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.

Jans Laugesen showed his A/W 08 collection today at London Fashion Week. Laugesen's collections are currently sold at London's cutting edge Dover Street Market, and are destined to be featured in the next pop up at Earnest Sewn in New York. Laugesen has channeled a slim, masculine silhouette for his fall 08 collection. The aesthetic is not unlike Karl Lagerfeld's personal style where strong shoulder tailoring, leather gloves, and high necklines make for a Bladerunner meets Bullfighter style. Laugesen's collection is also align with the mood of London Fashion Week which has proven to be much more severe than that of New York. Frankly, if you're long and lean (and shy away from anything described with the words 'rosette' or 'bubble') this collection is your ticket to fall 08.