Musashi-Do

Musashi-Do / Frank's Place 50% spring sale!

2010-04-02T06:50:00.009+02:00

To celebrate the coming of spring, the fantastic partnership between Musashi-Do and the premier Jazz club Frank's Place, and in preparation for the upcoming Musashi-Do spring/summer collection, we're having a sale!

Several marked items, exclusively at our Frank's Place shop, have been marked down by 50% for your shopping pleasure. But be hasty, because the sale will last only for 24 hours, until April the 2nd, at 10 PM SLT.

Don't miss it!

The RFL Clothing fair opens tomorrow!

2010-03-13T02:39:00.002+01:00

Pinking in the Rain RFL
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Club Polo Shirt RFL
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Wave Flow RFL
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Summer Sky RFL
Picture uploaded by Abriael

The Clothing fair of Second Life is about to begin, with a whole slew of top quality designers displaying their designs for your viewing pleasure, and offering special treat to benefit Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society.

Musashi-Do is proud to take part to this great initiative, with our shop in the Milan sim (the sims are themed on real world fashion city this year) that you can find here starting tomorrow March the 13th until March 21st, 2010.

We also produced four quality outfits (a Raincoat, two bikinis and a men's polo shirt) in the thypical pink RFL color that will be available at the above shop only. 100% of the proceeds for those outfits will go to the American Cancer Society. Don't miss them, because at the end of the Clothing Fair they will be discontinued and they will never be sold again!

Valentine special limited edition Gowns available NOW

2010-02-10T03:39:00.009+01:00

Brocade Princess Valentine Pink
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Brocade Princess Valentine Purple
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Valentine is only four days away, and to celebrate the day of love and lovers, Musashi-Do released two limited edition colors of the lovely Brocade Princess gown. Both colors are available right now and will be for sale exclusively until February the 14th. After midnight on the 14th they will be discontinued and will never be offered again, so get yours while you can! On top of the fact that they're a limited edition, they are also discounted compared to the regular Brocade Princess gowns. 350 L$ only!

The gowns come in two colors, with a little twist. The pink version will be for sale exclusively at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store, while the purple edition will be available only at our shop in the premier Jazz club in Second Life: Franks Place.

Don't miss them!

I (heart) Originals Fair starts tomorrow

2010-02-07T02:56:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow the I (heart) Originals fair begins tomorrow! Organized by Artist's Voice to support creators of original designs and products in Second Life, it will be open until Valentine's day.
Show your support yourself with a nice rondo of shopping :D

Of course Musashi-Do will be there as well, alongside many other designers active against content theft. You can find our shop here. Don't miss it!

Valentine Special Editions at Musashi-Do preview

2010-02-06T23:51:00.004+01:00

Brocade Princess Valentine Pink
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Brocade Princess Valentine Purple
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Valentine is incoming, and to celebrate the most awaited lovers' holiday Musashi-Do will release two limited edition colors of the lovely Brocade Princess gown. Both colors will be for sale exclusively from February the 10th (at 00:01 in the morning SLT) to February the 14th and then will never be offered again, so be ready to get yours while you can! On top of it the price of the gowns will be discounted compared to the regular Brocade Princess gowns. 350 L$ only!

So mark your calendars and remember that the pink version will be for sale exclusively at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store, while the purple edition will be available only at our shop in the premier Jazz club in Second Life: Franks Place.

Don't miss them!

Musashi-Do Fashion Show, today 5 PM SLT

2010-01-23T00:59:00.004+01:00

Today, January the 22nd, at 5 PM SLT, Musashi-Do will again display their newest fashion on the runway during our new Mystical Cascades fashion show, organized by Opium Fashion Agency.

Of course you're invited, so please come to this location adn enjoy!

New Release: Firenze Blues

2010-01-08T23:23:00.003+01:00

Firenze Blues
Picture uploaded by Abriael

The Menswear Fashion week opens today and it's time for a new suit release. Firenze Blues is your perfect Business suit, featuring a modern notched lapel/two vents style. The wrapping cut, almost resembling a double breasted suit, conveys height, elegance and strength, paired with the dark blue color to give a dashing and classy look.

As standard for the newest Musashi-Do suits, it includes 10 shirts (6 in solid colors and 4 pinstriped), and 10 tie designs. If the flexibility allowed by all that isn't enough, the suit is of course fully compatible with the InfiniTie system for an awesome degree of variation. If you still don't know what the InfiniTie System is, you can check this youtube video for an explanation.

In the package you will also find the Musashi-Do control HUD that will allow you to easily change the texture of the collars and of the ties, and to adapt the prims to your body without needing to do so manually.

The Collar, lapels, tie, jacket cuffs and trouser cuffs are made with sculpted prims.

Firenze Blues is available for 499 L$ at the Musashi-Do Flagship store, or on Xstreet SL and it's No Copy/Modify/Transfer. Don't miss it :D

Today's SL Daily Deal is on. Limited Edition Coat

2010-01-08T18:47:00.004+01:00

December Warmth Purple Limited Edition
Picture uploaded by Abriael

It's time for another limited edition release for SL Daily Deal s. This beautiful and exclusive purple version of December Warmth will only be sold in 250 copies today, starting 10 AM SLT, and will be for sale through the whole day only at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store.
Not only it's a limited edition and will never be offered again, but it's also be discounted compared to the normally available colors of December Warmth that cost 449 L$.
The limited purple edition is in fact be priced only 299! Make sure not to miss it! It's transferable, so if you can't be online today, you can still ask someone to buy it for you :D

Donations for the Milano Holidays Picture Frame delivered to Toys for Tots

2010-01-08T12:22:00.003+01:00

As promised, the full income for the Milano Holidays Picture Frame was donated to the Toys for Tots Foundation today. The income was little over 50 dollars and was fully delivered. Here's the full transaction history for the avatar that received your purchases and the receipt for the Paypal payment to Toys for Tots.

I would like to Thank everyone that contributed to this initiative. Of course this isn't the last time I do it, and hopefully next year, with better organization and involving more people directly, we'll raise even more. I would also like to thank Sysy Chapman and Ewan Mureaux, that allowed me to sell the picture frame at Sysy's shop and at Winterstock.

New Release: Holidays in Cortina

2009-12-31T05:10:00.006+01:00

Holidays in Cortina
Picture uploaded by Abriael

New year's eve is just around the corner and a dashing Tuxedo is always a good choice for menswear at an upscale party. The only problem with that is that almost everyone will be wearing a black tuxedo. That's where an high-quality Ivory tuxedo comes in.

The Holidays in Cortina (Cortina is Italy's Aspen, or better, Aspen is America's Cortina :P) tuxedo features a classic peaked lapel paired with a trendy two vent style, perfect for formal parties. The striking ivory color makes it especially suitable for dinners and weddings, or any other upscale occasion in which a gentleman would want to stand out in the crowd. The hand-painted textures of the embroidered waistcoat add a refined touch of color to the ensemble.

This tux is characterized by an extensive use of sculpted prims (jacket cuffs, shirt cuffs, trouser cuffs, lapel, collar, bowtie and jacket bottom) and includes ten waistcoats of different colors and the usual advanced Mudashi-Do hud to resize and fit the prims and to change the ten colors of the bowtie. You can also wear the tuxedo without the jacket to showoff the rich embroidery of the waistcoats and the detail of the shirt, complimented by additional sculpted cuffs.

The massive freedom in color variation allows you to match the tuxedo to your mood or to the gown of your date effortlessly.

It's available as usual at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store and on Xstreet. Don't miss it :D

As a final style hint, you can easily mix and match the jacket and trousers of this tuxedo with the black ones from Party in Venezia, for a perfect Dinner Jacket style :D

Also Blogged on:
M4M

Limited Edition Dress: Tender Blossoms - Winter Night

2009-12-24T04:22:00.008+01:00

Tender Blossoms - Winter Night
Picture uploaded by Abriael

SL Daily Deals is having a lovely special two-days long event for Christmas, and every six hours, starting midnight, you'll be able to enjoy a different deal from eight talented designers.

Musashi-Do will have the honor of starting us off, with this beautiful limited edition color of the Tender Blossoms dress, in a special wintery pattern, "Winter Night".
It will be on sale for only 6 hours, starting tonight at Midnight and ending at 6 AM tomorrow morning (SLT). Only 200 will be sold, then this dress will disappear in the mists of time and will never be sold again.

The dress comes in jacket, shirts and pants layers, includes sculpted collar, frogs (the chinese-style clasp buttons) and skirt, and sports a beautifl hand-painted floral pattern.

On top of it all, it's also discounted on the usual price of Tender Blossoms, that normally costs 225 L$. This special limited edition will only cost 169 L$ It will be set for sale ONLY at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store.
The SL Daily Deals vendor will automatically deactivate at 6 AM SLT, or when the 200 units sell out, whichever happens first, so set your alarm clock for Midnight, first come first serve!

PS: Of course they are also transferable, so you can make of them the perfect Christmas Gift.

Also blogged on:
A Passion for Virtual Fashion
Ch'know Style

Musashi-Do Holidays 50% off Gift Card Sale!

2009-12-22T06:41:00.002+01:00

Musashi-Do Holidays Gift Card Sale
Picture uploaded by Abriael

The Holidays have reached Musashi-Do, and to celebrate the coming of of Christmas and the installation of the new automated gift card system (active since today), we're having a bit Holiday Gift Card Sale!

All the new Gift Cards have their price sliced by 50% starting now until 11:59 PM on December the 23rd.
You read it well. 5000 L$ Gift Cards are priced 2500 L$, 2000 L$ ones are priced 1000 L$, 1000 L$ ones cost 500 L$ and so forth. Buy a nice gift for your friends and save money at the same time!

You can find the discounted gift cards at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store.

Note: if you have an older non-automated Musashi-Do Giftcard, don't worry! Just send Shiryu Musashi an IM and he will replace it with a new automated gift card of the same value.

While you are at the Musashi-Do flagship store don't forget to check the Milano Holidays 2009 and World Holidays 2009 twin Photographic Exhibitions, and since you're saving money on the gift card, please consider purchasing the beautiful Milano Holidays Framed Picture Collection. The whole income for it's purchase will be donated to Toys for Tots.

Happy Holidays!

The World Holidays 2009 photographic exhibition opens

2009-12-21T06:45:00.004+01:00

The World Holidays 2009 photographic exhibition has finally opened, showing the Holidays spirit in several locations of the world. You can visit it on the Eleganza Sim, at this location.

I would like to thank everyone that nicely contributed and shared the heartwarming spirit of this exhibition.

You can still contribute pictures to make it even bigger and better, by using the form available by clicking on the panel titled "Would you like to Contribute to this Exhibition?" at the exhibition itself.

Again, my thanks to everyone that contributed and to the ones that will contribute in the next few days!

Milano Holidays contest: The winners!

2009-12-20T09:01:00.002+01:00

Unfortunately there were only 7 entries to the Milano Holidays Contest (but they still turned in enough pictures to create a small but very cute exhibition that will open tomorrow):

Here come the winner list, and thank you for your submission everyone!
1st: Matthew Anthony
2nd: Chandni Khondji
3rd: Kimmie Rayna
4th: Tenshi Vielle
5th: Alicia Chenaux
6th: Sarra Foggarty
7th: Gidge Uriza
8th to 10th: Unassigned

You can see a list of the prizes in this post.

On this note, Kris Citron of the Sea Nymph cruise ship offered an additional prize to the 3rd winner (Kimmie Rayna) over the ones listed in the previous post. A free night in the Sea Nymph's luxurious honeymoon suite! Thanks for your support Kris!

The winners will be contacted in the next couple days to receive their prizes.

Again, I would like to thank all the visitors to the Milano Holidays Exhibition, and expecially the ones that shared the Holidays spirit of their cities with everyone through the pictures they shot. Thank you! :D

New Release: InfiniTie Shirts, now for Ladies!

2009-12-19T22:37:00.013+01:00

InfiniTie Shirts Ladies Christmas Edition
Picture uploaded by Abriael

InfiniTie Shirts Ladies (Classic)
Picture uploaded by Abriael

InfiniTie Shirts Ladies (Trendy)
Picture uploaded by Abriael

The InfiniTie system has already started revolutioning menswear (if you don't know what InfiniTie is yet, you can see a movie explaining it on Youtube), but what about ladies? A lady can definitely wear ties, and be sexy with them.

