Dubai Skyline | Source: ecopolis

Middle East Retail Returns to Growth Track (WWD)
“The retail pulse is back in the Middle East. Fashion brands point to positive trends in the region, including the return of tourists, particularly in Dubai.  Wealthy Chinese are streaming in… shoring up a fast-growing destination for Europe’s luxury players even though business isn’t near pre-recession levels.”

Debenhams refinances, sees lower interest costs (Reuters)
“Britain’s No.2 department stores group, has completed a refinancing of its debts, signing a new 650 million pound ($997 million)agreement that will cut its interest bill… the deal comprised a 250 million pound term loan and a 400 million pound revolving credit facility.”

Luxury Retailers: Cautiously Shoptimistic (Brand Channel)
“Luxury retail in general took the hardest hit during this recession…Our customers pulled back dramatically from spending… that being said, we are very happy to see that business is coming back. The customer is definitely back in the stores.”

Britain’s regional tailors (FT)
“The pre-eminence of London’s Savile Row as the centre of tailoring expertise is well documented. Yet outside the capital there are tailors the length and breadth of Britain who cut, sew and fit to the same bespoke methods. Their numbers, however, are dwindling.”

What women want (Independent)
“A unique approach to women’s fashion: Whether they’re inspired by skyscrapers, schoolgirls or Joan Collins, London Fashion Week’s female designers have a unique approach to women’s wardrobes.”

Guess Autumn/Winter 09 | Source: Guess

Guess Sets Its Sights on Europe (Business Week)
“The iconic maker of fashion jeans and other apparel is expanding fast in Europe with a new retail push and tighter control of its brand.”

A Not-So-Guilty Pleasure (NY Times)
“For months now, consumers have been hunkering down in an economic storm, buying only what they need to survive, like groceries, diapers, medicine — and shoes.”

Luxury brands are back to wooing Indian customer (Business Line)
“Niche luxury retailers are putting expansions back on track after a brief hiatus. Despite foreign direct investment restrictions, companies such as Versace, Oakley and Nike Golf are increasing area and product assortments to draw consumer interest in what they consider one of the biggest markets in Asia.”

Debenhams acquires Danish retailer Magasin for £12.3m (Drapers)
“Department store group Debenhams is to push into mainland Europe following the £12.3m acquisition of Danish department store business Magasin du Nord.”

Brioni joins forces with the Royal College of Art (Drapers)
“Luxury Italian menswear brand Brioni has signed a three-year deal with the Royal College of Art that will see one of the brand’s master tailors work with menswear fashion design students.”

Donatella Versace by Gilles Bensimon | Source: Elle

How Versace went from rags to riches—and back again (Newsweek)
“Donatella Versace, tiny, sculpted and forever blonde, was standing backstage after her menswear show at the Teatro Versace in Milan in June… it all felt feeble, pathetic—a sad, soulless charade to promote something that no longer exists.”

Luxury perfume houses are expanding (FT)
“Forget the lipstick index as economic indicator; in this recession, the most successful downturn beauty product is proving to be fragrance. While much of the luxury business has struggled over the past year, a number of high-end perfume businesses have been spritzing their way to success.”

Haute Couture, Available Through Netflix Model (NY Times)
“For many women, a $1,000 dress is something they admire in the pages of a glossy magazine or see draped on the frame of a celebrity — not an item hanging in their closet. But a nascent Web site called Rent the Runway is hoping to make high-end fashions much more accessible and almost as easy as renting a movie from Netflix.”

Hooray for Henry Holland (Guardian)
“Three years ago, Holland, then making his living as a fashion editor for teen magazines, started designing rhyming slogan T-shirts for his friends (sample: “I’ll Tell You Who’s Boss Kate Moss”) that rapidly became a fashion crowd in-joke.”

Fast Fashion is For Losers (PSFK)
“Apart from a few things from American Apparel and Uniqlo, oh and a knock-off Balenciaga riding hat from H&M, on the whole, there is a lot to lose from fast fashion.”

New York Garment District

NY garment district battling for survival (Reuters)
“New York’s reputation as a global fashion capital is under threat with the city’s once bustling garment district facing extinction, experts say.”

A Minimalist Gets a Makeover (WSJ)
“Under the Bryant Park tents of New York fashion week Tuesday evening, Narciso Rodriguez will show off his typically minimalist evening gowns and day dresses. What the crowd won’t see is Mr. Rodriguez’s own ambitious makeover, as he reinvents himself once again, a year after his relationship with financial backers collapsed for the second time.”

London mayor celebrates LFW’s effect on UK economy (Drapers)
“London mayor Boris Johnson has pledged his support for London Fashion Week and highlighted the money it brings to the UK economy through sponsorship and media coverage.”

EU sanctions on Sri Lanka to hit ‘cheap’ clothing over human rights abuses (Times)
“They were billed as “garments without guilt” — cheap, good-quality lingerie, casual clothes and sportswear made in Sri Lanka and sold in stores such as Next, Tesco and Marks & Spencer. For the past four years, such clothes worth billions of pounds have been imported, tax-free, to the European Union under a trade scheme intended to help Sri Lanka’s recovery from the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Within months, however, clothes from the country could disappear from British shops.”

Debenhams Profit Gains, Helped by Own Designer Labels (Bloomberg)
“Debenhams Plc, the U.K.’s second- largest department-store company, said annual earnings rose as it allocated more space to its own designer labels at the expense of less-profitable brands from other retailers.”