Bang & Olufsen’s new mobile phone, Serene, was presented to the public at the Louis Vuitton grand store opening on Champs Elysées in Paris for the very first time. To accompany the new mobile phone, Serene, Louis Vuitton has developed a leather case specifically and exclusively for Bang & Olufsen.

Loyal to the vision of their founders, both companies share the same passion for innovation and modernity. From the start, both have established a tradition for creating state of the art products that use the newest materials and technologies, while paying careful attention to elegance, beauty and durability.

The leather case contains a main compartment for Serene and a front compartment for a Bluetooth headset. It has a removable leather necklace and a belt loop, so you have different options for carrying your mobile phone.

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Campeggi’s “Airpouf” - designed by Lorenzo Damiani - is a hoover which can be placed wherever to welcome your guests, comfortable as sitting place but also as home appliance. The fusion between these two elements gives birth to a new typology of design items. An hoover-pouf covered with coloured fabric completely removable. It appears like a sphere with three holes: the first one for the draft tube, the second one for the start button and the last one for the air-escaping; three coloured spheres close the holes while using the pouf as a sit and fly off when you turn on the hoover hidden inside it.

I’ve seen the prototypes early this year in Milano, but I’ve never seen them in a shop until today. Even on their website they aren’t presented. Is there really a market for a “hoover-pouf”? Hmm, wait and see…

Check their website for more interesting products…www.campeggisrl.it

Hot on the heels of Paris Fashion Week, comes a sexy installation by Italian artist, Vanessa Beecroft, for the world leader in luxury, Louis Vuitton’s new Paris store. Designed by architects Eric Carlson and Peter Marino, the glitzy new house represents a groundbreaking architectural achievement, conceived as a promenade of terraces in homage to the historical and cultural importance of the Champs-Elysees as the world’s most stylish promenade.

Equally unprecedented is the integration of art and architecture, with works by three leading contemporary artists displayed as landmarks of the house promenade. Exclusively for the Champs-Elysees, the American artist James Turrell created an impressive “Wide Glass” modular light sculpture, while fellow American Tim White-Sobieski contributed a cutting-edge video installation alongside the house’s spectacular 20-meter long “traveling staircase.” Meanwhile, the Danish conceptual artist Olafur Eliasson transformed an elevator linking up directly with the top floor of the Champs-Elysees building, which will open in January 2006 as a permanent space of artistic and cultural expression, into a “chamber of sensual entropy” isolated from its surroundings.

via thecoolhunter.net
via New York Times

“The International Design Yearbook” is the 20th edition of this leading showcase for domestic design featuring guest editor and acclaimed Dutch designer Marcel Wanders. He surveys the world of design and identifies new, interesting work in the areas of furniture, lighting, tableware, textiles and products.

His eclectic selection ranges from packaging for lipsticks and disposable underwear to a loft cube and inflatable mobile office space. The latest technologies are also featured, including a washing machine from Dyson, Apples mini I-pod, a new robotic dog from Sony and the world’s first intelligent shoe, created by Adidas.

Marcel Wanders (1963) grew up in Boxtel, the Netherlands, and graduated at the School of the Arts Arnhem in 1988 with a cum laude certificate. He is now an independent industrial product designer operating out of Amsterdam where he has his own studio, Marcel Wanders studio. Marcel Wanders designs products for various design labels, like Moooi, Cappellini, Boffi, Magis, Droog Design and Mandarina Duck.

Buy here:  “The International Design Yearbook” (Marcel Wanders)

This smooth pebble fits snugly into the palm of your hand and slips easily into your pocket – the perfect travel companion. Thus we dubbed it “Ryoko”, which means travel in Japanese.

Stopover in Venice, Bali, Jakarta or Rio… No matter where you venture, the Ryoko keeps you company with your favorite fragrance and flaunts its color like a good-luck charm. The sunny, woody, aquatic or powdery floral notes of Kenzo fragrances find a new home in this collection of bottles that are sure to become a beloved object.

