Profits upgrades in the bag as Mulberry sales soar

The luxury brand Mulberry revealed that its underlying sales had rocketed by nearly 80 per cent since the summer, as well-heeled shoppers snapped up its celebrity-endorsed handbags.

In a trading update, Mulberry said its booming sales meant its full-year profits for the year to 31 March would "significantly exceed" market expectations. The brand, which has 40 UK stores, including department store concessions, said its star performing handbags were the Bayswater, Lily and Alexa, which sells for up to £795 and was named after the TV presenter Alexa Chung.

For the 10 weeks to 2 October, Mulberry said like-for-like sales in its full-price stores surged by 79 per cent – up from 44 per cent growth for the previous 10-week period.

Godfrey Davis, the chief executive of Mulberry, said its sales growth in Asia, particularly in South Korea, was outstripping the UK. "The wholesale business in Asia is growing at more than 100 per cent per annum," he said. Over the 10 weeks, sales at Mulberry's shops in the UK jumped by 57 per cent, boosted by visitors from China to its London stores.

Mr Davis said: "We are naturally slightly conservative but business is really good for us."

Mulberry said that its margins had jumped, thanks to it completing a higher proportion of sales at full price. The luxury brand also had fewer mark-downs as the booming sales left it with low stock levels for the summer sale.

Following the update, analysts at Altium Securities upgraded their full-year pre-tax profit forecasts for Mulberry from £9.7m to £13m.

On its prospects for the festive trading period, Mr Davis said: "There is clearly strong demand from consumers for our products. But I don't know what the consumer mood will be at Christmas."

Shares in Mulberry rose by 27.5p, or 7 per cent, to 440.5p yesterday.

September's hottest celebrity looks

After a relatively quiet summer on the 'shock frock' front, the past few weeks have seen celebrities vying for attention in all sorts of eye-popping get-ups at fashion events, film premieres and awards ceremonies. Here's our pick of the best and worst outfits...

And if you want to stay bang-on trend at mealtimes, too, why not join the slow cooker revolution? Yes, one-pot meals are back in fashion: simply add one of Schwartz's four mouthwatering Recipe Mixes for Slow Cookers and you're guaranteed a tastebud-tingling meal to remember. Price 99p; exclusive to Morrisons for four weeks from 4 October, then on-sale nationwide. Find out more at Schwartz online.

CHILLI IN KONTROL MAGAZINE + USHER AND CHRIS BROWN (PICS)

CHILLI is making 40 look like 25 in Kontrol Magazine. For the life of me I can’t see how the photographer managed to misrepresent this beauty. The angles are off, too distant but it still isn’t bad enough to conceal how gorgeous this flyGirl is. CHILLI’s former love USHER was out having a dance off with the redeemed CHRIS BROWN. See more pictures after the jump.

Love the dress. Do you? I’m out about the shoes. Fly or not so fly?

Why at this angle? I have no idea.

What are your thoughts?

The CHRIS BROWN blog reported that USHER and CHRIS BROWN were at the SumFest in Jamaica together and had a dance off. Look at all the love. Awww.

From: http://www.flystylelife.com/

Stylelife's Vegas Celebration!

This past weekend at the Venetian in Las Vegas, the celebration of Style's birthday and the 1-year anniversary of Stylelife Academy was held at Tao Nightclub.

Before the party began, I had the pleasure of being invited to dinner with Style, Sin, Evolve, and the rest of the Stylelife family. Tao really went all out on this one with a huge table for us and dinner on the house! Though with the ridiculous amounts of food and drink headed our way it didn’t seem quite big enough.

It was an amazing experience getting to eat with some of the guys that are considered “The Greatest” pick up artists in the world. I kept my ears perked hoping these masters would let some of their ingenious tips slip out...and it absolutely paid off. Throughout dinner, Evolve and Sin shared an enlightening conversation of astrology. Their knowledge of this subject was more than just impressive; it was downright applicable to the world of dating and attraction. That night, simply couldn't wait to try some of the new openers and DHVs I gained from the masters.

But this night wasn’t really about studying pick up...it was about fun and celebration. Soon enough I found myself pow-wowing with Evolve, just catching up, drinking, and having some good times…

Also got to do a little bit of hanging with Style, which is always a pretty cool experience. And of course where there is Style…there is drop dead gorgeous women as well…and he was kind enough to make sure everyone was properly introduced to each other…




From the appetizers to the desert, everyone had a wonderful time. Our palettes were overjoyed with ecstasy! In the club, all the Stylelife students and guys from the mailing list present would swing by Neil’s big table to say hi... it was like we were all old friends…even the guys who I was meeting for the first time.


Indeed, the sense of community and brotherhood was strong that night, perhaps only slightly outdone by the mass number of extraordinary women dancing seductively in the club. As much as I enjoyed hanging out with the birthday boy, it was time to part ways and take my night their direction…

What I learned…Voodoo + Women of Tao = insanity.

The girls in Vegas all seem to have this “Vegas” attitude. It’s not defensive or rude…but it is more like “Let’s party - keep up or get out!”

So what did I decide to do? Simple…I flipped it around on them and partied even harder than they could. I basically ended up laughing hard and rocking out all night long and any girls who couldn’t laugh just as loud or rock out with just as much passion were left in the dust. Not to mention, when your wing is another Stylelife moderator such as Bolshevik, an unforgettable night is simply inevitable. I'm sure he'll share his stories with everyone in the near future.

Since I had met many different Stylelife guys, whenever I turned another corner there was always another friend to say hi and chill with…massive social proof, and zero shortage of good company.

And it’s a good thing, because that party never seemed to end…bumping into all my old buddies never seemed to get old.

I ran into Style a few times throughout the course of the night (and early morning I guess because I think I saw him around 2am). Not sure what ended up happening with him. Though at lunch the following day, he hinted at “some unspeakable adventures” from the party and post "Rules of The Game"…considering some of the crazy stuff he has spoken about in his books, I can’t even begin to imagine what in the world an unspeakable adventure is for him now a days. Some may say "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas." I say,

“What happens in Vegas goes on the Stylelife blog”

It's a saying I feel will catch on in the near future ;)


From: http://www.stylelife.com/