Monthly Archives: March 2009

Richard Branson launches V Australia airline

Virgin Atlantic president Sir Richard Branson celebrated Virgin Atlantic’s 25th birthday this year by launching a new airline V Australia, and throwing an extravagant launch party in Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard in LA.

Branson has embarked on an eight-day journey around the world to mark the launch of the newest Virgin airline V Australia.

He started his trip by flying from London to Hong Kong and will travel to Sydney and Los Angeles before eventually returning to London.


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Veuve Clicquot : Dry Blizzard

The concept “Dry Blizzard” is a study of style and a new technical approach to an ice bucket for champagne Veuve Cliquot.

Thomas Lemaire’s ‘Dry Blizzard’ champagne bucket utilizes dry ice and a fan to circulate cold air around the bottle; the double-walled glass design ensures hot hands don’t alter the temperature one iota.

79th International Motor Show: Geneva 2009

The Geneva Motor Show is one of the 5 major auto shows in the world, the only one in Europe that takes place every year, always in early springtime.

Rolf Studer, General Manager of the Show, said: “We know it is of key importance to offer automobile manufacturers an attractive platform which guarantees them an opportunity to efficiently present and communicate to the rest of the world.

Every year we welcome some 10,000 media representatives and more than 700,000 visitors, of which 37% come from more than 110 countries.“

This year, the 79th edition will open to public from March 5 to March 15, but there are already shows and exhibition for press.

We have selected for you some luxury car models.

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No More Luxury Stays For Chinese Officials

The Chinese Communist Party has told its members to embrace austerity after a series of embarrassing revelations about extravagant business trips.

The latest scandal came when 14 officials from the southern province of Guangdong went on a two-week junket around Africa and the Middle East that included a stay at the Burj al-Arab, a seven-star hotel in Dubai.

The junket, which included stops to buy diamonds and a belly-dancing show, was exposed by Chinese bloggers last week.
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Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce

Lamborghini presented the limited edition Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce, more powerful, lighter and faster than the Murcielago LP 640, an icon of the Italian brand.

The extreme supercar of menacing character and brutal power features the 6.5 liter V12 raised to 670 bhp and a weight reduction of 100 kg, enabling a top speed of 342 km/h (212 mph) and a 0-100 km/h time of 3.2 seconds.

The new design is quite aggressive with a large air intakes for the front brakes more powerfully emphasized and a new rear, an innovative engine bonnet and a choice of two aerodynamic set-ups featuring either a small or large rear spoiler.

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50 short listed for world’s “best job”

50 lucky people are now on a short list to become caretaker of a tropical Australian island — dubbed the “Best Job in the World.”

Officials with the tourism department of Australia’s Queensland state on Tuesday revealed the 50 finalists from a pool of nearly 35,000 applicants for the job – a 150,000 Australian dollar ($96,000) contract to relax on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef for six months while writing a blog to promote the area.

The finalists hail from 22 countries, including the United States, Germany, Greece and India. Applicants include an actor, a chef and a scientist.


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MultiMarine VSV MarySlim

What’s a VSV? The acronym stands for Very Slender Vessel and applies to the boat shown above, the needle-like MarySlim, a 72-foot wave-piercing yacht design created and crafted by Multimarine Composites Limited.

The $2.14 million boat can cut through waves in any conditions and the hull and windscreen have been constructed to withstand the pressure of 50 tons of water.

Other features include a top speed of 38 knots, a range of 1800 miles, and a KiteShip kite as an auxiliary power system. Source : bligblog
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Love of Pink by Lacoste: Hearts

Lacoste’s new perfume, Love of Pink, focused on women aged 16 to 24, is presented in a romantic fantasy of heart shaped bubbles and butterflies in this commercial from France.

Australian model Sarah Stephens wanders through the streets of Cape Town. She’s surrounded by heart shaped pink bubbles.

Those bubbles, representing being in love, have the power to bring out the butterflies and heart shaped confetti. Source: Theinspirationroom

Oil Rigs Become Luxury Hotels

What do you do with 4,000 decommissioned oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico? Instead of blowing them up – costing millions and killing aquatic life – Morris Architects’ Hotelier At Sea project turns them into luxury hotels.

According to BldgBlog, approximately 4,000 oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico will be decommissioned within the next century.

Morris proposed to convert this space into exclusive, self-sufficient eco-friendly, high-end resort islands off the Gulf of Mexico.


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Chanel Spring Summer 2009 Heidi Mount by Karl Lagerfeld

As soon as Karl Lagerfeld saw the house in Vermont he knew he had found the setting for the next Chanel ad campaign.

