• Fran Drescher is launching a skincare line — called FranBrand — this fall on HSN. The products are organic and paraben-free, because, as Drescher puts it, "Women are schmearing stuff on their décolleté, wondering why we're all getting breast cancer..."

• "...Once you wake up and smell the coffee, it's hard to go back to sleep. So I'm sounding the alarm." Drescher, a survivor of uterine cancer, founded the organization Cancer Schmancer. (And she also taught us to love Loehmann's.) [The Cut]
• As we learned yesterday, London Fog confirmed Gisele Bundchen's pregnancy by the roundabout way of announcing it had airbrushed her 5-6 month belly out of its latest campaign "to protect her privacy." But the outerwear brand also released a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot, which includes footage of the raw, unretouched shots as they appear on the computer monitor. A side-by-side comparison reveals exactly what London Fog thought wouldn't move units this fall. [SassyBella]
• Bar Refaeli is allegedly seeing Israeli multi-millionaire Teddy Sagi. Sagi owns a company that makes software for Internet gambling sites, and the nicest thing the Daily Mail can say about him is that he "has a lovely smile." The supermodel's relationship with Leonardo Di Caprio ended earlier this year. [Daily Mail]
• Liya Kebede addressed the UN Secretary-General's Forum on the topic of maternal health. Writes the supermodel, "In times of economic crisis, it is tempting to turn inward, to ignore or postpone the problems of the outside world and focus on ourselves. But, if we hope to thrive once again, we must realize that there are no outside problems in today's interwoven, globalized world. Each mother who dies leaves behind a devastated family and weakened community that will eventually, somehow, affect each of us. Each mother who dies deepens the financial and social strain on our world and puts economic recovery further away. Mothers are our best stimulus package because they invest in their families and in our collective future." [HuffPo]
• SassyBella unearthed footage of Karen Mulder hosting an E! special in 1999. The Dutch model encounters a new girl, who, when she introduces herself, turns out to be an 18-year-old Adriana Lima. [SassyBella]
• The first pictures of Rad by Rad Hourani, the Canadian designer's diffusion line, are looking pretty good, at least for those who were already fans of Hourani's unisex, pared-down rocker aesthetic. "This is exactly the same thing," as his main line, Hourani confirmed. Only instead of costing thousands of dollars it costs hundreds. We need more of this. [WWD]
• The writer of the sometimes entertaining, sometimes savage, always fascinating fashion blog The Emperor's Old Clothes has revealed himself — as New York designer Eric Gaskins. Gaskins, after 22 years in business, was this week forced to close his doors because of the economy. [NYTimes]
• And in September, Daphne Guinness is releasing a signature scent with Comme des Garçons. Only unlike most celebrity perfumes lines, this is actually the distinctive fragrance Guinness has, herself, been mixing for years. "I'll be in airports or in a taxi and the driver will say, ‘What are you wearing?'" reports the heiress. [WWD]
• Designer Hussein Chalayan is "weirded out" by models with clothing lines, like Kate Moss, Amber Valetta, Erin Wasson, and Elle MacPherson: "If you have a really strong sense of style and people want to aspire to being like you, I can understand that. But if you really are doing it just because you think of yourself as a brand and you haven't had the training and you know nothing about clothes, it kind of demeans all the training that designers have had." Chalayan thought Kate Moss's line for Topshop was a poor effort. "I don't think it represented her, and I didn't think she worked hard enough. I even told her to her face." How did la Moss respond? "She said, ‘Oh, I'm just trying to do a light thing; I'm not trying to do anything serious.' But I said, ‘That's not the point.'" [WWD]
• In which case, add Jessica Stam to the list of models who've raised Chalayan's ire. The Canadian just announced a collaboration with Rag & Bone. [Style.com]
• Vogue's Lauren Santo Domingo, on being told her boss Anna Wintour had worn flats to a party in the Hamptons: "I wonder if that means we can wear flats to the office now?" [The Cut]
• Fashion blind item: "Which fantastical designer has a new man? She's ditched her long term fiance for an artist with prime real estate." We're with the commenters on this: signs point to Erin Fetherston, who hasn't been photographed in public with her longtime fiancé, Hedi Ferjani, since late April. [Fashionista]
• Ali Wise, the Dolce & Gabbana publicist who was arrested for hacking into the voicemail of a woman who was dating Wise's ex boyfriend, is no longer a Dolce & Gabbana employee. Which must seem like the least of her problems: Wise is facing felony charges of computer trespass and eavesdropping. [WWD]
• A well-written parsing of W magazine's cover story on model Lara Stone: "The fashion industry — and, in turn, the fashion media — have such a warped concept of slimness that a model like Lara Stone is so much larger than her contemporaries that they feel the need to explain her presence. If Stone's body is such an outlier, what does that say about the rest of us? Worse, the magazine saw fit to issue the disclaimer that Stone 'is, it should be noted, a very lithe five foot ten.' Why, yes, do note that! As if there's the slightest chance someone is going to look at these photos and think Stone needs to, like, slow down on the Cheetos." [GlossedOver]
• Lagardère, the French publishing company that owns Hachette Filipacchi Media, which owns the U.S. edition of Elle magazine, has denied that it is in talks to sell the title to rival Hearst, as had been reported in yesterday's New York Post. [WWD]
• Scott Nylund, Beyoncé's design director, comes from Owatonna, Minnesota. Which is where you can see an exhibit that spans his earliest childhood sketches of women in dresses, to his college fashion collection, to his creations for Beyoncé. [StarTrib]
• Freja Beha Erichsen says Karl Lagerfeld's house in Vermont — which recently served as the setting for the fall Chanel campaign she starred in with Heidi Mount — is a serious farm. With horses and chickens and — spitting llamas. Erichsen also praised Chanel for providing food backstage at its runway shows, which a lot of brands don't manage to do. [W]
• Fashion Meets Finance, the terrible event for douchebags and gold-diggers, is back. It's happening August 6th in — where else? — Murray Hill. [FMF]
• Will Ferrell has a Nike sneaker coming out in Japan. It's inspired by Anchorman's Ron Burgundy, that lovable asshole we met, uh, five years ago. [HighSnobiety]
• Timberland lost $19.2 million in the last quarter, a worse-than-expected result that came off the back of a 14% drop in sales, to $179.7 million. [WWD]
• Shiseido was even worse off — its profits declined 57.8%. [WWD]
• Likewise Hugo Boss, which lost $21.17 million in the last quarter. [WWD]
• Bare Escentuals profits also slid 20% in the same period. [WWD]
• Competitor Avon's profits fell 64.3% on revenues that shrank by 9.7%. Revlon's sales fell 12.2%, and its total profits declined to just $200,000, from $19.9 million one year earlier. [WWD]
• Bucking this downward trend is Tod's — the Italian leather brand reported a 3.4% increase in sales for this first six months of this year. [WWD]
• Ann Taylor wants to cut $30 to $40 million in costs by "right-sizing" its organization. No word yet on the number of people who will be laid off. [WWD]
• Three members of a multi-million-dollar New York counterfeiting ring received prison sentences, and a fourth was sentenced to probation by a federal judge. Michael Chu, the group's leader, was in 2005 ordered to pay $7 million in damages stemming from an unrelated counterfeiting case involving North Face jackets. This time, Chu, who imported fake Nike, Chanel and Burberry products, was sentenced to prison for just over 8 years. [WWD]

