The Shared Wardrobe is a Pop-Up Fitting Room where people can rent Designer Clothes. These clothes are limited edition and especially made for the Shared Wardrobe. This allows people to wear the latest designer clothes and it provides much publicity for the fashion label.
Green fashion By setting up this Shared Wardrobe, a fashion label shows that it is paying attention to durability and that it does not take part in the Buy, Wear, Throw Away fashion trend. Because, with the Shared Wardrobe people don’t need to keep buying new clothes to keep up with the latest fashion trends since the Shared Wardrobe allows them to keep wearing the latest fashion clothes. After the week is over, the clothes will be recycled, which is easy, because the clothes have to be returned to the Shared Wardrobe anyway.
The Product The Shared Wardrobe is a sleek fitting room that can be found on multiple spots in the streets of New York. The users can find these Wardrobes via the app on their smartphone. When they arrive, they can check-in and then the Wardrobe opens. In there, the user can select his/her size after which he/she can put on the clothes. A cool bag for the clothes he/she was wearing before will be provided. If the user was already wearing a set from the Wardrobe, he/she can easily change it inside the Wardrobe for a new set.
Fun The Shared Wardrobe is a great benefit for both the user and the fashion label. But Les Oiseaux de Merde thinks things should also be fun. To achieve this, the users have to be able to show their clothes in a fashionably manner. The Shared Wardrobe can be placed next to a subway grate where people can take a Marilyn Monroe-like photo of themselves after which they can share it online. An other option is to place a small catwalk next to the Wardrobe where people can walk the catwalk with their new rented clothes. Les Oiseaux de Merde has tons of other ideas for the Shared Wardrobe, it depends on the company what idea fits best.
It is often said that a brand is made by its fans. Why shouldn’t it be?
The Coke page came to be when two fans who loved Coke just created a Coke fan page when Coke itself didn’t have one yet. Instead of taking over the page and making it their own, Coke decided to give them their blessing and help. By empowering the fans to keep their fan page, Coke ensures a passionate page owner.
Les Oiseaux de Merde thinks every brand should completely open up their facebook page and let everyone, every fan, have a same influence on the content. Social media is about interaction, but real interaction is allowing people to freely change something of the page when they think they can improve it. Wikipedia works like this, why don’t the brands do it with their Facebook?
Les Oiseaux de Merde makes a start. We rocket launched the page Everyone Admin; every liker is also made admin. This way, we democratize this Facebook page. On this page, everyone is allowed to post what he/she likes. If you don’t like a post of someone, you improve it or give a comment. If you love a post, you like it and share it with your friends. Everyone Admin will be the first truly honest page on Facebook.
There are several bicycle races held in Africa each year: Tour of Rwanda, Tour of Eritrea and the Tour du Gabon are only a few examples. Due to these races, the cycling sport grows enormously in popularity in Africa.
At the same time, infrastructure is one of the main problems of African countries. In Cote d’Ivoire for example, only 8,12%of the roads is paved. In a huge country like Congo (DR) only 1,82% of the roads is paved and in a smaller country like Burkina Faso only 4,17% of the roads is paved. (World Bank data)
The Chinese are working hard to build the necessary roads in Africa, but they only do this in exchange for land and minerals. There could be however a much simpler way to build and maintain roads in African countries: Organize the prologue of the Tour de France in Africa.
If the prologue of the Tour de France is held in an African country, say Uganda, it will most certainly cause a lot of media attention. Due to this international pressure, the government of Uganda has to make sure the whole race is held without problems. This also means that the roads have to be ready for the stage.
In the end, every party benefits from this race. Uganda will have a good reputation, the Tour de France will have an international scoop and the Ugandan people will have more good roads that can be used for transport and they will be able to take part of a great event like the Tour de France. This will increase cycling in Africa which in the end might also result in the first black man in the Tour de France.
We don’t have to tell you the Airplane Food Event was a great success, just take a look at these photos. Thanks everyone for their help, their presence and their culinary interest for Airplane Food, we had a great time!
You can buy your tickets (boarding passes) here. Dutch Press Release here
Fasten your seatbelts,
on July 15th, Les Oiseaux de Merde and Amsterdam Roest will launch the first Airplane Food Event! Boarding at 6pm. Once we are in the air, dinner will be served in such a fashion that airplane food will never be the same again! Expect 200 airplane seats, food talks, a fashion show of a famous designer, airplane food and much more.
Afterwards, a typical airplane movie will be shown and Amsterdam Roest will be filled with nice airplane music.
Boarding passes: 25 euro (includes a full meal plus drink, top-notch fashion, a movie and a trip around the world).
Once in a while, the news warns us for a new virus or bacteria pandemic. Over the years, we tend to forget these diseases. Who remembers for example the swine flu of 2009, or the SARS pandemic of 2002?
Therefore, we think it is useful to design logos for these viruses and bacterias, since this makes it much easier for people to remember and to communicate the danger of these viruses. This way, a virus will never again be just another virus.
