The Years of Cristobal Balenciaga
1918 saw the founding of Cristobal Balenciaga’s first haute couture house in San Sébastian, Spain. Local admiration for his designs was so strong that a second haute couture house was opened in Madrid and a third in Barcelona. In 1937, 10, Avenue George V became the Parisian home of Cristobal Balenciaga’s creative influence. Balenciaga’s Paris flagship store is still located at this address.
Balenciaga soon came to embody Parisian elegance. Cristobal Balenciaga was hailed as ‘The Couturier of Couturiers’ and ‘The Master of us all’’ by designer Christian Dior. In 1946, the House of Balenciaga launched its first perfume, ‘Le Dix’, aptly named after its first atelier, 10, Avenue George V. ‘Le Dix’ attracted the same acclaim as the famous Balenciaga couture pieces, and the perfume soon even rivalled that of Coco Chanel herself. In 1968, Balenciaga closed his couture house, to the deep dismay of his favourite clients. Countess Mona Bismarck lamented the event by locking herself indoors for three days.

The Armani signature label is the most expensive Armani label and is available in its 75 worldwide boutiques. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org

Etro is synoonymous of style. It is a lifestyle based upon quality and sophistication, not only in terms of desigh, but also regarding materials and production techniques.

The House of Chanel, more commonly known as Chanel, is a Parisian fashion house in France founded by Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel. According to Forbes, the privately held House of Chanel is jointly owned by Alain Wertheimer and Gerard Wertheimer who are the grandsons of the early Chanel partner Pierre Wertheimer.
The Luxury Line, introduced in 2006 featuring a metal chain embedded in the leather, is one of the most desired "it" bags of the moment.
The House of Chanel, under the leadership of Karl Lagerfeld, has defined the style and fashion of Chanel as being the five essentials: audacious, perfectionist, unique, passionate, and visionary. Source

Versace has eighty-one boutique locations around the world, in the U.S. and Canada specifically: New York, Atlanta, Boston, Bal Harbour, Tysons Galleria, Rome, Beverly Hills, Orlando, Dallas, Los Angeles, Houston, King of Prussia (near Philadelphia), San Francisco and Vancouver, Canada. Versace also features 123 retail areas in a variety of luxury multi-designer department stores such as Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
The larger part of their stores are located in the two most style conscious markets in the world, Europe and Japan. Cities like London, Paris and Tokyo are home to multiple Versace outlets, not to mention the company headquarters in Milan. There is also a Versace Hotel and Spa in Gold Coast, Australia named the Palazzo Versace.

Starting out as Daffy Dan’s Bargaintown, the new Daffy’s has revolutionized quality clothing stores by giving you the opportunity to wear the best designer collections while not breaking the bank to do so. Daffy’s became famous as the first fashion clothing store by making Madison Avenue and European designer brands available to all consumers. With their location in the heart of Madison Avenue, Daffy’s has been recognized as one of Manhattan’s premier clothing stores and is a must visit for anyone looking to do some serious shopping. With extensive selections of dresses, sweatsuits, sportswear and even houseware, Daffy’s is sure to have a little bit of something for everyone. Daffy’s fashion clothing store maintains the highest of quality control and makes a promise to its consumers to maintain these values. A family run business, Daffy’s allows its customers a chance to relax and feel at home with some of the best customer service available in New York City. Evolving from a single New Jersey store specializing in samples and irregulars to a 19 store corporation carrying the finest apparel available, Daffy’s has firmly established itself as one of the best New York clothing stores at bargain prices.

Just North of Little Italy and Chinatown is a fantastic clothing store that many women would die to shop at. Miu Miu, located just off of Broadway in Manhattan, is a chic, girly and super fun store. Stocked full of all sorts of clothing, from skirts and dresses, to boots and purses! Perfect for those who love Prada! Miu miu is also known as Prada's "Edgier, hipper, younger sister", and they couldn't be more right! Full of bright, colorful and comfortable clothes, Miu Miu is great for upcoming Spring and Summer fashion. Everything is well made and worth the money you spend in the store. You've never seen employees happier to help out there customers! They are quick, kind, and super helpful. The customer service is just outstanding. The location is a dynamic and eclectic part of New York, which just adds to the shopping experience. So easy to find and great for those days when you just want to shop, shop, shop! This is a perfect store to shop in for Spring 2012 and the upcoming season of Summer 2012. The fashion designers at Miu Miu really do make women feel beautiful! All in all, you'll be coming back again and again.

