Old Navy | The history of the founding of Old Navy | The logo of Old Navy

Old Navy is an American clothing brand as well as a chain of stores owned by Gap, Inc., with corporate operations in San Francisco and San Bruno, California. It is one of the first major corporations to house headquarters in the new Mission Bay district of San Francisco.

Gap, Inc. was run by President and CEO Paul Pressler from September 2002 through January 22, 2007. Robert J. Fisher served as Interim Chief Executive Officer commencing January 22, 2007. Glenn Murphy is the current CEO of Gap, Inc. The President of Old Navy is Tom Wyatt.

Old Navy opened its first stores in Colma, San Leandro and Pittsburg in northern California in 1994. These first three stores were originally constructed as Gap Warehouse stores. The size and scale of the stores were larger and more diverse than any stores opened by the company before. Within the first year of existence, Old Navy opened 57 stores. As of 2007, Old Navy has more than 1,000 stores in the United States and Canada. The largest Old Navy stores are its flagship stores, located in New York City, the Mall of America, Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco. The largest of these is located on Market Street in San Francisco.

In 1994, the creator of Old Navy, Inc., Ken Rapp and the CEO were visiting Paris, France and came upon a cafe distinctly named Old Navy Cafe and it struck a chord with them. (The Old Navy official site says, "Old Navy was named after a cafe in Paris.") In 1999, Old Navy expanded its franchise to 6 locations in Puerto Rico. In 2001, Old Navy opened 12 stores in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Furthermore, in 2004, 7 stores were opened in the Quebec (including 6 in the Montreal Area). Old Navy has since opened several more stores in Ontario, and the rest of Canada.

Around 2005, Old Navy's then-president Dawn Robertson planned to give Old Navy a more "high fashion feel" to keep up with Hollister Co. and American Eagle Outfitters, whom she saw as competitors. A new logo was introduced and several stores were built or remodeled to reflect the "New Old Navy." One of the newly built stores in St. Petersburg, Florida cost roughly $5 million USD to develop. These stores, from a design stand-point, were boutique in nature, featuring green building materials, rock gardens, large murals and posters, as well as many mirrored and silver accents, unlike the traditional industrial warehouse feel most locations possess. Also, advertisements began to be created in-house, though they lacked the original kitschy and humorous feel, rather having a high fashion and feminine directive.

These stores did not fare well, proving to be a very poor investment, and Robertson was asked to leave the company. During this cycle of change (during 2008) the original logo was reinstated and the company began to refocus on its fun and family oriented attitude it had originally been popular for. The time period in which the change existed is often referred to as "New Navy."

Old Navy's target market largely consists of price conscious though still fashion oriented teens to adults. The clothing is more affordable than its other Gap, Inc., counterparts. Old Navy's stores contain specialized sections for infants, boys, girls, men, and women. Most recently, Old Navy launched a re-worked line of denim for women sizes 0 to 20, men's re-worked denim and released the new line in fall 2008. In addition to clothing, Old Navy also sells a variety of accessories such as shoes, handbags, toys, hats, and sunglasses, along with a line of clothing and toys for dogs.

For many years, Old Navy has attempted to put out a product a year that focuses on attempting to catch on, some more successful than others. The products that stand out are the Tech Vest, Flip Flops, and the Performance Fleece.

Flagship stores also have "collection" business clothes for women, plus size and maternity sections. As of summer 2007 however, plus-size clothing is only available online and has been pulled from all stores. Online sales have proceeded to flourish after being offered exclusively online. Previously, Old Navy attempted to launch a bath and body line, called ONbody (Obsessively Natural), but dropped the effort after only a few months.

Old Navy informally bills itself as an all-American brand, despite producing most of its clothes outside the United States. The chain releases a shirt every summer emblazoned with an American flag. Each year's shirt features a slightly altered flag graphic with the year listed underneath. Alternatively, they also offer shirts with the Puerto Rican flag on them. In its Canadian stores, a similar shirt with the Canadian flag is sold. Likewise they frequently release additional holiday shirts including, but not limited to: Thanksgiving, Halloween, Valentine's Day, and for 2009 Groundhog Day.

The most notable aspect of Old Navy's television advertisements is their kitschy, satirical and tone toward a retro time period, vaguely between 1940 and 1967. In sharp contrast to the Gap's advertisements, Old Navy's feature chipper family members sporting their clothing line while engaging in wholesome family activities, such as barbecuing. A common tagline used in their campaigns is " [insert clothing article here] for the whole family!"

Old Navy sponsored a part of AT&T Park in San Francisco called the Old Navy Splash Landing, part of the right-field wall. One particular element was an large tin mechanical man named Rusty, a 1920's era style ballplayer figure. Old Navy ended the sponsorship in 2006.

Old Navy is also known for its advertising campaigns featuring celebrities such as Molly Sims, Morgan Fairchild, Joan Collins, Fran Drescher, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Kristin Chenoweth, The Village People, Rupaul, and Lil' Kim, and Lights. Another popular spokesperson was former Vogue editor Carrie Donovan, who often appeared in ads with company "spokesdog," Magic. According to Gap, Inc., Magic, an Airedale terrier mix, was rescued from the streets of San Jose. Magic remains an informal mascot of the company, though Donovan has since died. Many of the Old Navy television commercials featured voiceovers by Bill Wendell of the David Letterman show.

Old Navy started a contest in June 2006 to choose a new mascot dog to replace Magic through a nationwide search contest. Paco, a male from Venice Beach, California (owned by Olivia Wilde and Tao Ruspoli, was announced as the new Old Navy mascot on July 23, 2006.

Jeffersons stars Isabel Sanford and Sherman Hemsley appeared in a number of Old Navy television commercials in the late 1990s and early 2000s until Sanford died.

The soundtracks played at Old Navy feature up-beat, modern music. Songs are mostly current, include remixes and indie beats, as well as upbeat pop and R&B/Hip Hop records.

In 2007, Old Navy's advertising was brought back in-house, and its television campaign began to make the transition from kitsch, to a more modern sensibility, highlighting seasonal product news. With the relaunch of their denim fits in fall, the advertising took on a sexier, more female-centric tone, and began using lesser known musical artists. The sweater spot in September was credited with launching the career of Ingrid Michaelson, an unsigned artist found by Old Navy's marketing creative director, Landis Smithers, on Myspace. Landis Smithers left Old Navy in 2008 as Old Navy began to move its focus away from modern fashion and back to the brand's kitschy, fun, family-oriented roots.

In spring of 2008, Old Navy started its brand relaunch with a new episodic television campaign, leveraging long-form stories online, then sixties and thirties on air. The campaign featured the music of Lights, another unsigned artist, and provides story arcs of modern romances that span the entire season. The campaign leveraged Old Navy's new strategy of monthly "fast fashion" news, something that started with its commitment to a faster product pipeline, and a deeper focus on more modern, relevant product in stores.

A recurring song (and artist) used by Old Navy, "World Go 'Round" by Australian rock/pop/dance band Rogue Traders, has been featured in TV spots, promos, and in-store soundtracks. "World Go 'Round," "Watching You," and "Believer," all from the 2005 album Here Come the Drums, were originally used as part of the summer 2007 Summerland campaign, but they have also been included in more recent ads.

In 2009, Old Navy hired advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky to create a new advertising campaign. Also, the old logo was revived in 2009 after the new logo ended. The team came up with Old Navy's current advertising campaign that stars mannequins (Kelly, Heather, Amy, Eva, Michelle, Wesley, Josh, Christopher, Kimmy, Natalie, Rita, Maggi, and Barker the dog) who carry the title "Supermodelquins." To promote their new campaign the company also created a new website, OldNavyWeekly.com. These ads have received mixed reviews.

American Apparel | History dan definisi of American Apparel | Symbols of American Apparel | Latest Products from American Apparel

American Apparel

American Apparel (AMEX: APP) is a clothing manufacturer in the United States. It is a vertically integrated clothing manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer that also performs its own design, advertising, and marketing. It is best-known for making basic, solid-color cotton knitwear such as T-shirts and underwear, but in recent years it has expanded—to include leggings, leotards, tank tops, vintage clothing, dresses, pants, denim, nail polish, bedding and accessories for men, women, children, babies and dogs in various prints and colors.

