Ferre

Gianfranco Ferre to Debut "Couture Architecture" in Dubai

Filed under: Apparel, Real Estate Developments

Italian design house Gianfranco Ferre has signed multi-billion dollar deal to develop real estate projects with a fashionable flair. Ferre is partnering with Mideast-based GIO Developments on the deal, and the first project, called "Gianfranco Ferre Stresa," will be a mixed-use highrise in Dubai. The $1.2 billion tower will combine residential, commercial and hospitality spaces, and the partnership has dubbed it the first example of "concrete couture." Other similar projects are planned around the globe. Mr. Ferre himself, who was fittingly known as the "architect of fashion," died last year. The company bearing his name already has a strong presence in the region with existing stores in Dubai, Beirut and Istanbul and new openings planned for Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait within the year. Other design houses currently collaborating on Dubai developments include Versace, Christian Lacroix and Elie Saab.

Gallery: House of Ferre

Naked models in the new Ferre Fall ad campaign.

Semi-naked models in the new Ferre Fall ad campaign.

Tags: Dubai, Fashion, Ferre, Gianfranco Ferre, GianfrancoFerre, Italian design, Italian fashion, ItalianDesign, ItalianFashion, Middle East, MiddleEast, Versace

Julia Roberts Not Famous Enough For Dior?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cosmetics and Fragrance

Is the love affair between fashion houses and actresses on the wane? First we heard that Lindsay Lohan wasn't getting the Louis Vuitton deal (although she is rumored to be on the Versace short list) and now Julia Roberts misses out on the chance to rake in all that fashion dough. Julia Roberts may be fine for Ferre and she has a burgeoning Broadway career but the New York post reports that she's not a big enough star for Dior. The NY Post reports that Dior was looking at Julie to be the face of a new 2007 perfume but are no longer interested. Is it Julia's new maternal look? Dior already has Charlize Theron as the face of J'Adore so they are clearly not actress adverse.

[photo via AP]

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Tags: christian dior, contracts, dior, fashion, ferre, julia roberts, JuliaRoberts, perfume, versace