Lectura din dimineata de Craciun

Mai bine spus, din dimineata „de dinainte de Craciun”, dar nu puteam rata un astfel de titlu. Nu stiu ce v-as putea ura, care sa nu va fi fost deja urat, dar hai sa incerc totusi…

Sa fiti bune si generoase, pentru ca sunt calitati mai importante decat frumusetea, kilogramele sau lipsa celulitei. Sa invatati sa va descurcati singure – ca e vorba de o pana de masina, de mers neinsotite la o petrecere, de o conversatie inteligenta sau de scris o scrisoare de iubire.  Sa va pierdeti mult timp prin librarii, parcuri si muzee, sa abordati shoppingul ca o forma de arta, fara graba, iar imbracatul drept forma suprema de flirt si expresivitate proprie, ca si cum ati fi pictorite, balerine, actritele,  regizoarele si scenografele propriilor voastre vieti.  Sa vi se faca dor, din cand in cand, sa stati de vorba cu voi insiva.  Sa fiti feminine, nu doar femei.  Sa construiti si sa cresteti ceva anul acesta:  interiorul vostru, o relatie, un business, un proiect, un copil.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

In sfarsit, va fac si un cadou, va promit ca il veti gasi duminica dimineata in sosete/ ghetute/ botine/ cizme/ inbox.  In fiecare iarna, ca sa intru in atmosfera sarbatorilor, ascult tot timpul, zi si noapte, colinde mai putin traditionale, pana acum am strans vreo 200. True, e genul de muzica care ma binedispune pe mine: The Killers, U2, The Pretenders, Coldplay, Barenaked Ladies, Sarah MacLachlan, The Pogues, Rilo Kiley, Dave Matthews, Sting, Abba, Dido… Asta ca sa va faceti o idee. Anyway, ca sa va pot face cadoul, lasati-mi numele sau macar o adresa de email la comment-uri, la noapte cadoul va aterizeaza in inbox, iar tot Craciunul o sa va aveti ce asculta 🙂  Cred ca va va placea…

PS: nu uitati ca puteti primi un cadou si de la Mimo, aici.

Pana una-alta, pana va treziti cum trebuie, cititi cateva articole.

Red hot– „The colour is everywhere in the world of style and fashion – and its symbolism is not just for Christmas. It’s the colour of the Aids ribbon, now in its 20th year as a symbol. It’s the subject of a fashion lawsuit in New York between Christian Louboutin and Yves Saint Laurent. It’s the name of a room in the recently-launched Valentino Garavani Virtual Fashion Museum ” In Financial Times.

Putting a price on Michael Kors – “The fashion designer Michael Kors is seeking a luxury price tag on his stock. His company’s initial public offering, expected this week, would value it at up to $3.6 billion. The metrics are in line with Prada, which listed earlier this year. But Michael Kors Holdings may struggle to sustain the growth needed to stay in style with investors.” In NY Times.

Tweeting without fear – “By now, even the stodgiest companies have found their way onto Twitter. They have discovered it isn’t just another marketing channel with a funny name, it’s more like a conversation they need to join or risk losing influence over how consumers view them or their brands… But there’s a flip side… Ill-considered tweets or hacked Twitter accounts have caused plenty of embarrassment.” In Wall Street Journal.

5 top retail success stories for 2011 – “Sustainable, savvy, and stylish could best describe the business moves made by certain retailers now winding down the year in stellar fashion.” In Forbes.

Fake paper bags are the latest buzz in the malls – “It’s not only fake designer handbags that are attracting bargain hunters. Nowadays, the fever is spreading to fake paper shopping bags featuring famous brands. A random search using the keyword combination of “paper bag” with any famous brand name will find dozens – sometimes more than 100 – of results on Taobao.com, the most widely used shopping website in China.” In China Daily.

Scion of a clothing empire– „A graduate of Harvard Business School, Mr Alessandro Benetton shares a restlessness for personal achievement with Italy’s other young scions such as John Elkann at Fiat and Roberta Armani, who carry the weight of dynasty on their shoulders. ” In Financial Times.

Q&A with Rupert Sanderson – “Rupert Sanderson never planned to be a footwear designer. It was only after an ill-fated career in advertising that he decided to pursue the career. But 10 years after launching his eponymous line, he is now firmly planted in the shoe industry. Not only has he established a high-end label, but Sanderson has built a vertical business as well.” In The Telegraph

Hermès and the secret of luxe appeal – “Hermès is a phenomenon: probably the most successful, perhaps the most creative, certainly the most respected and one of the most profitable luxury-goods companies of all time. After a brief blip from 2009-10, the tur­bulent economic times seem to have, if any­thing, accelerated its success.” In GQ.

Pearls gone wild – „Throughout history and mythology, the pearl has represented innocence, royalty and matrimony. Fabled to be the tears of love goddess Aphrodite, they are also said to line the gates of heaven, and are one of the oldest forms of adornment.” In Wall Street Journal.

InStyle takes editorial to retail – “The line between fashion magazine editorial and advertising? Getting blurrier by the day… Next up: taking a fashion magazine, combining it with a digital experience… InStyle will take over a 19-by-42-foot storefront… Collages, in a similar vein to Polyvore’s model, can be created and instantly sent as a digital postcard to smartphones. Essentially, these cards provide a detailed shopping list, with special offers and a photo stamp.” In WWD.

Rise: Helen Bullock – “For anyone who thinks a Mark Rothko piece too depressing, fashion textiles designer Helen Bullock’s MA collection is like a fresh breath of life. Bold, bright, glittered shapes and blocks of jarring floral, the Central Saint Martins graduate debuted with a collection in February that seemed to evoke the abstract expressionist’s Seagram Murals – on acid.” In Dazed Digital.

The 9 lives of Carine Roitfeld – „Despite having given up the powerful editorship of French Vogue last December and being replaced by Emmanuelle Alt, a colleague she once considered to be her ally, Ms. Roitfeld has had any number of occasions this year to measure her worth — or rather, more correctly, to flaunt it. ” In NY Times.

Building an empire of her own – “It’s a distinctive pedigree, all right, lofty enough to have secured the younger Ms. Julia Reiston Roitfeld a flurry of modeling gigs, invitations to the coolest parties and the fawning attention of scores of bloggers. But not lofty enough, evidently, for Ms. Roitfeld herself. ‘I want to be known as me,’ she insisted the other evening… ‘I want to be known for what I can do on my own.’” In NY Times.

Power party suits – „For winter and into spring, designers have harnessed the fearless fun of the party suit once more, with matching trouser-and-jacket combinations in flower prints, metallics and saturated colors. Whether the silhouette is a ’70s-style wide leg, or slim and short, these cocktail-ready pairings are made for anything but business.” In Wall Street Journal.

Stars, stripes and selling clothes – “It’s not only blogs about celebrities that are having an impact. Bloggers writing about everything from watches to their own lives are becoming more influential. As Martin Raymond, co-founder of the Future Laboratory, a London-based trends consultancy, puts it: ‘The influenced are influencing.’ And when it comes to moving product, fashion bloggers are increasingly pulling our strings.” In Financial Times.