Shu Pei Qin

>> Now that Givenchy's couture presentations are intimate and without the hoopla of a fashion show, Riccardo Tisci has decreased the number of dresses per collection produced — this time, there were only ten. But that doesn't mean there's a lack of drama. Inspired by Japanese robot toys and Kazuo Ohno (the legendary Japanese Butoh dancer who Tisci met through a mutual friend), the collection is pastel in front with shocks of brighter color in the back — like with Pre-Fall, Tisci has left his usual black-based palette behind. One dress, with hand-dyed and hand-cut matte sequins, took 4,000 hours of handwork to assemble. And as for the model cast, Tisci went completely Asian, with Chinese (Ming Xi, Liu Wen, Shu Pei Qin, Sun Fei Fei, Du Juan, Jiang Xiao Yi), Japanese (Ai Tominaga, Tao Okamoto) and Korean (Hye Rim Park, So Young Kang) all represented.

>> A trio of first campaigns have popped up for Spring 2011: Shu Pei Qin's premiere ad as a Maybelline model; Peter Copping's first ever Nina Ricci ad image, featuring Malgosia Bela shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin at New York's Greenwich Hotel ("She looks contemporary, modern, sensual — all those things I see for the Ricci woman,” Copping explained); and Alexander Wang's first ever print ad, featuring Aymeline Valade shot by Craig McDean. Although Wang doesn't like his four images, styled by his show stylist Karl Templer and creative directed by Fabien Baron, to be called a campaign. “We restrained from using those words, because you set yourself up for doing things in a systematic way — like rolling out ads in the magazines certain times of the year,” said the designer, who instead uses the term “image piece.” All those — and for good measure, the full Spring 2011 Versace campaign, featuring Abbey Lee Kershaw by Mario Testino — in the gallery.

>> Spring may not be in the air just yet, but the Spring 2011 ad campaigns sure are: The new year brought the release of a bevy, including Abbey Lee Kershaw's Tom Ford eyewear campaign and a look at Louis Vuitton's latest trio — Raquel Zimmermann, Kristen McMenamy, and Freja Beha Erichsen. There's also a peek at Chanel and Burberry (minus faces Ines de la Fressange for Chanel and Jourdan Dunn for Burberry, whose images have yet to appear), plus Gucci and Roberto Cavalli, left, featuring Laetitia Casta and Malgosia Bela.