We rarely have obsessions here at Trendcocktail.com. However, for the upcoming F/W 12 shows, we have our eyes on designers Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs, who make up the Cushnie et Ochs design house based in New York. Recently chosen as part of the top 10 finalists for the 2011 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, the designers are set to do great things in fashion and we are intrigued. Since bursting on the fashion scene in 2010, they brought back the peplum and with their asymmetrical cuts and slim silhouettes, they have already been compared to Akris and Jil Sander. We can´t wait for their next collection and we´ll be supporting Cushnie et Ochs all the way.


Designers Cushnie et Ochs

Celine, Yves Saint Laurent, Givency, and Alexander Wang are just a few of the Top Designer Ads Harper's Bazaar has chosen as most outstanding for 2011. With fashion ads being the ultimate reflection of the brand, models chosen, styling and creative direction for big designer brands can be just as influencial as their seasonal runway shows. Here are a few ads below staring some of our fave models from Lara Stone to Arizona Muse.

A familiar face of fashion's lovely model past is present at Erdem for its Pre-Fall 2012 collection. Model Kirsty Hume shot the collection shown here in London right before the holidays. Designer Erdem Moralioglu returns with lady-like florals, embroidery and proper lace in dresses and separates. With the brand's high popularity with international editors and First Ladies Clubs, Erdem is perfect for the woman who likes to look formal and pretty at the same time, yet always show a distinct fashion flare.

1. Arizona Muse

2. Raquel Zimmerman

3. Karlie Kloss

4. Anja Rubik

5. Lara Stone

Models Saskia de Brauw and Joan Smalls are gymnasts for Chanel’s Spring 2012 Campaign, styled by Carine Roitfeld, the x French Vogue Editor-in-Chief. This is Roitfeld's second season in a row styling Chanel's campaign. This is also the first time in 4 years model Freja Beja has not starred in the campaign. Karl Lagerfeld told WWD back in October that Chanel’s spring/summer 2012 ad campaign, which he photographed at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, France (the setting for his last resort collection), would be “all about athletics and the sea.…It’s very modern sportif and in black-and-white.”

It was a collaboration just waiting to happen. Alice Dellal is set to become the next face of Chanel handbags. The model/musician was hand-picked by Karl Lagerfeld to front the new Boy Chanel handbags line. The French fashion house fell in love with Dellal's biker, edgy rock and roll look and it appears her non-conformist approach to style has inspired Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld, who has created a handbag line rebelling against traditional ideas of womanliness. “This previously unforeseen alliance finally became self-evident. "Alice Dellal represents the perfect incarnation of all that is unique about the Boy Chanel handbag collection, which strives [to be] far from conformist notions of femininity” Chanel said. The campaign will be released internationally in March, and signals the increasingly edgy aesthetic favored by Lagerfeld, with Dellal sporting braids and heavy black eyeliner similar to the looks seen at the designer’s Métiers D’Art fashion show earlier this month. This Chanel campaign will be Dellal's 3rd major campaign, she's also fronted Spanish high street retailer Mango as well as risqué lingerie brand Agent Provocateur.

Karl Lagerfeld blended Bombay and Paris beautifully in his latest pre·fall collection. Building off excessive royal flair of what seemed to be an indian palace, towering tiers of fruits, sweets, and flowers filled the curvy runway on tables that sat eager guests. The clothes were stunning in form and the ethnic beauty of the models was jaw·dropping. The collection consisted of gilded laces, clotted silver embroideries, luxe silks and amazing baroque style jewelry. We loved the raw silk tunics made modern by being shown over leggings, and the jeweled sandals were perfect. Possibly slightly over·worked, the collection still made us swoon as always over Karl and how he always takes us into a different world and makes us wish we could all live in it.

We started having a love affair with Rag and Bone two seasons ago. Their breakout Spring collection and New York buzz worthy jeans have all been hits with the cool model off duty set. Designers Marcus Wainwright and David Neville shot their new Pre Fall collection outside the door of their studio, which says a lot about what they are expressing this season about their clothes: they are focusing simply on the clothes and cutting away the layers so we can see exactly how their girl likes to dress. Tailoring, leather, denim, and low key, well done sportswear are the focus. Tie dyed scarves worn as a hair accessory give the collection a boho glamour which we are loving. We think it´s great the collection has a subtle ethnic influence which perfectly clashes with shrunken leather bomber and motorcycle jackets.

Burberry opened this week its Paris flagship store with all the label's lovers in tow. Christopher Bailey brought along his British friends like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Cara Delevingne, and Alexa Chung to celebrate the new store opening. The 10,000-square-foot flagship store which spans four large floors holds Burberry's full product offering. The new store is located on 56 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Not wanting to end the celebration, after the store opening, Bailey moved the party over to his neary Paris apartment where Alexa Chung DJed and the British pop band The Feeling gave a live performance.

