Now the weather’s brightened up, it’s time to lighten up on the fragrance front too. Katie Wright sniffs out the best new fragrances for men and women.

Banks led US stock indexes mostly higher on Friday, propelling the Nasdaq composite index to its fourth record high this week.

Three of the world’s best-known clothing brands, Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein last year posted increased sales in Ireland, but their profits performance is mixed.

With party season pending, our thoughts turn to festive fashion. Opera Lane has been influenced by the lady eclectic – a colourful muse inspired by the maximalism of the 70s and early 80s where baubles and furs flirt shamelessly with masculine cuts and heaps of attitude.

German fund manager Deka Immobilien Europa has acquired the Whitewater Shopping Centre in Kildare for €180m.

Adam Matthews reports from "Knit City", the garment industry hub in India that generates billions in revenue but has also saturdated rivers with chemicals.

One of the world’s largest and most respected designers has committed to going fur-free by the end of next year.

TWO prime Waterford City investments worth €13.5m — one next to where Wetherspoons have acquired a 4,000 sq ft city footprint for a new bar — are new to market for a local family of investor/owners.

The rural setting didn’t stop people putting on the gladrags at the Ploughing Championships. Caroline Allen checked out the chic on show at the popular event

Age: 39 

Pre-tax profits at the main Irish arm of international clothing giant, Zara, more than doubled last year to €6.2m.

Name: Elizabeth Timmons

Benetton has become the latest global retailer to agree to sign a one-of-a-kind pact to improve safety at Bangladesh factories following a building collapse that killed more than 1,100 workers.

A PRIME, good-sized store on Cork City’s Patrick Street has come up to let via Savills, at a market-savvy rent, after being vacated during the summer by Mothercare.

It’s that place where we spend eight hours a day, five days a week: for some it’s an office, for others it’s a boardroom, studio space, catwalk or kitchen.

WITH some of Dublin’s stores planning to open on St Stephen’s Day, some of the biggest stores in Cork city are planning to follow suit in a bid to generate extra sales after a difficult year for the retail industry.

Thousands of garment workers in an area of Bangladesh where clothes are made for foreign companies including Marks & Spencer clashed with police today, amid protests over a new minimum wage.

American fashion label Tommy Hilfiger is to be bought by the owner of Calvin Klein in a deal worth €2.2bn, it was revealed today.

RETAILERS in the country’s most exclusive shopping area have pleaded for Government help to get out of leases they say are forcing them to pay exorbitant rents.

Spanish fashion retailer Mango is to create up to 10 jobs with a new store in Dublin.

Eight leases on one of Dublin’s most prestigious shopping streets have been put up for sale as the combination of high rents and the credit crunch hits retailers.

Eight leases on one of Dublin’s most prestigious shopping streets have been put up for sale as the combination of high rents and the credit crunch hits retailers.

The Tommy Hilfiger Group today announced plans to locate a global flagship store on Fifth Avenue, in New York City.

SAVILLE Menswear won the Cork Business of the Year Award on Saturday night.

ONE of the largest menswear stores in Europe, situated in the heart of Cork city, was yesterday announced as the third quarter winner of the Cork Business Association business of the year award.

AN investigation by an animal advocacy group in the US has found coats — some with designer labels such as Tommy Hilfiger — made from dog’s fur.

Four months after it put itself up for sale, clothing company Tommy Hilfiger Corporation agreed to accept a $1.6bn (€1.3bn) or 16.80 dollars a share, cash bid from Apax Partners, a private investment company.

P Diddy's Sean Jean clothing line is among a list of some of America's top fashion houses being considered to redesign new uniforms for staff at McDonalds.

Fashion brand Ben Sherman - whose shirts became a style trademark of the Mod movement of the 1960s - was sold today in an £80m (€120m) deal.

Beyonce Knowles has reportedly signed a £2.5m (€3.6m) deal to be the face of Tommy Hilfiger perfume.

Beyonce Knowles has reportedly signed a £2.5m (€3.6m) deal to be the face of Tommy Hilfiger perfume.

Police in the North have seized a consignment of counterfeit designer and sporting clothes believed to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Marks & Spencer says the sell-off of its US chains will be delayed following last week's terrorist attacks.