40 Years of The North Face

The North Face is holding a 40th Anniversary exhibition at the Spiral Building in Aoyama through December 3, so we stopped by the press preview the other night to take a look.

The North Face (along with Patagonia) is one of those rare brands that really inspires people and compels them to think about the world around them. The theme for the brand's 40th anniversary year is "Do More With Less," a quote by architect, designer, visionary and former Mensa president Richard Buckminster Fuller. Buckminster Fuller was an early environmentalist who believed, far before the rest of the scientific world did, that humans would soon rely on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. He is best known for his huge geodesic domes, which resemble the small scale one at the North Face exhibition (above). The exhibition also includes photos, videos, advertisements and products from the past 40 years, but it was Buckminster Fuller's catchphrase that has stuck in my head. I'm going out tonight to buy some energy-saving light bulbs.

'Six Scents' with Jeremy Scott in Aoyama!

Last night was a night of parties in Tokyo - everyone we talked to had plans of dining, drinking, socializing and dancing the night away. For our part, we couldn't wait to attend the Tokyo launch of Designers Against Aids' new perfume line 'Six Scents.' This is a collaboration project in which 6 international designers - Gareth Pugh, Bernhard Willhelm, Preen, Jeremy Scott, Alexandre Herchcovitch and Cosmic Wonder Light Source - were enlisted to collaborate on original limited-edition fragrances, with proceeds going to help create DDA's first creative International HIV/AIDS Awareness Education Center, to be opened in Antwerp, Belgium next year. There are only 2,000 bottles of each scent being produced, and in Tokyo they're being sold at the ever-hip Aoyama boutique The Contemporary Fix, which is also where last night's party was held.

Our favorite avant-garde designer and man-about-town Jeremy Scott was onhand at the festivities, and was as usual upbeat and in excellent humor, despite a killer schedule of interviews and press appearances all over Tokyo for the past week. We managed to get a few minutes of Jeremy's time to catch up and shower him with praise for the adorable print that he designed for his next collaboration with Crystal Ball, which is slotted for release in March. The man himself was wearing sneakers from his forthcoming collaboration with Adidas, which from the looks of the press photos, will also be a huge success. He sure knows how to capitalize on a girl's love of sequins!

Crystal Ball's new blog!

Hi everyone, and welcome to the Crystal Ball's blog! This has been a long time coming and we're new at this, so please forgive us if it takes us a little while to get used to the whole blogging thing. We hope to use this space to record our thoughts and musings, reflect on events and happenings in Tokyo and around the world, and also to keep you all updated about Crystal Ball news and projects. We look forward to your comments and can't wait to get to know you all better through the wonderful world of cyberspace!