Features: The Business of style.

Prada eyes the future
After an acquisition spree, the Milanese fashion house, looking to reduce
its debt, has decided to raise cash by going public. But at what price?
by Suzanne Kapner


The right address
Every city has one - a retail thoroughfare that houses the most exclusive stores.
Here are some of the world’s priciest streets, and the going rate to join the neighborhood. by Beth Kowitt


Luxe in flux
The $270 billion luxury business thought it was recession-proof. But its growth
is slowing, and anxiety is higher than a pair of Jimmy Choo pumps. Is an opulence backlash brewing? by Peter Gumbel


King of cool
Mickey Drexler took J. Crew public in 2006. Now he’s taking it upscale and
launching a new brand called Madewell. Downturns are not for wimps.
by John Brodie


The style council, 2008
Nothing is more elegant than a fat bottom line, as the moguls, merchants, and
master craftsmen pictured here in Fortune’s second annual luxury portfolio will
tell you. by Eugenia Levenson


Get a life!
Three coaches take our intrepid reporter in hand.
by Paul Keegan


The rise and fall of Jimmy Cayne
In 1993 he became the CEO of Bear Stearns. Last summer he was worth $1.6 billion.
This winter Bear Stearns collapsed. Here, for the first time, he breaks his silence
about how things went wrong.
by William D. Cohan


First


Harvest time
Across the Great Plains, American wheat farmers outsource cutting to custom
harvesters with fleets of combines.
by Ryan Derousseau


The box office indicator
Strong ticket sales and weak markets go hand in hand.
by Michal Lev-Ram


The upside of failure
A new book, ”Billion Dollar Lessons,” makes the point that failure yields far
more wisdom than success.
by Jia Lynn Yang


Payday for biotech
The deal boom isn’t over for drugmakers. by Telis Demos


The deal
How to solve the financial crisis? Play for time, pray for markets to turn.
by Allan Sloan


Banking’s French twist
France’s BNP Paribas may be the bank least affected by the financial meltdown.
by Telis Demos


Real-world entourage
Plenty of CEOs have entourages, but here’s one that’s uncannily similar to
Vince Chase’s on HBO’s hit series.
by Scott Cendrowski


Value Driven
Our easy access to plastic is about to dry up - and with it our ability to
fake living the good life.
by Geoff Colvin


Saudi Arabia turns to gold
... And copper and bauxite and phosphate. The Saudi government has opened up
the land for large-scale commercial mining operations.
by Barney Gimbel


Pac-Man goes Hollywood
Former Marvel Studios chairman Avi Arad plans a movie version of the 1980s
arcade hit. No word yet on who will star as Pac-Man.
by Richard Siklos


Investing

These stocks are rolling
Railroads are benefiting from the global commodities boom - and the fact that
trains are more fuelefficient than trucks.
by Paul R. La Monica


Technology

Chip too far
New ”multicore” microchips have gotten so complex that companies from Apple to
Intel say software writers can’t keep up. The result could hurt computer sales.
by Michael V. Copeland