LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, the man behind some of the world’s top luxury labels, has been officially named France’s richest man.

Arnault’s fortune is estimated at 22.7 billion euros, ($28.6 billion) following a 55% increase in his net worth weekly magazine Challenges reported.

Arnault took over the top slot from Gerard Mulliez and family, the owners of the Auchan supermarket chain. Mulliez was still in second place with a fortune estimated at 19 billion euros.

A monumental lion, teeth bared and one front paw resting proprietorially on a giant pearl, held centre stage, its golden coat caught in the setting sun under the glass dome of the Grand Palais.

Karl Lagerfeld is a past master at dreaming up attention-grabbing scenarios for his Chanel shows, and Tuesday night’s was no exception.

It looked like an allusion to Jean Cocteau’s Surreal masterpiece “Beauty and the Beast” when the traditional bride at the end was accompanied by a groom wearing a lion’s head over his wedding suit.

However Lagerfeld told AFP it had been inspired by a small bronze lion found in Coco Chanel’s apartment.

Louis Vuitton unveiled its revamped luxury Saint-Tropez store on 18-June 2010 and launched an exclusive beach bag to celebrate.

The store has been doubled in size with the integration of an adjoining space–a former house of pottery–on rue Georges Clemenceau.

It features interiors inspired by classic Mediterranean glamour: wooden displays, stone floors and sunlight flooding in through large windows that open onto a private garden paved with Provencal briquettes and Mediterranean plants.

Libération – the iconic left wing French newspaper – has invited Karl Lagerfeld to be editor-in-chief for the day.

The entire issue bears his mark, from illustrations to comments, to special interviews of him, and an opinion page about the designer.

His illustrations include a self-portrait for the cover of today’s edition, which is 14 by 22 inches — twice as large as it usually is.

The exuberant creations of Christian Lacroix, who lost his prestigious house last year, are to get a second life as part of France’s national heritage.

The French culture ministry said Tuesday that the owners of the label had confirmed a donation of 11 outfits for the country’s Decorative Arts Museum.

A further 3,000 haute couture models dating from the creation of the label in 1987 to its demise in 2009 would be lent to national museums when necessary.

An engraved Guerlain bottle from 1870 fetched the record sum of €45,600 at an auction in the city of Arcachon, in the southwest of France.

The flacon, engraved with the house’s original address, Rue de la Paix, was initially expected to fetch €20,000 to €30,000.

Organized by Arcachon auction house Toledano, the sale took place in the presence of French fragrance expert Bernard Gangler.