photo courtesy WWD
Katie Hillier, the creative genius, or accessories designer, behind first Luella, Giles, Stella and then Marc by Marc Jacobs has finally launched something of her own.

It’s the bunny necklace at left, yes she’s really only launched one thing, and it goes on sale at Dover Street Market and Colette this week.

The bunny, whose bottom half is basically a fancy safety pin, is made from 18-karat gold with a diamond eye and retails for $1,325 - probably three or four times the amount her “Daddy, I want a pony” belt sold for ten years ago so here’s hoping for a Katie by Katie Hillier line very soon.

Nothing bad will ever come of a collaboration between Gareth Pugh, Colette and AnOther Magazine.

Especially not when it’s something we can use all the time. The likely trio’s teamed up with InCase to make a 13” MacBook Pro foam sleeve and an iPhone 3G slider case imprinted with an optical star pattern designed by Pugh.

This way you can keep your beloved Apple products safe, and still pretty. You can buy them starting this week at shop.anothermag.com and obviously at Colette in Paris. If you’re not going to make it to Paris Fashion Week this time around, check out Opening Ceremony in New York and LA.

Because you’ll be hard pressed to find another occasion for which Gareth’s Pugh’s appropriate for the everyday.

Two things that don’t immediately spring to mind when I think of Colette are the Steve Miller Band and Roxy. And yet, here they are all kinds of co-mingling and whatnot in the form of Roxy Heart.

Roxy Heart was created by artist and designer Valérie Thevenot as a fashion extension of the much beloved surf and snow brand that would each season partner with a different artist, designers, or musician. And now it’s hit the big time: selling at Colette.

The second collaboration, with London artist Zakee Shariff, is the first to launch at the famed Parisian boutique. Zakee is mostly known for her drawings and prints, but we have to say from the bits we’ve seen, she’s doing quite well on the clothing front too.

And the news gets better and better for Rodarte.

We jumped for joy when Target announced their collaboration with Kate and Laura Mulleavy and we pouted all day when we found out they’d be curating Colette when we’re not in Paris; but today news is entirely different.

The sisters just signed to William Morris Endeavor Agency. Obscure Japanese horror films and not so obscure American horror movies have almost always figured into their inspiration, so we’re not surprised that they have other creative mediums in mind for the future.

William Morris also says WWD they’ll help the brand move into publishing.

Rodarte books for Christmas please!

If there were a fashion retail scale, Target would be on one side and Colette the other.

And yet, just weeks after announcing their collaboration with the former, Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte announced their work with the latter.

This October, they’ll curate an exhibition of their favorite things for Sarah Lerfel’s concept store in Paris. The sisters have consistently boasted the most impressive, obscure and yet still viable list of inspirations and we’re guessing this project will do a pretty good job of encapsulating what, in their lives, produces such dreamy clothes.

We haven’t played a game of foosball quite a while, but we have very fond memories (my strategy was always to keep one hand on the goalie). Combine it with another childhood favorite—Barbie—and we’re sold.

Well, we probably won’t be buying this new treat, Barbie Foot—being displayed and sold this week at Colette thanks to its 10,000 Euro price tag. But we’re still very excited about it. It was designed by Chloé Ruchon, and produced by Bonzini, a high end foosball retailer.

This is another fun way that Colette, along with the rest of the fashion world, has been celebrating Barbie’s fiftieth anniversary, for what seems like forever. And in the last month, we’ve really seen fashion broadening Barbie’s horizons.

Looky-Loo: Little J landed her own cover. She’s looking exceptionally cute and age appropriate on the cover of Teen Vogue’s September issue. {TeenVogue}

Fort Lauderdale, Really? One of our favorite hairstylists, Ted Gibson, is opening a salon in the former Spring Break mecca. But he promises it’s cool now. {W}

Now That Makes More Sense: We were confused about the whole Balenciaga/Air Tahiti uniform situation when we first read about it. The Times sorts out the matter. Who knew there was such a licensee as Balenciaga Uniforms? {The Moment}

Gilt Grows: Come August 12th we’ll definitely be checking out the more affordable Gilt Fuse to see if the sales are anywhere as good as so many of those on their big sister site. {Slaves To Fashion}

Pop-up shops are all the rage this past year: Target, Puma, Pam Hogg, et cetera. But what about pop-up shops for other things?

