UNITED KINGDOM: London department store unveils "The Wonder Room", the latest in luxury retail where just about anything can be purchased

Celebrities from the world of fashion, art, design and entertainment attended the opening of the Wonder Room at Selfridges department store in London on Tuesday, (November 20). Alannah Weston, Creative Director Selfridges, told Reuters, "I think the thinking for the Wonder Room was really that we needed to reinvent luxury in retail and I wanted to make something that was very accessible, very exciting but incredibly glamorous and beautifully designed." Guests at the cocktail party including Hollywood actress Kate Hudson, Rod Stewart's daughter Kimberley and Dynasty star Joan Collins added the extra glamour to the already sparkling event. Window shopping for jewellery, Collins fell in love with a skull ring produced by Theo Fennel but felt that it was, 'a little to heavy,' for her finger. To mark the launch, Selfridges stocked the department with 10 million sterling (GBP) worth of special items including a selection of JJ Fox cigars once owned by Winston Churchill and the diamond necklace worn by Nicole Kidman in the Chanel No 5 perfume advert. "It is 312 diamonds, brilliant cut diamonds altogether, and it is just under 13 carats in total. It is made in our Paris workshop and it is a one off," said Bruce Anderson of Chanel. With Christmas just a month away, top designers had their respective representatives pulling out all stops to entice guests to part with their hard earned cash - just in time for the holidays. H. Stern offers their Cora' bracelet for the lady that has a 'very generous husband' while Chopard offer an antique 62 carat emerald and diamond necklace for that a self assured woman. "You could find her anywhere," Michael Smith of Chopard explains. "She just has to have the inner sole that she is attractive. And she doesn't have to feel that she can only wear it on the red carpet or she must wear it with a certain outfit. This if you wanted could be worn with jeans and a white shirt, it would look stunning on its own with your hair pulled back in a pony-tail. This will tell the world what sort of person you are." And the price tag for having all of the above? "The retail price of this one and only piece in the world that can no longer be found is 3.8 million pounds sterling," Smith told Reuters. Rounding off events, American soul singing legend Stevie Wonder made a rare British public appearance giving the 500 special invited guests a 30 minute in-store gig, the first public performance in the UK in two years. SHOWBIZ - Joan Collins, Kate Hudson

ITN Source | November 26, 2007

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