Karl Lagerfeld has has just been tapped to receive the Légion d’honneur, the highest decoration in France, on the eve of the latest Chanel fashion show.

Lagerfeld was notified of the honor prior to the fashion show in Paris by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. A date for the official ceremony has yet to be set.

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics giant late Wednesday unveiled the world’s first 3-D TV technology aimed at revolutionizing the home viewing experience.

At a glitzy ceremony in New York’s Time Warner Center, the leading consumer electronics maker announced the launch of a broad lineup of new sets, beginning with 46-inch and 55-inch C7000 models this month, showcasing the LED-lit TVs’ 3-D picture quality with incredible depth and perfect clarity.

Viewers are to wear electronic glasses that open and close rapidly in time, with images designed for the right and left eye, creating a three-dimensional effect.

Samsung also announced the expansion of its strategic alliance with DreamWorks Animation, the US maker of “Shrek,” “Kung Fu Panda” and other hit movies to speed up the worldwide deployment of in-home 3-D to mainstream consumers.

The world’s new richest man, Mexican Carlos Slim, and a fresh crop of billionaires in Asia helped lead a comeback for the wealthiest few on the planet in 2010, Forbes magazine said Wednesday.

The publication’s annual rich list reflected a resurgence of wealth after the financial turmoil of 2009, with the top 10 wealthiest worth a combined 342 billion dollars, compared to 254 billion dollars in the previous year.

“The global economy is recovering. The financial markets came back, especially emerging markets,” said magazine editor-in-chief Steve Forbes.

“There’s a 50 percent increase in general global wealth compared to last year,” Forbes said.

Certainly the economy recovered for the super rich, who took a beating during last year’s stock and commodity market collapses, but saw across-the-board gains this year.

Forbes counted 1,011 billionaires from 55 countries, up from 793 last year, though still shy of the pre-crisis 1,125 listed in 2008.

As previously rumored, mega-star Madonna will debut her fashion range for Macy’s, called Material Girl, this August.

“Material Girl is a newly created, fast-fashion junior collection that will launch exclusively in approximately 200 Macy’s stores and online at www.macys.com in August 2010 for the back-to-school season,” read a statement from the Iconix Group, with which Madonna has formed a new venture called MG ICON to release the clothing line for the US department store.

Russia recently crowned its latest representative to the Miss World pageant, Miss Irina Antonenko.

Irina Antonenko won $100,000 and the chance to represent the country in the Miss World pageant, RIA Novosti reported Sunday.

The crown awarded to Antonenko is the world’s most expensive with an estimated value surpassing $1 million, RIA Novosti said.

The top 10 richest people in the world have a combined worth of 342 billion dollars in 2010, up from 254 billion a year ago.

Here are the 20 wealthiest, as announced Wednesday by Forbes magazine in its annual list of the world’s billionaires:

1. Carlos Slim Helu and family. Mexico. Telecoms. 53.5 billion dollars.

2. Bill Gates. US. Microsoft. 53 billion dollars.

3. Warren Buffett. US. Berkshire Hathaway. 47 billion dollars.