American Apparel was founded in 1989 by Canadian Dov Charney, who had a long history with T-shirts and a fascination with American culture. It was during Charney's freshman year at Tufts University that the company took on the name "American Apparel" and began to experiment with screenprinting, importation and other parts of the apparel business. In 1997 after a variety of iterations, including a period of manufacturing in South Carolina, the company moved to Los Angeles. Charney began to sub-contract sewing with Sam Lim who, at the time, had a shop with 50 workers under the Interstate 10 freeway in east LA. Months later the two became partners. In 2000 American Apparel moved into its current factory in downtown Los Angeles where it continued to grow primarily as a wholesale business, selling blank T-shirts to screenprinters, uniform companies and fashion brands.

After its success as a wholesale brand, the company moved into the retail market. The company was ranked 308th in Inc.'s 2005 list of the 500 fastest growing companies in the United States, with a 440% three-year growth and revenues in 2005 of over US$211 million.

In late 2006 American Apparel announced a reverse merger, in which Endeavor Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company founded in July 2005, bought the company for $360 million. The merger closed in December 2007, at which point American Apparel became a publicly traded company. As a result, Charney became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the publicly traded company known as American Apparel, Inc. He remained the majority shareholder.

It is also one of the few clothing companies exporting "Made in the USA" goods and in 2007 sold about $125 million dollars of domestically manufactured clothing outside of America. The company also promotes a number of progressive policies including immigrant rights and labor policies the company dubs "sweatshop free."

In 2010, American Apparel's auditors, Deloitte & Touche, resigned. The company was threatened with being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange for not submitting a quarterly earnings report on time. It faced lawsuit from some of its investors. Revenues declined, and total debts rose to $120 million, and the company was in danger of defaulting on a $80-million loan from British-based Lion Capital. Commenting on the loss of 1,500 workers due to concerns over illegal immigration (see below) Charney said "It broke our efficiencies and generated a situation where we were late delivering garments. It lost us an enormous amount of money. It cost us agility."

American Apparel bases its manufacturing in an 800,000-square-foot (74,000 m2) factory in downtown Los Angeles, California. The company also owns and operates its own fabric dye house, garment dye house, and knitting facility, all based in Los Angeles. American Apparel has decided not to outsource its labor, paying factory workers an average of over twelve dollars an hour. Garment workers for similar American companies in China earn approximately 40 cents per hour. It claims to have the 'highest earning apparel workers in the world'.

The company uses "team manufacturing" which pools the strongest workers towards priority orders. Each team functions autonomously and determines its own daily production schedule, giving them control over their own hourly wages. After its implementation, garment production tripled and required a less than 20% staff increase. The factory claims to have the capacity to produce 1 million shirts per week and manufacture 275,000 pieces a day. According to The New York Times it is the largest single garment factory in the United States and employs over 4,000 people across two buildings.

A banner on top of the downtown factory states "American Apparel is an Industrial Revolution." As of December 2008, banners on top of the factories state "Legalize LA" and "Immigration Reform Now!"

American Apparel designs, creates and prints its own advertisements. The company is known for its provocative and controversial advertising campaigns, which is largely the inspiration of the company CEO Dov Charney. According to Adage, American Apparel's advertising 'telegraphs the brand' from person to person Their print campaigns are widely considered to be some of the best in the industry The sexually charged advertising has been criticized, but has also been lauded for honesty and lack of airbrushing. American Apparel images often display subjects with their blemishes, imperfections and asymmetrical features highlighted and attached with brief, personal descriptions. Many of the models in American Apparel's sexual advertising are recruited by Charney and his colleagues on the street, or company stores; others are selected after sending their photos directly to the company website. Despite this, many consumers have noted the relatively small sizing American Apparel employs, advising other shoppers to buy larger sizes than normal, though this may be the result of other retailers' use of vanity sizing to market to an overweight American public. Some critics have labeled their models as "cocaine-chic", and another describing them as "pre-pubescent".

For a time, Charney promoted a branding strategy that spotlighted his treatment of workers as a selling point for the company's merchandise, promoting American Apparel's goods as "sweatshop free." In 2008, the company took out a series of political ads featuring the corporate logo that called current immigration laws an "apartheid system." In regards to the company's image overseas, advisor Harry Parnass stated that the brand is about aspiration and that they are "selling the American dream." He dismissed competitors who do the same but refuse to manufacture in America.

The company has also used adult film actresses in some of its ads including Lauren Phoenix, Charlotte Stokely, Sasha Grey and Faye Reagan. Some of the company's other ads, which feature nudity or sexual themes, have been banned by various advertising authorities. Most recently, American Apparel agreed to comply with a UK ruling to not run an ad that appeared in VICE Magazine because it had the potential to "widely offend" people.

In 2005 the company was named "Marketer of the Year" at the first-ever LA Fashion Awards. Women's Wear Daily published a survey in April 2007 from Outlaw Consulting, a creative research firm tracking the habits of 21-to 27-year olds, which ranked American Apparel as the 8th most trusted brand, ahead of such clothing brands as H&M and Levi's. In January 2008 the Intelligence Group, a trend and market research firm, listed American Apparel as their number two Top Trendsetting Brand, behind only Nike. In 2008, The Guardian named American Apparel "Label of the Year".

In 2007, Imp Kerr created a fake American Apparel ad campaign in New York. The stunt lasted almost a year, until it was revealed that the fake ads were actually Photoshop mockups. In a final twist, American Apparel ran a tribute ad on the back cover of Vice magazine showing a compilation of the fake ads.

American Apparel also briefly experimented with advertising in Second Life with a virtual store on the island named Lerappa but shuttered the operation in the fourth quarter of 2007

Bead | Understanding and definition of the Bead

A bead is a small, decorative object that is usually pierced for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under 1 millimetre (0.039 in) to over 1 centimetre (0.39 in) in diameter. A pair of beads made from Nassarius sea snail shells, approximately 100,000 years old, are thought to be the earliest known examples of jewellery. Beadwork is the art or craft of making things with beads. Beads can be woven together with specialized thread, strung onto thread or soft, flexible wire, or adhered to a surface (e.g. fabric, clay).

Beads may be divided into several types of overlapping categories, based on different criteria such as component materials, manufacturing process, place or period of origin, surface patterning, or general shape. In some cases, such as millefiori and cloisonné beads, multiple categories may overlap in an inseparably interdependent fashion.

Beads can be made of many types of materials. The earliest beads were made of convenient natural materials; when found, these could be readily drilled and shaped. As human technology became capable of obtaining or working with more difficult natural materials, those were added to the range of available substances. The same was true of new synthetic materials when created.

In modern manufacturing, the most common bead materials are wood, plastic, glass, metal, and stone.

Beads are still made from many naturally-occurring materials, both organic (i.e., of animal- or plant-based origin) and inorganic (purely mineral origin). However, some of these materials now routinely undergo some extra human processing beyond mere shaping and drilling, such as color enhancement via dyes or irradiation. Beads can also be made from chocolate. These types of beads are edible, and commonly found in Indonesia and central Mexico.

The natural organics include bone, coral, horn, ivory, seeds (such as tagua nuts), animal shell, and wood. For most of human history, pearls were the ultimate precious beads of natural origin because of their rarity, although the pearl-culturing process has now made them far more common. Amber and jet are also of natural organic origin, although both materials have undergone partial geologic fossilization.

The natural inorganics include various types of stones (from gemstones to common minerals) and metals. Of the latter, only a few precious metals occur in pure forms, but other purified base metals may as well be placed in this category along with certain naturally-occurring alloys such as electrum.

The oldest-surviving synthetic materials used for beadmaking have generally been ceramics: pottery and glass. Beads were also made from the ancient alloys such as bronze and brass, but as those were more vulnerable to oxidation, those have generally been less well-preserved at archaeological sites.

Many different subtypes of glass are now used for beadmaking, some of which have their own component-specific names. Lead crystal beads have a high percentage of lead oxide in the glass formula, increasing the refractive index. Most of the other named glass types have their formulations and patterns inseparable from the manufacturing process.

Plastic fusible beads are also known as Perler Beads, or called "melty beads" by young children. These small colorful beads can be placed on a solid plastic-backed peg array to form designs and then melted together with a clothes iron; alternatively, they can be strung into necklaces or bracelets, or woven into keychains. Fusible beads come in many colors and degrees of transparency/opacity, including varieties that glow in the dark or have internal glitter; peg boards come in various shapes and several geometric patterns.

Modern mass-produced beads are generally shaped by carving or casting, depending on the material and desired effect. In some cases, more specialized metalworking or glassworking techniques may be employed, or a combination of multiple techniques and materials such as cloisonné.

Most glass beads are pressed glass, mass-produced by preparing a molten batch of glass of the desired color and pouring it into molds to form the desired shape. This is also true of most plastic beads.

A smaller and more expensive subset of glass and lead crystal beads are cut into precise faceted shapes on an individual basis. This was once done by hand, but has largely been taken over by precision machinery.

