Derek Blasberg

>> Last month, Alexa Chung officially got herself a new TV show on American airwaves. Lifetime ordered 10 episodes of 24 Hour Catwalk, a reality series that Chung will host, with Cynthia Rowley, Derek Blasberg, and publicist James LaForce serving as the judging panel.

In the latest issue of Teen Vogue, Chung talks about her involvement in the show, which follows four designers over the course of 24 hours as they compete in what is framed as a younger, hipper version of Project Runway. The four designers are narrowed down to two based on their vision, talent, and endurance, with a $10,000 grand prize for the ultimate winner. Each episode brings a new crop of competitors.

"With a lot of other fashion shows, it's not actually relevant," Chung says. "I only wanted to do this if it was going to be a genuine search for designers and if I would be working alongside people who are legitimate in the fashion industry." She adds of her last American television experience, hosting It's On With Alexa Chung, which was canceled less than a year into its run: "I got so burnt by the last [show]. [But] everything feels right this time. I really like the team. From day one, we've laughed nonstop."

>> Sometime model and self-described "young business woman" Amber Atherton set off a new wave of Carine Roitfeld rumors over the weekend, after Twittering a picture of a garment with a Roitfeld-branded hang tag alongside the caption: "Carine Roitfeld's new womenswear label?! or just an odd [Hong Kong] label mishap?!" The same day that London (and Hong Kong)-based Atherton posted the picture, Derek Blasberg Tweeted a picture of Roitfeld at The Wolseley in London alongside hairstylist Luigi Murenu and photographer Iango Henzi, prompting some to draw the conclusion that all three could have been working on a lookbook for Roitfeld's presumed collection.

>> There's been many an argument over the correct pronunciation of Proenza Schouler, and in the March 2011 issue of Interview, Lazaro Hernandez admits of the name, "I actually regret it." Jack McCollough agrees: "Yeah. One of our biggest regrets is the name of our company. It's like alphabet soup. There are so many letters. Even coming up with a font was a mission. We had to do these fine, little letters. We couldn't do strong, bold letters because it would be, like, out to here . . . . The whole reason why we even picked that name in the first place was that when we started, Barneys had just bought our collection and we didn't have a name. We thought, Hernandez McCollough? Doesn't sound so high end, does it?" Hernandez adds, "Proenza Schouler is better."

Their close friend and interviewer for the piece, Chloe Sevigny, points out that she likes the initials PS. McCollough notes: "We like PS, too, but Paul Smith has taken it. It's trademarked." Perhaps that's how their signature bag, the PS1, got named — it's as close to PS as they could get.

McCollough and Hernandez also cleared up questions surrounding their relationship — they are together personally as well as professionally (even though rumors have circulated that Derek Blasberg caused them to split years ago). And Proenza Schouler's CEO from the beginning, Shirley Cook, who McCollough says "was a friend of a friend from school" and "would come over and help us organize the part of running a business that we were clueless about" while working PR at Helmut Lang, has been dating McCollough's brother for six years. "What if they get married?" Sevigny asks.

Hernandez: Or what if they break up? That's even worse. [laughs] If they get married, it's fine. It's still the family.

McCollough: It could get messy. But you know, all relationships can potentially get really messy.

Hernandez: Like Jack and I could break up and then what would happen? Hmm.

McCollough: Whoa! What are you insinuating? I don't need you. [Hernandez laughs]

Hernandez: Those are all ifs. You gotta just . . .

McCollough: . . . move forward.

As far as their design relationship, Hernandez says it often works on compromise: "What's cool about us, if I want black and Jack wants white, we won't do either. We'll do grey. We have to find something in-between what we both want. It's hard. But Proenza Schouler wouldn't look the way it does if it were me by myself or Jack by himself. We do grey because I like white or he likes black. But none of us really likes grey, in a weird, metaphorical way." And between them, they design "90 percent of what you see."

That includes the pre-collections, which many other designers farm out to their design director (they don't have one). McCollough says, "If anything, the biggest stress these days are these pre-collections. They eat up so much of our time." But: "It's become just a huge part of the business. I think the pre-collections are about 60 percent of the business."

Nonetheless, they maintain that while designing, they don't think about sales. McCollough asserts, "If anything, we're anti-sales." And Hernandez adds: "We're really bad about that. We tend to think, 'What does my woman want for next season? What does she need? What does her closet lack? What has never crossed her mind?' It's never, 'Oh maybe she has enough short skirts made by us, now we need to do longer.' That's beside the point."

Sevigny notes that the designers are friends with Joseph Altuzarra and Alexander Wang, and asks if they feel a healthy competition with other designers. "Totally," Hernandez responds. "I think in the very beginning when we were trying to break through, we reacted to people who had already broken through a bit with something like, 'I hate him!' But now we feel more like there's room for everyone. Everyone does something different. All the young designers now are doing something interesting." McCollough chimes in: "There can be some crossover in places, absolutely. But for the most part, when people are doing well, they have their own thing going on."

It's well-documented that McCollough and Hernandez enjoy stepping away from the erratic fashion cycle on their farm in upstate New York — "People say New York is really inspiring and stuff, but for us, New York is a place to get sh*t done. Leaving the city and exploring things outside of the city is really inspiring," Hernandez says. And for such young designers — both men are 32 — it sounds like they've already mulled the idea of exiting fashion:

McCollough: We're not in this forever. We're not going to have the longevity of Karl Lagerfeld, who's doing this stuff at his age.

