Welcome back Peter Som.

This collection is so g.d. beautiful. Where is that trust fund when I really need it? Seriously, it just got better and better as I made my way to the back of the room at Milk.

You realize that everyone there was freaking out with joy, right?

It’s like you’ve burst out of a shell or something. Is it because all that messiness at Bill Blass is finally, totally over and you’re free to be you again? Because that would make a helluva a lot of sense.

Whatever it is, it’s good to have you back in top form bringing us color, texture, tulip skirts, pantsfree prettiness, and all kinds of high-end quirk. And I live for those headpieces by Albertus Swanepoel. The cutest.

So thanks for, you know, being you.

Prabal Gurung showed his second eponymous collection yesterday, to a full house including Vogue-ettes, Peter Som, LSD, Rachel Zoe & Brad, Derek Blasberg, Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann, buyers from Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman and a bevy of other impeccably dressed admirers who squeezed into a tiny square of a room high above Chelsea.

The clothes were asking for a major scene on Rachel’s show - they ranged from cocktail appropriate to Oscar perfect, including a pretty major red dress with giant black bows and a skinny white tux with a sheer white blouse underneath; the white Grecian goddess-like dress was our favorite.

Prabal was the best part though - the adorable designer bopped around with the biggest smile on his face. Guess that’s what happens when you manage to create the newest and most major buzz at New York Fashion Week.

photo courtesy garance doréSwan Song: Garance got her hands on a brilliant French Vogue from 1973. Sylvie Vartan’s on the outside and Ungaro’s on the inside. {Garance}

Future’s Too Bright: Alexander Wang’s teamed up with Linda Farrow for super awesome SS10 sunglasses. Nylon snapped a picture at MAGIC in Vegas. {Nylon}

Hilfiger’s New Man: Word is Peter Som might be hired on as a consultant at Tommy Hilfiger. He wouldn’t be our first guess, but he makes a helluva a lot more sense than Miguel Adrover who was apparently on the short list. {WWD}

Inspiring Movements: Jezebel explains why we need Lady Gaga. We seriously can’t wait to see this art-installion like VMA performance with fashion that is a “representation of the most stoic and memorable martyrs of fame in history.” Bring it, G. {Jezebel}

Whitney Port, of The Hills and The City, has apparently “designed” a lipstick for Cargo. Of course, I recognize that there is PR value and it’s very lovely that a portion of the profits go to St. Jude’s. But really, I’ve always found these collaborations, if you can even call them that, rather dumb.

I love what Lancôme does in their Pout-à-Porter series with designers like Peter Som and Thakoon. And I can’t wait to see the new Chris Benz shade and find out who won the naming contest! These are literally tied to the runway looks of these designers. In fact, they’re actually used on the models in the show. There’s a context and a point behind the shades.

But I personally could care less when someone like Whitney or Tinsley (that Dior Beauty Ambassador thing still boggles my mind) point at a shade of pink and throws her name on it.

Do you?

Fashion’s Night Out just released their prolific schedule for September 10th.

Seven hundred stores across all five boroughs will stay open until 11pm, but Anna Wintour, Michael Kors, a surprise celebrity guest and the cast of Hair will kick everything off at Macy’s six hours earlier.

At Barneys, Wool & the Gang will teach knitting while Scott Hahn & Rogan of Loomstate customize t-shirts. Zac Posen will be painting inside Bergdorf’s Fifth Avenue windows while Peter Som and Cynthia Rowley have an in-store cook-off. What are we most looking forward to (aside from the Olsens)? A fashion game hosted by Andre Leon Talley with teams led by Donna Karan, Robert Verdi and Linda Fargo.

Various contests will be held throughout the night in which one can win tickets to runway shows, haircuts by Sally Hershberger and Oscar Blandi, a custom Carolina Herrera wedding dress and the chance to be on set during a Demarchelier Vogue shoot. Cindy Crawford, Hugh Jackman, Stephanie Seymour, Sasha, Caroline, Chanel, Lily, The Misshapes, Taylor Momsen, Yasmin le Bon, Coco and Diddy are just a few of the people with planned appearances.

Don’t forget to shop while you’re out ogling your favorite fashion people!

Peter Som needs interns, too.

He, or his staff rather, would like you to start immediately in preparation for Fashion Week and continue throughout the fall semester. They’re specifically seeking responsible, proactive and hard working students with an interest in fashion and in learning how the industry works.