"Fire-polished" faceted beads are a less expensive alternative to hand-cut faceted glass or crystal. They derive their name from the second half of a two-part process: first, the glass batch is poured into round bead molds, then they are faceted with a grinding wheel. The faceted beads are then poured onto a tray and briefly reheated just long enough to melt the surface, "polishing" out any minor surface irregularities from the mold.

There are several specialized glassworking techniques that create a distinctive appearance throughout the body of the resulting beads, which are then primarily referred to by the glass type.

If the glass batch is used to create a large massive block instead of pre-shaping it as it cools, the result may then be carved into smaller items in the same manner as stone. Conversely, glass artisans may make beads by lampworking the glass on an individual basis; once formed, the beads undergo little or no further shaping after the layers have been properly annealed.

Most of these glass subtypes are some form of fused glass, although goldstone is created by controlling the reductive atmosphere of the glass batch rather than by fusing separate components together.

Dichroic glass beads incorporate a semitransparent microlayer of metal between two or more layers. Fibre optic glass beads have an eyecatching chatoyant effect across the grain.

There are also several ways to fuse many small glass canes together into a multicolored pattern, resulting in millefiori beads or chevron beads (sometimes called "trade beads"). "Furnace glass" beads encase a multicolored core in a transparent exterior layer which is then annealed in a furnace.

More economically, millefiori beads can also be made by limiting the patterning process to long, narrow canes or rods known as murrine. Thin cross-sections, or "decals", can then be cut from the murrine and fused into the surface of a plain glass bead.

After shaping, glass and crystal beads can have their surface appearance enhanced by etching a translucent frosted layer, applying an additional color layer, or both. Aurora Borealis, or AB, is a surface coating that diffuses light into a rainbow. Other surface coatings are vitrail, moonlight, dorado, satin, star shine, heliotrope.

Faux beads are beads that are made to look like a more expensive original material, especially in the case of fake pearls and simulated rocks, minerals and gemstones. Precious metals and ivory are also imitated.

Tagua nuts from South America are used as an ivory substitute since the natural ivory trade has been restricted worldwide.

Sapphire | Understanding and definition of Sapphire | The beauty of colors emitted by Sapphire

Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide (α-Al2O3), when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give corundum blue, yellow, pink, purple, orange, or greenish color. Pink-orange sapphires are also called padparadscha. Pure chromium is the distinct impurity of rubies. However, a combination of e.g. chromium and titanium can give a sapphire a color distinct from red.

Sapphires are commonly worn as jewelry. Sapphires can be found naturally, by searching through certain sediments (due to their resistance to being eroded compared to softer stones), or rock formations, or they can be manufactured for industrial or decorative purposes in large crystal boules. Because of the remarkable hardness of sapphires (and of aluminum oxide in general), sapphires are used in some non-ornamental applications, including infrared optical components, such as in scientific instruments; high-durability windows (also used in scientific instruments); wristwatch crystals and movement bearings; and very thin electronic wafers, which are used as the insulating substrates of very special-purpose solid-state electronics (most of which are integrated circuits).

The sapphire is one of the two or three gem-varieties of corundum, with another one being the red or deep pink ruby. Although blue is their most well-known color, sapphires are made up of any color of corundum except for red (red ones are called rubies). Sapphires may also be colorless, and they are also found in shades of gray and black.

The cost of natural sapphires varies depending on their color, clarity, size, cut, and overall quality – as well as their geographic origin, oddly enough. Significant sapphire deposits are found in Eastern Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, East Africa, and in North America in a few locations, such as at "Gem Mountain", and in or near the Missouri River in the region around Helena, Montana. Sapphire and rubies are often found together in the same area, but one gem is usually more abundant.

Color in gemstones breaks down into three components: hue, saturation, and tone. Hue is most commonly understood as the "color" of the gemstone. Saturation refers to the vividness or brightness or "colorfulness" of the hue, and tone is the lightness to darkness of the hue. Blue sapphire exists in various mixtures of its primary (blue) and secondary hues, various tonal levels (shades) and at various levels of saturation (brightness).

Blue sapphires are evaluated based upon the purity of their primary hue. Purple, violet, and green are the most common secondary hues found in blue sapphires. Violet and purple can contribute to the overall beauty of the color, while green is considered to be distinctly negative. Blue sapphires with up to 15% violet or purple are generally said to be of fine quality. Blue sapphires with any amount of green as a secondary hue are not considered to be fine quality. Gray is the normal saturation modifier or mask found in blue sapphires. Gray reduces the saturation or brightness of the hue and therefore has a distinctly negative effect.

The color of fine blue sapphires can be described as a vivid medium dark violet to purplish blue where the primary blue hue is at least 85% and the secondary hue no more than 15% without the least admixture of a green secondary hue or a gray mask.

The 423-carat (85 g) Logan sapphire in the National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, D.C., is one of the largest faceted gem-quality blue sapphires in existence.

Yellow and green sapphires are also commonly found. Pink sapphires deepen in color as the quantity of chromium increases. The deeper the pink color the higher their monetary value as long as the color is trending towards the red of rubies.

Sapphires also occur in shades of orange and brown, and colorless sapphires are sometimes used as diamond substitutes in jewelry. Padparadscha sapphires often draw higher prices than many of even the finest blue sapphires. Recently, more sapphires of this color have appeared on the market as a result of a new artificial treatment method that is called "lattice diffusion".

Padparadscha is a pink-orange corundum, with a low to medium saturation and light tone, originally being mined in Sri Lanka, but also found in deposits in Vietnam and Africa; Padparadscha sapphires are very rare and highly valued. The name derives from the Sinhalese word for lotus blossom. Along with rubies, they are the only type of corundum to be given their own name instead of being called a particular colored sapphire. Padparadscha used to be a subvariety of ruby. The rarest of all padparadschas is the totally natural variety, with no sign of treatment.

A star sapphire is a type of sapphire that exhibits a star-like phenomenon known as asterism. Star sapphires contain intersecting needle-like inclusions (often the mineral rutile, a mineral composed primarily of titanium dioxide that cause the appearance of a six-rayed "star"-shaped pattern when viewed with a single overhead light source.

The Black Star of Queensland is believed to be the largest star sapphire that has ever been mined, and it weighs 733 carats. The Star of India (weighing 563.4 carats) is thought to be the second-largest star sapphire, and it is currently on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The 182-carat Star of Bombay, located in the National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, D.C., is an example of a blue star sapphire. The value of a star sapphire, however, depends not only on the weight of the stone but also the body color, visibility and intensity of the asterism.

A rare variety of sapphire, known as color change sapphire, exhibits different colors in different light. Color change sapphires are blue in outdoor light and purple under incandescent indoor light; they may also be pink in daylight to greenish under fluorescent light. Some stones shift color well and others only partially, in that some stones go from blue to bluish purple. While color change sapphires come from a variety of locations, the gem gravels of Tanzania is the main source.

Certain synthetic color-change sapphires are sold as “lab” or “synthetic” alexandrite, which is accurately called an alexandrite simulant (also called alexandrium) since the latter is actually a type of chrysoberyl—an entirely different substance whose pleochroism is different and much more pronounced than color-change corundum (sapphire).

Red rubies are corundum which contain chromium impurities that absorb yellow-green light and result in deeper ruby red color with increasing content. Purple sapphires contain trace amounts of vanadium and come in a variety of shades. Corundum that contains ~0.01% of titanium is colorless. If trace amounts of iron are present, a very pale yellow to green color may be seen. If both titanium and iron impurities are present together, however, the result is a magnificent deep-blue color.

Sapphires may be treated by several methods to enhance and improve their clarity and color. It is common practice to heat natural sapphires to improve or enhance color. This is done by heating the sapphires in air to temperatures between 500 and 1800 °C for several hours, or by heating in a nitrogen-deficient atmosphere oven for seven days or more. Upon heating, the stone becomes a more blue in color but loses some of the rutile inclusions (silk). When high heat temperatures are used, the stone loses all of the silk and becomes clear under magnification. Evidence of sapphire and other gemstones being subjected to heating goes back to, at least, Roman times. Un-heated stones are quite rare and will often be sold accompanied by a certificate from an independent gemological laboratory attesting to "no evidence of heat treatment".

Diffusion treatments are somewhat more controversial as they are used to add elements to the sapphire for the purpose of improving colors. Typically beryllium is diffused into a sapphire with very high heat, just below the melting point of the sapphire. Initially (c. 2000) orange sapphires were created with this process, although now the process has been advanced and many colors of sapphire are often treated with beryllium. It is unethical to sell beryllium-treated sapphires without disclosure, and the price should be much lower than a natural gem or one that has been enhanced by heat alone.

