The International Herald Tribune’s hosting a conference in Berlin right now.

Techno Luxury’s the theme and Christopher Bailey, Jefferson Hack, Claudia Schiffer, Tomas Maier, Natalie Massenet, Frida Giannini and Prada’s Tomaso Galli will take turns speaking and answering questions about new technology’s effect on the fashion industry - blogging, twittering etc.

Top quotes (via Twitter of course) so far:

Federico Marchetti: The Marni online store is already the biggest store they have in the world. —Business of Fashion

Natalie Massenet says fashion bloggers contribute to 5% of Net-a-Porter’s sales. —Bryanboy

Massenet of Netaporter says that 25% of sale are returned. But as the store is in “every city in the world” that is not so bad. —The Moment

C[hristopher] B[ailey]: From Facebook, we understood how many of our young fans were entering the Burberry brand through fragrance. —Business of Fashion

You can tweet questions for Claudia Schiffer @IHTluxury right now - she’s up in two hours.

Stylecaster, the fashion networking site that debuted last year, is launching a series of short films this month.

The first, starring Poppy Delevigne and Isabelle McNally (Keith’s daughter) is like an awesome, super-fun-to-watch Shopbop commercial. Everything the girls wear, from the red sequined Siwy jeans to the Pencey dresses and the Dolce Vita heels are for sale on the shopping site right now.

Net-a-Porter recently debuted their video component, and we always choose team Net-a-Porter, but Shopbop definitely wins this round.

Dear Fashionista,

A friend found this dress on Bebe’s website the other day. Since then, I think I’ve gone through all the proper stages of grief.

It might look like a disturbing coincidence to some, but I splurged on the Valentino Red original on Net-a-Porter last month and Bebe’s copy kind of breaks my heart. They’ve captured the idea: black tube shape with lace on the neck and ruched sleeves. The pattern on the lace even looks the same, though I guess their factory couldn’t handle the tiny details like the outline of the collar or the delicate ribbons.

I take some solace in the difference of quality, the dresses hang differently even online, but I don’t understand why they can’t take the ideas - lace, black, ruffles - and make something on trend that’s not an exact copy.

Grr,
A frustrated customer

A few month’s ago, Net-a-Porter finally ditched mannequins in favor of actual models, albeit headless ones, but now they’ve gone a step further and captured their girls on camera.

The ‘video’ option’s only available on a few items so far, like the Marc Jacobs skirt at left, an Anna Sui tunic and a DvF cocktail dress.

There’s not much to it, the girl walks out wearing the item and spins around a few times before walking off the white stage. You don’t see her head, which is slightly creepy, and I’m not sure it brings anything new to the item (though if ever a dress drapes particularly well, it might).

Does this fill a gaping hole in your online shopping experience? Is the movement of Marc’s sequins enough to make you click buy?

While Target’s making brands like Hayden-Harnett and Rodarte household names, Net-a-Porter’s building a home for lesser known designers and showcasing their work for a crowd already in love with kooky fashion.

Last year they launched an exclusive Marios Schwab section (pre-Halston) and now they’ll host an exclusive holiday collection from Ashish Gupta.

The London-based designer’s carried on a long love affair with sequins and though his latest collection revolved around both a fantasy vacation and a love of Nike, he’s designed a more subdued collection for the online shop.

He tells Vogue UK that it’s “a range of beautiful easy to wear pieces in soft shimmer black and metallics…perfect for easy evening glamour.”

This headpiece, from Paris based Maison Michel, went on sale on Net-a-Porter this morning.

The site suggests pairing “this opulent accessory with your favorite LBD to bring bygone beauty to a modern cut.” We suggest:

1. Wearing it as a necklace and perhaps layering with other pearls in homage to McQueen’s sea theme, or The Little Mermaid.

2. Double wrapping it around your ankle to achieve some of that ankle/shoe fringe we’ve seen - and loved - on the Spring/Summer 2010 runways.

3. Putting your $2,195 toward a pair of Brian Atwoods and this adorable ombre Miu Miu clutch. In total, you’ll spend an extra couple of hundred, but hey, it’s worth it.

4. Jumping for joy because the recession must be over.

Tom Binns is a busy busy man.

The jeweler extraordinaire, whose Paris showroom is probably packed at the moment is working on bags for spring - or one bag in particular under his own name. It’ll be white leather, covered in studs, and available in three sizes according to WWD.

