Here are some of the biggest international fashion events coming up this summer.

Scandinavian fashion weeks

August 8-14

Stockholm, Sweden; Oslo, Norway

While August is a calm month for fashion in general, the Scandinavian countries are using the gap in between seasons to build an alternative scene that attracts more and more visitors each year and that has local designers return from big international fashion cities to show in their home countries.

Lakme Fashion Week

August 16-21

Mumbai, India

With the help of Mercedes Benz, which also sponsors fashion weeks in New York, Sydney, and Berlin, for example, Lakme fashion week has developed into India’s most prestigious fashion event.

Sydney Fashion Festival

August 23-27

Sydney, Australia

The Sydney Fashion Festival features ticketed fashion events for the public, showcasing Australia’s leading designer brands and retailers as their Spring/Summer collections arrive in stores throughout the city. The main fashion shows are held in the Sydney Town Hall and are accompanied by a satellite schedule of fashion and lifestyle events that span the city. The Rosemount Australian Fashion Week is Australia’s most globally-followed fashion event but, like the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, the Mercedes-Benz Sydney Festival is popular with the locals as it is open to the public.

Semana Internacional de la Moda (SIMM)

September 1-3

Madrid, Spain

The country’s most important fashion week showcases the collections of local as well as international designers. The inclusive event attracts buyers from all over the world looking for everything from vanguard fashion to everyday wear, sportswear, underwear, plus-size and teen fashion.

Istanbul Fashion Week

September 7-10

Istanbul, Turkey

One of the youngest fashion weeks of the world, the event has already gained a high-profile following thanks to designers such as Dice Kayek or Hakaan.

New York Fashion Week

September 8-15

New York, NY, USA

The biggest American designers, such as Tommy Hilfiger or Ralph Lauren, will show alongside fresh talents, including Prabal Gurung and Alexander Wang, when the Big Apple kicks off fall’s fashion month.

London Fashion Week

September 16-20

London, UK

Just one day after the end of the shows in New York, the London Fashion Week begins. House of Holland, Julian Macdonald, Matthew Williamson, Acne, Peter Pilotto, Erdem and Burberry Prorsum are some of the brands showing their Spring/Summer collections in London, considered the most avant-garde of the four big fashion weeks.

Milan Fashion Week

September 21-27

Milan, Italy

After London and before Paris, the fashion crowd moves to Milan to look at the women’s Spring/Summer 2011 collections. Expect great shows from the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Fendi, Gucci and Prada.

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Paris Fashion Week

September 27 – October 5

Paris, France

The season of Spring/Summer ready-to-wear shows ends in Paris with legendary houses like Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Sonia Rykiel, Maison Martin Margiela, Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.

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The Kardashian Kollection finally hits Sears, for fans of the Kardashian sisters’ style, their new collection for Sears won’t disappoint.

The Kardashian Kollection, which officially arrives in 400 of the retailer’s U.S. stores on August 25, is available to buy online from today at a 30 per cent discount in a ‘pre-sale’ to celebrate its launch.

As one would expect, the line bears all the signatures of Kim, Kourtney and Khloe – figure-hugging dresses, printed pantsuits and of course, sky-high platform shoes.

Prices start at $20 for an Art Deco-inspired cocktail ring, up to $99 for a dress or pantsuit. The line also includes handbags and even lingerie.

In an interview on Good Morning America today, Kim, 30, described the collaboration as a dream come true.

She said: ‘This was our ultimate dream ever is to, you know, create our own clothing line, go into bedding and home, denim, lingerie, ready-to-wear, everything… from shoes to accessories, handbags… Fashion is our life.’

The girls, who chose the wallpaper and carpets for their in-store boutiques too, added that it was important to them that there was something to flatter every figure.

Khloe, 27, told Life & Style: ‘Women should celebrate their bodies. The three of us have very different body types, and we were very conscious about designing pieces to complement every woman’s figure.’

She said that a printed jumpsuit was her favourite piece from the line.

‘The fabric on this style in particular is so comfortable and easy to wear,’ she told Luckymag.com. ‘This cut also really compliments my height. Dress it up with heels and glam jewels or dress it down with flats and simple accessories for day.’

Kim named the black-and-white striped minidress as her top pick, while Kourtney, 32, admitted that the jewellery caught her eye them most.

She explained: ‘I change up my style all the time and love to play around with accessories in particular—they can really make or break an outfit.’

More and more couples tend to tie the knot on a weekday, so how about the tradition of getting wed on Saturdays?

The most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics – from 2008 – showed that 60% of couples in England and Wales marry on a Saturday.

Friday in second place accounted for almost a fifth of all weddings as couples sought to jump the queue for their desired venue. Sunday (5.5%) trailed in third. But since those statistics were compiled, there’s been a lift-off for the mid-week wedding.

It’s a definite trend, says Arabella Dupont, executive retail editor at Brides magazine. The main reason is cost, with mid-week events about a third cheaper. With figures published this month by Brides showing that couples spend an average of £24,669 on their wedding, it’s easy to see why people are looking for savings, Dupont argues.

There’s also the hook of better availability. Country House Weddings, a company operating four stately homes in Essex, Gloucestershire and Somerset, holds 250 weddings a year at each venue.

With only 52 weekends a year, and high demand, couples are opting for a formerly unfashionable Monday or Tuesday to ensure they get to marry in a historic house with large grounds, a spokeswoman says. It can also lead to savings of about 40% in high season.

Traditionalists might argue that the sense of occasion is lost on a Tuesday afternoon. But a wedding should be able to transcend which day of the week it’s on, but the financially-straitened times means that many people on average earnings are looking to make savings on weddings. “Weddings are so expensive nowadays that people are making cutbacks,” says a spokeswoman.