Treating stones with surface diffusion is generally frowned upon because when stones chip or are repolished/refaceted the 'padparadscha' colored layer can be removed. (There are some diffusion treated stones in which the color goes much deeper than the surface, however.) The problem lies in the fact that treated padparadschas are at times very difficult to detect, and they are the reason that getting a certificate from a reputable gemological lab (e.g., Gubelin, SSEF, AGTA, etc.) is recommended before investing in them.

According to Federal Trade Commission guidelines, in the United States, disclosure is required of any mode of enhancement that has a significant effect on the gem's value.

Sapphires are mined from alluvial deposits or from primary underground workings. The mining locations include Burma, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Australia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tanzania, Kenya, and China. The Logan sapphire, the Star of India, and the Star of Bombay originate from Sri Lankan mines. Madagascar is the world leader in sapphire production (as of 2007) specifically its deposits in and around the city of Ilakaka. Prior to the opening of the Ilakaka mines, Australia was the largest producer of sapphires (such as in 1987). In 1991, a new source of sapphires was discovered in Andranondambo, southern Madagascar. That area has been exploited for its sapphires started in 1993, but it was practically abandoned just a few years later – because of the difficulties in recovering sapphires in their bedrock.

In North America, sapphires have been mined mostly from deposits around Helena, Montana. A few gem-grade sapphires and rubies have also been found in the area of Franklin, N.C.

The sapphire deposits of Kashmir are still well-known in the gem industry, despite the fact that the peak production from this area mostly took place in a relatively short period at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In December 2008, a 12.11 kg (60,500 carats) "rock consisting primarily of corundum, and possible additional minerals" was found in the Dodoma Region of Tanzania.

In 1902, the French chemist Auguste Verneuil developed a process for producing synthetic sapphire crystals. In the Verneuil process, named for him, fine alumina powder is added to an oxyhydrogen flame, and this is directed downward against a mantle. The alumina in the flame is slowly deposited, creating a teardrop shaped "boule" of sapphire material. Chemical dopants can be added to create artificial versions of the ruby, and all the other natural colors of sapphire, and in addition, other colors never seen in geology. Artificial sapphire material is identical to natural sapphire, except it can be made without the flaws that are found in natural stones. The disadvantage of Verneuil process is that the grown crystals have high internal strains. Many methods of manufacturing sapphire today are variations of the Czochralski process, which was invented in 1916. In this process, a tiny sapphire seed crystal is dipped into a crucible made of the precious metal rhodium, containing molten alumina, and then slowly withdrawn upward at a rate of one to 100 mm per hour. The alumina crystallizes on the end, creating long carrot-shaped boules of large size, up to 400 mm in diameter and weighing almost 500 kg.

Synthetic sapphire is industrially produced from agglomerated aluminum oxide, sintered and fused in an inert atmosphere (hot isostatic pressing for example), yielding a transparent polycrystalline product, slightly porous, or with more traditional methods such as Verneuil, Czochralski, flux method, etc., yielding a single crystal sapphire material which is non-porous and should be relieved of its internal stress.

In 2003, the world's production of synthetic sapphire was 250 tons (1.25 × 109 carats), mostly by the United States and Russia. The availability of cheap synthetic sapphire unlocked many industrial uses for this unique material:

The first laser was made with a rod of synthetic ruby. Titanium-sapphire lasers are popular due to their relatively rare capacity to be tuned to various wavelengths in the red and near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. They can also be easily mode-locked. In these lasers, a synthetically-produced sapphire crystal with chromium or titanium impurities is irradiated with intense light from a special lamp, or another laser, to create stimulated emission.

One application of synthetic sapphire is sapphire glass. Here glass is a layman term which refers not to the amorphous state, but to the transparency. Sapphire is not only highly transparent to wavelengths of light between 170 nm (UV) and 5.3 μm (IR) (the human eye can discern wavelengths from about 380 nm to 750 nm), but it is also five times stronger than glass and ranks a 9 on the Mohs Scale, and much tougher than tempered glass, although not as much as synthetic stabilized zirconium oxide (such as yttria-stabilized zirconia). Along with zirconia and aluminium oxynitride, synthetic sapphire is used for shatter resistant windows in armored vehicles and various military body armor suits, in association with composites.

Sapphire "glass" (although being crystalline) is made from pure sapphire boules by slicing off and polishing thin wafers. Sapphire glass windows are used in high pressure chambers for spectroscopy, crystals in high quality watches, and windows in grocery store barcode scanners since the material's exceptional hardness and toughness makes it very resistant to scratching.

One type of xenon arc lamp (originally called the "Cermax" its first brand name), which is now known generically as the "ceramic body xenon lamp", uses sapphire crystal output windows that tolerate higher thermal loads – and thus higher output powers when compared with conventional Xe lamps with pure silica window.

Thin sapphire wafers are also used as an insulating substrate in high-power, high-frequency CMOS integrated circuits. This type of IC is called a silicon on sapphire or "SOS" chip. These are especially useful for high-power radio-frequency (RF) applications such as those found in cellular telephones, police car and fire truck radios, and satellite communication systems. "SOS" allows for the monolithic integration of both digital and analog circuitry all on one IC chip.

The reason for choosing wafers of artificial sapphire, rather than some of other substance, for these subtrates is that sapphire has a quite low conductivity for electricity, but a much-higher conductivity for heat. Thus, sapphire provides good electrical insulation, while at the same time doing a good job at helping to conduct away the significant heat that is generated in all operating integrated circuits. Thus, the choice of sapphire material for these substrates was not an arbitrary one, but rather, it is a choice that is made for serious electronics engineering reasons.

Wafers of single-crystal sapphire material are also used in the semiconductor industry as a non-conducting substrate for the growth of devices based on gallium nitride (GaN). The use of the sapphire material significantly reduces the cost, because this has about one-seventh the cost of germanium. Gallium nitride on sapphire is commonly used in blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Guitar pick | Understanding and definition of Guitar Pick | The latest models from Guitar Pick

A guitar pick is a plectrum used for guitars. A pick is generally made of one uniform material; examples include plastic, rubber, felt, tortoiseshell, wood, metal, glass, and stone. They are often shaped in an acute isosceles triangle with the two equal corners rounded and the third corner rounded to a lesser extent.

Pick shapes started with guitarists shaping bone, shell, wood, cuttlebone, metal, amber, stone or ivory to get the desired shape. Most of today's guitar pick shapes were created by the company that made the first plastic pick in 1922, D'Andrea Picks. The plastic pick was an idea that Luigi, and his young son Tony, Sr., had after purchasing sheets of tortoise shell-like celluloid from a street vendor. It appeared similar to the real tortoise shell picks used in their Greenwich Village neighborhood.

An early popular shape, the 351, is the rounding off of the top of heart. The rounded triangle is the 346 and the small jazz pick, the 358. All these represent the numbers the Luigi & Tony D'Andrea assigned to each of their new creations at the request of the guitarists they serviced. Soon after, they requested their names be imprinted on them. D'Andrea Picks was the first company to create custom pick imprinting in 1938, allowing customers to order imprinting up to 12 block letters. One of the first to make the player imprint popular was guitarist Nick Lucas in the early 1930s.

In rock and heavy metal, while playing electric guitar with hi-gain amplification or distortion, thinner picks produce muddier, heavier, less controllable sound and thicker picks produce more delicate, more controlled and well-shaped tone. Thinner picks also tend to rip or tear more often if used too forcefully, whereas a thicker one is less likely to wear down. Thicker picks are generally used in more discrete genres, such as heavy metal or power metal. However, there are many exceptions to these stereotypes, especially as there is an element of guitarist preference involved in selecting pick thickness.

Many death metal musicians only use picks thicker than 1.5mm, because it allows more control over heavy gauge strings. Thinner picks tend to give less attack and do not give as much control when doing fast tremolo picking. Also, they tend to wear much faster when used with heavier gauge strings.

Jazz guitar players tend to use quite heavy picks, as they also tend to favor heavy gauge flat-wound strings. Bass players tend to prefer thick picks because their strings are far thicker and farther apart than those of guitarists.

Some picks have small protrusions to make them easier to keep hold if the fingers start to sweat (very common on stage due to the hot lights). Some picks (as illustrated) will have a high-friction coating to help the player hold on to them. The small perforations in the stainless steel pick serve the same function. Many players will often have spare picks attached to a microphone stand or slotted in the guitar's pickguard.

