HOTP: Inditex rolls out Uterque

Hot on the heels of Zara's intended foray into India, Inditex has announced plans to roll out their new accessories chain, Uterque in July, with stores opening in Madrid and Barcelona. Inditex also announced aggressive retail plans for cities with more than 5m people, eyeing China and India. 

Does that mean Kuala Lumpur will get one too? 

HOTP: Move Aside, Wal-Mart!

On it's way to world domination (basically riding pillion on the Condé Nast motorbike), Zara has rekindled its interest in India, with rumours of their first store in 2010. 

At least it's not Forever 21. 

YSL at Dover St. Market

A new reason to visit London comes in the form of Yves Saint Laurent's  first Edition 24 stand alone shop in the Dover St. Market. Even better? The fashion house has hired Michael Howells, theatrical set designer to design its store. The production designer behind Stephen Fry's Bright Young Things, Nanny McPhee and also designer of many a Galliano and McQueen catwalk, Howells is a great choice and a refreshing move away from famous architects. I've always felt that production designers would have made better fashion collaborators, simply because they would understand the theatrical side of fashion. Imagine a partnership of Lacroix couture and the functional austerity of Bertolt Brecht. Heh. 

Delivery to the Dover St. Store will be made un-seasonally, and will also include special collections from the capsule collection. Certain colours will also be added to the collection, specially created for Dover Market - namely red and turqoise, and carry a signature YSL/Dover St. Market woven label. 

Tempted to sell your entire wardrobe for 24 classic looks? Hm.

12 Hour Layover? Sure!

                                          

Gawd Dangit. They just want you to shop everywhere. The newest retail assault is unfolding in Heathrow's airport spanking new Terminal 5. Aside from being packed with the usual suspects of Tie Rack, WH Smith, Accessorize and World Duty Free, new additions to the Bond Street Pack include the first airport terminal Tiffany & Co. shop, and a specially designed Paul Smith 'Globe' store. 

But nevermind THAT. What gets the blood rushing and the stomach acids pumping is Gordan Ramsay's first airport venture, Plane Food. For the gastronome nomad, you can also opt for Krispy Kreme (who created a special Terminal 5 doughnut - I wonder if it tastes like lost baggage?) or the perennial student favourite, Wagamama (which incidentally means brat in Japanese - my grandmother used it on my little sister when we were tots) 

Terminal 5 will also house travel spas by Elemis, who pioneered a similar formula for Bergdorf Goodmans, Harvey Nichols and Nordstroms. What I want to know is why they wasted such efforts on BA snobs. Spoken like a true blue Virgin fan. Hey, they give you rubber duckies on board. 

(Picture from WGSN)

La Jaconde better watch her back...

A bit off topic, but THIS (points to picture above) is the sort of crowd Banksy draws in Hong Kong. According to hongkonghustle.com, the guests " were a mixture of neophyte collectors, bankers and a smattering of local artists and scene-sters." Bankers admiring Banksy, who's laughing all the way to bank in light because his work is extremely bankable these days. The IRONY kills me. 

Love Art, the modern art exhibition headlined by Banksy, Hirst, Mel Ramos and Keith Haring et al, opened on Wednesday night at the Hong Kong Art Centre in Wan Chai. 

I don't know how I feel about Bansky in an art gallery, I mean an artist has got to be rewarded for his ideas, but what I admire most about Banksy, aside from the obvious reasons of why everyone else loves him, is the questions he raises about art ownership. When you attach commerce to public art - who owns it? The public? The artist? The city council?  Does ownership even apply? I would like to see a Bank-mobile that ferries people around the city showing his work within the context that was originally intended. And then at the end of the tour you can have a go at 'Spot the real Banksy', where you have to identify the real artist amidst a crowd of lookalikes. And if you get it right, you get to ravish him. Or ambush an unsuspecting wall with him. Or ravish him against an unsuspecting wall. Or ravish an unsuspecting wall. 

Peace Out.

Fashionably Sound?

Fashion dilettantes would have probably at one point earnestly dabbled in a bit of fashion anthropology, which unearths a lot of fun juicy information, like how Coco Chanel popularised the tan in the 1960s when she accidently got sunburnt on a holiday in the Riviera. 

This week, Jonathan Glancey skims the relationship between fashion and architecture accompanied by a picture of Zaha Hadid dressed like Big Bird, who really wants to be an ostrich, in mourning. He draws very interesting, but obvious parallels between the evolution of architecture and fashion. What is interesting is that the past 10 years or so have been architectually very important years for us, with countries out-racing each other to build the world's tallest building, Gehry's Disney Concert Hall, Koolhaas' Dubai Death Star & CCTV building. Yet much of that have not translated into fashion, with much of it focusing on either the far flung future (Balenciaga SS07) or rehashing the past (every Ralph Lauren collection. Puke) But what about the present? What it reiterates is the cyclical nature of art, fashion & culture - when innovation trumps invention, and when ideas run dry, the look into the ARCHIVES. But when ideas run dry, cross-dissemination of ideas happen, which is always exciting. (Remember Cy Twombly on Proenza Schuler?)

Now, Piss Christ pendant anyonre? 

Marhaba, H&M.

Following my last post about Rei Kawakubo for H&M, Egypt has announced its first H&M store, slated to open on June 5. Why is H&M expanding everywhere but here? Ya, habibi. Death to Forever 21.