shepard fairey's saks shopping bags

street artist shepard fairey, best known for his instantly recognizable obama posters with words like "change" and "hope" at the bottom, has brought himself to design something a bit more commercial (as if it were even possible): the new saks bags!

the soviet union's old propoganda campaigns and posters were inspiration for the designs, and of course, america's 3 favorite colors red, white and blue were the color palette.

this is kind of awesome, kind of bizarre and all kinds of ridiculous.

economizer: a quick report on luxury

the luxury industry seems to be doing poorly, with saks' sales down by a whopping $99 million, neiman marcus down an even more astonishing $509 million, barney's holding all orders for spring collections until their finances are sorted out, and tiffany's eliminating their pearl jewelry in stores.

lvmh and hermes, however, seem to be faring much better: both report higher sales this season. so how do they do it? according to marketwatch, handbags are still on-trend for the masses (even though most fashionistas confirm that the it-bag is no longer fashionable, and i agree). it's a bad time to be in retail.

i say this, yet the wsj declares that my beloved zara seems to doing juuust fine, reporting improved sales amongst young shoppers, and challenging the gap as a top retailer in the states. cheap and chic is in, and even tha kaiser agrees (to a point). more on him next.