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Luxuo Berlook is a lifestyle clothing brand that not only empowers women but encourages them to feel and look good from the inside out. Specialising in wardrobe staples and key pieces that are meant to be kept, Berlook goes beyond seasonal trends to deliver selections across swimwear and activewear for a range of activities, lifestyles, and body types. In what some may see as a saturated clothing market, Berlook stands out from other clothing brands for its sustainability initiatives, its range of inclusive sizes as well as the timeless, versatile nature of the brand’s designs. Berlook’s founders have over a decade of experience in the fashion industry and built the brand with the intention of benefiting women and the world. A Strong Sustainability InitiativeThe first steps in sustainability start with respect and accountability. When it comes to sustainability, Berlook incorporates 100 percent natural or recyclable fabrics for every piece of their swimwear and ready-to-wear collections. Their environmental commitment is reflected in every stitch of fabric. By prioritising transparency in sourcing and manufacturing, each piece created can be traced back to its production. Berlook aims to have 100 percent of its materials sustainable by 2025. After sourcing the most sustainable materials, Berlook partners with certified factories that ensure a safe, healthy, and fair working environment for its workers, alongside a commitment to the environment. Berlook works closely with its partners to ensure their standards for sustainability towards both people and the planet are continuously respected. There is no denying that the fashion industry has made a huge impact on the planet and the environment, with a constant cycle of throw-away pieces alongside fulfilling a strenuous 96-season run. Berlook however, brands itself on its cozy multipurpose garments designed to help the wearer enjoy more leisure and make work feel comfortable, but above the brand strives for lasting environmental progress. Championing InclusivityBerlook pieces are crafted from comfortable garments that are composed of a “highly stretchy” material made to fit ladies of all body types and shapes. The clothes are aimed at empowering women of all sizes and shapes while celebrating the female figure and sculpted silhouettes. With the body in mind, Berlook creates simple yet stylish swimwear designs for contemporary women across the globe. Each one of the brand’s swimwear styles has been trialed by dozens of women with a variety of body shapes and sizes, ensuring a standard of relevant research behind the fit and comfort. Timeless Designs and Versatile StaplesWhen it comes to activewear, Berlook’s four-way stretch yoga apparel allows the wearer to move freely and gracefully in any pose. Plus, they’re highly breathable, ensuring the wearer stays cool and dry throughout their yoga session. From the tennis court to the yoga mat, everything from sports bras to a backless tank top is skin-friendly, supportive, and breathable. Berlook creates sustainable and exquisite wardrobe staples. Each piece is meant to be worn and goes beyond seasonal trends and single-use wear. As the brand says “We launch some brand new styles each season with multiple ways to wear and love them, giving our customers the most bang for the buck”. Berlook continues to strive to empower women help in building their sartorial confidence and encourage confidence in style. Supporting Meaningful InitiativesSince 2023, Berlook has actively donated, to The United Breast Cancer Foundation, with the total contribution amount reaching thousands of dollars in promoting Breast Cancer Awareness. As part of Berlook’s partnerships, one percent of sales made from every Membership Day purchase on the last weekend of each month will be contributed to The United Breast Cancer Foundation (UBCF). This donation will assist UBCF’s Hope for Every Woman initiative, offering crucial, life-saving programs and services to inspire hope and provide aid to those affected by breast cancer. For more on Berlook, head to their website here. Find out more about Berlook’s ethos and sustainability initiatives here. For more on the latest in luxury fashion reads, click here. The post Berlook Looks to The Future of Womanswear appeared first on LUXUO. Sadry Keiser has one of the most unusually authored biographies of any watch industry executive. To be fair, the Chief Marketing Officer of Roger Dubuis probably shares this feature with some of his colleagues because it is so very Roger Dubuis. The company calls itself the “bad boy of the Geneva watch industry,” and it is not difficult to see why. Just look at the watches, and Keiser’s official portrait. In Keiser’s own official biography, which goes out to anyone who interviews him, Roger Dubuis is also described as the