The equilateral pick can be easier for beginners to hold and use since each corner is a playing edge.

The shark's fin pick can be used in two ways - normally employing the blunt end or the small perturbations can be raked across the strings producing a much fuller chord or used to employ a "pick scrape" down the strings producing a very harsh, scratching noise.

The sharp edged pick is used to create an easier motion of picking across the strings.

Bass players who use a pick normally use much heavier picks than guitar players. Some bass players find that coins make excellent picks, though some prefer slightly thinner picks to increase speed and endurance.

Some guitar pick shapes are patented. Usually those patents claim ornamental design.

Some picks are made of semi-precious gemstones including jasper, tiger eye, jade, quartz, and others.

Some picks are constructed of compound layers of plastic, connected to form a flexible central section, allowing the guitarist to adjust the pick tip's flexibility by applying various pressure to this central section: a hard grip yields hard pick (thicker one) to play lead, a soft grip yields soft pick (thinner one) to play rhythm.

Picks are usually gripped with two fingers—thumb and index—and are played with pointed end facing the strings. However, it's a matter of personal preference and many notable musicians use different grips. For example, Eddie Van Halen holds the pick between his thumb and middle finger (leaving his first finger free for his tapping technique); James Hetfield, Jeff Hanneman and Steve Morse hold a pick using 3 fingers—thumb, middle and index; Pat Metheny and The Edge also hold their picks with three fingers but play using the rounded side of the plectrum. George Lynch also uses the rounded side of the pick. Stevie Ray Vaughan also played with the rounded edge of the pick, citing the fact that the edge allowed more string attack than the tip. His manic, aggressive picking style would wear through pickguards in short order, and wore a groove in his beloved Fender Stratocaster, Number One, over his years of playing. Jimmy Rogers and Freddie King had a special kind of technique utilizing two picks at once. Noted 80's session guitarist David Persons is known for using old credit cards, cut to the correct size, angle, and thickness and using them without a tip.

The motion of the pick against the string is also a personal choice. George Benson and Dave Mustaine, for example, hold the pick very stiffly between the thumb and index finger, locking the thumb joint and striking with the surface of the pick nearly parallel to the string, for a very positive, articulate, consistent tone. Other guitarists have developed a technique known as circle picking, where the thumb joint is bent on the downstroke, and straightened on the upstroke, causing the tip of the pick to move in a circular pattern. Circle picking can allow speed and fluidity. The angle of the pick against the string is also very personal and has a broad range of effects on tone and articulation. Many rock guitarists will use a flourish (called a pick slide or pick scrape) that involves scraping the pick along the length of a round wound string (a round wound string is a string with a coil of round wire wrapped around the outside, used for the heaviest three or four strings on a guitar).

The two chief approaches to fast picking are alternate picking and economy picking. Alternate picking is when the player strictly alternates each stroke between downstrokes and upstrokes, regardless of changing strings. In economy picking, the player will use the most economical stroke on each note. For example, if the first note is on the fifth string, and the next note is on the fourth string, the pick will use a downstroke on the fifth string, and continue in the same direction to execute a downstroke on the fourth string. The economy picking technique sounds as though it would require more conscious thought to execute it but many guitarists learn it intuitively and find it an effort to use alternate picking. Conversely, some guitarists maintain that the down-up "twitch" motion of alternate picking lends itself to momentum, and hence trumps economy picking at high speeds.

Bangle | Understanding and definition of the Bangle | The latest Models of Bangle

Bangles or Churi are traditional ornaments worn mostly by South Asian women, especially Hindus. They are worn after marriage to signify matrimony. It is tradition that the bride will try to wear as many small glass bangles as possible at her wedding and the honeymoon will end when the last bangle breaks.

Some men wear a single bangle on the arm or wrist called as kada or kara. In Sikhism, The father of a Sikh bride will give the groom a gold ring, a kara (steel or iron bangle), and a mohra. Chooda is a kind of bangle that is worn by Punjabi women on her wedding day. It is a set of white and red bangles with stone work. According to tradition, a woman is not supposed to buy the bangles she will wear.

A standard bangle is used as an adornment. A new special type of bangle doubles as a clip for hanging items such as a handbag.

Bangles—made from shell, copper, bronze, gold, agate, chalcedony etc.—have been excavated from multiple archaeological sites throughout India. A figurine of a dancing girl—wearing bangles on her left arm— has been excavated from Mohenjo-daro (2600 BC).

Other early examples of bangles in India include copper samples from the excavations at Mahurjhari—soon followed by the decorated bangles belonging to the Mauryan empire (322–185 BCE), and the gold bangle samples from the historic site of Taxila (6th century BCE). Decorated shell bangles have also been excavated from multiple Mauryan sites. Other features included copper rivets and gold-leaf inlay in some cases.

Bangles are circular in shape, and, unlike bracelets, are not flexible. The word is derived from Hindi bungri (glass). They are made of numerous precious as well as non-precious materials such as gold, silver, platinum, glass, wood, ferrous metals, plastic, etc.

Bangles are part of traditional Indian jewelry. They are usually worn in pairs by women, one or more on each arm. Most Indian women prefer wearing either gold or glass bangles or combination of both. Inexpensive bangles made from plastic are slowly replacing those made by glass, but the ones made of glass are still preferred at traditional occasions such as marriages and on festivals.

The designs range from simple to intricate handmade designs, often studded with precious and semi-precious stones such as diamonds, gems and pearls. Sets of expensive bangles made of gold and silver make a jingling sound. The imitation jewelry, tend to make a tinny sound when jingled.

There are two basic types of bangles: a solid cylinder type; and a split, cylindrical spring opening/closing type. Primary distinguishing factor for these is the material that is used to make the bangles. This may vary anything from glass to jade to metal to lac and even rubber or plastic. Bangles made from gold also and now bangles are made of diamonds also and are considered the most expensive ones.

One factor that adds to the price of the bangles is the artifacts or the work done further on the metal. This includes embroidery or small glass pieces or paintings or even small hangings that are attached to the bangles. The rareness of a color and its unique value also increase the value. Bangles made from lac are one of the oldest ones and among the brittle category too. Lac is clay like material which in molded in hot kilns-like places to make these bangles. Among the recent entrants are the rubber bangles that are worn more like a wrist band by youngsters while the plastic ones are there to add the trendy look.

Normally, a bangle worn by people around the world is simply an inflexible piece of jewelry worn around the wrist. However, in many cultures, especially in the South Asia and in Arabian Peninsula, bangles have evolved into various types in which different ones are used at different occasions.

Bracelet | Understanding and definition of the Bracelet | Bracelet latest hand

A bracelet is an article of jewelry which is worn around the wrist. Bracelets can be manufactured from metal, leather, cloth, plastic or other materials and sometimes contain jewels, rocks, wood, and/or shells. Bracelets are also used for medical and identification purposes, such as allergy bracelets and hospital patient-identification tags.

Although the term armlet may be technically similar, it is taken to mean an item that sits on the upper shoulder: an arm ring. The origin of the term 'bracelet' is from the Greek 'brachile' meaning 'of the arm', via the Old French 'barcel'.

The history of Egyptian bracelets is as old as 5000 BCE. Starting with materials like bones, stones and woods to serve religious and spiritual interests. From the National Geographic Society, the Scarab Bracelet is one of the most recognized symbols of ancient Egypt. The scarab represented rebirth and regeneration. Carved scarabs were worn as jewelry and wrapped into the linen bandages of mummies. Myth told of the scarab god, Khepri, pushing the sun across the sky.

In Bulgaria there is a tradition called Martenitsa, which sometimes involves tying a red and white string around the wrist to please Baba Marta in order for spring to come sooner.

In Greece a similar tradition, weaving a bracelet from red and white string on the first day of March and wearing it till the end of summer, is called "Martis" and is considered to help protect the wearer's skin from the strong Greek sun.

In some parts of India, the number and type of bangles worn by a woman denotes her marital status.

Taken in the plural, bracelets is often used as slang for handcuffs.

The use of colored silicone rubber as a material for producing sports bracelets was popularized by Nike and Lance Armstrong through the Yellow Livestrong wristband starting in May 2003. Their success has led to the silicone bracelet becoming a high cost tool for various awareness, information, and charity campaigns. This can be likened to the use of awareness ribbons for similar purposes. These bracelets are also known as "baller id bands", "wristbands" or "balling bands".

