As the countdown to London fashion week begins, applications for the BFC/Vogue Fashion Fund are now open, and two new designers have joined Lulu Kennedy’s MAN shows: Martine Rose and Felipe Rojas Llanos. [Vogue U.K.]

Speaking of fashion weeks, the tie-ins are approaching, too: Just in time for Paris fashion week, France’s Maison Européenne de la Photographie will present Parcours de travail, a retrospective of Karl Lagerfeld’s photography. [WWD]

Angelina Jolie says her daughter Shiloh’s much-debated tomboy style and cropped ‘do aren’t her choice, but Shiloh’s. Critics, in any case, can content themselves with her other daughter, Zahara, who “dresses very much like a girl, very pink and flowery, very feminine.” Everybody wins! [Us via Gawker]

And speaking of style icons who maybe should just be allowed to grow up away from the fashion police: SObama—that’s Sasha Obama, the 9-year-old first daughter—comes under scrutiny for her layered, possibly MObama-influenced, style. [The Daily Beast]

Photo: Clasos.com / Splash News

Erdem Moralioglu is on the phone from London to talk lace, a fabric he’s used season in and season out for years. “I’m obsessed with it!” the designer says with a laugh. “I’ve always been into it, exploring it and experimenting with it.”

A quick rummage through the archive confirms his assertion. (That’s a look from his Resort collection, left.) But this year, the designer isn’t alone in his appreciation for the fabric. Designers all over (and their oft-photographed patrons and muses) have embraced the feminine charms of lace, which has shed its occasionally matronly air and feels sexy and chic (Miuccia Prada, as usual, may have got there first—her Fall 2008 collection famously explored the fabric’s erotic undertones). Now there are evening-ready gowns for Resort at Alexander McQueen and Carolina Herrera, along with sportier, even boyish pieces at Giambattista Valli. (And don’t even get us started on lace-accented accessories and cosmetics, like Cesare Paciotti’s new lace-print soles and Dolce & Gabbana’s new Sicilian Lace makeup collection.)

So what’s the appeal? “I think people are searching for things that have quite a human hand to them,” Moralioglu says. “It has such a handmade feel. There’s an attraction to owning something one of a kind—I think, as a fabric, lace has that.”

Click here for our slideshow of some of the lacy looks, and let us know whether you’ll be playing peekaboo, too, this fall.

—Matthew Schneier

Photo: David Dunan / Courtesy of Erdem

Ah, the lazy days of teenage summer. Summer camp. Sleeping in. Hanging out by the pool. Sneaking into R-rated movies. Designing sneakers and apparel for Nike. Wait—what was that last item?

Playing Nike designer may not be on the average kid’s résumé, but that’s exactly what 100-odd New York City teens have been up to this summer. Make Something!, the L.A.-based art workshop for teens founded by Aaron Rose (Beautiful Losers), teamed up with Nike Sportswear and the Cooper-Hewitt museum to create a summer program of classes for local kids, with visiting instructors including Todd Selby and Cassette Playa’s Carri Mundane. Among the activities on the schedule: redesigning classic Nike footwear styles, including the Air Jordan and the Converse Chuck, ahead of this week’s launch of the inaugural World Basketball Festival. The kicks made their public debut at the Nike Stadium space last night, and a selection of the sneakers and apparel designed at the Make Something! workshops will be showing up on sales floors soon. But that doesn’t mean the teenage participants are getting back to the serious summertime business of chillaxing, just yet—according to Rose, they’re in rehearsals for a halftime gig at the festival. “I think it’s going to be a genius mess,” Rose (pictured) said of the performance. “Which works just fine for me.”

—Maya Singer

Photo: Caroline Torem-Craig

The outdoorsy Swedish brand Fjällräven—best known here in the states for its nylon Kanken bags, the tote of choice for Swedish schoolchildren and Brooklynite hipsters alike—celebrates its 50th birthday in 2010. To commemorate the occasion, they decided to do what just about every cool brand everywhere does to celebrate any occasion: collaborate with Opening Ceremony on a line of exclusive products. Two sizes in three color-block combinations are now available, picking up the bold, color-friendly trend of the moment while maintaining the youthful spirit of the originals. And, hey, it is back-to-school season—whether or not you’re heading back there yourself.

