>> The East Coast Oscars are getting to be more and more like the original Oscars, especially now that E! is in the picture.  The cable channel has green-lit, for the first time ever, "The E! Met Special," documenting the comings and goings at the Costume Institute Gala. 

The show airs the evening of May 8 and will feature E! News correspondent Giuliana Rancic's red carpet interviews with celebrities and their designer dates, commentary about the Superheroes-themed exhibit, and coverage of the night's best and worst dressed.  If nothing else, it will be fun to see the designers and dresses in live action.

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>>  Time hasn't healed hard feelings between New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn and Giorgio Armani . . . or so it seems. 

Horyn usually sits at the sponsoring house's table for the Costume Institute gala dinner.  However, the sponsoring house this year is Giorgio Armani, and Armani disinvited Cathy from his Fall 2008 show just three months ago because he found her published comments on his January couture show "belitting." 

Now, rumors are circling that she hasn't been offered her usual seat, and will instead just be attending for cocktails.  Could just be me, but I can't really imagine Cathy caring about the supposed slight.

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>> For his Fall 2008 ad campaign, Oscar de la Renta was insistent upon the setting: the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego.  The scientists involved, however, weren't so convinced.  According to Alex Bolen, CEO of Oscar de la Renta, their requests to use the location were "politely" turned down three times, with the explanation consisting of "'Look, we're a serious research institute and we don't do these types of things.'"

Undeterred, Oscar called a longtime client, who just happened to be the wife of one of the institute's trustees.   She helped facilitate things, and in lieu of a location fee, Oscar made an undisclosed donation to the institute.  And that, my friends, is the story of how you will come to see Anja Rubik and Magdalena Frackowiak in Oscar de la Renta, set against a science institute, in your August fashion magazines.   

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>>  The newest designer to return to London Fashion Week is Alice Temperley, who is making the jump much like Luella Bartley and Vivienne Westwood have done in recent seasons. 

Temperley London has shown in Bryant Park at New York Fashion Week for the past six seasons, and the move back to London is not permanent, according to a spokeswoman.  It may have to do with the fact that Alice is expecting her first child this Fall . . .

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>> Just as Kate Moss' last print campaign for Agent Provocateur, "The 4 Dreams of Miss X," was accompanied by videos, her new AP bridal campaign tells the story of the demise of a bride's "big day" through six serial videos.  The first (below), entitled "The Happiest Day of Her Life," is full of kitschy boudoir imagery, but by the sixth episode, Kate will no longer be demure.  Each new episode is being released on SHOWstudio, one a day through May 7, if kitschy Kate tickles your fancy.

>>  The shots from the newest Agent Provocateur campaign have emerged, shot by Nick Knight and starring Kate Moss as a bride who had "a last minute change of heart."

As AP co-founder Joe Corre explains the choice to get back with Kate after a rumored falling-out:

She’s very quick because she manages to do hundreds of slight permutations of a look, and she’s very enigmatic. She doesn’t do any crazy jumping action shots [Ed. note:  Are you reading, Trentini?]. Kate really does just Kate. When you shoot her it’s really her you’re getting, and she does her so extremely well.

Looks like Kate's still got it, when it comes to wooing clients.

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