Sincerely,
Les Oiseaux de Merde
SARS
Swine flu
UPDATE: Thomas van Oekelen reminded us of this cool logo
The moment we came back from the Congo, people wanted us to give a presentation about our trip for some reason. On the 6th april we presented in Trouw Amsterdam for the 17th edition of Pecha Kucha Amsterdam. Child’s teeth, socks, gizobazoba, development work/business, Congolese vs Western dancing, the wall of a theatre, black man with flute, defecation graphs, future Congo business opportunities, inspiring messages, it is all in it. Pick what you like. Or what you think you like.
Recently we wrote that we were launching an Airplane food restaurant. Now our dream is seriously becoming reality. Friday the 15th of July in the coolest spot of Amsterdam it will all happen: the first Airplane food event. This picture is a sneak peek of the location.
Les Oiseaux de Merde loves airplane food. It is something to look forward to when you are travelling. It is quick, it contains all the necessary ingredients and it always has very diverse tastes in one dinner. So why should this only be available in airplanes?
Therefore, Les Oiseaux de Merde is starting an airplane food Restaurant. This restaurant will be just like any other restaurant and will enable people that do not travel much to also enjoy airplane food.
Airplane food has a bad reputation. Weird, because the meals are designed by top chefs and they are meant to be liked by everyone. The Airplane food restaurant is the opportunity for airlines to show that they do serve good meals. Every day, a different airline dinner is on the menu. Dinner will be served by stewards and stewardesses and customers can choose if they sit in economy or business class. You can choose for a quick meal (five courses on one plate) or have a real dinner with every half of an hour a different course.
Because the Plane Food Restaurant will also be visited by professional culinary journalists, the airliners will do their best to serve good food. The customers can also have an impact on the food served. If many people ask for biological food, the airlines will have to respond to that wish. If airplane food is not good already, it will be with the launch of this restaurant.
In the commune of N’Djili, a suburb of Kinshasa lies a small but engaging theatre, called K-MU Theatre. Whom the founder, Toto Kisaku, invited us officially to head over to Kinshasa. The theatre happened to be there to stimulate art and to encourage people to take initiatives so they can evade people hoping that God or the lottery will bring them money. Concluding we, Les Oiseaux de Merde, found the theatre an inspiring place, but their wall didn’t really match that atmosphere. We, as designers from origin, decided to make a change and revamped the whole wall.
The wall was funded with the donations of people and businesses in the Netherlands. In exchange, their name was written on the wall of the K-MU theatre. Who else can say they have their name written on a wall in Kinshasa in the Congo?!
So we created in fact a win-win-win situation for all parties!
First, we had to arrange a painter. The artist first had to see the wall before he could know how much time and money it would cost to paint the wall. One big setback since he said that the wall first had to be plastered first befor he could start with the actual painting. This would take two days, we only had two days left. But the coordinator of the ‘project’ or ‘the garnaal’ of the K-MU theatre said us that everything would be all right. It would be in the end, but not because of him.
So the wall had to be plastered. One guy was assigned to do this task, preferably in one day. Since this was impossible (the poor fellow had worked for 8 hours straight while the others were watching him do the job) he continued the next day. Alone, of course.
After two days of hard work (not for us, we were only allowed to sit and watch like two old emperors who lived in the colonial era), the wall was plastered. In time (!). The next morning the painter arrived with a team of five (actually four). In the beginning there were some difficulties explaining the design, since our design was made loosly with illustrator and the painters worked with a grid. Therefore the design turned out to be a bit smaller then we wanted. But the team worked incredibly professional and after a day of hard work, the wall shined like a diamond!
So in the end everything was allright and everybody lived happily ever after! And we created a win-win-win situation: talking about doing business in Africa!
Internet in Congo is so slow (average of 0,005 kb/s), it took almost 4 weeks to upload this impression video of our arrival in Congo. But the patience is rewarded!
hum pa dum, tadadada, hum pa dum!
My father made me to know that my great great gandfather Came from the Congo in the Western Province of Katanga. But I can’t remember his name, because it was too long. and if I called the name I might have to bite me tounge
In 2010 Les Oiseaux de Merde started the NGO Socks 4 Africa. After a year of hard work, we managed to raise 4 pairs of socks. In 2011 it was finally the time to deliver the socks. We have never seen African people so happy.
By the end of 2012 we want to have raised at least 12 pairs of socks. Believe in the impossible and donate your socks! There is no better way to redeem yourself from your feeling of guilt towards the Africans!
After years of slavery, war and exploitation, Les Oiseaux de Merde thinks it is time to return one of Africas most valuable properties: Ivory. Late 19th century, the ivory industry florished. In 1897 245 tons of ivory was stolen and exported from Congo to Europe (New York Times, 16 april 1899).
We obviously feel ashamed for our greed and we want to make things right. Since the ivory was used to make pianos and biljartballs, it is impossible to return the ivory as we got it: in the classic shape of tusks. Therefore, we think it is time to pay back with our own ivory tusks : our teeth.
Les Oiseaux de Merde took the first step and smuggled 4 of our childs teeth into the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is small, but it is a start. Our goal is to pay back at least the 245 tons of ivory we once relentlessly stole. Les Oiseaux de Merde alone does not have enough teeth to pay back the full 245 tonnes, so please donate your teeth and help us pay off our collective debt. This will make the Congolese people incredibly happy and it will releive us from our feeling of guilt.
Recently we 
