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"   Photo: Getty Images  Diego Della Valle, the next Julius Caesar? OK, so that may be a bit dramatic, but Tod&amp;#039;s CEO announced today that the brand will fully fund the restoration and renovation of Rome&amp;#039;s Colosseum, for a total price of around $25 million. Given the state of the luxury industry (and the economy as a whole) it may come as a surprise that they&amp;#039;re about to dump millions into a historic renovation \u2014 after all, it&amp;#039;s not like they&amp;#039;ll rename it the Tod&amp;#039;s Colosseum. But as of early November the company&amp;#039;s profits were off the charts and they&amp;#039;ve continued to grow. With a stellar website, increasing sales and the world&amp;#039;s most expensive iPad case (it&amp;#039;ll set you back a bit over $4,000), the Italian company certainly has the means to come to its country&amp;#039;s aid after the government put the word out that they needed a sponsor months ago. So will Tod&amp;#039;s open up a high-end gift shop for visitors to the Colosseum? Will they create a plaque or Tod&amp;#039;s statue of a shoe to honor their generosity to the country&amp;#039;s history? Of course, it&amp;#039;s not a business ploy so much as a statement of power (and yes, of course, goodwill), but it&amp;#039;ll be interesting to watch how the move reflects in the brand, and vice versa. The one thing we can pretty much guarantee is a raging fashion bash when the project&amp;#039;s finished \u2014 even if it is years from now. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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