Versace, the favoured brand of celebrities such as Elton John and Jennifer Lopez, is pulling out of Japan after nearly 30 years -- highlighting the depth of the consumer slump in one of the world's largest luxury markets. The Italian fashion house has closed all three directly owned shops in Japan and is expected to shut its Tokyo business office at the end of the month. The company's retreat reflects Japan's diminishing role as a consumer of luxury goods such ...

Manchester United went to the top of the English Premier League as Chelsea lost 3-1 at Wigan to see their perfect start to the season ruined. A seventh straight victory for the champions, 2-0 at Stoke, saw them move ahead of Chelsea on goal difference with both having 18 points after seven matches. Liverpool and Tottenham are third and fourth on 15 points after both secured thumping home victories on Saturday. Liverpool routed Hull City 6-1 at Anfield, with ...

Hollywood celebrated television's best and brightest at the 61st Emmy Awards on Sunday night. While many actresses played it safe in classic cuts and neutral colors, there were a few standouts, mostly young stars who brought excitement to an otherwise ordinary red carpet. "Gossip Girl" Blake Lively was the night's best dressed in a pailette-encrusted Versace gown with a plunging neckline and thigh-high slit. With this bold choice, Lively secured her place as Hollywood's sexiest young star -- a ...

In just 200 days, Michelle Obama has put her own stamp on one of America's most unusual political positions -- the unelected, undefined job of being first lady. And the way she's done it? It's largely through the fashion choices she's made. (CNN) -- In just 200 days, Michelle Obama has put her own stamp on one of America's most unusual political positions -- the unelected, undefined job of being first lady. And the way she's done it It's largely ...

"Doctor, I have this strange dream — that every three years there's a movie about some guy who has a strange dream about people who die in some awful calamity — and that he acts on the dream by saving his friends, who then begin dying in grotesque ways — and that, each time, it's really the same movie, just with a different calamity each time — and, this is the weirdest part, large numbers of moviegoers keep paying ...

Her identity revealed, a blogger who posted rants about model Liskula Cohen said she was the real victim in the case and plans to sue Google for violating her privacy. Rosemary Port and her lawyer said Monday that they will file a $15 million lawsuit against the search engine giant for not doing enough to protect her identity. "I not only feel my client was wronged, but I feel now it sets precedent that anyone with money and power can ...

Ashly Covington is the kind of top model who doesn't lift a finger. She doesn't cook, she doesn't clean and she avoids anything that could ruin her manicure. But if your hands could earn $1,200 in a day, you'd think twice before scrubbing down the bathroom, too. As one of the few full-time body parts models, Covington thinks about her hands "every minute of every hour of every day," because for the past seven years, her hands (and, occasionally, her ...

A tall, striking, confident, chiseled, brown-skinned beauty, she has forever changed how America defines beautiful. No, I am not speaking of our lovely First Lady, Michelle Obama. I am speaking of Naomi Sims. Sims, who died on Aug. 1 of cancer at age 61, was one of the first black supermodels. Her appearance on the cover of Ladies' Home Journal in 1968 broke the color barrier at mainstream women's magazines, and she went on to grace the covers ...

Australia's reputation as the happy, go lucky country was turned on it's head in the late 1990s as the usually safe streets of the Victorian capital were transformed into a gangland war zone. Melbourne's "underbelly" of organized crime suddenly became very public. Men hungry for easy money, power and control of the state's lucrative illegal amphetamines trade were prepared to do whatever it took to be the boss of the underworld. It erupted between two families -- the Morans and ...

The "King of Pop" had been topping music charts long before he ever pulled on that white-sequined glove, made the moonwalk a household move and sent screaming fans into a frenzy. But the spotlight that followed Michael Jackson, earned him headlines and made him a tabloid favorite as an adult, often had little to do with the artistry. While filming a commercial for Pepsi in 1984, a pyrotechnic accident set his hair ablaze, leaving him with second-degree burns on his ...