Alejandro Ingelmo

The CFDAs, American fashion's version of the Oscars, kicked things off last night with the announcement of its 2011 nominees. Now we have a few months to speculate on the winners before the big ceremony in June. We're psyched to see our favorite designers among the nominees, including young designers Alejandro Ingelmo and Pamela Love, who is fresh off her collab with Topshop. One of the biggest surprises is the nomination of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen for the Swarovski Award for Womenswear, proving that celebrities can be taken seriously as designers. Here's the full list of nominees:

Wondering who took home the big awards last year? Click to read up on the 2010 CFDA winners.

• We saw LOVE's new cover with Kate Moss and Lea T. kissing last week; now the second cover, featuring Justin Bieber shot by Terry Richardson, has appeared [@THELOVEMAGAZINE]
• Andre Courreges and his wife and creative partner, Coqueline, have sold their company to two investors, Frederic Torloting and Jacques Bungert, who run the French division of advertising agency Young & Rubicam. Coqueline has been running the design house since Andre retired from fashion in the mid-'90s [WWD]
• After months of rumors, February's Vogue reports that Theory CEO and Rag & Bone investor Andrew Rosen is about to sign a deal with Proenza Schouler; and Meredith Melling Burke, not Candy Pratts Price, is reportedly overseeing Vogue.com [Fashionista]
• Yesterday during a DLD Conference panel, Natalie Massenet talked about her plans for Net-A-Porter Live, a platform on which Net-a-Porter customers will be able to see who’s online and what they put in their baskets in real time; “We want to start a conversation between them,” she explained [DLD Conference]
• Naomi Campbell is headed back to court this Thursday over a breach-of-contract lawsuit; the contract, which involved promoting a perfume called Cat Deluxe with Kisses, was signed 12 years ago [The Cut]
• Prada could make a final decision on their IPO by the end of the month [Bloomberg]
• Alejandro Ingelmo is aiming to introduce handbags and accessories into his collection for Spring 2012 [Fashionetc.]
• Anna Wintour, Steven Klein, Donna Karan, Daphne Guinness, Ingrid Sischy, Sandy Brant, and Vera Wang all attended the elaborate 21st birthday party Calvin Klein threw on Friday at Indochine for his boyfriend, Nick Gruber [NY Post]
• Tanner Hall, the film co-directed by Diane von Furstenberg's daughter Tatiana von Furstenberg and starring Rooney Mara, just scored a distribution deal and is expected to be released at the end of this year, around when Mara's upcoming film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, debuts [Deadline]
• Libertine is headed back to New York Fashion Week this February, minus a partner and with a new direction, says designer Johnson Hartig: "It’ll be different in that once Cindy [Greene] and I separated, I stopped using placement prints — I mean literal images — and it’s become more abstract. And there’s going to be a lot more color. I haven’t met a color I haven’t liked this season" [Fashionetc.]

So many designers have a collaboration in the works — we love the teamwork! — but some collabs get us particularly excited. We're highlighting six Spring 2011 collaborations that are simply brilliant for their uniqueness, originality, and beauty. With Spring just ahead of us, we're chomping at the bit to get our hands on these pieces.

To see the best designer collaborations for Spring, read more

>> CFDA Pairs with Magazine That Isn't Vogue for First Time —Harper's Bazaar and the CFDA are joining (marking the first time the CFDA has paired with a magazine other than Vogue) for the Accessories Bazaar; the initiative showcases up-and-coming accessories designers in an exhibit which coincides with New York Fashion Week and will be located nearby Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. The Bazaar, which kicks off with a cocktail party Sept. 13 and will be open to Fashion Week attendees for the next two days, will feature the Spring 2011 collections of 18 jewelers, milliners, footwear, handbag and small leather goods designers, among them Alexis Bittar, Philip Crangi, Albertus Swanepoel, Alejandro Ingelmo, Fenton/Fallon's Dana Lorenz, Pamela Love and Dean Harris, in a gallery-like setting (rendering, above left).

Sachastar has dreams of NYFW. She's not attending the shows, but that's not going to stop her from creating a fabulous outfit for the festivities. Her outfit radiates in-your-face style via metallic woven shoes (so rad), a cobalt blue-sequin skirt, cropped tee, and spunky accessories. I would totally rock these pieces at a Balmain or Alexander Wang fashion show — thanks!