The bizarre and beautifully ugly.

Throughout my adult years I’ve pride in having an abnormally strong immune system. Headaches come only 2-3 times a year, I have no recollection of the last time I had fever and neither do I have a medicine cabinet – in fact I haven’t even had chickenpox which frightening given the dangerous affects it has on adults. But today reckoning came and brought my feet down on earth as my inflated claim of benevolence has been punctured by the illness I’m currently battling. An intense cold or a mild flu I contracted last week reached its peak today, forcing me to send a mass cancelation text for a meeting that was scheduled. Rarely do I let ill-being hinder my day to day life but this time I had to surrender myself to the misfortunes of human life.
Coming to terms with the despair, I have hospitalised myself in the bedroom and nursed myself with four cups of ginger/lime tea to ease drowsiness and jolt me with energy. More bored than homeschooled infant, the menace inside me has pushed me into pursuing the prospect of becoming quad-lingual. As a speaker of English, German and Swedish the new language adventure doesn’t stem from the Germanic language tree and neither did I image myself ever growing curiosity for it. It’s the language of the country where mouse you’re using to scroll this page with is made from – it’s Chinese. For the sake of correctness the language is Mandarin, the official language of China, as opposed to Cantonese which is the second most spoken language in the country. The language is perplexing and an exercise in stretching the capabilities of your lungs and mouth muscles in ways I will need a year to get accustom to. Mockery should not be made of Mandarin though because it’s the official language of 1.3 billion people. Shockingly, only a futile two readers are accessing this blog from China– a baffling reality which I attribute to the internet censorship imposed by the Chinese government. Neither resentment nor criticism is boiling inside me because acceptance of the contradictory is in my nature.

The extra terrestrial aspects of life can be intriguing, and at times quite humours, like a young lad I encountered wearing an orange jumpsuit and bizarrely a pair a glasses over another pair. Good mannerism tell that one shouldn’t laugh out loud at other people but the outburst that was building up inside me was impossible to contain, and exploded the moment the daring gentleman was out of sight. I do however applaud his efforts in breaking the fixed London template of main style: Navy blue suit, brogues, white shirt, quilted jacket and a Range Rover for transportation. Fashion is brightest and most interesting when it doesn’t follow logic. Italy is probably the piloting country on this front. Roberto Cavalli, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Versace and Armani are all based in Milan but share few similarities in design language and execution -- unlike designers in other countries which conform to a comparable outlook on what fashion is. Italian designers are masters of variety and surprises.

Passion and emotions are at the heart of style and logical isn’t a part of the formula. Right and wrong does not always apply, thus the concept of perfection is an illusion. Subjectivity cannot ignore because fashion is not a universal language. Even in city like London, fashion comes in many distinct dialects. Musicians in Shoreditch don’t dress alike socialites in Fulham and neither do they aspire to do so. Strangely the most beautiful objects in life are those that split a room into two opposing sides, and those objects tend to have an element of unattractiveness. Think of them as imperfect angels. Because self-satisfaction triumphs over public acceptance one should be unafraid of adding and abstract piece of clothing to their wardrobe. Even something small as a winter scarf with a mystic pattern can breathe excitement into repetitive and monotonous choices of attire.

Braun Series 3-390cc time saving shaver.

Shaving can be 15min chore in front of the bathroom mirror or it can be a quick task with the cutting-edge Braun Series 3-390cc shaver.

Precision and performance are key strength thanks to a trio of independent shaving elements which leave the skin smooth as peace skin while keeping skin irritation to a minimum. After shaving, just slot the 3-390cc into the bundled dock and the self-cleaning feature will disinfect the shaver in a lemon-scented alcohol based solution. Now available at a promotional offer of £79.99(down from £159.99) until the 30th December 2009 at select retailers.

Gekko return to the screen in Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.

