Victoria Beckham is making lots of cash from designing  If there has ever been doubt about the title of “fashion designer” as applied to super-mum Victoria Beckham, no one is likely to harbour it any longer.  She presented a preview of her new fall collection on Valentine’s Day during the New York Fashion Week.  This is her fourth dress collection and it certainly appears that she is very much in the forefront and on target with her trademark designs.

The VB look is sleek, elegant and timeless, though Victoria told interviewers that a lot of the influence in her latest collection came from her study of 1940’s comic strips.  Her ultra-stylish trench coat design was inspired by the Dick Tracy character, and other designs call up the understated sexiness of early Hollywood “femme’ fatale”.

Beckham said she is working with texture, draping and structure to attain ever-higher goals of elegance and fluidity in the garments she designs.  Her attention to detail is another trademark of the VB line, perfectly highlighted in her column gown with built-in corset. She hosted the small salon showing in one of her best creations, a wool tunic-dress for all occasions, completed with platform pumps designed for her by Brian Atwood.

Victoria Beckham’s top quality line keeps on selling out, even in these ‘challenging’ financial times; sales will probably run close to £4.7million in the coming year.  If, as she laughingly mentioned to reporters, her son Romeo intends to take over the business some day, he will undoubtedly have a going and growing concern to work with.

Puma corner world cup fashion  The World Cup finals are coming and with them of course the chance to celebrate, incredible anticipation, and eventually commiseration for the fans of the losing team.

However, this year the finals will come with a twist as they will be held in Africa for the first time since the World Cup began and thus all the major sporting merchandise brands are gearing up with plenty of African themed items.

Puma, which has enjoyed a long standing line of sponsorship with African teams, will introduce a lifestyle clothing line that celebrates the African football team and fans.  Additionally, they received a commission for a uniform that will be worn by all African nations that are competing as part of their third kit.

With the aid of African American artist Kehinde Wiley Puma also has a commission for a wide range of training gear, street wear, footwear, and four paintings that were inspired by the top three football players in Africa.

The clothing line will debut in Paris this week as a travelling exhibition and will move onward through Europe, Australia, and Asia before finally landing in South Africa as the World Cup commences.

In an interview Wiley stated that her work with Puma started when she began to look outside of America and using global fabrics.  She stated in the past that she was already working on her own clothes which is why it was the perfect time when Puma approached her about working on a World Cup football line.

Vanessa Perroncel still wants Wayne  Even though Vanessa Perroncel humiliated Wayne Bridge when she had an affair with his teammate John Terry, and potentially breaking up his marriage, Perroncel still declared that she loves Bridge and would love to get back together with him for the sake of their son who is three years old.

Perroncel is said to have told friends that she realizes Bridge is hurting terribly but that she still loves him and she would love to have him back for her and son Jaydon.  She went on to say that she realizes it must have been a terrible week for him as she has been forced to read stories about her sex life that she regards mostly as lies.

Friends of Perroncel stated that she was devastated when the public discovered her affair with Terry.  Since the news came out she has only seen Bridge once briefly when he came to pick up her son.

Perroncel’s close friend Antonia Graham stated that she never stopped loved Bridge but is unsure if he still feels the same way about her.  Her friend also stated that their split during the summer was due to a large number of small things, and that she still wants to spend her life with him despite breaking off the engagement.

Terry also suffered from the fallout with his wife taking a period away from him in Dubai to consider if she will leave him or not, and the loss of his job as England’s captain last Friday.

The ref’s a woman !  At 9:15pm Tuesday one of the last reminders of male dominance in the sporting world fell to the ground when referee Tony Bates was forced to leave the field with a calf strain, after which a petite woman with dark hair took over to help finish the Sky Blues’ game against Nottingham Forest.

Bates was replaced by his referee assistant, Amy Fearn, who is has now become the first woman to ever referee in a Football League game.  The 31 year old from Loughborough who’s day job is as a Rolls Royce financial analyst is a part of feminist history that will have males re-evaluating their role in the sporting world.

This is not the first time than a woman has landed on a line, however as Postmistress Wendy Toms from Dorset was on the Premier League in the nineties and Fearn herself has also worked the line using her maiden name, Rayner, as an assistant for the last four years.

Fearn is certainly not a stranger to the game since she has been refereeing since age 14; however, it was still a leap for women in the sporting world.  She stated that it was a great experience to get the chance to referee at a Football League and laughingly said that she could get used to being in charge every week.

She also added that she did not notice at the time that the crowd had reacted to the change, but was glad that nothing controversial occurred while she was in charge of the match for twenty minutes.

Garry Mann may not go to jail in Portugal over football hooliganism  Garry Mann, an avid England football fan, has received a temporary stay of extradition from the European Court of Human Rights over a prison sentence for a riot he participated in while in Portugal during the 2004 UEFA Euro tournament.

The Court of Human Rights stated that it was not ready to make a decision on his case until every domestic legal procedure was attempted.  Instead, it referred the question of his extradition and punishment back to UK courts, which should hear the case before the close of March.

A spokeswoman for the court stated that the High Court will still hold a hearing and thus the Human rights judge are not yet ready to hear his case.  She also stated that at the moment Mr. Mann will not face imminent extradition due to the fact that UK legal procedures must be completed first.

The Portuguese authorities have requested Mann’s extradition due to the fact he did not serve his two year term in prison in the UK after his deportation for violence that he allegedly helped create in the Alburgerira Algarve resort in June of 2004.

Mann, who is 51, has maintained that he was not given a fair trial since he was taken into custody by the UK in March of last year.  He said that he is stuck in limbo between the court systems, which has taken away his ability to work and provide for his family, as well as offer his family any type of closure to the situation.