photo from modelinia!Last night, at 8, I ran out of Julie Haus’ Kate Lanphear-styled show and into the madness that was Fashion’s Night Out.

The streets of Soho were packed with people who weren’t just shopping, but had properly decked themselves out for the Vogue sponsored occasion. From top to toe they rocked Balmain-shouldered blazers and chunky jewels with booties and their official Fashion’s Night Out tees.

I swung into Intermix, pre-Rihanna & Millers, where it was so packed that even though I wanted a grey Kain tank, I couldn’t make my way to the register. Outside I found Keegan Singh staring into space, more overwhelmed than I at the growing crowds. Then Eddie Borgo found us and I gushed over Jen Kao’s show (on which they both worked, more to come later). We split and I (stupidly) hopped in a cab uptown to Barneys, a veritable frat house full of models, socialites, designers and the most fashion forward children I’ve ever seen - all of them laden with shopping bags.

This model roundtable, hosted by Sally Singer, beats Vogue’s actual model issue by a longshot.

The magazine filled a Minetta Tavern table with Lauren Hutton, Karlie Kloss, Caroline Trentini, Iman, Paulina Porizkova, Naomi Campbell and Hilary Rhoda for a discussion on modeling past and present.

Yes, it should be about five hours longer, but in just this brief clip Lauren says the industry’s become criminal, Iman talks about being YSL’s African Queen muse, Caroline says she’s struggling with her self-confidence, Paulina calls for a model age limit and Karlie expresses frustration over being just another blank slate.

This just in from a source:

The mystery face of the upcoming Vogue Italia is none other than the statuesque Iman!

She’ll be surrounded by some other models (surely just a group of out-of-focus guys, er, girls), and now we’re betting there’ll be at least one picture of her and Chanel Iman together, hopefully wearing Chanel.

We’re hoping this isn’t just another rumor -

But we guess we’ll see.

Elite already makes beauty products for other countries, and now Ford Model Management may have their own apparel line:

Today a company called Zazzle announced they’d partner with the agency for further retail opportunities.

Since Zazzle specializes in custom-made merchandise, it seems Ford thinks their logo could be as ubiquitous on sportswear as Juicy Couture or Lacoste -

In other words, they’re not just a company, they’re a lifestyle.

We can see Ford t-shirts becoming the next cache item in schools (Remember how everyone needed a Banana Republic tee with the actual safari hunter on it, and it was the biggest deal? And Vuarnet, Coed Naked, and Hypercolor?).

But if Ford wants to do big business, they’ll need to get some favorite faces involved in the business - we highly suggest Chanel Iman for the task.

For years yellow was the only color on our list of “Things We Will Never Wear” (things like bows, Tevas, and Pucci prints). But lately we’ve warmed up to the usually daunting color in a big way.

This season it looks like designers have too. Everyone from Valentino to Comme Des Garcons showed looks en jaune, in hues ranging from daffodil to traffic light.

We like yellow because it makes pretty clothes look a little less obviously pretty; the ruffled dress Natalia wore at Valentino would have looked saccharine in pink, but in yellow it was just right. We also appreciate the way it pops against our favorite neutral, gray.

Even though the color has lots of runway presence this year, we’re unsure if it will make the jump to most women’s wardrobes. Matching yellow to your skin tone can be tough; Chanel Iman looked gorgeous in a bumblebee shade at Giambattista Valli, but Sasha looked washed out at the same show in the same color.

Will you be matching the daffodils for spring? Or will you leave this color in the Crayola box?

—ANNA FIELDING GRIGGS

Right now, our internet is sicker than a 50-year-smoker, but we’ve managed to upload one photo - the absolute best - from Jeremy Scott.

It’s Chanel Iman in a latex-and-canvas evening gown built to resemble a trash bag - the crowning piece for a collection based on construction, hard hats, and models at work - especially if you were Coco Rocha, who had so much sexy fun on the runway, we wondered if Justin Timberlake was in the audience.

Of course, the only celeb was Kanye West, who arrived in a glowing neon suit. But there was also Gareth Pugh, Ben Cho (in town to DJ the Purple Magazine party on Friday), Henry Holland, Ellen Von Unwerth, and Jefferson Hack.

Not exactly US Weekly material, but for us, even better.

Check out Chanel - more tomorrow; promise.

WHO just walked through those double doors to the Paul & Joe casting in Paris?

a) Chanel Iman

b) Iekeleine Stange

c) Behati Prinsloo

d) Diana Moldovan

Guess you’ll just have to wait until their show on Saturday to find out! But we’re rooting for Chanel… just in case you wanted a hint…

Tyra Banks is doing an upcoming segment on her talk show about race in the fashion industry - specifically, how hard it is for women of color to book on the runways.

