Dior presents the latest version of its Lady Dior film series with a comedy directed by John Cameron Mitchell and starring Marion Cotillard.
The new Dior film features Marion as a young Hollywood movie-star, frolicking pool-side for a Dior TV commercial.
The fifth installment of the Lady Dior films was inspired by a 1973 short film by famed fashion photographer Richard Avedon that starred model Lauren Hutton.
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A huge pearl once worn by European royalty and last owned by Elizabeth Taylor sold for a record $11.84 million at a blockbuster auction in New York on Tuesday.
“La Peregrina,” depicted in art works over the centuries and coveted by kings and queens, was bought for Taylor by her actor husband Richard Burton in 1969.
The pear-shaped white pearl was a highlight of Christie’s sale of the legendary jewelry and fashion collections amassed by Taylor, the “Crown Jewels of Hollywood.”
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Moët & Chandon have released 11, limited-edition coffrets of six bottles of Grand Vintage Collection 1911, to go on display in one of Harrods’ Christmas windows.
Available exclusively from Harrods for a price tag of £65,000 ($100,000), the 100-year-old Champagne comes from one of its most memorable vintages.
Even at the time of its harvest a century ago, the 1911 vintage was recognized then as memorable by the chef de cave of Moet & Chandon.
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The newest addition to OMEGA‘s Fine Leather Collection is a hand-made iPad 2 sleeve created from fine Italian calf leather.
The sleeve folds back allowing iPad 2 users to stand their device in the classic “view” position or angled 45° for a perfect ergonomic work surface.
A perfectly-placed hole makes it possible to use the iPad 2’s popular camera feature without removing the device from the sleeve.
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The Martha’s Vineyard estate that President Barack Obama and his family have rented for their past three summer vacations has sold to British architect Norman Foster for $22.4 million.
The property is known as Blue Heron Farm. It has 28½ acres of land in Chilmark, Mass., and an additional 3.8 acres in Tisbury.
The property includes two large homes, equestrian facilities, a tennis court, a basketball court and a par-three golf course.
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Gucci and Bianchi have unveiled the exclusive Bianchi by Gucci bicycles designed by Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini.
This new collaboration joins two uniquely Italian traditions of design and craftsmanship, from leaders in their respective industries.
The Bianchi by Gucci is available in two models, both with Gucci’s signature green-red-green web stripe.
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Originally listed for $27M in 2010, this penthouse just sold for $21.5 million and was owned by Netscape Founder Jim Clark.
The Miami Beach condo property is a 5803 square-foot, multi-story residence that sits at the top of The Setai, overlooking South Beach and the Atlantic Ocean.
The world-famous 40-storey Setai Resort is serviced by Singapore-based, five-star hotel management company GHM Hotels.
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BMW has unveiled the 6-Series Gran Coupe. Designed to battle the Mercedes CLS, the sedan measures 4.4 inches (111 mm) longer than the 6-Series Coupe.
The exterior styling is instantly recognizable but highlights include xenon headlights and 18-inch alloy wheels.
The car will hit USA showrooms with three models: a 3.0L 315 hp Twin Turbo V6, a 4.4L 415 hp Twin Turbo V8, and all wheel drive “xDrive” model with the same V8.
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WWD suggests that Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld’s latest muse is model/rocker Alice Dellal, hinting she could be the next face for Chanel handbags.
Dellal, famed for her half-shaved head and being a drummer in Thrush Metal, can typically be seen wearing ripped jeans, biker jackets and fishnet tights.
Gossip Girl star Blake Lively is currently the face of the Mademoiselle range, and Lily Allen modelled for the Cocoon bag campaign back in 2009.
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Stella McCartney has announced the launch of her latest fragrance, which unusually features truffle as a top note.
Entitled L.I.L.Y, the perfume will launch exclusively in the UK at department store Selfridges January 26 before reaching other retailers February 15.
L.I.L.Y stands for ‘Linda I Love You’, which was the nickname given by Stella McCartney’s father, Sir Paul McCartney, to his late wife Linda.
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A shopper has broken the record for duty-free purchases at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport by splurging nearly 50,000 euros on six bottles of exclusive wine.
The shopper, who was identified only as “an Asian”, bought a bottle of Romanee Conti 1995, a Chateau Margaux 2003, two bottles of Chateau Lafitte 1982 and two bottles of Petrus 1980, worth a total of 49,905 euros ($66,000).
The airport did not say when the purchases had been made, but noted that high-quality wines “sell better at the end of the year”.
