Thursday, 11 June 2009

Fredo Viola - A voice like a soft cushion


The French-German TV station ARTE showed recently a live concert of Fredo Viola. A musician who irritates with his 4-, 5-, or even 6- voice recordings of his own voice. While he combines his music with a modern light carpet of instrumentation, his voice arrangements are strangely close to renaissance choir arrangements. A time where polyphony was invented and made it's first steps.
Fredo Viola is an artist to discover. And nothing easier than that with his award winning website, that is really a great trip (especially "the turn"). As he is a filmmaker as well, you'll find plenty of clips to watch!
So have a look at www.fredoviola.com/ and discover new wonderful great inspring touching overwhelming beautyful irritating new music!

Make it visual! The World of Chemistry


It might be the most simple truth ever, but if you want to explain something complicated, then make it visual.
Even the boring world of chemistry, suddenly becomes a sexy experience! Have a look! Have a laugh!
And If you are H2O, don't mess with Potassium!

Wednesday, 10 June 2009

The wonderful world of perfumes: Parfumerie Generale


Pierre Guillaume is the creative - and defenitely quite sexy - Master mind behind Parfumerie Generale, a wonderful and great inspired collection of exciting scents that started in 2002. Already with their first creation they caused an aproar in the so civilized perfume society.
The philosophy is easy to explain: to do everything better then it is done in the mass market products. So with his now 23 different scents, you will always explore something completely un-smelled, which is highly exciting.

Today I want to pick scent #9 "YUZU AB IRATO", a perfume that left me flabbergasted!
The first smell is irritatingly 'technical' freshness. You feel like you are in the one hour before opened super stylish fashion store where the interior exhales still technical smells. But this is so strikingly crystal clear and fresh that it is really appealing. It is based on the tingly freshness of the bitter citrussy Japanese Yuzu fruit in combination with the great intensive boldness of pepper.
But the scent doesn't stay there. It would be too cold. So we have a development into rich and voluptious flowers. (If we stay in the picture of the newly opened fashion store we see a enourmous bunch of flowers with Magnolia, Hyacinths and Jasmine) All these so overwhelming strong scents fit perfectly to the bold, yet fresh beginning and start to warm the whole scent.
Finally the scent lingers so long in your clothes and snuggels in to your nose, it is like a prescious little talisman that can protect you.
A perfume for strong men and women! But be aware: It can blow your mind!

Well and this is just the beginning: there are 22 more scents to be discovered. You'll find them in a good perfume store like Harald Lubner's store in Hamburg www.harald-lubner.de or at www.parfumerie-generale.com .

Wednesday, 13 May 2009

Musique: La Roux

Fashion and music are twins! And here we see it again: La Roux' latest video "bulletproof"! Strict geometrical patterns, screaming neon, make up that could easily be worn byy every drag queen, David Bowie-shness and super tight leggins. The great music video to La Roux' latest single "bulletproof" is a visual trip into the 80ties, at the same time it is hypermodern. The music seems to be so up-to-date and old fashioned that the kids will love it: in Berlin London and LA!

Listen out for La Roux!

Thursday, 7 May 2009

Adidas becomes Silver grey: SLVR


SLVR Label is the next generation collection by adidas. adidas SLVR Label will be launched globally in February 2009. It's a cross between adidas Originals and Y-3 and is part ofadidas Sport Style division. adidas SLVR Label is contemporary, modern, savvy, perfect for today's consumers seeking a minimalist look. 
The SLVR signature colour, gun metal grey, appears on a few key styles. The items are affordable, attainable and ultimately wearable, providing classic staples for anyone’s individual wardrobe. The price points range from €80-€130 for footwear, €35-€100 for tops such as polo shirts and sweatshirts, €80-€150 for jackets, and from €40-€90 for accessories. 
adidas SLVR is the pure fashion label within the adidas Sport Style division which includes Y-3 and adidas Originals. 
The collection consists of strong basic pieces in simple black and white with accents provided in maroon, orange and shades of blue. The SLVR signature colour, gun metal grey, appears on key styles. The items are affordable, attainable and ultimately wearable, providing classic staples for anyone’s individual wardrobe. Signature products that reflect both the ideals of reducing complexity and enhancing creative solutions in the design and production process are the ‘7 Piece Shoe’ and the ‘Zero Waste Tee.’ Materials include sustainable organic cotton, water resistant nylon and coated natural canvas in comfortable and light weight executions, perfect for the upcoming Spring/Summer 2009 season.

adidas SLVR Label is available in stand alone stores in New York, Paris, Miami and Los Angeles. In Paris and Beijing, SLVR will also be represented at the new adidas Brand Centres. In Moscow and Berlin SLVR will be on hand in their respective Sport Performance Centre stores.  Shop-in-shop solutions will also roll-out throughout the year in other major markets.
On April 3, 2009, 
adidas will unveil a Paris boutique for this new fashion-orientated SLVRlabel after a New York boutique opened in February.

Show me your trainers - and I tell you who you are :-)




Hamburg based artist DVP has started a series of photos of sneakers. Well we have seen sneaker photos before. But this time DVP asked the owners to add 1 or 2 items that show their personality. And we find a book and rosary, or the picture of an artist... But what does the white rabbit mean? Alice in Wonderland in sneakers?  
So let your personality shine through your sneakers, they might tell more about you, than you might think...

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

Suicycle crazyness - So cool to bike "fixed gear"...



Well, to survive the streets of London, NY or Berlin as a cyclist is not easy. But what if you drive a bike without gear shift and breaks in the boiling traffic of these cities? Well, most of us would say it is something between stupid and totally stupid. But some call it the latest hype: fixed gear means that you have exactly that: 1 fixed gear. And that means speeeeed! And as it is all about speed, breaks are optional.

