Urban warriors on the prowl for streetwear with cool cachet
Style-conscious young men with an aversion to mall culture and a professed maverick streak, are hot on the scent of the new, the colorful, the inventive and the rare. Their quarry: street-inflected clothing, footwear, caps and jewelry from new little-known labels.

Cosseting shoppers at Paris's Le Bon Marché
Le Bon Marché, Paris's little "big store" which launched the department store concept more than a century ago, has reinvented itself.

Italian designers agree that bigger may be better
Officials signed a code calling for more robust body imagery at fashion shows and in ads, admitting that they agreed to the self-regulation so that they are not held responsible for the precarious health of models and fans.

Renaissance of Vionnet: A bias toward elegance
In partnership with Barneys, the faded fashion house of Madeleine Vionnet, the iconic dressmaker, is launching a demi-couture line by the Greek designer Sophia Kokosalaki.

Inside the closets of Nan Kempner
A new exhibition, "Nan Kempner: American Chic," opened Dec. 12 at the Met's Costume Institute.

Design in 2006: A year of innovation and utility
The growth of design's importance is seen in record-breaking auction prices, economic competition and the need to show social and environmental usefulness.

Extreme luxury for the jet set
This is the new buzzword this season to describe objects at a tipping point of price, production and quality that places them well above the mere expensive gifts. It is aimed at a new aspirational category of clients.
- Speech: The 6th International Herald Tribune Luxury conference

In the lap of luxury: Dogs as little fashion statements
Once toted by fashionable women inside the folds of their gowns, diminutive pets have been the favorites of nobles and remain accessories for celebrities.

Lagerfeld takes "Beautiful Fall" author to court
The designer is requesting damages for invasion of privacy in a book that focuses in particular on his rivalry with Yves Saint Laurent.

A designer who marries practicality with a distinctive style
Other designers describe objects in terms of what they symbolize and the stories they tell, but Konstantin Grcic presents his — from Krups coffee machines to Lamy pens — in purely practical terms, because the design of his products is dictated by how they will be used.

Enameled dials: Swiss watch alchemy in miniature
Adepts of a rare art, the artisans who practice "Belle horlogerie" may finish just one watch every year.

This season's glistening new look
Starting on the red carpet last summer, celebrities are sporting clothes with a shiny metallic vibe.

At Design Miami, a showcase for limited editions
A new generation of young designers has graduated knowing that they can make a living from limited editions as the focus of their work, rather than a sideline. The second annual Design Miami, which opens on Friday, will highlight their work.

Speakers at the Istanbul luxury conference
Front row, from left: Jeff Hakko, vice president of Vakko; Barbara Kolsun, senior vice president and general counsel, Seven for All Mankind jeans; Cem Hakko, president of Vakko; Umit and Cem Boyner, vice chairman and CEO, Boyner Holding; Paola Antonelli, Department of Architecture and Design Museum of Modern Art, New York; Hussein Chalayan, designer; Rosita Missoni, a founder of Missoni Group; Nicole Farhi, designer; Loke Khoon Tan, partner at Baker & McKenzie; Thomas Heatherwick, architect/designer.

LA confidential: A hiding place for luxury
Melrose Place in Los Angeles is fast becoming the destination for luxury shopping.

Breaking the fashion mode
An exhibit in Los Angeles looks at clothes over the years that have been on the cutting edge of design.
- Giles Deacon named Daks designer

Paul Smith opens 3 new stores
The variety of facades and structures at his new boutiques in Paris, London and New York emphasize a powerful new trend: cookie-cutter boutiques are oh!-so-over.

In New York, a play with echoes of Bill Blass
In "Regrets Only" opening at the Manhattan Theatre Club, politics of gay marriage take center stage with the fashion designer as a model.

Snapshot: Atlantic City as a runway for the fashion crowd
Peacocks, rockers and fashion world fixtures decend on the unabashedly gaudy Atlantic City.

