L.A. Confidential

"You do that and I'm calling my lawyer. I don't owe you guys anything."

"There's a loan repayment of 500,000 dollars due on your account."

Where was the Yes Sir, any other special requests sir, what can we do for you today sir? The schlep on the phone had no respect whatsoever! Didn't he know who he was? Didn't he know?!

Jäger Johnson swaggered over to the brandy cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Hennessy. Grabbing a scotch glass he poured himself a generous amount and sat on the marble floor of his rented villa. 

He looked around the parlour, opening his eyes to the consequences of the previous night. Half empty bottles of Dom scattered across the living area, remnants of cocaine on the glass table, lingerie that definitely did not belong to him. 

"Shit. SHIT." He muttered to himself, pushing his fingers through his thick blonde hair. 

What the hell was he going to do? There was no money left and he knew it.  

His inheritance was under lock and key until his 30th birthday. Twelve million dollars a year and his dumb ass was too young to start cashing the cheques.

His mind couldn't begin to process the call he received from his step sister last week. His late Father's illegitimate 24 year old kid. Begging for money as per usual. Said her mother needed to clear a 100,000 dollar hospital bill. Where was he supposed to get that kind of money? Did they think he was made of money because he had made a mediocre name for himself in Hollywood?   

Stage three lung cancer and not once had he gone to visit his step Mother. He had his excuses though. Money was tight. Business was bad. It was a difficult time in Hollywood. He needed the space. He needed the 10,000 dollar trip to Abu Dhabi last week. Damn it, there was no loyalty in Los Angeles. Friends come and go and family only show up when they need something. What kind of a life was that? 

Now he owed a ton of money to the bank and who could he call to help me out with a 500,000 dollar loan repayment? At 26 years old, 30 was a long time away. 

Whipping his white Givenchy shirt off, he slapped himself on each cheek, grabbed at his box of Marlboros and disappeared through the sheer white curtains that led to the front porch. Inhaling deeply on his last cigarette, he watched as the tidal waves on the beach crashed and cooled. 

There was a way out of this mess.

A producer gig with Paramount films. It was a one million dollar deal and word was out that the executives were still looking for their perfect match. Jäger Johnson. Movie producer. Yeah he could do it. His Father was a movie mogul who owned a production company for 20 years... produced some of the greatest movies in Hollywood. Jäger felt his confidence lift. Why wouldn't they hire him?  He was Jäger Johnson Junior. Soon to be billionaire. Soon to be King of the world.  There was a movie premiere after party at the Beverly Hills Hotel tonight and unlike any other night he was finally going to put his premiere invitations to good use. 

His best friend Zachary had mentioned the deal earlier in the year and he had seemed incredibly excited about it. Wait, Zachary didn't think he could land a deal like that did he? Zachary was a Law School graduate, what did he know about making movies? Jäger's Father was a legend. A mogul. Jäger was blue blood in Hollywood. The publicity alone would break box office. That had to count for something. Wringing his hands into a tight ball, he thought quickly about what could be done about Zachary.

A deal was a deal was a deal and in Hollywood his soon to be billionaire status had to count for something to someone.

Classe | Comme des Garçons

Don't compare me to frills and flowers and lattes

Don't compare me to to tattoos and museums and dark music

Draw me like one of your French Girls

But know

that I'm not the same.

Tell me, would you love me if I was pretty, and ugly too?

Dressed in oversized jumpers, long skirts and scruffy patent boots

Or is it soft hues of nudes and icy blues that seduce you

Do you prefer messy purple hair or is it honey blonde that attracts you?

Because purple won't shine the same way in the sun.

Not like it would in the eyes of the moon.

And oversized jumpers won't flatter the silhouette

Like every garment you believe should. 

When they tell you you are not beautiful enough

When they tell you are too beautiful

and they will

Tell them you don't care.

