The rumor that Jean Paul Gaultier was next up for Target’s Designer Collaboration spread like wildfire just a month ago.

But now it’s true and everyone can rejoice and jump for joy like we did upon waking up this morning.

He’s the third designer after Alexander McQueen and Anna Sui to participate in this series, which shouldn’t be confused with Go! International (even though it’s much more international). Contributing to the series demands a muse, and Gaultier’s chosen the American woman, and America’s pop culture, as his.

We’ve developed a very particular cycle of excitement regarding designer collaborations. First, we’re excited to hear their names in an affordable sentence. Then we worry about how their runway brilliance will translate into prices ending with $.99. And then finally, we’re thrilled they’ve accepted the challenge and look forward to what they’ll make when stripped of financial freedom.

The best part is, we’ve done it so many times we skip straight to part three. Gaultier’s collection will be in Target stores from March 7th to April 11th. No word yet on Manhattan’s usual pop-up.

Tired of doodling on paper or the soles of your Converse? How about your arm? Your thigh? Your chest?

Rodarte kicked off the body art trend in New York, covering their models with Sharpied tribal shapes to complement their primitive, deconstructed collection. James Kaliardos pulled from a variety of inspirations to come up with the black curvilinear designs that ended up the perfect armor for Rodarte’s futuristic warrior girls.

It was game, set, match at Hermès yesterday.

Gaultier’s always a sucker for a theme and this year was no exception. Everything was covered in grass from the runways to the bleachers - with white cushions for us to sit on of course, god forbid we get actual grass stains! Between the setting and the music, I was ready for an actual tennis match.

An industry legend once said to me, “Hermès is not a fashion house, so I never expect fashion here,” but I still loved every bit of it. The clothes screamed 1920’s tennis and I had no problem imaging myself living it up like Daisy Buchannan or lounging on a boat in Pantelleria.

If you’re ever at an Hermès show where you don’t love the clothes, I dare you not to smile when Gaultier runs out smiling, hugging, kissing with such adoration for his models. Long after the show’s ended and the lights are up, he’s still milling about gratefully greeting his fans.

And that’s a grand slam.

—REBECCA SUHRAWARDI AUSTIN

If you have to wake up at 8am on a Sunday morning, severely jet-lagged and having worked more than two weeks straight, you want to see a collection like Louise Goldin’s.

The Central St. Martin’s grad and knitwear genius sent out a parade of candy colored outfits with mini-Madonna circa Gaultier bullet bras under lightweight sweaters and wrapped tulle with mini skirts and fanned dresses. There were knit jumpsuits with gold glitter. She stuck what looked like rollers under the shoulders of vests and jackets to give a different kind of volume. Models wore leather shorts and lace and sparkles and studs and quilted trim and cropped sweaters and spectacular crystal embroidered leggings and still somehow, it avoided looking over the top.

I’ve seen a terrifying amount of crop tops in the past couple of weeks, but this is the first time I’ve thought that maybe, just maybe, it’d be worth joining a gym for spring. As for bullet bras? Count me in.

RUMOR OF THE DAY: Jean-Paul Gaultier is said to be next up in Target’s Designer Collaboration series. None of the parties would comment officially to WWD, but we say yes, please.

Ever since the dawn of feminism women have been adopting menswear pieces into their wardrobes and looking cute doing so.

From the inevitable menswear spreads in the September sssues of magazines to the Jean Paul Gaultier ads featuring Raquel Zimmerman in woman and man form, women in men’s clothing has become the social norm and not the least bit shocking. Isn’t every woman’s favorite “morning-at-boyfriend’s-apartment” activity going through his wardrobe and snagging a few shirts and sweaters?

But a man in a skirt or hot pants? Likely to get stares and glares. The Telegraph recently published a story about “Girlfriend Dressing” featuring pictures of Jamie Hince in what seems to be girlfriend Kate Moss’ short shorts and fitted blazer. I can’t blame him; who wouldn’t want to play dress-up in Kate Moss’ wardrobe? In all seriousness, though, why can’t men in women’s clothing be taken seriously the way women in men’s clothing can?

Last night, while half the world lived it up at yet another September Issue screening and the rest of us ate cotton candy and danced to The Rumble Strips at Charlotte Ronson’s JC Penney bash, The Daily reported that Jean Paul Gaultier might be stepping down from his role as Creative Director of Hermes.

He’s been running the storied French house since Martin Margiela left in 2003 and done quite the successful job of maintaining Hermes’ status while increasing its high fashion credibility, not to mention profitability. They announced that their second quarter sales were up 12% this year, a good amount, a great amount given the economic climate. And Hermes has a stake in Gaultier’s own line which means the break will probably be amicable, or at least less messy than the recent Cortazar/Ungaro debacle.