Looks, luck and a royal star turn
Beauty is luck, and beauty makes luck, and anyone who thinks otherwise ought to meet Jamie Dornan.

In Texas, boots for walking out of the book store
The average Texan is more likely to buy boots from a chain like Cavender's or Sheplers, but for pure Austin theater, nothing beats Allens Boots on South Congress, with its enormous inventory and wild accessories.

A new Helmut line, of sorts
The awaited Helmut Lang clothes will have precious little to do with the man who changed fashion in the 1990s, who spends his days in pseudo-retirement at a Long Island estate minding a brood of pet chickens.

Every month a Halloween
'I just rolled out of the grave," Liz Starin drawled, sounding fatigued.

Style, function and the imperfect cellphone
Cellphones have changed the way we talk to each other, revolutionized our jobs and democratized the news media by enabling passers-by to photograph extraordinary events. But in most cases, their design has been sorely lacking.

Luciano Benetton: The emperor of utopia
Last week, Benetton celebrated its 40th birthday with its first runway fashion show. In 50 sizzling colors, the catwalk aimed to show the verve and vivacity of wool, developed from a single hand-knitted yellow sweater Giuliana Benetton created in 1955.

Fabrica: Creating a virtual eye trip
The eyes behind the new Paris exhibition "Fabrica: les yeux ouverts" are the cats' eyes of Fabrica, the research lab set up in 1994 by Luciano Benetton and Oliviero Toscani, the photographer who conceived and executed some of the company's most startling campaigns.

Decorating your home's air
Back in the 1970s and '80s, only the fashionable rich and the bohemian in America recognized the air as a decorative frontier. But high and low collided more than a decade ago, when potpourri went mass along with decorating.

Black is definitely back for nails
The batch of new black nail polishes appears to be growing in popularity with young professional women who are daring enough to wear it to work, and it is the epitome of chic for night events.

Taking the pulse of the people: Newest awards by popular vote
What is America's favorite example of good design? The Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York has been asking that question by urging people to vote for their favorites in the first People's Design Awards.

Goo-goo gear? Anything but
From celebrity "bump watching" to endless coverage of Brangelina's and TomKat's progeny, ours is an era of baby as fashion accessory.

'An industry that lost its footing'
Today, what women wear on their legs is subject to the vagaries of the wider fashion industry or simply what is happening on the street - making the sector more volatile than accessories like shoes or bags.

Martin Grant dresses up
The Martin Grant show opened with a cartoon vignette of a fashionable young woman walking her dog, setting the tone for the youthful, sporty and dress-filled collection that followed.

A Dutch duo that rejects function, with flair
Like all designs by Studio Job, the baby Arc de Triomphe is a visually seductive piece, whose function seems incidental and plays second fiddle to its symbolic role.

Paris's Avenue Montaigne is reborn
Like its glamorous customers, Avenue Montaigne has been working to expand its image as a stately shopping street for luxury labels.

Quiet Cacharel
At Cacharel things were very, very quiet. Where were the prints? Where were the flowers? Where was the fun?

Reclaiming a city, with a new dress
It has been some time since New Orleans residents have had time to worry about clothing design - rebuilding has taken precedence since Hurricane Katrina. But with every month that passes, the city returns to its tradition of style in dressing.

For some French designers, business is better the American way
Paris is heralded as the world's fashion capital, but not all French designers stay in the City of Light.

Undercover comes into the light
After last season's hooded experiment with the total obliteration of the individual, designer Jun Takahashi took on one of the most talked about and coveted segments of the luxury market - ladies of leisure.

Ireland decides there's more to life than wool and tweed
Over the last decade Ireland has been reinventing itself as the model economy of Europe, with ever-increasing personal wealth. This has led to a marked increase in consumer fashion retail spending and changes in Irish fashion.

