Jan. 10: No good deed goes unpunished. Diego Della Valle’s plan to donate 25 million euros to the restoration of the Colosseum hits a wall when Codacons, Italy’s antitrust authority, finds “a series of distortions” in Tod’s bid.

Jan. 13: Hasbro pairs with Junk Food Clothing to launch a fashion line of T-shirts based on its classic board game Monopoly to retail at Kitson in L.A.

Jan. 17: Miuccia Prada complains about the forthcoming Met Museum Costume Institute exhibition “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations,” saying, “It’s too formal; they are focused on similarities, but they are not taking into consideration that we are talking about two different eras, and that [Schiaparelli and I] are total opposites. I told them but they don’t care.”

Jan. 18: For the first time, H&M takes out a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl for its David Beckham Bodywear collection. NBC is reportedly charging $3.5 million per 30-second spot.

Jan. 18: Christian Louboutin unveils his collaboration with famous Paris nude cabaret Crazy Horse to run from March 5 to May 31.

Jan. 19: Emanuel Ungaro says it will not deliver its spring 2012 collection to retailers because of an internal reorganization. It also cancels its fall collection and all pre-fall appointments.

Jan. 20: Blowout factory Drybar inks a $16 million deal with Castanea Partners, through which the hair-drying sensation can expand to a city near you. Straight hair for everyone.

Jan. 24: Phoebe Philo, expecting her third child at the time, cancels her fall runway show for Celine in favor of a very small, very select presentation.

Jan. 24: A day before its flight-themed couture show in Paris, Chanel charters fleets of private planes to fly its top customers, press and friends to Las Vegas for its lucky number-themed event and exhibition “Numéros Privés” at the Wynn.

Jan. 25: For its couture show, Chanel commissions a plane, or at least its interior, to be installed in the Grand Palais, complete with seating for 250, double-C monogrammed carpet and a 164-foot aisle.

Jan. 26: Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture collection, an ode to the style of recently deceased Amy Winehouse, proves too soon, invoking the ire of her fans, her family and many fashion people.

Jan. 27: At a Paris dinner to launch his Masstige line, Karl Lagerfeld serves up iPads — on silver platters — for each guest as the fifth course of the dinner.

Jan. 31: The White House is forced to deny reports in several British newspapers, including the Telegraph, that Michelle Obama had spent $50,000 on lingerie at Agent Provocateur on Madison Avenue.

FEBRUARY

Feb. 1: Anna Wintour is ranked in the top tier of fund-raising bundlers for President Obama, raising more than $500,000 for his reelection campaign.

Feb. 7: Halston gears up for a relaunch — again. This time, it’s in the hands of Ben Malka, private chairman and ceo.

Feb. 7: Madonna performs at the Super Bowl halftime show in Givenchy couture.

Feb 9: Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, the original Juicy Couture ladies, are back with a new contemporary line they launch at New York Fashion Week.

Feb. 10: Marta Ortega, the 28-year-old daughter of Inditex founder and Spain’s richest man Amancio Ortega, reveals plans to marry Sergio Alvarez in a dress made by Zara, one of Inditex’s top brands.

Feb. 10: Miguel Adrover returns to the New York schedule after shuttering his company in 2004. He serves up a strong, irreverent show.

Feb. 13: Alexander Wang shows he’s part of the big leagues, booking top supermodels Gisele Bündchen, Shalom Harlow and Karolina Kurkova to close his fall show.

Feb. 15: Following Whitney Houston’s death, the E network pulls the rebroadcast of the “Fashion Police” episode during which Joan Rivers lambasted Houston. (The original show aired the day before Houston died.) Asked for comment at the Badgley Mischka show, Rivers says she has no regrets: “When she’s alive, she’s fair game. It’s part of being a celebrity.”

