New Harvey Nichols store opens in Bristol

Harvey Nichols launches a new store in Bristol today – but it will only be open until Christmas.

While the main Harvey Nichols on Philadelphia Street will continue selling ed hardy clothing, the new store in the former Lombok shop in Quakers Friars is selling an array of festive foods.

These include Christmas hampers – with prices starting from ￡30 for a Breakfast Box Christmas Hamper – mini Christmas cakes, puddings and mince pies, plus Christmas cookie-making kits for children.

There are also a selection of Harvey Nichols homewares, ranging from tea towels to cappuccino cups and saucers, together with Swarovski crystal Christmas decorations.

Separate stalls have been set up to sell cheese from Trethowan's Dairy, chocolates from Bristol-based Guilberts, and Christmas floral arrangements from Lisa Elliott of Clifton village, who provides the in-store flowers for Harvey Nichols in Bristol.

The store will be licensed to sell alcohol from December 10th, and will then begin selling champagnes and wines, including a range by designer Christian Audigier.

Sue Stones, the general manager of Harvey Nichols in Bristol, said the 1,000 square foot store will remain open until Christmas Eve.

"Food has always been a key part of Harvey Nichols, and we have a fantastic food market in the main store in Bristol," she said.

"But not everyone is aware that there's a foodmarket on the top floor, so this is a great opportunity to have our full range on display and make it available to more customers."

The festive store will have two full-time staff and two part-time staff, and will be managed by Maria Bullock, who manages the foodmarket in the main Bristol store.

"It'll be a lot of work managing them both, but it's wonderful to have all this extra space and show our full range," she said.
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That's What She Said: The Things I've Learned in 34 Years

Monday was my birthday. The older I get, the more I despise birthdays. Sure, the presents are fun, but they don't make me any younger. This year rather than sinking into a pit of old-lady depression, I decided to grab my birthday by the short and curlies and make the best of it. In doing so, I compiled a list of things I've learned over the past 34 years.

1 ? I've learned not to read the nutritional info on packaged food. If you don't know how many calories there are, then it's calorie free.

2 ? I've learned the importance of never outgrowing sophomoric humor.

3 ? I've learned that carbohydrates are the motherfucking devil.

4 ? I've learned to accept my faults and label them as quirks.

5 ? I've learned that sports are boring.

6 ? I've learned that telling my brothers sports are boring will end up in a long (and also boring) lecture.

7 ? I've learned that books lie. Vampires don't really sparkle in the sunlight.

8 ? I've learned that one can survive on wine and coffee alone. Don't let your doctors tell you different. Also, don't sue me when you end up malnourished.

9 ? I've learned that everything you need to know about pop culture can be taught by "Gilmore Girls" reruns.

10 ? I've learned to never accept dates from men who own Ed Hardy clothing and coogi clothing.

11 ? I've learned that Guns N' Roses is a lifelong commitment.

12 ? I've learned that you don't have to ski to live in Utah. You have to hibernate.

13 ? I've learned that having hair doesn't always make men sexy. Enter Bret Michaels.

14 ? I've learned that Ambien is a gift from God.

15 ? I've learned that sunscreen is the only way to prevent looking like Hulk Hogan.

16 ? I've learned that pink is pretty, but black is slimming.

17 ? I've learned to trust myself.

18 ? I've learned boys don't actually have cooties. Who knew?

19 ? I've learned that cheap wine tastes great after four glasses.

20 ? I've learned that no matter how horrible I am, I'll always be a better person than the characters from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

21 ? I've learned to tell people to suck it when they compare my looks to Brett Butler.

22 ? I've learned how to pick a lock with a Costco card.

23 ? I've learned that breaking and entering is a crime.

24 ? I've learned that expensive eye cream doesn't make you look younger.

25 ? I've learned the value of money. (See above).

26 ? I've learned that my pug has more personality than Nicholas Cage.

27 ? I've learned that Jenny McCarthy is full of shit.

28 ? I've learned that being stubborn has its consequences.

29 ? I've learned to be passionate about politics.

