Portrait of a man - and his war chest
Men's fashion seems to be backing away from the endless gender jousting, with a genuine attempt to bring equilibrium to the male image. And the focus is on the chest itself, especially the upper part.

Gucci's tropical tour
The inspiration was apparently a Brooklyn-based indie band. And the aim was, fairly and squarely, a focus on product.
- Fashion times 18 at Gianfranco Ferré
- Vivienne Westwood: Gypsy on the road

Brands in competition to create Olympics clothes
Fashion and the Olympics are not as unlikely bedfellows as one might think. As the August opening of the Beijing Games nears, the two are pairing up for an even more intimate relationship than ever before.

Hedging their bets: Pajamas prevail
In the first set of fashion collections since the Western economies began to wobble, men's fashion in Milan is reflecting precisely the economic mood. Clothes are still steeped in luxury, yet designers are hedging their bets with a casual/formal look that focuses on silk pajamas.

Weak dollar puts America outside luxury's "Golden Triangle"
While American buyers are keeping an uncharacteristically low profile, with a beady eye on the miserable dollar exchange rate, other parts of the world are rejoicing in burgeoning markets and have no thought of recession.

The Scarf
The scarf -- long and draped, or short and tucked at the neckline -- is fast becoming the leitmotif of the summer 2009 season.

Roberto Cavalli: Bohemian safari
Plenty to like in the summer 2009 menswear show by Roberto Cavalli.

Diane Von Furstenberg takes a summer cruise

Behind the stone statue, the sun was setting, as a posse of pretty young ladies walked through the hidden Florentine garden. They could have been on the Grand Tour, skirts bouncing on their pristine dresses, stiffened with geometric stripes or occasionally softened with flowers.

Florence returns to its female fashion roots
Pitti Immagine, with a powerful roster of trade shows, has added another string to its bow, by inviting Diane von Furstenberg to show her resort line during its men's fair and by creating Pitti W - for women.

African spirit at the palazzo
It was a credit to the designer Andrea Cannelloni that his summer 2009 collection of women's and men's sportswear for Hugo Boss Orange reflected an African spirit with subtlety and grace.

Viktor & Rolf build a doll house
"The House of Viktor & Rolf" is an exhibition by the Dutch design duo dominated by a large doll house filled with miniature versions of 15 years of fashion. It is also a fashion moment of pure enchantment.

In London, a rocking celebration of jewels
London Jewellery Week was kicked off with spectacular celebrations and included works by Zaha Hadid and Prince Dimitri, while Nadja Swarovski was bringing on the bling at Runway Rocks.

Conspicuous by their presence
The July issue of Italian Vogue calls attention to prejudice by using only women of color.

Fashion fantasy still a star in 'Sex and the City' movie
In the new film version of the American television series, the fashion is still jaw-droppingly fantastic.

She dresses to win
Michelle Obama's style connects with elements of the Barbara Bush and Jackie Kennedy images.

Yves Saint Laurent, fashion icon, dies at 71
Saint Laurent exploded on the fashion scene in 1958 and endured as one of the best-known and most influential couturiers of the second half of the 20th century.

Yves Saint Laurent: The designer who empowered women
The real importance of Yves Saint Laurent is that the designer not only broke the mold -- he also remade it.
- Yves Saint Laurent, fashion icon, dies at 71
- A bit of fashion wisdom from Yves Saint Laurent

Saying farewell to a fashion icon
Instead of glossy red lips, there were red-rimmed eyes as the Parisian worlds of fashion, art and politics turned out to say farewell Thursday to the towering creative figure of 20th-century style, Yves Saint Laurent.
- Yves Saint Laurent: The designer who empowered women
- Saint Laurent's 2002 finale shows why he is an icon (Jan. 24, 2002)

Fashion all part of the game at Wimbledon
It felt more like a day on the catwalk than the opening of the world's most famous tennis tournament -- but fashion has always been an integral part of Wimbledon with its strictly enforced "predominantly white" dress code for players.

Brazilian designers showcase the art of the Amazon
The Amazonia Design exhibit at New York's World Financial Center offers unusual samples of recyclable fashion and design created by prominent Brazilian designers to highlight the art of the indigenous people of the Amazon.

Nothing sells like celebrity
But where the star ends and the product and pitch begin has grown less and less discernible in the era of the human billboard.

When conscience and closet collide
Recession fears and consumer guilt make high-end consignment shops chic destinations.
- Shopping High-end resale

Tommy Hilfiger rises on growth in Europe
Tommy Hilfiger Corp., the fashion brand owned by Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, said annual profit rose 24 percent as the company sold more clothes in Europe.

Sears gets hip
Sears, the company that once offered in-store hearing aids and dentures is teaming up with MTV to produce a back-to-school movie while adding a line of street clothes and accessories designed by hip-hop artist LL Cool J.

Handbag brand Coach plans major expansion in China.
United States handbag maker Coach Inc says China will make up over 4 percent of its turnover by 2013 as it expands into 100 cities across the country over the next 10 to 15 years, betting its increasingly well-heeled consumers will demand more brand-name products.

