>> THE MODELIZER —Kate Moss has plenty of talents up her sleeve: singing, modeling, giving witty interviews . . . but who knew painting was one of them?  A self-portrait — done in lipstick, no less — and inscribed by Pete Doherty with "Who needs blood when you've got lipstick?" is up for sale on Saturday and is estimated to fetch between £30,000 and £40,000. [Telegraph]

It has always been clear that Roberto Cavalli loves women even if his vision of the feminine is a bit more showy than most, and while his signature animal prints may not have been out in force on his Spring 2009 catwalk other evidence of his love for flashy abounded. It just wasn't quite the flash we expected with the seductive white dresses that went for a country ease over his usual European nightclub urbanity. Even his most exotic choices, like an enveloping jungle floral, still felt a bit more pastoral than his work in the past.

In this sense we must call Cavalli a bit cavalier not only to the times but to his own history and to the women he dresses. And yet you can take that moniker in two ways. In some sense he is showing a kind of disregard to the pain his customers will surely be in come fall and yet he is still gallantly as ever seeking to dress women of a certain social stature. Nonplussing all in all.

>> THE MODELIZER —Viktor & Rolf have been longtime fans of Shalom Harlow — they used a huge print of her face as the backdrop for their Spring 2008 show, after all — and now, a year later, they've chosen her to be the one and only star of their online Spring 2009 show Oct. 2.  She is scheduled to shoot all the looks in the Funny Face-themed collection early next week. [WWD]

We have always loved Consuelo Castiglioni's Marni more for her signature shapes, tunics, belted sack dresses and cardigans, than for her quirky grandma magpie aesthetic so it is with some disappointment we see her kooky side got the best of the Spring 2009 colection.

Bright neons, crazy mixed prints, cartoonish combinations and enormous accessories are all things we have seen in the past from Marni, but they were colorful additions to the core basics of innovative technical fabrics and subtly over the top silhouettes, they were never the line itself. It was all a little too animated, even a bit too ecclectic and this is coming from an editor wedded to the to the kind of individual dress for yourself aesthetic that has become the Marni way. We are confident we can break down the sheers and the polkda dots into something closer to our preferred Marni. So perhaps this is Consuelo's way of making her customer think a little harder to be a Marni girl.

>> A LITTLE TURN ON THE CATWALK —By now, it's well established that the Spring 2009 Prada shoes created runway carnage yesterday — Yulia Kharlapanova flat-out fell, Jessica Stam stumbled, Katie Fogarty fell and then carried her shoes for the rest of the runway, one model — who looks to be Sigrid Agren — started out in the finale, then turned and went backstage — defeated.  It's all being blamed on the slippery socks the girls had to wear with their shoes, but at least the models weren't the only ones in pain at Prada — apparently the audience had to sit on wooden blocks, providing some awkward undergarment-baring situations. [The Cut, Chic Report]

Enemies of rotten diction and poor naming will appreciate that Anna Molinari went for literalism in Blumarine's Spring 2009 collection which was awash is soft, watery ocean hues. Sandy beiges, spots of deep blue, and aquamarine gave the catwalk a serene beachy quality. Even the floral water colors had a kind of blue lagoon feel to them.

But it wasn't just the color pallete that had us congratulating Molinari for being so upfront, the loose, flowing, and floating gowns that finished the show simply begged to be shot under water in every other photographer's favorite high fashion look. Is it really better under the sea?

Fashion loves the "one to watch" story, a boon to young designers struggling to showcase their wares to the often callous and entitled editorial class. It is the great irony of the fashion hierarchy that even as we pretend to nuture the new we too often ignore it in favor of more palatably established older lines. And yet season in and season out each Fashion Week lays claim to a hyped designer such that we may sacrifice them on the alter of the new. It isn't that fashion cares per say about the new designer, its just about giving good face.

And so Milan's duo to watch has been Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi, despite not being so "new" as Rimondi has 20 years at MaxMara, but certainly because of their first collection at Gianfranco Ferre after the legendary architect and designer's death. And while said collection was generally positively received, it said little about their personal design, a subject of much interest about the shuttering of their equally "one to watch" line 6267. Production and textile junkies would do well to note that 6267 was produced by Castor srl, a production house run Picozzi family known for their luxury production and product development.

The duo has emerged with their own self titled line, free of any ties to Castor (and pity the poor house as 6267 was one of their better selling clients) on top of their work at Ferre. And yet one can't help but feel they are stretched too thin. The line looked beautiful, and we have little doubt the quality is stellar given their background, but palazzo pants, fringed coats, Lurex and lots of gaudy dresses didn't give us much of a chance to learn about the real philosphy behind the duo. The entire collction felt overstyled as baubles, bangles and even a Fez competed for our attention. We hope that this pair can refocus itself so we can learn something about this creative pair.