There is one word I think everyone can apply to Rihanna's exercise in arts and crafts: bold.


Rory Tahari's gown evokes Poiret.


Digging designer Lucilla Beccaria's boho lady. Et vous?


Liya Kedebe is a fan of the trench dress. I'm a fan of anything when she wears it. Slavish.


See, does Emme know what she's doing, or is this line unflattering? Inquiring minds.


Our collective gaze is torn between Gayle King's shoes and necklace. Collective gaze, people.


When it comes to EIC Cindi Leive: I get it. I think we all get it. Is that the same as liking though?


Maria Shriver's Spanish widow is kind of majestic. Am I wrong to crave a mantilla? How can something so right be wrong?


Some would say, the further we move from necessity and utility, the more closely we approach decadence. How does this apply to Lisa Ling's single sleeve?


Shocker, that: Padma Lakshmi looks glorious in maternity.


I kind of like it when people do unashamed Mount Olympus. Serena Williams is doing this.


Having read The Game, I now understand that Steven Tyler basically invented "peacocking."


I like that Estelle's doing a total 180 and being completely conservative, and it still makes all kinds of sense.


Zoe Kravitz: cool, simple, beyond reproach.


Katharine McPhee rocks the Disney interpretation of Grecian. Not that I saw Hercules.


Whereas Kerry Washinton seems to say, "no, this is how you do it - with a dash of Out of the Past!"


Amy Poehler was a Woman of the Year, angelic.


Stella McCartney showed that part of being a WotY is making everyone else look like they're trying too hard.


Andie MacDowell does unabashed mother of the bride, and I respect this.


Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe always looks completely amazing. No rookie mistakes, no missteps. She is either working with a stylist who should be famous immediately, or is a total prodigy.


Luckily, Iman can wear a feathered sack - and probably break into "Cheek to Cheek" as needed.

[Images via Getty]

"I'm not trying to be provocative," she says. "It's just that, like everything else we do in fashion, the idea started from watching the shows. It's got to the point where I can't tell one model from another, except for [Liya] Kebede (pictured), who started me thinking. In the early Nineties, we knew all the models' names, recognised even the less famous ones. Liya was reminding me of Iman. And then I was in New York for Super Tuesday, seeing what was happening in America." Because how is it that we can have a black man running for president when only 1% of models on Milan's runways are black?

As previously discussed in summits held by model mogul Bethann Hardison, things were not always so bad. Black models were part of the fashion industry's fabric for decades. Telegraph has a quote by Brigid Keenan, from her book The Women We Wanted to Look Like, written in 1977 (when Naomi Sims, Donyale Luna, and Beverly Johnson were ubiquitous): "Women like [Naomi] Sims prove that the battle for black beauty has been fought and won."

Perhaps, as they say, the battle was won, but not the war. Another summit is being held in Paris this week, and the lack of black models in couture shows is the issue, reports Breitbart. There's a blame game, of course: "I asked the modelling agency for black girls for our next show but there simply aren't any," says Mario Lefranc, of the Lefranc-Ferrant design duo. An assistant to Jean-Paul Gaultier says: "It's really very difficult at the moment. There are no black models on the market, the agencies have none." But the agencies probably don't have any because designers and magazines won't book them, correct? At least one person was extremely frank: Renee Dujac-Cassou, head of Paris's Crystal model agency says:

"Blue-eyed blondes have always been the dream type. It's as simple as that. A beautiful African woman is not the dream type, neither is a Tibetan or a Chinese princess. [The number of non-white models] will always be extremely limited."

And here we have the true problem: People think that people don't like diversity. Experts claim that "the market" demands a uniform, pale, Euro-centric look. (For the record: I love to shop, I love fashion, I love diversity. Raise your hand if you can say the same.)

But what about going "all-black"? Like Italian Vogue? Or the recent Dsquared men's show, which featured an (almost) all-black cast of male models? Over on Stereohyped, a post reads, "As much as it delights me to glimpse the gorgeous pics in Italian Vogue and peep the gorgeous men in the Dsquared show, collectively, these efforts at diversity seem to be more like a passing fad instead of something that will actually change the industry. Sort of 'Let’s do all black guys this time! It will be fabulous!' Having all-black magazine issues and all-black fashion shows isn’t going to solve any problems." Agreed. But. Having all-black issues and runway shows does call attention to the problem. Having all-black issues and runway shows also gets black models working. Having all-black issues and runway shows allows editors, designers, stylists and mere mortals to see that, indeed, beautiful people come in all colors. That being in style or high fashion is not merely the territory of fifteen year old Estonian children. If black people can model, so can Asians! And brown people! While there's a danger in having an all-black cast becoming a fad or a trend, anything that calls into question the recent and pervasive whiteout in the fashion industry can't be bad. Now if we could just get our hands on that July issue…

Naomi Campbell, Iman And Jourdan Dunn Grace Vogue Italia's All Black Issue [Telegraph]
Is Going The “All-Black” Route A Superficial Answer To Fashion’s Deeper Problems? [Stereohyped]
Prêt-à-rapporter: A Black And White Vision Of Modelling [Telegraph]
Vogue Italia, Thanks Cathy [Fashionista]
Conspicuous by Their Presence [NY Times]
Beautiful Is Beautiful (slideshow) [NY Times]
Discrimination On The Catwalks? [Breitbart]

Earlier: On The Runways Of Milan, Color Just Wasn't Considered Chic
Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash
Vogue's Not Racist; Three Black Models Prove It!
Is Prada To Blame For the Lack Of Black Models?
Where Are All The Black Models? Let's Start By Asking Anna Wintour
We're Still Looking For Black Models
Most Ladymags Continuing To Experience Whiteout Conditions
Modeling Matriarch Continues To Demand Diversity On The Runways
Black Fashion Industry Insiders Ask: Where Are The Black Models?
Will Italian Vogue Break With Fashion Mag Tradition, Feature Black Models?
Italian 'Vogue' Shocks, Awes, Makes Civil War Sexy

[Image by Steven Meisel for Italian Vogue via The New York Times.]