Feb. 17: Members of the Occupy Wall Street movement showed up at the Calvin Klein show, their ranks diminished by inclement weather. They chose the Klein show “because of the symbolic nature of it and it’s the last day of fashion week,” says Justin Stone-Diaz, an information coordinator for the movement.

Feb. 24: Girls start lining up at 8 a.m. for Katy Perry’s public appearance to introduce her line of fake eyelashes for Eylure at an Ulta pop-up shop at The Americana at Brand in Glendale, Calif.

MARCH

March 1: Alber Elbaz marks a decade at Lanvin.

March 5: Rei Kawakubo shows a Comme des Garçons collection for the ages, based on two-dimensional, outsize outfits in bright colors and prints. Her standard cryptic sound bite postshow: “The future is two dimensions.”

March 8: Marc Jacobs commissions a full-scale steam locomotive to roll into the Cour Carrée du Louvre for the fall Louis Vuitton show.

March 13: Derek Lam and Tod’s part ways after six years.

March 14: It’s a fashion face-off of First Ladies — Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron, wife of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron — during the Brits’ state visit to the U.S.

March 16: Donald Trump releases his second fragrance, Success by Trump, under The Five Star Fragrance Co.

March 20: For her first public speech of her royal career, the Duchess of Cambridge wears a bright blue double-breasted coat by Reiss, cinched with a black belt.

March 30: Devout yogi Russell Simmons introduces Tantris, a new Zen lifestyle brand.

March 30: Dolce & Gabbana slaps a Cape Town costume jewelry store with a lawsuit over its name: Dolce & Banana.

 

April 6: Marc Jacobs adds a new fragrance, Dot, to his repertoire.

April 9: More than a year after her exit from French Vogue, Carine Roitfeld says she will launch her own CR Fashion Book magazine.

April 16: New York’s Meatpacking District is drawing merchants with more mass appeal and tourists, while losing high-fashion tenants such as Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen.

April 18: The U.S. International Trade Commission rules in favor of Louis Vuitton in a widespread counterfeiting case.

April 23: Uptown, the new downtown? An influx of younger labels, such as Rag & Bone, Proenza Schouler, Maje and Sandro, give Madison Avenue a cooler, edgier vibe.

April 2: Betsey Johnson LLC files Chapter 11; as a result, the bulk of the designer’s boutiques will close and about 350 staffers are expected to lose their jobs.

MAY

May 8: Dressed to impress, guests celebrate the “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations” exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual gala.

May 11: Procter & Gamble Co. moves its skin care, cosmetics and personal care headquarters from Cincinnati to Singapore.

May 14: Ray-Ban celebrates its 75th anniversary with a new collection and advertising campaign.

May 17: Rodarte’s Kate and Laura Mulleavy follow up their “Black Swan” costume work with designs for the L.A. Philharmonic’s upcoming production of “Don Giovanni.”

May 22: Failing to get the giant payout, Gucci is awarded $4.7 million in its three-year legal battle with Guess over its similar interlocking “G” logos.

May 25: Michael Kors doubles space on Madison Avenue with its largest store in the world, which will occupy two floors and measure 6,655 square feet.

May 29: Guess marks its 30th anniversary.

JUNE

June 5: The Row, Billy Reid and Reed Krakoff take home the night’s top honors at the annual CFDA Awards.

June 6: Denying sweatshop allegations, Alexander Wang files its response to a lawsuit in March alleging New York State labor law violations.

June 12: H&M reveals its upcoming collaboration with Maison Martin Margiela.

June 18: Saks Fifth Avenue revamps its shoe strategy with a refurbished and expanded eighth-floor shoe department at the New York flagship.

June 21: Hedi Slimane’s makeover of Yves Saint Laurent includes officially changing the YSL moniker to Saint Laurent.

June 22: Doo-Ri Chung exits her namesake label.

June 26: Net-a-porter opens its first headquarters outside of the U.K., landing in a 32,000-square-foot space in New York’s Flatiron District.

June 26: Nora Ephron dies at the age of 71.