Fjällräven x Opening Ceremony Kanken bags, $45 to $65, now available at www.openingceremony.us.

Photo: Courtesy of Opening Ceremony

Over the last month, we’ve checked in with a few of the unheralded members of the fashion industry—not the designers, models, and front-row editors who get snapped by the street-style photogs, but the set designers, casting directors, production experts and more who play an integral part in helping make fashion happen. In case you’ve missed any, here’s your chance to get them all in one place, from producer Gayle Dizon to art director Lee Swillingham. Enjoy, and keep an eye out for the next installment of our series later this year.

Behind-the-Scenesters: Art Director Lee Swillingham >

Behind-the-Scenesters: Casting Director Natalie Joos >

Behind-the-Scenesters: Set Designer Mary Howard >

Behind-the-Scenesters: Producer Gayle Dizon >

Photo: Courtesy of Pop

Missed the latest James Franco episode of General Hospital? L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art has printed up its own Franco-ized Soap Digest, called Soap at MOCA, to fill you in. Only $9.99! [MOCA Store via Hint Mag]

Aggy’s back! Miss Deyn returns to the edit pages in September’s V, where she lounges on the streets in a spread inspired by that onetime New York punk enclave St. Marks Place. Keep an eye out for spiking Cheetos sales. [V]

Cheetos, however, will likely not be on the menu at the café Bon Appétit is setting up at Lincoln Center for fashion week. Pastries from Momofuku Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi, Stumptown coffee, small plates from Mario Batali, and lunch from The Lion’s John DeLucie, however, are slated to be on the menu. [WWD]

Bergdorf Goodman has invested in some unlikely new security guards: a pack of beagles, which patrol the store periodically in search of bedbugs. [WWD]

And here’s one place jersey’s not a dirty word: cutting-edge NYC boutique Seven, where owner Joseph Quartana says jersey items (like those from Complex Geometries and Claude Maus) are flying off the shelves. Alert the Snooki! [NYT]

Photo: Courtesy of the MOCA Store

Jil Sander’s pulled a coup with her latest collection for +J, her affordably priced Uniqlo line. In a season full of great coats, Sander may have created some of the best—at a fraction of what the other guys will be charging. The Fall +J collection—which marks the year anniversary of the line—hits stores October 7, and while the suiting, shirts, and cashmere-blend sweaters are great as usual, it’s the coats that really stand out. Three shapes in a felted wool/nylon blend feature raw edges and considered proportions—there’s a cropped, almost bolero style with patch pockets in army drab; a car coat in camel; and our favorite, a boxy navy peacoat with roped sleeves. (Guys get a pretty sharp hooded puffer parka in black.) And at less than $230 each, you can expect the usual round-the-block lines outside of Uniqlo’s Soho flagship.

+J outerwear, $129.90 to $229.90, available October 7 at Uniqlo, 546 Broadway, NYC, (917) 237-8800.

—Matthew Schneier

Photos: Steven Torres

It was the haircut heard ’round the internet. That’d be Emma Watson’s Mia Farrow-ish crop, which the starlet revealed on Twitter and which, by our count, has earned her unanimous praise. (When our beauty-obsessed sister blog put it up for discussion the comments came flooding in.) Watson stepped out today to unveil the poster for the next (and next-to-last) Harry Potter flick, and rocked a shorts suit to accentuate her new short ‘do. We love Watson in the lacy, long-sleeved onesie, which—though a little much for a day at the office—is playful, sexy, and fun on the star. We say, if she’s making a case for life after Hermione, she’s doing a good job. What say you?

