Friday 28 January 2011

Celebrity Fragrances!

Hi Everyone,

Semen caught my eye (so to speak) yesterday and I can’t shake it off, so I thought I would lay my thoughts down and see what you guys think.

It has been reported that Lady Gaga has requested that her first fragrance smell of blood and semen. This instinctively leads to huge joke potential e.g. “If I want to smell like blood and semen then I’d spend a night in … insert location”. After an hour or so of doing this, Originals HQ had a chat about celebrity fragrances. A quick search on the old internet leads to numerous lists that show how many celebrity fragrances (or as I will now call them, celebrances) have been released. In 2010 it looks like there were well over 20 celebrances, with releases by such esteemed celebs as Mariah Carey, Bruce Willis and Peter Andre.

I should point out that I have not smelt any celebrances or bought them for anyone, in fact the limit of my fragrance selection is seeing if I like the one mum gets me at Christmas. If I do then I stick with it, if not I return to my default setting of Issey Miyaki (I am currently enjoying Lacoste Challenge). But at what point is a decision made by the consumer that they want to smell like a particular celeb? From what I understand the process of creating a scent is a long scientific process with mixing of the smells and the creation of unique combinations undertaken by experts with years of experience. I can only assume that this is an expensive process. I cannot see all the experts sitting at table waiting for a call from the celeb du jour and seeking their requests for a smell.

Imagine the scene at Perfume HQ when Bruce Willis calls in to the meeting to say he really wants to capitalise on his image and create a manly smell that will incorporate his favourite smell of molten tar and matches after they’ve been blown out. The phone goes down, a few glances around the room, and then they continue as they were before the call ever took place.

The celebrances are obviously a marketing tool, how else was ‘A Devil Wears Prada’ fragrance ever created? The increase in social media and the insatiable demand for news has created more ‘celebs’ than ever before. The perfume industry, like the fashion industry, is capitalising on this. Although I would argue that fashion has a slightly more considered approach. I am thinking about the Kate Moss and Topman and comparing against Cliff Richard’s ‘Miss You Nights’!

I used to enjoy the cryptic perfume adverts that would emerge just before Christmas with beautiful people staring at the camera lustfully, creating an image in my mind that I would associate this lifestyle with my purchase of 90ml of liquid in an ornate glass vial. At what point do we look at a celeb and think that is the lifestyle I want, take me to The Perfume Shop, don’t stop at go, or red lights just drive.

What is the cut-off point? Irrelevance by Konnie Huq, Insanity by Boris Johnson? Perhaps I should just enjoy the celebrances, relish the near pornographic adverts (Beyonce) and get used to spraying blood and semen (scent) on my clothes at the start of the night.

But until then, I will just drop a hint to mum that I need another bottle of Lacoste Challenge.

To finish the week off, here’s a picture a cat wearing a make-shirt fruit helmet.

Have a good weekend Everyone.

O

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Business chatter

Hi Everyone,

First blog of the week, sorry to keep you waiting.

So the talk of the economy today got us talking at Originals HQ, as we like to dabble in expressing are opinions on important issues. It is reported that there has been a constriction in the UK’s economy and on the High street even huge names like HMV have called in debt experts so we understand that things are still tough.

Originals HQ have always believed that it doesn’t always have to be doom and gloom. The ability to make a product(s) accessible to a wide audience, catering for their individual tastes and producing great products will always win out. ASOS is a prime example of spreading its wings, reaching new markets and widening its appeal by introducing ASOS Market Place. This has resulted in a 59% increase in sales in the 3months ending in Dec 2010.

The Kindle is an example of a great product that is selling extremely well. The Kindle is not cheap but the storage capacity, long battery life, cost of additional books and the ability to modify and search the text makes the product stand out. These factors have won over customers in these tricky financial times.

The Originals Team make a habit of trend-bucking (that’s what makes us so special) and we dabble into both approaches to make sure we continue to be trend-buck. Original Frames are in more stores than ever and this will continue to grow through 2011 and we are currently putting together ideas for future designs that will be amazing and support the current collection. We’ve also worked hard to make sure that the style, effort, love and beauty of the frames is translated into the final product by reviewing, sampling and sourcing materials of the highest quality.

Wow that was all a bit heavy, here’s a picture of dog in a hat to lighten things up.

Thanks for stopping by!

O

Friday 21 January 2011

Vintage Festival heads to the South Bank

End of the week, and on top of that ‘Friday Feeling’ it has been announced that the Vintage at Goodwood Festival is coming to the South Bank this summer. Not sure if the festival will be renamed after all Vintage at Goodwood Temporarily Relocated to London’s South Bank Festival is a bit of a mouthful. Regardless of the name, we think it’s pretty exciting news and has got the Originals Team giddy for festival season already. There should be some great stuff on show with fashion, art, design and music from as far back as the 1920’s.

Cast your peepers on the info here: http://www.thevintageguidetolondon.com/breaking-news-vintage-at-goodwood-to-be-held-in-london-this-year/

Wednesday 19 January 2011

So far, so good!

2011 – So far so good (granted its only the 19th January)

It looks like Originals are going to be on the high street pretty soon, serious grown up conversations are being had but the frames should be hitting stores soon! Juicy details to follow.

Good news for We Love Africa their amazing jewellery is on ASOS Marketplace and you can get your mitts on them now, check it out https://marketplace.asos.com/search?q=weloveafrica

Tuesday 18 January 2011

WE ARE BACK FOR 2011 !!!!

Hi everyone, firstly Happy New Year!! Things have been a bit quiet on the blog recently as we have undergone some changes at Original Frames HQ.

We’re really excited about 2011, there’s some great new music knocking around and exciting fashion trends that we’ll be enjoying and sharing with you.

If you have any ideas/suggestions/comment then obviously we wanna know so get in touch.

Keep checking the blog out for more info on our plans for 2011, the year of Originals! (or the Year of the Rabbit in China).