Looking for wedding jewellery can be a tough test as the design is generally the first thing on your mind – after all, it will be something that you will be hopefully wearing for the rest of your life so it needs to be perfect. However, this often means that the material that the actual jewellery itself is made from will be overlook to an extent, or rather, people will settle on the traditional ones of gold or silver. What about tungsten carbide though?
This has only really been used recently for jewellery and it becoming popular especially when it comes to the likes of wedding bands and wedding rings for the reason that it is highly durable and strong. While gold and silver and undoubtedly strong and robust materials, tungsten carbide is a different proposition altogether and only diamond and to a lesser extent steel are tougher in terms of its durability and the length of time it will last and stay in a good condition. Indeed, tungsten can be incredibly difficult to do any damage to at all and this includes cosmetic damage as well. It may be the case that when using gold it can become scratched or damaged aesthetically at least; this isn’t really an issue with tungsten however and it will continue to keep its gleam and its shine years after you have begun wearing out so it requires very little if any maintenance over the years that it is being worn.
For all of this you would think that it would be incredibly expensive however this is not the case as tungsten itself is no more pricey than any other material to have you wedding jewellery made out of and when you consider all the benefits that you get with it then it is well worth considering.
SKECHERS, a Manhattan, California based company that manufactures a variety of popular shoes for men, women and children, have recently announced the global launch of their SKECHERS GOrun running line just in time for the holidays. According to a November 1, 2011 report by MarketWatch.com, the newly created running line will be debuted by elite marathon runner Meb Keflezighi at the New York City Marathon on Sunday November 6th.
Keflezighi is a former New York City Marathon winner and an Olympic Silver Medalist in 2004. Meb also wore a custom made shoe from SKECHER in the San Jose Half Marathon last month. After the race, Meb provided valuable input into the design and technology of the SKECHERS GOrun running line.
The new running line boasts improvements in numerous areas for runners. The advanced technology reduced impact on the feet when running. It also allows the foot to get off the ground faster when running. Improved sensors allow the runner to have a more natural feel when their feet hit the ground.
The heel of the shoe is only 4mm thick which puts it roughly 66 percent closer to the ground than other leading running lines. The shoe is also very light as a size nine in men’s is less than 7 ounces and a size 6 in women’s is roughly 5 ounces. The shoe also has a sock liner which allows runners to use the shoes without socks.
SKECHERS plans on a massive holiday campaign for advertising the running line. The campaign will begin right after the New York City Marathon and go up through the 2012 Super Bowl, with potentially an ad during the coveted Super Bowl commercial slots.
Jeff Kelley, inventor and businessman, looks more like a surfer than a successful businessman in his jeans and t-shirt. One would never guess that he recently sold his shoe brand, Sanuk, to footwear conglomerate Deckers Outdoor Corp. for $120 million this past May.
Kelley, along with business partner Ian Kessler, decided to sell the company to give it more power as a global brand. Before the sale, Kelley and Kessler were in charge of sales everywhere in the world except for in the US where another entity handled sales. They felt that with Deckers owning the brand, there would be more structure in the company.
Other brands under the umbrella of Deckers are Teva and Ugg Australia.
Jeff Kelley says that he’ll stay on for the next four years as director of the brand, and hopes to bring to life the ideas he’s had in his head but was unable to mobilize until now. Right now he’s in the middle of hiring more creative people and staff.
The brand started when one day, Kelley ran up some stairs with his surfboard, barefoot. Compared to earlier in the day when he had run up in his running shoes, he said the difference was remarkable. He said that when barefoot, he could feel all the muscles in his feet working. He started to play around with shoe designs that combined a sandal bottom with a slip-on shoe upper.
Now, an average of 30,000 pairs of Sanuk shoes are sold each month. There are 23 standalone stores and more than 100 stores-in-stores. Two more standalone stores will be opened by the end of the year.
The children’s shoe boutique called “Aldabella Scarpa” (Italian for beautiful shoes) located in Covina, California is owned by sisters Ann Marie Smith and Monica Gonzales. They started the company in 2007 to allow them to build lives as working moms and to give back to their community.
Their father came from a family of shoemakers – the sisters’ great grandfather invented steel toe shoes for Mexican mine workers. The sisters wanted to start a business that would allow them to work with shoes, yet let them be at home more often with their kids. Before starting the business, Gonzales worked in the dental field and Smith worked as a teacher and principal.
Now, they design, make, and sell classic and fashionable footwear, mostly from suede and leather. Each pair comes in a pretty re-usable box inscribed with “Every child deserves beautiful shoes.”
For each pair of shoes they sell in their boutique, the sisters donate a pair of shoes to a needy child in their neighborhood. Last month, they gave away 300 pairs. Since the business opened four years ago, they have donated more than 250,000 pairs to needy kids.
One of the reasons for this is Gonzales’ memories of seeing a classmate attend the first day of school with holes in his shoes. She wondered if his parents didn’t notice, or didn’t know it was the first day of school. The sisters remember that their father was always very concerned with how their shoes fit and made sure their shoes were in good condition.
Nicholas Couch, a 23 year old footwear designer, recently won the James Dyson Award for emerging product design. He designed the shoe to help people transition to barefoot running, and to encourage proper gait and reduce injury. Additionally, the shoe features recyclable and replaceable parts. This makes the shoe a more sustainable option for people concerned with their carbon footprint.
His biggest concern when designing the shoe was the number of running shoes discarded every year – over 350,000 million world-wide. This happens when sometimes only one piece of the shoe is worn out. The rest of the shoe is in good condition but instead of being repaired, the shoe goes to a landfill.
