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Tod's Launches World's Most Expensive iPad Cases, Plus an App

Back in May we told you about the world's most expensive iPad, a ludicrous solid gold version priced at $188,000. Now famed Italian luxury goods firm Tod's is offering world's most expensive iPad case, which in this case is actually in excellent taste. The luxurious case, finished in genuine alligator, is priced at $4,900 - almost ten times the cost of Apple's un-embellished 16GB iPad itself. The one-of-a-kind accessory is handmade in Italy from the world's finest grade alligator skin, and will be available in brown, blue and tan from Tod's boutiques worldwide beginning in November. If that's a little too rich for your blood, there's also a version in buff colored calfskin for $495. Meanwhile Tod's has also launched its first iPad app, called My Life Is In This Bag.

The app allows users to enter and experience the world of Tod's and browse the brand's collections, and also showcases virtual themed lifestyles. The app reveals the contents of six stylish and sophisticated women's 'D' bags, the famed Tod's model favored by the likes of Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Garner and Jessica Alba. Along with snapshots of each bag's contents, users can journey into the different lifestyles and personalities, including that of sexy socialite Lauren Remington Platt, and discover tips such as the most spectacular destinations around the globe with an insider's guide to art and entertainment. See more images of the luxe cases and the app after the jump.

Tags: alligator, app, Apple, computer, exotic leather, expensive+ipad+cases, expensiveipadcases, gadgets, iPad, iPad case, Italy, Lauren Remington Platt, most+expensive+ipad+case, mostexpensiveipadcase, socialite, tech, tods+ipad, tods+ipad+case, todsipad, todsipadcase

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Abramovich's Daughter Named One of Russia's Most Eligible Women with a $3.4 Billion Fortune

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

Russian business magazine Finans has named oligarch Roman Abramovich's 17-year-old daughter Anna (right) one of Russia's most eligible women, citing her $3.4 billion fortune. Anna, who lives with her mother Irina, the billionaire's second wife, in London, will inherit the cash as part of the oligarch's divorce settlement. Her father threw her a $600,000 Sweet Sixteen party last year.

Anna has four siblings and a half-brother, born this year to Abramovich's gorgeous girlfriend Dasha Zhukova. The Australian reports that Abramovich is displeased at the magazine's coverage of his daughter. Back in May we reported that Anna had been partying hard in London with Will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas at posh nightclub Whisky Mist.

Anna's no Paris Hilton however, nor is she Russia's biggest heiress; she's worth less than Anastasia Potanina, 26, daughter of mining magnate Vladimir Potanin, who's expected to inherit $3.8 billion. Seven young women are included in the list in total, with combined fortunes worth over $17 billion. Of course exact details are a closely guarded secret.

Tags: anna abramovich, billionaire, Dasha Zhukova, heiress, London, oligarch, Paris Hilton, Roman Abramovich, Russia, Russian billionaires, socialite

Lapo Elkann's Custom Ferrari with Denim Interior

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Wealth, Celebrity Design

Dashing Fiat heir Lapo Elkann is something of a dandy and while we generally admire his taste and what the Italians call sprezzatura, we're not too crazy about his new custom two-tone blue Ferrari with an interior upholstered in pairs of old jeans (see still above and video after the jump). Last time we checked Lapo was cruising around in a much more understated matte black Maserati Gran Turismo. The Ferrari, a 599 GTB Fiorano, is matte baby blue with a darker blue roof and rims with Italian flag details. There's also something resembling a bullet hole in the back. This isn't exactly as atrocious as the Brothel Prince's Louis Vuitton Rolls, but it's definitely in the same orbit. We appreciate that you're too rich to give a damn, but sometimes Lapo old sport you go a bit too far.

Tags: Ferrari, Fiat, jetset, Lapo Elkann, LapoElkann, socialite

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Vanity Fair's Sexy Heirs & Heiresses

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

The June issue of Vanity Fair takes a look at 38 young, sexy heirs and heiresses around the world and tries to convince us that they're "making privilege count." The story, titled Fortune's Children, notes that "At a moment when the economy is teetering and populism is all the rage, today's gilded youth have got their work cut out for them, and they know it. Whether it's expanding the family business or striking out independently, launching a career in the arts or plunging into philanthropy, the 38 heirs and heiresses to fabled names and consequential fortunes in this portfolio seem determined to make a contribution to society at large while carving out identities of their own." Pictured above are Joséphine and Alexandre De La Baume, the half-Swiss, half-French - and more than likely halfwit but more than halfway attractive - children of Baron and Baronne de La Baume, of investment banking fame.

Tags: heiress, socialite, Vanity Fair, VanityFair

The Classicist: The History of America's Upper Class

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Books, The Classicist, Wealth

Interestingly enough it took a foreigner - namely super-stylish British historian, author, and journalist Nick Foulkes - to realize that for most people the appeal of society swells is purely decorative. What sets his recently published book - High Society: The History of America's Upper Class - apart from the usual social history is the amazing array of archival photographs. Beginning with the early 17th century, Foulkes focuses on the famous families - the Vanderbilts, Fricks, Morgans, and Astors among them - who came to embody the American aristocracy. He also plots the social trajectory all the way to the present day, and heiresses such as the famed Miller Sisters, aka Pia Getty, Princess Alexandra von Furstenberg and Princess Marie Chantal of Greece, pictured on the book's cover, above.

Of course, you first have to accept Foulkes' premise that America does in fact have a class system, even if the current recession has painfully demonstrated that no one should take their positions for granted while Barack Obama's ascendancy proved that traditional barriers are no longer as formidable. "I am often told that 'American high society' is an oxymoron, either by those who hold the quaint belief that the United States is a classless society in which opportunity is open to all," Foulkes notes, "or by Europeans who believe themselves to be superior and look down pejoratively upon the social aspirations of a country that is younger than many families, social clubs, educational establishments, and even socks in the Old World."

The fact of the matter, however, Foulkes writes, is that "The United States is no longer a young country; it is a middle-aged nation with its own social codes and structures locked into its collective DNA. It has its prominent families, an untitled aristocracy, who exerted such a profound effect on the nation or have just been around for so long that the doings of their descendants are still a source of interest." The second pillar of American society is the plutocracy, "Men who made so much money that they simply floated to the pinnacle of the social structure on a tide of cash, building huge mansions and amassing art collections that remain among the most impressive the world has ever seen."

Gallery: High Society