They’ll need you three days a week for things like making and updating press kits, sample trafficking, wholesale and merchandising projects and of course general administrative tasks.

More details after the jump!

The first solid details on the tentatively titled MAC at Milk shows we’ve been talking about since the cosmetics company decided to end its partnership with IMG leaving Maybelline to jump in as the official makeup sponsor at Bryant Park.

And the initial list of designers signed on for events at Milk Studios is very, very strong: Proenza Schouler, Alexander Wang, Peter Som, Threeasfour, Vena Cava, Band of Outsiders, Adam Lippes, Altuzarra, Barbara Tfank, Costello Tagliapietra, Erin Fetherston, Pamela Love, Preen and Temperley London.

Well, not exactly.

But Lancôme is partnering with the darling designer for the next shade in their Pout-à-Porter series. Past collaborations include ones with Behnaz Sarafpour, Thakoon, Proenza Schouler, and Peter Som.

This time around the cosmetics company is giving all you guys a chance to help name the shade (which will be worn by models at Chris’ show in September.)

If you win, you’ll also snag a $500 gift certificate and a bunch of the lipsticks which is a very good thing as all the others have sold out almost immediately. One of the Proenza Pinks even sold for over $120 on eBay!

Just head over to Chris’s Facebook fan page to post your suggestion by 5 pm EST on July 12th.

Last night, the fashion crowd showed up at the Longchamp store for beauty company Orlane’s cocktail party and fundraiser for Afghan Hands, which helps widows in Afghanistan completely alter the course of their lives.

It’s an amazing project in which the women are paid to attend classes at centers around Kabul and also to embroider these gorgeous scarves and wraps (pictured). It’s literally the only means of education many of them have ever been offered.

Maggie Rizer (in an adorable BCBG dress), Claire Danes, Hugh Dancy, Peter Som, and a slew of fashion and beauty editors shopped the goods and chatted each other up on the store’s third floor deck.

We were pretty much in awe of all those who commit so much of their time to helping women who’ve never had the opportunity to make their own way. That they are able to do it with hand-crafted fashion, even better.

It’s been months since the post-Peter Som saga at Bill Blass got a new chapter, so here’s the latest:

Peacock International Holdings LLC, the company that bought the Bill Blass Ltd name at the end of last year, is officially looking for a creative director to bring the brand back to the runway. They want to start getting women’s and men’s designed for later this year, which means Peacock must be gunning for representation at the Spring 2010 shows in New York.

The good news is that it at least looks like Peacock wants to keep Bill Blass as a brand that produces collections each season, which is more than we thought they’d do since it’s so easy to throw a recognizable name on a package of pantyhose.

But the bad news: Who wants to pick up the reigns at a house nobody expects to succeed? Perhaps that no-name creative director trend will come in handy…

After a pretty dramatic 2008, which ended in the announcement that Peter Som would not be showing at this Fashion Week, shots for his collection for Fall 09 have thankfully hit Style.com anyway.

Some of the looks are a little kookier than expected, but that’s probably the best way to make everyone appreciate your return anyway.

In other designer resurrection news, the details of Mayle’s closure have emerged: Expect Jane Mayle’s Elizabeth Street shop to close on February 28th, as originally planned, but for her brief come-back to be available via a pop-up shop just one week later on March 6th (not April, as previously reported). Her last line will be kind of like a refurbished greatest hits, including pieces from her Fall 03 collection, a personal favorite of hers.

And of course, if you’re dying for more designers back-from-the-almost-dead news, tune in Wednesday for glittery reportage of Richie Rich!

Memo:

It’s not on the calendar yet, but Gilt Groupe will soon have a sale on Peter Som.

Hope you’re a member -

xo

More bad news for Fashion Week, if you can bare it:

Peter Som will not be showing his Fall 2009 collection, due to a breakup with his backer, Creative Design Studios.

Elana Posner, President and CEO of Peter Som Inc, says they’d already planned on reducing the size of the collection anyway, meaning the show wouldn’t have been anywhere near the 38 looks Som showed for Spring 09 anyway.

Buyers and members of the press can still (most likely) expect some kind of showroom presentation, which probably means that lookbook style photos will probably still make it online, so worry not if all you want is to see the clothes before it hits the stores.

