MARBELLA CLUB

Maserati SpA’s new sport-utility vehicle was one of the most sought-after models at the Frankfurt car show this week and Ferrari SpA predicted record sales as executives said ultra-luxury remains recession-proof. “If you go to the Ferrari stand, there aren’t any customers worried about the recession,” Fiat Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said at the International Motor Show. “The last Ferrari customers I saw at the show weren’t crying.” Fiat’s two upscale brands may help the Turin, Italy-based carmaker weather a decline at its main business as Europe’s credit crisis worsens. Even without the Kubang SUV, Maserati aims to boost deliveries by almost eightfold to 45,000 cars in 2014 as it increases dealers by 150 percent worldwide. Lamborghini SpA’s new Aventador model is sold out for 18 months and Rolls-Royce Cars announced a 10 million-pound ($15.8 million) expansion at its Goodwood, England plant. Ferrari expects to deliver 7,000 cars in 2011 on demand for its first family car, the $356,000 four-seat FF that came to market this year. Fiat’s most profitable unit plans to cap sales at 7,000 going forward to maintain exclusivity. Ferrari targets “significant” results this year after earnings before interest and taxes rose 23 percent in 2010 to 302 million euros ($414 million) on revenue of 1.92 billion euros, Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said. “I’m not worried because we have quality, exclusivity, a strong brand and innovative technology,” Montezemolo said in an interview when asked about the effect of the economic slowdown. Mixed Fortunes The ultra-luxury optimism stands in contrast to concern voiced from volume carmakers that a worsening debt crisis in Europe is prompting consumers to rein in spending. PSA Peugeot Citroen CEO Philippe Varin said this week that Europe is facing a possible recession, while Ford Motor Co. said sales in the region next year will be little changed. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s biggest maker of luxury cars, is the best performer in the Stoxx 600 Automobiles & Parts Index this year. BMW stock has slipped 6.4 percent, compared with a 24 percent loss for the index. Fiat, which also owns Chrysler Group LLC in the U.S., is the worst performer on the index, with a 42 percent decline. Sales of the main high-end European luxury brands -- Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin -- will rise 19 percent this year to 28,090 vehicles, and gain another 13 percent in 2012, according to a forecast from industry analyst IHS Automotive. “The rich have gotten richer and the number of millionaires in emerging countries is really growing so the demographic trend is very positive” for the ultra-luxury carmakers, said Erich Hauser, a London-based Credit Suisse automotive analyst. “Things would have to get very nasty before they face a problem.” Rolls-Royce Record Rolls-Royce, owned by BMW, expects in 2011 to break last year’s sales record of 2,711 cars, Chief Executive Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes said, adding that China may overtake the U.S. as its top market. The German executive said he’s ”optimistic” about the prospects for the super-luxury segment and that his company so far has not been affected by the slowdown. The ultra-premium segment is likely to weather this downturn better than the previous crisis, Mueller-Oetvoes said. Along with the factory expansion, Rolls-Royce may boost its dealerships to 100 from the current 85 and add a coupe version of its best-selling Ghost model, he said. The carmaker debuted an extended-wheelbase version of the Ghost in Frankfurt. Lamborghini, owned by Volkswagen AG, unveiled the 189,000- euro Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale at the show, the most powerful addition to the Gallardo series. The 570- horsepower vehicle comes with matte black finish on the large rear spoiler, engine hood and front air intakes and surges to 100 kilometers (62 miles) in 3.4 seconds. Limited Edition Deliveries of the model, which has a top speed of 320 kilometers per hour, will be confined to 150 and start in December, Chief Executive Officer Stephan Winkelmann said in an interview. The Volkswagen division also announced production of the 1.6 million-euro Sesto Elemento. No more than 20 will be built with deliveries due in early 2013. Lamborghini sales may advance from last year’s 1,302 on the back of the Aventador LP 700-4, which will hit showrooms in October and is sold out for 18 months, Winkelmann said. “The super-luxury market has been in steady recovery from its low in 2009,” Winkelmann said in an interview, adding that order books at Lamborghini are showing no declines. “We’re aware that there are risks.” Bentley Motors Ltd., whose customers include Queen Elizabeth II and the Sultan of Brunei, rolled out an updated version of the Continental GTC convertible with deliveries of the 575-horsepower model starting before the end of the year. Powered by revamps of the Mulsanne and Continental models announced over the past year, full-year deliveries may top the 7,000 mark which would mark a 40-percent gain on 2010, CEO Wolfgang Duerheimer said in an interview. An SUV that the Crewe, England-based VW unit is considering may help more than double sales to 15,000 by about 2018, he said. “We’re very optimistic, our business is developing extremely soundly and the order situation is looking good,” Duerheimer said. “We mustn’t talk up a crisis. Growing debt problems in Europe and the U.S. are giving enough reason for concern, but the underlying economic picture remains positive.”

