Watch for our coverage from BaselWorld

The biggest event in the watchmaking calendar is now upon us – I am, of course, referring to BaselWorld 2013 which kicked off yesterday (April 25th) in the luxurious Swiss town of Basel. The event serves as a platform for the world’s leading watchmakers to showcase their wares and unveil the timepieces that they will be releasing to the eager public over the next twelve months or so.

All of the biggest names in the world of horology will be in attendance – including the likes of Rolex, IWC, Breitling and Hublot – and it’s fair to say, the general consensus amongst those in the know is that there will be some mightily impressive timepieces making their debuts over the next week.

BaselWorld is positively steeped in luxury and the event is the highlight of the calendar for fans of luxury watches because, unlike some events in the industry, it is open to the public as well. It is invariably chosen as the platform to unveil a whole host of breath taking timepieces that are in the works and just wait until you see the stunning Hublot / Ferrari collaboration further down the page.

Thanks to the good people over at The Watch Gallery, we have got exclusive images from the event and will be giving you daily updates on latest and greatest watches from the likes of Montblanc, IWC and Rolex that are showcased each day. For anyone who is a lover of luxury goods and timepieces in particular, BaselWorld is a pivotal event and if you can’t be there, this is the next best thing!

So, let’s not waste any more time – let’s cast our eye over some of the latest happenings from the BaselWorld – starting with the aforementioned Hublot Ferrari watch:

Not content with this impressive collaboration with the ultimate in Italian sports cars, Hublot also showcased their stunning Hublot Big Bang Unico which you can see below:

Felix Baumgartner visits the BaselWorld

There was also a pretty impressive special guest on the press day at BaselWorld in the form of the dare-devil, Felix Baumgartner, who set the world record for skydiving when he jumped from 39 kilometres late last year. The Zenith watch that the Austrian actually wore that day has been showcased at BaselWorld. The Felix Baumgartner’s watch he wore that is pictured below, and you can watch the video highlights of the skydive as well.

Even more special – watch the interview with Felix Baumgartner by The Watch Gallery.

This is just a mere taste of what is to come over the next week or so – so stayed tuned here on Skimbaco for more updates and news from the luxury-soaked BaselWorld event.
You can also keep up to date with the latest goings on by following The Watch Gallery Magazine.

Guest post by Leo Parker. Leo is a luxury lifestyle blogger who has a love of the finer things in life. He doesn’t let the fact that he, lamentably, cannot afford the objects of his desires put him off. He regularly writes for a number of fashion and luxury lifestyle blogs and magazines when he’s not looking through the window of luxury watch shops.

David Beckham running in Undies

Yes, that’s the headline of the week.

Watching my favorite TV show Scandal was interrupted several times last night by what is referenced as a “short film” by Guy Ritchie. This latest H&M campaign of Mr Beckham’s underwear collection was launched yesterday and it is already getting quite a buzz. And what’s not to buzz about, it is quite a scene when David Beckham runs (and swims) through the neighborhood wearing nothing but army green briefs. Some call it sexy, I find the new H&M commercial comical.

You can call it eye-candy, or shopping for Valentine’s Day gift ideas for the man in your life, but make sure to check out more undies and pictures from the H&M David Beckham collection.

Diesel+Edun

Diesel and Edun announced a collaborative new denim collection called Diesel+Edun at the IHT Luxury Conference 2012 in Rome today. The Italian denim brand Diesel, and Edun, a smaller fashion brand owned by Ali Hewson and her husband Bono of U2, collaborated on a capsule collection of denim made from African cotton, cut in Africa, manufactured in Africa. The Diesel+Edun collection is designed in collaboration by both companies and the collection will be sold at selected Diesel stores and “all of the top stores,” which are carefully selected retailers like Corso Como.

Renzo Rosso, the founder of Diesel, and Ali Hewson and Bono of Edun believe that sustainability and fashion can make a powerful partnership and that fashion can be a tool to educate customers and support suppliers. The Diesel+Edun collection will hit the stores in February 2013.

The consumer luxury of the future should be knowing no matter what you buy, you should know it’s a good product, and it’s done right.

said Ali Hewson.

The way I do business is different to other luxury brands and so is the way I approach philanthropy

said Renzo Rosso at IHT Luxury Conference.

Renzo Rosso is one of the most influential man in fashion. He may have started his fashion career with Diesel, but today he also owns Only The Brave holdings group, which consists of Diesel, Maison Martin Margiela, Viktor & Rolf, and Staff International, which is a manufacturer and distributor for a number of other fashion labels, such as Vivienne Westwood and works with Karl Lagerfeld, Emanuel Ungaro, Valentino, Costume National, Clements Ribeiro and Missoni. Philanthropy is also a big part of Renzo Rosso’s legacy, Rosso launched the Only the Brave Foundation, a not-for-profit organization and foundation in 2008. The foundation focused on helping Africa, the most disadvantaged and youngest continent in the world, given its high demographic preponderance of young people.

