net a porter

There's something undeniably Spring about youthful pink hues, but this season we're loving the more sophisticated version of the color on blushing bottoms. Lest we make you blush, we'll avoid the cheeky puns and delve straight into what we love about the splash of color on our trousers and billowy, slouchy silk pants. Just as the styled set below shows you, treat your blushy bottoms as a neutral, then add on the chic printed separates and layers à la Fearne Cotton, Maria Sharapova, and Rachel Roy. We like to think of them as the equivalent of military-hued pants in the Fall; they'll go with everything this Spring, and just as olive cargoes lent a decidedly cold-weather tilt to your look, these will do just the opposite, giving fresh seasonal chicness to whatever you put on.

Designer and style star Nicole Richie jetted off to Paris to take in some runway shows this week, and was snapped backstage at Givenchy working this supersexy, futuristic look. She wore a skintight black leather high-neck dress by the designer, with Christian Louboutin python-print pumps — and surprisingly went sans accessories, opting only for a chic black clutch. The normally bohemian-cool Nicole has been experimenting with sleek, ultraglam looks lately, and I love to see her switch it up. Ready to steam things up? Click the items below to shop a similar look.

With Spring finally on the horizon, we're all looking forward to breaking out our warm-weather wardrobes and kissing our knits goodbye. So, to get you started, we've teamed up with our friends at NET-A-PORTER.COM and our sister site ShopStyle for our biggest giveaway yet — a $10,000 wardrobe courtesy of NET-A-PORTER! How's that for a fresh start to Spring?! Entering is easy — just enter here! Good luck!

>> Sarah Rutson, the Hong Kong-based fashion director of department store Lane Crawford (who was recently rumored to be under consideration for the Barneys fashion director position), has hit the streets of Manhattan running for New York Fashion Week, bringing her disarming wit and covetable wardrobe with her.

This New York Fashion Week, she's graciously agreed to give us a window into her thoughts as she zips across town from show to show, making us privy to the workings of not only an influential international buyer, but well-loved streetstyle star. (Speaking of: in the pipeline, we've got details on the makings of her Fashion Week wardrobe.)

But before we serve up the goods, get to know Sarah a little better — both professionally and personally. Her thoughts:

On the shows: "People always see me [at the shows] on my own but they don’t realize — obviously we’ve got a big team [at Lane Crawford]. Normally [my team] comes in a lot later. I have to do the shows, but that’s because someone has to represent the company. Shows are important, of course, but the most important thing is the showroom."

On her job: "It’s a brutal schedule to do work like this. I was at one stage traveling six months a year, but that was when we were in the rebranding stage, so I had to make sure everything was consistent across the board."

"I’m not a really uptight person, I’m a really laidback person, actually. At the end of the day, I’ve got a f*cking great job. I love what I do, I’m really good at what I do. Great people in different cities . . . the best cities in the world . . . what’s there to be miserable about? So I’m not going to start griping."

On becoming a streetstyle icon: "I don’t feel I’m on show for my job; I’m doing my job. People take pictures and all the rest of it, but I’ve been doing this for 20-odd years before then, when no one knew who I was."

On how the streetstyle attention came about: "The streetstyle bloggers, and then everyone’s into reality and in a way, it was like we are the reality stars. I think what was interesting — where I was lucky — is so few retailers other than [Net-a-Porter’s] Holli [Rogers] and Natalie [Massenet are photographed]. As a retailer, I was always put in with the editors. Like when you flip through all the Japanese magazines, there were all the editors, and then there was . . . me! And I think that’s really interesting, the majority of people that work in fashion for the stores who are buying it for the general public never hit the list."

Her Fashion Week essentials: "Absolutely I will not live without my single-breasted blazer. I cannot live without Crème de la Mer — that holds me, a big dried prune, together. My BlackBerry — it’s not so much to be constantly [connected], but it’s all the pictures of my daughter and my animals. It’s my walking picture of home."

On life beyond fashion: "I just don’t want people to think it’s only about fashion. I think if there’s anything that I can say to anyone — whether it’s a woman or a man — going into any industry, let alone the fashion industry, that takes you away from home so much for travel, [it's] do make sure you have the balance. [Otherwise] you won’t be as creative, and you won’t be as fresh, and you won’t be as open. You get jaded. I’m not jaded. I come out really excited every season, because I’ve got the balance."

• We saw LOVE's new cover with Kate Moss and Lea T. kissing last week; now the second cover, featuring Justin Bieber shot by Terry Richardson, has appeared [@THELOVEMAGAZINE]
• Andre Courreges and his wife and creative partner, Coqueline, have sold their company to two investors, Frederic Torloting and Jacques Bungert, who run the French division of advertising agency Young & Rubicam. Coqueline has been running the design house since Andre retired from fashion in the mid-'90s [WWD]
• After months of rumors, February's Vogue reports that Theory CEO and Rag & Bone investor Andrew Rosen is about to sign a deal with Proenza Schouler; and Meredith Melling Burke, not Candy Pratts Price, is reportedly overseeing Vogue.com [Fashionista]
• Yesterday during a DLD Conference panel, Natalie Massenet talked about her plans for Net-A-Porter Live, a platform on which Net-a-Porter customers will be able to see who’s online and what they put in their baskets in real time; “We want to start a conversation between them,” she explained [DLD Conference]
• Naomi Campbell is headed back to court this Thursday over a breach-of-contract lawsuit; the contract, which involved promoting a perfume called Cat Deluxe with Kisses, was signed 12 years ago [The Cut]
• Prada could make a final decision on their IPO by the end of the month [Bloomberg]
• Alejandro Ingelmo is aiming to introduce handbags and accessories into his collection for Spring 2012 [Fashionetc.]
• Anna Wintour, Steven Klein, Donna Karan, Daphne Guinness, Ingrid Sischy, Sandy Brant, and Vera Wang all attended the elaborate 21st birthday party Calvin Klein threw on Friday at Indochine for his boyfriend, Nick Gruber [NY Post]
• Tanner Hall, the film co-directed by Diane von Furstenberg's daughter Tatiana von Furstenberg and starring Rooney Mara, just scored a distribution deal and is expected to be released at the end of this year, around when Mara's upcoming film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, debuts [Deadline]
• Libertine is headed back to New York Fashion Week this February, minus a partner and with a new direction, says designer Johnson Hartig: "It’ll be different in that once Cindy [Greene] and I separated, I stopped using placement prints — I mean literal images — and it’s become more abstract. And there’s going to be a lot more color. I haven’t met a color I haven’t liked this season" [Fashionetc.]