People Are Talking

Brands are paying attention to them, that's for sure.

If Chanel hadn’t incorporated any Native American designs into the show I would have been offended.

You wouldn’t believe it if you looked on the runway, at an ad campaign, or heck...anywhere, but people of color are buying more luxury goods than ever. Nielsen just released its consumer report on black Americans, and the market research firm's findings were, to say the very least, quite eye-opening. With black buying power expected to to reach $1.7 trillion by 2017, the report notes how increasingly important it's become for brands to market to black people. Sadly, getting companies to realize this has been a struggle. According to the report, $75 billion dollars was spent last year on television, magazine, internet, and radio advertising, yet only $2.24 billion was spent on media focused on black audiences. A puzzling figure indeed.

"It's her destiny to bring us hope." --Billy Ray Cyrus

Another fashion week equals another wave of bloggers—some undeniably great, some definitely terrible—coming into their own. To help cut through the crap, Fohr Card, the database that offers marketers real-time stats and detailed information on thousands of fashion blogs, has homed in on 104 emerging stars just in time for NYFW. Most of the bloggers featured will be attending the shows, which means it's worth adding them to your Tumblr dashboard/RSS Feed/Twitter account for a fresh angle on Spring 2014. "Our clients are always asking who we're excited about on the platform," explains Fohr Card founder James Nord. As for what makes these bloggers stand out from the pack? "We're seeing more and more bloggers try and sharpen their editorial eye as they step away from just daily outfit photos," Nord says. "Brands are asking for more than a picture on your stoop and bloggers are surprising a lot of people by delivering great stories." Click through to check out 20 of Fohr Card's favorite. Bloggers and brands with Fohr Card memberships can see the full list at Fohrcard.com.

Last year's silly, dramatic Met gala rumor was that Anna Wintour had banned Kim Kardashian from attending, leaving Kanye West to go stag. This was obviously not the case this year--Kardashian not only attended the event, but was also welcomed into Wintour's home the night before. However, if the celebrity gossip rags are to be believed (which, ya know), this year's Met Ball was not as drama-free as it seemed.

No question about it, the Fannings love them some Rodarte. The fashionable sisters have long been fans of the Mulleavy sisters' creations, and at last week's Met Gala, both Dakota and Elle wore Rodarte. Still, when the Daily Mail reported yesterday that Elle, 15, and Dakota, 19, were designing for Rodarte we raised a collective eyebrow.

Well this sure is disappointing. After a report in always-credible UK news outlet The Sun basically confirmed that Suri Cruise, the stylish seven-year-old daughter of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, had a clothing line in the works, a spokesperson for Holmes has gone and denied the report/shattered our dreams.

How a new crop of Crown Heights businesses are putting an unexpectedly fashionable spin on modesty dressing.

New totally adorable fashion couple alert? We have no idea but Instagram makes it look that way.

So yesterday the New York Post ran this story, "Red Carpet Lending Nightmares," detailing the distressed condition designer gowns are returned in after they've been worn by a celebrity on the red carpet. The most salacious story? An anonymous PR told the tab that Lady Gaga returned a Mugler gown with what looked like a semen stain on it. "It was so disgusting," she said. "I couldn't even tell you.” After polling various PRs who lend out designer dresses to celebrities on the regular, we're not at all surprised by this story.

Is the feud that never really existed between Anna Wintour and Kim Kardashian over?

While Vogue cover stars can be a bit predictable, we feel like the wild cards are the musicians. We didn't really see Gwen Stefani's January cover coming and we definitely didn't see this coming.

In a recent piece for T magazine, Suzy Menkes heralds the end of what she calls a "decade of slut style," and a return to modesty on the runways. (Yeah, we had a thing or two to say about that.) But if history is any indication, provocative fashion is nothing new and not going anywhere anytime soon. Click through to read our brief account of fashion's most revealing moments through the ages. What got people riled up (sometimes just a glimpse of ankle)—and what didn't (a whole lotta cleavage in the 1500s)—might surprise you. nextpage

With his temporary gig at Oscar de la Renta supposedly over (initial reports said it would last three weeks), we're all left wondering: what's Galliano's next move? Central Saint Martins may have dismissed reports that he was taking on a teaching role there, but that doesn't mean those rumors that he may teach somewhere were entirely baseless.

If you feel like you didn't see much of street style starlet Taylor Tomasi Hill this past fashion month, that's because you didn't. Tomasi Hill is deliberately avoiding photographers, repeating outfits and slipping in and out of shows ala Anna Wintour, according to our sources. The reason? She reportedly wants her position as Moda Operandi's artistic director to be taken more seriously. To be fair, this doesn't mean she's gone altogether. Tomasi Hill did a photo diary for Harperbazaar.com over fashion week, and was featured on Style.com. But her dialed-back presence should not go unnoticed, as she's not the only one in that first crop of street style stars to selectively avoid the spotlight.

Kate Upton Vogue cover rumors have been swirling for a while--specifically that she'd been shot for the cover of this year's February issue--which ended up going to Rooney Mara. But worry not: Upton's first American Vogue cover (and third time in the magazine) is on its way for June, we hear from a reliable source.

Though many editors, writers, buyers, and bloggers attend Paris fashion week on an extremely tight budget involving the Paris Metro, Airbnb, and multiple trips to Monoprix for groceries, fashion's elite still spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to cover the shows. While it's impossible to pin down how much each and every editor at each and every magazine spends we've put together a handy expense report detailing what the average editor submits at the end of these packed nine days.

Are you a fashion designer in Paris looking for a job? If so, you're in luck: Kanye West may be hiring. We have it on good authority that West, who did not plan a runway show for this Paris fashion week (but did get his secret concert reviewed by Tim Blanks), is interviewing designers to assemble a design team. He's also, we hear, briefed people on what he wants his next collection to look like: "sexy Margiela."

When Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway showed up in Prada to last night's Academy Awards ceremony, fashion followers were a bit surprised. Valentino is Hathaway's preferred red carpet designer (Mr. Valentino also designed Hathaway's wedding dress) and a press release had been sent out earlier in the day stating Hathaway would be wearing one of the house's couture dresses. According to our sources, Hathaway was indeed slated to wear Valentino. That is, until yesterday, when she saw Amanda Seyfried's Alexander McQueen lace gown...

Five years ago, blogger swag was something that we all knew existed but never really discussed publicly. Then, the Federal Trade Commission got involved, and suddenly every online outlet—no matter how big or small—was required to make a full disclosure every time they wrote about something that was given to them as a gift. (Or, as payment in the form of coverage.) For a while, it was fun to call out bloggers who were obviously (or not so obviously) shilling for brands without following the FTC rules. But soon enough, the community got comfortable disclosing these brand alliances, even showing them off. In 2013, brand partnerships can make or break a blogger's success. In a "you've got to fake to make it" fashion, many newer, up-and-coming bloggers are allegedly claiming items they've bought were gifts from brands. Apparently, this act is far more common than imagined.

We've got a fresh Beyoncé rumor to report--and this one has nothing to do with whether or not she lip synced the national anthem at Monday's inauguration (we're still refusing to believe that she did).

Who's in the running towards becoming America's Next Inauguration Designer? We won't know for sure what Michelle Obama will wear to the inaugural balls until Monday (unless someone who doesn't value their job decides to spill the beans), but WWD's got the scoop on which designers have fielded sample requests from the White House. No one on the list is particularly surprising.

Wang's friend and fan Carine Roitfeld, who just seems to be lining up jobs left and right lately, may be joining him there as a stylist.