It has become a yearly appointment, I have to go back to Florence at least once a year. Most of the time it is for work, and sometimes and I can squeeze in a long weekend of relax. I have my own list of things to see and places that I haven't visited yet because I've taking it slowly every time. During this last visit the mission was to go around and try to get lost in the streets. This way I discovered an amazing place 'The Rose Garden' by created in 1865 by Giuseppe Poggi, who also has designed the famous Piazzale Michelangelo.

Florence it is not just a city, it is an experience. This time I got an experience even with my stay, which was at an artist's apartment booked with Solo Affitti Vacanze, which was located in the very center of the city, behind the famous Duomo. A perfect location for shopping, visiting museums and partying. But what struck me more was the inspiration that the apartment and its interior design gave me during the stay. Surrounded by oil paint supplies like brushes and palettes it looked like an invitation to try my artistic skills, skills that I don't have for sure but that I didn't know I wanted to have. My walls at home are white with no paintings on, so seeing the creations by the artist that owned the apartment I started thinking of giving it a try.

I'm back now from Florence and haven't acted yet on my desire to try painting, but now that I'm looking again at the photos that desire emerges again. Experiences like this are unique, that is why I have stopped booking hotels and I am renting every time someone else's home.  Entering someone else's world and this time it felt like I was the artist for those 2 days spent in Florence.

 Check out the trip video recap #007MissioneVacanza

*This post is written in collaboration with Solo Affitti Vacanze.

I remember the first car that did fascinate me as a child. It was a neighbor's  white pickup from the late 80s and he didn't mind letting us children play with it. We didn't have the keys or anything, but we were allowed to jump inside and travel with our imagination. We would first fight on who'd be driving, then once that was settled the driver would pick the location and 10 children would be going all together in an imaginary trip to the Sahara desert, the Chinese Wall or the Machu Picchu. Since that early age my fascination with cars has always been about the trip itself and the experience of getting to the destination.

The day I got my driving licence I was not able to park at all, I remember clearly the instructor yelling ' Your parking skills are terrible, you can't be driving in a city and go shopping' to which I answered 'I'm not going shopping sir, I'm going on a road trip'.

Today sometimes I go shopping, but the driving experience I enjoy most is a journey to somewhere, anywhere. Those journeys can be also organized inside the city and this Milan Design Week I'm taking one of those city journeys, visiting all the design districts around Milan for 6 days with the new Lexus NX Hybrid. 

[caption id="attachment_9528" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Fuori Salone 2015[/caption]

The first stop was the at the Lexus: Journey of The Senses exhibition in Via Tortona 32. The space is designed as an experience showing how much important are the senses to the driving experience. Designed by French designer Philippe Nigro the 'Inside Out' concept enables visitors to experience beauty from every angle. The various zones stimulate different senses so that we can make new discoveries.

Zone 1: Engaging the Senses gives us a look into the future with the display of the Lexus concept car surrounded by hundreds of mirrors that reflect every angle and car details.

Zone 2: Exploring the Senses is based on the works of 12 designers that were invited to explore the theme of 'Senses' and interpret it across a wide range of disciplines. From fashion to engineering, 12 innovative ideas have taken shape.

Zone 3: Experiencing the Senses through a tasting experience done in some non-ordinary settings. Moving on through a series of latticework cocoons that evoke the Lexus philosophy of 'Inide Out' every cocoon has it's own tasting from chef Hajime Yoneda who takes from its own Lexus driving experience and develops the food concept. Entering the first cocoon I was immersed in the experience of driving in a rainy day. While rain sounds and sights were something I was already acquitted with, when the tasting moment of 'raindrops' made of sparkling candy came I wasn't ready for the sensation of feeling raindrops in my mouth. The second experience is about beauty of the nature in a cocoon that resembles the inside of a tree, with the sounds of a growing forest and the tasting of the ‘life force of a tree’ wrapped in cacao butter that when bitten releases fresh aromas of greenery.  The third experience is about hospitality, and what better representation than the Earth itself that with its gifts of water, air and nature welcomes us all. A warm soup for the tasting, a sky full of stars from outer space as a surrounding and mother Earth in the center of the room is the experience that reflects the Lexus commitment to the planet's future with itshybrid technology.

