Profits at the top luxury-goods corporations soared for the first half of the year, showing that people are shopping and indulging in fine apparel again. LVMH's profits increased 52.8 percent for the first half. Second-quarter sales at Hermès and Burberry both increased 27 percent. PPR just announced its numbers for the first half of the year, and like rival LVMH, they're pretty good! Profits spiked 87 percent for the first six months of 2010 thanks to demand for fancy clothes and accessories in Asia.

The first-half results were a “blowout,” Simon Irwin, an analyst at Liberum Capital in London, wrote today in a note. Irwin recommends buying the stock.

And he wasn't the only one. But the sartorial needs of this country don't matter quite as much to companies like PPR as those of Asia, where discretionary spending is increasing. Karl Lagerfeld already did a China-inspired collection, but we shall see if the focus on the continent visibly influences other collections for the scarily imminent spring shows.

PPR Profit Rises as Asian Demand Offsets Gucci in North America [Bloomberg]

W magazine confirmed this week that camera crews were in the office filming a documentary about the making of its September issue under new editor-in-chief Stefano Tonchi. Turns out the film is for the Internet only, and won't make it to theaters like Vogue's September Issue film. A spokeswoman for the magazine says the movie "will live online as a part of our online film festival, among other curated fashion-based films." The online film festival begins in late October on the magazine's website. Another September-issue theatrical release would have thrilled the hell out of us, but it's just about as exciting that W, a fashion body, is using the strange alien interwebs for something new and innovative.

• Zara is launching an e-commerce site this September. Now if only H&M would follow suit. [Elle]

• Australian Vogue is dedicating its September issue to Catherine McNeil, who is said to have the cover and at least three big editorials in the issue. [Frockwriter]

• Tom Ford hired shoe designer Michael Lewis, who also creates shoes for Versace, to consult on his forthcoming line of womenswear. "When Tom offered me the position I can only describe it as having arrived," Lewis said. "Why I was chosen, only Tom can answer that question but I would like to think it had something to do with having no ego and feeling comfortable with the vision of Tom's brand." [Vogue UK]

• Hussein Chalayan is working on a film “exploring the coverlap between clothing and art,” which will debut at London’s Lisson Gallery in September. [WWD]

After a blogger found Rodarte's MAC nail polish named "Juarez" offensive, MAC decided to donate proceeds from the collection to victims in Juarez, Mexico. Today the makeup brand announced that in addition to those charitable contributions and changing the names of the products in the collection, they'll also redo its marketing materials. A press release outlined specifics about the promised charity efforts: All profits from the collection worldwide will go to a "newly created initiative to raise awareness and provide on-the-ground support to the women and girls in Juarez." MAC and Rodarte apologize again in the release for unintentionally causing so much upset.