Converging with a major trend in branding, Diet Pepsi asked HGTV star designer Vern Yip to come up with a new limited-edition mini-can that will invite consumers to "Sip in Style" this spring. The soon-to-hit shelves can continues the brands' multi-platform "Love Every Sip" campaign that has starred Sofia Vergara in TV ads.

While arguably Yip comprises only a "light" instance of the phenomenon, Diet Pepsi's collaboration with him also adds to the growing number of partnerships between celebrities and brands to fill or originate "creative director" spots, including Alicia Keys and BlackBerry, Swizz Beatz and Reebok, Marc Jacobs and Diet Coke, Polaroid and Lady Gaga, Bud Light Platinum and Justin Timberlake and Intel and Will.i.am.Continue reading...

Sex sells, right? Well, Louis Vuitton apparently thinks so as its clothing is the star of a new (NSFW) short film that features a few of its top models acting the parts of prostitutes in the dark streets of Paris.

A naked woman in the backseat of a car, a half-dressed woman swaying down an alley, a woman undressing in front of a car’s headlights and a slew of come-hither looks fill up the new film that was produced by the U.K.'s Love Magazine and directed by James Lima.

Watch the NSFW video after the jump.Continue reading...

Michael Kors may very well be the most influential person in New York fashion—or at least the one with the most business prowess. 

The brand was just named the most-searched American fashion brand worldwide, beating out prominent names like Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein in a study by Digital Luxury Group.

Launched in the early 80's, the designer's clothing and accessories company continues to beat Wall Street expectations and reel in more HENRYS, or "High Earners Not Rich Yet" shoppers, with fashionable yet accessible handbags, watches and sportswear. Rightfully so, the designer's Fall 2013 collection debuted at New York Fashion Week with a survival theme, perhaps a reflection of its leading man's reputation in the industry. 

Arguably the new Coach, Kors claimed market share from its rival accessories manufacturer after the holiday shopping season. Coach has seen a slowdown as of late, with competitors like Tory Burch and Kate Spade—both of which appeared in the most-searched top 10—taking a strong stand in the luxury goods market.Continue reading...

Coca-Cola has spent plenty of bucks on making iconic ads in the past, but its latest 60-second spot is coming from a low-priced source—a fan of the brand—while the company just revealed a trio of new cans designed by global creative director Marc Jacobs. The details on the latest moves in the cola wars:Continue reading...

The list reads like a Who’s Who of A-list celebrities: Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Victoria Beckham, Swizz Beatz, will.i.am. But it's not a concert bill.

Instead, it's a list of stars who have recently agreed to serve as creative directors for brands — a trend that seems to blur the lines between star bling and business acumen.

Bud Light Platinum is the latest, announcing this week that it's inked deal with Justin Timberlake “to provide creative, musical and cultural curation for the brand.” The collaboration is to debut at Sunday’s 55th Grammy Awards via an ad, "Platinum Night," which features his latest single, "Suit & Tie." "Bud Light Platinum brings a refined, discerning aesthetic to beer that plays well with what I'm doing," Timberlake stated in a press release.Continue reading...

Louis Vuitton's Spring/Summer 2013 women's ready-to-wear show in Paris on Oct. 3rd raised eyebrows not only with the unusual choice of venue (a bank of escalators at the Louvre) but the fact that there was nary a logo in sight. There were plenty of checks, splats and other dramatic, bold and graphic elements in a retro nod to the mod 60's ("joie sixties") from designer Marc Jacobs, but no iconic LV logo anywhere for the luxury brand. The fashion show was also covered live on Instagram and streamed worldwide via Facebook. Check it out, so to speak, below.Continue reading...

Louis Vuitton today released a closer look at its year-long collaboration with Japan's dot-happy avant-garde artist Yoyoi Kusama. In addition to the limited-edition collection featuring her iconic polka dots, the brand is sponsoring her current Whitney museum exhibition in New York and released a book and iPhone app in support. Its new video walk-through of the pop-up store at Printemps Paris, above, gives a closer look at one of seven Kusama-centric Vuitton in-store boutiques around the world.

In an unprecedented move at one of those co-branded retail installations, Selfridges is devoting all 24 windows at its London flagship to the Vuitton x Kusama collection through Oct. 1st, including producing two short films titled "Spot the Difference" for the takeover and extending the Kusama craze to a Tate Modern tie-in. More on why Louis Vuitton designer Marc Jacobs and Vuitton's partners are besotted with Kusama's dots below.Continue reading...

Paris to Shanghai, by train. The concept alone dredges up an atmosphere of yesteryear, when Orient Express-style train travel was the luxury way to travel. And what two cities summon that fabulous yesteryear better than Paris and Shanghai, a city once hailed as "Paris of the East?"

That nostalgic sentiment is what Louis Vuitton is tapping into for its new campaign, "Louis Vuitton Express" — which kicked off this week with a teaser video, "Paris to Shanghai by Train by The Selby," — as the digital extension of an event marketing campaign that's rolling online, on YouTube and on Facebook from the brand's French HQ to its new China HQ.

But who or what, you might ask, is "The Selby?" And will "The Selby" be enough to get Vuitton back in the good graces of Chinese luxury buyers who have recently come to treat the the brand kind of like locomotive travel — a relic of the past?Continue reading...