The in-line thin diamond bracelet that features a symmetrical pattern of diamonds is called a tennis bracelet. According to Diamond Bug, in 1987 Chris Evert, the former World No. 1 woman tennis player and the winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, was playing in the U.S. Open. She was wearing an elegant, light in-line diamond bracelet, made by jeweler-to-the-stars George Bedewi, which accidentally broke and the match was interrupted to allow Chris to recover her precious diamonds. The "tennis bracelet" incident sparked a new name for the item and sparked a huge jewelry trend. Tennis bracelets continued to be worn by various tennis stars like Serena Williams and Gabriela Sabatini.

A charm bracelet is an item of jewelry worn around the wrist. It carries personal charms: decorative pendants or trinkets which are signifiers of important things in the wearer's life. In recent history, Italian charm bracelets have become trendy. While traditional charms dangle, Italian charms feature individual pieces soldered flat onto the surface of the link.

Bracelets that are in solid form, usually some metal, are referred to as bangles or bangle bracelets. They can be smooth, textured or set with stones. In India, glass bangles are common. Made from ordinary glass that is about 1/4 - 1/8 inch in width, they are worn in groups so that arm movement causes them to make a pleasant sound rather like the clinking of wind chimes. In India, it is also common that young children will wear thin gold bangles on their hands and ankles.

Functional bangle This is a new use for a very old thing. A spring closing type of bangle is used as both an adornment and a handy clip to hang things from. Marketed as a handbag hanger.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, "slap bracelets" -- flat, felt-covered metal strips that curved around one's wrist when gently hit against it—were a popular fad. Often adorned with neon colors and vivid graphics, these bracelets could be found at inexpensive retailers. A rumor emerged that "slap bracelets" caused bleeding and puncture wounds and thus fell out of style.

Armani | History and definition of Armani | International Italian fashion house | Symbols of Armani

Armani

Giorgio Armani S.P.A. is an international Italian fashion house that designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, eyewear, cosmetics, and home interiors. The brand markets these products under several, highly specialized sub-labels including Giorgio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Emporio Armani, AJ | Armani Jeans, AX | Armani Exchange, Armani Junior, and Armani/Casa. The Armani name has become synonymous with high-fashion and couture worldwide and is considered one of the most prestigious names in the fashion industry. End of year sales for 2005 were $1.69 billion.

Armani is planning in collaboration with Emaar Properties a chain of luxury hotels and resorts in several big cities including Milan, Paris, New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Dubai. The company already operates a range of cafés worldwide, in addition to a bar, restaurant, and nightclub.

Giorgio Armani is a high-end label specializing in men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, glasses, cosmetics, and perfumes. It is considered one of the most prestigious clothing labels in the world and is available only in Giorgio Armani boutiques, specialty clothiers and select high-end department stores. The logo is a curved "G" completing a curved "A" letter, the all forming a circle logo.

Armani Collezioni (formerly Giorgio Armani Le Collezioni) is another high-end Armani sub-label. The line is more expensive than Emporio Armani, Armani Jeans, Armani Exchange lines, but less expensive than the high-end, ready-to-wear line, Giorgio Armani and the haute couture line, Armani Privé. It is also less fashioned than the others labels, leaning toward atemporal formal clothes. The logo is a small "A" letter which is intricated in a bigger "G" letter, the "A" being part of the "G". This logo is rarely visible outside the clothes. It provides made-to-measure tailored suits and shirts where every element can be chosen. In addition to being sold in the two freestanding boutiques (which feature the Collezioni line exclusively) in Milan and Paris, Armani Collezioni is sold in high-end department stores including Holt Renfrew, Bloomingdale's, David Jones, Harvey Nichols, Harrods, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue. Last year, a sporty line of this label has appeared named "Armani Collezioni Active" in the same way as the EA7 line from Emporio Armani line.

The label features ready-to-wear and accessories. Emporio Armani is available in its 13 stores in the U.S. and over 140 worldwide,and on the brand's website. In January 2010, famed football star Cristiano Ronaldo and Hollywood movie star Megan Fox became the male and female face and body of Emporio Armani. Emporio Armani has teamed up with Reebok to create high-end fashion shoes under the label called EA7.

Armani Jeans is a bridge-line collection of denim-related clothing created in 1981 by Giorgio Armani. Armani Jeans is mainly sold in department stores, although there are 15 freestanding Armani Jeans stores in the world, in addition to an Armani Jeans Cafe in Milan. Some Armani Jeans items are sold in Emporio Armani Stores, and Armani Jeans stores sell Emporio Armani items in the Asian Market.

In terms of design, the clothing from this line does not feature Giorgio Armani's signature simplicity and often has larger logos than the clothing in any of his other collections. The colors used for Armani Jeans are more diverse than those found in his higher end lines or Armani Exchange, which feature monochromatic color schemes and focus on cut and material over color.

A|X Armani Exchange was launched in 1991 in the U.S. The label created by Giorgio Armani is known for its provocative ad campaigns and popularity among young Hollywood pop culture. Armani Exchange designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails fashion and lifestyle products, including apparel, accessories, eyewear, watches, jewelry, and music. It is inspired by street-chic culture and fashionable dance music. Considered the most accessible Armani brand, Armani Exchange is moderately priced in the general market, with average prices under $100.

Armani Exchange products are available exclusively in 203 stores in 26 countries and on the brand's website.

In 2011, Armani Exchange will continue its expansion with stores opening in: Mall of America (Minneapolis, MN) on May 10, Lakeside Shopping Center (New Orleans, LA) on May 17, Stamford Town Center (Stamford, CT) on June 21, International Plaza (Tampa, FL) on June 28, West Edmonton Mall (Edmonton, AB) on June 30, South Shore Plaza (Braintree, MA) on August 3, Northshore Mall (Peabody, MA) on September 13, Water Tower Place (Chicago, IL), Square One (Toronto, ON), Queensborough Landing (New Westminster, BC), Palm Beach Gardens (Palm Beach,FL), CambridgeSide (Boston, MA), Mall del Norte (Laredo, TX), and many more international locations.

The beauty brand by Armani features cosmetics, skin care, perfumes, and colognes. It is produced and distributed by the luxury division of L'Oreal, with which Armani has a long-term partnership agreement. It is available at many department stores worldwide and has very few boutiques. Armani also invests in the fine dining industry. Throughout the world, he has 14 Emporio Armani and Armani Jeans cafes. There is also an Armani Bar in Hong Kong and his two new restaurants, NoBu & Prive, are found worldwide. Armani also has a bookshop (Armani Libri) and a florist (Armani Fiori) under the Armani name and a confectionery company known as Armani Dolci. These smaller brands are mostly sold within larger Armani shops, like the Milan flagship, 31 via Manzoni, and at the Armani/Chater House at 11 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong. He also created 4 lucky Cds "Emporio Armani Caffè" with the famous Italian sound designer Matteo Ceccarini.

Armani and Emaar Properties signed an agreement in 2004 for Emaar Hotels to build and operate at least seven luxury hotels and three vacation resorts under the Armani name. Armani would be responsible for overseeing all aspects the interior design and style of the hotels. One of these hotels is located in Dubai.

The bottom 39 floors of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, house an Armani Hotel with 160 guest rooms and suites, and 144 residences. Giorgio Armani is also designing the interiors of the Armani Residences, also within the skyscraper, and its specially designed line of products from the Armani/Casa home furnishings collection.

The Burj Khalifa Armani Residences Road Show toured Milan, London, Jeddah, Moscow and Delhi. The exhibition was designed by Brash Brands winning an International Design Award for its Signs, Exhibits and Point of Purchase (POP) Displays. The London event was housed in the Armani Casa Showroom in New Bond Street.

Adidas Products | History of Adidas | Understanding Adidas | Latest Products Adidas

Adidas

Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, golf company (including Ashworth), and Rockport. Besides sports footwear, the company also produces other products such as bags, shirts, watches, eyewear and other sports and clothing-related goods. The company is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second biggest sportswear manufacturer in the world, after its American rival Nike.

Adidas was founded in 1948 by Adolf "Adi" Dassler, following the split of Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik between him and his older brother, Rudolf. Rudolf later established Puma, which was the early rival of Adidas. Registered in 1949, Adidas is currently based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, along with Puma.

The company's clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel bars, and the same motif is incorporated into Adidas's current official logo. The "Three Stripes" were bought from the Finnish sport company Karhu Sports in 1951. The company revenue for 2009 was listed at €10.38 billion and the 2008 figure at €10.80 billion.

Adolf "Adi" Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mother's wash kitchen in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, after his return from World War I. On July 1, 1924, his brother Rudolf "Rudi" Dassler joined the business which became Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) and prospered. The pair started the venture in their mother's laundry,[6]:5 but at the time, electricity supplies in the town were unreliable, and the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment.

