Monthly Archives: April 2011

Textiles maison Hermes

Hermès to debut full home range in Milan

Textiles maison Hermes

The French luxe brand Hermès will launch its first furniture range during the Salone del Mobile, running April 12-17.

Artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas has teamed up with designers including Enzo Mari, Denis Montel, and Antonio Citterio to create furnishings, furniture and accessories that will be available in select Hermès stores this fall.

In addition, as part of a new partnership with Italian textile manufacturer Dedar, the house will present a range of home fabrics, wallpaper and carpets.
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Dress BIC

The £10,000 dress made from 1,200 BIC pens

Dress BIC

BIC Cristal turns 60 and to commemorate this, they have designed a dress using BIC pens and Swarovski crystals.

It took 640 hours to sew all the Bic pens onto the extraordinary garment, which is also covered in 2,000 crystals and is worth around £10,000.

The dress weighs 8lbs – just over half a stone – but, according to designer Annette Carey, it’s completely wearable.
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Maserati motor car New Delhi

Maserati Arrives in India

Maserati motor car New Delhi

Luxury auto marque Maserati, which produces supercars such as the Maserati Quattroporte and GranTurismo, is to open its first outlet in India this year.

The top end brand, will open a showroom in Mumbai this year, followed by another dealership in the capital New Delhi in early 2012.

By 2015, the Italian automaker plans to have showrooms in seven major Indian cities, it said in a statement, although buyers in Mumbai and New Delhi are expected to account for three quarters of all Maserati sales.
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megan fox armani code

Armani Code Woman with Megan Fox

megan fox armani code

Following her fashion and beauty ads for Italian luxury house Armani, Megan Fox is now starring in a newly released ad for the brand’s Armani Code perfume.

Both the men’s and women’s versions of the scent are a few years old, but a new men’s flanker called Armani Code Sport — composed of lemon, mandarin, mint, gray amber, ginger, and vetiver — is scheduled to be released in June.

Oozing a Pulp Fiction-inspired vibe, Fox plays her part as mysterious femme fatale alongside male model Chris Folz in the commercial that was shot in Los Angeles.
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W Hotels Namaste Tower

W Hotels Unveils Plans for the Namaste Tower

W Hotels Namaste Tower

W Hotels has just announced plans for the Namaste Tower, a new W Hotel in Mumbai that is due to open July 2015.

To follow the long tradition of great Indian architecture, the striking 984-foot-tall building will house 62 floors combined into a hotel, office, and retail space.

The design of the tower is actually meant to reflect the namaste yoga gesture where two wings of the hotel are clasped together like hands greeting the city of Mumbai.
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Tissot window display

Tissot Augmented Reality Window at Harrods

Tissot Augmented Reality Window at Harrods

Swiss watchmaker Tissot has partnered with Holition to showcase its Ladies and T-Touch collection in one of Harrods iconic Brompton Road window displays as part of the store’s new promotion celebrating all things Swiss.

The augmented reality application will be live and fully interactive on weekends between 12pm and 6pm from 1st – 24th April.

The window display will enable consumers to virtually ‘try on’ watches from both the Ladies and T-Touch men’s collection, and a fully interactive touch screen will allow customers to engage with a wider range of Tissot watches than ever before.
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Vapour Infusion Bombay Sapphire

Bombay Sapphire Vapor installation Infusion

Vapour Infusion Bombay Sapphire

Bombay Sapphire will celebrate its 250th anniversary by participating in the Milan Design Week 2011 with the installation Vapor Infusion, created by Moritz Waldemeye.

He created a stunning and highly imaginative visualisation of the special distillation process used in the production of the premium gin in the iconic blue bottle.

The Bombay Sapphire Vapour Infusion Piece combines the most advanced lighting technology with hand-crafted skills, juxtaposing the contemporary and traditional attributes of Bombay Sapphire in an intriguing and beautiful way.
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Virgin Oceanic Sub

Branson Unveils Virgin Oceanic Submarine

Virgin Oceanic Sub

Richard Branson unveiled plans Tuesday to pilot a “flying” mini-submarine down to the furthest depths of the oceans, in his latest record-breaking adventure.

The Virgin Oceanic craft will try to reach the deepest points in each of the world’s five oceans, starting with the deepest of them all, in the western Pacific later this year.

“With space long ago reached by man, and commercial spaceflight tantalizingly close, the last great challenge for humans is to reach and explore the depths of our planet’s oceans,” said Branson.
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Christophe Decarnin

Decarnin out at Balmain

Christophe Decarnin

Christophe Decarnin, head designer of Balmain for the past five years and responsible for one of the most distinct looks of Paris fashion, is leaving the house.

An official announcement is expected on April 6. According to the trade paper, his successor — rumored to be an internal creative — will be named shortly thereafter.

A potential candidate might be Melanie Ward, who took over from Emmanuelle Alt when she was named French Vogue‘s editor-in-chief, and who completed the collection after Decarnin’s mysterious no-show last Paris fashion week.
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Diane von Furstenberg Natalia Vodianova

Diane von Furstenberg opens exhibit in Beijing

Diane von Furstenberg Natalia Vodianova

After vowing to increase her presence in the Chinese market a few years ago, Diane von Furstenberg has brought her “Journey of a Dress” exhibit to Beijing.

The display that details her fashion house’s history opened to the public at the Pace Gallery on April 4 after having traveled Moscow and São Paulo, also known as ‘other important emerging markets,’ in the past.

Diane von Furstenberg, who also happens to be chairwoman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, has also announced the release of a new book on designers’ favorite spots around the world, called American Fashion Travel.
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Ayia Napa Cyprus

Top 10 Beaches in Europe

Ayia Napa Cyprus

If you’re beginning to think about booking a summer sun getaway in Europe, Cyprus offers some of the best beach destinations, according to TripAdvisor users.

