An unseasonably warm November in Southern California isn’t stopping Moncler from flaunting the newest duvet-based designs in its Moncler Genius collaborations with Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli, Palm Angels, Simone Rocha and a growing circle of buzzworthy designers and labels.

The Italian fashion company unveiled its House of Genius this month at Maxfield in West Hollywood and Moncler’s other temporary concept stores in Milan, Paris and Tokyo.

Open through Thursday, Moncler’s West Coast pop-up shop is housed in Maxfield’s industrial-meets-nomadic structure designed by modernist architect Jean Prouvé.

At the kickoff party in Maxfield’s parking lot, R&B star Usher, actor Tommy Dorfman, members of the boy band PrettyMuch, singer-songwriter Yuna, social-media heartthrob Cameron Dallas and other celebrities got a chance to represent California in Moncler’s four parties that crisscrossed the globe during a span of 24 hours. A performance by new R&B “it” girl Summer Walker amplified the evening’s celebratory vibe.

If the famous faces didn’t attract enough attention on the corner of Melrose Avenue and Robertson Boulevard, the pop-up shop’s glass walls displaying Moncler Genius’ bright yellow logo might catch a passerby’s eye.

Inside the gallery-like space space, pallets and plywood wardrobes offer a simple setting to showcase the gamut of trends — from psychedelic maximalism and Victorian lace to skater-boy style and Western fringe.

The foundation of the collaborations consist of cold-weather staples, including puffer jackets, snow jumpsuits and cashmere knits. There are also street-smart items such as graphic T-shirts, a skateboard and a fire extinguisher if things get too hot in L.A.

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As Hiroshi Fujiwara, the hip-hop DJ-turned-founder of Japanese streetwear line Fragment and a returning collaborator, summed up in his designer’s statement, “Moncler Genius is the opportunity to mix different identities into a new one.”

Moncler presented the first iteration of Moncler Genius last year. This fall, for its third round, it has re-teamed with Piccioli, Rocha, Craig Green and Palm Angels, whose founder, Francesco Ragazzi, also oversaw the artistic direction for the Moncler House of Genius. Moncler’s two in-house brands, 1952 and Grenoble, are part of the project again.

Unwilling to leave pups out in the cold, Moncler is bringing back bright insulated vests by Milan-based Poldo Dog Couture.

In a new twist this year, Piccioli involved model Liya Kebede, who introduced him to African textile artisans who made vivid trims for his puffy skirts, hooded jackets, gowns and capes. Fujiwara staged a collaboration within a collaboration with Japanese bag maker Porter, which created a $1,005 tote bag in shiny black nylon.

Also, 1952 enlisted the leather expertise of Italian accessories company Valextra to help create five sleek bags, including a $5,700 leather duffel hanging from a strap mixing supple leather and padded nylon.

Moncler added two new designers to this fall and winter season: Richard Quinn, who received the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design for his 3-year-old namesake label, and Matthew Williams, the creative director who worked with Lady Gaga before starting his New York-based fashion brand 1017 ALYX 9SM.

Most of the styles are available for purchase, but some have staggered releases. The canine clothing and accessories are available now. (Online, doggy fashion ranges from $275 to $575.)

Green’s lineup will hit stores in December, and the collections by Piccioli and Williams will arrive a month later.

H. Lorenzo, Kith and the Webster at South Coast Plaza are the other retailers selling Moncler Genius in Southern California.

However, Maxfield is the only location offering 21 exclusive items such as Fragment’s tote made with Porter; Palm Angels’ vintage-inspired striped puffer vest ($1,285); Rocha’s black poncho coat covered with hand-embroidered flowers ($3,105); and Quinn’s full-length green parka printed with a hodgepodge of flowers, geometric shapes and zebra stripes ($2,815).

Just when it seemed the Kardashians had conquered every possible marketing format, mother-daughter duo Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner have resurrected another advertising formula: the ’90s-style infomercial.

Yep, the royal blue 1-800 screen and overly enthusiastic voiceover that once brought you Cash for Gold and Zoobooks has found its latest product: Kardashian’s controversial Skims underwear line.

On Monday, a nostalgic Kardashian shared the first in a series of cheesy, made-for-TV spots promoting the form-fitting undergarments, featuring Kardashian family matriarch Jenner and “Real Housewives” stars Lisa Rinna and Kyle Richards.

First up was the “everyday smoothing and sculpting bra that holds you in.”

“The performance construction with flexibility and comfort — I mean, we can actually breathe and be perky at the same time,” Jenner, in full TV makeup, reads directly to the camera before cutting to a smiley, bouncy actress modeling the accessory.

True to classic infomercial form, all-caps key words such as “FLEXIBILITY & COMFORT!” float across the screen in bold, extra-legible font. And, of course, no infomercial would be complete without some painfully scripted banter from the generic, gray studio couches.

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“The silicone band around the bottom stays in place because you don’t want sweet chariots to swing low,” Jenner quips, prompting high-pitched laughter from her co-hosts before adding, slyly, “Who the hell wrote that? I mean, the writers on this project.”

