Karine Hawawini – S00703881
Articles for ecostyle ARTICLE I: IS CHANEL’S LATEST SHOW SIMPLY ENCHANTED OR CONTROVERSIAL? Karl Lagerfeld stuns again with another breathtaking set in his usual location Grand Palais in Paris. The Chanel designer brought the famous Verdon Gorge to the city of light by creating six waterfalls ranging between nine to fifteen metres high.
The enchanting setting was combined with an unusual eighties disco inspired playlist. However, with Kaia Gerber, the social media star and model of the moment opening the show, Chanel keeps engaging its new younger target audience.
Despite being a Spring/Summer show, the actual pieces of the collection can work for any season due to the diverse choice of colours from pastels to total black looks. The focus of the collection was the use of plastic: the cult items such as the 2.55 bag, fingerless gloves and two tone pumps were brought back to life with this intriguing choice of material. The traditional tweed items were once again revisited through loose fitted androgynous suits mixed with plastic accents. The star product 0f the collection was inevitably the plastic over-the-knee boots. However, what looks exciting and new is just an item already seen on the infamous Kardashian this Spring/Summer.
The question of sustainability has been bombarded in the news now in every domain especially in the fashion industry. However, with the heavy use of plastic in the collection, Lagerfeld has made a “faux-pas”: usually known for his innovation and being ahead of the game, this collection drags Chanel down by making the brand inconsiderate of the environment and old-school. With competitors such as Gucci who are going fur-free and adopting an “ambitious 10-year “Culture of Purpose” sustainability plan.” (BoF,2017), Chanel needs to find something to make them exciting and even more relevant in the fashion industry. The new generation that he is trying to target are ever more aware of global warming than other generations. On the bright side, the water used will allegedly be recycled into a source of energy according to elle.com.
(embedded video of SS18 show featured on actual website) Courtesy of Chanel’s Youtube channel
ARTICLE II: LAMBORGHINI IS RELEASING AN ELECTRIC CAR? On Monday 6th of November the first ever electric supercar has been revealed at the EmTech conference in Massachusetts. The Italian company Lamborghini will be releasing in 2030 their electric supercar called Terzio Millenio. This car is considered to be “the future of super sports cars”. The idea of having a supercar electric is contradictory yet makes sense due to the new trend in the automobile industry with the rise of electric cars such as companies like Tesla and others creating their own version of an electric car. One of the main appeal of a supercar is its roaring sound; Lamborghini even launched in July 2017 its first acoustic sound room in its factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese. However with an electric car, the sound is nearly non existant so “the adoption of an electric power train requires to define a sound able to substitute the one of today’s V12”.
This car has also a special feature which is that it is self-healing; it does a health check and can repair itself. Since the Terzio is made out of carbon fiber, it actually stores energy and has 4 electric motors in each wheel. The car relies on supercapacitors instead of standard batteries which “accept and deliver charge faster than batteries can, while withstanding numerous charge cycles and featuring storage capacities much higher than standard capacitators.” The price has yet to be revealed.
However, Lamborghini will be releasing its first hybrid SUV in 2020 called Urus SUV which is more targeted to families. The price will be around 200,00$ though they are yet to confirm the final price.
ARTICLE III: MARYLEBONE, A GREEN NEIGHBOURHOOD
In 2016, the Council of Westminster and local stakeholders have established a three-year plan for the Marylebone area called Marylebone LEN (Low Emission Neighbourhood). This project which is funded by the Mayor of London aims to reduce air pollution in this designated area. In fact, it has specific objectives (www.london.gov.uk) that hopefully will be achieved: - Reduce transport emissions, leading to improved air quality and climate change mitigation, and reduced negative impact on health - Increase human physical activity and health, through encouragement of more walking and cycling - Reduce road traffic casualties through overall reduction in vehicle kilometres and alterations to traffic management - More efficient use of limited road space, urban regeneration and improved local economy To achieve these objectives, regulations will be applied to reduce traffic such as taxing diesel cars coming in the area, having car-free days, no idling zones, creating coordinated deliveries, adding smaller green spaces such as pocket parks, including vegetation on roofs and most importantly behavior change initiatives. Moreover, electric stations will be added to promote electric cars. At the moment, there are four ongoing projects in the streets of Marylebone: -
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The Green Club: Marylebone is known for its 18th century architecture and the Green Club in partnership with The Portman Estate aims to reduce energy emissions in local buildings by finding new measures. Paddington Street Garden: This beautiful garden in the heart of Marylebone has been expanding throughout the years. Since this project is all about improving air quality, the gardens are a key element for this LEN and they are planning to add even more greenery and trees. George Street: The project is planning to create a “green spine� throughout the street means having a continuity of trees. This will bring a beautiful green space in the heart of this urban area.
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Marylebone High Street: The project wants to make it a “green high street” by reducing traffic on the street and growing new plant species that improve air quality.
The Marylebone area is one of the five chosen London neighbourhood to become a LEN by April 2019 with Barbican, Shoreditch, Greenwich Tower Centre and Ilford Garden.
This interesting project is not also beneficial for the environment but also in a social aspect: events are created in each neighbourhood which brings together a sense of community and solidarity. This is something that isn’t common nowadays in large cities like London. The environmental issue is an intriguing topic as it affects everyone in every field: by changing one everyday habit, it can have a large positive impact in our surroundings.