In the states, we celebrated Halloween last weekend.  There were a few costume ideas that I had in mind but nothing that was close in comparison to the live comic book character inspired by Roy Lichtenstein’s trademark benday dots process of painting.  The look was created by a MAC Cosmetics makeup artist, Karin Stone. Senior makeup artists from the company provided 21 face charts for the holiday season that were posted to their Facebook page. The Lichtenstein face chart is my favorite look!

This will be my inspiration for next Halloween. Check out the video below:

It’s amazing what brushes and makeup can do!

Source: MAC Cosmetics

Opening Ceremony has released the Pamela Love x Zac Posen line of jewelry. The “Alice in Wonderland” line first appeared on Posen’s fall 2009 runway featuring braided belts, spiked floral earrings and studded balls in silver and gold. I love the rock inspired line, which runs from $190 to $625.

The 27 year old jewelry designer was featured in W Magazine a few months ago.  She stated, “I think fashion is definitely going through a very tough phase. The popularity of Alexander Wang and Rodarte really show that there’s a more gothic or rock and roll, more morbid sort of curiosity in fashion right now. I think that translates into jewelry as well.”

Photo/Source: Elle Mag

As reported from Van, OBEY teamed up with Levi’s for a capsule collection. The capsule collection includes eight pieces, two pairs of denim, two denim jackets, a flannel shirt and three tees, with a price point between $34.50 to $148. A special poster was released along with a live installation by  Shepard Fairey in Times Square Levi’s flagship store last night.  Below are a few images from Times Square:

Photo Source: Obey x Levis, Gradient Magazine

WWD’s reported earlier today that the Jimmy Choo and H&M collaborative line will be dropped on November 14th in two hundred stores. The pairing of Jimmy Choo and H&M will provide a high-end luxury line of accessories with H&M’s affordable price point. Below are a few photos from the ad campaign. I can’t wait to try on the heels above!

“The Jimmy Choo for H&M line is the first time the fast-fashion retailer will collaborate with an accessories brand after doing successful one-off apparel collections with the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, Roberto Cavalli and, most recently, Matthew Williamson. Another first is on Mellon’s part: She has spearheaded her first apparel designs under the Jimmy Choo name” (WWD).

Source: WWD

Photo Source: OBEY

Shepard Fairey will have a second solo retrospective, the Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand Exhibition, at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA on October 17th.  The exhibition will run through January 21, 2010 to celebrate the artist’s work during the last two decades.  Organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the show will explore illustrations, screen prints, collages, works of wood, metal and canvas produced by Fairey.  Visitors will be able to view such projects as Andre the Giant (1989) to the OBEY GIANT posters.

A special print has been produced for this special exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum, which will be released on October 18th.  The print is only available in person at the museum.  In honor of Andy Warhol, Fairey created an alternative colorway to the Global Warning image to pay homage to the iconic pop artist.  Fariey will also install various mural projects throughout Pittsburgh by October 17th.

Warhol is one of my favorites artists and Fariey doesn’t fall too far behind him as well. If you’re in the Pittsburgh area, this is an exhibit not to miss!

Warhol Museum x Shepard Fairey
Supply and Demand: 20 Year Retrospective
Oct 18, 2009 – Jan 31, 2010
Pittsburgh, PA

Global Warning Warhol Print, Photo Source: OBEY

For More information please visit WARHOL.org

Coca-Cola, as reported by Business Wire, has unveiled a new 90-calorie mini Coca-Cola can. “The Coca-Cola mini can innovation reinforces the Company’s support for healthy, active lifestyles”, a statement made by Sandy Douglas, President of Coca-Cola North America. Ranked as the most fittest city in the country, DC was selected along with NYC to be the first markets to try the 7.5-fluid ounce beverage. Being from the DC area, I will be one of the first consumers to have this!

“The package introduction comes in the wake of a recent global commitment from Coca-Cola to put calories front-of-package on nearly all its products. Coca-Cola also recently announced a new partnership with the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, which advocates a common-sense approach to helping reduce obesity by 2015. A core objective of the group is to remind consumers that achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is about balancing the calories consumed in a sensible diet with calories expended through physical activity” (Business Week).

I think Coca-Cola’s new product concept is great as it will reduce the amount of high fructose corn syrup delivered in an aluminum can.  I am also in favor of 90 calories over 140 calories (in a 12 oz. coke can).

Photo/Source: Business Week

How wonderful will it be to power up your iPhone or iPod with the use of the sun’s energy? You can literally charge your phone anywhere and directly from the sun! NOVOTHINK has released product information about their hybrid solar charger case. Not only is the case’s design sleek but it is also sustains energy to charge the iPhone or iPod. The case comes in eight colors and available to pre-order here.

With 2 hours of direct  exposure to sun, the solar charger case gives 30 minutes of talk time on a 3G network or 60 minutes of talk time on a 2G network.

“Novothink has developed the Solar Planner App as a free resource for our licensed solar charging cases, the SURGE, specifically designed for the iPhone 3G / 3GS and iPod touch 2nd generation. The NOVOTHINK Solar Planner provides an estimate of how much time you need to expose your Surge to the sun to maintain the battery level of your iPod touch or iPhone.

