Wearing: Shirt and skirt by Finder Keepers and vintage jacket

Many thanks to Greene & Sheppard PR

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Tamara Mellon has everything to smile about. Last November saw her awarded an OBE for her contribution to the fashion industry and this week Mellon is said to have walked away with millions after Jimmy Choo was sold two months after seeking offers.

Labelux, a luxury Germany company who already owns Bally and Derek Lam, bought the brand for an estimated £500million ($811million) which is a fraction lower from the £549million ($889.4million) that the brand was initially estimated to be worth.

“Jimmy Choo is a perfect fit for us, and we see ourselves as long-term strategic investors,” Reinhard Mieck, CEO of Labelux, explained. “Joshua, Tamara and the management are going to need to deal with us for a very long time. We are thinking about strategies today that will take us beyond this generation to the one after that." The luxury group are already planning to expand the brand in China and Asia.

Back in February we joined Professor Louise Wilson and many others to admire the work of the five lucky Central St Martins finalists in the prestigious college's collaboration with luxury Swiss brand Bally. The students, all in their first or second years at CSM were chosen by Wilson to create women's shoe designs, focusing on a "high editorial value and strong luxury feel".

This September sees the finished collection finally hit Bally stores worldwide, with the launch in conjunction with Vogue's infamous Fashion's Night Out. As well as being available online at bally.com, the shoes will hit the following Bally stores; Beijing Shing Kong Place, Berlin, Beverly Hills, Hong Kong IFC, London, Milan, New York City, Paris, Singapore Ion, Vienna and Zurich.

"We are very excited about this collaboration with the students from CSM," Bally's CEO Berndt Hauptkorn said, "We see this as a long term partnership and a key part of Bally's evolution as a modern heritage brand in the world of luxury." OBE Louise Wilson also praised the collaboration, "It is always good news when brands choose to support young creative talent; Bally has given these students the opportunity to realise their designs and an invaluable insight into the operations side of their chosen field."

This year brings with it a new Swiss partnership, as Bally is teaming up with Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach. For the collaboration, contemporary artists from Switzerland will help design a capsule collection of products in tandem with the Bally design team. The new Bally Love range will now be produced annually, in conjunction with the world-renowned art shows.

The first creative to team up with Bally will be Philippe Decrauzat, an artist who'll turn the brand's products into "optical sensations" by playing on illusion-generating abstract and geometric prints. Decrauzat's capsule collection with the brand will go on display during Art Basel in June, then will be available in select stores from November.

Reem Acra

The fashion world seems to be experiencing a new decade shift, as we've seen Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler move from Aquascutum to Bally, and W magazine moving offices and companies, whilst losing Dennis Freedman and Camilla Nickerson, and gaining Stefano Tonchi. In more departures and arrivals, it was announced on Friday that executive vice president of global communications at Oscar de la Renta, Paul O'Regan has resigned to commence a new, undisclosed project after his anticipated trip to Nepal and Tibet.

Arriving at Bottega Veneta to become worldwide director of public relations will be Billy Daley, having worked at Michael Kors and previously spending six and a half years at KCD as publicity director. And finally, beginning yesterday in time for the designer's bridal presentations, Christophe Hebre has joined Reem Acra as president and chief operating officer.

Image courtesy of Fashionologie

Just four days after announcing that both Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler had resigned from British heritage label Aquascutum to 'focus on new projects', rumours are arife with the news that the pair may take over creative directorship at Bally. The rumours coincide with the announcement that Brian Atwood - the previous creative director for Bally - had shown his last collection as Fashion Week Daily reports that the label wants to put more focus into their ready-to-wear collection.

Although a representative for Bally refused to comment on the news, it is said that Atwood's ready-to-wear designs hadn't been having the same success that his accessories at the brand had, and so it seems logical for the label to bring in Herz and Fidler at this time, who were responsible for helping Aquascutum regain some energy recently. The duo are said to present their first collection for Bally for SS11, in Milan.

Rumours started floating around last fall about Brian Atwood leaving Bally, and now Fashionologie has reported that the buzz is true. The designer's last collection for the brand was Fall '10, and now he'll work on his own label.

In 2007, Atwood joined the Swiss label to help revamp its image. Then in April 2008, Bally was taken over by Labelux Group, which also recently bought a stake in Derek Lam. It's been speculated that Atwood was asked to leave, potentially because of Labelux's desire to return to Bally's Swiss roots. (And on that note, Christy Turlington's background for the Spring '10 campaign was the Alps.)

Labelux CEO Reinhard Mieck confirmed the company wants to add large brands with a rich heritage to its portfolio this year - especially labels that are young and have large potential. He wouldn't be more specific, only saying, "If we find something which fits fantastically, plus would be available, we might even acquire this year but we are definitely not in a hurry."

The relaxed environment at the Bally and Central St Martins collaboration today seemed a far cry from the busied blur of London Fashion Week so far. To calming background music, guests mingled with tea and canapes in the Brown's Hotel, Mayfair, and between two rooms the winning 10 designs from Central St Martins students were showcased whilst OBE Louise Wilson showed her support.

The original brief saw 15 students from both the first and second years at Central St Martins chosen by Louise Wilson creating shoe designs for Bally with a focus on maintaining a 'high editorial value and a strong luxury feel', though the lust-worthy heels shown today had been whittled down from 15 designers to five, with a final winner to be chosen soon in time for AW10 production. The winning designer will see both of their final two designs produced and sold alongside the mainline collection this fall, and will be chosen by a select judging panel from both Central St Martins and Bally.

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Model: Christy Turlington

Photographer: Raymond Meier