Nylon‘s Faran Krentcil scores the sneak peek of Target’s latest designer line, this one from Richard Chai, who formerly designed for Marc Jacobs and TSE before branching out into his own line. He’s a fan of layers, layers, and maybe a few more layers — and his Target line pushes more of the vests we’ve seen around this past spring, plus stretched-out man cardigans. The line will roll out this August.

The triple ruffle detailing on this oversized handbag, definitely caught my eye and I will personally tell you that the leather was buttery soft and the bag quite lightweight.

People.com recently reported that Ruslana Korshunova, noted as a Kazakhstan-born “Russian Rapunzel,” plunged to her death Saturday afternoon by leaping from her Lower Manhattan apartment window in an apparent suicide. Korshunova has appeared as cover girl on editions of French Elle and Russian Vogue, as well as in ads for Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Vera Wang and Christian Dior. It would appear that a love lost was the reason for Korshunova’s being despondent. Quoting poetry she’d placed on the Web, it seemed that matters of the heart served as the central theme to all her writing.
“Do not confuse love and desire,” she posted May 30. “Love is the sun, desire – only flash. Desire dazzles, and the sun gives life.”
[Image courtesy of People.com]

I know that anything by D&G can get a bit over the top, but I’m not sure if I would rock these cow printed themed D&G pumps.

Designers Dolce & Gabbana are up for an award from the Commercial Closet Association, an advocacy group promoting the positive portrayal of LGBT folks in advertising for a Flesh Gordon-style ad featuring a trio of six-packed Adonises examining a fourth sitting spread eagle on a gynecologist chair. Um, guys? If there was ever a straight man’s nightmare, this is it. My suggestion: pick up a copy of Maxim and read, read, read! Then revisit the black leather space cowboy concept and see if you still wanna go there.

Between Vogue Italia’s all black models issue, and the old, chubby models hitting the men’s show runways in Milan, it seems the collective fashion powers are finally waking up to the fact that peeps are sick of the homogeneous parade that’s presented as ultimate beauty. But are we really? How will we respond if fashion becomes populated with “real” people? Study after study shows that we discriminate against fugly people in our daily lives all the time. Tall men get more love than shorties, pretty, smart people earn more than “plain,” smart people. Even ugly defendants are more likely to be convicted than pretty ones. Think we’ll respond differently if “normal”-looking people (who aren’t celebrities) show up on fashion magazine covers? Magazine editors and designers have bet “no” for years. Ready to prove them wrong? [photo from Giorgio Armani Spring '09 Menswear Collection (l) and Yohji Yamamoto Spring '09 Menswear Collection courtesy of men.style.com]

Giorgio Armani has introduced a limited-edition collection of fine writing instruments called Giorgio Armani Pens. The first series is the Regal collection, released this month, which the designer describes as “a style which is calculated and knowing, designed with a deliberate recovery of a formal elegance drawn from the past but projected into the present.” Each Regal collection pen will be available in rollerball, ballpoint and traditional fountain models.
Well, well.
[Image courtesy of Fashion Week Daily]

You know only in America can one man go to jail for fighting dogs, another get off for sleeping with a minor–with the tape to prove it–and another who less than eighteen months ago was America’s Most Hated Baby Daddy, now get offered a seven-figure contract to be a spokesmodel for a designer collection (the Christopher Brian Collection.) And get this, the sperm bag has the nerve to NOT jump at the offer…stating that he is thinking it over!
Man, please, I’ve really got to start dating UP.

This black pump, initially caught my eye because of its shape and the way it wrapped around the ankle. Upon closer inspection I realized that the cuff was lined with what appears to be spandex! Nice.

The fashion buzz online this week is about how Vivienne Westwood sent down the runway a hairy, slightly chubby older man (or, what’s known as a ‘bear’ in gay speak) for her recent show. Sergio Lo Re is his name, and he has women and men alike swooning in spite of — or because of — not looking like every other starving male model with piercing, Zoolander eyes. Will everyone’s embracing of Sergio’s “natural man” pooch and slightly weather-beaten face start tongues wagging about a shift in male modeldom? Will agents from IMG be scouring construction sites in the Bronx before the next New York Fashion Week? Time will tell.