2021 WW表展／路易威登活動骷髏霸氣 Vivienne童趣奢華

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自2002年開始投入高級製表領域的路易威登（Louis Vuitton，簡稱LV），今年於鐘表與奇蹟數位表展（Watches & Wonders）發表令人驚豔的創意新作。除了稍早搶先曝光的奢華運動休閒表Tambour Street Diver，配色與細節都極富時尚魅力，是今年主力爭取市佔率的作品。表展新作則展現品牌製表技術與創意企圖心：Tambour Carpe Diem精緻的活動人偶獨樹一幟、Tambour Curve GMT Flying Tourbillon飛行陀飛輪不落俗套，超人氣的吉祥物Vivienne更以別出心裁的方式融入高級表款的設計。

「我們的目的是不落俗套。」路易威登鐘表工坊製表師Michel Navas說。令人過目難忘的Tambour Carpe Diem，靈感來自LV為客戶訂製的作品，耗時2年研發。表盤上虛空畫風的蛇和骷髏頭由瑞士首屈一指的琺瑯工匠Anita Porchet和雕刻師Dick Steenman精心製作，按下表殼右側的爬蟲型按鈕，表盤中央的蛇會抬頭、露出位於骷髏頭額頭上的孔顯示小時，而響尾蛇的尾巴則會震盪指出位於儲備動力沙漏下方的分鐘。骷髏的眼睛是路易威登的經典花紋，同時下巴會露出嘲諷的笑容，浮現「Carpe Diem」（把握這一天）字樣，持續16秒鐘。

Tambour Carpe Diem共有跳時、逆向分針、動力儲備、以及按下啟動的4種機械活動，完全由路易威登自行研發製作的LV 525機芯，目前正在申請多項專利，而且從背面可以看見組裝成骷髏頭的形狀的機芯，和正面的虛空派畫風相呼應。

Tambour Curve GMT飛行陀飛輪腕表別緻的表殼形狀，延伸自去年推出的Tambour Curve飛行陀飛輪日內瓦印記腕表，視覺設計特徵靈感來自於2002年首次推出的Tambour，其曲線則是啟蒙於最令人驚艷的國際機場航廈建築。Tambour Curve GMT飛行陀飛輪腕表設計巧妙，採24小時制的第二地時間顯示，位於3點鐘位置，可以右側猶如計時碼表造型的按鈕快調，前後移動三角形圖案小時指示。為貫徹履行精神，Tambour Curve GMT飛行陀飛輪腕表完全為輕盈的鈦金屬打造，表耳、按鈕、旋轉表冠以18克拉玫瑰金製作，全鈦版本搭配納米比亞產吉丙隕石製作的表面和長型切割鑽石鑲成的小時標記。

Opinion: politicized hockey audience issue used to undermine government stability in Latvia

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Politicians from the New Conservative Party and KPV LV have learned to use understandable desire of hockey fans to watch games from tribunes as a makeshift lever to shake up the already unstable government in Latvia.

Although the majority of the government agrees that for the safety of the people the ice hockey championship should be held with no live audience, the New Conservative Party (JKP) and KPV LV, with help from the opposition, have managed to force a decision to the Saeima to make the government permit people who have either made a recovery from Covid-19 or have completed their vaccination to come watch games from tribunes.

But no one seems the slightest bit worried if such a decision could potentially result in Covid-19 infection cases surging again.

On top of that, there are multiple signs pointing to the fact that this issue is being intentionally politicized. The World Ice Hockey Championship commenced in Riga 21 May, but JKP’s proposed decision project on letting people watch games live was presented in the evening of 20 May. An even then the initiators – JKP, KPV LV, Union of Greens and Farmers, Harmony and a number of non-party deputies – had to put in quite a bit of effort to collect enough signatures to initiate an extraordinary meeting of the Saeima.

Read also: Opinion: VIP minister of foreign affairs deepens gap between government and society in Latvia

The issue remains unclear – if the interests of ice hockey fans really do matter to them, why didn’t these politicians initiate the discussion of this issue sooner? After all, the International Ice Hockey Federation announced Riga would be the host for the championship as early as February 2021. It is also no secret that Covid-19 infection-wise Latvia 4th-5th in Europe, and infection risks remain high.

