. The store will house shoes and leather goods as well the clothing collection of the brand launched earlier this year, designed by Alessandro Sartori.

Website: berluti.com
Source: CPP Luxury

5496_brioni_suzhou_medium

Brioni, Beijing, Dubai, Suzhou

Brioni has opened two stores in China, within the China World Mall in Beijing and Matro Shopping Mall in Suzhou, bringing the total number of mono-brand stores in the Republic to 14. The Suzhou store is the largest in China at 200sqm. Brioni has also opened in Dubai’s in Mall of the Emirate, as part of the brand’s focus on monobrand retail expansion, following its acquisition by PPR.

Website: brioni.com
Source: Gulf Business, CPP Luxury

5483_cartier_milan_1_medium

Cartier, Lucerne, Milan

Cartier has launched an enlarged flagship store in Lucerne, Switzerland, within the heritage Schweizerhof Hotel. The 206sqm store will house Haute Horologerie watch collections, jewellery and accessories, designed by Bruno Moinard.

Cartier has also reimagined its four-floor Milan Boutique on Via Montenapoleone in collaboration with the designer.

Website: cartier.com
Source: FHH, CPP Luxury

5476_cerruti_hong_kong_medium

Cerruti, Hong Kong

Cerruti 1881 has unveiled its new store concept with its most recent opening in Hong Kong, at Harbour City Mall. The move follows its 2011 acquisition by Trinity, a subsidiary of Li Fung Group, Cerruti’s long-time strategic licensing partner in China.

Website: cerruti.com
Source: CPP Luxury

5503_chloé_paris_medium

Chlo, Paris

Paris’s Rue Saint-Honor has become home to the capital’s second Chlo boutique, realised by creative director Clare Waight Keller and architect Joseph Dirand. The flagship boutique will house the full ready to wear collection alongside the brands accessories, leather goods and fragrances.

Website: chloe.com
Source: Fashion Windows

5488_chopard_milan_medium

Chopard, Milan

Chopard has unveiled a newly expanded 300sqm boutique in Milan, on Via della Spiga, in keeping with the new global design concept for the brand’s stores. Walls clad in ark oak and wooden parquet floors, with a crystal staircase created by American architect Thierry W. Despont, frame four display windows.

Website: chopard.com
Source: Luxos

5490_christian-louboutin_rome_medium

Christian Louboutin, Rome

Designed by architect Eric Clough, Christian Louboutin has opened in Piazza San Lorenzo, Lucina, Rome. Taking design cues from ancient Rome, dimmed lights and travertine surround the woman’s area, with accessories and fur skins complimenting the signature red carpets.

Website: christianlouboutin.com
Source: CPP Luxury

5486_dior_los_angeles_medium

Dior, Los Angeles, Milan

Dior has reinvigorated its 460sqm space on Rodeo Drive, which it has occupied since 1990, in collaboration with Peter Marino. The new design houses five individual salons, one featuring a film of Dior in various settings, a bench of interlocking ginko leaves made out of aluminium by French artist Claude Lalanne and a rotating chandelier by Lee Bul.

The brand has also worked with Marino to double the size of its Milan flagship, which now showcases all Dior’s ready-to-wear, accessories, Joaillerie and Horlogerie collections, in the theme of a French hotel particulier.

Source: WWD (Los Angeles), WWD (Milan)

5484_fratelli_rossetti_shanghai_medium

Fratelli Rossetti, Hong Kong, Shanghai

Fratelli Rossetti has opened two stores in China, in Hong Kong’s IFC Mall and in Shanghai at Plaza 66. In celebration of the openings, the brand has transported its Historical Museum’s shoe collection to China, from the company’s headquarters in Parabiago, Italy.

Website: fratellirossetti.com
Source: WWD

5491_hublot_xiamen_medium

Hublot, Xiamen

Hublot has opened its largest store in China, with 200sqm in Xiamen’s top luxury shopping area, China Town. A faade of black stone, leather furnishings, counters of glass and metal fixtures are integrated with high tech details, in keeping with the brand’s “Art of Fusion” concept. It marks the brand’s 55th boutique worldwide, seven of which are now in China.

