The English are coming, the English are coming! Oh—no, wait, it’s the French. Racked reports there are signs of life at Isabel Marant’s (pictured) long-awaited Soho store: A French stick-figure drawing announces progress. [Racked]

And while Marant’s going resolutely 2-D, Burberry’s getting the Avatar treatment—the label is live-casting its upcoming London fashion week show in 3-D. [Fashionologie]

Christie’s will hold a special auction for Earth Day this April, with profits to be divided among four environmental charities. Here’s your chance to snap up a Maya Lin, an Olafur Eliasson, or a special date with Hugh Jackman, all for a good cause! (One guess which one we’re gunning for.) [WWD]

The Times reviews the history of werewolves/wolfmen, perhaps the progenitors of the grizzled beardo look currently in vogue. Team Edward, meh—give us Team Lon Chaney! [NYT]

And if you’ve ever wondered whether models need to look good, have name recognition, and dress stylishly to book jobs, take it from Storm Models founder (and Kate Moss discoverer) Sarah Doukas: They do. [Models Off Duty]

Photo: Niviere / Sipa Press

You may not know who Ian Edelman is, but you’re about to enter his world. Edelman (pictured, with Victor Rasuk) is the creator of the new HBO series How to Make It in America, which stars Bryan Greenberg, Rasuk, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, and Lake Bell in the red-hot center of the downtown New York art and fashion scene. Locations such as Avenue and La Esquina will feel suggestively familiar to members of the city’s real-life fashion set; so too will series story lines about, say, day-jobbing at Barneys and trying to launch a denim line. Here, Edelman talks with Style.com about American dreams, New York stories, and what he learned from the Pegleg designers.

This show strikes me as possibly autobiographical. Is Ben you? Did you make an abortive effort to launch a denim line in your twenties?
Actually, the idea for the show came from me reading about all these American success stories and getting inspired. I mean, look at Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lifshitz from the Bronx, he gets his foot in the door of the fashion industry and through sheer, you know, vision and hustle, winds up creating the first lifestyle brand. He’s an icon and a gazillionaire. And I started wondering, how would that story play out in the world I know?

Which is where the autobiographical tone comes in, I suppose. You do a good job setting up that downtown skate/art demimonde.
Yeah, well, I grew up in New York, skating, playing basketball, and I wanted to show that world off. But I’ll tell you who did have a clothing line, if you want autobiography—Stephen Levinson, who’s the executive producer of this show and of Entourage. HBO put us together after they bought the pitch for How to Make It in America, and one of the ideas he brought to the table was this story of trying to start a sportswear brand, because that was something he’d done, pre-Hollywood.

Did your original concept for the show change much through development?
The show did turn into more of an ensemble piece than I’d imagined.

I guess I’m mostly wondering if the show you’d conceived got Entourage-ed.
Well, obviously, they’ve had a ton of success with Entourage, and so there were conversations like, OK, here’s something we know works for Entourage, story-wise; is there a way we can use that? And there are similarities. But there’s a huge difference, too: How to Make It in America is not wish-fulfillment television. These guys are strivers; they get into a club because they know the bouncer, not because anybody’s a movie star.

One of the other big differences that struck me is that the female characters in How to Make It in America are much more fully realized than they ever are on Entourage. Was that a goal, going in?
Not an explicit goal, but we knew that Rachel—Lake Bell’s character—was going to be a core character, and so of course we had to invest in her point of view. I think that character brings up another big difference between this show and Entourage…I mean, Entourage is almost totally focused on the Hollywood, industry part of L.A. Whereas we cross the borders of New York—there’s Rachel, who works downtown, but who has this very north-of-14th Street aspect to her, and there’s Luis Guzmán’s character, who’s a Dominican gangster trying to go straight, and there’s another key character who’s a hedge fund guy, and so on. That was essential to me, showing the way these different worlds intermingle. Which they do, in New York.

You’ve been living in L.A. for almost a decade. Were there things you’d written about New York—and this particular cool-kid world within New York—that you found you needed to change once you got back on the ground to shoot?
I was definitely having anxiety about that, so I flew out before we shot the pilot and spent a few days hanging out with the kids from Pegleg. That reassured me. The places have changed, the names have changed, but for the most part what they’re doing is not that different from what I used to do. It’s the same grind. That’s how I met [Kid] Cudi, actually—hanging out with the Pegleg guys.

