Louis Vuitton Mens Fall/winter 2014 part II

I thought I was done with  Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2014 bags and stuff.. But I was wrong.
I just met with one of the more handsome bags that Louis Vuitton had produced.

Meet the Travel Messenger in Mirrored Calf leather.

This is seriously one good looking bag. Will sure to turn heads, lol, since it is so bright and loud, but in a good way. The bag is made of calf leather and in silver, not reflective like a mirror, just a dull, almost tin like. Simply chic. I understand that the bag's zipper is similar to the ones used in Louis Vuitton waterproof bag line... which makes this bag waterproof, I guess.. but I don't think one would carry this bag anywhere near water. It even comes with a pouch to keep small things together.

The asking price for this bag... only $15900 sgd. Scary aint it.

There are other bags that makes up the fall/winter 2014 bags. Flat portfolio in 2 colors. Kindly note that these portfolio comes only with 1 handle. Not 2.. just 1.. go figure.

Fragrance Du Bois' Sahraa Oud - My love affair with Oud grows stronger

I just love Oud. Not just the stringed instrument, but the fragrance (Agarwood) as well. It all started some time back with a whiff of Le Labo's Oud 27, an interesting, stimulating, but, also a perfume that evokes polarizing views from people around U. It is either a U love it, or hate it kinda perfume. I did some research on Oud, its origins, its uses, and its place in religion. I was drawn. It got me intrigued. It got me excited. I even got me an Oud (from Brunei) essential oil as well as Rose Oud (made from 100% essential oils) from a fragrance boutique locally. I am so in love.

I tried some other commercial Oud based scent, but somehow, the scents did not evoke any interest or emotion, until I came across an article in the local papers about a fragrance house, Fragrance Du Bois, and their extensive use of Oud in their perfume. Not only that, the fragrance house uses Oud obtained from their sustainable plantations (they plant 1 teak tree and 1 Aquilaria tree (where oud is obtain)) in Thailand. I was intrigued, not only with their Oud fragrances, but also with the brand ethos. I made my way to Fragrance Du Bois boutique, which was just recently opened at The Fullerton Hotel, and got me something precious.

 

There are 8 perfumes in the Shades Du Bois range, the latest being Oud Noir intense (launched during the Singapore Grand Prix). I like them all, but somehow only 1 perfume stood up amongst the chatter of scents. lol.. and I took notice almost immediately. It is the Sahraa Oud from the Privé collection. I just love, love, love it.

Sahraa Oud

I do not know what to make of the perfume. It is intense, sensual, erotic, warm, enveloping, long lasting and evokes a sense of mystery and excitement. It is the Cassanova of perfume. All that, from just a whiff of the perfume on my skin. The longer I had it on, the nicer it becomes, more mellow, and a nice dry down at the end of the day. 

I understand that Fragrance Du Bois uses Oud that are more than 20 years old for this scent. I guess, Oud oils ages like wine, the older it is, the better the smell.

The bottle is also interesting. It is an exquisite handmade crystal bottle, people.

I got this from Fragrance Du Bois press release:
"Sahraa Oud from their premium Privé collection, a bespoke Oud fragrance with the added subtlety of Rose Absolute, capturing the essence of desert wilderness; the vastness of windswept sand dunes of the Arabian Desert combined with hope and elusive qualities of an oasis; strong, woody, musky with an intoxicating hint that reveals the fresh, sweet, sensual and stimulating scent of nature."
 I guess they can say it better than me. LOL

Guess what..... Sahraa Oud is also an Art and Olfaction Award Finalist, Independent Category. Icing on the cake.

The packaging

Sahraa Oud is packaged in a beautiful wooden (highly reflective) lacquered black box. Simply stunning.

Oh, U would need a key (provided) to open the box. This is to ensure that nobody else could get their grubby hands on your precious.

The perfume, on its velvet bed

The boutique

Array of perfume on display

Fendi mensear event 2014 @ Marina Bay Sands

Fendi.
A name that I have not heard for a long time. A name synonymous with anything fur. A name that is also associated with aunties with their monogram Fendi bags, at least from what I see. But not lately, not until I was invited to a menswear event at Marina Bay Sands recently. I was glad to be invited. It opened my eyes to the fun, funky, and interesting world of this venerable old fashion house.

The event took place at the Marina Bay Sands store. It was a collaboration between Fendi and August Man, a fashion periodical. I headed straight for the star of the show, the Peekaboo for men.
A beautiful bag. I just love the way it looks, especially the monster with its own little monster bag charm.

