Mulberry looks to have its future sewn up (FT)
"Bruno Guillon says that what he likes best about British design is its 'relaxed confidence'. In the coming months, the Mulberry chief executive will need plenty of that himself as the UK-based maker of upmarket handbags grapples with the effects on the fashion industry of global economic weakness."

J.C. Penney 'Backtracking' With Discounts, Deutsche Says (Bloomberg)
"J.C. Penney Co, the 110-year-old department-store company, is 'backtracking' on Chief Executive Officer Ron Johnson's new pricing strategy with a 30 percent discount on clearance items, according to Deutsche Bank AG."

Miuccia Prada: an intellectual with dress sense (Guardian)
"Miuccia Prada, 63, is just like her collections: discreet, unpredictable and nonconformist. A brown turban holds back her fair hair. She wears old-fashioned earrings, a green crew-neck jumper, a brown, knee-length skirt, flat-heeled sandals and a brown leather bag. She is not beautiful but has a powerful presence. A remote woman and a fashion intellectual."

Meet Natalie Ratabesi, new designer at Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti (Telegraph)
"Natalie Ratabesi became British fashion's latest marquee designer name last week, when she was appointed creative director of Alberta Ferretti's Philosophy label. Yet although she's been a working designer - in some extremely high-falutin' positions - since she graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2000, Ratabesi has kept a low-profile until now."

Vogue China Salutes Its American Counterpart (WWD)
"Vogue China paid tribute to the 120th anniversary of its American parent with a gala that would have been unthinkable at its own launch seven years ago. 'It's changed here tremendously. Seven years is like the experience of several generations for me here. What took Europe 70 or 80 years, took China only seven,' said an exuberant Angelica Cheung, editor of Vogue China..."