Fashion Fun Alberga! Tsumori Chisato Stays Together with Samuji Finland

Espoo, Finland 

The sun kisses, the wind blows, but the fashion fun never stops! There is no need to wear high-tech underwear to prevent the freezing anymore in March, still, a little touch of reddish pink or intense fuchsia would be fun to lighten up the early spring ready-to-wear.

This 100% cotton, Made in Japan Tsumori Chisato shirt has been with me a decade (purchased in Kaohsiung, 2006). Born in 1954, Japanese designer Tsumori Chisato began her work with Issey Miyake in 1977. She launched the brand in 1990 under her name, Tsumori Chisato’s signature style was soon celebrated with her innovative and luxurious textiles, intricate beading, embroidery, appliqués and prints of her own design. Described by fashion critics, that ‘her aesthetic focuses on prints and has a healthy dose of manga/bohemian cuteness’, She took her work to Paris in 2003 as the destination on Rue Barbette in 1999, for her first boutique outside Asia.

Graceful, elegant and fun at the same time, my Tsumori Chisato cotton shirt matches with poppy red and snow white outfit well, in order to prevent the occasional moment in March, I layer up Samuji AW15 V-neck sweater. Purchasing with 50% winter sale in January, this yarn in Peru, made in Italy fluffy wear is composed with 91% angora, 7% wool and 2% polyester, immediately becomes my winter favorite.

Samuji is a creative studio and design house based in Helsinki, Finland. The first Samuji womenswear collection was launched in spring 2011, and home deco line was introduced in fall 2014. As most fine Finnish brand does, Samuji’s target is to produce timeless and sustainable design that serves a purpose yet carries a story.

Samuji womenswear collection presents a complete wardrobe for femme, bringing together two separate lines: Samuji Classic and Samuji Seasonal. Samuji Classic carries permanent, timeless clothes and accessories, while Samuji Seasonal is a more bohemian and colorful collection renewed seasonally. When I decide to make Japanese meet Finnish, the major concern is the quality, the material and the color tone. Since my upper wear is white mixed with pinky hues, my winter ankle boots from Mango, a pair of grey jeans from Gina Tricot, a set of vintage golden pinkish Vivienne Westwood earrings, a Unisex Vivienne Westwood scarf and a pair of light noir leopard Prada sunglasses would finish my look of the day. Finally I decide to complete the whole silhouette with Comme des Garçons leather pochette; the darker shade does no harm to the whole trend, because polka dots are always very welcome in sunny days.

Special Thanks: JMH

TSUMORI CHISATO 

SAMUJI

Beauty Boom! Chanel Sunkiss Ribbon Blush Harmony

When March comes to the end, will April be far away?

Inspired by the Los Angels sunny beachside, Chanel releases 2016 spring exclusive edition of Sunkiss Ribbon. The palette is in ribbon shape blushes embossed with CHANEL font, a harmony of 5 shades with jasmine scent that draws its energy from the radiant light of City of Angles and its dynamic art scene, imitating the coloured rays of a California sunrise. 5 has been the magical symbol of Chanel collection, the most profound Chanel No. 5 had been released in May, and this year Sunkiss Ribbon has 5 light-diffusing blushes for the different way to wear.

Chanel Sunkiss Ribbon is with five distinct hues: Pop coral, fresh pink, intense fuchsia, coppery beige and pinky reddish, creating a smooth yet satin finish. The powder is incredibly soft, so I apply pink shade for the exclusive creation with Chanel blending brush, across the apples of the cheeks for a soft accent of the hue, and finally blend upward toward the hairline. 5 summer colours blend together in harmony, still without being too powdery.

Sunkiss Ribbon has a good pigmentation that can easily be applied at medium coverage or full coverage, depending on how much powder picked up with the blending brush. Keep the blending brush more towards the top half, a warmer coral with more an orange touch will get, while the lower half yields a pinker coral feel.

Comes with an applicator brush inside of mini velvet bag, the shining black varnish palette was also protected with black velvet dust bag, while the outer packaging has the relief of 5 hues. With the purchase of the blush the freebie has a puffy poppy rectangular pochette, on top embossed with the symbols of makeups: the blush, the lipstick and the nail polish. Inside equipped with a mini mascara noir, 1,3ml SPF 25/ PA++ Les beiges, 5ml Hydra Beauty Cream and 2ml tube Chanel Chance Eau Vive Eau de Toilette. With the new release or for the free giveaway, again Chanel proves her magic to surprise the clients with refine and elegant design.  

CHANEL 

Accessories Accede: What’s In My Louis Vuitton Lockit Bouclette BB Monogram Noir?

Q&A At Zoom Hotel, Brussels

How does Louis Vuitton Lockit Bouclette become the perfect carry-on for Fuji Film Instax mini?