It works by transforming the energy from the sun into a reusable form of electricity, a process known as Photovoltaic (or PV for short). Your solar panel acts as a collecting tray, helping you catch the sun’s rays. The bigger the panel, the more energy you can collect. The energy collected is stored for your future use in a battery.”

Adobe Systems Incorporated has officially launched, Photoshop.com Mobile for iPhone, a Photoshop CS4 app for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch.  The app will allow users to edit photos on their devices and upload photos to share on Adobe’s Photoshop.com. The app is only available in the U.S. at the moment and free to download in the app store. Below is a screenshot taken from Adobe’s website:

I have tested the application and I am pleased with the new photo that I edited on Photoshop. The iPhone receives another brownie point in my book!

From Adobe, the application will:

* Transform your photos with essential edits like crop, rotate and flip.
* Correct and play with color by adjusting the saturation and tint, enhancing the exposure and vibrancy, and converting images to black and white.
* Use the Sketch tool to make photos look like drawings, and Soft Focus to give photos a subtle blur for artistic effect.
* Apply dramatic changes with effects such as Warm Vintage, Vignette and Pop. Edits or changes can be undone or redone so you can experiment without the worry of losing your original photo.
* Upload photos to Photoshop.com. The app provides the ultimate digital photo wallet, providing access to your entire Photoshop.com library. Photoshop.com offers 2GB of free online photo storage (equal to more than 1,500 photos).

In honor of Hello Kitty’s 35th birthday, MIMOBOT has teamed up with Sanrio to offer special USB flash drives. The commemorative series comes in three versions: Hello Kitty® Apple MIMOBOT®, Hello Kitty® Fun In Fields MIMOBOT® and Hello Kitty® x MIMOBOT®. From October 23-November 15th, Sanrio will be hosting a special event called the “Three Apples Exhibition” to celebrate the popular Japanese kitty’s birthday as well.

To learn more information about the exhibit and special 35th anniverary products, click here.

“As part of Hello Kitty’s 35th Anniversary celebration, Sanrio Global Consumer Products is pleased to announce a new partnership with Mimoco, creator of the MIMOBOT® line of contemporary character-based USB flash drives. The collaboration will transform SANRIO® characters into MIMOBOT designer flash drives, debuting in early September with multiple Hello Kitty x MIMOBOT designs produced and released in time for the pop icon’s 35th Anniversary on November 1st.”

Source: MIMOBOT

Simone Legno, creative director of Tokidoki, recently created a “Mini Karl” Lagerfeld 10 inch vinyl figure to be retailed at $190 (USD). Mini Karl will be sold at Tokidoki flagship stores in New York, Milan and Los Angeles. Colette is also selling the Karl Lagerfeld figure online and exclusively in store. One Thousand figures have been produced of the mini version Chanel’s creative mastermind.

Tokidoki will also offer Mini Karl T-shirts next spring for their K collection. I think I may want to add “Mini Karl” into my toy collection now!

Source: Tokidoki

Photo Source: Rock & Republic

Judging by the video preview of Rock & Republic’s Spring 2010 collection, the print campaign will be hot. The short film was directed by up and coming photographer Paola Kudacki and style by Mel Ottenberg features models Charlotte Carey and Stephane Olivier. With photo spreads featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, GQ and other magazines, Kudacki’s visuals behind the lens will be showcasing the concept of R&R’s Michael Ball (Creative Director).  He stated that the vision for the spring line was inspired from the model, “Charlotte was really my muse this season. She’s young and incredibly sexy, but there’s a sweetness and naïveté to her that makes her sexiness interesting. I wanted to channel that into the clothes and go for a sexiness that’s not so overt.”

Style.com posted a sneak preview of the SFW video on their website.

Source: Style.com

The September issue of Muse Magazine is dedicated to Model Natasha Poly.  Models.com had an exclusive preview into the photo spread, which features the work of famed photographers Sølve Sundsbø, Craig McDean, Terry Richardson and Panos Yiapanis; fashion directed by Riccardo Tisci; artwork by Jeff koons, John Kleckner, Barnaby Barford, Richard Phillips, Chantal Joffe and Billy Sullivan.

The artwork, make-up and photos involved with Muse’s 19th issue is amazing. New images, along with animations from the editorials will also appear on Models.com daily. An interview with the model was recently posted here.

Source: Models.com

Famed photographers, Markus and Inrani, recently took photos of Lady GaGa for a promotional campaign for Hello Kitty’s 35th birthday celebration. This photo was posted on Hello Kitty’s official blog on Saturday. Three more photos of Lady GaGa will be featured during Sanrio’s celebration of the famous Japanese kitty’s birthday during the “Three Apples Exhibition” in Los Angeles, CA form October 23rd-November 15th.

