Yesterday we got to check out a whole boatload of fresh fall Raf Simons and Helmut Lang. However commercial, it kind of put us in a darker mood. You know, dark for us--we typically gravitate towards the nerdy stuff. We're going to cover London Fashion Week this year and though we always report on the shows remotely, we feel a refresher course is in store. So we went on one of those endless fashion tangents that starts with Helmut Lang and ends with something much more avant garde--we had on our minds the London coverage and the clothing from yesterday. We ended with Gareth Pugh. We ended with the picture you see at left and realized that it's amazing and scary and we really like him. So, a few things you might like to know about the designer. He's British (obviously), he's 25 or so, he's most likely more broke than most designers (who are mostly broke) because none of his fashions were for sale until his Spring 07 collection, he's stocked at Dover Street Market, and Anna Wintour (and therefore Style.com and, er, everyone else) approves. That picture is the stuff of nightmares and we can only hope for more of this come September. Sorry there are no spreads to offer, that cape isn't exactly Shopbop-friendly.

Last week, we met with English designer Sue Stemp for a pre-fashion week interview and tour of her studio. This will be the sixth collection for Sue Stemp, who is known for her English boheme sensibilities and New York know-how. This season, Stemp draws inspiration from the famous restaurant, Maxim's, for its art nouveau interior and its social scene in the 1970's.