• Twilight clothing is happening — it's only surprising it took so long. The duds go on sale at Nordstrom in October. Selina Khan, on the right, looks like she just doesn't care about Edward or Jacob, bless her heart. [People]

• Amazon.com is acquiring Zappos.com. The cost? $847 million. [NYTimes]
• Wonder Woman Lynda Carter will be live in person at Talbot's for Fashion Night Out, a night of special sales and events designed to encourage consumers to shop at the start of New York Fashion Week. Carter will be at Talbot's Madison Avenue store to promote her new CD, "At Last." [WWD]
• Meanwhile, France is one step closer to allowing shops to open on Sundays after the bill was narrowly approved by the senate. Mon dieu! [WWD]
• Barney's New York took down a disturbing window display that featured bloodied mannequins, posed as though they were struggling against assailants. And here we thought Simon Doonan's judgment was impeccable in all things. [NYDN]
• The actress Melissa George has invented a new product which she calls "HemmingMyWay." Geddit! The Grey's star, along with her business partner Kara Harshbarger, plans to sell clear adhesive strips with snaps affixed that allow a wearer to quickly adjust the length of her pants when she changes from flats to heels. Look, it even has a Facebook page! [WWD]
• Amy Winehouse's father wants her to license her name to a perfume house for £500,000. [Telegraph]
• And Lily Allen is doing a line of jewelry. "I love jewelry, always have done," explains the pop star. [Vogue UK]
• A 1994 Arte documentary about Yves Saint Laurent, Tout Terriblement, is being released on DVD. [WWD]
• In London next Thursday, a Chanel-themed flash mob has been announced. Anyone wearing Chanel, or Chanel-esque outfits should meet like-minded sartorial souls at St. Pancras International Station at 6 p.m. [UK Elle]
• 19-year-old Georgian Sean O'Pry topped Forbes' list of the highest-earning male models. There are pictures. [Forbes]
• Retail executives' pay fell last year. The 10 top-earning executives compensation packages decreased by 9.4%. [WWD]
• Could Fabiola Beracasa really be developing a reality show in the style of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, where she flies around the world looking for...unusual fashion? [P6]
• Daniel Vosovic, Santino Rice, Korto Momolu, Sweet P, Jeffrey Sebelia, Uli Herzner, Mychael Knight and Chris March are the designers returning to Project Runway for a second helping of Tim Gunn's soothing drone and Heidi Klum's adenoidal exhortations. Project Runway: All-Star Challenge will be broadcast as a two-hour special before the show's sixth season premiere. All we want to know is whatever happened to Andrae? [People]
• Jeremy Scott is yet another designer heading to London Fashion Week this fall. Though based in Los Angeles, Scott normally shows in Paris. [WWD]
• MAC cosmetics is ending its sponsorship of fashion week, and instead holding its own competing roster of shows at Milk studios in Chelsea. Proenza Schouler, Erin Fetherston, and Alexander Wang have already committed to slots in the lineup. [NYTimes]
• Alex Wang on his day off, according to his friend Ryan Korban: "We do a lot of driving around - he loves driving. So we drive out to Brooklyn and just kind of cruise around. He's always got the music blasting and he's singing. It's surprising, but he's a really good driver. He's screaming and the music is to the max and he's drinking an iced coffee, but he's completely steady." [W]
• Esteban Cortazar is out at Emanuel Ungaro, WWD is reporting. The young Colombian designer had clashed with the house's management over advertising and the brand's direction; his collections met with mixed reviews, and at last month's resort show, the Ungaro CEO refused to say if Cortazar would be kept on. No successor has yet been named. [WWD]
• The quirky downtown gallery Partners & Spade got written about in the Times. Oh well — nothing good lasts forever. [NYTimes]
• Ozwald Boateng, the Ghana-born, London-based all-round spectacular menswear designer and tailor, made two suits for President Obama and hand-delivered them to the American ambassador to Ghana during the president's recent visit. If Obama wore Boateng's suits, nobody would call him frumpy, ever. [WWD]
• Another story about Crocs and what they mean. [LATimes]
• The New York Economic Development Corporation-run industry site NYCFashionInfo.com, which collates insidery arcana like designer showroom contacts and market week dates, might start accepting advertising and publishing more "lifestyle content" because it only attracts 2,000 visitors a month. [WWD]
• Apparel sales in England in the month of June rose by 1.2%. [FT]
• Skechers lost $5.9 million in the second quarter. The result was actually better than analysts had expected. [WWD]>

