With the latest in up-market jeans being readied for release, it's exciting to see what's in the pipeline. In this crowded space, look for the biggest noise to be made not by any fashion company you've pined over. Rather, the hottest denim on the market could be coming from the most unexpected place on earth ... by way of Scandinavia.

According to Financial Times, "As clean silhouettes and the much-feted new minimalism shape the autumn trends, it looks like denim will take an equally reductive route: out with slashed, stonewash, fussy 1980s styles and in with the basics." And you'll find this manufactured in North Korea.

FT continues:

Two years ago, a trio of young, twenty-something Swedes were invited by the government into North Korea to manufacture a national jeans line. Really. "Noko", as it was named, features two jeans styles for men and women: the Kara slim-fit and the Oke loose-fit ($215 plus shipping), both straight-cut and dark-wash, in keeping with the austere nightscapes of the designers' inspiration, Pyongyang.

The Noko styles are consistent with what is expected for autumn:

"For autumn, denim is very customer-friendly," says Lesley Torson of Trilogy, a London denim boutique. "It's dark, and washes are quite clean, giving it a more polished look." Meanwhile, the advent of styles such as the utilitarian cargo with convenient side pockets, the forgiving high-rise cut, and the faithful indigo boot-cut flare will offer something the premium jeans world hasn't seen for years: wearability.

Despite not having written a single book in the past year, Twilight author Stephenie Meyer raked in an eye-popping $40 million from her sexy vampire tales, Forbes reports. Meyer landed the second place spot on the magazine's new ranking of the world's highest paid authors, easily eclipsing Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. About $7 million of Meyer's 2009 windfall came from movies adapted from the Twilight series, with most of the balance attributable to previously published works. In June the third Twilight adaptation made $175 million in its first six days. Meyer still has a long way to go to catch up with the world's highest paid author, James Patterson, who snagged the #1 spot with a whopping $70 million paycheck. Unlike Meyer however, Patterson has to keep churning out thrillers; he's contracted to produce another 17 books by the end of 2012. Stephen King placed third on the list with $34 million, while Rowling languishes in last place with a measly $10 million. Of course she's already a billionaire.

Madonna is poised to become a billionaire thanks to an offer of a five-year performing residency in Las Vegas. The deal, valued at $1 billion, is being brokered by Las Vegas officials looking to give the beleaguered town a boost and restore its tourist traffic, the London Sun reports, and would likely involve appearances at more than one glitzy casino. The arrangement is similar to ones that Celine Dion, Elton John and Cher have had in the past though much more lucrative. Madonna, who is already the fourth highest earning female entertainer in the world, would join Oprah on the very short list of celebrity female billionaires if she decides to sign on the dotted line. The megabucks payment would totally eclipse her previous earnings; in 2007, she signed a ten-year contract worth a measly $125 million with promoter Live Nation.

Four Seasons Resort and Residences in Vail, Colorado situated at the main entry to Vail Village, announced today that it will open for business on December 11, 2010. The Resort will include 121 guest rooms and limited residence opportunities. These include a Four Seasons Private Residences component, that offers 16 whole ownership residences, plus 19 fractionals residences as well.

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Has Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich been exaggerating the size of his gigayacht Eclipse (above), billed as the world's largest and most expensive privately owned yacht? Judging by Camper & Nicholsons' newly-released Super Yachting Index that would seem to be the case. C&N, the leading international yacht broker established in 1782, lists the world's largest yachts among other data in its much-anticipated report. According to their rigorously fact-checked figures, Abramovich's behemoth built by Blohm + Voss is still the world's largest yacht – but only by a hair. C&N states that it measures only 533 ft., a whopping 24 ft. shorter than the figure in general circulation. That means Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum's Dubai at 531.5 ft., which held the World's Largest title until the Eclipse was constructed, is only 1.5 ft. shorter. And since the Dubai ruler basically owns his own shipyard now – the U.A.E.'s Platinum Yachts, where the Dubai was finished – it wouldn't take much for him to have it refitted with an extra few feet of metal to put Abramovich firmly in his place. We expect he'll see to it straight away – meanwhile, Abramovich should consider changing his yacht's name to something a little more humble, like Obstruction.

[via JamesList]

The Maison Martin Margiela Line 11 Sleeve Frame Clutch is one of the more unexpected handbags we've seen in awhile.

"I could get a shammy from an auto parts store, turn it inside out and sew it up and have the same thing," commented my fiance as he looked at the item. "And it would be a lot cheaper."

I admit I had to use Google to find out what a "shammy" was, and when I replied that the shammy didn't really seem to look like this, he countered with "well, what if I just turn your old pair of Uggs inside-out?"

Hmm. Well, 1. I don't think anyone would want to do that; those are well-worn Uggs. 2. He has a point. Uggs are a lot less expensive than this purse.

This 8" x 14" x 5" frame clutch is shearling, like Uggs. It has a kisslock closure and a fabric-lined interior with a leather trimmed zipper pocket. While this clutch offers a unique texture and is a perfect match for your shearling-trimmed coat ... we just ... we're flabbergasted by this purse. I mean ... come on. You could get a zero-emissions G-Bike for the same price.

