For the fourth edition of the annual H&M annual design awards, 24 aspiring designers from 37 fashion schools worldwide have been shortlisted, which are due to be revealed in January.

These 24 semi-finalists are Clara Jungman Malmquist, Laure Severac, Magdalena Brozda, Sarah Effenberger, Simone Schmidt Adrian, Elina Määttänen, Juyan Zhou, Francesca Reberschegg, Hirotaka Shintani, In Seo, Yumiko Sei, Youn-Chan Chung, Yiyu Chen, Andreas Ekelöf, Leonard Kocic, Charlotte Knowles, Graham Fan, James Kelly, Janni Turtiainen, Katherine Roberts-Wood, Fiona O’Neil, Andrea Jiapei Li, Peter Do and Ximon Lee.

Amongst them, only eight will make it to the next round, wherein they will showcase their collections to an international jury consisting of Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M’s creative head of design. This will take place this November in London.

The one winning the prestigious accomplishment will be entitled to collaborate with the Swedish high-street retailer, a show at Stockholm Fashion Week, a cash prize of 50,000 euros, or $63,300 at current exchange, and a mentorship.

Well let’s see who the lucky one is.

To coincide with the launch of her exciting new show ‘House of DVF’, Diane Von Furstenberghas planned the ultimate fashion stunt—she is going to dress the Statue of Liberty!

“We will wrap the ‘it’ girl of New York,” Diane reveals, “The real one—the Statue of Liberty in DVF prints!” Six mini replicas of the iconic sculpture will be placed in six select locations around New York City.

The House of DVF documentary series, detailing the designer’s search for her perfect Global Brand Ambassador, airs its first episode this Sunday, November 2.

The show has Diane entering her awesome pink-walled office to get ready for the day’s activities — while explaining her search for an exceptional and fashion-loving young woman and meeting potential ambassadors, who will be the best representative for the DVF brand, wearing DVF wrap dress!

Even in the 21^st century, a country like India still lays in the backdrop of social hindrances and the vicious circle of poverty. With a major chunk of people still remaining below the poverty line, people still die of hunger and lack of basic necessities in life. A very similar plight is suffered by the girls and young women in Tamil Nadu.

Under an extremely rampant scheme titled ‘The Sumangali Scheme’, innumerable young girls and women are employed to work in the garment industry, wherein they are promised a decent wage, comfortable accommodation and a lump-sum amount of money upon the completion of a three year contract, which thereafter is used to pay for a dowry.

However, underneath this highly attractive and apparently comfortable situation, are its sharply contrasted consequences. Excessive overwork, low wages with no assurance, no access to grievance mechanisms or redress, restricted freedom of movement and limited privacy are part and parcel of the working and employment conditions under this scheme. Following the same, the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and the India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) have conducted a report titled ‘Flawed Fabrics’ which shows the plight of these workers facing miserable labour conditions and are being forced  work in the export-oriented Southern Indian textile industry.

A July 2012 update issued by SOMO and Dutch NGO India Committee of the Netherlands states the efforts that are being made to cease the Sumangali Scheme in Tamil Nadu. Where a number of brands have backed out themselves from suspicious suppliers, some of the most upmarket brands like Diesel, Marks and Spencer, Ralph Lauren, Quicksilver, Mothercare, Next and GAP are amongst those who still employ poor girls who are indebted to be credited with a lump sum amount of money for dowry.

As many as 35 million people are employed in the textile and the clothing industry in India and the maximum manufacture takes place in Tamil Nadu. To bring forth this picture to a larger amount of people, SOMO and ICN conducted a ‘Maid in India’ report which features case studies of four large Tamil Nadu-based garment manufacturers that produce for the European and US markets.

The most striking and highly disagreeable feature of the Sumangali Scheme is the fact that it is synonymous to bonded labour. Employers are unilaterally holding back part of the workers’ wages until three or more years of work has been completed. Moreover, these workers are also restricted some basic freedoms of movement and privacy. SOMO, ICN and a number of local workers and NGOs now work extensively to completely denounce the Sumangali Scheme as unacceptable, and ensure that sourcing companies have a responsibility to conform the fact that workers’ rights are respected throughout their supply chain.

One of the finest British Luxury labels, Burberry will be graced by the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award on 19^th November. The precious event will be accompanied by the opening of Burberry’s first three-story flagship store on Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive on 7^th November.

Meanwhile, the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award was introduced in the year 2003 by the city of Beverly Hills and the Rodeo Drive Committee to recognize the many brands and individuals that have made a mark on the iconic shopping street.

With previous winners like Giorgio Armani, Tom Ford, Gianni and Donatella Versace to name a very few, it’s now Burberry’s turn to mark its everlasting imprint on the prestigious milestone!