To finally make the InfiniTie system fully available to women in Second Life, we just released the InfiniTie Shirts for Ladies, in three sets: Classic, Trendy, and Christmas edition.
They all come in three variations, Untucked (on the jacket layer), Tucked and Bare Midriff (on the short layer) and include sculpted cuffs and collars and a flexi tie, with a sleek black Jacquard texture.

The Christmas edition also includes two exclusive festive (but classy) InfiniTies in matching green and red.

You can find all three sets at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store and on Xstreet (Classic, Trendy or Christmas). The classic and the trendy sets are priced 499 L$, while the Christmas set is priced 259 L$.
You can also find separate shirts from the Classic and Trendy sets for 129 L$ each at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store.

Of course, to fully enjoy the incredible variation offered by the InfiniTie system you can buy separate InfiniTies at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store for as few as 29 L$ each. Look in the meanswear area (even if we'll have dedicated InfiniTies with a more feminine slant soon, stay tuned for them!).

Also Blogged On:
Second Style
SasyPants
Ch'know Style
Through Starlit Eyes
Funky Fashion Finds
The Fashionable Heart
More than Meets the Eye
Que Paso

You're invited to the Musashi-Do Winter Fashion Show

2009-12-18T03:44:00.002+01:00

Musashi-Do Fashion Show Invitation
Picture uploaded by Abriael

You're cordially invited to the Musashi-Do Winter Fashion show, graciously hosted by the talented professionals of the Silver Star modeling agency. The show will happen at the new catwalk in the Musashi-Do Home sim, Eleganza, tomorrow, friday December the 18th, at 6 PM SLT. The show will be filmed and will be followed by an after party with Live DJ, fashion trivia and prizes.

The Milano Holidays 2009 Photographic Exhibition is Open!

2009-12-13T04:02:00.005+01:00

Milano Holidays 2009 Poster
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Milano Holidays 2009
The Capital City of Italian Fashion dressing for the winter season
December the 12th, 2009 - January the 6th, 2010

Milano Holidays 2009 Is a photographic exhibition featuring 50 original pictures (and two movies) by Shiryu Musashi portraying the beautiful city of Milan during this holiday season. You will see how the capital city of Italian fashion (and according to many, of worldwide fashion) dresses up for the holiday seasons, in a rainbow of merry lights merging with historical monuments and kisses under the mistletoe.

You can experience the exhibition on the 4th floor of the Musashi-Do Flagship Store
You can click on one of the panels at the landing point to be teleported directly to the exhibition.

Daily framed free picture

Each day from december the 12th to December the 25th, you will be able to pick up for free an elegantly framed picture between the beautiful ones ones shown at the exhibition. The picture will vary day by day, so make sure you come every day to own the full series of 14!

Charity scripted picture frame with 10 pictures

During the whole event you will ble able to purchase a scripted picture frame that includes the 10 best pictures (those 10 will NOT be available between the free ones above) of the exhibition. The frame itself changes 15 colors to fit your mood and any kind of furniture you might have in your SL hourse.
The Milano Holidays 2009 Picture Collection Frame costs L$ 250 and is no copy/modify/TRANSFER.

100% of the income from the sale of the Milano Holidays 2009 Picture Collection Frame will be donated to the Toys for Tots charity. Of course if you'd like to donate more than the price of one, you're encouraged to purchase as many as you can! The frame is transferable and it's the perfect holiday gift for your friends and loved ones.
Remember that Christmas is the perfect time for sharing and giving!
IMPORTANT: Full data and receipt of the donation will be disclosed here on the Musashi-Do on January the 7th, 2009.

World Holidays 2009 Exhibition and Contest

Milano Holidays 2009 is just the first event of two. On December the 20th, 2009, a second, bigger exhibition will open: "World Holidays 2009"!
While Milano Holidays focuses on Milan, World Holidays 2009 will feature pictures from all over the world, pictures that you all can take and show, while having a chance to fin fabulous prizes from our sponsors, Musashi-Do and SySy's.
Here's how to participate:
1: Search for the most beautiful locations that show holidays decorations in your own home city and take pictures of them. As many as possible (The resolution of the pictures needs to be at least 512 x 512 pixels),
2: Send your pictures to the e-mail adress milanoholidays2009@gmail.com In the text of the mail include the following form, filled with your data (Your real life name is indispensible for legal reasons but it will NOT be shared with anyone or displayed anywhere, unless you specifically ask us to):

*************************
Second Life Name: (Insert Your Second Life Name Here)
Do you want your RL or SL Name to be displayed under your pictures in the exhibition?: (insert RL, SL or None here)
City: (Insert the name of the city where the picture(s) have been shot)

I declare that the pictures included in this mail are my intellectual property. I Authorize Shiryu Musashi (Giuseppe Nelva) to use and publish the pictures attached to this mail in the "World Holidays 2009" Exhibition in Second Life and for no other purposes.

Signed: (Insert your Real Life Name here)

Additional notes: (if you have any additional notes or requests, write them here)
*************************

3: Pictures sent without the above form filled in all it's parts will not be included in the exhibition and will not participate to the contest described below. The deadline for sending the pictures is 11.50 PM SLT on December the 19th. No submission will be accepted after then.
4: On December the 20th at 00:10 AM ten names between the ones that submitted eligible pictures will be raffled via script and will win the following prizes.

1st: 1 copy of every outfit Musashi-Do releases from December the 20th 2009 onwards, for life!
2nd: 1 copy of every outfit SySy's releases from December the 20th 2009 onwards, for life!
3rd to 10th: a 1000 L$ Musashi-Do Gift Card + a 1000 L$ Sysy Gift Card!

You won't need to be present to the raffle to be eligible to win. If you won, and you're not immediately available, you wull be notified via IM and Notecard.

Event Sponsors:
Musashi-DO
SySy's
Silver Star Modeling Agency
N.A.I.L. Productions

New Release: InfiniTie Shirts Christmas Edition

2009-12-11T04:57:00.003+01:00

InfiniTie Shirts Christmas
Picture uploaded by Abriael

The 12 days of Christmas event is continuing, and today it's Musashi-Do's turn to release a themed item (a few hours late, regrettably). So here are our Christmas Edition InfiniTie shirts, sporting themed colors (a deep, daring hue of red and green) and two beautifully painted holiday InfiniTies, not available elsewhere, one striped and one in a floral pattern.

Of course the whole package is fully compatible with the InfiniTie System and you can both use other InfiniTies with the shirts (should you want to wear them in less festive occasions), or use the InfiniTies included with other InfiniTie compatible garments to make them more festive, increasing the flexibility of this set tenfolds.

As usual, if you don't know what the InfiniTie system is, you can check an explanatory video here.

You can purchase the InfiniTie Shirts Christmas Edition at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store, or on Xstreet for L$ 199.

A little teaser...

2009-12-10T04:04:00.003+01:00

Milano Holidays 2009 Teaser
Picture uploaded by Abriael

New Release: Brocade Princess gown

2009-12-07T23:15:00.017+01:00

Brocade Princess
Picture uploaded by Abriael

As the holidays approach, more and more formal parties happen. People like to go dancing and to do so in style. It's the perfect time for a new gown release by Musashi-Do: Brocade Princess.

Brocade Princess is a lovely ball gown in six colors, it's graceful heart-shaped bodyce cuts into a daring cleavage that will be the perfect frame for any finely crafted set of jewelry you might want to wear. The low riding sash accentuates a feminine hourglass shape, while the hand-painted brocade pattern creates feeling of warmth that will turn heads during any winter formal party. Completing the look are a set of matching velvet gloves which add a subtle touch of classic elegance.

To add a little more flair to the gown, each color comes with both a patterned and a solid color matching sash. Alternating between them allows you to completely change the mood of the dress.
As a little additional detail, the pattern of the gown matches that of the waistcoats of the Party in Venezia tuxedo, for those couples that like to go dancing with a subtle yet stylish matching detail in their attire.

I hope you will enjoy it, as well as your holidays dancing parties.

The Brocade Princess gown is available both as a fatpack (for 2199 L$) or as sepatate colors (priced 499 L$ each) at the Musashi-Do Flagship store. Permissions are set as no copy/modify/transfer, making this gown the perfect holidays gift.

Also blogged on:
A Passion for Virtual Fashion
It's Only Fashion (by Cajsa)
It's Only Fashion (by Gidge)
Second Style
Shopping Cart Disco
www.achariya.net
Sheek
Ch'Know Style
Funky Fashion Finds
Que Paso?
I turn my Camera On
The Fashionable Heart
ICON Lifestyle
Slex and the City

A crystal Christmas tree for Musashi-Do, and a new freebie!

2009-12-01T21:46:00.005+01:00

The Musashi-Do Crystal Christmas tree 2009
Picture uploaded by Abriael

The Holidays season has come, and a massive crystal Christmas tree has been built in front of the new Musashi-Do flagship store for your festive viewing pleasure.
But since the spirit of the holidays lies in sharing, a slightly smaller version of the tree (in three sizes) is also available as a freebie that you can pick up at the flagship store Itself, as you enjoy the sight of their bigger brother.

I hope you will enjoy them as I enjoyed building them, it's been a lot of fun for sure :D

20% off Sale for 3 days at Musashi-Do

2009-11-29T01:11:00.006+01:00

Musashi-Do 5th anniversary Sale
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Our 5th Anniversary celebrations didn't end with Black Friday. As part of the Artist's Voice Originals Only sale between November the 28th and Novemvber the 30th (until midnight on the 30th) the whole range of Musashi-Do fashions (excluding only the newly released Tuxedo "Party in Venezia") will still be on sale, featuring a 20% discount. If for any reason you missed black friday, you'll still be able to enjoy a discount for 3 more days at the Musashi-Do flagship store!

Again, happy Anniversary Musashi-Do, and a big THANK YOU to all our customers for your 5 years of continuated support!

New Release: Party in Venezia

2009-11-27T18:20:00.010+01:00

Party in Venezia
Picture uploaded by Abriael

The holidays are coming, and with them comes the season of parties. Of course one can't show at a formal party without a dashing tuxedo. From this demand Party in Venezia was born.

This tuxedo features a classic peaked lapel paired with a trendy two vent style, perfect for formal occasions, weddings dinners and elegant parties . The solid black color gives a dashing and classy look, while the hand-painted textures of the embroidered waistcoat add a refined touch.

Party in Venezia is characterized by an extensive use of sculpted prims (jacket cuffs, shirt cuffs, trouser cuffs, lapel, collar, bowtie and jacket bottom) and includes ten waistcoats of different colors and the usual advanced Mudashi-Do hud to resize and fit the prims and to change the ten colors of the bowtie. You can also wear the tuxedo without the jacket to showoff the rich embroidery of the waistcoats and the detail of the shirt, complimented by additional sculpted cuffs.

The massive freedom in color variation allows you to match the tuxedo to your mood or to the gown of your date effortlessly.

It's available as usual at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store and on Xstreet. Don't miss it :D

Also Blogged at:
A Passsion for Virtual Fashion
(ir)regular Guy
Sheek
Avatar Weekly
Hippoi Athanatoi
Que Paso?

The Musashi-Do 5th Anniversary 50% Sale begins NOW!

2009-11-27T09:30:00.003+01:00

Musashi-Do 5th Anniversary Sale and Events
Picture uploaded by Abriael

The time has come, the Musashi-Do shop has now been open for 5 whole years. The sale is now operative and a 50% has been slashed off the prices in the Flagship store and at the Holidays store in Winterstock.
You can now come and get that outfit you had your eyes on for half the price.

Also, don't forget the Lollo String concert (IMHO he's the best singer in SL) happening at Noon SLT and the Anniversary fashion show at 7 PM. After the show there will be a party with Alicia Chenaux lending her adorable voice as a love DJ. During the party there will be a fashion trivia with lots of prizes! :D

Thank you for having supported Musashi-Do for 5 years!

Musashi-Do 5th Anniversary Sale and Events!

2009-11-25T21:38:00.005+01:00

Musashi-Do 5th Anniversary Sale and Events
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Musashi-Do was opened on November the 27th, 2004. 5 years later, on November the 27th, 2009, we want to thank our loyal customers for their continuated support with an explosive Black Friday!

