French luxury brand Hermes is cashing in on the popularity of the iPad 2 with cases that cost more than the tablet itself.

The Hermes Swift (left) is a slipcase made from calfskin leather that costs a whopping $820. It comes in 10 different colors.

The Hermes Station (right) is a book-style cover, made from fine calf-skin leather , that doubles as a stand. Available in four colors, the Station will cost about $1,400.

Singapore‘s Merlion is a mythical beast (that’s part mermaid, part lion) — frozen in time in the shape of an eight-meter tall statue – who is supposed to keep watch over the city’s waters and bring wealth and good fortune to its citizens.

As of March, though, the Merlion will play a entirely different role when its structure is transformed into a hotel as part of this year’s Singapore Biennale.

According to the Singapore Tourism Board, work on the project will start on February 7 and the “Merlion Hotel” will be open for overnight stays from March 9 until May 15.

Watchmakers gave upbeat forecasts for 2011 at the industry’s largest fair on Wednesday, although the deadly earthquake which hit key luxury consuming country Japan and Arab uprisings cast shadows over the expectations.

Industry giants including Swatch and LVMH have all posted strong recoveries over 2010 and they are expecting the recovery to continue in 2011.

Swiss exhibitors underlined that January sales were up 16.9 percent over a year ago and predicted that 2011 would be a new record year for the industry.

French exports of Champagne shot up 19.5 percent in 2010 after two years of sagging sales abroad due to the global economic crisis.

Britain remained the top importer of genuine bubbly, buying 35.5 million of the 134.5 million bottles shipped outside France.

Sales in Champagne’s number two overseas market, the United States, jumped nearly 35 percent over the previous year, to 16.9 million bottles, followed by Germany and Belgium, up 21.6 and 7.8 percent respectively.

According to local and international media, Tokyo‘s fashion business is gradually getting back to usual.

After the earthquake hit Japan on March 11, many brands including Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Cartier acted to bring some of their executive staff back to their home countries and closed local boutiques.

News outlets including WWD and Racked now confirm that on March 22, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Chanel, and Forever 21 reopened their doors in the capital.

World-famous designer Jimmy Choo may have come a long way since working in his family’s humble shoemaking business in Malaysia, but he never forgot his dad’s dedication to perfect footwear.

In fact, the Penang-born Choo, whose Haute Couture shoes are coveted by royalty and the likes of Madonna and Michelle Obama, says that shoemaking is in his blood.

“I felt destined to be in the shoemaking business,” he told AFP during a recent interview in Hong Kong, where some of his shoe sketches were auctioned off to raise money for poor students in China.