CUBA 2017

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In 2014 I returned to Cuba, forty-three years after coming to the USA. I reunited with my father in Havana and I have done my best to visit him every year since then... In mid-December of 2017 I planned a trip to Cuba with my partner Alex Page - his first visit! While I made sure Alex got to see Old Havana, El Malecon and the Morro Castle, it was important that he/we also toured through small towns. If you want to experience the "real" Cuba, then you must travel beyond the glamour of classic cars and hand-rolled cigars. We were in Cuba for only five nights, but we packed in a tremendous amount while still enjoying quality time with family. Photos by E. Vincent Martinez and Alex Page.

fashionado

How Fashion Design and Store Interiors Come Together to Make You Buy

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The world of fashion and design is in a constant state of flux. It moves at a lightening pace and it if you aren’t paying attention you could miss something amazing. There are tons of different ways that fashion inspires and ignites excitement and it is different for everyone.

One thing we can all agree on however is our love for luxury designers and the movers and shakers that turn vision and art into reality.

Fashion and Retail Interiors

You know how you feel when you step into your favorite designer’s flagship store location. Not only do you love the fashion but you probably love the way things are presented as well.

The CEOs and their respective design and marketing teams all know how important store layout and design is to overall brand aesthetic. They also know how it affects and drives retail sales and their bottom lines.

Most retailers spend hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars each year on teams of in-house visual merchandisers to ensure that their collections are being presented with the proper aesthetic, with attention to each new line or collection, and how to showcase the features and benefits of each garment to their customers and clients in a way that will maximize sales opportunities.

There are reasons why everything looks so beautifully presented when you enter your favorite retail establishments. Having amazing product is one piece of the puzzle, but having an irresistible presentation and store interior design is something else entirely.

Peter Marino is the world’s most sought after fashion architect and he has earned that name through flawless execution of store design for some of the toughest and talented designers and companies.

Everything that you see, feel, hear and experience when you walk into that luxury store location is purposeful and extremely planned. From the layout of the selling floor, to the lighting, interior design elements and how you are meant to move throughout the boutique, all play on your senses to make you fall in love even more.

Think about the emotional responses that you felt the last time you walked into your favorite store on Fifth Avenue. The entire experience is meant to be a sensory journey and in fashion design and architecture you need to nail it every single time.

Fashion Designers

Some of the world’s top fashion designers have developed their brands into all-encompassing lifestyle brands launching collections that include everything from ready to wear and accessories to home collection and interior design elements.

Designers are no longer creating only one classification of products to sell, but rather creating a full concept of lifestyle fashion that their faithful followers can display throughout all aspects of their lives.

Brands like Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, Versace, and Armani have all been successful with opening their design repertoires to include everything from fine china to bed linen, offering their client full immersion in their worlds and a direct route into their client’s homes and hearts.

fashionado