Ashton Kutcher is Pepe Jeans' face for Autum/Winter 2008.

Pepe Jeans London is pleased to announce that fronting the advertising campaign for Autumn / Winter 2008 is the actor and tv producer Ashton Kutcher.

After some success in modelling Kutcher moved to Los Angeles and after his first audition was cast as Michael Kelso in the television series That 70s Show which debuted in 1998 and ended in 2006.

He has starred in several comedy films that include Dude, Where's My Car? Just Married, Guess Who,Cheaper By The Dozen,The Butterfly Effect and most recently What Happens In Vegas...Perhaps Kutcher is more renowned for his antics in his own MTV series Punkd.

He is also executive producer for reality TV show Beauty And The Geek aswell as another reality tv show entitled The Real Wedding Crashers.

Female talent is top model Isabeli Fontana. Born in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. In 1996 she made it to the finals of the Elite Model Look Contest when she was just 13. Isabeli quickly rose to fame and over the years has modelled for Versace, Ralph Lauren and Valentino and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

The pictures were shot on location at the Zorthian Ranch in Altadena, California. A hippy camp that existed during the 70s and has been completely untouched ever since.

Adidas sales rise 12%

Adidas Group saw currency-neutral sales rise 12% to €5.1 billion (£4bn) for the first half, and 4% year-on-year in euro terms.

The Adidas brand reported a 16% rise in currency-neutral sales to €3.7bn (£2.9bn) for the first six months of the year but Reebok saw its currency-neutral sales fall back by 2% and sales in euro terms slip behind 11% to €923 million (£723m).

Group currency-neutral sales in Europe rose by 16% to €2.3 bn (£1.8bn). Group gross margin also reached a record level for the first half following a 2.5 percentage point uplift to 49.6%.

Adidas chairman and chief executive Herbert Hainer said: "We are proud to report a strong set of financial results for the first half of 2008. Our performance is nothing short of exceptional, particularly in light of the tougher macroeconomic environment. Adidas and TaylorMade-Adidas Golf continue to show strong momentum and we have laid the foundations at Reebok for continued improvement in the second half of the year."

Sales rise 3.7% at John Lewis

John Lewis has reported a welcome boost to trading with sales up 3.7% for the week ended August 2.

John Lewis sales jumped to £47.4 million for the week, with fashion sales striding ahead by 7.4%.

Seven John Lewis branches, including Oxford Street and Aberdeen, posted increases in sales against the same week last year.

John Lewis managing director Andy Street said cited the new Ted Baker range as being a strong performer in womens wear : "In womens wear, it was terrific to see the response from our customers to the new Ted Baker range."

Street added: "New autumn stock continues to feed through, with sales gaining corresponding momentum. The focus is split going forward on the back-to-school peak and the opening of our new shop in Leicester in less than four weeks, where progress towards a successful opening from a building, team and stock perspective is excellent."

Gap saw like-for-like sales fall back 11% in July.

Gap's net sales were down 5% to $998 million (£517.5m) for the four weeks ended August 2.

Gap's international comparable sales, which include its UK stores, fell by 9% over the period against an 11% uplift in July 2007.

Gap chief financial officer Sabrina Simmons said: "In July, we focused on clearing through remaining summer product and preparing our stores for fall deliveries. We're pleased that we delivered merchandise margins significantly above last year."

Gap's second quarter sales for the 13 weeks ended August 2 also fell 5% to $3.5 billion (£1.8bn), with like-for-like sales down 10%. International comparable sales in the second quarter were down 6%.