I was going to ask about that…
I think he may have still been working at BAPE when they introduced us. I kind of knew who he was—I’d heard some mix tape stuff—but long story short, it was good timing. We got lucky.

A classic New York story, that. Like Susan Seidelman casting Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan.
I’ll tell you another classic New York story. So, of course, these characters are all amalgams of people I know. Friends, friends of friends, people I went to school with, whatever. You steal a little here and a little there. And Cam, Victor Rasuk’s character, he’s got a bit of this guy I used to skate with—this Dominican kid, he and I would run around town together, a couple of ragamuffins. Well, lo and behold, there’s this woman at HBO, and her husband knows this guy. I’m sitting in a meeting with her and we figure out this connection and we laugh and that’s the end of it. A while later, I run into some friends. And they tell me that this guy—my old Dominican friend—is going around, telling everyone he knows that HBO is doing a show based on his life.

You should give him a cameo. John Varvatos got one… But actually, speaking of Varvatos, that raises another question. I’ve seen the first four episodes of the show, and thus far, I’m impressed with its garmento vérité. But I wonder what will happen when—or if—the story lines head into the runway fashion world.
I’m intrigued by that world, and I kind of like the idea of Ben (Bryan Greenberg) and Cam trying to, like, scam their way through Paris fashion week. I could see that happening. But not anytime soon. They just started climbing the ladder. And they’ve got a ways to go.

—Maya Singer

Photo: Courtesy of HBO

Fashion Meets Football was the name of the party, and in some cases, it seemed as if it might’ve been a first meeting. “I was quizzing people on who’s playing,” reported host (and Style.com contributor) Darrell Hartman, “and one girl guessed the Idaho Indians.” No Indians this year—the only Indians in sports play baseball for Cleveland, and Idaho doesn’t have an NFL team—but a robust crowd of designers, PR types, stylists, and everyone else we’ll soon see in the NYFW bleachers crowded into Soho House last night to watch New Orleans best Indianapolis at the Super Bowl. Around the sets, a die-hard crew of actual fans—with fellow hosts Jeff Halmos and Sam Shipley front-and-center (pictured)—sat rapt and offered direction to those of us without the expertise to follow along. Vena Cava’s Lisa Mayock, for one, was well attired for the evening, in a vintage Escada blouse printed with linebackers, but confessed that her gridiron knowledge ended there. (We remembered she’s dressed the part before.) Still, the cheers were heartfelt when the underdog Saints came out on top. Not included in that final chorus: Dawson’s Creek (and, less famously but more relevantly, Varsity Blues) star James Van Der Beek, who we’ll crown the MUP for Most Unlikely Partygoer. Like the chicken wings, he’d been there, but had long since disappeared.

—Matthew Schneier

Photo: Billy Farrell/Patrick McMullan

How’s this for a Love letter? To coincide with its already much discussed third issue—yes, that would be the one with the naked supermodel covers—the U.K.-based glossy has filmed a video valentine featuring a few good (half-naked) women. Created by visual effects artist James Lima (who also worked on a little movie called Avatar) and the mag’s own Katie Grand, this project aims to redefine the fashion film as we know it.

Style.com is thrilled to be premiering the full video this Valentine’s Day, February 14. In the meantime, here’s a brief trailer to whet your appetite (fashion fans will be pleased to note that the few clothes that do appear on screen are all by Prada).

As it turns out, Band of Outsiders isn’t the only label feeling nautical. Jeremy Scott is on the boat wave (sorry), too: He’s created a limited-edition shirt for an upcoming exhibition of interiors from the thirties transatlantic ocean liner the S.S. Normandie at the South Street Seaport Museum. The ship included a dining room to seat 700—complete with glass columns by Lalique, which is also contributing a limited-edition ring for the exhibit—a winter garden and aviary, and Art Deco fittings and furnishings by Hermès, Jean Patou, and Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. In its day, the ship ferried Hemingway (Ernest, not Dree), Dietrich, Disney, Dalí, and even the von Trapp family between Paris and New York. As a guy who’s shown in Paris and, now this season, is returning to New York, Scott knows a thing or two about intercontinental travel. His Deco dame-inspired tee may not have been fancy enough for a first-class dinner on the old Normandie, but it’ll more than do you for the CDG-JFK flight—or, in Jeremy’s current case, one from LAX.

