Next season’s buzz (too soon?) will surely revolve around Marios Schwab’s debut collection for Halston.

But there’s another Brit with exciting news — Richard Nicoll’s just been appointed Cerruti’s women’s wear designer.

The old Italian house, founded by Nino Cerruti (who’s still very much alive) in the late 50s (women’s came ten years later), was helmed by both Armani and Narciso Rodriguez before filing for bankruptcy. Nicoll told WWD that the brand, “has a strong DNA, and the brand speaks to what I do — elegant tailoring.”

He’s signed on to do three seasons, the first will show in Paris this February, and he’ll continue to show his eponymous collection in London.

Everyone’s always mumbling about when, someday, all the young Brits will eventually helm every major fashion house and each season, a step is taken in that direction.

Britt sent me to Tibi last night, while she took her seat at the big tent next door for Narciso.

But then I snuck in and got a better seat than her. Thanks to my new photographer friends I sat in the pit, teared up over Anne V., met Narciso and had the greatest night of my life.

So there I was, face-to-face with Narciso Rodriguez’s SS10 collection. It was half classic Narciso and half total departure. There were cutouts and zippers, but there was also air; his spectacular finale dresses in grey, white and black billowed away from the body. He built cocoons over the models’ legs and though everything was feminine and sexy it was indisputably strong. He repeated exaggerated hips and bell silhouettes, the latter best executed on Anne V’s mud cloth coat. It’s like he used the strong silhouette as a shell to keep the wearer fashionably safe.

Post-show, Freja said she was terrified she’d trip and fall on her dress’ long train (though of course she walked seamlessly) and if I hadn’t ended up talking to Narciso that would’ve been the highlight of my day. But then I somehow fell into line between Simon Doonan and Emmy Rossum to congratulate the designer. Simon told me “ladies first” and shooed me over to Narciso who hugged me and said, “Thank you.”

And then I called my mom and cried.

Claire Danes is tying the knot, and Narciso Rodriguez, her longtime friend and frequent fashion date, is designing for her. Not even close to a shocker. We totally saw this one coming.

But naturally, this makes us incredibly nostalgic for the gorgeous Narciso-designed Carolyn Bessette Kennedy wedding dress that first brought the designer onto our radar.

It might be our favorite celebrity wedding dress ever . And this makes us very excited for what Claire’s dress will look like. I’m personally indifferent towards strict white for the dress—if someone wants it, go for it, but if not, whatever floats your boat.

Now, as stated, we will forever love love love the Kennedy dress, but we’re kind of hoping for something a little bit off the beaten path for Claire. But maybe that’s just because we’ll never stop thinking of her as Angela Chase.

Of course, we’re not talking about throwing her into plaid or 90s floral, because she has a classic style, and Narciso has a classic aesthetic. But minimalism can be quirky too, like that short white dress that Raquel wore or any of the light green numbers that came down the runway in Narciso’s fall 09 collection.

Just a thought, Claire.

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE

Divorce, Supermodel Style: Peter Brant’s security folks allegedly got a little hands-y with Stephanie Seymour this weekend. It’s all very War of the Roses. But are the only ones secretly hoping this leads to a reunion with Axl? {E!}

Even More Drama: Peter Brant is not having a good week. Things aren’t going so well with Glenn O’Brien over at Interview either. {WWD}

My Girl Wants to Party All the Time: Steven Meisel gets up in the club, ’80s style for Vogue Italia. {Models}

Going Swimmingly: Giles Deacon is launching swim. He researched the collection by hanging out poolside at the Chateau Marmont. Somehow he forgot to invite us to come along. {Vogue UK}

When the last look came out at the Narciso show on Raquel last Wednesday night, everyone kind of oohed and we wondered who would be the first lucky girl to rock his sequined ballerina look (because we knew this one practically came with a sign that would read,”Photograph me, you know you want to”).

And everyone was right - the dress has already had its first real world appearance, at the Oscars exactly four days after its runway debut, on actress Rachel Weisz.

But now the real question remains: Who’ll be the second to wear this dress, and land themselves on Who-Wore-It-Better’s across the country?

- Wow, with the exception of a few pieces, this is pretty much unwearable for Michelle Obama, but absolutely perfect for anybody looking to rock the body-con thing (or, the black-and-white camouflage that reminds a bit too much of Ben & Jerry’s).

- More cut-outs! (see Charlotte Ronson, Behnaz, Ohne Titel, Costello, etc.) Maybe gym memberships will survive the recession after all.

- Neon! Who knew Narciso and Marc were on the same page?

- The models are wearing some kind of long hats that cover their eyes, with Batman-like slits. …Is this political commentary or is he just picking up the cut-out trend with a bit of a peek-a-boo tie in?

- Raquel’s. Closing. Dress. Is. Stunning. (Sequined, deep-cut bodice - note that the sequins have more of an overall shine effect than usual - with a simply, floaty short red skirt. One wrong move and it could have crossed the line into ice figure skater territory, but Narciso keeps it clean.)

Sorry for the lack of visuals, but even Style.com’s images don’t do the collection justice, let along my own. Unfortunately, these are clothes that absolutely must be appreciated in person. But don’t worry, they’re going to be everywhere come September.

We knew there’d be good Fashion Week news eventually: Full Frontal Fashion might’ve been cancelled but you’ll still be able to get a behind-the-scenes look at New York Fashion Week via a new TV show called Videofashion Daily.

They’ll be covering shows on and off site - from Rag & Bone in Chelsea to Narciso Rodriguez at the tents - from February 15th to the 26th.