Ali Hewson and her husband Bono of U2 founded the Edun label in 2005 to give work to artisans across the world. Ali Hewson and Bono have been a great philanthropists and has done a tremendous job raising awareness to the problems in Africa, and raising funds to help those in need. One of the cornerstones in the philanthropic journey for them was to learn that the long term solution isn’t just about aid and charity – it’s about trade. They wanted to pay attention to trade from Africa and they started their fashion brand Edun to create fashion made in Africa.

Edun is based on four principles:
- respect for the consumer
- respect the person who made the clothes
- respect community where the products are made
- respect for materials the clothing is made with.

Edun is such a tiny company and for us to work with Diesel and to truly do something worth while. The partnership with Diesel allows Edun to walk the talk and take it to the next level.

Ali Hewson.

We try to talk less about the charity side of the clothes, and more about the business.

said Bono.

While Bono and Ali Hewson and Renzo Rosso all do a tremendous philanthropic job helping Africa, they understand that the sustainable way of helping isn’t aid, it’s about trade. They also understand the fashion consumer, who wants to do good things, but who wants to buy fashion, not charity products. I hope we see more sustainable collections like this, instead brands donating a part of proceeds to a charity.

You can see the video from the ITH Luxury conference here.

Photos: Diesel, IHT Luxury on Twitter.
Source: NY Times, wikipedia

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Fashion Friday

I’m linking up with Blonde Episodes and Jo-Lynne Shane’s Musings of a Housewife for Fashion Friday.

Bond Girl Bérénice Marlohe

French actress Bérénice Marlohe joins the gorgeous lineup of Bond girls in the James Bond movie “Skyfall”. Bérénice Marlohe plays “Sévérine” in the 23rd James Bond, releasing in the US on November 9th. We here in Europe welcomed James Bond already this week, and I am hoping to see it this weekend in Sweden. But before we see the gorgeous Bérénice Marlohe in the movie, let’s drool for the red carpet and photo call pictures of her.

UPDATE: Read the James Bond Skyfall Movie Review here

Bérénice Marlohe wore a black-and-white tweed cap-sleeve pencil pocket dress by Dolce & Gabbana with classic black suede Sergio Rossi “Chichi” pumps in the James Bond Skyfall event in Dorchester in London.

Photo Credit: Landmark/PR Photos

Bérénice Marlohe wore Vivienne Westwood in the Royal World Premiere of “Skyfall” at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Bérénice Marlohe wore glittering Elie Saab grey long-sleeve full length boat neck dress with a thigh high slit and a matching grey belt on the red carpet at the French premiere of “Skyfall” held at the Cinema UGC Normandie in Paris, France.

And also in France- Bérénice Marlohe was dressed in Alexander McQueen at the “Skyfall” photocall at the George V Hotel in Paris. The black sleeveless top with a feathered trim paired with a pair of white pants with a black stripe on the sides looked gorgeous on the star.

Last but not least, the stunning Bond Girl wore Salvatore Ferragamo fall 2012 military-green coat and Tod’s knee-high boots at the Crosby Street Hotel in New York City, and while this is not your typical red carpet look, it it by far my personal favorite and something easily to be copied.

Which look is your favorite?

FASHION FRIDAY
I’m linking up with Blonde Episodes and Jo-Lynne Shane’s Musings of a Housewife for Fashion Friday.

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Listen to new single Ride by Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Ray just released her new single “Ride” from the upcoming re-lease album Born to Die: The Paradise Edition. Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die album is probably my favorite album that I’ve listened to over and over again for a very long time, I can’t even think of the last full album that I’ve liked all songs in it – can you? My Spotify account plays this album all day long, no kidding, and I can’t wait for the new one to come out on November 12th. It’s kind of odd that my entire mission in life is to inspire people to live life to the fullest, yet my favorite album at the time is Born to Die, but everything Lana Del Rey does, just resonates with me.

The new edition, the Born to Die: The Paradise Edition will have the 12 tracks of our favorite Lana Del Rey songs the “Video Games” to “Blue Jeans” and the three bonus tracks (“Without You,” “Lolita” and “Lucky Ones”). In addition to these 15 songs, the Paradise Edition will contain nine new songs: including the cover of “Blue Velvet.”

The “Ride” is the first new single from the album and it was just released today.

Pre-order Born to Die: The Paradise Edition here:

iTunes – http://smarturl.it/ParadiseiTunes
Amazon – http://smarturl.it/ParadiseAmazon

And check out the pretty album cover too.