On November the 27th at the Musashi-Do flagship store, there will be a massive 50% discount sale. All the Musashi-Do designs (excluding only the new Tuxedo "Party in Venezia" that will be released on Thursday, November the 26th) will have their price slashed by half! If you've had your eyes on a Musashi-Do design, Friday will be the best time to finally treat yourself to it, or to purchase your holiday gifts for your loved ones! The sale will run all day, from midnight to midnight, non-stop.

To help fight the lag, the same discount will be applied to the Musashi-Do products for sale at the Musashi-Do Holidays Store in Winterstock, where you'll also be able to enjoy a special Black Friday sale from most of the other designers present on the popular Christmas sim. If you have trouble teleporting to our flagship store or the lag bothers you, Winterstock is your next stop to enjoy the sale anyway.

During the same day, at 12 PM SLT (Noon) the popular singer and performer Lollo String will entertain us with a great live performance in the plaza in front of the Flagship store. Make sure not to miss it!

At 7 PM SLT, you will be able to enjoy the special Musashi-Do 5th Anniversary Fashion Show on the newly built catwalk, designed and created by our very own designer, Shiryu Musashi. The show will feature a stunning selection of the high-quality fashions by Musashi-Do

The fashion show will be followed at 8 PM SLT by an after-show party with DJ Alicia Chenaux, and several prizes for our guests. Wear your favourite Musashi-Do outfit and come dance and have fun after a day of shopping!

But our 5th Anniversary celebrations don't end with Black Friday. As part of the Artist's Voice Originals Only sale between November the 28th and Novemvber the 30th (until midnight on the 30th) the whole range of Musashi-Do fashions (again excluding only the new Tuxedo "Party in Venezia") will still be on sale, featuring a 20% discount. If for any reason you won't be able to be here on the 27th, you'll still be able to enjoy a discount for 3 more days!

Happy Anniversary Musashi-Do, and a big THANK YOU to all our customers, we would be nothing without your continuated support!

New Release: December Warmth

2009-11-20T22:29:00.018+01:00

December Warmth
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Winter has come to Musashi-Do, as the search for warm garments becomes frantic. From that need this elegant and sophisticated winter coat was born.
It's classic style mixes an evergreen houndstooth texture with an elegant double breasted cut that makes it perfect for every occasion. The length to the knees creates the ideal compliment to your favorite boots.

The coat includes a top (on jacket layer), sculpted lapel, cuffs and belt with a flexi coat bottom attached.
The belt/bottom prim set comes in two versions, to fit different shapes. Normal and flat, for a slimmer fit. Of course they can both be modified and stretched fully to fit your body perfectly.

Included with the coat you will also find a bonus turtleneck sweater with sculpted collar to be worn under the coat. Of course you can wear the coat without it, or over any kind of apparel that doesn't go on the jacket layer (shirt and undershirt work perfectly). The coat lapel goes on your "spine" attachment point, so you can wear scarves, jewelry or other neck apparel on the "chest" attachment point.

I hope you will enjot the coat as much as I enjoyed the challenge of making it (and making hiundstooth realistically small but still good looking in SL is quite the challenge).

You can find both the fatpack and the separates it in Second life at the new location of the Musashi-Do Flagship Store, or on Xstreet (also you can find the separates on xstreet: White, Blue, Marroon, Teal, Pink). Happy shopping!

Also Blogged on:
A Passion for Virtual Fashion
It's Only Fashion (by Cajsa)
It's Only Fashion (by Gidge)
Juicy Bomb
Ana Lutetia
Shopping Cart Disco
SasyPants
Fashion 360°
Second Style
Que Paso?
Avatar Weekly
Couture Conundrum
Ch'Know Style
Arabella's Amblings
Funky Fashion Finds

Musashi-Do Moves to a private sim

2009-11-20T07:41:00.003+01:00

Musashi-Do New Location
Picture uploaded by Abriael

After almost Five years in the mainland sim Anton (it will be five years on november the 27th, prepare for some celebrations), Musashi-Do has finally moved to a private sim to offer you a better and more focused shopping experience, with less lag and more space for growth. You can find the new shop in this location. The new sim is named "Eleganza" that means "Elegance" in Italian, and embodies the creed of the brand.

As of now, the sim around the shop is still heavily under construction, and it will be for a while, but the shop is available as it was for your shopping and browing pleasure, now with 100% less lag and 100% more fun! Please update your landmarks!

Shiryu Musashi on Fabulous Fashion

2009-11-18T06:20:00.007+01:00

Fabulous Fashion
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Yesterday i had the honor to take part in the Fabulous Fashion show with Angie Mornington. It was a very fun chat, and since I always loved the show i was very happy to be part of it.

If you want to see the episode pr just to have a giggle, you can watch it below or directly on the treet.tv page.

New Release: Evening in Roma

2009-11-10T17:55:00.010+01:00

Evening in Roma
Picture uploaded by Abriael

It's release time again, and today we have another InfiniTie compatible suit. Evening in Roma keeps the dashing and classy look of a solid black suit, but adds to it the relaxed attitude of an unbuttoned suit with a flexi tie, making it perfect even for informal occasions.

The lapels, the tie (excluding the blade that is flexi), the cuffs (both for the jacket and the trousers) and the jacket bottom are all sculpted prims, and the positioning/sizing of the tie/collar/lapel attachment is controlled via the advanced HUD that characterizes the newest Musashi-Do suits.

The hud also controls the color of the collars (that go with 10 shirts, 5 in solid colors and 5 pinstriped) and adds 10 new ties to your InfiniTie collection, to be used with this suit and with any other InfiniTie compatible suit or outfit. The Tie/shirt combination allows you to completely change the mood of the suit from informal to business, to formal.

As usual you can find this suit at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store or on Xstreet. Hope you'll enjoy it :D

Also Blogged On:
Men's second Style
A Passion for virtual Fashion
M4M
ICON Lifestyle
Atomic Valley
Hippoi Athanatoi

Winterstock opens. The Musashi-Do Holiday Store

2009-11-06T01:31:00.007+01:00

Musashi-Do @ Merry Christmas
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Winterstock is an holiday themed sim created by Ewan Mureaux and Antonia Marat. I fell in love with the concept the moment i first saw it, so I immediately rented a shop that is now ready for business as the Musashi-Do Holiday Store (funny how i opened on a cruise ship and on a winter sim on the same day).
I also called all my friends that have their own design brands to it. Most of the best designers in Second Life are now settled there (and I hand-picked many of them, so you can be sure that they have the "Musashi Stamp of Approva"... They're so gonna smack me for saying this...), creating the best holiday/wintery shopping location you can find in the next couple of months leading to Christmas.

Ewan and Antonia worked so hard on it that it's really delightful to see their effort come to fruition. The atmosphere in the sim is so lovely, romantic, and just downright heartwarming that you shouldn't be surporised if you'll see me there often, maybe nestled on a platform on top of my shop designing while inspired by the Chistmas merryness. Don't be afraid to come say Hi, I don't bite :P

Today is the grand opening day. The sim will open at 5, with a big party in which we'll be delighted by fireworks and by the beautiful singing voice of Takamura Keiko. There will be many events down the line, but I'll tell you about those soon. For now, if you want a little taste of the holidays to come, make sure to visit and come have fun at the party. I'm sure you won't regret it :D
You can reach winterstock by clicking here.

Musashi-Do sets sail on a cruise

2009-11-06T01:12:00.002+01:00

Musashi-Do @ Sea Nymph
Picture uploaded by Abriael

I always cuddled the idea to release a cruise collection (a summery fashion collection released in the fall for customer that spend the holidays in a cruise), but never had the time to do that.
Today I got a lil nearer to do that, as I opened my little cruise store on the Sea Nymph, a really lovely cruise ship in Second Life. If you want a bit of "summery fun" in the cold of winter, i'd strongly advise to give it a try, it's a really nice environment.
In the store you can find my bikini line and a selection of my menswear, both upscale and casual.

You can visit the Sea Nymph by clicking here.

Musashi-Do opens at Crush Row

2009-11-03T04:29:00.004+01:00

Musashi-Do at Crush Row
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Crush Row has been a popular fashion sim for a while now, but I never got around opening a show there, until now. Crush Row just finished remodelling into a lovely and classy fashion street that embodies very closely my idea of the perfect mall in Second Life (classy and realistic). That's why I jumped at the chance to open a shop there.

You can find it at this location. Please pay a visit :D

New InfiniTie Shirts and InfiniTies available

2009-11-01T02:14:00.007+01:00

InfiniTie Shirts Classic
Picture uploaded by Abriael

InfiniTie Shirts Modern
Picture uploaded by Abriael

The InfiniTie system (click on the link if you don't know what it is yet, you'll be directed to a video about it) has just gotten bigger and more flexible, with the reelase of two sets of InfiniTie Shirts, the first in classic colors, and the second in more modern and hip hues. Each shirt comes with a flexi tie, a sculpted collar and sculpted cuffs, and includes two version, tucked and untucked in the trousers.
Besides the quality of the shirts, the core of this release lies the fact that the ties attached to the shirts are compatible with InfiniTie. You will be able to change the textures of the ties into those of each InfiniTie in your collection (both included in suits and separates), allowing for endless customization options. The shirts are designed to be worn with any unbuttoned suit you might have, bringing the versatility of the InfiniTie system to your whole wardrobe or almost.
The InfiniTie shirts are basically an essential piece of any man's fashion collection.

The two fatpacks with 5 shirts each (399 L$ each) and all the separate shirts (99 L$ each) are available now at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store. The fatpacks are also on Xstreet (classic and modern).

The new InfiniTie shirts aren't the only expansion to the InfiniTie system released today, I also released ten new InfiniTies (that of course can be used with the shirts above and with any other InfiniTie product) sold as separates. You can see them all protrayed below.

InfiniTies 2
Picture uploaded by Abriael

All of them are for sale separately for L$ 29 at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store.

Also, remember that you have only a few hours (until midnight today) to buy the Fog over Torino InfiniTie compatible suit for the Wear Grey brain cancer awareness campaign. The campaign finishes today, so at Midnight this top-quality suit will be discontinued and will never be available anymore. Don't miss it, and contribute to the campaign!

Also Blogged on:
(ir)regular Guy
Icon Lifestyle
Hippoi Athanatoi

Only two days left to buy Fog over Torino limited edition

2009-10-30T18:39:00.005+01:00

Fog Over Torino
Picture uploaded by Abriael

The Wear Grey campaign for brain cancer awareness is coming to an end (it will end at midnight on the 31st) and as such the availability of the suit created for Wear Grey will cease as well. Fog over Torino will be for sale only for 37 hours more. At midnight (SLT) on the 31st it will be discontinued, and will become a rare collector's item and the proof of your contribution to the campaign.
You can find it only at the Musashi-Do flagship store, and at the Wear Grey HQ (where you can also contribute by buying several wear grey products by many other designers).
The suit costs 400 L$ and 200 L$ from each purchase will be donated to the Wear Grey campaign, that will then deliver them to the American Cancer Society alongside all the other donations and contributions.
You're still in time, but not for long :D

Musashi-Do store open at Pulse

2009-10-27T00:03:00.002+01:00

Musashi-Do @ Pulse
Picture uploaded by Abriael

A new Musashi-Do satellite store has just been opened in Pulse, it's small, but homey, drop by if you feel like, the sim is very peculiar, and now has a lovely halloween attraction open as well.
You can find the new store here.

A flickr group for the Musashi-Do lifestyle

2009-10-26T05:21:00.005+01:00

Sanura1
Picture uploaded by Sanura Snowpaw of *Dreams*

I just opened a new flickr group: Musashi-Do Lifestyle and it's dedicated not only to the style of the Musashi-Do brand, but also to you.

The group is for everyone to post pictures of themselves or their friends while wearing designs from Musashi-Do. by themselves or styled with clothes and accessories from other brands.

While I always have a very specific idea about my designs, I'm always delighted and inspired by seeing what customers, fashionistas and bloggers create with them. It also gives me precious insight for my future designs, so if you have any pictures featuring Musashi-Do outfits, please post them!

I can't wait to see what people will come up with.

Back to the origins: Tender Blossoms

2009-10-25T05:02:00.021+01:00

Tender Blossoms
Picture uploaded by Abriael

It was back in november 2004 (yes, the 5th anniversary of the opening of Musashi-Do is incoming, better be prepared for what will happen then...) when Musashi-Do opened. Between the first dresses in the shop there was a set of chinese-style Cheongsam dresses.

