>> We've been watching the stars of Model.Live — Cato van Ee, Madeline Kragh, Austria Alcantara — in their weeks leading up to New York Fashion Week, and now they've arrived. This evening, Vogue.TV and IMG hosted the girls' coming out party at the Bowery Hotel; Jacquetta Wheeler even came back over from London to be there. But in reality, the party is just beginning for these three — and we'll see how well they cope with it all in the upcoming episodes.
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>> IN PRODUCTION —A gallery of Jonathan Saunders's designs for Target has hit the web and is yours for the browsing. The collection doesn't hit stores until October, unless you live in New York: Target is opening four pop-up shops around Manhattan starting Sept. 12 hawking the designs of Sigerson Morrison, Jonathan Saunders, and Anya Hindmarch a full month before anywhere in the rest of the country. [Nylon, NY Times]
>> First the Democratic National Convention, now a book store appearance? Lily Cole is showing up in an odd lot of places lately; Earlier today in London, she helped launch the Sony Reader e-book at Waterstone's. Now if only she'd hop across the pond for a fashion show or two . . .
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>> INSIDER WIRE —A two million dollar Vanity Fair contract doesn't cover Annie Leibovitz, according to court documents. The photographer is reportedly $715,000 in debt due to unpaid taxes, an aborted book project, and outstanding equipment rental fees. No amount of money is ever enough, eh? [Page Six]
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>> The much-missed Phoebe Philo is finally back in a big way — this time, she's taking the reins at Celine. Her new appointment has been rumored for some time now, but now it's officially official.
Phoebe is widely credited for putting Chloe into the big leagues, and the hopes are the same for her at Celine — "full creative renewal of the product." She starts her new post in October and will present her first Celine collection next March for Fall 2009, but her runway debut won't be until the Spring 2010 season.
Before settling on Celine, Phoebe is said to have put out feelers about launching a signature fashion house, but potential backers were reluctant, especially due to hefty salary and other demands, and no deal was made. Hopefully Celine turns out to be the right placement for her, in these revolving door times.
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Phoebe Philo has just been named the Creative Director of Celine. Chloé fans are given permission to jump up and down. This apparently signifies that Bernard Arnault cares about all the brands in his stable at LVMH. Pantone has released its Spring 2009 Colors. It involves fancy names and numbers. Sephora is adding a little bit of the social media to its website with product reviews. We also hope that Thom Brown becomes a brand juggernaut of epic proportions. Fashion Week is getting more and more expensive for designers. Consumers are also buying less. This is a poor combination. But even if the above suggests that ostentation is not in expensive designer phones are bigger than ever! This only reminds us we had our Black Berry stolen and must face 24 hours before the new one arrives. PANIC. But apparently we are all partying and living it up at Fashion Week. To which we say REALLY? Don't you have to work?
>> INSIDER WIRE — Rogan Gregory should be riding on the success of his Rogan for Target collection and his new Manhattan outpost coming into Fashion Week, but there seems to be a hiccup in the works. His Spring 2009 presentation was originally scheduled for Sept. 11, but has now been postponed. Hopefully everything's still smooth going in Roganland . . . [FWD]
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