Photo: Steve Finn/redcarpet-fashionawards.com

A who’s who of New York designers—Francisco Costa, Donna Karan, and Vera Wang, included—assembled behind Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Anna Wintour, the CFDA’s Steven Kolb, and NYC & Company’s George Fertitta at today’s City Hall press conference announcing the second annual Fashion’s Night Out. The mayor reported that nearly 1,000 designers, boutiques, and major retailers have signed on to participate in this year’s festivities, which will take place on the evening of Friday, September 10. Details are few at this point: August 16 is to be the big reveal, when Fashionsnightout.com goes live with an up-to-date list of all the participating businesses. But we can confirm that Marc Jacobs will be getting in on the action. Tanned and sporting his trademark white button-down and black kilt at the press conference, he recalled how it took him two hours to travel through Soho from his Spring Street office to his Mercer Street store during last year’s event, because he was stopped by so many fans on the crowded streets. “It felt like a block party,” Jacobs said, “and that sense of community is part of what shopping is all about.” In related news, tickets for September 7’s public fashion show, the largest in the city’s history and featuring fall trends from top designers selected by Vogue editors, go on sale on August 19 at Lincoln Center’s box office. The starting price is $25, and proceeds benefit the NYC AIDS Fund. For more information about Fashion’s Night Out special events, check back here on Monday.

—Nicole Phelps

In times of stress, diversify. So when Phillip Lim designed his Fall ‘10 collection, hitting stores now, he created a series of silk dresses that can, in a pinch, turn into a top or a tunic, depending on how you style them. Lim even coined a new term for it: Ladies, meet the TTD—the tunic top dress.

“In these busy, modern times, people value versatility and functionality, even when it comes to their style,” the pragmatic designer explained to Style.com. “That’s the beauty of the TTD—is it a top, tunic, or dress? That’s your choice, it can be what you want it to be.” The tunic itself—along with its near relation, the caftan—has experienced a revival of late, thanks to the resurgent interest in seventies boho chic and Talitha Getty-style loungewear, but the convertible possibilities mean you may well see these TTDs long after seventies mania has given way to the next trend. One thing’s sure, at least—they’re looking very good at the moment. Just last week, Style.com readers picked one of Lim’s TTDs as the look of the day by a margin of 20 percent.

3.1 Phillip Lim silk tunic-to-dresses, $425 to $995, available at 3.1 Phillip Lim stores, www.31philliplim.com.

Alexander Wang assembled a crack team for his first-ever women’s ready-to-wear campaign video for his Wall Street-inspired Fall collection, which premieres on his Web site and ours, among others, today. Craig McDean was behind the camera, Fabien Baron was in the creative director’s seat, and Karl Templer styled. Orlando Pita and Mark Carrasquillo did Abbey Lee Kershaw’s hair and makeup. The setting, too—a now deserted New York City hotel—is compelling. “We’re always striving to communicate the frame of mind behind the collection, whether it’s through our show or imagery, but this season we got to delve much deeper,” Wang told us. “And with the help of an incredibly gifted team—Abbey, Craig, Fabien, and Karl—my inspiration for Fall ‘10 unfolds in a raw and visually arresting dreamscape.” It doesn’t look like Wall Street to us, but we’re with him re: “raw and visually arresting.” Enjoy.

—Nicole Phelps

Good news for Boy-lovers—that’s Boy, Scott Sternberg’s womenswear counterpart to Band of Outsiders (pictured). If you’re a fan of Sternberg’s classic American styles but not a fan of his designer price points, you will soon have Girl, a lower-priced range that will debut in September. [Fashionologie]

Less good news for another fashionable Scott—Scott Morrison, founder of Earnest Sewn and creative director of Evisu. WWD reports that Morrison is exiting the denim company, which is moving its operations from New York back to Hong Kong. [WWD]

Recognize the prints in Peter Pilotto’s Fall ‘10 collection? Squint carefully—several are blown-up and barely recognizable versions of archival Liberty prints. [Dazed Digital via Racked]

The young stars of the moment—from Katie Holmes, who plays Jackie Kennedy in the forthcoming Kennedys biopic, to Ashley Greene, who hopes her Twilight character will dress a little more Jackie O in the upcoming vamp sequel—are loving Jacqueline Kennedy’s style. So don’t be surprised if they turn up as bidders at Bonhams’ Pioneers of Popular Culture auction, where several of the former First Lady’s jewels are to be auctioned. [Vogue U.K.]

