Filed under: Fashion, Haute Tech, What's Haute? | Tags: Beijing, Burberry, China, Christopher Bailey, High-tech, Hologram, Olga Titarenko, runway, technology
Burberry Flagship Store opened in Beijing in April 2011
Forget Facebook pages, live streaming and iPad apps, the ever conservative Burberry fashion house took a 360 degree turn and charged into to the future of digital innovation, taking its runway to the whole next level. The British brand celebrated the opening of their flagship store in Beijing with a fashion show featuring high-tech, hologram-projected models interacting, colliding with and overshadowing their live counterparts.
With about a thousand guests holding up their mobile phones, models paraded the fall collection down the runway digitally dissolving into one another and diffusing into bursts of snow sprinkled over the audience.
Burberry isn’t stopping here and plans to extends the high-tech approach to its stores in China through the touch-screen displays and Apple iPads that give shoppers access to Burberry’s full collection.
Burberry’s Chief Creative Officer, Christopher Bailey says “I love the vibrancy and history of China with its exciting and dynamic energy and it is a huge privilege to be flying the flag for Britain in the magnificent city of Beijing connection all of our global communities to celebrate everything Burberry represents today from music to heritage and innovation.”
The digital push will continue globally and some of its stores across the world already have the same technical elements as Beijing. Personally, I can’t wait to experience the enhanced shopping experience first hand and am looking for flights to China as we speak.
by Olga Titarenko
Filed under: Accessories, Haute Tech | Tags: Apple iPad 2, Designer Cases, Kara Ross, luxury, Olga Titarenko
If like me, you are a proud owner of Apple’s iPad, then I’m sure you want to dress it up in a designer outfit. With a gazillion options scattered across the world wide web it may not be the easiest task to find all available options and this is where Haute Today comes to rescue. Below are if not all designer cases, then definitely the ones worth your consideration. Double click the picture below to enlarge and enjoy our premium iPad (and iPad 2) cover selection.
by Olga Titarenko
Fashion Designer iPad Covers
Filed under: Haute Tech | Tags: Android, application, Deluxe Moon, mobile app, Olga Titarenko
For thousands of years it has been believed that the fortunes of men and women move in cycles. The ancients depicted the concept as the great ‘wheel of fortune’ eternally turning and spilling off the winners on top while bearing up the wretches beneath. More recently it has been scientifically proved that the moon cycles strongly affect everything on the Earth, including many aspects of human life: including emotions, relationships, blood pressure an even finances.
Many hours were spent observing the lunar calendars and bookmarking astrology links in Google Chrome, in dedicated determination to sync my daily activities in accordance with the moon and hopefully enhance my existence, but I could never quite grasp the concept, let alone enjoy this tedious process.
The other day, I was browsing the apps market on my phone and much to my surprise, I discovered the ‘Deluxe Moon’ – an Android application about the moon phases. Not only it has the most beautifully designed user interface and exquisite graphics, it allows its’ users to explore the unique moon astrology in style and actually enjoy the journey. Click here to watch the user experience video or check out some screen shots below:
Released only a few weeks ago, this app is now available on the Android Market.
by Olga Titarenko
Filed under: Haute Hotels, Haute Tech, Travel & Accommodation | Tags: ARIA Resort and Casino, Hi-tech hotel, Las Vegas Strip, Nevada, Olga Titarenko
Opened just over a year ago, the ARIA Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, may be the most technologically advanced hotel ever built: its’ mix of gadgets and cutting-edge technology blends centralised convenience with personalised luxury and offers a glimpse of what hotels will feel like in the future.
ARIA Resort and Casino
The hotel’s camera surveillance system uses facial recognition software to tell who’s coming and going, and to keep an eye on VIPs to be sure and whisk them to the front of a line or shower them with special treatment.
Not only your face gets recognised, but also your mobile device: once the guest’s phone is registered with the Aria, hotel attractions could push personalised notifications to the user depending on who they are and where they are standing at any given moment. Are you a known roulette player? The resort can let you know about empty player chairs at the roulette tables. Do you enjoy seafood and standing near the dining area? They can send you a digital coupon for $5 off your seafood meal.
Bar Masa and Shaboo Restaurant Entrance
All dining facilities feature digital menus and the data-hub tracks how many people access the menus, whet they access and what they order. The hotel’s food mavens can calculate how many people read the menu compared to how many eat in the restaurant, track what items are selling, and easily adjust menu selections and prices on the fly.
ARIA Resort & Casino Suite
ARIA features an extensive in-room automation in each of the hotel’s 4004 guest rooms. When a guest enters a room, curtains automatically open, music plays, the TV activates and climate controls bring the room to a preset temperature. All room features can be manipulated with a touchscreen remote control and soon with an iPad app.
Over the next two years, biometric smartphones will drive further features at the ARIA resort.
“We want to get to the point where we can encode your cellphone so you can use it as your credit card, you room key and your Player’s Club card,” says John Bollen, CityCenter’s vice president of technology. “Guests would open their door or pay for a product or service with a specially developed app.”
And since every inch of the Aria is covered by what the hotel calls a “heat-sensitive” Wi-Fi network, phones are less likely to find themselves in dead spots.
by Olga Titarenko
Filed under: Accessories, Haute Tech | Tags: Android, behind the scenes, Benjamin Hall, Giorgio Armani, Olga Titarenko, Richard Burbridge, Samsung Galaxy S, Suzanne Diaz
Giorgio Armani is no stranger in the mobile device world with a number of handsets released in the past years, including Giorgio Armani B7620, Emporio Armani M7500 and Armani P520. This year Mr. Armani has once again teamed up with Samsung, now to create a more image-conscious version of the Galaxy S.
The designer device is black like the original, while the back plate has been spruced up with a waffle like design embossed on it
To shoot the campaign Armani hired a British photographer, who is a part of the furniture at the design bible i-D but has previously worked with few high-end labels like Vivienne Westwood, Givenchy and Gucci. Richard Burbridge has brought his hyper-attenuated eye to the table and snapped a couple of his signature black+white portrait shots.
The two campaign options: for males and females respectively
Both models in this campaign are American natives: Benjamin Hill best known for being the face of Calvin Klein’s Eternity (…for the eternity of years) and Suzanne Diaz, who recently co-founded a clothing (sorry, cannot call it fashion just yet) label. If you’re curious about this mannequin’s off-duty style, you can have a sniff of it on this website.
Anyway, back to the hero of this story… Never one to miss out on a bit of exclusive action we’ve tracked down the new handset to see what the hype is all about. Well, like with most designer items, you receive them neatly packaged and in this case the phone comes in a padded branded box with a small gold GA clip to keep it all nice and tidy when it’s not in your pocket (when you’re sleeping perhaps).
Subtle but very affirming branding appears throughout our new digital toy almost trying to justify its' cost
Apart from this, it’s not much different from the regular version. Like a child to the famous parents, this device demands more attention than its’ worth. Yes, it operates in Android 2.2 Froyo, has a 5-megapixel camera and a bunch of branded wallpapers *yawn* … How about the brand promise ‘It Speaks For You’. Can it answer my calls? Cause that would be handy when my PA is off duty.
Personally I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes footage more than the final product. See for yourself and tell us if it’s Haute or Not.
by Olga Titarenko
Photo credit: Pocket-link
