>> 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!"
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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.  
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>> If you're going to spend a lot of time bored on the subway, why not do it for pay, and look fabulous while you're at it?  That must have been stylist Edward Enninful's concept for the Fall 2008 Alberta Ferretti campaign, which features Anna Maria Jagodzinska and new talent Magdalena Frackowiak, Siri Tollerod, and Viktoriya Sasonkina juxtaposed in jewel tones with jaded expressions affixed on their faces.  The best shot Steven Meisel captured has to be of Siri, slumped over in plastic chair.
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>> Amongst significantly less hubbub — no Net-a-Porter selling his clothes right off the runway this time — Roland Mouret debuted his second collection yesterday under his new RM by Roland Mouret moniker.  The new set of dresses are definitely cut from the Mouret cloth — sheaths tailored with precision, oragami shapes — but for a man who's been using the same silhouettes since 2005, it's time to grow the aesthetic, not stand still in time.

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>> Alessandra Facchinetti's first couture collection at Valentino represents a nerve-racking, generational hand-off, but Giorgio Armani was there in the front row to lend support and represent the old guard. 

The collection had the palpable feel of a different designer, as it should — more structure and pared-down tailoring, with most of the detail left to the back of the garments, and more subdued colors than the pastels Valentino had been playing with. However, Alessandra did stay true to the three most guiding parts of the Valentino aesthetic: femininity, ruffles, and of course, Valentino red.  In fact, that same Valentino red painted the final look of the collection — a stunning chiffon number.

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>> Riccardo Tisci is taking a trip to Peru in August, and his anticipation birthed the Incan prints and alpaca blanket stripes that pepper his latest couture collection for Givenchy.

Highlighter shades of fuchsia and violet provided shocking punctuation amongst Tisci's usual color palette of neutrals.  The emerging trends of knee-length leggings, transparency, and lace were all present along with the signature Tisci for Givenchy leather jackets and oversized hats. But I have to say, amongst all the draped jersey and deconstructed shapes, the two standout looks were similar pale, choppily-fringed minidresses.  

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>> Usually Christian Lacroix's designs are a little too overwrought to speak to me, but something about this set sits just right. 

Maybe the scarlet backdrop is to blame, setting off all the intricate detailing with its vivid hue: the peekaboo lace sleeves, the bell-shaped cocktail dresses, the gossamer tufts; or maybe I've just gone buggy for Lacroix's insect-inspired fantasy world. If so, I'm not the only one: the attendees showered the designer with carnations at the end of the show.

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>> Seeing a Chanel couture collection is a thrill, but the clothes are always rivaled by what new, huge installation Karl Lagerfeld has plopped in the center of le Grand Palais for the models to stream out of.  In recent seasons, there's been a giant tweed jacket and a larger-than-life carousel; This time around, it was a gigantic set of organ pipes. 

The show started with a fugue of ominous organ music, and together with the central pipe installation and the tube-like detailing on many of the intricate dresses, reflected the inspiration which had come to Karl during a concert. 

Enjoy the big production while it lasts, folks — word is Karl is talking about reducing the Chanel shows to be more intimate experiences in the future.
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