I always loved that style, but I never got around making something like that again. Finally I managed to find the inspiration to create a new set, Tender Blossoms, that mixes the classic Cheongsam cut with a new and completely hand-painted pattern to give it a more modern and detailed look.

The dress comes in four colors (each available for 225 L$) and includes sculpted skirt, collar and frogs (not the croaking type, the chinese clasp buttons :P). The fatpack is available for 719 L$ and includes all four dresses.

I'm really happy about the results of this little return to the origins, it feels kinda nostalgic...

Anyway, both the separates and the fatpacks are available now at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store. The fatpack only is also available on Xstreet.

Also Blogged on:
A passion for Fashion
It's Only Fashion (and again)
Ana Lutetia
Juicybomb.com
Shopping Cart Disco
Sheek
Ch'Know Style (and again)
My Style in Second Life
Quirky Quaintly
Funky Fashion Finds
I Turn my Camera on
Que Paso?
What Now?
Avatar Weekly
Reflections of Jennaa
In Jacq's Closet
ICON Lifestyle
Every Second

A Musashi-Do suit on the New York Times

2009-10-22T05:28:00.006+02:00

Shiryu Musashi
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Two weeks ago was standing there minding my own business and watching Angie Mornington's Fabulous Fashion TV show (that I really like, by the way it's realistic and professional, and you know that I have a thing for realistic and professional). I didn't know that Sharron Shuman's camera lenses were on me.
Today the New York Times published a very nice article (unfortunately you'll have to register to read it, at least it's free) on Fashion on Second Life, and on Angie's show.

I was pretty surprised to see my face there, and quite honored to have my top-of-the-line suit Milano by Night shown as an example of "chic" fashion in Second Life.

I really like the article, actually, and surprisingly it doesn't fall in the usual sensationalistic trap of vulgarizing Second Life as a place of debauchery and free sex, instead talking seriously about the virtual fashion market and it's users. Give it a look, it's a good read. :D

PS: And don't forget to buy the suit, it's "chic" and "affordable" :P

The video of the Wear Grey Fashion Show

2009-10-18T04:09:00.003+02:00

The Wear Grey Fashion show was an amazing success, and I got to polish my machinima skills a bit with all the footage I managed to film from it. I'm really grateful to Sanura Snowpaw for allowing me to give that little bit of help I could.

If you still didn't contribute to the cause (Brain Cancer research via the American Cancer society), you can still teleport here and buy one of the several designs offered by the many designers that took part in the campaign, or, if you feel like it, just donate to one of the many donation booths scattered in the area. It's only until the end of the month, so get to it :D

The Wear Grey fashion show for Brain Cancer Awareness

2009-10-17T02:58:00.003+02:00

In one hour at 7 PM SLT the Fashion Show for Wear Grey will start in this location. Make sure not to miss it because a lot of very talented designers put in a lot of effort in support of this campaign for Brain Cancer awareness. I'm very grateful to Sanura Snowpaw, the organizer, for letting me take part to this heart-warming initiative with my Fog over Torino suit, that will be shown during the show alongside many other creation by many other designers.

Please, make sure you don't miss the show, again, this evening at 7 PM SLT in this location, and stay for the party after the Show! Remember to show your support to the American Cancer Society with your donations and with buying the exclusive Wear Grey designs that will be available in the shops built around the catwalk.

I'll be there waiting for you :D

A Suit for Brain Cancer awareness: Fog over Torino

2009-10-11T22:38:00.005+02:00

Fog Over Torino
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

Even if I'm quite late to the party, I was very glad to be invited to join the "Wear Grey" campaign for brain cancer awareness. My own contribution to that cause is finally ready, the "Fog over Torino" suit. The suit sports a sleek and wrapping design that looks very good with the grey color that gives the name to the campaign.

It comes with the usual advanced Musashi-Do prim positioning and sizing HUD, and with two shirts (solid grey and pinstriped) and ties.

The ties are, of course, perfectly compatible with the InfiniTIE system I released today, so if you want an accent of color on this grey suit, you have plenty options available.

You can find it for 400 L$ at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store or even better, at the Wear Grey HQ, where you can shop 'til you drop on all the Wear Grey products by many designers while contributing to the campaign.
The 50% of each sale of this suit (200 L$) will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

Also, please note that at the Wear Grey HQ on October the 16th at 7 PM SLT, there will be a fashion show showcasing all the Wear Grey outfits :D You can't miss it

Musashi-Do Innovates Men's fashion again. The InfiniTie system

2009-10-11T19:49:00.005+02:00

InfiniTIE Logo
Picture uploaded by Abriael

Every fashion season some misguided journalists, in a vain attempt to be "hip", claim that the necktie is "out" only to see their credibility sink like the Titanic as this absolutely immortal part of men's fashion comes back like a boomerang and hits them in their faces.

There's very little argument here. Despite the empty claims described above, the tie is an absolutely indispensible piece of a man's wardrobe, and the more neckties we own, the more we'll be able to variate our look every day.

The choice of the right necktie can radically change the mood of a suit or similar outfit with a simple but masterful accent, moving from formal to almost casual with just the effort of chosing the correct match.

It's from this classic but immortal accessory that I wanted to pull out a new way to bring some innovation to men's fashion in Second Life. That's how the InfiniTie system is born:

As you can see from the above movie, the InfiniTie system overcomes the limitation that forces you to wear only the necktie or neckties specifically designed for the outfit you are wearing. No matter what's the size, shape, or flexibility of the tie, no matter if it's on a man or on a woman, you will be able to use ALL the InfiniTie neckties you own with each and every Musashi-Do suit (and with a little of resizing and maybe linking effort, even with many suits from other brands) you own, old and new. Whether you buy a separate infiniTie or a new Musashi-Do suit that includes new ties, all of them will be added to your InfiniTie collection and you will be able to use them freely even with outfits they weren't specifically made for.

The Milano by Night suit has already been updated to natively support the InfiniTIE system. Another suit will be released today, and ten separate neckties are already available at the Musashi-Do flagship store for 29 L$ each, while the "blank" flexi necktie to be used with the older Musashi-Do suits and with suits from other brands cost 39 L$.
Many other ties and suits will be produced in the future, as I plan to turn the InfiniTIE system into a truly infinite customization game.

Check it out. I hope you will enjoy wearing my new ties as much as I enjoyed making them :D

IMPORTANT: Milano by Night Update Notice

2009-10-11T19:13:00.003+02:00

Milano by Night
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The suit "Milano by Night" has been updated to support the upcoming InfiniTIE system.

If you bought the suit "Milano by Night" before October the 11th, 2009 you have an obsolete model of it that doesn't support the InfiniTIE system that will be released today. Don't worry! Just put the suit in a folder named *****Milano by Night YOURNAME (keeping the "*" and replacing YOURNAME with your SL name, send an IM to Shiryu Musashi asking for the replacement of the suit and send him the whole folder, even if he's offline.

You will receive an updated version of the suit that is compatible with InfiniTIE, immediately if he's online, as soon as he gets online if he's not (normally it doesn't take more than a few hours).

All the suits bought or received after the release of this notice are already updated and, like all the suits and products that include the InfiniTIE system and the ties themselves will have an automatic update system that will make the above process unnecessary for any further update.

We apologize for the inconvenience of having to update your suit manually this time only, but we think it's for the better due to fact that you will now be offered the endless customization options of the InfiniTIE system.

Are you curious about what exactly the InfiniTIE system is? You'll have to wait just a little further, about an hour or so *winks*

If you still didn't buy the Milano by Night suit, you can purchase the updated version directly for 499 L$ at the Musashi-Do flagship store, or on Xstreet.

Concert this evening for the "Wear Gray" campaign for brain cancer awareness

2009-10-08T03:18:00.003+02:00

In about 40 minutes (7 PM SLT) the Wear Grey campaign for Brain Cancer awareness will launch again with a nice concert of the NickelBlack band. Please wear your best grey outfit and come have fun. The location is here.

All the donations gathered during the concert will go to the American Cancer Society, and several designs by many designers will be available for purchase on site to support the same cause.

Musashi-Do fully supports the campaign, and tomorrow will release a suit that will allow you to support it as well with your purchase. See you at 7 and bring your friends!

New Musashi-Do Satellite store at ICON

2009-10-06T02:06:00.004+02:00

Musashi-Do ICON Satellite Store
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

I finally got around opening the first Musashi-Do satellite store after my comeback to Second Lif. The store is small, but hopefully comfy and nice to be in. It uses the same assets and textures as my main store, to keep the brand identity, but it has been slightly adapted to fit better into the environment at ICON. It's a lovely sim by the way, I love the setup.

So hello to my new neightbors, and thank you to RubyStarlight Wiriter that invited me there.

You can find the new store here. Please pay a visit :D

A fresh coat of paint for Musashi-Do

2009-10-03T01:51:00.003+02:00

Musashi-Do 004
By Abriael

The Musashi-Do flagship store has always been furnished very simply. Simplicity is part of the vision of the brand, after all.

Though, it's always hard, in Second Life, to aim for simplicity without looking cold, expecially in a snow sim. And the "old" Musashi-do did indeed look quite cold.

I've spent the past few weeks studying different solutions to warm the environment up and I finally came up with a solution. Less stone, a bit more dark wood (very dark), more plants and new furniture. Expecially the sitting areas have been radically changed.

I'm quite satisfied with the result (you can see them directly in world or in this flickr gallery), now the shop looks more warm and friendly, without being overly saturated and retaining that simplicity that I'm so fond of. Now, back to work on clothes!

The comeback of the Musashi-Do suit: Milano by Night

2009-10-01T05:32:00.017+02:00

Milano by Night
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

Before my hiatus suits were the strongest point of my brand, and of course I always planned to go back to them. Now such plans have finally reached fruition, as the first of a new series of suits has finally been released: Milano by Night.

This suit features a modern notched lapel/two vents style, perfect for both formal occasions and business. The wrapping style, almost resembling a double breasted suit, conveys height, elegance and strenght, paired with the solid black color to give a dashing and classy look.

The package includes ten shirts to be worn with the suit (six solid colors and six pinstriped). The color of the collar and of the cuffs of the shirt is controlled via the HUD included with the suit. Same for the ten different textures for the ties, that feature solid color, striped and patterned designs.

To change the color of the shirt's collar/cuffs or the design of the tie, I scripted a quite advanced hud that also provides a full-featured repositioning and resizing system that will allow anyone to fit the prims to his avatar's body effortlessly and quickly.

It was quite hard to code it but I'm honestly very happy of the result.

The suit costs 499 L$ and is available as usual at the Musashi-Do flagship store, or on Xstreet.

I also made a detailed video presentation showing the HUD in action, that you can see embedded below. I hope you will enjoy my new suit! More to come soon :D

Also blogged on:
M4M
Jackpot!
Hippoi Athanatoi
Royce Finds...
Atomic Valley

Big round of discounts at Musashi-Do

2009-09-29T19:23:00.007+02:00

Just a quick notice to let everyone know that quite a vast range between the Musashi-Do Fashions had their pricetag sizeably lowered

The list is too long to mention, but for instance the whole range of Musashi-Do gowns has been discounted down to 200 L$. They all sport double flexi prim attachments for perfect flow with your legs when walking and still show well at every party :D

As usual all the fashions from Musashi-Do are available at the Musashi-Do flagship store, or on Xstreet SL. Come give them a look.

Now time to get back to work, my newest suit will be released later today, at last :D

A Second Life designer at an Art Film Festival?

2009-09-28T18:38:00.005+02:00

Bergamo Art Film Festival 2009 2
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

When the art director of the Bergamo Art Film Festival (one of the most prestigious European events about art cinema) called me and asked me to take part in the event to let the Audience know more about the new frontiers of aesthetics on Second Life i was quite surprised. It 's not the first time I'm invited to an event for that purpose, but an Art Film Festival is something that doesn't happen every day.

With me was my long time friend Mario Gerosa (AKA Frank Koolhaas in Second Life), with which I'm quite used to work, we always make a good team in presenting Second Life to people that don't know much about it, due to the fact that he's a journalist and a writer and I'm mostly a technician, and offer two very different but complementary point of views.

In the end, it was another great experience. I'm always honored to be chosen to speak about this topic, and I'm always surprised to see how people that don't have much to do with it always end up finding a new interest in virtuality and it's aesthetics.

