Surging sales at Louis Vuitton and Dior helped French luxury giant LVMH make a very strong start to 2021, with overall revenues returning to growth in the first quarter despite new coronavirus lockdowns in Europe.

Just as more and more brands opt for being super digital, Christian Dior is keeping it very real; and live, as it did Monday night, when it unveiled its pre-fall 2021 collection to an audience of 1,000 in Shanghai.

​The BFC has launched a new prize that aims to “discover and celebrate the unsung stars who go above and beyond, making outstanding contributions and striving for positive change”.

Prada, Givenchy, and Marine Serre are just some of the labels that will be available on this new luxury platform aimed at African consumers, alongside local labels such as Rich Mnisi, AAKS, and Imad Eduso.

They’re back! Shoppers were out in full force up and down the high streets and shopping centres of England and Wales for the grand reopening of non-essential retail on Monday (12 April).

​News to dampen non-essential retail reopening day enthusiasm. Don’t expect those who’ve saved money over the past year to hit the spend, spend, spend button.

Anya Hindmarch is not only continuing with physical retail but embracing it enthusiastically with next month set to see the opening of a whole village of stores for the brand in Belgravia, London.

​April 12 sees the opening of McArthurGlen’s latest outlet centre with the debut of the £160m Designer Outlet West Midlands. The company said it’s the only standalone shopping centre to open in the UK this year.

UK upscale fashion retailer Jules B is to develop and grow its online business after securing £250,000 in investment, particularly targeting more International business.

​As shops in England return on Monday, Frasers Group will open a milestone development. It’s the first brand-new Frasers store in the UK with a debut in Wolverhampton. 

Paris-based handbag brand Olympia Le-Tan is to launch a limited-edition book clutch collection in partnership with Harper’s Bazaar, the world’s longest-established luxury fashion magazine.

​Frasers Group issued a gloomy outlook on Friday warning that further Covid-19 restrictions could mean it taking a hit of more than £200 million as far as the valuation of its assets are concerned.

The Detroit-based online resale platform announced on Thursday that it has completed a new funding round, bringing the company’s total valuation up to $3.8 billion.

The French group has unveiled a new logistics hub in Trecate, northern Italy, which will bring together all of its European operations. The logistical reorganization will also affect the U.S., the Middle East and Asia. 

​UK retailers seem to be unenthusiastic about the British government’s idea of Covid status certificates to allow people to enter certain locations. 

​Fast Retailing released H1 results on Thursday, plus its Japanese Uniqlo performance for March. Both reports showed the business is doing well in general, even if the H1 figures showed some smaller brands struggling.