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☆ Sex, Lies and Tailor’s Tape
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Gioia Diliberto | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the twenty-six years she lived after World War II, Coco Chanel never publicly apologized for her treacherous behavior during the Nazi Occupation of Paris. While living at the Ritz Hotel with a handsome German spy, she had tried to use the Nazi race laws to wrest control of her perfume company from her Jewish partners. She also had embarked on a Nazi-authorized scheme to broker a separate peace with Winston Churchill, and she was overheard making ugly, antisemitic remarks. But in converting Chanel’s experiences into a TV production “inspired by true events,” the show’s creators have mangled or lost much of the actual truth, which is more complicated than what’s portrayed onscreen. (Warning: Spoilers ahead.)

Persons: Coco Chanel, Winston Churchill, “, couturiers Chanel, Christian Dior, what’s Organizations: Ritz, Nazi, Apple Locations: Nazi, Paris

☆ In ‘The New Look,’ It’s Chanel Versus Dior in War-Torn Paris
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Juliette Guéron-Gabrielle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In “The New Look,” an Apple TV+ show premiering Feb. 14, wine glasses are never empty, cigarettes are always half-smoked and everyone is thin. The series follows two titans of French fashion, Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, after all, toward the end of World War II. But this glamorous portrayal of Paris’s creative milieu is also interested in how the French elite collaborated with their Nazi occupiers during this contested period. It offers a startling throwback to a time when swastika-stamped flags hung over the streets of Paris. From 1940 to 1944, the French Vichy regime collaborated with the Nazis and deported over 70,000 Jews to death camps, sent French workers to Germany and tried to crush the French resistance.

Persons: Christian Dior, Coco Chanel, Chanel, Juliette Binoche, Hans Günther von Dincklage, Claes Bang Organizations: Apple, French Vichy, Ritz, Nazi Locations: Paris, French, Germany

☆ Anna Wintour kept her sunglasses on while firing Pitchfork staff, writer says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewAnna Wintour is famous for her intimidating black shades — and one writer says she didn't remove them while laying off workers at music site Pitchfork. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Allison Hussey, a former staff writer for Pitchfork, wrote on X that the longtime Vogue editor kept her sunglasses on in a meeting informing staff they were losing their jobs. Wintour was elevated to global chief content officer of Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue in 2020. Condé Nast did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

Persons: —, Anna Wintour, Allison Hussey, Wintour, Condé Nast, Anna Wintour —, Hussey, Puja Patel, Semafor, Meryl Streep's, Wears, Meryl Streep, Catherine Martin, Baz Luhrmann, Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Lauren Indvik Organizations: Service, Pitchfork, Business, Vogue, GQ, Fox, CNN, Financial, Ritz Locations: London

An Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund said Monday it has paved the way to take ownership of Britain's Telegraph newspaper and The Spectator magazine after striking a deal with the publications' previous owners to repay debts owed by them. The Barclay family owned the right-leaning newspaper and magazine nefore they were put into receivership. Various media firms have been reported to be interested in taking over the publications, including German publisher Axel Springer and the Daily Mail's publisher. The fund said the deal includes an option to turn the loans into equity which would give it ownership control of the newspaper and magazine. Lenders for the Barclay family would need to agree to the deal, which is expected to attract a high level of political scrutiny.

Persons: Abu, Jeff Zucker, Media Investments —, Britain's Barclay, Barclay, Axel Springer Organizations: Britain's Telegraph, The Spectator, IMI, RedBird, CNN, Abu Dhabi's, Media Investments, Lloyds Bank, Ritz Hotel, Daily, International Media Investments Locations: Abu Dhabi, German

☆ With Diana’s Death, ‘The Crown’ Enters Its Most Evocative Era
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Sarah Lyall | More About Sarah Lyall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In one, reproduced with eerie accuracy in the new season of “The Crown,” Diana, the Princess of Wales sits on a diving board off the deck of a yacht, her long legs dangling above the water. The sixth and final season of “The Crown” begins here, in 1997, on the cusp of one of the strangest and most bewildering periods in recent British history. Diana was just 36, and her death sent Britain into a paroxysm of grief at her loss and rage against the royal family. Over the last five seasons, “The Crown” has been unspooling decade by decade, producing an epic portrait of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, starting with her marriage to Prince Philip in 1947. The earlier episodes could sometimes feel quaint and far away, repackaged history from a semi-distant past.

Persons: ” Diana, Princess, Wales, Dodi Fayed, Diana, Elizabeth Debicki, Khalid Abdalla, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip Organizations: Ritz Hotel Locations: Paris, Britain

☆ Mohamed al-Fayed, Tycoon Whose Son Died With Diana, Is Dead at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Robert D. Mcfadden | More About Robert D. Mcfadden | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mohamed al-Fayed, the Egyptian business tycoon whose empire of trophy properties and influence in Europe and the Middle East was overshadowed by the 1997 Paris car crash that killed his eldest son, Dodi, and Diana, the Princess of Wales, died on Wednesday. His death was confirmed on Friday in a statement by the Fulham Football Club in Britain, of which Mr. Fayed was a former owner. Forbes estimated his net worth at $2 billion this year, ranking his wealth as 1,516th in the world. In a sense, Mr. Fayed was a citizen of the world. He held Egyptian citizenship but rarely if ever returned to his native land.

