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>> Alice Dellal may have been a special guest at Alexander Wang, but she was there in spirit at Proenza Schouler — the sideswept wavy hair, red lip, leathers, zippers, and crop tops shown were all reminiscent of her look. She may have been a starting point, but the collection had a downtown refinement that you would never seen in Alice — she revels too much in the grunge. All I have to say is: So many fun, billowy jumpsuits, so little time. And don't forget to check out the accessories — they're part of Jack and Lazaro's first full season effort.

To get the full experience, check out the runway video at Elle.com.
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>> It's hard to imagine being pregnant and designing hot little minidresses for other women to wear, but when you're Thea Bregazzi, one half of design duo Preen, and those hot little minidresses happen to be what your label is known for, that's just what you do.

The heavily expectant Thea stayed across the pond in London while her partner in design and life, Justin Thornton, carried on with the label's show today. He carried it well — everything went smoothly, save a slight wardrobe malfunction for Anja Rubik and the confusion that ensued at the end of the show, when Justin didn't appear at the end of the runway and no one knew when to start the final applause.

As for the clothes, the dresses with intricate paneled cutouts and peekaboo zipper slats, the piquante shots of tomato red, and the sexily laced up pleated skinny pants came together for a more refined collection than we have seen from Preen in the last couple of seasons. Maybe Thea should be pregnant more often . . .
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>> Take working-class fashion, add a pinch of Joy Division, and you've got the inspiration David Neville and Marcus Wainwright were drawing on for their Spring 2009 collection. The Rag & Bone show changed venues this season from the upscale Cipriani to the more hard-edged Pier 94 — a change from polished to slightly edgy that you could also say was reflected in the clothes.

Black wraparound leather belts with threateningly sharp silver spikes accented so many of the looks, and are sure to be a must-have — but even the typical Rag & Bone tweedy suits were rock-n-rolled up with a leather mini, like Julia Dunstall's closing look, or a silvery silk sheen, like Jessica Stam's blazer.

The model cast was full of high notes — stalwarts like opener Sasha Pivovarova or Coco Rocha — and the coveted new girls like Aline Weber and Liu Wen. Arlenis Pena was there too: she's had a big day, between being named as the new face of Lancome and slipping up at BCBG this morning.

To get the full experience, check out the runway video at Elle.com.
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>> Riccardo Tisci is taking a trip to Peru in August, and his anticipation birthed the Incan prints and alpaca blanket stripes that pepper his latest couture collection for Givenchy.

Highlighter shades of fuchsia and violet provided shocking punctuation amongst Tisci's usual color palette of neutrals.  The emerging trends of knee-length leggings, transparency, and lace were all present along with the signature Tisci for Givenchy leather jackets and oversized hats. But I have to say, amongst all the draped jersey and deconstructed shapes, the two standout looks were similar pale, choppily-fringed minidresses.  

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>> Seeing a Chanel couture collection is a thrill, but the clothes are always rivaled by what new, huge installation Karl Lagerfeld has plopped in the center of le Grand Palais for the models to stream out of.  In recent seasons, there's been a giant tweed jacket and a larger-than-life carousel; This time around, it was a gigantic set of organ pipes. 

The show started with a fugue of ominous organ music, and together with the central pipe installation and the tube-like detailing on many of the intricate dresses, reflected the inspiration which had come to Karl during a concert. 

Enjoy the big production while it lasts, folks — word is Karl is talking about reducing the Chanel shows to be more intimate experiences in the future.
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>> Transparency is still the word, in John Galliano's mind.  The beanie-sporting designer had Lisa Fonssagrives, wife to Irving Penn and oft-credited as the first supermodel, in mind when producing his typical voluminous dresses, but with layers of light chiffon, rather than the heavier, stiffer fabrics Christian Dior couture has boasted in recent seasons. 

Frequent collaborator Stephen Jones, meanwhile, looked to Eduardo Garcia Benito, famous for his '20s Vogue cover illustrations of women in cloches, when creating the accompanying skull cap-cum-cloches.

Peplums were aplenty and Galliano couldn't help himself, sneaking a little leopard print into the bunch.  But the unifying thought with this collection seems to be: What will we see on newfound Dior client Carla Bruni-Sarkozy first?
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