1. Gaultier Set to Launch New Perfume — Ma Dame: “The juice was created by Francis Kurkdjian. It features acidic orange, rose velvet, grenadine, musk and cedar. ‘Ma Dame’s signature is short and sharp,’ (Gaultier) noted. ‘There is a great deal of strength and a great deal of softness in this fragrance’ . . . The colour-scheme is shocking pink, matte black and lacquered white, with a graphic typeface . . . The worldwide Ma Dame roll-out will begin on 1 September, following certain exclusive listings.” Can we handle yet another major perfume launch? And with all the major perfume launches, one following the other, can they even be called “major’ anymore?
2. ‘Made In Italy’ Doesn’t Mean What It Used To: “An Italian documentary called ‘Schiavi del Lusso’ (Slaves of Luxury) has uncovered the dark side of exclusive (luxury) brands . . . The documentary showed mostly Chinese illegal and legal immigrants working long hours in poor working conditions producing luxury products in Tuscany . . . Utilising cheap labour provides the opportunity for the companies who own the brands as well as the marketers and the retailers to produce these products for €20 and sell them at exclusive outlets for €400.” Author Dana Thomas addresses these same issues in Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. Watch the video clip below about the use of cheap Asian (and often illegal) labor to produce Italian luxury goods:
3. Milla Jovovich Pulls the Plug on Jovovich-Hawk Clothing Line: ” In the latest issue of Lucky magazine, Milla reveals that she’s decided to kill her clothing line Jovovich-Hawk, which she was designing with friend and fellow former model Carmen Hawk . . . The line, which was carried at high-end doors like Fred Segal, was created in 2003. There’s no word yet as to whether Carmen will continue to design.” Jovovich-Hawk only just collaborated this past Spring on a Target International line that was well received.
4. Roberto Cavalli Has Designs on Diet Coke: “Teaming with Roberto Cavalli, Coca-Cola will be releasing a limited run of only 300,000 bottles, distributed exclusively in Italy from September through December. Cavalli compared creating looks for the 300,000 curvy containers to designing dresses for his customers, making them ‘seductive and feminine, in typical Cavalli style.’” Designer Diet Coke? Really? Will it taste better and ditch all the horrible chemicals? No? Then I’ll take a pass.
5. Louis Vuitton Says ‘No Thanks’ to Free Pop Star PR: “Last week, high-end designer Louis Vuitton reached an agreement with Sony BMG after suing the record label for allowing its artists … to use the company’s signature Toile monogram and Multicolor trademarks without permission in music videos and CD inserts . . . ‘High-end companies like Cristal and Petron liquor and Louis Vuitton want to be the gatekeepers of their celebrity affiliations,’ said Marvet Britto, the head of New York public relations and brand strategy firm The Britto Agency . . . ‘The brands don’t say it, but where they spend their marketing dollars is very reflective of who they want wearing their things.’” Because the sight of Britney Spears carrying an Hermes bag is just wrong wrong wrong, y’all.
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Well I guess fruity woods is the new fruity floral. Magnifique, Notorious and now Ma Dame are all variations, though Sensuous seems to have missed the memo about the fruit. For the time being, I’m liking it, and I’m intrigued by the “acidic orange” in Ma Dame. It sounds like they are trying to channel Johnny Rotten in something that thanks to the grenadine may smell more like a Shirley Temple.
My guess is that the “acidic” element will mimic phosphoric acid. The reaction from the boys in the halls of your local junior-high — “Hey! You smell good enough to drink!”
Cue stampede of young girls to the perfume counter.
Well I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.
Your teen cola madness sounds like something to look forward to.