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NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Elie Tahari and Arthur S. Levine announced today that they have formed a partnership with Catherine Malandrino, a designer and brand with wholesale, retail and e-commerce, including stores in New York and around the world. "I feel incredibly fortunate to have met such successful and talented people with a shared vision. Elie, Arthur and I will explore the full potential of the Catherine Malandrino brand," Malandrino said. The Catherine Malandrino brand began 12 years ago and has grown into an international icon of femininity, strength and style that is effortlessly chic. Fusing

Tokyo -- Fast Retailing Co., parent to the Uniqlo chain of stores, reported Wednesday that profit for the full year fell 12% to $709.2 million. The company blamed the performance decline on bad weather, but said it will accelerate store openings overseas, which will compensate for the decline. On Friday, Fast Retailing will open it largest store to date – on New York City’s 34th Street at Fifth Avenue. Earlier, in September, the company unveiled plans to open 200 to 300 stores per year to make it the world’s biggest apparel retailer. It will launch a joint venture with

More than 100 people were charged in a New York-based identity theft ring in which stolen credit card numbers were used to create fake cards that were given to teams of criminal "shoppers" for spending sprees at higher-end stores including Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Apple. In total, 111 people were charged and 86 are in custody.

AdamAndEve.com, the award-winning site of adult industry giant Adam & Eve, has announced the launch of its mobile website, compatible with iPhone and Android devices.

eBags.com is collaborating with Fluid to define the next generation of social shopping, which launched recently on Handbags.com, the latest website from eBags.com. Social shopping facilitates social interactions while shopping online — e.g., inviting friends to offer opinions and suggestions on which products to buy when faced with many great choices.

The Gap wants Kim Kardashian's lawsuit over an advertisement that featured a look-alike to be thrown away. The reality TV star sued in July over an Old Navy commercial that showed an actress that purportedly looked like Kardashian singing her love of bargain-basement jeans.

The hype surrounding the launch of Google+ went into overdrive a few months ago when it debuted to a select group of beta testers. But now that the service has been opened to the public, a new report claims that the social networking site has suffered a staggering loss of roughly 60 percent of its traffic.

Jones Group is considering a sale of its denim business. The company, whose brands include Nine West and Anne Klein, said Oct. 11 that it's in talks with clothing maker Delta Galil Industries to sell its jeanswear division for about $350 million to $400 million. Jones expects talks to be completed by the end of the month, but said a deal hasn't been reached and a transaction isn't guaranteed.

John Malkovich is bringing his eclectic touch to Milan. The actor has opened a temporary store, named OpificioJm, in the city's Golden Triangle luxury shopping area. In addition to his Technobohemian collection, which Malkovich launched in 2009 and which includes men's apparel and accessories, OpificioJm will carry a range of products, from pieces of furniture to ultralight wood frames and a selection of wines and Italian food specialties.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Wal-Mart (WMT) Speaking at Wal-Mart's annual meeting Wednesday, Bill Simon, head of Wal-Mart U.S., noted an increase in traffic at stores, led by its food business. Simon said that the July, August and September momentum doesn't necessarily add up to a quarter. There are still two weeks left to the period, so it is still too early to tell which way the pendulum will swing.