Dasha Zhukova’s Pop promises to fill the “stem-cell scientist” void so achingly evident in the fashion world with a Rodarte shoot inspired by just that. Stem cell scientists, that is.
[WWD]
The Brits recommend wearing leather (hint: it’s going to be big for fall) like “a louche French actress.” So, not like a Hells Angel? [Guardian U.K.] [...]

If you’re a fashion diehard based below the Mason-Dixon, chances are your go-to boutique is Capitol, Laura Vinroot Poole’s ten-year-old Charlotte institution. She specializes in cherry-picking key pieces from the season’s top collections. For Fall, think Balmain jackets, Dries Van Noten’s brightly hued separates, and dramatic gowns from Olivier Theyskens’ final season at Nina Ricci. [...]

Wrap your heads around this impressive piece of gossip: Karl Lagerfeld is out at Chanel; Albert Elbaz is in; and Olivier Theyskens is heading to Lanvin. Were you sitting down? (Remember, it’s just a rumor.) [A Shaded View on Fashion]
Blame it on Lohan: Esteban Cortazar is reportedly out at Emanuel Ungaro after clashing with execs [...]

It’s official. Peter Copping, formerly of Louis Vuitton, started at Nina Ricci on Monday, replacing Olivier Theyskens, who was let go after a remarkable Fall show in Paris last month. Copping is working on a resort collection that will be presented in late June, but it’s said that he won’t make his runway debut until [...]

The long-expected Olivier Theyskens and Nina Ricci breakup was formalized last week, five days after Theyskens’ inspired show. We can officially mourn. [WWD]
Sofia Coppola’s ad for Miss Dior Chérie L’Eau is pure Parisian whimsy. Even though the soundtrack—Brigitte Bardot’s “Moi Je Joue”—ends before Bardot’s suggestive scream of pleasure, the visual metaphor of model Maryna Linchuk [...]

The first full day of shows in Paris had its ups and downs. The up, in my opinion, was Christophe Decarnin’s Balmain show. On a runway atop the Ritz’s pool, he showed an entire disco of the brightest, shiniest, big-shoulder-est cocktail dresses—a crystal dream. Or as one editor put it, a “crystal meth” dream, because [...]

With just one day of rest between Milan’s Extreme blow-out Monday night and today’s shows in Paris, RTW devotees are gearing up for the Month of Fashion’s final lap. Paris, like its metropolitan counterparts, is scaling back a bit this season (we hear Givenchy’s dark-and-rocking after-party has been canceled, for one), but the French city [...]

We are fashion people and therefore adore most of what Olivier Theyskens has, does, and will design—rumors of replacements be damned. But even we have to admit that the beautiful high-low hem dresses from his Spring 2009 show have played somewhat awkwardly off the runway. Witness, Kate Bosworth at the Art of Elysium Gala a [...]

Nothing has been confirmed about Olivier Theyskens’ possible exit from Nina Ricci at the end of his contract and his potential replacement Louis Vuitton studio director Peter Copping, but it sure is fun to speculate. Real life: just like high school.
Valentino’s couture collection heads to Jumbotrons near you tonight in Paris, [...]

Karl Lagerfeld dresses up the recession with a pretty catchprase: “Bling is over. Red carpet-y covered with rhinestones is out. I call it ‘the new modesty.’ ” Another gem: “Throwing money out the window brings money back in through the front door.” Why couldn’t Karl have been our econ professor?
Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti [...]