SIMON DE PURY: BE BOLD, BE BRAVE, BE AMAZING

By LINA LORNA

Most of us might have gotten to know him on Bravo's series called, Work of Art: prominent Art Auctioneer and Co-founder and Chairman of Phillips de Pury, Simon De Pury (pictured left), will be one of the judges for Wallpaper's Design Awards, this year.

"Last year, I've seen a move-away from a certain type of collecting, which is all one type of design, one specific period, one type of artist. We are in a time, when we like mixing things again." The dashing art expert notes on his profile video (via Wallpaper) his keen observations about the state of art-collecting, as of recent.  But perhaps one of the best recommendations Monsieur de Pury has to offer is his infamous advice to his art protegés on the show: "Be bold! Be Brave! Be Amazing!" Have a watch at his short-talk (featured above), and learn about his picks when it comes to the architecture of the year, designer of the year, and domestic design of the year, as well as the complementary images (featured below) of de Pury's selections. 

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SOFIA COPPOLA IS THE MUSE FOR LOUIS VUITTON'S CRUISE COLLECTION 2012

Louis Vuitton Cruise 2012
Inspired by Sofia Coppola

By DAWN ELARDO
Louis Vuitton under the creative direction of Marc Jacobs, has become more and more known for its overactive collaborations with artists.  Although usually its collaboratory junctions meet with embellishing LV's collections with another artist's signature expression or featuring new and exciting artists in one of Espace Culturel's location around the globe : See here, here and here.

It's a first however, to announce a collaboration with a muse regarding one of the oldest and most prestigious French houses in fashion history.  Enter Sofia Coppola, who happens to be friends with Creative Director, Marc Jacobs: Louis Vuitton's Cruise 2012 Collection is inspired by Copolla—who sparked LV's interest when she turned to the luxury couture brand for wearable options to go to the premier of her latest movie, Somewhere, last year.  Have a watch at the launch here in New York, (video featured top right) and a look a the collection (featured below). 

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CONTAINERS: GETTING CREATIVE WITH YOUR SPACE

Claudia Span and Jeff Wardell
Image by Drew Kelly

By KAYLA TASCHEN
San Franciscan couple, Claudia Span and Jeff Wardell have gone not just inside the box, but indeed on top and all around the the box—transforming a 3,200 square foot former factory into a smartly designed home—highly embellished with large containers.  The space has a railroad semblance; hence, their idea was to accentuate the shape in a fun and creative way by employing the large scale containers to serve as additional rooms.  

The two had the idea of infusing the containers into the house to create an interesting and edgy atmosphere within the loft: re-purposing  the once transportable cargo crates into a pop-up guest-bedroom, bathrooms, and even an office.  Have a watch at the video (featured top right via Dwell) to get a better sense of this idiosyncratic space, as well as some photos. (featured below).

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LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE: AIR'S NEW ALBUM IS AN INTENSE TRIP TO THE MOON

Air: Le Voyage Dans La Lune

By DAWN ELARDO
Air's commission by the Institut Francais to produce a complimentary soundtrack—released today in the U.S.—for the first sci-fi French film by George Méliès, (the inventor of special effects) Le Voyage Dans La Lune, (A Trip To The Moon), has resuscitated the outmoded silent film from 1902 back to life with a new contemporary landscape of sound, in pure Air style.

The sound has a hypnotic haunting effect, much like the soundtrack Air did for Sofia Coppola's film, The Virgin Suicides  back in 1999.

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VISUAL JOURNALISM: THE GRAPHIC DESIGNER'S NEW ROLE IN TELLING THE STORY

By KAYLA TASCHEN

"The graphic designer is an interpreter, the mediator in the journalistic [process]. What's more important, is the [designer's way of thinking] inside the newsroom," according to Francesco Franchi, the Art Director for IL, Intelligence in Lifestyle. 

IL is the monthly magazine component for the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore (The 24 hour sun), an equivalent to the Financial Times in Italy.  Franchi is part of the new movement in graphic design for print: a reinvention in the use of infographics and the re-imagination of graphics use in general when it comes to paper publications—this, as a response to the new-media revolution. 

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KARL BY KARL LAGERFELD: A FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEW WITH THE FASHION ICON

Karl by Karl Lagerfeld
Available @ Net-A-Porter.com

By DAWN ELARDO

Last Wednesday Karl by Karl Lagerfeld: the new clothing collection for women under Karl Lagerfeld's name brand, launched on the luxury e-commerce site Net-A-Porter.com.

The campaign to promote the ground breaking collaboration for an exclusive deal between the fashion icon and perhaps the biggest luxury shop on-line, has been full of unusual but happy surprises indeed. 

From Karl Lagerfeld himself conducting an interview at the recent LeWeb (go HERE to see this fascinating and telling discussion: starring Lagerfeld and later Net-A-Porter's Chairman and Founder, Natalie Massenet), to this ridiculously clever and hilarious interview with Karl Lagerfeld by Karl Lagerfeld (featured top right), produced by Net-A-Porter and directed by Adam Mufti.

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