District L

Roberto Cavalli celebrated the launch of his new Cavalli credit card yesterday in Milan. Guests at his glitzy event included Milla Jovovich, Elizabeth Hurley, and Carine Roitfeld, just to name a few.

Photos by Style.com

“No, I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes. I had one thousand and sixty.” - Imelda Marcos

Dsquared2 models strutted down the runway with Starbucks, cigarettes, and Blackberries in hand, wearing over-sized sunglasses, knit hats, and relaxed, faded jeans. Leather jackets were thrown over long, cashmere cardigans and silk gowns. This uptown-downtown look is so effortlessly cool, it makes us wish that this was the standard for comfortable, casual wear.

It just leaves one question: How much did Starbucks pay for this product placement arrangement?

The Balmain shoulder- story of the season. But what happens when one of the industry's premiere design duos goes to the root of the trend and unearths something major?

Two Elsa Schiaparelli suits from 1938; note the exaggerated shoulders.

This season, Dolce and Gabbana went back and beyond Balmain; instead, they took their inspiration for the particular brand of ballooned shoulder they sent down the runway from the great pre-WWII fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Schiaparelli was one of history's most progressive designers: while her Parisian house went out of business in 1954 following World War II, she was decades ahead in introducing synthetic materials to couture as well as experimenting with more exaggerated shapes and silhouettes.

Dolce and Gabbana brought a classic elegance back to a trend which this season has been associated with some of our more avant garde designers. While their palette remained simple, they also paid homage to Schiaparelli through their more than occasional hot pink ensemble- the designer's signature color introduced with her first fragrance, "Shocking". Despite the heavy influence from the classic couturier, Dolce and Gabbana stuck to their guns and flaunted their irreverent ingenuity with checkerboard prints, graphic gowns in a Marilyn Monroe motif, and a sleek array of menswear inspired feminized tuxedoes.

Another great Italian house stays true to its origins. Bravo.

Photos from MetMuseum.org and Style.com

“My contract with Ittierre expires in two seasons so I practically already have a foot outside. As far as I am concerned, [the contract] has expired. I don’t understand their point of view.” - Roberto Cavalli