Hernandez: We respect people who have the stamina.

Sevigny: So are you going to become like Helmut Lang and do fine art?

McCollough: His career is kind of genius.

Hernandez: Helmut Lang's our hero.

McCollough: He stopped at his peak, you know?

Sevigny: But that wasn't exactly because he wanted to.

Hernandez: I think, probably, in retrospect, that served him well. For our generation, he's like God. He stepped down and left everyone wanting more.

>> In the wake of yesterday's Armani Prive show, Derek Blasberg Tweeted: "Armani couture has gone all Sci-Fi on me. Pierre Cardin-esque shapes, iridescent fabrics and flying saucers hats. Is that the Gaga effect?" Cathy Horyn Tweeted similarly: "Did Lady Gaga influence Armani's super-future lines and curves in startling collection of synthetic/metallic shine and enamel-like color?" And Vogue's Mark Holgate wrote, "Clearly, Armani is gaga for Gaga. How else does one explain that shiny molded techno-fabric that looked like it was specially created for Tron?" But despite all of those conclusions and the fact that Gaga and Armani have a multimillion dollar partnership, when Horyn approached Armani about it, she writes: "Afterward I asked him if he had been at all influenced by Lady Gaga, for whom he has made some clothes, and he shook his head firmly. Well, I wonder." [On the Runway]

• Open letter to Tom Ford: your JonBenet Ramsey-inspired editorial is not cool — Stylelist
• Erin Kaplan is leaving Elle — The Cut
• The Kardashians seal fashion deal with Sears — People
• This week I want to look like: Lykke Li — Lucky
• Derek Blasberg: writer, jet-setter, and now Gryphon designer — Teen Vogue
• Eddie Borgo Spring 2011: the girl with the punk earring — Vogue Daily
• Ann-Sofie Back for Topshop Spring 2011 — FabSugar UK
• Rachel McAdams's thoughts on Oscar dressing — Vogue UK
• Hunter Original rubber tote: your Winter weapon — Bag Snob
• Snag a snood — the scarf, not the game — to keep yourself cozy — Racked

>> Founding Vogue Russia editor Aliona Doletskaya resigned from her position at the end of July — with her final issue of the magazine hitting stands for September 2010 — without delineating any future plans other than notifying Condé Nast International president Jonathan Newhouse that, in his words, she would like to "start a new life, probably to write a book or try her hand in a new field." Not much has been heard from Doletskaya since — save for a recent byline in the New York Times on luxury in Russia — but late last week, Derek Blasberg Tweeted, "In today's completely unsubstantiated rumors: Aliona Doletskaya, former editor-in-chief of Russian Vogue, is vying for the top gig at POP." Dasha Zhukova resigned from the POP position earlier this month. [@derekblasberg]

>> News broke that Style.com is developing a reality series pilot last month, and now the show — which at last record, had yet to be picked up by a network — has a working title: North of Madison.

The casting call for the "docu-series" went out today, offering an "unprecedented opportunity to document your life and personal world as one of New York's most creative voices, minds, and points of view" to "those between the ages of 21 and 28 who express their love and hate for trends via any legitimate outlet."

It continues: "We've seen the fashion competition shows and the stylized reality soap operas . . . it's time we see the reality of what it truly means to be current, edgy, and on the forefront of trendsetting style. What it takes to get there is one thing. What it takes to stay there is another." Interviews are set to be held the first week of November in New York City.

From previous reports, the series is said to revolve around current Style.com staff as well as people from the New York party scene who don't necessarily work in fashion. "It could be four or five people," a source told the New York Daily News, with participants introduced via the site’s party coverage, and at least one "Style.com party reporter functioning as a central character."

>> It seems the Derek Blasberg and Style.com saga may have come to a close.  After being accused of taking money from brands in exchange for posts, Blasberg (who was named editor-at-large at Style.com last December), saw his byline quietly drop off the Style.com blog roster. Although he's still listed as a "contributor," his last post for the site was in June, just before the accusations of misconduct (which Blasberg fiercely denies, and which Style.com has never confirmed).

Now comes a memo from the Hearst PR department that Blasberg — who is also editor-at-large at Harper's Bazaar — will be a permanent Fashion Week fixture on Bazaar.com.  According to publicist Michael Volpatt, who handles Hearst Digital PR, "Blasberg takes site visitors front-row, backstage, and into the most exclusive Fashion Week parties, reporting daily on the trends, the faces, the hot spots, what everyone’s wearing and of course, the season's news-making fashion.  This can be found right on the home page."

>> Bits: The Selby Goes High Fashion, Joe Zee's New Show Begins Filming —Todd Selby has worked with Louis Vuitton on a number of special projects and photographed Helena Christensen's home for Vogue Paris, but it sounds like he's graduating to high fashion editorial — his first? On Monday, Derek Blasberg Tweeted, "Just wrapped a high fashion photo shoot extravaganza with The Selby and Vanessa Traina. The fur was flying!" And today, Joe Zee is experiencing his own first: he started filming for his upcoming show, All On the Line. Speaking of shows . . . Andre Leon Talley and Vogue-approved model and streetstyle blogger Hanneli Mustaparta are hosting the live webcast of the Fashion's Night Out fashion show on CBS.com on Sept. 7 starting at 7 pm EST. [@derekblasberg, @mrjoezee, The Cut]