Website & Source: hublot.com

5485_hugo_boss_manhasset_medium

Hugo Boss, Manhasset

Hugo Boss has debuted its new store concept in the United States, at the Americana Manhasset in Manhasset, N.Y. The 315sqm space features dark brown colour themes with contrasting beige matte fabric back walls, where interior elements include bronze brushed and high-gloss surfaces, stone flooring and leather accents. The store predominantly features ready-to-wear, accessories and shoes for men.

Website: hugoboss.com
Source: WWD

5482_isabel_marant_paris_medium

Isabel Marant, Paris

Isabel Marant has opened in Paris’s 16th arrondissement on Avenue Victor Hugo, in a historical mansion spanning 230sqm over three levels. Designed by Cige architects, the concept uses vegetation both indoors and outdoors, against minimalist white-wood-black decor, to house both the signature and contemporary collections.

Website: isabelmarant.tm.fr
Source: FashionMag

5495_iwc_hk_medium

IWC, Hong Kong

IWC Schaffhausen has opened a new boutique in the Mall at Pacific Place in Hong Kong. The design concept of the new, 52-square-metre boutique unites the distinct architecture and styling of the six product families, where clients can experience the stories around the products through artefacts, pictures, books and media.

Website & Source: iwc.com

5487_jaeger-le-coultre_paris_medium

Jaeger LeCoultre, Paris

Jaeger-LeCoultre recently unveiled its revamped and expanded store on Paris’s Place Vendome. The 500sqm store is the brand’s largest worldwide, spread over three stories, encompassing several selling spaces, exhibition areas, a VIP room, mini museum and an after-sales service centre with an on-site master watchmaker.

Website: jaeger-lecoultre.com
Source: WWD

5499_level_shoe_medium

Level Shoe District, Dubai

Interior Architects Shed was commissioned by Chalhoub Group in Dubai to create an entire district for the world’s leading luxury shoe brands over 8,900sqm. Level shoe district features individual boutiques and four multi-brand pavilions, with male and female VIP areas, an atrium art installation by United Visual Artists and a traditional, high-end cobbler.

Website: levelshoedistrict.com
Design & Source: SHED

5479_lv_sao_paulo_medium

Louis Vuitton, Kazakstan, So Paulo

Louis Vuitton has opened its 455th store in Kazakhstan, with a 750sqm space designed by Peter Marino, showcasing ready-to-wear, leather accessories and shoes for men and women. The VIP area has been designed to resemble a yurt.

The brand has also unveiled its first global store in Latin America, with a near-1000sqm space within Sao Paulo’s Cidade Jardim mall. The design was inspired by Peter Marino’s Vuitton Maison on New Bond Street in London, with Italian sand-coloured marble, beige carpets, vintage Vuitton advertisements and Brazilian furniture.

Website: louisvuitton.com
Source: WWD (Kazakstan), WWD

5477_mb_f_beijing_medium

MB+F, Beijing

Swiss watch manufacturer MB&F has opened its first boutique in Beijing through a collaboration with local retail partners Ray Union and Europe Watch Co. The store is located in the state-of-the-art ParkLife Beijing Yintai Centre and will house an exclusive, limited edition Horological Machine created especially for this first boutique.

Website: mbandf.com
Source: Luxuo

5494_moncler_budapest_medium

Moncler, Budapest, Turin

Moncler has opened in Budapest, Hungary, with a 150sqm space on Andrassy Ut, the leading luxury shopping street in Budapest. It has also opened its first mono-brand store in the Northern Italian city of Turin, with a 90sqm boutique that will offer complete range of Moncler collections, men’s, women’s and accessories, Moncler S and Moncler Grenoble.

Website: moncler.com
Source: CPP Luxury

5493_mulberry_singapore_medium

Mulberry, Singapore

Mulberry has opened its first Asian flagship store in Singapore, at Mandarin Gallery on Orchard Road, where limestone-tiled floors, curved timber follies, brass accents and handcrafted furniture showcase the brands dedication to craftsmanship. The store will house the full collection of men’s and women’s core and seasonal accessories, as well as women’s shoes and ready-to-wear.

