Category: Fashion

I found out about this yesterday and I think it’s a great idea. The 3 Club along with Viva are launching a campaign to collect a thousand pairs of wearable running shoes from now till the end of Ramadan. Once all the running shoes is collected they will be sending them to Africa and given to people who really need them. So if you have sneakers lying around you don’t wear anymore (I know I do), then follow the instructions below.

For more information check out the The 3 Club blog [Here]

The donation boxes as of now are currently located in the following locations:

Extreme Sports – Tilal and Salmiya
Viva HQ – Salmiya
Lashes Salon for ladies – Yarmouk
Baking Tray – Kuwait City
Tatami – Kuwait City
AUK – Salmiya
ACK – Mishref

They actually have some pretty cool stuff for guys. I bought some jackets from them a few years back from London and I was planning to order some polos from their online store but might as well wait until they open up. They’ve got a very cool iPad app btw.

Around a year ago I found out about KILLSPENCER and fell in love with their bags. Problem is they were expensive for an impulse buy and since I really didn’t need another bag I decided to save the link and forget about it. Then a couple of months back my carry on travel bag started feeling a bit tight since I started stuffing more stuff into it. That’s when I decided to go back to the KILLSPENCER website and order one of their bags.

No Subject from Spencer Nikosey on Vimeo.

KILLSPENCER is the creation of a guy called Spencer Nikosey, a 27 year old designer based in LA. It started off as a personal project and then grew into his full time business. I emailed him with a bunch of questions about the bag and he was extremely helpful. I originally wasn’t sure which bag to get or even which material but after a few emails back and forth I decided on the black leather Weekender 2.0. He also offered to custom stamp my name and home address on the inside (usually a $95 extra feature) which I thought was very cool.

The bag took around 2 weeks to craft and another week to get to my US mailbox and another week to get to Kuwait. I was worried the bag would be too big but it turned out to be the perfect size. The quality and the design is just incredible, I really love the bag. The inside is spacious with a laptop sleeve on one side, a large zipped water resistant pocket on the opposite side that can easily fit an iPad, and then there are two more smaller pockets on the short sides. On the outside there are 2 more pockets as well, one on each side. The bag also comes with a very comfortable shoulder strap which makes the bag a lot more practical to carry when the bag gets heavy.

Right now I think this is like the coolest bag ever. It comes in 4 different materials options and a total of 3 colors. Price wise the bag costs $600 which is on the high or low side depending on how you look at it. If you compare it to luxury brands, then this bag is really affordable and you’re also getting a hand crafted beautifully designed bag that’s even more exclusive then the majority of the luxury brands. If you don’t go with leather than the price drops down to $375 which is a lot more accessible. If you’re interested check out their website and full collection by visiting their website [Here]

Last month I posted the male edition of Know your thob and this month Brownbook released the female edition. Sadly this edition isn’t as interesting since it groups up the whole Gulf under one thob and it also leaves out the popular coneheads look. You can see the full version [Here]

The watch store “Write.Time” at The Avenues are now the official dealers for Nixon watches in Kuwait. Problem is they’re selling the watches for nearly double the price they sell for on Amazon. For example the Time Teller P series watches similar to the pink and blue one above cost around KD14 on Amazon while they’re selling them for KD28 in Kuwait. The Rubber Player series similar to the green, blue and black watches on the bottom left of the picture below sell for around KD38 on Amazon but KD72 in Kuwait. So the good news is we now have Nixon watches in Kuwait, the bad news is they’re over priced.

Nice visualization by Brownbook. You can view the full sized poster by visiting their website [Here]

Aïshti and Aïzone at the Avenues have a 30% sale. It started yesterday and from what I can tell everything is on sale except for one tiny section of new arrivals.

I just found out that Habchi and Chalhoub will be opening up a bunch of their brands at the new luxury expansion of The Avenues. Some of the brands they will be opening there are Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Tods, and Lanvin. The LV store is going to be the largest LV store in the Middle East. I’m not sure where the biggest store currently is, I’ve been to the one in Beirut, Bahrain and Dubai and I think Dubai’s is the largest right now.

