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Gap just released an animated ad to promote its collection with designer Sandy Liang, and we need it to become its own TV show ASAP. Created by animator Annie Choi, who has a history of illustrating campaigns for luxury fashion labels, the ad stars a young girl modeled after Liang herself. While dreaming up new clothing designs inside her childhood bedroom, the girl discovers that her closet has been imbued with magical powersand when she opens its doors, shes transformed, Sailor Moonstyle, into a new version of herself dressed head-to-toe in Gap x Sandy Liang. The Gap x Sandy Liang ad, titled Sandys Dream Closet, is part of the roll-out for Liangs biggest-ever collaboration with Gap, launching online and in select Gap stores October 10. The collection includes jackets emblazoned with Liangs iconic bow symbols, structured-yet-feminine denim, and even a line of baby clothes. Everything ranges from just $15 to $268. Chois fantastical animation embodies the sweet, youthful spirit of the collection, which, Liang told Fast Company, was made for your inner child. I love that we’re telling the story through animation, Liang says. I think it’s the perfect way to express the energy that I’m trying to convey with the collection. “Creating universes that invite people to imagine more Within Chois oeuvre, anything is possible. An ordinary loaf of bread can transform into a fashionable shoe; a Parisian office building can morph into a puzzle box; and the stars in the night sky are pretty enough to literally eat like candy. Over the past several years, her creative, surrealist animations have become a sought-after asset for fashion brands including Herms, Burberry, Dior, and Loewe. When I started collaborating with fashion brands, it felt like a natural extension of what I already loved doing: creating universes that invite people to imagine more, Choi says. Fashion gives me a language of texture, form, and transformation, and animation gives it motion and life. Together they create something that feels both tactile and surreal, which is exactly the space I love to work in. [Image: Annie Choi/Gap] Bringing Sandy Liang’s fashion world to life Before Liang even began designing the Gap collection, she says, she was already imagining an animation as a component of the campaigns rollout. Her initial moodboard included inspiration from favorite anime properties like Sailor Moon and the Studio Ghibli film Ponyo. When Gaps marketing team told her that an animated video would be possible, she says, it was like a dream come true. Chois penchant for imagining designer brands through a playful lens made her the perfect compliment to Liangs perspective on fashion as a means of embracing her own girlhood. Sandys Dream Closet is inspired by Liangs childhood in New York City. Its settingan apartment complex in the Lower East Side above a Cantonese restaurant called Congee Villageis pulled directly from Liangs own memories of her fathers restaurant of the same name. That backdrop is woven together with Liangs experience growing up wearing vintage Gap. [Image: Annie Choi/Gap] Growing up with a child’s sense of wonder So much of Sandys world centers around imagination, nostalgia, and a sense of wonder, Choi says. I wanted the animation to carry that same feeling. I thought back to the shows I loved as a kid, especially the ones where transformation felt exciting and full of possibility, and used that energy as a guide. Since I also spent part of my early childhood in New York, the project felt personal to me, almost like layering my own memories on top of Sandys. In the film, Liangs transformation represents, on a literal level, the idea of growing up. Symbolically, its also meant to capture the power fashion has to help us become who we are meant to be, Choi says. For her, bringing Sandys animated vision to life was an honor. It was so fun to see her reaction to the animated Sandy for the first time, Choi says. I think the final product truly captures her essence and the Sandy Liang world in a way that her customers, and Gaps customers, can experience in a totally new way.