Persons: Mohamed al, Fayed, Dodi, Diana, Princess, Wales, Tropez Organizations: Fulham Football Club, Hotel, Harrods, Forbes Locations: Europe, Paris, Britain, London, Paris , New York, Geneva, St, Genoa, Italy, Cairo, Persian, North Africa, Americas

☆ Mohamed Al-Fayed dead at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Al-Fayed for decades insisted the pair were murdered, despite inquiries finding otherwise, and was scornful towards the British royal family in his later life. After 1997, when a car crash claimed the lives of his son and Diana, Al-Fayed would frequently sling insults at the British royal family and became persona non grata among parts of the country’s elite. Al-Fayed was questioned by police in 2008 in relation to a sex assault allegation that he denied, a Harrods spokesperson said at the time. He eventually sold the store to the Qatari royal family in 2010, for a reported $2.25 billion. Al-Fayed had six children, including Dodi and the environmentalist entrepreneur Omar Fayed.

Persons: Mohamed Al, Fayed, Diana , Princess of Wales, “, Mohamed Al Fayed, Mohamed, Diana, Dodi Fayed, Samira, Adnan Khashoggi, Forbes, Kurt Geiger, Fayed’s, Fraser, Roland “ Tiny ” Rowland, Rowland, Al, ”, Michael Jackson, Omar Fayed Organizations: CNN, Fulham Football Club, Fulham FC, Ritz Hotel, Punch, Hyde, Harrods, Fulham, Premier League Locations: London, Harrods, Paris, Al, Alexandria, Egypt, Saudi, Manhattan, Mayfair

☆ Mohamed al-Fayed, ex-Harrods owner whose son died with Princess Diana, dead at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Born in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, al-Fayed began his career selling fizzy drinks and then worked as a sewing-machine salesman. Al-Fayed died on Wednesday, his family said, a day before the 26th anniversary of Dodi and Diana's death. After a quarter of century of ownership, al-Fayed sold Harrods to Qatar's sovereign wealth fund in 2010. DIANA AND DODIThat summer, al-Fayed's son Dodi began a relationship with Princess Diana, who had divorced Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne. Dodi and Diana were pictured by British tabloids on holiday on a yacht in the south of France.

Persons: Diana's, Mohamed al, Fayed, Princess Diana, –, Diana, Dodi, Prince Philip, Mohamed Al Fayed, Mohamed, sequined, Michael Jackson, Eye, Roland, Tiny, Rowland, al, sleaze, Tony Blair, DIANA, Prince Charles, Mercedes, Blair, Sarah, I'm, Andrew MacAskill, Nilutpal, Giles Elgood, Rosalba O'Brien, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Fulham FC, Ritz, Harrods, Fulham, HARRODS, Department of Trade, Conservatives, Labour, Paris, Thomson Locations: Paris LONDON, Harrods, Egyptian, Alexandria, al, Europe, Fulham, Paris, Britain, France, British, Egypt, Al, Pont, London, Bengaluru

☆ Saudi Arabia is now stealing sporting headlines as prince pursues global ambitions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Nic Robertson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Saudi Arabia has been in the headlines a lot lately – this time for trying to find its place in the sporting world. The kingdom’s golfing coup is perhaps the crowning sporting achievement so far of heir apparent Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS). Regional outlierBy the time King Salman came along, the 21st century was passing Saudi Arabia by. Saudi Arabia has led efforts to bring Syria in from the cold and tried to mediate in conflicts such as those in Sudan and even Ukraine. On oil, he has made Saudi Arabia a bolder player.

Persons: LIV Golf, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ballon d’Or, Karim Benzema, Jamal Khashoggi, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, King Salman’s, King Salman, LIV, Liberalizations, Al Hathloul, can’t, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Bashar al, Assad, Yemen’s, Putin, Xi Organizations: CNN, golf’s, Dubai, Saudi Pro League, France, Washington Post, Formula, MBS, Ritz, Saudi, Washington Locations: Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Portuguese, Istanbul, Riyadh, Mecca, Dubai, Moscow, Beijing, Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, Turkey, Syrian, Iran, Asia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Jeddah

[1/9] A demonstrator throws a tear gas during the traditional May Day labour march, a day of mobilisation against the French pension reform law and for social justice, in Nantes, France May 1, 2023. Sophie Binet, leader of the hardleft CGT union, said the pension reform had left Macron isolated. Macron says the French reform is needed to keep one of the industrialised world's most generous pension systems in the black. French pension payments as a share of pre-retirement earnings are comfortably higher than elsewhere and a French man typically spends longer in retirement than those in other OECD nations. Trade unions say the money can be found elsewhere.

Jeremy Selwyn/WPA Pool/Getty Images Camilla stands next to Queen Elizabeth II during a Diamond Jubilee pageant on the River Thames in June 2012. Chris Jackson/Getty Images From left, Camilla, Charles, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip attend the state opening of Parliament in May 2013. From left are Camilla, Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Louis, Duchess Catherine, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince William. Frank Augstein/WPA Pool/Getty Images In pictures: Britain's Queen Camilla Prev NextShe reportedly met Prince Charles at a polo match in Windsor in 1970 and they became friends. From left are Camilla, Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Louis, Duchess Catherine, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince William.

☆ The pandemic didn't kill stores but they'll never be the same again
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Brick-and-mortar stores are acting like mini fulfillment centers. These shifts, which began with the pandemic, have lingered even as life in the US has mostly returned to normal. Stores have become a lot like fulfillment centersPATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty ImagesThe pandemic didn't kill brick-and-mortar retail, but it did change it. Big-box retailers are opening stores againWith all these changes, you'd think brick-and-mortar retail would be on its deathbed. Big-box retailers are opening more stores than they're closing for the first time in years, despite experts warning that brick-and-mortar would never recover from the pandemic.

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