One of the world's most famous luxury hotel brands is getting into the polo game in a big way this summer with the first annual St. Regis International Cup. England and Italy will compete for the prestigious trophy in the inaugural match, taking place this Sunday (the 31st) at the historic Cowdray Park Polo Club in West Sussex, surrounded by the ruins of Cowdray Castle.

Of course, St. Regis isn't about to slack off when it comes to hospitality either. They've partnered with Asprey, Veuve Clicquot and Audi to create the ultimate VIP tent at Cowdray, where a crack regiment of St. Regis butlers brought in from the hotels will cater to the toffs' every need. Even the general public will be able to avail themselves of a bar serving the signature St. Regis Bloody Mary. Damned democratic of them, no?

This is without a doubt the most extravagant men's item we've come across for fall (or any other season, for that matter): a $150,000 peacoat from Hermès made entirely of crocodile skin. The ultra-luxe interpretation of a menswear classic, which originated with European navies some 250 years ago, was produced by Hermès men's designer Véronique Nichanian for the famed fashion house's Fall / Winter 2008-09 collection. The Hermès flagship store on Manhattan's Upper East Side just received two of them, in navy blue; other colors may be special ordered for delivery in 3-4 months.

[via Kempt]

On the heels of Kate Moss' already impressive fall ad campaign successes comes news of more coups scored by the eternally gorgeous supermodel: two more major contracts and some serious magazine exposure. On the ad campaign front, her latest big bucks gigs come courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent's beauty line (above) and renowned jeweler Bulgari, both shot in classic black-and-white.

In addition, she appears on the covers of the latest issues of both Vogue and Interview; in the latter she poses totally nude, and she also appears topless (yet again) in a stunning spread for the September issue of W magazine. All this comes as she launches her new clothing line for British retailer Topshop, to great fanfare. We predict the Kate Moss brand will develop into an extremely profitable luxury goods enterprise, with many more product lines to come.

Liliane Bettencourt (right), daughter of the man who founded cosmetics giant L'Oréal, tops Forbes' just-released list of the richest women in Europe with a fortune of $22.9 billion. That astounding figure also makes her the world's richest woman, the magazine notes. Bettencourt, whose father's reputation has occasionally come under fire, uses her money to fund a charitable foundation which supports medical research, cultural projects and humanitarian relief.

At the No. 2 spot on the Euro list is Swedish citizen Birgit Rausing, a packaging heiress with an estimated fortune of $14 billion, while No. 3 is BMW and pharmaceuticals heiress Susanne Klatten, with $13.2 billion. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling meanwhile is in last place at No. 22, barely making the list with a measly $1 billion. It's worth noting that Germany has the most female billionaires of any European nation, with nine of them living within its borders. You can see a gallery of the loaded ladies here.

British luxury watch brand Bremont's new pilot's watch, the EP120, is made with parts of a famous RAF 1942 Spitfire Mk V fighter plane which shot down six enemy aircraft on a single day during WWII. Original pieces of the Spitfire, which has been featured in films such as The Battle of Britain, salvaged during restoration, are incorporated into the EP120's dial and movement. The limited edition timepiece, which has already been spotted on the wrists of Bremont fans like Orlando Bloom and Ewan McGregor, costs about $12,600 and will be available in September.

[via Men.Style]

One of the investors in Billionaire, the famed club for the megarich on Sardinia's swank Emerald Coast, says the club should be shuttered because of the current economic climate. Billionaire, a favored haunt of tycoons who come to frolic with the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Kate Moss and Sean Combs, is controlled by rakish Formula 1 mogul Flavio Briatore (above), but Italian entrepreneur and politician Daniela Santanchè has a 10% stake.

Santanchè says that the ultra-exclusive club, where methuselahs of Cristal go for $50,000 a pop, is an offensive relic of a more wasteful age, the London Guardian reports. "With people struggling to get by, Billionaire should be consigned to history," Santanchè says. "I myself have put my Aston Martin in the garage and get around in a Fiat 500."