Website & Source: mulberry.com

5480_piaget__medium

Piaget, Hong Kong

Piaget has opened a flagship boutique in Hong Kong, with over 460 square metres on the ground and mezzanine floor of the Mandarin Oriental. Realised by Christin Querlioz from Atelier Sasha in Paris, the boutique is based on the concept of expressing the brand’s unique blend of Haute Horlogerie and Haute Joaillerie skills by presenting a journey through the Piaget world.

Website: piaget.com
Source: Luxos

5501_prada_tokyo_medium

Prada, Tokyo

Prada Group has opened both a Prada store and a Miu Miu store in Tokyo’s Daimaru Mall, designed by Roberto Baciocchi. It marks the 21st location for Prada in Tokyo, housing men and women’s accessories, shoes, bags and the luggage collections over 120sqm.

Website: prada.com
Source: CPP Luxury

5497_rolls_royce_são_paulo_medium

Rolls Royce, So Paulo

Rolls Royce has opened its first showroom in Latin America, in So Paulo, Brazil. The new 500sqm space uses glass and space to provide optimum natural light, furnished with bespoke-designed furniture and cabinets, with leather, wood, surface finishes and carpet samples from the home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood in the UK.

Website: rolls-roycemotorcars.com
Source: Car News

5481_salvatore_ferragamo_brisbane_medium

Salvatore Ferragamo, Abu Dhabi, Brisbane

Salvatore Ferragamo has opened its newest flagship in luxury mall, the Avenue at Etihad Towers, in Abu Dhabi. The 180sqm space with house the brand’s full range of ready-to-wear, leather goods and accessories, as well as an exhibition of shoes from the Ferragamo Museum in Florence.

The Italian luxury house has also inaugurated its 12th mono-brand store in Australia, in the city of Brisbane in the Queen’s Plaza Mall. The 160sqm store features Ferragamo’s full range of products for both men and women.

Website: ferragamo.com
Source: Luxos, CPP Luxury

5502_sergio_rossi_tokyo_medium

Sergio Rossi, Tokyo

PPR’s Sergio Rossi has refurbished its Tokyo store at Takashimaya Times Square. The 85sqm boutique has been updated in keeping with the brand’s current retail concept, featuring a black-and-white herringbone-pattern Italian marble floor and brass accents.

Website: sergiorossi.com
Source: WWD

5504_shang_xia_beijing_medium

Shang Xia, Beijing

Shang Xia, the Chinese brand established by French fashion house Herms International, has completed its first expansion with the opening of a second boutique in Beijing, in he China World Mall. The 135sqm space was designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, featuring stone and stylised aluminium brickwork inspired by the Great Wall, along with natural wood and bricks of pu’er tea.

Website: shang-xia.com
Source: WWD

5478_valentino_sao_paulo_medium

Valentino, Sao Paulo

Valentino joins Louis Vuitton and Rolls Royce this month, opening its first flagship store in South America, also in Sao Paulo. The 190sqm store – designed by David Chipperfield – is housed within the Citade Jardim luxury mall and features both women’s and men’s apparel and accessories, including bags and shoes.

Website: valentino.com
Source: Luxuo

5505_vertu_prague_medium

Vertu, New Delhi

Luxury mobile phone maker Vertu has opened its first boutique store in India, with plans to expand to other cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. It marks the first company owned distribution point in India, which was previously available though 20 points of sale through luxury products distributors. (Prague boutique pictured)

Website: vertu.com
Source: TheTopTier

For more in the series of The Latest Boutiques, please see our most recent editions as follows:

- The Latest Boutiques: Berluti, Dior & Saint Laurent Paris
- The Latest Boutiques: Hublot, Breguet & Assouline
- The Latest Boutiques: Rolls Royce, Piaget & Louis Vuitton

The Latest Investments: Harry Winston, Marni & Labelux

On the spot LuxuryActivist -

5653_harry_winston_medium

Swatch Group purchase Harry Winston for $750 million, Renzo Rosso takes a controlling stake in Marni & Labelux sells Solange Azagury-Partridge back to its founder

Bought: Harry Winston, Swatch Group

The Swatch Group has acquired 100% of the shares of the US company HW Holdings, owner of fine jewellery brand Harry Winston, in a deal worth $750 million plus the assumption of up to $250 million of pro forma net debt. The Swatch Group Ltd. now controls the brand and all activities related to jewellery and watches, including the 535 employees worldwide and the production company in Geneva.

