Carnet Travel: Blogging Luxury

WWD, Vogue and Gotham Magazine move over: meet Eva Hamilton-Clarke, your guide to what's really in vogue in New York.

Today's New York Times profiles the adventures of Raquel Brulé and Eric de Lavandeyra, who have canvassed Milan, Paris, and now New York City to serve up what they consider "carnet". While Jason Binn and Andrew Essex target those that make $500,000 a year for their publication, Carnet Travel appears to be targeting affordable luxury. The Times article quotes Brulé as saying, "It's all about feeling like a million bucks, but that doesn't mean you can't have a good hot dog."

The advent of the Internet has launched the ships of what must be thousands of new city guides, from venerable brands like Guide Michelin to not-quite upstarts like Louis Vuitton. The blog format - where Brulé and Lavandeyra collaborate to create the "voice" of Hamilton-Clarke - provides a highly approachable, alternative format to stodgy guides. The reference guide format is well-suited to provide facts and backstory, but other formats like Daily Candy and 7x7 Magazine have shown the power of real reviews written by real people. While purists might argue that the Carnet format may not technically be a blog, the fact is this format is still young, and as long as people are excited about the format, it really doesn't matter what the purists on either side of the aisle think.

Link: PRLeap.com Carnet Travel Release