Juliette Longuet

At Bloomingdale’s, Barbie might as well be couture legend. In conjunction with Barbie’s 50th birthday, which is evolving into a global celebration, Bloomingdale’s 59th Street on Feb. 11 will exhibit 120 Barbies through the decades in 60 vitrines on the third floor, with some first editions valued between $25,000 and $27,000. From Feb. 11-22, Bloomingdale’s Third Avenue windows will be dressed in Barbie under the theme “My Boyfriend Is Back” and inside the store, a 242-square-foot Barbie boutique will display Barbie T-shirts, accessories, jewelry, DC Super Hero Barbies, a Barbie Book by Assouline, and the dolls, among other merchandise. There will also will be an event with live Ken and Barbie models. Similarly, Bloomingdale’s SoHo will have window displays and a Barbie shop. Elsewhere, Barbie is celebrating with window displays, shop concepts, exhibits and exclusive and limited edition products at Colette in Paris, La Rinascente in Milan and Fred Segal in Los Angeles, among about 20 stores. For the first-ever Barbie runway show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week on Feb. 14, Barbie’s parent, Mattel Inc., has lassoed 50 designers, Diane Von Furstenberg and Anna Sui among them, to create looks inspired by the doll, some of which will be displayed at Bloomingdale’s. In addition, the first-ever Barbie store is set to open in Shanghai on March 6; an eight-story flagship in a former movie theater. Barbie art by Andy Warhol and Peter Max and others will be on view. There will also be a spa, a restaurant and, for older girls, a $16,000 Vera Wang strapless wedding gown. For any woman who buys it, Mattel will create a doll in her likeness in a miniature version of the gown.

Luxury shirtmaker Eton of Sweden has opened its first U.S. store at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Eton, which celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2008, operates 12 stores around the world. They are planning to add three to five units in 2009, including Los Angeles and Canada. Jan Borghardt, creative director said they started looking for a space three years ago and they started in the Wall Street area. But when that didn’t pan out, the company settled on the Plaza, which recently underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation and added 60,000 square feet of retail including men’s brands such as Seize sur Vingt and Arthur, as well as luxe accessories purveyors MCM and Ghurka. The company decided to settled at the Plaza, which recently underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation and added 60,000 square feet of retail including men’s brands such as Seize sur Vingt and Arthur, as well as luxe accessories purveyors MCM and Ghurka. At the store-opening event Tuesday night, Eton also showcased what it touted as the “world’s most expensive shirt.” Encased in a hand-carved black oak box, the Eton Diamond Shirt is a traditional dress shirt constructed from the most exclusive Egyptian cotton that sports diamond studs of different colors set in black enamel borders. The shirt, which the company values at around $40,000, will be auctioned by Harrods of London this spring with all proceeds going to the Great Ormond Street Hospital.

John Varvatos is going from a vintage feel to an artisanal look. The men’s wear designer is poised to launch his third men’s scent, a fragrance called Artisan, that is due out in March, in an effort to bolster what he describes as a steadily growing Varvatos fragrance business. While neither the designer, nor executives at his Shiseido-owned licensee, JV Fragrance & Skincare, would comment specifically on revenues, Varvatos said his men’s fragrance business was up by double-digits in 2008, compared with 2007. Varvatos’ full fragrance distribution of 900 doors in the U.S includes Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys New York, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Sephora locations. Artisan opens with notes of Sicilian clementines, tangelo fruit, Mexican winter mandarin oranges, as well as thyme, Spanish marjoram and Greek lavendin. The heart of the fragrance has an accord of North African orange tree blossom blended with Indian murraya, an orange jasmine tree, which in this case, is billed as a first in the composition of a men’s scent.

After modeling in New York for a couple of years, Russian beauty Daria Einhorn left the catwalk behind to open a salon and spa geared exclusively toward kids, ranging from infants to 12-year-olds.  Dimples Kids Spa, a beauty retreat for children. The spa is located at 91 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. The sunny, whitewashed room is decorated simply with butterfly decals and the construction-paper menu of services taped to the wall adds to a kids’ clubhouse feel. Three lemon-yellow barber chairs are stationed in front of a big flat-screen TV, which plays movies like Monster House and The Little Mermaid. Young girls can choose from a rainbow of non-toxic Mad River Science colors for simple manicures. Nearby, chocolate, cherry, or strawberry honey facials use organic Aqua Dessa products and include a cleansing with a warm towel, a gentle scrub, massage, all-natural mask, and moisturizing lotion. Hair cuts, braiding, and even babysitting are all for sale. That’s why Daria emphasizes that parents can drop off their children for services while they shop in the neighbourhood. Bags of Kit-Kats and lollipops create a party vibe, and group packages are available for birthdays or special events.