I am a super fan of photography and an amateur photographer. I get this limited Fuji Film Hello Kitty Instax mini 25 a customized plastic protector but hesitate to keep in hands while going out for group lunch, so Louis Vuitton Lockit Bouclette came into my mind. Louis Vuitton Lockit Bouclette has patent leather for the water repellence, and its thickness provides an extra layer for the Instax camera on the go, and the width 20x Height 16.5x Depth 9 (cm) size is just perfect for the Hello Kitty!

Tell us about Louis Vuitton Lockit collection.

With his AW 2011-12 collection for Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs explored the mysterious allure of objet du désir. Key elements of the design, such as the padlock from which the ‘Lock it’ takes its name, was originally created in 1958 and revisited in a myriad guise.

‘Lock it’ line plays on the juxtaposition of matte and shine. Such as this Lockit BB uses patent lambskin, contrasting its shiny finish with Monogram embroidery in polyester bouclette, with the silver tone padlock and keys, looks deceptively demure but yet really rock ‘n’ roll in black.

✔Louis Vuitton Murakami Takashi Multicolor Pochette Clefs is easy to insert my credit cards, hotel key and some coins to go. The vivid monogram hues always make my day.

✔Fuji Film Instax Mini 25 Hello Kitty limited edition is my 2014 great bargain. Involved from Instax 7S, mini 25 is equipped with selfie mirror, shooting range 0.5m, shutter speed 1/3-1/400 seconds, automatic exposure control and with a built-in flash, within could be producing soft-focus feels on portrait shooting. I carry Hello Kitty around while traveling, and find it the unforgettable souvenir for friends as the best memory.

✔After pressing the button, I also decorate my mini Instax pictures with petite stickers, some polka dots, and write the dates on them. My recent souvenir are, the legendary Louis Vuitton travel trunk displayed at the headquarter office in Brussels, and the other Instax picture is at lunchtime with new friends and colleagues from Louis Vuitton, Belgium. I have to admit this Hello Kitty really a cute icebreaker with the new faces during the workshop trip!

FUJI FILM

Special Thanks: Niels

On the Road: Brussels, Je t’aime avec Louis Vuitton

February 21-February 25, 2016

 

Visiting Brussels in 2007 as a backpacker, and revisiting Capital of Europe as a Client Advisor, my 2016 EU trip begins with an exciting expectation on the induction training at Louis Vuitton. 

 

Located on Avenue Louise, the headquarter building is surrounding in a vivid and convenient neighborhood. Godiva, Chanel, Dior, GUESS, Sonia Rykiel, Zara and even Zadig & Voltaire are in a walking distance. And my favourite waffle yellow van parking at the major intersection, and that evokes my desire to have a bite after long training day. 

 

The training starts at 9 and ends around 6 every day. Our trainers have us to focus on clientele service at class, adapting several methods such as brainstorming, fast Q&A, video watching, group discussion and role play. I especially find group discussion as my ‘back to the academic good old days’, that we sitting down, having a pen, a note and a cup of drink at hand, sharing different point of views with each other, giving the feedbacks and smiles, and friendship grows every second pass. For no doubt we often encounter difficult questions from the trainers, such as ‘listing at least 5 iconic signatures of our collection’ and so on. We try our best to contribute what we have learnt, and back to the hotel room after training day, we would eager to look up the product handbook to enhance the knowledge and memory. And interestingly, the inspiration could grow immediately over one night. 

Meeting new faces from the Nordics and Benelux is one of the best parts of the trip. We greet each other at breakfast around 8, together walking toward to the headquarter from ZOOM Hotel, and spend at least almost 8 hours side by side during the training, and even more, discover the City of Brussels after the long day. I experience the fusion sushi, the fresh salad, the traditional Belgium cuisine and national treasure--the waffle--with these warm-hearted new friends. In my opinion, product knowledge can be gained not so difficultly from the various media, but the gathering with people is the incalculably precious. 

The other best part of the training is visiting the head office and store in Brussels. The office building is always bright, and in the training classroom, at the entrance, the blossom and the iconic trunk greet us all the time. Brussels store building was constructed back to the 19^th century, accordingly, the space at each floor is rather limited spacious. Still, Brussels store has lovely women’s ready-to-wear collection, and the visual merchandising is echoing the color tone of SS16 theme. Climbing the staircases to the second floor, the eye-catching wardrobe trunk stands still, is well established by its unequalled strength and lightness. The ultimate symbol of Louis Vuitton, has known a myriad of innovations, hiding the signatures such as rivet, corner, malletage and the S-Lock , which of all, also inspired the design of shoes, accessories, city bags and so on. The trunk is like a chronicle of design history, open to recording each and every journey. 

 

And the journey of the connection of warm friendship and profession onto the great design, is to be continued. 

 

Special Thanks: Team Nordics & Benelux

From 2007-16, the backpacker tour to the training trip. Gaining info is easy, but gathering is precious. Brussels, Je t’aime.