Yves Saint Laurent handbags and Brioni suits have helped French luxury group PPR post a strong start to 2012 reporting €3.3bn in turnover for the first quarter.

Styling: Gemma Hayward

When Selfridges unveiled their newly appointed womenswear department at the beginning of the year, hopes were high.

The Louis Vuitton Express – or more precisely a turn-of-the-20th-century steam train – pulled into Paris yesterday, bathed in ultraviolet light and filled with model passengers sporting creative director Marc Jacobs' new designs.

It was clear at the Gucci show in Milan today which sectors are not yet feeling the pinch, with a series of red carpet dresses to tempt celebrities ahead of this weekend’s Oscars ceremony, and an autumn collection of velvet, silk and brocade separates that will play well among the label’s luxury-focussed clientele in China.

This evening sees the return of the Alexander McQueen name to the London catwalk after an absence of more than a decade.

Thousand-pound python skin Gucci handbags can be added to the list of things that remain popular despite the economic gloom.

The doyen of French embroidery, François Lesage worked with many of the fashion world's élite haute couture designers, including Cristobal Balenciaga, Hubert Givenchy, Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld.

How inspiring that the two best-dressed women at last week’s British Fashion Awards were fortysomethings. And even better that, they were among the most beautiful – if not the most beautiful – women in the room.

The daughter of Anglo-French musical royalty, Charlotte Gainsbourg was destined to be a performer – and now she's in the hottest arthouse film of the year. So what does the actress and singer have to be shy about?

Gucci is 90, and to mark its birthday, the luxury label is paying homage to the classic designs that made it great, says Susannah Frankel

When Christian Louboutin sued Yves Saint Laurent for trademark infringement last month in a legal tussle over a pair of shoes, it was clear the accused, one of the grandest labels in France, would not take the slur lying down.

Oft dubbed the Oscars of the fashion industry, the annual Met Ball was this year a particularly flamboyant affair. The gala dinner traditionally held to launch a major show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute this year celebrated Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a retrospective of the late British designer's work.

Puma, the sporting footwear company, has sprinted to its "best ever" first-quarter results and even grew sales in Japan, despite the tsunami disaster. The brand, which is owned by the French luxury group PPR, grew its sales by 9.3 per cent to €773m (£686m). This helped its operating profits edge up to €111m.