Azzaro

When Azzaro parted ways with head designer Mathilde Castello Branco in October of last year, they said they would "shortly announce her successor." While the French brand may want to reconsider their definition of shortly (it's been nearly eight months), they have finally chosen her replacement. The fashion house has hired Spanish designers Arnaud Maillard and Alvaro Castejón to take over creative duties, according to WWD.

PARIS--A print of suits here (of the playing cards variety), a glittery bow there, and if you look close--there was even a tiny parrot who flitted abo

It's officially mid-November, which means it's probably time to start shopping for holiday gifts...or at least thinking about it. Not sure what to get your fashion-obsessed loved one? This year, we'd recommend a pretty fashion book, especially because there are so many good ones that have come out recently. Who wouldn't want a photographic look back at the house of Gucci or Carine Roitfeld's career sitting on their coffee table? We certainly do, so we've compiled what we believe are the 10 best fashion books to have come out this year. And if you end up buying one of them for yourself, that's okay. We won't tell!

Azzaro has a new creative director: Azzaro chose a young unknown to replace Vanessa Seward as its new creative director. Sao Paulo-born Mathilde Castello Branco, 39, will present her first collection for the Paris-based house in January for pre-fall 2012. She was at Lanvin before. {WWD} Arizona Muse covers Australian Vogue: Kai Z. Feng. shot Arizon Muse for the cover of Australian Vogue's October issue--three of them in fact. We like. {Fashion Copious} Fashion Week talking points: Here is a roundup of what will surely be New York fashion week's hot topics, and there are some pretty interesting points, with fashion people like Scott Sternberg, Anna Sui and Vanessa Friedman weighing in on issues like the NYFW schedule, underground fashion, Lincoln Center's effectiveness, young models and more. {Style.com}

Usually, it’s editorial shakeups that get us all confused and inspire us to create befuddling charts and guides to recap and (at least attempt to) make sense of movement within the fashion industry. Lately, however, it seems that most of the movement is taking place at big fashion houses. Whether it’s the economy or designers getting burnt-out, it seems like a top level position opens (or gets filled) every week. From Galliano's exit from Dior to Marios Schwab's from Halston (which happened so recently we didn't have a chance to include it), here’s our little visual guide to the recent ins and outs at major fashion houses.

When I went to the prom over a decade ago, Marc by Marc Jacobs didn't exist. Our options were thus: Caché, Jessica McClintock, BCBG and if your mom could afford it, Betsey Johnson. Of course many of us opted for vintage. I, for one, wore a gunmetal gown with a little black cardigan on top, inspired by a Calvin Klein ensemble Gwyneth Paltrow chose for a red carpet appearance in the late 1990s. But then there's Steff, who wore Marc Jacobs collection to her prom. (Yeah, that's right. She wore the dress again last year to the Whitney Art Party. It's amazing.) Leah spent a pretty penny, but wasn't as happy with the results. "I bought (what I then considered) a very expensive beaded BCBG gown. I also thought it was the prettiest dress ever," she says. "Then coming back from a boozy pre-graduation beach week in Delaware (which is some DC schools' ritual) my friends and I stopped at a Loehmann's and I bought a slutty, pink postage stamp of a dress for $50 and wore that instead." Don't worry though, she wore the pretty BCBG dress to a wedding, and had a fever on prom and went home early so the slutty tube dress didn't get much play. But even if we loved our dresses, there are so many amazing options out there now--from Target to Forever 21 to H&M--that we're pretty sure we could have found something even better if we were graduating in 2011. Are you going to prom this year? What will you wear? If prom was long ago, what would you choose if you could do it all over again? Click through for our gallery of dream prom dresses. (Tomorrow, we'll give you some real-life options.)

Vanessa Seward Exits Azzaro: Seward, known for bringing Azzaro back from the dead, is parting ways with the French fashion house. Her successor will be named shortly. {The Cut} Back in the Game: Ousted from Barneys New York in the fall, Judy Collinson has joined Anthropologie as executive director of women’s apparel. {WWD, subscription required} Zooey Deschanel Airbrushed Unrecognizable in New Rimmel Ad: She's so cute--why do that? {Stylelite}

Japan Skips Fashion Week: The tragedy-stricken country cancels its Fall 2011 fashion week. {WWD, subscription required} Vena Cava Digital: Now you can buy all of Vena Cava's clothes on their website. While you're there, don't forget to checkout their awesome blog and the for-sale collection of excellent vintage tchotchkes. {Vena Cava} 17 Things You Didn't Know About Jean Touitou: The APC designer muses on Samuel Beckett, Metronomy, and crappy French restaurants. {WSJ}

PARIS--Reporters sans Frontières, a French association defending the rights of international reporters, turned 25 last week. To mark the event, Azzaro launched a capsule collection of t-shirts and accessories, to be sold at a pop-up store in Paris; 50% of the profits will be given to the association. This is nothing new for the fashion house: Every year, it choses a humanitarian cause to support. Past projects include work with Sidaction, Orphanaid, Unicef and more. Any self-respecting fashionista knows this type of project is hardly original: Lady Gaga auctioning her costume for Haiti, H&M x Lanvin for Unicef, Angelina Jolie’s line for Asprey, and the list goes on. Luxury-meets-charity affairs are frequent and appealing--it gives the latter glitzy coverage and the former an image makeover. But how genuine are those really? An opportunity to wash your sins away by loudly donating to the conflit du jour? “No--in our case, it is part of the company mission to donate to a cause we believe in, on an annual basis. This year, freedom of press and war reporters felt important to us,” Azzaro CEO Nathalie Franson told Fashionista.

more This week Elle Fanning, who might be becoming our favorite Fanning (sorry, Dakota), looked adorable and age-appropriate in Valentino. Dree Hemin

PARIS--At this point in Fashion Month, all I want, more than anything else, is to feel giddy about some clothes. I've spent the last three weeks nitpicking and dissecting collections, and while there have been plenty of technically superb shows this season, there haven't been a ton where I wanted things for myself. (Exceptions include: Richard Nicoll, HONOR, and Emilio de la Morena.) However, today at Azzaro Spring 2011, I felt more than a twinge of "I want to buy that" excitement.

The 1970s-inspired gowns Vanessa Seward designs for Paris fashion house Azzaro are gorgeous, but they run $1,300 or more a pop. (Most are priced aroun

Issey Miyake built the most elaborate set inside the Louvre. A maze of blue nets stretched from floor to ceiling across the runway mimicking his open

When Olivia Palermo informed Whitney Port of her status as a "social" instead of a "socialite," it was all funny ha-ha, and then on to the next thing,