Alexandre Herchcovitch x HP Launch

A few nights ago I had the honor of meeting famed designer Alexandre Herchcovitch at the Style Coalition Lounge for the exclusive North American launch of HP’s newest Designer Edition.  Following in the footsteps of designers like Vivienne Tam and Tord Boontje, Herchcovitch designed a beautiful laptop that was inspired by his autumn/winter 2012 collection featuring black lace on an olive/gold pearlescent background and vice versa on the interior chassis and keyboard that reflects the custom designed screen saver.  This is a laptop that is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside and comes with a matching travel mouse and embossed sleeve.


While sipping on a Caipirinha and snacking on Brazilian inspired snacks like Brazilian BBQ Chicken and Pão de Queijo I had a chance to sit down with Alexandre for a chat about his development process of the laptop, his mom and his opinions on how American and Brazilian women dress.

HP x Style Coalition’s Project Runway Premiere Party

A couple weeks ago in honor of the season premiere of Project Runway, Style Coalition decided to host a truly fabulous party with HP at the Style Coalition Lounge.  Seriously being surrounded by some of my favorite fashion loving ladies with white sangria, macarons, pineapple ice pops, and appetizers after an intense 11 hour work day was just what the doctor ordered. 

All of the above images are courtesy of Ana Schechter Photo

Call me a tech dork but after saying some hello's I ran to play with the HP TouchSmart 610 not even realizing they were part of Style Coalition's own mini Project Runway challenge and began sketching up a storm.  At first I didn't have a sense of the program I was using, but soon enough I got the hang of it and was having a blast.  I previously tried out the TouchSmart TM2 laptop/tablet, but with an even larger work area I had the freedom to create art projects with ease.  I soon started using the back side of a pencil in combination with my finger for precision details and also fluid movement.  I had so much fun that I could use it all day.  I have always been a fan of mixed media, but in my NYC life, don't actually have the room to have too many art supplies.  So I love that the TouchSmart offers a huge variety of tools at your fingertips.  You can jump between pencil, air brush, glitter, crayon and so much more with ease.  Plus there is no need to cleanup tools and forget erasers because with an undo button, you can pretend mistakes or unfortunate lines never even happened.  What do you think of my sketches above?

Here are just some of the sketches that we all created!  Later on in the evening we printed out best work and were judged on our creations.

Check out Jordana of Clutch 22’s fun rendition of Wonder Woman – she won our Project Runway inspired competition for the evening and a great little camcorder to boot!

Between hilarious commentary and tweets we narrowed down our new fave contestants to root for this season.  I couldn't help but cringe at Anya Ayoung-Chee’s lack of sewing skills, be pleasantly surprised at the success of Bert Keeter’s boxer dress and burst out in laughter at Rafael Cox’s unwillingness to part with his do rag.

Thanks HP & Style Coalition for a super fun evening that has me lusting for a TouchSmart of my very own.

PS. HP is currently running a competition to be judged by former Project Runway contestant Mondo Guerra that let’s you put your sketching skills to the test and win your very own HP TouchSmart 610! Four finalists will win an EliteBook Tablet PC - just like the one that the contestant’s use on the show.  What are you waiting for? Get sketching!

Project Runway x HP Design Challenge

Have you been keeping up with Project Runway this season?  I honestly haven’t but I’m honestly intrigued when they have the opportunity to combine technology with fashion and for last night’s challenge contestants were able to instantly create one-of-a-kind fabrics by first creating original fabric patterns on HP TouchSmart PCs with Intel processors, drawing from personal stories and family photographs for inspiration.  I had a chance to test this out personally earlier this year and it was not only super fun but intuitive and easy!

Check out the winning design from last night’s challenge by Mondo Guerra, the 32 year old designer from Denver, Colorado.

On a side note, HP is sitting down with some of this season’s designers to discuss their inspiration, design process and how fashion and technology mix together. If you’re interested in asking any of the designers/contestant’s from the show make sure you submit your questions today, October 1, 2010 via TheNextBench.com or via Twitter to @HP_PC to be join in! 

Windows 7 Eee PC x Karim Rashid Edition

So I’ve been using a brand new Asus Eee PC the past couple weeks thanks to the lovely folks from Microsoft. Yes, being the girly girl that I am, I chose to test drive the shiny hot pink version. It makes me feel a bit like Ms. Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. For the less girly, it also is available in a sleek coffee brown rubberized finish.

Designed by renowned industrial designer Karim Rashid, the rippling tile surface is not only distinctive but it also helps me get a sturdy grip on the machine when moving it from place to place. I love that even the bottom of the netbook although unseen while in use received the same treatment and wasn’t forgotten. The Eee PC also features hidden ports that keep the design seamless and smooth and although it takes a little more time to open them, it will keep the PC clean and random purse debris out.

Super light weight at just under 3 lbs but with a 92% full-size keyboard, it hasn’t taken much time for me to adjust to typing at all. Perhaps the most difficult element is using the shrunken arrows but that is growing on me too. Can’t wait for New York Fashion Week this September because taking this baby on the road will be nothing short of amazing.

It’s been a while since I attended the Windows 7 Launch at Saks so I had to re-learn some of the functional aspects but after watching a few seven second demos I feel like I’m well on my way. After watching the demo’s the updates are definitely more intuitive and user oriented while the overall appearance is less cluttered and cleaner.

