Much like New York’s Garment District, France’s industry of specialized artisans is in trouble. And even the prime minister is getting involved, according to the Wall Street Journal.

One major topic of discussion is expected to be rules on labeling, as in making sure it is known exactly where a garment is produced and if it has artisanal nature—which sounds very much like a high end version of the old “Made in the USA” campaign. Because outsourcing and the simple decline in orders for luxury goods is leaving many of the “petites mains” who helped build France’s fashion influence out of work. This also leads to problems when trying to train a new generation.

Keeping Score: Let the NYFW wrap-ups begin. First up, the Wall Street Journal’s scorecard. {WSJ}

Tweet, Tweet: Britt and I developed a pretty serious Twitter addiction over the past 10 days. We literally couldn’t stop ourselves and almost lost it when our phones died. She’s already in London, so you can keep up by following Fashionista_com. {Twitter}

Front Row Fabulous: I’ve been thinking about this outfit that Carine wore since I saw her walk into the tents that morning. Utter perfection. {WhoWhatWear}

Jak & Jil Meets Style: Tommy Ton is now shooting street style for Style.com. Yay! And Congrats! {Style}

McKinsey Watch 2009: The consultants have finished their reports at Condé and rumored info is starting to trickle out. Keith Kelly is reporting today that Allure, Teen Vogue, and Details have been spared, at least for now. They were thought to be in precarious spots. Dear Uncle Si, please don’t kill TV. We love it too much. {NY Post}

Eco and sustainable fashion has been de rigeur in certain circles for some time now. But I seriously had no idea you could make clothing from milk until I read this article this morning on WSJ.com.

That’s right, fabric created 100% from milk proteins is upon us.

And I love the idea that using milk frees up land that would have been used for cotton and thus lowers usage of water and pesticides. But I am dying to see what the fabric looks like, its textures, and how it wears.

Because I can’t quite wrap my brain around the same thing I put in my Cheerios also being used to make my clothes. And, as one would expect, the stuff isn’t cheap.

ABC’s: Agyness Deyn’s the face of Anna Sui’s AW09 cosmetics campaign. You can buy the makeup and Sui’s new line of hair products at her Soho store, though we’d avoid whatever made Agy’s hair look like that. {BeautyCounter}

More to Love: More facts on Fashion’s Night Out, including this scary tidbit, “one-out-of-10 retail-industry employees [are] out of work.” We’ll bring you the full report on Monday so you can start making a game plan for September 10th. {WSJ}

Now We’re Talking: A few behind the scenes shots of Charlize Theron for J’Adore Dior. It’s the fragrance’s tenth anniversary and these images should put Vogue to shame. {InStyle}

Cintra-Gate: We’re pretty sure the Gray Lady writer isn’t going to put out the fire she started yesterday with her JCPenney piece with these kinds of apologies. Not that we think she really wants to. {The Cut}

As we mentioned in Mid-Day Snack, our company just launched a new site today called Going Concern that caters to accountant and CFO types in the same way we do to you, Above the Law does to lawyers, and Dealbreaker to Wall Streeters.

Here we were thinking that there would probably be very little crossover between us when, bam, day one, worlds collide - in the form of the company picnic and what to wear to one. The Wall Street Journal had some ideas but GC editor Caleb thought a little differently.

We’re pretty sure you’ll have some strong opinions and advice. Share your fashion love and knowledge with the number crunchers here.

When we spotted the headline, “Hot Pink? Call It Mangenta” in the Wall Street Journal of all places, we definitely did a doubletake.

And so we read on. Apparently “mangenta” is a new name for fuchsia coined by hotelier Chip Conley. We think he’s mistaken in thinking this makes the color more masculine. Not that we have any sort of problem and with men and pink.

Actually, we rather like it and the fact that shade is popping up everywhere right now. But why not just own it, whether you’re wearing it or using to accent your newest hotel or restaurant?

Honestly we think that renaming a hue is just plain dumb. Even if said shade comes with so-called “psychological baggage” as the article claims.

For Sure: Anja’s on the cover of Vogue Nippon’s beauty issue and Daily Feed thinks it’s time the girl landed a cosmetics contract. Um, yes. {Models}

Ah!: The thirteen-year-old girl inside me is dying over No Doubt’s performance on The Today Show this morning. The twenty-four-year old is loving the Balmain (I think) Current/Elliott jeans Gwen’s rocking. {NBC}

Oh Boy: Alexander Wang’s up for GAP. Meanwhile, will the sun please just fucking shine already so we can break out our almost vintage Rodarte for Gap? {TeenVogue}

Bubbles Away: Stephen Jones has built a hat for Perrier-Jouët. The bespoke anemone hat comes inside a white leather champagne hat box for a mere £5,000. {LOVE}

Christian Lacroix’s in need of new financial backing.