I just love the playful nature of this bag. It makes the conventional peekaboo bag seems.... for a lack of a better word, so conventional.  To me, the bag looks like Toothless, the dragon in the movie, "how to train your dragon." The leather used is similar to what Hermes and Louis Vuitton used for its higher end bags.

 This is the bagcharm that fits nicely to "Toothless". Baby "toothless"

 An if U want "Toothless" to grin, just unzip the bag to see the nice red leather inside.

"Toothless" is roomy enough for your everyday documents, and then some.

This is how "Toothless" looks when it is being carried around. Fun, funky, fresh.

The only drawback for me is the large stitching all around the bag. I understand that it is handstitched. For me, I prefer my bag stitching to be finer and not so prominent, as featured on the bag.

I also saw some of the ladies bags that is similar to "Toothless"

Don't you just love the fur charms. And in the same vein, what about these lookalike Karl Largerfeld charms. I am sure these are going to be collectors' pieces

Here are some of the interesting clothes on display. Not on racks, but on live models.

I find the pieces interesting, especially the one with monster face Jacket. Quirky and fun.
The most interesting jacket I saw on that day was the crocodile jacket that U see in the picture below. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how U look at it, no crocodile, or alligator was killed. In fact this jacket is made of leather. This jacket is a quilted leather jacket. Quilted? Yes, The so called scales of the crocodile is in fact, made up of sewing around the leather to make it look like crocodile scales. From the looks of it, many man hours are needed to make up these scales. For a closer look at the savoir-faire of the house, just visit your Fendi boutique.

Last but not least, U got to just love the cookies.

These fun cookies are made to look like "Toothless", its bagcharm and a monster Jacket.
I must say the cookies are edible taste quite good.

I got these 4GB flash drives as a door gift. Nice.

Fendi has many interesting and crazy cute stuff for men this year. I for once am definitely going back to the store to check out the bag charms, especially baby toothless. Till then.

Mooncakes from Louis Vuitton.

This came through my door last weekend. I was too busy with work to post. But since the Mid-autumn festival is this weekend. I thought I might as well post pictures of it before I finish them.. YUMM!

I was like, "I did not order anything from the shop".. And they already gave me a cake. The card is nice. I always LVOE Louis Vuitton greeting cards.
And when I open the box, this is what I discovered.

 Wow, Mooncakes and Tea. I LVOE mooncakes and I lvoe tea. I guess I will spend this weekend munching on mooncakes and sipping Chinese tea.

How delectable.

Louis Vuitton remembered my birthday!

A courier guy appeared on my doorstep and gave me this

I guess the good people at Louis Vuitton remembered my birthday today. I am pleasantly surprised.

Me thinks that sometimes it is the small things that makes one comes back to a place, patronize a store or brand... not just the big things, like giving a discount on stuff that one buys.

PS. The cake is tasty by the way.

Thank you Louis Vuitton. U make my birthday today a memorable one.

Rumour: Louis Vuitton pulling remnants of Marc Jacobs off the shelves

Kindly take this as a rumour.. I cannot verfy if it is factual. 

I understand (from sources) that Louis Vuitton is going to discontinue products from Marc Jacobs era. One of the products is the leopard print and LVoe stuff.. What this means is that products bearing the leopard prints and LVOE logos ,e.g., scarves, shoes, etc is going to be discontinued in the near future.

I guess anyone who is interested in those prints better get them before they all dissappear from the shelves. If this is true, then it is a sad thing. I happen to lvoe the leopard prints.. 

Anyways, again, this is a rumour - take it with a pinch of salt. 

Louis Vuitton men's spring/summer 2015 and color by numbers - what is Kim Jones thinking? Part III

There is something to be said about Louis Vuitton Spring summer 2015 menswear. It sure is interesting. I called these 3 colorblock shirts, the alphabet shirts. I find these shirts pretty interesting, but not for the right reasons.

I cannot wear any of these 2 shirts (pictured below) on its own. On their own, these shirts lack a certain meaning. It looks like something one would wear during a parade, or some kind of uniform. But, together, they make sense. L for Louis, V, for Vuitton. So I guess, if I were to buy this shirt, I have to buy it also for my friend, otherwise, nobody knows that these shirts will cost me a bundle.

Picture from Style.com

Picture from Style.com

However, this shirt (pictured below) can be used on its own, if U ever had any ambitions to be one of the X-men, and the X is in pink! NICE! I always like Beast and cyclops. Or maybe I could be Storm, that would be interesting too.

Picture from Style.com

Somehow, I think these shirts might start a trend next year. I guess all I have to do now is to wait and see. I could be wrong, but then again..