Calling all aspiring artists: Louis Vuitton launches just the site for you (Telegraph)
"REcreative, www.recreativeuk.com, has been devised and developed over the past year... Aspiring artists can upload their work and share it with the online community in the 'Projects' section of the site, where leading artists and critics will select their favourite works to highlight."

Labelux boosts fashion M&A (M&A)
"Mergers and acquisitions activity in the fashion sector maintained its surge with the purchase of English outerwear company Belstaff by Swiss luxury goods business Labelux. The undisclosed deal follows on from the recent retail acquisition surge, with the purhcases of Kurt Geiger, Moncler and Labelux's own purchase of Jimmy Choo."

Ferragamo gets go-ahead for Milan IPO (Reuters)
"Salvatore Ferragamo said on Thursday it had received clearance from market regulator Consob for what could be the first initial public offering in Milan this year. The Tuscan family-run maker of fine leather shoes, valued by analysts at around 1.5 billion euros."

J. Crew reports 1Q loss on clearance pricing (MSNBC)
"Preppy clothing seller J. Crew Group Inc. said Thursday it swung to a loss in the first quarter as it marked down clothes to clear out excess inventory and took charges related to being acquired. The company, which went private in March... said net loss totaled $29.9 million."

British fashion world pays tribute to the Telegraph's Hilary Alexander (Telegraph)
"Last night at London's St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, the great and the good - and the drop dead fabulous - of the British Fashion industry gathered to pay tribute to the Daily Telegraph fashion director, Hilary Alexander's remarkable career."