Various magazines and other sources are reporting that shades of purple are hip for fall. Fashion Week Daily reports that Neiman Marcus has joined the purple push. Their Fall 2008 trend event which runs from August 15 to August 23 will focus on berry colors as well as showcasing other key fall trends such as the return of the lady-like look. Any customer who spends $250 at the store will receive a Neiman Marcus PDA/mobile phone cover in the plummy shade shown at right.

For centuries, France dominated wine production but may change. A recent article in the International Herald Tribune reported the results from a study for the Vignerons Independants winemakers association that revealed Spain will top world wine production to Spain by 2015

France is in trouble for two major reasons, falling consumption at home and the tendency of French winemakers to be slow to adapt to new trends and competitors. Eric Rosaz, the director of France's independent wine producers association, believes it's not too late and that France can remain the wine leader especially if they pick up current trends like screw tops, boxed wines and easy-to-understand labeling. In 2015, the U.S. will be the world's largest wine consumer with 871 million gallons but U.S. consumers tend to steer clear of French wines especially because they perceive French wines to be costly or too hard to understand.

Should France manage to dodge the challenges of Spain and the U.S., another threat is looming. The BBC has an article that says China may be the world's largest producer of bulk wine in 50 years time as well as a major force in fine wine. Currently, Chinese wine isn't well known outside of Asia but the country does have a huge number of vineyards and climate change may work in their favor as other places may find themselves unable to grow decent wine. What China currently seems to be lacking is technical expertise but that is changing.

Jasper Morris, of wine sellers Berry Brothers & Rudd predicts that in 50 years, consumers will ask for wine by the brand name or flavor but won't know or care where it came from. I'm hoping that won't be the case but there certainly is room enough on the global market for wines from all places. Other Berry predictions include some trends already in place such as the continued rise of English sparkling wine, the phasing out of corks and the rise of new containers to compete with the bottle.

I like to believe there will always be a market for certain French wines but in a year like this, where Robert Parker says the 2007 Bordeaux isn't great, it's becoming possible to see a world where French wine is no longer the dominant force in the world.

On Friday, Women's Wear Daily released a sneak peek of Chanel fall 2008 beauty color collection and I have to wonder if the recent spike in gold prices were an inspiration to Peter Phillips, the new creative director of makeup. The collection will come out in July and will be followed in October by Philips' holiday collection. Phillips tells WWD that he choose gold because of the warm metallic colors used in Coco Chanel's apartment on Rue Cambon.

The collection includes Gold Fiction, the nail polish for $30; Facettes D'Or, a loose powder with a golden glow for $56; Gold Light Glossimer lip gloss, $26; Rouge Hydrabase lipstick shades in copper, plum and coral for $27 each, and a quad eye shadow palette with gold, coffee, ivory and dark green eye colors for $56. In a time of economic turmoil will women want to to wear gold on their fingers and toes? Chanel is hoping the new gold nail polish is the next Vamp or Black Satin but it seems an awfully opulent color for an uncertain time.

Times are hard for the traditional artisans of Italy. Back in December I wrote about Italian luxury fashion labels dealing with higher manufacturing costs. An International Herald Tribune article points out that the fact that the same factors are also affecting Italian goldsmiths who also have to deal with the rising price of gold. Italy, which has been producing beautiful gold jewelry for thousands of years (as is shown by the bracelet from ancient Pompeii above), was once tops in gold jewelry production but now China, India and Turkey are all offering serious competition. So far the larger luxury brands have been saved because they buy gold in advance but for smaller companies which buy their own metals each week are more likely to feel the pinch sooner. The good news is that most luxury companies continue to keep jewelry production in Italy. There is good reason for doing this, surveys of luxury consumers show that they care where their products are manufactured. A recent Unity Marketing survey regarding habits of luxury consumers showed that over two thirds of the 1,300 consumers polled show a preference for goods made in the USA, Italy, France and Germany and associate China with poorer quality luxury goods.

When I was growing up the shopping mall was the place to hang out, but the mall is quickly becoming a relic from the 1970s and 1980s. In fact, the last enclosed shopping mall in the U.S. was built in 2006. The trend these days is for open-air shopping in a center that offers a mix of high-end national retailers, restaurants and entertainment. Instead of being devoted to shopping exclusively these centers tap into the "shopping as a lifestyle" trend that is popular with all level of consumers. It seems to be a direct reversal of the trend in the 1980s in which the strip mall centers and standalone stores found themselves suffering. At that time many retailers moved in to malls simply because that was where everyone was.

