Fei Fei Sun

>> Take a surreal journey through '50s and '60s nostalgia with Prada's just-released Spring 2012 fantasy lookbook.

Photographer Phil Meech's backstage photos from the Spring 2012 runway show — starring models Lindsey Wixson, Anais Pouliot, Ruby Aldridge, Kasia Struss, Ginta Lapina, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Fei Fei Sun, and Daphne Groeneveld — provide the perfect foil to Jeroen Koolhaas's and Lok Jansen's handmade collages and cheeky vintage photographs.

It's all right here in the slideshow.

>> Who walked 73 shows this Fashion Month while still finding the energy to play guitar backstage? Who skipped London Fashion Week this season and still managed to land among the top catwalkers this season? See which models were most in demand for Spring 2012 in the slideshow.

Photos by Greg Kessler

>> Louis Vuitton populated its Fall 2011 runway with supermodels like Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Carolyn Murphy, and Naomi Campbell, but you wouldn't guess it based on the collection's campaign. Instead of its usual top model or actress seasonal face, the brand went with a cast of young upstarts — very young, in some cases: 16-year-old Zuzanna Bijoch, 15-year-old Daphne Groeneveld, 20-year-old Gertrud Hegelund, 16-year-old Nyasha Matonhodze, 20-year-old Anais Pouliot, and Fei Fei Sun, who was born in 1989.

Matonhodze, for her part, said of the moment she found out she was chosen: "My eyes filled up with tears and I thought 'Lord, you are lucky!'" The campaign was shot by Steven Meisel in a vintage car at a disused Brooklyn aerodrome; Matonhodze added of her experience: "It didn't actually hit me until I was sat in a Rolls Royce sitting eye-to-eye with Mr. Meisel. He is a wonder to work with, he and Marc [Jacobs] made me feel beautiful." Jacobs added of the set: “Who wouldn’t want to be this gorgeous young woman in the back seat of this beautiful car?”

>> The latest Fall 2011 campaign scuttlebutt: Isabeli Fontana is taking the early lead, with campaigns for Escada and Donna Karan booked, and a rumored appearance for Bottega Veneta as well. Karan's campaign, which was captured by Patrick Demarchelier the past three seasons, was snapped by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for Fall 2011.

Meanwhile, Steven Meisel shot (and Karl Templer styled) the Fall 2011 Louis Vuitton campaign in New York yesterday — but there will reportedly be no Kate Moss appearance as there was on the runway. In fact, no supermodels will be featured at all: Instead, the six models chosen are said to be from the current generation — "Top 50-ish, a bit new. Nothing from the Icon list." Daphne Groeneveld and Fei Fei Sun are rumored to be among them.

Kate Moss has reportedly been cast for another Fall 2011 campaign for Mango; however, it will be shot by Terry Richardson and is today, making lots of appearances on his blog.

Versace, like Donna Karan, is also switching up photographers — after going with Mario Testino for the past eight seasons, Donatella Versace has chosen Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott to do the Fall 2011 honors (with styling by Joe McKenna). Originally, the Versace campaign, like Vuitton, was reportedly supposed to feature six models, including Candice Swanepoel and Groeneveld, but the photographers are rumored to have settled instead on one girl with "short dark hair" who is a "cover star." Some are thinking that might indicate Saskia de Brauw as Versace's new girl.

To round out the Fall 2011 campaign placements so far, Juergen Teller shot Irina Kulikova yesterday for Moschino at Turin's Ristorante del Cambio, Ralph Lauren has reportedly cast its runway opener Sui He, and Liu Wen is rumored to be in the upcoming Dolce & Gabbana campaign.

A few images from the various shoots in the gallery.

>> For the second Fall season in a row, the Rag & Bone boys have created a lot of want in the ten some-odd minutes it takes for their run of show. The futuristic bent that was introduced in their Spring 2011 collection stayed, but this time worked its way into a number of the Rag & Bone staples — cropped fitted jackets, kilts, knee socks, and cape coats. This was mashed together with a newfound fascination with texture: cow hides, nubby knits, neoprenes, shearlings, wools, and fringes were all represented.

As Marcus Wainwright noted backstage, "It started with Inuit people — the indigenous people of the Arctic circle — and on the other side of it, there was a French skiier called Jean-Claude Killy — so '70s ski — and it just went from there." As for the brilliant blue that was used so liberally in the second half of the show — where did that come from? "In looking at all of these pictures of the Arctic and the snow and the sky bounced against it," Wainwright explained, "that unbelievable blue — Klein Blue — that kind of blue of the sky, was just amazing against the ivory and the grey of the beginning [of the show]. It's a fun color."

The cool Rag & Bone girl was well-accounted-for as usual, both front row (Erin Wasson, Jessica Stam, and Alexa Chung), and on the catwalk (Bette Franke, making a runway return after taking a season off, Arizona Muse, Joan Smalls, Fei Fei Sun, Saskia de Brauw, and Britt Maren). Boots tended to be thigh-high and low-heeled. As for the clutches, which were strapped to the models' hands by glove-like contraptions, leaving their fingers free — would those be put into production? "It may well do if people like them," Wainwright answered. "I don't know. We just did it just for the show, we always do those things ourselves, but yeah, probably." He and Neville had both cracked open Peroni beers immediately post-show, while their children ran around backstage. So what's the plan now that the show is finished? "I have had one beer," Wainwright replied. "I'm going to have a few more. I feel pretty good about it. I was excited about the music [done by Thom Yorke], and it's good."