Olga Sherer

>> Alber Elbaz and the Lanvin team descended on New York's Pierre Hotel Thursday evening, transforming it with palm fronds, caged parakeets, models in French maid outfits, and little old men offering up champagne, scotch, crustless tea sandwiches, and macaroons, to show off their H&M collaboration.

At the runway's entrance, a rose-filled arch set with "Lanvin Hearts H&M" in fluorescent lights; to the side of that, a salsa band played live music. And above the runway, there were 20 crystal chandeliers. The venue was packed, to say the least —  Sofia Coppola, Patrick Demarchelier, Shala Monroque, Sally Singer, and Grace Coddington were all there, plus more than a handful of other designers sitting front row: Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, Tory Burch, Alexander Wang, Anna Sui.

Katie Grand styled the show — and the models were told to engage with the audience — so Siri Tollerod, as veiled bride, tossed her bouquet; Pixie Geldof strutted down in her gender-bending suit; Anna Dello Russo, walked with a gray standard poodle at her side; and Julia Frakes made her runway debut. The clothes were couture riffs on the Lanvin for H&M collection — on sale to benefit Unicef now — but afterward, there was a frenzy for the Lanvin for H&M collection pop-up shop set up downstairs. Many editors walked away with multiple bags, Coppola bought the tulle jacket, and even Wang did a little shopping of his own.

A video of the show can be seen here.

It's no secret Eastern Europe is, well, the secret weapon for the modeling industry. While Argentina is quickly becoming a new hot spot for model discovery, Eastern Europe (Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, etc.) will always be a mainstay, the bread and butter. That's because the girls are tall, slender, and have looks that could make any model scout melt. Yes, many of the models are super young, but their beauty is undeniable. Take Russian model Natasha Poly for example; she lends mega oomph to the industry. And those cheekbones — sigh. Here are more of our favorite Eastern European models!

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>> Earlier this week, Anja Rubik and Sasha Knezevic celebrated their new new-look take on Austrian magazine 25 — the official launch issue features Constance Jablonski, Karlie Kloss, and Abbey Lee Kershaw on three separate covers, all styled by Barbara Martelo and photographed by Marcin Tyszka.

Sal Morale (who appears in the issue with girlfriend Maryna Linchuk) DJed the fete in an old Paris apartment, where fellow featured subjects like Heidi Mount, Karlie Kloss, Alana Zimmer, and Kasia Struss joined him.  The issue boasts an abundance of couture — “It is rare to get so many couture clothes in a magazine," Rubik told WWD — and comes in a limited-edition English version (2,000 copies) and a larger print run in German (50,000 copies). “It’s an Austrian magazine so it was important to keep a link between the first issue and Austria,” said Rubik, explaining fashion editorials inspired by artists Egon Schiele (photographed by Victor Demarchelier) and Gustav Klimt (featuring Eniko Mihalik).

Knezevic and Rubik are already hard at work on their next issue of the quarterly magazine; noted the latter: “One of our contributors will be Julia Restoin-Roitfeld."

[Editor's Note: I contributed to the issue.]

>> Nothing's going to beat the Fall 2009 Marc Jacobs ad with Natasa Vojnovic leaning out of a brick building, but her campaign compatriots — Ajuma Nasenyana, Olga Sherer, Kamila Filipcikova, and Irina Kulikova — put up a good fight in this acid-washed full set, which was photographed by Juergen Teller back at the end of April.

>> The Louis Vuitton Cruise 2010 we saw last week was the work of new Vuitton design director Julie de Libran, who has taken Peter Copping's place now that he's heading up Nina Ricci; apparently for some time now, Marc Jacobs has entrusted Resort designing to one of his lieutenants.

Meanwhile, the Fall 2009 ads for his namesake label are starting to appear; one with Natasa Vojnovic leaning out of a building precariously, and another a collage of portraits of Natasa, Ajuma Nasenyana, and Kamila Filipcikova.  Irina Kulikova and Olga Sherer are also supposed to appear in the Juergen Teller-lensed set.

Are you ready to cruise some more? Bottega Veneta's 2010 Cruise collection has docked, and it brings us important lessons in colors and tailoring. The colors — purple, red, chocolate brown — aren't the norm for resort, but they're luscious nonetheless. Designer Tomas Maier took cues from the menswear line and delivered sleek tailoring with sporty undertones. Chanel Iman and Olga Sherer model tailored blazers, pleated trousers, draped tops, platform sandals, and glam bags. Does this collection float your boat? Click through then vote.

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