>> When I read Fashion Babylon, which claims to "get under the skin of the fashion industry," there was one paragraph that really stuck with me.  The narrator, an anonymous British designer, is absolutely obsessed with Miuccia Prada:

Miuccia Prada is probably one of the most fashion forward designers.  She is a designer's designer, and we all look to her as some sort of visionary... She can think about grand ideas and themes.  She will take something like the war in Iraq and while the rest of us are shoving khaki combats down the catwalks she'll come up with a bunch of young innocents dressed in white, wafting like lost souls down the runway.  She is so ahead of herself.  She is already  feeling what the rest of us are barely smelling.

With this obsession stuck in mind, it's kind of amazing to see it played out in reality --  Marc Jacobs just accessorized his Spring 2007 show with tons of exaggerated rhinestones, and Miuccia played up rhinestones back in her Spring 2006 Miu Miu show (they were smaller than Marc's, sure, but the idea is still there). 
The influence doesn't stop there -- Miuccia did these great fuschia open-toed boots for her Spring 2006 Prada collection, and open-toed boots have already shown up on the Spring 2007 runways at VPL and Jill Stuart.

It's not just the designers that feel Miuccia's influence -- the entire industry does.  Her Fall 2006 mood at Prada of "urban Amazons" has inspired an amazing-sounding exhibit at FIT.

I guess I just never really consciously thought about it before, but the woman has a huge sphere of influence.

>> Don't buy the new Proenza Schouler platforms.  If Elise Crombez (inured to the ways of walking in impossible clothing) can't make it through a 200-yard runway loop without faceplanting, there's no way in hell I can do any better.

>>  The models, they like their rockstar boyfriends.  And also their paracetamol tablet breakfasts.

>> Don't mess with the fashion editors, no matter who you are or how long you've been in the business.  Even if you're Milla Jovovich. Outside the Jovovich-Hawk presentation Sunday:

“Why are some people being let in then?” apparently unrecognized editors from magazines, including Vanity Fair, asked the bouncer. “Special reasons,” he answered, before figuring out who he’d turned away a few minutes later, when he let them through. Other overheard disgruntled mumbles: “I give it five more minutes” and “This is not the way to get a good review.”

Photo credit: Softgrey from TFS

>> The rumor is finally confirmed -- Olivier Theyskens will become Nina Ricci's artistic director, effective November 1, and his first collection under the label will debut next March. 

Another Displaced Fashion Person has found his way back into the game, too bad that doesn't happen more often...

>> What would Lagerfeld do if he didn't make us laugh? 

>>  What was Luella thinking when she chose all these hideous patterns?

888pattern pictures

The mirror dress is pretty cool though.  Wearable?  Maybe not.  Cool though.

>>  In the midst of a bunch of drab color schemes and Chloe-knockoff collections, Yigal Azrouel's Spring/Summer 2007 collection definitely stands out from the pack.  Not because it has a big punch of color running throughout (in fact, everything's white and shades of gray), and not because there are any groundbreaking shapes, but because of the draping and the minimalism.  Yes, Helmut Lang is one of those designers everyone likes to compare up-and-comers to, like all new models seem to be "the next Kate Moss," but Yigal's spring line is different.  The Helmut Lang undertones are definitely noticeable, but he carries it off well on his own.   There's not too much Helmut, or too much copycatting.  Plus, I really like the shape of these pants.

>> It's amazing what a good haircut can do for your career -- just ask Irina.  The latest (lucky) victim of "the good haircut" is Alison Nix, whose brown bob resembles Louise Brooks' so closely it could have been taken off the woman herself.  And it's propelled her into the it-new-model realm along with another owner of the brunette bob: Pat Schmid.  Oh, and Rachel Alexander has one, too (are we seeing a trend here?).

So remember models, if your career is beginning to flounder, chop that hair up -- just look what it's done for Irina, Alison, and Mariacarla.

Photo via The Sartorialist

>> One of the shows in New York I am most looking forward to is Rodarte (Tuesday at 6 pm!), so I thought I would share this little tidbit for all you fellow fans, courtesy of style.com, which of course got a preview last Thursday:

"It's Gainsborough meets Richard Avedon," Laura Mulleavy said,  showing off six looks—five dresses and one pantsuit—that made lovely use of the duo's stash of antique lace, some of which is hand-painted.  Expect blacks, whites, yellow-golds, shocking pinks, and, in a departure from their more sinuous fall pieces, lots of stiff volumes.