[caption id="attachment_9516" align="aligncenter" width="700"] LEXUS AN EXPERIENCE OF EXHILARATION[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_9515" align="aligncenter" width="700"] LEXUS EXPERIENCING BEAUTY INSIDE OUT[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_9517" align="aligncenter" width="700"] LEXUS EXPERIENCING THE LIFE FORCE OF EARTH[/caption]

*This post is in collaboration with Lexus. Follow all the updates on Milan Design Week with Lexus NX Hybrid on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook

During this Milan Fashion Week I collaborated with MAC Cosmetics who followed my around the  runway shows to get a perspective on the Autumn Winter 2015 collections. A journey discovering what is beauty in these times. Times when we are overwhelmed by so many images sending us different messages on what we should look like, what we should wear and how we need to fit in the ever changing standards.

I strongly believe in positive body image and promoting self-confidence that's why working with MAC Cosmetics a brand that supports diversity and has us accept beauty as not a standard but as diversity, was such an amazing experience. With make up collections that aren't there to make us fit into an idealized image but help us express ourselves creatively MAC provides a myriad of easy and beautiful options for women.

Check out the video with commentaries from me and Michele Magnani, MAC's Italian Make Up Artist.

As the World turns around, Milan Fashion Week 2015 comes again. It feels like yesterday that we were talking about Spring Summer 2015 trends and now with the sunny warm days still 1 months away we start talking about Fall Winter 2015 2016 trends. The fashion world has its own calendar  Thank god for street style and all the beautiful people outside the shows that will fight the Milan cold and show their picks for Spring Summer 2015.

I've already prepared all my summer wardrobe for the days ahead, while praying for the rain to stop. More than looking for my 15 minutes of fame through 'out of the ordinary' looks, I keep on wearing my favorite shapes and cuts, let it be winter or summer. Fashion Week to me feels like every other week with the only difference being, I get to wear heels 7 days in a row. A personal take on style is key to being comfortable and always happy with what we are wearing. Following trends can be done without renouncing to what we love from our wardrobes.

This Spring Summer 2015 Gingham print, or as I call it the picnic blanket, is a major trend, so while looking to personalize the trend I picked this San Andres Milano skirt and cape that is more colorful and better fits my own style. Maybe no one looking at this would think of Gingham after all, but that was just the start of the process in picking a SS15 oufit for Milan Fashion Week.

With outfits we have fun, while it is the accessories that need more attention to detail as they need to adapt to different style choices. For this Milan Fashion Week 2015 the Omega Ladymatic watch will be the fil rouge to my style picks. With its mother-of-pearl dial, a bazel covered in diamonds and a gold case it calls to be worn with romantic dresses and luxurious coats. I'll have to keep up the standard to Nicole Kidman, who is the ambassador for this watch. When I visited Vienna to attend the Omega Enchanted Night, it was with this watch that I fell in love with first sight. Such loves are hard to forgive.

Omega Ladymatic Co-Axial 34mm watch

San Andres Milano Spring Summer 2015 skirt and cape

Sebastian Shoes

 

The day I was given this vintage dress by my boyfriend's mother I was over the moon. She tells me that everyone in the Milan of  the 60s and 70s would go through a long process to get dressed, starting with doing research in the magazines, going fabric shopping and then ending at their personal tailor to get the dress made. A dress that would last for years and in this case even for decades and still be stylish. Nowadays this process is called by the fancy name of 'slow wear' and we are all trying to build wardrobes that make sense and don't go out of fashion.  This made me think of what is in my own wardrobe that my daughter would love to wear in 30 years time. My list came down to 8 dresses, lots of coats, a few bags and hopefully she will be size 39 to get the chance to wear all my (unworn) shoe collection.

Trends come and go, the only thing we are  left with is style, a personal style that is timeless. Timeless like the Omega Constellation watch, part of a family of watches that were first launched under this name by Omega 1952. Just like fashion, the watch has changed a lot during the decades, while always being defined by a style of elegant cases and dials with ultra-precise movements.  Todays design on my wrist was introduced in 1982 featuring the four "griffes" which originally held the sapphire crystal in place and helped ensure the watch remained waterproof. Given its success at the time, it has become the design standard for the Constellation line.

Watches embed better than any other accessory the concept of eternity, being a perfect gift that can be inherited by many generations to come. While I'm still hoping for my daughter to have a shoe size of 39, at least I don't have to worry about giving her a time piece like this one given that they come with adjustable wristbands. A perfect gift of love, with the watch ticking and counting every cherished moment spent together.

Wearing

Constellation Omega Co-Axial 35 MM

Vintage Dress

Vintage fur coat

*In collaboration with Omega. Check out all the looks of the #OmegaInMovement Project on Facebook