V&A hoping for another fashion blockbuster with Balenciaga show
Museum aims to capitalise on label’s current buzz with celebration of original designer’s ‘uncompromising creativity’
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Tate Modern to host ‘once in a lifetime’ Picasso exhibition
Landmark show will focus on ‘year of wonders’ 1932, at height of painter’s affair with young lover Marie-Thérèse Walter
Hard times for luxury Swiss watches as sales drop 10%
Swiss watch federation reports huge drop in exports to China as official crackdown on bribery makes it worst year for industry since 2009
Gucci owner gets teeth into snakeskin market with python farm
Luxury group Kering says snakes will be raised in the ‘best conditions’ before they are turned into shoes, bags and belts
Chanel haute couture show proposes a new catwalk silhouette
Karl Lagerfeld finds beauty beyond the thin with iconoclastic collection that features ovoid-shaped skirts and padded-out hips
Dior offers pure escapism with fairytale haute couture show
Designer Maria Grazia Chiuri moved from her debut’s feminist T-shirts into a fantasy world that heralded a bold new attitude