The Annual Christmas Family Photo Sesh

Happy Holidays from the Huangs!

  

A to Zeny Jewelry, Inspiration Behind Piece No.1

Over this winter break I started to create my own one-of-a-kind jewelry. I found a spool of multi-colored knitted rope which reminded me of two things: 1) My brother and his girlfriend who rock climb and 2) the Big Bambu exhibit at the MET two summers ago.

My first piece, which is named "Mariah" after my brother's girlfriend, is a two-strand necklace that falls below the collar bone (good or layering) and is made out of knitted rope and cube-shaped glass beads in blue, turquoise and yellow. I was inspired by climbing knots and tied a few knots in the necklace. I'm making a limited number of the necklace and will be selling them on etsy soon. If you're interested in buying or requesting a custom-necklace, feel free to contact me or leave a comment. More pieces to come!

Pic below is Mariah with my brother Zack at Lanikai beach in Kailua, HI

From Cattelan to Santacon, Why I Love New York

It's my final weekend in New York City for the year and I had no intention of wasting it. Friday was sort of shot for me as the night before was the JWT holiday party... you know how that goes... but I had promised my friend Jason I'd attend Art After Dark at the Guggenheim for the Maurizio Cattelan "All" exhibit. The massive scale of the exhibit hanging from the center of the Gugg was a sight in itself. Can't really explain, so you'll just need to go see the exhibit before January 22 when it closes.

Not a surprise but I really liked the floating "Z"s

Then my weekend went from high-brow to low-brow pretty quickly with SANTACON on Saturday! Last year was pretty awesome so I was definitely participating again this year; however, I think my old age is catching up to me and this year will probably be my last. We met up at South Street Seaport and head uptown to Bryan Park. Like Cattelan, I can't really explain it so you'll just have to look at the photos:

My favorite moment of Santacon, Tyler being spanked by Santa:

This weekend pretty much sums up everything I love about living in New York.

#YourCampaignIdeaHere

Does your campaign have an official hashtag? Is your campaign cool? Well it should be both. It's safe to say when #ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage trends for days on twitter, hashtags have reached mass usage in the US (unless you're targeting the 60+ crowd). Most campaigns aim to generate buzz and awareness through social channels, and to do that, marketers need to do some preparation in seeding the conversation by designating a campaign hashtag in the creative. Sometimes (rarely), campaigns are EPIC enough to sprout and carry conversation on its own but most brands can't afford to use Justin Bieber.

Hashtags are innately social as its intended use is to create a thread of conversation around a specific topic on twitter, and now, photo sharing sites like Instagram also have tag searching functions.

Here are some recent hashtagged campaigns:

1) #WalkofShame - Harvey Nichols

2) #BasketballNeverStops - Nike

3) #SWATH (Snow White & the Huntsman)

Does Being "Big In Japan" Still Matter?

My awesome coworker Nick picked me up my favorite Japanese fashion magazines ViVi and Glamorous on his recent trip to Tokyo. I can thank my fashion-obsessed girlfriends Hannah and Tiff for getting me hooked on these magical retail bibles, which has helped me through many layovers in Narita airport. I remember as a teenager thinking how fashion-forward the Japanese were--leopard skin tights (no way!) or neon windbreakers (can't be!)... but the Japanese were always somehow ahead of the times when it came to trends.

As I excitedly flipped through the pages of my new magazines, I started to realize... I'VE SEEN ALL THESE TRENDS BEFORE. But where? ON THE INTERNET. THAT'S WHERE. With fashion bloggers growing like weeds and tumblrs reblogging images like the way I consume bubble tea--fashion trends are spreading globally + rapidly. It's probably why fashion trends more recently (color blocking, studded leather jackets, etc.) seem repetitive and recycled, because everyone is beginning to dress the same. The Japanese are dressing like the French who are dressing like New Yorkers who are dressing like the Brits who are dressing like L.A. who is dressing like the Japanese?

As the globalization of fashion continues it will become harder and harder to distinguish style by geography. Street fashion in Tokyo may look like the streets of Orlando, Florida (okay maybe not). The worst part is if you're trying NOT to be trendy, you may just be mistaken for being uber trendy--talking to you hipsters!

Nokia Launches New Phone With Deadmau5 and Sick 4D Projection in London

Nokia takes its LUMIA 800 new product launch to a whole new dimension with a public 4D spectacle on the Thames river in London. Breakthrough marketing ideas like this is necessary to help Nokia regain some of the smartphone market share it is losing to Android devices and iPhones. Will dropping the bass and throwing an electronic light show help sales? We'll have to see... but for now watch the mindblowing event below:

So My Parents Know I Didn't Starve On Thanksgiving

Tommy Hilfiger Finally Gets Hip With Preppy Holiday

The struggling-to-be-relevant and fresh American lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger has finally found a way to make ridiculously good-looking "waspy" people less douchey and more fun with their new holiday campaign themed "House Par-tay". The creative which came from Laird and Partners (you may remember them from the short-lived Gap Logo redesign) stays true to the brand's iconic red and blue color scheme, diverse and oh so gorgeous cast of models while being humorous and fun. What is different about this campaign is the concept of "family", specifically defining who "The Hilfigers" are, and the range of age, race and hairstyles.

How can you dislike a family that parties during the holidays in their underwear?

Congrats to Creative Director Trey Laird of Laird + Partners, Film Director Francis Lawrence and Stylist by Karl Templer for job well done. This campaign makes me want a pair of plaid jammies!

Holy BOW-loney Part 2

I can never get tired of the big wide bow. Here's an homage to my Holy BOW-loney post two years ago and some of the bow-y things I'm currently obsessed about:

1. Blair Waldorf's Christian Dior Embellished Bow Gown

2. Chloé "Lily" wallet in red leather

3. Hair Bow, source
4. Navy Striped Bow Bandeau from Amourouse on Etsy

Best Digital Idea Ever: A Britney Spears Music Video Bracket

MTV's Britney Spears: 30 Videos for 30 Years music video bracket is probably the most time I have ever spent on a bracket (even more that last season's SYTYCD bracket that I made) and maybe even the most time I've spent on a branded digital idea/site. The bracket is simply brilliant. You click on a box that pairs up two Britney videos which you can then watch the videos and vote for your favorite to move onto the next round. After you submit your vote, you can see what the results are thus far.

As an avid Britney fan, having to choose the number one Britney Spears video is like asking your dad what his favorite Nicholas Cage movie is... there's just too many favorites. Britney has so many iconic videos and hits but if I had to choose I would go with her old stuff that had lots of choreographed dance. My favorites are Crazy, Stronger, I'm a Slave 4 You, Toxic and Piece of Me.

Sad to see "Born to Make You Happy" wasn't on the bracket but I guess the video did kind of suck.
Click here for the bracket