Marc Jacobs seeks new employee to handle Twitter and social media activities via Twitter, Boutique1.com celebrates its first birthday, and Net-a-Porter gives a new meaning to home TV shopping.

Despite the popular presumption that the Middle East is filled with conservative women, the rise of international shops offering sexy – and sometimes racy – inner wear here in Dubai is quite telling the contrary. Such obvious contradiction deserves explanation, so La Moda says “we better uncover the barely exposed lingerie industry.”

Imagine a luxury department store sourcing for stylists for a major fashion show from the general public without social media. It’s kind of difficult, isn’t it? Well, thank god for the technologies of our generation because Saks Fifth Avenue Dubai is looking for aspiring stylists to help them create looks for their upcoming Spring/Summer 2011 show to be held next month.

Having followed the Spring/Summer 2011 shows back in September, we had formed an almost clear image in our heads of what the mood of the next season was going to be. To say that most of the collections shown in various fashion weeks are whitewashed would be an understatement, thus we thought, “Hey, Spring is going to be all fresh and clean and neutral!” But look at the clothes at the stores now and you’ll find yourself asking where the heck all those colours came from.

Bankrupt Italian fashion house Gianfranco Ferré is now rumored to be getting a new savior, Dubai-based fashion retail company Paris Group, after the deal with Samsung Group fell through late last year. WWD claims to have spoken to a source close to the deal, who assured that “This is a real offer, they are very keen.” Good news?

Forgive our silence while the sartorial Mardi Gras that was Paris Menswear Fashion Week A/W 2011 was in full swing last week. We wanted all the shows to finish before we could take our favourite looks and present them to you like a curated style album. Gather round, gentlemen. These are the looks to aspire to next Fall.

Here on La Moda, we interact with many personalities that inspire us to do better in our chosen craft. And recently, the inspiration has taken us to a higher level of pride and aspiration as we reached a recipient of the Officer of the Order of British Empire (OBE) award. If you’re British, you know that you did something great – excellent, actually – in your career when you receive such honours from your Queen. That’s why it is indeed our privilege to interview Tanya Sarne whose name was part of Her Majesty’s New Year’s list, being recognised for her remarkable contributions to the fashion industry.

News that made waves in the industry this week: Christian Lacroix for Desigual, Olivia Palermo touches down in Qatar at Haute Muse shopping event, and Anne Hathaway cast as Catwoman in The Dark Knight rises.

“I don’t wear leather jackets because they’re for goons in movies,” we remember a friend saying. And this has stuck with us to this day because if you examine the way bad guys are portrayed in film, whether it’s in Hollywood or Bollywood, you’ll realise that, indeed, it’s the single, most important aspect of an antagonist’s outfit.

The legend of the wide-leg trousers. Ever since they went out of the mainstream about a decade back, they’ve been consistently trying to make a comeback, like a militant rebels staging a coup, or Britney Spears struggling to get noticed again. They weren’t very successful in previous attempts, but could 2011 be the year wide-leg jeans become a mainstay in contemporary fashion?