• Michelle Obama wore tidy Thakoon in D.C., and vivid yellow Jason Wu in London. New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn wonders what it all means. [On The Runway]

• I love it when the Brits write authoritative, informative articles that get — how would they say it? — pipped at the fact-checking post. The New York Topshop store's opening party may take place tomorrow at 11 a.m., Kate Moss may be there live in person, there may be scones and jam and DJs, and there may be capsule collections from Preen, Richard Nicoll, Jonathan Saunders, and the latest Kate Moss line, but whatever you do, do not turn up for the party in "midtown Manhattan, one of the big apple's busiest, buzziest retail districts." The store's on Broadway near Broome St. That's in a part of town we like to call "SoHo." Yes, we know London has one as well, albeit spelled differently, but trust us, that's where the store is. [Telegraph]
• Those French sure know from populist outrage. François-Henri Pinault, the head of luxury goods multinational PPR (and Salma Hayek's hubby) was surrounded in his car by a crowd of angry workers for the better part of an hour. Pinault was trying to leave a meeting with the European workers' council. PPR, which owns brands including Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Bottega Veneta, announced plans to cut 1200 jobs recently. And, in a scene right out of Tout Va Bien, three Sony executives were held hostage by laid off workers at a factory the company closed in the south of France a few weeks back. [WWD]
• "Nicole is designing everything herself," says Nicole Richie's business partner, who is apparently unaware of Richie's well-publicized deal with jewelry designer Pascal Mouawad, who does the actual work on her House of Harlow 1960 line. Planning world domination of the accessories trade, Richie announced her intention to "design" bags, belts, and shoes for spring 2010. [People]
• Is Richard Chai going to be the new creative director of the revived Bill Blass? New owners Peacock Holdings are adamant Bill Blass will be on the New York runways come September, but they are staying tight-lipped about their choice of designer, despite the rumors that Chai is heavily favored. The reason for the odd delay in Peacock's next move, despite its stated intention of reviving the bankrupt line following its acquisition of the label from previous owners NexCen, is a six-month embargo period that was a term of purchase. [FWD]
• Resort shows are bearing the recession's bite: Gucci, which showed its cruise collection on the runway in both New York and Rome last year, is doing a mere presentation. Dior, which had a mega-show in New York last time around, isn't going to show at all. That's right. Christian Dior canceled its resort show. Chanel will have nothing of this; Karl Lagerfeld is going ahead with a lavish resort show at Venice's Lido Beach. WWD doesn't give any details about Céline's plans — Resort 09 is supposed to be Phoebe Philo's hotly anticipated industry re-entry after her years spent raising her family far from the madding crowd. If Celine scales back its resort show, then Philo's return won't look half as big a deal as it really is. [WWD]
• The latest images from Britney Spears' Candie's campaign are in, and, folks, it's a Photoshop of Horrors. [Daily Mail]
• Hayden Christensen is in an ad for a Lacoste men's perfume. He's shown reaching up for the bottle, a searching look in his eyes. [JustJared]
• Martha Stewart's shareholders might regard with interest the fact that, while Martha Stewart Omnimedia's stock price, at $2.50, has declined 67% on one year ago, Stewart's personal compensation more than doubled between 2007 and 2008, from $2.06 million to $5.4 million. (Other executives at the company's salaries declined.) Martha's daughter, Alexis Stewart, earned $209,000 for her work on the show "Whatever, Martha!" while her co-host, Jennifer Koppelman Hutt, got $130,000. Nepotism truly is priceless in this town. [WWD]
• Fashionista road-tested three sulfate-free shampoos — they're better for the environment, and your hair — and unfortunately fell for the expensive French one. I know that pain. Once I scored a gigantic bottle of Frédéric Fekkai conditioner after doing an unusually brutal hair job, and I trudged around the world with it for almost a year. Then I ripped off the label, so I could find the product again, and carried that around for months. When I finally found it, it cost $60 or something. I didn't buy it and my hair has never been as shiny and tangle-free since. [Fashionista]
• Speaking of Fashionista, a little bird tells me that editor Natalie Hormilla is leaving the site to pursue unknown other projects. We certainly wish her well.

