Hollywood star Jennifer Lopez said her new young contemporary line was "fantasy - classic inspiration but with a new, kind of funky spin," so she turned the setting of her JustSweet show Tuesday night at New York Fashion Week into a fairy tale.

Designer Ralph Lauren, who helped create the classic American style, has celebrated 40 years in fashion with a collection of his trademark looks.

The spring 2008 collections shown at New York Fashion Week were full of optimism, bright colors and bursts of gold. Donna Karan showed a graffiti print in hot pink for her DKNY line on Sunday, while Michael Kors took on a disco theme.

Former Gucci designer Alessandra Facchinetti will succeed Valentino Garavani when he retires in January after 45 years designing dresses for Hollywood stars and European royalty.

Fashion cleans up next spring, with lean, polished looks prevailing over the revealing styles favoured by the Paris Hilton and Britney Spears set.

Italian designer Valentino, who has devoted 45 years to fashion, was stepping down as head designer of the Valentino fashion house. In a statement, Valentino said he would complete his work in January, after showing his ready-to-wear collection in Paris in October and his couture collection there in January.

Gwen Stefani had a handful of free days between her concert tours. The window allowed her to schedule a standing-room-only runway show of her L.A.M.B. collection.

A fashion parade to promote understanding of Islamic dress for women has opened in Australia's biggest city, Sydney. Its aim is to challenge the hostile and ill-informed views many non-Muslims have about Islam. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

Look – the UK's first glossy high street fashion and celebrity style weekly – has stormed into the ABC rankings with a debut circulation figure making it the biggest selling fashion title on the UK newsstand in total volume terms.

After London, Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai is coming to New York with the Madame Tussauds museum at Times Square set to launch Ash's incredibly life-like wax model on 15 August coinciding with the 60th year celebration of Indian Independence.

A wardrobe and costume designer is suing Toni Braxton, alleging she wrote him a bad check and owes him $15,000 for work on a Las Vegas show.

Japanese fashion: It's more than meets the eye. From October 12, 2007, through January 6, 2008, the Asian Art Museum will present Stylized Sculpture: Contemporary Japanese Fashion from the Kyoto Costume Institute, the first major exhibition to combine the collective talents of leading Japanese fashion designers with new work by Hiroshi Sugimoto, one of today’s most compelling artists.