>> Right now, Christian Lacroix is playing the waiting game: he has to wait until September, when the courts decide whose bid will be accepted: that of the Italian Borletti group, which would cut more than half of Lacroix's staff but keep the couture business, or that of current Lacroix owners the Falic Group, who have submitted a restructuring plan that calls for 90 percent of the staff to be cut, leaving only administrative workers, and allowing the company to license out Lacroix's name to recoup some of their debt.

Lacroix has said he supports the Borletti bid, but for now, he's been staying in Arles, France, where he grew up.  There's no news of whether he will do a Spring 2010 collection, which he would normally show at the beginning of October, because when Lacroix filed for court protection, the court ordered the Falic Group only had to pay him through this month.  His Fall 2009 couture collection, shown in July, was made up of 24 looks and only happened because everything from the fabrics to the shoes were donated.

As for his future, it's uncertain, New York reports.  He owns a company, XCLX, through which he designs theater, opera, and ballet costumes — but the work is not substantial enough to pay bills.  He also designers for TGV trains, movie theaters, hotel rooms, and luxury condos in Dubai, but like everything these days, those markets are unstable.  His main goal, he says, is to keep the rights to his name; otherwise, he tells New York, laughing sadly: “I will be like Prince! The designer formerly known as!”