It's late in the day and you've been anxiously twittering or emailing with friends about plans for evening when, horror of horrors, your enter key splits right in half. You call up the Genius Bar at your local Apple store to make an appointment, and while the Mac Genius is busy laughing at your misfortune, you stand back and look at the gleaming retail environment around you. It could be an awesome minimalist art studio without the gadgets, but with them it's a technology fantasyland.

Apple stores, magical places which can make your paycheck disappear with the tap of a touchscreen, place just as much stock in the design of their shop interiors as in the look of their laptops. Even their many mall stores attract because of the focus on simple, clean and classic design— an anomaly in your typical mall.

Speaking of anomalies, several of Apple's 250+ international stores stand out as true innovators, whether due to their architectural details or interior features, and we'll show you which and why in our Five Must-See Apple Stores Map.

Five Must-See Apple Stores In The World]]> JetSetCD 2009-07-21T12:25:12-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/5/12/103515/900

If it were up to Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli, the economy would bounce back this week in order for the world to embrace his love affair with animal prints, gold, and opulent environments through the opening of his new club in Dubai.

Alas, we awoke this morning to another day of the recession despite his attempts to re-invigorate the economy with pricey alcohol and a return to partying for partying's sake. Following the success of his first Florence club, Cavalli opened his second shindig space attached to The Fairmont Hotel at a cost of $30 million. Here's what you'll find behind its gilded gates: ]]> JetSetCD 2009-05-12T11:51:53-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/27/15239/4175

Ever lose your luggage on a flight and wonder what happens to bags that never get reunited with their woeful owners?

Well, a good deal of it ends up in Scottsboro, Alabama at a massive thrift store called the Unclaimed Baggage Center. UBC buys unclaimed luggage from airlines in bulk, to the tune of 7,000 new items a day (that's a lot of lost bags!) Then everything is sold to the public out of their Alabama warehouse, and we do mean everything. Clothes, cameras, iPods, exotic souvenirs, prescription eyeglasses, and of course the bags themselves.

They've also got a museum where they put aside the stuff found in lost bags that's just too good to sell—for example, a life-size version of the creepy Hoggle puppet from the movie Labyrinth and a slew of 3,000-year-old Egyptian artifacts. Seems like those could have been reunited with their rightful owners, but oh well, finders keepers.

Related Stories:
· Unclaimed Baggage Center [Official Site]
· US Air Eats Luggage For Breakfast [Jaunted]
· Shopping coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: J-Rad] ]]> BS 2009-04-28T08:46:45-05:00 34.6742889 -86.056328 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/3/16/143124/925

We’ll be honest: normally we don’t like fancy concept names with strange punctuation in the middle of them, like Ma(i)sonry, but in this case we’ll forgive the misguided parentheses and focus on the positive.

That’s because there’s a lot of positivity at this new one-stop destination in the heart of Napa Valley. Opened last October, Ma(i)sonry's purpose is to create a “life aesthetic” by pairing artisan wines with art and furnishings in a historic setting.

Basically, that means that there’s a bunch of cool art and furniture to look at (and sit in) and think about purchasing while you sip your glass of artisanal wine from the tasting room. Or just wander around the 104-year-old stone building and its grounds, which are down the block from The French Laundry in Yountville.]]> EricRosen 2009-03-19T15:03:52-05:00 38.4053029 -122.36608 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/3/19/11635/1445

Call him spiffy, jaunty, natty or rakish, but don't you dare try to label him as a musician first and a fashion designer second. Andre 3000 of Outkast has long been known for his particularly colorful way of dressing to the nines, and once the stars aligned for him, he began to pursue this passion as a more than a hobby, creating a line of menswear named Benjamin Bixby. Entering its second season of retail, the retro-inspired and often ridiculously detailed looks of Bixby have finally earned themselves a cult following. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-03-19T12:56:23-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/3/6/132224/3589

Believe it or not, the city of luxury shopping has finally birthed a store focused more on charity and less on marking items up to high heaven. Having opened yesterday in the middle of Paris' Fashion Week, Merci in the Marais is a boutique conceived by the owners of the "childrenswear couture house" Bonpoint. Seeking to turn their high-profile connections and retail know-how into a philanthropic mission, the pair will donate 100% of profits at Merci to a children's cause in Madagascar.

We know what you're thinking; they sell secondhand or overstock, right? As if! Merci is the result of three years of negotiating with brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Alexis Mabille and Marni to manufacture pieces specifically for their store, and since the designers are not taking any profits, "the items are priced at 30 percent to 40 percent less than the clothing in their own shops." With three stories, a perfume bar and a home department, Merci has also left space for the rare vintage finds, so you will find some secondhand here. Alas, it is Chanel, Dior and Burberry, and all for the good of Madagascar as well as your closet.

The concept is about as recession-friendly as one can get, and we don't expect this to be the end of it: "Offering designer wear and home goods as well as books, perfumes, flowers and food, the [owners] say Merci is Europe's first philanthropic store, and hope to open sister-shops in London, Milan, New York and Tokyo."

Related Stories
· Fashion family decides to say 'Merci' [IHT]
· New Paris concept store to donate profits to Africa [The Age]
· Fashion Travel Coverage [Jaunted] ]]> JetSetCD 2009-03-06T15:51:47-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/6/135310/2983

Culture shock has never been a problem for us; we're cool with whatever is the norm in a new destination and most of the time join in with gusto. But this week in Hong Kong, we've faced a huge challenge in embracing something so dear to the locals: the ubiquity of shopping malls.

In the main districts, you have something like a 95% chance of having to at least stroll through a mall to get where you are going. If you aren't inside of a mall, then you are on top of one, next to one, underneath one, or even using one as a landmark for orienting yourself in the city.

We've unwittingly hit a higher number of malls than days we've been in Hong Kong, and it doesn't look like the barrage of consumerism will be letting up soon. Since we hail from a Midwestern city that of course loves their Auntie Anne's pretzels and Abercrombie, we were at first unfazed by the shopping glut in HK.

After our fifth megaplex in two days, however, our patience with escalators and perfume counters began to wear thin and we stepped back to observe the scene. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-02-06T15:16:00-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/