SCALE/ing back

Yes, these are hard times and we are feeling it everywhere. There's a sharp increase in designers forgoing extravagant shows for more intimate showroom settings - even Marc Jacobs' customary 1100 person show was whittled down to 500. Fortunately, the clothing has not suffered, nor the talent... 

But let's talk about scaling back! Literally, as in the scaly backs of the hair created by Eugene Souleiman for Donna Karan yesterday.  Eugene always surprises me and my admiration only continued to grow when I arrived backstage to see the below pieces created evoking reptilian fellowship. One word: incredible. And surprisingly appropriate.

WHEN good photographers / go bad

"Greg," I'm told, "lets do the photo, but I want to have a cigarette first." "Sure," I respond, "find me when you're back." Many minutes go by, and many more after that... and something just doesn't seem right. The Preen show is waiting for a line up but where are the girls? Where are the girls?!

That's it, I've had enough. I kick in the door to the women's restroom, and amongst a sea of horrific screams, I find 8 of the most beautiful girls - chatting, smoking, and shrieking w/ laughter! Now girls will be girls, but with guns blazing like an 80s action movie, I shot holes in the room. Here's a pic from the blood bath, smoke, laughter and all:  

Preen by the way, one of the best shows of the day.

RED / White / and...

Day one: Yigal Azrouel, Jason Wu, Rag+Bone. Three beautiful collections - but wait, who was that platinum blonde girl? Never seen her before... wait - is that... Iekeleine?? Yup, Ikeleine Stange, always a bright spot to our eyes backstage is now platinum!

And she's not the only one making changes. Not blonde, but Coco Rocha and Vlada Roslyakova have gone red! You may have seen Coco, but have the first look from today below. [Vlada's pic was sent over by JD Fergueson]

WELCOME / to the dollhouse

Christian Lacroix loves playing dress up with his models. The clothes are so fabulous, so extraordinary, that every girl feels like a princess - or quite literally their own doll. Even backstage, each girl gets her own little stand up dress-box [a doll house if you will].  Inside, the clothes wait on their racks, eager for the teams of dressers to get them ready for the runway - complete with shoes / accessories / hair details / the works. Here's a peek thru the window:

DO you Sprechen?/

If you're flying through Deutschland in the next few days, check out the Runway report from German Amica. I have the cover [Dolce+Gabanna Spring 09], along w/ a few other pages inside. Enjoy!