• Victoria Beckham reportedly owns 100 Birkins, with a $2 million value. Although Posh's penchant for the carryalls isn't in question, we do nonetheless note this story has two pictures of her holding Kellys. [Daily Mail]

• Right after settling the lawsuit brought against it by Woody Allen to the tune of a cool $5 mil, American Apparel released its quarterly results. And they were less than glowing. In the period ended March 31, the fashion giant lost $9 million, as operating costs rose 21%, to $69.3 million, and sales grew only 2.4%, to $114.3 million. Company stock fell by 20% during yesterday's trading. Because of the classification of its revolving credit facility as a long-term obligation, American Apparel may also be obligated to restate its previous financial statements. It has already reduced its full-year sales forecast by $25-$50 million. [Reuters]
• Michelle Obama cut the ribbon on the renovated American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wearing a purple Isaac Mizrahi sheath. Oscar de la Renta was heard to sob quietly into his pocket square. [WWD]
• Then, she went to the American Ballet Theatre's spring gala at the Metropolitan Opera House, where she wore an Azzedine Alaïa dress and a Thakoon jacket. Earlier, at the museum, she said: "The arts are not just a nice thing to have or to do if there is free time or if one can afford it. Rather, paintings and poetry, music and fashion, design and dialogue, they all define who we are as a people and provide an account of our history for the next generation." [AP]
• Anna Wintour's office chairs, glimpsed briefly in the 60 Minutes segment that aired Sunday, have been ID'd: they are classics of Art Deco design, and cost $250 apiece. [UnBeige]
• Brüno has a Twitter account, and you can expect Tweets in the character's voice until the movie hits theaters on July 10 (it is, naturally, a marketing effort). For now, enjoy witticisms such as: "Am I ze most gifted Austrian ever? Let's just say zat at 14 ich could play Rock Me Amadeus on ze flute. Falco didn't write it til he vas 29." And: "Ze vorld ist zo screwed up - vhy do zey give out Nobel Prizes for physics, medicine und svimming, but not for fashion?" [Brüno's Twitter]
• Isabel and Ruben Toledo, fashion designer and fashion illustrator, respectively, were honored with the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award at the Savannah College of Art and Design's annual fashion show. Talley told the crowd, "The Toledos represent a quarter century of love and brand building. They're like two oaks, branches intertwined forever." [Reuters]
• In other awards-show effusions, Betsey Johnson compared New York Fashion Week head Fern Mallis to David Bowie and Mick Jagger as she presented her with Parsons' AAS Icon Award. When students in the Associates in Applied Science fashion marketing program got a little rowdy, Johnson quieted them with four words: "I'm looking to hire." [WWD]
• For a taste of how the Valentino half lives, imagine this: fireplaces ablaze out of season, air conditioners running, and uniformed manservants depositing cool glasses of water onto linen napkins. Also: secret buttons inside the bookshelves. [Guardian]
• Marc Ecko has announced he'll be doing co-branded collections with DC Comics, incorporating the characters of Batman and the Rogues Gallery. Perhaps the superheroes can save his troubled business? [WWD]
• Burberry, in the year ended March 31, lost $9 million. Its core earnings fell 13%, but annual sales rose 21%. The main reason for the loss was a company write-down that cost £116 million. The brand, which has already laid off 800 workers, still expects to open 10-15 stores this year. [WSJ]
• Yesterday, we included a Rag Trade item, sourced to WWD, about designer Erin Fetherston. Fetherston was reported to be making a short film about her fall collection in New York's West Village, starring Juliette Lewis with music by Damon Dash, and her husband, the artist Hedi Firjani, told WWD that Fetherston was looking to launch a line with QVC, probably timed to coincide with New York Fashion Week this September. Both are untrue, according to Fetherston's PR rep, who contacted us shortly after we published. Fetherston is making a film, with director Marisa Crawford, but Juliette Lewis isn't the star. And the deal with QVC is not confirmed.

• Gwyneth Paltrow has tired of the cosmetics contract gravy train; no longer shall the actress concentrate on embodying the qualities of the Estée Lauder brand. Instead, she'll be the new, white Oprah! [Daily Mail]