Richemont Group’s “maverick” while Keiser is described as a man with an “unexplained attraction to watchmaking.” Keiser himself described Roger Dubuis as the “wild child” of Richemont in an interview with the retailer Watches of Switzerland in the UK. Well, the watches certainly raise the decibel level, sometimes quite literally. If your first encounter with Roger Dubuis is at a watch fair, such as Watches and Wonders Geneva, you might actually discover the brand when you hear a racket of some sort somewhere around the Van Cleef & Arpels and IWC booths. Or you might be having a meeting over at A. Lange & Söhne only to find yourself talking over a cacophony of what absolutely cannot be anything related to Swiss watchmaking. Except of course that is, and it is all done on purpose. Keiser tells us, not at all sheepishly, that Roger Dubuis creates a spectacle at the fair to draw a crowd; “I can tell you that 80 percent of the people we see…in our boutiques are not only new to Roger Dubuis, they are new to watchmaking!” Keiser met with us at the Singapore ION boutique late last year (2023) to engage in a free-ranging conversation about the novelties of 2023; Roger Dubuis also inaugurated a new store at Marina Bay Sands late last year but that is a story for another time. The youthful Keiser – his official information does not list his age but that is as expected of Roger Dubuis because age is nothing but a number here – likes to think of himself as a bridge between the technical side of the story and the design team. In his role as Chief Marketing Officer, he is also a bridge between the brand and the media, and by extension, the public. Keiser cut his teeth in the technical arena of watchmaking at TAG Heuer’s manufacturing end, and that brand’s research and development department. This experience would prove beneficial to his later stint as Head of Product Marketing at Roger Dubuis where he was “overcome by a wild desire to return to marketing – and inject it with his own inflammatory watchmaking passion…” It was this promise of inflammatory rhetoric that drew our interest to engaging in a lengthy chat with Keiser, who was in town to introduce the Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph in particular. Happily, neither he nor the watch disappointed us! Before we get into things properly, tell us if the Spider Flyback Chronograph is the first production chronograph since the Sympathy collection?No, there was a chronograph with a plain dial around 2011 or 2012, and it was the piece celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Poincon de Geneve <this was a limited edition of eight – Ed>. It is less characteristic than (our now signature style) with contemporary skeletonizing (although it did have a tourbillon). The team at that time thought it was good to master the various complications but recognised that there are also other players doing the same, maybe better than us or more known than us. So, we needed to bring additional value…we focused on the tourbillon for simple reasons: there are fewer components so there is more space to have transparency and to explore different styles. Then we went with automatics, then double tourbillons, and so on. It took time to get back on track with chronograph complications, and to return to the roots of Roger Dubuis <in relation to the famous Sympathy case chronographs that the founder created – Ed>. It is a different kind of game playing with a skeletonized approach on the chronograph complication. There was no doubt for us on bringing back that complication but just a question of finding the right way to do it. Now is the right time to launch the Flyback Chronograph, because you have never seen this kind of watch before! No, of course not, so let’s dive right into it!For me, the Flyback Chronograph is an interesting approach because I think we keep the philosophy of the company – putting the mechanics first (and completely visible). Needless to say, having an integrated calibre for us, that was absolutely mandatory. Also, playing with the architecture of the calibre, keeping the freedom of aesthetics that we like, while being respectful of tradition…and keeping the Poincon de Geneve in play. What I mean by playing with the architecture while keeping elements of tradition is that the column wheel (must be present) for sure, but we put this on the front of the calibre <this distinctive element is normally bridge-side – Ed>. So, once again reengineering the architecture of the calibre to bring (and deliver) specific signatures on the way that people are seeing it. And last but not least, we talk about the vertical clutch, of course, because once again, it is following the beauty of, and respect for, tradition. But at the end of the day, within the very (contemporary) kind of design that follows the spirit of the Excalibur Spider, there is also an