Chic Report

At last! Jason Wu’s exclusive line for Nordstrom, Miss Wu, has finally hit stores and the www. The line is more downtown-ish than we’re used to and takes on Wu’s vision of the modern gamine with a hint of sixties inspiration. The collection is also a wee bit more affordable than Wu’s regular line with prices ranging from $195 for a blouse to $795 for a leather biker jacket. Go on now! Have a looky!

Just a few short hours ago, rumor had it that current golden boy Alexander Wang tapped CR editrix Carine Roitfeld to take on the role of stylist at his new très grand post as designer for Balenciaga. Alas, the buzz got nipped in the bud by NY Times’ Eric Wilson, who went straight to Roitfeld for the truth: that’s a nay, alas.

Who wouldn’t want their picture taken with Martha? Last night Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez had their moment with the Queen at the WWD Apparel & Retail Summit dinner at The Plaza. It was a good thing.

The NY Post has revealed their ’13 Under 30′ list of the female NYC power players who are rocking it all before hitting the ancient age of thirty. Naturally quite a few of our fashion peeps made the list including Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine, publicist Sydney Reising, Sally LaPointe, Alessandra Codinha, Danielle Snyder, and DJ Chelsea Leyland. Better luck next year, loves.

Following in the footsteps of Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin, Nicholas Kirkwood has ventured into outfitting the soles of men. We first caught wind of the plans for the new menswear line back in October, when Kirkwood broke the news to us about the future launch.

It’s another extreme close-up cover for Cara Delevingne whose mug appears on Love’s latest edition. The busy model is featured in the mag’s “The Clean Issue” (huh?) out on February 4th. We’ll avoid any punny comments about how we love the cover. (But we do!)

Dame Helen Mirren continues to prove that you can be sexy at any age (She must read Bazaar!) in a red Escada gown over the weekend. The Queen was at the Palm Springs International Film Festival where she picked up the “International Film Star” award and showed her appreciation for the honor by thanking the crowd in different languages. Ain’t nothing like a Dame.

Bottega Veneta nabbed Peter Lindbergh to shoot their Spring campaign that was shot at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. “There are few photographers who can convey the range of emotion and personality that Peter can,” according to Bottega’s creative director, Tomas Maier. “We are both interested in escaping the clichés and conventions of fashion imagery.

It’s not every day that the legend that is Charo is seen walking the red carpet with the likes of Naomi Watts, Bradley Cooper, and Helen Mirren, but that’s exactly what happened over the weekend in Palm Springs. Ms. Coochie-Coo herself joined the A-listers at the 24th Annual Palm Springs Film Festival on Saturday night and (obviously) stole the show. Could a Cinema Society screening sighting be next?

Milly’s new collab is b-a-n-a-n-a-s. Designer Michelle Smith is whipping up a summery, 60-ish item collection with Banana Republic’s creative director and executive VP of design Simon Kneen that will drop in BR stores this May. The choc de chocs? The new Hamptons-inspired line caters to women and men—a first for Smith. Expect one original print, plus six updated Milly classics.