Jasper Conran

>> Kate Middleton's wedding is just over two weeks away, and now reports are circulating that she has commissioned three wedding dresses from three different designers. That way, she has two "backups" in case the designer of her chosen dress is correctly leaked, allowing her to choose one of the other dresses instead. Word is that Jasper Conran may be one of the dress contenders — and Fashionista notes that the designer has taken the images from his most recent bridal collection off his website. Middleton is also expected to change into a different dress for her wedding reception.

Cathy Horyn, meanwhile, is still betting on Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton as the winner in the dress sweepstakes. Horyn points out that when consulted, Alexandra Shulman reportedly recommended that Middleton wear McQueen, and notes that Shulman's wedding-themed May 2011 issue of Vogue UK features models wearing Oscar de la Renta, Bruce Oldfield, Vivienne Westwood, and Marchesa bridal gowns. "Ah, but no McQueen dress in the mix," Horyn writes, "Its absence raising speculation that maybe Sarah Burton, the creative director of McQueen, is making Ms. Middleton’s dress after all."

The wedding guest list was partially leaked today, and one designer is expected to attend: Victoria Beckham. Last month, it was reported that after Beckham sent Middleton a selection of three of her Spring 2011 dresses, the bride-to-be phoned Beckham to thank her and asked her for general advice on eveningwear for her honeymoon.

The fashion industry lived large for a weekend at the Victoria's Secret 2008 fashion show in Miami at the newly restored Fontainbleu hotel. Aside from the lavishness of a pre-show concert and the hotel itself, the fashion show had an estimated budget of 15 million dollars. Check out our runway gallery, right here. 

Meanwhile, in New York...rumors are swirling that Nylon will fold and Blackbook has fired their Creative Director, Bryan Erikson, and replaced him with Jason Daniels who comes from a luxury background. 

Lutz & Patmos has recently launched their e-commerce site and it is, thankfully, straightforward and easy-to-use. Perhaps their wise decision to keep things simple stems from the fact that the brand has yet to open its own freestanding store. As a result, the site pivots on line sheet drawings (those which are given to buyers so that they can see what the garment actually looks like) and other intuitive selling functions. 

British designers Jasper Conran and Mulberry, among others, are campaigning for increased funding to London's design schools so that students can learn how to actually, well, make things. An ever-increasing focus on conceptual design (rather than production) has left many students without the skills necessary to work for a fashion company after graduation. 

Cheap Monday is releasing a limited edition pair of jeans with the help of Barneys--the jeans, and their "Increase The Peace" insignia, will be sold only tomorrow, on election day, at the Barneys stores. We're guessing a lot of people will 'swing by' after casting their vote, no one gets a free twenty-minute break from work without bending the rules a little bit. 

Adidas is launching a sportswear line (as in American clothing not running gear) this Fall 09 called SLVR. The collection will be launched during New York Fashion Week in February complete with a fashion show and retail space opening. A few weeks later the same thing will occur during Paris Fashion Week, and, after that, the subsequent roll out of other stores and wholesale accounts. 

Designer Matthew Williamson is set to relaunch his diffusion line for British retailer Debenhams, after a two year hiatus from his post there. Julien Macdonald and Jasper Conran currently design diffusion lines for the high street retailer as well. 

Fortunately, in New York, not everyone at the glossies is losing their jobs. Here's the official record of those who haven't. 

We're gearing up for some bridal happenings in New York this weekend and it occurred to us that there might be some unofficial wedding dresses lurking in the Spring 09 collections. It was, in fact, Jasper Conran, Giambattista Valli, and Dolce & Gabbana who really crossed those boundaries and perhaps not accidentally. A woman, after all, is likely to spend more on her wedding dress than any garment she'll buy for the rest of her life. It's only safe to assume that some designers might think to make a few white frocks in order to nab those one-time consumers. Or maybe we're just paranoid. To see the February Bridal Shows, click here. Below, our gallery of Spring 09's unofficial wedding dresses. Some requiring little imagination at all.