We have long been fans of Smythson, the English stationery and leather goods purveyor. Their products are without fail, exceptionally well made, deeply luxurious and discreetly elegant - and those are words we don’t toss around often.

When the “Nancy” clutch came out, Madonna’s stylist was one of the first to pick it up, and of course Prince sends out party invitations exclusively on Smythson paper — not a surprise for a company that holds several royal warrants, the gold standard of excellence here in England.

I am also a fan of Samantha Cameron, aka SamCam, the woman who heads up the company. Wondering who she is? Consider her our very own “MObama-in-waiting”. That is, she is the wife of David Cameron, the politician who is widely touted to be the next leader of this country. Oh, and she is also an Astor, and described by one journalist as “A lady whose background is so elite she makes the Royal Family look common in comparison.”

We’ve seen some big stars like Thandie Newton and Halle Berry in Erdem’s creations, and last night, at the ultra exclusive (so exclusive, you practically needed a secret handshake to get in) premiere of The Suicide Brothers—a film starring Keira Knightley and Rupert Friend—Keira showed up, all hard bangs and Erdem maxi dress.

Ms. Knightley’s stylist and friend, Leith Clark who like Erdem is Canadian, chose the butterfly covered creation—carrying on with the insect and bugs theme that is the designer’s leitmotif. It was a brilliant choice, and seemed to match Keira’s quirkiness: “Isn’t it beautiful?” said the actress. Yes, in fact it was.

We’ve admired Erdem for many seasons—well before he was fashion’s “next big thing”. But it’s hardly a surprise that fashion journos have traditionally been lukewarm to the Canadian-Turkish London-based designer. His prints, all blurry and off-kilter are definitely an acquired taste for many. But his “hang on, I am going to hurl” prints are indicative of what is going on right now in fashion—a jerky roller coaster ride of of perching highs and stomach dropping lows, with euphoria and nausea in equal doses. In other words, what we have lived with in fashion for the past year.

But this dress was more calm, sedate, even happy. Could Erdem be telling us something? Keira was anyway: “It’s perfectly comfortable. I may even just sleep in it tonight.”

—CHARLEY B.

These looks from London’s Armand Basi, Erdem, and Eley Kishimoto could have popped straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon. Or a Crayola box. The 64-ct. of course.

—JAZZI McGILBERT

TopShop and the New Generation initiative just announced their fall Fashion Week picks, and here are the kids whose shows will be funded:

Christopher Kane (Versace consultant and Carine darling…)
Danielle Scutt (our new favorite eccentric, at left…)
Duro Olowu (a Nigerian print fanatic with magical silk dresses…)
Erdem (who won the Fashion Fringe award a year ago…)
Gareth Pugh (our favorite mad scientist…)
Louise Golden (a knitwear guru who claimed her last collection was influenced by Burkas…)
Marios Schwab (who won the British Fashion Award last year…)
Todd Lynn (a rock band costumer, and the only menswear designer on the bill…)

The awards alleviate the financial pressure of showing this fall, but they also bring new stress:

If you’ve been dubbed The Next Big Thing by all of Britain, you’d think every stitch was sewing your fate.

Of course, the real mark of a New Gen designer hitting it big is when their sponsor, TopShop, starts ripping off their catwalk collection… or have we forgotten their brief romance with rave t-shirts?