obvious to link to motorsport activities, paying tribute to our Italian friends (that is to say Lamborghini, a long- term partner to Roger Dubuis – Ed). Why wait till later in the year to debut the Flyback Chronograph when you had the chance to pair it with the Monovortex Split-Seconds Chronograph at Watches and Wonders?Part of my answer will have to do with the Monovortex… (because) it speaks to the philosophy of the company: to showcase the expertise of the watchmaking industry and to incubate a fraction of our innovations in one single piece. But when you put everything in one single watch – I am talking about a new regulator a new winding system, alongside a new display system as well…and then a split-second chronograph complication (a high complication that is arguably more complex than the tourbillon – Ed) – the bar is set pretty high. To be frank with you, we needed to go to the real and tangible world, to see if everything works as it should. But at least at that time (during the show in Geneva), we got to demonstrate to the world and certainly to the connoisseur, because every single person attending Watches and Wonders is sensitive to fine watchmaking, who Roger Dubuis is and what we are about. You can see that Roger Dubuis is a serious player. Then again, Roger Dubuis is not a foundation so we all expected a commercial offering at some point…That is right! And we decided that the Goodwood Festival of Speed was a good philosophical fit with the Spider Flyback Chronograph; motorsports in general are a good fit for the chronograph. We also did not want to fire all our (marketing) bullets at one time…instead we wanted to create a conversation with the community that helped everyone understand the sequence that we have in mind, from concept to commercially available piece. Because (both the Monovortex and the Flyback Chronograph) are new concepts, in a way. You can see from the Flyback Chronograph if we have captured well that reality behind (some of) the concepts in the Monovortex. How do you approach Watches and Wonders, or any fair really, from the perspective of introducing watches to the public, or introducing it to partners? Is it sales first? Presentation first?It is a very good question. I think these shows are moving, let us say from business to business to consumer to become more business to consumer. For a couple of years now, we see the content of such shows moving in this direction as well. As one of the operators at Watches and Wonders, we are also following this trend to (orientate) more towards being business to consumer. You know, we are in that position where we need to be seen by a large audience, but talk only to a few, if you know what I mean. From a marketing perspective, (the question is) how I can be sure to reach a larger audience, where that larger audience can understand the reason why Roger Dubuis exists. What is our unique proposition and does my audience get it? You know, if everyone understands that we are a pure player doing contemporary skeletonised complications with Poincon de Geneve, then I am in heaven! On the other hand, there are a few people where we need to go a bit further and dig into our own worlds and bring additional stuff to the table. This means explanations on the watches in a way that we can be sure that we nourish and we cultivate the phenomenal experience (of Roger Dubuis). We know that we are not the first brand within the collections of those people…and yet there are those newcomers who are very curious, not only about Roger Dubuis but about watchmaking. This is a reference to what we spoke about: the people you draw with spectacle, like the robot dog that was the highlight of Watches and Wonders? How do you communicate the values of the brand properly because these people may know what a skeletonised movement is, because they can see it, but they certainly will not know what the Poincon de Geneve is…Once again, another good question! To be transparent with you, I think half is structure (the communications strategy including all means from advertising to partnerships) and the other half is much more spontaneous. There is a way to communicate the fact that we are a fantastic alternative to the classical operators. At Roger Dubuis, we are a bit schizophrenic. A fraction of what we are doing is, let us say, very Swiss; the other part is ultra-contemporary (and this is where conversations like this one come in). From my perspective, this is the beauty of a brand of our size: we have the luxury of having the time to converse with our clients and friends. We are not always in pushing mode in a marketplace where we are talking about line extensions and everything is transactional. As we discussed, Roger Dubuis is not a foundation but we still need to build (individual) conversations to start relationships! This article first appeared on WOW’s Festive 