Below are a couple more pictures (the quality isn't that great since the administration of the festival sent them on paper, and had to scan them).
Now it's time to get back to work. I have a suit to release :D

Musashi-Do at the VR Style fashion show

2009-09-25T07:01:00.005+02:00

VRStyle Fashion Show-09-24-2009 008
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

Today Musashi-Do was featured at the VRStyle fashion show alongside other brands like Paeoti Pomeray's Nymphetamine (one of my all time personal favorites).

You can see a few pictures here.

The show was held by Silver Star, a quite young modeling agency that's showing a lot of promise, even thanks to the determination and talent of their head, Nadia Felwitch.
And given that I've helped quite a few popular agencies to start up in my five years of SL, some say that I have an eye for that.

Also, the ones that came to the show had the chance to see the premiere of the new Musashi-do suit, "Milano by Night" that will be released in a few days. You can see it pictured on the top left. Pretty sleek, isn't it? :D Please look forward to it.

Keeping it simple, but classy

2009-09-22T04:57:00.010+02:00

Polo Club Shirts
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

Time for another quite sizeable release at Musashi-Do. This time it's the casual and sportswear White Label to receive some attention.

This time I decided to keep it simple (and admittedly, given the hell of seam/stripe-taming i put myself into, It wasn't simple at all, at least from a technical point of view), and to feature one of the most classic pieces of casualwear and sportswear in the history of gentlemen's fashion: the Polo shirt.

I dug deep in the color trends for the upcoming season (Fall/Winter 2009/2010) and the next (spring/summer 2010) and created five sets, two in plain colors with matching trims, two striped, and two resembling the classy and sporty shirts of the polo club tradition.

All the polos come in two versions (tucked and untucked) adn with two different prim collars, folded and popped, if you feel a little more hip.

The separates start from 49 L$ each for the plain ones up to 99 L$ for the polo club ones, while the fatpacks range from 229 L$ to 399 L$

All of the sets and the separates are available at the Musashi-Do Flagship Store or just the sets on Xstreet (Polo Club set, Plain Fall/Winter, Plain Spring/Summer, Striped Fall/Winter, Striped Spring/Summer)

As usual every single polo shirt is 100% hand painted for your enjoyment.

Hope to see many wearing them soon :D

Also blogged at:
Fashbang
Lolita Oleander: Que Paso?
I turn my Camera On

New Freebies in store now!

2009-09-11T03:08:00.014+02:00

Freebie for Ladies 4.0
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

The old 3.0 freebies I had in store until now were... well... old. So I decided to make it up for the wait, and prepare something nice for my customers.

From today on, the new Musashi-Do freebies 4.0 for Ladies and for Gentlemen are available in the Musashi-Do flagship store and on Xstreet (here for Ladies and here for Gentlemen).

I actually decided to work on them as they were normal outfits for sale, and the result is a (IMHO) nice cocktail dress that uses the same cut as Waving Heart and Diamonds on Me, but sports a different pattern, for Ladies and a classy polo shirt set with troursers for Gentlemen. You can see them all pictured here.

Also, while the black (and grey for Gentlemen) version is available for everyone, I made a special white edition of both freebies available exclusively to the members of the Muashi-Do Newsgroup or the Musashi-Do Subscribe-o-matic group.

Finally, I'd like to take this chance to let everyone know that I will use my social networks (twitter, plurk and the Musashi-Do fan page on Facebook, in addition to the groups above) to drop totally random and totally sudden little contests and giveaways for my customers.

Sometimes I will use all of them, sometimes i will pick one and use just that. So make sure that you add/subscribe them all to take part in as many contests as possible :D

In any case, I hope you appreciate the new freebies, as usual feel free to drop feedback if you feel like :D

Also blogged at:
Free*Style
The SL Fashionista
SLEX and the CITY
Fashion Freebies for Men
Chic at Phil's Place
Opium Fashion Agency
My Style in Second Life
Baking Cupcakes
It's only Fashion
Karla Scorbal – Imagination unbounded

New cocktail Dresses Released: Waving Heart and Diamonds on Me

2009-09-10T23:36:00.016+02:00

Waving Heart
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

In the last few days I've been very hard at work to design my two new sets, Waving Heart (left) and Diamonds on Me (below). Both share the same cut, but have a different hand painted pattern and different color schemes.

Those two dresses are the embodiment of some of the concepts i'm planning to bring in Second Life from my experience at the academy I attended. One of the most fun, interesting and challenging things I learned has been to hand paint patterns in Illustrator, and how to create color variations of them.

Unfortunately the use of patterns in Second Life is rare, because designers using them are forced to face a hell on earth of seam-matching expecially on the waist area. Moreover, most of the patterns we see are some what photosourced, because designing patterns from scratch isn't easy.
That's why I created this new challenge for myself (something that I began on with Flower Me one year ago and that was rebooted with my new TAN/Lines bikini): to make 100% hand-painted patterns one of the "musts" of my style, and apply all I learned about them to my Second Life design, combining it with equally hand-painted shading and material simulation.

Waving Heart and Diamonds on Me are the result of such a challenge, or at least the initial results, because we're just at the beginning of this path (after all, Musashi-Do means "the Path of Musashi"). I'm quite curious myself to see where will it bring me and my brand.

In any case, getting to the technical, both dresses come in five color variations. Each color variation costs 225 L$ as separate, while the two fatpacks (one for each dress, including 5 colors) are priced 799 L$.

Both dresses (and the separate colors) can be found as usual at the Musashi-Do Flagship store, while just the fatpacks can also be purchased on Xstreet SL (Waving Heart and Diamonds on Me).

As always, thank you for your attention, and happy shopping :D

Also blogged at:
.Ana Lutetia.
A Passion for Virtual Fashion
Ch'know Style
SLEX and the CITY
Chic at Phil's Place
Glamourazzi
SLElf
Opium Fashion Agency

A lovely review of the TAN/Lines series

2009-09-01T00:52:00.006+02:00

Gemini Galatea was so nice to review my new bikini line on her blog. Had to share it, because really, the pictures are lovely. That lady has always been a talented one.

It's nice to see that, despite having been away for so long, my work is still appreciated. It drives me towards new creations, some of which are already in the works. I'm also preparing a new freebie package, since the old ones are quite outdated. Hopefully it'll be ready very soon.

Again, thanks Gemini, I really appreciated your post :D

A new blog for a new beginning....

2009-08-31T09:54:00.003+02:00

This will be, from now on, the new Musashi-Do blog. The old one will be gradually phased out as this one gets added to the right feeds and all. The renovation of the store is going well, and all that's left to do is to actually discover who are the new press kids on the block and who of the old ones is still alive and kicking. Then I'll start sending out press releases and review copies.

I also made a new Plurk account, so, if you feel like, you can follow me there as well as on twitter. The facebook fan page is open as well... so many things to do, so little time!

It's 10 AM and i didn't get to sleep a single hour tonight, but I guess that is the life of the SL designer that I missed so much :D

It's actually time to go out now, but stay tuned!

The fire is lit again. New bikini sets available at Musashi-Do

2009-08-30T04:57:00.004+02:00

Summer Sky (Lush)
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

It took more than three weeks (and I said "a few days" but oh well... you all know, probably, that I've never been a fast designer), but in the end my secret TAN/Lines project became much more extensive than I thought.

In any case, what happened to me in the last several months? Well, it's pretty simple. I've been studying for two full years in a fashion academy, as some might already know. I wanted to add something more "real" to the experience i had accumulated in Second Life. I already had some notions of fashion before, but I really wanted to get some professional training and to do so at one of the best academies I could find.

It seriously sucked the life out of me. Two years having to go to school every morning in addition to work are pretty much a burden, but I have to say, it's been exhilarating as well. I feel that I learned more there than in high school and university (that I didn't finish) added together, and now that I have my lil shiny diploma, I'm pretty proud of it.

So now I'm back. And I think I've returned stronger than before. What I've learned, if you still remember who Shiryu Musashi is, and are still interested in his designs, you will see starting today and in the next months. Because yes, I'm here to stay.

Anyway, back to the new TAN/Lines bikinis. As you will see in the pictures that I will attach to this post, they came out quite nice. I applied to them a lot of what I learned about designing fabric prints at the academy, and all the research I've done about this and next summer's color and style trends.

On top of it, I wanted to add a little twist to the set. They aren't named "TAN/Lines" for nothing. In every set I included a set of matching tanlines (well, three sets actually, in different shades), that go over your skin and look like realistic tanlines. You can basically showoff your bikini even when you're not wearing it (or when you're wearing just half maybe) :D

In any case, here come more pictures for all sets. You can find them as usual at the old dear Musashi-Do flagship store, or on XStreetSL (it's really hard to me to write the new name... i always tend to write SLExchange...)

Also Blogged at:
Handbags & Gladrags
A Passion for Virtual Fashion
Ch'know Style
Rezzable
Around the Grid
Lolita Oleander: Que paso?
In Jacq's Closet

Something is burning under the ashes...

2009-08-06T19:31:00.000+02:00

Some wondered, in the past year, what happened to the Musashi-Do fashion shop. Well, the shop has never disappeared, but no new designs were there.

Unfortunately the combination between lack of time and lack of inspiration kind of stopped this old designer on his tracks, dropping him into a very long and boring moment of creative slump.

Well, looks like something is burning under the ashes. Stay tuned during the next few days, you might be in for some surprises...

Classes start at the Accademia Montenapoleone 5 in Second Life!

2008-04-05T01:25:00.000+02:00

Creativity Trends class
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

It's been a little difficult to organize, but we're finally getting ready to start. The first class, free and open to everyone, is starting next week. Here's the official press release:

Accademia Montenapoleone 5 (the first real world fashion Academy to get a Second Life) would like to announce the beginning of fashion oriented classes held in Second Life by the Academy's teachers, all of which are accomplished professionals in the real world fashion field.

The first public class will be held on Tuesday, April the 8th, 2008, at 8:00 PM GMT (12:00 PM PDT SL time) and will be held by Prof. Manuela Rubertelli (in her Avatar form Mikado Rubble). The class subject will be Creativity Trends and Cool Hunting, Spring/Summer 2009. At the end of the speech there will be a Q&A session for everyone interested in further clarification and discussion.

The class will be held in English language and is open to everyone that would like to attend, for free. Especially encouraged to attend are Second Life designers and fashion professionals that would like to broaden their knowledge of Real World fashion and gather inspiration for their upcoming creations.

To attend the class just teleport to the Accademia Montenapoleone 5 Classroom at this SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Montenapoleone/80/72/23

Make sure to turn on your streaming audio by pressing the play button on the bottom right of your screen, so that you'll be able to hear the speech by the teacher.

The class will be moderated by the Academy's Administrator in Second Life, Shiryu Musashi. Any enquiries about it and about further classes can be directed to him via IM or via email at gnelva@accademiadelllusso.com

Also, to receive timely info about classes and other initiatives by the Accademia Montenapoleone 5, you can freely join the "Accademia Montenapoleone 5 Update" group, that will be used to spread such news.

See you there!

Shiryu Musashi
Accademia Montenapoleone 5 (Accademia del Lusso)
Second Life Administrator

A spring dress with a flowery theme: Flower Me

2008-03-30T08:46:00.000+02:00

Flower Me
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

Here's a dress I'm particularly proud of: The Flower Me.
This set has been designed to fit the trend theme and colors of Florence's Pitti (the most famous Italian event for fashion textiles) for the Spring-Summer 2008 season.
The exclusive texture motif (coming in 6 color themes) has been 100% hand-painted following the same methods used in the real-world fashion industry, to create the the perfect dress for classy cocktail parties and brunches with your friends and loved ones.

In the second picture you can see the color study I made to variate the texture in Illustrator. A lot of thought and study has been done to get the exact result I wanted. And I have to say I'm pretty satisfied of it.

The set can be found alongside the rest of the Musashi-Do fashion collections at the Musashi-Do flagship store, and on SLexchange

A tribute to a great designer: The Glorious F.

2008-03-30T08:30:00.000+02:00

The Glorious F.
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

This set, dedicated to the memory of the glorious italian designer Gianfranco Ferre', and is themed after the stylish combination of black and brown.

It includes three suits (black, brown and pinstriped black), four shirts (black brown and pinstriped black and brown), two turtleneck sweaters (black and brown, including prim neck pieces) and one striped tie.

