French fashion designer Pierre Cardin hospitalized after fall

August 13th, 2009 Yves Saint Laurent's house in Morocco up for saleLOS ANGELES — The Tangier, Morocco, cliffside home of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent is up for sale. Christie's Great Estates, a subsidiary of the auction house, said Wednesday that broker Residence Helvetia of Marrakech is offering Saint Laurent's Villa Mabrouka, or House of Luck.

August 6th, 2009 Top executive at French bank SocGen resignsPARIS — Societe Generale SA says that a top executive whose career was damaged by the French bank's multibillion dollar trading scandal last year has resigned. Jean-Pierre Mustier is the former head of corporate and investment banking and one-time boss of disgraced trader Jerome Kerviel.

July 18th, 2009 PARIS - France has named Thierry Mariani as its special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, a media report said Saturday. The 50-year-old diplomat, a member of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing ruling party, will replace Pierre Lellouche, who was elevated to become minister for Europe last month, the Online news agency reported.

July 14th, 2009 LONDON - French naval chiefs have been left gasping after the announcement that the country's favourite warship named after its national heroine, Joan of Arc, will be dismantled in England. A senior officer said that the idea of Jeanne-d'Arc, believed as the soul of the French navy, being "burned, martyred and dismembered" on English soil was difficult to digest considering England's involvement in the death of their war heroine in 1431.

July 1st, 2009 Fashion designer crashes car into Calif. storeSAN DIEGO — A celebrity fashion designer has crashed her car through the front window of a hardware store in San Diego, injuring a customer inside.

June 9th, 2009 Berlin Wall murals inspire fashion collectionBERLIN — Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall some of its enduring murals, like one depicting East Germany's Erich Honecker engaged in a fraternal kiss with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, are inspiring a different sort of art. Images from the East Side Gallery — a surviving stretch of the wall that artists decorated with colorful paintings after the 1989 opening of the border — are the inspiration for a fashion collection unveiled Tuesday called Mauerkleider, or "Wall Clothes." Daniel Rodan has reproduced some of the images from the East Side Gallery on leather clothes ranging from evening gowns and trench coats to T-shirts and jackets.

May 6th, 2009 PARIS - French fashion designer Pierre Cardin has been hospitalised with an undiagnosed ailment after falling ill at his home in the southern village of Lacoste, the daily La Provence reported Wednesday. The 86-year-old Cardin was taken to a hospital in the city of Marseille by helicopter, primarily because of security concerns rather than the gravity of the illness.

April 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Textiles, fashion and art fused together at 'Ritu-Sama', a unique exhibition at the DLF Emporio mall Thursday. The aim was to create a new line of printed saris for Satya Paul, the exclusive women's fashion retail chain.

April 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - American singer Lady Gaga has revealed that she would like to have an exhibition of her own fashion designs at the famed Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Lady Gaga, 23, who is famous for her skimpy stage costumes, wants to host fashion and technology displays at the art house.

March 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Renowned designer Manish Arora turned the ramp into a fantasy jungle, inhabited by imaginary birds and animals at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.It's all jungle but in a very modern way. I probably visualise it in my own mind and which I want to share it with you guys," said Manish.

March 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Forget the recession. Even in good times the key to survival in the fashion world lies in designers diversifying, says veteran stylist Raghavendra Rathore, who himself has spread his wings to areas like jewellery and software and has also tied up with a leading fabric manufacturer.

March 5th, 2009 PARIS - The new French special envoy to Afghanistan, Pierre Lellouche, said in an interview published Wednesday that NATO allies fighting on Afghan soil must not revert to the unilateral approach taken by former US president George W. Bush. 'It is normal that we act as co-pilots in the international strategy in Afghanistan,' Lellouche told the daily Le Monde.

February 26th, 2009 BEIJING - China has condemned the auction in Paris of two bronze sculptures that were taken from its Summer Palace in 1860 and said it would have 'serious effects on Christie's development in China'. China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) issued a statement here Thursday condemning the sale of the two sculptures.

February 24th, 2009 PARIS - The world may be sinking into a depression, but lovers of modern art outdid themselves in bidding for artworks from the collection of late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, which went on the auction block late Monday in Paris. The auction broke the world record for the sale of a private collection, fetching some 206 million euros ($262 million) on the very first day of the three-day event, the online edition of the daily Le Figaro reported.

January 9th, 2009 BARCELONA - Spanish fashion designer and entrepreneur Armand Basi died in Barcelona after a long illness, his company has said. Basi was 84.