No word on a front row host, though backstage beauty coverage will be led by Glamour’s Editor-at-Large Suze Yalof Schwartz. Fabiola’s got her New York Magazine front row act down pat, so it’ll need to be someone equally bubbly and nice. Suggestions?

The show will air on NYCTV from 9 - 11pm every night. Full schedule after the jump.

The latest fragrance from Narciso Rodgriguez, his third, launches this spring.

Essence is supposed to capture the different facets of a woman, simple and complicated, “intense and ethereal” with its powdery floral, musk scent. Since we can’t smell it quite yet, we’ll obsess over the mirrored bottle for a moment. Designed by an industrial designer, its contours are supposed to mirror a woman’s and it would look perfect on our vanity.

Here’s the first peek at the campagin, shot by Inez and Vinoodh and starring a very feline Catherine McNeil. There’s something rather Stella McCartney-ish about it, no?

Originally, we were going to bring you Our Best Fashion Moments of 2008, like the time Britt went to the Chanel show and actually shed a tear, or the time Narciso held Natalie’s hand at the Rainbow Room, and her friend had to hold her up after.

But then we thought, 2008 is so last year, so let’s fantasize about what’s to come, hm?

Our Best Fashion Moments of 2009:

1. We’ll be at McQueen in March, front row of course, and from backstage will emerge Kate, who will strut the runway, twirl, and wink in our direction.

2. In February during New York’s week, we’re sure it’ll be raining, yet we’ll be able to find the only cab heading to the Armory. We’ll be getting in about to shut the door, and then he’ll be right there - Marc, on the corner, shivering in his kilt, desperate for a ride to his show. We’ll smile, motion, and that’ll be the amazing story we tell everyone when they ask how our F by Marc line started.

3. Ok, a plausible one: Due to the lower Fashion Week foot traffic, third row at Margiela…?

And what are your fashion dreams for 2009?

Alongside information that the Narciso Rodriguez company has grown 20% every year except 2008 in today’s WWD, was a much more pleasant piece of info, too:

Narciso’s launching a new fragrance this January.

His only women’s fragrance, Narciso Rodriguez for Her (there’s also a Narciso Rodriguez for Men) will be a tough act to follow - it’s been a favorite, especially among editors, since its launch in 2003, and is widely recognized as the original (and more complex) version of Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely.

The new fragrance will also come with a new ad campaign - think he’ll use Carmen again?

Traditionally a taboo color combination, the pairing of orange and black dominated the runways for Fall 08. Orange accents paired with black ensembles made bold appearances, seen in the high collars at Prada and the opaque tights at Alessandro Dell’ Acqua.

Aquascutum, Christian Lacroix, Gaultier and Narciso Rogriguez reversed the new combination, swapping out the traditional little black dress for more vibrant orange creations paired with opaque tights in black and burnt orange.

Moschino Cheap & Chic did their own version of Halloween-chic with a black and orange printed coat, and Comme des Garcons took the trend to new heights with a voluminous tulle skirt and top, finished off with black tights and dreadlocks.

We’ve always considered black and orange to be a spooky combination worn only on the day of the dead, but since it’s now a runway trend, will we start seeing it on all the other days, too?

—AUDREY SMITH

(the article itself - on designer Narciso Rodriguez - is excellent)

Sifting through the Barney’s Warehouse Sale on Sunday and saw this protruding from a rack like model vertabrae: Narciso Rodriguez’ finale dress from his Spring ‘06 collection.

Good news: It was in beautiful shape and a reasonable size four. It looked just as amazing on a scratched plastic hanger as it did on the model. It felt shiny, swishy, and right.

Bad news: Marked down, the dress still cost $800, which I couldn’t bring myself to spend.

Still, if you view clothes as investment pieces - and you trust yourself to stay a size four for the next ten years - go rescue it from the 18th St. warehouse. Then send a photo of the dress in its adopted homeland, your closet.

Looking at the most challenging collections for Fall ‘07 zooms me back to a Times article by Peggy Orenstein. Called What’s Wrong With Cinderella?, it’s about princess worship among young girls and corporate America, and the consequences - bad and good.

The piece quotes a social historian who says, “historically, princess worship has emerged during periods of uncertainty and profound social change… Girls play savior during times of economic crisis and instability.â€? You can see where I’m going with this…

On the runway, there’s an eerie connection between the white gowns of Narciso Rodriguez, Vera Wang, and Rodarte, and the look of Eowyn from Lord of the Rings. She is my favorite princess - even better than Ariel, Little Mermaid - because of her amazing hair and her suicidal tendencies throughout her story. Also, she kills trolls.

I doubt Narciso had a Peter Jackson moment while designing his Fall line, but his forcefully graceful collection evokes a warrior princess on the throne. Vera Wang’s wondrous strange clothes are weird, challenging, and maybe a Marc ‘05 rip off, but there’s no denying that her girls made a turbulent kind of magic. And what about the Mulleavy sisters metallic and misty poofs for Rodarte?

Whatever. If they didn’t spend their entire adolesence hiding in cafeteria corners reading Sci Fi novels, then I can’t quote Clueless (and I can - the entire thing).

All I could think when the clothes flounced down was Mists of Avalon and Return of the King and - as Irina’s twisty pleated thing emerged - A Wrinkle in Time.

Actually, that last one is pretty apt, considering the pleated silk of her dress must have taken thirty hours to sew (that’s about four viewings of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which maybe flickered in their studio as they worked).