Comme des Garçons

Comme des Garçons is based in Tokyo and Paris and is targeted at girls who aren't afraid to be who they want to be, utilising from all angles and all sides art, politics and culture in search of their own story. 

In a superficial world we seek liberation in the purest form.

23.03.16

Classe | A Valentino Love Story

08.03.16 

Paris, France.

How easy it must seem from the outside looking in

Delicate ballet tulles and silk made flats

wounds carefully hidden beneath 

and within

Unseen teardrops that fall from Swarovski chandeliers 

Hair slicked back in the tightest chignon. Face defined to perfection with powder and a strong nude lip. Hands clasped loosely, heart softly paced.  A powerful surge of energy hits as the lights go on. The thud of the music begins, matching the pace of a pulse - soft and empowering. Ready to spring into grace, ready to exploit the fuel we crave. This is the dance of our lives beginning in

5, 4, 3 , 2

5.30A.M and nobody else is awake to feel the aches and pains of working late into the night. When all motivation is lost, in routine we must trust. One last time because practice will make perfect. One more try and it'll be worth it. Hearts heavy, we drag ourselves out of bed swallowing the gaping hole that threatens to engulf us. Like war veterans we are broken into a thousand and one pieces. Like ballerinas we face the world eyes shining, hoping that soon the rain will end and the sun, emerge. The cold shower washes the self pity away. Dressing in uniform to prepare the mind for what is to come - hard gruelling work. 

Wondering when our time will come, 

for beautiful ballet tulle dresses and silk made flats.

Diamants au chocolat 3.0

No longer what you expected.  

Img source: (Viral Vogue)

MOOD

There is nothing more beautifully reckless than the truth.

I want to depict a part of the human brain that is never on public display. We are not just good and we are not just bad. We're not protagonists or antagonists we're just people trying to get around in a multi dimensional world. I'm interested in what makes us do the things we do, the concept behind human emotion and how they contrast each other like opposing colours. What makes us go from joyful to spiteful? What makes us go from positive to negative? 

We write our own story, we are motivated by different things, our life experiences shape us into rubik cubes that we cannot entirely solve. I find it fascinating that no two human beings are exactly the same; that there are identical twins, but there is no such thing as identical brains. We are individuals, hugely flawed and often emotionally damaged. How does this shape our actions and reactions? In the hopes of drawing our own faith who do we become?  

Mood will never be just about me. It's about us. I take inspiration from everything and everyone around me and try to get inside your brain. I try to understand and interpret in the best way I can and with that comes a story. A look into someone's heart, head and life, and how all three work in tangent with each other. 

One day I'd like to write books based around human character and create movies with characters that you'll love, and some that you'll hate. There are too many young creative people in Hollywood - writers, actors, directors - that don't get a break no matter how great their talent. Isn't it time to break into that industry with the power of the Internet? 

WANDERLUST

Sometimes it's okay to leave reality behind and just dream. 

Mark Zuckerberg is in the process of testing a new project called virtual technology. It'll allow people to experience mind blowing experiences like skiing, surfing and more without actually leaving the comforts of their own home or their cluttered work offices.

Personally I will always be a soul wanderer. My heart can never sit in one place for too long. It gets bored, agitated, hungry for more. So I have to consistently feed it with the soul food that it deserves - exploring and discovering different cultures and ways of life other than my own. 

Travelling will never just be about beautiful palm trees and historic monuments for me. It'll always be about the people who cultivate ways of life unique to each country. This section of Diamants au chocolat will eventually be visually focused, creating meaningful documentaries that will show you a world you don't know. 

For now I'll depict stories of that for you, representing different cultures, ways of life and of course beautiful palm trees. 

DAC 

Because it's better this way. 

So you want to work in fashion? I'll always believe in fashion and how it can provide us with alter egos to shield our hearts. It's a big part of me and will always be but it's not the biggest part of me. To me fashion is an accessory to life: it can mould you into anything you want to be especially if you don't know who you are. 