LVMH says Louis Vuitton sales in U.S. doing well

Sales of the Louis Vuitton brand along with watches and jewelry are doing well in the United States despite an economic slowdown and a weak dollar, said Toni Belloni, group managing director at LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's largest luxury group.

The Birkin and Hermès
What would you do for a Birkin bag?

The clutch, in the light of day
Thanks to a whole slew of designers - from Yves Saint Laurent to Sonia Rykiel and Michael Teperson to Belen Echandia - the clutch purse is moving from an evening standard to seeing the light of day.

Jelly brand molds Brazil's footwear style
Cheap, cheerful and totally disposable, the plastic jelly shoe is about as ubiquitous as footwear gets. And in Brazil, it's Melissa that dominates the market.

David vs. "David": The battle below the belt in men's underwear
The David vs. "David" standoff marks the moment that underwear has come out of the drawers and off the shelves to become, to men's fashion, the female equivalent of the handbag. It is an accessory - and even a necessity - that can be turned into big bucks.

Fulco di Verdura: The elegant beguiler of stars
A friend of Cole Porter, discovered by Coco Chanel, the Palermo aristocrat Verdura was the favorite jeweler in a gilded circle that included Greta Garbo, Katherine Hepburn and the Duchess of Windsor.

Will diamonds lose their sparkle?
With the specter of recession haunting the global economy, is the market for luxury gemstones feeling the pinch?

Padua's goldsmiths: modern masters of form
Over six decades, a school of goldsmiths in northern Italy has created original and important pieces of jewelry works based on Renaissance principles of geometry.

Boucheron's 150th: A modern take on Art Nouveau
The kitsch and irony of Jeff Koons seems a long stretch from voluptuous and sensual jewelry. And even if Damien Hirst recently embedded diamonds in a skull, you would hardly expect to see his work alongside a swooping diamond necklace.

Can Fuller be rehabilitated as a 21st century design hero?
Hailed as a visionary by the hippie movement and dismissed by some as an eccentric, R. Buckminster Fuller is the subject of an exhibition opening Thursday at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Martí Guixé: Snacking on wit, feasting on radical concepts
Guixé uses his design skills not simply to create objects and spaces, but to shape the way they are consumed and perceived.

Whatever 'design-art' is, it's thriving
"Design-art" is a commercial phenomenon, not a cultural one. It's a label adopted by auction houses in the hope of flogging limited-edition furniture for higher prices than it would muster if relegated to the unfashionable category of "decorative arts." And it has been very effective.

All eyes on BarberOsgerby's Iris tables
Like most of this duo's designs, Iris is rooted in an engagingly simple idea - in this case, the pleasure of looking at a rainbow of colors.

In the world of watches, the line between the sexes is blurring fast
Once upon a time, timepieces with complications were for men only, but the limited edition Diane from Harry Winston seeks to change that.

"Star Trek"-styled watches flash digitally coded time
Tokyoflash Japan creates watches that are meant to be watched, not just looked at. Started in 2000, the company says it is trying to make objects that revolutionize the way time is perceived.

Applying color with steely abandon
Taking inspiration from the traditional cloisonné technique of enameling used to decorate watch dials, watch designer Alain Silberstein has developed a unique method of coloring his steel watchcases, which are proving popular with Russian and Japanese collectors.

Richard Mille breaks fresh ground with new high-technology timepieces
Coinciding with the Salon International de Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, Mille is introducing a glittering homage to Boucheron, in honor of the Parisian jeweler's 150th anniversary, and a modern interpretation of a classic pocket watch.

Urwerk's 'most complicated' watch to be unveiled in Geneva
The youthful principals of Urwerk, Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei, will present their new watch, a combination of futuristic and artisanal features called the UR-202, on the fringes of the Geneva Watch salon next week.

Versace to design a new Lamborghini
Versace has agreed to design the interior of a limited edition Lamborghini car and its accompanying accessories like gloves and bags in the latest collaboration between the two luxury brands.

Fashion designers honor their own
The CFDA awards, marking their 26th year, have come to be an intersection of celebrities and fashion insiders.

Hello Kitty gets high fashion Vogue makeover
She may be cute, but the latest top model to make her debut in Vogue is also podgy with short legs and whiskers.

L.A. Fashion Week takes a celeb-as-designer turn

Just as L.A. Fashion Week took a step forward, the celeb-as-designer trend seems to have sent it two steps back.

Americans pull back from expensive plastic surgery
Plastic surgeons are increasingly competing with other specialists, and even non-specialists, for a finite pool of beauty clients.

Never too young for that first pedicure
Cosmetic companies and retailers increasingly aim their sophisticated products and service packages squarely at 6- to 9-year-olds, who are being transformed into savvy beauty consumers before they're out of elementary school.

To shampoo -- or not?
Washing your hair used to be a daily effort but now many people are bypassing it -- and saying the neglect has been good for their hair.

Bringing a sense of soul back to Estée Lauder
Aerin Lauder brings family sensibility to the beauty company founded by her grandmother.