• Models fees are required in France, so Christian Lacroix chipped in to pay his 10 models 50 euros apiece. Normal couture fees are said to be around 1300 euros per show for new faces — every year of experience earns a "raise" of about 1000 more euros. [Imaginary Socialite]


• Jean Paul Gaultier had a 12-lb dress, Chanel had three seamstresses working on the bride look, and Maison Martin Margiela used 2,000 pen caps for a jacket: it's Fall 2009 couture by the numbers. [The Cut]


• Cathy Horyn yearns for Alessandra Facchinett's Valentino; Of Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli's couture, she says: "Frankly I’d be worried about getting too close to one of those prickly, encrusted numbers. You might get a rash." [On the Runway]
Couture clients, a video of Chanel couture in the making »

>> The number of opportunities for fashion and style bloggers have exponentially grown this year; many scored coups in April, and this month they keep adding up. Sea of Shoes' Jane Aldridge designed six pairs of shoes for Urban Outfitters under the label J. Aldridge for Urban Outfitters, with the first three pairs hitting stores July 15 and the second three in December.  Refinery29 and Teen Vogue have looks at the first set, which includes black studded gladiator heels ($98), black lace-up flats ($58), and knee-high peep-toe boots ($178), and as memory recalls marks the first design collaboration between a blogger and a major retailer — save perhaps Rumi Neely of Fashion Toast's upcoming pieces for RVCA.

Holt Renfrew, too, loves bloggers »

>> Streetstyle photographers Garance Dore, Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist, and Tommy Ton of Jak & Jil have all turned their blogs into further industry opportunities — Garance now shoots editorials for the likes of Glamour Italy and guest blogs for Vogue.fr, Scott has photographed two seasons worth of DKNY Jeans campaigns and has a compilation book coming out in September, and Tommy did the Spring 2009 Lane Crawford campaign.  And style blogger Susanna Lau's time on Style Bubble allowed her to transition from digital media planner at an ad agency to commissing editor of Dazed & Confused's DazedDigital.com.

In the past week or so, a handful of other fashion bloggers have seen their blog time become currency for further opportunities: Yvan Rodic of Facehunter just announced a compilation book of his streetstyle photography is coming out in early 2010.  Julia Frakes of BunnyBisous and Paper's Fashion Schmasion is doing some lookbook time — first in Rachel Antonoff's Fall 2009 set and yesterday, she apparently shot the Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony lookbook, complete with '90s hair; the last round of which Chloe starred in herself.  And finally, Rumi Neely of Fashion Toast just signed with Next, is appearing in RVCA's campaign, and has further upcoming editorials and styling work already in the pipeline.

>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL —Scott Schuman recently nabbed his first major fashion campaign for DKNY Jeans, and now another cult street photographer, Tommy Ton of Jak & Jil, has been tapped by Chinese luxury retailer Lane Crawford to take over shooting its ad campaign from Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. The store's fashion director, Sarah Rutson, is known as a tastemaker, so who knows what her blessing will bring Ton in the future, but it's safe to say that streetstyle bloggers are gaining traction in the ad market. [NYT, Jak & Jil]