The International Herald Tribune’s hosting a conference in Berlin right now.

Techno Luxury’s the theme and Christopher Bailey, Jefferson Hack, Claudia Schiffer, Tomas Maier, Natalie Massenet, Frida Giannini and Prada’s Tomaso Galli will take turns speaking and answering questions about new technology’s effect on the fashion industry - blogging, twittering etc.

Top quotes (via Twitter of course) so far:

Federico Marchetti: The Marni online store is already the biggest store they have in the world. —Business of Fashion

Natalie Massenet says fashion bloggers contribute to 5% of Net-a-Porter’s sales. —Bryanboy

Massenet of Netaporter says that 25% of sale are returned. But as the store is in “every city in the world” that is not so bad. —The Moment

C[hristopher] B[ailey]: From Facebook, we understood how many of our young fans were entering the Burberry brand through fragrance. —Business of Fashion

You can tweet questions for Claudia Schiffer @IHTluxury right now - she’s up in two hours.

Remember that episode of I Love Lucy in which Lucy and Ethel are desperate for dresses from a specific designer?

They’re heading to a horse race and insist upon these fancy dresses so Ricky and Fred cut head and arm holes in potato sacks and sew the designer label into the burlap and convince the girls the dresses came straight from his atelier. They end up at the racetrack with their heads held high, acting like snooty brats in their major outfits.

They might’ve preferred these. We’ve been lamenting the loss of ’08s tent dresses and welcome the sack with open arms. It does, of course, take a lot of work to make one look like Tomas Maier’s at Bottega Veneta as opposed to a sheet. Laces, like at Celine, help, as does a delicate sleeve (though we’d prefer one on both arm) from Calvin Klein. As for actual burlap at Charles Anastase? At least Fred and Ricky would approve.

The International Herald Tribune just confirmed Claudia Schiffer as on of the speakers at their super prestigious annual conference on luxury, this year being held in Berlin.

This year should definitely bring some interesting ideas to light as it focuses on the role that technology and how new types of marketing and branding affect the luxury sector. And, of course, with the economy in the state that it is, there has never been a more important time for creative ideas.

Christopher Bailey, Frida Giannini, and Tomas Maier will also be speaking, along with some super big wig CEOs.

Nick Knight, fashion photographer, Showstudio director and Kate Moss friend, photographed Bottega Veneta’s upcoming fall campaign says WWD.

It’s the first time the brand has partnered with Knight - they use a different photog each season - but Tomas Maier chose him because he’s, “followed his work for years and always admired his sense of adventure.”

The ads feature models, (yay!), a color palette matching the collection and an “intriguing compostion”. No word yet on who gets to wear Maeir’s pretty dresses, but in true Knight fashion, there will be a video posted on Bottega’s website documenting the process.

Fingers crossed there’s a video on Showstudio, too - that one highlighting the models, the clothes, a little bit of Tomas and guaranteed to hold us rapt through at least three viewings.