Designer of the Year: Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen

Menswear Designer of the Year: Kim Jones
Accessory Designer of the Year: Charlotte Dellal for Charlotte Olympia
Designer Brand of the Year: Victoria Beckham
Model of the Year: Stella Tennant
Emerging Talent, Womenswear: Mary Katrantzou
Emerging Talent, Menswear: Christopher Raeburn
Emerging Talent, Accessories: Tabitha Simmons
New Establishment Award: Christopher Kane
Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator: Sam Gainsbury, Gainsbury and Whiting
Red Carpet Award: Stella McCartney
Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Award: Paul Smith
British Style Award: Alexa Chung

Held at Claridges in London, the Harper's Bazaar UK Annual Women of the Year Awards brought out many international stars from Helena Christensen, Yasmin Le Bon, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Eva Herzigova, to Sarah Burton, the designer for Alexander McQueen. Burton was awarded for the Designer of the Year Award which was presented to her by singer Florence Welsh. Also Tom Ford won the Man in a Woman's World award, presented by model Natalia Vodianova, who thanked him for “coming back to us women” after a womenswear absence. As the UK celebrated their Women of the Year awards shows, New York City recently held the Glamour Women of the Year award where Jennifer Lopez was honored among others in the fashion and entertainment industries.

The much awaited upcoming Versace for H&M collaboration — in stores and online Nov. 17 — had a party and fashion show last night at New York's Pier 57. Everyone from the industry seemed to be there like designers (Anna Sui, Joseph Altuzarra, Christopher Kane), supermodels (Linda Evangelista, Helena Christensen), and other such notables (Uma Thurman, Chloe Moretz, Nicki Minaj, Prince) were all on-hand to see the collection on the runway as models like Abbey Lee Kershaw, Natasha Poly, Lindsey Wixson, and Daphne Groeneveld wore black leather headscarves, heavy kohl, and stomped to speaker-pumping music. Next up: a private Prince concert. Then the 3rd event,which everyone loved, the shopping extravaganza where the new womens and mens collection was unleashed for everyone.

Style.com, after next Monday, October 31, will no longer live only in the cyber universe, the popular fashion site will launch Style.com/Print. The print version of the site promises to be a special fashion insider treat. “We wanted to give the reader a sense of what it is like to go through the journey of the shows, from New York to London to Milan to Paris,” said Dirk Standen, the editor of Style.com. Inside, there's a profile of Proenza Schouler in which Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough talk expansion plans. The model we are currently obsessed with, Lindsey Wixson (who appears on the magazine's cover), is followed from her home in Wichita, KS, through the month of shows, and then back home again for a 27-page portfolio. There's a Q&A with Azzedine Alaia, Tommy Ton's street-style photos, top-10 lists of most-viewed shows on Style.com (Chanel was No. 1 with 3.5 million pageviews, followed by Louis Vuitton, Prada, Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana), Style.com's top 10 shows (Balenciaga came in first, followed by Lanvin, Prada, Givenchy, and Proenza Schouler). There are also lists of the most ubiquitous party people, and fashion maps of New York, London, Milan, and Paris. Sold. We can't wait.

Karl Lagerfeld is a designer who does it all. Not only is he a photographer and creative director for many of his fashion layouts and mini-movies, he is also set to expand is fashion empire even more. KARL, which will be an edgy womenswear line will be launching exclusively Net-A-Porter.com on January 25, followed by KarlLagerfeld.com on February 28. KARL will roll out with a denim and leather-heavy, 100-piece collection aimed at young edgy women and will feature fingerless gloves, plunging little black dresses, silver skinnies, and rock-worthy vests. “It’s a very strong, well-edited collection with a great mix of street attitude and timeless chic. It also is an entire wardrobe that mixes and matches well with itself,” said Net-A-Porter founder and executive chairman, Natalie Massenet. “While it has great contemporary price points, it has enough edge to resonate with a sophisticated fashion consumer who is looking for great new items at any budget.” Meanwhile, Lagerfeld plans on unveiling a high-end collection during Paris Fashion Week entitled Karl Lagerfeld Paris, under a distribution license with Italy’s Ittierre SpA. Pricetags will start at $411 and go as high as $3,425. Although the line will be marketed mainly toward Europe, Russia, Asia and the Middle East, expect shipments to hit the states during Fall 2012 in pop-ups and Karl Lagerfeld experience boutiques.

The full Versace For H&M collection launches in select countries on Nov. 17 and in the US on Nov. 19. Items from the collection run from $19.95 costume jewelry up to $299 for a leather jacket and the studded leather dress. We are happy home decor has been added to the line, which consists of pillows priced at $29.95 and $39.95, and a bedspread, at $149. “The collection for H&M is the essence of Versace,” Donatella Versace stated. “For the collaboration we’ve brought back from the archives, as well as from more recent collections, some of the icons of Versace, such as the bright prints, the Greek key, and daring cuts. I can’t wait to see how H&M’s wide audience will make these pieces their own.”





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