>> The 2009 CFDA Awards are on Monday — the afterparties are planned, various outlets are hedging their bets on the winners, and to the disappointment of many, Board of Director’s Special Tribute honoree Michelle Obama will not be in attendance — fashion has been foiled once again — her cultural ambassador Bonnie McElveen-Hunter will receive the award in her stead.

But the rumor about the mini fashion show at the awards ceremony is true: As a preview of New York Fashion Week's move to Lincoln Center next year, a runway presentation of Lifetime Achievement honoree Anna Sui, plus the work of other womenswear nominees, will take place on the Center's Alice Tully Hall stage.  According to Fashion Week Daily, "Don’t expect anything less than stellar models to strut their stuff on stage, nearly every big name is already booked for the mini-shows."

UPDATE: The show's presenters »

>> Michelle Obama's sartorial choices have caused a bit of a riff among designers, causing some to call others "dinosaurs," but over the weekend she was joined by favorites Narciso Rodriguez and Jason Wu — who apparently got carded by a bartender — at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, and earned herself a new designer fan.

Donatella Versace, who attended as a guest of Vanity Fair, was excited to participate — she even blogged the experience for the Huffington Post, citing a pet peeve for Blackberrys. "I follow politics. It's part of my life. I think if you're involved in the modern world — if you're a modern person — you need to know what's going on in the world.  My business is worldwide. I know German politics. I know French politics."

She even admitted to protesting during her university years. "I was very involved in politics and sit-ins. Students were fighting for things, and I think young people need to fight for their future."

But back to Michelle — particularly in France. "She looked fierce," Versace says. "They're a couple who knows how to dare. I'm sure she has people around her telling her it's too much. She looked great in Alaia."

Donatella only has one request: "I want to know her size. I want to send her clothes.  But I'm a bit shy."
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>> Stella McCartney's been a busy lady since she turned up stateside a couple of days ago to attend the Costume Institute Gala.  Yesterday, she launched an exclusive summer collection with Net-a-Porter and then dropped by Barneys for her trunk show and a chat with creative director Simon Doonan, with whom she talked jumpsuits:

I love a jumpsuit. I wore one last night, at the Met event, and I had to have a girlfriend take me in an out of it every time I had to go to the bathroom — so it does have it’s drawbacks, but I love them because they’re just so effortless. I think that pretty much sums up my brand.

Is menswear next? »

>> Tom Binns has long been fashion cult favorite with an enfant terrible streak — his Venice Beach studio is all white walls except for two paintings, one which reads "Vague, Vogue, Vomit," and the other pictures a Chanel logo next to the McDonald's Golden Arches and a swastika.  He left the New York fashion scene after 9/11, doesn't own a car — instead begging rides to Whole Foods — and doesn't even go to Paris to sell his collection to buyers, leaving that to his staff. "I don't want to go, I don't want to dress up, I don't want to have people . . . checking me out, saying, 'Why are you wearing those shoes — they're not really happening,'" he told the Los Angeles Times.

But he's not being shy about business »

>> INSIDER WIRE —Of all the designers to scold Oscar de la Renta on his recent criticism of Michelle Obama, Azzedine Alaia would not seem the most likely, but he did nonetheless: “[Obama] has a very strong presence and has set a new style for First Ladies. I’m sure women will follow her style — it’s simple and elegant.  It’s not up to him to give her lessons; Michelle Obama is of her time; Oscar de la Renta is no longer." [WWD]
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>> Last week, Oscar de la Renta drew a lot of heat for his frustrated comments on Michelle Obama's decision to champion small fashion houses, wearing Thakoon and Jason Wu over Donna Karan or Ralph Lauren:

American fashion right now is struggling.  I think I understand what [Obama and her advisers] are doing, but I don’t think that is the right message at this particular point . . . I don’t object to the fact that Mrs. Obama is wearing J.Crew to whatever because the diversity of America is what makes this country great. But there are a lot of great designers out there. I think it’s wrong to go in one direction only.

He got particularly pointed about Obama's choice of an Alaia cardigan to meet Queen Elizabeth: “You don’t go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater.”

Needless to say, fashion community feathers were ruffled — Paper's Mickey Boardman blogged a piece requesting de la Renta to "hush": "It's beneath de la Renta's dignity as an elder statesman of American Fashion to consistently complain and criticize a First Lady who has done so much for American fashion."

But Oscar's sticking to his guns »

>> Although she rarely gives interviews — except for, you know, the lengthy one in The September Issue and that profile she's supposedly doing for 60 Minutes (rumor is their cameras were following her again at the amfAR Gala Thursday night), so maybe she's changed her mind — Anna Wintour sat down with Rachel Dodes of The Wall Street Journal right before New York Fashion Week for a quick fashion state-of-the-union-interview.

But before we get started, a sidenote — the coat she wore Thursday (left) looks to be from Peter Som's Fall 2009 capsule collection, so methinks he will be taken care of just fine.  Now, among the interview's highlights:

Now is not the time to look "too Dubai."

I don't think anyone is going to want to look overly flashy, overly glitzy, too Dubai, whatever you want to call it. I just don't think that's the moment. But I do feel an emphasis on quality and longevity and things that really last.

She won't name names, but some designers aren't making clothes that are worth the price tag.

In the [Vogue] Index pages we are looking more rigorously at price and value and asking, 'is something worth that particular price tag?'

A thing that wasn't worth it? Without naming names, we had a little sequined thing that wouldn't come down to here on you [points to chest.] And I said, 'How much is it?' $25,000. I said, 'No. We're not going to photograph that right now.'

What Anna thinks is "fabulous" »

>> The meteoric rise of Jason Wu — he has tripled his sales appointments for his sold out, yet-to-be-unveiled Fall 2009 collection — shows what an influence Michelle Obama can have on a designer.  But Wu doesn't just have Obama to thank — he never actually interacted with the First Lady, but rather with Ikram Goldman, owner of Chicago boutique Ikram, and Obama's gatekeeper to the fashion industry.

In fact, none of the designers who have made clothes for the First Lady have had any direct contact with their White House client — all commissions, measurements, bills, and other directions have been mediated by Ikram, causing something of a controversy; the clothes that Obama has worn recently are predominantly from designers that Cathy Horyn points out, "Ikram sells and ultimately stands to benefit from" — Jason Wu, Isabel Toledo, Narciso Rodriguez, Proenza Schouler, Thakoon, and Mario Cornejo.

Is Obama limiting herself? »

>> BLOWING THE COVER —There's still no news on Michelle Obama attending Fashion Week, but it's finally been confirmed that she's appearing on the March 2009 cover of Vogue — in magenta Jason Wu, no less.  Inside, her two of her other favorites from her own wardrobe — Narciso Rodriguez and J.Crew — get play.  The two portraits were, as suspected, taken by Annie Leibovitz at the Hay-Adams Hotel in January — no pictures are out until tomorrow, but the Washington Post has plenty of descriptory detail. [WashPo, Fashionista]

UPDATE: The cover! [Style.com]

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