• Nanette Lepore has added her voice to the save the garment center chorus. [HuffPo]
• According to Jesus Luz's Brazilian agent, Sergio Mattos, Luz was paid $100 for the two-day Steven Klein shoot with Madonna that ended up in W. Let me say this one more time: that kind of pay is entirely standard for an editorial shoot, no matter one's modeling experience or industry status. [NY Post]
• Christina Aguilera looks, um, Photoshopped to high hell in the new Stephen Webster jewelry campaign. [Sun]
• Jerry Hall got a $750,000 advance from HarperCollins to write a memoir that would include full details on her life with Mick Jagger. But the manuscript Hall rendered proved too tame and cagey on the subject of Jagger for the publisher's taste; the supermodel has agreed to return the advance. (Side note: how many times do you get to read a word like "priapic" in the Daily Mail?) [Daily Mail]
• Terry Richardson just shot next year's Pirelli calendar in Trancoso, Bahia, Brazil. Georgina Stojiljkovic, Catherine McNeil, Abbey Lee Kershaw, and Daisy Lowe are purported to be featured, along with actual Brazilians Gracie Carvalho and Ana Beatriz Barros. Glamurama got a NSFW snap of Richardson in action, shooting a topless McNeil on a white horse. [Glamurama via Fashionologie]
• Supposedly, Zac Posen is in the early stages of producing a scripted series for the CW network about the equestrian world. Might be a wise move to diversify, as we keep hearing wild rumors that his label is in trouble. [The Cut]
• Erin Fetherston is also shooting a short film this week, starring Juliette Lewis, and her fall collection. Music is by Damon Dash. Her husband also confirmed that the designer will launch a line for home-shopping giant QVC this fall, probably during fashion week. [WWD]
• Stacey Bendet Eisner — yes, last year she married the son of that Eisner — is the designer behind Alice + Olivia. And she says there are exciting things to come for the brand, including an expanded line of embellished t-shirts, a jewelry line with Erickson Beamon coming out this November, and a possible cosmetics deal. [Blackbook]
• Macy's says not to expect deep markdowns this season — but it does want a lower-priced outlet store bearing its name, since Saks and Nordstrom both have them. [WWD]
• Douglas Reker, one of the bracingly new designers I'm personally most excited about, has just been picked up for fall by Barneys Coop. [Crain's]
• Now that Lakshmi Menon — two-time Indian Vogue covergirl — has had her only-girl editorial debut in American Vogue, industry commentators wonder aloud: Why has it taken so long for a South Asian supermodel to emerge? Sarah Doukas of London mega-agency Storm says it's because Indians are culturally conservative and don't want their daughters modeling; Menon says agencies don't have scouting networks on the subcontinent, and if you don't look for something, of course you won't find it. [Independent]
• England's National Trust is in talks to buy the home of the late designer Laura Ashley. [Telegraph]
• Leigh Lezark, who is a member of this preposterous thing called the MisShapes, but who nonetheless finds time in her busy schedule to "model", might be Matthew Williamson's new muse. Because a perpetually black-clad stony-stared New Yorker would be the perfect match for his exuberant tastes. [Fashionista]
• Rosa Chá, which is just about the best-looking and best-fitting swimwear out there, barring perhaps Norma Kamali, and therefore heartbreaking for its extravagant price, is losing its founding designer, Amir Slama. Slama, who launched Rosa Chá over two decades ago, is going to start a namesake swim collection. Brazilian Alexandre Herchcovitz will take over at Rosa Chá. [WWD]
• Diego Della Valle, the head of Italian leather goods brand Tod's, has doubled his investment stake in Saks Fifth Avenue, to 5.9%. [WWD]
• Alberta Ferretti, Moschino, and Pollini are all lowering their prices. Their parent company, Italy's Aeffe SpA, experienced steep losses in the first quarter of this year, and has thus formulated a cost-cutting plan that is intended to save $13.6 million over the course of 2010. In addition to lowering prices, Aeffe is shrinking its collections and planning layoffs. [WWD]

• Women, gird your loins: Lady GaGa wants you to share her personal, pants-optional, control-top-hose-and-neon-and-sunglasses-at-night style of dress. Because in the future, everyone will have a clothing line. [Sassybella]

• Back in the realm of actual designers, Prabal Gurung (the other guy who used to design for Bill Blass) is presenting a self-funded 20-look collection at New York fashion week. He intends to grow the label slowly as a foil against the recession. “Controlled distribution is my mantra," says Gurung. "I’m in no rush to be the next big thing." Let's hope we can somehow see Peter Som at fashion week as well. [WSJ]
• Don't mind the layoffs, we're Forbes! In the midst of the recession, the financial magazine has some sunny news: the rich will still shop. Also, a Saudi prince spent $13,000 on sunglasses this one time. So clearly all is well. [Forbes]
• Or, at least it's well if you're Polo: profit was much higher than expected last quarter, the company reported this morning. The company earned $1.05 per share, after analysts had expected only 86 cents. [Reuters]
• Freida Pinto is this award season's "it" girl, if you can strike that mustard Lacroix sack from her record, that is. [WWD]
• The owner of a store called Forever Leather plies his wares on late-night television, only in this ad, he starts ranting about Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, Eliot Spitzer's prostitution scandal, and the economy. "Tell you what, if I ran the state of New York, there'd be jobs in New York, and people would be happy, instead of strugglin', and pissin' and moanin' about how bad things are all the time. Why dontcha do something?" Then he pulls out a cardboard cut-out of the senator and says, "Thanks for nothin', Hillary Clinton." You basically have to watch it. [AdAge]
• The hardest-working legal team in the Western hemisphere just got a new leader: American Apparel has announced that Glenn A. Weinman, former vice president general counsel and secretary for Guess, will take the same position at the California-based company, which as we all know continues to face numerous sexual-harassment lawsuits. Weinman's baptism by fire begins on February 17. [WWD]
• California Select, American Apparel's only vintage store, has closed down. (California Select, you might remember, is what the girls from Chictopia wear in their very special American Apparel ads.) The company's expansion was the fastest in US retail history, so it's no surprise there should be some blowback. [WWD]
• Isaac Mizrahi's first collection for Liz Claiborne is fully online, with prices and videos of Isaac getting excited about the clothes. [Liz Claiborne]
• This video claims to offer news of the "highly speculative" LVMH Coach buy-out, but I can't stop thinking about the shockingly ugly portmanteau "handbagorexia" and what, if anything, it might mean. [The Street]
• Now that fashion week has entered its last year at the tents, WWD has a look back at the 16 years the event called Bryant Park home. [WWD]
• The Target micro-site for McQ Alexander McQueen for Target has launched — just 28 days before the clothes hit stores on March 4. You can only see three of the looks, though, so if you're curious about the collection we covered it when the lookbook leaked. [Target]
• Michelle Obama had her hair done by a guy named Rahni on inauguration day. Rahni would like very much to tell you what that was like. Next up: the woman who did the first lady's nails. [The Cut]
• Simon Doonan says: "Keeping your best clothes for parties is the same as leaving the plastic on your lampshades. There are limitations, though; nobody wants an invasive medical procedure performed by a doctor in a Cavalli sequined unitard." Which is precisely why I'm writing this news roundup in a purple silk sheath dress, green vintage crocodile pumps, and an old Hermès scarf, cigarette holder in hand, while my ocelot, Mr. Snugglepuss, purrs on the divan to my right. It just feels so much better this way. [Times of London]
• Betsey Johnson may be cutting costs by holding a presentation instead of a runway show, but her invitations are in no way third-rate. How cute, a pot holder! [Fashionista]
• Meanwhile, Erin Fetherson has gone high-tech, forgoing paper invitations for a special Flash-animated website for RSVPs. [Style.com]
• Fresh after opening her first Paris store, Stella McCartney is expanding into the Middle East, and will have six stores in the region by the middle of this year. [WWD]
• More potentially terrible fashion news: a Badgley Mischka employee was reportedly overheard talking about a "massive fight" the lover/designers had and how it might lead to a split. After recently discounting their line, at that. The story was denied by the company's representative. [New York Daily News]
• Are you a megamogul looking for a famous face to shill for your products more effectively than average? Market research brings you all the necessary appeal/awareness rankings for celebrities in need of endorsement contracts. [WWD]

