Samantha Traina

>> Last night, Vanessa Traina launched her 14-piece capsule collection for the French brand Maje at Barneys, which has the US exclusive. She wore a black tuxedo jacket and pant from the collection, and was joined by her sisters Samantha and Victoria Traina and close designer friends like Alexander Wang, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Joseph Altuzarra, and Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, most of whom followed her to a celebratory dinner down the street at Le Caprice.

The idea for the collection, which ranges from $150 to $490, came about while Traina was in fittings for the brand's campaign (which she's appeared in the past two seasons). She told Vogue.com: "Maje asked me to do their campaign a few seasons ago and we all got along really well. We met the day before the shoot to do fittings, and by the end of it, we’d put together the proposal for a collaboration."

Her ideas for the collection — inspired by "a lot of old '90s editorial," she told us — came easily: "I had a whole folder with me . . . working in the industry and doing consulting quite frequently, I knew what to expect from a design meeting, and I think it really helped Maje understand my vision right from the get-go."

The resultant pieces are simple, primarily silk or lace, and sans color. In fact, minus one white silk maxi dress, they're all in black. "I wear black quite, quite often," Traina explains. "Because this was a one-time collaboration, I really wanted to do something wearable and [focus on] really great separates that fit into your wardrobe. And black goes with everything, so I really just kind of went with that." She told Vogue.com, "Although I must admit, I haven’t worn anything outside of my bedroom yet."

The collection also provided Traina with her first opportunity to design a shoe: "I mean, I've worked with Joseph Altuzarra and people on their collection from head to toe, so I've kind of worked with a shoe, but he [Altuzarra] really does the crux of it, so yeah, it's the first time. It's really cool because we initially started with doing a flat, and then I just thought it would be cool if we stuck a heel on it. So it's just a sandal design."

Even though she now has more extensive design experience, Traina says the collection is a one-time thing: "I really see myself more as a stylist, and I work as a stylist and do consulting. I was really grateful for this opportunity, it was really fun to do something like this, but I think the direction that I'm going in right now with styling is really what I'm passionate about, [and] is really what I love personally."

>> Joseph Altuzarra may have gone with an intimate presentation at Milk Studios last night, but his guest list packed a lot of punch.  The Roitfeld clan was well-represented: Carine, Vladimir, and Julia were all there, with Vlad greeting his sister with a kiss on each cheek; his girlfriend, Giovanna Battaglia, and Julia von Boehm showed up, too.  The Trainas were also out in full force: Victoria and Samantha sat next to Chad Muska (there to support girlfriend Vanessa Traina, who walked in the show for the second time and was listed in the program notes as an "advisor") and Alexander Wang, who was relaxing with his show behind him, enjoying a glass of white wine, and chatting to close friend and interior decorator to the models Ryan Korban.  And then there was Anna Wintour, attending Altuzarra's show for the first time, who arrived early to have a chat with the designer backstage pre-show; after she took her seat, Carine smiled at Wintour as she passed.

Needless to say, Altuzarra did not disappoint.  The designer, who pushed a looser silhouette last season when everyone else was hanging onto the hard-edged look interestingly decided to veer back that way now that everyone else is moving away. Inspired by Edward Scissorhands — the film's theme was played during the show — and the current sexualization of vampires, Altuzarra started out with a stream of black leather — accented with goat hair, slashed and then stitched up suture-style, belted multiple times across the waist, chest, back, wrists, and even thighs; Abbey Lee Kershaw was even suited up in a Catwoman-style leather bodysuit.  Then came the blood red gowns, sparkling with Swarovski crystals and ending with Natasha Poly in the sophisticated version of a Little Red Riding Hood cape.  The ankle-slashed boots were done in collaboration with Gianvito Rossi, and former Vogue Paris editor (and Carine's former assistant) Melanie Huynh did styling honors.  Perhaps Bryanboy put it best when he said of the collection: "It's like raiding Carine's Closet."

>> Of all the shows this week, Jack McCollough's and Lazaro Hernandez's Proenza Schouler presentation had the most excitement and energy about it; Joe Zee agreed, calling it "one of the best this week."  We didn't know it at the time, but a piece from the collection actually debuted on Dasha Zhukova during the POP dinner last Friday.

Tonight, the lights above flickered back and forth on the bottom floor of Milk Studios, and with three Trainas in the front row — Victoria, Vanessa, and Samantha — we got to see the full urban scuba collection, which seemed to be a continuation of their Tahiti-inspired resort 2010 collection. Neon printed minidresses mirrored the backs of tropical fish, cateye sunglasses had lifeguard-style reflective lenses, neon tops resembled long sleeve Under Armor, and tinsel and feathers fringed dresses.  One girl sported beachy green-tinged hair, another purple.  And of course the boys, known for their knack with accessories, didn't disappoint with rainbow-linked minibags and strappy toggle wedges.

Afterward, they told Fashion TV's Jeanne Baker they wanted to indulge in color this season, and edited out about half their potential looks from the show to leave people wanting more.