>> This has been a week of firsts for Proenza Schouler.  They took home their first CFDA Accessory Designer of the Year award Monday, after which Jack McCollough was snapped licking Thakoon Panichgul; Lazaro Hernandez later quipped, "Yeah, we started the week off with a hangover, bad idea, and kind of throws off the whole thing!"  With A Magazine #9, out this week with Chloe Sevigny on the cover, they become the first American designer guest editors — Lazaro even photographed the Swarovski campaign inside.

And today, they present their first collection abroad in Florence — complete with performance artist Kalup Linzy's short film starring Chloe Sevigny and Liya Kebede (see here), because they felt they "needed to up the ante."  The Cruise 2010 collection includes bags with leather treated to look like herringbone canvas and was inspired by their recent trip to Tahiti: "When we finish a show we go away, and that trip usually winds up being the spark for the next season. Not directly — I think we try to avoid the places where the inspiration would be too on-the-surface, in fact."  They say they're staying to work in Italy, and then coming back to get ready for Spring 2010, so maybe some Italian influence will shine through next time around?

>> Hannah MacGibbon has received mixed reviews for her past Chloe collections — even drawing inspiration from her own closet for her predominantly earth-toned pieces — but she has at least one fan in Chloe Sevigny, who met MacGibbon back when she was working for Phoebe Philo, and has been spotted frequently in a scalloped Chloe blazer: "I am so glad Hannah is back. I think Chloé was missing a feminine touch, and with my body it's hard to do the tomboy thing. I feel more comfortable dressing like a woman."  Ironically, pictures from Hannah's Cruise 2010 collection for Chloe and Phoebe's collection for Celine showed up on the same day; the former continues along the same lines as her work in the past, riding the masculine-feminine line with a little shock of poppy red.

>> Stefano Pilati has been in New York since the weekend, hanging out at the Mercer Hotel with Purple's Olivier Zahm, Chloe Sevigny, and Waris Ahluwalia, but last night he got down to business, hosting the launch of the Yves Saint Laurent sustainable "New Vintage" collection with Barneys.  All the bags, shoes, and dresses were cut from archive fabric left over from previous seasons, and Barneys fashion director Julie Gilhart reports that it went fast — only a few pieces left, and she grabbed one of the bags for herself.

Today, Pilati presented his Cruise 2010 collection to press and buyers — where Chanel Iman was apparently called out for Twittering while she modeled.

>> At last night's annual Accessories Council ACE Awards, Nicholas Ghesquiere may have been awarded Designer of the Year, Sally Singer the Marylou Luther Award for Fashion Journalism, and Tamara Mellon's Jimmy Choo the Brand of the Year, but Stella McCartney was awarded the most special treatment.

The designer, who was flanked by Helena Christensen, Coco Rocha, and Dean Koons and anointed with a new award, Green Designer of the Year, had her table completely set with salads while everyone else had "a decadent lobster plate."  And out of respect for her vegan views, even her award — a Judith Leiber miaundiere — was made green, with a black hemp lining in leather's stead and no stainless steel plating.  Such attention to detail kept Stella in a high mood — she joked as she accepted her award, "Little did I know that my award would be second to last and I would need to use the ladies' room after putting on my unitard outfit. But that's life!"
*image: source, source