Which makes us think: We - along with pretty much everybody who’s honest with themselves - have known for a long time that Fashion Week is, dare we say it?, unnecessary. Because if it really is about just seeing the clothes, you can actually see them best on Style.com, truth be told, especially if it’s the same kind of high-gear show that the big designers (Marc, DVF, Herve) usually throw. So after this Fashion Week is over, and so many designers pull out of the shows to find themselves totally unscathed sales-wise (and maybe even with a few extra dollars in their budget considering that even modest shows cost upwards of $15,000,) will they even want to return to the stress and grandeur of what is basically the most hyped-up trade show on earth?

Guess we’ll know by Spring 2010…

A glooming peace this morning with it brings, Bill Blass Couture is finally done and Kira Plastinina’s closing up US shop.

Bill Blass Couture - the Peter-Som designed, runway bound line - has been at fashion gossip’s core since Peter Som initially stepped down in July only to be re-instated at Anna Wintour’s demand and then leave again in October. Throughout the creative controversy, Blass’ parent brand, NexCen, struggled to find a buyer for the not profitable line. And now, finally, they’ve confirmed that unless a very rich risk-taker swoops in a buys the line before January 1st they’ll give up.

“Bill Blass is facing the same challenges as other consumer and retail companies in the current weak macroenvironment,” NexCen’s managing director told WWD.

Maybe, or maybe they’ve just held on long enough to blame the brand’s failure on greater economic issues than on their own internal mishandling.

Meanwhile, Kira Plastinina, the 16-year old Russian designer whose hot pink stores invaded America less than a year ago will close at least ten of the twelve within the next two weeks.

On the bright side, no one pulled out of Bryant Park today!

The ongoing, public death of the Bill Blass brand’s hit a new chapter today:

NextCen, Bill Blass’ financially troubled parent company, hasn’t been able to sell the line formerly designed by Peter Som to anybody yet (unsurprisingly, nobody wants to buy a troubled fashion house right now), and they’re liquidating part of their business.

Translation? As of right now, unless some other company comes along and inexplicably buys Bill Blass, the company might be on the fast track to completely shutting down, and you can expect some kind of blow-out sale so NextCen can rid themselves of the leftover inventory shortly. Apparently, NextCen has a $30 million loan on their hands from buying Great American Cookie, a baking chain they bought from Mrs. Field’s this past February, so it makes sense to them to liquidate their weakest-performing company - Bill Blass New York, whose Spring orders were seriously lacking - in order to get the cash they need.

This sounds like it’s pretty much out of everybody’s hands, even Anna’s.

That’s right, Peter Som’s PR team needs interns, so if you want to:

Help with Fashion Week

Deal with samples and closet maintenance

Make press kits, update press books

Maintain credit sheet, maintain general office sanity via coffee/photocopying

And of course, if you can start “asap”, e-mail Emma Tully directly at emma[at]petersom.com.

Much luck.

Looks like even Anna couldn’t save Bill Blass from Peter Som’s departure.

WWD confirms this morning that our initial reports are now absolutely cemented. NexCen, Bill Blass’ financially troubled parent company, could not sell the Bill Blass label in time (we’re guessing this has something to do with the cash-strapped state of, uh, everybody), meaning Peter would have to have gone on designing the collection in adherence to way too many constraints to fit his vision for the nearly 40-year old brand, and so he’ll just be sticking to his eponymous label from now on.

So what does this mean for Bill Blass? Well, in addition to their current sale being some of the last Peter Som-designed duds to go for less than retail (we heard there’s a $30 rack - yes), the design direction of their Fall 09 collection will be helmed by Prabal Gurung, Peter’s first mate, who will now have the added pressure of bringing the next collection to the runway, a feat even Peter couldn’t get NexCen to budget.

And what happens if the economy doesn’t pick up at all, and NexCen isn’t able to sell Bill Blass to better owners? Stay tuned…

—and if you tell them you heard it from Fashionista, you’ll get an extra 15% off—

The first person to DIY the tulle leggings at Nicole Farhi, and send us a pair, wins a prize.

Not sure what it is yet, but you’ll want it.

Promise.

The Brit-only designer showed a Peter Som-inspired collection of dresses and skirts layered over sheer leggings and long sleeved shirts for a delicate, if not at times confusing, look at the Royal Opera House yesterday morning.

We loved the way Farhi threw a matching printed bra and skirt over a differently printed top, or the way the stylist did. We loved the Betty-Draper-goes-to-the-beach looks toward the end. And we loved the sun hats and the orange blush that made it look like the models were trying really hard not to smile.

There was nothing fashion forward about it, which is especially noticeable in London, but it was pretty - and comfortable.

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST