Lately, designers have been uprooting from the usual digs and moving to completely different cities to work and show their collections in.

Just in case you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, we're all going to be inundated with lots of fashion-related television programming this fall. Some of it looks really promising (The Rachel Zoe Project), and as is the norm with most reality shows, some of it looks really, really bad.

We're not sure where Tyra's eleventh cycle of America's Next Top Model falls on this line, but we're most definitely tuning in this season, which begins on September 3rd. If only to see how far Tyra's first-ever transgender contestant, 22-year-old Isis Tsunami, makes it in the competition.

Recently, Entertainment Tonight aired a preview of the new ANTM season and they gave us our first glimpse of the model wannabe in question. In the clip, see Tsunami in all of her glory.

Oh, Marc. What would we do without your cryptic ad campaigns and over-the-top runway productions?

Being the Marc Jacobs fiends that we are, we're constantly checking out his brand's website for images of the season's new handbags, footwear, and all of that covetable ready-to-wear that makes us swoon every time we check out the complete looks over at Style.com.

And a couple of weeks ago, our boy put up a very peculiar looking home screen to keep us perusing his fabulous site a little bit longer. As Fashion Week Daily points out, Marc has just put a video of perfectly coiffured drag queens doing some epic lip-syncing routine that would put all of B. Spears' MTV performances to shame. Don't believe us? Check it out for yourselves here.

As was mentioned earlier, the era of the supermodel is no more. Until the general population gets tired of seeing the mugs of celebrities in fashion/beauty commercials and ads, the non-descript mannequins that we flip for over at The Fashion Spot will remain nameless to the rest of the world.

However, when those pretty young things hook-up with semi-famous celebrities, oh yeah, they're about to become internet famous. According to high-resolution images popping up all over the internet, PINK babe Chanel Iman may be dating singer/producer Ryan Leslie. The two showed up together at a recent Vibe party and were seen dining at DaSilvano.

Ryan was the one who launched wannabe singer Cassie's career, so he could be working with Chanel Iman on some music stuff. But we never knew the Ford model could carry tune. Stay tuned...

[via Fashionologie]

Despite the fact that men prefer size 10, the idea that skinny models = tons of women with body image issues has been a hot topic for crusading do-gooders for decades. But with all the outrage over the supposedly sickly-looking models, nobody's ever been able to put a stop to the anorexic reign of size zeros. Even now, the UK's best chance at banning "unhealthy" models in the looks like it's wilting away.

The British government has been eyeing new regulations that would require catwalk models to pay for a £500 ($933) health exam and certificate before they could do any work on the runway. While we think that seems kinda steep, it actually gathered a lot of support. Now, without similar bans in major fashion cities like New York or Milan, London is worried about all kinds of negative fallout -- especially at London Fashion Week.

Other, less-severe measures are being put in place to protect the health of British models, like promoting a drug and alcohol free backstage environment. Why alcohol-free?

[via Jezebel]

Sure, the Victoria Secret fashion show has all of those supermodels, but it's sort of sanitized sexiness. Plus you know that everything in the show will eventually turn up a mall near you, piled on a table next to a pyramid of "Pink-scented" lotion.

If you want creativity and adventure in your underwear, you have to check out the new Triumph Inspiration Awards. An international design competition for students, this year the theme was Female Fascination. Designers from 31 countries participated and the judges included supermodel Helena Christensen, Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf, and noted sexy photographer Ellen von Unwerth.

You know, we never thought Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady would last this long. Especially, after that whole baby mama drama incident with Bridget Moynahan and Tom (ahem, Tom left her while she was pregnant for Gisele).

But the Brazilian supermodel and NFL superstar have weathered the storm, and to celebrate, Gisele is creating a super special calendar for her man's birthday on August 4th. Vogue UK reports, "She has got some racy lingerie shots, a birthday cake shot for August - and the expected picture of her in knee socks and his jersey!"

Eh, it's not really original. Considering, well, a sneak peak of the photos can probably be seen in last month's issue of GQ: disheveled hair. intense gazes, and lots of exposed tan skin. However, we imagine he'll flip over it. Just like every other blue-blooded man in America wishing they could switch places with him. If only for a day...

