A French luxury group has announced their intention to continue Alexander McQueen’s fashion line after his death last week. Francois-Henri Pinault, PPR president, said that this will be the best tribute they can offer him.

Last Thursday, the British fashion designer hanged himself in his wardrobe and even left a note. The incident came the day before he was to attend his mother’s funeral, following her death on February 2. He and his mother were very close, and he was distraught over her death.

As for McQueen’s fashion label, there are 11 boutiques and 180 people employed by the label worldwide. It is part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by PPR.

The announcement from the French group was made at a press conference after they revealed that profits increased 6.9% last year, which was partially due to the sale of CFAO, their African distribution business. The company’s net profit was £857 million ($1.3 billion) for last year, up from the year before. Pinault said that PPR had a notable financial performance last year despite the worldwide recession.

In a statement from Gucci Group, the company expressed their interest in continuing the growth of McQueen’s brand. They said that they are committed to presenting the collection at Paris Fashion Week in just a couple weeks. President and chief executive Robert Polet said that he strongly believes in the future of the brand, and McQueen will have a legacy that Gucci will continue protecting, growing and celebrating.

The so successful designer became the chief designer at Givenchy in 1996. He started creating his own label, and a majority stake in the label was bought by Gucci in 2001. McQueen had also won 4 British Designer of the Year awards.

Apparently Alexander McQueen wrote a suicide note before hanging himself in his wardrobe. The British fashion designer was found in his home just last Thursday.

The coroner, Dr Paul Knapman, opened an investigation into the cause of the designer’s death on Wednesday and was given the note found at the scene. Paul Armstrong, the detective inspector, told the court that no suspicious circumstances surround his death. The court was also told that the postmortem examination of the 40-year-old showed that he died from hanging and asphyxiation. Janet McQueen, Alexander’s sister, identified her brother’s body on Thursday after he was found, the court heard. This will not be the end of the inquest, as it will continue on April 28.

Family representative Jonathan Coad didn’t make any comment afterward, but a note was passed to media reporters, requesting they respect the family’s privacy. The note asked that they recognize the double loss the family has suffered in such a short amount of time and that any intrusive and/or insensitive footage and/or photographs will only increase their distress.

The day after he was found, Alexander was suppose to meet his family for his mother’s funeral, who died on February 2. He had written on his Twitter page that the week had been awful, and some of his friends and colleagues were beginning to worry about his weird behavior. His death was still a big shock to them all, as well as the fashion industry and the many celebrities who loved his work. Alexander was one of the best designers in Britain, having won the British Designer of the Year Award 4 times.

TV presenter and model Alexa Chung debuted her first fashion collection for Madewell at New York Fashion Week. Madewell is a US store and sister to J. Crew. The company has had a rather rocky start since launching over 3 years ago, but Alexa may be what it needed to take off.

Alexa said that Madewell’s vision is sort of the same as hers, as they like styles that are laid back and relaxed. They offer timeless and classic clothes, she continued, so she thought it was the perfect fit when they asked to collaborate with her.

The fall collection is influenced by the 1960s, including a mix of vintage blouses, cute shorts, high-waisted skirts and mini dresses, all with plaid, velvet and stripes – which are all very Alexa-like styles. The 26-year-old says that she is eager to do another range with the store in the future, but they have talked about it yet. She added that they will see how this collection goes.

Project Runway’s fourth season winner Christian Sirian, who also showed a collection in Bryant Park this week, said that this is a great way for Madewell to freshen up their image and look. Alexa was just featured on the cover of the latest Vogue issue and was named the Best Dressed Woman of last year by the mag.

Meanwhile, various other fashion designers, like Diane von Furstenberg and DKNY, have shown off their new collections at New York Fashion Week. The biggest trends seem to be coloured tights, men’s tailoring and large jackets.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, known better as PETA, has now named Catherine Zeta-Jones to be the worst dressed celebrity. The actress topped the list, because the animal welfare organization says she will wear anything that has once moved.

In a statement, PETA said that Catherine looks like she’s working her way through Noah’s ark with a knife, wearing her ugly fox coat, creepy cow-skin pants and icky alligator bag. The statement continued that she looks as though she’s getting into character for a serial killer or taxidermist role.

The organization didn’t stop the harsh criticism with just Catherine, as they also talked about Kate Hudson. They stabbed at the actress’s break up with baseball star Alex Rodriguez, saying that wearing a hairball is the easiest way to lose a guy in ten days. They added to speculate that her furs were the reason he ran for home.

PETA also took a shot at Jessica Simpson. The group commented that all of the actress/singer’s clothes resembled her dead career. However, these weren’t the only 3 Hollywood beauties to make the list, as they were joined by Aretha Franklin, Rihanna, Goldie Hawn and Jennifer Lopez.

One actress has kind of lashed back at PETA for being on the list. Real Housewives of New York star Jill Zarin says that, although she is flattered to be placed beside Catherine Zeta-Jones, she doesn’t wear real fur, adding that Adrienne Landau makes the best fakes and doesn’t remember the last time she wore the real thing.

Despite this, PETA’s spokesperson said they don’t believe it’s fake. They claimed that Zarin has a known fondness for real things, which is something she’s never denied.

Victoria Beckham showed off her 2010-11 autumn/winter collection (her fourth) at New York Fashion Week on Sunday, impressing critics. Fashion designers are constantly being scrutinized, but Beckham has proven that she is no joke and will be designing fashion for the long run.

This is Beckham’s fourth collection of dresses, which includes 26, and in just these four she is showing her signature look. Her designs are nothing short of sexy – with restraint – using elegant lines and great attention to details. She explained her collection to the audience, saying that it was exercise in control, and she wanted to push herself and work with drapery and structure.

Beckham said she was inspired by the colour palette from the cartoon Dick Tracy, as well as dance pioneer Martha Graham and 1940s Hollywood femme fatale. This color palette, for those who don’t know, includes emerald, blood red, graphite and sapphire. She even wore one of the dresses from the new collection – a grey wool sweater-like couture dress – that she explained could be just thrown on.

Before the show, Beckham is said to have told her sons that she was going to do a big test. Then after the show she talked about how she wants to open a shop for her collections by 2015. She also joked about Romeo, one of her sons, wanting to take over the business, which may be a successful inheritance some day.

Beckham’s line is priced pretty heftily, but it has sold out even during the recession. According to various reports, it’s estimated by insiders that the collection could be worth as much as £4.7 million or £5.4 million ($7.5 million $8.4 million) just this year.