But once you find out who that person is, the glitz and glam starts to become less important to you. Instead you find yourself truly wondering about the how and the why. How are fabrics made? How are fabrics sourced? What is fashion teaching people? Do we need to change? Of course we do, in a world like this there's always room for change. 

So I give you DAC: where a lot of my focus will be offline. There are so many things I want to validate in the fashion industry and one of them is ethical fashion; abandoning the use of animal products: leather, fur, wool, etc. I'm going to spend a lot of my time researching new technology in creating a concept of fashion that is harmless to the universe. Prove that we can still be stylish without killing animals, people and the earth.

I'm going to be researching the same with makeup and healthcare and these are going to be my big ventures - my career pit goals. Sometimes I'll write about insights on my DAC section from an ethical and business point of view. I'll show that the two can indeed mix. My entrepreneurship lecturer used to always ask what is something you can improve? Find an issue you can solve and then start a business. 

CLASSE

I'm deeply interested in branding and the stories companies tell to sell products. In a way, I feel we are often buying pre experiences and not products. We fall in love with stories and concepts and mood boards and things that make our minds escape. With the classe section I depict my own interpretation of branding and storytelling. 

So Diamants au chocolat is no longer a personal style blog but a documentation of fine tuned business concepts that is to come. Things will be changing in a major way. Are you ready for this? 

Find me on Instagram where I visually tell my story here: Ayisha Ogbara

08.03.16

Park Avenue Princess

WANDERLUST

Manhattan, NY

Slipping into some fluffy white slippers she pulled off her white robe revealing a skimpy white silk slip. Yawning and stretching her arms she looked outside her small window, it was 6am in the morning but the streets of New York were already as busy as a Saturday afternoon. There was no traffic to anticipate so early in the day so yellow cabs whizzed in and out of Manhattan at almost lightening speed. 

In New York, nobody ever takes anything for granted. 

A dispersed crowd of people dressed in mostly black went about their daily business, some entering giant law firms in nicely pressed suits, others stood out in the cold to set up their hot dog stands. Ambulances, fire brigades and NYPD surrounded West 46th. Another day, another commotion. Standing up she walked over to her small kitchenette, grabbed a tall glass and filled it with ice, lime slices, mint leaves and cold water. 

Downing her morning mojito she showered and dressed in a black turtle neck and blazer, flared work pants and a dainty silver necklace. Reminding herself she needed to make it to Saks on Fifth Avenue before 8AM she left her apartment. She had a friend there who slipped her some sample beauty products early Monday mornings. She was working as an intern in a top accounting firm and that pay really didn't cut it. Since she'd blown her college tuition on a year's rent in New York City, what choice did she have but to work her way up from the bottom? 

An 8am-8pm day job but night would soon fall and the real mojitos would soon come out to play. Her friends would soon arrive at her 4 by 4 apartment - one from brooklyn, another from Long Island, the Hamptons and Upper West. They'd indulge in pizza, and head to a rooftop bar, eventually ending the night in a reserved for the rich and well dressed nightclub discussing small victories and how they would one day own the world. 

Four friends, four different stories to tell. Yet the day in New York had only just begun.

Classe | Youth by Just Drew

XIV.II.MMXVI

Manhattan, NY.

Designer bags, designer cars, designer champagne, but what more? There'll always lie a craving for more and when one can't find it in luxury, one needs to look a little closer. 

Lounging around on chartered private planes. A trip to Bali because we crave a new form of reality. Sunsets and starry nights much more beautiful than any explosion of abstract art. Nothing is better than the original. Nothing is better than the real deal. Dancing under the stars in intricate metallic sarongs and lace bikinis. Drinking expensive champagne and eating chocolate covered strawberries. 

Showers of powdered paint cover us from all directions, destroying the materialistic things we lend so much importance to, breaking down the value until they mean nothing. Until the only thing left to admire is our beating hearts under the dark clouds melting into sunrise. But old habits die hard and once again we're searching for freedom in designer bags, cars and champagne. Craving cashmere like cocaine wondering who we are in a world built on swirls of confusion. 

