Would you wear faux-denim legging jean things?

To clarify, those would be leggings screen printed to look like jeans with pockets, buttons, seams and sometimes even different washes and wrinkles for an authentic touch.

But seriously, we were at the Rock & Republic showroom this morning, which you already know, and one of the mannequins was wearing the leggings (we think they’re the same ones at left) from their Spring 09 collection, and from far away they actually looked like jeans. She even had her shirt tucked in.

And yes, we know she’s a mannequin - but we actually saw a couple of girls in Paris wearing them, too. Usually layered under t-shirts and cardigans with booties - but we’d always do a double take and think, “Really? Trompe l’oeil denim?”

Super tight super comfortable jeans sound like a no-brainer, but they also sound a touch too LiLo.

So, would you?

We hung out with Rock & Republic this morning.

Once we made it past the legging jeans (more on those later), we kind of fell in love with their new Plain Wrap line. It stems from their recession collection - the lower priced jeans and tees that are on store floors right now - Rock & Republic’s answer to collaboration lines like H&M and Target. The Plain Wrap products won’t hit floors until August but like Rock’s president said, “It’s perfectly kitsch.”

The idea came from “that 80’s trend where beer just had a label that said ‘BEER’” so tees scream, “T-SHIRT,” jeans have a tiny “DENIM” butt patch, swishy jackets declare “WINDBREAKER” and so on - and everything’s under $100 (except for jeans which start at $130).

Also, their Fall 09 shoes offer serious platforms for the vertically challenged. Strappy suede pumps and patent booties are almost a requirement for the brand’s extra long jeans.

Word broke awhile back that Julia Roitfeld would be the Spring 09 face of Mango following campaigns with Gap, Tom Ford and Rock & Republic.

She’s joined by her brother and Lily Donaldson beau Vladimir (chosen for their position in “the new generation of European high society”) as well as Dakota Griffith - Melanie and Don Johson’s spawn - in the Spanish chain’s latest campaign.

Carine’s daughter might be super famous within the high fashion industry but we fail to see how she’ll connect to the same customer targeted by Penelope Cruz. Unless of course it’s the fact that she’s so pretty it doesn’t matter what her last name is.

Anyway, Julia poses in a white trench, white jeans and the most Carrie Bradshaw-ish flower we’ve seen in a very long time. They should have had Carine style the shoot - then we might brave this cold for a trip to Mango.

There’s a juicy piece of information tucked into a WWD article this morning - Julia Restoin-Roitfeld just shot her baby brother, Vladimir, for Rock & Republic’s new ad campaign.

We’ll ignore for a second that Carine’s spawn should be posing for the likes of Alaia or even Earnest Sewn, something a bit edgier than Victoria Beckham’s old denim partner, and instead focus on how awesome a sibling photo shoot would be.

We know models are models because they can shed their inhibitions for any photographer, but with a brother or sister behind the camera even a mere mortal would let go. In fact, we think the family photo shoot trend should move more in this direction.

We predict amazing results.

“Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?”

Some pretty (one handsome) faces from Rock & Republic…

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

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