On the day of Floating Island’s international debut, 200 protest fur fashion show at the latest Seoul landmark With only a small bridge in between, two totally different worlds unfolded in the Banpo area in southern Seoul on Thursday night. On the Floating Island on the Han River, the venue of FENDI’s fashion show, about 1,000 guests chatted pleasantly over cocktails. Just a few hundred meters ...

SINGAPORE ― If you are searching for blazing sun, beautiful beaches and great scenery for your summer holiday but have overlooked Singapore, it’s time to reconsider. With the opening of Universal Studios last week, the Resort World Sentosa on Sentosa Island off Singapore, is now transformed into an international leisure complex, aiming to attract more than 600,000 visitors annually. The family-...

Chaos is expected at FENDI’s fashion show in Seoul on Thursday evening as animal rights groups gear up for a large-scale protest. Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth announced that it will hold a protest at 5:30 p.m. at Hangang Park, across a bridge from Han River Floating Island, with the participation of seven South Korean animal rights groups and 12 foreign animal rights groups, including P...

NEW YORK (AP) ― Forget the pear-vs.-apple and curvy-vs.-curveless shape charts for a minute. There’s another divide in the two-piece swimwear discussion: What if you actually have to get up and move around instead of lying on the chaise with a cool drink in hand? The runway swimsuits and magazine-shoot bikinis, with their thin straps, triangle bottoms, decorative hardware and high ratio of white...

Stainless steel appliances. They’re eye-pleasing, sleek and darned near a cliche these days. But that ubiquity means a lot of people are wrestling with the same problem: how to keep stainless steel clean, ward off scratches and keep a notoriously touchy surface factory-fresh. Deservedly or not, stainless steel has picked up a reputation as something of a dirt magnet. “It is a surface that requ...

Manager says Taiwan’s first W hotel aims to exceed 45 percent occupancy rate this year TAIPEI ― In the bustling central business district of Xinyi in Taipei, W Taipei hotel encased in radiant glass stands tall not far from the iconic 101 Tower which shoots up more than 500 meters into the sky. Arriving at the first W hotel in Taiwan, a large stainless steel installation called “The Chain” is se...

‘Korean chic’ gains attention overseas via YouTube and makeup brands With Girl’s Generation’s bubbly song “Snowy Wish” running in the background, a Thai girl with the YouTube ID onnbaby demonstrates how to pull off the “Korean flawless look.” “I have seen lots of people doing Korean makeup styles and yes, I am now doing one of them too!” she says. The basic steps she points out are ― one, clea...

Weddings put on hold as salons close early TUNIS (AFP) ― A flash blow wave but no time for a wash, a quick eyebrow shaping, rushed facials or a hurried massage: anxious women dart in and out of Tunis’ beauty salons before the nightly curfew descends. Used to staying open until 10 pm or 11 pm to doll up clients for parties or late-night weddings, the salons now empty out early as everyone rushes...

GENEVA (AFP) - An extremely rare translucent pink diamond fetched a price of $10.8 million (7.6 million euros) at a Sotheby's auction on Tuesday, the third-highest price ever paid for one of the pink stones at auction. "Last chance: 8.5 million francs. Sold!" auctioneer David Bennett said before a crowd of about 300 people gathered at a luxury hotel in Geneva, referring to the price before commi...

Two government ministries and the Seoul local administration agreed Wednesday to join forces to promote Korea’s fashion industry. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Knowledge Economy and Seoul Metropolitan Government pledged to cooperate on fashion-related projects under the agreement signed at Seoul Palace Hotel. The three governmental organizations will run a Fashion Ind...

CAP D’ANTIBES (AP) ― Two days before the Cannes Film Festival opens, the glamour got pumping on the French Riviera at Chanel’s 2011-12 Cruise show ― worthy of a screen siren from Hollywood’s golden age. Would-be Marlene Dietrichts sauntered the catwalk Monday in bias-cut gowns of ivory silk that twinkled at the neckline with oversized pearls, their sultry gaits reflecting the very easygoing geta...

I‘ve long been an admirer of Greg Mortenson, the author of the phenomenal best-seller “Three Cups of Tea.” The book tells how he began building girls’ schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan after making a pledge to the villagers of Korphe, who had rescued him from a failed attempt to summit the world‘s second-highest peak, K-2. To see his work, I traveled with Greg in 2007 to visit schools he’d bui...