The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance announced today it will celebrate world renowned coachbuilder Bohman & Schwartz as well as a pair of 50th anniversaries for significant races at Sebring and Daytona, during its 14th annual concours March 13-15, 2009 at the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island.

The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is one of the nation’s most innovative vintage auto events featuring more than 250 rare classics from seldom-seen private collections nationwide.

The elegant creations of Southern California coachbuilder Bohman & Schwartz will be featured in a separate class, which will display the one-of-a kind “Phantom Corsair” that was commissioned for Rust Heinz, heir to the H.J. Heinz food empire.
The Phantom Corsair’s futuristic shark-like body was mated to a Cord 810 Chassis and enjoyed a brief stint in Hollywood appearing as the mysterious “Flying Wombat” in the movie, “The Young in Heart.” The car will be making a rare trip outside the National Automobile Museum (The Harrah Collection) in Reno, Nevada for its showing the Amelia Island Concours.

Also celebrated at this year’s concours, are the 50th anniversaries of the first US Grand Prix Formula One race at Sebring International Raceway and the only Indy car race ever held at the Daytona International Speedway.
A seminar called “The Great Roadster Drivers,” will be held to recount the history and legacy of these races. Miami native Jim Rathmann, the 1960 Indy 500 winner, will be the Concours’ guest for the weekend and will participate in the Saturday seminar at The Ritz-Carlton grand ballroom.

For more information, visit www.ameliaconcours.org or 904-636-0027

Gucci has just announced the creation of a special collection, 8-8-2008 Limited Edition, using the opportunity to contribute to the Summer Olympics in China, so as to increase its brand awareness in label-conscious Asia.

In total, Gucci has produced 8 accessories, conceived by Gucci’s creative director, Frida Giannini, each inspired by competitive sports. The entire line plays a numbers game, since the Olympics will be held on 8-8-1008. (eight is the lucky number in Chinese culture).

For all eight accessories, the color red permeates the collection. “Not only does red evoke happiness and celebration, two emotions that couldn’t be more appropriate to describe the excitement brought by the international sport games, but it also happens to be a very fashionable color for 2008,” Giannini said.

“A noteworthy product in this collection is the 8-8-2008 I-Gucci watch ($1,415), the company’s first digital timepiece, boasts a black dial, steel frame and a clean digital face with a red and green logo commemorating the year 2008 on the back. The exterior of its red rubber strap is engraved with the Gucci logo, while the interior has been engrossed with Gucci’s iconic GG pattern. The timepiece allows the wearer to select a dedicated Beijing time zone code on the display too (source).”

The “8-8-2008 Limited Edition” collection includes other accessories such as a unique bicycle ($3,420) with bold red double GG leather details, and some collectable items such as a luxurious Mahjong ($3,150) set covered in red La Pelle Guccissima leather, and, to pay homage to China, the country’s iconic panda animal offered as a soft leather teddy bear for $1,050.

Also included in the collection are two pieces of luggage in “La Pelle Guccissima” (a sturdy leather duffle for $2,795 and a $995 soft leather messenger bag with Gucci’s iconic green-and-red web on the shoulder strap) ; sports shoes ($660), for both men and women, articulated in a fresh patchwork of suede, patent leather and gold trim and a $445 necklace inspired by military tags, in sterling silver.

The I-Gucci watch will be offered worldwide but all other accessories of this special collection will be sold exclusively in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Coinciding with London Fashion Week, Parisian haute-couture house Balenciaga has opened a flagship store in Mayfair. The store is a collaborative project between Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquière, French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster and lighting designer Benoit Lalloz. Previously the three creatives worked together on Balenciaga’s New York flagship store.

With the latest technology in mind, the creative team came up with a futuristic interior featuring plasma screens, silver walls and all white changing rooms. The ceiling is covered in bright coloured pixels and complements the coloured clothing rails.

With the shop design, Balenciaga leave the traditional set up of a store far behind. Normally an architect and marketer would be the creators of a store, but this new shopping space is the result of a close collaboration between a designer and artist.