>> He showed for the first time ever at New York Fashion Week — by appointment only — and already he's getting major buzz.

As Mickey Boardman at Paper put it, "The name all those in-the-know were dropping was Joseph Altuzarra. French Vogue . . . told Paper that Altuzarra, who worked previously at Proenza Schouler and Givenchy, is the one [to] watch from New York Fashion Week." Stores are vying for exclusives on his first collection — and he's got a lookbook model in Vanessa Traina, who chipped in her two cents: "The right magazines came to see his stuff, the right stores want to buy it—which means, personally, it’s been a pretty good week for the guy."  And Julia Restoin-Roitfeld already wore one of his dresses to the Calvin Klein 40th Anniversary party last week.

But the part that really sticks with me is Vanessa Traina being in the lookbook — seems like Joseph is just where Alexander Wang was a couple of years ago, when he was just starting out and had Vanessa modeling in his lookbook.
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>> Being known as a protege of Francisco Costa doesn't hurt — especially when you're showing your first-ever collection. Julian Louie's fifteen sculptural pieces reeled in the likes of Kate Lanphear and Hamish Bowles last week — and they left with glimmers in their eyes, mirroring those of the Swarovski crystals embedded on Julian's dresses. The bright colors, innovative fabrics (neoprene!), and cocoon shapes reminded me of something that would appear at London rather than New York Fashion Week — even a touch of Christopher Kane's first collection — but nevermind, I'm glad to have a talent like his stateside.
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>> When Fashion Week comes a-knockin', we all get caught up in the parade of clothes, shoes, and handbags . . . but sometimes we forget to keep an eye on the jewelry, too. It's important to note — especially this season, when the bigger the jewelry, the better — and two fledgling designers have really emerged as ones to watch: Eddie Borgo, 30, and Pamela Love, 26.

They're both well-connected: Eddie dates stylist Keegan Singh, Pamela shares a workspace with Julia Restoin-Roitfeld.  Pamela is best known for her clawed cuffs that ended up in the Fall 2008 Gap ads, while Eddie just two weeks ago announced his namesake line.  The two were tapped to collaborate on pieces for Marchesa's Spring 2009 collection, and were snapped together last week at 3.1 Phillip Lim, for which Eddie created stained glass stunners.  For the record, he also worked with Jen Kao, Staerk, and Frank Tell on their Spring 2009 collections — but what a pair, these two.
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>> Sophie Srej may be Hungarian, Anna Selezneva Russian, and Charlotte Hoyer Danish, but these three girls now have one thing in common — as of today, they are the Spring 2009 Calvin Klein show exclusives.  Anna Selezneva is the only cover girl of the bunch, but now Sophie and Charlotte have joined her in becoming some of the most watched new faces going into Milan and Paris.
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