It is a typical New England wooden house, set on the banks of Lake Champlain, with a severe and puritan look that makes it seem like the house has been frozen in the mid 19th century.

As the designer put it: “I love this house, it is so Emily Dickinson,” referring to the tormented romanticism of the American poet from Massachusetts whose work went unrecognized during her lifetime.

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LEAD: Luxury Guide of the French Riviera

Plan your trip to the French Riviera with The LEAD Guide that details a very selective inventory of prestigious and unusual locations (hotels, restaurants, spas, art galleries and art villas, etc) of the French Côte d’Azur.

Published by a non-profit student enterprise – affiliated to the CERAM Business School of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France – the LEAD Guide is available in the private lounges of the Côte d’Azur Airports (Nice, Cannes and St Tropez).

It will also be sent to the exclusive yacht brokers, prestigious limousine and car renting agencies, outstanding golf resorts and renowned luxury real estate agencies around the area.


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Lamborghini Insecta Concept

Iulian Bumbu, a Romanian car designer, created this study of a 2-seater mid-engined Lamborghini Insecta Concept.

“The idea was to create an extreme race-oriented supercar with a style that introduces softer and more organic lines and integrate them into the geometrical style of Lamborghini” said Iulian Bumbu.

Lamborghini Insecta Concept features the brand’s styling cues with inspirations that came from insect exoskeletons, particularly in bugs.

Iulian Bumbu used carbon-fiber for the body structure and panels. The powertrain is the same adopted on the Gallardo.

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Alpha Resort-Tomamu’s Ice Village in Shimukappu

Fancy an “icy” outdoor bath during your next holiday?

At Alpha Resort-Tomamu’s ice village in Shimukappu town, you can stay in a hotel where dining room, bedroom and bathroom are all made out of ice.

Even dinner is served on an ice plate.

Room charges are at 80,000 yen ($900) for two per night. The hotel was open until Feb 15, 2009 but it will certainly re-open in 2010.

Temperatures in Shimukappu range between -1 to -10 degrees celsius during this period. Via Kineda. More pictures after the break.

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Museum Plaza / REX

Museum Plaza rethinks conventional attitudes towards property development.

It begins with a vision to construct a contemporary art institute and concludes with a business pro forma that supports this commitment.

Culture is placed physically and spiritually at the project’s center.

But REX, and the following video, explain it better:

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Yacht Designs Up For Auction

Ten unique yacht designs created by famed luxury yacht designer Tom Fexas, who died in 2006, will be sold at auction.

These copyrighted designs will offer an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a piece of boating history and craft a yacht from a choice of 10 individual Fexas designs never seen before.

The designs include the outboard profile and general arrangement for yachts ranging in size from 65 feet to 145 feet.
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Finkeldei crystallized furniture collection

Finkeldei is presenting a wide selection of new models of upholstered furniture with Swarovski crystals.

We have earlier also reported on their Crystal Edition collection. And continuing with the tradition of luxury, the German luxury manufacturer now offers more than 50 models with sparkling crystals to its 2009 collection.

Aside from upholstered furniture the collection also includes tables, cabinets and sideboards.

World’s Most Expensive Suit

Scotland-based fabric weaver and cloth merchant Holland & Sherry has woven the world’s first 100 per cent worsted spun Vicuna fabric, the most luxurious and expensive in the world at over $4,000 per yard.

It took H&S five years to gather enough of the special yarn, and another year and a half to develop the unique cloth.

The material comes from the wool of the Vicuna lama which inhabits the high alpine reaches of the Andes.
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Beckhams Borrow Clooney’s Lake Como Villa

David Beckham is borrowing George Clooney’s Italian mansion ‘to unwind’ as the transfer battle to secure his footballing talents continues.

A source in Italy had reportedly told Hello! Magazine that “George has really taken David under his wing since the transfer trouble started. At the house, David is able to get away from everything, relax and switch off in private.”

The luxurious $8million lakeside retreat, on Lake Como, is just half an hour from Beckham’s Milan base.


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The Newton by Nixon

The Newton watch, from Nixon, is presumably named after Sir Isaac himself, with it’s dots in planetary orbit depicting the time.

The Newton seems to take its inspiration from contemporary art and minimalism with a rotating dot mechanic that replaces the minute and hour hands. $100.

Rare comic that launched Superman to be auctioned

A very rare version of Action Comics issue #1, known famously as the issue that launched Superman, is up for auction and is expected to fetch a bidding price of $400,000.

The particular issue up for auction is an “unrestored” version of the comic and is worth considerably more than the remaining Action Comics #1 that are known to exist.

There are only about 100 known copies left of the original 1938 comic which sold for only 10-cents when it first came out, but about 80% of those are said to have been restored.
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