>> Beginning with the Resort 2012 season, Thakoon Panichgul is really blowing out his Thakoon Addition diffusion line. Which means: For starters, showing it separately than mainline Thakoon; and secondly, lowering the price point to the upper end of the contemporary market (Panichgul says he plans to continue filling out the collection with lower-priced items.). With the easy cuts and colorful prints, this new iteration of Addition could very well give Marc by Marc a run for its money.
>> Easy-to-wear separates in an easy-on-the-eyes palette permeate the Z Spoke Resort 2012 offering. The inky palette and subdued mood that were the hallmark of the Fall 2011 Z Spoke collection have lightened up a bit, giving way to a selection of pieces that hit a slightly more playful note: a cherry red silk anorak with a drawstring peplum-waist; a pale blue wide-leg pantsuit in slubby tweed; and plenty of sweet fit-n-flare frocks in all kinds of chiffon and polka dots. It's a youthful outing for Posen, and one that's perfectly reflected in his choice of lookbook model — Lindsey Wixson.
>> Derek Lam recently traveled from Bhutan to Phuket, Thailand and brought back the inspiration for his Resort 2012 collection as souvenir. The result? Colorblocked American sportswear mixed with ikat prints, scuba-seamed tops, and scarf dresses in traditional Buddhist inspired prints.
>> Avoiding the so-far pervasive surf trend, Thakoon Panichgul instead went “a little bit gypsy, but taking it to the street” for his Resort 2012 collection. And by that he means, he explained: "I didn't want to do a literal gypsy. I wanted to do something that was a bit sportier, a bit more New York." Thus, folky detailing popped up on pieceworked dresses in mixed cottons, eyelet patchworks, peasant blouses, and in a red-and-white pattern based on traditional Croatian embroidery.
>> The idea behind Zac Posen's Resort 2012 collection? American Royalty. "It's about how to be dressed up and poised, but still cool; Patti Smith in a gown and Penelope Tree in a trench," says Posen. The way Posen plays with silhouettes is a study in contrasts: a soft, buttercup-printed chiffon dress is gathered into bodice-hugging seams, only to be let loose in a flurry of ruffles at the hip; a peplum waistcoat with a second-skin fit gets a hit of volume at the sleeves with tiers of unfinished chiffon ribbons. But this is still classic Zac — with lots of show-stopping gowns on offer. The stand-out number? A 720-yard, hand-dyed vermillion confection with a swirling, mermaid train.
Click through to see the lookbook featuring Coco Rocha, who — according to Posen reps — did the whole 33-look shoot in under two-hours, finishing each shot in the length of time it took for a new song to play on the stereo.
>> With Lady Gaga in the house for last night's CFDA Awards, there was bound to be some entertainment. And she didn't disappoint — as Cathy Horyn deemed, last night's show "was better than it has been in awhile." From details on Anna Wintour texting Gaga to Prabal Gurung's onstage shout-out to a fellow designer, a few of our favorite quotables, moments, and sightings from last night's festivities in the slideshow.
>> Prabal Gurung, Proenza Schouler, Eddie Borgo, and Alexander Wang all took home CFDA awards last night, and in honor of the newly-crowned winners, we rounded up a few of their most covetable pieces currently on the market, for your perusal.
>> Shortly after the 2011 CFDA Awards wound down at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, the crowd moved on to Marc Jacobs's honorary dinner at the Monkey Bar, before finally settling in for a Lady Gaga rager — complete with a mesh-suited Gaga and Patti LaBelle dueting on "Over the Rainbow" — at the Top of the Standard. A few choice moments from the after party scene, captured in the slideshow.
