I heard rumours in Paris last week about a major luxury group taking a significant stake in Azzedine Alaïa’s business, after he bought his business back from Prada this summer. Today’s WWD confirms the mystery conglomerate as Richemont, a company known more for luxury watches and jewellery than high fashion.

Azzedine Alaïa is the ultimate fashion insider brand, loved by legions of devoted fans of his signature 80’s body-con dresses that have come into fashion’s favour again of late. Alaïa’s intricate and complex garment construction and personal touch are vestiges of a different era in fashion, and for this he is respected by even the most jaded fashion types.

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Ever since Roberto Rimondi and Tommaso Aquilano of 6267 sent their S/S 2008 collection down the runway in Milan last week, everyone has been talking about that dress.

In her glowing review, Suzy Menkes said the big surprise of the show came "when the models turned to show a wide dress morph into a sinuous shape at the back. It sounds tricky, but the idea worked, offering one of the most intriguing contrasts of the season." Of the show’s standout piece, Nicole Phelps of Style.com said that "Rimondi and Aquilano have an untapped avant-garde streak: Coming, the dress looked like a sculptural, full-blown trapeze; going, it revealed itself to be a body-skimming, provocative sheath." (Note: Unfortunately, no photo of that dress, but another one with similarly constrasting construction is pictured to the left)

Lucky for me, though I missed the show in Milan, I was invited to tea at Place du Marché St Honoré in Paris yesterday evening to take a closer look at the collection. I dragged Jason Campbell of the JC Report along with me — and we were not disappointed and not alone.

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Cathy Horyn recently asserted that that London’s fashion renaissance might be linked to the fact that the city is awash with cash. From Russian oligarchs to Arab princes to Indian billionaires, it’s true that that London has become a playground for the world’s rich and famous. Perhaps this is also why there are no less than three luxury conferences taking place in London over the next few months, each with some focus on the opportunity that web 2.0 technologies presents for the industry.

Next week, The Walpole Group hosts Tech Luxe: Web 2.0 and Beyond, a half day seminar to help companies learn how they can "reharness the creative power of technology." Speakers will include Nick Robertson of the innovative online fashion retailer asos.com.

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