Miu Miu redesigned their site this past end of Summer and it was a refreshing change from previous efforts. We don’t fault them for the redesign as we’re guilty of the same crime. Their new Spring spread that they published this past December though is promising enough to take a good hard look. The mantra is 40 new looks for Spring. Didn’t take the time to indeed see if their were 40 complete looks but the video montage showing the first 5 (and then some) are more than worthy of your time:

online

Here’s a mild sampling of what we’re reading on fashion blogs this week:

55 Secret Street would like your take on Vivienne Tam’s New MP3 Player.

Stiletto Jungle found 12 fabulous Kale handbags, all 40% off.

Bag Bliss: Discover the Thomas Wylde Handbag Sample Sale!!

Bag Snob - Louis Vuitton has bags for your 5 year old!

Ring in the New Year with a Solid Gold facial from Beauty Snob!

Coquette loves Twelve by Twelve’s trendy outfits to fit your 2008 post-holiday budget crunch!

Small changes + big results help you keep your New Year’s beauty resolutions - Fashiontribes

Fashion Indie’s New Years Resolution is to change the world through fashion. Wanna help?

KRiSTOPHER wants your New Year to vibe like sequined Christian Louboutin shoes.

Papierblog visits the Exoticism exhibit at the FIT Museum and reports back.

Just in time for that New Year’s resolution, read Second City Style’s review of follow-up cookbook "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch

How Posh Spice’s Bob Invaded Hollywood (And Why You’re Next!)

WELOVEBEAUTY.com is giving away 100 pieces of Anastasia’s NuBrow - Brow Enhancing Serum! Sign up to be a WLB Insider or refer a friend to win!

eBeautyDaily discusses 10 predictions for beauty trends in 2008.

Recently attended FIT Museum’s Exoticism exhibition. It was unveiled to the public this past November but got a chance to take a look at it up close in December.

With a handful of fashion exhibits at the various regulars you find that curators tend to recycle exhibits and throw in items we’ve seen before. Exoticism is dramatically different in that most (if not all) the fashions on display are displayed in a manner not seen before. The exhibit focuses on the fashion influence of different cultures over the past 250 years. The approach is straightforward, designers can get their inspiration from the simplest things to sources that are far flung and stretched at different corners of the globe. This exhibit focuses on the far flung sources and a myriad of cultures.

At first glance the piece by Dries Van Noten is not what one thinks about when looking at what FIT describes for the overall exhibition as:

moved from the Eurocentrism of the colonial past to the hybridity of today’s multicultural “global village.”

but if Eurocentrism is a reason for disqualification then the exhibition would not be as good as it truly is. Pieces from Alexandre Herchcovitch, Yeohlee, Vivienne Tam, Manish Arora and even having African designers Xuly Bët and Stoned Cherrie makes the whole thing one of the most well-rounded fashion exhibitions on multi-culturalism seen in a long time. The exhibition runs until May 7, 2008.

location: Seventh Avenue at 27 Street. New York City 10001-5992 | website

A sneak peak of what’s publishing later today (and throughout the New Year’s week on Papierdoll). Photographer Anne-Marie Michel rages on with a fun shoot featuring designers Kristian Aadnevik, Pringle, Betsey Johnson, Nichole de Carle. We are very partial to Kristian Aadnevik. He was featured on iPapier awhile back during London Fashion Weel.

The dates of fashion week have been announced (actually awhile back and we couldn’t be a bit happier) more sleepless nights, more photographers stepping over each other, more swag. Here’s to hoping that I actually get one giftbag this season. Here are the dates in rapid fire succession:

February 1 - 8: New York
February 10-15: London (incidentally the link on their view schedule page doesn’t work) Let’s hope the dysfunction ends there. Vivienne Westwood also makes a return to her native fashion city
February 16-23: Milan (we’re implementing a Valentino-cam in a gawkeresque attempt to spot the designer wherever he may be)
Febryary 24 - March 2: Paris

Interspersed throughout the fashion weeks will be other shows including the men’s show in Milan which takes place around the same time as London’s show, the Spring/Summer Haute Couture shows in Paris, which takes place January 21st through the 24th.