[LAX, March 23. Image via Bauer-Griffin.]

[Los Angeles, August 4. Images via INFDaily.]

• Continuing his (Mc)dreamy stint as a model, Patrick Dempsey is adding to his fashion portfolio: The face of Versace menswear is now also the face of Avon's new men's fragrance. If it's got our favorite ER doc's face on it, then we know it'll be a little peppery, a little sweet, and really good at tending to your needs. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• As the weather warms, the hottest item to have now is a jacket! Whether bell-sleeved, belted or both, a jacket completes a look and protects you from weather patterns as unpredictable as the economy. Stability, style, and warmth? Yes, please. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Says Nicole Richie of her upcoming maternity line, "My line will be about making women look and feel good at a really emotional time. It's about showing your best self, not your tired, worn-down self." Oh, Nicole...but you always look so dazzlingly fresh! [WWD, 4th item]

• Fabulous news! (For those on a budget). Kimora Lee Simmons is launching a new junior's clothing line for J.C. Penney's called Fabulosity, priced between $29 and $108. [WWD, sub req'd]
• H&M's summer collection as modeled by Daria Werbowy is hot and mod, stylish and sweet. [Vogue UK]
• Prada SpA's profits are up by 66%. It turns out Miuccia didn't need our splurge on art nouveau-inspired platforms to make the rent these days! Which is exactly why we keep snapping up her every collection. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Speaking of which, if dry shampoo is good enough for Miuccia Prada, than it's good enough for us. [Sassybella]
• Gucci will be showing its resort collection this July in Rome, designer Frida Giannini's hometown. We're sure it will be a homecoming of Augustan proportions. [WWD, 1st item]
• Ooooh! Both Nike and friend-of-Adidas Yohji Yamamoto will be showing in Beijing's Forbidden City in the lead-up to the Olympics, in what is sure to be the most controversial Beijing showdown since Tiananmen Square. [WWD, 2nd item]
• "African women are very coquettish, and we love to dress up and we like to transmit a message. We are sending messages to society and to our husbands, or to the other wives of our husbands," says journalist Franceline Qubida of Burkina Faso. Take a page from our African brethren and always remember: How you dress is how you express yourself to the world and prospective suitors! Do you really think the eligible bachelor at the deli (or you boss!) wants to know you liked the Ramones in college? (Please, can you even name all the Ramones?) Didn't think so. Leave band T-shirts at home. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Congrats to power publicist Lara Schriftman on the birth of her baby son Lucas! [Fashion Week Daily]
• Spring cleaning never felt so good! Luxury denim line Earnest Sewn is launching its Make An Earnest Difference initiative, where your old True Religions — come on, we know you still have a pair or two hanging around! — can be donated to be recycled into insulation for homes for the needy. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Versace for the home: we agree, it may be too statement-y for full-time. But picture this chaise in the summer home: sublime. [Chic Report]
• Oh yes, I can overcome my fear of clowns for the Miu Miu Harlequin blazer. Love it or hate it, they ask. Is Fabien Baron French? [FabSugar]
• When we were a child our parents would take us to the North Georgia mountains to go panning for gold. Fool's gold, that is. But you'll be nobody's fool in the Laura Mercier Summer 2008 Gold Digger collection that gives you the right kind of shine in just the right places. [BellaSugar]
• Lingerie designer Collette Dinnigan is readying herself to launch a collection of skivvies for Target Australia, all priced for under $20. Pieces like this at a price like that makes us want to head down under and get under the sheets with someone special ASAP! [News.com.au]
• The new high-end J.Crew Collection is a little prep, a little boho and just what we want right now. [FabSugar]

• In an unprecedented gesture, Donatella Versace has named Patrick Dempsey the face of the Versace men's line for not one but two consecutive seasons. Perhaps she's impressed by his track record on the whole "gets hotter every year OMG" front? [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Speaking of Donatella, Tom Ford agrees with her that Russians are totally hot right now. "Russians are hardwired to appreciate the fine things in life. They have been denied nice things for years." Um, tell that to Boris Berezovsky's mistresses Tom! [Vogue UK]
  
• Victoria's Secret is holding competitions for college-aged women to model in their runway shows alongside the "real" models. This is a bid to get more college-aged students to buy their slave labor manufactured lingerie, and given what we know of college-aged girls, it will probably work. [WSJ]
  
• Kate Hudson: "I'm trying not to shop anymore. I've gotten in the habit of making phone calls when I see something and saying, 'Please, when that comes in, can you send it?'" How quaint! [WWD, 1st item]

• Kathy and Rick Hilton are maybe going to buy recently-bankrupted French shoe company Charles Jourdan, and talks are already in the works about a Kathy Hilton for Charles Jourdan shoe line, which is a good thing because there is such a dearth of consumer products currently available that can boast to being endorsed by someone named "Hilton," you know? [WWD, sub req'd]
• Says Roger Vivier designer Bruno Frisoni: "I wasn't comfortable doing accessories before I met Christian Lacroix. He taught me to have fun in fashion and to be 'désinvolte' — to not be afraid of bad taste, which is especially important in fashion because sometimes if you have bad taste, it's good." Dude, totally. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Kate Moss: Now officially a member of Who's Who! [Vogue UK]
• Estee Lauder is being sued by fellow cosmetics company Nefeli, which is a Chinese, herb-based line. Nefeli had signed a secret pact with Lauder where it would allow them to sneak a peaks at samples of their products and technology. But, uh, then the Lauder folks just reverse-engineered that shit and sold it under their Origins brand. Um, so what did you think they were going to do with that intellectual property you were selling them, guys? [WWD, 2nd item]

[LAX, July 20. Image via Bauer-Griffin]