NEW YORK (AP) ― Fashion’s top brass seems to like the military look for next fall. Three days into the seasonal previews at New York Fashion Week Saturday, styles for the urban battlefield have emerged as a trend.Prabal Gurung, one of Michelle Obama’s favorite designers, opened his show with a sharp black cape ― with a black patent-leather tank peeking out ― and black neoprene molded trousers. The outfit oozed strength but it wasn’t overly tough, either.It was a similar story at the Rag & Bone a

ROME (AFP) ― French luxury brand Louis Vuitton will open a boutique and jewellery studio on Paris’ Place Vendome this spring and is preparing its first perfume, the label’s head Yves Carcelle told AFP Friday.“In April we will have our own jewellery workshop and in May will will open our boutique in the same building,” Carcelle said during the inauguration of the “Maison Rome Etoile,” Louis Vuitton’s new shop in the eternal city.The project, unveiled in an area of Paris synonymous with luxury, wi

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― “Made in India” clothing is often seen as the product of sweatshop labour, but fashion designer Saloni Lodha, whose fans include film stars Naomi Watts and Emma Watson, wants to give it a luxury tag.“I have great faith in the made-in-India idea, and wanted to see an Indian, Made-in-India brand in the world’s best stores,” she told AFP while on a visit to Mumbai to source fabrics.British-based Lodha launched her label, Saloni, in 2007 with just 10 designs on offer.Today, her fli

PARIS (AFP) ― Amy Winehouse. There is no mistaking the look of the first model at Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture show Wednesday, the beehive hair and thick eyeliner, black skirt and brassiere visible under a white top.“Amy Winehouse was a true style icon,” Gaultier told reporters backstage after a show conceived as a tribute to the soul singer, six months after her untimely death.“What she stands for above all, is uniqueness. Both in music and the way she dressed, she mixed a great many influences

LONDON (AP) ― Britain’s inquiry into media ethics shifted its focus away from phone hacking Tuesday to look into how women are portrayed in U.K. newspapers.Women’s rights campaigners told the inquiry that newspapers treat women as sex objects and mis-report cases of rape and domestic violence.Anna Van Heeswijk of women’s campaigns group Object said that sexualized images of topless or skimpily clad women in British tabloid newspapers damage the way young women think of their appearances and life

NEW YORK (AP) ― Karl Lagerfeld’s reboot of his own label is happening entirely online.Starting Wednesday, the Karl collection, with an emphasis on more downtown styles ― including denim decorated with a subtle image of Lagerfeld’s likeness, jersey dresses, T-shirts, shoes and handbags all with a rock ‘n’ roll edge ― are offered exclusively for the first month on the Net-a-Porter website. After that, there’ll also be a Lagerfeld-branded site.Among the offerings are the gloves and collar neck piec

PARIS (AFP) ― Now that older men have ditched it to look cool, the stylish young are reclaiming the necktie as their own, with the once-derided accessory making a stealthy comeback on the menswear runways.“I never wear one,” Antoine Arnault, the 34-year-old son of luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault told AFP on the sidelines of the first ever menswear show by the LVMH-owned shoemaker Berluti ― where ties were a full part of the look.“Except on Monday afternoons when I have appointments with my father.

HONG KONG (AFP) ― More than a thousand people protested outside a Dolce and Gabbana store in Hong Kong on Sunday after the Italian clothing store allegedly prevented people from taking photographs of its shop front.The protest followed reports that a Dolce and Gabbana security guard had stopped a photographer taking pictures of its shopfront from the pavement outside.More than 13,000 people had protested over the incident on Facebook.People gathered Sunday outside the fashion brand’s flagship Ho