Nine West or 9 West is a subdivision of Jones Apparel Group. Nine West is a women's fashion retailer/wholesaler with offices in sixty countries. There are chains of stores from Hawaii to Maine. It was co-founded by Jack Fisher. The footwear offices are located in White Plains, NY.
Distribution of all Nine West Goods in the United States is processed through 2 large warehouses both located in West Deptford, NJ. Source

Returning after a season's maternity leave, Phoebe sent out a collection with crisp new shapes, proportions and vigour. A line dresses and stiffer couture fabrics were used with flares from the shoulder, and swinging skirts with models on great chunky platform shoes. Sixties ruffled skirts (so popular this season) were intricately worked in crunchy embroidery, organza applique and frills. Lots of new accessories like handbags were seen this season. Source

agnès b. is a keen observer of life from which she draws inspiration as the sole designer for her collections for women, men, children, sport b., and Voyage, as well as a cosmetics line. She has often taken inspiration for her collections from everyday life, believing that the clothes are 'less important' than the person wearing them, and she has created a trademark style that is modern and pure, elegant but not conventional, and that has seduced people all around the world.

A store called the Banana Republic was opened in San Francisco in 1978 by Mel and Patricia Ziegler. Both the Zieglers worked for the San Franciso Chronicle, Mel was a writer and Patricia an illustrator.
Banana Republic specialized in casual Safari styles and Army Surplus clothing. Many of the utilitarian items had sturdy zips and snaps and were double-stitched and reinforced. The store sold desert army hats, sheepskin vests, shorts and other items of travel clothing to armchair travelers. The garments were designed by the Zieglers for people to wear when mountain hiking or rafting. Source

Founded by Donald and Doris Fisher as a small San Francisco based clothing store with just a handful of employees, Gap has turned into one of the world’s most recognizable and prestigious clothing store brands. A visit to New York City’s Gap is like a visit to Starbucks – just say when. With its Manhattan clothing store, The Gap has solidified itself as a staple of the New York fashion scene and offers a vast selection of must-have uptown apparel . Along with the Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta are all labels available through Gap retailers and covers all ages and styles of fashion, clothing and accessories. Celebrity endorsements from Whoopi Goldberg, Spike Lee and Lorraine Bracco, to name a few, have brought The Gap to the masses and has forever made it part of Americana. Even today, Gap continues its dominance of the fashion industry as it continues to be recognized as the US’s largest specialty apparel retailer and keeps its hand on the pulse of the fashion world. For awesome gifts, family friendly atmospheres and an overall great shopping experience make Manhattan’s Gap one of the stores you visit in the New York fashion scene.

Bad-Ass Things With Hoods! The Hoodie Shop is a perfect convergence of style and fun - come visit and enjoy hagning out with awesome people at cool events, and choose from a selection of stylish (often hooded!) apparel.

Develops and produces a distinctive line of contemporary women's apparel and accessories, which it markets under the bebe, 2b bebe and bebe outlet brands. Current Chairman and Founder Manny Mashouf opened the first bebe boutique in 1976 in San Francisco. At that time, three categories dominated the women's wear market: junior, briouh women inspirational, sexy fashion.

Vera Wang, a native New Yorker, understands women who embrace fashion. As a child, she accompanied her mother as she shopped Parisian and American couture. Vera studied at Chapin, Sarah Lawrence College and The Sorbonne.
Vera Wang has created a unique aspirational world that alludes to sensuality and youthful sophistication. Exquisite details, intricate draping and a nonchalant sense of style characterize the Vera Wang aesthetic.

After 20 years in the surf, skate and snowboard business, founder Chip Wilson took the first commercial yoga class offered in Vancouver and found the result exhilarating. The post yoga feeling was so close to surfing and snowboarding that it seemed obvious that yoga was an ideology whose time had come (again).

A high-end high street clothing retailer with more than 69 stores in North America. It is owned by Polo Ralph Lauren. An international men’s and women’s lifestyle brand with a distinctly urban casual point of view, best defined as a play of opposites: mining vintage with new, hard with soft and eclecticism with minimalism. Each season, Club Monaco offers customers must have fashion and key pieces that together are the foundation of a modern wardrobe.