Books and magazines to be exact. LOVE blogged that Angela Hill, who manages book selection at Dover Street and Colette in London, yesterday opened a pop up shop of books at St. Martin’s Lane, with a pretty serious collection of vintage fashion magazines (Interview, Ritz and 19 Magazine among others) and some pretty cool art books. It will be around until late August.

We’re green with envy, of course. It seems that so many our cool archival stores have been forced out of business in NYC. And we miss them so. All the more perfect time for a pop-up. Of course, we will then likely become hermits, hidden away while pouring over old issues of The Face and Vogues of all nationalities. But who says that’s a bad thing?

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE

This morning, among emails from people we actually know, our inbox was filled with notes from Abercrombie & Fitch, Barneys, Bergdorf, Michael Kors, Neiman Marcus, Tiffany & Co., and Pottery Barn - and it’s only 9:00.

Is it just us, or do you delete these immediately and move on? We could just click ‘unsubscribe’ at the bottom of each one, but we let them keep coming with the hope of learning something earth-shattering.

We do occasionally find a golden nugget of goodness in the subject line - free shipping on whatever or amazing new shoes with our name on them. But usually it’s things that we couldn’t care less about like post-collegiate Abercrombie sweatshirts or floral frilly bikinis from Urban Outfitters - all because we bought a t-shirt from them five years ago.

So to those responsible for mass emailing, may we suggest asking our product preferences? Something as simple as are you a boy or a girl? And perhaps a comments section in which we can give a thumbs up or down?

We understand the rationale behind bombarding us with information to see what sticks, but it’s getting ridiculous. We read Net-a-Porter’s Wednesday emails religiously, and look forward to Colette’s monthly newsletters because their content’s worth reading.

If you really need to reach us everyday, why don’t you start a blog?

—BRETT KANE

We sent our intern to Colette to check out the Barbie displays and tell us all about it…

If you’re spending any time in Paris from now until March 28th, be sure to stop by Colette to check out their full-on Barbie décor in honor of the doll’s fiftieth birthday. You already knew that the perennially hip Parisian boutique teamed up with Karl Lagerfeld to pay due tribute to the timeless icon, but what you may not know is that it’s totally worth a stop.

Downstairs, the walls are inscribed with tongue-in-cheek Barbie quotes, such as “I may be plastic, but I never melt under pressure.” Or “A plastic tan never fades.” And upstairs, they’ve installed a brand new wing, coated, of course, in scorching hot pink. The enclave is flanked by prim, attentive plaster poodles, also varnished in the doll’s signature hue.

I purveyed the swarming masses from an overlooking balcony, which doubled as a gallery space for Lagerfeld’s Barbie and real-life Ken photographs, each featuring witty themes such as “First Marriage” and “Where is the Jet?”

The photographs, signed by Lagerfeld himself, are available for purchase if you want a memento to outlast the Dylan’s Candy Bar treats. For now, I was content to leave with an adorable bottle of Uslu Airline’s nail polish, made in honor of our girl’s special day (FYI- it’s Pantone 219c).

—EADDY KIERNAN (our other new Paris intern!)

If you’re in Paris this weekend, let’s hang out.

Also, if you’re in Paris and you’ve been holding out on buying the Current/Elliot boyfriend jeans because you’re sure the trend is going to die - it’s not. So go to Collette on Saturday, tomorrow, from 4:30 to 6:30pm.

Emily and Meritt, the designers behind the booming denim brand, will be there to customize them for you. Whether you’re an extra rip kind of girl or a pink sparkles kind of girl, they’ll make your jeans one of a kind which makes the $235 price tag a bit easier to swallow.

The customization is free if you buy them at Colette that day (there’s a two per person minimum).

We’ll be there looking for a Lagerfeld Barbie sneak peek and since we already caved to the boyfriend jean trend, we’ll just admire everyone else’s.

If you were wondering exactly how Barbie fever would hit Paris Fashion Week (other than the parties), wonder no more:

Starting this Monday (and through March 28th), the windows of Colette will be an homage to Barbie and Ken, as designed by Karl Lagerfeld.

Ken will be played by model Baptiste Giabiconi, and Barbie wears everything from a poufy wedding gown to a cocktail dress to a Chanel suit.

Obviously.

