little black crown

no secrets with billboards

2011-03-19T22:08:00.001+13:00

ok, like many others, I am a fan of america's next top model. About 4 years ago, myself and a heap of my close friends would celebrate top model friday! we'd have dinner while watching top model (all feeling like we probably shouldn't be eating because it wasn't going to make us feel good about ourselves) and then we would discuss the night's elimination decision while getting ridiculously drunk! My how those times have changed..........we have somehow managed to grow up a bit.
so! now i spend time contemplating over why people do certain things and maybe i have become more cynical as i have grown older mostly thinking "are people really that stupid sometimes???".
anyway......the whole point of this entry is more to do with the advertising of this season of america's next top model. the above billboard is positioned at the bottom of pitt st. in auckland and what i realized the other day while driving past it was that these billboards have ruined something!!! they may not be telling us who has won this cycle, but from watching all of the episodes that have screened so far on channel four, i can pretty much guess who is going to be eliminated because of the billboards that show the nz shoot! this week tatianna and alexandra were in the bottom two and because of the billboard that i have driven past over and over again, i knew it wasn't going to be alexandra who was going to be sent home! this makes me think that somebody at channel four and the company that they employ to do all of their advertising made a boo boo and obviously didn't think about this. sure the billboards are interesting and they do a great job of highlighting the fact that this is the cycle that we have all been waiting for (ANTM in nz) but it would've been better if channel four just used a shot of all the models so that the viewers could have had a bit more of a surprise!? To be honest, we all watch it to guess who's going home and most of us probably feel like we should be on the judging panel (literally) to make the executive calls on who should stay or go, and somehow it feels like these billboards have taken that imaginary status away from us.
on another note, don't you think channel four's new branding is a bit retro?? seems like they have decided to do a bit of time travel, but unfortunately in the wrong direction......backwards!

maurie & eve = beyoncé

2010-12-03T14:43:00.002+13:00

maurie & eve shoes are always a hit at little black crown and they never fail to impress!

so..........

how can these

get you this?

ok, so the shoes won't make you look like this - but they can get you the new Beyoncé "I AM...World Tour" DVD & you can watch her look like this!

I AM......World Tour concert film is produced, directed & edited by Beyoncé herself, it is an immersive entertainment experience, weaving together peak concert & tour footage from different shows around-the-world. In addition to offering rare behind-the-scenes glimpses into the dynamic personal world of Beyoncé on tour, the film features dazzling performances of more than twenty # 1 hits transformed for the stage, guest appearances by superstars Kanye West & Jay-Z, spectacular staging & over indulgent costumes. between her work as a solo artist & as a founding member of Destiny's Child, the most popular female recording group of all time, Beyoncé has sold more than 130 million records worldwide!

pre-order any pair of the above shoes by maurie & eve from their winter 2011 collection "a picture is worth a thousand words" & little black crown will give you a FREE copy of the new Beyoncé DVD PLUS you will also get the shoes for a special pre-order only price!

arianne boot, helena biker boot, karolina spike heel

RRP: $420 pre-order price $389

arianne pump

RRP: $389 pre-order price $350

arianne boot, karolina spike heel, arianne pump are available in caramel, vanilla, midnight or black. helena biker boot available in vanilla or black. all shoes range from size 36-41. 50% deposit required for pre-orders. pre-orders must be placed by tuesday 7th december. shoes will be in-store april/may 2011.

kanye west "my beautiful dark twisted fantasy"

2010-11-21T22:27:00.001+13:00

"how can one man have all that POWER?!"

poor ol' kanye got quite a bit of flack for the taylor swift incident....................BUT, yeezy is back with two bang-ah videos, "POWER" - which in true kanye style, is ahead of the game & his first short film / second single off the album, "RUNAWAY"

the new album titled "my beautiful dark twisted fantasy" borrows appearances from some of the finest hip hop stars..........talib kweli, mos def, jay-z, raekwon, common, kid cudi, rza, swizz beatz, consequence and...............justin bieber?????? (I guess everyone is on that band wagon)

for those of you that have followed kanye west on his blog, you will know that he is really into architecture, fashion & art, art, art! so it seems fitting for him to have an art inspired album cover, or two!

