Japan's top cosmetics maker Shiseido Co. said Wednesday May 1st net profits rose 40.2 percent in the fiscal year to March as it cashed in on booming demand for beauty products in China.

By Marie-Louise Gumuchian MILAN (Reuters Life!) - Fashion house Versace takes a trip around the world in its new furniture collection by rolling out luxurious period sofas and majestic white beds for its wealthy admirers.

Dazzling jewellery from the collection of Greek shipping heiress Christina Onassis is to go under the hammer in London on June 11, auction house Christie's told AFP on Friday, April 18th.

Swedish cheap'n chic clothing chain H&M said on Thursday the Japanese founder of the Comme des Garcons fashion house, Rei Kawakubo, would guest design its autumn collection.

In Russia, nationalism now comes pret-a-porter. After three years working on pro-Kremlin rallies, Antonia Shapovalova, 20, is now putting patriotic slogans on a catwalk collection.

Top fashion houses are carving out a growing presence in the world of e-tailing, even if they have to cede a percentage to the experts who know their way around the Internet marketplace.

French luxury products group LVMH reported on Wednesday, February 6th that net profit rose eight percent last year to a record of 2.03 billion euros (2.96 billion euros) despite unfavourable exchange rates.

French "sports chic" label Lacoste wowed the crowd with a ski-themed show Saturday February 2nd at New York fashion week, kicking off the 75th year of the little crocodile that conquered the United States.

Fashion mogul Valentino, his loyalties long divided between France and Italy, has chosen Paris to show his final collection, capping a dazzling 45-year career.

France's prestigious luxury fashion house Emanuel Ungaro is bringing in a 23-year-old Colombian-born Briton who works in the US to freshen up its women's collections, the company's chief executive said Friday, November 30th.

Stella McCartney's luxury fashion and accessories label opened its first boutique in Southeast Asia in Singapore, forging deeper into a region hungry for everything designer.

Chanel's essentially up-market jewelry and watch boutique on Paris' home-of-luxury square, the Place Vendome, marks its 10th anniversary with a total makeover almost doubling the floor space, and a new diamond collection for the ultra rich.

Swedish cheap'n chic fashion chain H&M launches Thursday, November 8th its latest designer collection, this time created by Italy's Roberto Cavalli who is known for his sexy, feminine creations.

Italian jewellery and luxury goods maker Bulgari said on Friday, october 12th it had asked its suppliers to certify that their jewels did not come from Myanmar.

German fashion house Hugo Boss may soon be on the look-out for acquisitions to grow and wants to buy a second brand name, the group's chairman Bruno Saelzer said in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday, July 24th.