Come tomorrow, the Museum at FIT will become a construction site of sorts when American Beauty—an exhibition that focuses on technical innovation and composition as benchmarks of sartorial greatness—opens. “Our best designers have been and continue to be those who utilize construction as a vehicle to achieve their aesthetic vision,” says Patricia Mears, deputy director [...]

Gingham check at Christopher Kane. White eyelet, Swiss dot, and jagged swaths of suede at Altuzarra. Crochet at Alberta Ferretti, peasant dresses at YSL, clog heels and hay underfoot at Chanel. After several seasons of urban warrior looks, fashion is teasing out a more bucolic mood for Spring ‘10. Add the desert-inspired looks from brands [...]

Who made our Top Ten list for Spring? Designers with a point of view: Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga, who went back to his haute street roots. Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, who made fashion fun again, and sent out some fabulously crafty clothes in the process. Celine’s Phoebe Philo, for her fearless new brand of contemporary [...]

Laura and Kate Mulleavy are filling Colette with Living Dead Dolls. Don’t even feign surprise. [NYT]There’s still no word on a successor at Maison Martin Margiela, though rumor has it the mysterious designer himself approached Raf Simons to be his anonymous heir. [Vogue U.K.]Speaking of rumors, remember the one that had Alber Elbaz taking the [...]

Christian Lacroix’s new white knight is an Ajman sheikh. This acquisition has “couture inspiration” written all over it. [WWD]Don’t ask for your size. Presumably the Rodarte designs on display at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum this January will be given the white-glove treatment, so don’t even think about trying something on. [WWD]Lindsay Lohan’s invitation to Miley Cyrus [...]

Jean Paul Gaultier is the latest designer rumored to be getting the Target treatment. First Rodarte, now the French…what’s next? Maybe a diffusion line of looks from Cristobal Balenciaga’s archives. Sure to have mass appeal. [WWD]
As if the abuse he’s been getting in the blogosphere hasn’t been enough, Kanye West has now been invited to [...]

What inspired me to climb three sets of stairs to see a new collection? The magic word: Rodarte. Will McLeod interned with the Mulleavy sisters in California as well as with Angel Sanchez before launching his own collection this week. With training like that, you can bet he didn’t debut with classic American sportswear. Rather, [...]

When the smoke cleared yesterday, the Rodarte girls had some serious celebrating to do at Grotto, the subterranean hangout on the Lower East Side where they threw their after-party. Anouck Lepère, Justin Bond, and Michelle Obama fashion adviser Ikram Goldman negotiated their way through the bar’s narrow corridors to lounge in the backyard. Back inside, [...]

Rodarte has an agent. The famously film-loving sisters are now being represented by William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, which means that maybe the pair will be costuming, producing, and starring in their own anime horror flick. Maybe?! [WWD]
And now, a clutch to go with that Marchesa gown. The super-fancy-dress ladies are introducing handbags, sure [...]

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.] [...]