Kinga Rajzak

>> The Spring 2012 H&M lookbook has arrived — and its full of all the on-trend pieces you'll be wanting come next season: collarless blazers, asymmetric blouses, and skirts and dresses in punched-up hues. Accessories, too, look fresh — especially a pair of two-tone flatform slip-ons. See the collection here, as modeled by Kinga Rajzak.

>> Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell sparred in DSquared2's campaign shot by Steven Meisel a couple of years ago, and it appears that Meisel was feeling like a catfight again this season — except this time, with more of an erotic undertone. He captured Kinga Rajzak and Iselin Steiro for Lanvin's Spring 2011 campaign pulling each other across a rug, kicking at one another . . . and one image shows Rajzak in full-on hiss-and-pounce mode.

>> As Milan Fashion Week stretches on and the buildup to Paris begins, more top girls keep coming out of the woodwork: first there was Raquel Zimmermann in her first appearance of the season at Gucci, then Sasha Pivovarova at D&G, and now Kinga Rajzak staging a runway comeback — see her backstage at Max Mara and Versace, plus catch a behind the scenes look at Bottega Veneta, Emporio Armani, Just Cavalli, and Antonio Marras.

Photos: Greg Kessler

>> Before heading back to the States from Venice, a number of Chanel Cruise attendees — and show strutters like Toni Garrn and Siri Tollerod — made a stop over in Vienna for the annual Life Ball AIDS charity spectacular Saturday evening.  The town hall was surrounded by 2.5 million liters of water trucked in for this year's marine theme, and the guest list topped 40,000.

Amber Valletta opened the motorcade in a blue crystal-covered chariot, Anja Rubik was in attendance wearing her favorite label as of late, Balmain, and Sessilee Lopez sported a blonde wig for one of her turns during the catwalk festivities.  Heather Marks, Iris Strubegger, Emina Cunmulaj, Eliza Cummings, Kinga Rajzak, Sara Blomqvist all also participated, plus first-timer Stephanie Carta, who described the experience as "a fantasy world of glitter and botox and some kind of neverending celebration."

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>> 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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>> When Natalie Portman comes to the show, Keira Knightley hits up the after party, and Anna Wintour brings Bee — who usually only goes to Marc Jacobs and Proenza Schouler — along, you know Rodarte is really starting to make it big. Even Vogue Italia's editor-in-chief, Franca Sozzani, had a little trouble getting in — apparently, she tried to follow Anna and Bee through the velvet rope, but the PR staff wouldn't allow it.

Onto the clothes: They followed the same thought process as the Fall 2008 collection, but with a few key changes — the colors, the shoes (those treacherous shoes, made by Nicholas Kirkwood instead of Christian Louboutin this season), and the leggings, which were leather instead of knit, and although they looked laser cut, were entirely handmade.  Some think the look veered into Balenciaga territory, but me?  I'm just enjoying the view.  
*image: source