The option of using a shirt with tie or a sweater under the suit makes it perfect both for formal and for more casual occasions. Even more variation can be added by combining with the Evening revolution series or with any Musashi-Do flexi tie.

The set can be found alongside the rest of the Musashi-Do fashion collections at the Musashi-Do flagship store, and on SLexchange

A mandarin collar suit for the stylish: Jet Black

2008-03-30T08:19:00.000+02:00

Jet Black
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

First of the new sets after the opening of the new flagship store, is this very simple (but actually a lot of thought went into it's detailing, as simple things are the hardest to make sometimes) mandarin collared suit. With just three pieces, it comes at a very affordable piricetag (200 L$) but still it makes for a sleek and elegant look, for a man that likes to be noticed.

The set can be found alongside the rest of the Musashi-Do fashion collections at the Musashi-Do flagship store, and on SLexchange

New Evolution set out now: Highland Wind

2008-03-30T07:49:00.000+02:00

Highland Wind (Evolution)
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

It's been a long time since the announcement that Highland Wind would have had it's own evolution version. Now it's finally ready. All textures have now been completely redrawn (by hand) to match the present quality of Musashi-Do fashions, and all the tartan prims have been made flexi.

The base set contains the whole outfit, including tartans from five clans: Mc Gregor, Mc Leod, Mc Donald, Black Watch and Bannockbane. In addition to that, it includes a color changing belt with sporran and brooch.

In addition to the base set, I also releaased the evolution version of the expansion pack 1. Which includes tartans for Wallace, Buchanan, Ramsay and Erskine, as well as a second version of the Mc Donald tartan.

remember that, as for all Evolution fashions, if you already purchased the previous non-flexi verions, you don't need to repurchase this new ones. Just contact me (Shiryu Musashi) via IM and I will replace your old set with this one for free.

Both sets can be found alongside the rest of the Musashi-Do fashion collections at the Musashi-Do flagship store, and on SLexchange (Highland Wind and Expansion Pack).

The Musashi-Do brand splits in two. New logos!

2008-03-28T02:03:00.000+01:00

Musashi-Do Black Label Logo
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

With the opening of the new Flagship store brings the splitting of the Musashi-Do brand in two separate brands. The first is the black label brand, which includes a Prêt-à-porter collection, and can be considered the first Musashi-Do line of fashions.

The second, but by no means secondary brand is the white label, that will include the casual and sportswear Musashi-Do collections.

The black label brand is available on the first floor of the Flagship Store, while the white label is available on the second.

Inserito originariamente da Abriael

As you might have noticed, the logos have been significantly revolutioned, now sporting a much more modern look, but still keeping the traditional "Musashi" Kanji that accompanied the brand since it's very beginning in 2004. Since Musashi-Do is without an hint of a doubt the first-born Italian brand in Second life, a reference to the Italian flag has been added as well.

The logos will gradually replace the old on all Musashi-Do related products from now on.

The new Flagship Store is finally open!

2008-03-28T01:41:00.000+01:00

The new Musashi-Do flagship store
Inserito originariamente da Abriael

I'm pleased to announce that, after a long delay due mostly to family reasons, the new Musashi-Do Flagship store is finally open!

You can directly teleport to it by clicking here or go see the dedicated flickr gallery here.

I have to say that, despite it costing me several months of work, I'm definately proud of the results, even thanks to Windlight and the beautiful snowy environment of Anton that really add to it's looks.

As you may notice by going there, the shop is not the only new thing. After a creative hiatus Musashi-do delivers some new fashions! So please visit the new Musashi-Do flagship store in Anton and see if they fit your taste :D

Also, feel free to take the evelator to the 8th floor to enjoy the elegant panoramic restaurant with your friends and loved ones. Romantic dawns and beautiful sights are guaranteed.

Also, the family problems thatkept me away from designing are subsiding, while Fashion school finally draws towards the end of the two-years course, meaning that from now on I'll have much more time to get back designing as I used to do.

This said, Stay tuned! More is due to come soon.

A little delay in the opening of the new Musashi-do shop

2008-01-08T00:15:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately due to a loss in the family (my grandma just passed away at the venerable age of 101) my working schedules have been pretty much messed up, since i had of take care of her and my relatives.

The opening of the commercial part (the ones with the clothes basically) of the new shop will be delayed of a few days, and will probably happen around the second half of this week (in the worst case during the week end), and finaly the newest musashi-do creations will be released.

Also stay tuned, because a new Musashi-do project is about to start, and you'll be able to earn free musashi-do gift cards while helping research on many illnesses. Stay tuned for more news on the matter when the shop will be actually open.

Christmas Exhibition at the new Musashi-Do Shop!

2007-12-25T10:00:00.000+01:00

It's the 4th Christmas i spend on Second Life, and Goodness, it's been an hell of a Ride.

Many things are going to change from now on, as the Musashi-Do brand is preparing for a grand comeback. The new shop is almost ready, and it's looking great (someone may think that the Musashi Tower spawining from it is a little megalomaniac... and maybe that someone is right), with three floors for the shops, one to be used for exhibitions of various nature, and a beautiful panoramic restaurant at the very top of the tower (wich is already open, so feel free to bring your special someone and friends alone and come enjoy a good glass of Barbaresco del Piemonte while enjoing the sight of the winter wonderland from above).

Also, as a little christmas treat, i'd like to invite you to the themed photographic exhibition that i opened today at the brand new Musashi-Do store (click for the SLurl).

Milano Holidays: the capital city of Italian Fashion dressing for the winter season

The exhibition (all the pictures have been taken by me) will stay open until January the 6th and hopefully will let you appreciate the charm of Milano during the Christmas holidays.

In the next few days the shop is gonna be complete and the long awaited new Musashi-Do creations that were held back by the overload of work for RL companies and by having to attend fashion school everyday, will be eventually released in a quick sequence.

So stay tuned, because Musashi-Do is back, and is back to stay!

The Accademia Montenapoleone 5 opens in Second Life!

2007-12-09T22:46:00.000+01:00

Many wondered why I had been pretty much silent for almost a year. Here's the explanation:

During the last few months I worked very hard on the building and opening of my new project: bringing the first real life fashion academy to Second Life. I could find no better one that the fashion academy I study in every morning, and that's the Accademia Montenapoleone 5 (also called Accademia del Lusso or Luxury Academy), whose homepage can be reached at http://www.accademiadellusso.com/ , that already distinguished itself for the innovative and effective teaching methods and was definately the best choice to be a pioneer in Second Life too.
Why did I decide to start this project?
First of all, Second Life has an unparaleled potential for creativity. It's my belief that, short of the real thing, there's no better place for a fashion student to learn how to create a brand and manage it, and also how to interface with the tastes and the needs of a real audience and market than Second Life.
Also, my personal dream is to bring the excellence of italian fashion and creativity in Second Life as it is in Real Life, and to create a point of meeting and merging between Second Life and Real Life fashion.

After about one year since when the idea has been conceived now the virtual academy is ready, and can be visited at this slurl

The grand opening last saturday, featuring a fashion show with the virtual brands Callie Cline, Simone, Shiny Things and Musashi-Do (wich are the guest brands that already have a shop in the island to pose as an example for the academy's students) has been a groundbreaking success, with the sim being filled by the enthusiast audience from start to end.

The project itself will be divided in several branches:

1: The real academy students will be granted shops in the island (in the reproduction of the real life premier fashion street in Milano, Via Montenapoleone) to create and manage their brands and projects in second life. Second Life residents will be invited to port in and to shop 'til they drop on the fruits of their creativity.

2: Several of the academy's teachers (wich are all real world fashion professionals) will hold classes in the island, open to every second life resident, that will cover every aspect of real life fashion.

3: Second Life residents involved in the world of virtual fashion will be invited to host classes themselves, encompassing all aspects of virtual fashion (Everyone interested can contact me (Shiryu Musashi) via IM, or at my email adress shiryu@musashi-do.net).

4: I'm holding myself a real life course on Second Life creativity (it already begiun on December the 3rd) at the real academy, to help the real students and teachers learn thepotential and the use of Second Life.

5: An exhibition center is ready to host exhibitions on several aspects of fashion and art. It already features a small exhibition on Still Life photography featuring the work of last year's styling course at the academy.

It's definately an ambitious project, and i really hope it'll meet it's goals, creating a true place for Second Life and Real Life fashion to meet and merge, and for Second Life Residents and real life fashion students to learn from each other and improve their knowledge of fashion.

Anyone that's interested in attending the classes can join the "Accademia Montenapoleone 5 Update" group (free to join) where notices will be posted to let everyone be aware of the schedule.

If anyone is interested in downloading pictures of the grand opening (for publishing reasons) please click here and feel free to send me a message in world or an email (at shiryu@musashi-do.net) to require any kind of info.

Also, a machinima (movie) of the event will be published soon.

I'm extremely proud of this project, and happy to finally let it see the light :)

The classes will begin soon, so stay tuned!

An heart-felt farewell to Gianfranco Ferre'

2007-06-17T22:23:00.000+02:00

This evening, due to a sudden and fatal illness, Gianfranco Ferre' left this world. As one of the world's most famous and creative designers, he helped bringing the excellence of italian fashion to it's current level.Ferre' was an immense source of inspiration for me, and I'm sure for many other SL designers, so I'd like to remember him with one of his last famous quotes:

"Je ne sarais jamais personne, mais personne ne sera jamais comme moi"

"I will never be no one, but no one will ever be like me"

May you find peace, Gianfranco...

Vittoria!

2007-04-22T18:09:00.000+02:00

And it's a victory!

After a year of total domination Inter finally managed to win the italian soccer championship :)

Forgive this sudden outburst of sport passion, but i couldn't help it :)

Forza Inter!

My Scion xD featured at the Scion press event

2007-02-10T02:10:00.000+01:00

Many for sure wondered where was I gone in the last few weeks. It's actually pretty simple. I begun working for Millions of Us, and precisely I created the new Scion xD for the Scion press event held at the same time in Chicago and on Second Life's Scion City (you can read about it here). It was a thrilling experience, both because I love the car itself (it has a beautifully aggressive look for it's small size, and i LOVE aggressive cars) and because I'm getting to work shoulder-to-shoulder with some pretty awesome and very talented people. It wasn't an easy job, and I didn't manage to sleep more than a couple hours a night in the last two weeks, but it was SO worth it. Isn't it a really cute baby?

A new Musashi-Do shop opens on ASpiRE island

2007-02-10T02:02:00.000+01:00

While i wait for my fashion sociology exam and the Milano Women's fashion week (upcoming respectively in one and two weeks) i decided to open a new Musashi-Do shop. My sweet beautiful Bianca not only granted me a place on her ASpiRE isle, but she even furnished and textured the shop herself, with her awesome taste and fashion sense. I really love it!

This week end i'll hopefully manage to get a couple long postponed releases out... i really had a couple very hectic months, but now it seems to be settling down. About time!

The Milano Men's Fashion week begins!

2007-01-15T01:47:00.000+01:00

It finally begun, after months of hectic preparation the Milano men's fashion week has begun. Today i got to see RoccoBarocco and Costume National's A/W 2007/2008 collections. There weren't many surprises as of colors, lots of Anthracite grey, white, some black and whole lodads of brown (wich is good, since i love brown).
Again i was sad to see that an important element of elegance like the tie was totally overlooked, both on the catwalk and in the audience. Looks like the stylists are trying to give men an image of a sporty dandy that wouldn't dare working even if work came and bit them on the rear...

Today I was the only man in sight wearing a tie (my new Brown/gold/white striped tie btw, I love it, and it really looked good with a chocolate brown shirt and a black suit with brown pinstripes... did i say I love brown already? :P), and know what? I'm pretty proud of it!
Until a few years ago the tie was pretty much a sign of aggregation, an emblem worn to show that a man was part of that working and productive class that crowded the cities, and as such going around with an open collar was pretty much distinctive and sporty. Now the situation is basically the opposite. The tie has become a sign of distinction and it actually takes guts to wear one with pride in certain situations.
It's ok. I consider the tie an important sign of elegance anyway, a spotlight in the middle of an otherwise sober outfit. So if beside being elegant it can be distinctive as well, all the better.