"my beautiful dark twisted fantasy" drops tomorrow (Nov 22) & our friends at universal music have kindly given little black crown some copies to giveaway!

so......purchase anything over $100 & little black crown will happily throw in a copy of the new kanye west album "my beautiful dark twisted fantasy",we'll be doing it all week (while stock lasts) so get shopping!! xx

are you lonely?

2010-11-05T10:06:00.000+13:00

oooohhhhhhh we are so excited to tell you lovely people that have constantly asked us to stock lonely (lingerie) by lonely hearts that lonely will be hanging on our wonderful racks at little black crown next season AW11!! here is a sneak peek of our favourites.............sssshhhh

my eyes

2010-11-01T22:12:00.001+13:00

i can't stop thinking about these sunglasses by chronicles of never, if someone doesn't buy them soon they are going to end up in my wardrobe!!!

origin of light sunglasses

salasai "sacrificial grace" autumn/winter 2011

2010-11-01T21:46:00.002+13:00

every season salasai produces one of the strongest lookbooks around

we love these beautiful shots from the salasai AW11 collection "sacrificial grace" styled by the amazing dan ahwa x x the awesome jewels featured in these campaign shots were created by nick von k, a label that is also stocked at little black crown

baby news

2010-11-01T21:33:00.000+13:00

we have been so busy with our little twin girls (who were born on august 2nd) that we haven't really had a chance to update anything! now that we are finally getting our heads around managing our beautiful little ones we can start to communicate again with the outside world :)

M.I.A - MAYA Giveaway

2010-07-27T19:35:00.002+12:00

/\/\ /\ Y /\ is the new album from M.I.A

M.I.A is back! After two hugely acclaimed albums (2005's 'Arular' and 2007's 'Kala') M.I.A has released new album ‘/\/\ /\ Y /\’, which sees her as incendiary & forward thinking as ever.

Recorded in Los Angeles, the album features production from Rusko, Diplo, Blaqstarr and Switch, a collaboration resulting in dubstep bass and grinding industrial noise being added to M.I.A’s unique armoury of sounds. ‘/\/\ /\ Y /\’, draws influence from our technologically changing world, now that our every thought and action is documented and posted for everyone to see.

Thanks to our friends at The Label & Rhythmethod, Little Black Crown will be giving away a copy of

‘/\/\ /\ Y /\’ with every purchase over $100!

you could pick up a copy at Rhythm, 299 Ponsonby Rd, Three Lamps, AK

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

2010-07-22T15:26:00.005+12:00

Second film under our belt from the NZ film festival & what a superb one it was! Jean-Michel Basquiat - Radiant Child is an amazing documentary by Tamra Davis (director & friend of JMB), this film documents the meteoric rise & fall of the young street artist who became a phenomenon & millionaire in less than 2 years. He achieves critical & commercial success, though he is constantly confronted by racism from his peers. Absolutely loved this film......... AMAZING, AMAZING, AAAAAAMMMMMMAAAAAZZZZZIIIIINNNNNNGGGG!

CROWN RATING: 5/5 crowns

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (Animated Trailer)

2010-07-22T13:34:00.012+12:00

"exit through the gift shop" - banksy film

2010-07-15T15:36:00.016+12:00

NZ Film Festival is on in Auckland at the moment and we have checked out our first film!

"Exit through the gift shop" a film by UK artist Banksy. This film is ultimately suppose to be about street art & Banksy (which it is) but a man who is heavily featured in this film is a crazy video recording obsessed little man by the name of Thierry Guetta who captures & documents street artists in action.

We got the impression that this film was another one of Banksy's outrageous art projects but it is disguised in a very clever way. Banksy is great at creating controversy which makes his work so recognizable & we love his work because it seems so reaction based.

It is truely incredible how Banksy has managed to keep his identity hidden for so long & he stays true to that by appearing all blacked out so that only a silhouette of himself is shown. This film is soooo inspiring on one of the highest levels, check it out if you get a chance!

CROWN RATING: 4/5 crowns

"it is a joyous addition to the potential catalogue raisonné of the artist who turned Warhol inside out by proving that anonymity is cooler and more difficult to sustain than fame.” — Amy Taubin, Film Comment

ash - "hi from LONDON!"