Based is this new generation of bikes on the professional track race bikes (even sleeker versions of the Tour de France-bikes). And they come in style: A whole new industry around this trend has evolved from fashion to music to events, everyone is into fixed gear bikes...

Okay, I bought one too. And I cannot count the times I made contact with the street, cars or pedestrians... But now I am, ooooh my God, so faaaast! Daniel

Thursday, 5 February 2009

This is no time to point fingers....




Unless of course you are going to do a brief history of “finger pointing” posters through the ages and around the world. See them all here courtesy of the Russian design studio of awesomeness, Art. Lebedev.

cross-posted at Distillerymedia

Tuesday, 3 February 2009

Shop Windows

Shop windows always feel a bit like wasted space. Headless mannequins in static poses as if frozen in fashion future. They neither say come in nor walk by but stand more simply as pronouncements of their anatomically incorrect selves. Now, window dressers have a difficult business for sure. A few like Simon Doonan are considered minor rock (sock) stars, but most are arrangers trying to simultaneously support the brand and its message while also driving traffic through the doors of the store.

That’s all to explain why I like these Nike windows. Not only do they support the idea of customization and uniqueness when everything is starting to look very safe and bland, but they actually encourage interaction. By touching the store window you can change the color combinations of the products, in effect test driving before you buy. I liked it online but I really love it as a window concept.

Friday, 30 January 2009

Tuesday, 20 January 2009

... do you remember...?



... the days at school sport, your teacher at sports asked you to do things that are not meant to be executed by a human body, when you felt like a million stones heavy or slow as a snail...?
The days when "circuit training!" meant a lot of sweat and a lot of pain...?
Well possibly you have better memories of your sports at school when you were 10 or 12... Somehow for most people we talked to the smells, the name of their teacher, the design of the sports equipment are still very present in their memories.
Now German Designer Bernd Dörr has taken these universal experiences and made a collection of recycled bags, made of the leather of old school sports equipment, the sport mats of older times. 
On his website www.zirkeltraining.biz (wich means circuit training) you can see a whole collection of bags... And we love the awful-great-shiver-aesthetic of the website!

Have a look! And then back in the gym!

Friday, 16 January 2009

Strange but we like it: Material Boy


We love the crazyness of the Australian label "Material Boy"  that so elegantly puts a question mark behind the idea of "proportions"!
Colourful, oversized, super skinny: We are not sure who can wear this fashion, but we love it! And sometimes this is not the really important question...

www.materialboy.com.au

Brands to have a look at: Camper



"Camper" means farmer in the Majorcan dialect. This term is perfect to describe the origin of the more than 100 years old shoe company, that is still family owned.
In 1975 a younger generation began with fresh designs and new ideas for shoes. Obviously this worked out!
And now the camper style is all over the world: not only in Camper-Stores, but also in Camper-Hotels or Camper-Restaurants...

Have a look at: www.camper.com

Fashion we love: Björkvin



In 2006 two young guys from Denmark met in a bar in Copenhagen. And everything looked like usual: An evening with a number of drinks and many talks about fashion with the idea of "If only I could..." 
But the two youngsters Rolf and Tue changed everything in doing a bit more: They crerated their own T-Shirts and started their own lable!

What to expect: crazy colour printed street wear with the certain scandinavian touch!

www.bjorkvin.com

Tuesday, 13 January 2009

Green Energy becomes mainstream in Germany





When German green energy supplier “Lichtblick” started 10 years ago they had contracts with 8 households, today they deliver energy to nearly 500.000 households.
It has now become chic to express your own personal CSR in choosing the right (green) energy supplier

Boys become girls become boys



Mo is 14 years old and if you ask “Are you a boy or a girl?” , the answer will be simply “Yes!” Mo has decided to be not defined by gender, but by the action Mo does.

The gender debate has reached the teenagers of today, might they be androgynous emos or simply like Mo: undecided


All friends of Mo accept this decision

Youngest Experts: Evoporters



We all know that the insights of experts are priceless, and when it comes to trend research experts should be young and closest to the target group

With Evo's Evoporters we make our target group to experts, just like Benny, Robert and Mico who investigated potential for new healthy sweets for 14 days together with their friends

The client (a worldwide sweets manufacturer) was flabbergasted by the quality of the results of our youngest experts!

More German in Advertising



This sticker was labelled on the window of one of Berlin's most exquisite shopping malls “Quartier 206”
While the Germans express in MR their want to have more German in advertising, it is still true that Germans like English, it feels to international!


StreetArt is possibly not the the very latest in trends but in Hamburg a collective of street artists have squatted houses in the centre of of the cityand turned them into their private gallery space.


This gallery is open for everyone, just open the door to the squatted houses and have a look around!


No website Im afraid

Things we like: Music sold on the streets



•San Francisco-based R&B musician Diego Trinidad learned the most fundamental lesson in marketing: Sell your products where your clients are! In his case: on the street!
•He makes quite some money in selling his music on self burned CDs in front of music venues, on High street, simply where ever he is: a very low-fi but successful way of music distribution
•Latest CD: Presale
•Website: http://www.myspace.com/diegotrinidad

Things we like: JerOme Lemonades



•Ice cream maker JérÔme from Biarritz has created these fantastic new lemonades in these stunning aluminium bottles
•All ingredients are bio-organic, and the used water comes from their on private dwell
•Citron & Menthe,
- Pamplemousse & Thym
- Orange & Cardamome
•No website yet