Stylish Diva Studio

Japanese brands always have projects collaborating with other brands.  We’ve had in the past, Head Porter x Beams, Comme des Garçons x Converse, Mastermind Japan x Vsivim, and so on, they’ve all been extremely successful.  The main reasons are; they are all limited edition, so it made them more precious.  Second, you paid a price and you are wearing 2 brands, pieces that contains 2 different design elements, which usually created new dynamics to both brands.  And of course, it could be once in a life time for the collaboration.  It is possible that they’ll gather again, but who knows when. It could be years later when you might not even fit into the targeted age group anymore, keep in mind that your taste might change over time.

Designers brands are great, but they are extremely expensive.  Of course, if you think about how much time the designers put into their designs, the money they spent to market their products or to hired famous models for their showdown every season, and of course, the luxurious materials, I guess I understand why they are expensive.  these designers creative trends, they don’t follow, so if you want to wear what’s in and don’t have the budget, go for H&M, ZARA, or Mango, these brands follow the trends.  It’s good in a way because fashion is not just for uptown girls, and I’ve just discover a brand, Joe Fresh, for women who want to be trendy and with a budget.  Actually, most of us fall into this category.

I was never a fan of Chanel.  Yes…I know it’s quite unbelievable.  It wasn’t my style though, the quilted handbags, the pencil skirts, the suits, the cardigans…they were too lady.  But I guess as I slowly approaching 30, I started to appreciate the elegance of Chanel more, and really…Chanel is not for young rich kids.

The global fashion market is always dominant by European and American brands, there isn’t much room for Canadian brands there, mainly because Canada doesn’t really have a room for fashion to grow, there is only the Toronto fashion week and period.  There are magazines every year for fashion previews and runways in NY, London, Milan, Tokyo, Paris, and now even Beijing.  Remember Karl Lagerfeld had his F/W 2008 collection for Fendi at the Great Wall in Beijing China? I think the idea was absolutely brilliant. Take a look at the clips to refresh your memory.

There is no doubt that Marc Jacobs is one of the most talented designer, I loved the crazy ideas that he brought to Louis Vuitton, even though sometimes I may not necessarily agreed with his design for the brand, I should say the handbags in particular.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved his design for the Louis clothing, he definitely created trends for every season.  I am not going to concentrate on his premium lines today, not Louis, not his own Marc Jacobs line, nor Marc by Marc Jacobs, but his Jacobs by Marc Jacobs line.  I’m not sure if you are familiar with the Jacobs line here in North America, I never really see it available, at least not in Canada, but it’s actually very popular in Japan.  If you ask me what’s in this line, to be honest, not much, it’s all about the totes, and may be a few wallets.

Undercover Eyescream T-shirt, exclusive to ZOZOTOWN

I was going through my e-mails today and received an e-newsletter from ZOZOTOWN, I found this very interesting T-shirt from the Japanese brand UNDERCOVER.  As you may know already I’m addicted to unique designed tees, so I really want to show this.

Remember I wrote a post about Dolce & Gabbana Beauty in the early June?  I just threw a trip to NYC over the weekend and I found the Dolce & Gabbana Beauty counter.  It’s one of the most glamorous cosmetic counter that I’ve seen inside Saks Fifth Avenue, though I wasn’t thrill with the lighting at the store.  The make-up artists there were very helpful and it seems like they really enjoy their work, I guess this is what we are lacking here in Canada.  At least I didn’t feel the artists here are as enthusiastic as the 2 people that I’ve met there at the counter.  If you have a spare moment at NYC, try visit the counter at Saks on the 5th Ave, NYC.

Another great collaboration, COMME des GARCONS famous PLAY heart shape on your favorite pair of basic Converse, how brilliant is that! After a successful launch in Japan early 2009, they’ll be coming to each of their flag ship stores in different cities like New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Seoul. Meanwhile China and North America will get their share in October this year.

Available in black and white, high and lo tops, retail for $100 USD.

I don’t particularly like snakes, including snakes accessories. Every year, there is something represent luck for each Chinese zodiac; unfortunately, in the year of Ox, snack is the chosen one to bring me my luck.  So to make myself like it more, I started to look for accessories designed with snakes.  I bought this really cool black crystal snake ring fom Thomas Sabo when I was traveling in HK and I started to love it, I got so much compliment on it.  Well…I guess they are not so hard to approach after all.

Kiss Me Heavy Rotation Pencil Liner

2 days ago, I walked by a local store called Smart Maple, (this is so Canadian ^o^!!) a store that sells cheesy Japanese Sanrio stuff like Hello Kitty.  I’m not a fan because I passed that stage long ago, but something just caught my eyes and I couldn’t help but to walked over and check out the new station with all the Japanese cosmetic products.  I mean the real local Japanese brands, stuff that are all written in Japanese, don’t even have English on it.  I picked up this eyeliner “Heavy Rotation – Smooth Line” from a brand called Kiss Me for $15.99 CDN, tried to read the Kenji with all the knowledge that I have in Chinese, hopefully I could find something about whether if it’s waterproof, but nothing…as expected. (cuz I can’t read Japanese)  I don’t think the girls there read it either, so I didn’t bother to ask.  I thought, it doesn’t hurt to try because I think the Japanese are smart enough to figure out that we need waterproof.