The great depression of year 2009 is officially over as billions of dollars worth of bailouts and quantitative easing yields the ultimate dividend – carrying the world’s largest economy, the United States, out of recession with a 3.5% growth in GDP between July and September. Italians, Frenchmen, Germans and Japanese citizens have reasons to smile too. Their economies have enjoyed positive growth since mid 2009 leaving the lonely Island of Great Britain as only G7 sinking deeper into recession. Although the signs for 2010 are good, the world economy won’t be healthy until major government debts have been cleared and unemployment reduced – and that can take years, if not a few decades. In the mean time we’ll entertain ourselves with the unexpected but much welcomes sequel to the 1987 classic, Wall Street movie.
Throughout October photographical evidence have emerged confirming the production of the sequel. Officially named 'Wall Street: Money never sleeps', the film is set 20 years from where prequel left off, in the not too past 2007. Like any successful cult movie Wall Street had a very memorable character, Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas who earned himself an Oscar for his provocative performance. Gekko is at the height on the pyramid of diabolical stock market personalities; Old, wise, egocentric and at the peak of his career but in pursuit of success beyond his own dreams and imagination – sort of like the Ponzi scheme extraordinaire Bernard Maddof or Kenneth Lay, who cooked the books at Enron until they boiled over and subsequently brought company of 22,000 employees to a bafflingly epic demise that deeply shook the Dow Jones and Nasdaq stock exchange. Both fraudsters, now serving jail time, have left permanent scars reminding us all that the stock market is a remorseless and cold hearted business.
The professional life of a boardroom baron keen on bending the laws of justice is incomplete without accomplice of a grounded and well mannered protégé. Charlie Sheen acted the role of Bud Fox who saw his innocence and law abiding persona get absorbed by the poisonous greed of Gekko and Wall Street’s short-term money making culture. Very fitting, Bud Fox’s father was played by Martin Sheen who is also Charlie Sheen’s father in real life. Directed by Oliver Stone, the movie delivered sublime dynamic between the actors and painted a glamorous portrait of life in the financial sector. The script was excellent with intriguing dialogues well delivered by Michael Douglas and co-actors. To the satisfaction of Wall Street fans Oliver Stone is in charge of directing the anticipated Wall Street 2:Money never sleeps which has impressive roster of actors by the name of Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Carey Mulligan, Frank Langella and Josh Brolin. Much better actors for a movie in the drama genre are hard to find.
Excluding Carey Mulligan, the average age of the actors stated above is very close to 50. These are actors that are irrelevant to lucrative audience of 15-20 year olds accustom to internet piracy and cannot recall ever recording broadcast on a VHS tape, let alone bought a movie on VHS. Given the pressures of movie to smash box office records, popular actors are instrumental to the financial success of motion pictures. To compliment the top class but rather aged actors there is a need for someone young and contemporary to lead the film – a bit of ying in the yang or wise versa. Disappointing for some, Shia Labeouf has been lined up for the lead role in the successor to the sequel to one of the best films of the 80s. As a rising star, Labeouf has yet to act in a movie remotely close to collecting an Oscar for the performance of its actors. Hollywood is grooming him into an action star to replace the financially demanding Tom Cruise and Will Smith who are past their peaks of stardom. Labeouf’s most recent movie appearances have been in money-spinning but highly animated movies such as Transformers and Indiana Jones which are dominated by fast moving scenes and heart pumping story lines. He has yet to feature a ‘serious’ movie in which the central focus is on his acting, but is now being given the chance in Money never sleeps which will be a platform for the 23 year old to assert himself as a multi-sided actor against some well renowned veterans.
Fashion-wise it is evident in the photographs that the 80s a long gone. The characteristic power dressing advocated by Gekko in the first movie is today only celebrated by baby boomers and private banking advisors in Geneva. Suspenders and blue shirts with white collars have been successes by contemporary slim cut suits and European fashion. Inescapable to any fashion conscious reader is the stylish £325 Gucci loafers fronted by a silver horse-bit and the easily recognisable red/green Gucci stripe. Most of the outfits published so far reflect the man of today who has a strong style consciousness and is unafraid of admitting vanity. Money never sleeps will be one of the few movies capitalising on the disaster of the now recovering financial meltdown that unfolded in Europe and North American in fall 2008. We hate when disaster strikes us but harbour a fascination for reading and finding out about it. Every year cinemas host movies about murder, injustice and apocalyptic natural disasters. Neglected is the deep and dark tragedy of man. Visit the business section in any book shop and you’ll be greeted by an abundance of books about success promoted by their author printed proudly on the front cover with crossed arms and a smug facial express.
Male life is very glorified with high social expectations pushing men into making it on Forbes top 200 richest list, winning an Oscar, a Formula One Championship, becoming a prime minister or mastering science. For many, coping with such career demands is challenging and pushes some into breaking the laws. The recession has shed the lives of some undeserving people. A few traders who lost all their wealth or were about to, decided to take their lives as well as those of their wives and kids because they couldn’t stand the shame of failure. This is a suppressed back alley of stock market aspirations which also include ex-investment bankers sitting behind bars for insider trading. Slated for a April 2010 cinematic release, Money never sleep is likely to teach a few hard lessons on last year’s financial crash but will hopefully paint a lee heroic picture of white collar criminals than its 1987 predecessor did.

Buy your darling the gift of daily planning organizing.