DuJour Magazine Launch

I’m drooling as I’m scrolling down the pages of the fresh DuJour magazine’s website, and having a rare moment of longing back living next to New York City, where everything happens, like the DuJour magazines launch party this week during the Fashion Week kick off. DuJour magazine won’t be available for me in Europe (yet), it will focus on readers in major metropolitan areas (New York, Los Angeles, Miami, etc.) and in the places they vacation (Aspen, the Hamptons, Sun Valley).

In a time when magazines are dying and replaced by their digital versions, DuJour is not just your newest iPad app or an afterthought of a digital version to an existing magazine, it is a ridiculously good looking quarterly magazine with not just glossy pages and enormous amount of advertisements but editorial you actually want to read about luxury lifestyle from food and fashion to politics and philanthropy. And talking about advertisements – the first issue is rumored to have 110 ad pages and sold an estimated $4 million worth of advertising, showing that print advertising isn’t dead when done to a correct target market, and by a genius like Jason Binn who heads the DuJour magzine.

Part of the recipe for success from day one is strategic partnership with Gilt Groupe, whom we all already love. In addition to the quarterly print magazine, DuJour offers a monthly digital version for online subscribers. With the existing audience from Gilt, DuJour is bound to become the new IT magazine also online. The DuJour magazine is for those who have the means to live life to the fullest enjoying what money can buy and targets people who meet certain criteria such as having a net worth of $5 million, spending more than $10,000 in online high-end purchases annually or owning homes with an average value of more than $1.5 million – and of course for the rest of us, who just like to drool and dream.

DuJour Launch party in New York City

DuJour launched with a stylish New York Cuty launch party at Capitale on Wednesday, co-hosted by the DuJour CEO Jason Binn, cover model Christy Turlington Burns and photographer Bruce Weber. Other celebrity guests included Chris Bosh, Kyle MacLachlan, Matha Stweart, Rebecca Minkof, and many others the biggest tabloid worthy celeb wasn’t the cover girl Christy though – it was Kim Kardashian in her shocking dress.

Skimbaco’s New York City-based fashion writer Nina attended the event and snapped a few photos for us who couldn’t make it.

Photos: Nina Varis

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I’m starting a new feature at Skimbaco Lifestyle and featuring one randomly or not so randomly chosen YouTube or other video a week.

I shared Chris Mann’s videos already last week and recommended watching The Voice. In case you missed the episode, he sang Ave Maria, and here is the amazing performance video. Chris made it to the finals, and you can watch him on The Voice again tonight Mondays 8/7c on NBC.

Watch The Voice Tonight & Vote for Chris Mann

Watch The Voice tonight, Monday April 30th at 8pm est (7pm cst) and vote for Chris Mann.

I am so excited to see Chris Mann on The Voice, and even if you haven’t watched the show this season – watch it tonight and help Chris Mann to make it to the finals. I will be supporting Chris all the way from Sweden, because he is not just a talented artist, but an amazing person. I’ve had the opportunity to meet Chris a few times, and he is so genuine, humble and I don’t wish him anything but success. Here is an old picture of Chris Mann and I.

Here a previous performance from Chris, here he is singing the “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

How to vote on The Voice

You can vote several ways after the show on Monday April 30th starting at 9:55pm est. You will have 12 hours to vote AFTER the show airs (WAIT until AFTER the show to vote).

INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO VOTE:
1. Buy Chris’ NEW song performed on tonight’s show on iTunes
itunes.com/chrismann
You can “gift this song” to 10 friends for 10 votes! Click on the arrow next to the price and click “gift album.” NOTE: Only purchaces of TONIGHT’s song count as votes

2. Use your Facebook account(s) & vote TEN times on The Voice’s FB page http://www.facebook.com/NBCTheVoice
“Like” The Voice’s Facebook page and vote!

3. Call by Phone TEN times from your landline & TEN times from any cell phone
The voting number for Chris will be announced on-screen after his performance.

4. Vote through the NBC.com/TheVoice website nbc.com/the-voice/vote. You can vote multiple times here as well.

5. If you have Sprint you can vote via text messaging
The number to text will appear on-screen after Chris’ performance
Your text vote will NOT count unless made via a Sprint cell phone

Using all methods you can VOTE 50 TIMES.

Connect with Chris Mann & other MannFans

Watch the twitter stream. You can connect with other Chris Mann fans by using the following hashtags: #MannFans #Vote4ChrisMann #ChrisMann #TheOperaGuy #TheVoice #TeamXtina and follow Chris on Twitter @IamChrisMann.

Here is a message from Chris himself also explaining how to vote.

Good luck Chris!!

And one more video… I love this Kayne West’s Hearless cover by Chris.