The Good: I'm not gonna lie: Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) is on my 'Good' list simply because I'm obsessed with her music. Wearing horizontal nautical stripes, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman hopes to distract from the girth of her husband Harvey Weinstein. She fails. Norah Jones looks like she's on her way to a middle-school dance.

The Bad: Susan Sarandon looks like she's chaperoning that dance. Will someone please tell Zoe Kravitz that she's not in middle school? The holes in her tights do not make her look cool or edgy. It's a sad day indeed when Agyness is the best-dressed person on the 'Bad' list. Enough already, Erin Fetherston. Kelly Bensimon looks like a bad throwback to the early '90s. Those boots! That dress! That belt! Clearly this is the reason she is no longer married to ELLE's Gilles Bensimon or editing ELLE Accessories. Dear Ziyi Zhang: "No" to the sequined beret.

The Ugly: Thanks a lot, Irina Pantaeva, for triggering my vertigo this early in the day.

[Images via Getty.]

• Who will win the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Womenswear Designer of the Year award, the "Best Picture" of fashion? The nominees are: Marc Jacobs, Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein, and Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough of Proenza Schouler (who tied last year with Oscar de la Renta.) Bets? [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Oooh and Fran Lebowitz will emcee the awards themselves on June 2. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Ok, so now Waris Dirie is saying she was abducted and assaulted while she was missing in Brussels. And treated like "prostitute" by police. She originally said she was just, like, lost. Her manager says she was in shock. [Telegraph, Yahoo]
  
• And what is Erin Fetherston's latest short film about? "Zooey [Deschanel] plays a tramp who eats a magic mushroom and finds herself with a group of fairies." Of course she does. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Whoah is Posh going to guest-design for Roland Mouret? Whoah. [Fashionista]

• Model Erin O'Connor sprained her ankle! Why God created blogs: "The thought of not being able to wear teetering heels for a sustainable period fills me with dread! Think of a vicar without a dog collar...a bus driver without a bus??? Eek, you know elevation and a well-turned ankle are all essential requirements in this job. I suppose, to look on the bright side one doesn't need one's heels to write one's blog on the laptop." [Vogue UK]
• Another woman takes the reigns at a fashion design house: Hannah MacGibbon, 38, will debut her first collection as lead designer for Chloe this October in Paris. [WWD]
• ELLE's creative director Joe Zee is getting his own column in the ladymag, entitled "Style A to Zee." Ha ha ha how terribly clever! But yet, also familiar! Oh, right. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Victoria Beckham: Frowns on skinny jeans for men. [DNR]
• Helena Christensen is going to be "designing" for Tocca. And by that they mean she's going to "recreate" an old design of theirs and put her name on it. [WWD, sub req'd]
• What did Donna Karan give her daughter Gaby for her birthday? A bicycle! How...Donna Karan of her! [Fashion Week Daily]
• This month Madonna is styled as a boxer for the cover of the new, improved Interview magazine...and she's also styled as a boxer for the cover of Dazed & Confused. Huh. [Chic Report]
• Victoria's Secret latest beauty line seems to be aimed at teens. Um, as opposed to everything else they sell? [BellaSugar]
• Ksubi denim founder George Gorrow thinks the internet is "kind of a crock." Cosign. [Sassybella]

• M-K Olsen is supposedly venturing out of her Salinger-esque hiding to attend the Giambattista Valli show today. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Too bad, because also in MK news: she is writing a book! With Ashley, about (what else?!) her inimitable style. We assume this means she'll also go on the road promoting it, as opposed to hiding it away to be unearthed at her death with her bottles of pills and thousands of empty Venti Starbucks cups. [Sassybella]
  
• Meanwhile, Giambattista Valli is a fan of Obama. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Erin Fetherston: The movie. Starring Zooey Deschanel and Kirsten Dunst. Based on Romeo & Juliet. We're, er, skeptical. [Nylon]
  
• Designer logos made with cocaine. [NY Mag]

