The fashion industry lived large for a weekend at the Victoria's Secret 2008 fashion show in Miami at the newly restored Fontainbleu hotel. Aside from the lavishness of a pre-show concert and the hotel itself, the fashion show had an estimated budget of 15 million dollars. Check out our runway gallery, right here. 

Meanwhile, in New York...rumors are swirling that Nylon will fold and Blackbook has fired their Creative Director, Bryan Erikson, and replaced him with Jason Daniels who comes from a luxury background. 

Lutz & Patmos has recently launched their e-commerce site and it is, thankfully, straightforward and easy-to-use. Perhaps their wise decision to keep things simple stems from the fact that the brand has yet to open its own freestanding store. As a result, the site pivots on line sheet drawings (those which are given to buyers so that they can see what the garment actually looks like) and other intuitive selling functions. 

British designers Jasper Conran and Mulberry, among others, are campaigning for increased funding to London's design schools so that students can learn how to actually, well, make things. An ever-increasing focus on conceptual design (rather than production) has left many students without the skills necessary to work for a fashion company after graduation. 

 

It would seem that being nominated for a CFDA award just isn't enough anymore. Nominees are being given a book featuring Raquel Zimmermann in their various designs. Styled by Karl Templer and shot by Mikael Jansson, the keepsake came together under creative director Trey Laird. The book contains essays written by David Colman on all the honorees and abstract flower shots by Kenji Toma. This explains why the tables are so expensive at the benefit we imagine. Russian oligarchs aren't being hit by the recession. Chanel is opening up its second Moscow boutique. Cruise is so popular because of global warming. Every time a fashion writer pens this piece Al Gore sheds a tear and nobody gets their wings. The Scottish Fashion Awards have released their list of nominees. We are gunning for Jonathan Saunders for designer personally and not just because he has a hot new collaboration in the works for Target's Go International. But our favorite award is for best use of Tartan by an international designer. We love that it is news when a designer decides to go back to a traditional two show a year fashion schedule. The house of Blass is under pressure as NexCen looks to sell. Potential buyers being floated are Designer Licensing Holdings, Windsong Brands, Tharanco Group, headed by Haresh Tharani, and Iconix Brand Group. And what of poor Peter Som? It looks like he can keep his own line just fine. Richard Baker, ceo of NRDC Equity Partners, isn't interested in buying the Blass business, said a spokeswoman for Baker. NRDC owns Lord & Taylor and Creative Design Studio, and also has invested in numerous designers, including Peter Som, who designs Blass' women's line as well as his own. Lutz and Patmos collaborate with a train conductor? No it isn't a joke or a publicity stunt. Amtrak conductor Chris Waugh became friends with Lutz as she rode the train to her Rhode Island home and the Shoreliner sweater was born. Named after the East Coast train, the $495 hoodie sweater, which has five buttons on the side and raglan sleeves is being sold to benefit Parkinson's Disease Foundation