For decades, Tunisia has been seen as a producer of fashion, but rarely a producer of fashion designers. But that's rapidly changing. For proof, look no further than the 12th edition of Tunis Fashion Week, which this year was held not in the capital, but in the city of Tozeur, on the edge of the desert. We take a closer look at three larger-than-life Tunisian designers: Hedi Ben Mami, Seif Dean Laouiti and Braim Klei.

In this edition, we take you to discover the High Plains of Vercors in south-eastern France. In winter, this area is devoid of permanent human dwellings – only animals roam the mountains. It's an immaculate but hostile landscape spread over 170 km² that forest warden Brice Palhec knows well. He takes us behind the scenes of this wild world, the largest nature reserve in mainland France.

The online world is increasingly an integral part of our lives, especially with the arrival of the metaverse. The world of fashion is eagerly eyeing up how the metaverse can be a place where we construct parallel identities, complete with digital wardrobes. But at what price? We get some answers from designer Julien Fournié, psychiatrist Serge Tisseron, as well as Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel, co-founder of Arianee, a platform that helps brands create new digital experiences.

French fashion designer Thierry Mugler, who dressed Beyonce and Lady Gaga, has died aged 73, according to a statement on Mugler's official Facebook page confirming earlier French media reports. Mugler, who reigned over fashion in the 1980s, was known for his daring theatrical designs featuring broad shoulders and plunging necklines. He dressed the likes of Beyonce, Lady Gaga, David Bowie, Diana Ross and Duran Duran - among many others - during his career at the top of the fashion industry.

January's summer 2022 Couture Fashion Week showcased the latest sartorial offerings from 17 labels, just over half the number included in the official calendar due to ongoing Covid restrictions. Dior's Maria-Grazia Chiuri offered an ode to embroidery at Paris's Rodin museum, Jean Paul Gaultier handed the reigns of his empire over to Belgian designer Glenn Martens, while Alexandre Vauthier embraced the Roaring Twenties as an homage to our collective resilience in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. FRANCE 24 takes you to the catwalks.

London Fashion Week is back, with an increasing share of brands cutting the use of fur and aiming to show off their green credentials. We find out more. But first, we take a closer look at the EU's new €150 billion investment plan for Africa.

The eastern French town of Lunéville has played a key role in France's fashion history. It's the birthplace of Lunéville stitch embroidery, which features on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list. To teach it, there is only one person left: Aude. Her students come from all over the world to learn the techniques passed on to her by her grandmother. We also take you behind the scenes at Hermès, whose square silk scarves are made by a highly skilled team near the French city of Lyon.

For the ninth edition of FIMO228, Togo's international fashion festival, the event's founder Jacques Logoh is training the spotlight on a diverse cast of models. Larissa Solim Amelete, the face of this year's event, has succeeded in getting her family to support her modelling career, while Cathy Crussy, a TV producer, is in her 50s. Then there's Rebecca Attiogbé, who drives a forklift truck for a day job, and Alex Sef, the androgynous muse for Ethiopian label Afropian this season. FRANCE 24 went to meet them.

With war raging in Ukraine, it's not easy to know how to speak about fashion – if at all. The best answer is to face the paradox. Thanks to the French Federation for Haute Couture and Fashion, Ukrainian designer Lilia Litovskaya is now safe in Paris. At Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia, who fled a Kremlin-backed civil war in Georgia in 1993, offers up a hostile backdrop for his collection. Labels Marine Serrre, Atlein, Benmoyal and Germanier, meanwhile, are championing freedom of expression with their eco-friendly offerings.

The European Union warned consumers to stop using their clothes like throwaway items and said Wednesday that it plans to counter the polluting use of mass-market fast fashion.

This year’s Berlin Fashion Week, which was held in one of the city’s former electrical factories mid-March, was largely focused on the work of Jean Gritsfeldt. The Ukrainian fashion designer was unable to attend in person as he could not leave Kyiv due to the war. But activist movement Fashion Revolution managed to recreate key items of his collection from scratch. It was a powerful cross-border collaboration and a message of peace, which Berlin designers Esther Perbandt and Natacha Von Hirschhausen helped to spread.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.