Posts with tag beijing

Typically, once the summer Olympics officially come to a close, all of the athletes we cheered, cried, and stayed up until the wee hours of the morning for to see them perform their preferred sport are soon after forgotten.

But this may be the year that our amnesia is finally broken:

Oprah is planning to invite everyone who won a gold medal at the Beijing games to her set for a one-hour Olympic extravaganza; Michael Phelps is reported to earn a whopping $100 million in endorsements for his gold medal run, which promises lots of exposure for the swim stud, and world champion Nastia Liukin, well, she is doing pretty good as well.

Not only is the Texas native fronting a CoverGirl campaign this fall, but she's also going to be the face of brand Vanilla Star. Her "Smart Girls Rock" ads for the company were unveiled earlier this week at Parsons.

Warning: You will not be able to extend your legs like Nastia does in the Vanilla Star ad if you buy the brand's jeans. So, do the splits at your own risk!

[via Fashion Week Daily]

Sure, the Victoria Secret fashion show has all of those supermodels, but it's sort of sanitized sexiness. Plus you know that everything in the show will eventually turn up a mall near you, piled on a table next to a pyramid of "Pink-scented" lotion.

If you want creativity and adventure in your underwear, you have to check out the new Triumph Inspiration Awards. An international design competition for students, this year the theme was Female Fascination. Designers from 31 countries participated and the judges included supermodel Helena Christensen, Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf, and noted sexy photographer Ellen von Unwerth.

Equestrian styles haven't changed a whole lot in the past century, and apparently Nike thinks it's about time to stir things up. As part of their Olympic footwear preview -- in which Nike rolled out new shoe designs for 32 Olympic events from gymnastic to archery -- the famous sneaker brand gave us a glimpse of their take on the equestrian boot. Needless to say, the shiny, modern-looking design is getting some mixed reviews.

They're called the "Ippeas" -- that's Greek for rider -- and at least one rider objects to the Nike's redesign. She called them "the stripper boot of the horse world." Don't think too hard about that quote. In our opinion, the boots don't look too sexy. We see more of futuristic Star Wars resemblance. See what we're talking about? The black leather with the red piping looks like something Darth Maul would wear. Not only that, but the funky zipper across the front, and that weird spur thing -- we think maybe Nike got a little too techno on these babies.

[via Jezebel]

With age comes dignity, or so the saying goes. And with the world's leading sportswear brand, it's kinda starting to ring true. Now that Nike's been around for 30 years, infiltrating and dominating equipment sales in almost every major sport, they're starting to venture into the fashion world. Well, not very deep into it -- they're launching a "lifestyle" line called Nike Sportswear.

Apparently, the company is finally ready to acknowledge that everybody who wears Nike isn't a winner -- or even an athlete. The brand has been so fixated on smashing its way into every sport from football to golf to hockey, that they're just now waking up to the fact that even non-athletes want to wear their stuff purely because they're brand loyal.

Wow, in a very retro 90's way, we're totally psyched that Reebok has decided to bring back the pump. Not the ladies shoe, mind you, we're talking about the pump that allows middle schoolers to over-inflate their sneakers causing longterm damage (or was that an urban myth?). It's all part of Reebok's bid to climb out of the hole that they've been in since -- well, probably since the Pump-it-Up days.

Their new Yao Ming limited edition sneaker is being released in conjunction with Yao's appearance in this summer's Olympics, where he'll be representing China. Complete with fire-breathing dragons and traditional Chinese colors, these are probably the most elaborate pumps Reebok's ever made. The struggling athletic company hopes to use these mean-looking sneaks, and a media blitz targeting China's Yao pride, to gain a foothold in the world's largest emerging market. Only 2008 of these babies will be produced, and they'll run you about $150.

They're a bit flashy for out taste -- would you wear these out on the court?

Gallery: Yao Ming's Olympic Edition Pumps

[via BlackBook]

While retail sales in the US and Europe are slumping, China's consumer class is just hitting the scene -- and they're willing to shell out some serious money on fashion. Designers like Prada, Armani, and Louis Vuitton are having a bonanza with newly rich Chinese who are hungry for the status symbols of conspicuous consumption. Yet, there's also a rising demand for $10,000 cocktail dresses and brands like Hermes from the growing ultra-rich class.

Traditionally, the Chinese market has been mostly dominated by accessories because of the limited space in China's crammed shopping malls -- which has led to the ridiculous level of knock-offs and forgeries. But that trend is starting to shift as retailers are steadily getting access to space where they can branch out. Coach is planning to open 50 retail stores in the mainland this over the next few years and tons of others are on the same kind of track. As you can imagine, renting a prime location for you flagship store in Shanghai is a royal rip -- but apparently it's paying off big time.

Can you think of anything more unfair? As we've already told you, Team USA will be sporting Ralph Lauren for the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics, and the New Zealand Olympians will be schlumping around in an official uniform that includes Crocs.

The women will be wearing the sueded "Alice" style for the opening ceremony, and then all the athletes will wear the ever-popular Beach model. The kicker with this is that Olympic chef de mission Dave Currie said the shoes would be "very stylish."