We finally remembered to check out the new Colette site, whose relaunch coincided with the end of the Gap x Colette here in New York, and with the renovation of the Paris store.

It’s kind of the same, but with a lot more components and way more shopping choices (think Lanvin by the loads).

But the best part? They’ve got a stable of blogs, one of which sometimes gives sneaks peeks of upcoming products for sale on the site, like the Andy Warhol Banana Sweets, at left, which we sincerely hope will be available before mid-December.

Because wouldn’t this be the best possible gift for people you don’t know what to get? Yes.

Bad news: the Colette pop-up store at the 54th St Gap closes this Sunday.

Good news: They’ve got one more exclusive, limited-edition trick up their sleeves.

They’re releasing t-shirt versions of the the fourteen model portraits Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin shot for the 55th edition of V, including Abbey Lee, Eniko and Daria, for sale all weekend.

We’re not totally sure we want to walk around with Daria’s face right under ours, but it could still make a good piece for the wall, like a photograph but with texture.

Afterthought: Oh who the hell are we kidding? It would be the funniest possible t-shirt to wear to the gym, so why not?

If you haven’t made your way over to the Colette X Gap pop-up store for those pretty sweet PARISxNYC artist tees, there’s even more reason to go now. Starting tomorrow, Converse is getting in on the action.

These adorable, limited-edition, high tops feature the thematic yellow and black stripe along with some hidden googley eyes, just for fun. We hear every cute thing in store has been flying out faster than they can stock it, so get yourself over to 54th and 5th first thing in the morning if the idea of wearing the sneaker version of Stick Stickly appeals to you as much as it does to us.

And if you don’t know who Stick Stickly is, then, well, these probably look insane to you.

-ALEXANDRA BEN-GURION

UPDATE: It actually opens tomorrow

Bad news for Parisians, via our Inbox: Colette is closing from July 7th to August 25th for a major renovation. They swear it’ll be worth it - the new design is being spearheaded by Japanese architect Masamichi Katayama and there will be a Colette Superette parked in front of 213 rue Saint-Honoré the entire time, so no major shopping will be missed.

But, there’s actually some great news for New Yorkers: a mini Colette is opening right next door the the Gap flagship on 54th St near 5th Ave, from September 6th to October 5th! The pop-up store is sure to be a frequent stop for a lot of us, and Colette’s promising exclusive collaborative items just for the occasion.

Bonus: Even after Colette closes up and returns to Paris for good, Colette’s site will be totally revamped by that time, too, with a complete eShop section that they say will be more like shopping at the actual store.

So much good news, we don’t know what to do.

Rebecca from Stylehive just clued us into the best collaboration we’ve heard of since Proenza for Target -

Margherita Missoni and Damon Dash are working together to create a new line of sneakers for ProKeds to benefit Orphanaid Africa.

The line will consist of six pairs of sneaks covered in collages of Africa-inspired prints (we’d kill for shoes with a tiger on them), and will be sold at Barneys and Colette.

No word yet on a launch-date, but we’re willing to bet the event will merit an in-store visit from Damon himself - but will Margherita fly back from her new home in Paris for an appearance on Fifth?

Kirsten Dunst was supposed to be the next collaborator with cashmere line Lutz + Patmos, but we’ve gotten word of another one:

Richard Meier.

The famed architect will also launch a capsule collection for Lutz + Patmos this year, though his selection will be considerably smaller than Kirsten’s line - just one item.

It’s a very underwhelming belted gray cardigan, with a deep V-neck and a charity tie -

$10 from every sweater goes to Architecture for Humanity, an urban foundation that promotes better buildings for better lives (a principle that we feel also applies to fashion, but more on that thesis later).

The sweaters go on sale this summer, in the U.S. and also in Paris, where they can be found at the coolest store ever, Colette.

Click through if you’d like to see a very luxurious but very boring sweater designed by Mr. Meier.

We hear that Colette is getting ready to sell a new Kate Moss biography in its Paris store, though the book itself will be in English.

The bio will differ from other Kate Moss books (like this one, from the late and wonderful editor Liz Tilberis) because instead of being a picture vault, it’ll actually feature episodes and background on Ms. Moss’ life.

But whether any parts of the book will be true is something unlikely to be confirmed.

Smartly, except for speaking of her Topshop line to Vogue UK, the supermodel is still not doing any interviews, anywhere…