$30, available beginning February 15 at the South Street Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton St., NYC, (212) 748-8733, www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org; Decodence: Legendary Interiors and Illustrious Travelers Aboard the S.S. Normandie runs at the museum from February 25 through January 2011.

—Matthew Schneier

Photo: Courtesy of Jeremy Scott

Rare Vintage owner Juliana Cairone (pictured) recently jetted off to Hong Kong to curate an exhibition for Lane Crawford’s flagship. Below, she reports on her first visit to the city, the best head massage worldwide, and the pains of wearing a cool few million on your neck.

48 hours in Hong Kong, 32 hours on the plane. But business class on Cathay Pacific eases that pain and gives me a good chance to catch up on films, like The Informant! with Matt Damon (loved his Michael Moore-sounding voiceover) and An Education, which is brilliant! So nice to see a film where the female lead is smart, funny, and engaging. There are too few smart roles for women in Hollywood. And now Carey Mulligan is a multi-nominee!

It’s dark when I arrive, so unfortunately I can’t see our approach to the famous (or infamous) Hong Kong Kai Tak International Airport, which is surrounded by mountains and Victoria Harbor. But frankly, once you’ve flown to St. Bart’s on a tiny plane (after flying over a mountain and landing on a short runway), then you’re really ready for anything.

I wake up in the morning at the “old” Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and I rush for a shampoo and blow-dry at the salon. I could have stayed there all day! It is the best head massage I have ever had, and between that and the jet-lag, I am so relaxed I can’t think how I’m supposed to focus on my interviews at Lane Crawford for The New Vintage exhibit I am curating at their flagship store. But when I arrive, I am really happy to see couture pieces from Rare Vintage mixed with jewelry from Vera Wang, Erickson Beamon, Miriam Haskell, and a new favorite, Shourouk. It made the couture pieces from the 1950’s through the 1990’s look edgy and modern, which is exactly my philosophy on how vintage should be worn.

And what do I learn today at Lane Crawford? That I could never be a celebrity. My lips actually quiver by the end of the day after so many interviews with the Hong Kong press and posing for photographers. I have a newfound respect for and awe of actors on press junkets.

I rush back to the Mandarin in time to change for the New Vintage cocktail party. I’m longing to sneak up to the salon for an Imperial Jade Ritual, but it’s back to Lane Crawford, where I am introduced to a wonderful group of people from Hong Kong, Australia, England, and India. It seems that everyone has lived somewhere else but is always returning to Hong Kong. I meet Shirley Hiranand and Reyna Hariela, the two glamorous sisters behind the PR firm Bonvivant & Bellavita; Kim Robinson, the famed hair stylist; Audrey Chiu; and Marisa Zeman. I meet a woman who has never worn costume jewelry before and says: “It is not very relaxing going about anymore with two million dollars’ worth of jewelry around your neck.” I nod in sympathy.

Sunday is spent in the platinum suite with views of Victoria Harbor and meeting new clients. I go back to my hotel for the best wonton soup I have ever had and to pack. Since I have seen so little of Hong Kong on this first visit, I decide to go out and hop on the double-decker “ding ding” tram that takes me across the center of Hong Kong (below left)—for 25 cents! The city at night is completely lit up, decorated for the Chinese New Year, and looks slightly like the opening scene in Blade Runner.

Early the next morning, I leave for the airport, driving past the harbor and the mountains in the rain. I discover that my driver takes Queen Elizabeth to buy shoes when she is in Hong Kong and that she wears a size 41! Who knew?

