New York Fashion Week layers its shows one over the other with anywhere from three to five shows in a single time slot, but London’s perfectly organized with one show each hour.

What they fail to allot time for are the exhibitions, pop-ups and creative experiments that take over London during its Fashion Week.

We’ve already made mental notes to check out Liberty’s Carnaby Street celebration and Notting Hill’s Wolf & Badger — and Selfridge’s Nicholas Kirkwood collection’s always a must, but now we’ll have to plan a trip to the St. Martin’s Lane Hotel for Self-Service 1-31.

Whether you want to be a monster like Gaga or a humanitarian a la Angie, Charity Buzz’s latest offer is a win-win.

Lady Gaga is auctioning off her Gary Card-designed skeleton corset (shown) on the site. The money raised will go to Oxfam International, benefiting the victims of Haiti’s earthquake.

The bid is currently at $5,000, which is $3,000 over the estimated value, but it’s for charity, so keep bidding!

Think about it: Can you really put a price on lip-syncing “Bad Romance” in Gaga’s own corset?

I got a chance to hang out at Robert Verdi, Inc. this week to preview the first two episodes of The Robert Verdi Show Starring Robert Verdi, which premieres on the Logo Network this Wednesday, February 10 at 10pm.

I really, really liked the show, which “documents” the day-to-day workings of Verdi’s successful business. But let me preface the rest of this post by saying: This isn’t the Rachel Zoe Project, and it’s definitely not Kell on Earth.

This isn’t a show that’s going to give you an inside look at the world of high fashion, but it is going to show you:

She calls them belt bags, but regardless, Donna Karan doesn’t get why people carry handbags when they could sport a much more comfortable leather belt with pockets. (We actually kind of agree with her. Plus, the one she wears its pretty chic. See image for proof)

Some other nuggets from the legendary designer’s conversation with FIT’s Valerie Steele at Parsons last night:

On Education: While she dropped out of Parsons to work at Anne Klein, Karan believe that education is “a gift.” That’s why she’s been working with the school for the last two years to creating a fashion design MFA program.

Another week, another collaboration.

Tommy Hilfiger and the Keith Haring foundation launched a line of shoes at Colette today. They’ll be on sale for two weeks at the Parisian concept store, with a broader release set for the autumn of this year.

Their lovechild consists of sneakers and Wellington boots covered in Haring’s most famous paintings.

There are skinny tennis shoes with the Barking Dog and chunky rain boots with the Dancing Man for men, women, and their trendy children.

This is, of course, yet another attempt on Hilfiger’s behalf to regain its fashion cred. But what’s the big difference between this and the Mona Lisa underwear available at the Louvre?

Nothing beats an invite with the following names listed in bold print: Daphne Guinness, Manolo Blahnik, Stephen Jones, Giles Deacon and Yasmin LeBon.

That’s the list of judges for the first ever Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize.

The only problem is that we don’t know exactly what it is, who’s nominated, or what the winner gets, because none of that needs to be on an invitation that promises those five people in one room for breakfast at 9AM.

Of course, the devastating part is we’ll only be halfway to Heathrow on the morning of February, 19th when they take over the penthouse of London’s Dorchester hotel.

Their London office is closed, but we’ll report back first thing tomorrow.

Yesterday, Steff mentioned the Gawker story about high school crashers - the daughter of a Vermont politician and her smartly dressed friend.

Last night, this email landed in our inbox:

Hi Britt,
First of all, I absolutely LOVE Fashionista, I read it every day.

I am a senior at a public high school in NYC, and I just went on to fashionista and saw the post about Becca Shumlin and Remy Renzullo. I have known Becca for a few years, I went on a trip to France with her.

However, I have also been to fashion shows with her. I went to the Derek Lam show in September, although I didn’t have an invite, the security let me in because I was working at the Thuy show that was going on at the same time. Anyway, the Derek Lam show starts, and I look down and I see Remy in the front row, whom I met through Becca a few times. I’m attaching a picture of him that I took, in the front row, next to Suzy Menkes. Becca and Remy used to use fake names to get into shows, but they’ve obviously gone way past that now!

