Barbie’s 50th birthday approaches
Above: The late Ruth Handler, Barbie’s creator, admires her creation at its 40th anniversary celebration at F. A. O. Schwarz in New York, March 9, 1999. At the time, two Barbie dolls were sold per second. Mattel’s Barbie doll celebrates its 50th anniversary on March 9, 2009. Barbie was launched at the New York […]
Michelle Obama chooses Loree Rodkin jewellery
First Lady Michelle Obama selected jewellery from American designer Loree Rodkin for her inauguration outfit. Rodkin created jewellery for Mrs Obama for election night, the Inaugural Concert, the Kids’ Inaugural Concert and the Inaugural Ball. The pieces will become part of the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection. Rodkin says she found the First […]
New works by David Kapp at Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Santa Monica
I am a big fan of this artist, who only gets better and better as the years pass. Had the pleasure of visiting Kapp’s latest installation of work completed in 2008 at the opening in Santa Monica last night, and found the canvases as durable and surprising as ever. His colour palette evolves with deep […]
Stars help Juicy Couture open flagship store
Juicy Couture decided to buck the doom and gloom of American economic news by opening its Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City—and plenty of celebrities turned out to support founders Gela Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skaist-Levy. Juicy Couture—which Lucire has been covering for years as well—now emcompasses swimwear, sunglasses, intimates, kids’ and babies’ clothing, […]
The urgent measures Detroit must take
Above: One of the cars that Ford could sell in North America: the subcompact Ka, built in Poland. [Cross-posted] Earlier this year, before we found out just how bad Detroit’s financial situation was, I wrote a paper for The Journal of the Medinge Group called ‘Saving Detroit, by Not Making the Same Old Mistakes’. My […]
Ray-Ban celebrates Clubmaster at Bowery Ballroom
Ray-Ban has been celebrating its Clubmaster style, originally launched in 1986 and inspired by the lifestyle of the 1950s and 1960s, at New York’s Bowery Ballroom. Celebrities attending included Maggie Gyllenhaal, Blake Lively, Diane Kruger, Joshua Jackson, Ed Westwick, Kevin Bacon, Robert Buckley and Charlotte Ronson. Black Kids, Ipso-Facto and White Williams performed, with a […]
Do US automakers deserve a bailout?
[Excerpted; full post here] Today at the Vista Group luncheon, we’ll be discussing the US auto industry’s desire for a government bailout. My view: of course it’ll be great to protect US manufacturing jobs, since the situation is not of the plant workers’ doing. As mentioned in one of my papers, ‘Saving Detroit’, the troubles […]
Porsche shows revised Boxster and Cayman at LA
Porsche has shown its new mid-engined Boxster and Cayman models at the LA Auto Show today. In some respects, this is a facelift for the cars, now looking more aggressive. Under the skin, the changes are more thorough, with new flat-six boxer engines and the new Porsche-PDK double-clutch gearbox. Below, videos of the new Boxster […]
New technologies from BMW at LA Auto Show
BMW will present a some of its new technologies at the Los Angeles Auto Show this year. The new shape some BMW fans will want to see will be the 7-series, which will also appear at the show as an Active Hybrid concept. We’ve video of some of the other technologies that BMW will be […]
Jaguar XF at bottom of US reliability survey
I hope this doesn’t mean that Jaguar has gone back to its old ways as a US survey puts the Toyota Prius at the top of its reliability list, and the Jaguar XF (left) at the bottom. Both cars have been nominees in Lucire’s Car to Be Seen in awards: the Toyota in 2004–5, the […]
