Men's S/S 2011 Footwear Recap

Ding Dong the Flip-Flops dead! Like Menswear in recent years, the Men's sandal is getting a much needed upgrade from the dreaded Dad Velcro Sandal and Rubberized Flip-Flop. The above image is from the S/S 2011 Menswear show and are made of recycled rope. Here some other men's sandal images.

The sandals have a distinctly hippie feel to them while being distinctly antiquated with a Greco-Roman inspiration, taking a cue from the on-going trend of Women's gladiator sandals. This is not the only trend happening in Men's footwear.
Introducing: The Hybrid.
Inspired by half-one style, half-something else, the hybrid shoe takes the best style aspects of two shoes and amalgamates them into one shoe. They often combine more then one type of closure, such as laces with zippers on the back, and offer the wearer a utilitarian look to their shoe.

Los Angeles Street Food Festival

With over 60 food trucks, from Asian Pork truck "The Flying Pig" to fine grilled cheeses from the aptly named "The Grilled Cheese Truck" and even the mobile confectionery "Sweets Truck" Los Angeles has a fairly saturated market. This coming Saturday, the 24th, taking place in Pasadena, CA and starting at 5PM is the Los Angeles Street Food Festival, boasting over 60 different Street Food vendors this marks the 2nd version of this festival, with the first taking place this past February.

While commonly referred to as "Roach Coaches" in the past due to the unhealthy nature and suspect cleanliness of the cooking environments, food truck have taken a turn into the gourmet, creating a mobile foodies dream come true. Most every type of cuisine is represented on these trucks, from Dim Sum to Comfort food.

For a comprehensive list of the Twitter accounts of these food trucks, which is the easiest way to find them click here.

No, that's not a hedgehog.

Ouch. This new fashion trend could hit you in all the wrong ways if you come across it from the wrong direction. Inspired by Lady Gaga and an industrial edge, this seasons new look is Spikes. The trend transcends from shoes, to accessories, to hats and clothing. The above image is a close-up of the details in a shoe worn by Rihanna in a collaboration between Christian Louboutin and up-and-coming clothing duo The Blondes who has been designing concert designs for Madonna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and more.
The style isn'y only showing up on the runways and at concerts however, here is a picture taken by yours truly:
This image was taken on the Fashion Institute of Design and MErchandising campus in Los Angeles, CA so while it may not have been taken in a flyover state, you can be certain that it will.

Haesu Kwon Knitwear

Recent Parsons graduate Haesu Kwon has done something original with the old and sometimes mundane which is pretty remarkable. She has taken upcycling into a luxury field and is taking vintage fashion and existing knits and creating her own fabric to create gorgeous dresses and individual pieces that truly are one-of-a-kind.


She also realizes who her audience is, as she says craftsmanship is one of the most important aspects of her designs, as well as using recycled materials. She uses metallic embroidery thread in an effort to keep the designs close to the body and keep the knits from stretching. This is a truly ingenious way of taking two ideals which are not always said in the same breath, recycling and luxury goods.

Ferrari

Italian motor sports company Ferrari S.p.A. is launching a new initiative with the company in relaunching and rebuilding one of the 4 models every year. Starting this year Ferrari will launch 612 Scaglietti and will be slightly more practical, but hardly any cheaper, then it's predecessor. This launch is expected for mid-2011.

How this process works is one every 4 years, starting this year, Ferrari will launch an "M" or "Modificato" model of the car they are re-designing and will encompass a revised design and power-train with chassis improvements. Once this 4-year period has passed, in which Ferrari will have launched and redesigned all of it's 4 models of cars, Ferrari will then launch an all new version of the 1st car done one the 4 year cycle.

It's an ingenious plan to keep Ferrari always fresh and new, taking the Fast Fashion ideal used by H&M and Zara, and changing it to fit the needs of the luxury auto market.
Also announced is the possibility of turning each of their four cars into a hybrid, or perhaps only one. It is purely speculation at this point but one thing that has been confirmed is none of these cars will be a hybrid before the first round of M models, meaning no hybrid until 2014. Ferrari has stated that they "cannot imagine a fully electric Ferrari". They simply do not want to lose performance, as it would compromise their loyal performance-focused fan base.

There is much possibility that this idea could trickle down into more family-friendly vehicles, the ideal choice being Chrysler as they have the smallest number of models in their product line which are the 300, Sebring, Sebring Convertible, PT Cruiser, and Town & Country minivan. A 5-year cycle is entirely possible, but will require a large financial commitment and could possibly backfire with this struggling company.

Leo Villareal Sky (Tampa)

If not the first but one of the more visible new trends on the art scene is abstract art, done entierly out of LED's. This method of art brings a whole new meaning to the word "abstract" as the work of art, literally, refuses to stay in one place.


Installed at the Tampa Museum of Art in Tampa Bay, FL the museum commissioned Albuquerque, NM born artist Leo Villareal to create his abstract LED piece Sky (Tampa). The piece itself on the exterior of the building covers some 12,000 sq. ft. of real estate and is based on simple mathematical equations and programming, but eventual transforms itself into something, organic and mesmerizing.




If this trend continues, could it render tradition art mediums such as abstract painting obsolete. I know I'm breaking out my Lite-Brite.

Crystal Renn in Jean-Paul Gaultiuer ad's

Fashion icon and boundary pushing designer Jean-Paul Gaultier is teaming up with curvaceous model Crystal Renn for his F/W ad campaign. If you are not familiar with Crystal Renn, after years of crash-dieting and health issues she wrote "Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves". An excellent read for anyone struggling with self-image issues.