30 ? I've learned there are few things in life more important than being part of a loving family.

31 ? I've learned to surround myself with good and loving friends.

32 ? I've learned that skinny jeans don't always make you look skinny.

33 ? I've learned that knowledge really is power.

34 ? I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

The last item on my list is the most important one. It's true. I have loads left to learn, like how to mix a proper martini.

Article from:http://christianlouboutin11.blogetery.com

Iconix Brand Group Interest in Ecko Brands

Iconix Brand Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:ICON) ("Iconix" or the "Company"), today announced that it has completed the acquisition of a 51% controlling interest in the Ecko portfolio of brands through a newly formed joint venture company, IP Holdings Unltd LLC. The Ecko portfolio includes Ecko Unlimited, Marc Ecko, the Rhino logo, and Zoo York,which in the aggregate represent over $1 billion of annual global retail sales.

For this acquisition, Iconix paid $63.5 million in cash, and the joint venture obtained $90 million of financing. Iconix's effective purchase price for it's 51% interest in the joint venture was approximately $109 million.

Iconix Brand Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ICON) owns, licenses and markets a growing portfolio of consumer brands including CANDIE'S (R), BONGO (R), BADGLEY MISCHKA (R), JOE BOXER (R) RAMPAGE (R) MUDD (R), LONDON FOG (R), MOSSIMO (R) OCEAN PACIFIC (R), DANSKIN (R) ROCA WEAR(R), CANNON (R), ROYAL VELVET (R),FIELDCREST (R), CHARISMA (R), STARTER (R) and WAVERLY (R). In addition, Iconix owns an interest in the Christian Audigier (R) and ED HARDY (R) brands. The Company licenses its brands to a network of leading retailers and manufacturers that touch every major segment of retail distribution from the luxury market to the mass market in both the U.S. and around the world. Iconix, through its in-house advertising, promotion and public relations agency, markets its brands to continually drive greater consumer awareness and equity.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements that are not historical facts contained in this press release are forward looking statements that involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the Company,which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, uncertainty regarding the results of the Company's acquisition of additional licenses, continued market acceptance of current products and the ability to successfully develop and market new products particularly in light of rapidly changing fashion trends, the impact of supply and manufacturing constraints or difficulties relating to the Company's licensees' dependence on foreign manufacturers and suppliers,uncertainties relating to customer plans and commitments, the ability of licensees to successfully market and sell branded products, competition, uncertainties relating to economic conditions in the markets in which the Company operates, the ability to hire and retain key personnel, the ability to obtain capital if required, the risks of litigation and regulatory proceedings, the risks of uncertainty of trademark protection, the uncertainty of marketing and licensing acquired trademarks and other risks detailed in the Company's SEC filings, including the prospectus supplement relating to the offering. The words "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "confident," "will," "project," "provide," "guidance" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statement was made. All forward-looking statements are qualified by these cautionary statements and apply only as of the date they are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

New lock for Posh

VICTORIA BECKHAM has swapped her usual regimented bob for a sexy new tousled style.

She showed off the barnet as she sat next to husband DAVID and son CRUZ at a basketball match in Los Angeles.

Posh looked trendy in black skinny jeans, a black vest top and ed hardy clothing and gold Christian Louboutin heels.

Despite her new look, Victoria and LA Galaxy footie ace Becks didn't look too happy. Maybe it was because LA Lakers were losing the match to the Dallas Christian Audigier Mavericks.

Victoria Beckham to design bag and shoe range

As I’m sure you well know, we here at Secret Sales HQ have always been big fans of Victoria Beckham’s fashion endeavours. We have always very happily stocked her DVB Jeans line and have chatted non-stop about her last couple of designer dress collections.

So, I’m sure you can imagine just how excited we were to learn that the fledgling fashion designer is now planning to try her hand at designing bags and shoes.

We have all watched and drooled from afar over Victoria’s own shoe collection, which consists predominantly of her favourite coogi and Affliction heels. With such great taste in footwear, I have no doubt in my mind that her own creations will be equally as stunning.

