This past weekend, Teen Vogue hosted a Fashion University event for their readers who were eager to learn the ins and outs of the business.

Not only were they given the rare opportunity to visit the magazine’s editorial floor and famed fashion closet, but they also got the chance to sit down with designers like Richard Chai, Philip Crangi, and Thakoon Panichgul. In a discussion moderated by Amy Astley, Thakoon shared stories about his rise through the ranks of the industry and gave pointers to the many aspiring designers in the audience.

You may already know that his Fall 2005 presentation was the most buzzed-about of the season, or that his most famous customer is Michelle Obama. But here are some things you might not know about the designer. I definitely didn’t.

Shop Talk: If the credit card machine arrives in time, Philip Crangi’s first store just might open this weekend in the Meatpacking. Shopping for some new jewelry and lunching at Pastis sounds like a pretty perfect Saturday to us. {StyleFile}

Triangulations: When we first read about this Alex von Furstenberg/Ali Kay/Reggie Miller situation over the summer, we didn’t know quite what to think, other than random and huh? Now, it’s gotten even stranger. We can’t imagine DvF is pleased about this at all. {Page Six}

TV on TV: In reality television news, Teen Vogue might be making its way back to the small screen but in what capacity, we’re not sure. Ah, remember the good old Lisa Love days on The Hills? {Fashionologie via Jazzi McG}

Across the Pond: Much like soccer, Cheryl Cole has never really caught on here in the States. But boy do those Brits loooove her. Will she ever become a crossover hit? {Vogue UK}

When you walked into the Shipley & Halmos show, there was a collective cry of, “Wait, we have to stand?” and “Where’s the presentation?”

It was, in fact a zig-zag runway show. The boys made the same collection about four times in different color ways. There were very Betty Draper high-waisted, cropped, skinny pants made of crisp silk in turquoise, black, pale pink. There were cut out shoulders, like at Charlotte Ronson, and lots of silk layering over turtlenecks.

Philip Crangi’s delicately strung chain and bar jewelry was the highlight. His silver necklaces, belts and earrings were perfect.

Not so perfect were the Conde girls bashing their very important boss loud enough for the models to hear backstage.

Just because women have stopped buying shoes doesn’t mean they’re unwilling to drop a couple hundred bucks for tickets to a runway show.

American Express told the Wall Street Journal yesterday that they sold 97% of their $150 - $250 Fashion Week packages within five days.

Most of those tickets are to Diane von Furstenburg’s show - not the Fall 09 show editors and buyers are attending but a totally separate event with a runway full of Spring 09 looks. As in, the looks you can already pre-order on DVF’s website.

Which means the highlight of the show isn’t the collection itself but rather the life discussion Diane’s going to have with Andre Leon Talley prior to the show during which we really hope she addresses exactly which life lessons she’s gained from being on The City.

Anyway, we digress. In other American Express loves Fashion Week news, they’ve recruited polar opposites Tory Burch and Philip Crangi to hold trunk shows in their VIP tent at Bryant Park. Between Diane’s walking catalog and Tory selling flats on location, AmEx is working their hardest to turn what is essentially a fancy industry trade show into a store.

And so far, it’s working.

We hung out backstage before the Shipley & Halmos show to a) steal glances at the clothes and Loeffler Randall shoes and b) talk to Beauty.com make-up artist extraordinare Tina Turnbow about the Blade-Runner-Goes-Pink look she was going for.

She showed us how to apply Stila lip-gloss to our eyelids for a fresh, shiny look. And then she told us she loved our eye-liner. And then we blushed. She also showed us how to put white eye-liner at the top of your lip to fluff it up a bit, and how to brush shimmer around the corner of your eye so that when the light hits you, you glow.

We could’ve stayed and played with her all day, but the show was about to start and we were determined to make it to our seat in time to how Madeline from Model.Live was holding up with her second show of the day (her first was Cushnie et Ochs - more on them very soon.)

Madeline held her own with the gamine girls and very cute boys in her little black dress. The collection, the second the boys have designed since breaking from Trovata, was easy-going; almost anyone could wear most of the looks. Our favorite was a sheer black top tucked into wide-leg white pants. It was an almost perfect retro/modern balance.

But for the most part, our eyes were on the Philip Crangi jewelry, and Philip himslef, which was fun for us, but not exactly the point.

Everyone’s talking about Zara - Hayley got a new dress, I got a winter coat and now they’ve overtaken Gap as the largest fashion retailer in the world.

The Spanish chain’s profits increased by 9% while Gap’s fell 10% in the first quarter according to the Guardian. Blame’s fallen on the American consumer for cutting back on spending - but shouldn’t some of it be placed on the Gap, too?

While Zara’s devoted itself to absorbing high fashion runway designs and interpreting them for the masses with an incredibly fast turnover rate, Gap’s flailed its image all over the place - Euro designers, capsule collections, the all-American Patrick Robinson - to no avail. Their profits might increase the week their new white shirts hit the racks, but that customer won’t return until the next special collection - they’ll probably be at Zara instead.

Why did I buy my winter coat full price from Zara two weeks ago? Because I know it’ll be gone by the end of the month, replaced with some other diluted Rick Owens interpretation. Meanwhile, Gap’s overproduction means that if I like something, I can wait months with the guarantee that it will go on sale for a fraction of the price (good for me, bad for Gap) - but the bigger problem might be that I don’t like anything.

If Gap wants to cater to a jeans and t-shirt customer, then do that, without mixing in Pierre Hardy shoes and ThreeAsFour dresses, but if they want to cater to a customer who cares about Philip Crangi and Rodarte, do that. They’ve overreached, leaving their customers, and apparently their own brand strategists, quite confused.

Zara picked a customer early on and continues to target her while opening almost 4,000 stores internationally. If Gap wants their crown back, they better start paying attention.

Back before the Fashion Week madness, we reported that runway favorite ThreeAsFour was doing a capsule collection for Gap as part of the deal that Gap struck with the CFDA/Vogue fashion fund after a hefty donation.

Now WWD fills in the rest reporting that 3.1 Phillip Lim, Band of Outsiders, Michael Bastian and Philip Crangi will also design limited-edition collections (all having to do with the white shirt) for the mass brand this year.

The clothes hit stores next month, but you might have to do some hunting for some of it - as of right now, it looks like only Phillip Lim’s designs will be available in most Gap stores (including Gap Canada, UK and Japan.) So if distribution is decided by popularity or name recognition, we’re not sure where ThreeAsFour will land - but we’re hoping right on Broadway so we can just swing by on our way to work.

In the meantime, we’ll be sure to put up the ad as soon as possible, featuring guest appearances by Chanel Iman, Jessica Stam, Lily Donaldson, Du Juan, Catherine McNeil, Anja Rubik, Doutzen Kroes and Irina Lazareanu.