Whatever the big real life couturiers will do, i'll continue to produce my ties in Second life. It's not an act of rebellion against official fashion or whatever, I just like them, and looking at the sales figures of my ties, many men like them just as much.
Tomorrow i have to go see another fashion show (Frankie Morello's) and know what? I'll wear another tie. Proudly. :)

Santa knocks at the door of Musashi-Do

2006-12-22T15:36:00.000+01:00

Christmas is coming, and at last my long awaited vacation from school begun. I'm having a great time feeling immersed in fashion from head to toe (on wednesday we went to see RoccoBarocco's showroom, it was awesome even if his style of clothing is not exactly the same as mine.. i felt like a stain of black oil in a sea of colors :P), but sometimes it can be stressful too! Anyway while I'm waiting to put on the shelves my new fashion releases, all Musashi-Do and Musashi Motorsports shops have been "dressed up" for the occasion.
Also, just like last year, my customers will be able to find free full permissions (copy/modify/transfer) gift wraps in a vendor on the counter at the Musashi-do Main Shop. There are twenty different ones to fit every taste and style, but feel free to modify them to fit your purpose in any way you might like.
Last but not least, if you're a member of the Musashi-Do Newsgroup group, be ready, because a sign of my appreciation will be coming your way on Christmas eve's night. If you're not a member of the group yet, you're still in time to join!
Anyway, i'm done designing for the night (well, the "night" carried over to 3 PM in the day after it seems...) happy holydays to everyone!

Musashi Motorsports Opens on Motorati Island

2006-12-22T15:26:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Pontiac that decided to provide residents of Second Life with land on Motorati island to develop their projects (I think this is a very important step on the right direction on behalf of a real life corporation, that finally understood that it's name alone is not enough to draw traffic to it's venue. Well done Pontiac!), I opened two new shops there. A Car shop where customers can find (and test drive for free) the whole range of Musashi Motorsports cars equipped with the brand new (and already extremely popular, it seems) Raiden Mk.2 engine, and a Fashion Shop, in wich the fashion aware driver can find top quality clothes to dress both while driving and while resting.
I have big projects for the Musashi Motorsports Fashion brand, by the way. As of now the shop features the same line as all Musashi-Do shops, but soon will develop it's own apparel line. Stay tuned!

The Raiden Mk.2 ROARS!

2006-12-09T10:06:00.000+01:00

It's done at last. Finally all the Musashi Motorsports cars are equipped with the new and powerful Raiden Mk.2 Engine! It was a terribly long haul, but i'm very satisfied with the results and the features included.

Here's a full list of features that you can now find in my cars:
- Realistic 6-speed sequential transmission
- Dynamic steering system
- Realistic Drifting behavioir
- Full featured HUD with touch commands, analogic and digital speedometer, gear indicator and day/night switching
- Variable output engine with three power settings: city, sports and racing
- Variable traction control with three settings: none, mild, full
- Variable stability control with three settings: none, mild, full
- Improved deactivable sim border crossing ability
- NOS nitro injection system
- Seats two avatars
- Guest driver system
- Passenger eject system
- Exclusive P-Freeze precision positioning system
- Opening and closing canopy (roadster versions only)
- State-of-the-art server friendly scripts
- Rotating wheels and turning front wheels
- 9 specific custom sounds, changing when you gear up and down
- Extensive visual effects, including exhaust smoke and flames and tire tracks on the ground
- Compatibility standard that allows users to replace the engine with other Musashi Motorsports Raiden engines
- Bonus decorative Musashi Motorsports Key and Keychain

Pretty nice, isn't it?
Expecially the P-freeze positioning system is something i really like, it allows the driver to move the car around with great precision without editing it, awesome for taking pictures and when one gets stuck or goes off the road :)

As always the cars are available at the Musashi Motorsports Shop

If you already bought any of the old Musashi Motorsports cars not equipped with the Raiden Mk.2, please do not purchase the a new one (unless you want a different model/color of course). The new ones are to considered an update and as such you don't need to purchase them. Just send me an IM and I will teleport you to my office as soon as possible, where, after seeing you rez your old car as a proof of ownership, I will give you the new edition of that car free of charge.

Also a group called Musashi Motorsports Owner club has been opened. The owners of my cars will be invited to that group and will be able to receive updates and new versions of the engine to play with.

Now, after this looong scripting and test driving haul, I better go back to my workshop, I have a lot of fashion designs on sketch. I just ("just" uh? ^_^;;) need to translate them to their digital version now. I missed fashion design, and even if car scripting is great fun, I'm definately happy to be able to go back doing that. So stay tuned, news in that field will come quick!

Christmas is coming!

2006-12-05T11:48:00.000+01:00

Having been a bit reclusive lately while scripting the new engine for my Musashi Motorsports cars (that will be released tomorrow night, at last), and having been busy with fashion design school, it's nice and refreshing to see a bit of festive atmosphere, anticipating my much awaited winter holidays (wich I'll spend working on SL anyway, for the ones that like my fashion designs don't worry, I didn't forget about you, quite a lot of news are incoming in the next weeks).
Here's a nice view of Via Montenapoleone (wich is well known as being the main designer store street in Milano and the heart of the so called "Square of Fashion") as seen from one of the balconys of the school I attend. As you can see the christmas lights are already up and lit (in the morning, talk about energy waste...) creating a pretty cute and merry atmosphere.
It's almost time for my mid-morning coffee, the Bar Cova (the one with the teal tents in the background) is definately waiting to give me a small part of my coffeine ration.
In the meanwhile, in the Vittorio Emanuele gallery, neightboring the Duomo Square, Swarovski placed down an immense christmas tree all decorated with shiny crystals, a truly awesome sight, expecially in the evening.
I definately love the festive atmosphere of christmas, and I'll make sure to decorate my shops as well in the upcoming days, I already have a few ideas that might prove nice.

Musashi-Do sponsors the opening Gala at centering place

2006-12-01T01:11:00.000+01:00

While you wait for the release (should happen tomorrow evening) of the new Raiden Mk.2 engine for all Musashi Motorsports cars you can go to the opening gala for Centering Place, an extremely interesting and valuable volunteer initiative for counseling and support. During the gala literally DOZENS of Musashi-Do and Musahshi Motorsports items will be handed out to patrons, so be sure to be there and show your support to the girls at Centering Place. You can be sure, they deserve it.
The party will start at 2 PM (on december the 1st of course) and will be held here. Don't miss it!

Musashi Motorsports cars to get a new heart...

2006-11-14T23:56:00.000+01:00

Someone might have wondered, in the last few days, if I was swallowed by oblivion or anything like that. The truth is, instead, that I was working on a "secret" project that now is in an advanced development and testing phase. Soon all the Musashi Motorsports cars will be equipped with the brand new and powerful Raiden Mk.II Engine. The new engine sports a long list of rather interesting features, like full HUD control, guest drivers list, a variety of handling and speed settings, able to satisfy both the relaxed driver and the fast&furious racing pilot, further improved sim crossing ability, the revolutionary "Time Freeze" feature and a few other things.
Stand by in the next few days for release (as always you can join the Musashi-Do Newsgroup group to receive real time news). Of course previous customers will be able to receive a completely free update to upgrade the Musashi Motorsports cars they already own with the Raiden MK.II engine.

Musashi Motorsports Drive Around the (SL)World 2006, Leg 5

2006-11-04T07:17:00.000+01:00

After a little hiatus needed to develop proper snow tires, the Drive Around the (SL) World resumes today for it's fifth leg. The team is ready, and has checked the mechanics of the car in every little detail. Driving on frozen asphalt can be tricky, so everything must be perfect to avoid a disastrous crash.
Our Race Queen for the day will be Queenie Extraordinaire, awesome DJ and newest of the Musashi-Do models. Most definately a beauty.

It will be mainly a night-time race, ran for the 90% in the beautiful snowy sims around the Zermatt Lake, starting from the Isabel Infohud, across the orient bridge, to the intersection in Larsen, where I'll turn North to make a long detour along the coastline. I'll skim the rocky sims in Clarksburg and Steamboat and then I'll turn left back in the snowy ones in Jernberg. Proceeding across the Mieto mountain pass, i'll reach the intersection in the corner of my home sim of Anton, where i'll turn left again, and speed south-east to the goal in Benham.
The sims are fairly old, but many of them are empty Linden owned land, so the lag should be low besides near the Isabel and Wengen infohubs and the Popular barbie club in Refugio. The road should be frozen all over, but the maintenance conditions are said to be fairly decent.

I'm finally ready to start the leg as the car is positioned on the road. Queenie is there ready to see me off and wish me good luck. Despite the frozen conditions of the route ahead, i'm confident on my new show tires.

START! I step on the gas pedal and quickly gear up as my car darts on the road in front of the crowded Isabel Infohub, the roar of the powerfulm 500 HP engine attracts the attention of the nearby newbies....

As i feel the familiar grip of the wooden planks under my tires, I cross the Orient bridge, surrounded by cliffs, a dam, a castle and even a galleon...

I climb a steep hill in Kania and my tires loose contact with the asphalt momentarily as the GTX jumps! The snowy environment finally surrounds me as I fight for a second the instinct of stepping on the brakes, an action that would for sure send me in a disastrous spin.

It's nightfall as I reach Belmondo. The grip on the frozen asphalt becomes a little weaker but remains steady as I reduce the speed slightly and turn on the headlights, passing in front of a nice victorian style mall.

The sky becomes darker as Grishin and it's beautiful architectures surrounded by the snow disappear behind me. The lights of my car, refracted by the snow in the darkness, create an almost romantic atmosphere. That's why i love snow sims...

I try hard to retain control of my 500 HP beast in the lag as i skim the guard rail passing in front of the crowded Barbie Club, there must be party!

As I speed uphill to enter Jernberg, I spot a beautiful crystal structure towering on the nearby snowy hill... Someone definately put a lot of effort and art in building that...

My engine growls in powerful undertones as I keep it in the lower gears to cross the Mieto Pass, so high that i'm surrounded by heavy clouds.

At the bottom of the pass I step hard on the breaks and corner tightly on the intersection of Anton. Beyond the river my shops can be seen towering in the darkness. Home sweet home...

The snow around the scenic Zermatt lake, probably the most beautiful mainland location of Second Life, gets a red hue as day breaks and the sun raises over the horizon...

It's dawn over the Linden owned chalet in Wengen, but many newbies are already up and about, playing and meeting the parking zone in front of the lake.

The sky becomes brighter as I speed over the river bridge of Eagan, heading towards the goal of this leg...

Entering Heaton I see a beautiful fountain on the side of the road. It's always interesting to see such nice builds hidden where you wouldn't expect them. It's like discovering a pearl in the sand.

And i eventually reach the goal in Benham, the road in front of me is blocked by a massive snow wall, since the Lindens didn't bother continuing it in the newly created sims that lay beyond. A beautiful gothic sculpture stands nearby. This leg is done, stay tuned for the next one!

Help us Save Tiffany!

2006-11-04T01:58:00.000+01:00

Right now there's an ongoing auction (it'll continue until tomorrow, saturday, at 8PM SLT) to help Tiffany, the daughter of one of our Second Life Residents, fight cancer.
You can find info on the campaign on the savetiffany.com website.
At the auction you can find many designers item, between them some are even one of a kind, like the Chocolate Goddess formal gown. You'll never find it anywhere else, do don't miss the chance to get it while doing a good deed.
Also actioned we have the Musashi Motorsports Zero GTR-1, the direct descendant of the Zero GTX that you see featured on the MusashI Motorsports Drive around the (SL)World (that will be resumed today) and the very first unique prototype of the upcoming Zero GTR series of race cars. As an one of a kind offer, i'll personally pauint on the texture any sponsors that the high bidder might want, to make it his very personal race car, or the representation of his business in the racing world!
You can find the auction here! Come here and help us Save Tiffany (and if you are a designer i think i'm still in time to donate your items for auction, send an im to Madame Maracas about that)!

A new little Freebie from Musashi-Do...

2006-11-01T13:39:00.000+01:00

I just made a completely free and full permission item out of a sudden inspiration, a Fuchikoma from The Ghost in the Shell (Kokaku Kidotai). Feel free to drop by and grab a copy in front of the Musashi-Do Fashion shop. Have fun with it!
posted by Shiryu Musashi on Anton using a blogHUD : [permalink]

A new Musashi-Do Shop in Le Cadre

2006-10-31T06:15:00.000+01:00

I've been invited to set up a little shop in Le Cadre and i immediately took up the chance, expecially due to the awesome urban look of the building i was offered. My friends know well i have a very soft spot for urban architecture. So here it is, the new Musashi-Do Le Cadre Shop, surrounded by the shops of many other talented designers. It definately looks cute, at least in my own biased eyes :P
posted by Shiryu Musashi on Le Cadre using a blogHUD : [permalink]

An awesome Halloween party... in a kilt!