Florida based Falic Group, who bought the house from LVMH in 2005 is said to be looking for someone to buy a majority stake in the company. In the past four years, they’ve opened two stores stateside and almost doubled the number of employees. Still, they’re not even close to making a profit.

The problem, according to the Wall Street Journal, is that no one wants to invest money in something that hasn’t been profitable in years. Especially these days.

We can’t imagine couture sales swinging upwards this season and it’ll be impossible for the brand to make a profit without opening more stores, which won’t happen without a major influx of cash.

Who’s making the Save Lacroix tees?

The Wall Street Journal just reported that Claudio Scajola, Italy’s minister of economic development, has made good on his promise to pump some money back into the ailing fashion industry in his home country.

He’s meeting with fashion industry leaders tonight in Rome at 7pm local time to present them with a plan that should immediately save 700,000 jobs, though industry members are reportedly hoping for the addition of “tax breaks for female workers, a reduction in energy bills and government subsidies” and for the government to “pay the wages of laid off workers on behalf of companies temporarily”.

Whether this money will have any long-term effects on the industry remains to be seen,
but since net profits of the Italian fashion industry fell 4% in 2008, and IT Holdings (parent company of Gianfranco Ferre) filed for bankruptcy protection (on top of an ever-growing list of more bad news), it’s clear that something like what the government did for the Italian auto industry needs to happen for fashion, too.

Needless to say, many Marni lovers wait in suspense for tonight’s meeting.

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.

Remember back in November when we declared Macy’s status as somewhere around “screwed”?

That’s why it, sadly, comes as no surprise that Macy’s just announced the closure of eleven locations nationwide, including the one at the Ernst & Young Plaza in Los Angeles, which has been in operation since 1986.

Each store (except for the Hawaii location) will host huge, blow-out sales to clear the inventory, then hopefully, Macy’s will be able to dust itself off and recover enough to drudge through 2009.

In the meantime, even their site’s having a clearance sale, though there’s lots of clicking involved for shopping that one…

(Full list of closing locations, after the jump.)

This might be the first interesting thing we’ve read about the recession since it started to take over the country’s news flow:

Some design companies, like Lutz & Patmos, have started hiring factors - people who assess boutiques’ credit worthiness so that designers can decide whether they’re willing to accept an order from a particular vendor in order to avoid last-minute order cancellations, a rising problem in the current economic state. These factors will also act as sort of collections agencies, to make sure that retail buyers pay their bills to designers on time.

So, good news: Higher job demand for people who want to be factors, and better order security for designers.

Bad news: It sounds like it’s going to be tough to get cool, smaller designers into your boutique - especially if you’re a cool, small boutique.

The past month has seen two major New York store openings.

Vera Wang opened up shop in Soho while Miu Miu added a third New York City location on 57th St, both of which seemed to laugh in the face of economic catastrophe.

It’s a good thing Vera Wang opened that store - she needs it to show her Fall 2009 collection. After a week of rumors regarding her bowing out of Bryant Park, she’s made the official announcement. The designer won’t stoop so low as a presentation, instead she’ll set up a runway in her Mercer Street store. The smaller venue means a significantly smaller audience and the intimate, party-like feel that comes with an off-site show.

Meanwhile, Miu Miu closed their Madison and 69th Street store. The uptown space, only open since 2002, was emptied and shut with absolutely no fanfare yesterday according to The Daily.

The good news is, things will be decidedly less hectic on 42nd and 6th come February.

The bad news is, if this trend continues, Barbie will be the only one left with a Bryant Park show.

Betsey Johnson won’t be showing at the Bryant Park tents this February.

Betsey, who’s shown her past five collections in the park, is scaling back the presentation of her Fall 2009 collection in light of the recession. She usually shows to more than 1000 buyers and editors in the main tent; this time around she’ll host a more intimate event at a still unnamed location.

Carmen Marc Valvo’s also surrendering his tent space after ten seasons. His audience was already significantly smaller last September and with less press and buyers expected to make the trip to New York for the first Fashion Week of 09 and Bryant Park show costs climbing above $100,000 - it’s just not worth it.

Meanwhile, IMG’s allegedly open to converting tent space into presentation space, like the London Fashion Week tents but rotating, to keep as many designers as possible on site.

We love presentations, but a fun, fantastical Betsey Johnson collection belongs on a major runway.

There’s a particularly fun fact buried in a lengthy article on bargain shopping in the Wall Street Journal today.

In explaining the sudden surge in high-end designer goods in stores like TJ Maxx and Filene’s Basement, a TJ Maxx spokesperson said, “With department stores canceling orders, we’re getting additional brands. They have excess product. They know we pay our bills on time and we can’t return the product.”

