Cheat Sheet

Though she’s yet to reveal her sophomore self-titled collection for Spring 2010 at New York Fashion Week, style icon Victoria Beckham just released a promotional video for her Fall 2009 line. The new short, Swings, features eight models clad in Posh’s looks, perched atop rope swings dangling from identical townhouses and double-decker bus stop overhangs on a quiet London street. As birds chirp and the camera pans, we see the octo-models sway in unison until the back of one particular model—Beckham herself—is revealed. The minute-plus film was shot in a single take last month and debuted on BergdorfGoodman.com on Sunday to promote the pop-star-turned-designer’s appearance at the New York City store for Fashion’s Night Out on September 10.

Her career may have commenced in a tasteless manner, but E! queen bee Kim Kardashian has since shown that she’s more than a big booty—she’s all hair in August. Kim went short for an O shoot earlier this month and blond at the Teen Choice Awards shortly thereafter, but she calls her newest makeover for YRB magazine “one of the most unique shoots” she’s ever done on her blog. Indeed, the 1920s-style black bob, heavy dark eye makeup, and onyx lipstick is a far cry for the glamorous Valley girl regularly splashed on the pages of the weeklies.

Some models tend to be walking hangers who only wear the most fashionable designs professionally, without being able to recognize them in their personal lives. Lara Stone, who recently graced the August cover of W, however, has utilized her trained style eye for Not Just A Label’s The Shop, a section of the leading online showroom for emerging designers that features an expert’s top selection. Though Stone’s largely black and gray collection is notably a little bland, the 25-year-old Brigitte Bardot lookalike has a clear individual sense of style. NJAL founder and Stone’s friend Stefan Siegel told The Moment he chose her because, he said, “I believe her style, attitude, and character fit much better to NJAL and its emerging designer than to a boring D-Squared or Calvin Klein. She embodies the black sheep!” 

The stars have aligned for Fashion Week this year—or at least they’ll be in town for it. This year, MTV’s Video Music Awards falls smack in the middle of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and Taylor Swift are all confirmed for the awards. Kanye West is a runway regular and Lady Gaga will also be in town to host a Fashion Week party with Marc Jacobs. So, Fashion Week publicists: Brace yourselves for some last minute, VIP front-row crashers.

Move over, Alex Trebek: André Leon Talley will become a game-show host for Fashion’s Night Out. It’s called Fashion Rules—what New York magazine calls “the fashion version of Trivial Pursuit”—and will feature a life-size Monopoly board. Teams will be lead by Donna Karan, Linda Fargo, and Robert Verdi. But apparently it’s not for the Everyman: You’ll have to enter to win a chance to run with André.

After leaving acting to transition to fashion, Ashley Olsen, the less controversial of the Full House twins, is now reportedly contemplating leaving design behind as well. The 23-year-old queen of boho-chic may be abdicating her throne after just two years in the industry in which she founded her own luxury line, The Row, as well as a contemporary collection, Elizabeth and James, with her sister Mary-Kate. As Fashion Week looms, Olsen tells Hollyscoop.com she’s having doubts about her career path. “I don’t know if I’ll be designing this collection forever,” she says. “A couple of years from now, I’m sure I’ll want to do something else, and I’m not going to shy away from that. What if I just want to be an artist, or if I want to go back to acting?” Bob Saget would be only too happy.

She’s taking the idea of looking like an Egyptian a little too far: Nileen Namita, 49-year-old British mother of three, says she was reincarnated as Queen Nefertiti, and has decided to do something about it. Over 20 years, Namita underwent 51 cosmetic procedures to look like the Queen of the Nile—and spent approximately $360,000 in the process. She tells The Daily Mail that she’s closer to looking like “a modern version of Nefertiti.” But she’s not done:  After her eight nose jobs, three chin implants, one eyebrow lift, nine facelifts, two lip surgeries, five eye surgeries and 20 minor tweaks, Namita says she has yet to completely achieve the transformation. “I would like my lips to be made a little finer and plan to have some more surgery on my nose to even out my nostrils,” she says. She’s planning to share all her thoughts in an upcoming book on life as a modern Nefertiti. But until then, a little cat eyeliner would do the trick. Have we learned nothing from Jocelyn Wildenstein?

Lady Gaga hit the Holy Land this week. Though she’s never been one to dress like everyone else, Gaga knows that when she’s in Israel, she should do as the Israelis do—or at least tone it down a little. She walked around Jerusalem in a strange head-scarf that wrapped under her shoulders like a sling, causing her to slightly hunch. And at a press conference, Gaga sported a black leather jacket with a Star of David made of silver spikes on the back. She said she was more excited to visit Jerusalem than she would be to “get drunk in a bar,” though she admitted that she might “get drunk in Jerusalem.”

August may be a slow news month, but here’s a breaking item: Michelle Obama has worn seersucker for the first time publicly. When the Obamas returned home from out West yesterday, the First Lady emerged from Air Force in a seersucker dress. Later, MObama donned another summer frock—a patterned dress from Target.

