THE FRENCH are known for their un-erring sense of chic and their timeless, understated style. And then there's Christian Audigier. His OTT, tattoo-inspired tiffany designs for LA-based brand Ed Hardy have been worn by everyone from Britney to Madonna and now the outlandish designer has turned his hand to a range of Champagnes and wines.

The man behind the Von Dutch shoes on sale hat trend "and his celebrity friends" took over London club Movida to launch the wines and, in between being filmed by MTV, found time to talk to VOGUE.COM. "Wine is a big part of my lifestyle and everyone wants to be a part of that," he said of the move into wines. And why now? "Everyone drinks more during a christian audigier recession; they want to forget," he explained with typical Gallic flippancy.

Audigier counted Sergio Rossi the late Michael Jackson among his many famous acquaintances and was affected by his untimely death. "I feel bad. Completely sad," he shared, "I feel almost pissed off with how life can catch up like that."Looking forward, the designer will be showing in Paris during the city's fashion runescape items week in October and has promised a performance by a "big celebrity" name. Unfortunately, Audigier was reluctant to divulge the celebrity identity but cryptically hinted: "You know all the names; you can guess."Christian Audigier wines and Champagne are available at Harvey Nichols and Selfridges.When we tell you that the demonic Prince Marcus von Anhalt is a devoted follower of Audigier's I'm sure we need say no more. His latest Prada handbags victim is a Ducati Monster 1100, a bike which seems cursed to endless awful customizations that it in no way deserves.