Should be cool but sadly the launch is still far away since as you can see above, the expansion is still under construction. They’re expecting to open sometime at the end of 2012.

[YouTube]

I was having lunch at Discovery Mall when I noticed a new shop called Del-Sol had opened. Turns out they sell items that change color when exposed to the sun (UV light). They had tshirts, sun glasses, flip flops and a bunch of other items that are white but once they see UV light they become colorful. When you get back into the shade they turn white again. I had the salesman demonstrate it for me in the video above.

Not sure how useful this is but it reminded me of two things, Hot Wheels color shifter cars which I had when I was a kid and also Hypercolor t-shirts which some of you might remember the Sultan sports shop in Zahra Complex used to sell.

Thanks Kasia

I found out today that Hermès will be opening up their first store in Kuwait this September. The store is going to be huge and will be located at the Al Hamra Tower. I guess you should get your wish list ready come this fall…

I found out about the website Local Tees from Me Blogging. What I understood from her is that you send them your designs and if they like it they will print a limited run of tshirts based on it and then sell it on their website. Although she doesn’t mention it I am guessing you would also get a cut of the profits made from your tshirt design. It’s not a new idea but that doesn’t matter since it’s a good one and going by the the designs already available on their website they’re not after generic ones but after designs that relate to the local region which is the way it should be done. The photography on the site (like the one above) is also very well done and helps set a trendy tone through out.

My only issue with the website is the fact it’s flash based! Not sure who still makes a flash based website now a days but they’ve got one and there is no skip button which drove me crazy. My second issue is the fact that practically all the tshirts are white, which might be fine for others but personally I only wear dark colored tshirts so at the moment there isn’t a tshirt I could buy for myself.

You can check their website by clicking [Here]
To skip the flash site and head directly to the store click [Here]

Gucci opened their kids store at 360 Mall earlier today. The store is the first standalone Gucci kids store in the world. The shop is located on the ground floor around the corner from the main Gucci store. Kids + KD1000 = Gucci Kids

Back in 2008 I posted about how Missoni Hotel was going to open up here in Kuwait and yesterday I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek tour of the place.

I noticed two things when I first walked into the lobby, the first was the amount of colors that filled the place and the second was the cleaning lady vacuuming using a Dyson. The hotel is full of beautiful summer colors and wild fabric designs that magically seem to all work together. I spent the whole time amazed at how tasteful everything was put together, it’s just incredible the amount of thought and work that went into it.

The second thing I noticed as I mentioned earlier was the Dyson vacuum cleaner but I then also spotted Bang & Olufsen speakers in the lobby ceiling followed by Bang & Olufsen TV’s in the hotel rooms. I even spotted Bodum toasters and very cool looking pots and pans in one of the hotel rooms mini kitchenettes. It’s a hotel that’s design driven, from the typeface the hotel room numbers are written in to the power plug sockets in the wall, everywhere you look you see good design which is very rare to see here in Kuwait.

They have 169 rooms so it’s not a small boutique hotel and the majority of their staff are from Italy so really once you walk into the hotel you could easily forget you were in Kuwait. The rooms had some very beautiful furniture which I right away asked if they were going to be available for purchase (turns out they will be). The hotel launches March 1st and they’re located in Salem Mubarek Street opposite American University of Kuwait in the same building where Symphony Mall is. I shot the pictures in this post but they will be sending me some more pictures which I will add to this post once I get them.

Update: Arabian Business has some more pictures which you can check [Here]

Last week I posted about how Go Sport at The Avenues was strangely selling Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister clothing. Well I was emailed some more information regarding this. Turns out the A&F and Hollister items at Go Sport are 100% authentic. Go Sport was given rights by the host brands to sell both A&F and Hollister clothing. The only thing is that their merchandise is last seasons not the latest. Another thing I found out is that Go Sport falls under one of the companies of Al Homaizi Group. I am assuming they will be bringing both those brands to Kuwait in the near future.