Yohji Yamamoto was born in Yokohama, Japan in 1943. He did not always know he wanted to be a fashion designer: he attended Keio University and graduated with a law degree before going on to the Bunka College of Fashion and, later, to Paris, where he studied fashion and fashion design until 1970.

For two years, Yamamoto devoted himself to custom clothing. He is often described as an avant-garde designer: he ignores current trends in favour of creating styles that express his own desires and ideas for clothes instead of the fashion du jour.

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When I was younger I used to love going to stay over at Grandma’s house every Saturday night. I would wake on Sunday mornings to the smell of Grandma’s baking knowing that it wasn’t long until I would be sitting in front of the television set to watch the classic Land of the Giants. It was a show that I used to love, I would often pretend to be one of the small characters in the back yard.

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It would be a mistake to think that Paris 1962 — Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior, The Early Collections is just a coffee-table decoration featuring two gorgeous fashion collections. Published by Rizzoli in April 2008, the 176-page volume is more like a still life. It allows the reader a secret little viewing of a slow-motion film documenting a crucial moment in the world of fashion.

During the week of January 26, 1962, Esquire magazine’s dashing photographer, Jerry Schatzberg pointed his lens at the scenes beside and behind the catwalk and captured the mood of one of fashion’s turning points.

The main occasion was the presentation of Yves Saint Laurent’s first independent collection in the former residence of the painter, Forain, on rue Spontini in Paris. That same week, while Yves Saint Laurent established himself as a star in his own right, Marc Bohan showed his latest collection for Christian Dior. The book covers both shows.

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Godfather - is how many would describe the leader of a gangster or mafia organisation who are in charge of certain areas or cities committing crimes and killings.

So looking at the above sentence would you take offence if someone described you as being the Godfather of your profession?

I would describe Klaus Nienkamper as the Godfather of the furniture design industry; and I’ll tell you why. Yes a Godfather and his organisation may allegedly perform the above but they also show great qualities in the meaning of family. A Godfather will always put his family first and make every decision with their family in mind, constantly looking out for them and his customers [the extended family]. Klaus is a man very much like this and after forty years in the industry is still to this day always putting his workers and clients at the forefront of his mind. This may go somewhat to explaining just why this legend is at the top of his game with a company whose reputation is world renowned.

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‘Reassuringly expensive’ is the slogan one leading brewer marketed its premium product under for many years in the UK. This and a series of Jean de Florette-inspired TV ads sought to position the beer as a cut above the rest. Something not only to be drunk, but to be coveted, too. However, by 2007, the brew had become so associated with a less arty phenomenon - excessive or ‘binge’ drinking - that the tagline, and even the maker’s name, were dropped from its small-screen promotions. Today, the brand prefers to concentrate on the purity of its ingredients; hops, malted barley, maize and water, a seemingly less explosive concoction than alcohol and one-upmanship. None of which seems to have deterred the Carlsberg subsidiary Jacobsen Brewhouse, which earlier this year announced the arrival of its ‘Vintage Nr. 1′, the world’s most expensive beer.

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