Duane Reade's new beauty section will be stocked with upscale brands. [WSJ]

Beauty product sales were down but skincare lines did well in 2009. [WWD]

L.L.Bean launched its Signature collection, but consumers aren't impressed. [Wallet Pop]

DreamWorks promises 3-D animated movies from now on. [Businessweek]

Puma teamed up with Droga5 on a visually stimulating smartphone. [BrandFreak]

Microsoft tries to show up Google by revamping its Bing search engine. [LA Times]Continue reading...

Lindsay Lohan is suing the financial company E-Trade, stating that the "milkaholic" baby named Lindsay in its latest commercial was modeled after her. She wants $100 million for her pain and suffering.

The actress filed a lawsuit yesterday in Nassau County Supreme Court over the Super Bowl commercial. The ad is part of a series starring stock market-enthralled babies and features Lindsay as the “other baby” in a love triangle. Lohan's lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia, said the actress has the same single-name recognition as Oprah or Madonna. Grey Group, producer of the spot, says it simply chose Lindsay because it’s a common baby name.Continue reading...

ABC viewership increased by 14 percent thanks to the Academy Awards. [LA Times]

Payless ShoeSource is extending its brand to include a cosmetics line. [WWD]

Online series 'Married on MySpace' has attracted a variety of advertisers. [Brandweek]

Mayor Bloomberg calls for a tax on soft drinks to be passed in New York. [Daily Mail]

Toyota stands up against declarations that its electronics are flawed. [Reuters]

A new eBay campaign promotes buying used to save the planet. [NY Times]Continue reading...

The investor group that purchased Halston in 2007 will launch two men’s lines of suits and sportswear this fall. The company will also offer a secondary line, called Heritage, which will be more fashion- and sportswear-driven at lower prices.
 
The brand has been out of men’s wear since the early 1990's when it was primarily a licensed tailored clothing business. Halston’s 1970's aesthetic played out in the most recent women’s collection for fall 2010 with a muted palette, minimalist silhouettes and an ode to the 1978 set design of Eyes of Laura Mars with Faye Dunaway. Women’s is carried in Neiman Marcus, Harrods, Selfridges, Bloomingdale’s and Bergdorf Goodman.Continue reading...

Ford looks to harness customizable iPhone-like "apps" for it's Sync operating system. [WSJ]

US reconsiders sale of Citigroup stake after bank struggles to raise capital. [NY Times]

Bank of America names Brian Moynihan as chief executive. [Times of London]

2009's most talked about brand: Microsoft. [AdWeek]

Domino's Pizza will change US recipe in attempt to improve sales. [Bloomberg]

Playboy's talks with Iconix fall apart. [LA Times]Continue reading...

As consumers seem to get younger and younger, the web and its social networking sites have become important areas of potential growth for brands. Luxury retailers have taken note and are making great strides in getting attention.

"(The web) is very important by the sheer fact people are spending more time online, on Facebook, Twittering," said Emanuel Ungaro's chief executive, Mounir Moufarrige.

Design houses including Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana and Alexander McQueen, streamed their catwalk shows on the Internet at this past September's fashion week. Facebook is bombarded daily with new brands, including these same fashion houses, whose pages have amassed hundreds of thousands of fans. Quite a few are using Twitter.Continue reading...

This week, Emanuel Ungaro hinted to journalists that Lindsay Lohan had sucked the soul out of the label he founded. Retailers agree, since after terrible reviews for the show marking Lohan's debut as artistic adviser, Neiman Marcus and Net-A-Porter dropped the Spring 2010 line by Estrella Archs and Lindsay Lohan.

Notably, those two were the only major retailers selling the label outside of freestanding Ungaro stores. Barneys and Saks haven't carried the line for several seasons, and also decided not to pick it up for spring. Style.com reports that you can still find the line at Vivaldi on the Upper East Side.Continue reading...