 

 

July 2: Fall 2012 couture collections kick off with Donatella Versace’s Atelier Versace show at the Ritz Paris, site of so many of Gianni Versace’s couture triumphs.

July 3: There’s a new master in the house. Raf Simons launches his Christian Dior era with his first couture collection for the brand. Guests at the show include Marc Jacobs, Alber Elbaz, Riccardo Tisci, Azzedine Alaïa, Donatella Versace, Pierre Cardin, Olivier Theyskens and Diane von Furstenberg.July 5: Loath to secede haute supremacy to the new guy in town, Karl Lagerfeld wishes Raf Simons well and then rocks it with a superb Chanel couture show.

July 6: Forget glass slippers. Christian Louboutin designs a pair of limited-edition, 120-mm. heels for a modern-day Cinderella in honor of Walt Disney’s rerelease of “Cinderella” on Blu-ray and DVD.

July 11: Marvin Traub, one of retailing’s most famous and innovative merchants who led Bloomingdale’s to its trendiest, most fashionable heights, dies at age 87.

July 12: Proenza Schouler’s Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough prepare to open their first store, a 2,000-square-foot space on New York’s Upper Madison Avenue.July 13: WWD gives a first look at Lady Gaga Fame, the bizarre fragrance — a black juice that, when sprayed, transforms in the air to a clear mist — by the bizarre performer.

July 13: Valentino is sold to Mayhoola for Investments, a private investor group from Qatar, for around 700 million euros, or roughly $900 million.

July 13: The Capitol Hill controversy heightens after it’s learned that the uniforms Ralph Lauren designs for the U.S. Olympic athletes were made in China. Lauren, an Olympic sponsor, has pledged to make uniforms for the 2014 games in the U.S.

July 16: Daffy’s, the cash-strapped off-price chain, will shutter its doors.

July 16: Barneys New York opens its new shoe department, a 22,000-square-foot expanse that runs the width of a city block and brings men’s and women’s styles together.

July 17: EBay hooks up with Billy Reid, Chris Benz, Fallon, Jonathan Adler, Ruffian, Steven Alan and Tibi to create the eBay Holiday Collective.

July 19: Flat, sparkling or designer? Evian taps Diane von Furstenberg to create a 2013 limited-edition bottle.

July 20: After five seasons consulting on Tommy Hilfiger’s women’s runway collection and accessories, Peter Som gives up the gig.

July 23: Coach Inc. scores a $44 million judgment against a U.S.-based mother-and-daughter duo operating Web sites advertising and selling counterfeit Coach handbags.

July 27: Eighties Italian designer Roméo Gigli makes a comeback in Hong Kong with luxury retailer Joyce.

AUGUST

Aug. 6: PPR forms a joint venture with Yoox SpA to accelerate the online development of its various brands.

Aug. 7: Fashion journalist Anna Piaggi dies in Milan.

Aug. 9: Diana Vreeland will be the 19th recipient of a Rodeo Drive Walk of Style plaque, and the first editorial figure to be so honored.

Aug. 10: Bigger must be better. Macy’s Herald Square opens a major portion of “the world’s largest” shoe floor, escalating the raging battle among Manhattan’s retailers to conquer the footwear category.

Aug. 10: Marchesa’s Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig plan to take their signature glamour from the red carpet to fragrance counters with their first scent, Marchesa Parfume d’Extase.

Aug. 13: Helen Gurley Brown, writer, publisher and businesswoman, dies in New York at age 90.

Aug. 15: Banana Republic recruits Narciso Rodriguez to rev up its fashion offering in an advisory role.

Aug. 17: Actress Jessica Chastain is named Yves Saint Laurent’s ambassador for Manifesto, the French fashion house’s newest women’s fragrance.

Aug. 22: Diane von Furstenberg is more powerful than Anna Wintour — at least according to Forbes. The magazine ranks the designer 33rd and the Vogue editor in chief 51st on its list of the world’s most powerful women.