2024 issue. For more on the latest in watch reads, click here. The post Roger Dubuis Chief Marketing Officer Sadry Keiser on The Excalibur Spider Flyback Chronograph appeared first on LUXUO. Luxury brands are branching out into the food and beverage industry with their own iterations of chic restaurants and luxurious café. This is part of a growing trend where brands create lifestyle spaces that translate their brand identity in a visually compelling way aimed at reaching broader markets and wider demographics. Higher footfall translates to higher brand visibility and wider exposure across a range of clients with different tastes and budgets. Customers can now indulge in luxurious setting courtesy of their favourite brands and buy into a brand without having to spend “luxury prices”. This is a strategy that brands are investing in to create a new holistic experience that takes what clients might see online, into the realm of reality. Take for instance, Louis Vuitton’s LV The Place Bangkok — the space includes Louis Vuitton’s men’s and women’s ranges as well as a restaurant all under one roof highlighting a closely knit web of interactions for a better customer experience. Customers come in to shop and sit down for a meal or a drink before leaving. This is a strategic form of marketing — selling the consumer something they didn’t know they needed. LUXUO finds out the physical manifestations of what happens when these brands mix their own brand aesthetics with gastronomical excellence. LV The Place BangkokLouis Vuitton has unveiled their new café and restaurant helmed by celebrated Indian chef Gaggan Anand. This is the Maison’s first restaurant in South Asia, and features a seasonal menu infusing Thai cuisine with Louis Vuitton’s signature style codes. Aside from the unique culinary journey, the location is also home to an immersive exhibition dubbed “Visionary Journeys”, and a contemporary store that continues the alluring fashion venture with elegant layouts that capture the essence of Louis Vuitton. LV The Place Bangkok offers a lot more than a memorable food journey. Find the location here: Dior CaféAfter a series of pop-up coffee shops throughout Asia, Europe and North America, Shanghai’s Dior café is one of a select number of permanent Dior hospitality offerings worldwide, alongside the Monsieur Dior restaurant in Paris and the Dior Café in Seoul. Expect a fusion of Asian and French cuisine served up with panoramic views of the city. The interiors are decorated with black-and-white houndstooth chairs as an ode to the late Christian Dior being one of the first designers to design with the print in the 1940s. Discover the location here: Coach RestaurantThe Coach Restaurant and Coach Coffee Shop has recently opened its doors at the Grand Indonesia Mall in Jakarta. The space harkens back to Coach Play Singapore Shophouse, which made its debut in 2023. The Coach Restaurant combines a local charm and optimistic New York spirit to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience. The restaurant’s interior decoration is inspired by an elevated take on classic New York diners and steakhouses with leather booths and mirrored walls. Next door is the Coach Coffee Shop that offers an assortment of New York-style pizzas with delicious pastries and desserts featuring motifs of the Coach Rexy. Find the restaurant here: Emporio Armani CaffèThe Emporio Armani Caffè first opened its doors in Milan in 2000. The Emporio Armani Caffè Milano brings a sophisticated simplicity that perfectly encapsulates the brand to the food and beverage industry. An exclusive location paired with creative dishes leads to an authentic sensorial experience. Divided into two sections the ground floor holds a large café area where one can sample freshly made pastries and other delicacies, as well as a lounge area in which to have a quick bite or a relaxing aperitif. The restaurant sits on the first floor with a new “champagne bar” situated at the entrance. You can find it here: Café KitsunéMaison Kitsuné‘s Café Kitsuné’s reinvents caffeine classics with Parisian and Tokyo influences. Presented first and foremost as a “production site with a roastery run by the artisan roaster Florian Decousser”, customers can indulge in classic specialties that include the americanos, dirty chai, and mochaccino along with teas, pastries, juices and ice cream. It is worth noting that The Café Kitsuné coffee beans are roasted in Okayama and are expected to soon be available throughout Asia. The concept behind Café Kitsuné is to create a space that marries the simplistic beauty of the small and intimate coffee bars set in the heart of modern, cosmopolitan cities. Café Kitsuné Japan Café Kitsuné Vivienne Westwood CaféThe Vivienne Westwood Café is available in both Shanghai and in Hong Kong’s Harbour City. Divided into an 18th-century-style French tea room