Dream Team: Donatella Versace tells Chris Kane that “insatiable curiosity and a love of experimentation” set British designers apart. She also talks music, Gianni and being a diva. {TimesUK}

Burgled: Someone robbed the Michael Kors store on Prince the night before last at 5:30am. He distracted the security guard at the Apple store before breaking iinto Kors’ store and stealing $13,000 worth of merchandise. We understand loving clothes, but stealing from Apple might’ve been more lucrative. {Villager}

Do You Have IT?: Refinery29’s on a mission to help you be a fashion darling, or at least determine if you have what it takes to be in the running. They’ve followed up their successful sartorial flow chart with this. Click to find out if you’re the next Harley. {Refinery29}

Come Again: There is a “scarfigan” for sale. We don’t know if Missoni named it or Net-a-Porter, but we want it so we can say “scarfigan” everyday. {Net-a-Porter}

It seems we keep running into a little problem as we search for cute suits for upcoming Memorial Day trips. Not every designer is making them water-ready.

While some of us here find this concept mildly baffling, I have a confession to make.

I have purchased, and wear, one of said (non) bathing suits. It is reserved strictly for the sun deck. I’m even scared to go near a too-full cocktail in the thing.

I realize that it’s not necessarily practical to shell out hundreds of dollars on a swimsuit that you can’t use for… swimming.

But maybe it’s different if there’s no way in hell you ever plan on immersing yourself in water, or you have an extra $750 to blow on this Herve Leger “sunsuit”?

What if we told you that next Thursday night, you could make your way through Soho and get 25% off at Theory?

Then you could swing by Kate’s Paperie and get 15% off all the Christmas cards in the world and stop by Tibi for hot chocolate and 20% off. Or if Missoni’s more your style, you could hop in and grab a free gift with your on-sale purchase. Then you can grab some books for your dad at McNally for 20% off and a free umbrella at Bloomingdale’s in case it starts raining. But don’t eat too many candy canes because when you’re done you can collect your free margarita at LaEsquina and top it off with discounted hot chocolate and cookies from Balthazar. And all the while you’ll have been helping New York City’s homeless.

It’s the first annual Soho Holiday Stroll sponsored by A.C.E.,(The Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless), on December 11th from 6 to 11pm. What’s the catch?

The $20 bracelet you have to purchase for access to the discounts. But the money goes straight to charity and if that’s not enough motivation for you, it basically covers your margarita. And if you’d rather give more, you can buy the $150 VIP bracelet which grants you access to the after party, location TBA.

Click here for a list of all the participating stores and their promotions - you can buy your bracelet on line or in most of the stores.

Happy Shopping!

We’ve been on a bauble spree this season. From the Operation-inspired Missoni necklace to the huge gems at Vuitton - we’re sort of obsessed.

But we’re not really sure sure how to wear these ornate pieces without looking like Mr. T gone couture or without approaching the out of the question four figure price range.

So when we came across this pretty amazing ring while browsing the new Gap/ Banana Republic / Old Navy / Piperlime website, we kind of fell in love.

It’s $9.50 and the navy and gold color combination could come across as classically royal or a bit nautical, depending on what you wear with it.

So the best part is, when you change from your denim cut-offs into your favorite party dress, your jewelry can stay the same. Oh, who are we kidding - a cool, not-too-big statement ring for under $10? That definitely makes the day.

—ALEXANDRA BEN-GURION

If you haven’t checked out Michael Stipe’s installation at the Rogan store on Bowery - go now. It’s awesome.

And if you don’t live in NYC, we’re sorry. But there’s another cool collaboration coming your way.

Stephen Burks, the American industrial designer who works in furniture, packaging and fashion, (including Calvin Klein, Missoni and Estee Lauder), was chosen by Tod’s to build window displays for twenty of the luxury brand’s international flagships.

The displays will be built of transparent layers inviting the viewers to see, “not just the merchandise in the windows, but the entire shop floor”.

There were overly made up models dancing in the windows of Armani Exchange in Soho last night and they made us want to run the other way.

But a talented designer in the windows of a beloved Italian house? Sounds much more promising.

Margherita and Theresa Missoni already get to inherit a fashion label and a series of very cool print plates.

Now they’ll also get some hotels.

Reports are surfacing that the chain of Missoni hotels that have been in the works are finally ready to open across the world.

The properties come after a series of rumors that the brand would pair with the Ritz Carlton (they eventually went with Rezidor, a Belgian hotel group) to make some boutique hotels - maybe even with Missoni boutiques inside of them.

The first two open in Kuwait and Edinburgh, Scotland, and since Faran lived there for a year, she sincerely hopes Missoni makes a kilt for the occasion.

Vogue has joined with the Fragrance Foundation to bring you one of the best contests we’ve ever heard of:

The Fragrance & Film Festival.

In honor of the 36th Annual Fifi Awards (it’s like the Oscars for perfume,) Vogue is calling upon the creative masses to shoot a short (2 - 3 minutes!), inspirational film about any of the participating fragrances for a chance to win a trip to the 2008 Fifi Awards in NYC (where the film will be shown to industry execs and celebrities), national exposure on ShopVogue.tv, and, oh yeah, $10,000.

The winner will be chosen based on “creativity and the ability to express the brand identity of the featured fragrance.”