Pretty Young Fools

(Img source: Prettified Allure)

NYFW 2.0: The End Of Blogging

I lived the fast life for all of 10 days this month. I attended New York Fashion Week once again,  seeing approximately 15 shows including Malan Breton, Just Drew, and Raul Penaranda - former designer for Oscar de la Renta. 

The Art of Seduction

Everybody has a weakness.

Mood | Desperado

War Zone

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"I don't want to be heard, I want to be listened to." - Twenty One Pilots

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Classe | In my #Calvins

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So we stare out of car windows, hair blowing, soul searching.

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There's a general rule in life that you can control what you want but you can't control how you get it. Except I am a control freak and a worrier. I like to be in charge of things and when plans don't work out  the way I want them to, I have an emotional breakdown. Every single time.  I am fussy and I like things, situations and life in general to be perfect. In my head I am consistently in a fantasy world, It's what keeps me calm when a storm decides to hit. The funny thing is I eventually get what I want but never in the way I imagined I would get it. Yep, my life is one big mind fuck.

BUT every so often I'll find myself in a mood of nonchalance. In fact I'm in one right now.  I assume this persona of simple seduction and nothing in the world could make me care more than I should.

Calvin Klein Girl

Rolling out of bed at 8AM in a sports bra and tiny panties, putting on music and possibly some boyfriend jeans. A notebook in one hand and some peppermint tea in the other. Maybe we'll jut down our thoughts, maybe we'll jut down our dreams. Or recall things that keep us wide awake at night.

A good song comes on on the radio and this time we can feel the lyrics, not just hear them. An instant urge to get up and pretend to be our favourite rockstars in front of the mirror. Morning exercise feeding into us like heroin.

Night time falls and all we want is the thing we crave: music. So we stare out of car windows, hair blowing, soul searching.

Then we're on the dance floor in the nude. A nude turtle neck crop and tight denim skinny jeans. Conversing with strangers with our eyes as they say more than we could ever possibly voice. Conversations might start, conversations usually end. Resulting in entertainment or a sheer waste of a good song.

But who fucking cares? It was fun to begin with.

Mood | Casanova

Holding her dress at the hip, Sierra Mercier paced herself in  excruciating 6 inch sandal heels. Shoulders back, head high and a smile that held just a little bit of arrogance. She sashayed into her ensuite humming a Lionel Richie song. Nothing and no one could dwindle her current adrenaline rush. Her heart was beating five times faster than usual, a glint that could not be described in any other way but pure ecstasy lingered in her eyes.  Three nominations and one Oscar. Sierra Mercier. Producer! Director! Hottest Actress in Hollywood!!!  

East Harlem Sierra is now the most demanded actress in the movie business. Shit, who would have fucking thought? She still remembered her life three years prior. A 22 year old girl who could not afford to pay her college tuition fees. From club dancer to international supernova. From several early morning acting lessons  with a 47 year old out of work actress in Brooklyn to being discovered  at the Empire Hotel rooftop bar in Manhattan. She did it and she couldn't give a damn what anyone had to say about her past. 

Stripping off the gold high neck Michael Costello dress and immediately redressing into a red lace dress, Sierra checked her appearance in the long mirror. Switching from a nude lip to a red lip. She wasn't a moron, she knew appearances in LA were everything. Nobody got by without it and as long as she remained in Hollywood, she was here to steal the show.   

He looked at her with such admiration. She was beautiful in the most exotic way. Her acting was great but not Oscar worthy. Was this jealousy talking? Theo fixed his tie in front of the mirror as he watched her fix her lipstick from the corner of his eye. 

