Chinese clothing retailer Trinity Limited said Wednesday it has agreed to buy the Cerruti luxury fashion and perfume brand for a maximum of 70 million dollars.

Trinity Limited said its purchase of Cerruti Holdings “fits in with the Group’s strategy to own intellectual property rights or take on very long term licenses in high-end to luxury menswear brands with heritage.”

Cerruti has been owned since 2006 by MatlinPatterson, a firm which specialises in turning around loss-making companies.

The Chinese luxury site NobleChinese posted a Top Ten List of preferred domestic luxury labels, as chosen by its readers.

Only two of the entries are fashion brands affirming that when it comes to fashion, Western brands are still the best-known and favored amongst Chinese netizens.

It comes as little surprise: A September 2010 study done by consulting firm McKinsey shows that affluent Chinese consumers prefer foreign brands

52% of consumers whose annual income exceeds $36,000 trust foreign brands more than Chinese ones, while only 37% said they prefer homegrown labels.

On Monday, November 22, Gucci hit the 3 million fan mark on Facebook. The Italian label may soon surpass Burberry, which boasts 3.2 million fans, as the most widely followed fashion brand on the social networking site.

Gucci’s Facebook milestone follows hot on the heels of the announcement made by Burberry on November 19 that it had broken the 3-million-fan mark.

Just this past weekend, Facebook EMEA Vice President Joanna Shields had proclaimed the UK luxury label as the “most widely followed brand on Facebook.”

China’s ever increasing economic clout has again been reflected in a survey on consumer tastes in luxury goods which has shown the nation not only knows what goods it wants, it most certainly now has the means by which to buy them.

A report released this week by Bain & Company has claimed China is now the fastest-growing consumer of leather goods and jewelry worldwide.

Its overall luxury market has grown 23 per cent this year, meaning it’s on target to reap some 84.3 billion yuan (9.2 billion euro).

But what the world really wants to know is what are the Chinese after. According to this report, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Gucci are the most lusted-for brands.

Hermes rejected on Wednesday “an attack” on its capital by luxury goods giant LVMH, sounding the start of what could become a bitter battle for control of one of France’s most iconic brands.

The head of LVMH, Bernard Arnault announced he had bought 17 percent of his rival Hermes, insisting that this does not herald a hostile takeover but that he simply wanted to become a “friendly” long-term shareholder.

“If you want to be friendly, Mr Arnault, you should withdraw,” retorted Hermes executives Bertrand Puech and Patrick Thomas.

Luxury conglomerate LVMH said Saturday it had taken a 14.2 percent stake in Hermes but denied it wanted to take over the French luxury goods firm.

The company controlled by French businessman Bernard Arnault said it wanted to boost the stake to 17.1 percent at a total cost of 1.45 billion euros (two billion dollars) but was not seeking even representation on the Hermes board.

The move makes LVMH the largest Hermes shareholder after the heirs to the family share of around 70 percent.

There has been speculation about the future of Hermes, known for its fine leather goods and silk scarves, since the death of its charismatic head Jean-Louis Dumas.