fashion design

Is it Possible to Design Anything Worthwhile For Less Than a Buck?

Designing anything beneficial--for one dollar or less--was the challenge Pratt students set for themselves as part of this year's ICFF Design Schools' Exhibition. Surprisingly, the Pratt students managed to come up with a ...READ»

• "Design for a Dollar": Pratt Students Get a Lot of Bang for a Buck

Introducing Our Latest Design Blogger: Gadi Amit

Last October, shortly after our annual Masters of Design issue hit the streets, I got an email from Gadi Amit, president of the San Francisco strategic design firm, NewDealDesign LLC. NewDealDesign was one of the "design factories" ...READ»

The Prada Transformer: A Shape-Shifting Exhibition Space

Rem Koolhaas, the brilliant, subversive force behind the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, has had a great run with Prada, functioning basically as the fashion label's court architect. In 2001, there was a clever flagship store ...READ»

Recession-proof Fashion? Look for the "Made in Alabama" Label.

The most heartwarming story to come out of Fashion Week is taking place far across town from the posh tents at Bryant Park, in the slightly down-at-the-heels precincts of New York's East Village. Up three flights of steep, ...READ»

Car Charging Stations at the Ready--In Israel

Shai Agassi’s electric car service station company, Better Place, was the subject of a page one business story in today’s New York Times. While Agassi estimates his dream of a network of such stations in the US is unlikely ...READ»

Ideo's David Kelley wins Edison Award for Innovation

On April 1, Ideo founder David Kelley will be awarded the Edison Achievement Award by the Thomas Edison Papers at Rutgers University for his “pioneering contributions to the design of breakthrough products, services, and ...READ»

Why a Bowling Shirt Made Me Love David Kelley

It was a Power Point slide of Ettore Sottsass in a bowling shirt that first made Jim Hackett, CEO of Steelcase, want to get to know David Kelley. Fifteen years ago, Hackett remembers, the Ideo founder had been summoned to ...READ»

17 Career Lessons from Ideo's David Kelley

David Kelley is well-known for his astute application of design thinking to many of life's intractable problems. Less known is that he's also a veritable Dr. Phil of good advice about life, careers, and the importance of not being a ...READ»

Behind the Scenes: Brin Creates First Google Holiday Logo--from Clip Art

The first Google doodle happened late on a Saturday night in 1999. As Marissa Meyer, Google’s chief experience officer remembers it, she was in the office at 3 a.m., trying to finish up some work before leaving on vacation when ...READ»

Hey, Kids! Doodle 4 Google! Win Prizes!

Any kid who’s ever been intrigued with Google’s playful holiday logo-decorating antics can now get in the act–with the potential for winning lots of loot for the best efforts. Appearing on the Today Show, Marisa Mayer, ...READ»

Help Pick the Next Big Japanese Brand

There’s Toyota and Nissan and Sony and Nintendo. Next, there may be Inaba, Monacca, Satsuma, and Kawaguchi  i-mono.Those companies are among the few dozen that recently auditioned for prime time in the West at an exhibit in New ...READ»

Footballers in Tights Flog SoBe Water for Super Bowl [video]

What does it take to convince NFL superstars like Patriots All-Pro offensive lineman Matt Light (6 ft. 4inches, 305 pounds), New York Giants’s 274 pound defensive end Justin Tuck, and Baltimore Ravens's 250 pound tackle Ray Lewis ...READ»

Zaha Hadid's Faucet Turns Us On

Can’t afford a Zaha Hadid Aqua Table from Established and Sons? Then how about something similarly swoopy and a little more modestly priced? Just in time for spring kitchen remodeling projects, the Pritzker Award-winning architect ...READ»

Designer Philippe Starck Embraces his Feminine Side [exclusive video]

Philippe Starck, resplendent in black leather pants, came to New York’s Soho House this week to promote his latest project –- a set of sleek stereo speakers he designed for Parrot, a French wireless technology company whose CEO, ...READ»

"Oprah Effect" Boosts Starbucks' Call to Service

The new commander in chief's not-so-secret weapon proved her power yet again yesterday when Oprah sparked President Obama’s call to volunteerism by backing Starbucks’s new “I’m in” campaign.  The initiative promises a free ...READ»

Starbucks and M.C. Yogi Offer You a Free Cuppa Joe -- If You Volunteer

Backed with the catchy music of M.C. Yogi, Starbucks today kicks off its latest campaign honoring the Obama administration's call to national service -- and offers a free cup of coffee to anybody willing to pledge five hours of ...READ»

Target and Trump: Strange Bedfellows of the Recession

Target unveiled its new spring and summer line in the penthouse of a tony high rise overlooking the river. If this doesn't signal the end of the "Reign of the I-Bank Moguls," nothing does.READ»

Touchscreen Cash Register is the Future of Upsell [exclusive video]

Cash registers may not be ringing at the mall, but for a few days this week beleaguered retailers could live in a fantasy world where not only would customers line up to buy again, but sales clerks could use a slick touchscreen to ...READ»

Why Can't My Car Drive While I Take a Nap?

With a dual-city marriage, I spend a lot of time shuttling up and down the East Coast. Trust me: if you've seen the Hartford skyline once, you don't have to stay awake anymore. So why can’t my car do more of the driving so I can ...READ»

Sex and Electronics Part 1: Women and Smart Design

In the wake of CES, a pair of women designers offer some suggestions on how consumer electronics manufacturers could boost their market share by taking gender differences into account.READ»

• Sex and Electronics Part 2: Femme Den's Favorite Gadgets

Sex and Electronics Part 2: Femme Den's Favorite Gadgets from CES

We asked Erica Eden and Agnete Egna, two designers from Smart Design’s Femme Den, to troll the floor of the huge 2009 Consumer Electronics Show for the Best and Worst gear from a woman's perspective. Smart Design developed OXO Good ...READ»

• Sex and Electronics Part 1: Women and Smart Design

Best -- And Worst -- Brand Extensions Of 2008

It's hard work building a big, recognizable brand. Naturally, once they’ve built one, most companies find it irresistible to try and extend that brand love to other products. Sometimes this is a good idea: Starbucks’s lattes are good; Starbucks's latte ...READ»

The Best Architecture of the Year

Quick! Name this year's most award-winning bridges! Stuck? Then how about the Residential Project of the Year? Or the best Green Roof projects of 2008? If you're coming up short, but still dying to know, you might want to pick up a ...READ»

Tanking Economy Shutters Chanel's Artsy Pavilion

Even tony brands like Chanel are trying to cut corners in this merciless economy, which means indulgences like the traveling art pavilion face the budget ax.READ»

Dotty About Lingerie

dot-ty [dot-ee]-adjective, -tier, -tiest.1. crazy or eccentric.  2. feeble or unsteady in gait.  3. very enthusiastic or infatuated (usually fol. by about or over).-noun,1. female given name, form of Dorothea and ...READ»