Here’s an unexpected one: Giambattista Valli is H&M's latest design collaboration. The Swedish fast fashion giant and the Italian-born Paris-based designer, who maintains a long list of celebrity fans of his ready-to-wear and couture collection, unveiled their impending partnership on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday with the help of Kendall Jenner, mega-influencer Chiara Ferragni, Italian socialite/model Bianca Brandolini, Chinese musician Chris Lee, and American singers H.E.R. and Ross Lynch.  

On the heels of landing a win the David v. Goliath case it filed against a much smaller Australian boot-maker, UGG is taking on a few companies a bit closer to its own size. UGG’s parent company Deckers filed a handful of lawsuits this week against Wal-Mart Stores, Kmart, and Aeropostale in California federal court, as well as one against footwear wholesaler RFA Group in federal court in New York, alleging that they ran afoul of the law by selling copycat versions of its popular sheepskin-lined boots.  

Former social media influencer and “wellness guru” Belle Gibson first caught public attention after claiming she cured herself of terminal cancer by rejecting conventional medicine in favor of a healthy diet and lifestyle. She documented the story on her blog and social media accounts, which became the basis for a successful book and app, featuring lifestyle advice and healthy recipes. Gibson found herself amongst a group of upstarts working within the burgeoning wellness market.

Underway in the background of the ever-escalating trade war between the U.S. and China is another Trump administration trade fight, one borne from those barely worn Zara dresses that have been sitting in your closet, the cheap H&M sweaters you bought on a whim at the first hint of winter two years ago, the runway-inspired shoes you needed but have since sworn off for a trendier style. Those are the things that tend to find their way to Goodwill or the Salvation Army donation centers, or are discarded in large donation containers strewn across cities in the U.S.

“Kanye West’s Sunday Service Merch Puts Fonts on the Main Stage,” menswear site Highsnobiety declared on the heels of ravenous demand for the rapper’s new church-centric wares. Released in connection with West’s Coachella performance this spring and thereafter on his e-commerce site, the “Trust God,” “Holy Spirit,” and “Jesus Walks”-scribbled wares have reportedly since been pulled from the web following criticism about the rapper-slash-designer using religion-inspired products for profit.  

THE FASHION LAW EXCLUSIVE — “Never before ... maybe never again. Limited-edition street style, designed by global influencers.” That is how Amazon is describing what appears to be its newest fashion venture, one that it’s calling The Drop. Not yet launched, the teaser-stage project will see the Seattle-based multinational technology giant “partner with international trendsetters” – including  Paola Alberdi, Sierra Furtado, Patricia Bright, and Emi Suzuki – to help “turn your favorite curators into creators,” and let consumers “shop head-to-toe looks from their limited-edition collections.”

Forget Instagram influencers, fashion brands, and magazine editors for a minute. Your doctor might be running afoul of federal law when it comes to endorsements on social media. Ahead of this month’s launch of Jeuveau, a new wrinkle-smoothing injection market, Newport Beach, California-based company Evolus flew “top plastic surgeons and cosmetic dermatologists” to Cancun, put them up in the 5-star beachfront Ritz-Carlton, and in between meetings, treated them to lazy poolside drinks, lavish dinners, and gifts. 

“Hot Topic is still hot,” the New York Times declared last month, noting that the privately-held company’s “endurance in the narrowing market of juniors apparel suggests that [its] inventory is selling,” and that its “sustained brick-and-mortar presence” – Hot Topic currently operates 676 stores in the U.S. and Canada – “may also indicate its health amid reports of record-high mall vacancies and closures.” 

Steve Madden and Saint Laurent are putting their footwear fight to bed. On the heels of Judge Valerie Caproni of New York’s Southern District Court tossing out two of YSL’s counterclaims against Steve Madden early this month, the New York-based footwear and accessories brand and the Paris-based luxury goods company have jointly filed to voluntarily dismiss the case, with prejudice, signaling that they have managed to confidentially resolve their differences out of court. 

“Streetwear is not a trend within fashion but rather the fashion component of a larger popular culture shift that spans fashion, art and music,” one that has “single-handedly subverted the traditional fashion system by redefining its main component: exclusivity,” Hypebeast states in a newly-released report about the streetwear market – one it defines as centering on “fashionable casual clothes, [including] t-shirts, hoodies and sneakers” – and the streetwear consumer.