Diane von Furstenberg’s longtime creative director, Nathan Jenden, is leaving the company to focus on his own label.

Yvan Mispelaere, an alum of both Phoebe Philo’s reign at Chloe and Frida Giannini’s at Gucci, will replace him.

DvF is a pretty well-oiled machine, so there won’t be need for much innovation there. Her wrap-dress is a best-seller that makes 20-something career girls across the US feel fashionable.

However, it could be exciting to see something a bit more directional in the collection.

Mispelaere—who was responsible for this Chloe runway—might be able to bring that to the table.

Gawker reported this morning that Vermont gubernatorial candidate Peter Shumlin’s daughter, Becca, and her friend/accomplice Remy Renzullo hacked into PR firm BPCM’s database and added themselves to the guest lists for Alexander Wang, Preen and Cushnie et Ochs, just to name a few.

First thought: Who did they hire to hack into a database?

Second thought: Why didn’t I think of that?

PHOTO COURTESY JAK&JILWhat happens when Giles makes the most amazing perfect fantastic Dinosaur bag for Spring 2010?

Editors steal it.

A lot of the best things on the runway - and by best we mean most fun to look at, not most practical or well made - don’t get put into production, like the Nina Ricci shoes from Olivier Theysken’s last collection or McQueen’s shoes from SS10. Giles Deacon’s dinosaurs fall into the same category, though they’re actually wearable, which is why when editors call them in for a shoot, they’re not giving them back. And why, when magazines call now, Giles’ showroom has nothing to give.

On the one hand, that sucks, and is rude (not to mention dumb since it’s not exactly a subtle accessory). On the other hand, if we got a hold of one, you’d have to pry it from our cold dead hands.

There’s yet another group of pseudo-celebs that you’ve got to compete with for fashion week tickets.

Jersey Shore cast members have been requesting seats for next week’s shows, according to Page Six.

In general, we kind of enjoy those Jersey Shore crazies. Although we’d see rather them on TV, not at work.

We’re making unofficial bets on what shows they’ll show up at:

• Kim Kardashian for Bebe (100%)
• Custo Barcelona (60-40)
• BCBG (50-50)

We’re looking forward to your guesses in the comments section.

Robert Duffy’s joined Twitter (he’s the president of Marc Jacobs) and he’s spilling Marc Jacobs news all over the internet.

First up, they’re livestreaming their show on February 15th at 8pm.

Secondly, you can win tickets to their actual show by RSVPing to their livestream on MarcJacobs.com.

Third, come 2011 Marc will finally make lingerie. If he could reach into the archives and make bras etc. with prints from his fall 2005 Marc by Marc collection and the spring 2009 Marc collection, that’d be swell.

Belgian designer Dirk Bikkemberg may have sold tickets to his Milan runway show for $16 a seat, but the Justin Timberlake-backed denim brand William Rast is one-upping him with a deal on flash sale site HauteLook.

For the next 24 hours, fans of the label can purchase a $1,500 package that includes a seat at the 7pm show in New York on February 17 and a ticket to the after party.

No, the price doesn’t include airfare or hotel accommodation. But if the front row is anything like it was last year—Carine, Anna, Biel and yes, ‘N Sync-er JC Chasez all graced the audience with their presence—it might be worthwhile for some hardcore fans.

And if you’re strapped for cash, you can enter to win two tickets on HauteLook’s Facebook page.

As if you didn’t already know, Kelly Cutrone’s new reality show, Kell on Earth, debuts at 10 pm EST tonight on Bravo.

Britt’s attending the premiere here in New York, so she’ll be tweeting the People’s Revolution founder’s best bits, onscreen and off.

And lookout tomorrow for our post-show wrap-up.

Oh, and PS:

If you live in New York and want to meet Kelly, she’s doing a signing of her new book, If You Have To Cry, Go Outside at the Barnes and Noble near Lincoln Center tomorrow night, February 2, at 7pm.

This morning, WWD announced the 12 designer tenants occupying CFDA’s Fashion Incubator, a group of studios at 209 West 38th Street in New York’s Garment District.

