This time last week I was remarking how Michael Vobracht really came into his own at Bill Blass creating a resurgence of sort in the line’s fortunes. I lamented his departure to walk the earth and find himself. His reasoning for leaving was that he wanted to create art and pursue his own work. That was Bill Blass’ loss at the time. The rumblings were going on for awhile now as to who would replace him and the who became Peter Som for the women’s line and Michael Bastion for the men’s line. Vogue UK reported that Peter Som has officially been tapped to head the design efforts at the company.

For his own imprint this Fall, Som showed that he was adept at layering and creating texture while at the same time moving away from the sugary sweet looks that dominated past collections. There is a distinct difference between what you see from Volbracht and Som. I expect this difference to show up at fashion week, quoted from the same Vogue article Som states that

“…My current focus is to evolve and modernise the brand by incorporating my own aesthetic, while staying true to Mr Blass’ vision and legacy.”

Vollbracht seemed less worried about staying in tune with Blass is vision and more with laying a different direction.

Here’s a link to Peter Som’s fall line at Style.com. This could theoretically be a preview of what’s to come at Bill Blass.

Went to the Francois and Marithe’ Girbaud Le Jean debut party last week and still trying to wrangle an interview (should be coming soon…I hope). There were a smattering of great pieces here and there. All in all it was pretty uneventful not because of the designs, they were different. Mostly because of the crowd, and I’ll get into that. The news was basically that Girbaud is moving away from hip-hop and is trying to embrace a wider audience (or he was embracing the wider audience and hip-hop just naturally fell in). You couldn’t tell that completely from seeing the line, but there is definitely a move away from the baggy, pocket-low jeans that you’re used to seeing. Now keep in mind that I said the event was… uneventful.

Until…

David Foxley of The New York Observer posted something on their blog a couple of days later that was DEAD ON. His jist was primarily that although Girbaud is moving away from the hip-hop crowd, he still had a decidely hip-hop audience. It also didn’t help matters that the DJ at the event was spinning…hip-hop.

I can understand his point. There’s nothing wrong with the genre except that when it comes to fashion (and everything else for that matter) they are particularly fickle. Today you’re in, and tomorrow you’re 50 cent. I digress. In this instance, I am inclined to say that Girbaud doth protests too much. If he’s not catering to the crowd, then the crowd would not have shown up. It really was a decidedly hip-hop audience. Well dressed, edgy, in the know hip-hop youth were everywhere. So what did Girbaud tell the Observer? Here’s a quote:

“To be just connected in the hip-hop stuff is other brand; there is people like Russell Simmons or Damon Dash or Puff Daddy or all this kind. I’m not the rap people. Sure, we introduced the baggy jeans, we introduced stonewashed and all this stuff in the 60’s or 70’s, I never target just to be ethnic. It’s stupid.”

-Damn

You can read the full article here.

Yes they are. So a bunch of designers are suing (or have sued) Topshop not the least being Chloe. A bunch of bunch of designers are suing Forever 21 (and with good reason methinks, but I won’t delve deeper as I would hate to get sued). Levis is suing Ralph Lauren for alledgedly copying stitching (highly doubtful), and also suing Abercrombie & Fitch. Some designers are saying eff it and are creating lower end lines to combat the rampant copying.

I don’t see a clear cut solution for the copying problem. I will tell you this, LVMH threw in the towel a long time ago with the whole Chinatown thing. While people still buy the bags, they’d opt for the real thing the first chance they get AND if the prices come down a little bit or alternatives from the same designer are offered, the real ones would clean up.

Getting away, the perfect “it” jeans, fall previews and the Dominican blowout, all in this week’s On the Fashion web.

Nichelle at 55 Secret Street weighs in on the mystery and the magic of The Dominican Blowout.

Does the amazing variety of “It” jeans have you all confused about what’s right for you? Stiletto Jungle has a helpful video that spills the who - what - wear of 5 super hot, must-have denim styles.

Bag Bliss reveals the war between Forever21 and Gwen’s Harajuku Purses.

Shop Fall trends with Bag Snob, 5 tips to update your Bag Wardrobe!

Beauty Snob- asks: Can you really walk your way to lean legs with the “Fit Flop“?

Coquette loves it when high-tech meets fashion luxe with the debut of Louis Vuitton’s new line of iPhone cases in New York.

Time to go shopping! Fashiontribes picks the top 10 fall fashion must-haves.

Girlawhirl thinks Stella McCartney’s Glastonbury tank is the epitome of summer cool

LA-Story rocks the mod, edgy, “old-world” vibe of the hot jewelry from Soffer Ari.

Second City Style is gearing up for our favorite fashion season. First on the fall fashion radar? Femme-fatale for one and all.

Just because it’s hot it doesn’t mean you can dress like a freak. Check-out SheFinds’ Top Five Summer Fashion Pet Peeves

No need to pack away your favorite summer pieces once the temperature drops, StyleBakery.com tells us 10 summer pieces to wear into fall.

Gotta Getaway: Stylehive says you gotta getaway to Rayavadee Hotel in Thailand, a luxury seaside resort flanked by majestic cliffs, beautiful white sands, and clear blue waters of the Andaman Sea.

Mariah and Beyoncé say “yes” to jewelry at the beach, but < a href="http://www.jewelry-weblog.com/50226711/beach_jewelry_in_or_out.php" target="_blank">The Jewelry Weblog has to think twice about this fashion jewelry trend. Is it in or out?

I just keep saying to myself…only 1 and a half more years. Then I read the Washington Post today and looked a little different on the Bush Administration. Al Kamen of the Washington Post delves into the fashion Dos and Don’t at the Bush White House. According to Kamen, the Bush administration has placed fashion signs at staff and visitor entrances stating the general dress code. Here’s what it reads like:

NO JEANS, SNEAKERS, SHORTS, MINISKIRTS, T-SHIRTS, TANK TOPS and Kamen goes on to mention that in blod face and caps — “NO FLIP FLOPS.”

A couple of musings in no particular order. It’s great to see the administration concerned with what people wear considering all the super important things going on. You know, like that pesky war in Iraq, health care, some terrorist hiding out in Afghanistan that wants to make sure fashion week doesn’t happen in New York (I threw that one in). On the other hand I see the logic in telling people, hey, you’re in the White House, try not to look like you’re going to the beach.

It’s similar to one of my pet peeves here in New York: the tourists that wear shorts, a backpack and dirty sneakers to a Broadway play on a Friday night. That’s the snob in me talking and… I digress.

Kamen goes on to point out how the Clinton rules were much more lax. I’m thinking mini-skirts were not only allowed, they were encouraged. Go Bill! I steer clear of making any further political statements, but you can read the whole article here.