Dries Van Noten One of Fashions Most Cerebral De Essays

Dries Van Noten: One of Fashion's Most Cerebral Designers BUF 1101 Humzah Butt City Tech/CUNY December 1, 2017 Dries Van Noten: One of Fashion's Most Cerebral Designers Introduction A corner of Antwerp belongs to a man, whose boutique "Het Modepaleis" with an 1881 original sign with gold serif typeface affectionately restored, sits on Nationalestraat's corner. This distinct five-story triangular building has enough grandeur for a petite department store. Designer Dries Van Noten bought this shop in 1989, three years after he had launch his label into the fashion market. It was perhaps a heroic move for a fledgling company, however the purchase is now the designer's permanent landmark in the city. Dries Van Noten is renowned for his mastery of exquisite fabrics and his eye for and innovation of prints, embroideries and color. His singular creative process draws inspiration from many varied creative fields, from art to cinema, music to the performing arts. Any garment from Dries Van Noten should not be bought simply for its cut because the shape of every garment is architecturally sound. Background Van Noten was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1958. He is the third generation in a family of tailors. At the age of 18, Dries entered the fashion design course of Antwerp's Royal Academy. After he graduated, he started to freelance as a consultant designer before he started his own collection of menswear in 1986 "Noten, D. V. (n.d.). Biography. Retrieved December 02, 2017, from http://www.driesvannoten.be/biography/)". In September of 1989, Van Noten opened his first boutique in Antwerp's gallery arcade only to move into "Het Modepaleis" months later which remains his flagship store until this very day. Noten's father had hoped that Dries would do a degree in business and manage the family trade. Dries Van Noten's dream was much different than his father's because Noten desired to become a designer. His parents didn't agree with his dream and warned him that if he wanted to do something that he likes then he would have to support himself financially. This harsh statement from his parents made the designer into a hard-working and self-sufficient man. From the beginning, Dries Van Noten has always made sure that his every single piece of garment he designs doesn't look like anything he has made or seen before. Noten's work is a refusal to concede to trends and whims but rather an image that is impossible to copy or duplicate. A Dries Van Noten piece will never be mistaken for anyone else's. Dries Van Noten stayed to his childhood roots and resides in a house situated on a seven-acre plot of land outside of Antwerp with his partner Patrick Vangheluwe. Market Segment(s) Dries Van Noten does things differently. For 30 years his intelligent designs, in lush artisanal fabrications, rich colors and flattering silhouettes have been worn by independent women who care deeply about looking stylish but care little for extreme fashion ability. Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and Rihanna all wear Van Noten's clothes "Ellison, J. (2017, March 21). Dries Van Noten on the secret of his label's success. Retrieved December 03, 2017, from https://howtospendit.ft.com/womens-style/200373-dries-van-noten-on-the-secret-of-his-label-s-success". Design Dries Van Noten named his company after himself because his clothing and designs represents him in every perspective in life. As a base for his designs, Dries Van Noten uses standard tailoring lines and prefers traditional materials, to which he then adds his own personal touch by subtly changing the classic appearances by superimposing refined, rustic materials with vibrant and dark colors, that works as half-tints "English, V. (2012, September 26). Dries Van Noten. Retrieved December 03, 2017, from http://en.vogue.fr/vogue-list/thevoguelist/dries-van-noten-/1132". If one word can coincide with Van Noten's design, the word would be "Authenticity". The name Dries Van Noten has become synonymous with Belgian avant-garde fashion. Every season again he succeeds in surprising fashion critics with the most enchanting collections. Ethnic prints, atypical patterns and beautiful clothes which are always highly wearable: that's what the Dries Van Noten style is all about. Van Noten's styling is eclectic and works for very different bodies and women and men of all ages. He designs timeless clothes, which you will love to wear for years on end. Promotion Dries Van Noten started his company by opening his first and now flagship store in Antwerp, Belgium.

