Articles by AFP
Temu owner Pinduoduo nearly doubles annual profit
Chinese low-price online retailer Pinduoduo, the owner of the Temu app and Alibaba's main competitor, almost doubled its net profit in 2023, the group announced on Wednesday. The Shanghai-based giant, which has made affordable products its speciality since launching in China in 2015, posted a year-on-year net profit jump of 90 percent in 2023 to...
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Seaside Chanel, Louis Vuitton pussyhats at Paris Fashion Week
The last day of Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday saw Chanel take a trip back to its seaside origins, while Louis Vuitton looked to a space-age future that also included a luxury take on the "pussyhat". Chanel's show was dedicated to the northern French seaside town of Deauville where its founder Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel opened her first boutique in...
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Two of fashion's most sustainable designers present at Paris fashion week
Eco-responsible fashion conscious designers presented their autumn-winter collections on Monday, the penultimate day of Paris Fashion Week. CAPTION: Stella McCartney presentation at Paris fashion week Fall/Winter 2024. Credits: ©Launchmetrics/spotlight Vegan Stella McCartney With her father and his Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr watching from the...
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Sheer in show: Nude look dominates Paris fashion week
The trend for see-through clothes has dominated Paris Fashion Week which ends Tuesday, showing that demand for revealing outfits is still going strong despite practical and even legal challenges. From pop star Dua Lipa's undie-showing dress at the "Barbie" premiere to Rihanna on the front row in a netted babydoll dress, the nude look was...
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Iconic US designer Iris Apfel dies aged 102
New York - Iris Apfel, centenarian style icon from the New York borough of Queens immediately recognizable by her oversized owlish glasses, has died at age 102, according to her Instagram account. The self-described "geriatric starlet," best known as a textile designer and fashion celebrity, reached peak fame only in her 80s and 90s. A...
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Mossi Traore brings France's forgotten suburbs to Paris fashion week
Mossi Traore is the only French designer in the official Paris fashion week line-up to operate outside the chi-chi boulevards of the capital, staying faithful to the mixed suburb where he grew up. For more snobbish Parisians, the "banlieues" -- including commuter towns like Villiers-sur-Marne -- conjure images of urban riots and drab tower...
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Why fast fashion 'recycling' is not saving the planet
In H&M's flagship Paris store it is hard to find clothes that don't claim to be made from "recycled materials". Last year, 79 percent of the polyester in its collections came from recycled materials, and next year it wants it all to be recycled. The Swedish fast fashion giant told AFP that recycled material allows the "industry to reduce its...
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Balletcore, dunes and vamps at Paris couture week
Dior haute couture show SS24, Credit: Launchmetrics Haute couture week in Paris showcases the fashion world's most elite outfits -- one-off, made-to-measure creations that the labels hope will adorn red carpets and high society events around the world. Here are some of the highlights from four days of shows in the French capital. Balletcore...
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Amazon French warehouses unit fined 32 million euros
France's data protection agency said Tuesday it had fined Amazon's French warehouse management unit 32 million euros ($34.9 million) for an "excessively intrusive" surveillance system to monitor staff performance. Amazon France Logistique monitored the performance of employees through data from scanners used by the staff to process packages,...
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Gucci design studio strikes move to Milan
Some 40 artisans from Gucci's design studio downed tools Monday in the creatives' first ever strike, held over plans to move much of the team from Rome to Milan. The Italian luxury brand, owned by French group Kering, said in October it was transferring 153 of its 219 design employees from the capital to Milan, a move the strikers claim is "a...
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