Galliano's outburst drags LVMH

In a highly followed trajectory, shares of Christian Dior fell 0.9% Wednesday. Titles of French

fashion house Christian Dior slid 2.05% just after it dismissed its chief designer, John Galliano because of his allegedly made anti-Semitic remarks at a bar in Paris last week.

European markets ended lower on Tuesday amid losses for financial stocks and some oil companies, while Italy's Luxottica Group SpA rose after reporting strong earnings. Eyewear luxury firm presented last Monday its fourth-quarter net profit, which rose 88%, and predicted a strong 2011 as consumers flock back to high-end brands. The parent of the Sunglass Hut chain said its net profit increased to €55.1 million ($75.8 million) in the final three months of 2010 from €29.3 million a year earlier. Luxottica's board also proposed a 2010 cash dividend of 44 European cents a share, up 26% from the previous year. For the first two months of fiscal year 2011, net sales of wholesale division worldwide increased by more than 15 percent and comparable store sales of retail division in North America increased by about 6 percent.

Looking ahead, the company expects stable growth in net sales and a more than proportionate increase in profitability in 2011, helped by further development in emerging markets, the global expansion of Sunglass Hut, growth in the United States and the potential of Oakley brand.

The following day, Italy's Luxottica rallied 3.3% after it said that fourth-quarter profit nearly doubled, as it also hiked its dividend payout. Other luxury stocks also got a lift, with Richemont SA rising 1.5% on the SIX Swiss Exchange and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA up 0.9% in Paris.

Surprisingly in the losers’ chapter after gathering approvals from an awful lot of analysts and investors, Lululemon Athletica was one of Wednesday's notable stocks in decline, down 1.3% to $72.86 and closing 5.34 percentage points below the previous day. In the same group, The Warnaco Group Inc., which makes Calvin Klein and other apparel, on Monday reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, but its shares fell after its 2011 guidance came in below Wall Street expectations. However the American apparel maker lost -5.14% at market close Wednesday, becoming one of the worst companies within the FashionUnited Top 100 Index.

Net income was $19.2 million, or 42 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Jan. 1, 2011, up 74 percent from $11 million, or 23 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 74 cents per share. Revenue rose 17 percent to $591.5 million, from $505.4 million a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting a profit of 71 cents per share on revenue of $574.5 million.

Finally, it was a day to mark for footwear niche market, where Deckers Outdoor Corporation slid 0.06% to $83.61. The stock has a 52-week range of $40.71-$94.70. Besides, NIKE surged 0.78% to $88.38. The stock has a 52-week range of $66.34-$92.49 and average daily volume of 2.17 million shares. At current market price, the market capitalization of the company stands at $42.31 billion.