and a modern shooting studio, the restaurant is the whimsical representation of past meets present. The late Westwood aesthetic goes off the catwalk and onto the wallpaper with trompe l’oeil painting techniques. The utensils and tea sets used in the Café are engraved with Vivienne Westwood’s signature Orb logo or decorated with the label’s signature tartan. Westwood often remodeled and renamed her shop according to the changes in the theme of her designs. The Vivienne Westwood Café is located at: The Blue Box Café by Tiffany & Co.Serving up signature dishes made with the highest quality and regionally sourced ingredients, one can expect the restaurant’s menu to evolve through the seasons in true Tiffany fashion. The new café offers a unique take on dining at Tiffany & Co with Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud bringing a seasonally inspired menu alongside a redesigned space that includes a private dining area and bar with art installations. Tiffany & Co. The Landmark Read More: Tiffany and Bugatti Shrug off the Christmas Blues Ralph’s Coffee ShopFirst opened in 2014 in New York City, this Café has now reached Singaporean shores. Located at Marina Bay Sands, the American fashion label also released a range of Singapore-exclusive menu items. Expect to see bright clean white surfaces with a classic mosaic floor and the cafe’s signature dark green aesthetic and wood trimmings. The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Read More: Ralph’s Coffee Café Just Made its Sophomore Debut On Orchard Road Agnès b. Café & FleuristeAgnès b. Café & Fleuriste offers everything from floral bouquets to cakes and gifts for just about any occasion ranging from birthdays to weddings. Agnès b. Café & Fleuriste also serves up a range of French delicacies and delicious pastries, in a relaxed yet stylish setting. “I like to be a catalyst, to make things happen for people. That, alongside my own work, is my greatest pleasure”, says Agnés b., founder and designer of agnés b. K11 MUSEA For more on the latest lifestyle reads, click here. The post These Brands Are Creating Luxury Lifestyle Experiences appeared first on LUXUO. An interactive celebration of athleticism and inclusivity inspires audiences at the 2024 African Games. Sports Equity Lab and Swiss sportswear brand On’s “Right To Run” program joined forces to present the installation “African Giants” this week at the University of Ghana. Images of six of Africa’s most iconic athletes light up the front wall of the University of Ghana’s sports stadium and take center stage for all visitors approaching the venue of the 2024 African Games in Accra. The installation – Ghana’s first sports interactive LED – invited attendees to contribute their photographs, symbolizing solidarity with the athletes and becoming integral to their stories. The submitted photographs collectively form the images of the African Giants and connect visitors to the aspirational athleticism of African athletes. Handpicked for their remarkable achievements, the featured sports personalities include On athlete Hellen Obiri, the only woman to have won world titles in indoor track, outdoor track, and cross country alongside Feryal Abdelaziz, the first female Egyptian karateka to win Olympic gold; Raphael Botsyo Nkegbe, the first Ghanaian to qualify for the 2020 Paralympics; Noemi Alphonse, the first Mauritian para-athlete to reach a Paralympic Games final; Mpumelelo Mhlongo, a multi-world championship Paralympic Games medalist; and Abedi Ayew Pele, regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. “Despite being faced with myriad challenges – limited resources, insufficient funding, and systemic biases – Africa continues to produce a constellation of stellar athletes who defy odds and etch their names in sporting history year over year, and generation over generation”, SEL founder Prof Dr. Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu points out. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to add value to the Games with this campaign; showcasing our unwavering commitment to driving inclusivity and the transformative power of sport as a catalyst for social good.” Sports Equity Lab (SEL)’s mission is to foster social justice and decency within the realm of sports. Through science and research, community engagement, and creative content, its aim is to promote inclusivity, equality, and fairness across all aspects of sports, eliminating discrimination and creating opportunities for all individuals, irrespective of race, ability, gender, socioeconomic status, or any other form of marginalization. At the 2024 African Games, On’s social impact program Right To Run supports Sports Equity Lab’s Victory in Unity campaign that showcases exceptional African athletes of all backgrounds. It includes the “African Giants” installation and a Game Changers Pan-African Networking