Lars Nilsson, one of the earlier holders of the now-cursed Nina Ricci job, has landed himself a new position, one as un-Ricci as possible.

He’s launching a menswear collection with Mabro, an Italian manufacturer.

The Swedish designer’s actually made his way through a host of cursed houses; he worked at Bill Blass until going to Ricci in 2003 and then, in late 2007, landed at Gianfranco Ferre, taking over for Mr Ferre himself. But he surprised everyone by leaving less than a year later. If we were him, we’d be fed up with womenswear, too.

According to Nilsson, Mr. Nils, the menswear line, will make “chic sportswear with tailoring. It’s a modern and accessible luxury brand, which will be manufactured entirely in Tuscany, Italy.”

It’ll debut at Pitti Uomo in January.

Welcome back Peter Som.

This collection is so g.d. beautiful. Where is that trust fund when I really need it? Seriously, it just got better and better as I made my way to the back of the room at Milk.

You realize that everyone there was freaking out with joy, right?

It’s like you’ve burst out of a shell or something. Is it because all that messiness at Bill Blass is finally, totally over and you’re free to be you again? Because that would make a helluva a lot of sense.

Whatever it is, it’s good to have you back in top form bringing us color, texture, tulip skirts, pantsfree prettiness, and all kinds of high-end quirk. And I live for those headpieces by Albertus Swanepoel. The cutest.

So thanks for, you know, being you.

photo courtesy bryanboySo you like fashion, but lack the creativity bone? Or lack an interest in samples and press clippings?

How about an internship in sales?

Prabal Gurung, formerly of Bill Blass, currently of his own increasingly successful label, needs a few sales interns for the fall semester. They’ll assist the sales team during selling campaigns and perform administrative tasks for the department. They’ll also liaise with PR and sample trafficking, research new stores, reach out to buyers, assist the sales reps with appointments and revise purchase orders and line sheets.

The perfect candidate must have strong writing skills and be both professional and organized. You should also have an off-site computer equipped with Excel.

Elettra Wiedemann’s landed a new campaign for fall.

Isabella Rossellini’s daughter has posed for Abercrombie & Fitch, Bill Blass, Samsonite, Lancôme, Hogan and now, adding to what might be the most scattered modeling portfolio ever, she’s the face of G-Star Raw’s AW09 collection.

She’ll star in their print ads through December; they chose her since she represents “hardcore luxury.” And to strengthen their rock n’ roll vision, the denim brand’s enlisted photographer Anton Corbijn who also directed Control, the Joy Division biopic starring Sam Riley who went on to front Burberry with Rosie Huntington-Whitley.

Now we wonder if Elettra will walk G-Star’s runway at Hammerstein Ballroom on September 15th. She might be a constant Fashion Week presence, but we’ve never seen her tackle a runway.

It’s been months since the post-Peter Som saga at Bill Blass got a new chapter, so here’s the latest:

Peacock International Holdings LLC, the company that bought the Bill Blass Ltd name at the end of last year, is officially looking for a creative director to bring the brand back to the runway. They want to start getting women’s and men’s designed for later this year, which means Peacock must be gunning for representation at the Spring 2010 shows in New York.

The good news is that it at least looks like Peacock wants to keep Bill Blass as a brand that produces collections each season, which is more than we thought they’d do since it’s so easy to throw a recognizable name on a package of pantyhose.

But the bad news: Who wants to pick up the reigns at a house nobody expects to succeed? Perhaps that no-name creative director trend will come in handy…

Over the holidays, NexCen’s failing Bill Blass name was finally bought by a company called Peacock International Holdings LLC, for just $10 million. For a moment, it looked like some random company might be able to resurrect the brand everybody had already said goodbye to, but that was put to rest this morning with the release of further details:

The sale of Bill Blass Ltd did not include Bill Blass Couture, only the trademarks of Bill Blass Ltd (meanwhile, NexCen’s selling the assets from Bill Blass, including the office furniture from their Seventh Avenue showroom a la Alessandro Dell’Acqua).

Translation? Peacock International Holdings purchased the Bill Blass name, but not the functioning company (or so it appears at this time - the Bill Blass saga has had a few twists and turns that might not be through). So instead of continuing the clothes with the same factories, people, designers, etc, they could continue the business with completely different people, even a completely different aesthetic if they feel like it, and still call it “Bill Blass Ltd.” Basically, they could even slap the name on oatmeal, and nobody could stop them.

Thought it’s unlikely - if anything, we sense nightgowns and hosiery are on the way…

A glooming peace this morning with it brings, Bill Blass Couture is finally done and Kira Plastinina’s closing up US shop.

Bill Blass Couture - the Peter-Som designed, runway bound line - has been at fashion gossip’s core since Peter Som initially stepped down in July only to be re-instated at Anna Wintour’s demand and then leave again in October. Throughout the creative controversy, Blass’ parent brand, NexCen, struggled to find a buyer for the not profitable line. And now, finally, they’ve confirmed that unless a very rich risk-taker swoops in a buys the line before January 1st they’ll give up.

