Thursday, February 26, 2009

All that glitters.

In 2002 Swarovski, the world's largest crystal company, is attracting attention by finding unconventional uses for its glittering stones. Nadja Swarovski, the company's international communications director, has enlisted designers to create original items, including clothing, home decor-and even motorcycles.

Pict via: Ottonero

The crystal company, based in Austria, worked with Coco Chanel and other top-notch designers starting in the early 1900s. As a result, an $11,000 Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle became the raw material for the designer Leeora Catalan of Noir, which is known for its funky clothing accessories. Swarovski approached Catalan, who covered the sleek Ninja with 50,000 crystals, some as small as an eighth of an inch in diameter. Even the thin wheel rims sparkle, and purple crystals spell out Ninja on the side of the bike, which was featured on the cover of Mariah Carey's "Glitter" CD. and then put on display at the Shop Noir in SoHo for a time.

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