And which fragrances can you choose from for inspiration? Missoni, Gucci by Gucci, Paris Hilton’s Can Can (this is no joke), and Usher for Men and Usher for Women.

Oh, one catch - you cannot make fun of the fragrances in any way, so no to everything that popped into your head when you read “Can Can.”

Hopefuls must submit their shorts by May 1.

But you can send us your entry at any time.

To: Natalie@Fashionista.com

From: Thomas@BestReaderEver.com

Thought you’d get a kick out of my paintbrush masterpiece.

enjoy

xx
thomas

So cute!

Angela Missoni certainly knows how to put her family’s assets to work, especially daughter and muse of the family business, Margherita.

Last year, the fashion stripes heiress starred as the face of Missoni Eau de Parfum, the house’s first try at fragrance, and designed the little brown clutch that debuted along with it.

Now Margherita tells us she’s designing her own jewelry line, with pit stops in Paris and Italy to get her product exactly right.

We’re betting it’s going to look a lot like the charm necklace/perfume dispenser she recently designed for the new La Bella Vita collection, called the Margherita “It” Item, pictured at left.

We’re sure the collection will be cute in a gold-chains-and-baubles kind of way, but we wonder if the gold-blocked “M” charms that can be expected will fare well with high-end shoppers.

—NATALIE HORMILLA

We hear Bianca Balti is the new face of Missoni.

The Italian bombshell was once the face of Guess.

Now she’ll take over for Daria Werbowy in the Spring ‘08 campaign for the boho-luxe label.

Her dangerous curves seem perfect for a knitwear line, and though we’ll miss Daria’s dirty sophistication, we’re excited for any model who looks like she eats men for breakfast and pasta for dinner.

The ads just wrapped (in Milan? Maybe?) but you’ll have to wait for February to see them.

Until then… arrivederci!

So far, the “Seasonless Dressing” discussion has only hit your closet -

When it’s still so warm in October, you’re probably just frantic to find something Fall-appropriate that’s also breeze-friendly.

But today, The Telegraph explores another point of concern:

Designers and retailers are worried that warmer winters will kill a big Fall item - The Coat.

If you’ll only wear it for one or two months a year, will you still splurge on something expensive? And will you only need one winter coat, instead of several, to keep you fashionably snug in the snow?

Coats are our favorite item, especially since over jeans, they can still make an outfit look fresh and formal (note the Missoni princess coat at left).

But have you stopped buying them?

We just spotted Cathy Horyn on the Sartorialist.

Then we jumped up and down, for two reasons:

1. Because we worship her (an open secret), and we’re thrilled Scott Schuman does, too.

2. Because sliver-sharp reviews of Prada and Burberry are great, but they’re doubly interesting when you can see what the woman critiquing the clothes actually chooses as her clothes.

Meanwhile, an update on choosing our clothes:

We didn’t buy a pair of Chloe heels, on sale for about $240, because it was alright to walk in them through the boutique, but we predicted it would be torture after fifteen minutes on an actual slab of pavement.

Good idea? Bad idea? Too bad Cathy’s in Milan, or we’d try to ask her…

In the middle of Brooklyn, there’s a little piece of Ohio.

For about a year now, sweater aficianados have been heading over to Ohio Knitting Mills at 231 Smith Street to check out the store’s amazing collection of deadstock vintage knitwear. All the sweaters are original, unworn designs from the 40s - 70s, and the stock is changed seasonally.

But these days, it’s hard to walk down Smith Street without getting whacked with a double stroller or trampled by over-exuberant brunchers, so we recommend checking out Ohio Knitting Mills’ new website where you can look at their premium vintage pieces (about $100-$200) and order online.

Our favorite is this 1960s Missoni-esque cozy cardigan, what’s yours?

—ALISON COOL

We love the Isabel Toledo quote, “trends are for amateurs,” but today a Vogue UK editor told us something we might like better:

“You know the reason Christopher Kane’s dresses are so short?” She asked.

“It’s because he’s poor. He can’t afford to waste a single inch of fabric, and everything needs to be mini.”

She raised this point during Louise Goldin’s show, when the young designer’s knits barely covered her models’ butts.

We liked the show, which looked like Nu Rave Missoni (Hilary Alexander nodded when we gave her this assessment, so we’ll keep it).

We also like this theory about short hemlines and young (or just broke) designers, as it gives a strange style power to those designers with lots of vision, but no money.

Now just wait for TopShop to glom onto the silhouette so those shoppers with vision, but no money, can also have some power.

For their fall style issue Paper magazine worked with the usual cadre of fashion professionals; models, stylists, journalists, photographers, hair and make-up artists.

But for their ‘Pure Fashion’ piece, they collaborated with some more unexpected talent:

The men and women of Creative Growth, a San Francisco-based non profit art center for adults with developmental, physical, mental and emotional disabilities.

The artists at Creative Growth were given images from the fall runways of designers like Rodarte, Marc Jacobs, and Comme des Garcons as inspiration, and then asked to interpret them. In addition to being featured in Paper, their drawings are currently installed in one of Barneys Madison Avenue windows through September 25th.

We especially like the more friendly and curvaceous take on Lara Stone in Missoni, and the drawing of Olga Sherer in her furry Prada vest, reimagined as runway-stomping cat.

—ANNA FIELDING GRIGGS