All the world loves a good story and we found a lot of them when we set about to write the history of the great fashion houses of the world. Like the fact that Mario Prada had a personal policy of never letting the female members of his family into his work area. Now that is funny because his business only succeeded into the 21st Century because the women in his family put it into the stratosphere!

We knew ahead of time that Donna Karan was a celebrity, but we did not know that Maui Jim was a parrot!

We did not know that the California-based Costa del Mar Sunglass company has a big patriotic streak. Each year they treat military veterans to a day on the water fishing by sponsoring The American Veterans Fish Off in Florida. That makes us like them more!

We didn't know that the folks who make Police Sunglasses also have a line named Sting, but is the musician connected to the company? No! Antonio Banderas, George Clooney and David Beckham are, but not Sting.

We did not realize how many current fashion designers had their apprentices working under so many other fashion designers. What a world, so full of minefields! A quick example is that Yves St Laurent labored under Christian Dior in France.

We could not have imagined that a single pair of sunglasses were sold at auction for over $70,000 US! Imagine! They belonged to the American movie actor Steve McQueen, but you will have to read our article to find out who was the manufacturer!