Some malls in the United States are currently in a state of decline. The first thing that happens often is that the big department store anchor closes down. This often forces the smaller stores out of business because there is less foot traffic. For stores without an exterior entrance it is particularly hard to lure shoppers in. The problem is so virulent there are even websites such as Deadmalls.com which pay homage to the fallen.

A fascinating article in the Economist also chronicles the dying mall syndrome and also mentions Rick Caruso, the man currently tearing up the streets near my home in Glendale,CA. Glendale is already home to a huge mall, the Glendale Galleria. Right next to it, Caruos is building a 16-acre development that includes a public square and apartments. Caruso has already created a similar center at The Grove in Los Angeles and is planning another in Arcadia, CA. What is particularly interesting about the article in the Economist is the comparison between Caruso and Victor Gruen, the creator of the first enclosed shopping mall in the U.S. Both were looking to create an idealized city center that would offer shopping but also a place to converge, a sort of modern town square. Gruen's enclosed malls tended to pull people of out downtown areas and into the suburban areas. Now Caruso comes in years later offering an idealized version of a city street causing people to abandon the malls. I wonder if in another 20 years the open-air shopping centers will go through the same life cycle.

Earlier this week I came across the "80 things to watch in 2008" list from advertising agency JWT. It's is an interesting take on what might be hot next year. Some of the things make easy sense like actress Keira Knightley who is currently on the big screen in "Atonement," Beijing in 2008 (the upcoming Olympics will be held there), and various things eco (eco-fatigue, blue as the new green, green weddings and carbon tax) all made the list. For luxspotters, there are a couple interesting notes such as the rise of hot fashion names Phillip Lim and Vena Cava, the humbling of the hedge fund manager and skiing in unique spots like Kashmir, Japan and Greenland. As someone who follows the wine and spirits world I was struck by number 69 on the list: tequila is the new wine. It's an ambitious statement but I'm not sure I buy it. First of all, tequila production has grown but it is in no way poised to take wine which is produced all around the world. And while people are starting to have an increased appreciation for handcrafted and artisanal tequilas, it's nothing even close to the world of wine connoisseurship. Now, tequila is the new vodka, and that I'll believe.

We've seen a lot of hotel trends over the years, plasma TVs, the rise of free wi-fi, pillow butlers, in-room fitness equipment and all sorts of adjustments as hotels adapt to the greening of America but the latest might just be the disappearance of an old favorite. ABC News has a story on the fact that luxury hotels are ditching the tradition of the Bible tucked in the bedside drawer. According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the number of luxury hotels that stock the Bible and other religious items has dropped 18 percent since 2001. Luxury chains taking part in the trend include Kimpton Hotels, the Borgata in Atlantic City and the Gansevoort Hotel Group. The hotels all offer various religious materials that are available by request.

This trend is on the luxury side. In other motels, hotels and inns, the number of in-room Bibles has increased from 79 percent in 1988 to 95 percent today. In fact, a survey from the American Hotel and Lodging Association reveals that the more you pay for a hotel room the less likely you are to see a Bible. A full 99 percent of economy hotels have a Bible in the room but just 73 percent of luxury hotels provide one. Also Bibles are least likely to be found in urban hotels and resorts and are most often at hotels near interstate highways or at airports.

Now here's a trend in luxury home design that I really get: observatories. For some people a beautiful view of the stars is becoming just as important (if not more so) than a view of the ocean or the beach. And thanks to technology observatories are more fun in places they never used to be, and people are putting them in as additions to their home and taking up astronomy as a regular hobby. But they aren't cheap, obviously, because in addition to the space involved the telescope alone can cost several hundred thousand dollars.

I would love to have an observatory in my home! Forget waiting for the weatherman to say there's a certain star or planet that might be visible at 3am on a random Monday, I'll just pop upstairs and see the stars whenever the mood strikes.

Consumer spending overall might be down (just a 1.3 percent growth rate in the second quarter) but that isn't stopping luxury consumers according to an article in the Chicago Tribune. A survey from Unity Marketing reveals that spending among those with an average income of of $155,000 was up nine percent overall (spending an average of $15,283 on luxury goods and services in the second quarter). Specific categories such as home goods, jewelry and entertainment were all up over 50 percent. The most aggressive spenders are, according to Pamela Danziger of Unity Marketing, the younger, uppermost segments of the luxury spenders. Unity Marketing dubs them the "Want-It-All" generation and reports that luxury shoppers under 40 outspent older shoppers by 39 percent. Inspired perhaps by the conspicuous consumption shown by the celebs in the media like the Beckhams shown here, this group is accustomed to getting what they want without waiting.