The design, distinctive to the senses, beckons us to make each one our own. As a final touch, each bottle is carefully protected in a fitted neoprene pouch with a colorful interior.

You can find it exclusively in airports worldwide, and at LABULLEKENZO.

Our friends at Charles & Marie have received a great treatment in Time Magazine, courtesy of Messenger Josh:

‘What’s next for those who want to be ahead of the curve? For Spear, one goal is to cut through the clutter of blogorrhea to create an all encompassing digital destination for people with discerning taste. “We’re sick of mediocrity,” he says, speaking for his cool-loving friends and colleagues. To sort through the growing mass of trendy tidbits, he’s working with an international team of experts on a shopping, travel and socializing site called charlesandmarie.com billed as the Web’s first “lifestyle navigator” for lovers of all things cool. “Cities around the world are starting to look the same,” he says. “We want to highlight what’s unique.”‘

Congrats guys, well done!

“Morphescape” is Gaia&Gino’s white glazed porcelain tableware designed by Karim Rashid.

The non-stop continuation of a single undulating surface is divided into every need for the table so you can actually have an entire table connected by each function as a modular scape. The inspiration is the city scape of Istabul from  minarets to mosques to the modern city and the Bosphorus. But it could be any city in the world.

Karim Rashid was born in Cairo in 1960 - half Egyptian, half English, raised in Canada and practices in New York. His perspective and clients are global and while he considers himself more of a cultural provocateur, his projects range from products, interiors, fashion, furniture, lighting, art and music to installations.

www.gaiaandgino.com
www.karimrashid.com

Contemporary illustrator Ami Davis teams up with LeSportsac for this season’s Artist Edition Collection debuting in Backstage, an exciting print offered exclusively by LeSportsac in a variety of cool handbags and accessories for a limited time only. Ami’s unique edition shows what really happens behind the scenes of the hot and eagerly awaited autumn fashion shows.

A regular on the fashion and art scenes, Ami Davis draws her inspiration from the hectic, yet chic vibe of the backstage at a major fashion runway shows. She summarizes this scene with high energy vignettes of various fashion shows staples, including models, makeup artists, and designers, and everything that comes with them.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

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I’m quite sure that many of our hip female readers are in the know about Tamara Henriques.

But - as you never know - here is a quick reminder for the first rainy days…

Tamara Henriques began her career at American Vogue. A childhood spent wearing bog standard (and bog colored) wellies, had given Henriques a fetish for footwear – Vogue led her to explore a world of shoes beyond her Wellingtons. She soon began designing her own label.

During a trip to a Hong Kong shoe factory, Tamara discovered a printing process thought too laborious to use widely. Elaborate designs were being printed onto childrens rubber Wellingtons and Tamara spotted unlimited potential in adapting this technique to adult boots. She packed in the dainty shoes and went back to her rubber roots to create the urbanized welly.

This latest version of her popular argyle boot is a mauve, pink and grey combination. Very Pringle and a little retro. Adored by celebrities, this pattern has become a perennial favourite.

www.tamarahenriques.com

As you do not have plenty of time for your halloween preparations we have two hot tips for you:

From New York to Monaco – the highclass partyscene around the globe shares an exclusive secret: CASTLE OF DRACULA - the myth is still alive. This new and very hip fashiondrink is the latest in style and taste.

Insiders enjoy the red sin on ice out of cool longdrink glasses rather than old fashioned champagne cups.

Its mystical name and the long lived tradition of the rare Marzemino grape, which had already appeared in Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni”, make up for its excellent quality and unique taste. To date the secretive red and the elegant white alternative are only found in the most exclusive clubs/shops and bars worldwide.

You can buy “the red sin” online here!

And there is another tip:

Late one night, exploring her father’s library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to “My dear and unfortunate successor,” and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of - a labyrinth where the secrets of her father’s past and her mother’s mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history. You know what it is?
Read “The Historian” by Elizabeth Kostova

www.castle-of-dracula.com
www.derhistoriker.com (german site)