Be Italian: We totally agree on the Penny Lane girl crush of course. We can’t even describe the levels of excitement we have for Nine. And Kate never fails to look super cute. Seriously this press tour is going to be out of control fashion-wise. {WhoWhatWear}

Not That Lisa Kline: But the one who styled Sarah and the rest of the Palin clan during the campaign finally comes out to clear the air. And she was asked to do the big makeover during a holiday weekend. Yikes on so many levels. {NY Times}

Change the Date: Fashion’s Night Out is moving to Friday September 10th so that you can drink champagne, shop, and shotgun beers all night long without having to show up for work the next morning. Sweet. {WWD}

That’s Me in the Corner: I (Abby) remember when all my REM tunes were actually on cassette tape. Hence I was automatically drawn to this one-off collaboration between Michael Stipe and Maison Martin Margiela. Though I don’t think I would try wearing it as an eye patch as someone in the shot did. {Racked}

I don’t care what anyone says about how Margiela has fallen off, it’s still an amazing sight to behold. The drama, the passion, the crazy clothes you could only dream of wearing. Chain link gown? Sign me up. Paper over-the-knee boots? Why the heck not? Margiela is why we all love fashion: crazy talent meets fantasy in the form of dress.

The show was of course late (about fifty minutes) and the place was packed by the time all the major editors arrived at the far-flung venue in the 12th after Lanvin. Many of them lost their seats and had no choice but to opt for the second row.

Waiters served red wine in white plastic cups which made absolutely no sense as 99% of the folks in the room would shed tears if some should spill, myself being one of them. I had a minor heart attack when I thought some was spilled on my cherished silk Lanvin trench. Okay, maybe not minor, actually, borderline major. But thankfully, it was a false alarm.

A few months ago, during Fashion month, everyone whispered about Maison Martin Margiela.

Rumors of the invisible designer’s impending departure from his own line started the September before and quietly went away until the house showed their Fall 09 collection and Sarah Mower’s review almost definitively announced his departure, “In the absence of any definitive corporate statement, the only test of whether Margiela is still in the house must be down to whether the inimitable dialogue of excellence, intellectual challenge, and wit is still there in his show. Safe, yet very sad to say, this time it was gone.”

Now, with or without the man behind the house, they’ve launched a line of housewares which do seem to fit perfectly into Margiela’s signature aesthetic. It’s very white, very industrial looking and pretty much made to go in Carine’s apartment.

Which means someone, Margiela or not, is doing their job well.

The most successful rip-offs, the things that fly off shelves, are the products directly modeled on something that everyone from the die-hard fashion fan to the suburban high school girl is familiar with.

More Carrie Bradshaw’s Dior gladiators than Margiela.

But we’re guessing these have been knocked off because Rachel Bilson rocked the nude version of the half-sandal, half-boot shoe with some on trend boyfriend jeans last summer, not because Margiela’s the new cerulean.

But will they actually sell? Can Steve Madden market this $170 shoe to the mall going masses? And if so, can it come with an informational packet on how incredible Martin Margiela is and what he’s done for fashion in the past twenty-five plus years?

The best part is you can actually see how insanely luxurious the leather is on the Margiela shoe through this teeny tiny online picture and if they weren’t sold out everywhere, it’d only cost you an extra $400 for a million times more quality.

If you think pretty editorials could benefit from a little bit of life, Nick Knight’s on the job.

Because while it’s nice to see images of models frozen mid-jump in this season’s runway looks, it’s even better to see them actually jump - half the beauty is in the movement.

As of today, you can see the final results of SHOWstudio’s “Let There Be Light” project. Knight, in collaboration with Ruth Hogben (one of Nick’s close associates), has directed Lily Donaldson dressed up in the best of Spring 09 - a Margiela jacket, a Jil Sander bodysuit, Lanvin pants, Balenciaga shoes.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at Lily’s photo shoot. Head to SHOWstudio for the final cut and highlights from V’s editorial.

—JULIA HERMANNS

Maison Martin Margiela’s finally diving into the world of pre-collections.

Pre-fall and pre-spring collections are arguably, according to many buyers at least, becoming more important than their runway counterparts. They’re delivered to stores earlier, are often less expensive, and the clothes are usually easier to wear in real life.

Margiela’s “Avant Premiere” debuts in stores this May. The collection offers sixty styles each for men and women, including shoes and bags. The purpose, aside from offering the customer consistently new product, is to give “an introduction to what we’re going to show for the rest of the season,” said a spokeswoman.

The other unspoken purpose is to catch up with the times. While the man himself can stay hidden forever, the revolutionary, well-respected, underground brand needs to compromise their ridiculously niche position to survive financially.

And as long as there’s never a Margiela it-bag, we think everyone will understand.

To make up for the incredibly boring eight days that was New York Fashion Week, the rumors from Paris Fashion Week are piling up just as the ceremonies are getting under way:

First up, Martin Margiela may - finally and actually - be giving up fashion for good, the rumor coming in from everybody everywhere, and with some astutely pointing out that Martin Margiela himself does not even work on the line, so a replacement would be that much easier (though since Raf’s been counted out due to his newly signed three year contract with Jil Sander, who else is supposedly up for the job?) Supposedly, he’ll announce his retirement from fashion sometime soon…

Next: Alessandra Facchinetti, whose collection for Valentino this coming Thursday will be only her second, and already the Daily reports that it’s her last chance, her future at the house resting completely in the hands of the editors and buyers in the front row. And there’s more - the supposed replacement? Giambattista Valli, who some supposedly feel could bring more innovation to the line, maybe because he’s French, maybe because he’s older…

Guess we’ll know where everybody stands by next week - kind of makes the rumors on Gossip Girl tonight seem a little passé, mais non?

“To our mind the work of a fashion designer is so different from that of an artist! We usually work in a necessarily more collaborative manner. We present our work twice a year, using the same medium, respecting the same human form, within an industrial framework, using industrial means of production, and having our work translated through the chain of distribution for our work.” — Maison Martin Margiela, on why fashion is not an art form in the new Interview

Everybody’s dying to see the full on redesign of Interview since Ingrid Sischy’s replacement by the Glenn O’Brien / Fabien Baron / Christopher Bollen trifecta earlier this year, which starts with the upcoming September issue. And today’s WWD spilled some fun details:

1. The cover girl is Kate Moss, looking a bit like Batman

2. There’s an interview with Maison Martin Margiela, which is a lot like having an interview with Elvis - nearly impossible

3. A new flashback section called “Interview Back Page”, the first of which will feature an interview with Christy Turlington when she was just sixteen

We’re truly happy that Interview’s getting the recognition and extra push it always deserved, and it looks like everyone’s taking notice - their August issue was their best selling in a decade.

We’ll put up Kate’s spread as soon as we can get our hands on it…

Natalie and I are both kind of wondering what’s up with the influx of moonlit animal tees.

Maison Martin Margiela’s $1,395 tee recently made headlines for knocking off a David Penfound painting. But now we’re seeing more of these tees hitting the pages of NYLONguys, like this one from Element.

You normally see shirts like these sold in souvenir shops, or on the backs of ATV riders about to head out hunting for the day.

So what’s the deal? How did this look make it onto everybody’s radar? Maybe we missed something, but we don’t really see the appeal in wearing a t-shirt with a moose on it.

—KYLE HAYES