Get Involved: Though there are a handful of dissenters, the relationship between fashion and Gaga isn’t waning. You can play, too. Nick Knight and Ruth Hogben (who’s worked on Gareth’s films) are asking for your video submissions based on The Apocalypse to play on her tour. {ShowStudio}

Red Rover, Red Rover: Celine’s landed at Dover Street Market, Phoebe Philo’s Celine that is. Who says Spring 2010 can’t debut in Fall 09? Phoebe even helped design the airy space to house her collection. {Dazed}

Got It: After last year’s Hilary Clinton/Vogue fight, Jonathan Van Meter finally got his chance to profile the now Secretary of State. Annie Leibovitz photographed her in the White House, so gowns. {Vogue}

Remember that episode of I Love Lucy in which Lucy and Ethel are desperate for dresses from a specific designer?

They’re heading to a horse race and insist upon these fancy dresses so Ricky and Fred cut head and arm holes in potato sacks and sew the designer label into the burlap and convince the girls the dresses came straight from his atelier. They end up at the racetrack with their heads held high, acting like snooty brats in their major outfits.

They might’ve preferred these. We’ve been lamenting the loss of ’08s tent dresses and welcome the sack with open arms. It does, of course, take a lot of work to make one look like Tomas Maier’s at Bottega Veneta as opposed to a sheet. Laces, like at Celine, help, as does a delicate sleeve (though we’d prefer one on both arm) from Calvin Klein. As for actual burlap at Charles Anastase? At least Fred and Ricky would approve.

This season’s all about the leather pants - a wonderful change from last season’s wannabe leather liquid leggings - but it looks like next season’ll welcome the leather top.

In New York, Phillip Lim showed leather tanks and tees over slouchy pants and tucked into little skirts. In Paris, Phoebe Philo showed more structured leather tees in both black and brown and Daria Werbowy poured herself into Christophe Decarnin’s studded leather top at Balmain.

I squeezed Frankie’s Alexander Wang look into that graphic because, though there is leather on top, it fits the trend of turning a total basic - t-shirt, sweatshirt, legging - into a luxury item; a successful runway idea that always earns the “comfortable chic” label. But practically speaking, leather tops sound miserably uncomfortable and unflattering unless made out of the absolute best leather.

We’re praying to the high street gods to leave this one alone.

So it seems Condé Nast is not the only one tightening up its stable of brands.

Word is that LVMH has another big sale on. According to the head of a private equity firm who is currently in Paris looking at the fashion houses’ books, Celine, Loewe, and Kenzo are on the block. It appears that CEO Bernard Arnault is no longer taking excuses for under-performers.

A New York-based investment adviser who spoke to Fashionista on the condition of anonymity said, “These labels are making no money, their margins are way down!” Just today WWD ran a story on Loewe focusing on its core leather business. And we all recently witnessed how well-received Phoebe Philo’s collection was at Celine. But it seems that efforts to try to unload the brands is still moving forward.

This morning come reports from London that Celine has very quietly closed its London store on Bruton Street, its only standalone in the city.

The company is keeping quiet about what this means, if it’s a sign of things to come, or what the future holds in the London retail game.

We couldn’t have loved Phoebe Philo’s first resort collection for the label more, and we certainly weren’t alone.

So here’s hoping this is just a little blip and not the beginning of more financial woes for the brand.

Phoebe’s Back!: At last we get to see Phoebe Philo’s first collection for Celine. Girl has not lost her touch. {Style}

Graduation Day: The kids at the Royal College of Art show off their wares with dreams of becoming the next Christopher Bailey. {FabSugarUK}

Non-Actress Fragrance News: Some designers still like models in their perfume ads. Anything that puts Claudia Schiffer in front of the lens more often is a very good thing indeed. {Modelinia}

High Standards?: We already loved the new Standard NY, but this makes it even more interesting. In totally unrelated Standard news, congrats to Joey Jalleo, the new director of special projects at the hotel! {DailyIntel}

Resort collections may not get the same coverage as the regular Spring and Fall seasons, but they’re still very important to buyers as most designers use their Resort (sometimes called Cruise) collections to make designs that the average customer will actually wear.

