Salt Lake Designer Offers Unique Living Cockroach Jewelry

If you love jewelry and you love insects you're in luck. Local fashion designer Jared Gold has both available at his Black Chandelier store in Trolley Square.

Gold sells crystal studded brooches made from living Madagascar hissing cockroaches.

"They're Austrian Swarovski crystals and they come in all sorts of colors and each roach has his little pattern on them so they're all individual" says the avant garde designer.

Gold says his company buys insects from a breeder in Los Angeles. A co-worker actually sticks the crystals to the back of every bug. Its a painstaking task that involves what he calls, "a secret process."

They go for forty dollars each, and Gold says they're selling like hotcakes. But, what will animals rights activists say?

Gold says, "It's funny everybody asks that and the reality is...to PETA, it's just a bug, they're vermin really and we just kind give them a new texture. What we do to them in no way injures them or harms them. They live very great lives eating really good food and riding around on fabulous people."

Gold has been selling the roaches since last October, but he says a lot of people bought the bugs during Christmas.

It's all about the bling when it comes to gadgets

Theresa Sheldon's cell phone rocks.

Not with ring tones but with Swarovski crystals, which twinkle and sparkle and form the initials of her favorite band, Nine Inch Nails.

For about $75, Sheldon had her phone personalized with the bold "NIN" after attending a concert in Los Angeles last fall.

"It's as girlie as I get," says Sheldon, who lives in Rancho Cordova and works for the state. "Now it's a conversation piece."

For Sheldon and a growing number of others, personal electronics are among the most hip of accessories. Not only are they functional, but they're becoming increasingly fashionable.

Of course, not everyone is going to encrust their phones with crystals. But then, they don't have to.

Electronics manufacturers are churning out a variety of chic, sophisticated devices - from ultrathin cell phones to crystal-studded ear buds - to entice consumers with a variety of tastes. How about a pretty-in-pink Razr V3c (about $400) or the subtly stylish PEBL (about $300), both by Motorola?

Rinspeed ZaZen is blingin’ with Swarovski crystals

Sure, you can have your Porsches, Ferraris, and Hummer H2s “rolling on dubs”, but at the Geneva Motor Show this week, the public was treated to the ZaZen from Rinspeed that features Swarovski crystal trim around its lamps, as well as a transparent hard top. The roof is made from transparent Makrolon polycarbonate from Bayer MaterialScience, giving you the open view of a convertible, with the convenience of a hardtop.

This vehicle isn’t just a looker, either, because it clearly has the “umph” to back up its aggressive styling. The Rinspeed ZaZen, designed by Swiss designer Frank M. Rinderknecht, sports the same 355 hp 6-cylinder boxer engine as the Porsche 997 Carrera S.

But wait, there’s more. Check out the holographic brake lamps, healing polyurethane clear coat, and Technogel seats. This car really does have it all, likely including a hefty price tag. No word on availability just yet, but hey, I can’t afford this anyways.

Designer unveils crystal underwear

IT may look uncomfortable but designers of Swarovski's Lingerie and swimwear collection promise the clothing is wearable.
Swarovski today showcased prototype designs from 31 top international designers including Robert Cavalli, Christian Lacroix and La Perla.

Australian designs were also shown including Cheetah, Manik Mercian and Sarina Suriano.

"Swarovski has a long history in the fashion area," said the fashion houses' head of South-East Asian operations Olivier Camus.

"We are able to be creative in coming up with new products, colours, affects and applications."

The collection was displayed in an unusual fashion parade at the Fashion Exposed Trade Fair in Sydney, which runs from March 12-14.

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The Swarovski collection featured lingerie and swimming of varying prices.

Camus added that some items were for "show" and others were for "everyday wear".

"Lingerie and crystal do blend very well," Camus said. "We work with different brands from exclusive couture to mass market."

Sarina Suriano's designs are on the exclusive end, costing up to $30,000 an item.

"The pieces are really quite big, bold and fabulous," Suriano said of her design which takes up to three months to make.

"They are all handmade so they are not meant to be worn every day."

Suriano's designs include vests, necklaces, belts and skirts.

Individually, she said, the items were more comfortable than if worn as an ensemble.

"When you break them down, they do become more versatile," she said.

"The pieces are quite light ... so they are comfortable.

"If you have it all on ... I would say it's definitely for standing up only."

The Swarovski Lingerie and Swimwear collection shown today is not yet available for sale, with most pieces being one-off prototypes.

America’s next top model puts Swarovski crystals to high fashion

On the opening episode of Americas next top model the challenge was to take your photo bald. When the girls found out that they were going bald, it looked like several of the girls were going to cry. Once the mood was set Tyra revealed that they would just be using a skull cap and makeup to go bald. It was quite a episode, some of the girls look good bald and some looked like something from an alien movie. The young Korean girl with long pony tail could have easy been a stand in for a kick boxer movie with a bald head. Overall the episode turned out some decent photos. The makeup artists did a fabulous job of mixing make and Swarovski crystals in matching colors for each girl. The Swarovski crystals were glued to the girls hands, chest and faces in different patterns and colors.

Each crystal design featured a unique patter and color for the girls. It was beautiful display of Swarovski crystals in action. The crystals along with the bald heads made for a trendy photo.