The adage of choosing quality over quantity may never be so true as when a recession-weary consumer looks at the latest fashions.
Despite a second consecutive victory at this year's Miss Universe, even Venezuela's hugely successful beauty factory is feeling the global pinch.
Italian luxury goods group Salvatore Ferragamo has designed a limited collection to raise funds for breast cancer groups, targeting wealthy - and charitable - Asians who appear immune to the economic downturn.
Retail sales were flat on the month in August against expectations for a small rise, with clothing sales exerting the biggest downward impact, official data showed.
John Lewis, the employee-owned group seen as a barometer of British retailing, posted a 20 percent fall in first-half profit and said although its second-half had started well it expected a tough 2010.
Fashion group French Connection said half-year losses widened and that it would close its Northern European retail operations and cut staff in the second half to enhance profitability.
British designers who abandoned their homeland for the bright lights of New York, Milan and Paris are returning in droves this season in what promises to be the most exciting London Fashion Week for years.
Stores are empty, clothes sit unsold on mannequins, but at New York's Fashion Week, leading fashionistas are digging in their high heels to declare they have nothing to worry about.
Fierce is the battle against a pop diva's perfume. Abercrombie & Fitch, the apparel chain known for its racy marketing and casual look, has sued Beyonce Knowles to try and stop the singer from launching a new line of fragrances.
Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan's new brief as "muse" of Ungaro is to give the Paris fashion house a cooler look and be a "travelling ad" for the brand, the head of the luxury firm said.
They can make fabric resistant to stains, improve the taste of food and help drug research, but nanoparticles could also pose a danger to human health, experts warned.
British unions set off a heated debate across the nation after passing a motion this week demanding that women have the right to wear comfortable shoes in the workplace.
Pakistan's border with Afghanistan isn't the sort of place most people associate with creativity, but two sisters are making sure the region's talented women get the recognition they deserve.
Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz, the world's No.3 clothing retailer, said that it aims to raise its Greater China store count by nearly 30 percent by year end as part of a broader push into Asia.
Dress Barn Inc reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by tighter cost and inventory controls, but forecast full-year 2010 earnings below market expectations, sending its shares down 3 percent in after-market trade.
