Calling all fans of The Selby: Todd Selby has enlisted Jonathan Zawada, the Australian artist, art director, and one half of the brain trust behind cult fashion rag Petit Mal, whose home he photographed on his recent trip to Sydney, to create this signed and numbered limited-edition poster. “I gave him a lot of my favorite images, and the little ones he just pulled off the website,” explains Selby of the collage. “It’s been fun seeing people’s reactions. I hear a lot of ‘there’s my sofa,’ and ‘that’s my cat.’ ” The posters will go for $25 on The Selby, starting this Friday. They’ll also be sold at Colette. Bonus tidbit: Zawada’s side project, fashematics.com, is about as addictive a Web site as we’ve come across lately.—Nicole Phelps

Photo: Courtesy of The Selby

Where does the sex kitten lead singer of one of the most critically reviled pop acts of all time go when her band breaks up? Why, to A.P.C., of course. Wendy James was hard on the heels of her first album post-Transvision Vamp when A.P.C. honcho Jean Touitou offered her his recording studio, which he keeps tucked away at A.P.C. headquarters in Paris. “It was just to play around in, really,” explains James. “The album I’d released, I’d worked on with Elvis Costello. It wasn’t mine, exactly. I needed some time to find my footing as a solo artist.” That was about 12 years ago. This spring, James returned to Touitou’s studio (the place where Jarvis Cocker and Wes Anderson recorded the music for The Fabulous Mr. Fox) and laid down the tracks for her forthcoming solo debut, I Came Here to Blow Minds. Here, James gives Style.com an exclusive preview of the song “King Hoodlum” and talks to us about Sonic Youth, Surface 2 Air, and selling T-shirts at Colette.

I Came Here to Blow Minds is the first “Wendy James” album, but since leaving Transvision Vamp, you’ve actually released two LPs under the name Racine. I’ve always been under the impression that Racine No. 1 and Racine 2 were solo projects. Not so?

Well, those albums were all me, certainly. Racine No. 1 came out of my building a studio at my house in London and teaching myself, you know, the technical side of things. Other than the guitar parts, I played every instrument on that album—it wasn’t until I was going on tour that I got a band together. And those folks came along and recorded the second album with me. But this one, I’ve moved on again. I think the name Racine served as a way to separate myself from Transvision Vamp—there’s that thing, when someone goes solo after being in a band that’s had some success, where the legacy of the band kind of trails off after them. Racine was kind of a useful disguise, and a conduit to what I’m doing now, owning up to my name. Sometimes you have to be quite brutal and walk away from everything you’ve previously achieved.

You live in New York City now. How did you wind up making this record in Paris?

The obvious thing would have been to find a place in the East Village, or go back to Sonic Youth’s studio in New Jersey, where I’d laid down the demos. But I wanted a change. A different city brings a different energy, no? I feel like, the French musicians, there’s a nice mix of influences—they know their Television and their Richard Hell, but on the other hand, there’s a pop sensibility at work, too. So I e-mailed Jean [Touitou] to see if the studio happened to be available—it’s private, you can’t book it commercially—and then when he said it was available, I e-mailed him again to see if he if he could point me to some of the hip young artists on the Paris scene. That’s how I found my guitarist, and then from there it was easy, no auditions or anything, just friends of friends and word-of-mouth. Which is always the best way to get a band together.

The studio is housed at A.P.C. headquarters. Was that a strange working environment?

Not at all. It was a nice little perk, actually, to take a break and snoop around and see what was coming to the A.P.C. store. And Jean would poke his head in from time to time and nod sagely.

As you say, you had demo’d the songs before you left for Paris. Did they change much in the studio?

When I say I had demos, I mean I’d sketched out all the parts. And then I sent the MP3s to my boys in Paris, so they knew what we’d be working on. You know, a guide—here’s the chorus, this is the hook, and so on. By the time a song is at that point, it ought to be able to write itself, in a way; it’s already got its own substance. I’m not someone who lets a song leave my bedroom without feeling like the substance is there. And you know you’re working with the right musicians when you’re in the studio together and you don’t have to explain anything—the guitarist comes in with a nice little Tom Verlaine guitar sound, because he just gets, deep down, that that’s what it should be. And when you’re working with the right musicians, you feel free to experiment, ‘let’s try this,’ ‘let’s try that.’ So the short answer to your question is, yes and no. The songs became themselves.