blackholes essays

blackholes essays Stars are affected by two main forces: Nuclear fusion, and gravitation Black Holes are the result of an imbalance of these two forces. Nuclear fusion- the outward force from the star's centre and gravitation- the force pulling inwards. These two processes balance one another until all the star's hydrogen is exhausted, allowing gravitation to take over. Once gravitation dominates, the star becomes unstable and starts to collapse. As the core compresses, it heats up and results in a supernova explosion in which the material and radiation blasts out into space. If what remains of the star is greater than 3 times the mass of our sun, it will continue to collapse and form a black hole. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity suggests that the most densest and massive objects conceivable, such as black holes, have gravity that is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape their grasp. I do not fully understand Einsteins general theory of relativity but Im going to try and give everyone a very basic understanding of why Einstein thought space and time are not separate but closely connected known as space-time. When we describe the position of a flying plane we can use length, width and height these make up the three dimensions of space. But another dimension can be used time, these four dimensions make up space-time. The fundamental aspect of general relativity is effect that matter, with a gravitational field, has on the curvature of space, rather on the four dimensional space-time. One way to visualise Einsteins view of gravity was to think of the rubber sheet analogy described in many texts. In order to understand this, consider a sheet of rubber, with a weight placed on it, to represent a star. The weight will form a depression in the rubber, causing the sheet near the star to be curved, rather than flat. If one now rolls marbles on the ...

Entreprenuerism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Entreprenuerism - Essay Example The researcher states that there are many facts, that to be understood from the interview with Jay Townsend, who is a mediocre entrepreneur in New York City. The main factor which attracted the researcher to him was the amount of energy and high spirit embedded in this charismatic business man. The researcher states that it is like he is seeing the same young man, who has started his venture in an adverse business environment with all positive energy and determination. Generally speaking, it can be understood that an entrepreneur is not a normal man, but one with exceptional courage, will power, creativity and dynamic personality. He has this ever sparking aura in him that attracts people around him to perform things which are productive and positive. It can be analyzed that starting a venture can be relatively easy, than making it a successful business firm in the competitive market. The researcher learnt from Jay that being optimistic and realistic is the key elements to be a succe ssful entrepreneur. â€Å"Successful entrepreneur has fire in the belly to get going, but are also realistic and practical. They are not emotionally attached to their business idea.† To make a business run successfully needs a lot of patience and understanding of customer needs and wants. One should be ready to suffer losses and failures and consequently to rise ahead in the future with a long term success and prosperity. No business is a cake walk, but a tremendous team work and significant risk taking can make it an adventurous experience.

The Painting Reclining Woman on the Beach Essay

The Painting Reclining Woman on the Beach - Essay Example The essay "The Painting Reclining Woman on the Beach" explores Pablo Picasso's painting. This painting Reclining Woman on the Beach has two distinct and strongly contrasting elements, the first being the woman and the beach she is lying on, and the second being the mountains and sky that serve as a background to the image. The woman and the beach she is lying on both use thick lines and broad, sweeping curves to define their shapes, while the mountain tops in the background are jagged geometric affairs like triangular teeth cutting into the sky, which creates offset parallel strucutures between the sky and the mountains – that is, if you mirrored the sky over a horizontal plane of the painting, it would make the shape of the mountains, and the mountains would make the shape of the sky. The coloration in the two main elements are also vastly different – the woman is predominantly pale or pearly, but has many dashes of different colors throughout her body, that fade in an d out gradually – green in some places, purple in others and so on. The mountains and sky, on the other hand, are broad swaths of a single color, with the mountains having distinct blotches of white on them. The jagged mountain tops serve as a geometrical counterpoint to the curve of the woman, emphasizing her curviness and underscoring the fundamental importance of curves to a woman’s beauty or form. Furthermore, the softy changing colors on the woman’s body could indicate aging, and imply mutability, which combined with her soft curves. contrast with the broad expanses of unchanging colors on the mountains and the sky, reminding the viewer about the corruptibility of beauty and the frailty of life, especially when compared with the age old mountains that go on essentially unchanged. With all this contrast, Picasso ties together the two elements by treating them with broadly the same light and texture to create a unified work out of all of these disparate parts . There are many elements of design present that touch on similar topics to the elements of form. The scale of the woman, who takes up the vast majority of the space on the canvas, both implies the woman is in the foreground (obviously) but also puts her in a relative position of power over the mountains, which are made subordinate by their less imposing size. She even casts a shadow on the mountains, making it appear that they are in fact close behind her and she is simply massive, further reinforcing her importance. The mountains are essentially the same shape, repeated again and again, which serves to emphasize their regularity and eternal nature, which calls the viewer’s attention to how unique the woman reclining on the beach is, that she is one-of-a kind, and that every person, while sharing forma similarities to other people, is completely unique. This composition is notably lacking in white space, with the closest things being the sky in the background and the orange shape that takes up a portion of the right side of the screen. This both makes the woman seem to be the negative space, but also gives a crowded compositional element to contrast to the woman’s apparent ease. The content of this work appears to be an analysis of the woman’s form, a kind of toying with it that over-emphasizes some shapes while under-emphasizing others. The ratio of the woman’s head to the rest of her body may be a telling indication of the focus of the piece, which could be set to objectify the woman who is at its heart. It also touches on themes of beauty, of the unique visual nature of each individual human, and of the soft, changing mutability of human nature in contrast to the

