Andre Balazs's South Beach property will host the opening show of IMG Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim, which is all about swimwear, on July 17. Interestingly, the fashion line that will walk down the runway is Diesel.
So why is that interesting? Because the Diesel company actually owns The Pelican Hotel, also in South Beach on Ocean Drive. Indeed the president and founder of Diesel waxes on about how he loves Miami but with no mention of his company's hotel. He tells WWD:
Miami is one of my favorite cities in the world," said Diesel president and founder Renzo Rosso. "I've always been drawn to South Beach's vibrant energy and cultural richness."
But perhaps it was a logistical thing. The Raleigh, already proven to successfully host a fashion show, will be the host for the entire week, showing 16 designers in nightly fashion shows in poolside tents. Modelizer Hotelier Andre Balazs no doubt will be on hand to observe the latest trends in swimwear.
While economic woes stateside has put fear into some hotel owners heads (and probably anti-depressants too), Dubai keeps on building and building and building and building.
The latest project of fabulosity for Dubai will be a boutique hotel from fashion designer Elie Saab, who is best known for the dress that Halle Berry wore when she won her Best Actress Academy Award.
The Paris-based Lebanese designer, Elie Saab, and a Dubai government-owned company, Tatweer, launched Monday a 163- million dollar project to build a boutique hotel overlooking the Tiger Woods golf course.
The 360,000-square feet boutique hotel would be designed by Saab, bear his name and reflect his style....
The hotel will have 89 suites and 14 bungalows. And we are assuming an in-hotel boutique, no?
CBS has announced the oh-so-popular Victoria's Secret Fashion Show will return to the TV lineup for the Fall, this time broadcasting from the recently redone Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.
Victoria's Secret Supermodel Heidi Klum, along with Adriana Lima, Marisa Miller, Miranda Kerr and a bevy of other Victoria's Secret Angels, will star in this holiday infused lingerie runway show, which will also include musical performances, red carpet interviews, model profiles and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the world's most celebrated fashion show.
The Fontainebleau should look just as pretty as the supermodels considering it is in the midst of a $1 billion facelift. The iconic resort which hit the Miami Beach scene in the 1950s will now include two new towers (Chateau and Versailles), 11 restaurants and lounges, a 40,000-sq.ft. bi-level spa, and an oceanfront "poolscape" featuring several pools.
The hotel will reopen sometime in September with room rates starting at $239 a night.
What ever happened to those plans for the Missoni Hotels, a chain of design hotels from the Italian fashion house Missoni? Supposedly, the fashion hotel chain was to have 30 hotels open by 2010 and considering we're halfway through 2008 and there's nothing open yet, that might be a problem.
Yet it seems plans are still on for the Missoni Hotel Edinburgh, which will open next year. The hotel and others will be run by the Rezidor Group which also handles the Radisson SAS brand in Europe. My Fashion Life blog writes:
The hotels will reflect contemporary Italian life and style as well as having the Missoni stamp all over them. Features include a Missoni-themed restaurant , a Missoni coffee bar, a Missoni lounge and a Missoni spa (not to mention a fitness centre and swimming pool, too). And each one will be tailored to suit the area in which it is built.
The architect working on the first two hotels, Matteo Thun, has some images of what these Missoni Hotels will look like and it's pretty funky. The Rezidor lists the Missoni competitors as W Hotels, Morgans Hotel Group and the UK's Malmaison chain. But don't expect Missoni anywhere stateside soon. The hotel's initial push will be in Europe and the Middle East.
Indeed the Hotel Missoni Kuwait already has its own Wikipedia page. The hotel will open there in the city's shopping and entertainment district of Salmiya. All of the Missoni-branded services will be included.
What we're most excited for? Sleeping on Missoni bedding. Now that's luxury.
Tight jeans and large sunglasses are what you mostly see entering and exiting The Hotel du Petit Moulin, a 17-room creation from fashion designer Christian Lacroix on Trendy Street, aka rue Poitou, in the middle of Edgy Area, aka the Right Bank's Marais area.
The translation - small windmill - is misleading, because it's actually housed right inside an old boulangerie, or bakery. They've kept the colourful old boulangerie sign outside, which can be confusing if you're not paying attention.
Thankfully, there's no confusing the place for a boulangerie inside - instead of bread it smells strongly of a heady perfume, Chanel no 5 perhaps. Something expensive, anyway.
Women's Wear Daily, the daily fashion industry staple, reports that Fall Our Boy bassist/lyricist and Ashlee Simpson fiancee/baby daddy was in New York last week to show off his latest Clandestine Industries clothing collection.
Yep, this rocker has a fashion line of junior and men's apparel.
Wentz apparently previewed the clothes at The Night Hotel in Midtown to a group of fashion editors. Considering that the logo for Clandestine is essentially a bat and that the Night Hotel is a dark gothic space, the venue couldn't have been more apropro.
You know, we once said that the Night Hotel was perfect for goth enthusiasts from the midwest and guess what? Wentz is from Illinois.
Still, we can't bag on the Night too much. The location in Times Square is killer (if that's what you're into) and they've been having some decent rates as of late with some under $200 a night.
It's not just celebrity chefs that are getting in on the hotel scene. Fashion designers, too and they've been doing it a lot longer than the chefs.
Like in the fashion capital of Italy, Florence. The Gallery Hotel Art, one of Florence's first real design boutique hotels, is owned by the son of the Italian fashion designer Salvatore Ferragamo. If you like the hotel and have a lot of money, you can buy the clothes to match, in the Salvatore Ferragamo shop on via Tornabuoni (aka shopping street).
We knew the Ace Hotel in Portland, Oregon was a pretty hip spot but could it really be a fashion muse? Apparently so.
The hotel was the inspiration for the Japanese designer Takahiro Miyashita's Fall `08 menswear line for lable Number (N)ine. In fact, the hotel collaborated with Miyashita on the line which premiered on the runway January 17th in Paris.
A Northwest grunge aesthetic runs through Miyashita's fall pieces. The show, titled "My Own Private Portland," opened with an Ace Hotel voicemail message. Portland-made Pendleton wool blankets folded on each seat invited guests to snuggle up.
This blankets are emblazoned with the Thompson Elk, a recognizable and historical statue in downtown Portland.
The hotel and Number (N)ine are even working on some more products but for now if you want a blanket (yes, please), you can get them from the Number (N)ine's Manhattan flagship store, and (this gets us very excited) from the Ace's upcoming NYC outpost.
While 
