The Lake & Stars

John Galliano may be coming to a classroom near you! The former Dior designer apparently hopes to begin a mentoring role at a yet-to-be-decided fashion college. {NY Post} Speaking of Dior, brand ambassador Marion Cotillard looked like she was having some fun on the BAFTA Awards red carpet yesterday... {Fashin} Michelle Williams shows off some porcelain skin on the Spring/Summer cover of AnOther Magazine. {The Fashion Spot}

In honor of Valentine's Day we are bringing you a special How I'm Making It, with Mayaan Zilberman and Nikki Dekker of hit lingerie brand, The Lake & Stars. After winning an Ecco Domani fashion fund award in 201, The Lake & Stars was named as one of the brands in the new CFDA incubator, but turned down the opportunity. They are unquestionably the next big thing in lingerie, and I, for one, couldn't be happier: The brand provides intimates that a woman would actually want to wear, instead of the strange lacy contraptions and clichés that have become the norm. I caught up with Mayaan and Nikki via email since Mayaan had just broken her leg, to chat about their mother and daughter campaign, what they're doing for Valentine's Day, and the video game (!) they are coming out with.

The CFDA has just announced those 10 promising young designers who will be moving into the CFDA's garment district Fashion Incubator studios next May, WWD is reporting. The program launched in 2010 with a $200,000 grant from the city and is now underwritten by Target. Chosen designers are provided with several hundred square foot studios priced well below market value ($1,500-$2,000). It's a major help for a designer just starting out, allowing them to take the exorbitant amount of money they may have been spending on rent and put it into their business. It's also just a great way for a young designer to get on the CFDA's radar. This year, however, the program will do more than just give designers a place to work, starting with the program's first members, which include Prabal Gurung, Sophie Theallet, Waris Ahluwalia and others. They are the first beneficiaries of a new partnership with NYU's Stern Consulting Corps., a selected group of NYU Stern M.B.A. students who will provide full business mentoring to the incubatees. They'll help the designers develop "full financial statements, cash flow projections and investor-ready business plans." This added business incubation component may prove even more beneficial to the designers in the long term--especially in a time when even the most talented designers can fail as the result of poor business practices. So, who are the lucky 10?

Having a good sense of humor is sexy, so it was promising that lingerie designers Maayan Zilberman and Nikki Dekker had some fun with their first presentation for their line, The Lake & Stars. The models, in looks inspired by "a 1970s American interpretation of Italian Neo-Classicism," were guarded like works of art in a museum by a fleet of security guards. Only if you looked close enough each security guard had a tongue-in-cheek name tag like "Hugh Jass" or "Mike Hunt." It was an idea that came to the Brooklyn-based designers in a state of "delirium" they said, but if you're presenting a collection of lingerie, why not have some good naughty fun? Though The Lake & Stars fall 2011 collection was more than just bras and panties--as underwear increasingly becomes more visible as outerwear (under loose oversized tanks and layered under sweaters and button down blouses)--it almost makes more sense to view The Lake & Stars as a ready-to-wear line. Zilberman and Dekker would like you to see it that way, too. Putting on a presentation, a luxury afforded them as one of Ecco Domani's Fashion Foundation Winners, allows them to be viewed, said Dekker, "as a crossover ready-to-wear collection and more of a designer line and less of a 'What do you wear as a bra and underwear?'"

Hoorah, it's Mad Libs time! To kick it off this season, we've tapped Maayan Zilberman and Nikki Dekker of The Lake & Stars, winners of the Ecco Domani