So today’s news that both Dior and Gucci plan on scaling back their Resort 2010 collections for this June (Dior has cancelled their show altogether, and Gucci, which threw runway shows in both New York and Rome last season, is doing a simple presentation) comes as no surprise since the clothes will make in onto racks and into glossies whether designers host a full-blown event or not.

According to WWD, this leaves Chanel all alone in pursuing the same grand affair in Europe as always - Karl’s upcoming Resort 2010 will be shown on Lido Beach in Venice this year - but we’re (of course) wondering about Celine. June’s collection is supposed to be Pheobe Philo’s first for the brand, which means they must be planning some sort of event in Paris - unless the money has kept her grand entrance from being, well, grand.

A teeny sentence in this morning’s WWD confirms a story that was floating around during Fashion Week, and so was subsequently ignored.

Gossip Girl has inspired a reality show.

Bravo - the network behind Project Runway, The Fashion Show and Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style - has started filming a show, which may or may not be called NY Prep, that follows around real-life UES private school kids, to see if anyone really lives a life like Chuck Bass.

Obviously, we’re just curious if anyone actually shows up to 8am geometry with Gisele hair and Celine, but we’ll know soon enough - the show hits small screens everywhere this fall.

Last week, the big non-Fashion Week news was Phoebe Philo’s Bicyclette collection. Turns out, the original reporters had some incorrect info, so here’s the real deal for those who were excited about Phoebe’s return:

1. The collection was not designed by Phoebe, but by Ivana Omazic, the designer Phoebe’s been hired to replace. Bicyclette marks Ivana’s final efforts for Celine.

2. The clothes hit stores in April, not August, so there won’t be any designer confusion once Phoebe’s Resort collection hits the runway in June.

So, bad news: This has nothing to do with Phoebe. Good news: The clothes come even sooner for those dying to have the perfect outfit in which to circle Nolita looking for Scott.

That is all.

If you don’t think you can hold out until this fall to see Pheobe Philo’s return to the runway for Celine’s Spring 2010 Collection, there’s now a solution:

The designer is due to put out a capsule collection of cycling attire for the French line, appropriately called, Bicyclette. Due out this August, Philo fans will be able to get their fix a couple months before she debuts her much anticipated come back to fashion, but only if they’re of the athletic set, that is (or are ready to fake it, whichever).

So what’s Pheobe Philo’s interpretation of a bicycling outfit? According to WWD, “styles include jersey dresses, cotton poplin skirts and a jacket that converts to a parka for unexpected showers.” While we understand the rain parka, whatever happened to a good old-fashioned pair of bicycling shorts? Be prepared for those stiff breezes, that’s all we gotta say.

—CARSON GRIFFITH

“I didn’t really follow fashion. I don’t think I ever really have, though. I don’t buy fashion magazines and read them cover to cover.” - Phoebe Philo, in WWD.

Dear Everyone,

We get it, fast fashion is where it’s at. No one’s enjoyed Go International more than us, we’re still eagerly awaiting Comme for H&M, and we’re counting the days until another GAP shirt collection. But, as often as we’ve reported on the ins and outs of designers at Chloe, Gianfranco Ferre, Valentino; we wonder, what’s going to happen to Paulo, Lars, and Alessandra?

So we were thinking this morning, as we usually do over french toast, that it would be a really interesting proposition for someone like, say, Bergdorf Goodman, to have a Go International collection of their own, but at the designer level. Think about it. While Alessandra’s waiting for Rochas to propose, she could do a one-off collection of empire-waisted chiffon-y frocks, and Alessandra gets to remind everyone how swell she is, not to mention pick up a nice little paycheck in between gigs. Plus, the store gets a covetable collection that gets people to spend their money at a time when everyone’s just waiting for the next diffusion line to come out, and we all get amazing clothes. Total win-win.