Marketing and the Information Technology Sector Research Paper

Marketing and the Information Technology Sector - Research Paper Example An analysis would consider the physical characteristics of the product and therefore its transportation and storage needs, the promotional activities associated with the product, the sensitivity of sale volumes of the product to price changes, and what distribution coverage is best met by customer demand for the product, i.e. whether the product should have mass distribution or a more exclusive distribution. Depending on the coverage of distribution required, the marketer would then be able to decide whether to use resellers, such as wholesalers or retailers, to assist with getting the product to the customer, or to use specialty service firms who would act as brokers in bringing the customer to the product. Another important aspect the marketer has to consider in choosing channel partners is the type of relationship, whether independent or dependent arrangements would be used to move the product to the customer. 2. How effective is the Tutorial in presenting the material: In covering the issues related to product distribution, the material provided in the tutorial can be easily understood by those without any marketing experience. In providing links to specific issues, the reader need not go through the entire tutorial but can select a topic that is of interest, and summary charts, such as those in the Wholesalers and Retailers section are well used to assist the reader with assimilating all the information in a topic. Given the breadth of information available in the tutorial, there are aspects of the tutorial that do not provide the depth of information required by some marketing specialists thus requiring further research elsewhere. Unfortunately, the tutorial does not provide any sources for further information.  Ã‚  

