August 2010

Saddleback Leather: New and Improved (Part 1)

August 31, 2010

Back in 2007, I posted a less than enthusiastic review of a Saddleback Leather briefcase I’d purchased and subsequently returned to sender: “Why Saddleback Leather Fails to Live Up to its Own Hype“. The leather was sturdy, the hardware was dependably solid and the overall design was ruggedly satisfying, but the bag itself was plagued [...]

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The Luxury & Fashion Biz: 08/27/10 (Of Swiss Watches, Black Swans and Material Girls)

August 27, 2010

1.) The Wristwatch is Dead? A Million Swiss Watchmakers Howl in Protest: “One day soon the wristwatch will be viewed as quaint and old-fashioned, the same as a pocket watch is seen today . . . This year’s list for the class of 2014 reminds us that these college freshmen were born in 1992, that [...]

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The Artisan Series: Andy Tauer (Part 3)

August 24, 2010

Andy Tauer has come a long way since he released his first perfumes, Le Maroc Pour Elle and L’Air du Desert Marocain, to the public in 2005. Not counting special editions and limited releases, he now has twelve fragrances to his name, with Carillon Pour un Ange seeing a recent pre-release, plus Une Rose Vermeille [...]

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The Luxury & Fashion Biz: 08/20/10 (Of Hermes scarves, Mass-Market Unique and Ads for Ads)

August 20, 2010

1.) Hermes Shakes Off Its Heritage, Joins the Street-Style Bloggers: “Hermes and its scarves are as iconic a pairing as Chanel and its twinsets, but while both are usually associated with high luxe and ladylike glamour, one look at the new fashion website Hermes has just launched will show you an urban cool side to [...]

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Aftelier: Long-Distance Bespoke Fragrance Service

August 18, 2010

When I was interviewing luxury all-natural perfumer Mandy Aftel for the artisan series, one of the topics we discussed was her bespoke/custom fragrance service. She said that she prefers having her bespoke clients visit her personally at her studio in Berkeley, California, but since she realizes that this isn’t a possibility for the majority of [...]

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The Luxury & Fashion Biz: 08/13/10 (Of Lagerfeld, logos and zero waste)

August 13, 2010

1.) Is It Time for Karl Lagerfeld to Retire? “As a lover of brands and someone who has worked for a decade for some of the biggest luxury houses as a consultant, I always gain inspiration from a local Church of Chanel. But in recent months, I must confess a growing sense of disappointment at [...]

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The Artisan Series: Andy Tauer (Part 2)

August 10, 2010

It’s an interesting experience to write about Andy Tauer, as my comments section usually crackles with an extra jolt of energy in response. The deep personal loyalty that Mr. Tauer elicits from his customers is more than just breathless desire for the latest status symbols pushed by affiliate-heavy fashion sites (i.e. “The top ten Fall [...]

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The Luxury and Fashion Biz: 08/06/10 (Of knockoffs, curves and sales numbers)

August 6, 2010

1.) It’s Not Just the Big Names That Feel the Knockoff Pain: “After years of knocking off luxury products like $2,800 Louis Vuitton handbags, criminals are discovering there is money to be made in faking the more ordinary — like $295 Kooba bags and $140 Ugg boots . . . The shift in the counterfeiting [...]

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The Artisan Series: Andy Tauer (Part 1)

August 4, 2010

One of the pleasures of searching out artisanal producers is discovering, among the millions of independent artists and craftsmen spread out across the globe, a unique, singular voice that grabs your attention, much like someone tapping a knife against a crystal glass in a large, crowded and very noisy room. Reading from independent Swiss perfumer [...]

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The Artisan Series: Mandy Aftel (Part 3)

August 1, 2010

Scheherazade Daneshkhu wrote in a June, 2010 Financial Times article that, due to the present recession and its effects on the consumer psyche, global luxury brands were rethinking their previous embrace of ostentatious bling — scrambling to reposition their image by hanging contemporary art in their boutiques and running advertisements that called attention to a [...]

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