Features

Le Meridien’s Strategy to Remake the Hotel

Danielle Sacks — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:46:24 -0400

Le Meridien reinvents the art of the hotel experience.

The Power of the Prize

Anya Kamenetz — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:46:42 -0400

They gave the world guns and butter -- specifically, the AK-47 and margarine. They sent Charles Lindbergh's The Spirit of St. Louis from New York to Paris and Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne almost 70 miles above the earth -- twice.

Another Inconvenient Truth

David Roberts — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:35:15 -0500

You can't swing a dead hippie in a big-box store these days without hitting some sort of green boast on a label. Partially recycled. Energy efficient. Eco-friendly. Natural!

Off the top of your head, how many of these claims do you suppose are bogus or misleading in some way? A quarter? One-half? Try 99.9%.

That's the startling conclusion of research from TerraChoice Environmental Marketing. Of the 1,018 green-advertised products it reviewed last fall, all but one committed one of the "six sins of greenwashing." Yikes.

Hustle & Flow

Dave Demerjian — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:55:07 -0500

It's Wednesday morning at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and the United Airlines check-in area is a mob scene. Passengers queue up in a line that runs the length of the counter and doubles back. Customers waiting for agents block the self-serve kiosks. Finished passengers must push through the crowd again. Average check-in time: 25 to 30 minutes.

Six Bikes That Are Better Than Your Car

Chris Dannen — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:20:21 -0400

Trek Top Fuel 69er

Best for: Cross country trail riding. While the 69er is dual suspension -- both wheels can absorb impacts using air-sprung shock absorbers -- it’s built lightweight with an aggressive rider position, allowing it to climb efficiently and absorb fast descents with equal aptitude.

Designs on Success

Tim McKeough — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:25:06 -0500

Patrick Robinson

Executive Vice President of Design
Gap Adult and Gap Body

After stints at Armani, Perry Ellis, and Paco Rabanne, Patrick Robinson is leading Gap's design team.

Urban Outfitters

Phil Patton — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:05:22 -0500

Most weekday afternoons, you'll find Paul Ayala in his Manhattan studio, drawing furiously with a blue Magic Marker. His worktable is littered with shoe and clothing samples. From his black Converse Chucks to the bejeweled watch on his wrist--a new model he created for Ecko called the Eclipse, with the moon's phases marking the hours--he's as self-consciously stylish as you'd expect a young designer to be. And let's emphasize "young": Ayala is just 17.

The Media is Social

Edward Sussman — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:26:27 -0500

Fast Company is about to shake things up again.

Back in 1995, in our first issue, we announced on our cover: "Computing is Social." It became a Fast Company mantra and helped open the eyes of a generation of entrepreneurs to the possibilities of the Internet.

In November of 1997, before social networking on the Web was called social networking, FastCompany.com started the "Company of Friends," dubbed the "Fast Company Readers' Network."

Loco Motion

Diane Mehta — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:05:08 -0500

In the sculpture garden of New York's Museum of Modern Art, director Mathew Cullen takes in his surroundings, assessing light and shadow. Cullen, cofounder of Motion Theory--the production company behind some of the most remarkable video work around, including Hewlett-Packard's "Hands" spots and the music video for Beck's "Girl"--is tanned, round-faced, cheery. But behind that chipper exterior, a complex apparatus is whirring away.

All About Yves

Linda Tischler — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:23:47 -0500

Two years ago, Yves Béhar stood before 300 Coca-Cola bigwigs at the company's Atlanta headquarters and asked an impertinent question: "If Raymond Loewy were alive today, would you still hire him?"