Blog Posts by CNBC

By Katy Barnato, CNBC.com

Scenes From London Fashion Week

Britain's economy may be stagnant, but this month's London Fashion Week showed its fashion industry at least is thriving.

Coming shortly after retail figures showed a 0.9 percent sales rise in January, the event showcased a host of British talent, from stalwarts like Alexander McQueen (the late designer's label), Burberry and Vivienne Westwood, to relative newcomers like Louise Gray. Other established names gave debut London performances, with Italian label Moschino making its first foray across the Channel.

Quintessentially British styles were out in force, with a Carnaby Street-inspired show by Moschino, and frequent dashes of tweed, wool and felt fabrics across the catwalk. But designers also looked east, spawning many a Russian-style fur hat, headscarf and peasant skirt.

Click ahead for some highlights from London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2012.

More from CNBC:

Homes of Fashion Mogul

London Fashion Week: Fall

By Patricia Orsini, CNBC.com

Should you send that email?Should you send that email? There's a chart for that, created by some folks at Online IT Degree. We found it on Fast Company's web site.
The cheeky flowchart guides the email-challenged through the decision-making process.

First, are you at work? No? Ok, fire at will.

Yes? Well then, is it for someone you work with? If so, is it work-related? Ok, then, is it about cats? Stop right there.

The chart is also filled with fun, informative - and scary - factoids about how much time the typical office worker spends on email per week.

"Are you sure it's work related?" asks one chain on the chart. "Because the typical office worker sends and receives 110 emails per day, resulting in 13 hours of emailing a week. Your boss is not stoked."
More reasons the boss isn't stoked: "Businesses lose $650 billion every year due to unnecessary emails, and office distractions (like email) cost companies more than $10,000 per employee yearly."

Is there anything a business

By Christina Cheddar Berk, CNBC.com

Toys and Technology

If you have ever had to wrestle your iPad from your child's clutches, you know that kids love playing on tablets and smartphones. The trend has not been missed by toymakers. They know that even before a child can read or speak, they have an affinity for these devices.

Enter the biggest trend at this year's American International Toy Fair: toys that are either based on apps, or can be used with tablets and smartphones. The trend began last year, but this year the volume of products in this category will explode.

Some see the emerging trend as a way for toy companies to woo children back to their products, but others expect these technologies also can be used to enhance classic children's play.

Whatever side you're on, it is still too early to know what kids will think of these products and which ones will stand out in the crowd.

Already, several basic approaches to this market have sprung up. Some toymakers are using physical

By Jill Weinberger and Joseph O'Dell, CNBC.com

The Biggest 'Oscar Bump'

Movie studios can spend millions campaigning for an Academy Award. This isn't just a move to take home a golden statue. Winning an Oscar can translate into big money for a movie studio.
Just how much financial influence can the Oscars have?

According to IBISWorld, the average best picture Academy Award winners between 2006-2010 saw a bump of 22.2 percent (or $20.3 million) in box-office revenue after receiving a nomination and an additional 15.3 percent (or $14 million) following a trophy.

The 2011 best picture winner, "The King's Speech," saw a significant Oscar bump, with 42 percent of its box-office sales coming after its nomination and 16 percent more after it won. Paramount Pictures is hoping for a big bump for Martin Scorsese's high-budget family film "Hugo," which grabbed 11 Oscar nominations but has been underwhelming at ticket sales.

Which movies have seen the biggest boost from Oscar? With data from

By Lisa Flam, CNBC.com

If you believe everything a pet owner could ever want or need has already been dreamed up, think again. Americans shell out more than $40 billion a year to make their beloved pets happy. And if they can't find just the right product to do the trick? Well, some entrepreneurial pet owners roll up their sleeves and create the product themselves. The result is a crop of small businesses that has sprung up around these products, and others that have expanded their offerings to meet pet-related interests. We asked the owners of innovative and quirky pet products about their inspiration, and the growing appeal of their products.

See the full slideshow: 11 Cutting-Edge Products for Your Pet


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Love thy neighbor? Sure. Love thy neighbor's cats sneaking into your home and causing a ruckus? Well, that's another story.

Nick Hill, a British physicist, was frustrated that neighborhood cats were entering through his cat door and

By Katie Little, CNBC.com

Buy a tote - stop a counterfeiter.

Vivienne Tam's As part of the "You Can't Fake Fashion" campaign, more than 75 designers have teamed up to raise awareness against counterfeit items and to celebrate original design by creating a line of tote bags.
Currently on display at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, the collection is a joint effort between the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and eBay.

Sporting $200 price tags, the designer totes will be available exclusively on eBay beginning March 20. Buyers on a budget can also choose from four styles of canvas totes that will sell for $45 each. During the program's inaugural collection last season, the totes sold out within 48 hours.

Tracy Reese, who exhibited her Fall 2012 collection at Fashion Week on Sunday, stressed the importance of fighting counterfeiting in the fashion industry.

"It happens, and it will continue to happen unless we really continue to fight it," Reese said.

In addition to counterfeiters, who

By Cindy Perman, CNBC.com


Don't worry, buddy. She's out there.Love is in the air and heart-shaped things, chocolates, flowers and pudgy babies slinging arrows are everywhere, it seems, from storefront windows to your inbox.
But when it comes to the workplace, to quote Rose Royce (or more specifically, Miles Gregory), "Love don't live here anymore."

According to a recent survey by TheLadders.com, 88 percent of the more than 250,000 job seekers surveyed said they had some level of dissatisfication with their current workplace, including 19 percent who said their job "isn't awful but not great" and 3.9 percent who said they "don't know how much more of this gig can be tolerated!"

Waiter, check please!

To be fair, these were people who were already in contact with TheLadders, a job-matching service that's like the Cupid of the corporate world. But consider this: The Ladders' membership has doubled in the past two years to 5 million. That's the equivalent of the entire population of the state of Colorado all looking for a

By Jane Wells, CNBC.com

Valentine's DayBeer companies aren't known for being romantic. They're aimed at men, who are, generally, well, you know. Not romantic.

However, Heineken is giving romance a shot this Valentine's season with a campaign called "Serenade".


Last week the band who appears in Heineken ads performed live serenades for lovers who called in on Skype.

Sounds silly, but it was actually funny and sweet. I especially liked the French guy who wanted his girlfriend serenaded while living in another country (very French). After he answered a few questions about his lady love via Skype--as she listened--the band struck up a hilarious impromptu love song.
You can still have a loved one serenaded this week using the Heineken Serenade app on Facebook. You choose a friend or lover and answer a series of questions--things like "Why do you like so and so?" You can also suggest outings to go on, like "go surfing on lava," which doesn't sound romantic. After answering the questions, the band sends