So the new Vogue cover leaked, the much anticipated all-model one, and we’re trying to think of something nice to say.

Of course we love Liya and Natalia and Lara, and we’re kind of thrilled that Anna Maria Jagodzinska landed the actual cover. And their American Vogue Hair and rosy cheeks really is enviable - we won’t even touch on the subject of airbrushing except to say that it took us an extra minute to figure out that it was Jourdan Dunn in the middle.

But we’re stumped when it comes to any cohesive theme linking these women together. What exactly are “Faces of the Moment” and if Natalia Vodianova is one, what was she last year and the year before? None of these girls are new faces, none rose to fame this season, some are young and some are old, some are always in Vogue (Raquel, Liya, Natalia, Caroline) some aren’t (Natasha, Lara).

In fact, the only thing they all are is not American.

Are these the girls we should all be watching? Who do you wish had made the cover?

Even though J.Crew’s had plenty of well-known models in their catalogs (Lauren Hutton, Cintia, Anouck, and Mallory from the Real World Paris, if you’re into fun facts, they’ve never signed just one face to front the print shopper from first page to last - until now.

Fashion Week Daily reports that Liya Kebede, Ethiopian mother of two and face of St. John for Spring 09, has been signed to model the April J.Crew catalog all by herself, which is sure to bring some fashion-centric attention to the brand that’s just come off so much press from Michelle Obama’s support of the office-wear staple.

But more pressing: Does this make the J.Crew catalog the new barometer of a model’s success?

After disappointingly monochromatic line-ups in Milan last week, Paris may be the ticket to a more colorful Fall 09.

Balenciaga showed this morning, on the first big day of shows at Paris Fashion Week, with Ethiopian-born Liya Kebede opening the show, the first black model on a Balenciaga runway in years (Chanel Iman also walked).

Could this be the beginning of a new direction for the season?

We wouldn’t count on it just yet - Balmain was the same story as it’s always been (and we’re not just talking about the clothes).

This just in from a source:

Steven Meisel has just shot an entire issue of Vogue Italia with all black models, hoping that other issues of Vogue start to diversify their own portfolios.

Apparently, all of the photo shoots have already happened, as model bookers at various agencies have been contacted and sourced for new, beautiful, not-white girls — and now they’re twittering about how cool the issue will be.

No word on when the issue will hit stands or who’s on the cover (Jourdan Dunn? Chanel Iman?), but whatever:

We don’t really report the news over here. We just break it wide open.

xoxo.

Sneaking backstage during British Fashion Week is an odd highlight of the entire season. Besides everyone’s too-cool accents, there’s a strangely calm vibe that just doesn’t exist in New York and Paris - people say “Good morning,” sit and eat before they work, and actually find shoes that fit the girls.

Backstage at Christopher Kane, the gentle hum of fashion prep time was interrupted by the arrival of Liya Kebede, whom we hear flew into Kane’s show because of an Anna Wintour phone call (though of course this could be a rumor).

Also spotted:

Daiane Conterato, Kate Lanphear, Tammy Kane, and a few piles of white silk dresses waiting to get steamed.

Have a look!

—PHOTOS BY MORGAN O’DONOVAN (surprised yet?)

We’re going to call this the Spindle Collection for two reasons:

When it debuted this morning on the London catwalk, you could tell pretty instantly that it was part of a much bigger thread, the one that spins from British and Scottish sewing traditions of needlepoint, weaving, and - well, lots of sheep.

The difference is that Kane intersperses the fuzz with metal embellishments, with sequins, with really cinched waists that cut into his cableknits. The effect is cool, and tribal, and a little bit unsexy - not a bad thing when the current trend is to look, somehow, like your outfit has either imploded, exploded, or both.

There was also some very cool string art happening, strewn across the bodices in patterns that looked like dream catchers, but also like a quantum physics charts where galaxies collide with time, and love can’t stack up to gas and light years and infinity - but it was all contained in the space between one breast and the other.

So the yarn / string / wool theme is one reason for the Spindle Collection, but the other is this:

The models looked like needles with haystack hair. We support every designer’s right to create their own vision, but we really like the vision better when it includes spaghetti, 1 % milk, and avocados.

That said, we appreciated Liya Kebede because she had both the best skin and the best walk of any girl there, and she was 10 years older than most of them - exactly the right age to actually wear a Christopher Kane gown.

—AMAZING PHOTOS, AS ALWAYS, FROM MORGAN O’DONOVAN

What’s that?

There’s a gaggle of gorgeous girls backstage?!

Take me there, now!

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

For more, check out RoidRage.

We couldn’t think of a better way to kick off fashion week than to watch our favorite girls strut down an eco-friendly, recycled wood runway at Earth Pledge’s FutureFashion show last night.

The show featured surprisingly ladylike looks from twenty-eight designers ranging from Marni to Versace. Each used sustainable, organically grown materials like bamboo, soybean fiber and even the leaves of wild pineapple plants.

Stam wore a very wearable Rodarte party dress; Coco rocked a 40’s coat dress from DVF; Irina wore Behnaz and the most perfect shoes we’ve ever seen. But it was Liya Kebede in vintage Moschino and Shalom Harlow in a gothic Margiela wedding dress who made our heads whip around for just one more look.

The studded peace silk suit by Givenchy made us gasp; the hemp and silk dress from Rogan made us wish the earthy designer made more dresses and less jeans, and we can’t wait for Donna Karan’s tea-stained sasawashi evening gown to make its red carpet debut. Cate Blanchett - can you abandon Balenciaga just once?!

If this is what environmental fashion looks like - count us in!

WWD has an article about how magazines’ are cutting costs:

Using fewer models in their editorials, and more “real” women.

We’ve all seen the spread in Vogue where a Harvard physicist talks about the designers in her closet, and the many features in their little sister mag about the purchasing habits of celebrity offspring.

But is this really a way for magazine’s to save money?

Yes, but it’s not by replacing Jessica Miller with Tinsley Mortimer. At least not directly.

Model labor comes cheap; one of our model sources says “You might make $300 a day for an editorial shoot (unless you’re Gisele, and then you get more).”

It’s not the models who are expensive; it’s the trappings of the projects they’re hired for.

When ELLE uses a model, they usually shell out for an exotic location-based shoot (flying a whole production crew to Tahiti is not cheap), or a pricey studio. They also spend lots of money on elaborate props (giant balloons! robots!) , hair (Orlando Pita, whose day rate is much more than $300), and make-up.

But when a magazine shoots a “real woman” wearing her real clothes, it’s not a huge production - it’s usually at her house, in her own outfits, and she’s not posing with a mini-spaceship (like Liya Kebede did for Bazaar).

So even if the “real” women get shot in $10,000 couture gowns, it’s still a cheaper production than a high fashion spread.

—ANNA FIELDING GRIGGS

Camilla, 16, 11th grader at Spence

Got Her: At the Teen Vogue / Liya Kebede Foundation auction

Stalked Her: Because party dresses are vastly underrated, and skinny jeans are starting to bore us.

Shot Her: Because we didn’t learn to be this self-possessed until we hit 22. Also, note the navy blue nail polish…

She Says: “My dress is from Development. This is actually the first time I’ve worn it out - it was so exciting to take it off the hanger!”

We Say: Posing is half the battle.