Anya Kazakova

>> A number of designers are sticking very close to ideas from seasons past for the Fall 2009 round of ad campaigns — Louis Vuitton went for Madonna "Part Deux," Versace's set features the same model — Gisele Bundchen — doing the same pose she did for the house's Spring 2008 ads, and now Donna Karan, who decided last season to save money by taking her runway photography and reinterpreting it for the ads, is using the same tactic this season.

The set of Fall 2009 ads that appear on the front page of Karan's website all feature Toni Garrn, one in the look she wore down the runway. In the other two ads, it appears that Toni's head was Photoshopped onto the bodies of Anya Kazakova and Sasha Pivovarova — the stances on both bodies are identical to those in the runway photos of the collection on the website.

>> For Fall 2008, three of the big campaigns that every model wants to catch — Prada, Balenciaga, and Miu Miu — all went with one big name — Linda Evangelista, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Vanessa Paradis, respectively.

Come Spring 2009, all three labels have decided to switch things up by using a large number of new faces — Prada is using eight models (Anna Jagodzinska, Giedre Dukauskaite, Katrin Thormann, Nimue Smit, Sigrid Agren, Toni Garrn, Viktoriya Sasonkina, Ymre Stiekema); Miu Miu is using eight models as "accessories" to campaign star Katie Holmes (Darya Kurovska, Elena Lomkova, Imogen Morris-Clarke, Katie Fogarty, Myf Shepherd, Sophie Srej, Tilda Lindstam, Yulia Leontieva); and Balenciaga is going with ten models (Amanda Laine, Anabela Belikova, Anna Jagodzinska, Anya Kazakova, Diana Farkhullina, Elsa Sylvan, Hanne-Gaby Odiele, Iris Strubegger, Katie Fogarty, Kinga Rajzak).

Surprisingly, there are only two girls overlapping between the campaigns: Anna Jagodzinska in Balenciaga and Prada and Katie Fogarty in Miu Miu and Balenciaga, and especially in Miu Miu's cast, some girls — Tilda Lindstam, Yulia Leontieva — are very new faces. Although some are skeptical, especially in the case of Miu Miu, that all the models cast will make it into the final shots, it's notable that all three labels, which usually go with one face, have all decided that power comes in numbers this season.  Get to know the chosen faces in the gallery below.
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>> Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi had a tall order to fill for Spring 2009.  Before Gianfranco Ferre passed in 2007, his architectural-based label had ceased to become relevent — as Cathy Horyn put it, "It’s been a while since anyone [has] paid serious attention to the Ferre name."  So could the newly tapped designers bring it back to the forefront?

The general consensus says yes.  Nicole Phelps of Style.com was pleased: "They deserve high marks for this outing." Cathy Horyn of The New York Times, a Aquilano-Rimondi fan, loved the effort, with one caveat: "The designers distilled the essence of Ferre in a new, eye-catching way. Now to just refine the elements a bit more . . . " WWD felt the same: "Aquilano and Rimondi have the right ideas, but what they need now is a little restraint."

Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune also echoed the same sentiment: "Not all the Ferré collection was approachable. Yet . . .  the two designers created the clothes and the buzz that will bring fashion life back to Ferré."  With another season under their belts, Aquilano and Rimondi could definitely hit the right stride at Ferre.
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>> Phillip Lim created the mascot skirt of Fashion Week earlier this year — not kidding, I've seen it on at least one person every day this week — and if the attendance to his newest collection's presentation is any indication, Spring 2009 will be smooth sailing for 3.1 Phillip Lim — the Tent was packed to the gills with fans, including friends Richard Chai and Irina Lazareanu, both sitting front row.

Christian Louboutin designed ruffled heels for the collection, eliciting covetousness in many — in fact, the whole Spring 2009 season is about ruffles for Phillip.  The treatment in some of the dresses and skirts reminded me of a tamed version of Marc Jacobs's Spring 2007 ruffles, but among the hazy smoke that hovered on the runway, the real standouts emerged — the stiff, open-edged zipper pieces, and the jewelry Eddie Borgo made for the occasion.
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>> For the second season in a row, Marc Jacobs started his show promptly, just ten minutes after its scheduled start — only this time, half the attendees weren't locked out — everyone had learned their lesson. "Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The show is about to begin."

Through swinging mirror doors, the models walked the mirror-lined runway from every direction, funhouse illusions abounding. But show tactics aside, with Marc, it always comes down to the clothes — the mashed-up, layered, bangled clothes, sparkling, plaided, and sheened. As Gershwin played in the background, Marc took us in a whole new direction — and he did it while wearing a skirt.

To get the full experience, check out the runway video at Elle.com.
*image: source