Prada’s Spring 2009 Women’s Campaign

Prada’s Spring/Summer 2009 fashion show was truly unforgettable with beautiful clothes and the dangerous shoes which caused models to trip and even fall. And now the much awaited Spring Campaign featuring the feminine pieces from the collection, as well as the sky high most talked-about shoes of the year, has arrived. The ad was shot by Steven Meisel and includes models Nimue Smit, Giedre Dukauskaite, Sigrid Agren, Toni Garrn, Katrin Thormann, Viktoriya Sasonkina and Ymre Stiekema. The ad is gorgeous and brings out the sensitive nature of the clothing with natural make-up and chic French twists hair styles and the color palette is in soft beige, cream and white. 

Louboutin’s “Barbie” Pumps

Barbie’s 50th Birthday is coming up next year and for her special runway show in 2009, the infamous doll is getting to ready to wear a fabulous pair of Louboutins. Christian Louboutin is designing a pair of pumps in the legendary Barbie Pantone 219 Pink that will make their debut at the Barbie Mattel runway show during New York Fashion Week in February 2009. As of now, 50 designers, unfortunately still undisclosed, will create Barbie inspired outfits for the extravagant show and each of the models will wear the special pink Louboutins. As for Louboutin, whose pumps are by far the most wanted worldwide, he is a longtime fan of Barbie, “I guess I always had a little “girlie side” who liked Barbie. Barbie needs to wear great shoes because every girl needs to wear great shoes.”

Coco Avant Chanel: New On-Set Stills with Audrey Tautou

The new edition of Elle France published new on-set stills from the upcoming film Coco Avant Chanel starring Audrey Tautou. The movie is currently filming in Paris and is said to be released in France in May of 2009 and will be available worldwide following later in the year. The film will center around Coco Chanel’s earlier years. Designer Karl Lagerfeld has collaborated with costumer Catherine Leterrier for the extravagant film costumes which will include classic Chanel designs and will show how Mademoiselle Chanel was “different from the ladies of her time” — “she was poor, but she had her own style.”

Rosa Cha at Claro Rio Summer 2008 Fashion Event

Brazil is not just one of the hottest travel destinations, but it is known for its hot fashion as well. For Claro Rio Summer 2008 fashion event, Amir Slama certainly spiced up the runway with his newest Rosa Cha collection in Forte de Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The collection features flowy beach cover ups, bandeau tops and a rich tempting color palette of pink, deep blue and exotic prints as well as shimmering silver. The runway was absolutely stunning as the models walked on water with their heels for a splashing hot runway show. You can watch the video of the runway show after the photos below.

Cha Claro Rio Summer 2008, Brazil

Barbie’s Fashion Show on New York Fashion Week 2009

The most loved doll of all time and a true fashion icon in its own doll special way, Barbie is celebrating its 50th Birthday in 2009 with her own Fashion Show. Its parent company Mattel Inc will market Barbie as a fashion brand with a runway show in February 2009 during New York Fashion Week and will feature many designer collaboration to guarantee an unforgettable birthday. Fifty designers will produce life-sized outfits inspired by the doll. Famous designer Vera Wang will create a life-size wedding gown which will include Barbie wearing its own mini version too. Other designers include Jeremy Scott and Diane Von Furstenberg who will also make real life garments that reflect Barbie’s fashion world.

But the collaborations do not stop there as a little further east in Shanghai, the first Barbie Flagship store worldwide, the House of Barbie, will open its doors in 2009. The store is a 3400-square-meter-store and will carry Barbie dolls and all Barbie related products. The new Barbie collection will go on sale there and Mattel says that House of Barbie will encourage women and girls to “nibble on truffles, smear on pink-tinted mud masks and shop for clothes for themselves and their dolls”.

Mattel will also sponsor New York’s IMG organised Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. The senior vice president at IMG Fern Mallis explains, “For many young girls, [Barbie is] their first association with fashion and dressing up and changing clothes.” And what an amazing year for Barbie and all its fans worldwide it will be!

Hermès Covers Citröen 2CV

Any time you hear of the infamous Hermès, you think of exquisite leather. The legendary Citröen 2CV got this exquisite leather makeover by the French high fashion house. This cute 60th anniversary gift for the mini 2CV by Hermès was introduced at the Paris Motor Show on October 7th, which for men is like Paris Fashion Week for the ladies. Hermès detailed the natural leather trim from the door facings, the interior rearview mirrors, the gear knob, the steering wheel, and the driver’s sun visor with some haute couture flavour. The two seats are also made by the French brand with natural leather and grey beige cotton canvas. The bonnet and interior trim at the rear of the 2CV is also made of Hermès cotton canvas.

For more info and pictures, go here.

Power Catamarans: New, Hot and Fast

Power catamarans may be a recent addition to the popular yacht market but they have been in existance for a very long time. The catamaran was first discovered to be used in a small fishing community in the southern coast of Tamil Nadu, India in the 5th century AD. The development of the power catamaran incorporates the best features of the motor yacht combined with the multihull characteristic. Nathanael Herreshoff designed a racing catamaran in 1876, which was banned by the New York Yacht Club because it was actually too fast.

In fact, power catamarans or power cats, are known for their increased speed, more space, and less expensive engines. Another attractive feature of these power cats is their stability. Because of their double hulls and greater beam, the catamarans offer a steadiness that single-hull yachts cannot offer. However, the larger beam is one of its disadvantages since many marinas simply cannot fit you.

The catamaran design remains relatively young and so, there is a great future for experimentation compared to the monohull yachts. There are already  power cats with hydrofoils, power cats that rely on solar energy and even power cats that look like single hulls above the water because of its faux bows feature. The market for power cats is still in its early stages but we see a growing trend and popular interest is on the definite increase.

The faster speed and increased space combined with the attractive lower costs attract many yacht lovers, but as for any other new market, make sure you do your research and examine your options carefully, talk to power cat owners, and most importantly take you time and find what best suits you!

As for my opinion, I can definitely state that I love these power cats! Ever since sailing in the Caribbean in one of these beauties, I fell in love. It offers great space and the speed is unbelievable! Yes, it can be harder for single-hull yacht owners to adjust since it is much larger and it sure feels different when you sail it; both because of its better steadiness and quicker loping motion compared to single-hulls. One thing is for certain, power cats are truly attractive and their design offers that little extra adventurous visage that is so appealing.

Some of the Current Power Cats: Aeroyacht are French builders that offer many sailing cats, but the Blubay TC 45 is a high performance hydrofoil power cat. Fountaine Pajot are a well known French company that offer power cats from 35 feet to 55 feet, including the Summerland 40 motoryacht. The Brazilian builders Sunboats offer mega hot luxurious catamarans from 83 feet to 155 feet, with features such as helipads and the ability to beach the yacht, the two pictures you see here show the Sunboats with these two hot features. With a slogan of “These are the yachts Da Vinci would have designed,” the Italian builders BRB yachts offer great layouts such as the three cabin layout with the master suite filling one entire hull and the four stateroom version of the 62 feet power cat.

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