Source: Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

Speculation: Investindustrial, Aston Martin

Private equity fund Investindustrial is said to be near agreement to buy a stake in British sports-car manufacturer Aston Martin. Investindustrial, based in London, is said to have trumped Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (MM) to invest in the Gaydon, England-based automaker, but as yet a final agreement has not been signed.

Source: Bloomberg

Bought Back: Solange Azagury-Partridge, Labelux

In a continued bid to focus on luxury leather goods and footwear, Labelux have sold jewellery brand Solange Azagury-Partridge back to its founder. This follows the sale of Derek Lam back to its founders in November 2012, and allows the conglomerate to focus on its current portfolio that includes Bally, Jimmy Choo, Belstaff and Zagliani.

Source: FashionMag

Stake: Marni, Only the Brave

Diesel jeans brand founder Renzo Rosso has bought a majority stake in Marni, with plans to re-launch the Italian fashion house on foreign markets. The value of the deal has not yet been disclosed, but the acquisition was made through the businessman’s holding company, Only the Brave Srl.

Source: WWD

Acquired: Alain Mykli, Luxottica

Italy’s Luxottica, the world’s biggest premium eyewear maker, said on Friday it had signed a deal to buy French luxury eyewear maker Alain Mikli for around $117 million. The deal strengthens Luxottica’s luxury brands portfolio, the company added in a statement.

Source: Reuters

Acquired: AR New York, Publicis

Publicis Groupe has acquired AR New York, an agency specialised in working for marketers in fashion, beauty and luxury goods. Founded in 1996, AR works for, or has worked for, brands that include Asprey, Brioni, Dolce & Gabbana, Neiman Marcus, the St. Regis Hotels and Resorts, Valentino and Versace. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Source: NYTimes

Bought Back: Aman Resorts, Adrian Zecha

DLF, India’s biggest real estate company, has sold luxury hotel chain Amanresorts back to its founder, Adrian Zecha, for $300 million. The parties have signed a definitive agreement for a management buyout, and the deal is expected to close by February 2013.

Source: Financial Times

Speculation: Printemps, Galeries Lafayette

French department store Galeries Lafayette is said to be considering a buyout of rival retailer Printemps. The two fashion giants both have huge flagship stores – side by side – in Paris. Galeries Lafayette has already made public that it has significant international expansion plans, with ambitions to open between five and seven new overseas stores before 2015.

Source: Vogue UK

Stake: Sri Lim Kok Thay, Wider

Malaysian billionaire Sri Lim Kok Thay, whose luxury empire spans casinos and cruise liners, is to buy half of yacht maker Wider to expand into a fast-growing market in Asia, the founder of the Italian has revealed. Following a capital increase, the Malaysian billionaire will become the single biggest shareholder in Wider with a 50 percent stake owned by his vehicle EXA Ltd.

Source: Reuters

Bought: Investcorp, U.S. Real Estate

Bahrain-based alternative asset manager Investcorp has acquired five real estate assets in the United States for around $100 million. The investment firm most recently bought Danish luxury retailer Georg Jensen, from private equity firm Axcel Capital Partners for $140 million, following the sale of truck and trailer parts distributor FleetPride to TPG for over $1 billion.

Source: Reuters

Capital: Rocket Internet, PPR

PPR has invested $13 million into Rocket Internets’s holding company Bigfoot, which includes ‘amazon fashion clones’ in Russia (Lamoda), South America (Dafiti) and the Middle East (Namshi). PPR invested a similar amount in 2012 into fast growing social commerce start-up the Fancy.

Source: The Rude Baguette

Bought: KaDeWe, Signa

Austrian real estate firm Signa has acquired German department store KaDeWe, in addition to 16 further Karstadt locations. The real estate giant paid a reported $1.45 billion for the KaDeWe “Kaufhaus” building itself and the acquisition of Oberpolling in Munich and another Karstadt property.