2006-10-30T01:58:00.000+01:00

Right now i'm at an awesome halloween party organized by my friends at ASpiRE! Lots of cool people and cool music here, i'm sure it'll be a fun night. I sponsorized the event (alongside quite a lot of other designers), so a lot of Musashi-Do clothes and Musashi Motorsports cars will will be given away.
Also, my customers will be able to see a sneak peak of the work in progress version of the Evolution edition Highland Wind, in all it's flowing flexi splendor. I'm wearing it, doesn't it look good on me?

Drop by if you have time, you won't regret it :)
posted by Shiryu Musashi on Ilideu using a blogHUD : [permalink]

A Fire Dragon for Cancer Research

2006-10-27T19:39:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow , Saturday October 28th, at 4PM SL time, Silver Motorsports Complex will run a fundraiser auction to support the American Cancer Society and the U.S.O.

At the auction the new unique Musashi Motorsports Fire Dragon Special will be available, so come bid on it and on other beautiful items donated by many talented designers! See you there!
posted by Shiryu Musashi on Silver Island using a blogHUD : [permalink]

The new Musashi-Do website is officially open!

2006-10-26T14:08:00.000+02:00

At last, after a few days of hard work, the official Musashi-Do and Musashi Motorsports website is open, alongside with a complete graphical restyling of my Blog. I have to say I'm quite satisfied of the result, expecially since it took just four days to set everything up, including learning the Mambo front-end from scratch. God bless the ones that programmed it. They sure spared me a lot of hard work and a much worse result in the case i had use my poor html knowledge to make this site.

In any case, now that the new site ( http://www.musashi-do.net/ ) is operative, and I'm free to move on to my next project.

posted by Shiryu Musashi on Anton using a blogHUD : [permalink]

A new Domain, a new Zero

2006-10-22T14:40:00.000+02:00

As you might have noticed (if you're here) i finally registered the musashi-do.net domain (unfortunately musashi-do.com was already used, i'll retry next year) and as such the old japanwings.com domain will be set aside as an addon domain. Unfortunately there have been some problems with the linking of the two domains, so the pictures referring to japanwings.com won't work until my provider solves such problem. After the addition is done everything should go back working and the broken links should heal.
Yesterday another unique special edition of my Zero (the Black Dragon) was raffled at RockNGames's anniversary week end. The people at the party appreciated it, and the party was great fun :)
As a last side note, there was an awesome article about my fashion show on the Metaverse Messenger this week and on their NewsBlog. It was very positive and i have to say i was very flattered and happy to read it.

New (and vintage) formal gowns

2006-10-19T04:41:00.000+02:00

Following up the announcement od the project "Evolution" that will bring to a gradual renewal of the whole early Musashi-Do stock, the vintage line composed by Ivory pearl, Lavender Cloud and Snow Rose has been revamped completely with the addition of flexiness amd brand new textures and the creation of new colors: Crimson Ruby, Emerald Forest, Midnight Romance, Crystal Sky, Black Rose, Red Diva, Pink Candy, Ebony Shadow, Sea Star and Purple Royale.
Ad the same time, I did the same process of renovation and embellishement on the other Musashi-Do formal gown, Obsidian Glitter.

Honestly the revamping of my older designs was long overdue (expecially flexiness), and will now continue at the same pace as new releases.
Of course, since i would never make people pay twice for the same product (even if revamped), customers that already bought the older (non flexi) version of Obsidian Glitter, Snow Rose, Ivory Pearl and Lavender cloud will just have to send me an IM to receive a completely free update of the appropriate color.

I have to say I'm quite satisfied both with the results of this revamping and with the new colors (actually i'm beginning to wonder why I just made ivory, lavender and white at the beginning...). Despite being older designs, the idea behind them still has the same value, and the new techniques I applied to them (shading, flexi, wrinkles and so forth) definately bring them up to par with my newest creations.

Now, on to the next project! :)

Musashi-Do Fashion show... great job girls! (and a sneak peek...)

2006-10-15T07:08:00.000+02:00

It's done! After a very hectic month of preparations the day has finally come and gone. My first fashion show after my return to Second Life is done, and it was a success, actually much more than I could ever imagine. The sim was packed full, and there actually were even people looking from the nearby sim (God bless the position of the catwalk, a few meters from the sim's edge).
All of the Girls, Bianca and Trina, the managers of ASpiRE (a modeling agency that will go a LOOONG way, judging from the talent they shown today), all the models and the DJ, my old friend Daphne (no Dapphy, you're not old, you know what i mean :P) did such an awesome job that I was almost moved to tears. It all went basically flawlessly, from the beginning to the grand parade in the finale, in spite of the lag. I have to say that seeing them all on stage wearing my formals like that was quite the sight! It totally made up for the effort spent in the past week, while i was designing them.
Speaking of formal gowns, they are the first dive into my "Evolution" project. Basically I decided to revamp (and in some cases extend and add new colors) almost all my older sets.
My design techniques have gone a long way in 2 years, and some of my "vintage" designs are definately sub-par compared to the newest ones. This is something that definately bugs me, so i decided to rework them, adding flexiness where due, new shading, wrinkles and so forth, applying all i learned in the last two years to my earlier designs.
Of course customers won't be asked to pay twice for the same design, even if revamped, so the ones that already bought them in the past will be able to request a completely free update. So if you have an older Musashi-Do design, you may wantv to join the Musashi-Do Newsgroup group (wich is spam-free and free to join for everyone), on wich i'll post, between the other things, regular notices on the status of project "Evolution". Who knows, the next outfit to be revamped may be your favourite one :)
It's early morning here in Italy, and the sun it's raising. It's finally time to get some much deserved sleep. Buona notte!

UN Stand Up Campaign - Real Band wears Musashi-Do?

2006-10-15T07:06:00.000+02:00

The UN Millenium Stand Up campaign has invaded Second Life, it's extremely nice to see the Second Life residents getting together to take part in such events, that definately need all our support.
There was an extremely surprising side to it too.
The Real world rock band Sugarcult held a live gig in Second Life during the event, and surprise surprise, they were wearing my Evening Revolution suits. I felt extremely honored about it, first of all due to the theme of the event, and even because i really like their music, not to mention the fact that, even in real life, they definately seem to know how to dress (at least according to my own tastes). It was definately a good beginning for a great day!

Another Zero for hyasynth

2006-10-15T04:58:00.000+02:00

Tonight there has been another auction to beenfit hyasynth Tiramisu, i was short on time due to the fashion show, but i really wanted to contribute in my own little way, so i made the twin car to the Silver Thorn that was sold last week (to Simone Stern).
This is how the Zero Silentsparrow is born, inspired by hyasynth's own clothing brand and colors. Callie Cline managed to get it, and i hope she'll enjoy it, as much as i hope that hyasynth will be well soon.
All in all this has been a VERY hectic night, with a lot of events. I'll blog more about it later.

At last, my fashion show!

2006-10-14T01:35:00.000+02:00

At last, the long awaited moment has come. Thanks to the ASpiRE! modeling agency, the first Musashi-Do fashion show after my return will be reality. It'll be tomorrow, Saturday the 14th, here.
between the other things, i'll finally show my latest project. Codename "Evolution", that as all good things, brings something old and something new together. What is it? I guess you'll have to wait for tomorrow to know :P

The auction for hyasynth starts now!

2006-10-08T03:18:00.000+02:00

If you're reading this, and you want to support the talented designer hyasynth Tiramisu, that is in urgent need of medical care, click here to teleport to Simone, and bid on some of the awesome one of a kind items many designers put up for action. The turnout seems great so far, and the event just started.

Another new shop in Simone

2006-10-08T01:27:00.000+02:00

Lately, now that I managed to settle down and place everything back in order after my long leave of absence, i'm working hard on getting a little of visibility. So new Musashi-Do shops are popping up like mushrooms all over the world. This time is the turn of a small but nice shop all dedicated to menswear in Simone.
Simone is really a nice sim for shopping, full of very talented designers, so i'm pretty sure the shop will do very well.

A Zero for hyasynth Tiramisu

2006-10-07T13:12:00.000+02:00

Today (saturday the seventh) at 6 PM in Simone there will be an auction to benefit hyasynth Tiramisu, a very talented designer that is in need of urgent medical care. I've been asked to do an unique car to put on auction and here it is. The Zero Silver Thorn Special. This time, since Simone's audience normally caters more to girls, i decided to try a quite graceful purple and silver tribal design. I really hope the auction will go well, it's always sad to see a fellow resident and designer troubled by health problems. So please come, and bid high! :)

Another Day, Another Shop open...

2006-10-06T14:26:00.000+02:00

I finally opened a small shop in the beautifully built and landscaped Desires Island. Very cute, isn't it? I love the Ancient theme of the place...
The shop can be found here.
I even changed the usual disposition of my vendor panels... i kind of like the scattered one.. makes the shop look more full and lively.

New Shop and new Zero, Musashi meets Barbie?

2006-10-06T03:27:00.000+02:00

I just opened a new little shop at Barbie club, as part of my sponsorship to the club, I think it looks cute. Since the space is limited i'll just keep the latest news there. There's no need to clutter it anyway. The area is high-traffic, so it'll definately be worth it.
Also, I've been asked to make a very cute neon pink Zero, that will be called "Barbie Special" and will be sold only at Barbie Club. I'm kind of satisfied of the result, it reminded me of when i made a pink Supra (what now is called the Shoki) for Torley... good old times before the watermelon goddess jumped the fence... *sighs*

Femme Revolution released.

2006-10-05T04:28:00.000+02:00

Following the success of the Evening Revolution suits set for men, i received many requests from girls to make an equivalent set dedicated to them, so i did. That's how Revolution femme was born.

It's probably the biggest set i've ever produced (60 pieces total), including 3 suits (pants, skirts and jackets), 21 shirts, 16 ties and 3 lingerie sets (garters, bras, stockings and thongs).

With this set i worked more on the shading/highlighting of the fabric. Many say that it's not possible to make a good lightmap without using complex (and costly) programs like Lightwave, and since i absolutely disagree i set out to demonstrate my point.
I took inspiration from my experience in painting real life miniature soldiers, in wich highlighting and shading is absolutely indispensible to bring out the details of the model. In the end a 3D mesh like those Second Life has is not much different. I tried to reproduce in photoshop something equivalent to the painting technique called "Glazing" with the use of several feathered selections and layers, and i have to say that i'm really satisfied by the result. Lightwave is definately NOT needed to make a pretty good lightmap. I have to admit that I LOVE it when i'm right :)

I made some separate sets too, in the case someone doesn't want to purchase the whole package: Suit - Black, Suit - Grey, Suit - Blue, Shirts - Spring, Shirts - Fall, Shirts - Winter, Ties - Fantasia, Ties - Classic, Ties - Glamour, Lingerie.

As always the set is available at the Musashi-Do Fashion Shop, on SLExchange, or on SLBoutique priced 800 L$.

A change in my life... and fashions?

2006-10-04T22:02:00.000+02:00

I finally did it. I applied and got accepted to the Montenapoleone 5 Academy, a pretty awesome fashion design and brand management school in real life.

I will start attending classes on november the 6th, and that would bring quite a change to my real life, a change that will last two probably very exciting years. I wonder if it'll affect my second life and the quality of my SL fashions... We shall see :)

Honestly i can't wait.

New advertisement campaign: Wear Your Dreams 2

2006-09-29T11:13:00.000+02:00

People continued to tell me that i didn't advertise nearly enough, and probably they were right. So i made a new advertising campaign. Resuming my old faithful "wear your dreams" catchphrase, i decided to take a little different approach this time.

I already secured ads both on second style magazine and on the metaverse messenger, and some banners all around the place. We'll see how this works.

Store renovation. A new Musashi-Do

2006-09-29T10:46:00.000+02:00

I completely renewed the shop's interior. I always though tht my shop was too cold and impersonal, but i never went trough the pain of renewing it.

Now that i actually did it i have to say it's been great fun.

I really wanted it to look more like a real shop, and to be a warmer and more pleasant environment to shop in. I hope i managed, because i'm quite satisfied with the results, I don't think it's gonna change again soon.