May will mark his fifteenth year in the film industry. Theo was known for his natural zest and amazing translation of complex characters in gripping movies but not once has he ever won an Oscar. Not fucking once and it bothered him. More than he ever let on. Fuck! If only he could grow tits and play dazzling pretty brunettes in movies with gripping sob storylines. Maybe he'd win an Oscar then huh? After all that's the kind of crap that sells out box office these days. He was 10 years older than Sierra but what the fuck did that matter? He wanted an Oscar more than he wanted her and every year he loses to some schmuck or the token black guy.  What the hell was up with that? 

A strong pang of guilt hit him hard in the chest. He envied Sierra with such rage and she didn't have a clue. But goddamnit he hated how she flirted with every fucking guy at those ridiculous after parties. They lusted after her and she enjoyed it. What the fuck did he need that for? Staring at the exquisite ring on her left hand, he wondered if he had done the right thing. Of course he had. With Sierra on his arm he would be unstoppable.  She was his ticket to the golden league of Hollywood royalty and he was going to get there by fire, by force.

"You ready to go?" Sierra asked, eyes shining brightly accompanied by a charming smile that could disarm anyone and everyone. 

"Ready than I'll ever be." Max replied linking arms with his fiancée as they left the Park Hyatt for the Hills. 

Pillow Talk

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Casting models for a fashion show sounds like fun right?

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Sitting at a desk staring at beautiful people all day long with the theme of 'changing climates' in mind, making light conversation to get a sense of personality, contrasting characters, looks and attires in the hopes of orchestrating moments of fantasy on a whirlwind night of excitement and passion. That is the point of a fashion show c'est ça?

During casting for our annual University fashion show, I noticed all of these beautifully diverse international students come in to audition, so confident in their attire and determined to kill the game with an air of indescribable elegance and professionalism. Dark hair and eyes, caramel, coffee, porcelain and toffee skin tones. Afros, braids, twists and straight black hair. Instantly I felt a pang of annoyance over how such diverse beauty was so underrepresented in the world of pop culture. 

Beauty is limited to light hair, pale skin and tinted eyes right???? Wrong. 

It is true that we base talent and beauty on what we are used to seeing the most. Now due to the immense coverage of people of colour in day time TV (Empire, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder and Grey's Anatomy) the game is changing...but not quite enough. 

I ask myself where are all of the Japanese, Indian, Thai, Malaysian, Latina, African influencers? Why aren't they storming the fashion, film and beauty industry like their white counterparts? Why are people still calling my new hairstyle dreads instead of braids? Why was it that we initially placed pale skin tones in a section that represented the Tundra climate and darker skin tones in a section that represented the Arid climate? Why are black people still playing ghetto characters and white people CEOs in the film industry? Where is this ignorance coming from?  My brain switches to overdrive at the thought of having many different forms of beauty being represented in the media all at once. 

What if we cultivated an integrated community so special that people in every race and culture would feel empowered, confident, beautiful? 

So who is in the position of power to increase diversity? Producers, casting directors, scriptwriters, fashion and beauty magazines. As much as you don't want to believe this, our brains are set in automatic pilot and therefore our thoughts are heavily controlled by outside influencers. 

However with the right people in charge, what could the future hold?  An influx of people with different appearances, backgrounds and versatile stories to tell in the media and film industry. Our standards in terms of talent and beauty will change and subsequently they will rise. Prejudice in society will continue to dwindle because people will no longer fear what they think they do not know. People of colour will be seen on TV in equal ratio to their western white peers. Kids will begin to embrace their point of difference. We'll cherish that and play it to our best advantage. We will no longer accept the standard of looking and acting the same.

Maybe I want to help with that. Maybe I want to change pop culture. 

