Phoebe Philo has just been named the Creative Director of Celine. Chloé fans are given permission to jump up and down. This apparently signifies that Bernard Arnault cares about all the brands in his stable at LVMH.

Pantone has released its Spring 2009 Colors. It involves fancy names and numbers.

Sephora is adding a little bit of the social media to its website with product reviews.

We also hope that Thom Brown becomes a brand juggernaut of epic proportions.

Fashion Week is getting more and more expensive for designers. Consumers are also buying less. This is a poor combination.

But even if the above suggests that ostentation is not in expensive designer phones are bigger than ever! This only reminds us we had our Black Berry stolen and must face 24 hours before the new one arrives. PANIC.

But apparently we are all partying and living it up at Fashion Week. To which we say REALLY? Don't you have to work?

Despite Isaac Mizrahi's noncompete with Target a few of his sketches for Liz Claiborne have made their way into the open. The consensus from WWD is that they are fresh and very much in the spirit of Isaac.

Lynn Yaeger prepares for Fashion Week at Zara in order to avoid the fuel versus food dilemma.

Which might be fine since apparently it's all just a case of history repeating with this season's trends.

If we are all just lemmings then its no surprise
Japan Fashion Week is being called quirky and derivative.

Or Japan's independent shows are getting lambasted because its just too expensive for many designers to show in the traditional style, taking away valuable resources for real creativity to spark. Even a bare bones show costs $100,000. To which we say just host a nice intimate presentation guys, your editor REALLY prefer the low key stuff. Though we still prefer at least a market appointment not just an video.

In retail news, Chanel is getting more space at Saks and Bergdorfs, ostensibly because they need sage superstar brands in this downturn.

Moschino has opened a new Meatpacking District Flagship. It will carry the full collection as well as diffussion lines like the inappropriately named Chic and Cheap which is only one of those things.

Minimalist lovers rejoice for Calvin Klein has finally gone ecommerce. And better late than never we say as the site will sell merchandise from the women’s and men’s better lines, including sportswear, coats, dresses, jeans, underwear, sunglasses and watches, as well as a selection from Calvin Klein Home, from bedding to table linens, flatware and glassware. The online channel is still one of the only growth areas in retail so we aren't surprised they are going straight for the better merchandise and not the limited volume designer goods. Predictably the site is managed by usability villains Createthegroup. Though we admit the site is much more functional than their usual FLASH heavy absurdities. But then Calvin Klein wants to move product and look good so we bet the executives pushed pretty hard for something a little more normal. Charmingly to kick off e-commerce, CKI is planning a sweepstakes program next month, where shoppers registering on the site can qualify for a $1,000 online shopping spree.

Despite tough times for retail, WWDMAGIC is in its 75th year and still going strong. Juniors in particular is resilient. Though not according to everyone. But beware because those stimulus checks are spent.

J.Crew is getting much more sophisticated. First we had its new menswear store in Tribeca and now its accessories are taking it to the next level. According to WWD, J.Crew's new accessories catalog (arriving September 2nd) displays fine Norwegian leather and Italian calfskin handbags, metallic totes, satin fleur clutches, satchels with a wax patina that changes with age, gold and beaded necklaces, pearls and pared down colors.

Patrick Robinson's fall collection for the Gap hit stores, and, despite near unanimous praise from the fashion industry, a few have started to question the sell-through. A story in the NY Times today articulates, hilariously, the fact that the only line wrapping around the corner on the day the fall collection hit the store was one for Abercrombie & Fitch, down the street. But c'mon. We all know being that popular and paying your Con Ed bill on time are separate pursuits in this industry.

Proctor & Gamble Co. and Anne Taylor Loft are killing two birds with one stone. The new ads feature a model wearing Anne Taylor Loft clothing while holding a bottle of detergent. Furthermore the ads tell readers that over two thirds of Ann Taylor Loft clothing is machine washable (women spend 1,500 a year on dry cleaning) and that Total Care Tide & Total Care Downy will help that delicate (Ann Taylor) clothing hold up. You know what they say; when life serves you lemons recession...

In other news...there's a quality rumor circling a Yves Saint Laurent handbag and a suspicious store clerk. The average women's size in the U.S. is a 14 and most designers offer a size run that, at most, goes up to 12. All but a few, that is, who see dollar signs in offering larger sizes. Lush is selling sex or, that's what their signs lead you to believe.

Anna Sui's trying to save the garment district with a t shirt. A photo gallery of chicsters who wear the shirt during fashion week is expected--one of us will have to put such a thing together. To understand the fight all you need to know is the word "zoning" and you're pretty much caught up to speed. We're going to bedazzle that t-shirt with exclamation points.

Camilla Staerk has opened her first brick and mortar location in Nolita on Mulberry Street. We were worried about the cool quotient for a second there but balance has been restored. Anyway, Jane Mayle is probably moving on to bigger and better things.

The first american apparel is poised to open in Beijing this weekend. They've been dealing with some bureaucracy issues including the Chinese government not allowing them to register their name as the direct translation of "american appareal" because of a copyright law which prohibits brands from using a country name in their brand name. Given all this, we're interested to see how the provocative, sometimes grossly insensitive, advertising is accepted.

Los Angeles Fashion Week, purportedly, will lose its backing by IMG after the Spring shows this October. Speculation as to the outcome of such a change include the idea that LA Fashion Week could become something of a music festival. Yeah, that makes sense to us.