But, what has encouraged the former Posh Spice to make that transition from jeans and elegant evening dresses to shoes and bags I hear you ask? Well it turns out that she is sick and tired of being used as a walking advertisement for other labels when she could be promoting her own stuff.

A source close to Victoria explained to the Sun: "If she wears Hermes or Christian Louboutin, people go and buy it.

"She thought, ‘Why can’t I do this with my own line?’. Her current collection has gone down a storm across the celebrity world. If this is repeated with her line of shoes, the range would be worth an absolute fortune."

Considering just how well her past fashion endeavours have fared, I expect this forthcoming line will be met with nothing but praise.

Do you think Victoria has what it takes to create fabulous shoes and bags?

Related blog:http://christianaudigier22.bloguni.com

Fran Halsall hopes to be dressed for success

The first thing to tell you about Fran Halsall is that she is beautiful. There is no point avoiding this, however much trouble I might get into with my lovely girlfriend, because it is self-evident from the large photo running alongside these words.

When I arrived at the Charlton Lido in southeast London, the venue for yesterday’s photo shoot, Halsall was standing at the edge of the pool in a black cocktail dress and killer heels, her blonde hair flowing about her shoulders like a river of gold. On the instructions of Graham, the photographer, she flicked the hem of her dress, and then tilted her head back to giggle at the frivolity and fun of it all. For a few moments, I was mesmerised.

The second thing to tell you about Halsall, 19, is that she is a mighty good swimmer. She won four medals at the 2008 World Short Course Championships in Manchester, including bronze in the 4 x 100 metres freestyle and silver in the 100 metres freestyle. At the Olympics in Beijing, she swam a British record of 53.81sec that helped the British quartet to set a new national record of 3min 38.18sec in the 4 x 100 metres freestyle. She also won silver in the 100 metres freestyle at the 2009 World Championships in Rome in August.

According to those who know about such things, Halsall is a hot tip for gold in 2012, something that also makes her particularly topical. There are exactly 1,000 days to the opening ceremony from tomorrow and it is on the shoulders of young athletes such as Halsall that the ultimate success or failure of one of the most controversial and expensive sporting events to take place in this country will depend. No pressure there, then.

The third thing to tell you about Halsall — and by far the most important — is that she possesses one of the most fascinating and inimitable of personalities. I knew she was a good swimmer and somebody had told me that she was attractive, but nothing had prepared me for the depth, intricacy, scope and boundless vivacity of this rather astonishing 19-year-old.

For more than half an hour she dazzled us with her high-voltage personality, the power of her ambition to secure gold a thousand days or so hence, the vigour of her many interests. Every question was met full-on, every avenue of conversation was pursued with dynamism, every bit of banter fizzed with verve.

Then, the biggest surprise of all: Halsall told me of her passion for religious philosophy. As my eyebrows reached ever higher, she talked with insight about the religious writings of Plato and Aristotle, queried the coherence of Aquinas’s natural moral law, voiced her concerns about deductive proofs of God’s existence, and confided some of her personal existential concerns. And there was me thinking that swimmers did nothing except push their bodies to hell and back every day.

“Sure, the training is tough, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t have time for anything else,” she says, as if a lifestyle encompassing elite sport, epistemology and an obsession with Christian Louboutin shoes (of which more later) is perfectly routine. “I am doing an A level in theology at the moment, which is why I am so interested in the philosophy of religion.

“What I really like about it is the fact there are so many different theories to argue about and discuss — and that there is no single right answer. Take Aquinas. He basically said that you have to follow natural law to get to heaven. I can see where he is coming from, but then you get someone like Hitler. He thought what he was doing was right — in his own mind at least. But does that make it right? The morality of a thing cannot be completely subjective. You know what I mean?”

I probably did know what she meant, but just at that moment I was trying to figure out ways to murder her boyfriend. Jealousy, you see — and certainly not the kind of brute impulse that Aristotle would have approved of.