If you need more convincing, imagine how amazing it would have been if a few years ago, Phoebe Philo had a chance to remind everyone why they love her courtesy Barneys. It might have made Anna’s job getting her the top spot at Celine way easier, not to mention an instant fan base for normally unlikely customers for Celine.

Just saying,

Fashionista (ok, it’s Brett, as if you didn’t know)

WHICH well-respected fashion journalist called Ivana Omazic, the soon-to-be former head designer of Celine, “the worst designer in the world” post-show? As if being enthusiastically replaced by Phoebe Philo wasn’t hard enough…

LVMH just handed Phoebe Philo Celine on a silver platter.

If we had to imagine a designer’s ideal progression through the industry, we can’t think of anything better than having your coming out party at Chloé, going on a really long vacation, then marrying a name as recognized, yet as undefined, as Celine.

Since Michael Kors left the brand in 2004, it’s survived, though it’d be hard to call it relevant, which means that lucky Phoebe has a pretty clean slate, the financial backing and support of one of the largest luxury companies, and an instantly recognizable name.

By the time we see Philo’s designs, March of next year, it will have been over three years since she left Chloé to have babies which means three years of industry speculation of how and when such a successful designer would get back in the game.

Obviously, we can’t wait.

We have a feeling Gwyneth may have had something to do with this one…

America’s still in the midst of the Primaries, but in Europe, a fashion label has already elected its next leader:

This morning, Celine announced that Simona Zurki would helm the label’s business dealings, after working as the VP at Miu Miu and the Prada Group.

The move is neat because Celine’s latest designer, Ivana Omazic, also came from the Prada Group, where she designed a big chunk of the Prada sport label after being recruited from Romeo Gigli and Jil Sander (also a Prada company).

We’re not sure what kind of changes Celine’s new head will bring, except (predictably) a bigger accessories line, but we hope one thing stays the same:

Opening their upcoming runway show with Gemma Ward, just like they did in February!

Reese Witherspoon’s dress by Olivier Theyskens might top the style charts, but Zac Posen’s gown for Gwyneth still wins a contest of sorts. Here’s a raw, unedited, unresearched, slightly mad scorecard for designers, dresses, and the Oscars. Zac, it seems, gets a Mr. Popularity award for two major dresses of the night…

Armani - 2 - Cate Blanchett (four stars - intergalactic); Beyonce (four stars - when your mom stops making your clothes…)
Balenciaga - 1 - Nicole Kidman (three stars - rouge encore)
Calvin Klein - 1 - Emily Blunt (four stars - is she a new Sienna?)
Carmen Marc Valvo - 1 - Queen Latifah (three stars - she looks better than the gown)
Carolina Herrera - 1 - Jada Pinkett Smith (three stars - great dress, weird on Jada)
Chanel Couture - Kirsten Dunst - (two stars - the hemline…)
Christian Lacroix - 1 - Helen Mirren (four stars - regal)
Escada - 1 - Naomi Watts (three stars - flouncy)
Lily Et Cie - 1 - Celine Dion (four stars - it looked like Versace…)
Marchesa - 1 - Jennifer Lopez (four stars - they do have some talent!)
Nina Ricci - 1 - Reese Witherspoon (five stars - runway worthy)
Oscar de la Renta - 2 - Jennifer Hudson (one star - takes “vamp” too literally); Jessica Biel (four stars - young, hot, and tasteful)
Prada - 1 - Meryl Streep (three stars - yeah, we get it)
Proenza Schouler - 1 - Maggie Gyllenhaal (four stars - well East Coast girls are hip…)
Valentino - 2 - Kate Winslet (four stars - smart, easy); Anne Hathaway (three stars - the big bow…)
Vera Wang - 1 - Rachel Weisz (three stars, eh)
Versace - 1 - Penelope Cruz (four stars, and yes, it’s the same dress that Carrie Bradshaw wore in France, in a different color)
Zac Posen - 2 - Gwyneth (four stars - structure paradise), Portia Dei Rossi (four stars, first lady)