“Bill Blass is facing the same challenges as other consumer and retail companies in the current weak macroenvironment,” NexCen’s managing director told WWD.

Maybe, or maybe they’ve just held on long enough to blame the brand’s failure on greater economic issues than on their own internal mishandling.

Meanwhile, Kira Plastinina, the 16-year old Russian designer whose hot pink stores invaded America less than a year ago will close at least ten of the twelve within the next two weeks.

On the bright side, no one pulled out of Bryant Park today!

The ongoing, public death of the Bill Blass brand’s hit a new chapter today:

NextCen, Bill Blass’ financially troubled parent company, hasn’t been able to sell the line formerly designed by Peter Som to anybody yet (unsurprisingly, nobody wants to buy a troubled fashion house right now), and they’re liquidating part of their business.

Translation? As of right now, unless some other company comes along and inexplicably buys Bill Blass, the company might be on the fast track to completely shutting down, and you can expect some kind of blow-out sale so NextCen can rid themselves of the leftover inventory shortly. Apparently, NextCen has a $30 million loan on their hands from buying Great American Cookie, a baking chain they bought from Mrs. Field’s this past February, so it makes sense to them to liquidate their weakest-performing company - Bill Blass New York, whose Spring orders were seriously lacking - in order to get the cash they need.

This sounds like it’s pretty much out of everybody’s hands, even Anna’s.

Looks like even Anna couldn’t save Bill Blass from Peter Som’s departure.

WWD confirms this morning that our initial reports are now absolutely cemented. NexCen, Bill Blass’ financially troubled parent company, could not sell the Bill Blass label in time (we’re guessing this has something to do with the cash-strapped state of, uh, everybody), meaning Peter would have to have gone on designing the collection in adherence to way too many constraints to fit his vision for the nearly 40-year old brand, and so he’ll just be sticking to his eponymous label from now on.

So what does this mean for Bill Blass? Well, in addition to their current sale being some of the last Peter Som-designed duds to go for less than retail (we heard there’s a $30 rack - yes), the design direction of their Fall 09 collection will be helmed by Prabal Gurung, Peter’s first mate, who will now have the added pressure of bringing the next collection to the runway, a feat even Peter couldn’t get NexCen to budget.

And what happens if the economy doesn’t pick up at all, and NexCen isn’t able to sell Bill Blass to better owners? Stay tuned…

—and if you tell them you heard it from Fashionista, you’ll get an extra 15% off—

Fashion week is descending upon us and the rumor mill is in overdrive but this just landed in our inbox and something rings true:

After only three collections, Peter Som has submitted his resignation at Bill Blass. Perhaps he can’t handle the stress of designing more than one collection? Let’s face it, he’s no Marc or Karl.

Word is management at Nexcen is keen on keeping him on board, at least in name, until they can sell the brand.

The tip comes a little over a month after The New York Times wrote this story about Nexcen’s financial troubles in which they pointedly question the security of the brand’s future.

Design wise Som seemed to be doing fine. Maybe it’s the lack of profits and business side he just can’t, or doesn’t want, to handle.

UPDATE: Another tipster writes in, “Som was unhappy with the control Blass’ management tried to execute over his creative aesthetic. He’s been fighting with them since he got there.”

Those excited for Peter Som’s strides with Bill Blass have some worrying to do:

The designer might not get to hem those legendary seams much longer.

As Portfolio bluntly points out in a recent article, NexCen, the brand behind Bill Blass, is sinking. In need of funds and fast cash, the company’s financial board may sell off Bill Blass to the highest bidder, whomever that may be.

And if that happens, well, everything could get very shaky - the new owners could decide to license the brand, make it a mass market Macy’s kind of deal, etc.

The good news?

Bill Blass by Peter Som is still on the schedule for September Fashion Week - at least for now.

Looking for something to buy today?

Bill Blass is having a sample sale, but only today and tomorrow, from 10am to 5pm.

So if the idea of buying a gown at 70% appeals to you, stop by:

550 Seventh Ave, 12th floor with either cash or a major credit card.

And if you’re sitting there going “But I just went to the Yigal sale yesterday”, here’s a little extra kick -

15% of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Southampton Fresh Air Home, a not-for-profit residential camp for physically challenged kids.

Shop on.

To: Britt@fashionista.com

From: BoyWhoCriedFashion@newschool.edu

Happy Met Monday Girls!

Word is, Peter Som will be doing double duty at the ball tonight. He’ll walk the steps once with a top model dressed in Blass, and then again a little bit later with a certain indie film actress with a big movie coming out this summer. The actress, who considered not attending the event, is being helicoptered into the city especially for the event at the behest of A.W.

Hope Peter’s quads are in good shape.

xoxo
B

Update: According to WWD, the actress is Maggie Gyllenhaal and the model - Jourdan Dunn!