Aug. 23: At 5 a.m., fans start lining up outside the Uniqlo flagship in New York to meet new brand ambassador and tennis champ Novak Djokovic.

Aug. 27: Business around West 34th Street returns to normal following the fatal shooting of Steven Ercolino, 41, vice president of sales at Hazan Import Corp., an accessories firm, near the Empire State Building.

Aug. 29: Barneys New York teams with Disney for “Electric Holiday,” holiday store windows and campaign that reimagine classic cartoon characters as runway regulars, such as Minnie Mouse — in Lanvin.

Aug. 30: It’s reported that vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s wife, Janna, wears a $169 Talbots sheath to her husband’s debut on the national stage at Republican convention.

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 4: Stefano Pilati, who exited as Yves Saint Laurent’s creative director in March, lands the creative director gig at Ermenegildo Zegna Group.

Sept. 6: Katie Holmes is the first celebrity to sign on as the face of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, where she’ll also serve as muse and collaborator.

Sept. 8: The young fashion brand NAHM, designed by Nary Manivong and Alexandria Hilfiger, closes shop.

Sept. 8: The 15-year anniversary of Fendi’s Baguette bag is feted in Los Angeles with a Baguettemania pop-up shop and three bags commissioned from artists Chaz Bojorquez, Kenny Scharf and Pae White, and curated by Jeffrey Deitch.

Sept. 9: For the finale of his spring runway show, Alexander Wang kills the lights and lights up the clothes, literally — they glow in the dark.

Sept. 9: Google cofounder Sergey Brin takes a bow with Diane von Furstenberg at her spring show. He’s there to introduce Glass by Google — a new technology that brings the digital world to the user and tries to stay out of the way.

Sept. 9: British brand Belstaff opens its first store in the U.S., on New York’s Madison Avenue.

Sept. 11: A former Gucci network engineer is sentenced to between two and six years in New York state prison for hacking into the luxury brand’s servers, causing more than $200,000 in damage.

Sept. 11: Ralph Lauren becomes a national corporate sponsor for PBS’ “Masterpiece” drama series. It represents the first TV sponsorship for Ralph Lauren Corp.

Sept. 11: First Lady Michelle Obama rockets Laura Smalls’ name onto the national scene by wearing two dresses from the little-known designer during the Democratic National Convention.

Sept. 12: After two-and-a-half years as creative director at Diane von Furstenberg, Yvan Mispelaere leaves the company. He will not be replaced, with the design team continuing to be directed by von Furstenberg.

Sept. 13: Betsey Johnson celebrates her 70th birthday with a retrospective-cum-spring-show-cum-party, replete with a performance by Cyndi Lauper singing — what else? — “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

Sept. 13: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen announce they will launch the first fragrance under their Elizabeth and James label with Sephora in March.

Sept. 14: Oscar de la Renta takes out a full-page ad in WWD to publish an “open letter” that takes Cathy Horyn to task for calling him a hot dog and alleging he copied Raf Simons’ styles at Dior in her review of his spring show.

Sept. 18: Rebekka Bay, a former top designer at H&M, is named creative director and executive vice president for Gap Global Design.

Sept. 24: Jil Sander presents her first women’s collection in eight years for the house that bears her name — but no longer her ownership.

Sept. 27: Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo will create a range of covers for iPads and Macbooks in collaboration with Paper Rain.

 

 

Oct. 1: Swiss label Akris fetes its 90th birthday in Paris with guests like Charlene, Princess of Monaco, and Swiss politician Doris Leuthard.

Oct. 2: With YSL references everywhere, Karl Lagerfeld creates an illustrated “No Smoking Here” sign at Chanel’s Rue Cambon studios. “We don’t have to do smoking,” he says. “Hedi Slimane really does it well.”

