Archive for November 2006

The best place in LA to pick up pieces by hot new designers from all over the globe, West Third street boasts an impressive array of young independent clothing boutiques, many who have only opened their doors within the last two years.

Recognising that the area poses problems for shoppers (lack of cross-walks, minimal parking etc) and that great design alone is not enough to entice customers,  the stores have got together and created a Third Street community which is fighting to establish the area as a key new shopping destination- starting with their first annual holiday party. Taking place on the evening of December 7th, the party will stretch along West Third Street (from La Cienega to Fairfax) and offer food, wine, music and sales.

The stores themselves are impressive not only for their great collections, but also for the wonderful individuality both in merchandise and atmosphere. Some of fashion.psfk’s favourites-

MILK - 8209 West Third Street

Opened just over a year ago, Milk sells a mixture of big names (DVF, Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti, Derek Lam, Aquascutum) and denim-friendly brands alongside vintage couture pieces, displayed as a jumble of beautiful designs. Owned by cousins Marni and Bari who wanted to create a girly store ‘like a big closet’, the shop offers everything a girl’s wardrobe should include from beautiful shoes and sexy underwear to beauty products and books on fashion, all in a romantic, feminine atmosphere enhanced with literary excerpts printed in
gold adorning the walls, and soft chandelier lighting. Pieces ranging from $30 to $3000 happily mix on wooden rails and tables, which are adorned with vintage milk bottles and other finds to further enhance the country theme that underpins the store.

FILLY - 8032 West Third Street

Selling a unique selection of independent designers sourced from all over the world by owners and best friends Rachel Bratcher and J’nai Cameron, Filly champions up-and-coming names. Those on the rails of the newly opened store include items from the first season by NY designers Madison Marcus, pieces from Israeli company Benot (picked up by the girls in Tel Aviv), dresses by design duo Carson Potter, and Italian designer Diletta.

The store itself is named to encompass both the girly frivolity of shopping and the ranch styling of the interior (influenced by the girls’ love of
horses and the countryside), with ranchwood fittings and bare floors showcasing the delicate dresses and beautiful jewellery.

filly

  SOUTH WILLARD - 8038 West Third Street

Surfer Ryan Conder and his girlfriend stylist Danielle Kays prefer a more sleek and sedate presentation for their refined selection of European and American designers. South Willard offers a selection of mens and womenswear from designers such as Hussein Chalayan, Veronique Branquinho, Ann-Sofie Back, Bernhard Willhelm and Bless, among others, as well as their own South Willard jeans- a unisex
design made exclusively by hand in Japan from a soft, lightwieght, richly-dyed denim.  The idea behind the store was the couple’s longing for  a cleaner aesthetic and understated design options, resulting in clever merchandising choices reflected in a stark, minimalist interior. Two and a half years on it seems that they weren’t alone in their longing for  a more serious style previously lacking in the LA shopping scene, and customer support continues to grow.

South Willard

Other Stores on West Third worth a visit-

8117- Satine- designer womenswear 
8311- Douglas Fir- refined menswear
8303- OK - great designwares store selling products by Droog, Comme des Garcons etc 
7938- Built By Wendy

Some of the great events found on our events listing site The Purple List:

Art Basel Miami Beach
Dec 07 Miami : International art show

Nordic Exceptional Trendshop 2006
Dec 01 Copenhagen : Trends conference & exhibition

Kindred
Dec 06 Miami : The complicated relationship of twins

Stoked
Dec 05 NYC : Book launch party and signing

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In a review on her MySpace page, ‘Sophie’ takes us through the TopShop store in London. Nice to get a view from the target market for once:

The over all atmosphere of the store is buzzing with colour and vibrancy. The displays are funky and eye-catching; the wallpaper is girly and floral with childlike drawings of London, giving a playful feel. It truly is an amazing experience! However when I first visited the store, I felt like I had be subjected to ‘image overload’, there was just so much to look at I didn’t know where to start, when I did find what I was looking for, there was so many different versions, I felt spoilt for choice and found it impossible to make a decision! Saying this I totally credit their wide range of merchandise, it is always up to date and on top of the latest fashion trends. Arcadia and Topshops target is to be Britain’s biggest provider of young fashion, which so far they have achieved by catering for all types of fashion groups, (such as punk, rock, gothic, trend, BoHo, Vintage, glamour ect.)

blog.myspace.com/sophie_fawcusrobinson:

Rocketboom today interviews Phillip Torrone from Make who presents ‘open source’ and hackable gifts you could give this festive season. Includes these two big bouncy balls.