Photo: Marcio Madeira/FirstView.com

Judging from the number of Proenza pieces you see around town, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez don’t need much help goosing sales. So you can just think of their first-ever ad campaign as an art project as much as a nudge in the direction of commerce. Dan Jackson shot the series of models-of-the-moment Ann and Kirby Kenny and Tati Cotliar in the Fall ‘10 collection, styled by longtime PS collaborator Marie Chaix. You may be seeing them soon in Self Service, Pop, Purple, and more, but in the meantime, you can catch them all here, and a behind-the-scenes video by Greg Mitnick on their Web site.

Photos: Dan Jackson/Courtesy of Proenza Schouler

At the time of their Resort ‘11 show, Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai of Vena Cava unveiled Viva Vena, the lower-priced counterpart to the main Vena Cava collection. Those who can’t wait until the end of the year for those can feast on Viva Vena’s first offering for Fall, in stores now. Mayock and Buhai have kept the casual vibe while introducing a new series of shapes, including organic jersey sundresses, high-waisted culottes, and slouchy tanks, many printed with hand-drawn prints and mash-up photo collages the designers call “neo-Dada.” We especially like the contrast-collar raglan sweatshirt. It’ll keep pace with the other sweatshirts soon to flood the streets for fall, but won’t set you back as much as a Dries Van Noten version—the entire Viva Vena line retails for under $200.

Viva Vena is available now at Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, Opening Ceremony, Saks, and other retailers.

Photo: Courtesy of Vena Cava

Talk about an heirloom—Monique Péan’s bracelets are made of fossilized woolly mammoth tusks that are 25,000 years old. Scarce materials like mammoth tusk make them pricey, but they also keep the jewelry on the ethical up-and-up, something that Péan, a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund runner-up and Ecco Domani award winner, stresses in all her work. (She uses recycled gold and conflict- and- devastation-free diamonds in other pieces in her fine-jewelry line.) But aspirational or no, I love these chunky, etched bangles (and the idea, to be honest, of jewelry made from the fossilized remains of a critter that could have been a neighbor of Neanderthal man). I’m not the only one, either. Michelle Obama has been one of Péan’s biggest supporters; she recently wore these to greet President Obama on his 49th birthday earlier this week.
Monique Péan bracelets, $4,480 to $7,420, are available at Ikram, Jeffrey New York, and TwistOnline.com.

—Matthew Schneier

Photos: Courtesy of Monique Péan

Not the most usual story out there: Identical twin sisters with a penchant for Michael Jackson hightail it out of Minneapolis and make for New York, where their handmade, studded eyewear makes fans of bling-loving celebs from Ashanti to Kelly Osbourne. Not the most usual story, but 20-year-old twins Coco and Breezy aren’t the most usual girls out there, either—according to their bio, they were “originally constructed on a planet called Earth.” Usual or not, it was on said planet that the duo caught the eye of Selima Salaun, who invited the sisters to customize 20 pieces for her shops. (The collab-loving Salaun has already worked with J.Crew, Proenza Schouler, Tim Hamilton, and more.) The result is a heavy-metal spin on Selima’s best-selling Onassis frame, inspired by the Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis and his trademark specs. (We think he’d be into the tricked-out version—there was a man who could appreciate a generous hand with gold.) Twenty unique pairs are available now at Selima Optique stores now, provided you get there before Ashanti’s stylist does.
$425, available at Selima Optique. For locations, visit www.selimaoptique.com.