Classe | Givenchy Girl

Givenchy Girl 

Givenchy  is made for the girl with a little more grit. The girl who sees the world in not only black and white but blue, grey, navy, purple, turquoise and all of the other colours that could make a rainbow. Ironically so, givenchy is for when we are feeling a little more untraditional, a little more dark and out of control. We don't want flowers and we don't want kale. We want coffee, a philosophical book to read and dinner for breakfast. Monday to Friday we work on our creative souls, craving depth, questioning death and finding more meaning to life than pretty magazine covers and beautifully scented candles. Saving classics like Pride & prejudice for treacherously long weekends. Dangerously reserved in nature but externally outrageous with bold prints, a little black dress anything and sheer material. We want pointed ankle boots and heavily embezzled jackets. The world created in our minds does not resemble the world we view in reality. We are romantics enthralled by mystery and peculiarity.

Dreams of | Dubai

Manmade water. Sand dunes that stretch across The land of Pure Opulence. An aquatic view of exotic fish and water mammals create a vibrant source of energy. The sun is shining bright, illuminating the glassy skyscraper buildings. 

Jaguars, Lamborghini(s), Ferraris and Aston Martins cruise through clean cut roads. The most luxurious shopping malls accommodate expensive taste in jewellery, bags and shoes. Brunch on late afternoons at Japanese restaurants like Nobu, followed by late night French cuisine at the Park Hyatt. Embracing the sun setting as a waiting game for darkness to loom.

A vibrant night life in various rooftop bars. Helicopter rides through crowded cities of artificial lights in all shades of silver, champagne and gold.

Infused into a culture of people endowed with religion, respect and inner peace. 

Dreams x Reality

I've never believed in the concept of forever. Love, money, and even life has an expiry date. For one reason or the other things end and when they do we store these experiences as memories. Sorting them into boxes labelled "highs" and "lows". We cling to the highs, cherishing them and making sure they never leave our hearts. Stored in an imaginary box - beautifully designed. 

My box is black with intricate gold detailing. Inside displays the wooden frame and scribbled on the frame are words like "passion" "enchantment" "creativity" "love" "laughter" "selflessness".  Inscribed elegantly in cursive writing are the best memories of my life on rectangular pieces of parchment paper.  This box is my sacred home. The place I go to wonder, to find inner peace, joy and feelings of pure ecstasy. The place that makes me truly believe that we can control our minds to feel anything we want it to feel. 

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The blurred lines between dreams and reality. 

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When I wake up in the morning, I lay still in my warm toasty bed for another few minutes and draw from my box of highs and in that moment I relive treasured memories. Then comes a surge of energy that makes me want to jump start the day with enthusiasm and grit. 5 minutes passes by and then 8 minutes and more until time is irrelevant and suddenly I am in this dream world that I have constructed for myself. Wandering around the cobbly streets of France, swimming in the oceans of Bali, writing a best seller book, creating a kick ass movie and more. Everything feels real. Everything is real. My heart begins to race and I no longer want to sleep, I want to act. I want to get up and find a way to manifest these dreams. A beautiful feeling of excitement, enchantment all curated with the power of the mind. It's sensational. It's magic. 

I want to take you back to my concept of luxury and what it really means to live a luxurious life. 

Often we find ourselves doing things for the wrong reasons: to impress friends and family, to curate a certain image of ourselves, or simply to keep up with the Kardashians. It's important to know that this is not leading a life of luxury. The constant feeling to impress is a drug instilled in all of us, easily disabled by endeavouring in things with purpose and selflessness. As humans emotion is our most powerful tool, our friend or our enemy.  

Luxury is changing your state of mind. Luxury is letting the precious box of highs to drive you. Luxury is comfort and balance. And here's the real truth: Luxury will always be exclusive to those who know how to control their minds. To borrow luxury is to buy cars, flashy things and designer clothes but to own luxury is to control the mind. So what is it going to be? 

Do you want to borrow luxury or do you want to own it?  

Fast Lane

Black Panther

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That's the thing about a black panther in a dark forest, nobody sees it coming before it pounces.

