LV - Takashi Murakami “Super Flat First Love”
Watches and Jewelry Slump as Handbags Reign
According to Reuters, men and women have different ways of shopping during the economy. Men are affected psychologically in a way that changes their spending habits and puts an end on splurging on big ticket items such as watches. While women are typically affected with “retail therapy” and are pushed to spend on items that they believe are worth spending on, such as handbags. It would explain the buoyancy that Louis Vuitton and Hermès are experience, leaving them above the market slump.
Image credit: Reuters
No Junk in This Trunk
The Trunk is back people.
Oh, that may be too early to say really. But I think the traditional bulky trunk will be making a return to fashion soon enough. Hermes already showcased a few suitcase trunks for the Fall collection and I’m loving every bit of it.
The JC Report , er, reports that London-based designer Beatrix Ong has collaborated with Globe Trotter to release her own luxury luggage collection including a snazzy looking vanity trunk. I’m not too sure about her foray into athletic shoes, but I think she should keep to the luggage direction.
I had made a trip down to Ogilvy a couple of weeks ago and toured around Louis Vuitton to see if they had anything new to showcase besides some bland neon hash of a garbage shoe collection they had. I noticed they actually keep a vintage Louis Vuitton steamer trunk, complete with reinforced wooden pieces. Now that’s what I call indestructible. Although I admit the trunk must weigh a ton and with today’s airlines fees, would be impossible to travel with on a regular basis. Still, they sure don’t make luggage like that anymore. If I ever spend money on Louis Vuitton, it would probably be for their luggage, which is really the ultimate luxury luggage brand. I would just have to expect them to be stolen one day at the airport because of it too.
Expect classic trunk briefcases to come back as well. Let durability come back in style!
Image credits: JC Report/Beatrix Ong, Style.com
Las Vegas: Never Trust The Weather Channel
Having heard news that there were chances of thunderstorm in Las Vegas, I was prepared to spend my stay in dreary rainy weather. But no. What kind of meteorologist says that it’ll rain…in the desert. Take no heed to anyone who says it’ll rain in Las Vegas. Today I baked and toasted under the hot desert heat like an omelette on a grill.
I arrived yesterday to our modest but rather very large hotel 15 mins off the strip at South Point Hotel Casino & Spa. The rooms are large and comfortable, very clean, huge plasma screen and a great view over the hotel’s pool.
But enough about hotel and comfort talk, let’s talk fashion and shopping in Las Vegas.
As I mentioned in my previous post, Las Vegas is building CityCenter on the Vegas Strip right next to the Bellagio Hotel. It’s slated to open in 2009 and construction has already been underway and had progressed much faster than I had anticipated. This patch of land already has the infrastructure to a near completion, a few of the buildings are already halfway through putting on the glistening silvery windows. CityCenter will definitely stand out in the Strip as I noticed many other buildings may be flashy with lights, but many are covered in gold mirror like windows. CityCenter will be all silver mirrored.
CityCenter: Las Vegas 2.0
I’m going on a trip to Las Vegas, LA and San Francisco next week, and hopefully I’ll have enough time to properly blog this time. My trip to Japan was great, but I didn’t have any energy left to blog since I was exhausted of the 5hr walking trips I’d take every day.
Had I known that Las Vegas had signed a whopping $9 billion deal to create perhaps the most luxurious retail space in North America, I would’ve postponed my trip til next year. According to WWD, CityCenter is an 18 million square feet of commercial space that will include over 70 retailers, a 61-story, 4,000-room gaming resort; three luxury nongaming hotels, and a 5000 square foot “flower carpet” where flowers will be changed daily. CityCenter will feature The Crystals - 500,000 square foot of retail space. And I thought our H&M’s 15,000 square feet of space was big. Perhaps there’s a reason why I’m not in architecture right? Most of the well known luxury brands will take up space in this new project including a 10,000 sq.ft for Tiffany’s, and the second largest Louis Vuitton store in North America. Nevermind that many of these retailers already have several store locations in the city.
Frankly, I’m split two ways about it. One is that I’m majorily curious as to what these fanciful places look like (so far they all look the same either in the US or in Japan’s Ginza district). Plus, will they make a profit from all this construction? Second, $9 billion dollars? Is it really necessary to have a repeat of the same luxury retailers? Do you know where all that good money can be used for to help poorer countries? This is what’s contradicting of the luxury world, you have all this money, and you’re always seeking more of it when you very well know you could perhaps donate a few dollars - ok, thousands, hell, millions of dollars - for charities and such.
We will see next year. For now, I will be making rounds in Vegas and dutifully make observations on the shopping experience. I haven’t been to Vegas since I was 12, and back then I was confined to the Circus Circus arcades where I wasted many hours of my youth fending for raffle tickets that would get me at most a toy water gun. I was even told by my mum that the Golden Strip “didn’t exist” when I had asked her about it.
San Francisco should be lovely as I heard so many good things about it. My stop in the LA area would be more so on the beaches of Santa Monica, I’m not really interested in LA to be honest. All that Hollywood gossip is such a turn off.
Image credits: CityCenter (artist rendition)
