MILAN (Reuters) - Fashion designer Giorgio Armani is reshuffling his agenda to take better care of himself after a bout of hepatitis and will soon announce changes at his company, he told Women's Wear Daily in an interview. Armani, widely regarded as the doyen of Italian fashion, did not give details, only saying there will be "some change from a ...

Expect glamorous belts to be drawn tight when New York's Fashion Week kicks off this Thursday, with designers and consumers still hurting from the recession. The extravaganza in Manhattan is the first of the four major fashion capitals to show its ready-to-wear 2010 spring-summer collections, ahead of Milan, Paris and London. A hundred or so designers, including Ralph Lauren ...

RANDOM REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

-- The price of titanium dioxide--the bright, white industrial staple--has flattened out for the past five months after dropping sharply in January. Titanium oxide goes into paint, paper coating, ink, food coloring, cosmetics, and toothpaste. When prices stabilize, it's a sign of steadying manufacturing demand. -- The bad guys who helped make this mess--at least some ...

Katie Holmes has been asked to be the new face of Miu Miu, following predecessors like Kirsten Dunst and Vanessa Paradis. [Vogue UK] With shoppers deserting Madison Avenue, the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District has set up a by-invitation-only shopping suite at the Hotel Plaza Athénée next weekend, where the selected retailers' most important clients can come shop in private ...