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Isn't it boring to be a girl? To be interested in fashion, makeup, Instagram and attracting attention. To be paid to look pretty, or cheery or energetic but never intelligent, dark, cunning. Never the mysterious beauty who embraces her strengths. Nobody wants to know that girl because that shit doesn't sell. 

Stay happy, stay smiling, stay Marilyn. And if you're insecure enough, maybe the world will look your way.

What would your mind look like if you had to turn it inside out and present it to the world? I'll show you mine so you can show me yours:

I never stop asking questions, especially about things that are wrong in the world. Sometimes I get so frustrated with myself for caring so much and then irritated by people who don't care enough. I'll break every rule that I find traditional and old fashioned just to make a point. Ah proving a point - I'll go above and beyond to prove you wrong...even if I'm wrong. I'm easily toyed with, everything gets to me. A mix of sensitive Cancer and fiery Leo, I think about things and I think about them twice but I'll always make an immediate decision. I'll never cry over the same thing twice.  I live like I'm going to die at age 35. Because 20 years is enough to make a difference. I thrive when I am alone, my mind is my home. If my eyes are closed, I am somewhere I want to be; envisioning cities I want to visit, and things I want to happen. They often do.  I watch everything with the eyes of a cat. I don't miss anything, I am ten moves ahead at all times, probably because of my habit of thinking out scenarios consistently. The only thing I fear is failure. I don't fear much else.

I have certain hibernation periods where I won't talk to anyone for days. In that time I'm learning something new and often accumulating new ideas. I don't attract attention unless I want to. It's almost like a game in my head, figuring out what makes people tick and how people succumb to charm.

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So there you have it, two sides to a coin. The social media culture of persuading people to believe that we live a life of only "highlights" is misleading for so many young people. There are young people who sit in front of their screens believing that their life is only as good as their latest Instagram photo. Fashion is here for us to represent how we feel but how we feel is still the most important factor.  As much fun as it is to play dress up and channel different personas of ourselves, it's important to remember that we will always be worth more than fashion.

Do you believe in Luxury?

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The word lust originated from the latin word luxuria. The first of seven deadly sins. It seems what we hold the most importance to in this world are the things that have the potential to kill us.

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"What is luxury?" A little voice in my head asks. 

"A state of mind." I answer. 

"No, no. What is the traditional meaning of luxury?" The voice taunts.

And so the voice continues, whispering hints like: 

"Remember that Sports car you want to drive, the Givenchy dress you want to wear, the €20,000 a night 7 star hotel you want to sleep in..."

Opulence. Vanity. Materialism. Consumerism.

Slowly I begin to falter. Slowly I begin to submit to what the world wants me to believe luxury is. I start imagining all of the things I want but do not have. I create a false reality and lock those thoughts in my head and call it my happy place. The place where all my dreams come true.

And then I wake up, banging headache forced back to reality. Compelling thoughts swimming around in my mind.

'2%. That's how much of the world lives this way. Why do you want to live like that? You don't even know how they live or what they have to do to keep the life they have.'  

Lies. Deceit. Manipulation. Pressure. Loneliness. Enemies. Conspiracies. 

NO NO NO NO NO. That is not what I imagined. All I see are fancy dinner parties, large chandeliers, Dom Perignon. The beautiful smell of decadence. 

Do it. Imagine yourself with all of the materialistic goods you've ever wanted. Can you feel that high? 

Except it seems we want things that can only kill us. 

But why let something kill you when you can kill it first? 

Meet Luxury Type II

This blog is about luxury but not in the way you imagine.

Diamants au chocolat will continue to morph the new meaning of luxury using virtues and vices in fashion and travel, through powerful storytelling and defining what it is we really want.

Everything we do in life is to change the way we feel. We don't fall in love with brands because of their manufacturing strategies. We fall in love with stories and communities. Something that is able to enchant us. 

Here is my challenge. Exploring luxury without the price tag. Are you ready for this?

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Be too prideful to let lust rule your life. Be greedy with your happiness and too lazy for envy.

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