Cole Haan

Each season, the fashion industry hand picks their own musical muse — usually a star on the rise who ends up performing at every single industry soiree from New York to Paris and whose hit single is played at a number of the big ticket runway shows. This past February it was all about Adele and before that, Florence Welch. This time it's rapper/singer Theophilus London, and although he's still one of hip-hop's under-the-radar talents, he's quickly becoming fashion's musical darling of the moment.

This week, London's not only been spotted front row at the Tommy Hilfiger Men's show, performing hits from his new album "Timez Are Weird" at Tommy's FNO party and hanging at Imitation of Christ and Carlos Campos, he's also promoting his new shoe collaboration with Cole Haan. Last night at their Soho store, London was on hand to mingle and perform, telling us that his new blue suede bucks were, "very cool." He continued, "it was fun to do, but I wish I made them for women. That's all I really care about is pleasing women, not so much men. Don't you want a pair?"

London also weighed in on yesterday's somewhat shocking news that Kanye West will be showing his new collection during Paris Fashion Week, starting September 27th. When we asked what he thought about Kanye's move into the world of fashion design, he responded enthusiastically, "I think it's sick man, I totally back him. He actually emailed me this morning and invited me to the show, so I'm definitely going to hop on a plane in a couple weeks and be there for him. He's Kanye, he can do anything."

We also suggested that it'd be amazing if he'd team up with Kanye and/or Jay-Z on his next album. "We'll see, I mean that'd be a dream come true. It's cool they even support me, but right now I'm just chillin."

Though he was quick to claim his "chillin" status several times throughout our conversation, it doesn't appear that this guy's slowing down any time soon. With a fashion collaboration already under his belt, the attention of iconic designers and an open invitation to what's bound to be the most talked about show at Paris Fashion Week, London's got a swagger we'll be following all season long.

Having long passed judgement on the catwalk via the pages of Vogue, a leading magazine publisher is setting up its own fashion school in London. The Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design will open in September 2012, taking up to 300 students in its first year. With courses branded around its stable of monthlies and weeklies, its principal will be Susie Forbes, editor of Easy Living and former deputy editor of British Vogue. Last year, Condé Nast's British arm made £34.6m. It is thought the conglomerate's move into teaching may face hostility from the arts education community, with the capital already hosting the London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins. Nicholas Coleridge, managing director of Condé Nast, said: "The reputation and authority of our brands puts us in a strong position to teach and inspire the fashion and decorating talent of the future."

Málaga Singer, Pablo Alborán, who had a surprise number one album in Spain this year has been nominated in three categories of the Latin Grammys, including best new comer and song of the year for ‘Solamente tu’. When he heard the news the Málaga singer wrote on Twitter – ‘Family, I don’t know what to say. This is a dream, I love you!’. Shakira, Ricky Martin and Maná also have three nominations this year. Grand favourites at the Latin Grammys this year are Calle 13, a due from Puerto Rico who have as many as ten nominations. The ceremony will be held in Las Vegas on November 10.

According to Spanish local media, police estimate that the couple, known as John and Amanda Treagust, may have netted up to £150,000 by advertising bogus Spanish rental properties, complete with pictures, on their website, Costa Blanca Live. Up to 60 holidaymakers, including Britons, French, Portuguese, Italians and Belgians, are alleged to have fallen for the scam and paid upfront for properties that weren't, in reality, available for rent, or had been rented out to multiple people. The pair ran a blog entitled Life on the Costa Blanca, and boasted of growing their business from a "small project" in 2007 to "a busy and bustling company.....with over five thousand properties managed directly by us, meaning you have the peace of mind that should anything go wrong, or should you have any concerns, we are here to help." Amanda Treagust, referred to as the company's commercial director, is described on the blog as "never resting until her clients are settled into that perfect property and are enjoying the Spanish lifestyle she has come to love and adore". The Treagusts were arrested at a small property in the mountains of Mojacar, Almeria, after an eight-month police operation following an initial complaint lodged back in February. Originally from the Chorley area of Lancashire, John Treagust used to run the Last Orders pub in Wallagate, Wigan. On the pub's Facebook page, created by Treagust, he says: "I had three happy years there, now running a property business in Spain." An online forum about the couple's business dates back to March 2009 and has been inundated with 23 pages of comment, containing more than 200 threads. One comment, posted on August 20 this year, read: "13 girls put down a deposit for a hen weekend away in a villa in Los Balcones also and were informed two days before that the villa was double-booked. As it was a special occasion we have to find somewhere else very quickly and pay the additional fees. "We have still not received any money back and are still chasing. We all want to take action and stop others suffering in the same way." Spanish police were unable to comment on the ongoing investigation.