Whoa - current season Prada at the store we used to get only our socks from?

This shopping dream world has officially hit REM.

We put as much trust in the labels on our clothing as we do in the labels on our food. As in, we believe whatever it says. But apparently, this may not be so smart.

The Humane Society just filed a pretty hefty lawsuit against Dillard’s, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s, Saks, Neiman Marcus and Andrew & Suzanne, over claims that independent tests proved that clothing sold in their stores labeled as “faux fur” contained actual fur, which would be a major legal (and ethical) no-no.

Over three years of buying clothes from all these stores, the Humane Society found twelve instances of mislabeled fur items, including a “faux fur” coat from Neiman Marcus that turned out to be made of rabbit skins.

So far, none of the stores have issued official comments, though time is running out - they have twenty days to come up with their official explanation of exactly how this happened.

No word yet on whether PETA’s planning on dousing the stores in ketchup and flour - and exactly how much people paid for these “faux” jackets made of real (read: much more expensive) fur. Not that we really like either choiceanyway.

No matter which side of the proverbial aisle somebody’s on, if they’re truly into fashion, they seem to be incredibly interested in what the next First Lady wears, some even going so far as to dub her “Lady O,” an obvious reference to our last First Lady style icon, Jacqueline Kennedy. But here’s what’s interesting - her husband might be overshadowing her.

Not only has Puff Daddy (we refuse to call him anything else), proclaimed that Barack Obama’s elegance will be used as a point of reference in marketing his new Estee Lauder fragrance I am King, and not only did a Bosnian suit maker famously name one of his styles “the Obama,” but now Hart Schaffner Marx, the Chicago-based menswear company favored by the President-Elect, is marketing itself as the place to get a suit if you’re trying to dress “Presidential”, and even has an upcoming West Wing collection, according to WWD.

Michelle’s clothes may be racking up hits for J. Crew’s site, but has anyone named a dress after her, or claimed that a collection was inspired by her style?

Also, we can hardly think of any mainstream male style icons (does David Beckham count?), let alone those who were Presidents. Could this be the first time an American President becomes as known for his sartorial choices as for his political ones?

Guess we’ll have to wait and see. But in the meantime, we wonder if anybody’s submitting sketches for his inaugural suit…

Even though each day brings more and more clothes at deeper discounts these days, even though the highest of the high-end are lowering their prices in the US, and even though their sales for the third quarter decreased 46% (and even though holiday sales account for nearly half their total sales), Abercrombie says it won’t jump on the sales bandwagon.

They say that in order to “protect their brand image”, they’ll just take the hit that the fourth quarter may be. So if you were hoping for $40 Abercrombie jeans come Christmas, you might want to redirect those hopes to, well, every other store.

We’re hearing rumblings of blow-away sales come Black Friday - the rare term “80% off” has been thrown around, and from major brands. Deck the malls!

Marie Claire certainly knows how to generate some buzz in this dwindling ad climate:

They’re following in the steps of Interview and GQ, and hiring a supermodel for some light editorial work. The December issue premieres Christy Turlington’s soon-to-be regular column, which will feature “topics such as politics, mothers around the world and her global travels for humanitarian causes.”

Also, MC is apparently filming their own reality show right now, Running in Heels, meant to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at putting together a fashion magazine.

Which kind of makes us wonder - beyond hiring the pretty people and filming the crazy ones, what other sort of gimmicks will print magazines come up with to draw extra attention to themselves after every big book shoots their own prime time mockumentary and hands over page space to celebrities? Next move: pop up issues and music when you open the cover? A game show with the top prize of getting your own magazine to edit?

We’re all pretty well-versed in the recent onslaught of news regarding the economy and shopping - consumer confidence is down, sales are down, parties are down, etc.

And recently, the news has been all about how much everybody plans to spend, or not spend, this holiday season. Guess what? Polls show that most people plan to spend less, look for more sales, and, according to the National Retail Federation, almost 70% of those polled said they’ll be doing they’re holiday spending at discount stores.

But since our reaction to polls are usually more like, “How come I wasn’t polled? Were you polled? Why am I never polled for anything ever, and yet made to believe every poll I read?” So we thought we’d ask you guys for responses we know are real, especially since you’re who we talk to most about shopping, anyway.

So, what are you doing this holiday season? Are you going to spend less, more? Will you shop at Barneys, Macy’s or the dollar store? Will you spend as much as last year? More?

And here’s something else to think about: According to the Wall Street Journal yesterday, 8% of 1,000 Americans polled said they would spend more this holiday season if Obama became the President, claiming even that the election was the most decisive factor in their holiday spending, more important than even stock market news and job security - does that hold true for you, too? Or do you perhaps think polls are crap in general?

Because really, we actually do want to know.