• Kat Von D (of LA Ink fame) is doing a cosmetics line for Sephora, which will be in stores in May. [Sephora's Beauty & the Blog via BellaSugar]
• How did model Gemma Ward prepare for her role in the film The Black Balloon? "I...listened to '90s music (i.e. MC Hammer)." [Chic Report]
• "We got here early because this party is usually messy," Julia Restoin-Roitfeld on the Balenciaga afterparty. Ew. [WWD, 1st item]
• M.I.A is starring alongside Karen O, Joan Jett, Billy Idol and other in the new ad campaign for Converse. But it's cool because Converse is owned by Nike now. [Chic Report]
• What the fuck? Norma Kamali for Wal-Mart?! And it's going to be licensed through Cherokee?! [WWD, sub req'd]
• Oh yay: model Coco Rocha to try acting. [WWD, 3rd item]
• Pepe Jeans wants to be the brand that denim whores run to instead of the so-called "premium" denim brands. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Limited Brands' profits are down by a whopping 11.6% this quarter. That ain't good. [WWD, sub req'd]
• The funnel-neck: It's back. Oy. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Why don't models brush their hair? I assume because they are like me: Lazy. [BellaSugar]
• Oh no: The cold is killing the pashmina goats! [Reuters]

(Click on any image in galleries to begin the show)
BCBG:



Nicole Miller:



Erin Fetherston:



Baby Phat:



Abaete:



Alexandre Herchkovitch:



Sass & Bide:



Rock & Republic:



Herve Leger:



DKNY:



Tracy Reese:



Diane Von Furstenberg:



Miss Sixty:

6:55
I'm in the 4th row and my swag is a bottle of volumizing hair lotion...but the rows ahead of me have extra items, more as you move closer to front row. I want to steal someone else's swag bag because I see NARS make-up. Also, because I am not someone with a town car, I bucked convention and dressed down; Anna Wintour would not approve.

People are slowly trickling in. No Wintour yet though.

7:00
So many ppl sched to be here: Anne Hathaway, all the Misshapes, all the Vogue VIPs, Sarah Sophie Flicker, Simon Doonan. They have quite the front row. I am in the section opposite the Elle group. Nina Garcia is scheduled to be here. The front row all have black roses in their seats. Maybe we're at a funeral?

7:05
I just overheard one of the FIT students who serve as ushers say, "This music they're playing makes me feel inappropriate." I have no clue what that means, but I love it.

7:10
Leigh Lezark just got here. She is very smiley. If she keeps it up, they aren't going to call her Princess Coldstare anymore.

Wintour not here yet. Garcia not here yet. Horyn not here yet. Mary Alice Stephenson is here and doing on-camera interviews? She is very tall. The front row is still pretty much empty. Some really thin girl just walked by, wearing Erin. She looks lost. And just had her picture taken.

Damon Dash is supposed to be in front row, too, but he's not here yet either.

This is taking forever. However, it smells like gardenias in here, which is lovely. Maybe black silk roses actually smell of gardenias?

Arden wohl is here, and wearing one of the Erin headpieces from last season. I never thought I would say these words: it looks cool.

7:25 PM
Anne Hathaway just arrived; She's wearing some sparkly sheath, from what I can tell, with a little maroon jacket? She looks very pretty. I like Anne Hathaway because she looks like she could be someone you might know.

Omg!!!! "Noted fashion photographer" Nigel Barker is here!!

Sarah Sophie Flicker's arrived, also wearing Erin. These girls are in front of me and the flashbulbs are making ME see spots!

Ugh I can't tell if I just got the stink eye from someone at ELLE.

Jesus Christ, forget the models - all the other girls here are crazy thin. And the fact that so many are wearing Erin and now look like they have even more juvenile bodies isn't helping.

I am totally becoming increasingly paranoid about my lack of effort in dressing up this evening. Everyone is dressed like when you used to play faeries and dress up when you were little. They all look elfin and sparkly and miniature-sized.

7:30 PM
Skeletor - aka Rachel Zoe - has arrived. All the photographers have run over to take her picture
She's wearing Erin from last season. A one-shouldered, full-skirted dress that comes past the knee;
it is gray and has sparkled. She looks like a kindergartener.

Damon Dash is one seat over from Rachel Zoe. I wish they were next to each other. I would love to know what they talk about.

Okay, show starting. [Finally. -Ed.]

Wow whatever song this is, I think I love it.

Opening look is awesome - totally Marc Jacobs early punk: Long coat, black knit hat, long dress.
Second look is short flowery dress with black blazer. It's all totally grunge.

Ah, now here's a more erin-esque look: Some black pants with a high-waist in silk, with a silk black blouse. And a cape-coat.

Erin's entire show last season was in shades of white; it appears she's playing with shades of black now. This collection is totally in direct relation to last season. Also, several Asian and black models so far!

There's this chartreuse silk dress now. The faux Chanel suit out now I don't dig as much.

Teen Vogue is gonna have a field day with this collection.

There are all these really trippy florals mixed in. It's all flowy, but not shapeless. And the dresses are shorter, not floor-length. Not hippy-dippy as Tim Gunn would say. Also, sequins abound!

The pants are really awkward, but clearly it is intentional. They kinda bunch at the bottom.

It's funny, because obviously the models are all young, so the clothes look strangely appropriate for 14-year olds. 14-year olds with expense accounts. We'll totally be seeing this on Gossip Girl.

The palette's expanded into reds, maroons, purples; little princess necklines and ballet skirts. I wonder what this all will look like on someone older? And by that I mean my age. [23. -Ed.]

This one dress now is fierce: Really architectural, black. One shoulder. Super short.

