Conversation starters from across the globe.
From Louis Vuitton to Louboutin, this seasons Scoops are all about bags…We just can’t get enough!
MULTI STATEMENT LUXURY
Let’s all agree: we love a classic statement bag. But settling on one and wearing it on repeat gets…well, repetitive. To remediate all this and spark more excitement in our daily routine, French luxury House Louis Vuitton is launching a new version of the already-cult Multi Pochette Accessoires. To be debuted this October, the iconic piece will reinterpret a House classic, the Pochette Accessoire, a pouch originally created in 1992 and able to take you from errands in the city to elegant dinners with ease. Now available for customization and layering, the Multi Pochette Accessoires combines two detachable pieces:
The actual mini Pochette Accessoire (a smaller version of the original pouch), along with a delightfully cute round mini coin purse. Versatile, the Multi Pochette Accessoires can be worn two ways: as an eye-catching statement bag with the delicate chain hung on-arm, or cross-body, with a sporty jacquard handle, to be chosen in either pink or military green. A cult classic gone 21st century rogue. We love.
GUILT-FREE PRADA
Prada’s challenge to take one of its trademark accessories and turn it into a sustainable and guilt-free object of desire has been nailed. The illustrious Italian House is turning its iconic nylon handbags into sustainable luxurious pieces of high desirability, further championing their sustainability effort, which began with a vow to quit using fur by 2020. Debuted earlier this year with a documentary produced by National Geographic featuring actress Bonnie Wright (little Ginny Weasley no more!), the second part of the five episode-series took South Sudanese-Australian top model,
Adut Akech Bior, to Cameroon’s Lake Ossa, where local communities strive to retrieve lost fishing nets discarded over time by the region’s fishermen. The nets are then sold, recycled and transformed into Econyl, a regenerated nylon used to weave the six styles of the indefinitely recyclable Prada Re-Nylon collection. With 10,000 tons of Econyl saving 70,000 barrels of petroleum, Prada is not only working towards sustainability and supporting the local economy, but it is also donating part of the Re-Nylon proceeds to UNESCO to develop international programs for increased sustainable initiatives.
GUCCI ACE.M.R.
ASMR, or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, is the new technologically-savvy treatment picking up major steam lately used to create a joyful sensation felt through audio and video simulation. Tapping into the new trend, Gucci has created its very own ASMR experience for the second chapter of the 2016-debuted #24HourAce initiative. This time via Instagram, the Italian House is bringing back to life its most enamored sneaker, the Ace, to star in a series of ASMR-focused short films and animations created by an Alessandro Michele-curated cast of international young creatives.
The Gucci-approved multimedia artists, collagists, and directors took to the challenge of transforming the glorious signature shoe into an out-of-body digital experience and delivered show stopping and chill-inducing short films. The films are all available to watch (and watch again. And again.) on the brand’s social media channel. Try it, it’s entirely satisfying.
ROMAN VANITAS
This fall, Dolce & Gabbana is debuting “Eternal Love”, the Italian brand’s Fall 2019 make-up collection celebrating timeless beauty and featuring captivating seasonal hues in a sleek packaging of vibrant red love hearts and overflowing polka dots. With an eyeshadow palette presenting ten neutral eye-catching tones from matte beige to shimmering browns, a tinted moisturizer promising to leave complexions with a healthy sheen long after the temperature drops, bucolic hues of blush and lipsticks, and three nail polishes in petal pink, bright fuchsia and electric emerald, the line is a seasonal must-have.
With the feminine, glamorous and resolutely Italian collection, it’s la Dolce Vita coming in foolproof formulas to be taken with you everywhere.
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS
Miu Miu is Prada’s disruptive little sister – or ‘the most unrestrained portrayal of Miuccia Prada’s creativity’ as the Prada posse like to paint it – a little sister with glitter and feathers as wardrobe staples, and punkish hairstyles with loud make-up that define her signature look. To capture the essence of the Fall 2019 collection, the Italian House asked Norwegian photographer Julie Greve and Russian stylist Lotta Volkova to collaborate together and interpret their version of the Miu Miu woman. Both of the normcore school, the two creatives chose to display authentic life rather than a sleeked version of reality,
and took to Instagram to scout “real life” girls who could embody the Miu Miu personae they were looking for. Shot in Denmark and featuring girls living around the photographer’s neighborhood, the series of intimate portraits shares a glimpse into the young women’s lives, their insecurities facing the camera, and their challenging journey navigating from girlhood to adulthood. Here, the Miu Miu girl is your teenager next door, growing up at her own pace, facing life’s difficulties and wonders, but with ethereal panache and Miu Miu-glittered sunglasses. One sure thing: She has great taste.