Surface 2 Air is doing the cover art for I Came Here. Was that another Paris connection?

No, a New York connection, in fact. Gordon Hull, from Surface 2 Air, was deejaying an event at the Annex with me a while back, and I liked the flyer he’d made. I had no idea he was part of this “thing.” I just commented, oh what nice artwork. And then through Gordon, I met Kai Regan, who’s shooting me.

You seem to be awfully lucky in the collaborators you stumble upon.

Some of it’s luck, undoubtedly, but I genuinely feel like the best way to get something done is to work with the people you meet who are interesting. It’s like, the girl who’s making my T-shirts, Ellena Gallen, she was just a fan in Spain who was making shirts on her own, and she showed me one after a gig in Barcelona and I said, go ahead, godspeed. You want people to bring their own energy and references to the table. At the end of the day, it’s a Wendy James result, but the process is nothing like, oh, the marketing department at Sony is going to run something off, we’ll send it to your team for approval.

Those T-shirts you mentioned have attracted something of a following

I know, it’s crazy. They’re selling out of them at Colette. Ellena’s going to do new shirts for my tour, after the record comes out, and re-release the old ones, too. I like the idea of having something to sell at the show that’s not, like, a picture of me on the front and tour dates on the back. I mean, when I’m a fan of somebody, I want that nice thing to have—I want to hear the music, I want to touch it, in a way, I want to wear it, I want to live it. I suppose that if things go really well, we’ll have to make those standard-issue tees, too. Inevitably, there’s a tradeoff between big and special. But I like to aim for special, first.—Maya Singer

Photo: Courtesy of Wendy James

When I interviewed Dasha Zhukova, the Moscow-born and L.A.-raised art patron, museum founder, and fashion designer turned editor in chief of Pop, about the magazine’s much-discussed September 1 debut, she was shrewdly vague on the details. However, the glossy’s online component, ThePop.com, recently launched with a slew of impressive collaborators like A Magazine, Colette, and blogger Tommy Ton of Jak & Jil (who posted the excellent image above), who all have their own links off the main site. ThePop.com’s editor, David Girhammar, explained their strategy: “The ethos of the Internet—fast, free, often, and many—is in many ways the antithesis of an exclusive glossy biannual. With ThePop.com, our intent has been to turn the tables.” ThePop.com’s online coterie goes under the acronym P.O.P. for Partners of Pop. “A partner can be an independent magazine, shop, or blogger we like,” continued Girhammer. “The idea is to offer them a marketing vehicle for their own projects as well as the potential to be featured in the magazine.” What that adds up to is original editorial content that won’t be seen in the magazine as well as a network of smart synergistic alliances. Adds Zhukova, “[It’s] a way to connect the dots between different aspects of contemporary culture.”—Derek Blasberg

Photo: Courtesy of ThePop.com

No one likes to lose. Readers may recall that, a few weeks ago, stylist Lauren Goodman (above right) and I joined in a friendly battle of casts: Having each broken our wrists, we decided to compete to see who could turn her injury into the better fashion accessory. Votes were tallied; I had the lead at the start, but Lauren got some momentum later in the game that she rode all the way to victory. Honestly, I felt ashamed. I had the home-court advantage and everything. But rather than indulge in any Serena Williams-like tantrums, I determined to learn from Lauren’s success as we prepared to face off in Round Two of the Cast-Off: THE BRACE-OFF.