The Maison Martin Margiela Line 11 Sleeve Frame Clutch is available from Barneys for $1,115.

Almost a year after the last Mercedes McLaren SLR rolled off the production line, McLaren has shown its MP4-12C to our corner of the world during Pebble Beach weekend. It is the first in what will be a range of McLaren sports cars, and the MP4-12C is the baseline – they will only get faster and more expensive from here.

The raw specs: mid-mounted 3.8-liter twin turbo V8, 600 horsepower, 442 pound-feet of torque. The compelling details, however, are underneath and even beyond the metal bits: McLaren's mission with the MP4-12C is to make technologies usually reserved for Formula 1 cars and Pagani Zondas accessible to those on less-than-Zonda budgets.

The carbon fiber tub, the monocell, is molded in one piece, a first for a production car. The body panels are tuned to aero purposes only – none of them need to do duty as structural members. The electrohydraulic suspension can be locked out for track blasting, then switched to four-wheel-independent urban duty for a "3 Series or 5 Series ride." It's lower and shorter than a Ferrari 458, but it has a longer wheelbase and it weighs about 160 pounds less. Oh, and it's got the biggest trunk space in the segment. That isn't terribly difficult when supercar trunks are better at stowing leaflets than luggage, but still, feather, meet McLaren cap...

Said McLaren's head of PR, "If you look at our competition, they are the best cars ever made in that segment." We look forward to finding out if the McLaren is even better, because while we walked around the car at Pebble we kept imagining it saying, "If you see the Ferrari 458, tell it I'm here."

The long saga that has been the Tiger Woods divorce officially ended today in Panama City, Florida. Both Woods and his now ex-wife Elin Nordegren (shown at right in 2006) were in attendance at Bay County Circuit Court to execute the final agreement. TMZ reports that the pair didn't speak too each other at the court. The exact terms of the financial settlement that she received aren't known but the pair reached an agreement back in early July. Both parties completed a parenting course.

In a statement the pair said: "We are sad that our marriage is over and we wish each other the very best for the future. While we are no longer married, we are the parents of two wonderful children and their happiness has been, and will always be, of paramount importance to both of us." The couple have two children, a daughter, Sam Alexis who is three years old and one-year-old Charlie Axel.

Woods' marital troubles came to global attention in November 2009 when he crashed his car into a tree outside his Florida home. That event opened a Pandora's box of salacious details with one woman after another tumbling out of the woodwork with tales of Tiger's indiscretions. Woods lost lost several major sponsors after the sordid stories hit the media and he attended a rehab program. After taking a break, he eventually returned to golf but has struggled to find his footing.

Car crazed fans of all types and budgets flock to Monterey, CA each summer to experience the Concours de Elegance, Quail Lodge car show, races at Laguna Seca, and a number of other events and auctions that all celebrate the appreciation of fine cars. The Concours de Elegance itself is all about, well.... elegance. A highly subjective concept that a panel of trusted judges are called to determine. I wonder why then they seem to choose the same 1930's era French cars as "Best of Show" each year. Though you'll find cars new and old - specially some of the most expensive and exotic motorcars in the world all in one weekend.

So I travel to Monterey this year with one of the world's most exotic watches - priced as much as many brand new luxury cars. Though not quite up to the cost of a rare vintage European sports car at auction around town that weekend, the watch should be an impressive sighting for those "in the know." With millions of dollars exchanged each day of the event in car auction sales, the demographic of people who attend the events is comprised of the wealthier elite. These people are often watch lovers as well. So in cooperation with MB&F, I see how their Horological Machine Number 3 (HM3) "Sidewinder" watch (which I wrote in more detail about here) adds to my, and the experience of others during the show.

At Pebble Beach, the attention you get is often linked to what you are doing, and who you are with. Myself, toting a backpack and camera was likely taken as a photographically inclined car fan (which I am), or a member of the media (which I also am). Thus, people didn't look carefully at my wrist expecting to see something special. Among the ranks of collectors with their rare cars, it felt good having a rare watch - a bit like I was part of the "in crowd." Perhaps this crowd is something you can buy in to, but your status there is all about what you bring to the party - and I had something interesting. An avant garde Italian sports car from the 70's equivalent in watch form.

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Fans of the television show "Lost" demonstrated their fandom with their wallets over the weekend. The auction held by Profiles in History at Santa Monica's Barker Hangar drew eager bids who snapped up everything from a $5,000 12-pack of Dharma Initiative beer to a $47,500 blue Volkswagen Dharma van. The Wall Street Journal reports that the amount of bidders was so big that Saturday's sale ran until midnight because each item took longer to sell. The sale netted $900,000 on Saturday according to the NY Times. Associated Content says that the total for the two-day event was $1.8 million (an unofficial calculation made by LostARGS.com). According to their data available in downloadable PDF files, one of the sets of three Oceanic airline seats shown above sold for $2,250.

Other items that sold for large amounts included Daniel Faraday's journal for $27,500, Hurley's Camaro for $25,000, a copy of the pilot script, signed by J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof for $15,000 and the fail-safe key turned by Desmond Hume for $11,000.