It is possible that the sudden desire to fight for the interests of ice hockey fans may have been brought about by the sudden change of political parties by the now ex-Minister of Economy Jānis Vitenbergs, his dismissal that followed soon after, and the upcoming fight for seats after municipal elections.

JKP leader Jānis Bordāns does not hide his party’s appetite. He said that as talks on the distribution of seats continue, JKP may have candidates for the post of minister of economy and posts in Ministry of Finance and Ministry of the Interior. For JKP, annoying coalition partners with light jabs is beneficial. JKP and KPV LV demonstrate that with votes from the opposition it is possible to achieve a decision that is sufficiently populist and hard to implement. This was something of a warning shot in the direction of the prime minister.

JKP also demonstrated that it can breach its own «red lines» drawn in relation to working with the Union of Greens and Farmers. There is also the fight for voters’ favour – according to data from SKDS, in April JKP’s rating was 3.9%. The rating of KPV LV is below 2%.

Latvia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs also did JKP and KPV LV «a favour» in this regard. Latvian residents may not be all too into the details of the art of diplomacy, but the image of the minister viewing the opening game of the World Ice Hockey Championship live from the VIP lounge tribune will stay with them for a long time.

Nevertheless, the Cabinet of Ministers decided that ice hockey fans will be able to watch world ice hockey championship games live from tribunes from 1 June onward.

Amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers requirements Nr.360 On Epidemiological Safety Measures to Halt the Spread of Covid-19 provide for letting only the people who have a Covid-19 vaccination certificate and it has been 14 days after they completed their vaccination process or 22 to 90 days after receiving AstraZeneca [Vaxzevria] vaccine jab, or immediately after the second jab to come watch games live from tribunes.

People who have made a full recovery from Covid-19 will also be allowed to watch games live from tribunes.

維密最大危機！「內衣界巴菲特」83歲創辦人宣布離開集團

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▲維多利亞的秘密（Victorias Secret）近年來光景大不如前。（圖／AP）

記者鮑璿安／外電報導

內衣品牌維多利亞的秘密（Victorias Secret）近年來光景大不如前，自2019年停辦維密大秀後聲勢一路下滑，去年（2020年）更因疫情影響永久關閉在美國和加拿大的250間分店，目前則是積極尋找買主接手。昨（18日）外媒最新消息更指出，有「內衣界巴菲特」之稱的品牌創辦人李斯威斯納（Leslie Wexner）宣布永久退出維密集團。

▲83歲的集團創辦人李斯威斯納將永久退出。（圖／AP）

維密母公司L Brands在週四透露，該公司的創始人、名譽主席和前首席執行官李斯威斯納與妻子阿比蓋爾將退出今年5月的股東大會，不打算出任集團董事會成員，相當於是離開維密。今年83歲的李斯威斯納在1980年代是零售業的傳奇人物，1963年他一手打造The Limited成為購物中心的強者，1982年收購了當時只有6家店的維密，讓它成為全球最大的內衣連鎖品牌，更被譽為「內衣界巴菲特」。直至去年，李斯威斯納退任俄亥俄州哥倫布市公司首席執行官一職後仍留在董事會。

▲集團目前將Bath＆Body Works和Victoria’s Secret業務分開。（圖／CFP）

但先前李斯威斯納與已故美國富豪艾普斯坦（Jeffrey Epstein）的業務往來其實引起不少爭議，受到艾普斯坦的戀童癖傾向，品牌聲量打擊不小。如今李斯威斯納宣告離開維密，他在聲明中提到：「在我們計劃將業務拆分為兩個部分時，我們擁有非常積極的動力。現在是妻子阿比蓋爾（Abigail）和我從董事會離開的最佳時機。」意指集團希望Bath＆Body Works和Victoria’s Secret業務分開，希望在疫情催化下，讓品牌洗浴用品銷量增加，自己則在此時機退出集團。

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