Unions And The Hotel Industry Management Essay

Unions And The Hotel Industry Management Essay While trade unions have been a significant factor for workers in the United States, beginning in the late 18th century and peaking in 1945 when 35 percent of the non-agricultural workforce was unionized, it is no secret that the membership of trade unions in the private sector has significantly been declining. The reason for decline may be the globalization of products, completion with overseas competition with overseas manufacturers causing a decline in sales; and work may be. Several studies point to compositional changes in the U.S. labor force in terms of demographic, industrial, or occupational factors (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). In addition, the cost of union workers have also become so expensive that it may be difficult for some industries to compete. Recently both Chrysler and General Motors went through bankruptcies primarily to regain the ability to compete by disavowing union contracts which impose specific wages and benefits that the company said they could no longer afford. While the service/hospitality industry in the past was a weak section of the union movement, it is now seen a ripe target for the unions to increase their membership (Source.. BLS). Given the low wages, poor job security, lack of trust of corporations and managers, and for many English not being their first language (which often increases the fear of asking for something), it was only a matter of time that hotel workers would embrace the idea and welcome someone coming in and saying they can make their life better with increased, wages, benefits and working conditions. It should be noted that even with the decline of numbers, unions are still an influential force. (Silverman, Jacob. how Labor Unions Work. June 2007. How Stuff Works.http://money.how stuff works.com/labor.union.htm June 26 2010 and it hopes to be an influential force within the hospitality industry. John Wilhelms said What workers in this industry need, what the country needs is a permanent campaign to do in the service sector what we did in the manufacturing 70 years ago: transform low-wage work into decent jobs that give people the opportunity to make it into the middle class. (Source). With all this being said the large percentage of hotel workers are not union members yet. In fact approximately 8% of hospitality workers are union members. However, with the new CARD CHECK, and the feeling of powerlessness in their employment, time is coming. But the question is why? Every hotelier knows that people are our business and people are our greatest resource to profits, yet many in the hospitality industry have forgotten about their prime asset, their workers This paper reviews certain key human relations practices at leading luxury hotel companies and the goals and methods of the leading trade union representing hotel and hospitality workers in the United States and Canada. The purpose is to assess whether the HR practices employed by leading luxury hotel companies are compatible with the goals and methods of the leading hospitality union. In this paper we will look at the unions within the hospitality industry, goals of the employees and the methods the leading trade union representing hotel and hospitality workers in the United States are using. We will also look at leading luxury hotel companies, some of which have been named in the top 100 companies to work, and assess whether the HR practices employed by leading luxury hotel companies are compatible with the goals and methods of the leading hospitality union. (Fortune). The objective herein is to assess whether the human resource practices employed by these hotels are compatible with those of the unions is to provide an understanding of unions within the hospitality industry as well as to assess whether these leading luxury hotels human resource practices are compatible with the goals of the unions. The questions are: a) with good human resource practices do we need unions and b) if unions are here to stay, can we work as partners with benefit to both industries. To achieve these goals, this paper will first provide a short history of unions which will include the methods of which they are presently using to increase membership of the hotel workers. We will look at the specific goals of the employees and how it relates to unions within the industry; how lack of attaining these goals may be impacting the industry. The luxury hotels we focus on are Marriott and the Four Seasons. Review of Union History Unions in the United States date back to the 18th century, with its first strike by the printers in New York City, in 1794. The issues then were not much different from today; a shorter work week and an increase in wages. The idea of coming to together to achieve a common goal was began to take hold in the 1800s. Workers as a Federation were seeking shorter work hours, from a 12 to 10 hour work week. In the beginning of the 20th century the union membership rose to 6.78 percent of workers to 13.24 percent in 1936. In 1945, shortly after World War II and a booming economy, the unions reached their peak with 35% of the industrial and manufacturing work force becoming members. Even the great hotels in large American Cities were unionized at that time. (Summer 2006). Unions and the Hotel Industry While during the peak of the labor movement, great hotels in American Cities were unionized, today approximately 8% of hotel workers belong to a union. Even considering the general decline in union members, the gap is quite significant. What happened? Characteristically hotel workers are low paid, work for tips, and due to large turnover they are not around long enough to be in a bargaining position throughout their career. Considering that at that time they did not fit the conventional union pattern, unions went on to the automotive, industrial, and manufacturing sectors. However, with the outsourcing of materials, competitive products from overseas and loss of dominance from many of the manufacturing and industrial industries, these industries are not as prominent as they once were. It appears that what once caused the service industry to be neglected by unions, now may be become their holy grail (Sherwyn, Eigen and