RED BOTTEGA
Bottega Veneta’s creative director, Daniel Lee, is the new fashion wunderkind to watch, sharing his aesthetic for the brand via digitally buzzed-about campaigns (go see the last one captured by Tyron Lebon and be your own judge) and instantly sold-out drops. This month, the Italian label is partnering up with Berlin-based online retailer MyTheresa, the first e-commerce platform to ever score a collaboration with the House, and will debut exclusive styles for their online community. Available on the platform from September 4th and then globally from September 11th,
the Mytheresa x Bottega Veneta capsule collection reinterprets the brand’s iconic butter-soft leather pouches (available in small and large sizes) and square-soled quilted leather mules in a unique red hue (yes, the very same ones flooding your feeds but in a screaming crimson color). We expect this shade to achieve cult status as quick as a click.
GENDERLESS LUXURY
Two years – the time needed for pop star Billie Eilish to drop blazing hits, tap a collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, turn her childhood obsession for Justin Bieber into an actual duet, and front German luxury label MCM’s Fall/Winter 2019 campaign. Shot by South-African photographer Lea Colombo and featuring rapper-producer Childish Major, the campaign is MCM’s newly appointed creative director Dick Shonberg’s first at the helm of the brand. With both Eilish and Major sharing the same wardrobe, the campaign highlights the genderless and anti-conformity aspects of the collection,
glorifying both stars’ personalities and identities and embracing their individualities. Fluidity is what defines MCM’s modern style as Eilish explained when asked about the images: “You don’t have to be a boy. You don’t have to be a girl. You don’t have to wear something specific to those labels. You know, you can be anything at all.” With key pieces ranging from baggy tracksuits to leather bucket hats, all emblazoned with the House’s monogrammed logo, there’s everything for everyone.
HOURGLASS TAGS
Fancy copping Balenciaga’s distinct stamp of cool and disruptive urban style, but with your own personalized touch? Dubai Mall’s accessories department store, Level Shoes, will be hosting its very own Balenciaga pop-up event from September 1st to 7th. The “Balenciaga Ephemeral Handbag Shop” will present a selection of Winter 2019 accessories including the newly launched Hourglass bag in multiple sizes and an array of vibrant hues along with an exclusive pink colorway, available in Dubai only.
With an on-site graffiti artist available to vandalize your bag as you please, or simply monogram it with your initials or first name, you’ll be able to flaunt your own crest on your favorite bag. If you’re not in Dubai, worry not – the event will be moving to Kuwait’s The Avenues’ Balenciaga flagship store from September 11th-13th. #MadeItMyself.
SKYLINE BEAUTY
This fall, Peter Phillips, Dior Make-Up’s Creative and Image director, is sharing the tools and tricks to his ultimate “Power Look”. Inspired by the ferocious energy of modern cities with their dark buildings, never ending lights, and raw skylines, the darkly romantic collection caters to both eyes, lips, skin, and nails, made to create endless head-turning beauty looks. Blending fall’s warm hues with the urban inspiration’s cooler shades, the range paints the story of a powerful woman on a mission to always look her best, or as explained by Phillips himself, “An urban woman who manages her career and intellectual life;
a strong woman who plays with makeup without losing credibility.” Intensely pigmented eyeshadow palettes, high-impact eye liners, radiant lipsticks, delicious mineral powders, and our very favorite, a versatile range of nail polish hues imbuing strength, power and determination (including a lime green shade we’ve already been sporting this season, and will carry on powerfully all through the year). La Femme Dior is ready for fall. You have been warned.
JUST WATCH
French luxury House Chanel will once again participate in the Only Watch event, a biennial auction where 50 exclusive luxury timepieces made by the world’s leading manufacturers will be sold to fund research for Duchenne Muscular Distrophy. This time, the storied house made a star turn and will offer not one, but a pair of J12 timepieces, the 19-year-old quintessential Chanel watch, ironically named Les Inseparables for the occasion. Never in the seven years of auctions has a brand offered a pair of watches, and the Chanel offering will be even more exclusive since these J12s are the new generation, equipped with the innovative self-winding Caliber 12.,
a mechanism visible through a sapphire crystal engraved with the auction logo. Starting this month, the entire collection of the auction’s watches – including the Chanel J12 – will travel to Dubai, Tokyo, Monaco, Paris, Singapore, Honk-Kong and Taipei before eventually returning to Geneva, where the actual auction will take place on November 9th. A style coup for a charitable cause – need we say more?
MEET MARY JANE
Louboutin loves a Mary Jane. Back in 2018, the red-soled shoemaker unveiled five fresh new designs for its iconic bucket bag. Evolving, the Mary Jane is now a unisex bumbag, fresh, functional and fun but loyal to the brand’s characteristic codes: glitters, studs, and the unique Louboutin red. The sleek and stylish accessory is available in two versions: black calfskin embellished with the signature embroidered logo, and gold spechio adorned with rainbow-hued LouboutintheSky spikes. With its bold accents, convenient and practical format and utterly glamourous aesthetic, there’s few more weeks of warm weather ahead and plenty of good reasons to take your belt bags places.
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