The Business of Style

All Hail Burberry, as they've become the first luxury fashion brand to crack 3 million fans on Facebook, a number that moved the company’s designer, Christopher Bailey, to come up with a creative way of thanking fans for following.

One mere month ago the brand had a paltry 2 million fans.

THIS has to be one of THE most incredibly creative things we've seen in a VERY long time.

In celebration of 10 years of digital innovation, RalphLauren.com presents the ultimate fusion of art, fashion & technology in a visual feast for the senses. Watch as the London flagship at 1 New Bond Street is transformed into a series of objects and images rendered in 3-dimensional space.



Incredible!

Luxury brand Burberry will launch an online bespoke service for trench coats starting early next year.

Web users will be able to select the colors and styles of the coats online, as well as add unique detailing like buttons and initials. Chief creative officer Christopher Bailey said there will be almost "12 million options" for customers when it comes to designing the bespoke pieces.

Burberry has invested heavily in its online platforms and digital marketing strategy in the past few years and has quickly risen to become luxury's digital darling. Last month, Burberry crossed a social media milestone when it gained two million fans on Facebook.

Lanvin’s exclusive collection for H&M is scheduled to hit stores on November 23rd, and this is by all accounts, one collaboration worth waiting in line for.



Coveted items include drop dead gorgeous cocktail dresses which at first glance look like they came straight off of the Lanvin catwalk; a decorative evening necklace in pink or red at an unbeatable price of about $65, and the hot-as-hell stilettos which come in either leopard print and red patent with diamanté encrusted heels, and black or floral adorned with bows. All the shoes feature Lanvin's signature ribbon ankle ties.

Giorgio Armani dressed Lady Gaga for the Grammy Awards earlier in the month, and now the Luxe designer and mega musical phenom have teamed up again, announcing that they will collaborate for her current world tour.

Armani has created several looks for Lady Gaga’s "Monster Ball" tour that kicked off last week in the UK and will continue on to Australia and Europe.

Key looks include a curved-shouldered, sparkly structured body suit, a segmented sparking body suit with a kind of lobster effect on one sleeve, a geometric mini dress with a mirror effect and a floor-length black patent trench. Gaga will pair each look with specially made Armani shoes and sunglasses.

Giorgio Armani commented on the collaboration, explaining, “We hear Lady Gaga’s music everywhere we go; it is like a soundtrack of our times. In addition to her formidable songwriting skills, she is a modern fashion phenomenon.”

From the catwalks of Paris to coffee table magazines, these fab individuals create the images that are what we might call the beating heart of fashion.

Clockwise from left:

Karl Templer has styled ads for Gap and is Interview's creative director, while master photo retoucher Pascal Dangin makes supermodels look even more spectacular.

Stefan Beckman designs the sets on Marc Jacobs's fashion shows and the backdrops for Estée Lauder ads, and ad impressario Doug Lloyd has created sexy and sleek campaigns for Gucci and Tommy Hilfiger (remember the one with David Bowie and Iman in 2004?)

Besides crafting runway looks, makeup maven Pat McGrath helps develop Procter & Gamble's cosmetics lines as the company's global creative design director.

Photographer Craig McDean, who shoots ads for Dior and pictorials for W, rounds out this power house posse along with model Raquel Zimmerman, who is the fresh face gracing ads for Valentino and Vogue covers.

Photographed at Milk Studios in New York City

1. "Thou shalt be thrifty"

There's nothing wrong with being thrifty, but there's a fine line between being 'thrifty' and being 'cheap'. If your 'thriftiness' is painfully obvious to the entire planet, you've crossed that line. Dial it back a few...

2. "Thou shalt not break the bank to look good, but thou must pay good dough for the accessories; ie: handbags and shoes."

If you chintz out on these items, it'll be obvious to all.

3. We're all guilty of breaking this commandment; "Thou shalt live within thy means." Simply put, don't mortgage your house for that fab pair of Louboutins. Sure they're gorgeous, but are they really worth the sleepless nights that are sure to follow? I discovered a couple of wicked wardrobe swapping websites, that let us trade clothing with other women, for free! Click here to head over to Swapstyle, and Here to visit What's Mine is Yours.