Imagine spending a day in the French Riviera with Karl Lagerfeld doing gymnastics and wading in a swimming pool in head-to-toe Chanel styled by Carine Roitfeld. Thanks to this behind-the-scenes video of the Chanel spring 2012 ad campaign shoot featuring Saskia de Brauw and Joan Smalls you can at least pretend to have been a fly buzzing around that afternoon.

-JK [Video footage courtesy Chanel]

Jean Paul Gaultier’s Spring 2012 couture collection was inspired by the inimitable, late Amy Winehouse. Or is she so inimitable? Winehouse was certainly an original in many ways but the first half of the looks seemed as if JPG had just sort of copied versions of her wardrobe. Some were so literal I wonder if he’d gone straight into her closet for them! (see top row)

But wait… the second half of the show was far better and proposed clothes that to my eye, look like what he would have liked to dress her in. They are exuberant, there are hints of retro and rawness that are her signature, but these are nuanced at least and not as obvious. One can easily imagine the best version of Winehouse slipping into the sheer black or orange lace gowns or throwing that fabulous pink trench on over whatever. It’s a shame that this will never be so, but Gaultier is to be praised for celebrating such a vibrant woman. -RS (Images via Vogue.com)

Talk about good genes! Cindy Crawford’s 10-year old daughter, Kaia Gerber, is the face of the Young Versace ad campaign shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot.

-JK [via Huffington Post]

Natalie Joos.. fashion consultant, casting agent.

[Via Citizen Couture]

Get the message? Cambridge Satchel Company. [Via Park & Cube]

Alright, let’s wrap this up with a bang.

Chanel Haute Couture Spring 2012 dresses all in shades of silvery gunmetal, 154 hues of blue (and some black here and there) look perfect for the red-carpet season ahead of us. I can just see some of the younger starlets wearing the tiered silvery dresses, and then a grand dame or two in the wonderful organza gowns with striking necklines.

I love that the drop-waist and the hands-in-pockets continued into the evening wear that closed the show. It was also good to see some nice shapes and not too much reliance on beading and embellishment- there was just a touch, just so, and just right.

-RS (Images courtesy Chanel)

One of my favorite shapes from the Chanel couture show was this super long and lean silhouette shown on coat-dresses and little clipped jackets and ankle-length skirts. Slim, willowy, very elegant… very Chanel. And again, stuff your little hands in those pockets girls!

-RS (Images courtesy Chanel)

For the Chanel spring couture, Karl Lagerfeld showed a collection of dresses, separates and gowns in precisely 154 shades of blue. It was all about air- the blue sky, the billowing volume etc etc etc. The show opened with some very classic Chanel silhouettes updated with a hip-inset pocket situation that played out through the entire collection. The exaggerated stand-up collars looked retro but still very chic, while blues from powder to marine in the usual tweeds were mixed back with black and white.

-RS (Images courtesy: Chanel)

Heterophobia Herpetophobia in action @CalvinKlein.

Image courtesy Calvin Klein

-FDB #CalvinFallMens2012

Mango has tapped Kate Moss as the official face of their spring 2012 ad campaign shot by Terry Richardson following the likes of Scarlet Johansson, Penelope Cruz, and Claudia Schiffer.  Kate and Terry also created a short promotional video that involves the duo robbing a Paris Mango store and Kate trying on all of the stolen goods during the get away until she finds the perfect budget-minded outfit. 

-JK [via WWD]

In honor of the famed embroidery designer Francois Lesage, who passed away recently, Didier Ludot is displaying some of Lesage’s incredible works in the windows of his vintage shop in Paris.  Lesage has created some of the most unique and luxurious embroidery in the world and has collaborated with (clockwise from top) Pierre Balmain, Christian Lacroix and Yves Saint Laurent. The window display will exhibit 15 pieces in all and will be up for 2 weeks at his store in the Palais Royal in Paris. 

-JK [via WWD]

So… while Pre-Fall is still going on, the men’s shows are now winding down, and market week is finishing up, why not make fashion life even more complicated by starting the couture shows now! Really though, at times the calendar is really shocking.

Anyway, Donatella showed a small, tight (in editing and shape) group of mini dresses and sculptural gowns for Versace. The colors ranged from metallic neutrals to acid yellow and bright tangerine. There were gold metal fins and such that outlined the forms, sort of a Richard Serra sculpture meets mermaid warrior glam princess. I wonder how many starlets and icons she can sort into these for Oscar season… -RS (Images via vogue.com)