Alicia Keys has founded a jewelry line, called The Barber's Daughters, with accessories designer Gisèle Theriault, whom Keys met backstage during one of her performances.

The collection is made up of sterling silver and gemstone necklaces and bracelets inscribed with the poetry and prayers of Masaru Emoto. Emoto is a Japanese author best known for his conviction that  human thoughts can be directed towards water droplets which will in turn be beautiful or ugly when frozen, depending on the nature of the words, of course. His most recent book, "Messages from Water," contains photographs of these water crystals next to the words which transformed them.

According to Keys, the idea is to “to give people beautiful, unique pieces with messages that ignite them to find the best within."

“I fell in love with the individuality of the pieces, but more than that, the words that were written on them really resonated with the songwriter in me,” said Keys. “I knew at that moment, for the first time, that through a whole other medium I would be able to spread inspiration and that’s what got me started.”

Well, there's that, and she's always wanted to design accessories. Keys also states, "jewelry is a great first step." Meaning we can expect more product offerings from her newly created company, AK Worldwide.

[WWD]

A section of the newly released 700-page tome, "Prada: Creativity, Modernity, Innovation," documents decades of Miuccia Prada's iconic advertising campaigns—including a geek chic look from 1996, the pleated lip prints from 2000, and vintage Naomi Campbell and Kristen McMenamy. Get ready for some serious flashbacks in the gallery below.

Source: Prada

We've long been obsessed with Shelly Steffee's sharply cut, inventive brand of fashion and often pass through her Meatpacking District boutique/showroom/salon to shop, peruse her vintage jewelry collection, and check out the new design talent she's currently supporting. (Right now Steffee is selling Patrik Muff of Nymphenburg's porcelain pendants—of which we purchased the black wing charm on rose gold.)

Since forgoing her usual in-store presentation for spring 2010, Steffee took us through the collection personally. "I knew I wanted to do prints and address something primal by getting back to the basics," she said, "to return to tailoring but mix that structure with draping techniques."

For Steffee back to the basics meant more of what her loyal following love to wear—reversible jackets, tailored riding coats, mesh tanks, and shirt dresses and tops that can be worn multiple ways. The aforementioned spring prints were inspired by a book of fish x-rays, which Steffee digitally collaged to create geometric textures on chiffon and jersey in shades of blue, gray, and white.

In addition to Steffee's always covetable array of blazers, lingerie-style bra tops and perfect tees, two dresses caught our eye during the visit—a black asymmetrical sheath with subtle cut outs at the shoulder and a red, draped-yet-tailored cocktail number with a back slit.

Although Steffee has been doing the thoughtful, multifunctional fashion thing for a long time, it's never seemed quite so relevant and felt quite as urgent. Call us fans.

Maria Cornejo's capsule menswear collection, available next spring, is full of the types of directional silhouettes her womenswear clients have come to love. For the tightly-edited 28 piece line, Cornejo distills her signature shapes down to a few key looks for men—a textured double-layered shirt, a concave rain jacket, soft blazers, and a pair of tailored slim pants—all with classic Zero + Maria Cornejo detailing, namely asymmetric lines and plays on volume.