ESPRIT: responsibility and style
Collected by Rae Huang

以" E "字母中三条平行横线为主干的ESPRIT 标志建立以来, 一向被视为全球最独特而令人印象深刻的商标之一. ESPRIT代表着一个充满干劲、推崇合作、追求理想、以及对生命积极乐观的时尚生活品牌； ESPRIT为顾客塑造的, 绝非仅仅是穿在身上的衣饰, 更是一种生活方式, 一种对生活的态度, 一种对自我的感觉.



No one who sees the logo of ESPRIT can forget its unique triple-bar "E". John Casado designed that famous stencil effect logo in 1979, and despite worries that the triple-bar "E" would not be legible to customers, the logo has become one of the most recognized and memorable in international fashion.



ESPRIT was founded in California in the late 1960s, a time pervaded by the Beatles' songs of love and romantic idealism and the hippie spirit of the Woodstock music festival. ESPRIT developed its own concepts and attitude towards lifestyle. The purest ideal at that time was nothing less than world peace and perfect freedom of expression, and even today these are still the guiding principles in the company, principles which have lasted since they were laid down by the founders Doug and Susie Tompkins. ESPRIT never encourages its customers to consume just for the sake of consumption; rather it allows them to develop their own values, style and taste. This concept of not influencing customers but allowing them to realize their own philosophy is a breath of fresh air in the industry.



While other companies' sales promotions take merely superficial forms, ESPRIT has been emphasizing the responsibility that the fashion trade should take for the whole of society. In 1992, ESPRIT asked its customers: 'What would you do to change the world?' 20,000 responses reflected a mixture of frustration and humor, idealism and realism. The answers and their authors became the subject of controversial magazine ads, and even got a spot on MTV. Stark black and white portraits, with no make-up and almost no ESPRIT products in sight, accompanied messages like "keep a woman's right to choose...unless George Bush is free to baby-sit". The US campaign was dropped after two rocky sessions. In Europe the concept was highly acclaimed and the campaign ran for 2 years.



With its stubborn persistence and devotion to quality, ESPRIT is gradually realizing the fashion concepts of its founders and becoming a great example of how the fashion world can also be a responsible member of our society.

Vocabulary
lederhosen 皮短裤
stein 啤酒杯
sausage 香肠
stencil 模板
pervade 遍及
controversial 争论的
gargantuan 巨大的

Oktoberfest bows out
Collected by Jean Chen

厦门海景皇冠假日酒店已经连续举办了九届德国啤酒节, 让不少人的记忆里多了一种狂欢的快乐. 来自慕尼黑的著名六人乐队的精湛演技, 阿尔卑斯奇特的传统乐器, 巴伐利亚热情奔放的歌舞, 当然还有诱人的德国啤酒和美食, 今年即将终场. 抓住最后的狂欢季节, 让我们一起去领略德国啤酒的魅力文化.



Does the fantastic "Munchener Musickanten" band bring back unforgettable memories of the past nine Oktoberfest Shows for you? Are the perfect performances of the German band with fancy traditional Alpine musical instruments, amazing Bavarian dancing and a lively spirit still in your mind? This year could be the last year that the Crowne Plaza Harbourview Xiamen holds the Oktoberfest Event, the tenth since the Oktoberfest first came to Xiamen.

For the past nine years, Oktoberfest parties held at the Crowne Plaza Harbourview Xiamen have attracted thousands of participants and inspired great revelry year after year.

If you have not joined in the fun yet, it will be your last chance to experience this most enjoyable event and to give yourself a relaxing treat in one of Xiamen's most unique celebrations.



Now we come to the question: what is the true meaning of Oktoberfest? Break out the lederhosen and steins - it is the season for Oktoberfest.

The first Oktoberfest was not really a festival at all, but the public wedding of Crown Prince Lutipold I and Princess Theresa of Bavaria on October 17, 1810. Held on a large meadow in Munich, the party featured a horse race, beer, food, music and dancing.

Anniversary celebrations continued each year, usually starting in late September and ending in the first week of October. Oktoberfests have been held in Munich for almost 200 years (with the exception of wartime).



Basically the Oktoberfest is famous for its special style of beer and sausages. If a stein is in one hand, the other usually holds a sausage. In Munich, close to a million people show up to consume 10 million pints of beer, some 750,000 spit-roasted chickens and more than 800,000 sausages. At the Munich Oktoberfest, the food is served in gargantuan portions: haunches of oxen and whole chickens are spit-roasted, and myriad sausages are steamed and served with sauerkraut and onions.

The Oktoberfest party has become one of the best loved festivals at the hotel.