The island nabbed two of the top three beach destinations in Europe, with Ayia Napa, the party capital which made its name as a notorious party paradise, in top place.

Protaras, another Cypriote tourist resort, took third place, just below the Greek island of Skiathos, a small island famous for its white sand beaches.
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prada spring summer 2010 China

Prada considers Hong Kong IPO

prada spring summer 2010 China

Italian luxury goods company Prada is set to file a listing application for a Hong Kong IPO that could be worth almost $2 billion, Reuters reports.

The Milan-based company, known for its colorful Miu Miu dresses and Prada handbags, planned to list in Hong Kong at the end of June.

Prada would be only the second company from Western Europe to list in Hong Kong, after L’Occitane International.
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sofitel wentworth sydney

Accor setting Chinese, Indian standards

sofitel wentworth sydney

Hotel group Accor has announced that it will implement a range of services designed to cater to the needs of inbound travellers from China and India.

The company, which operates hotel brands such as Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, ibis and Motel 6, will begin rolling out its new Optimum Service Standards this year in its Australian hotels.

The new scheme will mean that parts of the hotel stay will be specifically tailored to the nationality in question, with particular foods being added to the hotels’ breakfast buffet, for instance.
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Lexus LS600h Monaco

Lexus, official mark of the Principality of Monaco

Lexus LS600h Monaco

Prince Albert II of Monaco has awarded a royal warrant to Lexus as Official Supplier to H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince of Monaco.

Confirming his commitment for more environmentally friendly solutions, he has decided to use a Lexus hybrid car at the occasion of his marriage to Miss Charlene Wittstock on Saturday 2nd July 2011. This Lexus LS600h has been specially outfitted with the royal flag, “MC 01” license plate and flashing lights.

The prince has long been a supporter of hybrid and electric mobility solutions and offers a massive tax credit to anyone who chooses to buy an electric car.

Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel Shanghai

Jumeirah opens its first hotel in China

Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel Shanghai

Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based luxury hotel company, announces the soft opening of its first five-star luxury hotel in China at the Himalayas Centre in Pudong, Shanghai.

Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel Shanghai features 401 contemporary Chinese-style guestrooms, including 62 suites and residences, four restaurants and lounges, a 24-hour fitness centre and indoor swimming pool.

The hotel also offers extensive meeting, conference and event facilities, including two grand ballrooms and a 5,000m2 rooftop Infinity Garden.
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BMW Concept M5

BMW Concept M5 set for Shanghai debut

BMW Concept M5

BMW is to show off a concept version of an M5 sedan at next month’s Auto Shanghai show, it confirmed April 4.

The latest designs for the four-door performance sedan will be showcased at the Chinese show and are expected to hint strongly at a production model slated for later this year, to be the fifth iteration of the iconic car.

The M5 is a reintegration of the M series’ traditional blend of business sedan and performance sports car, with “expressive and unmistakeable design features.”
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Miu Miu E-Commerce

Miu Miu launches first e-commerce

Miu Miu E-Commerce

For being one of the fastest-paced industries, fashion has sometimes been remarkably slow in jumping on the online bandwagon.

One of the brands that took especially long to get selling on the internet is Miu Miu, which finally launches its first e-shop on April 6.

According to Women’s Wear Daily, the site will feature all of the label’s collections, making it the biggest Miu Miu store in the world.
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Yuri Milner Mansion

Billionaire pays $100 million for mansion

Yuri Milner Mansion

The WSJ reported Thursday that Russian billionaire Yuri Milner has paid the highest known price ever for a single-family U.S. home — a whopping $100 million.

The mansion is a French-style chateau in the Loire style set on 18 acres in hills overlooking San Francisco Bay

The home has five bedrooms, a ballroom, wine cellar, gym, tennis courts, spa and pools inside and outside. There’s also a guest house on the property.
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Audi Renovo bicycle brown

Audi to sell wood-framed bicycle

Audi Renovo bicycle brown

Audi has unveiled its new ‘Duo’ hardwood bike – a collaborative creation between Renovo Hardwood Bicycles and the German premium brand.

Renovo is the only all-hardwood bike maker and Audi has commissioned from them a bicycle that will be representative of its luxury and performance brand values.

Renovo’s bicycles are designed to offer the smoothest ride of any bike frame material as wood absorbs shock and vibration better than metal or carbon fiber.
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Oscar de la Renta Esprit Facebook

Oscar de la Renta launches huge Facebook campaign

Oscar de la Renta Esprit Facebook

America’s master of big-impact gowns Oscar de la Renta is readying the release of his first perfume in a decade, Esprit d’Oscar, via social media.

Thanks to his label’s ingenious “Oscar PR Girl” (who also operates a Tumblr blog), traditional media are almost entirely skipped in the promotional strategy.

The luxury brands is informing fans directly via Facebook and giving away free samples to everyone who “likes” the page in the runup to the launch mid-April.
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Virgin spaceship in space

First look inside Virgin Galactic’s tourist spaceship

Virgin spaceship in space

Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson‘s company that hopes to be taking tourists into space within a couple of years, has shown the inside of its spacecraft to the media for the first time.

A BBC journalist was this week given an exclusive look inside the vessel, which is designed to propel six tourists and two pilots through the atmosphere and over 100 kilometers above the Earth.

While the inside looks rather cramped, the first “space tourists” will be able to get a good view thanks to the large porthole-shaped windows on each side, and entry is through a narrow hatch on the bottom side of the vessel.
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