Wagner, 2006à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.The Hotel Industrys Summer of 2006) UN ITE AND HERE joined forces to become UNITE HERE in 2004 and are putting 50% of their national budget to organize the non organized as that is their goal and main focus. ((Sherwyn, Eigen and Wagner, 2006à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.The Hotel Industrys Summer of 2006) UNITEs John Wilhelms said What workers in this industry need, what the country needs is a permanent campaign to do in the service sector what we did in the manufacturing 70 years ago: transform low-wage work into decent jobs that give people the opportunity to make it into the middle class. (Source). Why do the workers of the hospitality industry want to organize? Everyone wants their fair share of the pie and power comes with numbers. What they want is improved wages, better working hours, better working condition, benefits and job security. It is interesting to note that while the hospitality membership is growing in the United States, Great Britain still has difficulty unionizing this group. The reasons are similar, low pay, low j ob security, high labor turnover and arbitrary management. Current interviews with managers in Scotland concurred early studies that there is tension by the managers as well as reluctance to accept a need for union for union representation. In fact they believe that unions are irrelevant. What do hotel workers want that they feel the unions can get for them? What do they want and what goals does the Union have for them? Better Wages, job security, safe environment to work and respect. Since the 1980s the hotel industry has been steadily growing. Even with the glitch after 9/11, the industry is growing, yet the salaries of hotel workers are not keeping up. The median salary of most hotel workers like, housekeepers, doormen, servers, bell hops have not kept up with the median salary of the average U.S. worker. (This of course is without tips). Moreover, the gap between the high earner and low earner in this industry has grown wider and wider, creating more anger and distrust towards management. Back in 2000, for hotel service workers, the median wage was $8.62 per hour, $3.41 per hour below the overall median hourly wage of $12.03 (These wages may not include tips for such workers as waiters and waitresses, bartenders, and bellhops.) The wage gap between high- and low-wage hotel workers has grown during the last two decades. In 1979, high-wage hotel workers earned 240 percent of what their low-wage counterparts earned and in 2000, 325 percent of what their low wage counterpart workers earned. Moreover, the disparity between high and low wage earners was larger in the hospitality industry that in several others even if the overall wage levels are similar, including meatpacking, nursing homes, building services, laundry services, department stores, grocery stores, and child care. (Bureau of Statistics) Even more disparaging are the non-supervisory hotel employees salary with the CEOs of a number of chains these people work for. For example, the Hyatt CEO earns 3,670,913 per year which calculates to $1,835.46 per hour; Starwoods ($ 8,240,034 per year/ $4,120.02 per hour); Marriott ($4,280,311 per year/$2,140.16 per hour) and Wyndham ($6,095,801/ $3,047.90 per hour. Source: Proxy Statements for annual meetings filed with US Securities and Exchange Commission available at: www.sec.gov With regards to a safe environment; blue collar and service workers have a higher risk of injury, work related injuries and exposure to chemicals. (Public Health Reports/September 2007/Volume 122 670-679). Without a union, many service workers may never get the opportunity to express their concerns and needs regarding their job related health issues. However, with the union behind the worker, a 40 year old immigrant from Aguascalientes, Mexico was able to do just that. As part of a campaign to raise awareness regarding health perils in the hotel housekeeping, she will be able to improve her workplace environment and will not have to trade their health for any wage. Housekeepers have a high rate of pain with some having to take pain pills before going to work. In addition the rate of injury among housekeepers is almost twice as much as other service workers. Because this worker is in a unionized hotel, she can now seek medical health, where others working in a non unionized environmen t have no insurance, thus impeding their ability to obtain care. Opportunities to improve the health of a worker is a benefit to not only management but to the public as well. This was further demonstrated in a study reported by in Public Health Reports. (Public Health Reports/ September October 2007. Even though every employer has to follow the Occupational Safety Health Act, the environment can sometimes be unsafe and unhealthy; such has cleaning materials and second hand smoke. Union Contract Provisions Reviewing the union contract between Sunstone Hotel Properties, Inc. and UNITE HERE Local 21 of Rochester, Minnesota for the period September 5, 2005 through August 31, 2010, a number of the hotel workers goals were addressed with standard provisions concerning wages, overtime, benefits, seniority, termination only for cause, and grievance procedures. In addition, there are some provisions which reflect the unique nature of hotel operations. A Guest Service addendum states that premiere guest service is essential to the success of the hotel and provides progressive discipline up to discharge for poor, rude or discourteous guest service. This addendum also requires the hotel to train the employees in providing premiere guest service and allows termination of employees who fail the course or tests concerning the hotels service standards. ( Conflicts with between union and employer Successful luxury hotels such as Four Seasons and Marriott know that their employees are their greatest asset. They seek to embrace their employees into their family and have a culture of caring, open communication, fair resolution of disputes, innovative staffing initiatives and supportive management. Unions also consider the employees as their asset and seek to insinuate into the relationship and communication process between the employer and the employee and tend to stifle