It seems there is another reason for the minks to disappear. The mink fur auction held at Copenhagen, Denmark drew a phenomenal $366 million and most of the buyers were from China. The analysts suggest that there is no stopping for the mink market, even during the time of economic crisis, the mink market blooms like never before.

The auction held for four days and concluded on February 9th. Chinese market remains unaffected in the recent recession and continues to beat buyers from all across the globe. This also could be because of the chilly winters in China, the amalgamation of these factors made Chinese the top most buyers in the auction.

Kopenhagen Fur organizes about five auctions each season and dishes out the mink in front of 500 buyers from 35 countries. The sales and price of mink went up to 13% during the last auction in December and in this auction the prices soared even higher. Last year, the sales of the mink raked in four billion kroner and this year it is expected to rise up to 5.5 billion kroner.

It is clear from the above statistics that while Denmark is the largest producer of fur, China is the largest buyer of fur, period!

via: Kopenhagenfur

Mixing shopping with a noble deed, we like. In fact, we like it a lot. There is nothing better than buying stylish new clothes while doing your bit as a good samaritan. Campanas and Lacoste are now going to let us do that. We are talking about a limited edition of cotton shirts that have been designed by Fernando and Humberto Campana that have all been inspired by the small Amazon islands known as the Anavilhanas.

These real cool and crispy shirts we are telling you about come in extra small, small, medium and large sizes. A great way to start planning you spring and summer wardrobe in advance. Might we add, these are non-returnable shirts and each of these has been made in hand by the Coopa Roca Women’s co-operative in Brazil. Now, that’s your good deed. Right there!.

Twelve of the Super Limited Edition for mane can be yours for $7,500 a piece while the same for women comes a bit cheaper (comparitively) at $5,000. However, if you want something at a more low rate, there is plenty around $2,900 and $1,900 price ranges for both men and women.

Via mossonline

Who would best suit the title of the ultimate glam brat? Well, there couldn’t be a better suited person other than our ‘love her hate her but you cannot ignore her’ Paris Hilton. After a long time, the pretty lass has found a reason to be in news again. This time for all the right reasons. Yep, the hotel heiress just launched her latest website Parishilton.com as a place where fans would find several opportunities to connect and even talk to her.

If we hear correctly, Paris has full plans of being regular in the webpage, updating it with what she has been upto. Last year saw her launching a whole collection of designer handbags and a footwear range that worked pretty well with the ladies out there. The price tags were pretty affordable.

Paris is continuing to work for her fashion label which includes some great stuff like Barbie pink soles, tonnes of sportswear as well as some great accessories. In fact, the lady is all gung-ho about a forthcoming swimwear and lingerie collection, which has a bra to make flat-chested women look busty, that will be making its debut in the summer this year.

Via justluxe

This one is a backpack and jacket rolled in one. But while someone out there used some out of box thinking in designing this, one is not sure if it’s a great convertible after all. A fashion fad for fancy’s sake, maybe. An important piece of utilitarian value that eases life many times over? Certainly not. It’s called the H by Harris Jacket.

The piece may well fit in to a trekker’s scheme of things at times. But the unisex H jacket, a quilted piece with an attached rucksack, while helping you wear and remove it all at one go, may not be all that comfortable.

For all you know, there’s that notebook and pen tucked away inside of your rucksack and you are having to remove the jacket only to reach out to that little something hiding away in one of the bag pockets! Besides, when not in use, it’s an entire jacket hanging from your backpack.

It’s true the world is moving towards convertibles. We love multifunctional pieces , be it gadgets, furniture, or clothes. It takes some more punch though, to bring out something unique. This one is unique, in some ways. Not all.

Via: ecouterre, h by harris, refinery29

The winter games that celebrate sports on ice and snow, are a timely branding opportunity for luxury brands with their limited editions and signature collections.

Omega is the Official Olympic Timekeeper for the 24th time at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. It has launched the Seamaster Diver 300m Vancouver 2010 Limited Edition watches to mark the event. These watches have white lacquered dials and red-anodized aluminum bezel rings.  The brand is going all out to camp at the games venue

Ralph Lauren, the outfitter for 2010 Olympic team has the U.S. Olympic Collection, with the choice to personalize selected pieces.  If you are one of those curio hunters, you can even bag an Olympic inspired Valentines Day gift. Canadian luxury brand Birks has an exclusive jewelry, all the pieces bearing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games marks.

Oakley on the other hand, has snowboarder Gretched Bleiler’s signature collection which has pieces ranging from outerwear, apparel, and accessories to eyewear. Attention to detail, sleeve back embroideries make this collection a welcome relief from traditional snow-gear.