Hong Kong retail hits the heights
Retail in Hong Kong is looking up. Way, way up. Hong Kong residents, cash and credit cards in hand, are scurrying up and down the levels of high-rise retail towers known as "vertical malls."

Made in Italy: Counterfeits that were once mere imports
Italy is not just one of the world's biggest destinations for fake luxury goods. An increasing number of counterfeit products are being made or assembled there too.

Buenos Aires comes out for polo season
Buenos Aires picks up its pace as warmer spring weather draws people outdoors for the start of polo season. Boutiques are offering everyday clothing to cater to what they hope will be a demand for polo panache.

Big 4 fashion weeks get new company
In the past few years, dozens of smaller fashion weeks have popped up in all parts of the world - making for a packed international calendar.

Parisian designers bend tailoring to the female form
The go-go glitz and glamour of Milan Fashion Week seemed like a distant memory after only two days of the Paris collections.

Online market draws South Korea shoppers
South Korea's Gmarket seems to have captured the energy of that raw commerce and made a home for it on the Internet, creating a Web site that has quickly become a top online destination in this computer-savvy nation.

For jetés, pliés and cobblestone streets: The flat is back
Paris is a city of divisions. And while needle heels may still form a prominent part of Paris's fashion heritage, away from the Grands Boulevards an edgily alternative cobbling tradition is creeping back into style: the flat.

On Japanese streets, denim artisans are walking the walk
For style-obsessed Japanese who have the cash, a favorite pair of jeans is ultimately the most important item in a closet, surpassing the Fendi suit or the cashmere sweater from Prada.

The latest in jewelry news
From Cartier to Van Cleef & Arpels, from Rosa Monckton to Solange Azagury-Partridge, luxury companies and designers are making their mark with jewels.
- For Dream Diamond, all that glitters is liquid gold
- Czars in their eyes: An orgy of opulence
- A personal touch for a Cartier purse
- Stoned by the scent of exotica
- Designed in the name of the rose
- Reviving the peacock male

A creature of the night: Tom Ford bares his soul
Two and a half years after leaving Gucci Group and his starring role, Tom Ford has rekindled the fashion flame.

Masquerade! Creating a Knight to remember
The masks were fabulous, sinister and funky - swoops of crystal mesh, a furry boar's head, a slither of lace or a mirrored shield reflecting the rest of the surreal scene.

Tommy Hilfiger: The F.A.M.E. Game
"It's been a long-term dream. Paris is the fashion capital and this location has hit bull's-eye," said Hilfiger about his new two-level store in a listed building on the "Golden Mile."

Fashion's future: A question mark
Five weeks of spring/summer 2007 shows ended as they had begun, with a large interrogation mark: What is fashion's future?

Apple's quest to put us at ease with technology
With a succession of design coups, Apple has proved that people are willing to pay for an object if it is well designed.

Reviving Dieter Rams's pragmatism
At a time when design is locked in a vicious cycle of sensation-seeking novelty, it's rare to find a product, like Dieter Rams's 620 Chair Program, so intelligently designed that it can be reintroduced years later with minor modifications.

A world in Smoke and Clay
Taking pride of place beneath one of Andy Warhol's drag queen portraits in the Rose Bar at the swanky new Gramercy Park Hotel in Manhattan is a very big pool table.

What's in a credit roll? New graphics
At a time when Hollywood is struggling to redefine its appeal to a fragmented audience against so many competing claims for filmgoers' time and money, other studios are bringing in outsiders to work on film graphics.
- Images to seduce the filmgoer

A giant step forward for womankind
The Mozartian world of pastoral maidens at Louis Vuitton brought a sweetness to fashion's luxury powerhouse on Sunday. It expressed the spirit of the season, a more womanly approach to beauty.

Regression in fashion: A child or a woman?
In the passionate debate about too-thin models, no one has really reached the nub of the matter: Why would grown women yearn to resemble pre-pubescent girls?