creative problem solving by the formal grievance procedure and the desire for uniformity. Creative staffing is also more difficult due to the union work rules. The hotels want to embrace their employees into their corporate culture and family. The union seeks to have the employees consider the union as their family and necessary to protect them from the employer. Some hotels have more difficult labor relations than others. In its 2009 initial public offering prospectus, Hyatt Corporation identified one of the major risk factors of its business as, Negotiations of collective bargaining agreements, or changes in labor legislation, could disrupt our operations, increase our labor costs or interfere with the ability of our management to focus on executing our business strategies. Hyatt is now the subject of a nationwide boycott due to the firing of 100 housekeepers in Boston after replacing them with minimum wage temporary workers. Resource Functions and Unions Impact A review of the literature notes via surveys, conferences, that human resource issues remain the most frequently noted area of concern. Much of the literature suggests that human resources is the central area of concern. Among a number of the issues within this area are retention and job satisfaction. According to one survey conducted in 2008, hotel managers. What one or two problems or concerns are most troubling to you as a manager? A total of 243 individuals from over sixty countries participated and the most frequently identified area of concern is human resources issues, such as attraction, retention, training and development of the industrys workforce Human resources are key to grown the overwhelming sentiment, similar to a paper written seven years earlier. (March 2009; Cornell Hospitality Report) A major human resource concern in the hospitality industry is the large turnover. Every time an employee leaves there are costs connected to new training, loss of productivity and loss of knowledge (Tracey Hinki 20606). With this in mind it would only behoove the companys to provide an exit interview to find out where the problem lies. (Tracey Hinkin, 2008) In another study indicated that while job satisfaction, extrinsic rewards, constituent attachments, organizational commitment and organizational prestige were the most frequently mentioned . However, what it is noteworthy is that those employees who were non hourly and high perormers were more likely to endorse advancement opportunities and prestige as reasons for remaining with the firm. On the other hand, low performers and hourly employees were more likely to choose extrinsic rewards as the reason or staying. With regards to unions and its impact on retention, non union personnel were more likely to leave if they were not satisfied, while union employees may indicate poor satisfaction but with no intent to leave. This indicates that the voice given to employees by the union was significant (Friedman, etal 2007) People are our most important commodity. Steven Porter, urged accountability from HR and senior leadership on people-related issues..Its not the bricks and morter. Its not the creativity. Its the people He also basically told more than 600 people that if this industry does not pay well we should at least do a better job of respecting individuals, engaging the heart of employees and expanding their horizons. On partnering with Unions interests are much great stated Christopher T. Chee, managing director of an equity firm that invests heavily in the hotel industry and further stated that partnership with unions is more productive than not. labor is a huge issue in hotels President of UNITE-HERE said both employers and unions will be losers unless they join together to create good public policy. And the (Human Resource Executive Online-Story:2010) Our employees are our most important commodity, satisfied employees..satisfied customers result is increased revenue. People are our most important resource If we are in the people business, shouldnt we know how to make our own employees satisfied and committed; do we need unions for this? Conclusion To provide superb customer service luxury hotels must motivate their employees to give more than the minimum level of effort to their jobs. They must build a culture where each employee is motivated to provide an extra level of effort. Although unions are seeking the best for their members the union culture with its us versus them confrontational style is not designed to encourage the level of engagement need by luxury hotels. If a hotel is focused on the employees well being, open communication, and a general sense of care and really direct their energy on taking care of their employees first, then the entire purpose of the union would cease to exist.  Not every hotel is willing or able to provide employees with the types of benefits and environment that will increase employee job satisfaction and retention.  This may due to competitive reasons or the desire to generate superior economic returns for the owners and management.   The unions may be able to help the employees of s uch ventures.  Ã‚  They will not be successful at luxury hotels with progressive employee relations models.

Essay --

Gun Control The time has come for our country to take action to reduce gun violence in America. Aurora, Colorado, Sandy Hook Elementary School, and most recently Arapahoe High School are only three of the recent atrocities. More than twenty mass shootings have taken place since 2009, yet many people still believe it’s acceptable to own guns. We, as a country, have suffered too many losses to not take action. No laws created can ever fully stop every act of violence, but there are ways to prevent the mentally ill, the suicidal, and criminally minded from buying guns and ammunition. If the government tries to ban people from owning every type of gun, we will get no where with the issue. The problem in our country is having access to assault rifles and handguns. Many assault rifles sold are semi-automatic, firing one round every time the trigger is pulled. For example, an AR-15 can fire between 45 and 60 rounds per minute. No civilian needs to have a gun this powerful; the only place they should be allowed is for military use. Having these types of guns available to the public ...