Love Strong: To sit front row this season, you needed an invite and an Eddie Borgo spike bracelet. If we’re taking trend cues from Rihanna (and really, who isn’t) you’re going to need a gauntlet come February. Meanwhile, the spike bracelet’s still sitting on top of my Christmas list. {Barneys}

Double Duty: Marios Scwhab and Raf Simons discuss designing their own line while designing another. The former thinks designing Halston brings something new to his own label while the latter switches on and off between Jil Sander and his eponymous collection. {VogueUK}

Color Us Surprised: Claudia Schiffer wants her own line. As my mom would say, “If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you really feel the need to do it, too?” {Telegraph}

The Styled Life: Keegan Singh might be a bit young for a retrospective, but who doesn’t want to stare at his Abbey Lee/Rodarte shoot from The Last Magazine over and over again? {TheMalcolm}

Alien Invasion: According to a McQueen spokesperson, ladies are clamoring for the “alien” shoes from S/S10. Some want to wear them, some want them as art. We loved hearing that the process to make them is copyrighted. {Grazia}

In Goal: Before she debuted at Christopher Kane (in 2007), Karmen Pedaru was the goalie on the Estonian soccer team. Very cool. She also has a dental phobia. We know that pain and that’s less cool. {W}

Aspirational Hair: Serena’s the new Rachel. Blake Lively’s hair gets 713,000 hits with a Google search. We’re not loving the outfits but we would take the hair any day (as long as its not in that awful braid.) {NY Times}

Not Posh: Contrary to rumors, Victoria has no plans to become a model agency owner. We’re not gonna lie and say we wouldn’t have wanted to be a fly on the wall during an open casting with VB. {Vogue UK}

Earlier this summer, Carolina Herrera waved aside any Elle Woods’ prejudices and gushed about the color orange, calling it “the new red” and using it prominently in her lovely Resort 2010 collection.

I love orange, and am totally willing to jump onto the trend, but unfortunately something about an orange dress - on me- is not quite right. I have yet to find an one that I can rock like Karlie or Sessilee did on the runway, instead I end up looking like an elementary school teacher dressing for Halloween.

Enter orange accessories. I’m particularly drawn to this clutch and these pointed flats that I saw on Net-a-Porter. Both are from Jil Sander, where Raf Simons also gave us some beautiful orange dresses for fall. Loving that clutch: great color, great design.

Barney’s has a ton of orange wallets and accessories, mostly by Valextra. And of course Hermes has gorgeous options. But the pickings are still a little slim at this point. Tell us, have you spotted any good jewelry or shoes in “the new red”?

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE

Doc Martens are being reimagined, again, with another cool collaboration. Jean-Paul Gautier, Raf Simons and Yohji Yamamoto have all had a go at the iconic footwear.

And now Dr. Martens is collaborating with Comptoir des Cotonniers for a fall line.

They’ve taken the classic 1460 model, and redone it in a delicious light gray Palantino leather. Seems like everybody’s into gray lately!

Love Me: The LOVE staff, including Tim Clifton-Green and his perfect hat, spent the afternoon perusing The Armani Times. Rubbish Mag, one more reason we wish we lived in London (or Britt does). {LOVEblog}

Greener Pastures: This made us so giggly and excited, we’re a little embarrassed. There was not a cooler shade on the runway all season, and now it’s coming to real life. Hooray! {BeautyCounter}

Renzo to the Rescue: Sophia Kokosalaki apparently scored a big enough paycheck from Diesel to get her own company back too. Well played. {VogueUK}

Nine Daughters and a Stereo: There’s no headline better than the actual name of this model agency in Cologne of all places. Rick Owens and Raf Simons think they’re way cool. We agree. {DazedDigital}

Our guesses were off, neither Wang nor Proenza are forging ahead with ad campaigns in these tough economic times - but Raf Simons is.

His first ever ad, following the likes of Zac Posen, Rodarte and Derek Lam, will debut in magazines this fall and showcase his eponymous menswear line.

He’ll also be opening two more stores and working on a furniture collection with the Belgian firm that previously collaborated with Ann Demeulemeester. Simons pretty much answers our earlier ad question saying that, “It’s another way to communicate with your audience. Fashion shows can only do so much.”

In other ad news - remember that epic OP for Wal-mart campaign from last year? Well they’ve done it again with a cast of 90210 meets reality stars at a Good Charlotte concert and added Solange Knowles to the bunch.

After sitting front row at shows from Gareth Pugh to Tracy Reese this past year, we kind of expected more.

“But the problem isn’t limited to design. The overwhelming number of people in their 20’s at the shows guarantees that everything will seem new to them. So Mr. Jones can do pointless things to tailored clothes. John Galliano can summon his pirates and tri-cornered highwaymen. Jean Paul Gaultier can pop on the Afro wigs and issue some jivey pinstripes (with a mini-me line of children’s clothes). And Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy can evoke a Teutonic fantasy with laced black-leather leggings and severely buzzed heads. There is little demand to do something that’s actually new and relevant.” - Cathy Horyn, on Men’s Fashion Week, in the Times.

WWD just reminded everyone that Raf Simons is the newest collaborator with Dr. Martens, with his version on the angry kid classic hitting stores this January as part of Spring 09 shipments.

But we’ve been hearing something else, too, something about a waiting list for high-heeled Docs, somewhere in London -

But that’s all we’ve able to discern yet.

So if you see Cory Kennedy in some high-heeled Docs on Greene St, you know our e-mail.

Jil Sander’s launching a new fragrance for fall.

Scent 79, for both men and women, will debut stateside exclusively at Neiman Marcus in November, (it’s been available in Europe for almost a year).

It’s allegedly crafted “like haute-couture clothing,” combining notes of peach and cranberry with base notes of leather, wood and musk. The minimalist bottle is supposed to reflect the recent streamlined collections - mostly neutral but with pops of vivid color.

The fragrance could stand to be a bit less heavy handed than Raf Simons’ latest collection.

His sharp menswear-inspired looks matched with a lighter, feminine scent could get even the most crazed girl through fashion week.