Source: FashInvest

For more in the series of The Latest Investments, please see our most recent editions as follows:

- The Latest Investments: Aston Martin, Faberg & Christopher Kane
- The Latest Investments: Chanel, Marcolin & Orient Express
- The Latest Investments: Anya Hindmarch, Berluti & Harry Winston

Fashion Flashback: The Best Fashion Campaigns Featuring Kate Moss, Gisele and Madonna

On the spot LuxuryActivist -

Fashion Flashback: The Best Fashion Campaigns Featuring Kate Moss, Gisele and Madonna

In honor of FashionTV’s 15th anniversary, we are sharing with you three of the most remarkable fashion campaigns the world has ever seen. See Kate Moss posing below zero degrees, Gisele in a stunning summer Missoni collection and Madonna’s iconic LV shoot with Marc Jacobs. It’s the small details, the fabulous collections and of course – the stunning locations – that make these fashion moments unforgettable.

Kate Moss for Absolute Versace 1999

One of the most beautiful (and freezing campaigns) is the one Kate Moss shot for Absolute Versace. The frozen atmosphere served as an excellent backdrop as supermodel Kate Moss wore a magnificent gray dress and was styled in pale make up. Moss proved to be the perfect ice queen. While the campaign was for Absolute Vodka, the Versace team treated it as a full-fledged fashion production. More than 10 years later, the Absolute Versace campaign still stands out as a memorable campaign moment.

Kate Moss for Absolute Versace

Gisele Bundchen for Missoni 2002

The Italian fashion brand chose supermodel Gisele Bundchen for its Spring 2002 campaign. Photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott were behind the scene, directing and shooting Bundchen as she posed in various sexy positions. The wild rocks and the calm blue sea served as the perfect backdrop to Missoni's colorful summer line. Bundchen looked divine posing for the camera, with her wild hair and gorgeous smile, showcasing the new Missoni items.

Gisele Bundchen for Missoni

Madonna for Louis Vuitton 2009

Marc Jacobs chose Madonna as the face of Louis Vuitton’s Fall 2009 campaign, and according to him, more than 30 costume colors were made in order to get the absolute perfection for the queen of pop. This is a great chance to get behind the scenes and watch how great minds merge and get the ultimate campaign for the luxury French fashion house.

Madonna for Louis Vuitton

Fashion Roundup: Victoria’s Secret Slapped with $15M Lawsuit, Kate Middleton’s Fashion App and More!

On the spot LuxuryActivist -

Kate Middleton presents a royal fashion app? Not exactly. Still, a new mobile phone app has been launched tracking the Duchess of Cambridge’s every single style move. The app has already been downloaded by thousands of royal fashion lovers, revealing all the names of the designers or stores where each particular piece can be purchased. (Vogue UK)

Moving on to another Kate… Katy, that is. Katy Perry goes pumpkin on the cover of L’Officiel September issue with orange hair. Perry’s hair will soon complete the full spectrum of colors in a rainbow, after being featured in bubblegum pink, platinum blonde and just about every other color you can think of. This is her first time as orange. (Styleite)

Victoria’s Secret is being sued for $15 million by Zephyrs for misleading consumers and producing cheaper products. Allegedly VS are still packaging their products with visuals by Zephyrs-produced hosiery, which are no longer providing their top quality Italian hosiery to the lingerie giants. (Fashionista)

President Barack Obama will appear on the cover of Glamour’s November issue. This is part of Obama’s campaigning efforts to target new audiences in alternative news outlets. He will also appear on ESPN Magazine, People Magazine and more. (WWD)

‘Jersey Shore’ star and fashion designer Nicole Polizzi, aka Snooki, gave birth to her first baby boy named Lorenzo Dominic LaValle. The boy’s father is Snooki’s fianc Jionni LaValle, whose relationship with Snooki was also seen on MTV’s hit reality series. (MTV)

Closing our list of fashion highlights for this week, James Franco collaborated with 7 For All Mankind for a limited-edition T-shirt collection. His collection embodies the “cool California spirit”, with the graphics on the shirts gleaned from over 3,000 Polaroid shots taken during the campaign’s video shoots which were also made by Franco.

Take a look at the latest behind the scenes video released by Franco:

12Page 1 of 2
Advertismentspot_img

Most Popular

Green Notes

Swiss Blog

Top Categories

About us

LuxuryActivist.com is an international lifestyle webzine based in Switzerland. Since 2010.

Follow us

© LuxuryActivist.com 2025