• Isaac Mizrahi just inked a fur licensing deal. WTF, Isaac? Was all your money in collateralized debt obligations tied to the subprime mortgage market? Yeah, didn't think so. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Prince William's girlfriend Kate Middleton has taken a job working for famed fashion photographer Mario Testino, starting in a month. How long before she's on the other side of his camera? [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Once the Paris Hilton footwear line launches next month...uh, we're having trouble finishing this thought. [Sassybella]
  
• Gifts we wish we had received: Krazy Karl designed matching his-and-hers iPods for Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni. [WWD, 6th item]

• Supermodel Helena Christensen on Heath Ledger's death yesterday: "I am just beyond sad at this point, and shocked. I was on my way over to pay him a visit when I found out. I had just left him a message and heard his voice on the machine. He was such a special and genuine person, so extraordinarily talented because he was so raw and honest with his feelings. He was so full of life, so electric...This is immensely sad." [Vogue UK]
• Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquiere will receive a medal of merit from the French government on Tuesday night. French actresses Isabelle Huppert and Charlotte Gainsbourg will be on hand as his cheering section. [WWD, 3rd item]
• More unexpected self-deprecation from Ellen Pompeo! On her anticipated look for the Screen Actors Guild Awards: "Watch me show up in McQueen — with a headdress." On her Grey's Anatomy role: she's "a well-paid slave, tied down to ABC." [WWD, 5th item]
• Olympic snowboarder Shaun White: The latest celeb to "design" for Target. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Awesome English fashion line Preen is now designing a "younger, edgier" line called, um, Preen Line. [Vogue UK]
• As the Jezebel who can't hold her alcohol, I'm glad that I'll at least get to tote a Lacroix-designed Evian bottle around Fashion Week (which starts a week from Friday). [Chic Report]
• We just don't know what to think about the rumored Spice Girls-for-L'Oreal commercials. [BellaSugar]
• Coach: Doing badly here, doing well in Japan. [Reuters]

Vera Wang
"painterly colors", "patterns like cloud prints on satin", "inspired by togas", "deep insets of organza", "heavy for a spring collection", "use[d] indecisiveness to an advantage." — Cathy Horyn, NY Times

"...most intellectual of American designers", "finely wrought", "elegant, asymmetrical", "limpid...soft, washed crepe de chine", "vibrant colors", "romantic best". — Nicole Phelps, Style.com

"Another sojourn to the land of artsy chic", "scaling back obvious intricacy", "air of wistful mystery", "deft and beautiful balancing act", "nonchalant elegance", "each one a graceful knockout", "carefully placed bullion embroideries", "stellar". — WWD

"owns the artsy look", "didn't neatly fit into any emerging trends", "a silhouette that is loose but not unwieldy". — Samatha Critchell, Washington Post

Proenza Schouler
"rough, homespun looking fabrics", "military interpretation", "Balenciaga in the proportions","nags me". — Cathy Horyn, NY Times

"decidedly body conscious", "all about the waist and the legs", "a vaguely military air", "tribal feel", "less posh and more street", "explore[d] the idea of contrasts", "as luxe as it gets". — Nicole Phelps, Style.com

"chic military-majorette motif", "big-buttoned structure", "almost-frothy, very leggy", "sophisticated cheekiness", "folkloric tweeds", "retained a hint of the street", "the collection felt wanting". — WWD

"palette of natural neutrals", "menswear details", "shorter length silhouette", "well-edited", "slight military edge". — Samantha Critchell, Washington Post

"took to the fashion frontline in military mode", "crisp, rigorously tailored", "scissored to the body with strategic precision", "a female warrior-fantasy element", "global melange", "Ikat-like embroideries", "superb", "attention to detail was meticulous". — Hilary Alexander, Daily Telegraph

Catherine Malandrino
"craft touches", "beading in hefty grape clusters", "massive blouson sleeves, voluminous palazzo pants, and linebacker shoulder ruffles", "all got a bit much, actually". — Meenal Mistry, Style.com

"highly sophisticated and oh-so-French", "for grown-up ladies", "wonderful stacked heels", "a few overwrought pieces", "on a whole très chic". — WWD

"works that fine line between the intriguing and the wearable", "subtlety is in the fabric", "organza whipped like egg whites into soft shapes", "joyful combinations of pattern and color", "glow of geranium" "tracery of jasmine", "romantic feel of summer in a sophisticated way". — Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune

"garden's variety of looks", "evoke peacefulness", "mastery of handicraft", "showed her sense of humor", "crossed the line into too avant garde". — Samantha Critchell, Washington Post

Preen
"grow[n] in sophistication and surprise", "fresh interpretation", "sexy looseness", "crinkled drawstring jumpsuits", "[the models had no] upstaging the coolness of the look". — Cathy Horyn, NY Times

"Versace territory", "graphic body-con sillouettes", "slouchy", "sensual", "Saint Tropez palatte", "active-sport touches", "best is a mash-up of classics". — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Style.com