L'Wren Scott's stylish secret
When L'Wren Scott staged a lunch at an art gallery on Sunday, no one was expecting that the stylist to stars from Jennifer Lopez to Sharon Stone would serve up an 18-piece collection.

Baubles, bangles and bags: Who cares about the clothes?
When you come out of shows by three powerful, creative designers and remember first the shoes, or perhaps Chanel's fab new bangles and icon-scattered purses, you have to ask this question: Have accessories become more important than the clothes?

Windsor mansion's fashion moment
Jasmine Al Fayed, who is making fashion waves in England with her Jasmine di Milo clothing line, had her show in the Windsors' house, which her father, Mohamed Al Fayed, rents from the French state.

Madame Butterfly: Hanae Mori's robot
Robots are the height of fashion this season but, in her Left Bank exhibition, Hanae Mori proves that she got there first.

Saint Laurent's fall excites Paris rumor
Rumors that swept Paris on Friday of the demise of Yves Saint Laurent turned out to be wildly exaggerated.

Paris houses: Peering into a void
A lot of noise has been made this spring/summer season about futurism and a dramatic journey into space. But a more dramatic vision of fashion's future is on display, and it is about looking into a void.

Love affair with a dress
Hussein Chalayan's show, with its pretty dress and techno magic, excited various emotions.

Searching for emotion at polite Dior and larky Valentino
In his decade at Dior, John Galliano has produced shows of memorable intensity. But the collection that the inventive British designer sent out for Dior this season was polite and tame - although often beautiful.

Sport and romance: A love match
A wall of roses reaching up to the roof of the École des Beaux-Arts was emblematic of Dries Van Noten's collection that was the most powerful rendition yet of romantic sportswear.

Kokosalaki: Prepping for Vionnet?
Sofia Kokosalaki seemed to be prepping for her new role as design director at the house of Vionnet, whose iconic designer, Madeleine Vionnet, re- invented bias cutting and draping in the 1920s.

Robots and androids: Balenciaga's future
Articulated metallic legs, robotic shoulders, android eyes and a carapace of molded torso - is this sci fi vision fashion's future?

Gaultier at 30: A powerhouse of talent
Cracking with energy as they worked glitter-gulch gym equipment, Jean Paul Gaultier's models celebrated 30 years of his house.

Who's next in fashion? No one.
The 1980s gave birth to a roster of names that are now imprinted on the public consciousness - and almost everything that happened in the 1990s grew from those roots. So, who's next? The answer to that burning question for the fashion world is this: No one.

Stationery pleasures beat mobile communication
Hand-crafted writing papers are making a stylish comeback as cellphones, laptops and blackberries pall

Limited editions from U.S. penmakers dip into Maki-e lacquer trend
Traditional Japanese decorative techniques are showcased in a new generation of luxury writing instruments

In gift hampers, gourmet pleasures come in many shapes and sizes
For a race-day picnic, or a Christmas feast, caviar, truffles and Champagne lead the charge, with chocolate close behind

Gift horses, and saddles to boot
To ride, or to race; tack or toy; horse gifts come in many forms, and at almost any price

Browsing the Web for Designer gifts
Sometimes it's surreal, sometimes it harnesses the virtual to create the real: Contemporary design can be modular, mobile, motional and emotional - and now accessible, thanks to the Web.

Spa, or space? The ultimate tour gift choice
Spa resorts have become a favored destination for harried executives seeking inner peace; but for the more adventurous, space tourism beckons.

Fine jewels find new wearers
Colored stones and semi-precious gems are finding their way into entry level collections at the world's great jewelry houses in a convergence play with fashion brands to reach an expanding consumer market

Rebirth: a Devil's Island in silver and stone
Sandra Müller, part sculptor, part jeweler, is an artist driven by the challenge of a special commission

Moscow artists strike a rich portrait vein
Moscow's high-rolling oligarchs are splurging on portraits for their wives and mistresses. The result is a new twist on iconic Russian art.