By the 1936 Summer Olympics, Adi Dassler drove from Bavaria on one of the world's first motorways to the Olympic village with a suitcase full of spikes and persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use them, the first sponsorship for an African American. Following Owens's haul of four gold medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the world's most famous sportsmen. Letters from around the world landed on the brothers' desks, and the trainers of other national teams were all interested in their shoes. Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II.

Late in World War II, the shoe factory shifted to production of the Panzerschreck anti-tank weapon.

After a period of trouble following the death of Adolf Dassler's son Horst Dassler in 1987, the company was bought in 1989 by French industrialist Bernard Tapie, for ₣1.6 billion (now €243.918 million), which Tapie borrowed. Tapie was at the time a famous specialist of rescuing bankrupt companies, an expertise on which he built his fortune.

Tapie decided to move production offshore to Asia. He also hired Madonna for promotion. He sent, from Christchurch, New Zealand, a shoe sales representative to Germany and met Adolf Dassler's descendants (Amelia Randall Dassler and Bella Beck Dassler) and was sent back with a few items to promote the company there.

In 1992, unable to pay the loan interest, Tapie mandated the Crédit Lyonnais bank to sell Adidas, and the bank subsequently converted the outstanding debt owed into equity of the enterprise, which was unusual as per the prevalent French banking practice. Apparently, the state-owned bank had tried to get Tapie out of dire financial straits as a personal favour to Tapie, reportedly because Tapie was Minister of Urban Affairs (ministre de la Ville) in the French government at the time.

In February 1993, Crédit Lyonnais sold Adidas to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, a friend of Bernard Tapie for a much higher amount of money than what Tapie owed, 4.485 billion (€683.514 million) francs rather than 2.85 billion (€434.479 million). Tapie later sued the bank, because he felt "spoiled" by the indirect sale.

Robert Louis-Dreyfus became the new CEO of the company. He was also the president of Olympique de Marseille, a team Tapie had owned until 1993.

Tapie filed for personal bankruptcy in 1994. He was the object of several lawsuits, notably related to match fixing at the football club. During 1997, he served 6 months of an 18-month prison sentence in La Santé prison in Paris. In 2005, French courts awarded Tapie a €135 million compensation (about 886 million francs).

Adidas currently manufactures several running shoes, including the adiStar Control 5, the adiStar Ride (the replacement for the adiStar Cushion 6), the Supernova Sequence (the replacement for the Supernova Control 10), and the Supernova Cushion 7 (which will soon be replaced by the Supernova Glide), among others. In addition, their performance apparel is widely used by runners. Adidas also uses kangaroo leather to make their more expensive shoes.

One of the main focuses of Adidas is football kit and associated equipment. Adidas remain a major company in the supply of team kits for international football teams.

Adidas also makes referee kits that are used in international competition and by many countries and leagues in the world. The company has been an innovator in the area of footwear for the sport with notable examples including development of the Copa Mundial moulded boot used for matches on firm dry pitches for almost forty years. The studded equivalent was named World Cup follow in celebration of the 1978 tournament won by Argentina, one of the nations it supplied at the time. Some of the most famous football teams are currently sponsored by Adidas.

Adidas became renowned for advancing the Predator boot design developed by ex-Liverpool and Australian international player Craig Johnston. This design featured a ribbed rubber structure for the upper leather of the shoe, used to accent the movement of the ball when struck; highly skilled players claimed they were able to curve the flight of the ball more easily when wearing this new contoured design. The Predator also features the Craig Johnston-invented Traxion sole.

FIFA, the world governing body of football, commissioned specially designed footballs for use in its own World Cup tournaments to favour more attacking play. The balls supplied for the 2006 World Cup, the Teamgeist, were particular noteworthy for their ability to travel further than previous types when struck, leading to longer range goal strikes that were intended to increase the number of goals scored. Goalkeepers were believed to be less comfortable with the design, claiming it would move significantly and unpredictably in flight.

Adidas also introduced another new ball for the 2010 World Cup. The Jabulani ball was designed and developed by Loughborugh University in conjunction with Chelsea FC. It received much criticism from players, managers and pundits for being too hard to control. The lighter and more aerodynamic ball led to many shots and passes being over hit. The Jabulani was widely blamed for the low numbers of long range goals or even remotely accurate attempts in the opening stage of the tournament.

As well as the aforementioned Predator boot, adidas also manufacture the F50 and adiPure range of football boots.

Adidas also provides apparel and equipment for all teams in Major League Soccer.

Gucci | History and definition of the Gucci | The Logo Gucci

Gucci

The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR. Gucci was founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence in 1921.

Gucci generated circa € 4.2 billion in revenue worldwide in 2008 according to BusinessWeek magazine and climbed to 41st position in the magazine's annual 2009 "Top Global 100 Brands" chart created by Interbrand. Gucci is also the biggest-selling Italian brand. Gucci operates about 278 directly operated stores worldwide (as of September 2009) and it wholesales its products through franchisees and upscale department stores.

From modest beginnings at the end of the nineteenth century, the Gucci company became one of the world’s most successful manufacturers of high-end leather goods, clothing, and other fashion products. As an immigrant in Paris and then London, working in exclusive hotels, young Guccio Gucci (1881–1953) was impressed with the luxurious luggage he saw sophisticated guests bring with them. Upon returning to his birthplace of Florence, a city distinguished for high-quality materials and skilled artisans, he established a shop in 1920 that sold fine leather goods with classic styling. Although Gucci organized his workrooms for industrial methods of production, he maintained traditional aspects of fabrication. Initially Gucci employed skilled workers in basic Florentine leather crafts, attentive to finishing. With expansion, machine stitching was a production method that supported construction.

Together with three of his sons, Aldo, Vasco, and Rodolfo, Gucci expanded the company to include stores in Milan and Rome as well as additional shops in Florence. Gucci’s stores featured such finely crafted leather accessories as handbags, shoes, and his iconic ornamented loafer as well as silks and knitwear in a signature pattern. The Gucci loafer is the only shoe in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The company made handbags of cotton canvas rather than leather during World War II as a result of material shortages. The canvas, however, was distinguished by a signature double-G symbol combined with prominent red and green bands. After the war, the Gucci crest, which showed a shield and armored knight surrounded by a ribbon inscribed with the family name, became synonymous with the city of Florence.

Aldo and Rodolfo Gucci further expanded the company’s horizons in 1953 by establishing offices in New York City. Film stars and jet-set travelers to Italy during the 1950s and 1960s brought their glamour to Florence, turning Gucci’s merchandise into international status symbols. Movie stars posed in Gucci’s clothing, accessories, and footwear for lifestyle magazines around the world, contributing to the company’s growing reputation.

Gucci’s distinctive lines made its products among the most frequently copied in the world in the early 2000s. Pigskin, calf, and imported exotic animal skins were subjected to various methods of fabrication. Waterproof canvas and satin were used for evening bags. Bamboo was first used to make handbag handles by a process of heating and molding in 1947, and purses made with a shoulder strap and snaffle-bit decoration were introduced in 1960. In 1964 Gucci’s lush butterfly pattern was custom-created for silk foulards, followed by equally luxuriant floral patterns. The original Gucci loafer was updated by a distinctive snaffle-bit ornament in 1966, while the “Rolls-Royce” luggage set was introduced in 1970. Watches, jewelry, ties, and eyewear were then added to the company’s product lines. A particularly iconic touch, introduced in 1964, was the use of the double-G logo for belt buckles and other accessory decorations.

The company prospered through the 1970s, but the 1980s were marked by internal family disputes that brought Gucci to the brink of disaster. Rodolfo’s son Maurizio took over the company’s direction after his father’s death in 1983, and dismissed his uncle Aldo—who eventually served a prison term for tax evasion. Maurizio proved to be an unsuccessful president; he was compelled to sell the family-owned company to Investcorp, a Bahrain-based company, in 1988. Maurizio disposed of his remaining stock in 1993. Tragically, Maurizio was murdered in Milan in 1995, and his former wife, Patrizia Reggiani, was convicted of hiring his killers. Meanwhile, the new investors promoted the American-educated Domenico De Sole from the position of family attorney to president of Gucci America in 1994 and chief executive in 1995.

The company had previously brought in Dawn Mello in 1989 as editor and ready-to-wear designer in order to reestablish its reputation. Well aware of Gucci’s tarnished image and the value of its name brand, Mello hired Tom Ford in 1990 to design a ready-to-wear line. He was promoted to the position of creative director in 1994. Before Mello returned to her post as president of the American retailer Bergdorf Goodman, she initiated the return of Gucci’s headquarters from the business center of Milan to Florence, where its craft traditions were rooted. There she and Ford reduced the number of Gucci products from twenty thousand to a more reasonable five thousand.