Her special guests for the show?

Heatherette designers Richie Rich and Traver Rains, plus their catwalk opener and closer, Chanel Iman.

We’re slightly shocked that Ford would let Chanel do The Tyra Banks show - it’s not quite the same as a Vogue cover - but so psyched to see the poised sixteen-year-old discuss her own modeling adventures with Ty-Ty Baby.

The only irony?

We don’t think Chanel Iman would ever have won Top Model - weirdly, she would have been too modelesque for a shot at the title.

We saw a lot of people get photographed this week.

At the backstage exit after the Marc by Marc show, there was a crowd of girls snapping pictures of the models leaving with their poofy pink-streaked hair.

When Chanel Iman descended the stairs, she was surrounded by the same girls, but they didn’t just want a picture of her. They wanted a picture with her.

Chanel happily obliged, smiling and draping her arm around their shoulders as a rotating cast of friends snapped away.

We’ve never seen anyone ask for a picture with Sasha. And even though she’s one of our favorite models, we definitely wouldn’t ask for one either.

Maybe it’s that Chanel looks approachable and friendly; she’s very, very beautiful, but she seems like she could be in your english class or on your soccer team.

She’s also one of the most successful young models working right now and perhaps it’s for the same reasons.

Is fashion moving away from icy gorgeous girls like Sasha towards a more down to earth aesthetic? Would you rather see editorials and ads with the girl next door than the girl from Siberia?

—ANNA FIELDING GRIGGS

Last season, British GQ ran a story about the electric intelligence of Naomi Campbell.

Tomorrow might be her chance to prove it’s true.

The legendary model is slated to sit on a panel called “Blacks in Fashion,” along with Andre Leon Talley, Robin Givhan, Damon Dash and Tracy Reese.

According to the organizers, the fashion heavyweights will address questions like, “In an industry supposedly dictated by beauty and style, why are certain groups granted limited access? Why is the fashion model of color categorized by race? Why is this generation of Black models nearly invisible?”

We hope Naomi does address that last question, especially since every time an emerging model is black, she’s called “The Next Campbell” … something that’s always bugged us, since neither Gerren Ford nor Chanel Iman actually look like her.

The panel happens tomorrow at 10:30 AM, in the Bryant Park Hotel, and on a vague side note: the first 10 models at Heatherette were all black.

When Chanel Iman told us she had to go to “Marc Jacobs rehearsal” yesterday, we were slightly scared the girls would do a Can-Can routine on the catwalk.

Instead it was weirder and better:

The entire Marc Jacobs show ran backwards, from final bows to first looks.

To begin, Marc came onto the runway, waved, and cheered.

Since the show was over 2 hours late to start, my row of editors assumed he was coming out to tell us personally that the show had been cancelled.

Instead, he bowed, then ran backstage, and then came all the models, parading down the catwalk.

Then the formal dresses, one by one.

Then the cocktail dresses.

Then the day dresses.

And then instead of Marc’s bow, the entire audience saw Anna Wintour and Bee bolt for the exit as the light’s came back up, just in time for the thunderous finale applause.

It was a trip, and the clothes were quite beautiful, in Marc’s manic way: Billowy, spangled, searing, and looking a bit like you’d tried on your mother’s best pieces, all at once, and years before you’d grown into anything. It will take a little while to process, but you can view our photos here.

Walking out of the show, we saw the actress Michelle Tractenberg.

“Would you wear it?”

“Yes, absolutely, all of it - but not all together!”

That seems to be the general rule of thumb.

Then by the exits, Anna saw Heath Ledger and flipped out, and Faran saw ELLE’s Kate Lanphear.

“It’s backwards day!” Kate exclaimed.

We both flipped around, and started walking backwards into the crowd - not easy in heels, but it felt like the only thing to do.

Models were called to the Marc Jacobs runway at around midnight last night for “rehearsal.”

They were told they’d be there until 3 am, and that they’d be receiving some sort of detailed instructions about what’s to happen on the catwalk.

Chanel Iman is confirmed for the show, and Siri is walking in both Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc. Everyone else… well, we’ll know in less than 24 hours.

Meanwhile, there are rumors of a film being shown before the runway presentation.

Get ready to see a major flood of Chanel Iman.

We hear she’s been shot for The Gap, with ads premiering later this winter.

The California native, born Chanel Iman Robinson, was styled by Marie-Amelie Sauve, the Balenciaga stylist and muse who recently took a creative consulting job with the company.