Now were into long dresses in the florals again, and I think they're really cool. And she"s closing with white. The girls look half-dead, half-possessed.

Everyone is whispering and murmuring about this one model who looks terrifying. She's like a ghost. Possessed. And near death. Really, really thin. But also with a crazy look in her eyes.

Ending with the white was really eerie after all the black. It definitely made a strong statement. It evoked something almost emotional. The dark looks all looked...alive. The white made you feel like you've died, somehow.

It was one of the strongest emotional reactions I've ever had to a show: My stomach literally did a flip when that scary model came out in the first white look.

I did see Wintour, by the way, but she snuck out immediately at end. As for the music, the last song was CSS. I'll find out who did the other music by morning.

• Further proof that there may really be a ELLE curse: WWD reports that actress Michelle Williams had already been shot for the April cover of the ladymag, but asked to have it and a related story pulled after the death of Heath Ledger. She's since been replaced with Natalie Portman. [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Eva Mendes is the face of the still-unnamed, still-unlaunched new Calvin Klein fragrance. Given that Mendes is the mascot, we assume the scent smells like a hot bod and forgettable acting career. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Kimora Lee Simmons also has a new fragrance out, called Fabulosity. (Of course.) Says Simmons, "Yes, I'm over the top, and yes, I'm unapologetic, and yes, I have really big diamonds, but I have an equally big heart and an equally big spirit." [WWD, sub req'd]

• Most exciting of all? Celine Dion has a new fragrance! It is called Sensational, and we think, in the words of Kathy Griffin, that it smells like equal parts "magique," "musique" and and inflated sense of self. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Radar magazine clearly has a death wish, as it has ranked Lauren Conrad as the #1 most influential person in fashion, with Vogue's Anna Wintour coming in at a piddling #17. [Radar]
• H&M's profits are up by 14%. [WWD, sub req'd]
• That green dress that Keira Knightley wore in Atonement t is going to be auctioned off for charity. Bids start at $1,000, so if you're one of the many salivating, get crackin'. [UPI]
• I want a jacket that doubles as a LiteBrite! [Technology Review]
• Erin Fetherston (whose F/W 2008 show we'll be live-blogging tonight) is now designing a capsule collection of jewelery with designer Sasha Primak. We expect it to be hyper-feminine and beloved by hipsters everywhere. [Fashion Week Daily]
• And funky menswear designer Duckie Brown (we'll be there too) has been tapped to design a shoe collection for not-funky Florsheim. [WSJ]
• Ooh must get into the Derek Lam show! Swag bag full of Kiehl's products! [Fashion Week Daily]
• Michael Kors described his upcoming F/W 2008 collection as having an "urban, investment-oriented theme with not a baby-doll in sight." Um, okay So confused. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Why, God, why? New York socialite Tinsley Mortimer is designing her own clothing line, Riccime by Tinsley Mortimer. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Heatherette designer Richie Rich on what he loves about Old Navy: "The clothes are great... I wear their socks and I wear their underwear!" [Fashion Week Daily]
• Please, please get us Prada tarot cards. [Chic Report]
• Kate Moss is on the cover of the March issue of British Vogue, making it her 25th cover with the Brit fashion book alone. Wow. [Sassybella]

• Britain's Conservative Party Leader David Cameron met Kate Moss! She asked for his number! And then asked him to fix the sewage problem in her country house that was damaged by all the flooding in London this summer. Awkward. [Vogue UK]
  
• Simon Doonan, the creative director of Barneys New York, has done "green" windows for the holiday season. Like "Rudolph the Green-Nosed Recycling Reindeer." I take full credit for this as Simon asked me if I thought this was a good idea when I rushed him like a crazy fan on the subway about 8 months ago. I told him yes. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Julianne Moore had another reading and signing for her new children's book, this time at the SoHo J.Crew. Um, has this woman never heard of Barnes & Noble? [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Designer Erin Fetherston hates America, loves Paris. [The Fashion Informer]

• Versace sets up a scholarship program. Tasteful! [WWD, 5th item]
• Fashion biz fight! Who will go public first, Salvatore Ferragamo or Prada? [Vogue UK]
• Wow, England's Marks & Spencer sure is doing something right: It just signed model Lily Cole to join Erin O'Connor, Twiggy, Myleene Klass and Elizabeth Jagger as the faces of its Limited Collection, which is supposed to make it seem like a much fancier store than we all know it is. Oooh, think there will be a Top Model tie-in? Would that be too obvious?? [Vogue UK]
• What's next for the girl who already has the Chanel bicycle? A Lagerfeld-designed Steinway piano! [Sassybella]
• A is the new T alert! Jeans sized by "cup size" like bras, taking into account the size of your booty and not just the length of your legs. [Sassybella]
• Infamously pink-haired fashion designer Zandra Rhodes says she's really sad that her British brethren are working predominantly out of Paris. Maybe she missed the memo on the recent influx of designers rushing home to Mother England? Stella McCartney, Zandra? [Yahoo]
• Guess founder Georges Marciano just bought an 84-karat diamond for $16.2 million. He could have bought each of your Jezebels an apartment in NYC and a house in the country with that kind of dough. And still had money to spare. Sigh. [CNN]
• The Gap seriously promises that it is taking measures to end the whole unfortunate child labor thing. [ABC News]

• David Beckham has a new endorsement deal: Armani underwear in the United States! And you were afraid he and Posh might go broke... [Vogue UK]
  
• Erin Fetherston for Target: Sorta secretly sorta available for purchase online. [Fashionista]
  
