Adidas aims to outrun Nike with bouncier shoes (Boost), Google ad test and increased soccer focus as Confederation Cup and FIFA World Cup loom, while Nike feels the heat in China.

Disney's Oz: The Great and Powerful wins weekend box office, marking a comeback for Disney's studio arm.

Old Spice introduces wolfish marketing director to boost men's animal magnetism.

America's Brand USA global marketing arm expands reach with $200M boost and German campaign.

Apple CEO Tim Cook may testify in e-book antitrust suit.

Beam looks past corruption scandal with new brand strategy in India.

Bumblebee and Chicken of the Sea expand U.S. tuna recall.Continue reading...

Burberry released the campaign for its Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, starring British actress Gabriella Wilde and musician Roo Panes. The black and white campaign, shot by fashion legend Mario Testino, uses London as the backdrop. "We wanted to play with everything that’s at the heart of the Burberry world – celebrating our brand and London through imagery, film, music, weather and our iconic outerwear, all in a very poetic and British way," explained Burberry chief creative officer Christopher Bailey.

In other fashion/luxury news today:Continue reading...

President Obama has returned to e-commerce and haute couture with Runway to Win, a collaborative campaign merchandise fundraiser pegged to the kickoff of New York Fashion Week. As fashionistas rev up for the Fall 2012 collections, designers and Dem supporters have been rallying to raise money, chicly, for the president's re-election campaign.

The collection features patriotic clothing and accessories, moderately priced from $45 to $95, from top designers including Tory Burch, Rachel Roy, Derek Lam, Beyoncé and Tina Knowles, Marcus Wainwright and David Neville, Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, Diane von Furstenberg, Narciso Rodriguez, Vera Wang, Thakoon, Jason Wu, Grace Tsao-Wu and Laura Kofoid of Laudi Vindi, Marc Jacobs and Tracy Reese.Continue reading...

Apparently, “basic” is the new black. The Spring/Summer 2011 Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week, which ended yesterday, demonstrated that designers are still courting recession-wary customers by offering signature pieces that translate beyond a single season.

Among fashion's old guard brands, Ralph Lauren returned to his Western roots, Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein presented sleek, simply-cut dresses, and Oscar de la Renta stuck to his fail-safe Upper East Side cocktail dresses—to a fault, some believed.

But amidst this return to familiar territory, several up-and-coming designers made their presence known in the tents. Over the last few years, Asian-American designers have been gaining in sartorial influence, with Michelle Obama favorite Jason Wu, Parsons grad Alexander Wang and Richard Chai, who together swept the 2010 CFDA Awards. This year, the up-and-comer to watch was Prabal Gurung, a CFDA-nominee who hails from Singapore, by way of Kathmandu. Click through to check out his collection, and more fresh faces on the catwalk this past week.Continue reading...

Rent the Runway is hoping to make high-end fashions as accessible, and almost as easy, as ordering your groceries through Peapod. Founded by Harvard Business School graduates Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Carter Fleiss, the mail-order service finished its testing phase this past Monday.

The service allows women to rent dresses from fashion designers like Diane Von Furstenberg, Hervé Léger and Proenza Schouler for roughly one-tenth of what they would cost to buy in a retail store. Rentals run $50 to $200 for a four-night loan, shipped directly to the customer’s doorstep.Continue reading...