Gwyneth Paltrow in Lindex Commercials = Great Acting

I was surprised to see Gwyneth Paltrow on TV in Sweden last night. No, not in any of her movies, but on a TV commercial of Lindex, a Swedish clothing company, a little bit like H&M, or maybe like the Swedish Old Navy.

The Lindex Modern Preppy collection and campaign were inspired by the sporty, relaxed lifestyle of East Coast, and it looks very Hamptons with a Scandinavian touch. Colors that pop, stripes, preppy looks with a little twist. Think of it like poor woman’s J.Crew.

I have to say – the Modern Preppy collection looks like Gwyneth Paltrow, and she makes it very believable (she is actress after all, and she is known for wearing stripes), but I doubt we will see any paparazzi photos of Gwyneth wearing Lindex on her day off.

The clothing line costs about one tenth of the clothing we are used to seeing on Gwyneth, and the price reflects the quality. I can see Gwyneth modeling for Estée Lauder, but I wouldn’t have ever seen Lindex coming, and Gwyneth’s points just went a bit down… But what comes to Lindex – they scored big time.

Gwyneth was interviewed on the Lindex blog, and she of course tells she is a big fan of the Modern Preppy collection.

Gwyneth says she really loves the collection:

“When I was asked to model for Lindex, I first took a look at the collection and was happy to notice the clothes are exactly what could be in my own closet. I really love the clothes! I would never represent a brand that I wouldn’t wear myself. I love the top and shorts that I was photographed wearing, as well as the chinos and blazer. These are the kinds of clothes that I wear everyday. I also love stripes and I wear striped clothing practically all the time”

But when asked about her wardrobe essentials and favorites, she doesn’t bring up the stripes.. she says how much she loves her numerous shoes and warm winter coats to tackle the winters in London and NYC. Gwyneth says fashion means different things for her now than when she was younger, and keeping up with two kids who have several hobbies, she now likes clothes that are not just pretty but comfortable to wear. In fact she says that she wants even the red carpet looks she wears to feel comfortable, and she prefers them with a little stretch. And above all – she loves the comfortable Modern Preppy collection.

Hear the praises of the Lindex Modern Preppy from Gwyneth herself:

I just visited Lindex two weeks ago when trying to find spring clothes to wear for our trip to Italy, and didn’t even find one thing to even try on, but I will make another attempt, and maybe I too will open up for Lindex again after being more Scandinavianized again.

This all looks so pretty on the pictures and I really want to love it all, I can’t help that it does feel very fake to me. Almost like how it would feel if Gwyneth was busy promoting her healthy lifestyle and whole food recipes in her cookbook and her blog, and then promoted frozen processed foods sold at convenience stores.

Oh yeah, right, Gwyneth already did that.

Oh Gwyneth, I get it. You just want to be a good mum, you rather sell out your brand and do commercial work to get your home cooked meals and world travel to your kids than take another acting job to be away from them for work. I get it. But I miss the old Gwyneth, acting in a movie that I actually want to see.

photos: lindex, spar

Fashion Friday

I’m linking up Musings of a Housewife and Mommies with Style for Fashion Friday, check out their blogs for more fashionable Friday tips, and I’m also joining the Blonde Episodes Fashion Friday.

Angelina Jolie and her leg made an everlasting impression at the Academy Awards yesterday, and of course I didn’t expect anything less. Angelina Jolie wore a gorgeous custom designed strapless Versace gown in black velvet, with a high leg slit that made the memorable pose on the red carpet possible. The Neil Lane jewelry, including the drop ear rings and killer Salvatore Ferragamo peep toe shoes, smoky eye and red lips and fierce hair down made Angie look classic yet current at the same time.

Steal Angelina Jolie’s Oscar Look

If you are ready to turn heads, steal Angelina Jolie’s Oscars look!

1. Eliot Danori Pendant and Earrings Set ($45) classic look for less, enough bling to dress up your outfit, but cheap even if they’ll be only one party stand.
2. Calvin Klein Sandie Satin Pumps ($84.99) are the perfect party shoe to match with Angie’s sexy outfit – AND plenty of other outfits as well.
3. SEPHORA COLLECTION Rouge Cream Lipstick in Red 04 ($12) gives you the classic sexy red lips.
4. Black Gathered Fairytale Ending Beaded Gown ($98) mimics Angelina’s Versace dress with the high leg slit.

Don’t forget these:
5. Nair Smoothing Effects Bladeless Shaving Kit ($1.45) for silky smooth legs.
6. Benefit Cosmetics Smokin’ Eyes makeup kit ($36) to create sexy smoky eye look.
7. Carolina Herrera By Carolina Herrera For Women. Eau De Parfum Spray 3.4 Oz. ($54.60) is rumored to be Angelina Jolie’s favorite perfume – perfect for taking over the night in this gorgeous outfit.