"sexy tough-chic", "worked on layers", "skin tight, body-conscious", "taut, see-through lace bodices", "tight as a bandage". — Hilary Alexander, Daily Telegraph

Cynthia Rowley
"conjuring a sporty but stylish tomboy', "mined this vein of sportif chic effectively", "clutter[ed]", "misplaced scarves and belts confused the message". — Joanna Rodger, Style.com

"living la vie sportive — '70s style", "a refreshing take", "slouchily cool", "in the vein of a latter-day Annie Hall", "done without those overly fringed dresses", "made one want to take a pair of scissors to them". — WWD

Rebecca Taylor
"up to her usual tricks","feminine, delicate stuff", "teetered into too-cutesy territory", "balanced things out with a tomboyish motif", "prim", "glitzy", "slouchy, structured or military inspired", "color choices were refreshing". — WWD

"sophisticated, muter color palate", "ageless looks", "a bit dressy", "abstract peony design...a common thread". — Samantha Critchell, Washington Post

Baby Phat
"minus the never-to-be-seen-in-stores fantasy wear", "commercial doesn't mean boring", "gobstopper-sized crystals", "leave little to the imagination", "flashy, at times even trashy" [Say what? - Ed] — WWD

"sophisticated", "asymmetrical", "a lot of draping", "flashy, sexy, and urban", "hints of preppiness", "[crowd was] happiest seeing some skin". — Samantha Critchell, Washington Post

• It is with just a twinge of resignation that we give to you....[sigh] images from Lauren Conrad's clothing collection. [FabSugar]
  
• Designer Philip Lim says that he frequently finds inspiration from "[p]rivate moments in the restroom. It's all about that intimacy that allows you to reflect." Uh, we thought the restroom was for tapping your feet three times and cruising for anonymous sodomy but, okay. [The Fashion Informer]
  
• Portfolio fashion blogger/Jezebel obsession Lauren Goldstein Crowe finally got the budget to have a real photo taken of her for Portfolio.com. [Portfolio.com]

• Wal-Mart and Ocean Pacific inked a really confusing deal we think means Ocean Pacific has no soul. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Tommy Hilfiger's new book, coming out in November, chronicles images that represent "Iconic America." Because he's an icon of pitiful American Ralph Lauren envy. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Oh this one is going to be good: Burberry is suing megabrand holder Iconix, saying that their London Fog has usurped Burberry's signature check. Love. It. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Fuck Kate Moss: We want Preen for Topshop. Baaaaad. [Vogue UK]
• Lulu Guinness is making limited edition rubber duckies to benefit cancer research. Natch! [Vogue UK]
• Lord & Taylor's parent company, NRDC Equity Partners, might be doing the money tango with designer Peter Som. If this happens, this would make for a strange and rare situation wherein a retailer would be investing directly in a label. And what makes this even more intriguing? Lord & Taylor doesn't even carry Peter Som. Hmmm. [WSJ]
• Tweezers, with lights in them! Whoah. [People]

• Everyone's favorite self-hating Jew, Ralph Lifshitz, is the highest-paid "vendor" (what they call "manufacturers" that don't really manufacture) in apparel. No really, it's not just a fantasy image he uses to get you to buy those horrid Big Pony shirts: dude is loaded. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Reese Witherspoon is the new face of Avon. Oooooh, edgy! We eagerly await the Jake Gyllenhaal guyliner line. [WWD, 1st item]
  
• True Religion denim is making the grand, yet inevitable, business model leap into the world of fragrance. Which reminds us of someone who once told us that it's time to wash your jeans when you can smell your own crotch. Now you can just take advantage of lifestyle brand synergy! [WWD, 3rd item]

• Memo to Derek Lam: Starting your tenure at troubled Bill Blass with a fur line? And guaranteeing the wrath of PETA? Uh, that's a choice. [WWD, sub req'd]
• P. Diddy is making Sean John for the ladies. As if it wasn't for the ladies all along. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Reversing the trend of English designers returning to their mother country for London Fashion Week after long histories showing in New York and Milan/Paris, English label Preen is leaving home and headed to New York, where magazine editors will actually see its clothes. [Vogue UK]
• We read about London department store Harvey Nichols installing scratch-and-sniff windows for the launch of the new Marc Jacobs fragrance Daisy... and all we could think is of the number of unsanitized hands touching the same surface and the potential number of HPV cases spread. [Vogue UK]
• Model Daisy Lowe, the bastard child (literally) of textiles designer Daisy Lowe and Mr. Gwen Stefani Gavin Rossdale, is the new face of Burberry. [Vogue UK]