Because of a $200,000 grant from the City of New York, renting the 800 to 1,000 square foot spaces will will only cost the chosen designers $1,500 to $2,000 per month.

One of the of the hardest things about being a designer in New York is setting up shop. A studio that size in the neighborhood can typically cost upward of $10K, so this is a pretty big coup for the recipients.

By the way, here’s the list:

Bloomingdale’s opened in the Dubai Mall this past weekend.

It’s the luxury retailer’s first-ever store abroad, and it sounds pretty fantastic. Very different from Bloomie’s here in the States, with a focus on ultra-high fashion instead of accessible luxury. There are two Bloomingdale’s outposts in the mall, one dedicated to fashion and the other to home.

Macy’s Inc., which owns Bloomingdale’s, teamed up with Dubai-based Al Tayer Group to open the store. Al Tayer runs the Middle Eastern operations of a ton of Western retailers, including PPR-owned Balenciaga, Stella McCartney and others like Harvey Nichols and Gap. The two companies have thus far invested about $73 million in the project.

Al Tayer’s connection to PPR means it’s not a huge surprise that there are Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent shop-in-shops at the new Bloomie’s. Here are some other highlights:

Alexander Wang’s launching his first ever ad campaign for SS10.

Dan Jackson shot Hannah Holman for the T by Alex Wang posters, and though they were originally meant to be lookbooks for editors and stores, he’s changed his game plan.

Instead of mailing the black and white posters, he’ll plaster them across the city because, “The energy was much more appropriate for something like guerrilla marketing than anything too proper or formal. Because T is really the core foundation of what Alexander Wang stands for, I thought it should be something that could be much more democratic.”

While the luxury industry keeps growing, the league of craftsmen who sew the garments, cobble the shoes and work the leather keeps shrinking.

That’s why luxe conglomerate LVMH has yet again partnered with Parsons The New School for Design—this time, they’ve given students a backstage pass to the studios of some of New York’s most celebrated artisans, from textile designers to wood carvers to clothing conservationists.

Each team of students—23 teams in total—was assigned to one master artisan in September 2009. Since then, they’ve spent hours observing and learning about their specific guru’s work, creating fashion designs and short documentaries inspired by it. The pieces will be judged on February 17 at MAC & Milk, which will be a nice distraction at the end of Fashion Week.

We’re looking forward to seeing what they’ve come up with. In an era when the work of these experts is overlooked, it’s nice to recognize their importance.

The carpet and walls were lined in zebra, the Queens of Noize were performing and attendees danced until the early hours. But it sounds like—more than anything—the Kate Moss for Longchamp party at Paris’ Club Ritz was all about the Benjamins.

For those too young to get that reference, we’re talking about money. Case in point: Accompanying Miss Moss for pictures at her upscale fashion debut was not boyfriend Jamie Hince but instead Longchamp CEO Jean Cassegrain and his family, which owns the leather goods house.

Most of the 700 guests were press and business types. Glamorous attendees included Les Plasticines, Giambattista Valli, Lauren Santo Domingo and yes, Carine. But unfortunately, the simultaneous Valentino party forced more illustrious characters to book it early. “Overall, the crowd was soberly dressed, super corporate and boringly middle-aged,” said one party attendee.

Regardless, we’re sure it was a spectacle to be seen—and an interesting event for suits who might want to back Moss’s inevitable future collections for the brand, or any of the private company’s other ventures. The collection will hit Longchamp boutiques and New York’s Bloomingdale’s flagship on February 11th.

This morning, GQ announced their nominees for best new menswear designer.

Billy Reid, Richard Chai, Unis (designed by Eunice Lee), J.Crew’s Frank Muytjens, Caulfield Preparatory’s Vincent Flumiani and Doug and Ben Burkman of Burkman Brothers were chosen by GQ’s Editor-in-Chief Jim Nelson and its Creative Director, Jim Moore.

The winner will be chosen next month by a panel of judges including GQ’s editors, the CFDA’s Steven Kolb and Italo Zucchelli, Calvin Klein’s menswear designer — all six nominees will be featured in GQ’s March issue.