Fashion brands showing Autumn/Winter 2012 menswear collections in Milan over the weekend include New York-based John Varvatos, who highlighted his love of the Big Apple, and Burberry Prorsum, Emporio Armani, Prada — which used celeb models including Adrien Brody and Gary Oldman — and Calvin Klein, below.Continue reading...

American Airlines cuts flights, says not related to bankrupcy filing.

Avon looks to a new CEO to reinvigorate culture.

Chevron and Transocean encounter government suit over oil spill in Brazil.

Clint Eastwood signs on for E! reality show with his family.

Facebook tests coupon ads; embraces clean power following Greenpeace pressure.

First Solar scales back as demand for solar panels slumps.

Ford promises its new hybrids will leap ahead of Prius in fuel efficiency.

Groupon gets faint IPO support from its underwriters.Continue reading...

ABC dismisses rumors of Pan Am's demise.

Amazon continues being coy about Kindle sales.

Apple's Siri can handle Viagra but not abortions.

AT&T disturbed by FCC report.

Audi finds success with youthful marketing.

BBC web redesign goes live in the UK.

Carlsberg acquires Vietnamese brewer.

Google and Facebook ordered to de-index counterfeit domains.

Jack Daniel's holiday campaign celebrates brand's Lynchburg, Tenn. roots.

Janet Jackson teams up with Blackglama to design luxury fur line.

Microsoft Office is reportedly coming to the iPad as Windows tablet hopes fade.Continue reading...

Major economies try to reassure investors with joint statement, but markets continue to swoon.

HP defends hasty hiring of Meg Whitman as CEO, as Whitman hits the ground running.

Chanel files sweeping Internet trademark suit in Nevada.

Boeing plans a celebration for long-delayed delivery of Dreamliner.

Alibaba gets major investment from abroad.

Apple opens fifth (and largest) China store, in Shanghai.

Borders name and IP sale to Barnes & Noble blocked by judge.Continue reading...

Disney sees Lion King 3-D dominate weekend box office.

Netflix separates movie-streaming and DVD-delivery services, renames DVD biz Qwikster; CEO says he "messed up."

AT&T and Coca-Cola set out to reinvent web audience measurement as Coke varies its bottle sizes.

Alfa Romeo delays U.S. return, spooking Fiat dealers who are counting on selling the brand.

Airbus raises forecast for aircraft demand.

AP launches mobile version of Sunday newspaper FSIs.

Blackstone teams up with Prestige Brands on GlaxoSmithKline unit bid.Continue reading...

AARP rolls out new Betty White spots as organization ends opposition to cutting Social Security benefits.

Alibaba revamps consumer business.

BJ's Wholesale gets a serious bidder.

BP's former CEO Tony Hayward sees payday in new venture IPO.

Capital One to pay $9B for ING Direct, subject to regulatory approval.

Casey Anthony case dubbed "social media trial of the century."

Chrysler faces high expectations for 300.Continue reading...

Gucci Gucci is a parasitically catchy tune with a (NSFW) video that has already rung up over 3 million views. The track is singlehandedly credited with landing the unknown and largely untested Oakland artist Kreayshawn (the self-styled 21-year-old 'creation' whose real name is Natassia Zolot) a $1 million recording contract with Sony.

And after pop artists Spears, Ke$ha, Lopez and Lady Gaga filled their recent videos with product, the anthem's chorus "Gucci Gucci, Louis Louis, Fendi Fendi, Prada" is at once an endorsement, and an indictment, of commercialism in pop.

As Kreayshawn recently told Complex magazine, "It’s not really to say ‘F**k Louis’ [Vuitton] or ‘F**k Gucci.’ I have a Louis belt. Basically, it’s saying don’t let the labels make you who you are. Sprinkle it in there, but have your own style."Continue reading...

How to use social media is still a mystery for some brands, especially luxury brands. As one recent study reveals, one in five luxury brands on Facebook still don’t allow their fans to comment on their Wall.

That’s all scheduled to change this August when Facebook says it will require branded FB pages to allow comments, a move the site has already promoted to pharma brands — a change that could help the social network better engage users, especially as its growth rate has slowed for the second straight month.

L2 recently studied 100 luxury brands on Facebook in such categories as beauty, auto, fashion, spirits and Champagne, and jewelry. Companies that asked for fans to comment ranked higher on an engagement scale than the ones that didn’t encourage such behavior, the study found.Continue reading...