Dinner to celebrate, amplify, and establish an enduring, inclusive legacy of the 13th African Games. On’s Head of Africa, Navalayo Osembo, was a keynote speaker at this important event on the African sports calendar. “As one of the African continent’s prime sports events featuring over 4000 athletes from 40+ African countries competing in 29 different sports, the reach and relevance of the African Games are unparalleled. Being present at this impactful event and helping to further Sports Equity Lab’s mission of increasing inclusion and reducing inequities in sports has been a vital project for us, especially as On’s engagement in Africa is still in its early stages,” says Osembo. Since their initial collaboration in 2023, Right To Run and Sports Equity Lab have made significant strides in promoting awareness and inclusion within the sporting community. For the latest in lifestyle reads and interviews, click here. The post African Giants Light Up the 2024 African Games in Ghana appeared first on LUXUO. The 96th Academy Awards ceremony concluded amid global fanfare. While many well-established names led the Oscar nominations, it was the new generation of Hollywood actors and actresses who stole the show on the Awards’ red carpet, ushering in a new era of sartorial glamour. Alongside Rolex, the Academy Awards proves that it is not only a hallmark in celebrating the best in cinema but is also a convergence of style and creative expression, highlighting the equal excitement going on behind the scenes as there was onstage. Celebrating Cinematic ExcellenceFor the eighth consecutive year, Rolex was the Proud Sponsor of the Oscars ceremony, highlighting creative inspiration and artistic emotion while celebrating technical prowess and the work that goes into the making of a film. Televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide, the annual event not only celebrates the best of cinema but plays a part in shaping the landscape of cinema worldwide, every year. The awards ceremony is the ultimate recognition by one’s peers in the world of cinema. As Rolex puts it, “Cinema is at once an art, a science, and an industry, and the Oscars ceremony shines a light on every one of its facets.” Read More: Rolex and Cinema: Writing History Side By Side Rolex Hosts Oscar GreenroomRolex once again welcomed Hollywood’s elite to its curated antechamber at the 96th Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood’s Dolby Theater. A longtime sponsor of the Oscars’ ceremony, Rolex’s Greenroom was an immersive experience designed with original decor and furnishings where nominees and presenters gather before and after stepping onto the stage. This year saw the design of the Greenroom shine a spotlight on the vegetal world. The Greenroom pushed the element of “green” to the forefront with a representation of a delicate vegetal environment, using the image of fans as inspiration. The Greenroom’s concept integrates essential elements from nature like organic structures and chlorophyll to celebrate the harmony of lush flora through the lens of the chromatic universe. Read More: Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative Celebrates 20th Anniversary The Greenroom also displayed the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 40 in 18 ct Everose gold with a slate ombré dial. Rolex shares, “The shapes within this vegetal universe recall details such as the fluting on watch bezels and the brushed metal surfaces of watch dials, transmitting their luminous vibrations. A watch of great prestige, the Day-Date has only ever been made from precious metals and is instantly recognisable, partially thanks to its emblematic President bracelet.” Read More: Rolex’s Greenroom Brings a Sustainability Theme to the 95th Oscars Rolex and HollywoodThe Governors Awards marks the beginning of the Oscars season, honouring the best in cinema, and is presented in recognition of a lifetime of remarkable achievements. 2017 was the year Rolex conceptualised its partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — the film industry’s highest authority. Rolex became the Exclusive Watch of the Academy, the Proud Sponsor of the Oscars and the Exclusive Sponsor of the Governors Awards. Rolex is also a Founding Supporter and the Official Watch of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The relationship between Rolex and the Oscars showcases the pursuit of excellence and knowledge, the conservation of the art, and the rise of new talent. The long-term partnership underscores the convergence of the values to celebrate all aspects of the film industry, preserving its legacy for future generations, spark inspiration, and connect global audiences through their passion for cinema. For more on the latest in luxury culture reads, click here. The post Rolex Elevates 2024’s Academy Awards Ceremony appeared first on LUXUO. |