Rocketboom:

Headlines from our ‘you-write-the-news’ marketing and advertising news site, Marktd:

BP’s Sustainability Report
BP’s 2005 Sustainability Report is worth a look for designers,
marketers, and investors alike. Aside from stunning design and great,
concise writing, it offers one of the best-articulated corporate social
responsibility strategies of any global-level organizations.

Proving vs. Measuring Innovation
Diego Rodriguez from IDEO offers some great thoughts on how to measure
innovation. His thinking also embodies the new school of thought on
defining "design"- more than just styling.

Getty Images Changes the Stock Photo Game, Again
Acclaimed action sports & lifestlye photographer Chase Jarvis looks
at Getty Images latest move. By accepting images from anybody, Getty is
shaking the photo industry to its very core. Chase looks at how it
might play out in the future, as insightfully as ever.

Read the rest of this entry »

What about using SecondLife for education. We can design innovative 3D virtual environment with secondLife. Real classroom alike environments with interactivity and global reach. We spot an innovative initiative called LanguageLab. Its virtual venues offers new generation learning spaces with language classes, self-learning kiosks and virtual cafes.

Languagelab.com is a language school unlike any other. Students explore a whole new world using a virtual body, called an avatar, that
can interact and talk with other avatars - all controlled by real human beings. Some will be teachers, some will be other students, and still others will be native speakers; all will be there together to learn or to facilitate learning. We are currently offering English and Spanish, and plan to expand to other languages soon.

For a realistic experience, Languagelab.com uses a specially designed voice system that enables participants to speak to one another in real time. Languagelab.com offers classes as well as a full range of learning events. Classes are small, generally 6 to 8 students, and run for 50 minutes.

Earlier this year a german coffee manufacturer opened up a temporary art/gallery space in Hamburg. Ding Dong was set in a 60s/70s shopping mall architecture and featured various international artists for one month. During daytime bypassers where invited to see the artists at work, listen to presentations and lectures while the gallery turned into a club at nights. Within only a few weeks Ding Dong became the place to be in Hamburg.

I think it’s a quite nice example how brands can foster cultural projects without being too intrusive with their brand…

Ding Dong
Photo Blog

Metro Film Festival which will take place for two weeks at transport locations in 40 cities worldwide, reaching an estimated audience of more than 62m, spread across five continents.

The primary aim of Metro Film Festival (MFF) is to bring art to millions of people during their everyday lives – while travelling, shopping, or just wandering around.
Partnering with existing operators of screens at metro stations and airports and inside buses, the 30-minute festival content segment will deliver 30-to-45-second clips showcasing promising young film directors from around the world, preceded and followed by messages from sponsors.

Festival organizers says that, “The festival will benefit all parties. Platform operators will receive interesting content for their networks, improve the public perception of their digital platform and generate revenue from local sponsorship, while viewers get to watch new art projects and short movies without having to spare any free time.”

The festival is scheduled to take place in February 2008, and interested network operators, sponsors, artists and producers should contact the organisers at hello@metrofilmfest.org.

Source: Aka.tv

We Are Smarter Than Me is a business book project underwritten by Pearson Education. Wharlton and MIT are backing the project. More than 2,000 people have already signed up to participate. Here is their description about project;

A few books have recently been written on “the power of community”, but they all fail to confront one central paradox. While they extol the power of communities, they were each written by only one person. We’re putting this paradox to the test by inviting hundreds of thousands of authors to contribute to this "network book" using today’s technologies.

Everyone can be an author of the first networked book on business.  Together we will write the book on how the emergence of community and social networks will change the future rules of business.  Collaborate with authors from MIT, Wharton, and thousands of professionals from around the world. See your name in print when the book is published next fall by Pearson Publishing. Meet your co-authors in March, 2007 in Las Vegas at the Community 2.0 event.