Exotic natural materials and original designs are weaknesses of ours (well, one of them). When we stumbled upon new emerging designers and artisan communities for our latest collection, our adrenaline shot up to astronomical levels. The dreaded shopper's quandary of "to buy or not to buy" set in.
Well, we bought, bought, and bought. With an eye towards the fresh trends of spring, here's a list of exotic materials you can expect to find prancing across your computer screen:
Bamboo weave, banana silk, mahogany, acacia wood, capiz shell, river pearl, 24K hammered gold, turquoise, cowhide leather, river snakeskin, mother of pearl, and many, many more.
We…can…hardly…catch…our…breath.
Sometimes, we have to shout to be heard. But would you ever go NAKED to get your point across?
The LUSH staff located in 55 towns in the UK did just that last July 12th. Unabashedly cheeky, the cosmetic company's staff covered their "important bits" with aprons while shoppers got an eyeful of their backside for an hour. But this BOLD move definitely had a serious point - the staff urged people to go "naked" by buying goods without the usual packaging. According to LUSH, packaging contributes to 2% of overall greenhouse gases, and plastic uses 8% of the world's oil resources. LUSH tries to eliminate packaging by making and selling solid products: shampoo bars, conditioners, massage bars and soaps that do not need to be put in plastic bottles.
So, are you up for the challenge to go stark NAKED? Opt for unpackaged products - or even choose paper bags over plastic ones the next time you're at the supermarket checkout counter. It's a simple gesture for the great cause to save our earth, and you don't even have to literally bare it all.
Music fans and environmentalists around the world united last Saturday, 7.7.07, for Live Earth, a concert to raise awareness and funds for the global climate crisis. Spearheaded by Al Gore, the organizers hoped to reach up to 2 billion people through radio, television and the Internet with high-profile headliners, including Madonna, The Police, Beastie Boys, Keane, and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The concert kicked off in multiple cities around the globe - NYC, London, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, and Hamburg. And for those not-so-lucky souls not living in those key cities, the live webcast via LiveEarth.MSN.com served as their groove portal.
A record 10 million viewers had watched the concerts in seven continents via Internet video streams — the most simultaneous viewers of any online concert ever! This endeavor was a resounding success.
So, are concerts web streams as good as the real thing?
As if waking up for a work day wasn't painful enough, scouring through the closet for that effortless - but - oh - so - put - together work outfit is such a HUGE chore for all of us. And especially during uninspired days, one would just like to put on that sack and march into the office with narry a thought what the others (most especially catty peers) would think or say. And what about those soon-to-be brides turning all bridezilla stressing about the perfect accent to the their entourage's ensemble?
Of course not everyone is so lucky to have a closet-full of Prada LBDs (little black dresses) or Oscar de la Renta gowns to silence those wagging tongues - and so a creative solution to the wardrobe crisis is in order. Channelling eons of style icons over the past century, two outstanding examples come to my mind: Jackie O. and Audrey Hepburn. One common denominator stands out between the two icons - timeless elegance found in simple outfits accented by a single or endless strings of pearls. (Picture Audrey as Holly Golightly looking tres chic in a simple plack sheath/sack, hair twisted in a french chignon, and five-stranded pearls as the piece de resistance).
So wash those wardrobe blues away and indulge in PEARLS (and mother-of-pearls) this month. After all, June is the month of pearls and weddings!! A fruit of the earth, authentic pearls (in all shapes and sizes) are definitely all-organic and so your indulgence will be absolutely guilt-free.