So now the fun part, if it’s true and he goes on his way, who will take his spot? In our wildest dreams someone with a purely rock n’ roll aesthetic would take on the classics. Christophe Decarnin? Giles? Chris Kane? We know it’ll never happen, but the imaginary results are awesome.

Yo Fashionista,

I’m sure you guys have already heard and formed opinions about Perez Hilton’s new fashion blog, CocoPerez.com.

I’m offended that he even thinks he can legitimately comment on fashion - especially when he spells Gaultier Gautier and thinks someone in London makes clothes under the name Garth Pugh. I’m just wondering if you guys plan to comment on it or not? I understand that commenting on it would only reinforce his perceived legitimacy, but I simply cannot stand that he’s doing this. I mean the stories so far are ripped straight from your headlines! He’s clearly stealing content from Jezebel and WWD, too without crediting anyone and more importantly without bringing anything new to the discussion. It sucks. Especially after fashion bloggers have been working hard for so long to be taken seriously.

Just wondering what your take will be….

A Loyal Fan

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!

We started hearing word from the Jean Paul Gaultier show earlier today via Tweets from lucky attendees. Old Hollywood was the theme and seating was even named after the major studios.

And may we add a quick thank you to the newest editor addition to Twitterverse, Joe Zee. The man is on it with the rapid details and pictures.

(He’s tweeting from Valentino as we write.)

When he wrote about crocodile overalls paired with a sable coat, we knew this was the look we had to see stat.

Jean Paul Gaultier’s fragrance, Ma Dame, is turning one and the lady is ready to party.

As part of the celebration, the company has made a mini-movie in which they’ve hidden clues about a special guest that Ma Dame has invited to join in the festivities. We’ve watched it like five times in a row and still aren’t sure. It’s in black and white with pops of pink in everything from balloons to an
“x” written in a notebook. There are corsets on dancers and someone calling JPG on an iPhone, amid countless other possible hints.

Watch the video and tell us what you think.

Kate Moss’ black long-sleeved dress for Topshop was named Dress of the Year by the Bath Fashion Museum.

The UK museum has the world’s biggest collection of historical fashion and announced Kate’s award while unveling past winners, too. Marni, 2003, Prada, 2006 and a Giles Deacon from 2007 - all of which will be exhibited through September

The honor’s usually bestowed upon designers like John Galliano and Jean Paul Gaultier which means that even design awards are getting recession friendly. One of the judges explained, “2008 is likely to be seen by our children as a watershed moment - the end of a glittering party…Circumstances demand we become wiser now,” which we get.

And yet this is still fashion, and despite our endless love for all things Kate and most things Topshop, there’s no way that’s the dress of this year.

Not when people make dresses like this, and like this, or like this.

Doubtless you’ve heard about the “model fights” at Jean-Paul Gaultier over the weekend.

In case you had a hard time picturing it, don’t worry: Coco got some of it on film for you, which we think is the perfect accompaniment to that bagel and probable rain.

So enjoy. And remember: Don’t mess with the models.

Designers are falling into two very different camps these days.

On the one side, we’ve got those pulling out of the tents for Fashion Week (Vera), consolidating stores (Marc), and focusing on accessories (Olivier).

On the other, we’ve got those moving from womenswear to menswear (Roland, Gareth, Carlos, Decarnin, Ferré), womenswear to kidswear (Gaultier) and now, from menswear into womenswear.

Tim Hamilton will be showing his first women’s collection at Paris Fashion Week this March. The designer told Style.com that the capsule collection, built in Japan and Italy, is inspired by his mother’s, “avant-garde, all-black look and mid-century postmodernism.” So, very New York?

Also? Shoes! He hasn’t decided if he’ll sell them or not, but the more shoes in the world, the better.

Don’t ask why, but I recently had to create an avatar - a character/person (for those not in the virtual gaming world) - in Second Life. Then, after some minor Googling, I entered this vast world of virtual fashion - think people creating full clothing lines, garnering major “celebrity” (in the meta way) attention, and actually making money (in the real, cold hard cash way) off of it.

If you’ve never heard of dresses from Simone!, lingerie from Insolence, or stilettos from Shiny Things, it’s ok, neither had we. Not only are these virtual designers getting a virtual (but still real) audience, but some big name, real designers are too - Armani has his own virtual boutique, and Jean-Paul Gaultier used the virtual world as a platform for launching his “Fleur du Mâle” fragrance through a VIP event that gave invitees access to a new Second Life area.

We even found Second Style Fashionista (we’re so happy to get a mention in the virtual world), where a woman has been wandering “all over the grid” - Second Life speak for looking all over the place - in search of a wedding dress!

If all this seems too fake to be real, you might remember that story about a real-life couple divorcing over Second Life. So just remember - if you’re actually into this, and you think there aren’t any real-life consequences to donning a puce, sequined tube dress in your Second Life, think again.

—ALEXANDRA BEN-GURION