Meanwhile in the States, we’re all eagerly awaiting the new Gap crop from designer Patrick Robinson, who headed Paco Rabanne and married Vogue’s Virginia Smith before doing a Target collection sweet enough to catch the eye of the San Francisco denim empire.

Of course, the coolest thing would be for Chanel and Patrick to do an ad together, because then it could be called Mr. and Ms. Robinson, and then the soundtrack could be Simon & Garfunkle, and…

Anyway.

Well done, Chanel, for a lucrative ad campaign that’s actually age appropriate. You’ll look amazing.

It would be naive to say models are getting younger:

Gemma’s first Prada ad came at fifteen; Gisele’s been booking since junior high.

Still, with the renewed talk model health and the restrictions of teenage girls on the runway, it’s amusing to see how many huge girls are still taking algebra.

The most obvious example is Tanya D., who was allowed to walk at fifteen because she had a chaperone backstage (and who, let’s face it, was born for this). Likewise to Chanel Iman, who finally turned seventeen this season.

But in September, there will be some new kids in the hall - sorry, we mean tents.

Anabela Belikova (left) just turned sixteen - and just got promoted from IMG Development to their Women’s Board. Her work has earned it, since she snagged a Balenciaga campaign and a Marc Jacobs crush - not bad for a beautiful girl born on the ’90s.

Also promoted to IMG Women: Irina K, the waify cutie that British Vogue weirdly called out to signal The Return of the Woman. Not quite - especially since Irina is also still prom-aged.

Stay tuned for them on the catwalk next month, and if you see them backstage, maybe offer to help them with their homework?

Thanks to last week’s examination of the Forbes Top Model list, we’ve gotten more emails than ever about how models get paid.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

Models make most from ads. Hilary Rhoda pulls in $1.5 million because she’s Estee Lauder’s new face, not because Vogue Italia keeps putting her on the cover. Gisele hasn’t walked many runways, but because of her Victoria’s Secret earnings, she makes more than most hedge fund managers.

Meanwhile, models who do get booked on catwalks pull thousands of dollars per season - I remember last year, when a designer offered Irina Lazareanu $10,000 just to walk. But more often, the girls get paid (at least partly) in clothes.

Here’s a good example:

When we saw the darling Chanel Iman at Marie Claire’s Supermodel party last week, she was wearing a killer pair of Dolce & Gabbana heels.

The very same killer pair that she wore last season when she walked in their show.

So jealous!

Is Vogue subtly apologizing to Gemma Ward?

As many of you may indignantly e-mailed, the magazine’s May issue was called “The World’s Next Top Models� and featured many familiar faces— Lily Donaldson, Chanel Iman, Doutzen, Stam (on the inner flap!)—but no Gemma Ward. Even stranger, the story inside opined that the face of Burberry, Calvin Klein, and Valentino isn’t a real supermodel!

But in Vogue’s June issue, Gemma opens a piece about what “six of fashion’s most fabulous faces of the moment do to get away from it all.� The group includes Hilary Rhoda, Racquel Zimmermann, and Coco Rocha, who you may remember from—the May issue of Vogue!

We could be reading into this, but is it a peace offering from the land of Wintour? And how are they going to go about making it up to Lily Cole?

—BESS LEVIN

Our favorite new blogger, Rachel Clark, reports on the frenzy backstage at Alberta Ferretti’s recent cruise show:

Apparently, all the girls got stuck in the elevator going down to the runway.

Though Chanel Iman looks a little panicked, it didn’t seem to last too long.

Still, the incident reminds us of the Calvin Klein show at Milk Studios several seasons ago, when one of the Olsen girls got caught in the lift and almost missed the show…

And how one of the girls at Balenciaga last year got stuck inside her gold-plated leggings, and was so late to her next runway that they almost had to slice them off of her…

How perilous, this industry!

Rachel then reveals she booked the Dolce and Gabbana campaign, which is great - hopefully, nothing gets stuck there.

Thanks to Fashionologie for this Today Show video, where Sally Singer narrates a clothes parade with Stam, Hilary Rhoda, and Patricia Schmid.

The best part seems to be when Coco Rocha and Chanel Iman hit the runway at the same time, and Sally says, “Here we have Coco and Chanel.”

Also: Anne seems to be genuinely shocked that Sally mixed Target shirts with things by Oscar de la Renta. We can’t decide if this is funny or scary, as if Anne Curry has never worn a Burberry jacket over a Hanes t-shirt in her life.

But speaking of high-low pairings, isn’t it interesting that Miu Miu is the most referenced designer on this Today Show runway - and also the upscale label that got the most play in its corresponding Vogue story?