Suzy Menkes

The fashion and tech insiders in attendance seemed to get on famously.

And Cara Delevingne dressed up as a pregnant farmer with a rabbit in her pocket.

And the backbone of the New York Times' fashion week coverage just broke. Suzy Menkes, the longtime fashion critic of the International Herald Tribune -- rebranded last year as the International New York Times -- has resigned to join the Vogue family.

All your must-read, mid-week fashion news in one spot.

Tom Ford is something of a deity in the fashion world--from revamping Gucci to creating covetable luxury beauty products--for men, natch--it sometimes seems like Ford can do no wrong. Even A Single Man, his very first directorial effort, was Oscar-nominated. Still, Ford is not without his mistakes.

HERE'S THE FIRST IMAGE OF NORTH WEST! And yep, she would look pretty perfect alongside Prince George. {Us Weekly} Cara Delevingne posted a snap from her in-the-works film Kids In Love. So. Many. Flower crowns. {Vogue UK} Suzy Menkes compares the new speed of fashion industry to factory-baked cookies (but not in a good way). {T Magazine}

The latest Met Costume Institute exhibition, Punk: Chaos to Couture, closed yesterday--and despite mixed reviews, it ended up being a pretty big hit.

Guess what? We're still. not. done. talking about the future of street style. And according to OG street style bloggers Garance Doré and Scott Schuman, things may be about to change...for the worse.

Karl Lagerfeld, with his vaguely priest-like uniform, is considered the "pope" of fashion, and was followed throughout his day-to-day life over 16 months for a new four-hour German documentary comparing fashion to religion. Obviously, Lagerfeld said some ridiculous things about actual popes along the way.

Journalist Suzy Menkes, who's been leading fashion coverage at the International Herald Tribune since 1988, is not one to share her personal fashion choices. (After all, what good is a fashion critic that doesn't begin her day on seemingly neutral ground?) So it was interesting to learn that Menkes planned on auctioning off a good chunk of her wardrobe via Christie's, revealing her designer preferences beyond the obvious. (Anyone who has observed Menkes over the years knows she has a penchant for Issey Miyake.) In My Fashion: The Suzy Menkes Collection, includes more than 80 pieces from Menkes' closet: Christian Lacroix coats, Emilio Pucci shift dresses, and even a cushion from a Chanel runway show. The online auction ends today, and we chatted with Menkes about her collection as well as present-day fashion: from the crazy price hikes to the most exciting runway shows.

Since being appointed as head of the catholic church in March, Pope Francis has been seen as more humble and less ostentatious than previous popes. And so has the fashion coming out of Italy. At least that's what Suzy Menkes is arguing.

Jennifer Lopez takes W magazine back to her old block in the Bronx for the glossy's August cover story. {W} More details are emerging from yesterday's "compact" for labor safety in Bangladesh. Bangladesh left the meeting with a list of demands to be met by June of next year. {WWD} Gucci's Chime for Change brings girl power to the Internet with the launch of a new online storytelling platform. Led by journalist Mariane Pearl and executive producer Salma Hayek Pinault, the project combines five short films with written stories. {WWD} Amanda Bynes's totally-normal court outfit of choice? An aqua wig with a jersey-and-sweatpant combo. {US Weekly}

In the 1970s, the New Yorker’s fashion critic, Kennedy Fraser, wrote about clothes nearly every week. Yes, she reported on the collections. And industry personalities. But she also wrote about fashion’s role in the greater culture, whether discussing hemline lengths or blue jeans. In a New York Times review of A Fashionable Mind, Fraser’s collection of those essays published in 1981, writer Maureen Howard puts it pretty succinctly: “The book is about clothes - the wearing, buying, making, selling, discarding of clothes - and so, of course, it is about us and our society.” Fraser is undoubtedly a rare writer: one who has the ability to take an arguably shallow topic and give it the kind of depth even a serious New Yorker reader could appreciate. But lately, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the fashion critic in general, and how that role has changed, and sometimes disappeared altogether—for no good reason.

Gisele shows us why she doesn't need retouching on the June 2013 cover of Vogue Brazil, lensed by longtime friend Mario Testino. {Fashion Gone Rogue} Coco Rocha is now a contributing editor at not-so-fashion glossy PC Magazine. Wait, what? {Coco Rocha's Tumblr} This year's CFDA Awards celebrity presenters have been announced! Among them are Linda Evangelista, Jessica Chastain, Ralph Lauren and maybe Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. {WWD}

When Suzy Menkes spoke with Fern Mallis during her "Fashion Icons" series just a few weeks ago, Mallis asked her if she planned on staying with the International Herald Tribune when it's rebranded as the International New York Times this fall. “Who knows?” was her glib response. Well, not only will she be staying on, she'll be getting an impressive new title.

Last night, Fern Mallis sat down with Suzy Menkes for the latest installment of her "Fashion Icon" series at 92Y. The noted fashion critic candidly (and sometimes hilarious) addressed everything from catching an upskirt view of Madonna sans underwear at the Met Gala, why she didn't like Punk: Chaos to Couture, and why she was surprised by the negative response to her controversial "Circus of Fashion" piece.

Galliano's not going. See who is.

A seemingly age-defying Winona Ryder (Wino forever?) graces the latest cover of Interview. {NY Daily News} Giancarlo Giammetti, star of Valentino: The Last Emperor and longtime business partner of the brand, is penning a juicy autobiography including more than 50,000 photos snapped over the last 50 years. {WWD, Subscription required.} Suzy Menkes doesn't sound too thrilled about The Met's highly anticipated Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibit. {NY Times} What inspired the birth of Chanel No.5? Comprising 240 curated elements, the "No.5 Culture Chanel" exhibit launched in Paris yesterday to offer a deeper understanding about the fragrance's origins. {WWD, Subscription required.}

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

It's been a tough few weeks for mini skirts and the young women who flaunt them. Between CNN's blame-the-victim tone in Steubenville to the helicopter parents picketing Victoria's Secret Pink, you'd think America's most pressing national security issue is teen girls in glittery panties. (And according to Harmony Korine's bubblegum grenade Spring Breakers, that's exactly right.) And on the fashion front, T Magazine editor Deborah Needleman tweets "Say goodbye to slut clothes"...

Fashion month: It's finally, truly over.