I even tried the Windows anytime upgrade to install Windows Premium Home Edition and it was a snap! Yes, being a blogger has exposed me to tech, and I am growing pretty tech savvy when it comes to usability but at the end of the day still lacking in true technical skills! For this I usually enlist my brother’s help in exchange for hemming his pants! Anyways proud to say I upgraded the system without any help (even though in reality I just clicked a button, entered my key code and then Boom! 10 min later DONE!).

Overall, it’s been pretty smooth sailing, battery life has been surprisingly decent and the keyboard is definitely sturdy enough to keep up with even my most aggressive typing! My biggest concern is the monitor resolution that maxes out at 1,024x600. That being said this is the first netbook I am using and while I’m fine with the smaller 10.1” monitor, I really feel if the resolution was higher, I would be able to make the most of my screen space without constantly scrolling to get the full picture on most websites.

On a side note, I’m in the market for a new laptop to use for blogging at home but I’m sort of torn on the PC vrs Apple front. I’ve truthfully always been a PC girl, but working in design I’ve always been told MacBook’s are preferable and I had been aspiring to own one the last year. Lately a few of my friends, Lani and Jeff included, have been having some major issues with their MacBook's that are making me re-consider my other options.

Right now I am drawn to the sleek design element of the ASUS Bamboo. Forget wood grain and leather! I'm all about wood grain and aluminum. I love how this design element carries even to the inside! Plus I love that it incorporates sustainable design elements like super fast growing bamboo and 15% less plastic than most other laptops. The ASUS Bamboo is currently on promo on Amazon to get $150 cash back with purchase. The other PC that I’m considering is the HP TouchSmart tm2 notebook that I had the chance to play with a few months back for the incredible drawing potential!

What kind of laptop are you using and why do you like it?

HP x Project Runway Event

Last Friday I had the opportunity to attend a HP x Project Runway brunch where I got to see how HP's technology was being used on the show by the current contestants of Project Runway. Their most recent challenge was to create a print using HP TouchSmart PCs and bring them to life by first printing on fabric and then creating showstopping design. HP TouchSmart PCs integrate a high-definition widescreen display with a multitouch-enabled screen. Users can simply pinch, rotate, flip or drag a finger across the screen of the PC to create designs in a natural, intuitive way.

I met some of the contestants including Emilio, Jay and Seth Aaron and got to see their designs up close. Jay kindly explained how the challenge although not his favorite was definitely up there as it was amazing to see their original print designs come to life in the blink of an eye (or at least a 24 hr turnaround). HP had developed huge digital printers to print onto cotton sateen for a relatively soft fabric with super vibrant colors. Jay said the toughest part was actually picking the exact shade of green he wanted to use from thousands to create his perfect Ninja inspired corset girl look.

Emilio later showed me how to use the print creating program and set a repeat and it was as easy and fun as 1, 2, 3!

I tried my hand at creating my own print and only wish that I could have seen it come to life as I think it would have made for a fun dress. The touch screen took a little getting used to but it was fun to "draw" shapes with your fingers or even the end of a Sharpie to create something truly one-of-a-kind. Not too shabby, right?

I also got the chance to experiment a little with the HP TouchSmart tm2 notebook which features a screen that can be rotated around and converted to slate mode, morphing it into a sketchpad with digital pen. This notebook actually comes standard with this Corel Draw software so any aspiring artist can sketch their hearts out. To be honest, drawing on a computer vrs drawing on paper has a bit of a different feel but once you get used to it it can be quite fun. I think the freedom of knowing that no line is permanent as there is an undo button and the special effects really can add to a drawing.

Also, if you don't want to buy or have a million art supplies (perhaps due to a small NYC apartment) there are a wide variety of tools that you can play with from spray paint to sponge brush effects. I was thinking my next notebook might be a MAC, but this drawing program alone makes for a strong case to change my mind :) After all my current laptop (also an HP) has served me pretty well over the last 4 years.

Finally the highlight of my day was meeting designer Vivienne Tam. She is quite an extraordinary, intelligent woman. She makes me feel at ease by clasping my hand gently like a dear friend and asking if she has met me before.

She explains, "When I started my business I couldn't afford very expensive materials... so I created my own prints to make my designs special, and people recognize my designs and it has become my signature". She actually hopes that last week's episode of Project Runway, "inspires a lot of people to create their own prints, and create something for yourself...Make your own clothes, make something special and feel special. Because everyday of life if you are creative it will make your life fruitful and beautiful and enjoyable...Why play [video] games when you can play around with prints?"

Vivienne Tam not surprisingly is quite the tech savvy lady as she shows off her digital clutch and tells me how she works on prints digitally everyday! She starts telling me about the butterfly headphones that come with her clutch and I ask her if she is a big fan of music as I know that Beats by Dr.Dre was an integral part of her digital clutch. She enthusiastically shares, "Fashion plus technology plus music is Triple Happiness!". I can't help but agree!

Laptop for Women?

Vivienne Tam in partnership with HP launches perhaps the first laptop geared at women today. The computer will have an interior & exterior designed by Tam to match her Spring 2009 Collection. The laptop will cost $700 and weighs only 2 lbs while still featuring a near full size keyboard (92%).

The top of the notebook is gleaming red and bursting with peony flowers. The peony design is also on the inside the notebook, under the keypad. The notebook also features a complementary embroidered storage sleeve that helps keep the exterior protected while being carried as a clutch.

The HP Mini Vivienne Tam Edition will be sold at the Vivienne Tam's SoHo Boutique in the spring but is currently available for pre-order through HP, and will ship in early December. A plain version in black, pink or silver will also be available in November, but why would you want a plain version?

See Vivienne Tam talk about the laptop here.
P.S. Did you notice that she's wearing the matching print dress to her laptop?