—Juliana Cairone

When we interviewed Hussein Chalayan over the summer about his three-piece capsule collaboration with J Brand jeans, he was insistent that he’s not solely a conceptual designer. “That’s only the end of the show,” he explained of his past iconic and theatrical fashion moments. “The rest of it is wearable.” It seems that Chalayan enjoyed working within the streetwear construct. The designer is continuing with the denim partnership for Spring 2010, and even secretly included two of the new pieces (pictured above) at Sunday’s show. The new collab is far more expansive than the tiny debut. By popular demand, Fall’s legging style will carry over, but in new lighter fabrics and colors, both bright and neutral. There’s also a boyfriend shirt, loose chinos, a capri pant with an ankle zip, a high-rise city short, and a buttoned, knee-length denim skirt—all of which echo pieces in his main line for Spring. But unlike those, the second incarnation of Hussein Chalayan for J Brand hits stores in December.—Meenal Mistry

Photos: Marcio Madeira

Since my ancestors hail from Germany (well, some of them; I’m a complete American mutt), I experienced a sense of pride coming to Mercedes-Benz Berlin Fashion Week, where designers were showing their Spring/Summer 2010 collections a full two months before the same season starts in New York. Yes, we are an organized, responsible people. The re-launch of Boss Orange on Thursday night was my first show, and while the venue was miles away, the provided transportation was meager, and the publicists at the door were very far from friendly, the collection had some peppy elements, like his-and-her denim and cute T-shirts with sequined ball skirts, not to mention a front row that included VIPs Sienna Miller and Adrien Brody, the latter of whom was working a tight cardigan with nothing underneath but a bandanna. On Friday afternoon, Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf’s Designer for Tomorrow presentation—Germany’s answer to Project Runway—showcased eight finalists from a pool of more than 150 applicants and proved that Berlin is a city to keep an eye on. Later that night, you couldn’t help but keep an eye on the Michalsky show. What the clothes lacked in originality, the theatricality of the production more than made up for: Designer Michael Michalsky set up a Broadway-worthy stage complete with upside-down cars and a runway with a moat. I put on my tourist hat to see Knut the famous baby polar bear at the Berlin Zoo. Sadly, Knut ain’t a baby anymore, nor is he as cute, but a young elephant called Ko Raya, who has taken up residence at the zoo, fits that description. The highlight of the week, though, was seeing the legendary Veruschka at Kai Kühne. She looked severely chic (or chicly severe) in a full-body jersey thing, which had a turtleneck that rolled up rather fittingly into a dramatic hood.—Derek Blasberg

Photos: Derek Blasberg

An American in the Paris fashion world for nearly 25 years, Earl Pickens has stayed mostly under the radar, working with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and Lee Cooper. But his relative anonymity is about to end. Tomorrow, the 46-year-old designer will present about 60 haute denim looks under his own label, Url Pickens (a name he registered decades before the Internet era, he notes), in association with the French luxury heavyweight Bocage Avenir Couture. “The idea is to take denim high end, but with humility,” says Pickens. “It’s about giving it a French edge with fine tailoring and weaves, hand finishings, and the kind of workmanship you just don’t see any more. Some pieces look like linen—but they’re still denim.” Goodbye, boyfriend jeans; hello, “husband trousers.” Pickens is also gearing up to put the creativity he honed in France to work in his native land. Raised on Chicago’s South Side, Pickens fell into fashion as a teenager by sitting in on drawing classes at the Art Institute. Now, he’s said to be preparing a homecoming of sorts by overseeing creative direction at the recently rescued Chicago-based clothier Hartmarx, whose most loyal fan occupies the Oval Office.—Tina Isaac

Photo: Paul Morigi / WireImage

Assouline hosted a party for its latest coffee-table tome, Russian Style, at its Saint-Germain store in Paris last night, which drew the likes of Dasha Zhukova, Tatiana Santo Domingo, and Olympia Scarry. Beyond pics of a few military jackets and posses of girls in head-to-toe Balmain, which are two dominant influences over there (trust me!), the book is a more complete look at the many ways the country has inspired fashion. Think Fabergé, Erté, et al. “It’s more a full panorama of styles and techniques, and how Russian style has evolved from the ages,” explained its author, Russian L’Officiel’s editor in chief, Evelina Khromchenko. Fun fact: The editrix is the voice of Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly in the Russian version of The Devil Wears Prada.—Derek Blasberg

Photo: Derek Blasberg