NATIONAL: A dearth of candidates has forced fashion retailers to be increasingly flexible in attracting and retaining staff, a recent retail salary survey has found.

MELBOURNE: Outworker protection scheme the Homeworkers Code of Practice (HWCP) has introduced a series of changes it hopes will better reflect the size range of Australian fashion companies.

Hardy eyes UK FRANCE: American designer denim brand Ed Hardy will begin its European expansion by opening a store in Paris followed by a London flagship - in what will be the brand's first foray into the UK.

NATIONAL:King Gee has avoided bench-warming duties for another season.

SYDNEY: Metalicus is set to ramp up its national retail presence, develop a national concession model and expand into e-commerce following a multi-million dollar shot in the arm.

"[Retailers] still want to pay $33,000 for an assistant manager at a centre such as Highpoint or Knox and even in the city it's just too low."

SYDNEY: Rachel Gilbert believes you can learn a thing or two from the Hilton sisters - and it has little to do with five-star hospitality.

New South Wales stores dominate the women's boutique category in the 2007 Ragtrader TNT Fashion Retailer of the Year Awards.

SYDNEY: Organisers of Australian Fashion Week have remained tight-lipped in the face of criticisms over its trans-seasonal instalment.

NATIONAL: Australian womenswear label Typical Star is set to burst into the Chinese retail scene.

SYDNEY: Australian womenswear designer Wayne Cooper is proving to be a collaborative powerhouse.

When you're temperature regularly plummets below zero, it's not hard to find inspiring ways to keep warm. Ragtrader braves the cold along with photographers Wendell Teodoro and Fab Cortesi to identify the biggest trends to come out of Air New Zealand Fashion Week.

It may have been the Kiwis hosting the event but internationals were the ones who flocked to Air New Zealand Fashion Week, as Tracey McEldowney reports.

Austrade's Jakarta-based senior business development manager, Devi Tjut, gives aspiring exporters the low down on the Indonesian market.

The affable Harvey Boots, for 23 years a fashion agent and then an importer, was getting ready to go full time into cow-pat hopping on his hobby farm when along came the man from Singapore.

Tickled pink Connie Hart, Ros O'Dell and Debbie Lazenby were all smiles as they attended the Pink Ribbon Breakfast at Sydney's MLC Centre recently.