Street style icons, Home grown Chinese luxury, Prada's first-half boost, Next warns of slowdown, Masterful Crisp

Seen on the Street: Strangers as Style Icons (WSJ)
"We've had the age of supermodels as fashion icons and the age of celebrities. Now comes the age of attractive strangers... BeautifulStranger, The Sartorialist and other photo websites are turning fashion's focus from models to regular people."

Chinese luxury wannabes try to shake off "Made in China" image (Reuters)
"'I threw away the rest of my suits', beams [Warren] Buffett... Trands is one of a handful of emerging Chinese brands that someday hope to take on the likes of Gucci, Armani and Prada in the lucrative luxury goods market."

Prada First-Half Sales Rise 29 Percent (Bloomberg)
"Prada Group, the Italian luxury company that operates the Miu Miu, Car Shoe and Church's brands, said first-half revenue rose 29 percent, led by demand in Asia. Sales rose to 930 million euros ($1.23 billion) in the six months ending July 31."

Next warns of slowdown on the high street (Independent)
"Two of the UK's biggest retail chains warned of faltering consumer demand in the second half of the year, as the Government's austerity measures start to take their toll."

Masterful Crisp (Vogue.com)
"Thomas Crisp has been made the winner of the BFC's MA Scholarship - the first menswear focused designer to be given the accolade. The scheme aims to provide financial help to BA graduates who wish to carry on with their studies."