“I do not want my sweet chariots to swing low,” Rinna chimes in, clad in a ’90s-esque cheetah print dress and hoop earrings. “Whatever it is, it shouldn’t be swinging low.”

Cue the in-your-face, bright blue purchase slide, featuring an animated pop-up window of Kardashian lounging in her Skims, all valid credit card options, phone number, website, price (plus shipping and handling, naturally), color and size ranges and one last all-caps “ORDER NOW!” for good measure.

If you call the phone number, by the way, you’ll reach a recording: “Thank you for calling Skims. Skims solutionwear will be restocked on Nov. 20 at 9 a.m. PST, 12 p.m. EST. Join the wait list now at Skims.com to be the first to shop.”

The retro commercial is the latest piece of an elaborate promotional roll-out for Kardashian’s clothing brand, which kicked off to a rocky start in June under the since-ditched name Kimono. Despite standing by the title initially, Kardashian later changed it to Skims amid mounting criticism that the original Kimono appropriated and commodified Japanese culture.

Since the rebrand, Skims has released several videos on YouTube and social media featuring models of various skin tones, shapes and sizes discussing what makes them feel self-conscious and confident while strutting in the shapewear. In keeping with the nostalgia fare, Skims has also released several Polaroid photos highlighting different body-hugging pieces.

Across Twitter and Instagram, the brand has amassed more than 800,000 followers since its summer launch. More items featured in Kardashian’s commercial series so far include the “sculpting bodysuit” and the “solution short.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — 

Iran on Monday alternatively downplayed and demonized ongoing protests across the country that have killed at least five people and renewed pressure on the government as the country struggles under the weight of U.S. economic sanctions.

The full scale of the protests, which began shortly after a 50% increase in gas prices took effect early Friday, was unknown after Tehran shut down the internet over the weekend, blocking Iranians from sharing videos and information with the outside world. Before the shutdown late Saturday, some of the protest videos circulating online included sounds of gunfire and appeared to show gravely wounded people.

State media and authorities have released little information and a government spokesman predicted during a news conference that the unrest would be over in two days. But the spokesman, Ali Rabiei, also said demonstrators had taken police officers and security forces hostage. He did not release any details.

The protests were prompted by widespread anger among the Iranian people, who have seen their savings evaporate amid scarce jobs and the collapse of the national currency, the rial, since President Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear deal more than a year ago and imposed sanctions. The rial now trades at more than 123,000 to $1, compared with 32,000 to $1 at the time the deal took effect.

The streets were emptier than usual Monday in what is a generally busy capital. Shops saw few customers as uniformed police and plainclothes security forces walked the streets of Tehran. The all-volunteer force of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, known as Basij, said it was helping maintain security.

Speaking to journalists, Rabiei said mask-wearing protesters were “exercising very high levels of violence very professionally,” but insisted the protests would soon be over.

“Today the situation was calmer — more than 80% compared to yesterday,” the government spokesman said. “Only some minor problems remain, and by tomorrow and the day after, there will remain no special riots.”

The head of the Basij, Gen. Gholamreza Soleimani, said protest leaders had been arrested, but he did not elaborate.

“The security forces have dealt with the protesters by practicing restraint and patience,” the general said. “Destruction and disturbances have been done by rioters that we refer to as thugs and hoodlums.”

Iran has sought to blame violence on those linked to Iran’s late shah, ousted 40 years ago, and an exile group called the Mujahedin Khalq, or MEK. The MEK calls for the overthrow of Iran’s government and has the support of Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani.

President Hassan Rouhani, who pushed for the hike in gas prices as part of a promise to increase payments to Iran’s poor, warned that authorities could track protesters down by their license plates. During the unrest, demonstrators abandoned their cars on major highways, blocking traffic.

Meanwhile, the official death toll rose to five Monday as the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, or IRNA, reported that the violence has resulted in two more deaths. Previously, officials acknowledged the death of a police officer in the city of Kermanshah, one killed in a suburb of Tehran and another in Sirjan, a city about 500 miles southeast of the capital.

The semiofficial Fars News Agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, has put the total number of protesters at more than 87,000, saying demonstrators ransacked about 100 banks and stores in the country. Authorities arrested about 1,000 people, Fars reported, citing unnamed security officials for the information.

Iran’s information and communications technology minister, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, told IRNA that officials hope the situation will normalize and allow the internet to be restored. However, he told the news agency that “maintaining national security is very important.”

The protests represent a political risk for Rouhani ahead of February parliamentary elections as the government struggles to keep the country’s economy afloat.

Cheap gasoline is practically considered a birthright in Iran, home to the world’s fourth-largest crude oil reserves despite decades of economic woes since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Gasoline in the country remains among the cheapest in the world, with the new prices increasing 50% to a minimum of 15,000 rials per liter. That’s 12 cents a liter, or about 50 cents a gallon. A gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. costs $2.59 by comparison.

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LAHORE, Pakistan — 

Pakistan’s ailing former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was convicted of corruption, traveled to London on Tuesday for medical treatment.

Sharif departed from Lahore after a court granted him permission to leave for four weeks for medical treatment. His conviction was earlier suspended for eight weeks on medical grounds.

Local television stations broadcast footage of Sharif boarding a plane, which was then shown in the air after takeoff.