Source: http://sanrio.com/threeapples/blog

Photo Source: LA Times

After reading the press release from Virgin America, I am excited to inform foodies and food lovers that the classic Vietnamese sandwich, Banh Mi, will be served on all Virgin U.S. flights. VA has updated their on flight services by introducing new fall seasonal menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My favorite part about this update is Banh Mi. The combination of flying on Virgin America, internet access via WiFi and being able to order a Banh Mi sandwhich is wonderful! The price point is not bad as well. From $7-$10, flyers will be able to order VA’s “Banh Mi flat iron beef sandwich”.

Banh mi flat iron beef sandwich: A traditional street-vended Vietnamese sandwich made of grilled Asian marinated sliced flat iron steak with shaved cucumber, green leaf lettuce, baby frisée, fresh sprigs of cilantro and topped with a Vietnamese slaw of julienne carrots, daikon radish and red onion. Asian ginger dressing served on the side.

Photo Source: Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Catching on to Banh Mi fever yet? If not, I highly suggest that you hit up the nearest Banh Mi spot in your town and get a little taste of the Vietnamese cuisine served on French baguette.

The lookbook from Topshop’s fall 2009 collection are slowly leaking out to the blogsphere. The collections include Horror Girls, Marianne, Manhattan Girl and Highland Fling. Each unique to their own, has a different theme, texture, color and style.  My favorite collection is from Horror Girls, which features grunge inspired pieces.

MSN provides a description of each collection, along with a sneak peak of the lookbook.  Click on the first image to preview the entire gallery:

Horror Girls is a quirky take on Hammer House of Horror movie dressing. The collection plays with cobweb-esque gothic lace and crushed velvet jacket lines. Materials are inspired by Victorian nightwear for blouses and corsets while shirts and jeans are inspired by 80s denim.

Mahattan Girl uses exaggerated shapes and show-stopping colours, fabrics and textures such as leopard print t-shirts adorned with gold studs and gem stones. The blend is such that these flashy outfits could be worn during the day.

Marianne collection is a fusion of vintage glamour and grunge, inspired from 70s groupies and dress-up box feel. It contains luxurious fabrics made to look antique such as tarnished sequins and matted faux fur. It has extravagant material mostly dark but with occasional bright splashes.

Highland Fling combines classic tartans in oversized black watch check but with a modern twist. The full Scotland themed collection includes Fair Isle patterned luxurious knitwear, quilted nature coloured casual coats and brushed cotton check shirts.

Refinery29 also posted more photos from the lookbook:

There are a lot of inspirations from the catwalks in all four lines. I definitely need to take a trip to Topshop NYC in the near future!

Source: MSN (Malaysia), Tongue in Chic, Refinery29

When it comes to mechanical objects in motion and art, leave up to artist Jonathan Schipper to produce something neat. He recently teamed up with fellow artist Amelia Biewald to create a metal plated iPhone case for Exovault. By far, this is the most creative iPhone case I have seen to date.

Each case is handcrafted and made from brass, titanium and aluminum. The aluminum cases are retailed at $95, while the brass and titanium versions are $300.  To purchase the case(s), visit Exovault’s website for more information.

Photo/Source: Cool Hunting

Jason Wu and Parisian boutique, Colette, recently released a limited edition miniature doll from Wu’s Fashion Royalty® Monogram line.  The latest doll will be the second one from the designer.  Jason selected look number twenty from his Fall 2009 collection, which currently sold out at Colette’s website and retailed for $297.48 (USD).

Image/Source: Style.com, Colette

I came upon photographs taken by Matt Irvin for Dominic Jones’ jewelry and accessories lookbook today.  The jewelry and entire collection is amazing, as well as the photo spread. Dominic Jones’ jewelry are more than just your average gold plated studs and spikes, some of the pieces resemble rose thorns. I love this collection. Check out the rest of the lookbook here.

Source: Dominic Jones

As specialty cupcakes sweep our sweet tooth, designers have been inspired to created jewelry and handbags to curve our latest obsessions over the delectable sweets. Some have also placed personal touches on these creations, like Judith Leiber, who decorated a strawberry cupcake diamond encrusted clutch.

Leiber’s haute couture handbags have been carried around by first ladies and featured in art galleries in Washington, DC, London and New York. Her handbags are also famous in Hollywood and appeared in the Sex in the City movie.  Leiber’s pink strawberry cupcake clutch was in the scene with Charlotte’s daughter in the blockbuster hit.  The bag also comes in a vanilla version and retails at $4295.00. If you can’t afford this, Bag Barrow Steal is currently renting the clutch for $134 a week/$395 a month.

The clutch below goes for $4395.00 and can be purchased here.

I’ll just stick to edible cupcakes at the moment.

Photo Source: Bag Barrow Steal, Gear Fuse

Odélie Chan’s handmade earrings are beautifully crafted. Each piece showcases vibrant colors in different shapes and materials used. From pop culture influences like Japanese animation and pin up girls to cereal box covers, Chan’’s jewelry line has something for every girl.

She is also channeling Native Americans by creating the earrings below:

She is based out in France.  I’m not sure if her line is sold overseas but I’d love to get my hands on some of her jewelry. Check out some of her other designs:

For more information, visit her blog or myspace page.

Source: UO’s blog