Hello, my name’s Manuel and I’ve just started working at Mandarina Duck. I’m a visual merchandiser and I’d like to tell our Duckside audience about the latest shopping trends and innovative stores.

The new shopping frontier is likely to be quite different from the one we are used to. No more downtown stores with luxury furnishings and young, smiling sales clerks. The new trend is just the opposite! Unusual selling points set up for short periods with no signage. These are Temporary Stores, created not only to sell goods but also to amaze, to sensationalize and to attract a new target group to new fashion brands.
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I don’t like being in the same place for a long time. Perhaps because my creativity is affected by everyday life. I even reorganize my furniture at home all the time.

Then I came across this web site and saw Tom Chudleigh’s tree houses. I suddenly realised that I need to live in suspension. In the air. In a tree.
I found the instructions building and I’m sure that my kids would be happy to help me!

So, now I’m reading about Tree Houses.
But before I start banging on some wood with a hammer and nails, I think I’ll get a professionally designed plan.

Meanwhile, I think I’ll try spending some time in a cottage at Michael Garnier’s Treesort in Oregon. Perhaps for next Easter.

Technorati Tags: Tree houses, treesort, Tom Chudleigh’s

The trip didn’t start off very well.
Due to an expected strike, I had to take the 6.15 am flight to Frankfurt and then wait for the 1.40 pm flight to Dubai. Oh well! On the positive side, I had some time to work on my laptop in the Lufthansa Lounge.
Then, at the gate, I ran into a friend of mine from Bologna that was also going to Dubai, who haughtily informed me that the strike had never taken place.
So, I was exhausted for nothing and on top of that, my mother had been calling me incessantly with worry over the desert, scorpions and who knows what other potential dangers!
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Valentino, the made-in-Italy guru, says that he “leaves the party when it’s still full” and claims he still has many projects in store regarding new talented designers and the history of fashion.

If you’re ever in Rome, you can see the Ara Pacis, one of Valentino’s greatest models. The king of fashion, who once bewitched a young Jackie with his ultra-feminine dresses, celebrates his 45-year career in a historical location that was once used to celebrate victories.

Mannequins dressed as vestal virgins and illuminated by an Augustan aura wait at the entrance of Richard Meier’s renovated airy space, where they stand out against the steel, glass and travertine in a tableau staged by Antonio Monfreda and Patrick Kinmonth.

With its pharoanic opening celebrations for the Valentino Days, the Ara Pacis Museum is presenting a retrospective exhibition dedicated to the master, which can be visited in the evenings until 28 October 2007.

Now, all that’s left to us is to follow his tracks, which are obviously marked by his quintessential red. Valentino fans mustn’t miss out on the monumental book “Valentino, a Great Italian Story“. A true cultural investment, especially as it’s a limited edition.

Of course, I won’t miss it!

And lots of good luck to Alessandra Facchinetti!

Technorati Tags: Valentino, Ara Pacis, Roma, Jackie, Alessandra Facchinetti

To dare to fly. This is how I see my job at Mandarina Duck and how I convey my passion for experimenting in my daily life.
I began my journey with Mandarina 15 years ago because I realized that there I could fly high as high as I wanted to. They were open to innovative ideas that went beyond the market. This was clear in their products, which were based on new concepts and new materials.

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Hello everybody. My name’s Andrea Signori and I travel around the world as a Visual Merchandiser setting up displays in Mandarina Duck mono-brand stores.

My most recent trip was from Bologna to Edmonton to Panama City and back to Bologna.

Wednesday 30 May: Bologna to Amsterdam to Minneapolis to Edmonton (Canada).
Equipped with a sweatshirt and a scarf, I found myself rethinking two old clichés:
1) it’s cold in Canada: I arrived to 27 ° C above zero, dry weather and an army of mosquitoes the size of blimps;
2) all female flight attendants are young and good-looking: on two Northwest flights, their average age was well over 50.

In my hotel, I was surprised that my room had a Polynesian theme, or rather a beyond kitsch theme. The whirlpool bath was bigger than my entire bathroom back home.

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I would like you to meet Roberto Mineo, our Chief Designer. A couple days ago, I sneaked into his office to discover new things about him and his job.

I found rolls of cloth and leather, panels with photos, travel notes, objects and other things that inspire our designers’ work, and then big tables full of sheets and sketches. Roberto told me that nothing is better than a pencil and a rubber for hand drawing, because thoughts are more fluid and ideas don’t need to be filtered!

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Welcome to Mandarina Duck’s corporate blog.

The first question that came to my mind when this project was mentioned to me was: Why should a company have a blog?
Reflecting on who we are, the answer was obvious: Mandarina Duck has always been distinguishing itself as an innovative company.
This can be seen in our history, which was strongly linked to the foresight and passion for work of our founders, Paolo Trento and Pietro Mannato. But there’s more. Our products, our choice of materials, our communication and the partnerships we have initiated in recent years are all based on innovation, which is both the past and the future of Mandarina Duck.

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