Oct. 8: Yoox Group launches a Chinese version of its e-commerce site at Yoox.cn with capsule collections and end-of-season clothing and accessories from top designers worldwide.

Oct. 8: Queen Elizabeth II approves an honorary award that will make Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and French citizen, a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Oct. 8: A dispute over a 400-item portfolio of Yves Saint Laurent’s drawings and personal items erupts, involving Pierre Bergé; Fabrice Thomas, a former Saint Laurent lover; a German businessman, and a possible police investigation and criminal complaint.

Oct. 11: Taylor Swift’s empire continues to grow with a three-year partnership with Keds. The singer will play a pivotal role in the new direction of the brand.

Oct. 11: Stephen Colbert talks to WWD, offering some presidential advice along the way: “Obama maybe should take a Red Bull. Get your head in the game. For Mitt, I would just keep grinning. He’s a very handsome man. He’s got excellent hair. As long as you keep concentrating on the smile and the hair, then you don’t think too much about what he’s saying.”

Oct. 19: Level Shoe District, the world’s largest shoe store, opens in Dubai Mall with more than 96,000 square feet of space and a selection of up to 15,000 different styles at any one time.

Oct. 24: Sisters Penélope and Mónica Cruz line up a design collaboration with Agent Provocateur for its first diffusion line, called L’Agent.

Oct. 29: Neiman Marcus Group’s Karen Katz unveils her true feelings about the competition: “I have been known to use a Neiman Marcus bag when I am going to hyperventilate,” she joked at Fashion Group International’s Night of Stars. “But if I am going to be really sick, I pick up a Saks Fifth Avenue bag.”

NOVEMBER

Nov. 4: Ralph Lauren Corp. plans to shutter its Rugby brand. Fourteen stores and the e-commerce site will close over the balance of fiscal 2013.

Nov. 6: PPR reveals Nicolas Ghesquière will exit Balenciaga, the house he helped rebuild. Less than a month later, Alexander Wang is named creative director.

Nov. 7: Delaware judge Leo Shrine weighs in on the Burches’ legal tiffs, calling them a “drunken WASP fest.”

Nov. 8: Labelux sells the Derek Lam brand back to founders Lam and Jan-Hendrik Schlottmann. Terms are not disclosed.

Nov. 12: Barneys New York unveils Disneyfied fashion characters, including Ed Filipowski, Lady Gaga, Anna Dello Russo, Cathy Horyn and WWD’s own Bridget Foley, as part of a short film for its “Electric Holiday” campaign.

Nov. 13: The Council of Fashion Designers of America and Vogue magazine join numerous fashion houses and launch Fashion for Sandy Relief, an initiative that serves as a collective industry fund-raiser. Earlier, Ralph Lauren and Coach Inc. both donate $2 million each to Sandy relief efforts, while Michael Kors, PVH Corp, the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Hearst Corp. and Time Warner Inc. each give $1 million.

Nov. 13: Holt Renfrew, Canada’s premier luxury specialty store chain, marks its 175 birthday.

Nov. 20: Versus parts with Christopher Kane to focus on a seasonless line with a digital element, capsule collections, co-branding projects and limited editions designed by Donatella Versace and rotating designers, stylists and creative talents.

Nov. 21: Yoko Ono reveals she is creating a limited-edition men’s clothing line for Opening Ceremony with 18 styles based on a series of sketches she did for John Lennon in 1969.

Nov. 26: L’Wren Scott unveils the costumes she created for beau Mick Jagger for the “50 & Counting: The Rolling Stones Live” tour.

Nov. 27: Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo collaborates with Hermès on two limited-edition collections of silk carré scarves dubbed Comme des Carrés.

DECEMBER

Dec. 5: Ambassador Anna? After her outspoken support for President Obama and hefty sums donated to and raised for his reelection, rumors swirl that the Vogue editor in chief could be under consideration for an ambassadorship to the Court of St. James’s, or to France. She will certainly know what to wear to state dinners.