The Miss Universe pageant certainly doesn’t stack up to the runway at fashion week, but Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley will judge the competition anyway. Could this represent the magazine’s effort to finally appeal to the American Every Woman? Aside from Leon Talley, the show will feature a performance by Kelly Rowland and David Guetta, and Heidi Montag will perform her single, “Body Language.” The pageant will air on Sunday night at 9.

With the impending relaunch of Versus by Versace, Donatella Versace dishes about her love-hate relationship with the fashion industry. She says she misses the creative facets of the biz which, she says, are infiltrated and stifled by the business side, but acknowledges that changes need to be made in this financial climate. “It is at times like these that it is essential to be more creative than ever... It is vital to attract the consumer’s attention with something special—one reason we decided to relaunch Versus,” she said. While she sometimes tires of the parties, events, and schmoozing of the fashion world, “I have to admit,” she tells Versus designer Christopher Kane, “that I do actually enjoy acting up to the ‘diva’ role that I have been allotted: after all, I am a bit of a diva, aren’t I?”

Designer Erin Fetherston launched her premiere short film entitled, Birds of a Fether on Style.com. In the four-minute black and white piece, the California-born, Paris-trained Fetherston poses as "a pied piper-like leader," guiding the likes of actress Paz de la Huerta, model/actress Ingrid Schram, and a mass of other models through the West Village. The women in the video wear flouncy miniskirts and fitted jackets from Fetherston's Autumn/Winter 2009 collection, and their heels clunk down the cobble stone streets.

Fashion’s Night Out—“the biggest shopping event of the year”—is just around the corner, and the fashion world is in a tizzy. Vena Cava is hosting an “all-girl block party” on Grand Street in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood for the Sept. 10 event. Explained Vena Cava designer Lisa Mayock: “Girl designers, store owners, artists, and DJs—which will bring the men flocking, I’m sure!” Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti, on the other hand, will have a DJ in the window of their SoHo store, periodic drawings for discount shopping cards, and a caricature artist who will sketch every visitor to the store’s second floor. Meanwhile, cashmere-haven Brunello Cucinelli will have an artist named Queen of Salt displaying her work in their West Village outpost—and a chef from Umbria serving Prosecco and appetizers.

Just before the New York premiere of the September Issue—the movie on Anna Wintour and the Vogue empire—we’ll get their actual September issue, which is looking relatively slim at only 584 pages. Charlize Theron graces the cover in crimson, and stories inside include, as always, elaborate guides on what to do with boots and suits for fall. And Fashion’s Night Out—Wintour’s cause célèbre—gets a big plug in the issue.

She’s out: Heidi Klum’s jewelry line has folded after a lawsuit filed by Van Cleef & Arpels. Heidi’s flowers, apparently, were too similar to Van Cleef’s ubiquitous clover. According to Klum: “They said, ‘We own the clover.’ And I was like, ‘Then who’s the person with the clover and the person with the heart?’ I think when you’re a small company, which we are, we’re not a Van Cleef—they have a thousand lawyers. I’m a small fry next to that.” Heidi may be looking for a new project, but for now, she’s staying busy on Models of the Runway—the Project Runway spinoff for models.

Don’t quit your day job: Jesus Luz, Madonna’s boyfriend, now wants to be a DJ. “Madonna and her friends are trying to get him established,” a source told Page Six of Jesus’ new ambition. “He really wants to be more than just a model.” Luz apparently discovered his passion after he played at one of Madge’s concerts.

Giorgio Armani knows a thing or two about keeping his clothes in high demand, with only 14 Emporio Armani stores in the U.S. since he launched here in the 1980s. But now, Armani’s going more mainstream: His men’s line will soon arrive at Saks Fifth Avenue stores around the country. His top line, Giorgio Armani Collection, however, will be harder to come by: Just a few Saks branches will sell it, due to distribution and exclusivity conflicts.

The magazine world better brace itself: Liberal Democrats in the U.K. have begun promoting a new policy for women’s issues, specifically looking to ban airbrushing from fashion magazines. The policy calls for a ban on all altered or enhanced ads directed toward the 16-and-under age group, a move the party feels will encourage “the freedom of young people to develop their self-esteem and to be as comfortable as possible with their bodies, without constantly feeling the need to measure up to a very narrow range of digitally manipulated shapes and sizes." As part of the policy, the party also calls for schools to offer classes that are more attractive to females, such as yoga and dance, as well as for cosmetic-surgery ads to carry success rates.

Just in time for back-to-school shopping! Miley Cyrus’ collaborative clothing line with Max Azria hits the shelves at Wal-Mart. Of the clothing line, Miley says, “I wanted to finally make something that was for girls my age. Something me and my friends would wear,” she told People magazine. Drawing inspiration from what she says is, “edgy U.K. style,” the collection offers several pieces at recession-safe prices, including leggings for $20, and shirts for $7.