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.

After starting a premium airline and buying one of the world's oldest scotch-whisky makers, flamboyant Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya announced Tuesday, November 6th a new venture in high-end retail.

British media group Pearson said Monday, November 5th it had concluded the sale of one of France's leading daily business newspapers, Les Echos, to French luxury goods empire LVMH.

From matching diamond-encrusted mother-and-daughter gold chokers to the latest must-have bags and glasses or even a hand-crafted humidor, duty-free goods are increasingly going first-class.

While the hope of any major designer nowadays is to come up with the season's "it" bag, in Amsterdam the Museum of Bags and Purses is filled with the "it" bags of centuries past.

Gloves hark back to a bygone age, a vanished world of elegance and formality when no well-dressed woman would venture out without gloves, handbag and shoes which matched her outfit.

As couture czars throw agressively high almost fetishistic models onto catwalks, a once humble ballet slipper with no heel let alone spikes is striding into fashion glory.

Two con artists posing as Russian businessmen stole diamonds worth 268,000 dollars (186,000 euros) from a Cyprus jewellery shop in a well-planned sting operation, police said on Friday, October 31st.

Bulgarian police said Thursday, October 24th they had seized a huge cache of antique coins and other precious objects and arrested 13 people allegedly involved in an antique smuggling ring to the United States and Europe.

Criminals riding scooters have made a string of smash-and-grab raids on top London designer stores, police said Wednesday, October 23th, after a pre-dawn attack on another shop.

A reward of half a million dollars (352,000 euros) is being offered for the return of jewels stolen in an armed robbery this month from a luxury jewellery shop on the high-fashion Avenue Montaigne in Paris.

The world's richest diamond mine, which produces up to 15 million carats a year, celebrated its silver jubilee in Botswana on Friday, october 19th amid concerns about the growing cost of diamond mining.

Bans on low-hanging trousers that display parts of underwear are hitting already alienated black US teens below the belt, African-American experts say as more US cities lined up to ban "saggy pants".

The price of white metal platinum roared to another record peak on Thursday, October 14th, owing to supply outages in major producer South Africa, traders said.

Marcelo Loffreda's hugely successful eight-year tenure as Argentina coach comes to an end with Friday's World Cup third-place playoff against France.