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on the recent trend in using rough diamonds in jewelry. We first checked this out earlier this year when we saw the jewelry from Diamond In The Rough, and De Beers has also used rough diamonds in their Talisman collection. The stones lack the appeal of faceted diamonds: no flashes of color, no sparkles, in fact, as the Journal says, they look downright gravel-like. The stones have a certain organic appeal and the jewelry stores like them because they are cheaper to produce and offer a chance to use stones which may not have been suitable for cutting. But one of the major caveats here is that a rough diamond isn't appraised in the same way as a cut stone and so it can be tough to know the true value of a stone. One thing that is not mentioned in the article but is a question for me is how the value of the rough diamonds will hold up over time. It seems to me that it might be hard to resell one of these once the trend fades away. I've always thought of the beauty of a diamond as being a collaboration between nature and man because it takes a skilled cutter to reveal a diamond's true beauty.

If you are running out of places to put your diamonds, consider your sneakers. The perfect accessory to those pricey limited edition sneaks just might be Kickbars, jewel-encrusted shoelace clips. The bars, which feature emeralds, sapphires, rubies and diamonds set in white gold, can also be used on bracelets and necklaces. The original Kickbar has 54 G color, VS1 diamonds pave set into the rectangular bar (a total weight of 2 carats) and sells for $7500.

An LA Times article earlier this spring highlights another way to make your shoes sparkle, a company called Greedy Genius is selling interchangeable diamond eyelets.

The days of the over-the-top and "in your face" styles of being rich (think Donald Trump) are numbered it seems, as the trends of wealth and luxury are leaning ever more toward quiet, discreet, and as invisible as possible. A team from Newsweek has done some research and exploration of this latest move toward ultra-exclusive living, with their findings published in the July 2-9 edition of Newsweek (available on newsstands now). Getting a glimpse at some of what goes on is truly a treat, as everything from building and real estate architecture to the names and addresses of exclusive bars and clubs are going so understated as to be nearly invisible. And worn and used by the superrich? Obscure brand names, often without labels and logos, that are only known by those who can afford to know and appreciate their quality.

As fun as it is to witness some of the ridiculous extravagance some celebrities are so open about, I think this trend is definitely a good one as far as taste and class go.

When we first heard about the existence of the world's tallest roses, with lush blooms sitting on stems that tower well over five feet above the ground, we immediately knew that they would be an in-demand item for Valentine's day. It turns out that the Washington Post thinks so, too. According to their latest article on the subject, "extreme roses" are growing in popularity faster than the flowers are blooming. They are turning up in celebrity homes and some were featured in the Rose Bowl Parade earlier this year.

Be warned, though: as with most excessively large things (SUVs, for example), these roses aren't inexpensive. Organic Bouquet, a company that specializes in the larger than life roses, charges $250 per dozen. On the plus side, they'll make a huge impact on your Valentine and, because the breed of rose is known as "Forever Young," one dozen should last quite a while.

In NYC, more and more restaurants are incorporating bar seating, whether to create a pleasant waiting area for diners or simply to add more seating options to allow them to cater to more casual eaters in addition to the prix fixe crowd. New York Magazine has the scoop on some of the poshest stools and where in the city you'll find them.

1. Designed by AvroKO and made of hot-rolled steel with a soft vinyl seat cover. Found at Quality Meats.
2. Birillo bar stool designed by Joe Colombo has an extra-wide seat and extra-small backrest. It retails for around $2,800. Found at Centovini.
3. Award-winning LEM Piston Stool from DWR, redone in silver calf leather. Retail is $700 each. found at Gilt.
4. Super comfy and almost shabby chic, these stools have soft cushions and multiple footrests. Found at Boqueria.
5. Designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon, these red leather and chrome stools are exclusive to L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon and other global Robuchon restaurants.

I've commented before on brown watches and the winning combination of brown and rose gold. Iridesse Pearls has caught on to the trend combining Chocolate Tahitian pearls with rose gold. Their new collection pairs the luminous brown pearls and gold with cognac diamonds and pink sapphires in earrings and pendants as well as the bracelet shown here. The bracelet has big beautiful brown pearls and oversized gold links with a pink sapphire tassel. It sells for $4795.