The boyfriend, by the way, was at the photo shoot: blond, tall, irritatingly handsome and charmingly shy. His name is Alastair Wilson and he is a 25-year-old hockey player who met Halsall at the Olympic Games in 2008.

I ask Halsall how they got together in Beijing. “I can’t tell you the whole story,” she says giggling. “We met in the Village on the last night before we went home. We had like a Team GB party thing and it was all a little embarrassing. There was a lot of alcohol involved. But we drifted apart after we got back and it is only recently that we have started dating properly. He lives in Nottingham, so it is not that far away from me in Loughborough.”

Is it easier to date someone who is involved in sport and so understands the sacrifices you have to make? “Oh, definitely,” she says. “The only problem is that we argue all the time about who does the most training and who works the hardest. But I think he knows deep down that I work a lot harder [giggles]. I mean, the guys in hockey only do one session of training per day.”

Halsall relocated to Loughborough from her home near Liverpool just after the Olympics in Beijing to ratchet up her training regime in preparation for 2012. “I moved there because it’s like an intensive training centre for swimming and the coach there suits me because I have known him since I was 13,” she says. “The squad is really strong. Jo Jackson, who won an Olympic medal, David Davies and Liam Tancock all train there.

“It really helps having other top swimmers alongside me. We push each other to go the extra mile and the competitiveness within the group makes the sessions a lot more fun.

“If someone is doing an extra bit of training that I am not doing, I think, ‘Hang on, I better step up here.’ Training in that kind of environment makes me feel like a proper swimmer now.”

What are the hours like? “I tend to start morning training at 7.45 and get out of the pool at 10. Then I go home, have a nap and some lunch. Then I get ready for training in the afternoon which begins at 3.30, which is stuff like running or biking and then another session in the pool. That session normally finishes about 6.30. We get one day off a week.”

That doesn’t leave much time for philosophy though, does it? “I guess not, but the really good thing is that British swimming has got me a private tutor through UK Sport which provides money to help with studying and other things. I didn’t get a chance to get my A levels finished before I went to Beijing, so that is why I am doing A levels now. In addition to theology I am also doing an A level in sport.”

We talk about her love of clothes. “I love Christian Louboutin shoes,” she says, giggling again. “They are just so pretty and high and girly. I got my first pair for my birthday from mum and dad. The only problem is that they are incredibly expensive, but that makes them kind of special and I am now hooked on them. I have seven or eight pairs now. I have to save up to buy them, though, being a swimmer. We don’t have tons of cash to spare.”

Halsall’s presence at a lido in southeast London is symbolic for all sorts of reasons, but perhaps most importantly because Greenwich Council has put together a significant funding programme to redevelop pools such as this in the build-up to 2012, hoping to harness the power of the Olympics to get more youngsters involved in sport. “It would be great if what we do in 2012 encourages more people to take up swimming,” Halsall says. “That would add a silver lining to everything we achieve.”

Sentiments, one imagines, that Plato would endorse.


ed hardy

VIP Halloween

The Ed HardyT-shirt. Nothing is a bigger symbol of douchebaggery in clubland than it. It's a faux-tattoo armor for those too wimpy to get real ones. Bedazzled and they achieve a whole another level of douchiness. Oh, and if you're wearing Affliction you have two strikes against you: you're poor and you're a douchebag.

In a what-took-us-so-long moment, Vagabond's Thursday night party (((Shake))) pays tribute to the eyesore with its "Uber Exclusive VIP Halloween" party. Partygoers are encouraged to don Ed Hardy gear in order to gain free entry this Thursday. Girls, you aren't being left out either. Make sure your ass tells everyone how "Juicy" it is by wearing your favorite Juicy Couture clothing.

But there's more: possibly fictional DJs Danner Von Martenberg (Berlin), Aaron T (back from Ibiza), and Diesto (Tiesto's brother) are all on the bill. Bottle service with pretty sparklers will be poppin' all night, God willing somebody drops five grand for a table.

We wonder how many South Beach patrons will accidentally make a detour to Vagabond and think they fit right in. Yep, douchebags.


Affliction
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