INVESTORS AWAIT FACEBOOK DEBUT. Investors are bracing for Facebook’s Wall Street debut on Friday after the pioneering online social network raised about $16 billion in one of the biggest initial public offerings in U.S. history. [REUTERS]

GAP SALES BOOST TURN AROUND STRATEGY. Shares in the retailer have rallied more than 40% since the start of the year – the fourth-best performing stock on the S&P 500. [FINANCIALTIMES]

TODD SNYDER: MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME POST-J.CREW. Todd Snyder had no worry lines or bags under his eyes Tuesday night during a beertail party at menswear store Odin to launch a pop-up shop selling his tailored clothing. [WSJ]

ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE IS DREAM FOR INNOCENTS. “My pal Jake has ridden in the latest Nissan GT-R, a Porsche 911 and BMW 3 Series. He now says he would gladly trade all those cars for the Aston Martin Vantage V-8 roadster.” [BLOOMBERG]

PENNEY POSTS BIG LOSS. While retailers including Home Depot, Saks Fifth Avenue and TJX Companies reported solid profits on Tuesday, J. C. Penney, in the midst of an ambitious turnaround plan, posted a big loss and said its quarterly sales had dropped 20 percent. [NYT]

CHANEL BREAKS THROUGH CLUTTER WITH BRAD PITT AS NEW FACE OF NO.5 Past models for the famous women’s fragrance have included movie stars Nicole Kidman, Audrey Tautou, and Vanessa Paradis. But a man? [BUSINESSWEEK]

BOMBER JACKET SALES SURGE AS LONDON OLYMPICS BOOST SPORTY FASHION. Luxury retailers and the high street have seen major interest from consumers despite the squeeze on personal finances, with styles in leather, jersey and technical fabrics all selling well. [GUARDIANUK]

FAIRCHILD FASHION MEDIA ACQUIRES BLOGGER NETWORK. Fairchild Fashion Media has acquired Fashion Networks International, best known for NowManifest, a curated blog portal with 1.2 million unique visitors a month that showcases some of the biggest names in the fashion blogosphere. [WWD]

THE BROOKLYN OF FASHION INSIDERS. After the fashion community embraced her “private and friendly” guides to Paris and Manhattan, Carole Sabas, a reporter in French Vogue’s New York bureau, set her sights on Brooklyn. [NYT]

WHY CANNES IS FILM’S OWN FASHION WEEK. The festival has become the single most important film event of the year in marketing terms. [FINANCIALTIMES]

NBC ANNOUNCES FALL SCHEDULE. NBC has doubled down on its franchise musical-competition series and scripted comedy, planning fall and spring cycles of The Voice and sprinkling sitcoms across four nights. [ADWEEK]

L.L. BEAN CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF THE HISTORIC BEAN BOOT. L.L.Bean– and its iconic Bean Boot – is celebrating 100 years in 2012. Not many products withstand a 100-year test of time like the Bean Boot. Seeing a surge in popularity, the style of the iconic model echoes the aesthetic of the great outdoors. [FORBES]

PAIRING FASHION SENSE WITH BUSINESS SENSE. Program Teams Up Small Labels With M.B.A. Students to Pitch Stylish Ideas That Also Look Good to Investors. [WSJ]

CURATING A COURTYARD OF THE COOL. 10 Corso Como is a global cool hunting zone—a Milan-based art gallery, design depot, bookshop, publishing house, eatery and hangout for the chic elite who traipse through Italy’s fashion and design center. [WSJ]

COTY RAISES AVON BID WITH BUFFET’S BLESSING. With the help of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, fragrance maker Coty raised its bid for Avon by 6.5 percent to $10.65 billion and set a four-day deadline for the cosmetics company to start talks. [REUTERS]

FASHION’S NEW AGE TO LOOK OLD. Not to be confused with fads for distressed-denim and faux aged leather that appear every few fashion cycles, the current move toward the “new aged” has more to do with the fact that spending four figures on a jacket in a quality hide is an investment and for men, in particular, its gradual softening and scuffing suggests a life well lived and a certain insouciance. [FINANCIALTIMES]

EXHIBIT SHINES LIGHT ON SCHIAPARELLI, PRADA. “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations,” which opens on Thursday and runs through August 19, features about 100 designs by Schiaparelli, a fashion fixture from the late 1920s to the early 50s, and Prada, whose work ranges from the late 80s to the present. [REUTERS]

DISNEY SHARES HIT ALL-TIME HIGH. Shares of Walt Disney Co. passed their all-time high after the company reported strong earnings growth Tuesday, driven by rising revenues at ESPN, and promised to capitalize on the runaway success of “The Avengers.”[CNNMONEY]

GLOBAL LUXURY GOODS SECTOR CONTINUES TO GROW. A new survey forecasts that the global luxury goods market will top (EURO)200 billion ($260 billion) in 2012 despite the economic crisis hitting Europe. [BUSINESSWEEK]

JUST FOR KICKS. Classic men’s sneakers in new bold colors are party shoes you can really dance in. [WSJ]