Maxime Simoens mightnot have gotten the top job at Dior, but a recent cash infusion from Dior and LVMH owner Bernard Arnault should be a comforting consolation prize.

Arnault is reported to have purchased a stake in Simoens's eponymous two-year-old fashion label. The size of Arnault's stake in the business is unknown, but his investment indicates that he wants to keep tabs on Simoens. At 27, Simeons is so well-regarded in the French design world that he was widely rumored to be in the running to replace John Galliano at Dior. Until recently, Simoens was also the creative director of French label Leonard, but he left that post earlier this month — which made many believe that he would in fact take over for Galliano. It was announced shortly afterward that the job went to Raf Simons.

But just because Simoens isn't at Dior now doesn't mean he won't be in the future. A source suggested to WWD that LVMH may be interested in parlaying Simeons's talent into a future role at one of its bigger fashion houses, which include Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi, among others.

The last time Dior bought a stake in a smaller fashion company was 2009, when it acquired 49 percent of Edun, the eco-friendly line founded by U2 frontman Bono.

A look at highlights from Simoens's past collections in the gallery.

Photo: Maxime Simoens takes a bow at a presentation of his clothing in Singapore, October 2011.

>> As far as Zac Posen is concerned, there's no reason his 12-piece Z Spoke collection for Lord & Taylor can't be as sensational as the gowns he creates for the red carpet.

"I don't believe that true trends actually come from high fashion down anymore," Posen said of his capsule collection of dresses, all of which are priced under $200. "I think that if you have the ability to create directly at that price point . . . that's really exciting because then you're addressing a much wider audience. And it makes it more fun."

For Posen, fun means colorful, straightforward dresses created with his core design principles in mind. "They're still flirty. They still have our signature construction in them," he said. "Sometimes we'll take out the lining of some of our couture gowns and even that on its own would just be an amazing dress."

But these dresses aren't just glorified crinolines — they're ways for new consumers to get more familiar with his work. Coco Rocha attended the capsule collection's launch party on Wednesday clad in a blazer from Posen's Target collaboration. She said the Lord & Taylor dresses were a smart move.

"For so long, no one could really relate to him," Rocha said. "It was all about really beautiful gowns and a romantic sort of fairy tale. I think this is appropriate, because now we all — even I! — can have a Zac Posen dress."

>>Jonathan Adler stuck to his guns when designing the second season of his new handbag collection, imbuing every tote, clutch, and purse with the same savoir faire that guides his eclectic line of home goods.

"It really made sense to me to take some of my motifs and themes, and I think they translate perfectly into the fashion category," said Adler, who's been selling pottery since 1994. "The handbags address the same issues I address when I make a pot. It's form, pattern, color — and I just kind of had a burning desire to do it."

That desire has turned into an interesting and forward-thinking collection of bags that espouse Adler's happy, pop aesthetic. For Fall, that means handbags that combine geometric patterned knitwear with leather accents and a tote that advocates for peace on one side and love on the other. Pricing details for the Fall collection weren't available as of this post, but the Spring bags sold from $38 to $250.

Adler, who collaborated with Lacoste on a line of polo shirts for Spring, says he's going to keep on making things as long as he can — and he's not counting out the possibility of a ready-to-wear collection.

"The more I make, the more I want to make, so I never say never to anything," he said, adding that he thinks his clothing line "would be colorful and happy and — I hope — unimpeachably chic and beautifully crafted." Just like his bags.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Adler

>> Kenzo creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon have created a line of shoes for Vans that will be released this Summer.

The unisex shoes, priced around $130, will be sold in three staggered releases at Kenzo and Opening Ceremony stores — one in May, one in June, and one in July. The first edition fuses the red, blue, and green prints from Kenzo's Spring 2012 collection with the design for the Vans Era, a classic lace-up skate shoe.

Lim and Leon, the team behind Opening Ceremony, told Vogue UK that they've worn Vans for years and "liked the idea of infusing this bit of American style into the house of Kenzo."

Photo: Courtesy of Opening Ceremony

>> J.Crew's collaborations with Joseph Altuzarra, Pamela Love, and Creatures of the Wind will make separate retail debuts in the coming weeks and months, but you can order the Altuzarra capsule online at Jcrew.com this Thursday. The Altuzarra capsule then hits J.Crew's 5th Avenue store Monday, April 23; Pamela Love's capsule will be available May 17 and Creatures of the Wind's on June 14.

Altuzarra told Vogue his striped collection was inspired by the clothes Jean Seberg wore in Breathless and by pictures of "Brigitte Bardot walking around St-Tropez in espadrilles and a slouchy boy's sweater." Pamela Love — a jewelry designer by trade — created clothing for the collaboration as well: a shrunken jacket, a pair of distressed jeans, and a belt. Shane Gabier and Chris Peters, who design Creatures of the Wind, created a colorblocked twinset and a floral Summer dress.

While there's no information yet on how much the pieces from Love and Creatures of the Wind will cost, Altuzarra's collection is priced between $145 for a striped dress and up to $345 for a pair of platform wedge espadrilles.

See all of the pieces from the Altuzarra collaboration here in the gallery.

>> Dakota Fanning, Lily Cole, Helena Christensen, and Diane von Furstenberg were among those who turned up to celebrate the start of the Tribeca Film Festival at Vanity Fair's annual kickoff party Tuesday night. Held at the New York State Supreme Courthouse — the steps of which glowed with thousands of tiny LED lights — the event was filled with nearly as many striking styles as it was big-name stars. Helena Christensen, Tory Burch, and Leelee Sobieski looked Spring-perfect in crisp white dresses; Sobieski, in a full-skirted Jil Sander gown, was especially stunning. Dakota Fanning looked charming in a hot pink Pre-Fall 2012 Lanvin cocktail frock, while even a leg injury and crutch couldn't stop Donna Karan from looking the picture of elegance in black layers and sculptural jewels. See all those — plus more of the evening's best looks — right here, in the slideshow.

>> After last season's all-black collection, Vera Wang is doing monochrome again — but this time, it's all about the red. Or, as the collection's title, "Mei Meng" — Chinese for "beautiful dreams" — suggests, perhaps it's all about the Chinese market. The brand plans on entering Asia this year, and bridal is the first push. "Vera is most known for her bridal," president Mario Grauso explained to WWD recently. "So we feel it is safest and easiest for us to lead with bridal." With red the traditional wedding color in China — it symbolizes prosperity, love, and joy — it makes sense then that these 15 Spring 2013 bridal dresses would come in so many shades of the hue. Brides-to-be in North America, however, do not fear; Wang will offer each gorgeous gown in ivory shades as well.