Tom Ford came to the foundering company with vision and style. Having the strong support of Dominico De Sole, Ford wished to maintain a sense of the company’s history while updating Gucci’s trademarks. In 1994 Ford became responsible for creative direction, and by 1996 he directed all aspects of the company—including ready-to-wear clothing, visual merchandising, packaging, interior design, and advertising. Ford and De Sole struggled to restore the former reputation of Gucci, while redirecting the growing brand to a new level for the market of the late 1990s.

There were seventy-six Gucci stores around the world in 1997, along with numerous licensing agreements. Ford was instrumental in the process of decision-making with De Sole when the Gucci Group acquired Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Bottega Veneta, Boucheron, Sergio Rossi, and, in part-ownership with Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga. By 2001 Ford and De Sole shared the responsibility for major business decisions, while Ford concurrently directed design at Yves Saint Laurent as well as at Gucci.

The French conglomerate Pinault-Printemps-Redouté, however, gained ownership of 60 percent of the Gucci Group’s stock in 2003. Women’s Wear Daily then announced the departure of both Domenico De Sole and Tom Ford from the Gucci Group when their contracts expired in April 2004. The last spring collection under the direction of Ford and De Sole was a critical and commercial success. Amid widespread speculation in the fashion press about Ford’s heir, the company announced in March 2004 that he would be replaced by a team of younger designers promoted from the ranks of the company’s staff.

In 2005, Frida Giannini was appointed as the creative director for women’s ready-to-wear and accessories, previously joining Gucci in 2002. In 2006, she also became the creative director for men's ready-to-wear and the entire Gucci label.

A turnaround of the company devised in the late 1980s made Gucci a global contender and notable fashion label. In October 1995 Gucci went public and had its first initial public offering on the AMEX and NYSE for $22 per share. November 1997 also proved to be a successful year as Gucci acquired a watch licensee, Severin-Montres, and renamed it Gucci Timepieces. The firm was named "European Company of the Year 1998" by the European Business Press Federation for its economic and financial performance, strategic vision as well as management quality. Gucci world offices and headquarters are in Florence, Milan, Paris, London, Hong Kong, Japan, and New York. PPR headquarters are in Paris.

In 1989, Maurizio managed to persuade Dawn Mello, whose revival of New York's Bergdorf Goodman in the 1970s made her a star in the retail business, to join the newly formed Gucci Group as Executive Vice President and Creative Director Worldwide. At the helm of Gucci America was Domenico De Sole, a former lawyer who helped oversee Maurizio’s takeover of ten 1987 and 1989. The last addition to the creative team, which already included designers from Geoffrey Beene and Calvin Klein, was a young designer named Tom Ford.

Raised in Texas and New Mexico, he had been interested in fashion since his early teens but only decided to pursue a career as a designer after dropping out of Parsons School of Design in 1986 as an architecture major. Dawn Mello hired Ford in 1990 at the urging of his partner, writer and editor Richard Buckley.

In the early 1990s, Gucci underwent what is now recognized as the poorest time in the company's history. Maurizio riled distributors, Investcorp shareholders, and executives at Gucci America by drastically reining in on the sales of the Gucci Accessories Collection, which in the United States alone generated $110 million in revenue every year. The company’s new accessories failed to pick up the slack, and for the next three years the company experienced heavy losses and teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. Maurizio was a charming man who passionately loved his family's business, but after four years most of the company's senior managers agreed that he was incapable of running the company. His management had had an adverse effect on the desirability of the brand, product quality, and distribution control. He was forced to sell his shares in the company to Investcorp in August 1993. Dawn Mello returned to her job at Bergdorf Goodman less than a year after Maurizio’s departure, and the position of creative director went to Tom Ford, then just 32 years old. Ford had worked for years under the direction of Maurizio and Mello and wanted to take the company’s image in a new direction. De Sole, who had been elevated to President and Chief Executive Officer ofGucci Group NV, realized that if Gucci was to become a profitable company, it would require a new image, and so he agreed to pursue Ford’s vision.

In early 1999 the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, headed by Bernard Arnault, increased its shareholdings in Gucci with a view to a takeover. Domenico De Sole was incensed by the news and declined Arnault’s request for a spot on the board of directors, where he would have access to Gucci’s confidential earnings reports, strategy meetings, and design concepts. De Sole reacted by issuing new shares of stock in an effort to dilute the value of Arnault’s holdings. He also approached French holding company Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) about the possibility of forming a strategic alliance. Francois Pinault, the company’s founder, agreed to the idea and purchased 37 million shares in the company, or a 40% stake. Arnault’s share was diluted to a paltry 20%, and a legal battle ensued to challenge the legitimacy of the new Gucci-PPR partnership, with the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom representing Gucci. Courts in the Netherlands ultimately upheld the PPR deal, as it did not violate that country's business laws. The second largest shareholder is Crédit Lyonnais with 11%. As of September 2001 a settlement agreement was put into place between Gucci Group, LVMH, and PPR.

Following Ford's departure, Gucci Group retained three designers to continue the success of the company's flagship label: John Ray, Alessandra Facchinetti and Frida Giannini, all of whom had worked under Ford's creative direction. Facchinetti was elevated to Creative Director of Womenswear in 2004 and designed for two seasons before leaving the company. Ray served as Creative Director of Menswear for three years. 32-year-old Giannini, who had been responsible for designing men's and women's accessories, currently serves as Creative Director for the entire brand.

Frida Giannini, formerly Creative Director of accessories, is named sole Creative Director in 2006. In 2009, Patrizio di Marco replaces Mark Lee as CEO of Gucci.

Gucci’s president and chief executive officer Patrizio di Marco revealed that Gucci is set to launch a children’s line in June 2010. The line will initially be unveiled in Italy and to 40 stores around the world. Frida Giannini serves as the creative director of the line. Giannini has been applauded on her fresh, feminine take on contemporary fashion. Born in Rome in 1972 to an architect father and art history professor mother she studied fashion design at Rome's Fashion Academy. Once she completed her education she went on to apprentice at a small-scale fashion house. In 1997 Giannini began a career at fashion house Fendi, where after just three seasons of designing for ready-to-wear she was promoted to designer of leather goods. In 2002 she moved to Gucci as director of handbags, and in 2004 was promoted to designer of all accessories. A year later in 2005 the designer was promoted to creative director of women's ready-to-wear at Gucci, in addition to her role as designer of accessories. In 2006 Giannini was named creative director of the label when she became responsible for design of menswear. In addition to clothing design, she has also developed retail concepts for Gucci stores, and creative control of advertising.

Aldo Gucci expanded into new markets including an agreement with American Motors Corporation (AMC). The 1972 and 1973 AMC Hornet compact "Sportabout" station wagon became one of the first American cars to offer a special luxury trim package created by a famous fashion designer. The Gucci cars sported boldly striped green, red, and buff upholstery and on the door panels, as well as the designer's emblems and exterior color selections. American Motors also offered a Pierre Cardin Edition of its Javelin automobile.

In 1979 and 1980, a Miami-based aftermarket company offered the Cadillac Seville by Gucci edition. The exterior included a "facing double G" Gucci logo, an emblem actually featuring Guccio Gucci’s initials, as a hood ornament and the c-pillar covered vinyl roof. The interior had a headliner of the logo and headrests adorned with the logo as well. The dashboard carried the "Gucci script" logo in bold lettering. Inside the trunk was a full set of Gucci luggage.

A 1989 Gucci Series Lincoln Town Car was scheduled to be offered, per pricing guides, but never came to fruition. Lincoln offered Emilio Pucci, Bill Blass, Gianni Versace, Hubert de Givenchy, and Valentino designer editions during the 1970s and 1980s.

Gucci has had a partnership with UNICEF since 2005. Gucci stores worldwide donate a percentage of the sales for special collections made specifically for UNICEF to go toward the United Nations Children's Fund. The annual Gucci Campaign to Benefit UNICEF supports education, healthcare, protection and clean water programs for orphans and children affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. For the campaign in 2009, Michael Roberts promoted a children's book, "Snowman in Africa" with proceeds going to UNICEF. In five years, Gucci donated over $7 million to UNICEF. Gucci is the largest corporate donor to UNICEF's "Schools for Africa" that was established in 2004 by UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and the Hamburg Society. Its goal is to increase access to basic schooling for all, with a special emphasis on children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and children living in extreme poverty.