"Daniela has been in the sun too long," Briatore, who has dated the likes of Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum, fired back. "What she's saying is absurd. If luxury is suddenly a problem let's close Bulgari and Cartier, or even all the discos, restaurants and the whole of the Emerald Coast." That may not be necessary, in any case. The New York Times recently reported that the hotspot has lost a lot of its exclusivity lately and that some recent visitors aren't even millionaires, let alone billionaires.

British painter Lucian Freud's portrait Benefits Supervisor Sleeping (above) sold to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for $33 million in May, setting a new world record for a living artist, and no doubt making him very happy. Freud just got some bad news, however; the artist was recently informed that one of his subjects, Bernard Breslauer, destroyed a similar portrait because he found the work "unflattering". Breslauer, a famed millionaire New York rare books dealer who once bought a Gutenberg Bible, destroyed the painting because of Freud's "unsightly depiction of his double chin," the London Daily Mail reports.

The destruction of the multimillion dollar painting by Breslauer, who died at the age of 86 in 2004, was discovered by a curator researching works painted by Freud between 1939 - 1954 for a retrospective exhibition taking place in London next month. Freud is reportedly extremely distraught at the discovery - as are Breslauer's heirs, no doubt.

Aston Martin and Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre have teamed up on a new timepiece that doubles as a key to the $260,000 DBS - James Bond's car of choice. The AMVOX2 DBS Transponder, as it's called, locks and unlocks the car much the same way as a remote key fob, though far more stylishly (you'll still need a key to actually drive away). Available as an add-on only for DBS owners, the chronograph costs $37,900 and can be ordered now for October delivery. The AMVOX2 DBS Transponder will make its public debut at the Paris Motor Show on Oct. 4. The watch features "a suspended metallic grey DBS symbol, a discrete Aston Martin emblem on the movement operating indicator and ruthenium grey bridges, satin finish and a black dial that all evoke the DBS's instrument panel," the company notes.

[Aston Martin via Automotoportal]

Supercar Life, the program that allows clients to drive some of the world's most exotic automobiles on a racetrack with no speed limit, traffic or police to spoil the fun, has a number of new events scheduled at the New Jersey Motorsports Park near newly hip Atlantic City over the next couple months. Supercar Life's linup of over $1.5 million worth of wheels includes the Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Gallardo, Porsche 911 Turbo and Aston Martin DB9. The entry fee is $4,990 for the Track Package, which includes tuition from pro drivers in the Rolex Grand-Am series, catered trackside meals, an in-car DVD of your day and a post-event champagne celebration. The Luxury Package ($5,690) adds area hotel accommodations and all ground transportation. Programs in New Jersey are scheduled for August 26, 27, Sept 9 and 10, and Oct 7 and 8. Check out their site here for more details.

Since it first opened in 1961, Barbados' luxurious Sandy Lane has played host to a never-ending stream of royalty, socialites and movie stars. Arguably the Caribbean's plushest resort, Aristotle Onassis and Maria Callas, David Niven, Jackie Kennedy, Frank Sinatra and Queen Elizabeth all took sojourns there in years past, while the list of current habitués is no less impressive, including Tiger Woods who tied the knot there in 2004.

The ne plus ultra in exclusivity, luxury, privacy and white glove service is embodied by the palatial neo-Palladian-style main building of cream coral stone set in a grove of mahogany trees on a beautiful stretch of beach in the middle of Barbados' "platinum coast." A chauffered limousine (a Bentley for high-rollers) picks you up at the airport and you're greeted at the front desk with cold towels and fruit punch, a preview of coming attractions, so to speak.

Sandy Lane was rebuilt in 2001, and it's currently in the midst of a multimillion dollar makeover including upgrades to rooms, the spa, restaurants and public spaces. When it re-opens on October 3, in addition to 16,000-sq.-ft. of new marble, one of the biggest improvements will be an open plan, multi-cultural, all-day dining facility featuring a residential-style kitchen in the manner of a Caribbean Palladian conservatory, with a wine store, beach bar, sushi bar, lobster and live seafood tank, a fresh herb garden and a wood burning oven.