Couch’s design allows for each of the five parts to be removed and replaced when it wears out. The piece that gets removed can then be recycled instead of going to landfill. Instead of lasting only one year, these shoes will last many years.
At this point, his design is a concept only with one prototype. He is looking for an opportunity to produce and market his design.
As part of the award, Nicholas will travel to the UK, have travelling expenses and accommodation covered, get to tour Dyson’s London office, and will meet with design members. He will also get a prize package, free legal advice pertaining to intellectual property information, a year’s membership to the Designer’s Institute of New Zealand, and a Dyson handheld vacuum.
Nicholas, along with 11 other New Zealand entrants, will be judged to win the global James Dyson Award. The winner will be announced in October 2010.
VF Corp, proud owner of the clothing line North Face, is set to purchase the popular footwear company Timberland according to a June 13th, 2011 report by TheStar.com. VF will pay roughly $2 billion dollars for Timberland and plan on financing the purchase through a combination of commercial paper, cash on hand and term debt. VF Corp’s largest sales product it its outdoor gear. They expect a boost to their outdoor gear sales with the purchase of Timberland.
The $2 billion dollar purchase places stocks at an average price of $43 dollars a share, which is up over 40 percent from the New York Exchange’s closing price of $29.99. This is a dramatic increase for the Timberland stocks which saw a plummet in value over the last year form a high of $45.50 per share. However, the company expects a revenue of over $1.6 billion dollars in 2011.
VF Corp has a large international presence where they receive about 30 percent of their profits. This international presence is expected to increase Timberland sales by at least 10 percent annually. VF’s seen a recent increase of 16 percent in outdoor footwear sales, and feels that Timberland shoes will boost their market presence even more.
The acquisition is expected to be completed by later this year. However, Timberland is allowed to accept better offers if they can find one. But they will have to pay a fee of at least $87 million dollars if they decide to opt out of their current deal with VF Corp.
The Bata Shoe Museum has recently unveiled a new exhibit titled “On a Pedestal: From Renaissance Chopines to Baroque Heels”, which takes an in-depth look at women’s shoes from the 16th and 17th centuries. According to a February 24th, 2010 report by the global news source Reuters, there are over 60 pairs of shoes in this exhibit, which reveal the uncomfortable, awkward, and unique styles that represented not only fashion trends of that era but also social status.
The exhibit, which runs until September 20th, borrowed shoes from 11 different museums in addition to the 13,000 pairs of footwear that the Bata Shoe Museum houses. Viewers will notice the incredible height for women’s heels and platforms. Italy and Spain were the centers of fashion during these centuries as prominent women wore the platforms under their long dresses. However, these women needed assistance from their servants just to walk in the shoes.
In the 17th century, the platform shoes faded out and were replaced by high heels which were discovered by explorers during their global travels. Spain become the forerunner for the high heel footwear as women of importance would don the new fashion. However, the men of that era also wore heels of some sort as they thought being taller would make them appear more regal or powerful.
The Bata Shoe Museum is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is dedicated to preserving and displaying the evolution of footwear style and design. The museum was founded in 1979 and has shoes that are over 4,500 years old within their 13,000 pairs of footwear.
The founder of the San Fransisco firm Fuseproject, Yves Béhar, has worked with companies like BMW, Herman Miller, and G.E. to come up with memorable designs. He is known for his designs such as his Jawbone line of cellphone headsets, and his Learning shoe that has a data chip in it to create a personalized fit for the wearer. He says that 2011 – and the decade to come – will focus more on design and less on marketing and advertising.
The Internet and social network platforms have changed communications to the extent that more energy can be focused on design and less on marketing the produce. People will be more centered on product quality, simplicity, health, technology, and sustainability, and less on the brand message.
Sustainability is a major feature of upcoming design plans. Every part of production needs to be overhauled in the next 10 to 20 years, to bring more sustainability to design, manufacture, logistics, products, and services. Not since the end of WWII has the production sector had to completely rethink how things work – when they had to switch from military industry to consumer industry.
A project, about to be launched in 2011, is called the Puma Clever Little Bag. It redesigns the shoebox as well as the logistics and distribution system for over 80 million shoes each year. The concern was to reduce the material and energy used to produce the boxes by 65 percent. That, in turn, would reduce the shipping weight and volume, which would save energy and be “greener.”
Kristin Cavallari, a reality star who became a household name from her participation on the show “The Hills”, is joining a fellow cast mate Lauren Conrad by entering into the world of fashion. According to a July 21, 2010 report by “Chic Dish”, presented by Gearlive.com, Kristin Cavallari is trying out her luck at designing footwear.
The popular “Hills” actress, has a well known affinity for shoes and is extremely excited for the opportunity to get her feet wet. She will be working with Shoe Dazzle on a one time opportunity to design her own footwear as she aspires to break into this business on a full time basis. A portion of the proceeds from her shoes will go to her charity OneKid OneWorld.
Kristin hopes to be successful like her cast mate from “The Hills” Lauren Conrad who recently wrote a book on how to dress. The book was created to help out her fans. Cavallari is hoping to reach a wider audience than just her fans.
Kristin Cavallari got her break into Hollywood fame by appearing on the MTV reality show “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County”. She then went to star on the spin-off “The Hills”. Kristin has alos had guest appearances on several top TV shows like Veronica Mars, CSI New York, and Cane.
In addition to her charity, Kristin Cavallari has been heavily involved as an activist for raising awareness and money for AIDS and HIV research. She has also traveled to foreign places like Africa and El Salvador to do charity work for children in need.