This isn't the first collaboration between the two, as Renn walked a JPG show in 2005, and was in fact the lead model walking with JPG himself, but this marks a milestone in the exposure of plus-sized models and could potentially lead the way for other designers to use curvier models.

My Grandaughter's Cabinet

Premiering this past Salone Satellite in Milan, Swedish based designer Lisa Hilland created a line of furniture based around one word, Inheritance. In keeping with the current theme of being able to pass ones possessions down from generation to generation, she took the passing part of the equation out and just made a line of items that look, well, inherited.


Not only are the items durable enough to actually be passed down to your younger counterparts, the items are made out of reclaimed materials and earth friendly woods, primarily Birch, as it ages well and are sustainable.


In the designers own words: "My Granddaughter’s Cabinet is a collection of furniture that reflects my views as a designer on sustainability, but also my great love for my daughters Silje and Elsa. They give me inspiration and meaning in everything I do."

Images courtesy of ME Design Mag.

Alhambra Lamp by LZF Lamps

Geometry and being Eco-Friendly are certainly not new concepts, but fuse them together and throw in a touch of Japanese culture and you have the Alhambra Lamp by Spanish design house LZF Lamps.


The lamps come in three sizes, round, diamond, and long, and emits a soft, ambient light and is made from eco-friendly material polypropylene, meaning the lamp can be recycled once the user is finished with it. The lamp is manufactured by cutting, weaving, and then finally transformed to give it this unique, far-eastern salon appeal.

Image courtesy of Inhabitat.

Woehr Multiparker 730

I really have very few words to say, simply watch the video below and amazed.




This system needs to be in every major, over-populated, and car heavy city in the world. Can we start with LA please?

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New posts coming tomorrow. Street Scenes coming soon as well as other features to create an in-depth environment for trending and information.

Face2Face

With the increasing digitization of the world we live in and having "friends" and "followers" online we know only from online, face2face is looking to connect you with not only your own friends, but friends of friends as well. They are pioneering the idea of "proximity awareness" and linking your existing social networks and finding people IRL (that's in real life).

Face2Face is a mobile application that can be downloaded on any platform of mobile phone and is used to connect people to people when they are out and about. Think of it as a more private version of foursquare, where instead of being checked-in at a location and only your friends and those checked in at the same location, this way if your friends or friends of your friends are in a close proximity to one another, you can find each other and hang out. This innovative thinking brings the internet to your front door.

More information can be found at www.face2face.ws and the FAQ's can be read here.

Antioxidants.

We're all well aware of Pomegranate being everywhere as well as it's health properties is fighting sickness, there are other fruits that offer similar qualities and properties that are equally as delicious.

Vermont based Thai chef and owner of Deva Naturals Nitti Sachdeva is currently offering her line of Deva Naturals foods imported straight from Thailand to make delicious curries, and chief among them is her freeze-dried Mangosteen.



Mangosteen offers similar antioxidant qualities to that of pomegranate and can be infused with other flavors to create delicious Thai and Eastern flavored dishes. People certainly aren't going to stop being healthy simply because options have run out, and it seems like Pomegranate has hit its peak, and it's time for other so-called "Super Fruits" to shine. Other fruits of this character are Acai Berry, which can be found at many major retailers and is featured regularly at smoothie franchises, Goji, which can be found at Costco in juice form, and Sea Buckthorn.

Deva Naturals can be found online at: Deva Naturals and The Mangosteen Lady

Red Bluff, CA Pit Home

Done by Austin, TX based design studio Bercy Chen designed, this "pit house" takes ancient design concepts and brings them into the current. This style of home building is actually one of the most ancient design concepts in North America. The house itself is literally built underground and harnesses the thermal power of the earth to maintain a comfortable temperature throughout the entire year.





The house itself uses hydronic heating & cooling, geothermal heat exchange, phase-change thermal heat storage, rainwater collection, and a green roof into an integrated system encompassing.

All images courtesy of Bercy Chen Design Studio

Green never looked so chic

We've all heard of several different ways of "Going Green" and it isn't necessarily a new trend. Green is everywhere in fashion, automotive, home decor... one can find eco-friendly items just about anywhere, but this is a while new level of green-chic thinking.

This morning at the Dior Haute Couture 2011 show, John Galliano presented a floral inspired collection that was visually stunning, but what has this blogger talking are the hair accessories.

Yeah, that's cellophane.

So instead of throwing out that plastic wrapping on your next bouquet, try arranging it on your head instead. It's eco-friendly, and apparently extremely chic. Who knew?

Remember those temporary tattoos that you used to wear as a kid in shapes like Winnie-the-Pooh, Mickey Mouse, or Sailor Moon? Well now you can reclaim your childhood in a much more fashion forward approach.

Louis Vuitton certainly aren't the first people to think of this trend, but they definitely seem to be making a bold statement with these temporary tattoos. This past winter temporary tattoos seemed perhaps a passing trend on the runways, appearing in shows like Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier but have more recently been seen in Paris and Milan Fashion Week in the S/S 2011 Menswear fashion shows. The design is not solely for the upper-class runway shows whoever, as one might expect with such a typically "low-brow" item. Fast Fashion company TopShop have created their own line of fashion forward temporary tattoos. Chanel, the leader of this trend, will be selling 55 original designs in stores and online as well.

Will we see more fashion houses capitalize on this trend, or will the fade as quickly as lime-green fox-tails? Only time will tell.

Chanel Tattoos currently priced at $75 for 55 designs.


Image courtesy of Styleite.