"By the end of Fashion Week yesterday, how many disdainful, insincere and indifferent greetings had been exchanged? Numberless. If the air kiss can be blamed on the hostesses of high society, the adoption of the double-kiss by non-European New Yorkers is fashion's fault. Some knowledgeable fashion sources trace the spread of the double to the mid-to-late-1980's and Milan, whose shows became a must for North American buyers and editors enthralled by Italian designers like Armani and Versace. The French do it, too, but perhaps with a Gallic frost that was never quite as contagious as the Mediterranean version." – Hug-Hug, Kiss-Kiss: It's a Jungle Out There, by Rick Marin, The New York Times, September 19, 1999.

Giorgio at the Dubai site. (From Haute Living).

But today's riots at the construction site of what is to be the world's tallest tower could threaten Giorgio Armani's 172-room luxury hotel, which will be located in the building.

The strikes and riots by Al Naboodah workers marred what otherwise appeared to be smooth construction of the Burj Dubai, which is to be a spire-shaped, stainless-steel-skinned tower expected to soar far beyond 100 stories.

Here's what Mr. Armani told Haute Living in the magazine's cover story this month, regarding the ambitious project.

“Because Dubai is undoubtedly a new international crossroads for emerging trends, styles, cultures,” he says, “it is already changing the global scenario, giving a new reference point to the international public, alongside New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Milan, of course — my city.”

Already, there has reportedly been $1 million worth of damage. Hopefully, things will calm down for Mr. Armani.

The Transom had a lovely chat yesterday with John Fairchild, the 78-year-old former publisher of WWD. (He has more to say in the story.) He was at The Ritz in Paris. ("I'm retired. I'm taking it easy," he said, by explanation of his whereabouts. Awesome.) Given the stentorian past of the publication, it was surprising to hear him say that perhaps the fashion press should just become, essentially, magalogs.

Hmm. We suppose she wouldn't.

"You've gotta remember," Mr. Fairchild said, "that, until the Europeans show, what you're seeing now could change quickly. What you're seeing on the runway may never appear. It might never appear on the scene. I mean, it could! But the thing is, I always remember—who knows what's going to sell? Who knows? No one knows! It's the lady who buys the clothes. She is the ultimate. The rest is blah blah!"