The 69-year-old Sharif was sentenced to seven years in prison on corruption charges in 2019. After his health deteriorated last month, he was rushed from his cell to a hospital in Lahore. While in the hospital, he suffered a minor heart attack.

Three times prime minister, Sharif was removed from office by the country’s Supreme Court in 2017 over corruption allegations. He denies the charge, saying he was politically victimized.

Elections later that year brought to power Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government.

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MOSCOW — 

Russia says it has repatriated another 32 children of members of the Islamic State group from Iraq.

Russia’s state TV on Tuesday showed footage of the children arriving at Zhukovsky airport outside Moscow. It said the children ranging from age 1 to 9 will undergo extensive medical checkups before relatives take them home.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the children had been held in asylum centers in Iraq or in prisons with their mothers.

Their arrival represents the fourth group of Russian children to be repatriated from Iraq. The Foreign Ministry said a total of 122 children have been brought home.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that over 4,000 Russian citizens and some 5,000 citizens of other ex-Soviet nations have joined the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

Jacques Villeneuve, Formula 1’s professional critic, says Lewis Hamilton portrays himself as Jesus and believes his dramatizing behavior is staged for maximum effect.

The always outspoken, and often controversial, Sky Italia pundit took aim at the Mercedes driver after his victorious German Grand Prix weekend, avoiding to judge his flawless performance but choosing instead to belittle his actions out of the car.

“He confuses Formula 1 with Hollywood. Everything he does is staged,” Villeneuve told Auto Bild.

“He portrays himself on social media like he is Jesus.

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“The way he knelt next to his car after his problem in qualifying looked like the suffering of Christ. And what he said afterwards was the Sermon on the Mount.

“Then he gestured so dramatically on the podium that everyone could see who sent the sudden rain,” Villeneuve said.

Hamilton lectures ‘undermining’ Sky F1 pundits on Instagram!

However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff defended his driver’s right to express himself as he sees fit, and even encouraged Hamilton to “speak his mind” on social media and open himself up to controversy.

Indeed, on Monday, Hamilton took to Instagram after watching a re-run of the German Grand Prix to call out Sky F1‘s pundits for what he perceived as negative comments against him distilled during Sunday’s race.

Hamilton later deleted his message, but Wolff believes he should just let it ride.

“I had a conversation with him about it [social media] on Sunday night and I think it is great that someone wears his heart on his sleeve,” Wolff said.

“He says things likes he means them. We are humans and have emotions and are influenced by what others say and what they say and you take things personally.”

Wolff sees Hamilton’s often emotional behavior as one of his greatest assets, and a reason why he has been so successful.

“He’s that exceptional sport star because he has fine senses and sensitivity,” said the Austrian.

“Sometimes when you let your guard down, and maybe such a moment is like on Sunday when you win a race you did not expect to win, and you let your guard down, and then you find yourself at home exuberant and unable to sleep and you put on the TV and hear a commentator saying negative stuff, that can get to you.

“But that makes him that special individual that we talk about all the time and is able to have performance like he had in the rain in Germany.

“I mean, his performance when it started to get wet, how much faster was he? Four seconds a lap, albeit with a better tyre, but it was unbelievable.

“He could have won the race against Vettel without Vettel going off.”

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Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday became the latest elected leader to use the plight of refugees in building a rhetorical case for military escalation towards Syria, despite numerous calls for wealthy nations to extend refuge—not bombs—as the humanitarian crisis worsens.

Speaking in the Australian capital of Canberra on Wednesday, Abbott coupled an announcement that the country will admit an additional 12,000 people fleeing conflict in the Middle East with the declaration that the nation will extend its military actions beyond Iraq by joining in the bombing campaign in eastern Syria this week. The move comes despite questions over the Abbott administration’s legal footing for the air strikes.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron is also calling for a “hard military force” to remove President Bashar al Assad in Syria. “Assad has to go, [ISIS] has to go and some of that will require not just spending money, not just aid, not just diplomacy, but it will on occasion require hard military force,” he declared Wednesday.

Cameron’s comment comes despite the fact that he lost a parliamentary vote in August 2013 for approval to launch air strikes at the Assad regime. Moreover, the statement follows rising concerns over the country’s recent drone assassination of its own citizens, secret participation of its pilots in air strikes within Syria, and bombing of targets within Iraq.

“David Cameron is determined to go to war, and he refuses to let democratic formalities stand in his way,” the UK-based Stop the War Coalition declared earlier this week. “His government is even exploiting the refugee crisis, which is the product of US and UK military intervention, in order to force Britain into yet another savage bombing campaign. UK bombing of Syria would only increase the refugee crisis.”

In France on Monday, President François Hollande announced that the country will take in 24,000 refugees—and begin conducting surveillance flights over ISIS positions in Syria, beginning this week. France, which has been participating in the U.S.-led bombing campaign of targets in Iraq since September 2014, is currently weighing whether to directly participate in air strikes on Syria, the president stated.

Speaking to the uptick in military fervor among some politicians, Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, recently declared in a Facebook question-and-answer exchange that leaders are considering intensified military efforts “to help deal with the root causes.”