Haute Concept

As New York flirted with 70 degree weather this week (the beginning of January!?!), we received a taste of Spring…and we can’t wait for the sun filled days.

To get a headstart on necessary eye protection Susie over at Style Bubble has put together a nice primer on the most covetous shades for the upcoming season. Susie has both genders covered, with many options, but the Raf Simons stuck out most for us.

We still remember them from Raf Simon’s Spring Summer 08 collection and now we have a closer look at the must have sunglasses for Spring Summer 2008.

BTW, Susie, we also chuckled with glee at the Richard Gray piece in the new 10 for Men magazine.

As Richard Gray describes the “sun gigs”: “These gigs breathe new life into a stale optometric world of designer shades normally perched atop straightened hair. Thank Raf someone’s doing good glasses again. Are we over the days of logo arms, beige shapes and yawny lenses, specs on heads, specs on ears, specs on ‘Pobs’? Like flick we are!”

Check out Richard Gray’s full take in the new 10 for Men magazine at newsstands now.

Also check the shades from Dries Van Noten and Jeremy Scott.

These kicks are fire!

Boston streetwear boutique Bodega has collaborated with PUMA to bring us nostalgia in a shoe.

The Spy II High shoe features the Spy vs. Spy theme.

Spy vs. Spy was a wordless comic strip symbolic of the Cold War and appearing in Mad Magazine. The good folks at Bodega resurrected this piece of youth in the form of monochromatic kicks. The shoes are detailed with Morse code, bullet holes, dynamite and a stash pocket. The details embedded on them should drive many a streetwear fan giddy.

Check out this interview with the Bodega Boys discussing the Spy II High and it’s conception.

via Sneaker Freaker

The Wealth Report, a blog hosted on The Wall Street Journal’s website, brings up an interesting point about how wealthy clients choose to spend during an economic downturn.The prevailing argument in the industry seems to be that the wealthy are immune from downswings in the economy by virtue of their wealth. This may be true for the ultra wealthy, which is a minute portion of the population.

But as pointed out by the Journal, “A lot of luxury consumers are the leaders, the movers and shakers, the people with corporate responsibilities and the entrepreneurs….Their investment portfolios are taking a hit. They’re feeling the effect of the weaker dollar. They have a lot of questions about leadership in this country. You can’t pull stuff over on these people. They know what’s going on and they’re really very cautious.”

This makes sense, especially for the wealthy who earned their money versus inheriting it. Those who earned it are typically more cautious and conservative with their hard earned dollars.

But the ultra-wealthy are also in another class. The uber luxury brands, the highest end of the luxury market, should have enough gas and cache to ride it out.

Do consumers care about where a product comes from?

Does the label “Made In Italy” still carry as much weight as it once did, in this age of global outsourcing? China’s and India’s economies are on fire as more manufacturers source overseas factories.

FASHION INC. sites a study by Barclays Wealth about what rich people desire when buying luxury goods. Surprisingly country of origin is quite low on the list, the bottom actually.

According to Lauren Goldstein Crowe on FASHION INC., “Luxury consumers want things that are made well, of fine fabrics and careful construction. And if manufacturers can find workshops in China or India where that kind of work is still being done, so be it.

Luxury consumers don’t really care where it is made so long as it is made as it should be, and that (before people start shouting sweatshop) includes taking worker conditions into account.”

Other factors such as quality and value of a product carry more weight than country of origin. As it should. Do you want a piece of crap, but, oh it was Made in Italy? Or do you want a high quality article of clothing from China.

Now this is obviously not to say Made in Italy is crap. Most decidedly not. But it is to say that just because Made In USA or Made In Italy is stamped on the tag doesn’t necessarily absolutely translate to higher quality.

With the rise of outsourcing more and more consumers have become accustomed to clothing being manufactured off-shore. This comes despite the fact of the recent recalls plaguing China.

Countries such as China and India are developing and progressing each day. Their economies are on fire and they are building their infrastructure everyday. As time goes on they are building better and better modern facilities and factories to handle the production of high quality clothing.

As far as we’re concerned, we’re more worried about quality the country of origin.

How to Buy Luxury 3: What Rich People Want [FASHION INC.]