But he’s also working on a bag in collaboration with Corto Moltedo, the “Sunday Bag,” smothered in gold crucifix necklaces. Then there’s the soccer themed bags and jewelry with Puma for the World Cup and a collection of wearable sculptures for Art Basel.

It’d be much easier to make time for DIYs if Binns could spare a few minutes to teach us arts and crafts. Maybe we’ll just have to buy this, for inspiration, instead.

We’ve expressed our confusion over fashion networking sites before, and we still don’t really get it.

But this site, Fashionair, which launches for the public tomorrow, has already stolen hours of our time - even if parts of it fall into the above category.

It’s partly because it just looks so amazing and partly because the founders, Sojin Lee and Simon Fuller’s 19 Entertainment, know everyone. They plan on introducing editorial style films and taking their site’s visitors around the fashion world into places like Anna Sui’s bathroom, Aerin Lauder’s closet and Ellen Von Unwerth’s studio.

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}

Here She Is: Vogue’s smallest September issue in years checks in at 584 pages. Charlize Theron holds down the cover in one of the most unflattering pictures ever. {TFS}

Disposable Income: Of all the new things on Net-a-Porter, this $11,255 jumpsuit complete with a drop crotch and sequined bodice actually made us laugh out loud. They call it “the ultimate in status style.” {Net-a-Porter}

Now You Know: Did you ever wonder how Anna Della Russo, Trainas & Co. remained so damned perfect throughout hours of shows on opposite sides of pretty big cities? Well, now you know. {Sartorialist—Jak&Jil}

Really Though: Every day someone declares heels dead and flats in or platforms over and stilettos the rage, but really, don’t people just mix it up everyday? Is it so wrong to want both? {TimesUK}

There were a few feathers in February, mostly of the rock n’ roll variety.

Black and brown ones peppered Ann Sofie Back’s collection while William Rast decorated his punky cowboy jeans with white. They were used best in Ann Demeulemeester’s elaborate headdresses. Meanwhile, they’ve translated rather funny for fall.

We embrace feathers in general - they’re both sexy and we imagine comfortable. But the idea’s not being executed properly off the runway. Why, for example, is this Haute Hippie long vest made in bubble gum pink? The woman who will spend $695 on an over-sized boa doesn’t want it in pink. This Cavalli top, though just printed with feathers, looks like a pair of massive wings. And this beaded, feathered hair piece from Urban Outfitters would make Ann weep.

If we want to wear feathers this fall, and we do, should we be starting our most elaborate DIY yet, or have you seen some more promising feathered accessories?

We love Wednesdays, not because it’s almost Friday, but because it’s when Net-a-Porter gets new stuff and we can wake up and wonder how the Balmain jackets and Halston mini-dresses sold out before we’ve even had coffee.

Today, we almost squealed with glee when we saw these DIY scarf kits.

For $85 you get all the Peruvian wool you need to make a seriously chunky scarf in bright fuschia, grey, turquoise, blue or purple. It even comes with new knitting needles and it’s kind of the perfect stuck on the L without a book subway project - though Faran wholeheartedly disagrees with me.

Meanwhile, we hate to introduce another fall shoe option, but these Thomas Wylde biker boots are amazing.

Each and every time we see these Chloe multi-strap wedges we wince a bit and wish we’d had the courage to spend our tax return money on them instead of a new computer.

Chloe Sevigny’s been rocking the beige all summer and now Drew Barrymore’s traded in her festival grunge for the black version paired with cuffed skinny jeans.

Not wanting to feel left out, Topshop’s made their own. They’ve ditched the two inch wedge, silver oval buckles and $700 plus price tag in favor of a cone-shaped heel, gold rectangular buckles and a $120 tag. They’ve also eliminated an extra strap and offered their version in black and hot pink instead of the more neutral grey and forest green.

Unfortunately the Chloe version’s already sold out everywhere (trust us, we’ve looked), but that doesn’t mean you need the Topshop shoe. They won’t fool a soul.

In a recent perusal of Net-a-Porter’s “What’s New” section, I came across several Judith Leiber crystal-embellished clutches. The two that really caught my eye were a cupcake(just like the one Charlotte’s daughter Lily had in the Sex and the City movie) and a jaguar.

I am a great lover of shiny things, and when I was young and would go to the mall with my dad, I would always stop and gape at these bedazzled-object-clutches that one boutique carried: Minnie Mouse or a high heel or a lipstick tube.

These sorts of things still make me happy, but I could never, ever, even if I actually had the money, warrant spending five thousand dollars for it (the jaguar is $5,495 and the cupcake is $4,295.)