Two new Bentley Continental V8 models will be unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on 9th January 2012.
The new Continentals will come in GT coupe and GTC convertible versions with power from a turbocharged 4.0-liter eight-cylinder engine that puts out 500 hp.
With a new 8-speed automatic transmission directing the power to the road, the V8 Continental will accelerate from zero to 60 mph in less than five seconds and have a top speed of more than 180 mph.
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A London hotel has become the latest to roll out a suite of amenities for women, despite a ruling that declared a similar scheme in Copenhagen as illegal under discrimination laws.
The Dukes Hotel in London will assign some of its rooms ‘Duchess Rooms’, loading them with treats to tempt single female travelers or groups of women.
The Duchess rooms will be looked after by exclusively female room attendants, contain extra items such as a makeup mirror, hair dryer and styling accessories, and offer a selection of glossy magazines.
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Repetto is the latest footwear brand to venture into the realm of fragrance, following in the footsteps of Jimmy Choo and Nine West.
Launched in 1947, the French ballet shoe company’s signature ballerina pumps have become eponymous with Parisian chic across the globe, and its more recent developments into handbags and high-end accessories have proven successful.
As the label continues to expand with 22 new stores set to open internationally in 2012, a partnership with fragrance company Inter Parfums, whose other perfume licenses include Burberry, Van Cleef & Arpels and Paul Smith, has been announced.
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Audi is set to overtake rival Mercedes-Benz for the first time in luxury car sales, finishing 2011 as the world’s second biggest premium automaker.
The German brand is poised to finish the year just behind the world’s most popular luxury automaker, BMW, beating Mercedes-Benz in the race to woo well-to-do buyers.
As automakers enter the last month of sales for the year, Audi has sold over 56,000 more vehicles than Daimler-owned Mercedes-Benz, a new record which puts it on track to finish the year with a record 1.3 million cars sold.
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Oscar de la Renta is the latest designer to launch a childrenswear line, although it will buck the current trend for children looking like mini adults.
The label has taken on childswear expert Catherine Monteiro de Barros as VP of design for children’s wear, with the in-house collection currently in development.
Monteiro de Barros has been quoted as saying she wants the line to appeal to those who “want their children to look like children” — so don’t expect creations inspired by de la Renta’s extravagant red carpet organza gowns.
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In 2012, chefs will rescue forgotten food ingredients from the brink of extinction and obscurity, invite guests to pull up a chair to their kitchen table, and shrink portion sizes to bite-sized morsels.
At least those are some of the new dining predictions being made at the James Beard Foundation in the US.
In its food trendspotting report for 2012, observers at the culinary foundation in New York foresee chefs and historians redefining the term ‘locavorism’ by going one step further and digging through their region’s culinary history for inspiration.
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Luxury Swiss retail giant Richemont, owner of such brands as Cartier, Piaget and Jaeger-LeCoultre, is to open the world’s largest shop for luxury watches in Paris.
Business Montres quoted an internal memo saying a three-storey 2,200 square metre (24,000 square foot) shop would open early 2013.
The shop would take over the premises of the landmark Old England shop near the Place Vendome, famous for its luxury watch shops and hugely popular with Middle Eastern and Asian tourists, in particular Chinese.
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As research has proved, guests will steal plenty of things from hotels given the chance — but most would draw the line at a piece of art valued in the thousands.
One hotel, however, is inviting guests to steal art, in a clever promotion drawn up by Art Series Hotels, an Australian chain, for the summer.
Guests who book a room at the chain’s properties between December 15 and January 15 are being challenged to ‘steal’ a Banksy print worth AU$15,000, with the promise that they can keep it if they successfully pull off the heist.
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Fabergé has unveiled its first advertising campaign shot by famed fashion photographer Mario Testino and creative-directed by Fabergé’s Katharina Flohr.
Rising Russian-Lithuanian model Bee Gee appears in the ads, wearing resplendent pieces from the Les Fabuleuses de Fabergé and Les Saisons Russes collections.
“The campaign captures the intense and emotive glamour and story-telling that characterizes all contemporary Fabergé creations,” says the company in a release.
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Etihad Airways has hired 110 cinternational chefs, some of whom have worked in Michelin-starred restaurants, to cook in its Diamond First Class cabins.
They are already working on flights to London, Sydney, Melbourne and Paris and will be introduced across all other First-class destinations by early next year.
The chefs work from a pantry, stocked with prime cuts of meat, sauces, par-cooked items, spices and freshly chopped vegetables along with specialized tools such as a a whisk and foamer.
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