Addicted to fashion, luxury or status? These sculptures of blister packs of pills with recognizable logos from luxury brands Hermes, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton are UV cast in resin by the Los Angeles based artist Desire Obtain Cherish. Each of the satirical status symbols measures 42" x 27".
CHANEL: Hermes: Louis Vuitton: YSL (Yves Saint Laurent)
Take two and be more chic in the morning.
About: Desire Obtain Cherish
LA-based artist Desire Obtain Cherish received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) at Parson’s School of Design. Since his emergence as a street artist in the 2000s, DOC has blended the concerns and methods of street, pop, conceptual and appropriation art with popular culture to create his own unique satirical message. His work, though often controversial, is always engaging, and explores contemporary obsessions with sex, desire, drugs, gender, celebrity, media, commerce and fame.
DOC’s artwork rarely inspires moderate responses, an indication of his achievements’ importance. With DOC focusing on some of the most banal objects as models, his works avoid typical standards of “good taste” in art, and instead focus on the vulnerabilities of hierarchies and value systems. DOC’s work “reflects a darker, albeit more humorous slant on middle-class American values versus a spiritual or expressive essence of a highly individual artist.” See more of his captivating work here.
For the tenth year, UNICEF France's Frimousses Creators bring together the greatest designers, artists and jewelers who put their talent toward helping UNICEF and children worldwide by creating one of a kind dolls that are auctioned with the proceeds going toward vaccinating children in Darfur.
The unique dolls (or in some cases, artworks inspired by dolls) were created by such well-known names and fashion houses as Prada, CHANEL, Gaultier, Gucci, Missoni, Issey Miyake, Olivia Putnam, Philip Pasqua, Mathieu Lehanneur, Dolce and Gabbana and many more. The pieces range from couture dressed Barbies to lithographs, knit dolls to robotic sculptures. To show the path of hope and gather people to believe in tomorrow, this year's theme was "Yes Future!" for which dynamic, lively, modern dolls and art works are the ambassadors of hope and carry the colors of life.
Here's a look at many of the other dollsfrom the project. Anne Fontaine: Agatha Ruiz de la Prada: Ara Starck: Agnes b.: CHANEL: Chantal Thomas: Chloe: Christian Dior: Dolce and Gabbana: Elie Saab: François Clerc: Frimousse de Coeur: Gucci: Issey Miyake: Jay Ahr: Jean-Paul Gaultier: Jerome l'Huillier: Jean Claude Jitrois: Lorenz Baumer: Mac Chaoul: Mathieu Lehanneur: Missoni: Nicolas Saint Gregoire: Olivia Putnam: Prada: Rallye des Princesses: Valerie Attinelli: Vincent Darre: Yulia Yanina: See all the dolls here.
What Went for The Most Money: The Artcurial auction, which took place on December 3rd, 2012 at Petit Palais, raised $251,942. The top five pieces which garnered the most money for the cause were:
Lot 17. Carlos CRUZ-DIEZ Couleur Additive Denise B 6/8 2007, sold for $23,613:
Lot 16. DICE KAYEK Poupée Trésor « Lumière » June 2012 // Paris, sold for $16,557:
Lot 21. Claudine DRAI - Galerie de Noirmont, Untitled, August 2012, sold for $8,915:
Lot 5. Philippe PASQUA, Aora 2011 sold for $8,278:
Lot 71. TORRENTE Shina June, 2012 // Paris, sold for $7,642:
In ten years, the auctions of Frimousses Designers have raised over $ 1.5 million, allowing the fund UNICEF vaccination campaigns and saving hundreds of thousands of children.
For this 10th anniversary, UNICEF hopes to ensure the children of Darfur right to be healthy and to grow and thrive, protected from diseases such as measles.
If you want to support the actions of UNICEF for children in Darfur, you can send your donations by check *:
Frimousses Designers for Darfur UNICEF France 3 rue Duguay Trouin 75006 Paris
What did the top Luxury brands do this year to connect with their fans, engage their consumers and wish them a happy holiday season? Well, I'm going to show you.
Besides e-mail blasts to those on their mailing lists and in their databases, some of the world's most well-known luxury brands created special short holiday films or flash videos (Burberry, Cartier, CHANEL and Dior) they shared on their own websites, YouTube and Facebook. Some built interactive apps (Moet & Chandon, Hennessey and Mercedes -Benz), some reinforced their brand by posting holiday branded images on Facebook's timeline cover and on their pages and Twitter channels (Tiffany & Co., Hermes, Gucci, Louis Vuitton) or engaged in some geurilla tactics (Tiffany & Co. in London) and some, sadly, did nothing except push their own products (BMW, Rolex and Prada).
I compiled the following examples from the top luxury brands according to Millward Brown and Interbrand (as well as a few additional brands such as Dior, Porsche and Mercedes Benz). I checked their websites (some global, some US), Facebook pages and Twitter feeds to share with you what they created and shared via social media for the Holiday Season*.
BURBERRY
As always, Burberry knows how to take advantage of digital media. In addition postingthe above imagery on Facebook with heartfelt greetings, they created a "Magical Burberry Festive Card" a flash greeting card you can view and share.
TIFFANY & CO
Kudos to Tiffany & Co. for not only posting Christmas wishes and imagery on Facebook but for wrapping 100 taxicabs in London and offering free Christmas music downloads at their website from She and Him (no longer available):
CHANEL
In addition to some lovely CHANEL imagery posted on their Facebook page like that shown above, they created this special holiday video:
Although not listed as one of the top luxury brands, Dior also created a Holiday Wishes video worth sharing:
CARTIER
Cartier has a 'Wintertale" section on their Facebook page which allows you to watch this short film or create and share a wishlist:
MOET & CHANDON
In addition to many festive holiday images featuring their products on their facebook page, Moet & Chandon has an interactive app on Facebook and their own site that let's you pop the cork for the holidays. And see how many have before you.
HENNESSEY
While it's not holiday music (and I wish it were), as a gift to their Facebook fans and Twitter followers, Hennessey compiled a spotify playlist with the following message: "The Hennessy #WildRabbit Spotify playlist is our gift to your ears. Listen now, listen for free. Happy listening, and Happy Holidays!" (For this you do need to add the spotify app to your Facebook page).
MERCEDES BENZ
Mercedes Benz featured a holiday image and greeting on facebook and created the custom Naughty or Nice card, a facebook app that let's you you customize a card to send to the friend of your choice.
HERMES
Hermes had this nice banner, shown above, on their Facebook page. And posted some of their illustrated greetings by Alice Charbin on Facebook, but that's all. More holiday illustrations by Charbin, who creates all the illustrations for Hermes' emails and website, can be found here on Pinterest:
GUCCI
Sadly, Gucci simply posted this lame greeting card on Facebook. But at least the theme of gold ribbons is echoed on their website for some branding consistency.
LOUIS VUITTON LV posted this season's greetings image to their facebook fans:
I was disappointed that Louis Vuitton is pushing their Luck Collection under the guise of Holiday Inspirations. While their site allows you to 'share your luck' while exploring the collection by turning a wheel with Christmas music playing in the background and adding items to your wish list, it's merely a way to sell more product.
PORSCHE At least Porsche had this cute holiday image posted on their Facebook page, but that was about it.
BMW, ROLEX & PRADA The most disappointing were BMW, Rolex and Prada. None of these brands posted or shared festive holiday greetings or imagery on their respective Facebook pages, websites or pinterest boards. Wouldn't have taken much to do. FAIL.
*While some of these brands have Pinterest boards and some do not, I did not include images from these in this post.
