The face of Burberry has leapt to his death in Milan.

Tom Nicon, 22, the French male model who has been the front of Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, Versace and Burberry campaigns, died after falling from his fourth floor apartment on Friday according to police reports.

Nicon was in Milan as part of the prestigious Milan Fashion Week which began on Saturday, and had attended a Versace fitting just hours before he was found dead outside his building, after his modelling agency, Success, searched for him following his no-show at a meeting.

Sources close to the model have suggested that he had been battling depression since he broke up with his girlfriend, which police described as a complicated affair. Authorities are treating the death as suicide and the organisers of the fashion shows said they would proceed as a tribute to the model.

Nicon’s death is another in string of suicides that have beset the fashion industry over recent months. In February, Alex McQueen, who this week had his ashes scattered in Scotland, took his life while in London after allegedly being unable to cope with the passing of his mother. In May, Noemie Lenoir, the French model who was the UK face of Marks & Spencer, attempted to commit suicide in a Parisian forest before being found by a member of the public. South Korean Daul Kim, 20, who had fronted campaigns for Gap, Chanel, Vivienne Westwood and Karl Lagerfeld, hung herself last year after another apparent battle with depression.

Ask any UK celebrity or musician where the biggest market lies and they will usually tell you its across the water in the United States.

Now the British retail industry is looking west in an effort to battle its way back from the recession, with the US fashion market providing a valuable outlet for many retailers.

High street chain All Saints this week announced that their flagship shop on Broadway in New York raked in over $1 million (£680,000) in its first week of opening. Elsewhere, the trendy street-wear brand Superdry and modernist outfitter Jack Wills have both experienced recent US success, with customers keen for a new look that move away from the stale home-grown American clothing brands.

With so many British retailers still reeling from the economic downturn and slow pace of recovery, the US is now looming as a crucial battleground for UK fashion success. The popularity of upstart British clothing labels has been widespread, as they do not follow catwalk trends blindly. Jack Wills, which features a range of grown-up school-like clothing and university wear, is one such label that stands out for its individuality. The group has launched two stores already, including one in the well-heeled holiday destination of Martha’s Vineyard, and is anticipating a 2010 full year turnover in excess of £60 million.

Likened to a British version of Abercrombie & Fitch, fashion analysts are watching developments keenly. The world’s largest consumer market has always attracted UK retailers but few have historically had any success. In 1988, leading British company Marks & Spencer sought to enter the US market with clothing store Brooks Brothers. However, this was later sold at a loss in 2001.

Young England winger Theo Walcott was dramatically dropped from the World Cup squad yesterday, much to the disappointment of the marketing team at Marks & Spencer.

Walcott, 21, was one of the faces in a multi-million pound advertising campaign for the tournament, with most people assuming he had already booked his ticket to South Africa. He, along with Matthew Upson, Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey, is part of a series of ads where he dons Nike sportswear and Marks & Spencer designer suits.

Unfortunately, England manager Fabio Capello telephoned the Arsenal forward during a round of golf with the shock news that he was not part of the final 23-man travelling squad. Though included in the initial 30-man group, Walcott can consider himself unlucky to be one of the ‘sorry seven’ that missed the final cut. He was joined by Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone, Darren Bent, Adam Johnson, Michael Dawson and Leighton Baines.

Marks & Spencer, one of the official sponsors for the English World Cup team, has designed the £120 grey suits which will not make an appearance in the Walcott wardrobe. Hopefully he did manage to land some gear from Nike, who actually made a TV campaign which shows Walcott playing in the finals. He had also had his face ‘carved’ by Nike onto a huge billboard in West London that echoes Mount Rushmore.

Leading UK retailer Marks & Spencer has lingerie to thank for much of its support if figures from the last financial year are anything to go by.

The iconic £16 frilled Ceriso bra has helped push up the profits of the high street giant, leading many to assert that this is not any old bra; it’s the one that made M&S a million. With over 100,000 of the Ceriso bras sold in 2009, the mathematics suggests that lingerie shoppers were purchasing the hugely popular item once every two and a half minutes throughout the entire year.

The secret to success could all be in the frills, as underwear manufacturers confirmed that practical bras were not nearly as in demand as those with a decorative purpose. Floral designs and chain-lace embroidery were the biggest hits for the year, not just with women but with husbands and boyfriends brave enough to shop for their significant other.

Sales of the Ceriso helped M&S to grow their full-year profits by 5 per cent to achieve a total of £632.5 million. The retailer continued its dominance of the British underwear market, selling around 25 per cent of all bras and pants in the UK last year. M&S also grew its female market share to 25.9 per cent, three times more than Primark, its nearest competitor.

 After a lean couple of years the financial bonus will be welcomed by all at M&S, which also increased sales in men’s underwear, despite a very public dressing down by Jeremy Paxman.

Noemie Lenoir, the stunning French supermodel know for M&S adverts, is recovering in a Paris hospital after an alleged suicide attempt.

Lenoir, who has become a household name in the UK, apparently tried to kill herself while at the house of her former boyfriend, French footballer Claude Makelele, by a potentially lethal combination of alcohol and pills.

Lenoir is most well-known as the £10 million former face and body of Marks & Spencer. Lenoir, 30, has also fronted fashion campaigns for Next, Victoria’s Secret, l’Oreal and Gap. She is presently in a high-profile relationship with Carl Hirschmann, the controversial Swiss millionaire.

The model was discovered near the home of Makelele, in a forest on the outskirts of Paris. It is believed that she had been drinking a large volume of alcohol – thought to be spirits – and taken several types of drugs while she was staying at the footballer’s home, though no details of exactly what was taken have as yet been released. Makelele, at the time, was in Paris to accept a footballing lifetime achievement award.

Earlier in the evening, Lenoir had telephoned an ambulance, advising operators that she had become very ill, but then called back to cancel the dispatch. She was later seen heading groggily in the direction of the woods, where she was found by another passer-by who was out for a walk with his dog.

She later regained consciousness at the hospital, but is still showing signs of what medical staff described as an obvious attempt to hurt herself.