Danskin fashion exec Michael Ericson opened this high-tech, tongue-in-cheek, splashing the quip “Get Your Hair Did” across the front window. The small, three-station spot projects a modern vibe, with clocks set to New York, Tokyo, and London time decking a canary-yellow wall; a soundtrack courtesy of a meticulously programmed iPod; flat-screen TVs cycling promotional one-liners (“Our stylist can beat up your stylist,” “Give your hair a little happy”); and two open laptops for lingering clients. A seasonal menu of complimentary beverages ranges from vodka martinis to Orangina, and repeat customers will find their drink and magazine of choice waiting at each appointment. Stylist Coco is certified in Softouch massages, it’s a Japanese smoothing treatment that eliminates flyaways, while Arrojo-trained. Glam portraits of newly styled customers line the doorway, Ericson also doubles as a fashion photographer for ad campaigns.

President’s election Barack Obama continues to be a source of inspiration for designers and many big fashion players are getting in the game of creating inauguration-themed clothing. With next week’s presidential inauguration shaping up to be one of the most anticipated national events in recent memory, more than 10 American designers have created official merchandise to support the festivities as part of the “Runway to Change” initiative. The new collectible pieces include tote bags by Diane von Furstenberg and Tory Burch; T-shirts by Zac Posen, Donna Karan, Juicy Couture, Narciso Rodriguez, Derek Lam, Rachel Roy, Gerald Matthews and House of Deréon, and a scarf by Alexander Wang. The “Runway to Change” initiative launched during Obama’s campaign featured special merchandise by more than 25 designers to benefit the campaign. Proceeds from the sale of the items will support the costs of the inauguration, which are expected to be close to $45 million as the 2005 inauguration. It seems that Obama is an incredibly inspirational leader. Every Americans is excited to see the direction he and his team will take the country in the coming years. They want to see some changes..

The collection is available at the Presidential Inaugural Store at 625 E Street Northwest in Washington through Jan. 21. It will also be available at pic2009.inauguralcollectibles.com through February.

Elie Akiba’s denim-centric store Lulu has found a new home at the Bal Harbour Shops in Miami. While shopping habits of his largely international customer base have changed, denim remains a performer. According to Akiba, customers who used to buy three or four pairs of jeans are now homing in on a single “It” pair with a special fashion item that justifies the price. Akiba has taken the idea of delivering service to a new level in Lulu’s latest incarnation of a store on the model of a French brasserie. A hostess greets shoppers and assigns them a server, who shows items behind a zinc bar complete with authentic trimmings such as Thonet stools, menus and complimentary drinks, from espresso to martinis. As in a typical French restaurant, discounts are given for ordering “le complet”. The three courses are made up of jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers. Receipts even feature a space for tips.
A blend of nostalgic SoHo and Paris, decor begins with brick walls, polished cement floors and white subway tiles. Akiba is now thinking to find a great space in NY!

The paint from the ‘Louis Vuitton’ graffiti was still drying as New York’s cool kids flocked to the Soho store to celebrate the launch of the latest Stephen Sprouse collection. The much anticipated Louis Vuitton & Stephen Sprousse Tribute Collection was released on January 8, 2009 at the SoHo boutique.

The complete worldwide launch will follow on February 2, 2009 though the Rose pieces will be available at Louis Vuitton stores worldwide starting Friday, January 9, 2009. With every new collection there are always limited edition pieces, which will only be available at the SoHo location: “a Stephen Sprouse graffiti skateboard replete with a hard case monogram skateboard trunk, and a Stephen Sprouse ‘Roses’ T-shirt.

The company hopes to sell three graffiti skateboards with trunks for $8,250 each, and 70 T-shirts for $250 each. If you don’t live in NYC you can get the collection on e.luxury.com and save on taxes! Proceeds will benefit Free Arts NYC.

Ray-BanWayfarer sunglasses are one of the most iconic sunglasses in the world, last spring they’ve partnered up with Marie Claire to launch Project Colorize, a new line of colored Wayfarers in collaboration with five NYC artists. This year for a more distinctive look, Ray-Ban is releasing a Colorize Kit. The ever-classic Ray Ban is releasing a customizable version of their Wayfarers which will allow you to color and stencil your shades to most accurately portray just how hip and original you are. You receive a blank pair of Wayfarers, a pack of markers and stencils for you to customize your own pair. Everything seems to be DIY-able, fun! Stay tuned for more info forthcoming. Similar to Adidas’ Adicolor shoes back in the 1980’s (and again in 2005), which paired all-white low-tops with 6 acrylic paints, paintbrushes and sealant for the leather so artists could customize their kicks, the Colorized Wayfarers will really allow you to make your mark.
If only the Wayfarers came with an eraser marker so you could continually update the look and colour of your shades - now that’s an idea.

Last month four images of the Madonna for Louis Vuitton Spring ‘09 ad campaign was released by Steven Meisel. This shot definitely has a Marlene Deitrich world-weary vamp. This ad campaign has a setting in a smokey French bistro and the sepia-toned images are evoking a Brasserie atmosphere. It was all LV designer Marc Jacobs’ brilliant idea. Apparently, he blurted out the cutting-edge concept in a creative meeting after seeing her concert the night before.