The most uplifting gifts are those that come unexpectedly and positively disrupt the predictable daily patterns. In 2009 the pre-Christmas gift for your beloved counterpart comes in the form of a fashionably correct organiser from Filofax.
Graced with a colourful but yet sober Fresco design, the Filofax is a part of £40 giftbox. Inside the box is a trio of vouchers which entitles the gift receiver to either a free photographic shoot, haircut or a beauty treatment. Further assist the life of a busy career woman the organiser intelligently houses a mirror for discrete facial checks during meetings. Most intelligent is the bundled professional pen that has a refillable perfume canister concealed at the top for the convenience of freshening up while on the move. Available with free delivery at filofax.co.uk.

Tom Ford set sight on the biggest picture -- the Tom Ford empire.

What can you do with £30,000,000? It’s enough money for an early retirement supporting a jet set gigolo life of glitz, parties, and ostentation for a good three of four decades. Wise savers would exchange the 30 million for roughly 25,500 shares in Apple, and see their investment yield a prosperous annual increase of 25%. Why not spend the money on an ocean front house in Monecito California, complete with a tennis court and backyard the size of a two football fields, or an epic journey to the international space station? For Tom Ford however, capital of that size would be spent on building a women’s brand if the reports are to be true that the Texas born 48 year old is in the process of securing thirty million pounds for his next venture.
Genius ideas stem from great minds. That is why employees should have their profile put forward as a company’s’ most valuable assets as opposed to tangible assets listed on balance sheets such as Xerox photo copiers, filing cabinets and company cars. Characteristic to creative industries, success can in most cases be traced back to one single man sitting up until 02:00am on weekends the polishing rough edges of new ideas. During the early 90s the pivotal individual who changed Gucci was Tom Ford. His injection of quirky use of materials, invigorating designs and provocative advertising campaigns lifted Gucci from financial misery to popularity and global sales success. It’s a success story that mirror that of Apple’s CEO, Steve jobs, who has single handily steered Apple to rise as one of the fastest growing consumer electronics manufacturers. Jobs was one of the founders of Apple but left the company in 1985 to make a comeback 11 years later, in 1996, and subsequently got reinstated as CEO a year after. The direction of the Californian based IT company has been lead under scrutinising detail of Jobs who’s style of corporate rule is not too dissimilar to Tom’s way of dictation. However, the latter did not enjoy the same creative freedom at Gucci as Jobs did at Apple. In 2004 Tom Ford resigned from his post as creative director at the Gucci group due to creative differences and increasing tension with his superiors. Rarely does strong leader last long working for someone else, especially perfectionist who executes everything with utter most diligence.
Maybe it’s the attention to detail that has enable Tom to enjoy early success working the latest occupation added to his CV. Acceptance levels of celebrities migrating from one industry to another tend to be very low and scepticism very high. The entertainment industry is a prism of three corners; fashion, music and film. In today world of globalisation and ease of communication it has become standard practises for stars to capitalise on their names by lending it to any industry willing to sign big checks up from – singers are most notorious for this. Rarely does anyone manage to replicate success across different industries but Tom Ford is one of the most current exceptions. He bravely took on the directing job for film adaptation of the novel “A Single Man” by Christopher Isherwood. Furthermore he fully immersed himself in film making Tom assisting in production as well as writing the script for the movie.
It takes a highly self-aware individual with a high understanding and appreciation for arts from an audience point of view to prevail as a director – it’s an exhaustively challenging task of planning every single frame of a movie. Premiered at the International Venice Filmfestival on the 11th September this year, the film featuring Colin Firth famous for his appearance in Bridget Jones and Love Actually, received standing ovations from both journalists and film critics. The positive reviews even extended to Firth receiving “Best actor” award at the film festival. Such unexpected success is bound to induce Tom into seeking more projects in the world of motion pictures – but not derail him from his more evident ambitions of building a fashion empire.
Sales figures for his highly pricey £3,500/suit men’s label of label are reported to be above expectations while his lines of prescription and sunglasses are now sold worldwide. Tom Ford fragrances have been rigorously promoted through Tom’s global visits to major retailers fortunate to have him signing autographs for his customers. Despite good progression of the current Tom Ford divisions; fragrances, Glasses and men’s wear – there is a vital women’s line missing. Female fashion is a billion dollar industry and all aspiring designer brands want their share of it. Industry sources are indicating that Tom shall have his women’s line ready for 2011 fall debut, and excellence is continued to be pursued Tom Ford might be a legendary American icon in the making with the potential of becoming large as Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. Tom Ford is a man, fashion designer, visionary and entrepreneur worth his weight in gold.