• Karl Lagerfeld: "I am a popular figure for Halloween. Last year friends of mine counted 19 copies [of me] they saw at their parties alone... Few [designers] have a very special way of dressing. They are 'classic' or jeans and T-shirt, so what can I take from them? [But] Ralph Lauren like a cowboy could be fun..." [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Were you dying to hear more news about Agent Provocateur? Says Maggie Gyllenhaal of posing for the secretive, unassuming lingerie brand: "It was a great experience. But my brother once called me from Heathrow [Airport] to tell me he had passed a giant picture of me in my underwear. I guess I forgot that would happen."[WWD, 3rd item]

• And! The lingerie line has changed its signature font, because the old one got "imitated to death," and so naturally this occasion calls for a $100 limited-edition coffee table book on the creation of the new font. [FabSugar]
• Capezio footwear is now the official sponsor of the Radio City Rockettes! It's better than the Spice Girls and Victoria's Secret. [WWD, 3rd item]
• Former model/former Mrs. Rod Stewart Rachel Hunter was attacked weirdly, though not injured, in a Melbourne, Australia hotel lobby. [News.com.au]
• New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn has a mouse problem in her country house. Thanks for sharing! [NY Times]

• Fresh off her appearance on the cover of the June Glamour, Jennifer Lopez will grace the cover of Conde Nast's supremely stupid supplement Fashion Rocks. We don't know if it's more retarded that Jennifer Lopez is supposed to represent "rock" or that Conde Nast is so used to putting pointless, overexposed celebrities on their covers to sell newsstand copies that they did it on a supplement. [WWD, 2nd item]
  
• Banana Republic, on its demographic: "Our customers are creative souls, inspired by art and culture." [Uh, Substitute "creative" for "conformist" and "insecurity and markdowns" for "art and culture" and you will have the reason I shop there! -Moe] [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Wait, seriously? NASA orange flight suits for $60 bucks? We sorta want one. [WaPo]

• Breaking News! "Jeans Still In" for college students! No way! And appearing on the crime blotter, spoons still being stolen from the dining hall. [MarketWatch]
• Dorina Dixon "D.D." Ryan died yesterday morning. The former fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar was also frequently a costume designer to Stephen Sondheim, a friend of Halston, and one of the people responsible for bringing some of our favorite books, the Eloise series, into the world. [MGross.com]
• And the finalists for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award are: too numerous to list here, Moe says. But it's one impressive class, from which we predict the three prizewinners will be Phillip Lim, the Vena Cava girls, and Erin Fetherston. Your guesses? [Vogue UK]
• First Levi's asks him to design, now Prada wants him at her parties: Will someone tell us why fashion is so relentlessly trendhumping Damien Hirst? No, seriously, we want to know. [WWD, 1st item]
• Like perfume? Then you'll love L'Artisan Parfumeur's new battery-operated "art" box that emits a burst of fragrance from magical glass beads every three minutes, yours for $230. [WWD, 1st item]
• And in other window design news, the Diesel store in London is incorporating the scorched remains of its recently burnt-down store into its holiday windows! How nouveau something!
• Husband and wife design team Y&Kei: Cried at The Notebook? [The Fashion Informer]

There are cropped mod-shaped dresses with ruffles and rust tones galore. But there are also heart tights. And heart hand bags. Big hearts. Lots of hearts. Everywhere. So if you like to wear your emotions, than these, yes, are the clothes for you. But if you would rather experience burnt orange culottes in your childhood photos only, you might want to pass. Something to consider, though: The shapeless shifts that have dominated the runways for the past few seasons are swiftly on their way out, with tighter, more form-fitting shapes moving in. So depending on your feelings about this, this may or may not be just the price point with which to invest in one (or 10) last babydoll dresses. Contemplate further with the image gallery, below.

• You'll never believe this, but a fashion house (Tod's) is going to eschew skinny models in favor of... a skinny starlet! And in case you didn't recognize Sienna Miller over there, she invented "foho" style — that's folk-bohemian, for those of you who might have thought that sounded a little redundant. [WWD, last item]
  
• Victoria Beckham accepted her Glamour UK Woman of The Year Award in sequined Chanel hotpants. We can't think of a funny made-up "achievement" to riff on here, but maybe when she does that reunion album later this year they can rename her Really Scary Spice. [Vogue UK]
  
• Karl Lagerfeld has just finished shooting Babel star Rinko Kikuchi for Chanel Cruise 2008. Cause nothing says cruisewear like having played an angry deaf girl? [WWD, 2nd item]

• Hot young thing Erin Fetherston is rumored to be the next designer up for a 'GO International for Target' collection. And yeah, there are still people whose lives are boring enough to actually start "rumors" about the next-big-Target-high-low-collaboration. But we could honestly give a shit, what with Donna Karan fixing health care and Sarah Jessica Parker designing for a chain that is basically the next-best-thing to the 99 cent store. What about you call us when Miuccia Prada inks a deal with Amy Fisher, then we'll talk? [WWD, last item]
• Caché, that store where your mom and all of her friends bought their dresses to wear to your cousin's bar mitzvah, radically drops its second quarter earnings forecast. Maybe Chico's started a bar mitzvah line?[WSJ, sub req'd]
• Jeffrey Kalinsky, of the luxury Atlanta and NYC stores bearing his name, is going full-time at Nordstrom — the famously customer service oriented department store chain where he's currently a consultant — in exchange for a stake at his boutiques, where the salespeople are more known more for the "fuck you" theory of customer service. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Here's the most culturally sensitive lede we've read all day! "Hermès may offer turbans fit for a maharajah soon". [WWD, sub req'd]
• Evan-Picone founder and Tootsie/Chinatown/Urban Cowboy producer Charles Evans died yesterday at the age of 81. [NYT]