2010-07-15T14:37:00.009+12:00

DAY TWO

Today we played the ultimate tourists. We woke up at 4:30am London time, some would putit down to jetlag others would say a little over eager perhaps? At 8 we headed off to catch "the big bus" tour bus, which lets you hop on and off at all the major attractions! This was awesome and we managed to fit in "Buckingham Palace", "Big Ben", "Westminster Abbey", "Houses of Parliament", a boat ride on the "Thames" and my personal favourite the TATE Modern Museum of Art!

Both Big Ben and the houses of parliament, which are a joint,  and Westminster abbey were mind-blowing! The details on the buildings of the houses of parliament are so intricate its incredible to think such an amazing place just sits in the middle of London, free on show for everyone to see.

Westminster Abbey is beautiful! It houses most of the tombs of past kings and queens of England including Elizabeth the first, as well as the tomb of the Isaac Newton! The man who discovered gravity, what a guy! This took us a good hour an half, using a personal guided tour system which tells your where go and what your looking at through a contraption that looks like a phone and all you have to do is press a button - it was impressive. Following Westminster Abbey we headed to the TATE! We caught the bus over into the most central part of London - London city, and walked across this amazing bridge over to the TATE. We didnt have much time left and most definitely not enough to do it justice, but enough to see some of my favourite artists including the ones I have studied such as Picasso, Braque, Manet, Jackson Pollock, Rothko and Andy Warhol! This was such a cool feeling to be able to see the art I had studied in books and on the internet in real life!!




My favourites were most definitely Pollock, Rothko and Warhol! 

Plus I even arranged to introduce LBC to the greats and managed to get it right up on the walls in the same arena as THE ANDY WARHOL (picture included)


By this time we were ready to pack it in and hopped on the boat sailing up the Thames and heading back home which was lovely and a nice way to end the day. On the way home we walked through Hyde Park which was alive with energy and people flocking to listen outside the gates to Kings of Leon who are playing live in Hyde Park tonight! How great!! It was amazing, people picnicking on the grass outside the fortress - it was a sight to behold indeed!

window displays in London

2010-07-15T14:03:00.003+12:00

Ash sent us some awesome images of window displays in London stores at the moment, we felt very inspired by these!

ash - "hi from LONDON!"

2010-07-15T13:35:00.010+12:00

Our lovely Ash is in Europe at the moment (lucky thing!) & she has been nice enough to share some of the things she is enjoying on her travels............

We are a little behind in updating posts from her, but we'll bring you up to speed right quick!!

DAY ONE

We woke up bright and early on Tuesday and spent the whole day exploring the city including Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park which were all buzzing with energy due to all the tourists visiting for the summer and the general happy vibes for the warm weather!

However, much to my dads dismay, we focused mostly on the shops =)

We hit the big names Oxford and Regent Street, which were both amazing! There was a buzz in the air  and the streets were packed at 10:30 on a Tuesday, however they are the main shopping streets and lots of the stores are somewhat the same so I had dive a bit deeper to find the more interesting boutiques.










First of all we hit both Selfridges and Harrods, the two biggest department stores on the London strips. These stores are wonderful and completely extravagant in the best kind of way, hosting all the big guns such as Chanel, Chloe, Missoni, Dior, all of which were way out of my league in the money department but still nice to look at

All the stores are on sale at the moment which is exciting and we stumbled across Urban Outfitters which was probably the best (bar the department stores) along the two streets, stocking labels including Karen Walker and Peter Jensen from whom I found a cardigan which I am going back to get I've decided tomorrow! 

The top pickings thus far would have to be Carnaby Street! And the streets which stem around it. Its located just off Regent Street and is littered with tons of little boutiques and cute cafes! A place where a store like LBC would fit in quite perfectly. I also managed to get my hands on a nice magazine here which has some very educational information on Londons best stores, which im going to try check off my list before I leave, as well as re-visiting Carnaby Street and doing a little more research. Following our day of exploration we found a yummy greek resturant for dinner which we found out was a popular haunt of Mick Jagger, the Beatles and Dusty Springfield back in the day ;) too cool huh? 
we LOVE the finale pic Ash! xx

sale

2010-07-12T22:04:00.001+12:00