Lesson 1: Buzz counts. Lauren finished her cast early and people got interested, seeing her wear the flash plaster around. So, as soon as I got my brace from the hospital—a kind of Rick Owens-y brace, black with long straps—I delivered it to designer Camilla Stærk. She wrapped up work on it right before fashion week, and over the past few days, I’ve had two name stylists ask me if they can call it in for shoots, and several front-row regulars remark that they’d consider throwing themselves down staircases in order to wear a medical accessory that cool. (I am now thinking about launching a line of fashion medical accessories, called HEAL—Colette? Opening Ceremony? Barneys? Are you listening?) Lauren, meanwhile, had the element of surprise in her favor: Working with designer Peter Som, she only debuted her brace today…

Lesson 2: Bling that sh*t. Last time, designer Dana Lorenz covered Lauren’s cast in multicolored gemstones. Von Kottwitz designer Nina Stotler and I opted for something more industrial. Not this time! Thinking bling-y, I arranged to have my brace sponsored by Crystallized™ Swarovski Elements. I was imagining something totally disco, but Camilla, who has better taste than me, opted to cover my brace in pewter crystal pearls of various sizes. This wound up covering…

Lesson 3: Remind people of Michael Jackson. Lauren’s cast was inspired by the Christian Lacroix top seen on the first Anna Wintour-edited cover of Vogue, but lots of commenters mentioned that it seemed very Michael Jackson. And they appreciated that. Camilla, hand-sewing pewter crystal pearls until her fingers were literally bleeding, really came through on the MJ. I have to say, though, Lauren and Peter Som have maybe, possibly, trumped me on this—Peter’s angle on the people-like-dead-celebs-beacuse-they-are-reminded-of-their-childhood thing was to make Lauren’s brace “a tribute to John Hughes.” Pretty in Pain! Dammit.

Lesson 4: Art-direct. This really should have been obvious—I do work in fashion, after all. Lauren got off a cute little shot of herself posing with her cast. I went for the camera phone. And I wasn’t even in the photo! People vote on personal connection, I see now. And images that pop. Camilla’s husband, the photographer Barnaby Roper, obliged my concept “sci-fi Birth of Venus, with wrist brace,” as you can see (and judge) for yourself. Again, I was positive I had Lauren on this one—I knew she was racing around to shows and that Peter was prepping his collection and that there was no way they’d be able to work a seriously pro photo into their schedules. Laughs on me, folks. Lauren managed to corner Poppy de Villeneuve, mere hours before the photog hopped a flight to London to set up her show STILL, which opens on Thursday, and got a pretty amazing portrait out of her.

Lesson 5: Flatter the audience. Vote for me, and I will love you forever. Lauren and I await your comments…—Maya Singer

Photo: Courtesy of Maya Singer and Poppy de Villeneuve

To that end, Keslassy created five entirely new collections, all with different themes. Fans of Chanel’s iconic cross necklaces, sautoirs, and cuffs will instantly spot a family resemblance in the Mythic Parisienne and French Riviera categories. Meanwhile, pieces such as hair combs and toe rings in the Byzantine, Glamour, and Rock ‘n’ Roll ranges are thoroughly modern creations. Nevertheless, all the pieces are still made in Gripoix’s historic ateliers on the Rue Oberkampf. “There is such richness and beauty in the archives,” says Keslassy. “There’s no end to the inspiration to be found there.” She adds, “This project is like bringing Grandma’s armoires back to life.” Well, that is, if you had a very chic mémère. From armoire to boudoir, a rice powder scent and candles will soon join the new lineup. For the time being, Gripoix has found a home in Paris at Colette, which currently has a massive stock of pieces. Its first boutique, however, will be in London at 108 Mount Street, scheduled to open on October 26.—Tina Isaac

Photo: Courtesy of Gripoix

Colette isn’t the first place you’d look for the Marlboro Man—the Gauloises Man, maybe—but kicking off 2010, that’s exactly where he’ll be. The store’s upstairs gallery space will host a show of photographs by the Chicago-born Jim Krantz. Krantz famously created Philip Morris’ “Marlboro Country” visuals, and when menswear designer Adam Kimmel wanted to channel the rugged masculinity of the American West for his Spring 2010 lookbook, he called the photographer to collaborate. The shots—vistas as stirring as you’re going to get east of the Rockies—are on display here, a floor or so away from Kimmel’s clothes themselves. Those are pretty great, too—but no word on whether the designer, who just had his first daughter with fiancée Leelee Sobieski, will attend the opening.

Runs January 4-31 at Colette, 213 Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris, 011-33-1-55-35-33-90, www.colette.fr