If Urban Outfitters could talk to us, we know the secrets coming from its mouth would be something about how it's always wanted be Topshop. For reals, though, we're almost 100% sure that if Urban Outfitters could take anyone out it would be the British mega retailer. The tension between the two companies is thick and its only going to get more stifling with Topshop landing on our shores this fall. The battle for American fast fashion hearts will be an intense one.

Michael Buckner is a fashion and celebrity photographer who travels around the world taking pictures on the red carpet. He gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the hottest entertainment industry events.


Saturday night's Ank by Mirla Sabino show was the highlight of the week, and second to none as far as quality, easy to wear swimwear for the real woman. Every suit was something you'd let your sister wear, but also would love if your friend's sister wore it, but please don't get those two confused.

I was running around for nearly six hours by this time shooting for the sponsors, so it was quite a relief to watch a couple shows towards the end of the night.

The Ank show had a great variety of suits, that like the one above, featured a little extra fabric to play with, whether it was covering up part of the body, or folding under to show a little more.

The slide show highlights four looks with the same color to show the variety which the designer gives in her 2008 Cruise line.

Gallery: Ank

Andrew Buckler (at right) showed off a strong collection of casual men's wear at his s/s '09 presentation over NY Men's Runway. Some reviewers have taken to calling it an asymmetrical look, but there's something a little more relevant going down.

Buckler is toying with the rocker silhouette, taking that powerful "V" shape that we usually see form between both shoulders to center chest, and redirecting the shape.

The upper torso kinda spins around thanks to a double breasted type of play on closure (that's closing the garment, not a emotional closure. Although one could easily argue there is a sentimental attachment to closures or, even, pocketing).

In many cases, the look is tweaked to seem off center or pulled to the side, a kinda of subtle rebellion against the rules of dress. The visual run of show as assembled backstage (below), reflects how the designer organizes and executes his runway looks.

Known for a sporty take on urban wear, designer Andy Salzer has updated Americana in mind for s/s 09. Oversized cardigans were a standout (see below), as were his sporty shorts pared with a lightweight jacket (see above). Top editors sat in convertible cars at Yoko Devereaux's catwalk show during this week's NY Men's Runway.

A decision to show off site, while lending character to the show, also meant there were only a handful of photographers capturing the action. Poncho style capes were the only weakness in otherwise reliable collection of basics with a twist.

Yoko D, as the collection is also known, might lack for flamboyance. And, like most men's wear, has more to offer for f/w, when layers and textures come into play. The strength is a style that's easy and wearable, not over worked or over thought, and exactly what regular dudes like to wear.

Eric Niccoli of Orthodox (above, at right) gets a little help from Kelly Cutrone (above, with mic) to get his models in order and check the sound cues before retreating backstage to dress for his s/s '09 presentation. Less than an hour later, the models are ready to go and rockin' some mirror shades (below). The style, as shown by the metallic jacket (at end) with moto detailing, is a dressed up rocker: cool enough to make the scene but clever enough to have a real job.

Somehow, designer Andrew Holden resists reading the newest edition of Antenna Magazine that sits in front of him. (The beer belongs to this reporter, yikes!) Maybe it's because the second season, s/s '09, for his own collection, Conference of Birds, is less than an hour away from a runway show. While currently lacking its own website, the video of last season's debut for f/w '08 is just a click away. More on s/s '09 soon.

If Naomi Campbell isn't happy, you're not going to want to be in close proximity to her. Remember all of those Blackberry hurling incidents?

We're not sure if this is a sign of her maturity or the fact that her London agent just may be good at dodging projectile objects, but the supermodel has left her London agency, IMG, for Europe's largest talent agency, Independent Talent Group without the cops and authorities having to get involved.

We think everyone can unanimously agree that last week's premiere episode of the fifth season of Project Runway was a tad bit on the boring side. We're not sure if it was because of the fact that the challenge had been done before (and better) or because the contestants didn't seem that interesting, but it took everything within us not to turn the channel after the first ten minutes.

However, we've never been known to quit something we've only recently just started. So we're hoping tonight's episode of Project Runway will be exponentially greater than last week's. And we have a strange feeling (wink) it just might.

Eco-friendly cheerleader, Natalie Portman, will be guest judging tonight's episode. Cool, right? We imagine the contestants will have to incorporate Natalie's vegan shoes into their looks. Anyways, as we all wait in suspense, check out this clip of a preview of tonight's episode. Tim Gunn's "Holla at ya boy" is priceless.