Kaitlin,19, Student

Got Her: Shopping at the Juicy Couture/Teen Vogue Fashion University Party.

Stalked Her: Because in a sea of over-accessorized youth her subtle mix of classic and punk caught our eye.

Shot Her: Because she took simple pieces and combined them perfectly. And the lacing on the back of her blazer is detailing perfection. Not to mention we’re suckers for Doc Martens.

She Said: “I like to dress in contradictions that mesh together.”

We said: The student becomes the teacher.

How does one follow up a brilliantly Bardot themed couture collection?

With something far from similar if you’re Jean Paul Gaultier.

Here’s the first peek of a series of boots he’s doing for Doc Martens. The image includes two perforated women’s shoes in both black and white with just a cryptic caption and no real information on timing, though it sounds like they’ll only be available in Gaultier stores in France.

Each time we look at the picture we see a punk-y YSL cage shoe, but seriously, if you can’t get to Paris, these might be your next DIY.

Doc Martens are being reimagined, again, with another cool collaboration. Jean-Paul Gautier, Raf Simons and Yohji Yamamoto have all had a go at the iconic footwear.

And now Dr. Martens is collaborating with Comptoir des Cotonniers for a fall line.

They’ve taken the classic 1460 model, and redone it in a delicious light gray Palantino leather. Seems like everybody’s into gray lately!

WWD just reminded everyone that Raf Simons is the newest collaborator with Dr. Martens, with his version on the angry kid classic hitting stores this January as part of Spring 09 shipments.

But we’ve been hearing something else, too, something about a waiting list for high-heeled Docs, somewhere in London -

But that’s all we’ve able to discern yet.

So if you see Cory Kennedy in some high-heeled Docs on Greene St, you know our e-mail.

Daisy Lowe may have been everywhere this past Fashion Week, but WWD’s reporting that we’ll probably be seeing her a lot less very soon anyway:

They say Cory Kennedy, face of Urban Decay / Sebastian / half of NYLONtv, is set to replace Daisy as the face of Docs.

No idea if this has to do with Daisy’s departure from IMG - it shouldn’t, since her contract for Fall 08 was renewed even after her split with the agency - but we’re not at all surprised with the choice of her successor.

Cory, who’s signed with One, makes as much sense for Docs as any other way eastsider. So now with a third campaign soon to be under her belt, comes the big question - will people finally start referring to her as a model?

Daisy Lowe may have left IMG, but she’s still consistent on one thing:

Her ad campaigns.

Today we learned Ms. Lowe was retained by Doc Martens for their Fall ‘08 ad campaign -

Something that should excite two groups of people more than the rest:

1. The group that loves seeing Daisy in her underpants and not much more.

2. The group that loves seeing Doc Martens in fashion magazines because it means they can still wear their clumpy pairs instead of heels / ballet flats.

As for us, we’re now wondering if and how we can drag our Docs out for Fashion Week… hmmm…

[**Note: We’ve only got one pair, in one size, so the first correct answer wins! If nobody gets this (which Jazzi is seriously doubting anyone will) we’ll give you a new letter every day until you do. Ok, Ready… Go!]

Update: OK wow, contest over. Reader Chris will be getting them!

Jerry Kaye, former creative director for Perry Ellis, has just been named head designer for Dr. Martens.

That’s probably the most sensible fashion appointment we’ve ever heard.

Kaye came on as Men’s fashion director at Ellis in 1993, the same year Marc Jacobs was fired, and stayed up until 2005 when he launched his own consulting firm working with clients like Levi’s.

Hartmarx, the company that owns Dr. Marten’s and hopes to expand into ready-to-wear, chose Kaye because of his “vast experience in taking heritage brands and making them modern and relevant in today’s marketplace.”

We’re still waiting for our new docs to arrive in the mail, (they’re a gift and we’ll be scribbling all over them), and now we’ll also be waiting to see Kaye’s take on the classic shoe.

The question is, will we actually wear them?

Seriously, do not click through unless you want to watch a major potential spoiler…

Our most fashionable heels don’t hold up so well on the streets of New York, and often times, we don’t want to put them at risk while we dance away to The Kills.

So lately, even at work, we’ve been pairing ensembles with some pretty kick-ass, take no prisoners, rough and tumble boots.

But since we don’t want to come off like a 2008 Courtney Love, we’ve been looking for ways to soften the edge on our favorite utility-wear.

Naturally, we remembered the lacy ankle socks that our mom’s dressed us in. These from Sock Dreams are playful enough to add a bit of Lolita to an otherwise biker-esque outfit.

We can’t wait to scuff up our new Docs while we reminisce about hopscotch on the playground.

— JAZZI McGILBERT

The idea of the fashion statement is not exactly new, but sometimes it’s taken more literally.

When we were younger, we thought wearing Converse and band tees to school made us fundamentally different from those who wore Lacoste. In college, Ché Guevara t-shirts were as common as pants. And now, it seems like everybody is either wearing an actual keffiyah, or at least some take on it, brought to us largely by the Balenciaga runway.

We think it’s kind of admirable if someone believes in something so deeply that they’re willing to literally hang it off of themselves. At the same time, when something becomes stylish it tends to lose its overt political meaning, to the point where many people wearing the trend don’t even know it has political connotations.

Maybe the classic Che Guevara shirt would be the best example of this, its message having been lost to irony and Urban Outfitters. And yet, when Marc Jacobs made those “John Kerry Is a Rock Star” tees during the last election, they completely sold out.

Would you wear a political statement? Or are your beliefs best left to your ballots?

There’s a phrase in today’s Times that we love.

It’s about the half-true resurrection of Doc Martens in fashion, and it goes like this:

“[Doc Martens] is trying to replicate deliberately what first happened serendipitously.”

It’s a gorgeous and air-tight sentence, but oddly The Times passes no judgments on its idea. It lets the forceful resurrection of Docs slide through as a business strategy, then wonders if seeding shoes to Avril Levigne and the MisShapes is enough to rouse a hibernating symbol of youth.

According to the Timesarticle, the author of the Doc Marten’s book (yes, there’s a book) thinks it’s a great idea to bring back Docs, which isn’t much of a surprise, considering he’s also a company consultant.

Leslie from Racked thinks current Docs are silly, saying they’re too aggressive for a young, modern woman - and that she hasn’t seen anyone actually wearing them, something we’ve found as well (except this one time, in a phone booth in London…).

But no retailers or fashion editors are asked about the potential for Docs to sell, and nobody’s marked the most obvious thing:

If Doc Martens actively markets their “Outsider” status, with funding, famous models (hello, Daisy Lowe!), and product placement to famous, cute, and/ or cool kids, they’ve essentially become the Insiders, a walking contradiction that threatens to cancel any Chloe runway flashback.

Also:

Youth culture exists because it can smell authenticity faster than Pete Doherty can sniff cocaine. If Docs announces their viral marketing campaign to the New York Times… perhaps that’s not such a good way to court fashion-conscious kids who Google the word “fashion” every ten minutes on their Sidekicks.

But perhaps we’re just being sour with Doc Martens for more practical reasons: We really don’t have the height to pull them off.