Carmen, Chris, Christian, Elisa, Jack, Jillian, Kit, Kevin, Marion, Rami, Ricky, Simone, Steven, Sweet P, Victorya. These are the names that will be on our fashion reality tongues for the next couple of months as Project Runway season 4 hits the tube. Now mind you, we haven’t seen one episode yet, but it seems as if Season 4 is a bizarro world version of Season 1. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the photo above and compare. Something fishy is going on. New contestant Carmen looks like a wicked bizarro version of Kara Saun, new contestant Christian looks like a (gasp!) feminine bizarro version of Austin Scarlett, new contestant Jillian looks like an expensive version of Wendy Pepper. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks that this is somehow all too coincidental.

See all the Season 4 contestants here.

One of the fashion weeks we’ve really been meaning to get to but have somehow inexplicably avoided has been Paris. You would think we would have gone, if only to be window shoppers. New York, London, Singapore, Amsterdam, Berlin, yup we’ve all been there. Paris no way Jose. Maybe next season. Anyway, I was checking out some of the backstage photos on Hint and they’re really making me want to get my passport in order. Take a look.

Read a rather depressing article on the New York Times this morning about the lack of diversity in the fashion industry that left me basically saying, yup that about sums it. The writer, Guy Trebay, looked at the shows in New York, Milan, London and Paris and found that the models of color were noticeably absent. I wonder if the fashion press noticed the 800 pound gorilla in the room as well or if they simply said, “look an 800 pound gorilla, OHHH floral print!” The attention span might be indeed that short that they simply overlooked an obvious fact. It might also be a situation where their intention to ignore was deliberate. Maybe they knew what was going on and simply said nothing. Maybe it was a conspiracy. I’m going to go in the opposite direction and say that although Trebay makes a valid point in his article when he says,

“Although black women in the United States spend more than $20 billion on apparel each year, according to estimates by TargetMarketNews.com, it was hard to discern an awareness of this fact on the part of designers showing in New York, where black faces were more absent from runways than they have been in years.”

Break it down even more and you find that in the European shows their was nary a black model to be found. Look at the Chloe show for example, it was a cornucopia of non-models of color. I may have more to be upset about as well because I am Hispanic and if the numbers of black models were few the number of Hispanic models were 0.

I’m not sure I would go along the same stream of Trebay and say that there is this blatant racism going on in the industry. This may be me being naive but I think it has more to do with geography than race. Designers are obsessed at this time with Eastern European models. Not the white models from Spain, England, Italy. Not the models with roundish faces. They don’t want the All-American girl. They want Svetlana. They want a blank slate, waifish model whose beauty won’t steal attention in the slightest from the clothes. That is the trend, and maybe the trend works to the detriment of any other type of model.

He does mention the 70s where the runway shows of that time were a kaleidescope of models from all different races particularly featuring black models. He names names when he talks about the shows of the 70s quoting J ALexander who says:

“Years ago, runways were almost dominated by black girls,” said J. Alexander, a judge on “America’s Next Top Model,” referring to the gorgeous mosaic runway shows staged by Hubert de Givenchy or Yves Saint Laurent in the 1970s.

Lusting after Blake Lively’s grey Gossip Girl boots? Stiletto Jungle shows you where to pick up a pair.

Bag Bliss has the latest on the Marc Jacobs and Richard Prince for Louis Vuitton Designer Handbag Project from the Spring 2008 runway.

Ice ice baby! Bag Snob exclusive- the Ice Cube by Chanel!

October is Pink Month- Do you think before you pink? Beauty Snob gives tip on how to pink wisely!

Coquette loves the stylish Origami Bijou by Cindy Ng.

The Breed have been making the indie scene seem really lux with their collection of must have knits and layered looks. Check out Fashion Indie’s Breed-iful Picks.

Forget about It-Bags and Must-have heels! Tattoos are the accessories du jour for the fashion crowd. Glamchic points out the best of the bunch.

Kristopher says this boss Devi Kroell box clutch is how every woman should style.

It’s all tantrums and tiara’s in the fashion world and yet again Marc Jacobs is in the middle of it. Get the lowdown at My Fashion Life!

It’s a smackdown between Milan and Paris! Second City Style picks a winner in the battle of the Spring RTW fashion weeks.

Get ready to click for a cure - StyleBakery.com has collected a slew of guilt-free goodies benefitting various Breast Cancer Awareness charities for the month of October.

Need a vacation? Check out Stylehive’s TravelSlides: The Hotel at Esperanza, Cabo San Lucas where you can get spa services amidst outdoor pools and gardens, indoor steam caves, and waterfalls.

Catch up on the latest web jewelry design news from The Jewelry Weblog.

We Love Beauty goes behind the scenes at an Allure Magazine Photoshoot

eBeautyDaily reviews the newest beauty book on the market, Beauty Confidential by Nadine Haobsh (better known to us blog lovers as Jolie in NYC).

We’re very excited about what’s going on 500 miles north of New York City. It could be because our publisher is a Montrealphile or it could just be because the designers are actually good. The video on the site is pretty interesting because the fashions are very similar to what was shown in New York. The intent behind what I am saying is that the shows seem very polished. We may have to fly out to Montreal for the next showing.

On the web: Montreal Fashion Week