—Matthew Schneier

Photo: Courtesy of Selima Optique

Topshop has announced it’ll open a second Tokyo store in September, which will be its new Japanese flagship, in the Shinjuku shopping district. Glad to hear it—we were worried there were ten square feet left in Tokyo without some amazing retail space, so Topshop should fill that in nicely. [WWD]

Jean Paul Gaultier (pictured) has teamed up with Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, designing a T-shirt to raise awareness for the French first lady’s Born HIV Free campaign. The shirt comes packaged with the new issue of French Elle and is Breton style—we’d say perfectly on trend, given the Saint James craze at the moment, but in all fairness, Gaultier’s been doing sailor-boy chic for years. [WWD]

First Jersey-ite JWoww launched her line of Filthy Couture, and now her cast mate, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, is launching his own line, with the apparel brand DILLIGAF (”Does It Look Like I Give A”…you can fill in the rest). He took to Facebook to show off the first look, which is, predictably, a tank top emblazoned with the words “The Situation.” Just what we were waiting for! [Racked]

Aquascutum’s new creative director, Joanna Sykes, is temporarily closing her own, namesake label to focus on the British heritage brand. But not to worry—if you’re a devoted customer, she’ll still make you your Sykes goods on a bespoke basis. [Vogue U.K.]

Photo: KCSPresse / Splash News

The day after Helen Mirren won her Academy Award for Best Actress in The Queen, she donated the proceeds of her Oscar TV performances to Kids Company, the charity run by Camila Batmanghelidjh—making her only the most recent in a long line of Batmanghelidjh’s famous friends and fans. Gwyneth Paltrow, Stella McCartney, Thandie Newton, Trudie Styler, Jemima Khan, and Bella Freud are also friends and staunch supporters of the turbaned Camila, whose nonprofit helps inner-city kids.

At the Kids Company tea party yesterday at Bayswater’s Café Anglais, Batmangdhelidjh let slip that those famous friends would be stepping up again this year at her annual gala event, Gladrags and Handbags, which is now a key spot on the London social calendar. Top fashion photographers like Mario Testino are donating a favorite piece to be auctioned at the event, to be held during next February’s London fashion week. And the party’s host is one to set flashbulbs blazing. Last time, reclusive Coldplay front man Chris Martin did the honors. On deck for the next one: his wife, Gwynnie.

—Afsun Qureshi

Photo: Dave M. Bennett / Getty Images

For Terence Koh’s latest exhibition, Terence Koh’s Children of the Corn, the artist produced just what he promised: He erected a host of his own sculptural “children” in the cornfields of a Bridgehampton estate. That’s where the action was this weekend, as the New York art set—including Waris Ahluwalia, Dustin Yellin, Taryn Simon, Liv Tyler, and plenty of Schnabels—descended to see the show (and to feast afterward at a dinner where Vito Schnabel played host and his father, Julian, played DJ). Waris sent back this photo diary of the evening. Not to worry—no actual demon-worshipping children were harmed in the making of this Hamptons weekend.

Photo: Waris Ahluwalia

Style.com’s Fashion Feed brings you the best of the news around the Web and on Twitter, and ranks the most-discussed designers, labels, models, and celebrities. In our weekly series, we call out the top five designers of the previous week (with our handy gloss on the hows and whys).

1. Marc Jacobs (pictured; last week: 1)
Marc Jacobs kept the top slot for the second week in a row, thanks to some tantalizing news (the word—relayed via Twitter, natch—that the company is working on producing plus sizes) and a sensationalizing editorial (Jacobs “killing” Rachel Zoe—a nod to her “I die” catchphrase—in the latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar).

2. Victoria Beckham (last week: 3)
The Lady Beckham rose in the ranks this week when word broke that she’s adding bags to her line, with a little help from English accessories guru Katie Hillier, who’s worked with Luella Bartley, Henry Holland, and Mr. #1 himself, Marc Jacobs. As for the paps, they gleefully noted every detail of her flight’s preemptive emergency landing, which kept VB in London an extra 24 hours.

3. Vera Wang (last week: 2)
Clinton wedding mania kept Wang going strong, though she’s dropped a spot from her high last week of #2.

4. Alexander Wang (last week: 5)
The latest guerrilla postering campaign for T by Alexander Wang hits the streets this week. Once it does, we predict campaign star Zoë Kravitz’s star will rise alongside Wang’s.

5. Tom Ford (last week: N/A)
And Tom Ford makes returns to the list with the persistent internet buzz that perennially attends the designer/filmmaker/provocateur. Fragrance junkies are lapping up his latest, Tom Ford Extreme.

Photo: Splash Photos