The resort's 112 rooms average 900 square feet and feature marble floors and bathrooms, mahogany plantation furniture, private verandahs, plasma TVs and all the bells and whistles. The property features two Tom Fazio-designed 18-hole golf courses, nine championship tennis courts, a 47,000 square foot spa, a John Frieda salon, shops galore (Joan Collins still owes money in one of them) and seven bars and restaurants to choose from. On the beach, attendants will fetch you drinks, clean your sunglasses and even spritz you with Evian water should you so desire.

In addition to the main accommodations, there's also a five bedroom villa that sleeps 14 with a private pool, butler, housekeeper, chef and 24-hr. security guard for $25,000 a night during the holiday season. But if you have to ask, you probably can't afford it.

On Oct. 30, Christie's in London will auction off the world's finest collection of 20th Century fashion in private hands. The Resurrection: Avant-Garde Fashion sale features seminal designs from the past 50 years, from "Pop Art and the Space Age of the 1960s through the iconoclasm of the 1970s and the revival of architectural couture of the 1980s and 1990s."

The 250 lots include a carefully curated assemblage of garments, headwear and jewelry from designers including Pierre Cardin, Paco Rabanne, Vivienne Westwood, Azzedine Alaia, Gianni Versace and Issey Miyake, among others. The top-priced lot is this full length wedding dress made from plates of white leather linked by metal rings by Paco Rabanne in 1967, est. about $12,000 - $16,000.

Haute-burlesque queen Dita Von Teese, whose controversial Cointreau ads we told you about in April, will debut her new collection for Wonderbra in Europe on Sept. 23rd.

The limited-edition, vintage-esque pieces, inspired by old Hollywood glamour with a touch of Bettie Page, come in three lines dubbed Multi-Teese, Spot-Teese and Satin-Teese, and also include panties and garter belts. Some of the bras feature an innovation of Dita's own devising: quick-release clasps so they're easier to remove than conventional models.

"Lingerie shouldn't be something you just put on for your lover; you should do it for you," Dita said in a statement announcing the collection. "It's not about seducing men, it's about embracing womanhood."

Famed deluxe London department store Harrods, owned by the late Dodi Fayed's financier father Mohamed Al-Fayed, just announced plans to expand its private label product lines to put them on a par with the famous name merchandise it has long carried. Harrods branded products will soon include everything from golf and ski accessories to baby wear and plus-size collections, Vogue UK reports. The million square foot store, located in Knightsbridge, is the largest and one of the most luxurious in the world. It holds several royal warrants from the likes of the Queen, the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales.

The first boutique luxury hotel has just opened in Cusco, Southeastern Peru, the historic capital of the Inca Empire. Situated in a meticulously-restored colonial mansion that is probably the first Spanish building ever constructed on the ancient site, La Casona Inkaterra features eleven luxurious suites surrounding a sumptuous courtyard that's nearly 400 years old. The hotel, which is only a short distance from famed Machu Picchu, a UNESCO world heritage site, boasts modern amenities like radiant heated floors and iPod docks that would have shocked the original inhabitants.

[via UrbanDaddy]

Luxury yacht brokerage Edmiston has commissioned seven avant-garde marine designers to come up with a nautical-themed take on Land Rover's classic Range Rover. The entry shown here, by self-described "yacht design pioneer" Dickie Bannenberg, features wooden side panels and a tailgate that folds into a nautical-style wooden bench, complete with champagne holders, while the rear windshield converts into a sun visor to shade it. The winner of the design competition will be announced on Sept. 25th during the Monaco Yacht Show, one of the megayacht community's biggest annual events. Visitors to the show will be able to custom order a Range Rover in any of the seven designs, with a delivery time of three to six months and a price range of about $300,000 - $1.2 million.

[via Megayacht News]