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E-Commerce
Kentucky’s attorney general claimed Tuesday that the online gaming platform Roblox has become a “playground for predators” as he announced a lawsuit accusing the company of lax child safety measures.The Kentucky suit, filed by his office Monday in a state court, is the latest action alleging that the wildly popular site isn’t doing enough to protect children on its gaming services.To bolster safeguards for children and teenagers flocking to the site, the company needs to install effective age verifications and content filters, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said. Added parental notifications also are needed, he said.Courtney Norris, a Kentucky mother of three who joined Coleman at a news conference, said she mistakenly viewed Roblox as a safe online gaming choice for her children.“I came to realize, later than I would like to admit, that it actually is the ‘Wild West’ of the internet, targeted at children,” she said.The company is facing a growing backlash. The Kentucky suit comes after Louisiana sued the company in August. A suit was filed in Iowa after a 13-year-old girl was allegedly introduced to an adult predator on the platform, then kidnapped and trafficked across multiple states and raped.Roblox on Tuesday pushed back against the allegations.“We have rigorous safety measures in place from advanced AI models to an expertly trained team of thousands moderating our platform 24/7 for inappropriate content,” the company said in a statement. “No system is perfect and our work on safety is never done. We are constantly innovating our safety systems, including adding 100 new safeguards, such as facial age estimation, this year alone.”Roblox says it has 111 million daily active users. The company said in an email Tuesday that it implements strict safety defaults for its youngest users. It said the platform’s users under 13 cannot directly message others on Roblox, outside of games or experiences, and cannot directly message others during games or experiences unless the default setting is changed using parental controls.The company said it has rigorous text chat filters to block inappropriate words and phrases, attempts to direct under-13 users off the platform and the sharing of personal information such as phone number or address. It does not allow user-to-user image sharing and prohibits sexual conversations, it said.The Kentucky lawsuit gives a starkly different portrayal of the platform.Despite assurances its site is safe, the company has failed to install basic safety controls, the suit said. Roblox also fails to inform its users and their parents about “dangers inherent” on the platform, it said.Coleman, a Republican, said the site’s “cartoonish figures and experiences” appeal to children, but he warned that “underneath this cartoonish, innocent veneer is something sinister. The platform has become a playground for predators who seek to harm our children.”The Kentucky suit alleges that children are exposed to “violent or sexual situations within the Roblox universe, with parents reporting children contacted by strangers using third-party chat apps that function as if they are part of the game.”Norris said that like many parents, she considered it a safe choice for her children.“I described it as a ‘fenced-in backyard’ for kids’ gaming,” she said Tuesday. “And that is the genius and the danger I found of Roblox the illusion of safety it gives parents like me.”“The reality is, Roblox makes it nearly impossible to police as a parent,” she added.The suit claims that Roblox’s lax protections violate Kentucky’s Consumer Protection Act and asks a judge to order the company into compliance. The suit seeks penalties of up to $2,000 for each violation of the consumer protection law.Coleman said his office is open to negotiating a settlement with Roblox.“Our goal is not to shut a platform down,” Coleman said. “Our goal is for Roblox to be safe.”Roblox said it shares the goal of keeping kids safe online, and said it would welcome discussions with Coleman’s office to “ensure they have a clear understanding of all Roblox is doing to keep users safe.” Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Thirty paintings created by the bushy-haired, soft-spoken Bob Ross will soon be up for auction to defray the costs of programming for public television stations suffering from cuts in federal funding.Ross, a public television stalwart in the 1980s and ’90s, “dedicated his life to making art accessible to everyone,” said Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross Inc. “This auction ensures his legacy continues to support the very medium that brought his joy and creativity into American homes for decades.”Bonhams in Los Angeles will auction three of Ross’ paintings on Nov. 11. Other auctions will follow in London, New York, Boston and online. All profits are pledged to stations that use content from distributor American Public Television.The idea is to help stations in need with licensing fees that allow them to show popular programs that include “The Best of Joy of Painting,” based on Ross’ show, “America’s Test Kitchen,” “Julia Child’s French Chef Classics” and “This Old House.” Small and rural stations are particularly challenged.As desired by President Donald Trump, Congress has eliminated $1.1 billion allocated to public broadcasting, leaving about 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations to find alternative funding sources. Many launched emergency fund drives. Some have been forced to lay off staff and make programming cuts.The beloved Ross died in 1995 of complications from cancer after 11 years in production with “The Joy of Painting.” His how-to program was shown on stations around the U.S. and around the world. The former Air Force drill sergeant known for his calm demeanor and encouraging words enjoyed a resurgence in popularity during the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic.Ross spoke often as he worked on air about painting happy little clouds and trees, and making no mistakes, only “happy accidents.”The thirty paintings to be auctioned span Ross’ career and include landscapes depicting serene mountain vistas and lake scenes, his signature aesthetic. He created most of the 30 on-air, each in under 30 minutes, which was the span of a single episode.Bonhams sold two early 1990s mountain-and-lake scenes of Ross in August for $114,800 and $95,750. The auctions of the 30 paintings soon to be sold have an estimated total value of $850,000 to $1.4 million, Bonhams said. Associated Press
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E-Commerce
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