The boutique is slated to reopen this summer with a decor melding elements of a typical Parisian apartment with the mood of Venice in wintertime. Elements include gray marble floors, moldings inspired by the 19th century, walls covered with jacquard fabric and futuristic furniture.

Having applied his ethereal and romantic approach to Ricci’s fashion collections for the past three seasons, Theyskens is now extending his aesthetic to the retail floor and, later this year, to a complete accessories collection.

TRUE BRIT: “It’s got to be English — we’re not going to give it an American twist,” said Sir Philip Green, discussing the launch of Topshop’s first New York store, during a viewing of Topshop’s fall collections at London’s Royal Academy. Indeed, Green is so keen on giving a London edge to the brand’s first U.S. unit that he’s flying some of Topshop’s English staff to New York to run the store in its first weeks, and is even toying with the idea of setting a fleet of red double-decker buses on the streets of New York to celebrate the store’s launch in October.

Green added that he was looking at opening “a couple more stores” in Manhattan, alongside the brand’s U.S. flagship at 478 Broadway in SoHo, but said that finding the right location was an issue. “We don’t want to be on every street corner,” he said.

STELLA’S NEW SUNGLASSES: Luxottica Group SpA has signed an agreement with Stella McCartney to design, produce and distribute Stella McCartney sunglasses worldwide. The agreement begins in January 2009, and the first collection under the agreement will launch in summer of that year. The company said McCartney “will personally follow each step of the creative process, together with the Luxottica design and product team.” The license agreement will last for an initial term of six years and is then automatically renewable for an additional five-year term.

“This new agreement is geared toward strengthening further the presence of Stella McCartney eyewear in the market and aims to further increase the international development of the brand,” said Marco Bizzarri, chief executive of Stella McCartney. McCartney first produced an eyewear range with Safilo in 2003, an agreement that expires at the end of 2008.