Mandarina Duck has just doubled its presence in both Turkey and Istanbul with the opening of its second store in the Besiktas district.
It seems bizarre to have such hi-tech bags in this large big Turkish city - now a UNESCO heritage site - which evokes memories of Constantinople, the eastern Holy Roman Empire, the glory of the Ottoman Empire and Turkish sultans.

The aroma of spices and the sound of belly dancing music are still here in between the Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sofia church-mosque and the historic districts of Tarlatasi and Kumkapi. They’re all being revamped for the Biennial Exhibition in 2009 and the designation as European Cultural Capital City for 2010.
The ultra-modern buildings in Levènt - the business and financial district - clearly show that the city is looking to the future.

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Creative hunger? Craving green?
Well, until 26 September, “Picnic” will be taking place in Amsterdam.
It has nothing to do with wicker baskets or disposable cutlery.
It’s a meeting of the most intelligent people in the world. Media managers, designers, intellectuals and free thinkers will get together for three days of conferences, labs and seminars looking for ideas to solve problems caused by climatic changes.
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Browsing through art exhibitions can actually not be boring, especially if they’re about fashion art!

Do you love buying shoes? Have you already spent all your savings on your last spending spree during the sales season?
Well, from 23 September you can dream of being a Hollywood star like Audrey or Marilyn without going broke!
At the Triennale Design Museum in Milan you can see wonderful creations by Ferragamo in the exhibition “Salvatore Ferragamo - Evolving Legend 1928-2008″, which includes wooden shapes of famous feet and shoes from the Fifties.

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Have you ever seen something great and thought, “Wow, I’d love to get that but I have no room for it.” So, you end up renouncing on something really cool for your home. I know how that feels as not only is my home more of a concept than a place. It’s actually only about the size of a garage!

My laptop commutes between my footstool and my carpet, my glasses are at a constant risk of breaking in their acrobatic positions in my credenza, the contents of my pockets are always emptied out on tables and in vases and my clothes drying rack constantly blocks the only hallway I have inspiring bizarre contortionist moves on my part.

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You’ve never seen me, have you? Well, here am I!
Actually, this is a virtual Ducky that I created on Lively, Google’s new 3D browser!

It’s very easy to use. You just download the software, log on through a Google account and get creative!

I can finally boast about having an avatar, as my experience on Second Life wasn’t very successful. I’ll leave it to my web engineer friends.

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We already know that ducks are very celebrated birds but I’ve discovered that a Duck Day actually exists!
Last Sunday, the Thames looked like a giant bathtub. The only thing missing was the foam!

Two hundred and fifty thousand plastic ducks (a Guinness world record) competed in the Great British Duck Race, a one-km race from Hampton Court Bridge to Albany Reach with spectators on all sides.

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After all the backstage gossip, the new Mandarina Duck campaign is finally out!
The shots by Bruno Van Mossevele have just been published in such fashion magazines as Glamour, Velvet and Marie Claire!

So, go take a good look!

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I always tire out easily when I run and now I’ve discovered why. I’m wearing the wrong fabric! I need an aerodynamic suit like Fiona May has!

Well, I could go to Superhuman Performance - at the Textile Museum in Prato - and choose from a variety of high performance, aerodynamic, hydrodynamic and fireproof sports garments that would make even Spiderman envious!

We often buy clothes because we’re dazzled by their shapes or colors while we see their fabrics as secondary. However, fashion is adapting to new lifestyles primarily because of the development of new sportswear fabrics.

Let’s see what new textiles come out of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, which just may become part of the history of fashion!

Technorati Tags: textiles, sports garments, Olympics, Beijing

Amongst the numerous emails waiting for me when I got back was a fantastic surprise. The backstage pictures of the upcoming Mandarina Duck Fall/Winter collection. The shots were “stolen” from the set with a cell phone. Even though the material is “unofficial”, it has captured the positive, ironic and original atmosphere.

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Welcome back everybody!
It feels strange, doesn’t it? I feel completely disassociated. My body is back (and well ensconced at my desk), but my mind is still on a stand-by.

After my ritual email downloading, the many pressing questions that have accumulated and the new projects starting up, a coffee break is my only relief!
However, being able to have a relaxing chat with someone is an illusion! I already know that it’ll be the usual pandemonium. Pleasant but chaotic. Because in their hurry to tell their holiday stories, everybody will compete with each other to talk and the end result will be a mish-mash of overlapping voices.

Idea: we need to take numbers like at a supermarket and give each person a few minutes to plan their intervention. However, to do that, we’d probably have to get organized a few months in advance. Actually, considering how many people work for Mandarina Duck, we’d have to start in January!

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