Via: justluxe

It’s the sound of whinnying horses and thundering hooves that will be reiterated when you spot the haute couture show for next summer by Christian Dior. Designer John Galliano has tried his best to keep up with the challenging theme (apparently, a fave with Monsieur Dior) in a manner befetting the reputation of the fashion house. So you well get to see Amazonians brandished riding crops and sported black top hats with fishnet veils. These go very well with their tightly-fitted jackets that have rather stiff peplums and frothy neckties to go with them. You can also pick full riding skirts in scarlet, charcoal grey and traditional checked English tailoring fabrics.

And you will notice that Galliano has yet again returned to the ‘bar’ jacket but he has updated it with an asymmetric cut and origami folds. The models will their faces painted white remind one of geishas furthering the Japanese influence on the jacket.

The horsewoman outfits apart, the cocktail outfits are very feminine. There are silk jackets bristled with faux stones and fluffy embroidery. Plus you can choose from a range of soft pastel shades like primrose, peach and pistachio furling over layers of tulle or lace.

via yahoo

It is always a problem when you suddenly decide to go to the nightclub, for you cannot possibly dance with a bag or a coat with you. Coats are still ok, for you could hang them or if it’s not too hot, you could wear them to the dancefloor. However, trusting all the people on the dance floor to not steal your valuables in the bag or the coat would be a stupid idea.

When Kirsten and Sarah went to a club in downtown New York, they encountered a similar problem. Sarah kept banging other people on the dance floor with her purse while dancing, and Kirsten worried herself to blue in the face as she had kept many valuables in her jacket. This, they designed what they call the Julian Scarf. It is mad of lightweight 100% rodeo cotton flannel outer shell.

It is 100% water resistant so if someone throws wine or liquor on your face, it may still be saved. Thanks to the invisible zippers, you would look cool as a cat. You could keep your money, your gadgets and other valuables in the Julian Scarf and wear it and dance your night away. However, I am not sure who Julian is, or how he looks. The Julian Scarf costs $30 and comes in many patterns.

One of the biggest dilemma especially in winters is the appropriate footwear and even if u happen to find one, it becomes really cumbersome for a person to keep shifting from one pair of shoes to another. Most of the people prefer boots for the season, as they are extremely comfortable and provide good traction on the snow laden side walks and roads. But then again it becomes a frustration to keep changing into home shoes once you are back.

However, with the new Reversible Cleats Leather Boots from Hammacher Schlemmer, all is about to change. These one of a kind boots are dual purpose and come with reversible cleats that help maintain constant balance especially on slippery surfaces such as ice and snow. These all new boots feature reversible cleats underneath the that can be used to navigate through tough terrains and then be easily turned around convert into everyday home boots.

Each boot is outfitted with 16 spikes in the sole of the boots, 11 for the fore foot and 5 for the ankle region, also called rear foot. These spiked cleats can then be reversed when walking on smooth surfaces, as that of a house, thus making the boots doubly beneficial. The boots are made entirely from leather and has zippers on the sides, for easy access and these boots rise about 7.5 inches from the ground due to its heavy sole.

Via Hammacher Schlemmer

When she is not grabbing tabloid headlines, Lindsay Lohan likes to design clothes. This passion of hers is not a very well-known fact except with her followers of course. Well, the occasional actress has decided to dabble into the fashion world once again this new year. Plan is to expand her leggings label, 6126, and develop it into a full-fledged contemporary apparel line for the fall fashion. There are more brand extentions in the offing.

6126 brand rep shared that the leggings line has seen a tremendous success. So the company is very kicked about repeating that with more fashionables, accessories as well as cosmetics. OK. Back to the line Lohan is designing. The collection will include 100 pieces with the basic ones wholesaling from $18 to $300 for the leather ones. Other fabrics include modal, lace and cashmere.

Big department store brand like Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom and Harrods will all be stocking up on the new 6126 leggings line for the young girls sure are gonna splurge on this one. So when’s the next Linday Lohan movie coming? Mmm…we even forgot the last one that did!

Via wwd

Things money can do. Well, apart from buying the world it can be used as itself too. Or so claims Hannah Cooper, the daughter of Gareth and Jenny Cooper who came into the limelight courtesy a big £2.5m lottery win back three years back. Being the girl with the silver spoon, she practically can buy the riches in the world but she has instead used it to design a dress.

The 20 year old young rich girl, who is studying fashion at the University of Wales in Newport, has done something quite novel and made mommy daddy proud. She has printed £20 bank notes on to silver silk, of course after taking due permission from the Bank of England.

In total she used £1 million worth money notes to create this fashion extravaganza. A li’l birdie told us that she first got the idea of stitching a dress with money all over when her parents bagged the jackpot. And now Hannah is hoping that her dress gets to capture everyone’s attention. Hmmm…we think that the fashion style will make a statement. Whether a good or a bad one, we don’t know. Personally, not really impressed with the looks.

Via thesun