It's been quite a week for top jobs in fashion. After six months of speculation, Hedi Slimane's appointment as Yves Saint Laurent's new designer, replacing Stefano Pilati, was announced during Paris Fashion Week.

Dame Vivienne trawls the past for inspiration

From supermodels to supernatural models, the New York shows brought with them structured sportswear and eclectic layering, says Agata Belcen

Sugar and spice and all things nice dominate the new fashion season. But, says Susannah Frankel, the trends come with weirdly wonderful twists

Prepare to queue for glimpses of finery created by top designers

From blushing brides to dramatic falls from grace, Susannah Frankel charts the highs and lows of the international style set in 2011

Fashion editors queue up to wear Jonathan Saunders’ cleanly cut and uplifting designs. And his spring collection – part 1950s housewife, part Miami-resort vibrancy – is his finest yet. Harriet Walker meets him

Giorgio Armani, the designer goods firm, has posted a surge in profits and sales, despite "difficult trading" conditions.

Former Dior designer John Galliano will go on trial in Paris on June 22 on charges that he made racist insults, accusations that rocked the fashion world and cost him his coveted job.

The Fashion Museum in Bath remains among this country's best-kept secrets.

The John Galliano fashion label is dropping a plan for a catwalk show in Paris Fashion Week and will instead host a simple presentation of its latest collection.

Fashion house Christian Dior SA suspended creative director John Galliano today after he was detained and accused of an anti-Semitic insult, in a bombshell development days before Paris catwalks heat up for fashion week.

The designer John Galliano can always be relied upon to dream up some of the catwalk's biggest and most beautiful dresses.

Supreme self-publicist and maestro of the sartorial shock, Alexander McQueen was couture's equivalent of Damien Hirst. Brash, blunt and a feminist's nightmare, he became the darling of the front row with his spectacular shows and ability to create jaw-dropping moments. These included women's mouths encased in savage steel mouthpieces and the image of a starving Ethiopian printed on a jacket. One of his earliest collections was called "Highland Rape".